NEW ZEALAND MILITARY EXPLOIT.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 264, 28 March 1874, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND MILITARY EXPLOIT.

AN ACT OP BRAVERY. Captain M'Donnell, of the aimed Constabulary, writes to the ' New Zealand Herald':—"l have heard that a Commission, nominally appointed by his Ex • cellency the Governor to inquire into the recommendations for the New Zealand Cross, have come to the conclusion that none of the acts of valor mentioned were of such account as: to entitle any (excepting the Agent-General. Dr. Featherston) to be worthy of the decoration; but, knowing what has taken place, I hope you will allow me space for the following :—I was leading a party of scouts some miles in the;forest one morning—l think in October or November, 1866:1'•'It was just before daylight when I stumbled against a tree that had been felled by the enemy across the track that led to the Hauhau village of Popoia. I put out my hand to steady myself, when I touched a fence or pallisade that had been erected on the trunk of the fallen tree, and a volley was fired at us from the other side of it. My clothes were burnt by the discharge, and I fell, shot through the hip. The Natives with me retreated at once to the column, about 200 yards distant, and who, in obedience to orders, not haviug been able to surprise the village, had commenced to march for the open country. It is but just to say that no one knew I was hit and left behind at the time I fell. But Sergeant Austin, formerly a color-sergeant in her Majesty's 65th Regiment, and Sergeant White, since shot dead, missed me, and concluded I was wounded and left on' the ground. These 'two' men, in .company with Wiremu Kat'ene (a Maori), ran back to the barricade in search of me. I heard the/ltauhaus, gvopihg in the. dark for"the man 'th6y had (myself), and every instant, as I lay helpless, I expected to be tomahawked,',when they suddenly retreated, behihd 'the fallen tree, against which' I was" lying, and commended ■ firing.' A' moment or two after .1 heard' Austin's voice, saying, "Are you here, Captain f Sergeants Aiistin and White then lifted me up be-

tween them, and carried me away from certain death, and may .be a worse fate, and at the very greatest risk and price of their lives, the Natives from behind the palisades on the log firing at us all the while, but from probably, -their crouching position, firing, too high. Colonel M'Donald, the officer then in command of the district, recommended that the Victoria Cross be given for this act, but owing, I believe, to the force not being under an Imperial officer, it could not be granted. This is one of the acts of bravery and devotion recorded by the commission—who ever it may have consisted of—as " not of so unexceptional a character as to merit the New Zealand Cross!" lam tempted to say more on similar subjects, but all I shall say for the present is, that I owe my life, under God, to the act of these two men, one of whom is now in his grave, the other still living ; and I should like to know what in the name of goodness was this new Zealand Cross or Order of Merit created for, if not to reward noble deeds and unselfish acts like the one I have mentioned ? Many a brave man wears the V.C. for less. What did Colonel M' Neil ■ get the cross for ? For rescuing a trooper named Vosper, and assisting him to ride away. It is also a fact that the same person or persons have refused the; decoration to my brother, Colonel M'Donnell, though he was recommended by his senior officers, and very lately by General Sir Duncan Cameron, who com - manded out here. But when, in this country, it is desired to do a thing, or to avoid doing justice, it is easy to find a way."