THE MAORI WARS.

NZ Truth, Issue 63, 1 September 1906, Page 7

THE MAORI WARS.

Te Kooti, a Replica of Nana Sahib.

THE ÜBIQUITY OF TITO KOWARU.

No. XXII.

One of the most annoying features m the Maori wars and "- skirmishes of the • year 1869 — annoying at any rate to the British commanders— was the facility with which Te Kooti. .and Tito Kowaru escaped all the snares set for them. The former, it was said, had as many lives as his Sepoy parallel,

(By J.M.P.)

NANA SAHIB, of whoso capture, or death, and reappear.ance we used to read of so often during the Indian Mutiny. In May Te Kooti was reported, for the third time, to be dead and buried, and on the third time as havijig had. a volley fired over his grave by his' Hau Hau supporters; but was found, as usual, very much- alive. All the reports and certifications to the contrary by friendly natives, proved to be entirely untrustworthy.; The Maoris 'of the day were/ great gossipmongers,, and exaggerated rumors were always rife. ■ The atrocities committed by Te. Kooti -had deeply stirred the hearts of all Englishmen, and particularly on the Australian continent. Englishmen do not as a rule stand by and quietly look at, the carnage of their fellow, countrymen by .infuriated anti .fanatical savages. Official (English) prudence checked any geneTQUs impulses, and her. Majesty was advised •■to/ let the colonist's fight their own battles.- Certainly the New Zealand Authorities ' had decided to do without ■Imperial troops, on ■ the score of expense and — a debatable question — of the unfitness of trained troops, as the English soldiery were, to compete with the Maoris m bush fighting. After the de-: parture of the.. last English regiment.

i THE 18th ROYAL IRISH, the fighting was all done by the colonial troops, assisted by friendly natives, who were fighting for peace sake, strange as it may sound. It was not that the colonial forces were unable to stand up to the Hau Haus m, fair and open fight, but they could not pursue the enemy as fast as they fled, through their Native bush. A day's halt was usually the sigr tial for the firing of homesteads amd the cruel massacre of inoffensive settlers. A I war i-n the bush with semi-savages w-aaj not that for which the.

OLD STAMP OF BRITISH SOLDIER was trained,- or m ■wlhich the marked ability of Tommy Atkins could be shown; As a rule the British soldier, from the chief officer to the drummer boy, disliked suoh service. They had not a fair show against the bush tactics of the wily Hau Hau.' •

On April 10 the settlement of Mohaka, 40 miles from Napier, was attacked by the Hau Haus, who were under the command of Te Kooti, and were about 400 strong. The pah was defended until Sunday morning, when the garrison was nearly exhausted and allowed Te Kooti to enter on his promising that they should not be injured. As soon, however, as the ruffian was admitted he

COMMENCED TO SLAUGHTER, and out of some 40 inmates m the pah only 13 escaped.- Te Kooti obtained seventeen casks of ammunition and a.nun> ber of rifles by the capture. Numerous settlers were missing; refugees rushed to Napier, and consternation again reigned. When To Kooti entered the pah he exr claimed, "This is done; now for Wairoa." The actual less of the friendly Maoris at Mohaka was 40. It was asserted that

TE KOOTI WAS KILLED on entering the pah, but the report ■or assertion was unfortunately untrue.

Amongst the slaughtered here were Mr. Lavin, a magistrate, his wife and children, Mr. Cooper and Mr. Wilkinson. Mr. Sims and his family escaped. The bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Lavin and Mr. Cooper were found m the scrub about ten chains from their dwelling. Lavin's body was pierced with five balls. He was found lying with his arm round his' wife/^vho had two bullet wounds m the breast. Mr. Cooper had received three-- shots through the body. Lavin's children were playing near a pond m Cooper's garden at the time of the massacre, and the youngest was found with a toy boat m his hand. The two eldest had received several bayonet wounds.

The chief of the friendlies was absent at the time of the disaster m

PURSUIT OF TE WARU. The Wairoa expedition had encountered a small detachment of Te Waru's people, of whom they killed seven, with a loss of three to themselves. The news of the raid, on Mohaka reached them immediate-

ly after thoir return to W:\iroa, and they immediately started for the place. A!. though greatly outnumbered, they succeeded m relieving the greater pah there, the Te Kooti people having only received the submission of the lesser of the two pahs. The enemy finally gave way and

The Chairman: It has not; but, from all wo hear outside, it will. Shareholder: Are we selling any product of steel to manufacturers? Chairman: Only samples! The terms of THE PROPOSED CONTRACT i'or patents is £15,000 cash, and £125, 00-0 i>i shares m a proposed company with „ nominal capital. Shareholder: Bub what if Sydney pecp'u don't come up to the scratch ? Chairman: We can sell more than we can make. That's just so, for they are not m the position to make any, only samples, And then the rot set m. Shares, nominal value, slumped to £18 seller, and no buyer; and the tick-tackers are not so r.etive. There are no more whisperings, winkings, and mysterious nods of the bald-head-ed pates, but there is weeping and wailing m the camp of buyers at £20 to £35.

retired inland. .Next morning at daylight the mounted cavalry, 100 strong, reached Mohaka and went m pursuit of Te Kooti and his force, but after going a distance of 15 miles failed to overtake the Hau Haus. The delay m commencing the pursuit was much regretted, as the conquering ' Hau Haus were said to have been quite drunk m retreat, and would have been easily

CAPTURED OR ANNIHILATED. The friendliness of "the "friendly" natives was frequently called, m question by ground that it would aSect the friendly

many thoughtful people. How much faith could be placed m them and what blunders the British committed was clearly seen by something which took place at Taranaki a few days after the Mohaka slaughter. Colonel Whitmore had driven Tito Kowaru back from the Patea district, and had all but "scotched him." Certainly he took a large quantity of baggage, arms, and tent, and

THE REBELS FLED. Whitmore then resolved to follow them, and pass from the Patea district to New Plymouth, taking the route of General Chute. Fearing that Tito might escape he sent word to Taranaki, requesting that a body of militia should go by the mountain road to intercept i.Ue rebels. This body was prepared and ready to march, much to the gratification of the settlers and the militia men themselves. A messenger was despatched to Colonel Whitmore informing him that they would commence their march that morning. .

THE SUPERINTENDENT 0F ; TARANAKI, however, m conjunction with the Native Minister, Mr. Parris, consulted some alleged friendly chiefs, who at once opposed the idea of standing this force, on the natives arid induce them to fight on Tito Kpwaru's side. And so the force was countermanded, and did not go. But it turned out that one of the chiefs who gave this "disinterested"- advice — Mahau —was a very near relative of Tito Kowaru, and had made an agreement with him not to allow of his (Tito) being attacked from the Taranaki side, and, worst of all, it was said that the Superintendent of Taranaki well knew of the fact.

AN INDIGNATION MEETINQ OF . SETTLERS was held at Taranaki, and the withholding of the troops strongly and •unanimously condemned.' The facts given before the Provincial Council were extremely graphic. The Superintendent was present, and this is a portion of what occurred : —

•"Mrs Kyngdon asked whether Mahau came and objected to the forces going, or was he sent for ? "His Honor : He was sent for, to see if he would join the Europeans m attacking Tito Kowaru, and m talking over the affair, he (Mahau) considered it was imprudent to move the force.:

"Mr^ Kyngdon asked whether Mahau had not entered into a treaty with Wi Kingi that no force should pass through his country, and made some agreement with Tito Ko-waru that no force should attack him on this side ?

"His Honor : These matters were not m the form of an agreement ; they pledged themselves not to be parties to bring disturbances into each other's district.

"Mr. Tatton asked if Mahau was not a relative af> Tito Kowaru ?

•"His Honor said he was a relative — a very near relative, he believed."

From this it will be . seen that not only was the chance .of capturing the

ARCH-CANNIBAL abandoned, but it was abandoned knowingly, at the request of his near relative, who with the whole of his race laughed at the pliability of the pakeha. -

To add to war troubles at this timp, land disputes were occurring, not between Europeans and natives, but between nar tive tribes. The settlement of these 'dis* putes fell to the Native Land Courts, but the losers would not abide by the decision, and wanted to fight. This occurred at Auckland m connection with a valuable tract of 100,000 acres known as Aroha, and claimed by the

NGATIMARU TRIBE and also by the Ngatihauas, The evidence turned on the native tenure of the land, the right of conquest being the point m the case. Had Ngatimaru been conquered by the Ngatihaua ? The Court held, that they were conquered m 1846, and held that the land belonged to the conquerors. A great commotion follow-' c:! — threats, disorder, and war dances ! The Government talked of

ARMING THE NOATIHAUA, mit that would Instantly be taken as an net of war, and more enemies would bo gained. Alnyhow, the Government had enough war on hand just then. A similar case had occurred at Wellington, the friends of the native who lost his case declaring that they would not allow the land to be surveyed.

The Native Minister of the day, Mr. Richmond, who represented Taranaki, addressed his constituents about this time. He said that the Armed Constabulary would be maintained as a permanent force. That the two great questions to be considered were unity, and ultimately peace, or separation and ruin ; that the Government had not exceeded the votes of the House of Representatives, but that several '-nc-st eggs," besides sums' appropriated for native purposes, had to go towards meeting the

EXPENSES OP THE WAR, lie further said that the Government had a native policy, which they were carrying out ; that the crushing of the rebellion would take time, but that evarything, was coins; favorably, and the m«a were get-

tin^ into better training. He said that j the Government would not offer head money, and that there wero no other courts open to try rebel. Hau Haus than the ordinary courts of justice. As none had been tried, not evon the Chatham Islanders, it would appear as if the usual courts were not of much effect. About this time some ugly rumors wer« about as to the existence of a system of SUPPLYING THE REBEL NATIVES WITH AMMUNITION j In fact, "a system of 'supply was discovered m Auckland by the Customs authorities. The names of the implicated parties were not given, but the matter was one of public notoriety. Years before that, respectable firms were accused of dealing m the same manner, and making large profits and sacrificing white lives to these profits.

A great native continuous meeting was held, at Waikato late m April, and early m May. The number of natives present was 1700, of whom 1200 were Hau Haus. The tone of the speeches was pacific, and there was not a word uttered, says the report, by any of the natives which, could give offence to the Europeans. The friendly natives who went up to the meeting from various parts of the Waikato and elsewhere, were well pleased ■ with their reception by the king party.

REWI AND. TEPIHATJA were tho chief speakers on the side of the Hau Haus. They stated that they desired peace m the Waikato district, and that Te Ohowapu and other chiefs were welcomo to fight when and where they thought proper, with the exception of Waikato. which was to be kept . tranquil. The following is a translation of tho speech of the king, which was read

FROM THE THRONE to the assembled natives by the king's secretary :—

"To all the tribes,— Let men cease killing men on account of land. Let men cease killing men. Let the left hand be the left hand, let the right hand be the right hand." Which meant that things were to remain m their normal condition.

As illustrating the unsettled state of affairs, m the. middle' nio"ntfts of 1869, the the VWellin&ton Independent" "may bSvVejuoted :— V33»e colony at thijljtjjresent moment is ufatergoing the BIT3&REST £iSRiIOD OW TTS TRIAL.. It is vnbt suprlsing therefore that some of those m the past times who were the staunchest advocates of self-reliance have now waxed faint-hearted, and look backwards from the work to which they have put their hands.- We are now told by such men that the policy of self-reliance has failed ; that we are unable at one and the same time to cope with Tito Kowaru on the West Coast and To Kooti's band on the Bast Coast. It is true that the Government has not sufficient resources m the shapo of money and men to

CARRY ON ACTIVE OPERATIONS against tbe enemy m several places at once; but it is equally true that if the 1 people of the North Island thoroughly recognise the fact that they are embarked upon a struggle for their very existence; that no aid will be forthcoming from the Imperial Government/ however humiliating may be our submission and however abject our appeals; that the struggle m which we are engaged can never be brought to an end until we have exterminated the Hau Haus or so decimated them as to render them, impotent to do further harm; if, we say, all this be borne m mind, then the colonists will come to the conclusion that there is nothing for it but either to abandon the . North Island — to sacrifice the fruits of many years' laborious Industry,, to see ourselves turned adrift upon the world, with wives and little ones' and all whom we hold dear; or to gird up our loins, make this

WAR A NATIONAL BUSINESS, follow up the enemy from day to day, and deal with him . as a wtild beast, which should 6e shot down, whenever encountered." -

As a relief to the recital o! wars and rumors of wars, a Maori land caso m which a native jury was concerned may be mentioned. A Maori jury of five by consent wai empanelled to. try, the dispute of

TAIPARA AND RAP ANA ' MAUNGAUOA m respect to the boundaries of a piece of land extending from the Hape Greek to Pollen-street, and therefore the most valuable m Shortland.- A good deal of time was occupied m getting even five good men and true.- They were, however, at last obtained; It was almost as difficult to keep the Maori gentlemen m order as to get them, for one placed j himself m the 'position of counsel and] made speeches to the witnesses; three others went to sleep, and all exhibited an ungovernable ' propensity to keep their mouths open.- His Honor the Ohief Judge at last interposed and asked, "Will no one wake up the jury ?'S (To be Continued.)