>JIVFPSII'' or CiLirORNia SSN DlfC.O 3 1822 00104 4155 ;;Mit;;!;jii!!;>if;!ii[!i:itini»ifiia(;;M;!i!mH;;i:(:!i;iiiii;::;:, c: ti r H ?;:i!::;;:i:s!:!;:i:a;i;;;;;:::;;:;:!:H LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA LirORNIA 5AN ,>:■ 3 1822 00104 4155 CENTRAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY University of California, San Diego DATE DUE l-tB. PAGE I. UNSATISFACTORY RELATIONS II 1 1' BLTWEEN GENERAL AND GOVERNOR .... 7 IL WARNINGS NEGLECTED, MURDER OF ESCORT . 10 in. UNWARRANTABLE INTERFERENCE WITH GKNKKAL CAMERON BY THE GOVERNOR SIR GEORGK GREY 15 IV. ACTION OF K ATI KARA 23 V. NARROW ESCAPE FROM AN AMBUSCADE . • 31 VI. A BIG COMMAND FOR SO YOUNG A ^L\N • . 35 VII. CELEBRATED ACHIEVEMENTS OF DR FEATllKKSTON 37 VIII. TJIANKLES3 OFFICE OF A DEFENCE MIMsTKli . f.8 IX. DIFFICULTIES FROM WANT OF DISCI I'LINE . . G3 X. STRINGENT MEASURES, MR BALLANCF, EDFrOR Of "WANGANUI HKRALD," I'UT IN GAiH. . . 7S XI. FALSE ALARM— IMPERIAL TROOPS UNDER SELF- RELIANT POLICY COULD NOT ACT . . .85 CONTENTS en AT. TAfiE XII. NEW SYfSTEM OF FEEDING TllOOrS IN FIELD SUC- CESSFULLY TRIED 94 XIII. THE TAKINO OF TAURANOAIKA TAll AND FUllTlIEIi MOVEMENTS 104 XIV. A RIDE THROUGH THE ENEMY's COUNTRY . .114 XV. FINAL RESULTS OF THE EXPEDITION ON THE WEST COAST 123 SOME IIOMI] TlUri'IIS ME THE MAORI WAR 186;] I'O 1800 OiV THE WEST COAST OF NEW ZEAL AM) CHAPTER I UNSATISFACTORY RELATIONSIIir BETWEEN GENERAL AND GOVERNOR Having been requested Ly numerous friends to place on record various incidents that came under my personal know led ^o in connection Avitli the ^laoi'i AVar, t'l-oni 18G3 to 18G9, during Avliich period 1 held high and responsil)le positions, I liave decided to do so; mor(5 parlicnlarly as I am ahle to place hel'ore my readers tacts that have never before been published. 7 THE MAORI WAR These facts materially alter the imjoression given by some writers, that the Imperial troo2')s, under Lieutenant-General Sir D. A. Cameron, Averc to hlame for many unsatis- factory movements during the war. In my ojiinion, the sole person who was to l3lame, and who was the cause of the generally hostile attitude of the Press towards the Imperial troops, was the then Governor, Sir George Grey, who interfered so un- warrantably, not only with Sir D. A. Cameron, but also with his successor. Major- General Sir Trevor Chute, that the great wonder is that our troops were as successful as they were. There is not a shadow of doubt, in my opinion, that the most unfortunate thing that ever happened to Ncav Zealand, was the appointment for the second time of Sir George Grey, as Governor. I main- tain — and my opinion is borne out by many men of that day — that, had we had any other Governor, the war would have been far more speedily brought to an end ; and many valuable lives and a 8 PERSONAL OBSERVATION vast amount of treasure would have been saved. It is not my intention, in this present little work, to go into the history of the war, but only to relate various incidents which occurred under my personal obser- vation, and the truth of which I can vouch for; and hence I am giving to tliis hook the name, 'SOME HOME TRUTHS HE THE MAOEI WAU 18G3 TO 18G9.' CIIArTER II WAHNINGS NEGLECTED, MUllDEll OF ESCOUT I ARiiiVED in New Zealand in June, 18G1, and joined II. M. 57tli P^egiment as Captain, liavini^ exchanged into it from II.M. 29tli Regiment. The war in New Zealand had then closed ; and Ave were snj)posed to he at peace with the natives ; tliongh, no donht, a great feeling of dis- content existed among them at that period, and it was unsafe for EuropCeans to travel in the country occupied hy Kingite ^laoris at that time. The Maoris had a King of their own in Waikato ; and the various trihes down to "Wellington furnished supporters to the King move- ment, and w(^re called ' Kingites.' Our troops in Taranaki, during the year 1862, were quartered in different redouhts, lO BISHOP SELWYN north and sontli of New Plvmonth, for the i^rotection of that town, in the event of the natives rising again. It was ahont this period that Te Ua, a Maori 2)ro})het, started the new religion, named ' Ilau ' ; and his discij^les were called ' Ilanhaus.' This religion so Avorked npon the feelings of the natives that thev hecame fanatics : and those who formerly had snch power over the natives, lost it. In 18G2, the natives estahlished a toll gate at Tata- raimaka, twelve miles soiitli of N(mv Plymouth, and would not allow any one to pass, without j)aying a toll. Bishop Selwyn, who tried to go among the natives tliere, was stopped by them, as lie himself told me, evidently feeling it most keenly ; for, during the whole of his career, he had never before been stopped from going wherever he pleased, and that noblest and grandest of men felt that the influence he had hitherto exercised over the natives had vanished. In April. 18G3 two companies of the 57tli E-egiment, under the command of 1 1 THE MAORI WAR Captain Wooclall, occupied a rcdouLt at Tataraimaka, and two companies of the same regiment, under tlie command of myself, garrisoned the redoubt at Poutoko, half way hetAveen that post and the town of New Plymouth. On April 27th, a native chief, known as Boh Ilurangi, brought me a letter for Sir George Grey, the Governor, who was at New Plymouth, warning him that the natives from the Kaitake ranges had laid an ambuscade midway between the two redoubts. I myself sent an orderly in with that letter to Sir George Grey, and stopped the settlers from going between the redoubts. Sir George Grey took no notice whatever of this warning ; and that very day week, ]May 1th, 18G3, the natives laid another ambuscade at the same sjiot, and, unfor- tunately, caught an escort of eight of the 57th Eegiment, who happened to be going into Kew Plymouth on duty. Lieu- tenant Tragett and Assistant- Surgeon Hope of the 57tli Pegiment were ridhig just in front of the escort, never dreaming 12 ATTACK ON ESCORT for one moment tliat there was anv damper, when they and the escort were suddenly fired npon hy the natives, Assistant- Surgeon Hope l)eing killed ])y the first volley. The escort, though loaded, were not capped ; for, though the natives were in an unsettled state, no one expected an immediate outhreak. Lieutenant Tragett went back and at once took command of the escort, hut the second volley killed more men, and wounded him. lie then held wp a white handkerchief, hoping to save the remainder ; hut, in S2:)ite of that, they and he were all killed, excepting Private Kelly, who ran into some high fern, and thus escaj^ed to tell the doleful tale. Had Sir George Grey taken notice of the warning that Boh Ilurangi sent him, through me, on Ajiril 27tli, aiul warned the troops to 1)e prepared for such an attack, that massacre, I maintain, would never have taken place. Such was the commencement of the war 13 THE MAORI WAR of 18G3. I gave up the command of the Poutoko redoubt on Aj^ril 30tli, and on May 1th Sir J). A. Cameron was good enougli to place me on his stalf as his extra aide-de-camp. H CHAPTEE III "UNWAKHANTABLE INTElirEEENCE WITH GENERAL CAMERON EY THE GOVEKNOJl SIR GEORGE GREY An expedition was iinmediatelj' organised for the punishment of these murderers, who occupied a position in the Kaitake ranijes, and who, it has since hccn ascer- tained, were tlien in no way prepared to resist an attack. JN'o expense liad heen spared in completing the necessary arrange- ments : and the General had evervthinir in perfect order. The corps "WTre told oil' for their diil'crent duties ; and the 57th Ptegiment, who 'w^ere most keen to avenge the death of their comrades — for tlu^v looked upon it as nothing short of niurd(n' — Avere detailed to lead the attack. The THE MAORI WAR force Avas to inarcli at iiiglit, and surround the native settlement in the rancres before the break of day. It bcin"* a drizzlinc^ rain at tlic time, the Aveather AA^as exactly AA^liat AA'as AA^anted for this particular AA^ork, and no force could have been in better spirits, or more fit to carry it out. On the night these arrangements AA^ere made, I AA^as dining alone AA'ith the General in his tent. About 8 o'clock, just as aa^c had finished dinner, an orderly arriA^ed from NcAV PIa" mouth, AAdtli a letter for the General from the GoA'ernor, Sir George Grey. That letter, the General read to me. The purport of it AA'as this : ' Charles BroAA^n, the Superintendent of Taranaki, has just come to see me. He tells me that the toAA^n of Ncaa^ Plvmouth is in o^reat danger, and he feels sure that unless you come back at once to defend it, the AA'omen and children Avill be massacred ; so he hopes you aa^II not attack Kaitake, but come back immediatelv to Ncaa^ Ph'^mouth. The Eclipse (a man of AA^ar) cannot co- operate, on account of the drizzling rain, i6 PRESS CRITICISM so I hopo you will rctuni at onc(^, without attacking." Such Avas the purport oi' tlu^ letter road to mc by the General. I made no remark as to what I thought the General shouhl do, hut I sincerely hoped he Avouhl not obey the Governor, but that lie would attack Kaitake first, and go in afterwards to IS'ew^ Plymouth. The Genc^ral com- plained bitterly of the manner in Avhich ho was interfered with, after he had formed his plans, but in face of such an urgent appeal, did not attack, and the next day, marched the force back to New Ply mouth, much to the disgust of every one ; for all felt it very keenly. It was not to be avou- dered at that the Press took tlie matter up very bitterly and did not spare the Imperial troops or the General in their criticism. I must noAv take my readers Avith me to the year 1886. In ]\Iay of that year I happened to l)e staying at the "Wellington Club, in the toAvn of "Wellington; ^Fr Charles BroAvn, the ex-Superintendent of B 17 THE MAORI WAR Taranaki, Avas staying* there also. The siil)jcet of the Maori war cropped up, and Mr Charles Brown expressed his contempt for the action of the Imperial troops on this particular occasion ; I naturally was aroused at such an attack, and told those who were present in the room, that he, Mr Charles Brown, was the cause of the troops coming hack to New Plymouth, as he was in such a mortal fright, that he went to the Governor, and hegged him to recall the troops, and not let them attack Kaitake. Mr Charles Brown looked ahsoliitely diimhfounded, and when I told him of the letter from Sir George Grey to General Cameron, which I had heard read, he said : * I will swear I never went near him, that I never told him anything of the sort ; on the contrary, it was I who wrote so hitterly against the troops.' My readers can imagine how indignant I felt ; so highly indignant, that I wrote the following letter to my res^^ected General : — i8 FRUSTRATED PLANS Wellingtox Club, WiiLi.ixaTox, N. Z., May 2?,rd, 1886. My dear Sir Duncan, Thongli many years have passed since I had the pleasure of addressing yon, a little event occurred last night at tlie club here, which I am sure you will be interested to hear. 1 need hardly say I have always i'onght the battles of my old and most respected chief, as against Sir George Grey. I can never forget the little episode that happened at Oaknra, in May 1863, about ten days after the murder of our poor fellows on the beach, when you had everything in perfect order, favoured also by a drizzling rain, for tlie attack on the Kaitake Ranges, which, however, was prevented by a letter which yon received from Sir George Grey, at 8 o'clock on the night before the morning on which the premeditated attack was to take place at break of day. In that letter, which you received while I was dining Avitli }-ou alone, and which you read to me, Sir George Grey wrote tliat Charles Brown, the Superintendent of Taranaki, had told him that the town of New Plymouth was in great danger and that he expected au immediate attack ; and that, consequently, you must come back at once, and on no account make the attack on Kaitake, as he felt sure the women and children of New Plymouth would be massacred ; and he also wrote that the Eclipse could nut 19 THE MAORI WAR co-operate on account of the weatlier. Charles Brown was here Jast evening, and says he never said anything of the sort. This adds, 1 have no doubt, to numerous other incidences of a like nature, but I feel it my duty, as your late extra A. D. C, to make my report, though so many years have rolled by. To this letter I received the following reply :— Cambridge House, Kidbrook, Blackheath, Sej)tcmher ^th, 18{?G. My dear Colonel Gorton, It was very kind of you to give me the information contained in your letter of May 23rd, which I must apologise for having taken so long to answer. I remember the circumstances to which you refer, and I was not in the least surprised to hear that the reasons alleged by Sir G. Grey, for recalling me to New Plymouth, had no foundation in truth. It was just like him ; but after such a lapse of time, it is not worth while my taking any notice of it ; I was very unfortunate in serving under a Governor * * * * who was constantly interfering with my plans, and giving orders to officers under my command, at variance with the instructions they had previously received from me. As an instance of the mischief caused by this kind of interference : When I dispatched a force to Tauranga, with in- 20 THAT FORMIDABLE PAH structioDS to patrol the country round constantly, so as to prevent the natives from constructing a pah in the neighbourhood of the settlement, Sir G. Grey, without my knowledge, gave strict orders to the officer commanding, on no account to move out of his redoubt, not ecen if he loere attacked ; the consequence of which was that the Maoris were allowed to construct that formidable pah,* the assault of which cost us the lives of so many officers. After its capture, I again gave the same instructions to Colonel Greer, who in one of his patrols, came suddenly upon the JMaoris as they were in the act of commencing the construction of another pah, and attacked and defeated them with great loss. The same thing occurred in regard to the Mataitawa pah at New Plymouth ; which I was urging Colonel AVarre to attack, and which he was ready to do, when I learned from him that he had received orders from Sir G. Grey prohibiting him from doing so. Tlicse acts of Sir G. Grey seem not to be generally known ; at least, they have not been noticed by any of those who have written accounts of the war. * * » * Among other misstatements in Mr. Kusden's histor;/, he asserts that I asked for a force of six thousand men, to attack the Wereroa pah ; 1 happen to have in my possession a copy of the letter I wrote to Sir G. Grey on the subject, taken at the time by Colonel Dean Pitt, and in it, the correct number, * This was the Gate Pah in tlie Tauranira distrii-t. 21 THE MAORI WAR two thousand, is <^iven. In all my letters this is the number I invariably specified, not that even that number was necessary for the mere attack and caj)ture of a j)ah, but because it could not be effectually blockaded with a smaller force, and I considered it perfectly useless to undertake operations against a pah, without a chance of taking prisoners, or inflicting some loss on the garrison. Another mischievous interference of Sir G. Grey was his stupid release of the prisoners taken by me at Rangiriri, which placed us in a most helpless position, as we did not dare to follow them up, on account of the settlers in the north, whose lives were entirely at their mercy ; and all operations were necessarily suspended, until they went back to their own lands ; but the most surprising part of Sir G. Grey's proceedings was that, after obstructing in the way I have mentioned operations urgently necessary, he all at once became most warlike, carrying the war (most unjustifiably, in my opinion) into a part of the country hitherto undis- turbed, and of such a nature that no advantage could possibly be gained, without indefinitely pro- longing the war. After four or five years of desultory w^arfare, the destruction of whole settle- ments, and the loss of many gallant officers and men, the Maoris recovered possession of all the land taken from them, including the celebrated Wereroa pah, and drove the Colonial Forces back 22 PUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE to tl]e town of Waiignnui ; so tliat ad'airs were in a worse state tliaii when 1 left the Colony. So much for Sir G. Grey's management of affairs, for which he has been so belauded by Mr Kusden, and others. I am glad to hear j'oa are doing so well, and with my best wislies, Believe me, Very sincerely yours, D. A. Cameron. I forgot to say that the error relative to the force I required to attack the Wereroa pali, ap})ears in the published correspondence between the Governor and myself ; and how it got tliere, I cannot con- ceive. It was pointed out to me by one of my A. D. C.'s on the voyage home, but 1 thought it too absurd to take any notice of it. — D. A. C. I considered tliis letter of sucli import- ance to tlie history of New Zeahind that I Avas much disposed to puLlish it at once, especially as I Avas also anxious to see justice done to the Imperial troops. I, hoAVCA^er, consulted an ofllcer of very hii^h rank, as to Avhether I could in honour publish it without the consent of General Cameron. He thought I could nut, and I 23 THE MAORI WAR therefore wrote for the General's consent, and received a most courteous and kind letter, asking me not to publish it, as it would, of course, give rise to a controversy, into which, being a very old man and a permanent invalid with a miserable com- plaint, he would be quite unfit to enter ; and he would like to pass the fcAv re- maining days of his life in peace and quiet- ness. I naturally adhered to his wishes, and it was not very long after this that the dear old General, who so nobly did his duty to his Queen and country, j^^ssed away. Sir George Grey has also passed away, but in justice to my late respected General, in justice to the Army, both of Avhich were so abused for faults that were not theirs, I feel I am j)erfectly justi- fied in publishing the corresj^ondence now, to be recorded as facts of New Zealand history. To make the evidence complete, however, I wrote to Mr Charles Brown a year or two ago, to sul)stantiate in writing what took place at the club in Wellington in 24 THE GENERAL^S DEFENCE 1886. The following is a copy of a letter he sent to me in reply : — New Plymouth, Decemhcr 20tJi, 1807. Dear Colonel Goeton, — I now reply to yours of NovemLer 3r(I, sent on to me in Wellington. When you told me at the AVellington Club, on May 22nd, 1886, the reason that Sir G. Grey gave to General Cameron for asking him to luring back the troops to New Plymouth it was the first time that I had heard any reason given ; and I was astonished at the Governor liaving given me (then Superintendent of the Province, and commanding the Militia) as his authority for saying that 1 expected an immediate attack on New Plymouth, and praying that the troops might be sent back at once to New Plymouth, otherwise I felt sure the women and children would be massacred. This statement of Sir G. Grey had not one atom of truth in it ; 1 never spoke to him on any native or other (piestion, always going to IMinisters, of whom there were two here, Domett and Bell ; and I never heard that the natives intended to attack the town at that time, or at any other after General Cameron assumed the command. I have recently seen Major Parris about it, and he never heard of an intended native attack on the town at that time. 1 believe Sir G. Grey was not usually wanting in courage, but 25 THE MAORI WAR it is evident tluif, at that time, lie was in a state of panic, as lie ordered the Koyal Artillery guard on the ammunition and other stores at Mount Elliott to go and protect his quarters at Cudlipps, and the Volunteer guard under Captain H.A. Atkinson, that was over the boathouse, to take up the Artillery guard at Mount Elliott. lie asked Cai)tain Bulkley to show liim how to load a revolver, but his hands trembled so much, he could not do it. Parris thinks that the massacre of Hope and Tragett and their escort, ten days before, had completely unhinged Sir G. Grey for the time, possibly from the fact that it might not have taken place, if Sir George had not turned a deaf ear to the warnings of Major Parris and the friendly natives, that an ambuscade would be placed there on that day ; and yet he assured General Cameron, in the presence of Mr Gorst and ]\Iajor Parris, that these stories were all lies, and it was on this assurance that General Cameron and his staif were riding out to Tataraimaka, and, I have understood, saw from the Oakura Camp the volley of the ambuscade at Wairau that killed all but one of the party under Lieutenant Tragett, and where General Cameron would have been, if he had been a little earlier. As to myself and my family on that night, we slept, as we always did, in the ofiicial residence outside the lines, within which were Sir G. Grey's quarters, and where my adjutant, Captain Stapp, 26 A LOST OPPORTUNITY with Lis family, lived tliruii.i;h()iit. tlic \v;ir, iiiid does so now, a fjiiarter of a mile fmllier (nit aiill, without feeling- any anxiety about our uives and children. Yours ever truly, CiiAULEs Drown. As it turns out, had we made the attach' on the Kaitake ranges as arranged, Ave "vvoukl have found the phice completely unguarded ; and, from the position the natives Avere in, they must have all l)een killed or taken 2^1'isoners. At that time such a success might possil)ly have saved the country from Avliat afterAvards hecame a most costly Avar, hoth in the loss of most A^aluahle lives, and of a vast amount of treasure. 27 CHAPTER IV ACTION OF KATIKABA In the beginning of June, 18G3 General Cameron organised another expedition, comprising a battery of Artillery, detacli- ment of Royal Engineers, the 57th, portion of G5th, and 70th Regiments ; and on the fourth of that month he fought the action of Katikara, named after a small river running past the Tataraimaka redoubt, about three miles from which tlie enemy had thrown up a redoubt on a high hill commanding the Katikara. The Artillery opened fire wdth their Armstrong guns on the redoubt at break of day from the north side of the river, and II. M. S. Eclipse shelled the same position from the sea, about four miles distant. Colonel Warre, commanding the 57 th 28 A SHARP ENGAGEMENT Regiment, with a portion of tlu^ HTtli and 65tli Regiments, crossed tlie Katikara, and advanced in skirmishing order against the enemy's rifle pits, under cover of the guns, supported hy the remainder of tlie 57th Regiment, under Colonel Logan. The rifle pits Avere found unoccupied, the enemy having concentrated their forces in the redouht and in the hi^li fern on the sides and hehind it. Colonel Logan's reserve then hecame the attacking party, charged, and carried the position at the point of the hayonet. Seeing the change of movement, General Cameron sent me at once to hring up the 70th Regiment, under Colonel ^Mulock, to support the 57th Regiment ; but hefore they came up, the latter regiment had got possession of the redouht. On counting the dead we found twentv- tAvo of the enemy, the casualties on our side being ten wounded. Tlie dead were laid out in a line for the inspection of the Governor, Avho had come down in II. M. S. Eclipse. They Avere an exceptionally fine 29 THE MAORI WAR body of men, but, unfortunately, Avcre not those who had murdered the escort a month heforc, hut had come from the ujiper Wanganui river, to assist those who were fighting against us. The men Avhom we were particularly anxious to punish were still occu2')ying the Kaitake ranges, seven miles farther north. What I particularly noticed ahout this engagement was, that our men could see so little to lire at, as the enemy, who were not in the rcdouht, were concealed in the high fern surrounding it on three sides ; a constant fire was kept up at the redouht and high fern, where the enemy was pre- sumed to he, with the result ahove told. The fern was so high that, when I was helping to collect the dead, I found one hody not ten yards from the redouht, which I could not see. The enemy heat a hastv retreat, and did not trouble us again in that locality for some time. 30 CHAPTER V NARROW ESCAPE FROM AN A:\rRrSCADE The wounded were sent on board 11. ]\[. S. Eclipse, which steamed for New Plymouth, taking the Governor, General, and all the staff excepting myself ; I was left to see that the horses belonging to the staff were taken back to New Plymouth ; they were ridden by the servants and orderlies of their respective owners. Surgeon !Mac- kinnon (afterAvards Sir AV. Mackinnon, and chief of the medical department) rode with me, and Mr Parris, native commissioner, and Lieutenant Per^-usson of the Roval Engineers, formed a portion of the mounted party — in all, thirteen. Colonel Warre took command of the troops, and marched them into Ncav Plymouth. Our mounted party were 31 THE MAORI WAR al)oiit. a mile in front of the column. We luul not proceeded four miles Avlien I met tAvo mounted orderlies coming toAvards us at full gallop. I stopped tliem and inqiiired the reason for their riding so hard, when I was informed that they ■were carrying a dispatch for the officer commanding the column, which was to he delivered to him as soon as possihle. They particularly mentioned there was no danger, yet suhsequently I found out that this dispatch was warning the officer command- ing the column, that the natives from the Kaitake ransres had sent twelve men down o and laid an ambuscade on the high ground commanding the sea-heach, Avhere we were riding, at the very spot where these men had murdered our escort a month before ; and when I stopped these orderlies, I was only about a hundred and fifty yards from the ambuscade. Being told there was no danger, we simply walked our horses into the teeth of the ambuscade. Dr Mackinnon and myself were the last two, and as we 32 AN AMBUSCADE got to tlio Waii'au stream, I asked Dr Mackinnon to sliow me where poor Tragett fell, and just as we turned our horses to the spot, we received a volley from the enemy from a cliff a1)ove us ahout thirty yards distant, followed by a second volley, and not one of the thirteen was hit. One man, however, was thrown, and Mr Parris, Lieutenant Fergusson, R.E., l)r Mac- kinnon, and myself, after our horses had recovered from the fright caused hy these sudden volleys, returned to cover his retreat ; hut the enemy, directly tliey delivered their fire, retired to the ranges and we could not get up the clilf to follow them. We did not bless the officer Avho sent this dispatch, who certainly ought him- self to have sent out some of his men from the Oakura redoubt, A\']iere he Avas stationed, to cut olf these men, which could easily have been done, instead of sending men to warn the column on the march, and absolutely allowing those orderlies to pass within thirty yards of the ambuscade c 33 THE MAORI WAR ill place of instructing them to keep well out to sea, and run the gauntlet at a much longer range ; Avhile the orderlies them- selves, ahsurd as it is to think of, kneAV nothing whatever of the risk they were called upon to run. 34 CHAPTER VI A BIG COMMAND FOR SO YOUNG A MAN The Waikatos south of Auckland had at this time hroken out in open reljcUion, and General Cameron, accompanied l)y his stalF, went at once to Auckland, taking all the Imperial troops Avith him from Taranaki, excepting* the 57th liegiment, and carried out the Waikato campaign. Unfortunately, I had sent in my papers in December, 18G2, to retire from tlie Imperial service, for the pui'pose of settling in the province of Canterbury ; I therefore, as Avar had hroken out, offered my services to the Colonial Government, and was in July, 18G3 appointed to the command of the Wellington Militia district, with the rank of Major. To this command was immediately added that of the AVairarapa 3S THE MAORI WAR and Castlcpoint. Militia districts, covering a country al)oiit ciglity miles hy twenty, and comprising a force, Avlien all were enrolled, of fifteen hundred and sixty Militia and Volunteers. My age at that time Avas only twenty-five ; I was most fortunate, however, in coming under the control of Dr Featherston, then Super- intendent of Wellington, and general Government Agent. His exceptionally eminent services to his country must form the suhject of a special chapter. 36 CHAPTER YU CELEBRATED ACHIEVEMENTS OF DR FEATHERSTON No Look, giA'ing; an account of ijicidents in connection Avith the Maori war of 1863 to 18G9, will be complete witliout specially recording the splendid services rendered to the country hy the late Dv Peatlierston, for many years Superintendent of the Province of Wellington, who proved him- self without douht to he, not oulv one of the ahlest administrators that the colonv has ever had, hut also, hy his actions, to he an exceptionally hrave man, possessing hotli great moral and personal pluck. It was entirely owing to the possession, hy I3r Featherston, of these qualities, that tlie Wellington and Wairarapa districts were in August, 18G3 saved from Avar. 37 THE MAORI WAR I am very proud of l)eing al)lo to say I can fully bear witness to that. I see statues erected to some of Ncav Zealand's prominent men, in AYellington and else- where, but no one ever deserved a statue in Wellington itself to perpetuate his name more than Dr Featherston ; and I still hope that Wellington will rise to the occasion, and do its duty. Wellington never had such a staunch friend, and Wellington seems to have forgotten it. In July, 1863 matters were so serious, that it Avas considered necessary to call out the Militia in the Wellington and other districts for training, and I was specially sent down to take command on that account. To give an idea of the state of the district at that time, I here quote from Dr Peatherston's ofTlcial report, published in the ajipendices at the end of Proceedings of the Wellington Provincial Council. (Session XL 1861-, re Defence, pages 36 to 39, an extract bearing on that subject.) 38 AN ABSURD PANIC The Superintendent, aeeompanicd by i\Iaj(ji' Gorton (the commandant of the ]\Iilitia), h'ft ^Vc\- lington on Monday tlie ITtli. Early tliat morning a special messenger had arrived l)ringing to the Ilonouraljle Mr IMantcll, a h'ttcr addressed (o ]\Ir Bidwell by Te IManihera of the AVairarapa, stating tliat the natives intended that very day to attack the Ilntt Militia. A note to that effect from Mr Bidwell to iMr Ludlam was left at Mr Ludlam's residence at five o'clock in tlie morning. No time was lost in arousing the whule district, and in calling out the iMilitia ; antrnetions had been issued to them that they were n<>t to allow their men to l)ring out their arms, exce[jt for the purpose of drill, without the authority of the Commandant ; but the whole way u[» to the Taita, the Superintendent and ^lajor (iortou met men carrying arms. Every one of these men JNIajor Gorton accosted kindly, explaining that in carrying arms they were acting against his orders, but that he did not in the sliirhtest degree blame them, inasmuch they were obeying 39 THE MAORI WAR their own immediate officers. Arrived at the Taita, Major Gorton found the Taita Militia Company drilling in a field adjoining the road, and Major Gorton at once addressed tliem, saying : * My order was to request that you should not take your rifles away from your houses, exce})t for the purpose of training and exercise ; but I do not find fault with you, as you obeyed an order given by the Captain, contrary to my instructions. ' You must now bear in mind that you are on no account to go about the country with your rifles, unless you get an order from your Captain to do so, who will, in the event of danger, obtain an authority from the magistrate, pending approval of His Honour the Superintendent, who alone has the power to call the Militia out for actual service.' The Major had no sooner finished addressing the men, than they were dismissed, either by Captain Cleland or Captain Beetham, wlien they at once rushed to the road, and insulted in the grossest possible manner Major Gorton, on account of the remarks he had made, and the Superintendent, on account of his known friendliness to the natives. In the Upper Hutt, the panic caused by these ill-judged proceedings was almost as great ; but the men had so far cooled down, that they were asking who was to pay them for the day's work they had lost. The Superintendent induced a few refugees to turn back to their homes. When the Superintendent arrived at Featherston, he 40 LETTER TO WI TAKO foimd so many families leaving the district, that, instead of going to the lower part of the valley, the place of the meeting, he pushed on to Grey- town with a view to reassure the settlers. He ascertained, as he surmised, on liis way up to the Hutt settlers, that Manihera's letter to 31 r Bidwell was written when he was drunk, if it was not written at the instigation of a drunken l)ul)lican. It will be thus seen that the district at this time was in a very unsettled state ; and any rash action on the part of the settlers would have undoul)tedly involved it in war, which Dr Eeatherston was doing his utmost to prevent. It was at this time that Ngairo, the recognised clncf of the Kingites in the AVairarapa, wrote a letter to AYi Tako of AVaikanae, then a Kingite, calling upon him to attack the settlers at Paliautanui, while he attacked them at the Upper Ilutt. (AVi Tako sub- sequently became a most loyal native, and was for some years, and up to the time of his death, a member of tlie Legislative Council of the Colony.) The extract 41 THE MAORI WAR quoted from Dr Pcatlierston's report gives an account of our travels up to Grey- town. \Vc found the district in a state oF panic, caused hy Ngairo's lettc^r just mentioned, Avliicli j^^^'^i^ ^^'^^ somewhat increased after the notable meeting* of the Kingite natives at PapaAvai, near Grey- town, on the evening of our arrival at the latter place. Dr Peatherston went to that meeting at eight o'clock p.m., attended by Mr Warden, ll.M., Mr S. Deighton, native interpreter, and myself ; one or two settlers WTre also present. The whare in which the meeting took place contained between thirty and forty Kingites, including their chiefs, the lead- ing chief l)eing Ngairo, who Avrote tlie treacherous letter to Wi Tako, calling upon him to attack the settlers. Around the w^alls were hung about thirty guns ready for action. When you consider that there w^as at that time in the Wairarapa district a population of a thousand men, women, and children (from which I raised a force 42 CRITICAL POSITION of three liimdred and fifty Volunteers, and a few Militia), all of them unarmed, except- ing about forty who had fowling- pieces, and most of these useless ; that tlie district was fifty miles from Wellington, separated by the Rimutaka range ; and that except- ing at the mouth of a large lake in a valley near the sea, there was only one means of escape, and that by the road over this range, it will be seen that the position, to say the least of it, was most critical. It Avas then that Dr Feathcrston showed his great moral and personal j^l^^^^^- il^' knew the public were against him 1)ecaiise he did not send up an armed force at once, and he also knew that to do tliat meant war and massacre. lie relied solely on his great personal jiower with tlie natives, Kingites as well as friendlies. Tlie niagnilicent and fearless manner in which he addressed the Kingite natives will never l)e forgotten l)y those present. AVlien he tohl them that, after the treacherous letters they had written, they were not to l)e trusted, 43 THE MAORI WAR that stops would 1)0 immediately taken to protect the Europeans and friendly natives without their heing^ consulted at all, up jumped the different chiefs, each in their turn running' up and down the centre of the Avliare, some Avith a gun in their hands, all emphasising their warlike speeches hy striking their naked thighs with the palms of tlieir hands, making a report as loud as a pistol, and in a most excited manner and loud voice declaring if the Militia Avere called out, or troopers or soldiers were sent up, that evil would arise, which meant that they would fight, ending their speeches hy asking Dr Teatherston, 'When are you going to call out the Militia? When are you going to call out the trooper ? ' (meaning the Wellington Defence Porce) . ' When are you going to send up the soldiers ? ' (referring to II. M. llith Eegiment, a detachment of which was stationed at Wellington) . The culprit, Ngairo, Avas the last to speak, and the most excited of all. Dr Eeatherston then (tAvelve o'clock at night) stood up, 44 DR FEATHERSTON^S SPEECH smoking a cigar, as if iiotliiiii^' miusual Avas happening, gave a piifl" of smoke, ami replied: 'At once,' Lidding them ' Good-night.' Never to he forgotten Avere the astounded looks of the natives at his coolness. The folloAving extract is from the oIFicial report of the speech made 1)y Dr Peather- ston at this meeting, and shoA^■s liow Fear- lessly he spoke, Avhen Ave were really entirely at their mercy : — His Hononr, after stating the grounds upon which he claimed their confidence, hrielly repeated the statements he had made at Otaki ; called niton them to answer the fpiestions he Inul pnt to W'i Tako and others, to which no answer had Ijeen given ; pointed out that the result ul' the King movement had been war and bloodshed, and after Mr Deighton, by his direction, had read ]Matu- taera's,^ Wi Tako's, Ngairo's, and other letters, denounced in the strongest possilde terms the gross treachery evinced by the writers of those letters, especially dwelling upon Xuairo's k'tter ; and ended ])y demanding an explieit e.\phiuati(tti from Ngairo. Ngairo at once aduiitted that the' h-lters read ^ ^latutaera was ^laori King. 45 THE MAORI WAR were accurate ; but that Matutaera's and liis own letters in re})ly, were written in conse(|uence of tlie Militia being called out in this province, which he considered meant an attack upon the Maoris. He declared that he would not tolerate volunteers, Militia, defence force, troops, barracks, or stockades, that he would fire upon them. The Superintendent, by reference to dates, showed that Matutaera's and Ngairo's letters were written before the Militia had been called out in this province ; and replied that Ngairo's threats would not have the slightest influence upon him, that he dared him to carry out his threats ; that, after the treachery displayed in his own and other letters, he would, unless the settlers all came forward as volunteers at once, call out the Militia and arm the whole white population, that he would build stockades and place the settlers in a position to defy any attack from the Kingites ; but whatever measures he took would be simply defensive for the purpose of protecting pakehas (Europeans) and friendly Maoris ; that the first shot should be by the Kingites ; that shot fired, they must take the consequences ; that the Governor would move the troops wherever he i)leased ; the troops were not usually sent to such districts as Wairarapa, unless the peace had been broken or danger was aj^prehended ; and that therefore, as long as they remained quiet and peaceable, there would be no occasion for the troops ; that the 46 TREACHERY EXPOSED defence force was not so much a military force as a police force, to see the Queen's laws executed ; that, if they dared to carry out their threats, they would soon see the troops and the defence force coming down the iiimutaka. Mataiha said : ' Where did you get the letters yon have read to ns ? ' The Superintendent : ' I told you at Tahitarata that AVi Tako gave IMatutaora's letter to Cai)tain Edwards. If I told you how I olitained possession of the other letters, I might get certain natives into trouble with you.' Mataiha : ' Where did you get tlie information that we had discussed a j)roposal to rise and kill the settlers ? You got the information from the Governor. Who are the natives who told you that ? It is not true.' The Superintendent : ' How can you say that ? Matutaera, in his letter, calls upon you to rise and drive out the Europeans ; that means to kill the Europeans. Ngairo says, in reply to 3Iatutaera : " The canoe is prepared ; we only await the King's order to paddle it." Ngairo says : '' We are ready to rise as soon as Matutaera gives the word." AVi Tako says the same thing. No further proof of yonr treacherous designs can be required, and therefore I am prepared fur you.' I)r Ecatliorston, previous to this meeting', had interviewed the friendly natives, 47 THE MAORI WAR and tlio following' extract from liis oITicial report shows Avliat tlicir feelings Avcre about tlie safety of the district : — Ngatuere and Maniliera warned the Siiiier- intendent against believing one word the Kingites said. The}" declared that they knew that the Kingites wonld in a day or two rise and attack the settlers ; tliat the loyal natives were not safe ; that the Sn])erintendent onght to give tlieni arms and ammnnition as well as the settlers. On comincr aAvav from the meeting;, I re- marked to Dr Featlierston : ' Things look rather serious.' Dr Peatherstou replied: ' All bounce.' I then replied : * Punny bounce.' Every one at this time was dead against the action of Dr Peatherston ; but, I must say, he inspired me with implicit confidence, and what followed shows that this confidence was w^ell merited. The next day at one o'clock, when we w^erc dining at Fuller's hotel, Greytown, Wi AVaka, one of the Kin git e chiefs who had spoken at the meeting the evening 48 THREAT OF KINGITES before, brouglit a letter to Dr Peatlierston, who invited the chief to sit down to dinner, and after he had read the letter, began to chaff him about the joroposed figlit alluded to therein, jocularly asking the chief if he thought lie Avould be able to hit him. This action of Dr Peatlicrston, in treating the matter so lightly, so enraged the young chief that he dropped his knife and fork, and went straight out of the hotel without taking any dinner. I was sitting next to Dr Featlierston when this occurred, and he whispered to me : ' Come up to my bedroom ; matters are most serious.' That was tlie first time I heard him acknowledge there was any danger. The letter from the Kingitcs was to say that they would carry arms on the following Tuesday ; in other words, that they would fight. Tliis Avas on I'riday ; we had not in the district a single man armed with a rifle, and they meant fighting on Tuesday ! Before I left AVellington, I had giv^en orders for arms and ammunition to be packed ready for any emergency. D 49 THE MAORI WAR I sent for Ilastwell, the well-known coach proprietor and carrier in Greytown, and said : * Are you prepared to take an oath before Dr Featherston and myself, that you will not divulge to any oiie, your wife included, what we are going to tell you about the state of the district ? ' Having consented and taken the oath, he was made aware of the danger, and was asked if he would go at once to Wellington, by himself, and bring up fifty rifles and accoutrements, with sixty rounds of ball ammunition for each as fast as he could, without any escort, treating them simply as ordinary goods, and deliver them in Greytown to me, without a solitary soul knowing anything about it. He said he would do it, tell no one, and his price was £30; which was accepted. The arms and ammunition arrived on Sunday morning, unknown to any one. In the meantime, I formed and swore in the Greytown, Carterton, and Masterton Rifle Volunteers, and from the Greytown and Carterton Volunteers picked out 50 FEATHERSTON VOLUNTEERS fifty men to arm on Monday niorniiif^. I issued arms and ball ammunition to these men on that morning, hut was only able to teach them to load, fix havonets, and form fours. As maiiv of them had never seen a rifle before in their lives, and as during that period the cartridge, after the powder was })ut into the muzzle, had to Ije reversed, I bad great difficulty in teaching them in the one day as much as I did. On the following day — that fixed by the Kingites as the day on which they were to carry tbeir arms — I marched these volunteers witli llxed bayonets through Greytown. The Kingites were so dumbfounded at the settlers being armed in that manner, knowing they had no rifles in the district, and at Dr Peatherston's carrying out exactly what he said he would do, that they gave up the idea of fighting, and peace, thanks to Dr Feather- ston, has ever reigned in the "Wairarapa. The next day I formed and swoi'e in tlie Eeatherston Jliile Volunteers; these four corps, numbering about 350 men, all 51 THE MAORI WAR of wliom Averc at once armed and drilled, formed a battalion of rifle volunteers any commanding ofilcer might feel proud to command, being composed of men wlio were determined at all hazards to defend their homes. It was a source of satisfaction to me, in addition to receiving the thanks of the Government, to find that the work I was able to do gave satisfaction to the in- habitants of the Wairarapa and the volunteers, as is shown in the under- mentioned cutting from the Neio Zealand Advertiser, published August, 1863. Major Gorton and the Greytown Volunteers, — We stated in our Thursday's issue (August 27th,) that the conduct of Major Gorton during his progress through the Wairarapa, merited and received the warm approval of the inhabitants. We stated also that the promptitnde with which he has acted in furnishing the settlers with the means of defence, deserved the thanks of the province. It will be seen by the following address to the gallant Major from the Greytown Volunteers, dated August 27th, how well we exj^ressed the views of the settlers in that district : — 52 ADDRESS FROM VOLUNTEERS To Major Gorton, Commander Mili(i(0 and Volanteers. Sir, We, the members of the Gieytown Volunteer Corps, humbly beg you will accept our sincere thanks for the kind interest manifested by you in our district ; also for the energy displayed in emljodying our corps, in allaying the fear that existed, and placing us in a position to protect ourselves and our homes. We also feel proud in having one at our head in whom we can place implicit confidence; and furthermore hope that in us you will always find men wlio are ready when wanted. We have the honour to lo, Sir, The Greytown Eifle Corps. Dr Peatlierston also behaved with very great Lravery in the campaign on the west coast under Major-General Sir Trevor Clinte in 186G, as is chnirlv sliown in the following copy of a letter from the General to the Governor of Xew Zealand in 1873, recommending Dr Eeatherston for the decoration of the New Zealand Cross. Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall, London, Fehnianj \st, 1n73. To His Excellency the Goveknoh of New Zealand. Sni, I deem it my duty to bring under the notice of your Excellency and Government the di&tin- THE MAORI WAR gnislied and valuable services rendered to the Colony daring the campaign on the west coast of New Zealand in the early part of tlie year 18G6 by Dr I. E. Featherston, late Sn])orintendent of "Wellington, and now Agent-General for the Colony in Great Britain. I have the honour to state for your information that this officer, who volunteered to accom2)any me on the expedition and to take cliarge of the native allies, rendered me valuable and important assistance in every respect, and was on all occasions most conspicuous for his bravery and gallantry. He was present at the capture and destruction of the following pahs : — viz. Okotuku, Putahi, Otapawa, Ketemarae, and Waikoko, and accompanied me in the march round Mount Egmont. I venture to bring more particularly under the notice of your Excellency and Government the intrepid devotion of this officer to the public service on the occasion of the assault and capture of that almost impregnable stronghold, the Otapawa pal], the occupants of which were under the delusion that it could not be taken. The conspicuous gallantry displayed by this officer at the storming of that pah, in leading the native contingent into action, almost at the sacrifice of his own life, not only elicited my warmest approbation, but the admiration of the whole force present on that memorable occasion. As I have already acknowledged in my dispatches 54 ACTION OF OTAPAWA the eminent f-ervices rendered to me by Dr Featlierston tlirougliout the campaign, 1 now consider it my imperative duty to recommend this officer in the strongest terms I'or the distinctive decoration of the New Zeahind Cross, in recognition of his meritorious and intrepid services during the period referred to, and more particularly at the storming and capture of that formidable pah, Otapawa, where I must in truth say Dr Featherston so exposed himself in the service of his Queen and country as to become, as it were, a target for the enemy's fire, thus, by his noble example, stimulating the courage of the native allies. I deem it my duty to make this recom- mendation under Clause 5 of the regulations ordained in that behalf by Order in Council, dated March 10th, 1809, and published in the JSetv Zealand Gazette of Marcli 11th, ISGO (No. 14). 1 have the honour to be, etc., Trevor Chute. I must here mention tliat I Avent to tlie camp the day after the action of Otapawa to see General Chute, and I heard that Dr Featherston led the natives into action at Otapawa in his dressing-gown, with a cigar in his mouth, having no weapon whatever with which to defend himself. 55 THE MAORI WAR I think I have noAV proved tliat the Lite Dr Featherston was in every sense oC the word a truly courageous man, and that no history of the NeAV Zeahmd A\'ar wouhl he complete without his gallant services heing prominently mentioned; and I yet hojoe to see the day when a suitahle statue will he erected in the city of Wellington to his memory. I have not attempted to deal here Avith his political life, excepting where it led to his carrying out military measures ; hut his purely political life, ex- tending over a period of a great many years, deserves, if j^ossihle, a greater amount of praise ; in fact, you may say nearly his whole life was most unselfishly devoted for the sole henefit of his adopted country, and if he had a fault, it was the ahsolute neglect of his private concerns for the sake of his puhlic duties — a hrilliant example for our puhlic men of the present day, not folloAved. He was acknoAvledged to he one of the most honourahle and powerful politicians New Zealand ever had, and thouii^h he was onlv once for a short S6 FIRST AGENT. GENERAL time a Cabinet Minister, he was alwaA's consulted by all Ministries, and was looked upon as a great power Ijehind tlu^ tlirone. lie ended his brilliant career as Xew Zealand's tirst Agent-General in London, which position he lield at tlie time oT his death. 57 CHAPTER VIII THANKLESS OFFICE OF A DEFENCE MINISTER In July, 1865 I was sent to "Wanganui to proceed to Pipiriki with Major Pookes, com- manding the Wanganui district, and another officer, to inquire into the mutinous con- duct of a portion of the force stationed at Pipiriki. On my arrival at AVanganui, the natives at AYereroa were causing so much anxiety that Major Pookes dared not leave the district ; so I went to Pij)iriki as President of the Court, accompanied hy Major Nixon and Captain II. I. Jones of the Wanganui Militia as memhers. The trip up to Pipiriki, sixty-five miles up the Wanganui river, in canoes manned hy Maoris was most enjoyahle. On our arrival there, we carried out our duties, 58 ATTACK ON PIPIRIKl and the men whose conduct we inquired into were detained as prisoners, pending the decision of Government as to their disposal. When avc Avere at Pipiiiki ^lajor Brassey, commanding the OLit])Ost, had no reason to exj)ect an immediate attack i'rom the enemy, hut we had not h4*t Pipiriki more than tliree hours Avlien the natives completely surrounded that 'anui Cavalrv to Gottv's farm. We had to ride up rather a steep gully, Avitli hush on each side, which Avas done at a gallop, each of us having a loaded revolver in our hands. Directly I arrived there I saAv it was a false alarm, as the sheep were quietly grazing around the house. It v\'as moonlight, and on my calling out, Mrs Gotty (]\Ir Gotty being absent from home) was exceedingly astonished to see, on putting her head out of an upstairs window, three mounted men Avith revolvers in their hands. I then told her AA'liy I had come, and asked if any Maoris had been there. At first she said, ' No,' then it suddenly daAvned upon her. ' Yes,' she said, ' Maori shearers arc here ; Averc A^ery 88 PICKET PRACTICE drunk, and have Leon yellinii' out.' This accounted for wliat the cavah-y })atrol heard, and shows ^vliat a sim})le thing' often causes an ahirni, Avhcn in tlic ncigli- hourhood of an enemy. I went hack at once to Wanganiii, lioping to reach the town l)efore any ahirni had heen given ; hut unfortunately the report soon spread, and I found many taking their families to the harracks for safety ; the minds of these, however, I speedily relieved. The detachment of the 18th llegiment did not move out of the harracks, hut aAvaited events, and Captain Dawson told me he felt horrihlv dis2:usted he Avas not allowed to send out aii advance picket, when the news first came in, hut liis in- structions Avere most explicit. This false alarm was an exc(dh'ut i)rac- tice for my picket, Avhich Avas duly posted under the command of Lieutenant AV. 1\ llussell, Wanganui Militia; hut liad there heen real cause for alarm, and an attack made on the toAvn, Avhat an exceedingly 89 THE MAORI WAR false and cruel position it Avas to place any Imjicrial troojis in. Under sucli cir- cumstances, their duty, in spite of the self- reliant policy, ought to have heen, imme- diately on the first alarm, to send out the advance picket, to bear the brunt of the attack, instead of allowing, as would have been the case, this to be done by untrained militiamen, Avho were sent to the most advanced post. Lucky indeed it was a false alarm. The Wereroa redoubt, which was for a few Aveeks held by the Wanganui Militia, was evacuated by Colonel Whitmore, and all the commissariat stores were destroyed ; and our troops gradually retired to West- mere, a few miles from Wanganui. Until January, 1869, when Colonel Whitmore returned from the east coast, whither, a short time before, he had been sent with a force on account of the Poverty Bay massacre, no further real advance on the Avest coast Avas made ; but the district, in the interim, AA^as Avell defended by the Colonial troops, the Kai-lAvi Cavalry, under 90 BRYCE V, RUSDEN Lieutenant 13ryce (siiljsequeiitly Native Minister), doing good service. It was diirini^ this interim that the skirmish took 2)h\ce, ^\luch led to the most unjustifiahle and cruel persoiial attack against Lieutenant Eryce, hy ^Mr lUisden in his work on New Zealand, wliicli re- sulted in the historical lihel action of Hryc*' V. Husden, tried in London iiiidcr Jiaron Iluddleston, where the jury, after retir- ing fifteen minutes, found a vei'dict for the Ilonourahle John Bryce Avith CoOOO damages. The ilonourahle John Brvce, Avho was Native Minister in tlie late Sir ILxrrv Atkinson's Ministry, is another of Ncav Zealand's good men; and he A\as of all men the last that should have heen altackiul in this manner, as he was exceptionally straightforward in all his dr)iiigs, and Avould have heen the lirst man to j)iLt dow n anything approaching to unfairness or cruelty in war. The Parihaka hloodless campaign of ISSl redounds immensely to his credit, for th(.' 91 THE MAORI WAR natives under Te Wliiti, a Maori prophet possessing great influence, had asseml)led in hirge numhers, Avitli the iigliting* chiefs, Titokowaru and Tohu, at Parihaka on the west coast, and were determined to retake the confiscated lands, which had heen allotted to the settlers, and tliev went so far as to commence ploughing up their land. The expeditious gathering together of a consideral3le force of armed constahulary and Volunteer Corps from various parts of the Colony, hy the Honourahle John Bryce, under his personal superintendence, so overwhelmed Te Whiti, that Titokowaru, Tohu, and Te Wliiti, surrendered Avithout a shot heing fired, and were taken prisoners for unlawfully assemhling. I consider the tactics shown here are as good as anything which has heen done in New Zealand ; and the fact of this heing a hloodless campaign is all the more to Mr Bryce's credit, it heing entirely due to the very prom2:)t measures taken hy him ; for tlie natives were so surj^riscul hy such a large force suddenly surrounding 92 PROMPT MEASURES them, that they saAV tliat tlicir attempting to rebel was useless, and gave in. Had half-measures been taken, the result would, without douht, have been war, carrying with it a considerable loss of life and treasure, 93 CHAPTEE XII NEW SYSTEM OF FEEDING TROOPS IN FIELD SUCCESSFULLY TllIED In 1868 I was ordered to undertake, in addition to my duties as Commander of the Wanganui Militia district, tlie equip- ping and feeding of the Colonial troops on the Avest coast, in other words ; to estahlish a commissariat department. This Avas at the time of the withdraAval of the Imperial troops, and just before the commencement of the war with Titokowaru. Though the system adopted by the Imjierial commissariat for feeding troops in the field Avas successful so far as the actual rationing of the men AA^as concerned, yet from Avhat I heard and saAA% I found sufficient to satisfy myself that there A\^as a AA^anton and disgraceful AA^aste of stores, 94 GOVERNMENT STORES the loss of which fell ujion tlie country, and that the cost of the rations — one shilling and eightpcncc per man — Avas a great deal more than it would 1)0 imdcr a system of contract, Avhich, moreover, would entail on the Government no risk of loss, or of this Avaste, and would, hesides, do away witli the opportunity for hrihery and corruption, of which, I am afraid, advantage was taken. My experience is that, in all countries, the Government stores are treated witli feeling, 'they only helong to th(^ Goveru- ment,' and what liecomes ot them is a matter of little moment to any one. In some cases, the check over them is a little more stringent than others; in many, the losses are covered l)v Courts of IiKiuirv. Cash, very properly, must always 1)(3 accounted for to the uttermost farthing, and an audit department is always main- tained to see that this is carried out ; and yet, curiously enough, the mnnuMit cash leaves the right hand and is converted into stores in the left, that severe and proper 95 THE MAORI WAR check ceases, and Avliat becomes ot' tlie stores in many cases is left to chance ; and hence, great loss. No one could have had better means of ascertaining this than I had from my experience as Inspector of Stores of the Colony, first military only, then civil and military, from 1869 to 1878, when I instituted a system, Avhereby every article of stores both civil and military, pur- chased with public money was traced to a store account, and thereafter accounted for to me as Inspector of Stores. I could give very substantial proofs of my asser- tion, but that is going away from the subject of this book. I shall not say more than that, on one occasion, when making my first inspection of a store, I found about 150,000 feet of timber in a yard, not a foot of which was kej^t account of, nor had been for years previous. The timber was in charge of a carpenter, whose pay Avas twelve shillings per diem. Curiously enough, not far from the timber yard this carpenter owned some land, on 96 THE COMMISSARIAT wliich lie had erected two trood wooden dwelling' houses — a wonderful saving out of twelve shillings per diem. I need hardly say the expenditure after this was strictly accounted for. The Imperial commissariat purchased in hulk, and issued rations therefrom in detail, therefore ran the risk of all damage to stores in transit, and had to keep up a largo transport service ; furtlier, being Government stores, they were not treated with the care that would have been em- ployed if they had belonged to a private individual. In consequence of this, I determined to try the following system : — I called for tenders for supplying a full ration to the troops in the lield, wherever they Avere, within a radius of twenty miles from a given centre ; that centre to be the head-quarters of the contractor, at Avhich he had to keej) a month's supply of rations for the Avhole force, subject to my inspec- tion at any time ; failure in maintaining this amount to entail a fine of a thousand pounds, and two capable sureties had to G 97 THE MAORI WAR enter into a bond for that amount. I had to find the escort for the contractor's men, when I considered such was required. In January, 18G9 Colonel Whitmore took the field with a force of 1200 men, which were at times subdivided into Hyo or six d liferent camps, according to the nature of his operations. I accompanied the field force for nearly three months, performing the duties of Acting Quarter- master-General, and rationed the force under this new system. Nothing could have answered better ; the troops Avere always well fed, they were never a day short of rations, and whenever the force was detained more than a couple of days, the contractor had to joi-^^ i^^P ovens and bake bread for the men ; and more tlian once I had baker's bread packed to the men while they were fighting in the bush. All the stafi" I had for this force, was a quartermaster, an assistant- quartermaster, and an issuer for each camj). The issuers' duties were to receive from the contractor the rations for their respective 98 RATION CONTRACT camps (tlircc days' supply at a time), and issue tliem daily to the men, and to take charge of ammunition and other stores required for the use of the force in their camps. By this system the transport was greatly reduced, and I Avas ahle with seventeen two-horse teams to carrv all the ammunition and camp equipage for this force. The contract price paid for that was fifteen shillings per diem, for each two-horse team, driver included, they finding them- selves in rations and forao^e ; and I had the right of using these transport horses, when required, for pacldng tlie rations to the men in the bush. The ruiion contractor hv this svstem bore all the burden and expense of carting the rations, and driving the live stock with the armv ; and anv loss or waste fell upon him. The cost of this ration to the Government, Avas in the first district, one shilling and four pence per man, as compared \\\\\\ one shilling and eight pence, the cost ot* the ration under the Imperial commissariat. The contract in the second district was 99 THE MAORI WAR even lower, being*, if I renicmher rii^litly, only tenpence per ration ; but this was on account of the contractor in that district being given the sole right of keeping the canteens at the different camps, A\'hen stationary. The men at that time were charged one shilling and sixpence per day for their rations, so the real cost to the country was less than the rates just quoted. When, however, later on, the force Avent into the interior of the island, the cost of feeding the troops was much more expensive, but the men were only charged the same rate. Another great advantage of this system was that I was enabled, four days after the end of each month, to send to the audit office, complete returns of the receipt and expenditure of the rations of the whole force ; and no rations Avere ever lost. Of course, this system can only be carried out advantageously Avlien in fairly settled districts. In the interior, where no settlers resided, the system in use by the Imperial commissariat had to be resorted to. lOO CHECK ON CONTRACTORS I had to be most particular that the contractors always kept the full amount of reserve at the head-quarters of each district. In one instance I found such was not done, and T gave t^Aclve hours' notice to have the stock complete, under a penalty of one thousand pounds. The stock Avas completed, and I had no trouble ever after. All contractors want thoroughly looking after, never mind wlio they are. I rememl)er, before starting this system, v/hen stores Avere procured in bulk, that, among other stores, I had to send seven hogsheads of rum to the front, five per cent, under proof. I had previously received a complaint that the rum supplied appeared weak. On this occasion, when these seven lio2:slieads were readv for shipment, I tested every one and found them tAveh^e per cent, under proof; I ordered all to be rectified before being shipped, Avhicli it took the contractor live hours to do, and I tested them again. This contractor had supplied thousands of gallons to the Imperial troops, and the man in lOI THE MAORI WAR charge said, never before had he liad his liquor tested. If such was the case (which. I doul)t), and if he treated the Imperial department as he tried to treat me, the contractor made a nice cheque hy sellinc^ water as rum. Below, I give an extract from the dis- patch sent hy Colonel Whit more to the Government, after the attack on Tauran- gaika on February 3rd, 18G9. Though the pah was abandoned during the night, still, the difhculties of feeding the army were the same ; and it will be seen that Colonel AVhitmore's dispatch gives exceptional credit to the department in that respect, proving in his opinion that the system of rationing the troox:)s by contract, was a decided success. Extract from letter from Colonel Y/hit- more to the Honourable Colonel llaultain, dated Tit oko warn' s Pah, Taurangaika. February 3rd, 1809. As there has been no real or, ratlier, serious fighting, I think it out of jilace to mention individuals, and therefore confine myself to ac- I02 LETTER OF COL. WHITMORE knowledging the clieerfal co-operation 1 liave met with from all ranks and corps thvoui^^hoat my operations. Lieutenant-Colonel Gorton, however, whose particular duties are not altered by the resistance of the enemy, does deserve that I should specially record the great assistance I liave derived from his zealous personal exertions and excellent arrangements. 103 CHAPTER XIII THE TAKING OF TAUEANGAIKA PAH AND PURTHER MOVEMENTS It was most fortunate for our force that the natives did evacuate Taurangaika pah. It was simply astonishing to see the amount of work which had heen done hy Titoko- waru's men, numhering ahout six hundred, in less than ten weeks, to fortify their position. The pah covered ahout an acre of ground, and was situated on a hill outside, hut close to the hush. Under- ground passages and rooms were dug out, so that their men were entirely protected from our shells ; and douhle palisading was erected around the whole, making the place so strong, that it is more than douhtful if we should have taken it hy storm, had they remained to defend it ; 104 TAURANGAIKA PAH we could certainly not luiA-e done so Avitliout considerable loss of life. With all their clever engineering*, they left out the most important necessity — ^vater ; they had to go outside to get it, and wlien they saw our force was sufficient Iv larii:e to surround them, they decided to vacate the position, wliicli they did in a very clever manner. Our troops at ahou.t four o'clock p.m., took up a position ahout two hundred yards from the pah, in a ditch wliieh protected them fro]n the lire of the eneniA'. AVe were so close to eacli other that conversa- tion in a loud voice Avas carritMl on 1 jet ween the enemy and ourselves, tliey calling out to us at eight o'clock at night, to come on and attack them, as they wanted to hreak- fast on us in the morning. Ai ton o'clock at night, tliey apparently made a greater noise than ever; at tlie same time, their force was clearing out at tlie l)ack into the busli ; and Avlien, at 1)reak of day, our troops rushed the position, they fuuud an empty pah. I went in myself to examine 105 THE MAORI WAR it, and owing to the numerous little com- partments leading one into another, liad some difficulty in finding my Avay out again. Had Colonel Whitmore been able to suiTOiuid the position and attack them when they came out for w^ater, the result might have been different ; but his force was chiefly composed of men avIio had previously suil'ered reverses under Lieu- tenant-Colonel IMcDonell, and Colonel Whitmore had to move with great caution at first, until he felt he could thoroughly rely upon his men. Colonel Whitmore as a commander was in many respects a success, and certainly the best we had during that period ; at the same time, it was very unfortunate that his manner at times was so offensive to his officers and his men, and also that he did not look better after the interests of his wounded. It was owing to this, that I had two serious altercations Avith him. That he was thoroughly satisfied with the manner in which my department io6 RESULT OF ALTERCATION carried out their duties, is unmistakably given in his dispatch of Pehruary 3rd, 1800, an extract from Avhich already appears in this hook ; yet, Avithin a wcM^k after that, tliougli the department carried out implicitly the orders he gave as to the number of days' rations to l>e issued to certain troops, because that did not dove- tail with his operations, he 1)lamed the department for doing exactly A\]iat he in- structed them to do ; and spoke in such violent and offensive lanp^uagi^ to the assistant-quartermaster, that the latter came to me to complain, and said he Avished to resign his appointment, Avhicli I would not hear of. On my taking the matter up, Colonel Whitmore again spoke in such an insulting manner to this olficer that I felt it my duty to interfere, and on the evidi^nce of his OAvn A.D.C., I prov(Ml my (|uarter- master Avas perfectly right on tl)i' (|uesti<)n at issue. It Avas very lamentable such an altercation did take place; the result, liow- ever, A\^as good for the force, as his manner afterwards Avas decidedly bettor toAvards I07 THE MAORI WAR them ; hut not for me, as will he hereafter shown. At this time the head -quarters of the force were at Wereroa, a high hill com- manding the AYaitotara river, and a little event occurred, which, owing to had luck, told against me. An advance was ordered, and Colonel Whitmore gave instructions to put a pon- toon hridge over the Waitotara, and to cross the guns, ammunition, and stores over the river hy that means. This meant an unnecessary delay of several hours, as, hy marching the men about four miles down the river, we could ford without any difficulty, and thus save the necessity of putting up the hridge. I pointed this out, hut received orders to carry out the instructions given, which Avere issued ac- cordin^dv, Avhen Colonel Whitmore counter- manded them, and told me that it was my work, that I was responsible, and was to do what I pleased. I then carried out what I had sug- gested, and sent the guns, ammunition, io8 FAILURE OF PLAN and stores, with a guard, to fovd the river four miles lower down, early in tlie morning. The river Avas low, and there w^as no sign of rain, l)ut during the night, though it did not rain in cam]), it did far hack in the hills, so much so that the river rose to a high flood, and though I waited for two days, I could not ford, and had to return to Wereroa, aiul carrv out the orders originally given ])y Colonel Whitmorc. His army was in front, sepa- rated from his ammunition and stores, and it exchanged a few shots w itli some of the rearguard of the enemy. It was most unfortunate, and the colonel scored heavily against me ; hut it was still more unfortunate for the wounded at Patea, as a change in the hospital arrangements took place there, which I am conlldeut never would have taken place had I heen present ; and I severely censured the principal medical officer, a\1io rode out specially to tell me, for allowing sucli a change to he made Avithout reference to the GoA^ernment, evoi tliough the com- THE MAORI WAR niandor of the troops had ordered it. The medical department was under my control, and I had to see that they received the necessaiy stores and medical comforts. The llesident Magistrate's house at Patea, comprising several good-sized rooms, had heen converted into a hospital, and several Avounded were heins; attended to there, some of them being serious cases, and yet Colonel Whitmore, when he arrived at Patea, ordered the wounded to be moved into huts with sand floors, and took pos- session of this hospital as head-quarters for himself and his staff, I being one of the number. I went immediately to Colonel Whitmore, and requested him to at once give up the building again to the wounded, but he refused, stating that he must have those quarters for II.E;.II. the J3ukc of Edin- burgh, who was daily expected in New Zealand, and would visit the camp. I still remonstrated as strongly as I could, and said I felt sure that neither lI.E/.H. the Prince of Wales nor H.ll.II. the Duke I lO REMOVAL OF WOUNDED of Edinburgh Avoiild dream of turning tlie Avoundcd out ; that tlicy couhl not remain Avhcre they Averc, ^vith the sand blowing into their wounds whiki they were Ijeiiig dressed, and that, it he Avould not give in, I must turn the settlers out of their 1)lock-liouse, Avliich had a wooden lloor. It ended in my having to do that. I went to see the wounded, and naturally they found great fault at the treatment they had received. Unfortunately I was away looking after the stores being crossed over the Waitotara ; had I been present before the wounded Avere removed, awkward position as I should have been placed in to prevent it, I feel confident this would never have happened. However, I suffered for the action I took, as will be shown later on. ll.il. II. the Duke of Edinburgh did not come to New Zealand, as he was unfcn-tunately fired at and wounded bv OTarrell in Sydney. After the enemy had evacuated Taurangaika, they lied across the AVaitotara river; our troops expeditiously followed I I 1 THE MAORI WAR them up in ilic Lusli, Colonel AVliitmore eventually overtaking and surprising tliem at Otauto, where he fought his first en- gagement in this expedition, and routed the enemy. lie sent his wounded to Patea, which ought to have had that good hospital to receive them. Colonel Whitmore followed up his success, scatter- ing Titokowaru's force. At Keteonatea he halted for a few days prior to attacking the natives at Te Ngaire, a place eight miles inland, surrounded hy what was assumed to he an impregnahle swamp, to which the larger portion of Titokowaru's army had fled. After that he determined to march his army, at the back of [Mount Egmont, to Waitara, hy the same route as Major- General Sir Trevor Chute so successfully took with the Imj^erial and native troops in 186G. The natives residing on the coast between Mount Eg- mont and the sea, at Kaipukenui, Warea, and Opunake, though not actually fighting against us, allowed no one to pass through their country, and stated they would fight I 12 HONE PIHAMA if any troops were sent tliat way, our only friend 1)eing Hone Piliama, a cliiel' at 0(^o who formerly had fought against us, and who a year or tAvo heforc, had 1(hI tlie attaek against General Cameron at Xukmnaru, Avitli such success tliat some of his men got into the camp and killed one of the cooks. H I ij CHAPTEE XIV A HIDE THROUGH THE ENEMY's COUNTRY At Keteonatca Colonel Wliitmorc told mo of his intention to march his force at tlic back of Mount Egmont to Waitara, and asked me to go by steamer to New Plymouth from Patea, and arrange for rations to be sent to meet his men on the other side of Mount Egmont. I replied that there Avas no steamer available, either at Wanganui or Patea, Avhich would enable me to get there in time, and the only way to do it was to go overland. The distance between Keteonatea and New Plymouth is about eighty miles, and, as before mentioned, the cou:itry, for tlie greater part of the way, Avas practically in the hands oi' the enemy, as, though the natives were not actually fighting against us, their sympathies were 1 14 THE ENEMY\S COUNTRY entirely with tliose Avho \vci\\ and com- munications were frequent between them, more esjiecially for tlie first ten miles, and no European had gone through this district during the six months previous, excepting Pather Eoland. Colonel AVhitmore then said he would not order me to go by that route, though it was most essential that provisions should he sent for his troops from New Plymouth, hut, if I decided to go, lie would give me a troop of cavalry to escort me. This I declined, feeling certain that, with an escort, I should have to fii>'ht mv Avav, and should not get to New Plymouth Avith- out considerable loss of life, and possiljly might not get there at all. I felt it Avouhl be far safer and better for me to go with a couple of native guides. I Ava.s sure the hostile natives on tlie coast Avould go to Te Ngaire, inland, to ]ielp those there to defend themselves against tlie attack Avliich they kncAV Avould be made directly against them, and that I should l)e able, Avitli a couple of guides, to steal through the country un- molested. This I told Colonel "Whit more, 1^5 THE MAORI WAR and lie said I could g'o, hid ho Avould not ord(.*r me, and that I did it on my OAvn res2")onsil)ilitY. Lieutenant Gudgeon piclvod out tAvo smart men from the native contingent — one, the son of the celchrated warrior llapurona, who fought against us in Taranaki in 1801, the other, a man who had heen a rebel six months before. I went to Lieutenant- Colonel Lyon, second in command, and Sub-Inspector Goring (both brave men) to bid them good-bye, and they begged me not to go, as they thought it madness to run such great personal risk ; but I felt in mv own mind that there was not such a great risk, as, on account of the pre- meditated attack on Te Ngaire, I should not see many natives. I therefore deter- mined to go, and went. I started from Keteonatea about ten o'clock a.m., with my two guides, Avho led the way about twenty-five yards in front, I riding behind on a favourite charger. After Ave had gone about a mile, one of the guides came back to me and demanded ii6 NATIVE AMBUSCADES my revolver, saying- lie had not got one, I remonstrated at his coming Avitlioiit a revolver, but it appeared lie had never had one. lie argued it Avas his duty to ride in front and defeiid mo, and to see that we rode into no am1)uscades. I thought his argument a very reasonable one, and gave him my revolver ; this left me with only a sword to defend myself, but I relied, in case of trouble, more on the speed of my horse. It was reallv a beautiful siu:ht to see how these two natives scoured every gully, as they rode past at a hand canter, each with a loaded revolver in his hand, to make sure no ambuscade was laid. Tlie natives when laying ambuscades in a fern country would sometimes put fern round their heads, and an inexperienced eye would never detect it ; but those guides would notice any peculiar movement ol* the fern directly. After Ave had crossed the Wain- gongoro river, and had gone about eight miles, we came to Kaipukenui Vah, the residence oC Wiremu Kingi, a very doubtful cliief, so doubtful indeed, that the guides I 17 THE MAORI WAR would not let me go with tlicm to tlio pah. I dismounted on the top oi* a hill, and gave my horse a sj)ell, while the guides went to see Wiremu Kingi, and after a short time, I was glad to hear the welcome words, " Ilaere Mai,'* which mean, " Come on, you are welcome." Wiremu Kingi received me very well, and invited me to have something to eat, which I did. After resting some little time, we rode on, accompanied by another native from this pah, and on reaching Oeo, I received a very cordial welcome from the chief, Hone Piliama, who, a fcAv pages hack I mentioned, was our friend. lie told me that I Avas quite right in coming hy the coast road, as the natives had gone inland to Te Ngaire as I anticipated, that we should have no difficulty in getting to New Plymouth, and that he would go Avitli me. I then felt I was perfectly certain to succeed in my mission. lie told me to leave one of my guides behind, whicli I did, and he came on with us, reaching Oi^unake at about seven o'clock p.m. ii8 AT NEW PLYMOUTH We rcmaiiiod the niglit at Opiinake ; a large number of natives A\'ere there, who were more or less excited at my l)eing in tlieir pah in nniform, hut at tlie same time, were very civil. After we had hud some food, I amused the natives hy showing tliem some tricks at cards, of which T knew a good many ; they were very shar}), and found me out in two, much to their delight. This little event had a wonderful effect ; they became most friendly, and I couhl not have been treated better. The next morning Ave were up early, and I rode into New Plymouth Avith Hone Pihama and mv 2:uide. The iirst man I met on reaching the town, Avhom I kncAV, Avas the late Sir Harry Atkinson, under Avhom I had served Avlien lie Avas Defence Minister. He Avas astonislied to s(^e me, and deli2:lited that I had been successful in £:ettin2c throuu'h. I called for immediate tenders for supplying Avith rations, the troops AAdio Avere coming at tlio l)ack of Mount Egmont, and the next morning at ten o'clock, I acce])ted the lo\\ est tender, 119 THE MOARI WAR and instructed Major Stapp, Adjutant of tlic Taranaki district, to send tlic rations out on a giA'cn date, returning" at once to Ketconatca, riding the first day witli Hone Piliama as far as Oeo, a distance of over sixty miles. On the way back when passing through AYarea, wlierc the natives were considered more unfriendlv than at anv other settle- ment, Ave suddenly came upon a party of natives, men and women, carrying fruit and fish. I was the first man they saw, and their look of utter astonishment at the sio-ht of an oflicer in uniform amused me very much. They put dowii Avliat tlu'y were carrying, and threw up tlieir arms, loudly calling out. I suj^jposc that they at first thought our troops had come and taken tlieir pah, hut Ilone Piliama soon eased their minds, and they became very friendly ; I dismounted and ate some of their apples, wliicli I enjoyed. We did not reach Oeo till late in the evening, and I was most anxious to hear if our troops had made an attack on Te I20 RETURN TO KETEONATEA Ngairo, but no iioavs liad l)cen received, and it was heliovcd tliat the force was still at Keteonatca. I slept (lie nigdit at Geo, and the iiext day I tlioiiglit I might venture a short cut through Te Ngutu-o-te-manu, the scene oi* two en- gagements some time l^efore, hut llonc Pihama would not lioar of my doing so, as he feared that I should he shot ; hut 1)}^ the coast, he felt sure, I should 1)e perfectly safe, so I took the coast road, and arrived at tlie camp at Ketconatea at ten o'clock in the morning, reporting to Colonel Wliitmore tliat the rations for liis foi'ce would h>e at the Ijack of the mouiitain where he required tlujin on tlie day named. I had only heen lent to Colonel AVliit- more to accompany liis force Tor a few davs, to orci^anise tlie commissariat, trans- port, and medical departments, as I liad previously heen appointed Inspector oL* Defence Stores for the Colon \'. T, liow- ever, remained Avith him nearly three months, and after I returned to Keteonatea, 12 1 THE MAORI WAR I left the force to take up my cUities as Inspector of Defence Stores at Wellington. It is not often that an ollicci' gets the chance of doing good work outside his usual duties : my chance, I thouglit, came when I volunteered to do this essential work, and I felt in mv own mind, I ou2;ht to have got some recognition of it. I tliink I should have, had I heen in the Imperial service. I did not even get thanked ; all Colonel Whitmore did, was to say in his dispatch : ' I dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Gorton to-day to Ncav Plymouth to enter into a contract for the supply of provisions in the Taranaki district.' This was the mianner in which I suifered for the disagreements I had with Colonel "Whitmore, in which I contended for the benefit of my department and the wounded ; but such is the luck of Avar. At anv rate I have the satisfaction of feelinsr I conscientiously did my duty to my dear, noble Queen and country. 122 CIIAPTEH XY FINAL RESULTS OF THE EXVKDITIOX ON THE WEST COAST Immediately after I left Ketconatea for Wellinfrtoii, Colonel "Wliitmore attacked the natives at Te Xi^aire, Avliicii Avas sur- rounded Ly an almost impregnable s^vamp ; he succeeded in getting* liis force through it, and surprising the enemy in the early morning, and, I Avas informed, would un- douhtedly have captured the great warrior, Titokowaru, liad it not been for the action of some of tlie "Wanganui natives (our allies), wlio ran into our native camp declaring that the occupants of Te Xgaire were friendly people, ami beftjre tliis was discovered to be a ruse, Titokowaru and his followers escaped, and Hed far inland 1^3 THE MAORI WAR of Taranaki to the upiier Waitara. Tliis was very unfortunate, and tlie only expla- nation I can give of our friendly natives behaving then in such an extraordinary manner is, that some of them were nearly related to Titokowaru's men. Colonel Whitmore marched his force at the back of Mount Egmont to "VVaitara, but saw nothing of the enemy, and from Waitara embarked his force for Auckland, en route for the east coast, where operations under his command were afterwards carried on against Te Kooti. The effect of this expedition on the west coast was very good. Titokowaru's force, by being followed up so energetically and never allowed any rest, was so broken up that they dispersed, and fled up the different rivers as they retired up the coast. It was, however, later on found necessary to send Major Noake (who succeeded me in the command of the Wanganui district) with an expedition to search tlie diiferent rivers, whither these natives had fled. This work he successfully carried out, taking a 124 CONCLUSION good many j^i'i^^^i^^'i'"^) thus llnally (nidin;^' the war on the A\x'st coast. This district now contains some of the richest pastoral farms in Ncav Zeahmd, the country being* thickly populated, held in comparatively small holdings, and having prosperous and thriving townshijis situated in various parts of the coast. In this little work, my readers will notice I have mentioned the names of very fcAV officers, my reason Ijeing that I have only Avritten what has come under my personal observation. There are many officers and men who did most heroic actions, but I could only give them from hearsay. My chief object in Avriting this, is to show the great difFiculty my respected and revered General, the late Sir Duncan A. Cameron, had to contend against, in the unwarrantable interference by tlie late Sir George Grey, which caused the whole army to be blamed for that of Avliieh they Avere perfectly innocent. Had General Cameron been alloAved to carry out th(^ war i2<; THE MAORI WAR ill the mauncr lie had instructed his oiTicers to do, as is clearly shown in his letter to me, a coj)j of which is given in the early pages of this hook, the result would have heeii very different. It was just the same with the late Major- General Sir Trevor Chute, Avith whom I had the pleasure and privilege of l)eing on most intimate terms, and who told me of the great interference, and the difficulties he had to contend against, with Sir George Grey as Governor, As the facts I have mentioned in this hook, the truth of which I can vouch for, have never hefore heen published, their publication now will be a small addendum to the history of New Zealand, my adopted country, and will, I hope, he aj^preciated. There is no doiibt that one of the results of the war now going on in South Africa against the Boers, will he necessary reforms in various departments of the army ; and it is to be liojDed that the same opportunity will be taken to make a General command- ing an army in the field in time of war, 126 CONCLUSION absolutely indcpendeiit, as ri^gards liis military operations, of the Goveiuor of tlic country in which he may he serving-, and thus prevent such disastrous consequences as have occurred in New Zealand and other countries. THE END. Piindd bj/ Bazell, WutiOii, cL V:''.^:', Ld., London and Ajluburi/. 1^7 000 886 651 ' i iliil i i iiillli ! liii mm