PANIC-STRICKEN

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20510, 28 May 1938, Page 10

PANIC-STRICKEN

MAORIS AT TAHAROA BEHIND LOCKED DOORS BEARCH FOR MISSING HINDU FARMING PURSUITS SUSPENDED (Special Reporter) KAWHIA, Saturday. Panic grips the tiny native settlement of Taharoa. Fearful that the missing Hindu, Delu Desal, has been the victim of foul play and that his killer still lurks In the neighbourhood, the 100 Maori Inhabitants, driven to seek the reassurance of numbers, nightly crowd one or two whares, sleeping behind locked doors with loaded firearms at their side. While the presence of nine police officers encamped In the nelglvbourhood has allayed the fears of the natives during daylight each succeeding sunset when the police patrols return, the fears of the natives return also. On arrival at Taharoa settlement yesterday after a journey by car, boat, and on foot, a Waikato Times repre>entative found the native inhabitants in a state of panic. The first whare at which inquiries were made was a nut about 12ft. by 14ft. It was only with difficulty that the occupants were persuaded to unlock the door and it was subsequently learned that the shack was nightly housing no fewer than 20 persons who were afraid to sleep in their own homes, preferring instead to huddle together in considerable discomfort. The occupants were all women and children but the me'n-folk, though not nervous of going abroad during the day, invariably returned before darkness set it. The natives are all firmly convinced that their friend, “Jimmy” Desai has neither left the district of his own accord nor committed suicide, and as one of their spokemen put it, “We do not know who may be next.” This is typical of all of the Maoris who are old enough to have an opinion on the matter. With the small native school closed owing to a mild epidemic of measles, the general feeling among the parents is one of thankfulness that they are able to keep a constant watch on the 27 children of school age. Only Necessary Work Done The principal occupation of the natives is dairy farming on the fairly well cultivated hill country bordering the north-western shore of Lake Taharoa hut the intense interest in the activities of the police has led to a considerable curtailment of the daily Only the necessary milkings keep the Maoris from spending the entire day either discussing the train of events or curiously watching the police at work. Many, including some of the children, are giving the police what assistance they can, some scouring the sand dunes, others assisting in the transport across the lake from the road end, of camping gear and other police equipment. The only Maori boatman on the lake, Kiwi Retemeyer, who for the past ten years, has daily rowed the settlement’s mail, stores and cream across the water has, for the last week or more, been engaged continually in crossing and re-crossing in his small 14 ft. dinghy, bringing police officers, and latterly pressmen to and fro between the settlement and civilisation.

NATURAL DIFFICULTIES MANY BLINDING SANDSTORMS EXTENSIVE LAKES AND MARSHES Rarely have police officers anywhere been faced by greater natural difficulties in the conduct of a search than those encamped at Taharoa. The primary difficulty is, of course, the inaccessible nature of the area, but even when that obstacle is surmounted other and even greater natural handicaps make themselves apparent. Chief among these are the sandstorms which daily sweep over the five miles or more of dunes which separate the settlement from the Tasman Sea. These storms at their height frequently reduce visibility to a radius of a few yards, whipping the faces of the searchers and filling hair and eyes with grit. This, coupled with the effort required to trudge through soft, shifting sand, has inevitably retarded investigations in this quarter. The high winds have also hampered investigations on and around the lake as until the arrival of the police power dinghy yesterday there was no craft really suitable for work on the lake in heavy weather. Indeed, the passage of the lake, even when the reedy shore is closely hugged, has proved hazardous, especially in the last two days. Dense Raupo Swamp Even granted fair weather, the dragging of the lake constitutes a major problem. The main sheet of water is almost five times the area of Hamilton Lake, being over two miles long and averaging three-quarters of a mile in width. Off-shore it is estimated to be 20ft. to 30ft. deep. But this is not the only piece of water accessible by boat from Taharoa. A narrow tortuous channel through raupo marshes leads south-west to a second lake about half the size of the first and this in turn is linked by a similar channel to a third expanse about the size of Hamilton lake. Free water, however, forms only a part of the low-lying area. Around the lakes there are over 7D acres of dense raupo swamp which may have to be investigated if the dragging of the lakes is without result. Investigations may also have to he extended beyond the area of lake and sandhills to the wild hill-country surrounding the district, characterised by precipitious ravines and rocky crags. Immense Eels In Lake Taharoa Lake is known among the Maoris as the home of immense eels which are reputed to attain a length of up to l ift, and it is the belief of the natives in the settlement that the presence of these eels materially diminishes the possibility of any success attending dragging operations. The police* officers, however, are more optimistic as it is at this period of the (Continued in next column)

year that the eels commence their spawning migration to the sea, through the unnavigable outlet from the northwestern end of the main lake. The police camp established to-day is situated midway along the northern shore of Lake Taharoa. beneath the shelter of an old Maori redoubt which apparently dales from long before the advent of’the pakeha. Five tents have been pitched in a clearing on the lee side, of a small hill, overlooking the lake. ,\ kitchen has been laid out nearb\. almost at Die lake level, hut water will have to he brought from the village about half-a-mile away over the hill.