PAGES FROM THE PAST.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 December 1921, Page 9

PAGES FROM THE PAST.

TITOKOWARU, THE FIGHTING CHIEF. TE-NGUTU-O-TE-MANU AND TURU-TURU-MOKAI. DEATH OF VON TEMPSKY. (By “Juvenis.”) One of the best known fighting chiefs in Taranaki was Titokowaru, who was responsible for the disasters that overtook the pakeha -forces, particularly at Te-Ngutu-o-te-manu. Titokowaru was largely responsible for the rebellion that kept South Taranaki-Waverley-Wanga-nui districts in a ferment for a considerable period. He was a member of several hapus of Ngatiruanui, but the section which he more immediately controlled was called Ngaruahine. For some time before his death in 1888, lie

1; dat Okaiawa, on the Kapuni stream, and called his whare Te Arolia Kianga, “the abode of love;” a strange name for the dwelling-place of a grizzly old warrior.

In statue Titikowaru was short, and he was also slightly built—like other great warriors, a small man in person. When fighting against the Europeans in his youth in the districts around New Plymouth, he had the misfortune to loose an eye from the splinter of a shell. This loss did not improve a countenance which was of no great material beauty; in -fact, he was a common looking man. But what influence he lost by a lack of imposing features or commanding stature, he gained doubly by strength of character, an acknow1c I courage, and a habit of cool command, which to his last days led him never to ask for anything to be done, but to tell people to do it. A GREAT MANA. And his orders were never by any chance disobeyed. His mana was incontestably the greatest on the coast, excepting the influence of Te Whiti and Tohu. whose was derived from the fanaticism of the tribes rather than that of authority of chiefs. Not that Titokowaru was a chief of fiigh standing, neither was he a tutua, or common person, by birth. He was a petty chief whose ancestors had occasionally become prominent. It was never thrown in the teeth of Titokowaru that he was a common person, neither was such a statement made by natives ?n conversation concerning him. He was a member of the tribe of good enough birth to aspire to any eminence to which his abilities might have raised him. In his youth ho was an unusually plucky, daredevil kind of young man. ready for any mischief, and perfectly fearless; hence he became a >oa. or brave of the tribe. Before his death, as he acquired the “discretion which is the better part of valor,” he became the leader of his tribe, and subsequently of all the tribes engaged in the rebellion which goes by his name. After taking part in the war against the Imperial and Colonial troops in the Taranaki tribal district, he returned to his lands on the W aimate Plains, and built a pah at Te Ngutu-o-te-manu. This was a very extensive place, and contained a large meeting house, < ailed after tlie ancient runanga house at Hawaiki, “Wharekura.” There were the usual defences, and many outlying settlements such as To Mara, Pungarehu, and Te Puraruru, the last being further in the bush than Te Ngutu-o-te-manu These were not fortified, but were simply dwelling places and cultivations, the centre and fighting pah being Te Ngutu-o-te-manu. ANOTHER OUTBREAK. Through the bungling of certain Civil Commissioners an arrangement of a pacific character, which had been made between Lieut .-Colonel M’Donnell an d Titokowaru, was broken by the latter. Ti o natives considered themselves aggrieved by certain timber being cut on their property. They stole a horse and a revolver, as a hint that they considered the taking of the timber a theft. The sapient Civil Commissioners. the

mystery mongers, who were Magistrates, instead of enquiring into the grievance, had the Maoris arrested at a time when such a course was sure to endanger the peace of the colony. They must have known that the Maoris wanted neither revolver nor horse. In retaliation for the arrest, a party was sent under Haowhenua. Squires. Cahill, and Smith, who were sawing the timber the natives considered theirs, were killed.

There was an end to all pacific amenities, and the beginning of a war. Lieut.-Col. M’Donnell was placed in command of the district, and new troops were sent up. A large force was stationed at Waihi. and a smaller redoubt at a place called Turu-turu-mokai was garrisoned. The latter station, which was under the command of Captain Ross, and is about two or three, miles from Waihi, near Hawcra, was attacked by a party sent by Titokowaru, which was under the leadership of Te Rangioranuku. Titokowaru’s half brother. Captain Ross and a large percentage of the Constabulary were billed, and the remainder of the garrison retired quickly to Waihi. with the exception of three men, who defended themselves in an angle of the edoubt, two of whom were Milmoe lend Johnston. TITOKOWARU’S STRONGHOLD ATTACKED. Titokowaru’s pah at Te Ngutu-o-te-manu was attacked by Lieut.-Colonel McDonnell and partially destroyed, the casualties on either side being small, in consequence of most of the male portion of Titokowaru’s tribe being absent from the pah, it is said, on a hunting expedition. After this Titokowaru repaired the injuries done to his pah. and awaited another attack. Lieut.-Colonel M’Donnell was not slow to indulge him, ana again Te Ngutu-o-te-manu was advanced upon. The natives expected the troops, but they did not think they would come io the attack by the way they did. They apprehended that the Constabulary would advance to the front, and a man named Motu was placed in a hollow rata tree, which had an opening some distance up the trunk, owing to two of the rata vines which formed the tree having there separated, to join together higher up, thus leaving an ‘ interval which was the opening spoken of. This hole faced in the direction from which the soldiers, were expected, but greatly to Motu’s disgust the troops made a ‘detour through the bush and were heard firing at his back. Motu sounded the tree with the butt of his gun. and found that a similar openino' existed on the opposite side from the one he was using, which, however, had hitherto escaped his notice in consequence of a thin sheet of bark having grown over it. This he pushed out and could then see the attacking force.

DEATH OF VON TEMPSKY. From this tree were the officers of the force picked off by Motu. Major Von Tempsky, Captain Buck, Captain Hunger, and Lieut. Hastings were shot, and the curved sword of the first was awarded to Motu as the most valued prize of the day—the sword of “Manurau.” The attack was a complete disaster, and the casualties on the European side many. Lieut.-Colonel Roberts, then Captain Roberts, greatly distinguished himself by his attempts to bring out wounded, and was all night engaged in this endeavor with 60 men, being successful in saving nine of the wounded, who would otherwise have been lost. After this, Titokowaru left his pah, and with the tribes under him ravaged the country to the south as far as Waitotara. He built a pah in the Okotuku district at Maturo-a. Here he was attacked by Colonel Whitmore, who had succeeded Lieut.-Colonel M’Donnell in the command. With such troops, some of whom were demoralised by previous defeat, and others raw T levies arrived only the day or a. few days before, failure was almost certain. Some 30 casualties was the result, and Captain Roberts again distinguished himself by covering the retreat with men who had only the day before arrived from Wanganui. THE REDOUBTS ABANDONED. After this, with the exception of Patea. the whole of the redoubts north of Kai Iwi were abandoned, and Titokowaru was master of the situation. The troops were called away to fight Te Kooti at Poverty Bay, leaving but a scanty force behind. Titokowaru pitched his camp inland of Ndkuniaru, which ]•-. entrenched in such a manner as to make it an exceedingly formidable position, which was called Taurangaika. He was left to work his sweet will upon the stock and homesteads of the settlers for months until the troops returned from Poverty Bay. Then a number of Tito’s followers came in and gave themselves up. They said they were short of ammunition, but they had been doing no fighting to expend it, and as to provisions, the country occupied was teeming with cattle, sheep, and pigs. The real reason was that. Titokowaru. to whom was attributed the success of the rebellion, not only by his skill as a general, but from a tapu, a. peculiar holiness attached to his person, had gone astray with a married woman of his tribe, and in consequence, according to the native idea, his tapu, and consequently his i mana was gone. Some tribes deserted in a body, till he found himself with an insufficient number to defend so exteni sive an entrenched position, and hence he abandoned it and went north. He was overtaken by Colonel Whitmore’s troops, and beaten at Whakamara. and again the Colonel defeated him at Otautu (in from Patea). After the latter misfortune the Patea natives, under a chief called Taurna, went up the Patea River, where they subsequently surrendered to a Civil Commissioner. Titokowaru and his immediate following proceeded north and reached Te Ngaere swamp, tvhich he crossed, and gaining the Upper Patea Valley proceeded to the Ngatimaru country, on the Waitara River. The Ngatimaru people were related by marriage with the people of Titokowaru; in fact, the whole of the able-bodied men of that tribe accompanied Titokowaru in his raid on the pakeha. Hence he was made welcome, and he built several large kaingas, with well-constructed whares, where he and his people lived for about two years. A £4OOO REWARD. A reward of £lOOO was offered by the Government for Titokowaru’s capture, but no attempt appears to have been, made to seize or kill him. In 1869 Te Whiti comment., i his policy of peace, combined with other tenets not so praiseworthy. From the fastnesses of the Ngatimaru country, many of Titokowaru’s people monthly visited Pari--1 haka, and the chief himself became a disciple of Te AVhiti, who said that the lion should lie down- with tluj lamb. In 1871 Titokowaru left the Ngatimaru country and proceeded to Parihaka, whence, after a short sojourn, he returned to his old home on the Waimate Plains. Te Ngutu-o-te-manu, however, ’ was not re-occupied, but he built for himself two large villages north of Otakeho, called respectively Omuturangi and Taikatu. After a while he proI ceeded further south and built a kai- ; anga between the Inaha and Kapuni streams, on the open land, close to the edge of the bush near Okaiawa. Here he remained cultivating grass seed, which he sold to Europeans and with his tribe earned annually a large sum of money. He continued to visit Parihaka every month, and entering into communication with the Civil Commissioner received large sums of money from the GovernI ment under a system initiated under Sir ! Donald M’Lean, which consisted in giving bonuses to those rebels who agreed to relinquish occupation of confiscated lands. TROUBLE WITH THE SURVEYORS. Things continued in this state until in 1878 it was designed by the Government to survey the Waimate Plains. For eight months the works went on satisfactorily, until a surveyor attempted do run a.survey line for a road through Titokowaru’s own cultivation. The provocation was too much for the old chief. He consulted the heads of his particular fanaticism who dwelt at Parihaka, and they told him not to be violent but to gently remove the survey parties. This was done. Carts were taken to the respective camps of the five survey parties, and the tents, camp equipage, and tools were removed south of the Waingongoro bridge, where they were placed upon the road. M hat follows was done by the people of. Titokowaru by instructions received from Parihaka. ‘ The political ploughing, the fencing of the road and other obstructions all originated at Parihaka, but Titokowaru being the recognised leader in all offensive ’ operations against the Europeans, he and his men were invariably chosen to carry out the plans made bv Te Whiti and Tohu. The last two formed the deliberative portion of the schemj*. and Titokowaru was the executive arm. ARRESTED AT MAN Al A. Whilst these various modes of obstruction to settlement were being carried out, Titokowaru was arrested and imprisoned for making use of some foolish words in a public house at Manaia. , It appeared expedient that, these words should he considered threatening, and imprisonment followed accordingly. It was on his release from this incarceration that he commenced a life of sobriety. He was subsequently arrested at the same lime as Te Whiti and Tohu at Parihaka, and later on for taking possession of the late Mr. Hastie’s farm as a building site. Warrior as he was, he bore all his imprisonments calmly and without complaint, and it speaks volumes for the influence of Te Whiti that a man who was a fighting man from his youth, and who, to the day of his death, had an

contempt for the fighting qualities of the Europeans, should have calmly submitted to the greatest indignities, simply because his fanatical chief told him to do so. Titokowaru’s health began to fail. Hq was ill when arrested, so ill that a doctor was immediately sent for from New Plymouth. He had disease of the heart, and besides was troubled with an annoying kidney complaint. in manners, when talking to Europeans on indifferent subjects, he was genial in the extreme; but that pakeha who sought to pump him on subjects of native policy had his trouble for his reward. He was a man of very few words, but when he spoke it was exactly to the point, although, perhaps, the idea might be wrapped in metaphor. WAS HE A CANNIBAL? As regards the reports of cannibalism on his part, it is undoubtedly true that at Moturoa (near Wavcrley), particularly, orders were given that a little of (he flesh of the dead should be eaten as a return to ancient custom, which led them to eat their enemies, because they believed the courage of the killed entered into the victor. But Titokowaru partook of no part, and although doubtless his instructions were exceeded, it was by a tribe Jiving further south, and their offence was visited by the severe anger of Titokowaru.. He was the owner of land on the Waimate Plains, some of which was let to Europeans through the Public Trustee. He. together with his whole liapu, with the exception of two or three, refused to receive the rents, and the money was left in the hands of the Public Trustee. He left no children. His sisters had many children, but none was fit to carry the totum of the deceased chief. As a chief of the tribe who ruled them for their own good, or what he considered their ultimate benefit, Titokowaru was second te none. He was utterly without individual selfishness, however greedy he might have been in attempting to acquire advantages for his tribe. He . was no less a patriot than a chief, from, nf course, the Maori point of