MAORILAND MEMORIES.

NZ Truth, Issue 67, 29 September 1906, Page 7

MAORILAND MEMORIES.

AN OLD-TIME INCIDENT.

WRECK OF THE "HARRIETT."

(BY "OLD CHUM.")

In one of the articles upon Maori Wars mention is made of Captain Lambert of H.M.S. Alligator, who was entrusted by Governor Sir Richard Bourke of New South Wales with a national flag for presentation to the Maoris. That was m 1834. In the same year Captain Lambert came into prominence m another matter m which he did not figure as well as the captain of one of His Majesty's ships should have figured. • . • ** In the month of April, 1834, the whaling barque Harriett was WRECKED AT TARANAKI. The master, Captain Guard, his wife, two children, and the crew, 28 m all, escaped to the shore. Guard had been trading to New Zealand for something like 10 years, and was well-known by many Maoris. At first, according to one account, the natives treated the shipwrecked people with great kindness, which they soon exchanged—under what pretext or m consequence of what provocations on either side it would be useless to ask — FOR OPEN HOSTILITIES. A quarrel was got up between two tribes, and an engagement followed, m which "about ia of the Europeans and 40 Maoris were slain." Guard and the remainder of bis party were taken prisoners. They,- were not, however, subjected > to the indignity of being cooked and eaten. As a condition of ransom for the rest (a cask of gunpowder), Guard and five men weire allowed to proceed to Sydney, where he laid the particulars of the wreck, the battle, and tho detention of his wife, children, and. part of his crew by the Maoris, before the Governor, Sir Richard Bdurke. Relying upon the accuracy of Captain Guard's report, Sir Richard, with the advice of his Executive Council, requested Captain Lambert to proceed with H.M.S. Alligator, which happened . to be lying at anchor m Port j Jackson, to obtain the restoration of | the British subjects who were detained rby (the Maoris. Captain Lambert was. especially ordered to refrain from any act i of retaliation, and to obtain the release j of Captain Guard's people by amicable: means. Guard and his five men returned to New Zealand m tho Alligator, The Harriett, it should be mentioned, was a barque of 255 tons, and was the property of Robert Campbell, jun., of Sydney. after /the arrival of the Alligator at Taranaki, • Guard recognised the chief who was now the ;"proprietor" of the shipwrecked woman and children, and the, unsuspicious native / RUBBED NOSES with him m token of ; friendship, at the same time expressing his willingness to give up his prisoners Upon receiving the "payment" guaranteed him. This, hdwI ever, was not the way m which the affair was settled. „ Guard and his sailors | made him prisoner, and dragged him inito the whale-boat m which the party | had- come ashore. "Tho cruelty practisjed towards this unfortunate - man, and ; Ui'e f earfu^ havoc committed by the EngjiisK, we gladly pass over.. Such iniquit- :' ous transactions reflect but little credit ! on us as a Christian and civilised peopl©; I and they were; moreover, m direct opposition to the benevolent instructions of Sir -Richard Bourke. The British subjects were restored, as indeed they might i have tyeeh without the loss of a single i life • through the intervention of the mjsj sidnaries, and of the British Resident at [the Bay of Islands, and the expedition j having' gained its object by i. FORCE AND STRATAGEM, ! returned to Sydney with the troops and liberated the captives." . . | Another version is more explicit and mii teresting. Guard's story was that a ! few day's after -the tfreck two of his men I deserted, joined the' natives, . and sup- ; plied them with gunpowder for an attack ; which was made on May 10 ; that many ! Maoris were shot at first, but the others improvised trenches, by means of which | they closed upon Guard, who at last fled | with about a dozen others, leaving his ' wife and two children, and | TWELVFi DEAD OR WOUNDED ; m the hands of the conquerorg, and that ,m running away he -met about a hun- , dred natives of another tribe— the Ngatia- | wa — and surrendered to them.- He said that some wanted to eat them, others to j protect them, which they did, and sent ! a guide with them to Moturoa. There Guard and the other fugitives were fed. Tne Moturoa'- natives rescued one of the I Harriett's boats, and brought back the I two deserters ; three chiefs accompanied Guard^aiid five companions in. 'the' boat, for securing which Guard promised the chiefs a ' cask of gunpowder. They reached Blind Bay, but were detained afterwards by natives, "And," said Guard, "had we not known some of them, they would most likely have kept our boat." These natives were from Kapiti, Raupavaha's home. Crossing to Port" Nicholson, now. Wellington, the capital city of Maoriland, Guard took a passage to Sydney m the Joseph Weller> Captain Snowden, a small vensle of 49 tons. On arrival m Sydney, Guard appealed to the Governor, Sir Richard Bourke, to rescue the captives at Taranaki. The Moturoa ' chiefs were with him. It had been intended to call at Moturoa for Guard's brother and the eight surviving men, but the wind was adverse. Guard said,' "The chiefs did- not object to being brought to Port Jackson,, but they would, I think, have preferred being landed at Moturoa." He declared "'that while m the latter place he was several times "offered some of our I OWN PEOPLE'S FLESH TO EAT, I which had been brought from the wreck jin baskets." • ■ • : | Guard was at once brought before Sir | Richard Bourke and the Executive Council. One !of them, Mr. 'Campbell Drumniond' Ri'ddell, the treasurer, shrewdly suspected' that the fight;ng between the crew and the natives had arisen from "'licentious quarrels, which the desertion of two of the crow implied, and which was afterwards ascertained." (Mr. Ri'ddell declared that tne story was incoherent nnd might be false, "Guard," said Mr. Riddel), "had been a convict, aad his dealings with New Zealanders had m some instances been marked with cruelty." Anyhow, Captain Lambert's services were called m, and he was enjoined to [use "amicable means" lest a "spirit of | revenge or hostility" should be excited ! among other tribes. Force was to be employed only on the failure of -"amicable means." Captain Lambert put an interpreter on , shore on September 12, with a comj panion, at j NUMA, A NGATIRUANUI PAH. jThey were instructed to say that he wished to avoid hostilities, but would ! give no ransom, and would employ force j if necessary to recover the captives.; Foul j winds prevented the interpreter and his companion from regaining the ship until the 16th. They had been m fear of their j lives, and they had promised a cask of ! gunpowder as ransom for the woman and | children. The alligator proceeded to Moturoa ! and landed the three chiefs and received al) the shipwrecked sailors, with the exception of two who hud absconded, and one of whom had been drowned m attempting to cross a river, while the other succeeded m reaching a missionary station at Kawhia. Captain Lambert refused to give the cask of powder promised by Guard to the Ngatiawa. I On the 28th a military force landed to attack the Numa Pah.; ■ Two armedMaoris met the military^ One. of. them

addressed Giuard with familiarity, and told him that the captives were well and would be given up for the promised keg ol powder. "The naval officer who tUea represented the Majesty of England" seized the ASTONISHED CHIEF OOHIT, and with the "help of Guard and others dragged him to the boat, buffeting him and pricking him with bayonets — playful beggars — all the time. Oohit sprang overboard, was shot at, wounded, recaptured, and taken to the ship. "Tho surgeon found ten wounds on the head, inflicted by armed men upon an unarmed man who had met them confidingly on tha strength of the promises of the interpreter.'-' •• • ■ Oaptain Lambert's account of the transaction was very brief. "We fortunately, secured the chief who had charge of Mrs. Guard ; he was severely wounded m try-i ing to make hia escape from the boat." • * » The natives fled from the Numa Pah, and the military occupied it.- On the 29th (Oaptain Lambert reported). Captain Johnstone, 50th Regiment, finding all communication with the natives at au end, after having COMPLETELY DESTROYED THEIR . PAH, ■■ embarked and- returned on board without a single accident.'-' , The headquarters of the 50th Regiment were then stationed at Windsor, H&w South Wales. Captain Edward Johnstone afterwards became major of th» ' regiment. Hia daughter, Mary Rae, mar* i ried Dr. R. t,. Jenkins, of NepeanTowef3, ; a distinguished squatter of New South Wales. Mrs. Jenkins died two years ago at Woollahra, near Syduev, aged 77 years/ " ' ' . ■ ■ ■»'..• * ■ . • During tho events narrated above, one of the Maoris who had gone on board * ne All fgator soon after her arrival pre-i served, we are told, a very quiet demeanor. Ha was landed on the 30th at Waimati ,m order that he might inform the tribe that the life of Oohit was safe, . but that he would "never.be given up until Mrs. Guard and her children were restored." * * * t The Ngatiruanui were seen m great i. numbers, and being addressed by their chiefs. On the 31st two boats were sent to, the shore, and Oohit from one of these ■ addressed his people, who, with signs of 3oy, CONVENED MRS. GUARD and one child m a canoe to _ the Alligator's boat. -_ : Captain Lambert reported that as the wounded chief "had no power over the tribe who possessed .the boy. I sent him on' shore as I had promised." ' Much joy and dancing was observed oa shore on Oohit's landing. * * * Captain Lambert sent a lieutenant to ask for the child, but ho "was fired at from one of the pahs while waiting patiently outside the surf. Such treachery could not be borne, and I immediately commenced firing on them from th« ship," The Maoris hoisted a white flag, but the firing was continued for three hours. A chief wus seen with the boy ia. one hand and waving a white flat? with the other; but tho fire was not slackened, and all the canoes within sight wero destroyed. • » * * The winds came to the rescue of , tha ; Maoris. A "westerly" drove the Alligator away, and she anchored m Port Hardy until October 5, when she bora -off for Waimate. On the . 6th tho child L was seen on shore with his'^kefepers. Oa the '7th a Maori went on board ''the A1H»~-- . gator and. a message was sent to tha effect that the ■ HOLDER OF THE CHILD would take it on booa-d if any of the offlW c cers would remain on shore as a hostage for the return of the chief. One officer ; volunteered, but Captain Lambert would not permit him to undertake a servica | which was deemed so dangerous. , * * ' • On the Bth a party of soldiers and marines were landed with Guard and his crew and a six-pound carronade to bom-i • bar.d the pahs. While it was being drawn " info position, Maoris advanced; a, confer- • ence was held, and they- said they wen I desirous of giving up the child. i » * • A chief, carrying the child on his shoul- • ders, and followed by others, Oohit w-alk- ■ Ing m the rear, came forward; while flag* » of truce were flying on both sides. Ofc i the treatment he received there ar* I several versions.- The official report iudi«i , cated that the chief, being told that i NO RANSOM WOULD BE PAID,; ■ turned to go; that a sailor shot him? ■ that the marines first, and then the soldiers, from the ■. height, poured a general ' fire upon the startled Maoris, without '- any order from. Captain Johnstone, who • • commanded the party. Afterwards Johu< stqne> thinking the natives were hostile, . advanced upon them and captured their; pahs, »one of which 'contained, he estimate ' edf about 200 huts. ■*» ■ » ■ ! Captain Lambert reported- to Governors Bourke that by 4 p.m. both' pahs wore . taken, and the child on board, "without , sustaining any loss," while that of theft ( natives was considerable, and that aXU I Iheir canoes had been destroyed . [ Surgeon Marshall, of tho Alligator* says that the CHIEF'S HEAT) WAS CUT OFF, ' and that, on the following day the sol-» diers and sailors amused themselves by! ; kicking it about as a football. ■ The surgeon added that Lieutenants Clarke and Gun tori with himself burie* the head and raised a cairn of stone» . over itj Captain Lambert's despatch wound upf with : "Thus, by their cruelty and ob.stf-* . nacy have these guilty tribes been pun-» . ished." He gave great credit to all whet had been concerned, and estimated thaii twenty or thirty natives had been killecL At Kapiti, Captain Lambert found! Raupavaha's followers in* "cbnsiderablV alarm," and issued a notification on Orf-* tober 11 xthat he had only avenged thW "horrid murder of part of the crew of the Harriett, and that the King, of England was friendly to Maoris, but woul# punish offenders." Marshall, the surgeon, published a nar-r rative of the affair, dedicated to Lottl Glenelg, m which he proved that the ATTACK THE CREW OF THE HARRIETT was. not the result of a general plot, but,' supervened after quarrels among the crewt and the debauchery of a fortnightThe one redeeming feature was tha-fc when the child was seized while the flagr of truce was flying and indiscriminate slaughter was commenced, ENSIGTSf W. H. WRIGHT, of the 50th . Regiment, hurried along {£# line breathless with haste and crying ~t« the men at the top of his voice to ceaa* firing.- For some time he Was entirely) disregarded, and not only generally diss obeyed, but m some instauces laughed at; nor until several, dead bodies were? stretched upon the sands could the united) efforts of himself and the other officer* put an end to the slaughter. Ensign Wright afterwards became a mart of note m Australia. He left the army, and entered the public service m Vie* toria, being Gold .Commissioner, Crowig Lands Commissioner, Police Magisti».te and eventually Sheriff of Melbourne which? position he held m 1877, when he died suddenly at the house of Mr. G«oreo Higinbotham, afterwards Chief Justice at Bryeton. ™V ltw < • Th S ma 5 ■ ( ?- UaPd took up hi 9 resident m New Zealand and acted as pilot id Cook Straits for some years.