DARK DAYS N.Z.

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 411, 21 December 1932, Page 2

DARK DAYS N.Z.

-All Rig-hts iReserved.)"

WARRING TRIBES WAR FLARES UP BETWEEN WAIKARO AND ROTORUA TRIBES, HORRORS OF CANNIBAL FEAST.

( Cupyright-

Following is the siecond instalment of the reminiscences of the Rev. H. Morgan, the first of which we published on Saturday. In this section of Iiis itarrative, Mr. Morgan describes the comraencement of Ibng ' dr'awri out hostilitieS AVhith developed between the Waikato, and Rotorua tribes and gives a graphic and viery stark description of the horrors which attended the sacking of the Arawa pa at Maketu. We publish unexpurgated his account of the cannibal feast which followed the first fall of the pa, not biecause of its sanguainary nature, but . hecause it serves to throw into reli-ef the final emergence of the Maori ftom thia state of savagery in which he Avas found by the very early missionaries. At all the newly formed stations, the temporal laboiir of the missionaries rapidly went forward. Timber was sawn, our houses were floored and windows and dodrs were put iri , and chimneys were built. Fences were erected, the fern cleared away, , and gardens laid out and planted. At Matamata, especially, the schools ' were well attended and the congregation on the Lord's Day numbered from hOO to 400 natives. Every day our duties hecame more and more in- ■ teresting, and we began to itinerate amongst the more careless of the aborigines, while at the same timo we much enjoyed our comfortable ! homes in the wilderness. We were, however, too sanguine in our expectations. The kingdom of Satan in the hearts of mdn around us was not ! to he so easily overthrown. We hoped to reap' a glorious harvest when as yet the seed was searcely sown, little thinking how soon our sky would he overcast by the gathering storm which was to disarrange our plans and disappoint our hopes. 1 At the close of December in the j same year we heard with deep regret i that a chief named Haika, living at | Tama had wounded anothcr chief j named Hinga, being at that place, but | wlvo was nearly nelated to the Waikato and Tauranga tribes. Rumours of War. This was a heavy blow to the prospect^ of the three mis^ion stations, 1 vi/,.. Tauranga, Rotorua and Mataj mata and it cust a gloom over our S 1'uture proceedings. ihe cry of war. j of savage war, was raised and the naj tives met in council. The chiefs, ! speav in hund. urged fheir followers to J repair Iheir uwn fortification^ and I to follow them to seek satisfaction J for the death ot* their friend and rej lative. to cut the flesh and drink the ! blood oi" their enemies. We urged them to be quiet and not to involve innocent tribes in a cruel and bloody war; for the son of one individual. We pointed them to the Gospel preeept, "Love your enemies," but with few exceptions our advice and exhortations were deserted and rejected. Tribes Preparing. The daily and Sabbath school bell rang as usual, but few attended to the sound. The native tribes were otherwise engaged. They no longer kept the Holy Day, for the Lord's Day and the week day were to them alike. All our services were nearly deserted for the tribes were busily engaged on week days and Sabbath days in felling and dragging timber out of the woods, building their fortifications with double and treble fences, and surrounding the whole with ditehes and embankments. When we visited them we found them, even on the Lord's Day, building their pas, casting balls, cleaning muskets and dancing their troop' dances. If we spoke to them of the love of Christ they turned a deaf ear to our instructions. A confiict hetween contending tribes and between light and darkness was approaching1, but our trust was in the Lord our God, When the news of the murder reachcd Tauranga, there was then a party of Rotorua natives at Maungatapu, one of the pas. They had coiiie on a i'riendly visit, and had brought a present to one of the leading chiefs. The dec6itful savage would not outwardly break h'is faith with them while they remained in his pa. He dismissed them and ba'de them go in peace to their homes, having previously sent off a party to waylay them. They were all piurdered a few miles from Tauranga. Thus these innocent parties fell for the guilt of another. I have known parties of natives to l'ise and seek satisfaction for the death of a relative or friend but instead of directing their mareh against the offending party, they have gone in the bush belonging to other tribes, ivithout regard to sex or age. How awful the state of that country, so now every man does that which is good m" his own eyes. ' , Roads Blockaded. After a lap'se of a few weeks, the varloiis roads t'o Rotorua were' block"aded to prevent any neutral natives going between the two parties carrying intelligence of the proceedings of the Waikato and Tauranga tribes, who were now preparing to attack the Rotorua tribes. • " ' " During war, very much mischief was done by neutral natives going to and fro. They always published every unfavourable circumstance calculated to raise the anger of the savage, and fehould they not have the true story to relate, they were* never at a loss as they invented falsehoods, the most gross and abominable, to excite the fury of those to whom they related them. ' ' ' During the war the various tribes are always uncertain as to which/ of their pas will be attaeked, and frequently 'they are situated so far apart that they cannot render assistance to each other in the 'event of danger. This was the case*of th'e Rotorua na'tives, one of whose pas was situated at Maketu, two days journey from Rotorua! As, however, Haika had been murdered at Rotorua, it was expected that bne of the pas ,at that place 'woiild be attaeked. ' The Waikato tribes assembled at Matamata and proceeded to Tauranga, and then, jo'ined'hy'th'e tribes of that .place, united forces', amoii'ntin'g" to about 800 fighting men, and marched from that place to Maketu 15 miles -distant, and sUrpf ifeed thb lpa. ' ('March '28!' 1836.)* 'Canniba) ' !feask ! i As an attack* on that place was not

then contemplated by the Rotorua tribes, the fortifications contained only about 80 men, and it consequently easily fell into the hands of the enelhy. About 65 were killed in the attack, while others were taken prisoner and condemn'ed to death or slavery. After the fall of the pa, followed all the horrible scenes attendant upon savage cannibalism and warfar u But how shall I describe a cannibal feast. It is beyond my power to point out its horrors. The savage war dance, the horrid yells, the distorted features, the indecent gcstures, all comhinc to acid horror to the scene. I11 the distance you may behold women gathering reeds to cook their careful rtqiast. On the field of battle you may see Ihe naked suvages with their lattooed faces, hlood-stained bodies, hatchet in hand, burying; and cutting up the human victims. The legs, ai'ms, the trunks are being car-i-ied by men, as liends, to the place seleeted t'or coolcing their inhuman feast, wiiile the women are aetually engaged in scraping potatoes lighting ihe iires and laying in order the stones used by the natives in cooking. The men are cleaning the bodies, if cleaning it can be called, tearing out the bowels, plucking out the heart, scooping out the eyes, which they swallow whole, while others are engaged in preparing small ovens and placing in them human heads to be preserved, carried home and stuck on poles as trophies of victory. The children, looking on with delight, are sporting around. But there are living victims who have beheld tllis part of the horrid scene and who were spared to be tortured and then cooked to form a part of the savage feast. In some eases, the unfortunate prisoners are quietly despatched with the hatchet or spear, while in other cases the most dreadf ul torture is emp'lo'yed. Some have been put alive into "the burning ovens, while the death of others is still more lingering; a leg or an arm is cut off, the blood being caught in calabashes or hutnan skulls, and drunk while warm from their veins, whil'3 the poor victims, writhing in agony, are^lowed to hleed to death assailed by the cries and yells of the assembled crowd of their cruel and bloodthirsty conquerors. Bloodthirsty Vengeanoe. It may be that amongst the prisoners is discovered one who in years past or whose father before him; or some member of his family, had been conoerned in the murder of a relatives of one of the conquerors, And for whose death, for \vant of an opportunity fully to' avenge it sufficient atonement ' by blood ' ha4 not been made. But now the day of vengeanoe has arrived. The poor prisoner is doomed to die. Tortures more dreadful, if possible, are invented. The children and friends of the avenger are called around. "Come drink the blood of your father, your brother, or your uncle," is the invitation given, and stooping down they drink it as it gurgles from the wounds of thej dying offender. ! ' The bodies, being cooked, are divid- • ed amongst the varioual families and feasted upon them. I have often observed that after feasting for several days upon human flesh that their eyes protfiiHed exceedingly and" became bloodshot, and their countenances altogether assumes* a much more savage appiearance. When visiting them at such seasons they would frequently invite us to partak'e of some "pork," meaning human flesh, and they have often assured me that they 'thought human flesh superior in flavour to po'rk. If they are un'able to consume the bodies on the spot, they are carried home in baskets and then distributed to their wives and* children and friends who had not accompanied the expedition to* be^ feasted Upon' by them. The little children h'ave been fetched away from our schools to feast fipon the hodi'es of Thhir enemi'es. I have known about 60 bodies cooked in a day. On the return of thh Tauranga and Waikato tribes' from Maketu,' they passed through our Tauranga station, numbers of ' them carr^ing baskets' or of human 'flesh on their backs. Th'e m'smbers * of the station with their wives and children, were there and witnessed the' return of the Savages, whose ' footsteps were stained with blood, but He in Whom they trusted and in, Whose service they were engaged, preserved them from Jiurt and death. " The iR,evs. Messrs. Brown and Maunsell ('the latter had'lately afrived' from^ England) went over from Matamata to Tauranga, and there met tli'eTfethrnihg viet'ors,**and; 'thehce feturned with |hem' t'o Matamata. was " liarrowing to the v mind ! of the K * *' • • ....

Christian to see them carrying on iheir backs' baskets of cooked human flesh, outside of which some more devilish than others suspended by ' a P'iece of flax, a human hand or foot in order to annoy and wound the feelingS of the brethren. (To be continued.)