DARK DAYS IN N.Z.

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 433, 18 January 1933, Page 7

DARK DAYS IN N.Z.

OTHER ATTACKS MISSION STATION RE-FORMED ON MOKOIA ISLAND. ►PROYIDENTIAL ESCAPES. No. 9. (Copyright — All Rights Reserved.) Further attacks by the Rotorua tribes are recounted by the Rev. Morgan in continuing his reminiscences of the trials attending mis- | sxoxiary work in the history of | the Dominion. He also goes on i to tell of the decision to re-form. j the missionary station at Rotorua and the difficulties of its ultimate formation* on Mokoia Island. This party, ahont 21 in number, j had determined to visit Tauranga, and > the opportunity was embraced for i sending over some of our property by I them. Th'ey were accompanied by ! Mr. Platt, who had now resided as j an assistant for a few months at i Matamata. Having arriyed at the i Wairere before sunset, they imprudently lcindled the Are before dark. I The smoke was observed by a murder- | ing party, who were out on the plains. ; They travelled nearly the whole night, | and searched the Wairere at break ; of day. Mr. Platt, and also the na- j tives who were sleeping in a large j house, were aroused by the barking of j the dogs. The bloodthirsty savages advaneed. Footsteps were heard, and our party in the house with, the ex- J eeption of one man who was more ! drowsy than the Yest, started up and j rushed out at the back door as their ! pursuers entered by the front door. . The day was breaking, but the house • being without windows, it was dark > inside. Hearing the party rush from the door, part of the enemy searched the house and groped atround the 1 walls, but not finding any persons, I they pursued after those unoffending natives. The poor fellow who still remained in the house to shelter under a table belonging to Mr. Brown which had bcen placed in the middle of the building remained until the party left the house, when he bolted into the wood. One little girl about 10 years of age, who formerly lived in onr house, was "seen makmg her escape. She looked behind her, and seeing a musket pointed at her, she bolted behind a tree just as her pursuer fired. The ball struck the tree, after which she escaped into the wood. Ngokuku had two of his children with him. He seized up one of them, a little boy, and ran into the wood, but before he conld return for his little girl, she had fallen into the hands of her murderers. They seized Mr. Platt, tent, and clothes, and murdered poor little Tarore before his tent door. In the confusion, he unloosed my horse, ; jumped on his back, ascended the mountain, and in his shirt and drawers, the only articles of clothing he saved, he rode away, to Tauranga, a distance of 18 miles. The murdering party immediately returned to Rotorua, lest their retreat should be ( cut ofl: by the Matamata tribes. After the breaking up of the sta- j tion, although the missionaries were withdrawn, the Lord was there to hless and prosper His work. The native converts preached the Gospel. The ranks of Satan were thinned. We were surprised at the rapid spread of the Gospel after our departure. On the abandonment of the Matamata station, the Rev. A... Brown was appointed to Tauranga, and myself to the Thames. I found it necessary to send my man, Wahataupoki, to Matamata. Shortly after our departure from Matamata, the professing Christian party, finding themselves much interrupted in their religious duties, determined to separate from their others iriends and huild a pa for themselves on'the plain between the heathen pa and the deserted mission station. A large house was accordingly erected, hut instead of remaining within the heathen pa until their own fortifications were finished, they left the pa and the large number of the party took up their quarters in their new house 'before any f ence was raised, thus leaving themselves open and exposed to the Rotorua native tribes. Wahataupoki, on his arrival at Matamata, noticed the danger to which this little band of worshippers was exposed, and| feeling alarmed in the evening for his own safety, he went into the heathen pa to sleep, and by so doing probably saved his life. A little before break of day the following morning, the party in the house were alarmed at( the approach of footsteps. Those who were awake gave the alarm and the party jumped up. One of them rushed out of the house, hut the Rotorua tribes were close upon them and nine of our little band were murdered or wounded at the door of their house. War Continues. i There were about 20 more of the ( Christian party in the house, all of whom would have been murdered had j the enemy entered the house, hut supp'osing that all had fled, they rushed on to attack the pa, and several i were killed on both sides. Afterwards followed, as usual, the cannibal i feast. The Rotorua tribes lost one of their chiefs. The Matamata peo- I ple placed and exposed his naked hody on a stage about six feet high outside their pa, and there allowed it to remain for many weeks and rot away. - ' On one occasion, after the murder of some of the Christian , party at Tauranga, the enemy feasted as usual on the bodies of the slain. ^ The old savage who led the murder ing party j and lived within a few miles of our house, said boastingly on his return j home, "I thought that the God had made the bodies of the missionaries j natives unpalatahle, but I find that they are as sweet as ever." It was several times told hy the natives that they disliked the flesh of Europeans because they were so salt. The protection we enjoyed in ; the midst of these bloodthirsty savages was wonderful, and to God be all th'e praise, for He alone delivered us out of the mouths of the lions. The war continued to rage, hut as the Rotorua and Matamata stations had heen broken up, our brethren at Tauranga alone were exposed to' the trials attendant on such' a state of things. Transfer to Rotorua. We had resided about nine months at the Thames when it was determined

to re-form the Rotorua station, and I was appointed to join Mr. Chapman in the re-formation of it. Our sojourn a't the Thames was one of comparative quiet. We were not free from the rumour of war, hut they were only ', and what even at th'e best of times, we were all subject to, until the gospel of peace prevailed and the distant tribes cea^ed to make war upon each other. The wars amongst the natives of later years have heen civil dissentions. arising from disputes between neighbouring tribes in reference to land houndaries, and never as in former days, carried on for the love of war and a desire to procure ' slaves. Early in the year 1838, Mr. and Mrs. Chapman, Mr. W. Williams, Mrs. Morgan, and myself emharked with our goods and stores on board the mission schooner and landed at Waihe, one mile from Maketu. The Rev. W. Williams returned to the schooner and proceeded in her to visit the East Cape and Tauranga. At the latter place he shortly afterwards formed a station. Our journey from Waihe to Rotorua occupied ahout a fortnight. We were delayed on the road by our stores and dragging our hoat. We continued in onr tents during this time and were providentially free on j the journey from the remains of murders and fights. On acconnt of the unsettled state of the country, we did not consider it safe to re-form the station on the old site. Mr. Chapman had determined to form it on i Mokoia, an island in the middle of j the Rotorua Lake. On this island i we resided about two years during this season, for as the war continued we considered it quite unsafe to reside on the mainland. In our new situation we felt the blessing of being ahle to rest in safety and peace during the night, without j fear of any invading enemy so long 1 as the Rotorua trihes on the mainland | maintained their professions. It was | no longer necessary to bury a change ' of clothes for ourselves in the garden. | On our arrival at Mokoia, we found j the natives employed in ereeting a j large and substantial house for Mr. I Chapman, and we accordingly took , possession of the imfinished dwell- , ing. It was an unfinished shell with- j out partitions, windows, doors or j chimney. After a few weeks our house was finished and Mr. Chapman j and myself built a chimney and an j oven out of stones which we hewed into shape with hatchets and cemented them together with clay. We carried on missionary work on the island and visited the Rotorua pas and the neighbouring lakes. We had, however, scarcely settled ourselves at Mokoia when the Rotorua natives determined to re-occupy Maketu, from which they had been driven by Waharoa at the commencement of the war. Waharoa, on hearing of their determination, was much enraged and this circumstance caused the war to be carried on with fresh vigour. When journeying hy land, ourselves and our natives were constantly exposed to danger. Sometimes it was necessary to travel hy the paths to avoid the murderous parties from the enemy who were prowling ahout in the woods, and concealed ahout the roads seeking whom they could devour. Short Rations. We also found it exceedingly difficult to get in supplies from the coast, and our natives brought them in at the risk of their lives. It was not unusual foi' us to he several weeks without flour, tea or sugar. Our little daughter cried for hread when we had not any to give her, and clapped her hands when after a lapse of some weeks she again saw a loaf. We could not carry out any partieular plan in reference to onr mission work. Property was unsafe, and life, except on the island, was in danger. Our situation on the island in an inland lake was very lonely, especially during seasons of sickness. There was no medical aid and Mrs. Morgan had several dangerous attacks of Alness from which, by the blessings of God, she slowly recovered. On October 16, 1838, it pleased our Heavenly Father to remove hy death our infant son. As we had every reason to believe that the roads at this time were open, we sent) two of our natives to Tauranga to inform our brethren there of our affliction. They left Mokoia early in the morning with special instructions not to sleep on the road, hut to reach Tauranga in the evening. The sun was setting as they emerged from the woods on the Tauranga side and they had still 15 miles to travel. They overheard some natives talking at the edge of the wood a short distance from the_ road, and supposing them to he a friendly party who sometimes planted about there, they were about. to turn^ aside to speak with them, hut on looking at the setting sun they determined to continue on their way without delay. It was providential that they did so, for the Waikato tribes were there encamped, and had they discovered and taken our natives, they would in all probability have killed them. ■ On their arrival at Tauranga, they beeame sensible of their narrow escape, and were ohligsd to remain there many days before they could venture to return h'ome. The Waikato tribes returned through the Tauranga station, hut they did not insult or molest the brethren. They carried with them baskets of bodies of four women they had murdered. The Waikatos, on this occasion, murdered four defenceless women and then returned home. (See Church Missionary Reeord, page 380, December, 1839-> • t. Ahout this time a we|L-disposed chief of Tauranga ventured to Maketu to endeavour to bring ahout a more friendly feeling between the tribes. On his arrival there he was seized, murdered and cooked and eaten. Onr difficulties in getting in supplies or stores continued very great, every week brought fresh reports of fights and murders, some of which proved true, while others were false, so that we were kept in a constant state of anxiety. On one occasion, as our natives were out on th'e Maketu Road, briiiging in stores, they received information of a murdering party from Waikato being in the bush. _ Under the circumstances they carried a large caslc of stores into the neighbouring swamps, and concealed it. As. several months elapsed before I thought it safe to send for it, its contents, when I received it, were quite spoiled. Our natives with light .packages reached Mokoia in safety. ,To he continued.).