ANNIVERSARY OF TE MATAI-PUKU BATTLE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 83, 24 August 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

ANNIVERSARY OF TE MATAI-PUKU BATTLE

STIRRING INCIDENTS. The following brief Imf; graphic account of the battle of Te Mutiiipukit, fought on Aii"iH 5 am' ■ * V'Sli. is supplied by the Rev. K. .\. I'eniirtt lo the Eotorua Times. The writer ski tea that although none of the natives at ■Ohinemutu can remember the encounter, the songs sung by the Arawas on that occasion are extant.

To-day (August .6) is the anniversary of Te Waharoa's attack on the Arawas in the neighborhood of Ohinemutu and Te Koutu. Waharoa's allies were the Ngaiterangi, who had a pa called Te Tumu. In the previous March the Ngatiwhakaue had attacked this pa and killed a large number of its inhabitants.

Three months afterwards Waharoa had assembled a taua (a fighting force) to avenge his allies' honor and maintain the prestige of his own arms. On August 5, 183(5. he camped not far from the site of the old Isolation Hospital. On the (ith he feigned an attack on the strongly-fortified pa at Ohinemutu. The Ngatiwltakaue, believing Waharoa was defeated, rushed out in hot pursuit. Waharoa had two large ambushes concealed on either side of the road. Tomahawks were freely used as well as guns, and about sixty stalwart warriors of Ngatiwhakane were killed. On the same day an attack was made on the mission station at Te Koutu. The Waikatos smashed the doors and windows of the mission station, and everything movable was taken. Every room was filled with naked savages, and most of them were sprinkled with blood, warm from the bodies of their enemies. The Rev. Mr. Chapman being away at Tauranga at the time, the station was left in charge of two laymen. Mr. Knight and Mr. Pilley. After ill-treating these two men, the Maoris took from Mr. Knight his coat, waistcoat, hat and watch, leaving him only his shirt and trousers. Mr. I'illey was thrown down and stamped upon. He was then struck with the butt-end of a musket, and one of the enemy struck him a severe blow under the ear with his fist. It was not until the Tiotorua natives rallied that he was left alone.

BLOODTHIRSTY FIENDS. Mr. Knight had been taken off into the enemy's camp. What he saw on his way to the camp baffles description, in his diary he states: "I suddenly stepped by the side of a man just killed; he lay weltering in his gore. I walked on almost petrified and passed bodies which here and there strewed the ground, until I came to a place where a number of bodies were laid out, previously to their being cut up for the oven. I turned away in disgust and sick at heart; but which ever way I looked some sight of horror saluted me. I walked to a short- distance; but had not been long there where a body, apparently that moment killed, was dragged into the camp before me. His head was off almost before I could look round; this did not satisfy the wretches —his breast was opened, and his heart, etc., steaming with warmth, was pulled out and carried off. I was exposed to the most revolting scenes —halves of bodies, quarters, legs, heads, etc., were being carried away, some of which were thrust purposely in my face. When the fighting ceased by order of Waharoa, 1 was allowed to return to my station, and he accompanied me part of the way." The station was a scene of ruin. It was burnt in the evening by the Rotorua natives, as they feared Waharoa would occupy the station as a pa. Revolting though these incidents may appear to us to-day, it is well to be reminded now and again of the metamorphosis that has taken place in Maoriland. There are times also when we are inclined to belittle the work of the early missionaries. Little do we realise the hardships that they had to endure, the dangers that they had to encounter, and the deep faith that must have inspired them until our preconceived notions are swept away by the read- ; ing of such stirring incidents as those related in the above diary. These are the men who carried their lives in their ; hands time after time, and who by their courage and consistency of life, ont only helped to raise the Maori people to a higher plane of existence, but very materially assisted in paving the way for the colonisation of this country.