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This work is
Dedicated by the Author
To the Memory of
The Officers and Men of
The Lost Legion
Whose Bones Lie Buried in Forgotten Graves
On the Wild Fern Ranges and in the
Dense Bush of New Zealand
Where They Fell Fighting for
Queen and Flag
Every
Not long ago I dined at the same table with a big city pot, who after dinner gassed inordinately about Our Empire, laying a great stress on the "our," as if he had been a prime mover in the settlement of every country contained in it. New Zealand was the country under discussion, and amongst
This and many other instances determined me to jump into the breach, and try if a yarn, even written by such a duffer as myself, can educate some few of my countrymen, and let them know what sort of a life the men of the Lost Legion led during the wars that took place in New Zealand from 1866 to 1871, which wars eventually pacified the
Moreover thousands of novels have been written with plots founded on the splendid achievements of our gallant army and navy, then why should not one be penned about the deeds of the Lost Legion, the men who have not only rolled out the map of the Empire, as the deft hand of a cook rolls out
Innumerable and unknown are the graves of the Lost Legionaries, slain as they have been by the bullet, tomahawk and assagai of their savage opponents, or cut down by hunger, thirst and the malarial fevers of the lands into which they have penetrated.
And now if I need any further excuse for inflicting this badly written (for I claim no pretensions to literary skill) yarn upon you, let me inform you that in the main the facts are all strictly true, and that the men I have tried to depict lived, starved, fought and died in the very manner described in this volume.
So now that we are inspanned let's trek.
I, Richard Burke, at least so I am told, for although present myself I cannot claim a vivid recollection of the fact, was born shortly before the middle of the last century. My father was a major in H.M. army, having the reputation of being a very smart soldier, and was also looked upon as being one of the best sportsmen in the service, as he was justly famous, not only in the saddle, but also as a shot, a fisherman and a general good all-round man. This, together with being descended from a very ancient Irish family, made him popular both in the service and in society. My mother was a member of an old Lancashire county family, most of whose men-folk had for generations worn the Queen's scarlet, so that from both sword and distaff side I inherited the longing to be a soldier. My paternal grandfather, who had been a distinguished cavalry officer during the Peninsular War, was a big county magnate, and on his death left two large estates, my father inheriting the old family demesne and mansion situated in
I was the fourth son, and from my earliest youth was looked upon as the unlucky member of the family, being always in hot water. At a very tender age I took a delight in watching my father's regiment at drill, and the first licking I ever got was for a breach of military discipline, the crime being that while under lawful control of my nurse I had committed mutiny by direct disobedience of orders, and had aggravated that crime by conduct unbecoming a soldier, insomuch as by crawling through a drain I had broken away from my escort, who, being portly, not to say fat, was quite unable to follow me, and in direct defiance of her repeated orders had betaken myself to the barracks, where I was subsequently discovered and arrested while playing at soldiers with the barrack children. Keep me out of the barracks they could not, and when I was seven years old I am certain that had I possessed sufficient strength I could have gone through the drill as well as the regimental fugleman. It was therefore, at the age of seven, I was sent to a private school in
Although an Englishman, he was a great respecter of, and authority on, the ancient pastime of duelling, and he quickly instructed us boys in the strict etiquette of the duello. It was now quite time for me to choose a profession, and after a long confab it was decided I should go into the artillery, so I was despatched to a public school that has been very famous for passing young fellows into the service, especially into the scientific branches. There I remained over four years, gaining far more laurels in the playing fields than in the lecturerooms, for although I worked hard in a desultory way, still my best efforts were given to the playground and the gymnasium.
This being the case my father determined to send me to Lausanne, so as to perfect myself in French, science and mathematics, an idea my uncle fully approved of, as there resided at that place a most noted maître d'armes, who he thought would be the very man to put a polish on my swordsmanship. At Lausanne I stayed for some months, working hard by fits and starts and enjoying myself thoroughly, and here I was joined by my eldest brother, Jack, a gay and giddy subaltern in a crack cavalry regiment. Together we started on a trip through maître d'armes had taught me.
It happened in this way. I was called out by an Italian nobleman of sorts, who objected to some small attentions I had paid to a Tyrolese chantress in a café. Him I easily defeated, wearing him out by my better training and then administering a pin-prick on his forearm, whereon he insisted upon embracing me and we became great friends. Towards the end of the trip, however, I had a misunderstanding with a French artillery cadet at Strasbourg, who, as I was too self-confident, ran me through the arm. He also embraced me and we became good friends.
After the completion of our trip I returned to
In a fit of disgust I enlisted in the R.H.A. as a driver, and for a few months soldiered in the ranks at
In my agony of mind I remembered an appointment with my brother and made for his club, a very fast one, where I told my pitiful story. He and his wild friends were delighted with the yarn, and a council was promptly held to discuss what was to become of me. At this council one of them, a Roman Catholic of very high rank, suggested I should join the Papal Zouaves, at the same time offering me letters of introduction to the big-wigs at the sous-lieut. in that cosmopolitan corps, in which I thoroughly enjoyed myself. However, it was not for long, as at the end of five months I was summoned home to present myself at the examination for a direct commission.
On my return to
It fell out in this way. One day I chanced to meet an old schoolfellow, and together we walked
Had I been superstitious, this prophecy might have upset me, but, although an Irishman, I merely laughed at it, and in due course of time went up to
While waiting in Spa to oblige him I got into serious trouble. Among the gang of blacklegs and chevaliers d'industrie who in those days hung about the Continental gambling resorts was a man called Baron Touchais, who with his wife clung to the fringe of the fast society that frequented the tables and took part in the gaieties of the very gay little town. I was quickly introduced to these people, and very foolishly allowed myself to be drawn into a flirtation with the lady, who was a
The infernal row he made brought everybody in the hotel into the room, and the publicity of the affair forced him, very much against his will, to call me out, as it was cash he wanted, not blood, as of course had he not done so he would have been kicked out of society. Naturally I was obliged to go out with him, although I did so much against my will, especially as H.R.H. had just promulgated an order that any officer taking part in a duel would be at once cashiered, and although I had not yet been gazetted I knew full well that if a duel got bruited about I should not be permitted to serve in H.M. army. Notwithstanding this I had to go out, two of my Belgian friends kindly volunteering to act as my seconds. It was arranged that the duel was to be fought with pistols à la barrière, and I received instructions from Baron Le Noble, my principal second, that unless my opponent advanced to the mark I was to allow him to fire two
The duel made some stir, although Touchais made rapid progress to convalescence, but as there was no hope of being allowed to join the service, by the advice of my uncle and one or two very senior officers I determined to go out to New Zealand, where plenty of fighting was going on. This I did, and in a very few days, with plenty of money in my pocket, and a bundle of letters of introduction, I bade farewell to my uncle and brother, and, accompanied by my servant, set sail for the antipodes.
Before I begin my yarn of the New Zealand wars it may be as well to tell you about the ferocious fanatics I assisted in exterminating, and you will find I always speak about them as Hau Haus. This is not the name of any tribe of Maoris, but was the designation given to all the natives who joined the extraordinary faith which I am now in this chapter attempting to explain, and to do so I must dip into New Zealand history.
Christianity was first introduced into New Zealand in 1814 by
Now the Maoris were puzzled, like many others, by the different dogmas set forth by the various denominations, each claiming they were right and that the others were wrong, yet all asserting they
Just previous to the promulgation of the
Previous to the teaching of Te Ua the majority of the tribes had for a short time combined together for mutual support against the white men, and had chosen a king (the head chief of the
Te Ua, although a man of weak intellect, was of a peaceful disposition, and more friendlily disposed towards the white settlers than he was toward the king, so much so that when the ship Lord Worsley was wrecked on the
Just about this time he assaulted a woman, whose husband seized him, and, after tying him up, left him in a whare (hut) to meditate and repent. Had Te Ua been in his right mind the man would have killed him. It was during this punishment that his atua stood by him and rendered him the assistance Lord Worsley, and came to him.
The symbol of their faith was
These words, after the first fight, became their charging cry; pronounced short they sounded like the bark of a dog, and the hostile tribes, no matter what their proper tribal designation was, were soon only recognised by the name of Hau Haus.
Up to April 1864 Te Ua and his disciples lived in a peaceful manner, and the religion had not been looked on as a factor in the war, but now he was unable to control his zealous followers, for a furious, fanatical and murderous spirit was soon shown, which took a form of hostility not only against the white man, but also against all the natives who refused to adopt the Hau Hau faith, and this turned the
On the 6th of April 1864 a party of the 57th Regiment and a few military settlers, in all about one hundred strong, under the command of Captains Page and
There was no delay or ambiguity in
These supposed instructions were admirably conceived, and reflect great credit on Te Ua, who, it must be remembered, was a man of weak intellect; for had the head been carried by its escort of fanatics peacefully through the country, and had these fanatics abstained from hostility towards the tribes who professed friendship to the white man, there is but little doubt that all the tribes would have been converted and that when the general rising took place it would have been most disastrous to the Europeans even if
It must be remembered and thoroughly understood that the magnificent service afterwards rendered by the friendly Maoris was not prompted by their love for the white man, but by the hatred
The first among Te Ua's apostles to make a stir was
The fort stood on a steep hill, the sides of which had been scarped, and was held by
The natives, three hundred strong, advanced in broad daylight in close column, shouting "Hau Hau" and confident of gaining a bloodless victory. Something, however, must have gone wrong with their incantations, for the angel
The latter lay quiet behind the parapet until the taua (war party) reached the peg that marked the three hundred yards' range from the fort, then, jumping up, poured a steady volley into the head of the advancing column, and also opened fire with two Cohorn mortars. The immediate slaughter took the natives by surprise, but they were Maori warriors, as brave as any men on earth, and they charged home, attempting to escalade the steep, scarped sides of the hill, a feat of impossibility without scaling ladders, only to be swept back by the steady fire of the Diehards, and at last they had to turn and bolt, as strong reinforcements of the troops advanced.
In this defeat
Te Ua's second apostle,
It is not for a moment to be thought that the Lower River natives were prompted to act in this way by their love for the white man—not a bit of it—they only acted as they did to assert their ownership to the right-of-way on the river. This sporting challenge was accepted, the numbers and date agreed on—the fight to take place on the aforementioned island—date fixed, 14th May 1864; numbers, on hundred a side. These arrangements being amicably settled a tremendous fight took place, fortune varying during it, both sides fighting
Te Ua had thus lost his two factotums in their first fights, and this ought to have been a set-back to the new religion; but it was not so, as he asserted, and with justice, that they had both disobeyed the orders of the angel, who had directed that the head should be carried through the country peacefully and without bloodshed, so that
Accordingly he despatched two more apostles,
Te Ua gave them the following written orders:—"While on your journey be careful not to interfere with those whom you may meet; do not quarrel with the pakeha (white man). When you reach Taupo, go on to
The apostles, far from obeying these orders, at once began to pillage and murder. To start with, on their reaching Taupo,
Having converted Taupo,
The women, mad with excitement, pretended to eat the head, but it was eventually taken from them; the fate of the white men, however, had better be left to the imagination of the reader.
The apostles, having converted the
Eclipse, which was immediately boarded and seized by his late parishioners. All the passengers and crew were made prisoners (with the exception of P.M. Mr gouging out the eyes and swallowing them. The first to participate in this horrible act was Kate put into
At once the Christians joined them, and Bishop
The Hau Haus built a pah at Waerenga-a-Hika (the Bishop's residence), where they were subsequently attacked and defeated by the colonial troops in November 1865, who killed over one hundred of them and forced over three hundred of them to surrender. The prisoners were brought to Tauranganui, where two hundred of them were transported to the
Just before the last of these events I had set sail for New Zealand.
It was on the 14th Queen Bee was towed down the river and dropped anchor at Gravesend, so as to allow the crew to sober up, and the captain to join. In the meantime my servant and myself arranged and made comfortable my state-room, stowing away and making fast everything in its place. I may also, while we are at anchor, take the opportunity of bringing to your notice my man,
It happened some months previously, when I was staying at Brighton, I had been asked to play in a cricket match against a crack light infantry regiment, and on the evening previous to the first day's play had proceeded to the town at which they were quartered. On my arrival I was sitting at a window of the principal inn when my attention was attracted to a couple of soldiers coming along the road, one of whom was very drunk indeed, while his comrade, a fine, slashing-looking young
These two warriors were followed by a crowd of jeering roughs and hobbledehoys, who annoyed them, and seemed inclined to obstruct their journey. The drunken man resented this conduct, wishing to stop and fight, but the sober one took no notice of the gang and only tried to get his comrade along, until they came just opposite to where I was sitting, when a big rough jostled the votary of Bacchus, evidently trying to trip him up and upset them. It would have been better for him had he left them alone, for, placing his helpless comrade against the wall, the
Both my uncle and Jack considered it was right for me to be accompanied in my exile by a faithful follower who could be depended on to stand by me, so that when the good ship Queen Bee sailed from
As soon as the tide suited, and the crew had slept off the thick of their drink, all hands were roused out, the anchor weighed, and the tug, getting hold of our hawser, towed us, during the early hours of the morning, out to sea, casting us loose as we opened the Channel, when with a fair wind we hoisted topsails and topgallant sails, to the good old-time chanty of "Renzo, boys, Renzo," and with our main royal set we bore away on our course to the other side of the world.
Going to sea in the sixties was a very different matter from going to sea nowadays. At present you step on board a huge floating hotel, with all the comforts and most of the luxuries of the best Queen Bee. Our saloon passengers consisted of an old major, going out to take up a grant of land and settle in New Zealand; three or four young subs, just off the barrack square, en route to join their regiments; and eight young fellows who, as the old song runs: "Had played in the eleven, or pulled five or six or seven in the 'Varsity or else their college boat," who were going out to learn sheep farming; at least, poor lads, they thought so.
In the 'tween decks were one hundred and twenty single women sent out under the aegis and, I believe, at the expense of
New Zealand in 1866, the year I landed, was in a very bad way indeed. The war in the
Directly we landed I made inquiries as to the whereabouts of
The Colonel looked surprised, but said, "Well, look here,
After a pleasant dinner he took me down to the club, and there I met several leaders on their way from the east coast to the west, for, as the enemy held the whole of the interior of the island and there were no roads, all communications between the two coasts had to be sea-borne. I was also introduced to several members of the Colonial House of Parliament who were at that time in the capital, and, among others, to the Defence Minister, to whom I mentioned my desire of taking service. He was evidently amused at the idea of a man travelling over fifteen thousand miles to run the chance of getting killed and turned into long pig but assured me there were plenty of openings in the country for a man desirous of seeing hard, rough fighting, and asked me to call at his office next morning. Well pleased with my evening I said good-bye to my host and returned to my hotel, where I found my shipmates full of beer and excitement, drinking in company with some half - dozen tough, weather - beaten, fine-looking young fellows dressed in blue jumpers,
Next morning at breakfast, which was partaken of by all the guests at a sort of table d'hote, there were many troopers present and I got into conversation with one of them. Up to the present I had been rather surprised to see the principal hotel of the New Zealand capital thronged with men serving in the ranks, but my eyes were quickly opened by my new acquaintance, who told me that the corps to which he himself and most of the men present belonged was the
They seemed to be all very keen about the new campaign, as they considered the new general to be a far better man, for the work, than the one who had lately resigned, whose method of conducting the last five years' operations they criticised in the most unmerciful manner, while their open comments on the inutility of the regulars, both officers and men, made me wince with astonished indignation, so that it was with the greatest difficulty I could restrain myself from starting a row.
The man I was sitting next to evidently noticed my vexation, for he said: "If you have finished breakfast let's go out on the back verandah and have a smoke, and, if you have nothing better to do, a chat for an hour or two."
As he seemed a very good fellow, and I was most anxious to gain knowledge, I gave him my card, telling him I had only landed the day previous. "Yes," said he, "I can see you are a new chum, and I saw you were getting riled at the talk of the boys inside, but you must remember that the majority of those men have been ruined by the pig-headed procrastination of the General, who with twenty thousand men at his disposal has not been able, after five years' warfare, to gain any permanent advantage over savages who have never at any one time exceeded two thousand righting men. Now," he went on, "my name is West. I own a large farm on the west coast. I have been out in this country seventeen years,
"But why blame the General and troops?" I asked. "Surely you have out here thousands of officers and men whose splendid conduct and courage during the Crimea and Mutiny will live in history as long as the old flag flies?"
"Par exemple, at one of the very first fights, the attack on the pah at Niger, heard of their predicament. He at once took action, got hold of three young fellows to guide him, and started off with his jacks to do their best to help their stranded countrymen.
"Subsequently, after an immense amount of talk and preparations, a field force goes out to attack Puketakauere, more combined movements and high-falutin strategy, all of which, when it comes to the point, proved unworkable in the bush, and we have to clear out after losing sixty soldiers, shot down like sheep. Again, look at the game
"Next day the pah surrendered, as its defenders are dying of thirst. The following year at
"During the same month comes the Gate pah. Again over one hundred men are lost, through folly, blind stupidity, nothing else. The General has learnt nothing, is incapable of learning. True,
"I was with the mounted portion of the force, and the first day out the column had marched fifteen miles when it was halted, early in the afternoon, to pitch camp. The Adjutant-General,
"Well, sir, the troops had just finished pitching the tents when rip comes a volley from the Toe-toe grass. Over rolled Adjutant-
"At the first shot our O.C. had yelled out 'Mount,' and as we were standing to our horses we were on them in a moment. 'Charge,' sings out the O.C., and we charged through the long grass right into the middle of the Hau Haus, there not being more than fifty of them all told. Maoris won't stand mounted men, so we swept them back to the bush, killing a good lot. On our return to camp we found all the soldiers standing in rows, looking very pretty, and the General very angry, declaring it was not warfare for fifty savages to attack two thousand British troops.
"Now the General ought to have learned something from that lesson, but he didn't, for next night, a gale of wind blowing, the column was halted to bivouac in long dry fern. Fine beds for tired men long dry fern makes, provided there is not a gale of wind blowing and the Hau Haus are not hostile, but on this occasion such was the case, and we were roused out by shots and bugle calls to see a wall of fire, twenty feet high, charging us faster than a horse can gallop. Gad, sir, it was a case of sauve qui peut, and we all bolted for the sand-hills like redshanks, the Maoris tomahawking five of the 18th R.I. picket and a lot of others. This last affair so disgusted the General that he refused to leave the beach, and, without making another attempt of any sort, consumed fifty-seven days to march fifty-four miles, while the Maoris, only a handful in number, used to chaff us and called the General the lame seagull.
"I'll give you one more instance of incapacity, or
"Now look here, we settlers are sick of the war, and want to get back to our farms and businesses. We are paying the British Government forty pounds sterling per annum for every regular, and when it takes an army fifty-seven days to march along an open beach fifty-four miles we don't think we are getting our money's worth. Besides we can tackle the natives better ourselves. We men you see here are on our way back from the east coast, where, without the help of a single regular, we have smashed the Hau Haus, taking their pah Waerenga-a-Hika, and, with only twenty-three casualties, have killed one hundred and fifty of the enemy, and forced four hundred more of them to surrender, two hundred of whom have been transported to the
"Now the reason I have told you all this is, you say you have come out here to see fighting. That being so, my straight tip to you is to join a colonial corps; all the fighting during the coming campaign will be done by them. Don't bother about a commission; join the ranks under
With my new friend discoursing on things in general we strolled along to the Government Buildings, where we had not to wait many minutes before we were shown into the minister's office. This is a funny country, I thought, where a trooper in uniform, if such a garb can be called uniform, can call unasked on an important minister; but new countries, new customs, so I made no remark but accompanied my companion into the presence of the big man, who greeted him with much cordiality.
Presently, turning to me, he said, "
"You have given him the same advice as I have already done, so that if you will scribble a chit to St Kilda I will look after him and see him through."
The advice was sound and I determined to profit by it, so, thankfully receiving the letter and pass, the latter including the name of Tim, we shook hands with the minister and backed out.
No sooner were we clear of the Government Buildings than West said: "Let's go down to
Here, carelessly lounging against the wall, you saw a man whose clean-cut features, correct mannerism, cultivated voice and easy abandon proclaimed him unmistakably to have been a former denizen of the club and drawing-room. Yet he is talking and drinking with a huge, burly fellow whose sunburnt face, open jumper, tattooed arms and shoulder-of-mutton fist branded him as a shell-back from before the stick. Yes, they were all there, the ex-public schoolboy, the ex-army man, the ex-sailor, stock-rider, bushman, gold-digger, professional man, ay, and, had you looked carefully, you would no doubt have found the unfrocked parson. The great majority of them are British, but among them is a sprinkling of vivacious Frenchmen, stolid Germans, hang-dog-looking Dagos, and even a few half-caste Maoris and
West knew some of them, and, having spotted the man he wanted to get hold of, we elbowed our way through the crowd towards him, refusing many invitations to drink en route. My appearance
Taking no notice of these embarrassing but good-natured remarks, I pushed on after my leader, till we reached the man he was making for, who was a tall, good-looking, bearded fellow whom I at once saw to be a man in every sense of the word. "
We shoved our way outside and soon reached the comparatively quieter hotel, where under the back verandah we sat down to chat. "See here, St Kilda, taking a letter from the Defence Minister to
"Yes, yes, old chap," said West soothingly; "but remember the honours you have gained."
"Honours!" almost shouted
West said not a word, but pointed at the flag that floated at the peak of a ship of war, removed his hat and whistled a bar or two of "God Save the Queen."
In a moment
After lunch I informed the horrified Tim that we were to join the
The worthy man took some time to absorb the information, and when he had fully grasped the idea blurted out: "Well, begorra, we won't. Fancy the likes of me being chummy with the likes of you, Mr Dick. Av course, sor, av you join as private, I join too, but I'm your man, sor, still, and be this an' be that, I'll be so."
Later on, under the guidance of Hutton, I purchased my own and Tim's outfit. Riding breeches and boots, also good flannel shirts, in those days called Crimean shirts, we had already, but after
"What on earth are these for?" I asked, as we had plenty of rugs.
"Oh." he replied, "when we enter the bush we discard breeches and trousers and wear shawls round our waists like kilts."
"And what for am I to be turned into a Hielander, sor?" quoth Tim.
"Why," replied our mentor, "you see we have often to use a creek or river-bed as a road, either to wade up it or keep on crossing it, and it's deadly work having to march in wet trouser-legs, but with a shawl you can raise it out of the water, and continue your route with ease, also make an extra blanket of it, and, my word, you need it. Remember you will have to act as your own pack horse here; every man has to hump his own swag—that is, you will have to carry on your own backs everything you take out with you on a foot patrol."
Orders were given out that night that every man must muster at noon next day, so the reckless boys set to work to blue their remaining money, and St Kilda that was to sail at two P.M. for
It was on a lovely afternoon that the old tub St Kilda, crowded with men and looking far from safe, steamed slowly out of the harbour and made for
We were, however, lucky, and crossed it in safety, anchoring shortly afterwards in front of the settlement and camp, where I, as I was still my own master, at once went on shore, landing in the midst of turmoil and bustle that made it very difficult to gain any information. It was evident to me that some expedition on a large scale was contemplated, as strings of pack horses, soldiers, Rangers and a good few Maoris jostled, shouted and worked.
At last I managed to get hold of a sergeant of the 57th, who, as he had evidently been lately
As I had a letter of introduction to this officer I determined to call on him and try to get some definite information, so proceeded to his camp, where I was fortunate enough to find the gallant lieutenant-colonel for the moment disengaged. He received me very kindly, and told me
This offer was, of course, too good to refuse, and in a few minutes I found myself face to face with the man who had done perhaps more Maori fighting than any other in the country, and who was in the future to be the chief factor in eventually putting a stop to the war.
In a few words the Colonel stated our business, and I presented the Defence Minister's letter, which he hurriedly read, glancing occasionally at me over the paper. Then he laughed and said something to the natives in Maori which seemed to amuse them. Then, turning to me, he remarked: "Well, A.M. to-morrow morning. I will put you in the way of gratifying your desires. The first thing to be done is for you to sign your attestation paper, etc. Orderly, go and bring
In a few moments a tall, powerful man, some thirty years old, entered, who looked as hard as nails.
"Oh,
With a good-natured nod to me, and a "So-long, Colonel," to my companion, the interview terminated, and we left the tent. After I had thanked
After a few words of instruction and advice from
I have already described, en bloc, the men composing the Rangers, but I think my tent companions deserve a word or two individually, especially as you are already acquainted with myself,
Now the most important man in a mess is the cook. Of course in an irregular corps everyone has to bear a hand and take his turn, the consequence being that the food you have to eat is neither tempting nor palatable, but occasionally St Kilda to the tent than the dinner call went, and I was glad to hear it, albeit doubtful of being able to procure the wherewithal to satisfy a remarkably sharp appetite.
"Come on,
In a moment these were placed on the ground, each man dipping his tin pannikin into the bucket and securing his allowance of sweetened though milkless black liquid, on the top of which floated innumerable small sticks, which caused the said liquid to be called, through the forces, post and rail tea. In the meantime the piece of plank that served as a lid had been removed from the pot, when at once a goodly odour filled the tent, and on being handed a deep tin plateful, I found the taste to more than justify the scent.
But the cook himself! He was a big, raw-boned Frenchman from the south of
No sooner had he served out his delicious ragout, with a big iron ladle, than he squatted down alongside his companion and fed with him out of the pot, the two combined making a picture that if painted would have been received in any art gallery as a study of gnomes feeding. For his mate, the man who had brought in the tea bucket, was, as far as dress and appearance went, his exact duplicate, though not of the same nationality, as he was a Levantine Greek who, although a tall, wiry man, was by no means as big or powerful as his French partner.
These two beauties were presented to me as chef de cuisine to the French Admiral commanding the
The man who squatted opposite to me was also a man to be noticed. He likewise had evidently been a sailor, belonging to that class that is now extinct, and looking at him as he swallowed his food my thoughts at once flew back to Drake,
Still, when he all of a sudden paused and looked at me I saw he had the wide-open blue eye, the frank, fearless look, and the determined mien that stamped him as a chip of the old English block grown in
Yes, Jack
Of the other two members of the mess, one, named Buck, was a typical digger, who had followed the gold for years, and was now putting in a few months with the Rangers on the chance of striking something good in the hitherto un-prospected country over which he might be called on to scout or fight during his service. He was a quiet, reserved man, but a good comrade, who seldom went on the bust, and was not rowdy when he did so. He had been brought up as a gamekeeper in
The remaining man was one of the many mysteries in that polygenous corps. He called himself Smith. That he had once occupied a very different position in life was evident, and must have, at one time, made a considerable reputation at one of the Varsities. What he had been we never learned, but he possessed
Well, this queer crowd sat round the tent devouring
"Here you are, boys," said he. "I brought these up from the canteen so as to welcome the new chums. You will find both the cheroots and men all right, so sling round the pannikins,
I began by congratulating plat I had partaken of in Marseilles.
In a moment he was off. "Oh, the beautiful Marseilles, and does Monsieur know Marseilles, perhaps Monsieur also speaks French?"
This I allowed was correct, and in a moment he burst out with a volubility that none but his own countrymen can equal, and was going ahead nineteen to the dozen when Jack brought him to with a growl like an enraged lion.
"'Ere stash it, yer darned frog-eater. This 'ere's an English ship an' yer don't jabber yer dago lingos aboard us."
It was not for a long parade, however, we were required, but only to warn fifty of us, whose names were read out, to hold ourselves in readiness to parade at one A.M. next morning for field duty, and that ten men, who were to act as scouts, were to fall in at sunset.
Among the latter I was rather surprised to hear the names of
No sooner was the parade dismissed than we set about making preparations for the march, and it may be as well here to give you some idea of our armament and outfit.
The Rangers were, at this time, armed with a
It must not be imagined there was any hard-and-fast rule or uniformity required as to how the Rangers carried their packs, or even if they carried any at all; in fact the only uniformity required was the blue jumper and carbine, all the rest was left to the man himself, who could go as he darned well pleased. Boots were not considered essential, nor was the pattern of shirt or shawl taken into consideration, very many men, like
It will therefore be thoroughly understood that the Rangers were not for show, and that the gilt and gorgeous panoply of war was as absent from their ranks as hymn-books.
In accordance with Button's advice we at once started making our preparations, which were as follows:—Our English clothes were stripped off, and everything we had that we did not intend to take with us was packed in a canvas kit-bag and stored. The expedition was to be made on foot, so discarding our trousers we donned the shawls and were instructed how to wear them. Flannel shirts, our blue jumpers, smasher hats, strong laced boots and worsted socks completed our garbs. Then the blankets were packed.
It was some time before I dropped off to sleep, but I seemed only to have slept a moment when I was aroused up by Tim, and it took me a minute or more to pull myself together. I found the
Presently bugles began to sound all over the camp, and
We soon finished our cocoa, pannikins were slung on the belts, swags and belts were buckled on, carbines picked up, and we were ready for the word to fall in.
At two P.M. sharp the word was given, and we fell in without any bugle blowing or noise of any sort; every man knew his place in the ranks, so there was no roll-call, numbering off, or proving the company.
Unaccustomed as I was to carrying a pack, I soon began to feel the discomfort of it, but of course said nothing. I must break myself into it, and till then must grin and bear it. Another thing that added to my discomfort was, I had only landed a few days previously from a long voyage,
The moment we halted Tim was alongside me. "Is it getting on all right ye are, Mr Dick?" quoth he. "Sure yell be finding the pack and pouches bothersome at first, but glory be to God ye'll soon get the hang of thim, and, Mr Dick, dear, yer feet are not blistered, are they? For sure it's the heels of yer socks I rubbed well with fat, I did, and a quartermaster's tot of rum I soaked into yer boots, I did, so plase God your feet will harden widout blistering, they will, and I filled both the flasks wid the crater, I did, so if it's a nip you are wanting, sor, sure it's convanient at all times, thank the Lord."
I had barely time to assure the good fellow I was all right when the word was again given to march, and we started at a slinging pace to complete the remainder of the journey to the new camp at Kumikumiti, where the General and the advanced party, destined to make the expedition, were.
As the daylight increased we were able to get a look at the country we were marching through. On our left lay the sea, the road running through sand-hills covered with stunted manuka bushes, fern and rough wiry grass, and on our right lay a chain of hills covered with bush, but the eyes only glanced over these, for in a moment they centred on the glorious mountain in front of us, that, rising in its lonely grandeur, formed a picture none who have ever seen are likely ever to forget. Of course I allude to
"Pretty picture,
"Yes, sir," I answered; "a very lovely picture, and what a magnificent mountain!"
"Yes," he replied. "We shall know more of that mountain before we have finished with it, and perhaps many of us will remain on its shoulders and foot-hills for ever, as they are going to be the battle-ground for a year or more, and many a weary day and night's march we'll have over them, untrodden as yet by foot of white man.
He remained beside me, chatting in the free-and-easy colonial way, for some time, during which I gathered much information about the country and war, and was surprised to discover how utterly ignorant people in
Well, mile after mile, through the ankle-deep sand we toiled on, at least I did, for the rest of the men, hardened as they were to marching and accustomed by constant practice to humping their swags, made light of the road and swung along as if they had nothing on their backs at all, while I could only grit my teeth and determine I would hang on to the last, but was very glad when an opening in the manuka bushes showed us a river on the other side of which stood a large, well-ordered camp. This river was the
"Here,
Tim soon returned with the water and then helped Jack to bring in huge armfuls of dry fern, which they deposited on the ground we had by this time cleared, while the fire we had already lighted had burned down to red embers, in which we quickly placed our pannikins filled with water. These did not take long to boil, and when they did so, tea and sugar mixed, according to taste, were added, our haversacks opened and we piped to dinner.
"Gord," growled Jack, "I'd give some'ut for a tot this morning, but s'pose it's not to be come by."
"Don't be so sure of that," I chipped in, handing him my silver flask. "Here you are, drink hearty."
He took the flask in his huge discoloured hand, it lay in his palm like a new half-crown on a fire shovel, although it held a pint, and turned it over and over as if he had never seen such a thing before, then handed it back and growled out: "Yer don't think I'm agoin' to take yer last sup, and you a ruddy new chum and a blankity blank soft swell, do yer? 'Tain't likely, is it, mates?"
But I pacified the grousing old buccaneer and persuaded him there was enough to go all round, and as Smith and Buck had completed their mi-mi next to ours and joined us, we all had a wet, and I had won a corner in the ancient pirate's rugged old heart for ever.
Directly the meal was over, which, primitive as it was, I had thoroughly enjoyed, old Jack fetched more fern and made the mi-mi down scientifically. Tim brought another bagful of water and then insisted on taking my boots off, examined my feet carefully, and made me put on a dry pair of clean socks as a preventive to blisters, then, as the bed was finished, and, if properly prepared, there is no more comfortable bed in the world than New Zealand fern, we all lay down, booted and belted, to get some sleep, for, as old Jack truthfully remarked, it was as well to rest when we got the chance, as no man in the Rangers ever knew when the watches on deck might be doubled, and the watch below be a forgotten luxury.
When I woke up it was evening, and the first thing my eye rested upon was
"But, Monsieur," he replied, "I have not found this pot. It is the same pot and bucket out of which Monsieur has already once dined."
"But,
"Monsieur," he replied with dignity, "a Cordon bleu should never part with his batterie de cuisine. True my hands are occupied while in the bush scouting, so I wear this magnificent pot as a helmet; my friend
This I found on inquiry to be the truth. These men, hardened by incessant exposure, during the summer months carried no blankets, packs nor rations, neither did they wear boots nor hats, but lived on what they could find, and when they halted just threw themselves on the ground and slept like animals. This unnatural training had rendered them capable of covering immense
That night there was no need to use our homely rations, for
At sunset we fell in for orders and guard mounting, and were told that we were to march before daylight next morning to attack a very strong pah, named Otapawa, which had been scouted that afternoon by Ensign
We were roused from our slumbers at one A.M., but alas there was no cocoa for us, and the pannikin of tea served out in lieu did not supply an adequate substitute, but we had to make the best of it, and as we were ordered to leave our packs behind us I for one did not grumble. Our scouts had gone on two hours before, and when we had fallen in
"See here,
I was centre man of the company that day, and as we moved in line I had the advantage of marching in the middle of the road, which was fairly smooth. The trail led inland and was well defined as it had originally been a road leading to a fine farm, but the farm had been burnt and a pah built there instead.
We marched steadily as we had only a short distance to go, and of course no smoking or talking was allowed, and also halted frequently, so that none of us were in any way fatigued.
Just as the daylight had begun to light up the top of
Previous to this we had received the whispered order: "From your centre, five paces extend." So we were advancing in skirmishing order, and when we were still some twenty yards away a whisper of "'Ware scout" ran along the line as a dim figure stepped from behind a tree and came towards us. This turned out to be
"Well,
It is no good my endeavouring to try and write what
"The bush," said
Just as
He was turning to ride away when his eye caught mine as I lay at the foot of a tree. With a nod he said: "Well,
The gallant Tommies were supplied with abundance of mess-kit, which they carried loose in their haversacks, instead of the single pannikin we
I was meditating on this noise when our corps call, followed by the advance, rang out, and in a moment we were in motion. Faith, it is an anxious—I was almost writing a solemn—feeling that comes over a man when, for the first time, he advances through a silent bush, knowing full well that every step he takes brings him nearer to possible wounds or death.
It is not like an advance in the open, where as one of a mass of men marching shoulder to shoulder the numbers and continuity of comrades gives one a sense of security and companionship, nor is it like sitting on a good horse waiting for the trumpet call to charge, for then also you have fellowship of the very best. But to skirmish through a bush, even a fairly open one like this one was, is quite enough to give a new chum a fit of the jumps, for a sense of loneliness comes over a man, and the inclination to close in becomes intense. This, however, was not to be thought of, and I found myself boiling with excitement, keeping my line easily as I worked alongside the road, and instinctively moving forward with the others.
Occasionally I could see Tim, who was next me on my right, and sometimes three or four others as we moved rapidly from tree to tree; but still the dim light of the bush, its intense silence and the ghostly, gliding figures were conducive to serious thoughts, while once the bell-like note of the Tui bird made my heart jump into my throat.
Nearer and nearer we glided towards where, we knew, the line of savages was awaiting us, and
Holy Moses! I nearly jumped out of my skin, and could scarcely smother a yell of consternation as I felt the fern heave under me, and heard a voice whisper: "If Monsieur will have the goodness to remove his knee from off my back I will get up."
I at once rolled over, when batterie de cuisine, which he placed carefully on his head.
"Not more than fifty paces in front," he hissed to
I peered into the bush in front but could see nothing.
One spring took me to the rata-tree, round the root of which I peered, but saw no meat to fire at. I glanced to my right. Tim was on his face taking aim, and I could hear the crack, crack of individual
A few moments before the bush had been as silent as a grave, but now it was an inferno; fire darted from the roots and from the sides of the tree-trunks in front of us, while yell after yell tore the disturbed air; and the smoke from the black powder either lay low on the ground or curled in spiral wreaths up through the trees.
Nor were our own men silent, as cheer after cheer answered our opponents' yells, and carbine shots rang out all along the line.
Up to this I had not fired a shot, as I had seen no one to fire at, and an intense longing to advance came over me, so spotting a tree some six or seven yards farther on I ran, crouched up and bending low to it, throwing myself down on my face at the foot of it just as a piece of bark the size of my hand was torn from its bole and the deflected bullet passed me with an angry whir that sounded extremely unhealthy.
My idea of advancing must have come to many others simultaneously, for I saw several men rush forward to fresh cover, and we were now in the enemy's smoke, that hung close to the ground, and had to breathe the saltpetre befouled atmosphere.
Another advance and we were already on the position the Maoris had originally occupied; it was therefore quite evident they were giving ground, besides which the distance between us had increased, as we could tell by the sound of the reports of their firelocks, for they still continued to fire heavily although only an occasional shot was fired by our men in reply.
"Forward!" shouted
Soon the trees grew thinner, and we increased our pace, until it became a running fight which rapidly turned into a pursuit, and as we cleared the bush we saw a long line of Maoris making off as fast as they could towards the pah.
At these we fired a volley and pressed on loading, in doing which I experienced much difficulty in getting hold of a cap and placing it on the nipple of my carbine. The clearing was, as
Firing ceased entirely as we crouched and crawled from stump to stump, and we took advantage of this to correct our intervals and the dressing of the line, while word was passed from both ends of it that with the exception of a few chips being knocked off no one was hurt.
Presently we came to the end of the stumps, where, in accordance with orders, each man lay down behind the most suitable cover he could select and waited for what was to eventuate. And now while we are waiting there, let me try and give you an idea of the pah.
Less than eighty yards in front of us, and for about one hundred and twenty yards in length, stretched a fence, flanked at both ends with well-formed bastions that looked, from where we lay, flimsy to a degree, it being composed of straight sticks of unequal length, say from fourteen to
The inside of the pah is connected with the trench by underground passages, so that the defenders may take refuge inside, should the pekerangi (outer fence) be carried by assault, but the natives regard it as their principal bulwark, and usually try and bolt if it be destroyed.
It had been in assaulting the pekerangi at
"
Looking at the post indicated I could just see half a Maori's head peeping out, evidently trying to spot what was going on, so as directed I took a steady aim and fired.
"Good shot," ejaculated
I looked back and saw the head of the column debouching from the bush, and when four companies had reached the open they wheeled left and right and left the road clear.
"Wonder what they are doing that for?" soliloquised
Suddenly
Glancing round I saw the troops formed in two
Presently from the rear I heard the measured tramp of advancing columns, and soon the order was given for the leading companies to deploy, previous to making the rush. We were now very busy, as the heads were popping up a dozen at a time, but as yet not a shot had been fired nor a sound uttered from the pah.
The Maori individually is a vile shot and quite incapable of hitting anything he aims at, at fifty yards from him, but when he fires a volley from a trench with the muzzle of his firelock only an inch or two from the ground that volley is a very deadly one indeed, especially as the object is never more than fifty or sixty yards away from him, sometimes closer. Again, most of them were armed with double-barrelled guns, so that they could pour in a second volley at a storming party more or less disorganised by the first discharge. A Maori moreover is a cool, brave warrior, who is brought up to regard courage in war as not only essential but also as the only quality by which he will be remembered and his name honoured by his descendants.
I was lying behind my stump, with my eye fixed on the foot of the pekerangi, when the trampling feet came up to me, and
My work was now over, as the moment the attacking party had passed me they masked the pah from my fore, though my comrades at the extreme flanks were still firing as fast as they could load so as to cover the advance of the forlorn hope.
Ye gods, how excited I was, an excitement equally shared by Tim, who howled out: "Oh, begorra, Mr Dick, mayn't we go wid thim, sor? Say the word, sor, and let's go."
But it would not do. Discipline in action above all things, and we had to remain spectators. The rear rank of the company had not cleared me more than five yards when a tremendous yell rose from the pah and the simultaneous roar of at least three hundred rifles and guns, while sheets of lead crashed into the advancing companies, or went whistling over our heads, which in a second strewed the
For a moment the advance was checked and the line wavered. Good God! surely these old Crimean warriors are not going to flinch! Not much. For like a trumpet-call out rang
Did those grizzled old veterans hesitate? Not for a breathing space. Their much-loved countryman and commander was in front of them, so was the enemy, and with a yell wilder even than the Maori war-cries every man able to move rushed forward. At the double, howling for blood, the supporting companies rush past, a rush that the second smashing volley of the Maoris, although it sadly thinned their ranks, could not check, and in a few moments the whole storming party had launched itself against the pekerangi. Would they succeed, or was it to be another
All of a sudden I saw the long pole that the pioneers had carried launched over the fence, and my mind pictured the line of men swaying on the chain. What's that? as a triumphant shout is
Did we cheer? You bet we did, and many a smasher hat was slung skyward and many a laudatory cuss was cussed. "Who dare say a word agin the Quane's reglers now?" howled Tim. "God bless the boys from Ould
But the pah is not taken yet, the earthworks and permanent fence still remain to be negotiated, and we see the Tommies swarm up the parapet, every inch of which we know to be flanked, and rush at the palisades, giving one another backs to surmount them.
With his sword hanging to his wrist by the sword-knot, a young officer is the first man up. He is on the top, grasps his weapon, steadies himself for a moment, preparatory to leaping in, but throws up his arms and falls backwards, dead. Now there are two men up, their rifles hanging to their right shoulders by the slings, one falls back but the other, regaining the hold of his rifle, jumps in. Before he can have reached the ground three or four more are over, then a dozen, then a swarm, and then, as Tim remarks, "they are lepping over like crickets," and the dust, smoke and yells float up to the bright blue sky.
But we are called to order, for
Small time is given to the men on the extreme left to join up, for in less than a minute our O.C. gives the word: "Come on, boys, double!" and we run as hard as we can round the left flank of the pah, and make for the rear of it, taking no notice of the shots fired at us.
As we come round to the rear we catch sight of a long line of natives evacuating the place and making for the bush, that on this side was less than one hundred and fifty yards from the work, and we race to try and cut them off. Many of them however are women and children, so we do not fire, but our attention is speedily distracted by a sharp fire opened on us from the bush.
Like a gate we swing round. "Extend and charge!" shouts
Here we have a pretty little skirmish, the natives falling back while we press on for over half-a-mile, when a loud yelling proclaimed they had been joined by another party. "By Jove, they are going to charge us. Form groups!" shouted
"'Ord blast this carbine," growled Jack as a fresh yell rose from the natives. "'Eyer's this blankity blank powder-skin busted, and the ruddy bullet's jammed. 'Ord rot ye," he howled, throwing his useless weapon down and drawing his knife and revolver. "Come on, yer blankity blank swine, and let's get to handgrips with yer."
"
All at once a dead silence fell that lasted for a few minutes.
"By God," growled Jack, "I believe the rotten swine have cleared," and he picked up his carbine, withdrew the cleaning rod and proceeded to knock out the jammed bullet. "Just like our ruddy luck, to be sold when yer think ye're in for a bit of sport," and the bad words rumbled out of the old buccaneer like the grumblings of a distant thunderstorm.
Jack was right in his surmises, for the cunning natives had pretended to charge us so as to gain time to retreat. We were still chewing the rag over our disappointment when from the rear our corps call sounded, followed by the retire, so
We fell back slowly, as, although no one was badly wounded, still some of the boys had corners chipped off, and we parted with our friends the enemy with regret. We made for the pah, retiring over the same ground we had previously crossed, passing a strong picket of the 14th, who, with advanced sentries, outheld the edge of the bush. Our two men who had fallen in the open during our advance had already been picked up, and we were soon back at the blood-stained pah itself. I should have very much liked to have gone inside, but was unable to do so, as no sooner had we reached it than we received orders to return to camp and get ready for the next day.
Missing
"Oh, don't you worry yourself about them,
An issue of grog that night loosened our tongues, and the fight was fought over again many times, most asserting that if the General had waited for the Kupapas not one of the enemy would have escaped; the others, among whom were the most experienced men, declaring that had the Hau Haus not been aware their retreat was open they would not have stood, and we should only have captured an empty pah; but all hands expressed their confidence in the General, their
Yes, the capture of Otapawa had been a gallantly fought action, though the escape of the bulk of the Hau Haus rendered the success almost, if not quite, nugatory, and we had lost heavily.
Again the natives were still in force in the bush, so the victory would not enable one settler to return to his homestead, nor would it permit any cessation of the campaign, for the Maoris had many pahs and only regarded these places as a suitable battle-ground, the loss of one of them not affecting their morale in the slightest degree.
I have stated that
This yarn, like many another lie, such as the "Up Guards and at them" of the Iron Duke, the sinking of the Revenge, and numberless other picket-line stories, crept into history and is believed by the masses, but in this case the fact remains that the tribe who harboured
Incredible as it may appear to home-staying
This man was an Irish American who had enlisted in the grand old Diehards, in which corps he worked in the armourer's shop, being, moreover, one of the best shots in the regiment. Having committed a crime he was tried by court-martial,
Well the yarn went round that he had shot
On his desertion he had joined the
At last reports, circulated by some settlers among some friendly natives, that
However, no man can keep awake for ever, and although the miserable wretch knew men were ever on the watch to take him at a disadvantage, he at last fell asleep in his whare (hut). The man who spotted him crept into the hut and tried to tomahawk him, but through nervousness only wounded him.
At once the intrepid scoundrel grappled with his assailant, overthrew him, and would have killed him had not a number of others rushed up, who cut him to pieces, his remains being then used
All the other deserters met the same or, in some instances, a far worse fate, and the one or two of them who escaped and gave themselves up were only too thankful to accept any punishment they received.
I must sue for pardon for this digression, but I have recounted it as one of the thousand of facts that took place in the New Zealand wars of which the good people in
That night when orders were read out we were warned to hold ourselves in readiness to march at daybreak for the
The late general had not deemed it expedient for the regular troops to enter the bush—that is to say, to follow the Maoris into the trackless mountains that, covered with enormous forests, constituted the interior of the
He had therefore determined to force his way due north through the bush to
This was a big order, but I shall relate how it was carried through in due time. Suffice it for the present to say we left camp before daylight and saw the road all clear for the column, which joined us on the banks of the
Later on
Of course I jumped at the chance, and he despatched me to warn my three mates to draw four days' rations and be ready to start at sunset.
At the appointed time we joined our officer and proceeded over to the Kupapas' lines, where for the first time I saw the famous righting chief, Te
Te
No sooner had we reached the Kupapas than night fell and Te
The object of the expedition was to reconnoitre a big pah called
Our scouts had gone on some time before we started, and we had hardly made a move when the heavens opened and it began to pour with rain, which it steadily continued to do all night long.
This made the march, which was over a bad bit of country, very miserable, as the track, if it could be called one, was intersected by many steep gullies, the sides of which were slippery to a degree, so that we were soon not only soaked through but became plastered with mud from top to toe.
We, however, must push on, and did so, arriving in the vicinity of
We had not moved more than a hundred yards when two of our scouts joined up, who reported that to the best of their belief the pah was unoccupied, which surmise
When each man had had his say Te
As soon as the debate was over,
The opinion therefore come to was that the pah was not abandoned, but that the Hau Haus, not expecting such unwonted activity on the General's part, had temporarily withdrawn for some purpose, probably to hold a tangi (wake) over the warriors killed at Otapawa, and were most likely to return that day to reoccupy the pah.
It was also decided that if they did so it would be as well to allow them to enter it, as then, our being on the spot, we could hive them, holding them inside till the arrival of the General, when not a man of them would escape. It was therefore
The position we had taken up not being considered a satisfactory one to carry out this purpose, it was after much deliberation changed, and we made ourselves as comfortable as we could in the thick, damp bush, though as no fires were allowed, and the sun could not penetrate the dense foliage, the amount of comfort, thanks to the incessant drip from the trees, did not amount to a row of pins. Of course we had a patrol of scouts out on all sides of us, and on that day I began to take an interest and acquire a rudimentary knowledge of the fascinating, though highly dangerous, game.
The day dragged on and I was only able to get a few moments' broken sleep, as I was not yet sufficiently broken in to be able to sleep under such disadvantageous circumstances, and envied old Jack, who snored away on the soaked ground as if he had been on a feather bed. Nor can I truthfully say I enjoyed my dinner, composed as it was of sodden, rancid salt pork and a handful of wet mouldy biscuits.
As I said before, we had our scouts out, and we learned during the afternoon that the enemy had theirs out also, for one of our fellows came into camp with a gaping tomahawk wound in his shoulder, while his own weapon, and in fact his whole person, looked as if he had indulged in a blood bath.
His yarn was short. He had met a Hau Hau scout face to face; neither of them could get away nor hide, so they turned to and had it out with tomahawks. Our man had the best of the spolia opima, but also certain portions of the enemy himself, so that no doubt could exist in the most sceptical of his encounter or victory. He received great kudos, and submitted, without a tremor or complaint, to having the gap in his shoulder sewn up in the roughest possible manner. Nor did it seem to interfere with his appetite, as, noticing his eyes glued on my mass of putrid pork, I handed it to him, and he devoured it with a gusto I quite envied.
This little contretemps showed Te
The trap was no longer to be thought of, as the enemy were far too astute to allow themselves to be shut in, especially as they must now be fully aware of the advance of the column, which in fact shortly arrived, heralded, as usual, by
These two beauties we found out afterwards had smelt out our lurking-place early in the day, but, not being able to decide whether we were friends or enemies, had sat tight and waited for the main body to close up. They had, however, managed to get into the pah before the soldiers, where they discovered a hidden stock of potatoes, with which they joined us, so we had a feed of spuds that night.
As
We had now every prospect of a fight, as our scouts came in with information that large numbers of the Hau Haus were in our vicinity though they were so skilfully protected by their scouts it was impossible to locate them to a certainty, but still they were convinced they were mighty adjacent and hungry for a fight.
Te raison d'étre. He also told the chief that I was not only a well-born rangitera (gentleman), the descendant of war chiefs, but was in my humble position so as to acquire the wisdom and knowledge of war, whereupon Te
This
Long before daylight next morning we were on the move, and it was simply wonderful how we slipped through the silent bush without a sound. I could no more have walked through that pitchy darkness under the trees and through the tangled shrubs by myself, much less have moved in a straight
After a sharp march which, for all I knew, we might have made alone, my attendant suddenly halted, pulling me down behind a big tree-root. What made him do so I knew not. I had not heard so much as a twig snap, not a whisper had passed along the line of invisible skirmishers, and why he had come to such a dead stop I could not divine, except it was some subtle instinct that warned him there was danger ahead, or that by some extraordinary system of transmission of thought his chief could convey his wishes to his men. Whatever the reason may have been, there we stuck until a dim twilight penetrated to our lurkingplace, when I indistinctly saw we were close to the edge of the bush, which here ran out into an open glade some one hundred and fifty yards across, on the far side of which it began again.
All of a sudden, without a word of orders, my mentor rose, beckoning me to do the same, and we emerged from the bush simultaneously with the rest of the party, when in a moment the glade that had been deserted before was filled with a long line of men clothed in belts, pouches and a few feathers, devil a rag else, in extended order, looking, as
That Te
Immediately our men let out a yell of derision, poured in their answering volley, and without a pause charged through the mist and smoke straight at their concealed enemies.
We reached the bush on the run and pressed forward, our men still being careful to take cover but yet advancing so rapidly that the enemy must needs give ground or stand up to a hand-to-hand fight, which, as we outnumbered them, was not to be thought of, so that after a short, sharp conflict, in which much powder was burned and an immense amount of breath expended in yelling, the Hau Haus retired at the run, leaving behind them three dead bodies, this in itself being an acknowledgement of defeat, as a Maori will run very great risks rather than allow a wounded or dead tribesman to fall into an opponent's hands. We had begun our day well but there was still plenty of work in front of us, and Te
They had not, however, flown far, for before long we came to the remains of an old deserted pah in which they had taken post, and as we
To this our men replied with a step or two of the war-dance, a couple of volleys and a baldheaded rush that sent the rotten old palisading galley west, and into the ancient works we poured.
The Hau Haus fought well, but it was our boys' day out and they would not be denied but drove them helter-skelter out of the place, forcing them to abandon five more dead bodies.
Without a pause we followed on in full pursuit, but they had had enough of it, so broke and bolted all over the country. This, however, did not check Te
During this pursuit our detached party joined up, who reported, producing evidence, that they had killed two more Hau Haus, and Te
This was decidedly a piece of presumption on our part, but the Kupapas were full of wakahihi (fighting spirit), profoundly believing it to be their lucky day. Up to now they had not a single man wounded, and at Te
Moving on, therefore, as jovial as a party of schoolboys out bird's-nesting, although not a precaution was relaxed, you bet Te
This was not playing the game, so our men got vexed, and we went after them hot-toe, attempting to surround the new pah in which they had taken post, so as to cut off their retreat should they be so inconsiderate as to try any more runaway tactics, but unfortunately we could only surround them on three sides.
The Hau Haus had also received strong reinforcements, so that both
Immediately a general rush was ordered and we charged the place at top speed, swarming over the defences like monkeys and driving out the last of the enemy, who fled precipitately, leaving behind them seven more bodies, together with a large number of fine fat pigs and an immense amount of potatoes. They had indeed left us their breakfasts, for the hangis (underground ovens) were full of deliciously cooked pork and potatoes, on which we regaled ourselves sumptuously.
The Kupapas now considered they had done enough work for their day's pay and declined to follow on the flying enemy, but after a huge repast they indulged in a short war-dance and prepared to fall back on the camp.
First of all everything we could not take away with us was destroyed, and the dead bodies mutilated, in accordance with Maori customs, for although our men were not openly acknowledged cannibals, yet all the senior men had been, while the juniors were not a generation removed from the practice, so that mutilation of the dead and many other uncanny customs were still adhered to.
Then the pah itself was insulted and dismantled and everything inflammable burnt, after which we fell back, treating Mawhitiwhiti and the other places in the same way.
I was now to learn another lesson, for Te
Our men were loaded with loot, they could please themselves whether they carried it or not, but they must do their duty, and it was well such was the case, for presently, when we were in thick bush, one of our rear scouts (yes, my would-be military reader, it is just as requisite in irregular warfare to scout to your rear as well as to your front, and don't you forget it) ran in with the information that the Hau Haus, furious and indignant with the treatment we had served out to them, were in full pursuit, determined to exact utu (payment or revenge) for our manifold misdeeds.
On hearing this news Te
Away our men rushed in headlong flight, crossing the clearing and breaking through our hidden line like frightened deer, and after them rushed the triumphant Hau Haus, every man of whom was hungry for slaughter, and faith they got it, but not in the way they wished; for as they put on a spurt to cross the clearing they were met half way by a smashing volley, behind which came our charging line, which so astonished them that they turned about and sprinted all they knew to safer localities.
Te
True, they had done well, for they had taken and burnt five pahs, killed a lot of the enemy,
Individually, I was very satisfied. I was gathering lots of valuable information, could now hump my swag with but little discomfort, and had thoroughly satisfied myself that, no matter how rough and hard the life and work were going to be, I had go enough in me to tackle anything I might be called on to perform. So that I ate my dinner with gusto, sang a song when called upon to do so at the camp fire, and slept as soundly on my fern bed as an innocent child in its cradle.
It was on the day following Te
There was a considerable diversity of opinion among our men as to the advisability of this movement, all the old hands being unanimous that it would be a bitter hard undertaking, especially as we were to be accompanied by a long string of pack-horses, without which it is impossible for regular troops to move. These would impede our progress and necessitate much arduous fatigue in the way of road-chopping and getting them across the deep gullies, creeks and watercourses that everyone knew ran from the mountain down between its shoulders and spurs, over which our route must lie.
Every yard of the journey ran through dense bush, and although Father Pezant had, with assistance of Maori guides, walked the distance
Then again, would there be any fighting? Our sages thought not. The natives themselves rarely used the route. Father Pezant declared the country to be quite deserted, and the Kupapas also asserted that that part of the district had never been inhabited, although none of them were conversant with the locality.
We had therefore the pleasing prospect before us of slogging hard work without any fun to enliven it, and for the first time I heard colonial irregulars chew the rag (grumble).
Now there are two qualities of grumblers. One is the open grumbler who grouses because it is his nature to do so and he can't help himself, yet when it comes to the point does his duty and performs his work better, perhaps, than a more complacent man. Among such may be reckoned most old sailors and soldiers. The others are the stealthy grumbling dogs who incite young soldiers to mutiny, taking jolly good care to keep in the background, out of trouble, themselves. These are dangerous scoundrels who ought to be flogged and hung without mercy; no close season should be allowed for such vermin.
Of the first lot mentioned was old Jack, a typical grousing old shell-back whose whole existence, if you believed him, was a grievance. Still he was always one of the first to fall in for any extra work or hardship the corps might be called on to face, and would volunteer for any nasty job, grumbling while he performed it, as if he were a victim to bitter
Of the second class of grumblers was Mete Dishonourable Mete
Massa Mete
This projected march of the General was of course far too good a chance for Mete to let slide, so he made his game accordingly, and played it for all he was worth.
P.M., bringing with him Dr Featherstone, an old settler in whom the Maoris had great confidence.
These two gentlemen on their arrival went to the Kupapas' line, where they quickly ascertained that these Johnnies, prompted by Mete
A general runanga (meeting) was promptly assembled, to which
It was indeed a weird sight, the Maoris squatting in a semicircle, with their chins on their knees, round three sides of the fire, the gap between the ends of their formation being occupied by the Colonel, Dr Featherstone and Te
On my arrival I at once took post in rear of the Colonel, and was immediately struck by the dogged, ugly look on the faces of the contumacious natives, whose eyes, lit up by the firelight, looked ferocious
This refusal on their part was a very serious matter, as without their knowledge and bush-craft the expedition must end in a fiasco. Mete knew this and chortled in his joy. But Mete
This ancient-time warrior was a very old man, now long past war, but he had been a mighty fighting man before the Lord, and one who, not so many years back, had been regarded not only by his tribe but by all the surrounding tribes as quite the cock of the walk, while even now the glamour of his early deeds enveloped him with a halo, and he was looked upon by the
He had moreover been a firm friend and protector of the white man from the early days, besides which he was a great personal friend of Dr Featherstone, who now drew him aside and besought his help.
At the moment they rejoined the meeting the Kupapas had again vociferated that they would go home, and there were indications of a rough house, but the instant the grand old warrior raised his still enormous bulk from the ground the silence of death fell on the crowd. For a minute he glared round on the squatting throng, every man of whom, fearing to meet his indignant eye, held his head down, then with a stamp of his foot he spake.
"Listen, ye men of the
Such an awful threat had never been uttered before. Why, the very thought that their great hero's bones might be buried in the land of their hated enemies was dreadful. Not one of them dare even think of such a diabolical catastrophe. It was worse than blasphemy, and it took some minutes before the frightful idea could percolate into their understandings. There they squatted, openmouthed and with goggling eyes, until the same
Next morning the column moved out of camp, eighty picked Kupapas leading with an air of jollity about them as if the row of the previous night had been forgotten and forgiven, though I noticed that old
In rear of the Kupapas we marched; then a long line of pack-horses, while three companies of the 14th Regiment brought up the rear. The General having heard that Father Pezant had completed the journey in two days had reckoned on our getting through in three, and therefore three days' cooked rations had been issued to all hands.
The Maoris, however, the most improvident men in the world, especially as in this case they had not intended to come, had eaten most of theirs before we started, and then, in fear of
Anyway we were off. For the first few miles the track, although a very rough one, was well defined, and we pushed on, but just before noon we came to a very deep and narrow gully. The Maoris crossed this, so did we, but when it came to the pack-horses' turn the column came to a dead stop. They certainly could not get down, and, supposing they were chucked over the edge and survived, it was equally certain they could not get out at the other side, so it was a case of getting the picks and spades off them and making one
Next morning we again made an early start, but were brought up by more gullies, some of which we crossed as we had the first one, others we had to bridge in a way that I shall presently describe.
The Maoris up to now had been very useful, though they did not care for the work, still, thanks to
These two fellows fled along the track, followed of course by a party of Kupapas who were at once put into good humour by the chance of spilling a little blood. The prisoners in their flight came across a party of seven Hau Haus, who, unaware of our proximity, were quietly enjoying their breakfast, and shouted to them to escape, but the Hau Haus, unable to realise that the white man had penetrated so far into their fastnesses, refused to budge and continued their meal. The fugitives, declining to tarry, escaped, but the alfresco repast was rudely interrupted by the Kupapas, who surprised the picnicking party, killing four men and capturing a girl.
This little interlude of blood somewhat cheered up the Kupapas, but the guides were gone, and the track that had been getting less distinct now entirely disappeared.
Other misfortunes now overtook us. The natives, having eaten most of their rations previous to starting, now demanded food, and caused trouble, still remaining sulky even when a day's rations were issued to them from the slender stock carried on the pack-horses, and then, to make us thoroughly cheerful, floods of water (you could not call it rain) began to fall, and continued to do so day and night without the slightest intermission.
We were in a hole. Guides gone, road lost, bush thick, a deluge falling, rations short, and many a man would have turned back, but the General, good man, was made of the right sort of stuff, and "go on" was the order.
"What," said he, "the road lost, is it? Then chop one," and our crowd, although they might grumble like hell, started in to give a lead.
The New Zealand bush is a stiff one to tackle, composed as it is of enormous trees growing close together and a dense undergrowth of evergreens and ferns. From the trees descend huge vines, some of them many inches in circumference, either hanging straight up and down, or draped in graceful festoons from tree to tree, both the trunks and branches of the latter being covered with patches of orchids and other parasites. Here and there amid the undergrowth springs up an elegant punga (tree fern), a broad leaf or a koninonino (fuchsia tree), while an occasional patch of lawyers, a thorny bush whose name is most appropriate, for if you once get into its clutches you can only get out pretty nearly naked, lies in wait for the unwary, these and many more being bound together into
After reading the above very short and very imperfect description you will be able to understand that a New Zealand bush is not an easy one to cut a road through, even for pack-horses, especially when, as in this case, the line you wish to follow led you across the shoulders and spurs of a huge mountain which were furrowed by innumerable deep gullies, watercourses, and rivers.
The New Zealand bush is a very beautiful one, yet a very silent and lonely one; not a sound is to be heard in it, with the exception of the doleful dirge of the wind among the tree-tops, the coo of pigeons, the occasional ka, ka of the New Zealand parrot, or the rarer, bell-like note of the Tui bird.
However, such as it was, we had to chop our way, for over forty miles, through it, so with plenty of bad language, but heaps of determination, we buckled to and tackled the job.
Te
All this work fell very heavy on us, as the regulars were of but little use in the bush, either as axemen or coverers, but we should have made light of that had it not been for the rain, that not only drenched us but turned the soft loamy bush soil into liquid mud, in which we sank nearly to the knee, and forced us to corduroy the path so as to enable the wretched pack-horses to get any footing, while men, horses, packs, arms and everything soon became plastered and caked with mud.
Presently we came to a gully with perpendicular rocky banks, in the bed of which, swollen by the rain, raged a torrent. Fortunately it was not a very wide one, not more than from thirty to thirty-five feet, but it was quite sixty feet in depth. It was impossible to make roads up and down this fellow; our old picks and spades, probably used by
These two men now pushed in front and examined carefully the enormous trees that grew close to the edge of the ravine, out of which they selected two
Then at the word, "Now get to it, boys! "the eight men sprang at the two trees like tigers.
It was simply marvellous to see these men work, every blow falling, notwithstanding the rain and slippery axe helves, just where it was aimed; while the men, although they put their whole souls into the job, did not waste an ounce of strength. First of all a large and deep scarf was opened in the trunks of the trees on the ravine side, two men working one opposite the other, each blow so timed to succeed the other as to make huge chips fly in all directions. At the same time the other two men were attacking the far side, though the depth of the wound on the creek side was kept well in advance of the other.
After some time both trees emitted deep groans, which drew a cheer from the bystanders though the axemen still continued to ply their weapons with unabated vigour; and the trees, as if in anguish, groaned and groaned again and again. Suddenly
"Say, Boss" drawled the unsophisticated bushman to the astonished old gentleman, "you and these 'ere galoots had better git, or I guess you'll be fouled by some of them darned monkey ropes, an' I kalkelate they'll bring down a heap of branches and dead wood."
"Ah," quoth the General, "I presume you think we may be in some danger in remaining here when the trees fall."
"You bet, Boss; you've struck it in once," replied the unabashed Blue-nose, who promptly returned to his mates.
"Your men," said the General, turning to
"No, sir," replied
"Quite so," returned the General, "and no offence is taken, but by gad we will take his advice and fall back a bit. That fellow knows his work."
"You bet, Boss," drawled one of the staff, and they all fell back, laughing.
"Mine too," gasps his brother, as rending cracks and portentous groans burst from the now shivering and swaying trees and rend the air.
"Stand clear, mate," yell both men as the now rocking trees make a half turn inwards on their bases, and then, bending gracefully over, as if
How the two axemen escaped was to me a mystery. I dearly love a fine tree, and, although by no means a religious man, always seem to fancy they are the property of the Almighty and that it is an act of sacrilege to chop one down—this idea still sticking to me after years of bush life.
No such opinions, however, were entertained by the godless Blue-noses, who no sooner had the trees crashed down than they leapt on to table-topped stumps, jumped into the air, cracking their heels together, flapping their arms up and down and crowing like cocks.
Rude as was their ebullition of delight, their wonderful skill was manifest, for the two mighty trunks lay across the gully, side touching side, and the framework of the bridge was an accomplished fact.
"Guss you lobsters may be trusted to fill up that crack," remarked
There was plenty of hard work on the other side, so while the Tommies made a platform
Faith, I found it bitter hard work, it being my first attempt at manual labour, as it was also my first attempt to use axe or tomahawk, and it was heart-breaking to compare my clumsy efforts with those of my experienced comrades. Moreover, although blessed with great muscular strength, I quickly found out that without skill it was of but little use to me, as my hands became dreadfully blistered and very painful, though I still continued slogging away for all I was worth.
At last we were able to start getting the horses across, and a rotten job we had to manage the terrified animals, very many of whom had never seen a bridge in their lives before. Nevertheless by blindfolding them and making a staid, quiet old brute give them a lead we managed to get all over except four, who, plunging midway, fell off the rough structure, loads and all, into the now raging torrent, where they were at once swept away, and of course, as rations were scarce, all these loads were biscuits.
By the time we had got them over it was time to bivouac, so we set about the hopeless task of trying to make ourselves comfortable- Our mess, first of all, cut a lot of thick poles, which we placed side by side on the poached, sodden ground, then covered these with small branches of undergrowth and piled on the top a two-foot thickness of wet fern.
While we were doing this
As soon as our fire was in full swing others were lit from it, but the incessant rain at last got the best of them and they dwindled away, leaving the camp in inky darkness.
I was on guard that night and did my first sentry go, passing two hours crouching in the mud, peering into the black darkness, and listening to the rush of the rain and the chattering of my own teeth. I was but little better off when relieved, as all I could do was to throw myself down on a heap of soaked fern and cover myself with my drenched blanket.
Worn out by the unaccustomed labour, aching in every limb of my body and suffering great pain
My hands, however, were in such a state as to preclude my doing my work, and I was very nervous of being ragged by my comrades, as but little sympathy is ever shown in a corps such as ours to, a man who is unable to do his share of work unless he is incapacitated by the steel or lead of the enemy, and I was quite prepared to hear myself sneered at as a kid-gloved new chum, or to be growled at as a waster who shirked his work and shoved his bit on his mates. In a crowd like ours men were not over-delicate in their satire, nor particularly considerate for the feelings of others.
We worked in relays, ten men chopping, ten men clearing away the cut brushwood, while the remaining twenty men held the workers' carbines and rested, two men out of each section of four working at a time.
Now I was in the second relief, Tim and myself having to replace Jack and
Stepping forward I approached Jack to hand him the carbines, when he noticed my hands, which were much swollen and quite raw.
"'Ere, look' ere, mate," growled the old grumbler, "yer mud hooks ain't fit for this 'ere job, just you hold the ruddy carbines. Old Jack does your spell. Oh, clap a stopper over your jaw. You ain't no blankity blank shirker, and if any blooming swine guys yer they'll come athwart Jack's hawser, d—n 'em. Now you shove off." And all the day the old ruffian did my work for me, helped occasionally by
The latter took me to the surgeon of the 14th, who did what he could for me, but I was unable to do any more axe-work that trip.
It would be tedious for me to recapitulate that miserable march day by day; suffice it to say that every day the same work had to be done, gullies had to be bridged or roads cut down their banks, and these gullies and rivers grew more numerous as we reached our destination.
On the night of the fourth day the last of our rations was consumed, horseflesh being issued in lieu, but the downpour of rain, that never ceased for a moment, prevented any chance of cooking the raw sodden lumps of flesh served out to us. On the same night the Colonel's brother, Ensign
He started next morning, reaching the frontier post the same night, and at once started back again, guiding a relief party of soldiers loaded with food. These met us on the evening of the sixth day, on the morning of which the General had sent on the Maoris. This supply of food, small as it was—my share consisted of one biscuit—was
Never before, do I suppose, has such a gang of wretched-looking objects ever been mustered: drenched and sodden by five days and nights of unceasing rain, plastered from head to foot with mud, our clothes torn to rags by the bush, hung in dripping shreds, while our unshorn faces, filthy equipment and rusty weapons made a picture I shall never forget.
Our men took a speedy and practicable way of getting rid of our superfluous coating of filth, for on reaching a river we laid down our arms and belts and then marched deliberately into it, washing ourselves and rags at the same time, which, considering we had not a particle of soap in the whole outfit, was perhaps the most expeditious way of regaining that purity which is considered next to godliness, and was in fact the only virtue approaching it used in the ranks of the Rangers.
On the evening of the same day we limped into Mataitawa, where our weary pilgrimage ended, and we were the recipients of unbounded hospitality from the settlers.
A few days' spell with plenty of good food and new clothing made us forget past hardships, and we mustered gaily, when called upon to do so, for the return march along the coast.
There was much controversy for a long time as to whether this bush march had done good or not. It had certainly shown the Hau Haus that they could no longer rely on their forests as invincible
We started our return march expecting severe fighting, but were disappointed, as with the exception of a sharp brush at a large village named Waikoko, which the Rangers and Kupapas were ordered to rush, we met no opposition at all.
Here the Kupapas behaved badly, refusing to charge and drawing off to one side, this conduct being caused not through funk of the enemy, but because they entertained grave doubts as to the discriminating powers of the supporting regulars, who, they opined, might shoot them from behind as the Tommies had the unfortunate habit of loosing off at any Maori they spotted in front of them and then inquiring if he were an enemy or not.
True, they always apologised when in error, but our friendlies did not consider that that was a sufficient salve for their injured sterns, therefore no sooner had we deployed for the charge than they withdrew to one side, sat down and looked on.
The General thereupon threw forward a company of the 4th, who, game as pebbles, charged alongside of us, and notwithstanding a heavy fire we rushed pell-mell into the place, sweeping out the defenders, who fled, leaving behind them several dead bodies, our loss being one man killed and seven wounded, among whom was Tim, though I was delighted to find out not severely.
Two days after this pleasant little interlude we reached the camp on the
We reached
It was now generally known that the regular troops were to be withdrawn from the country, so that the action at Katotauru was the last engagement in which they took part, though they were still employed for a short time to garrison certain places.
It is not a pleasant thing to say, but it is the truth, that during the past six years their efforts had been futile, although all the colonial fighting men allowed that had
It was at this time that
I was now to experience the great curse of the colony, for I regret to say the majority of our men, rough and uncouth as they were, but who had been quiet and tractable enough in the field, now became a prey to the grog-seller, and the scenes of foul, drunken debauchery were disgusting to the last degree. This was only to be expected from the majority of our crew, as there were many among them who were the flotsam and jetsam of the
Of course I had seen plenty of hard drinking at home (a man in the wild parts of the world, although colonial born, always speaks of the
Remember I have not written the above because I was puritanically inclined, or a devotee to an extravagant belief in teetotalism; far from it, for I was myself as wild as a hawk and as reckless a spendthrift as ever Ould
Still there was some excuse for the men, as you must bear in mind these fellows, accustomed to long spells of hardship in the bush, cut off from woman's or any other civilising society, and under-going long periods of enforced abstinence, were, when they did touch the fringe of civilisation, mad for some change, and had but little wherewith to amuse themselves.
Very many of them had never played a game such as cricket or football in their lives; they had no papers, books nor periodicals, even had they cared to read them; and there was not a theatre, music hall or anything of that sort to entertain them; no, not even a woman, whose presence would have quickly shamed them to decency, for there is nothing that sobers up and tames a wild up-country man more than the wholesome presence of a respectable female. No, there was nothing but this infernal rum, and they wallowed in it.
The day we reached
Outside squatted Buck, grilling some meat on the embers of a small fire, while a couple of batterie de cuisine? We were in camp. Sutlers with stores were plentiful, and all morning
"Come on,
"But where are the rest of the boys?" I said. "I've just seen Tim put away all right, and the Surgeon-Major told me he would do well and be fit for duty in next door to no time."
"Oh! I'm glad Tim's O.K.," answered Buck, "but if you want the rest of the boys you'll find them in the tent. I've just humped the last of them up from the damned grog shop, and a ruddy job I've had of it, but it won't do to let one's mates lie aroun' uncared for. Wish to goodness you'd have come along a bit earlier so as to give a hand, darned if I don't."
I looked into the tent and there I saw my comrades lying in a distorted heap, mixed up with loaves of bread, blankets, and all the camping paraphernalia, every one of them putrid drunk.
This for a moment upset me, as I regarded
However, I could do nothing for them, so squatted down and enjoyed the meat and bread Buck had so kindly prepared for me. Fortunately the night was a fine one, so after a yarn by the fire we made down our blankets and slept in the open, leaving the tent to the votaries of Bacchus.
The following day, as the bust was still being kept up, I attended a sale of captured loot, cattle, horses, etc., and bought for ten pounds a very fine horse, getting also a nearly new saddle and bridle of the best Australian make for two pounds. The nag was a very well-bred one and had evidently been bred by some settler looted by the Maoris, and was more than half wild, besides which he was in very poor condition; but he was only four years old, well topped, with splendid quarters, legs and feet, and I made up my mind to set to work to break him in and get him into good condition.
As I was overlooking my purchase
"Well,
I told him I was all right in the hunting-field, having ridden from childhood, but had never broken in a horse, nor ever seen a buckjumper in my life.
"Then," said he, "I advise you to let one of those defence force fellows do it. There are plenty of rough-riding stockmen among them."
"Well, sir," I answered, "I'm determined to tackle him myself, especially as I want to train him afterwards, and if I remain in the colony I must sooner or later come across a buckjumper."
"True," he replied. "I'll give you a hand with the saddle, but bring him into the paddock so that if he pips you we can round him up easily. One thing's in your favour, he is very poor, so that you may have a chance of breaking him before he regains his full strength."
Buck had by this time joined us, and with their assistance I managed to bridle and saddle the horse, a job that gave us some trouble and attracted many idle troopers, so that when I led him into the paddock I had a big gallery.
The English cut of my riding breeches and boots had given me away to the onlookers as a new chum, and there were plenty of men offering odds that the tenderfoot would be pipped in less than a minute.
Patting and talking to him I led him about for a few moments up and down the paddock, which was a field of some ten acres, surrounded with a five-foot post-and-rail fence.
In a moment I was in the saddle and gave the word to let go when Buck, having placed the stirrup, together with
This exercise went on for some minutes, and though it was far from pleasant yet I felt I could stick it all right, the worst part being that when in the air it seemed as if I were sitting on the end of an egg, as, bar a tuft of hair in front of the gullet plate of my saddle, devil a bit of the horse could I see at all.
Presently he stopped dead, and cheers rose from
What side-bucking meant I had no idea, but I was soon to find out, as without the slightest warning he again started, but this time he did not spring straight ahead but sideways, at the same time making his body wriggle like a snake, while the jumps came so quickly I could not get the chance to regain my grip, which the first side-buck had loosened. More and more I was shifted from my hold, and although I did my best, yet I could not save myself, and I am sure some subtle instinct told the horse he was getting the better of me, for he seemed to redouble his efforts, and with one mighty plunge sent me flying over his near wither. I fell heavily, but was up in a moment, a bit shaken though not hurt, and amid the cheers of the men again mounted.
No sooner was I in my seat and the men helping me sprung clear than he started with the side-bucking, but this time I knew what to expect, and was on the lookout, so was able, albeit with difficulty, to retain my seat, and after some twenty minutes' game tussle forced him to walk and canter round and round the paddock, having fairly conquered him, which I should not have done so easily had it not been for his starved condition.
This I set to work to rectify with good grooming and feeding, riding him twice a day and passing all my spare time talking to him and training him. On two occasions only he again tried bucking,
In this way I passed my time till my comrades had finished their bust, which was not concluded till their last shilling had been spent, and I also, with
As soon as they had spent all their money my tent mates began to sober up, and it was a pitiful sight watching them taper off. For a day or two they were all mad for more drink and suffered dreadfully, and acting on Buck's advice I began to doctor them.
On the first day I procured and issued to the poor broken-nerved wretches five tots apiece; on the second, four; on the third, three; and so on till, by the time it came to one tot, with the exception of Smith, they were all right and swore off bar rations.
Smith, I regret to say, was not satisfied with this regimen, and for days continued to loaf around the camp trying to cadge drinks, and would go to any mean extreme to procure one.
These two worthies at first were by no means keen to take me, as they did not consider I was
Yes, and bush lore is a very wonderful science, and to be mastered by no one who does not give himself up heart and soul to its study.
First of all there are so many things a new chum must learn and remember, and it must be impressed on him that the bush is revengeful and if treated with disrespect is apt to exact a mortal punishment. Let me enumerate a very few of the things a man must thoroughly master before he can call himself a scout: He must learn to use his senses to un unnatural degree. His eye must get accustomed to see and note everything, although he is giving his attention to something else. At the same time his senses of smell, hearing and feeling must also always be on deck, while his memory must retain every mortal thing his senses have discovered and noted. He must be able to pass through the bush day or night as noiselessly as a bat and in as straight a line as a bee, although in crossing it he will surely be encountered by many obstacles, which he must be able to get over, get under, or get round and pick up again his straight line. He must be able to approximately tell the time, day or night, and also to steer his course without compas, sun or stars. He must learn the different call and note of every day or night bird and be able to distinguish them so as to be sure that any bird is calling with its natural note at its proper time and in its correct locality.
These are only a few of the things a tyro has to learn and digest, or if he does not do so don't let him go scouting when Hau Haus are hostile.
I am not going to turn this chapter into an article on scouting, but have simply told you a few of the subjects I had to learn, and which I did learn, and digested so carefully that at last I became, and mark you it was after long and weary work, cognisant that I owned another sense or instinct that informed me if I was going right or wrong and eventually became so acute that in some ways it warned me of approaching danger.
All this was not learned in a day or without undergoing great hardship, but I stuck at it, wandering through the rough country with my queer companions, and gradually mastering some of their marvellous skill and bush-craft.
Our duty chiefly consisted in searching for pahs in the most inaccessible parts of the country, for although the fighting had, for a time, ceased, yet we were well aware that the natives were still hostile, and in fact so long as they clung to the Hau Hau or
The regular troops were at this time being withdrawn, and
We left camp at sunset, loaded as usual, but each company had to carry four stretchers as we had no hospital men with us, so that we had to take turn and turn about with the butchers' trays, as the men called them, and we marched all through the night, resting for two hours before daylight. We were moving in three separate bodies, and were destined to get a lesson on how difficult a matter it is for combined movements to be carried out successfully when working in a rough, bushed country, especially when no communication can be held by the various units.
Our company was to make the frontal attack; the other two, making detours, were to try and envelop, or at least outflank, the enemy's position,
We, however, in accordance with orders, gaily began the fight, expecting our flankers to chip in every moment, but they had been delayed on their march and did not do so, and soon the Hau Haus began to outflank us, so that
The bush was an open one—that is, it consisted of the usual huge trees without much undergrowth—so that we could move quickly from cover to cover but were more exposed while doing so.
We were firing alternately—that is, I had laid down and fired from the right-hand side of the tree, then had slipped behind it, letting
In a moment I had hold of him, dragged him back to the tree, and had grasped my carbine, just in the nick of time, to meet the rush of a big Maori who, tomahawk in hand, had charged in to finish off his victim. He was in fact not more than three yards from me when my bullet crashed into his head, when, throwing up his arms, his knees
He had hardly reached the ground before I had seized
At the same instant Jack and Buck were alongside of us. "'Ere, what's all this?" howled the former, his blue eyes on fire and his face as hard as a stone.
"Leave me alone," gasped
"Leave yer alone," growled Jack; "that be damned for a yarn; white-livered—you must think us 'uns to leave yer alone. 'Ere,
Buck and myself now had our hands full, but I think both of our next shots must have been lucky ones, as the Hau Haus hung back for a moment from rushing us, a moment we grasped to race back under heavy fire to a tree some dozen yards away, where we turned at bay.
Again we fired, and I know my shot was a lucky one, as I got a good chance, and saw the fellow I had aimed at crumple up and fall, which gave us the opportunity to again run back to fresh cover.
Sure enough as he spoke I heard our fellows' volleys, together with their charging shout, and knew we were out of the fire, for at the same moment our own company came back with a rush, which we joined, and in a few minutes we had taken the position, driving the Hau Haus helter-skelter in flight.
The moment I could I made for the stretchers and asked the doctor how
"Dying, poor fellow," was the reply. "It will be all over with him in less than an hour. Go to him, he has asked for you several times. I expect he will remain conscious to the end."
In a moment I was kneeling by my poor pal's side, close to whom squatted old Jack, who was swearing softly and tying a bandage round his own leg.
"How goes it, old chap?" I asked, taking his hand.
"
All this had been gasped out in short sentences, and to try and cheer him up I said: "But,
He smiled like a child and muttered: "Yes,
For some time he lay still, while I wiped away the bloody froth from his lips, administering now and then some weak rum and water, and vainly tried to remember some prayer, if only to counteract the awful oaths rumbled out by old Jack, who had by now taken post on the other side of the dying man.
"Say,
"Thanks, Jack; good-bye, old ship," and then, after a pause, turning his fading eyes towards mine, he whispered: "Une vie manqué, une vie manqué, but thank God finished like a gentleman, for Queen and flag. God bless them, Queen and flag. So-long,
There is no time for lamentation, and but little for mourning, in the bush, so that as soon as the doctor had pronounced our poor pal dead old Jack and myself set about his obsequies. I first of all removed from his neck the locket, which was sewn up in leather, and looked through his poor sordid pack in case there might be any letters or papers to take care of; but there were none.
"'Ere, chuck me that blanket, mate," growled my fellow-undertaker. "No, mine's a new one. We'll start him aloft in that, seems more respectful like," and the kind-hearted old filibuster substituted his own brand-new blanket for
This was very true, so leaving Jack to sew up the still warm remains I started in with tomahawk and hands to scoop out a shallow resting-place for my dead pal.
I had not more than half finished when I was joined by
Yes, there, alone he lay, without a prayer having been said over him, without a bugle having been blown, or without a parting shot having been fired, and with only a mob of rough, sin-stained men to, for a few minutes, mourn for him, yet I guess that as horny hands wiped away a salt drop or two, and deep voices muttered oaths and threats of revenge, none of his noble ancestors resting under the old abbey roof at home were more sorrowed for or rest better than their hapless kinsman killed in a forgotten, nameless skirmish and buried by his wild and reckless comrades in a hidden grave on a lonely fern ridge among the wilds of the New Zealand bush. R.I.P.
No sooner was poor
On our return I found Tim had been returned fit for duty, and I was glad of it, as my light-hearted follower always cheered up the tent. The hump was still bearing heavy upon me, and as it was now the beginning of June and my period of service terminated at the end of the month I had to make up my mind whether I would sign on again or return home, as my poor dead pal had begged me to do.
I was tired of camp life, for although I enjoyed my scouting trips, and knew there would be heaps of good fighting to be got through in the near future, still the glamour of the Rangers had worn off. There was another pay-day to be faced on the 5th July, and much as I liked some of my comrades, yet I had no desire to associate again with the foul, drunken, swearing mob that pay-day would turn my companions into. No; I would quit it. There was no middle course that I could see, so I would return to Europe.
Man proposes but Kismet decides, for just as I had come to the above determination
"
I answered in the affirmative and he continued:
"Well, I am in great want of an officer to take over the adjutancy of the Mounted Defence Force. I know of course you are a gentleman, well educated and all that, so I offer you the position. The war will breeze up again shortly and you'll get plenty of fighting."
Naturally I was much gratified by the offer, though I explained to the Colonel that I was at present on the horns of a dilemma as to whether I ought not to return home.
He, however, laughed, and said: "Well,
My late resolutions all seemed to fade away, so after some more palaver I agreed to sign on as a commissioned officer for three years, or longer, if required.
As the interview terminated he drew out an official document, which he handed to me with a laugh, saying: "I was so sure of you that I sent to
As I strode away from the H. Q. lines I cogitated over the new aspect of my affairs; but the thing was done, all my determination of returning home had blown to the deuce and I had signed on for another three years. I felt rather mad, but solaced myself with the thought that anyhow there would be plenty of good fighting in the near future. Of course I had mentioned
My news was received by my comrades in various ways. Tim's wild ebullition of joy at the idea I was to be an officer and that he was going to be my own man once more was tempered by the regrets of the others at my leaving them, while old Jack's pungent remarks, such as "What the hell do yer want to fight aboard a ruddy 'oss for? Ain't yer legs good enough? Course yer ort to be on the ruddy poop, I know that," etc., etc., were rumbled out in the best grumbling style, accompanied with his very choicest selection of bad words.
This he did, and a wonderful repast it was, so that when it was over, and the farewells said, old Jack himself confessed: "Things did not look so dirty to wind'ard after all," and insisted on helping Tim to carry our kits over to our new camp, while I mounted my horse and rode over to report myself to my new O.C.
I was very kindly received by my brother officers on joining, all of whom were fine fellows, but sadly deficient in their knowledge of drill, so I had to turn to at once and knock them into shape.
Our duties chiefly consisted in patrolling, escorting strings of pack-horses or drays, where practicable, loaded with rations, etc., and despatch-riding, the latter a very arduous and dangerous work indeed, of which I shall say more anon, though of course we had to do our share of bush-whacking, when we discarded the breeches and boots for shawls.
The troopers were the perfection of irregular mounted men, being taken mostly from young colonial fellows who had been stock-riders, but there was a good leaven of broken-down gentlemen and remittance men, so, taking them altogether, they were a hard-riding, hard-fighting, hard-swearing and hard-drinking crowd.
You may have some difficulty in understanding why troopers should of necessity be hard swearers. Let me explain. The bad habit comes from driving pack-horses, most of which beasts of burden are mules, and pack-mules, like transport oxen, will not do their work without being comforted and encouraged by the most awful language, stock whips by themselves being useless; so even the
It was in the beginning of July that
We now therefore began to look out for sharp work, as our O.C. was not the man to let the fern sprout without doing something, and although it was winter, and bitterly cold, we knew that his theory of native warfare was to fight winter and summer, wet or fine, cold or hot, day or night, until the resistance of the Hau Haus should be overcome.
In this he was quite right, for although it entailed great hardships on us, with probably a heavy loss of men, still it would cause more loss to the enemy, as the fighting would be in their country. Their pahs and villages would be burnt, their food-supplies would be looted and destroyed, their women and children would have to starve in the bush, and they would also lose a lot of men. This they could not afford to do and we could; for, should we lose a hundred men in an engagement, we could enlist a hundred more, but should they lose a hundred they had no surplus stock from which to replace them.
The Colonel knew the Hau Haus well. He knew it must be war to the knife and that no peace was possible with mad fanatics whose one belief was to slay every white man and even all their own countrymen who refused to accept the absurd
There is no doubt that had the Colonel been allowed to carry out this policy the colony would have been spared at least two years of bloodshed and expense, but in every country where the Union Jack flies there is always a gang of rotters, peace-at-any-price men, nigger lovers, pro-Boers, pro anything, so long as it is against their own flag, and New Zealand, like all others, was cursed with such a mob.
However I had nothing to do with politics and was delighted when the Colonel, a few days after he had taken over the command, moved his headquarters and the bulk of the forces to
Towards the end of the month the Colonel, escorted by a small party of troopers, rode to the
Of course we all knew peace was the last thing they desired, but according to Maori etiquette it was the correct thing to do, and the interview was both novel and entertaining.
As it was by no means certain what sort of a reception we were going to receive we advanced to the trysting - place, a kainga (open village), taking every precaution, and found some thirty Maoris squatting down in a semicircle, waiting for us. My first move was to leave two troopers, who were to remain mounted, as videttes, some hundred and fifty yards to our rear, so as to prevent any attempt to surprise us from that quarter, and this act received great praise from the Colonel,
After the customary salutations had been gone through many speeches were made and various proposals suggested, among them one, moved by We Hukanui, that the Colonel, alone and unarmed, should accompany him and call on the Hau Hau chiefs, was declined without discussion, as it was too risky even for our gallant O.C., the fate of the last Peace Commissioner who had called on them being of far too recent a date to make him risk the same end. (Note.—
So the Colonel, as an amendment, handed the Rt.-Hon. We
On the following day a letter was brought in from the Hau Hau chiefs, requesting an interview, so again we rode out to meet them, taking this time only twelve troopers, though we left fifty Rangers in a very strong position on the bank of the Wain-gangora River.
At the rendezvous we met several chiefs and a large number of their followers, whose absurd gesticulations, together with the gibberish they talked, pretending it was English, for they declared that the angel
After the chiefs had made many speeches, in which they declared they wanted peace, the Colonel replied: "It is good. Bring all the chiefs to the
The following day we waited at the
Our O.C. now determined, as there was no chance of peace, to strike a rapid blow, so on the evening of the 1st of August he moved out of camp with a strong force to surprise the village of
The night was a fine one, though the cold was so intense that it numbed our thin-clad men to the bone, while the stirrups and scabbards of us mounted men were quite thick with frost. Cold as it was we had to face it, and before daylight had reached our positions, halted and dismounted.
Shortly after we had halted
This was a piece of unprecedented luck, nor was our O.C. the man to let such a chance slip, and the new orders he gave were excellent. He had at his disposal one company of military settlers armed with rifles and bayonets, the remainder of the outfit carrying carbines and revolvers, so this company he ordered to silently fix bayonets, enter the village and post themselves at the doors of the various whares (huts) so as to imprison the inmates. He also gave orders that on no account was a shot to be fired, as he now had great hopes of being able to surprise an adjacent village, hive its inhabitants in the same way, and so kill two birds with the one stone.
The movement was a plain and straightforward one, so simple, in fact, that no one doubted its successful termination, but, as
It has often been the lot of an unfortunate commander, after a long and harassing night's march, to have his well-thought-out plans utterly ruined by some crass idiot discharging his rifle, lighting his pipe, or committing some other wicked
As the whole show was now spoilt, the military settlers opened fire and charged, knocking over some of the fugitives, and bayoneting a few of the late starters, but the O.C. had to content himself with the meagre spoil of some dozen women, while, had it not been for the misconduct of the aforesaid infernal idiot, he would have scooped up all the principal Hau Hau chiefs and probably have ended the war: which shows what a tremendous lot of harm one fool can cause.
We had, however, made a valuable capture, and one that entailed great loss to the enemy—namely, some forty stand of rifles, together with a large supply of ammunition and other arms that fell into our hands. During this affair we lost only one man, and he was killed in rather a queer way.
At the end of the engagement one of the military settlers entered a whare for the purpose of bringing out a dead Hau Hau, and was still inside when a party of Rangers, who were searching the huts for any of the enemy possibly concealed, came up to it. Hearing someone inside the hut they demanded who was there, and received the answer: "A white man."
Now it was believed that the infamous deserter,
By this time the loot had been collected and all the huts, with the exception of one, had been destroyed. (Note.—The principal reason for burning huts was to destroy the large quantities of powder or ammunition concealed in the thatch.) It was broad daylight, and as, thanks to the aforementioned fool, there was no further chance of doing anything, we returned to the camp at
I am not writing a history of the New Zealand wars, and it would be only wearisome for people nowadays to read of the forgotten, innumerable skirmishes, night marches and encounters, with their attendant hardships, the colonial irregulars went through.
For many years the district over which we then marched and fought has been the most fruitful one in New Zealand, where thousands of smiling homesteads now stand on the sites of our old bivouacs on which we shivered and starved and I often wonder if a single individual of the happy and
The British Empire has been largely built up by the same class of men, who have rolled out its frontiers farther and farther, and then held them against savage enemies in spite of deadly malaria, fever, starvation and horrible discomfort.
Would it therefore be an impertinent question for me to ask if any one of the yapping gas-bags in the home or the colonial Houses of Parliament has ever given a thought to the welfare of these rolling stones after they have been worn out by their unrequited work? However, it's no use asking silly questions, so let's return to our mutton.
The skirmish at
Scouting and patrolling was also reduced to a science little dreamt of in British armies of to-day, so that the Maoris were kept ever on the qui vive; in fact the Colonel employed their own tactics
The first set-back our gallant commandant received was engineered by a worm called Parris, a man whom
At this commission both Hau Haus and friendly natives were examined, and although
You must remember that it was dark when our men entered the village, and that on the alarm being prematurely given there was a general stampede of the natives. In the rush and dim light it is hard to tell man from woman, so one of the latter received a bayonet-thrust by mistake.
The wound was not a bad one, and after it had been dressed the Colonel interviewed her, offering to have her carried on a stretcher to hospital.
History of course repeats itself, and the British House of Parliament is, at the present time, still disgraced by some of the foul liars who invented charges against the British troops in the
The same was the case in New Zealand, as Parris, who was commissioner for the district, was allowed still to retain his post, and did all in his power to thwart and hamper the Colonel, declaring the natives wished for peace, recommending the disbandment of the field force—in fact, played the part of a Little Englander with a Nonconformist conscience to perfection; and this man, owing to the criminal folly of the Government, was the cause of the discomfiture and defeat of the colonial forces.
To give you some idea of the folly the
In the House was a very strong peace party, mostly composed of members representing the
At the time the Colonel assumed command he had at his disposal an adequate field force of splendidly trained bush fighters who by continual warfare had not only learned their work but also to place the utmost confidence in their officers, their comrades and themselves. Alas, this was to end!
The major part of this force were military settlers who had contracted with the Government to serve for three years, their remuneration to be a grant of land, and it so fell out that at the very moment their services were most needed the time expired of one hundred and fifty of the very best men.
This placed the Government somewhat in a dilemma, as the Hau Haus were still in possession of the land that should have been surveyed, ready to parcel out to these fellows, and as this had not been done they could not keep their part of the contract. Still the men were quite willing to reengage, provided the Government would guarantee ten more acres of land per annum for each year they continued to serve. This was the most modest demand, and the Colonel permitted one of their officers to proceed to
Other corps had also been disbanded, and one fine day the Colonel, thanks to the besotted stupidity of the Government, found himself with only one hundred and sixty men, including officers, to hold a district and carry out a campaign—duties that a few months previous had found ample occupation for nearly four thousand men. Yet our gallant O.C. was not the man to be daunted. True he had not enough men to garrison the posts which the Hau Haus, now emboldened by our paucity of numbers, not only threatened with attack, but also theyambushed every road, attempting to cut off, and if successful cut up, our despatchriders and ration convoys. No; he would hit back, as he knew that passive resistance was no use in savage warfare, and although he had to withdraw nearly every man from all the posts to obtain a striking force, even then by no means an adequate one, still he did so.
Just previous to this headquarters had been moved forward to Waihe, where an old pah had been reconstructed into a small but strong fort, the building of which had been begun, carried on and completed under fire, so that we continually had to drop tools and take up arms to resist attacks.
At this time you might say we lived under fire, as all day long the natives fired at us from the bush, and it was now I played in the most
The game was inaugurated in honour of the completion of the work, and was Pigskin Polishers (troopers) v. Footsloggers (rangers), and was looked forward to with much excitement by both corps. Naturally the players were all out of practice, their dress far from accurate, and the pitch, well, damnable; but we turned to with élan, though to bat, bowl, or even field, belted as each man was with his revolver and fifty rounds of carbine ammunition, was very trying.
Moreover the side in the field had to pick up their carbines when they changed places at the call of "Over!" and the umpires held the batsmen's guns as in this country they sometimes hold their coats. In fact the whole get-up was outré in the extreme, and I fear ordinary spectators of English cricket would not have been highly gratified unless they had regarded it as a charity burlesque.
Now the main bush, in which the gay and festive Hau Hau lived and gambolled, was about one thousand yards away from the fort, but there were big patches of bush up to within four hundred yards of it, and any amount of manuka and fern scrub, that afforded good cover to an enemy wishing to pass from one to the other of these patches, so that, notwithstanding all our vigilance, scouts, or even considerable numbers of Hau Haus, could get quite close up to the stockade.
Well, the game commenced, and of course attracted the attention of the gentle savage. Word was quickly passed into the recesses of the bush that the white man was up to some new and
To this we did not object, and had they continued to behave they might have remained there to the end, but perhaps they were over-critical, and the play, as I have already stated, not being first class, they may have considered they were entitled to show their disapproval of it.
Now we could have made allowances for their ignorance or their want of appreciation, although they were self-invited and had paid no gate money, even should they have gone so far as to hiss, but I maintain that paying spectators should restrain themselves from heaving at the players such things as dead cats, antiquated eggs, or ginger-beer bottles, but when it comes to expressing dissatisfaction with tuparas (double-barrelled guns) and
Now the play was not good, that I allow, and also it is very doubtful what the Hau Haus thought had occasioned this entertainment and extravagant display of energy on the part of the hated white man. As most of them had been Christians they knew it was not a religious ceremony, neither was it a war-dance, white men not being civilised up to the merits of the war-dance. Perhaps they put it down to witchcraft, or some sort of an extra insulting challenge issued by men who had just built a pah in spite of the lavish expenditure of powder they had seen fit to waste in their attempts to obstruct its completion.
Anyhow it was something important, or wherefore those cheers and hand-clapping from the other white men who lined the parapet or reclined on the ground, and as such must be counteracted.
First of all they danced a war-dance, and as no attention was paid to that they proceeded to take more active measures.
In the meantime the game had been progressing steadily. The troopers had had their first innings and had scored one hundred runs and the rangers had scored ninety with the loss of nine wickets.
The excitement was intense, "Well bowled," "Well hit," "Oh, well fielded" being howled by the enraptured lookers-on after every delivery, while ribald chaff, banter and badinage were being exchanged by troopers and rangers that would have shocked the spectators of a modern test match.
The last hope of the Footsloggers was a leviathan sergeant, an old Varsity blue, but his partner was a very fragile reed, who only required one straight ball to finish.
Could the sergeant keep the bowling to himself? That was the question, and men hugged themselves with excitement. He has it now, and the fielders retire farther out. By gad! he gets a loose one, and opening his shoulders he smacks it over Long-on's head. Big as the hit is he will only get three or perhaps four for it, as on that tussocky ground where a ball pitches there it stops, and Long-on is far out. Still the hit is a big one and is cheered by his delighted friends. "Well hit," "Oh, well hit," "Run it out," "Oh, run it out." Nor are the troopers behindhand with their shouts.
But what's the matter? Of a sudden the wild yells terminate into the pious ejaculation of "Oh, hell!" while the eager fielder throws himself on his nose, hunting cover, and drawing his revolver lets go the agonising shout of "Lost ball!"
Well this is what the matter was. As the questing fielder rushes to secure the ball that lies in full view in front of him and throw it in, out of that patch of manuka scrub darts several spurts of flame and smoke, and a number of balls of a different nature whistle round his head, and I ask you present-day cricketers which of you would have cared to have fielded that ball and slung it in to the expectant wicket-keeper? Or would you have hunted cover and howled, "Lost ball!" as that Pigskin Polisher did?
"Damn such interruptions," shouts the umpire, who was the Colonel at that; "drive the beggars off the field." And in a moment batsmen, fielders, umpires, scorers and onlookers grab their weapons and charge that patch of manuka scrub. We reach and tear through it just in time to see a party of Hau Haus disappear into a clump of bush some way farther off, then, laughing and cussing, return
The continuation of the game evidently mortified the Hau Haus, for they lined the four-hundred-yard bush and fired volleys at us. Did we allow them to stop the game? Not a bit of it. It was far too important a one to allow a gang of measly Hau Haus to interfere with, for was not that night grog night? And had not every trooper wagered his tot in backing his side? And had not every ranger done the same? Stop play; indeed no! They would play it out to the bitter end. So the game went on.
Now it is rather trying to most men to stand up against fast, erratic bowling on a more than bumpy pitch, but should the batsman's attention be distracted while watching the ball by the whistle of an
Again, it is rather conducive to wild bowling for a bowler to have to submit to the same ordeal preparatory to his delivering a ball, nor can even an umpire give the amount of attention the game requires to his important functions when half his time has to be devoted to dodging ricochets. So that the Colonel, a sportsman to his finger-tips, ordered all the available men not playing to assist the friendly natives in keeping order in the free seats. This they did, though not without a smart skirmish, which ended in the rowdy interrupters being driven off the field with the loss of several men, which served them right for trying to interfere with sport.
This well-merited chastisement did not, however, satisfy the contumacious bounders, for they took post in the big bush and continued to lob bullets at us from the distance of a thousand yards, but of these we took no notice, for although now and again a bullet would announce itself with an angry hum, or drop nearly plump into the ground, yet they afforded a man a good excuse should he butter a catch or make a duck. Anyhow we played the match out, and I am delighted to say the troopers won by the narrow margin of seven runs, although I regret to add I contributed but little towards the winning score.
I mentioned in the last chapter that our paucity of men allowed the Hau Haus the opportunity of making things warm for us, and they lost no time in taking advantage of it; for one day they had the cheek to ambuscade, within half-a-mile of the fort, a dray loaded with rations. Now there was a standing order that a ration dray should be escorted by twelve troopers, but as the unfortunate O.C. of the post from whence the dray started had only twelve men for all duties he could only send three, and the Hau Haus thought this far too good a chance to be lost. The dray was drawn by two horses driven tandem fashion, and when it had reached within half-a-mile of
These soon reached the spot, where they found the empty dray and the remains of the poor chap chopped to pieces, but the rations and the shaft-horse taken away. Now this vexed the Colonel, and more than irritated the rest of us, as rations
Some hours, however, previous to its departure, a party of Rangers and friendly natives had been despatched to do a bit of ambuscading on our behalf, and proved themselves worthy of the trust placed in them; for when the Hau Haus, having spotted the sham escort, came down from the bush to gobble it up they fell into the trap so skilfully planted by the Rangers, who knocked the immortal stuffin' out of them, sending them back to the bush hungry and howling, having on this occasion received toko instead of tucker.
This lesson, though a severe one, the O.C. did not think quite adequate, so he determined to strike another blow to teach them better manners for the future, and to leave his men's rations alone. He therefore with the greatest secrecy called in men from the other posts, which was a very dangerous thing to do, as it left them for the time quite defenceless, but he had no other course to pursue, and Fortune favours the bold player. Still, after scraping every man together, he could muster only one hundred and thirteen men of all ranks, and it was a very, very risky game he intended to play, and one he would never have attempted had he not had the greatest confidence in his officers and men.
Of course a body of men as large as this one was bound to be spotted leaving camp, so that to mislead the enemy's scouts he first marched to P.M. we silently left there, crossed the river, and made for an old deserted pah where our scouts had come across a well-defined track running inland. This track they had scouted until it had ended in a clearing, but could penetrate no farther as the enemy's scouts were too much on the alert. However, he hoped that he had blinded them by what we had done at
Well, we started, passed the deserted pah, moved carefully on till we came to the clearing, and then, as we were ignorant of the actual position of the Hau Haus, we lay down and waited. Presently we heard, not far off, some cocks crow, which giving us the desired information we moved off in their direction, and had not proceeded a mile when, just as day broke, we came to a long, narrow clearing with a lot of huts scattered all the way up it. As there was no possibility of surrounding the. place our O.C., without a pause, led us right up it, leaving a few men at the door of each hut as we passed, who, with carbines loaded and cocked, stood at them without making a sound. The movement, quickly conceived as it was, was admirably carried out, for although before it was quite completed an alarm was given, yet very few natives escaped, nor was there the least confusion as the men, all of whom were old hands, stood ready without saying a word.
When the arrangements were finished to his satisfaction the Colonel posted himself in front of the largest and most central hut, and delivered his ultimatum, shouting out: "Will ye, O Ngatiruanui,
The query was a brief one; the answer was still briefer, for it came in the shape of a volley fired from all the huts that dropped a lot of our men, although it would have been better for the inmates had they considered their answer more carefully, as Rangers are not men with whom to bandy words. For in a moment fire was applied to every whare, which, being built of dry raupo as inflammable as petrol, burst into sheets of flame that transformed the quiet village into an animated hell.
Out from the flaming whares rushed men, half mad, with scorched hides and blazing hair, only to be blown off their feet by shots fired from a few yards distant, while the flames, smoke, explosions of powder, yells, cheers and shots, together with the roar and crackling of the burning huts, made a service that sunny Sabbath morning that must have delighted Old Nick himself.
This part of the day's performance did not last long, as in less than ten minutes every hut but one was consumed, and every Maori dead with the exception of that one's occupants. Unfortunately the hut remaining was a big whare puni made of thick slabs of wood covered with earth, at the door of which lay the dead body of one of our men, and as no fire would touch this little fortress there was nothing to be done but dig out the garrison. We at once set to work at this job, and had nearly unearthed them when we were attacked from three sides by an overwhelming party of Hau Haus.
It was evidently high time to clear out of that, but our Colonel was not the man to be balked of his
To this they consented, and one of them came out, but he had no sooner shown himself than a number of friendly natives standing close by recognised the unfortunate
It was now high time for us to skip, and we promptly made ready to do so, as we had already lost three men killed and seven men badly wounded; this for a small force like ours was bad enough, but casualties in savage warfare mean a much greater loss than the actual number of men hit.
You see it is this way: A man gets wounded in civilised warfare; well, his side only loses the use of one player for that match. As for the wounded Johnny, he just makes himself as comfortable as circumstances permit and quietly awaits the arrival of the first ambulance, be it friend or foe, when he is picked up and taken care of.
This, however, was not a rule of the game as played in New Zealand. If a man got wounded there his own friends must get him away smart, for if the Hau Haus got him, so far from making his wound whole they would make him into a whole wound by torturing him in a way not fit to write about, and as it took at least four men to carry the
Then again it was considered very bad form to leave a dead man behind, for doing so not only supplied the enemy with a quantity of fresh meat rations, but the capture of one was considered to be a great triumph to them and an equal disgrace to ourselves. It therefore amounted to this, that as we had ten men hors de combat it left us with only sixty-three rifles to withstand the onslaught of the infuriated Hau Haus, besides which we had nine prisoners to shepherd.
Nevertheless we must skip, so were just moving off when
Even this Job's comforter did not daunt our gallant O.C., who at once summoned the prisoners and demanded if there was any other path leading out of the place we could make use of, at the same time politely informing them that if there was not, much as he regretted the necessity, he would be forced to order their immediate execution.
This reasoning they saw was sound, and they at once promptly replied that there was another road, and that rather than linger any longer on that insalubrious spot they would guide us out by it.
Now this was real kind of them, so we carried the wounded off, leaving a rear-guard of only thirty-five men to cover our retreat, and it was fortunate, not only for themselves, but for the whole of us, that they were a splendid lot of well-trained old hands who were conversant with every wrinkle in bush fighting, and moreover had as
Nor were we going to have a very rosy time of it, as carrying a heavy man in a blanket along a narrow, crooked path running through dense bush and over a terribly rough and broken country is no child's play. Remember that on a bush footpath stretchers are of no use, the unfortunate wounded must therefore be lugged along either in men's arms or doubled up in a blanket; that we had none of those drugs nor appliances that now rob the battlefield and hospital of half their terrors and that even on reaching camp a fern bed with a rolled-up blanket for a pillow was the only accommodation a wounded man could hope for.
At the front there was no chloroform, medical comforts nor nurses, so that the lot of a wounded man was by no means a happy one. Well, we were nearly clear of the bush when the Colonel called me and pointing out a low rough hill said: "
Hastily summoning the first available ten men, among whom were old Jack,
There was no time for speech-making nor tactics, so we just jumped at one another, and I had no sooner fired my carbine than I saw a big native with his tongue protruding and the whites of his eyes turned up spring at me through the smoke, twirling a long-handled tomahawk around his head, as if it had been a shillelagh in the hands of one of my own countrymen at home, and moreover had barely time to throw up my carbine, so as to guard a swashing cut he was good enough to deliver at the left side of my head. Troth and it was no fool of a cut either, for it drove my carbine in until the muzzle of it came against my left shoulder, which fortunately prevented my guard from being quite broken, though the razor-edged blade at the business end of the six-foot flexible manuka handle, whipping over my carbine barrel, cut my left ear in two, scarred my cheek, and gashed my eyebrow so deeply that the flap of the wound fell over, which besides deluging me with blood quite obstructed the sight of my left eye, so much so that I thought I was blinded.
This thought transmogrified me into a raging fiend, so I let go my carbine, and, without even pausing to say damn your soul, flew at his throat like a wild cat, which I was fortunate enough to get a firm hold of with my right hand.
Well was it for me at that moment that I had devoted so many hours of my young life to the gymnasium and salle d'armes, and that my great natural strength had been increased by culture to an almost phenomenal extent, for now it was to be
My opponent was a big, powerful fellow, standing fully six feet and well proportioned, who, although inclined to run to flesh, was still very active, and a most formidable antagonist for a young man who measured only five feet seven inches and weighed under eleven stone. He was, moreover, a noted warrior and a past master in the use of native hand-to-hand weapons. Therefore, failing firearms, it was the very best thing I could have done to grapple with him, and it was to my immense advantage having caught the first hold.
The moment I had closed with him he dropped his long-handled weapon and strove with all his might to tear away my grip on his throat with his left hand, while with his right he attempted to seize mine, but I successfully guarded it and, although he repeatedly struck me with his right hand, we were too closely locked for him to do me much harm, while I was surely if slowly choking him.
The struggle seemed to last for hours, in reality it did not last for five minutes, but it was a hot five minutes, and one to be remembered a lifetime. For a few seconds we tugged and heaved at one another, and twice he swung me off my legs into the air, but I hung on and landed on my feet. In vain
I now began to feel I was getting the best of it, besides which, although still animated by the determination to kill, I was becoming cooler and cooler, and watched for any opportunity so that I could profit by it.
Again and again he made desperate efforts to throw me off, and after one prolonged, furious struggle, in which I thought my sinews must give way, his feet got caught by a vine and we fell heavily sideways to the ground; when with one tremendous heave I gained the upper hand and drove my right knee into the lower part of his breast-bone. Oh, but it was a glorious feeling of exultation that rushed through my brain as I tightened, if possible, my clutch on his windpipe and, using the leverage of my knee, tugged and tugged again.
One more despairing effort made and thwarted convinced me he was beaten as he perceptibly grew weaker and weaker, and although I never relaxed my attention to my own particular quarry I glanced round to see, if possible, how the game was progressing with my comrades, as with the exception of one or two pistol shots everyone had fought mute, and the grim match had been played with tomahawk, knife and hand.
The first I spotted was Tim, on his feet, wrestling
My man was by now almost passive, so much so indeed that I could have easily drawn my knife with my left hand, but somehow the thought of sticking a man like a pig revolted me. No; it had been up to now a fair fought fight, hand against hand, so let the hand finish it; nor did he require much more attention, as after one or two convulsive heaves he lay quite quiet and I knew I had finished him.
I was just on the point of rising when up rushed Tim swinging a tomahawk over his head, who with his eyes blazing yelled out: "Hould on, Mr Dick, hould on, sor," and before I could say a word sank his weapon into the dead man's head, sending the contents of it spurting all over me.
"Faugh, Tim," I said, starting to my feet. "It's a dirty fighter you are; give me something to wipe my face with."
"Och, be the howly Saint Bridget, it's kilt ye are,
"Killed be d——d," said I. "But he has blinded my left eye." And seeing the row was over I quickly gave the order: "Load all the carbines, boys, and take cover."
No sooner was this done than Tim was alongside me with a couple of bandages and a pannikin of water, when, tenderly raising the flap of flesh that hung over my eye, in a moment I knew that the sight of it was all right and the relief of mind was immense.
It did not take my kind-hearted comrade more than a minute to replace the flap and twist a bandage round my head, when I was quite fit to attend to my duty.
First of all I looked out for any enemy; there was none in sight though the noise of the rearguard action was drawing much closer, and I was delighted to see the Colonel's party already past the danger point as I was now able to judge how lucky we had been in capturing the hill, for our loss must have been very heavy had the enemy succeeded in gaining it, because the hill completely commanded the only footpath.
I next turned my attention to our own casualties; one friendly native was dead, poor Buck, wounded desperately, was lying on his back with his head on a blanket, and as I knelt down beside him, taking his hand, he opened his eyes and murmured: "Good-bye, Master
Setting Jack to sew up our poor comrade in his blanket, while Tim and one of the Maoris dug his last claim, with the rest of the men I was keeping a bright lookout, when the Colonel with thirty men joined me.
"Well done,
I, however, was not called on to hold the hill, as
I have previously asserted that this yarn is not meant to be a history of New Zealand wars, nor do I wish to harrow the tender hearts of gentle readers, should I be fortunate enough to secure any, by stories of savage bloodshed or by describing gruesome details of war to the knife. Yet, taking into consideration the astounding ignorance of most well-educated English men and women concerning the history of the principal colonies that now form the greater portion of the mighty British Empire, I think I may be pardoned for recounting a few scenes of the events, battles and hardships, willingly endured by the men who actually won those colonies and rendered them habitable for a civilised people. Nor do I think the men, rough, wild, undesirable ne'er-do-wells as they mostly were, who recklessly risked their lives for that purpose, should be entirely forgotten.
These scenes are not imaginary ones, evolved from my own brain, but real occurrences; and the men, whom I am trying to describe, actually lived, fought, drank, and were killed in the way I relate; alas, would that I had a more gifted pen and a more artistic touch to depict them, their reckless lives and their hard deaths.
However, as my pen is neither artistic nor gifted, nor even a particularly good one to write with, I
After the fight at
Again the new-comers could not stand the physical hardships of the work. They knocked up when marching and were not by any means dependable shots or bushmen. So that the campaign dragged, for although we made many attempts we never again succeeded in catching the enemy on the hop as we had done at
It was while on one of these numerous excursions I witnessed a somewhat extraordinary instance of presentiment of death, which, owing to the fact of the man who received the impression taking advantage of it, thereby dodged the catastrophe. Here's the yarn, deduct what moral you will.
Among the friendly natives was one named
Now
The column, at the time, was moving through dense bush, along a footpath so narrow we could only proceed in single file, and a short time after
I have, up till now, said but very little of the various ways in which we tried to amuse ourselves when resting in camp or, as we now were, marking time in our Hau Hau tail-twisting operations. True, we were much scattered, being located in different forts, but our O.C, fully recognising the necessity of allowing the men recreation, as all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, eagerly grasped every opportunity of affording the men any amusement that lay in his power. So that we indulged in an occasional cricket match, race meeting and athletic sports, with now and then a camp fire and sing-songs.
Some of the competitions were very good, as amongst such a mixed crowd as ours there were naturally some really good athletes, not only among the white men but also among the friendly natives, all of whom took a very keen interest in the events.
It was through taking a very keen interest in my post's chances for distinction that I discovered a man who, had he been taken in hand and been well trained and taught in his youth, would I am sure have turned out to be one of the greatest athletes the world has ever possessed.
Strange to say the man himself, a
A big athletic meeting was to be held at head quarters on Christmas Day, at which each station was to be represented, and the rivalry was not so much between individuals as it was between the various stations, one garrison against another, also trooper v. footslogger, and the men at my post were very keen.
We were, however, sadly in want of a sprinter and high leaper. I could run and jump a bit, but then I had been beaten so easily on a previous occasion at all these events that it was hopeless to expect me to win on the coming one. True, we had a most reliable man in Tim for the mile and the long jump, and although he also had been defeated before, still, on that occasion he had been
Now among my men was one named Bright, who had been enlisted not so much for his fighting capabilities, for he was no good either in the pigskin or in the bush, but as a baker, and even as such he was a bad one. Up to date I had never taken much notice of the fellow, except perhaps on a muster parade, when I invariably had to check him for general untidiness, in fact the wooden way he slouched about the camp rather got on my nerves, and then his bread was often damnable.
One day, however, I happened to notice him on a bathing parade and was much struck by the muscular development of his legs and thighs, which without being abnormal had yet every appearance of possessing extraordinary nervous powers.
That evening we were practising sprinting, at which he was simply looking on, when turning to him I said: "How is it, Bright, you never compete with the others?" to which he answered:
"Well, sir, I never tried to run or jump in my life."
"Then," said I, "it's high time you did. Come and run over the hundred yard course with me and do your best so as to try and push me."
It could not have been called a fair race, as I was
"There is only one way to account for it, sir. This fellow Bright is a perfect wonder. Why, sir, when you had covered forty yards he was ten yards behind you, then all of a sudden he seemed to start going and appeared to go faster and faster every yard he ran. By Jove! sir, if we had him at
Here was the chance of our winning the short races at the approaching Christmas sports, so we promptly took him in hand to teach him to start, run straight and all the other wrinkles of the running track.
Then happy thought! Why the blazes should not this ignorant lout be able to jump as well as run? Faith it was worth while trying him, so I bullied him till he did so, and found out he jumped like a sea-sick kangaroo, with body and legs nearly straight. Teach the bounder to jump like a
Well, this
The man who was first favourite for the hundred yards and the quarter of a mile was a very smart young Australian who had run in good company over in Victoria. He had won both events at the last contest and as he, as well as two or three others, had beaten me easily then, and as all hands fancied I was still the best man at my station, the foot gangers thought we could have no chance, and were ready to plank their bottom dollar against our winning a single event.
The long-looked-for Christmas Day at length arrived, and as the Hau Haus were quiet all the men who could be spared from garrisoning the forts gathered together at headquarters. Now, the rule was that only two men from each station should enter for each separate event, so that when myself and Bright entered for the hundred yards, quarter of a mile and high jump it was considered our chance was nil, long odds being wagered against us. In fact Bright's slouching wooden appearance caused unbounded merriment with much rough banter.
The troopers, so as not to spoil the market, had deputed one of their number, who was supposed to possess great acumen and almost Satanic finesse,
The hundred yards race was the first on the programme, for which event ten competitors toed the mark, and there was much chaff at the clumsy way Bright took his place. The pistol was fired, and we jumped off, Bright, of course, last of all, but before the ruck in which I was had covered thirty yards he rushed past us like an express engine, and at seventy-five yards had overhauled the leading man and challenged the young Australian, Duff, who, running first and thinking himself quite safe, was saving himself as much as possible for his other races. In a flash Bright took the lead from him and, to the unbounded astonishment of all hands, breasted the tape quite three yards clear in advance of Duff, who, when he had recovered from his amazement sufficiently to speak, ejaculated the word "D—n!"
Of course the footsloggers all swore it was a fluke and tried to account for their champion's defeat in various ways, with much vivid language, while Duff allowed he had been caught napping, and asserted that before such a thing should occur again he would jolly well go to—well, a warmer climate than even that of Australia—and that in the quarter of a mile he would make the ruddy dough-puncher long to immolate himself in his own blasted oven.
Just before the race I scratched, as I wanted to
Well, the pistol cracked and Duff gained a lot of ground at the start; nor did Bright, for the first fifty yards, seem to be able to set himself going, but then he all at once appeared to get into his stride. His pace increased in a marvellous manner, and he seemed to run up to the others with an ease and rapidity I have never seen approached, while before they reached the hundred-yard peg he had collared Duff, who was leading. The latter made a game effort to retain his place, and for perhaps ten yards or more did so, when Bright shot ahead, going faster and faster, and without an effort ran right away, winning easily by at least thirty yards.
This was a glorious victory, and when he had won the high jump, clearing five feet seven inches, one grim old Maori chief gravely asked me if I had imported the devil, and proposed that he should kill him off-hand, as in his opinion no such common personage as a cook or baker had any right to beat warriors or chiefs. He also stated he had for some time entertained grave doubts of Bright's respectability, as some hot bread he had eaten of Bright's making had given him a most infernal pain in the stomach, so at any rate he thought he might tomahawk him just a little bit in the way of utu (payment or revenge) for his dose of indigestion. But then again on second thoughts his tummie-ache was a thing of the past, his present need was tobacco, and as the fellow was one of my slaves, perhaps if
That day was a big day for the troopers, as Tim won both the mile and the long jump, so after a good dinner my men returned to our fort weighed down with plunder which the wily one had extracted from the pouches of the footsloggers, and all confessed that even a rotten bad baker may sometimes prove useful.
Among a crowd like ours there were, of course, some very queer fish, men from every grade of society and every walk of life. To very many of these, society had said good-bye without regret, and yet we had men in our ranks who, but for a single failing, were fit to occupy any position in the beau-monde they had quitted for ever. Nor had they all been wrong uns; far from it, as many, like myself, had simply been born unlucky or had not the means to retain the positions in which they had been born.
One of the queerest of these fallen angels was a man who called himself
So used were we to these periodical absences that his horse and equipments were kept ready for him and he would be received back with open arms, one reason for which being that the said horse was such a fiend that no other man cared to groom him, much less ride him, although with
Yes; the Arapipi spider was a queer fish, but we had one queerer still; a tall, thin slab of a fellow who called himself Limbs, and was yclept by his comrades the Duke of Limbs.
Standing over six feet three, he wore a close-shaved face, long as a child's coffin, the features of which always seemed set with such a look of intense melancholic disappointment that the observer would at once come to the conclusion that the wretched man had just murdered his father for his wealth, and had then only found wild-cat securities. Still he was a cheery chap in his own sorrowful way, and although he was never known to laugh, or even farceur or a practical joker suffering from liver.
He was, moreover, most good-natured, he would give away anything, but like the gifts of the Greeks his donations at times were dangerous to their recipients. Did he not on one occasion present old Paukino with a Tongeriro (a seidlitz powder, so called by the natives after a burning mountain that is always vomiting a column of steam), directing the ancient warrior to first swallow the powders and then drink a pannikin of water, a process that turned the respectable old man-eater into a human volcano of the most active description, and cost me a gallon of rum to pacify his infuriated relations, all of whom swore, and not without reason, that his
His
I have mentioned in a previous chapter how, during the shindy at Pungarehu, we had captured nine prisoners, or rather nine Hau Haus had surrendered to the O.C. on his promise that their lives should be spared, and as it was a nuisance keeping these Johnnies alive in a frontier post it was decided to send them, for safe keeping, to
On the first night of their journey, themselves and escort were to sleep in our fort, at which the Colonel happened to be sojourning on the same night. Well, my guard took them over from the travelling escort, and they were confined inside a somewhat flimsy hut in the centre of the fort with a sentry inside to watch them, for which purpose a stable lamp was suspended from the roof.
This was by no means a safe prison, but, as all the rest of the detachment slept in the open surrounding them, there was no chance of escape, especially as they well knew if they tried to play monkey tricks it would be paramount to ordering their own funerals, besides which, they had sworn to the Colonel that they would make no effort to do so.
Well, the night waxed late; the camp, prisoners and everyone, with the exception of the guard, the Colonel, myself and two other officers being fast asleep. We officers were writing and drawing, in fact assisting the O.C. with despatches that had to be forwarded next day, when all at once we were disturbed by yells of terror and consternation. To seize our revolvers and dash out of the tent was the work of a moment, and we were in time to see
In a moment they were seized, in fact they made not the slightest attempt to run away, and in a few minutes were paraded before the indignant O.C., who sternly demanded, "What the hades they meant by making such an infernal clamour and trying to escape?"
To the charge of attempting to get away, a hoary-headed old cannibal offered an indignant denial, and as for the clamour and hut-breaking, that he declared was the Colonel's own fault, as why had he shut them up with the devil.
This defence amounting almost to a countercharge, made the Colonel open his eyes. He was essentially a just man, and his great knowledge of Maori character at once led him to believe that something out of the common must have happened, so he ordered the sentry to be called, who turned out to be the Duke of Limbs. On his stepping forth, the O.C. demanded the reason of the turmoil.
Now the Colonel was quite ignorant of the Duke's gifts, and he started back, rubbing his eyes, but saying nothing, for, as he afterwards confided to me, he thought he must have been mistaken when in the dim light it appeared to him that the trooper, standing rigidly to attention, all of a sudden elevated his right leg and scratched the back of his head with his spur, at the same time answering in a most lugubrious voice:
"Sir, I went on sentry at ten P.M. as second relief. I counted the prisoners, saw the lamp was trimmed and then as the roof of the whare was
"Quite right," quoth the Colonel, but after listening to a long speech from the ancient man-eater he continued: "It's very extraordinary, but the natives swear you are the devil and frightened them. What have you got to say to that?"
"Simply, sir," answered the unabashed trooper, "that their assertions are neither complimentary nor truthful, as if I was his Satanic Majesty I could find more congenial employment than being a trooper, and as for frightening them, I assure you, sir, I never moved from the moment I sat down."
Again the O.C. interpreted to the still trembling natives, and again an eloquent speech from one of them, at the end of which the Colonel, turning to Limbs, said:
"Sit down at once in the same manner you seated yourself in the hut."
His
At once the Maoris yelled and tried to push their way through the grinning troopers who hemmed them in, while the astonished O.C., who by the way had never seen a circus in his life, threw himself back in his chair and gasped.
"Sit down like that when you want to rest, do you? Then, in the name of all that is righteous, how do you recline when you want to sleep?"
Without a word, and seemingly without an effort, the noble Duke gave himself a twist and in the snap of a cap reversed himself so that he stood on his feet, with his western parts elevated in the air and his long, melancholic face upside down framed between his legs.
This transformation scene was greeted by another yell from the Maoris, while the perplexed O.C., opening eyes and mouth, ejaculated:
"Well, I am damned. For God's sake, man, get straight if you can," and then aside, "I wonder what in hades he will look like when he's dead." For in a moment a respectable, if sorrowful-looking, trooper was standing rigidly to attention before him. "Well," continued the Commandant, "I can't punish the natives, that's clear, nor can a camp be alarmed for nothing, so,
During the latter part of 1866 and the early part of 1867 the war on the west coast of New Zealand languished;
The Maoris, only too glad to get a spell so that they could plant fresh crops and repair damages, sat tight and did nothing to excite active retaliation, while Parliament, especially the
We, however, who held the frontier lived in a semi-state of war, and although patrols and scouting was all we could do, yet I had great opportunities of improving myself in bushcraft and scouting.
Towards the end of 1866 Toi, the principal Hau Hau chief, visited headquarters, bringing with him twelve men, and this deputation demanded peace.
"Very good," answered
The deputation left, promising to do so, but never
"The soldiers," quoth he, "always gave us notice of their approach. They blew bugles and made plenty of noise so we might be ready to receive them, but you and your men slip through the bush by night like rats and we can't sleep for apprehension."
"Yes," answered the Colonel, "we fight in your own manner and you don't like it."
"No," said Toi, "let this sort of work cease, or we shall soon be unable to continue the war." And having lodged a dignified protest the old cannibal retired.
There is no doubt that Toi, himself, really wanted peace, but he was sinking into obscurity, as now Titokowaru took the lead, and everyone conversant with Maori nature knew that so long as he lived and ruled the roost there was no possibility for peace.
This man had always been a bitter enemy to the white man, and his hatred had been enhanced by the new fanatical religion to which he had become one of the very first converts, being one of those who, in April 1864, had made the insane attack on
It was in May 1867 that the last of the military settlers were disbanded and handed over their land-scrip, but most of them, not wishing to be murdered, and possessing a far greater knowledge of the true state of affairs in the district than the Government, sold their rights for what they would fetch, and either left the country or went to the gold-diggings, which were now booming, as the great
The volunteers had also completed their period of service and, owing to the crazy manner in which the Government, mad for retrenchment, acted, no others were enlisted, so the district was almost without defenders.
Now there was some excuse for the members of Parliament representing the
It may have been true that the Maoris wanted
This relaxation of hostilities also gave time to Titokowaru to consolidate his party of irreconcilables, and he was joined by very many hotheads of other tribes, which soon gave him greater standing in the country.
Anyhow, it was not long before the natives showed their real inclinations, as the very same
The Colonel managed to quiet this trouble, and one or two other disturbances the starting of which further convinced him that the natives, now that they had saved their crops, meant to fight, but this opinion the commissioner laughed at, and just at the moment when his services were most required the O.C. was sent with sixty of us to suppress a fancied Fenian rising on the gold-fields of
Naturally we looked forward to this trip with delight, as it would afford us a most agreeable change in the somewhat monotonous life we had been leading for the last few months, besides which the goldfields contained many opportunities for indulgence in vices our monasticism on the frontier did not permit.
i.e. a goldfield that a man with no capital can win gold from by his own labour. The New Zealand goldfields were never such rowdy ones as the Californian nor the Australian, being free, with few exceptions, from bushrangers and the murderous riff-raff that congregated at the American mines. Yet they were rough, and a strong party of Irishmen, known as the Micks, were apt, especially when under the influence of whisky, to make themselves objectionable.
It must be remembered that at this epoch things were very stormy in
However, we who composed the party looked on the whole trip as a joke, and a pleasant interlude to the hard work and short rations we had had for so long to endure. As for any fighting with Fenians that none of us believed, although Tim and myself conjectured there might be some heads broken by way of a frolic.
It was in this spirit we took ship and went to sea, eventually reaching
We, however, passed through it in safety, when we were joined by the Colonel, who had gone ashore previously. The authorities had begged him to land us with loaded arms, and had prophesied all sorts of bloody happenings, but the Colonel had very rightly taken their wailings with a pinch of salt, so we reached the shore in the most unostentatious manner, at a time when the Micks were sleeping off their previous night's debauch, and we were quickly marched up to a spot the Colonel had selected, where we expeditiously made ourselves safe and snug.
This artful move on the part of the O.C. completely out-generalled the Micks, as the sons of Ould
The west coast diggings were at that time booming, any man caring to work a few hours a day being able to make his eight to ten pounds per week, some of course far more, so that it was a marvel to me why men cared to serve a government, risk his life and undergo the awful hardships our men did, for six shillings a day.
It was during this epoch in New Zealand I could have, had I chosen to look after my own interests, made my pile. I had plenty of money, and could have got plenty more had I asked for it, and as I before stated the late military settlers were selling their land-scrip for what they could get, so that as I was on the spot I could have purchased blocks of the finest land in New Zealand for a song, but I did not, and I want to warn young Lost Legionaries not to follow on my spoor.
I had made the Crown and flag my fetish from early childhood, and in my own stupid and conceited mind reckoned it to be my bounden duty to fight for them, and that so long as the war continued I must continue to serve, no matter what it
I therefore want to warn the rising generation against it, so that all of you young fellows who are thinking of leading a frontier life take the advice of an old hand. "Fight certainly and fight like the devil, but don't be carried away by any sentimental rot."
"God save the King" is a very fine tune, and the Union Jack a very pretty object flying at the masthead, but neither King nor flag can come to your aid when you are old and stranded on the pebbles, while as for your country, represented as it is by a gang of greedy, self-seeking politicians, you may starve in the gutter or rot in the workhouse. Therefore, my romantic new chum, when you see the chance to make money on the one hand and fighting for your country on the other, you go for the money. There are plenty of bally fools such as I have been to do the fighting. Your paltry services won't be missed, and you will be thought much more of by the people of the self-same country.
We remained three weeks at
Some very foolish acts on the part of the resident magistrate and commissioner hurried on the inevitable climax, but yet the perpetrators of these follies still swore the sham peace would be a lasting one and objected to order in the few settlers who had the temerity to cling to their farms.
It would take too long to relate the wretched details of that miserable time, but eventually they culminated in the cold-blooded and brutal murder on 9th June of three harmless bushmen while peaceably at work.
Now the men were wanted for immediate service, so that there was no time to pick or choose them, nor was there time to train them when chosen, and it must be remembered that the population
I do not suppose a more useless gang were ever got together, but then on paper they represent three hundred men. Well, the Colonel had asked for them, the Parliament had granted them, the town magistrates had enlisted them; and as the lawyers, merchants and others, who constitute a parliament, are quite ignorant of the requirements of a war, they are apt to imagine one man to be as good as another, so that you have only got to put a uniform on his back, and clap a rifle into his hand, when the miserable scarecrow must be able to at once do the duties of a well-trained soldier, or even a highly skilled bush fighter.
In the meantime more settlers had been murdered, more farms burnt and cattle looted, so that Titokowaru and his tribe, the
It was on the 9th June the aforementioned bushmen were murdered, and on the following day every one of our forts were more or less invested, so that it was dangerous to leave the shelter of the parapet,
The Hau Haus also made it lively for the despatch riders, making numerous attempts to cut them off, capture or kill them, while on the 20th June sixty of them made a desperate attack on the ration dray, escorted by a sergeant and ten troopers, at the same place where Haggarty had been killed previously. The escort, however, made a stout resistance, and being relieved smartly from the fort the assailants were beaten off with loss.
I think I may here give you a personal experience of the pleasures of despatch riding, such as were enjoyed by the mounted portion of the colonial forces when engaged on that necessary occupation. It must be remembered that in those days we had no heliographs, and therefore all orders, letters or news had to be transmitted by horsemen riding from fort to fort, and the Hau Haus looked on it as great sport, trying to cut off, kill or capture the unfortunate whose duty it was to carry them.
Of course their chief ambition was to catch the despatch rider alive, as then it would afford them much amusement in torturing him to death, though failing capture he was of value to them dead, as they looted his arms, and also procured good meat rations from his remains. Anyhow it was good sport, so, as they knew we were far too weak in numbers to attack them, they made
Well, one day I had to carry despatches up to
I at once started a bright lookout, but saw nothing to guard against until I came to a place where the track ran through a natural clearing about a mile in length, and no more than one hundred yards across. (Note.—These natural clearings are common enough in New Zealand scrub, especially on the Taupo and
I may have ridden a third of the way up the clearing, when bizz came a bullet past my nose, followed up by perhaps a score more. Thank the Lord a Maori could not shoot for toffee, and I saw at least forty natives at the far end of the clearing jump out of the scrub and make for the road, to try and cut me off, while yells from my rear told me retreat would be worse than going on, and I knew there was nothing for it but to break through or be caught; in which case even suppose I was not shot dead I must shoot myself, as it would never do to fall alive into the hands of these fiends. I therefore let my willing horse break into a gallop, and charged along the road as if Old Nick had kicked me.
Fortunately the noble beast I bestrode was as bold as he was handsome, and never winced nor shied from the yelling devils who, with waving tomahawks and mats, tried to frighten and check him, but just extended himself, and obedient to my hand and knee pressure swung to whichever side I wanted him to go. In fact he seemed to be guided by my will and understood my wishes as soon as the ideas were formulated in
Some such thought rushed through my mind as, pistol in hand, I sent him at the crowd of howling savages, a few of whom had already reached the road, two of whom I spotted as being the most dangerous.
These two bounders had taken up positions on either side of the track, the one on the left side being armed with a long-handled tomahawk, with which he evidently intended to maim my horse's legs, the other stood empty-handed, whose plan, plain enough to surmise, was to grab the horse's bridle and pull the wounded beast down, or, in case he fell, to seize me and put a stop to any resistance I might offer.
Backing these fellows up, and running to support them, were a scattered mob of others, armed with guns and tomahawks, but I had no time to notice these critters, as, uttering a yell that must have been inherited from some far-back old Milesian ancestor, I charged straight at my would-be body-snatchers.
It was clear to me that the man with the tomahawk was my principal danger, as should his cut at my horse's legs be successful down we must both come in a heap, and it would be a case of Kingdom Come for the pair of us. So aiming at his midriff as well as I could, when I was within ten yards of him, I fired, and to my delight saw him collapse in a heap.
I had barely fired when I was badly shaken
Anyhow we had broken through them, and although a shower of bullets followed us, two of which touched my gallant pal, while one knocked the heel and spur from my right boot, we were safe, and I cantered along to the fort talking to my horse, and praising him for the bold way he had behaved, while he, playfully reaching at his bit, now and then snorted back as much as to say, "Right, Boss, we euchred those ruddy jossers, didn't we?"
Earnestly the reinforcements were looked out for, as the garrisons of most of the forts were so weak that it was more than doubtful whether they could offer a successful resistance against a determined attack. Moreover, trusty spies brought in information that Titokowaru contemplated making such attacks as he was very desirous of obtaining a supply of rifles wherewith to arm the numerous recruits who had lately flocked to his standard.
Nor was the information false, for on the morning
This redoubt was an old work that had been constructed by the 18th Regiment at a time when there were thirty men to do the work now allotted toone, and though it had been built on an important tactical situation, yet the site had been badly chosen, nor was the work itself of any strength. This did not matter when the district swarmed with defenders, but now we were so weak it was considered extremely vulnerable. Moreover, for a long time, while the sun shone on our side of the fence, it had been abandoned; the berm had in places been washed away by the heavy rain, and in places the much damaged parapet almost tottered over the ditch; still, the importance of its situation was so great that the O.C. had to now make use of it in his scheme of defence.
This tumbledown structure was garrisoned by twenty-five men under the command of a very fine officer,
The site of the work itself was so bad that it necessitated a flying sentry to watch a gully that could not be overlooked from the fort, up which a storming party could easily creep, and there being no room for the O.C.'s tent inside he had to have it pitched outside, near the drawbridge, which consisted of two narrow planks that spanned the ditch.
On the night of the 11th a civilian came to the
During the night the flying sentry reported a flock of strayed sheep had disturbed him, and there is no doubt that under cover of these animals two parties of Hau Haus, numbering forty men each, crawled through the fern, close up to the fort, lay down and waited for the right moment to rush the tumbledown work.
The flying sentry who had the morning relief, however, spotted some dark figures, and discharged his rifle at them, receiving in return a volley which wounded him badly, though he still had strength to crawl into the long fern where he hid until relieved.
The storming party at once charged, making for the gate, which in the dark they missed and ran all round the work looking for it, a pause that gave
Two more Hau Haus, the gallant captain, disputing the narrow way, despatched to their father Satan, when the remainder, not relishing their reception, jumped into the ditch after their chief, and at the same moment the second party rushed up.
His fall caused some confusion in the already scanty garrison, and that in rather a queer manner, as when wounded he shouted: "Take care of yourselves, boys. I am done for."
On hearing which four men, interpreting the order to mean that each man should try and save himself, mounted to the top of the parapet, and, jumping over the Hau Hau's heads who were in the ditch, sought to save themselves by breaking through the other assailants and hiding in the fern. Three of then succeeded in doing so, the fourth being killed.
The defenders were now reduced in numbers to twenty-one,
Six men only were now left to continue the fight, but their comrades had not died uselessly, having,
To this bastion the six dauntless fellows now retired, determining to make their last stand and die there. It was the best spot in the untenable work, the gorge being masked by a flimsy wooden hut, that was not bullet proof, although it prevented the Maori sharpshooters from seeing the defenders and aiming at them.
Their greatest danger was the parapet that here, as I mentioned previously, simply tottered over the ditch, and which the Hau Haus at once set to work to undermine.
They were now in a desperate strait, but never lost heart. Relief was bound to come. Could they hold out long enough? They gained time by a clever ruse. The Maoris feared mounted men more than anything, so the defenders with one accord started cheering, at the same time shouting: "Hurrah, the cavalry are coming!" Whereupon the sappers left off their work, preparing for a bolt.
This trick was played two or three times, but the nervous Maoris were always rallied and forced to return to their work by the infamous scoundrel,
At last the relief did come, though not by the
He, however, arrived just in the nick of time, as the enemy had not desisted from their work and retired more than a minute when the crumbling parapet fell bodily into the ditch which, had it done so a few moments sooner, would have left its six gallant defenders, all more or less hurt, to the mercy of their savage opponents, but they, by their splendid defence, not only saved their own lives, but prevented a large amount of arms and ammunition falling into the hands of Titokowaru and the baffled Hau Haus.
The relief of Turu Turu Mokai, although successful, was the origin of a most miserable squabble which ended in a sad tragedy, as it was the cause of as gallant an officer as ever drew sword throwing away his life in attempting to regain a reputation for courage which in the opinion of every man worth his salt should never have been doubted.
It happened this way. When the garrison at
This placed him in a dilemma. It was clear the headquarters fort, containing large supplies of arms and ammunition, could not be left in charge of a guard of six men. It was also clear that the mounted men were the proper men to have gone to their comrades' assistance, but as his senior officer had left them behind without orders it was clear he must utilise them to hold the fort. He therefore gave orders to lead the horses back to their stables and for the troopers to man the bastions.
Now the troopers were as keen as mustard, and had been ready for duty even before the infantry, for although they did not, like the bold garrison of
It was so on this occasion. In fact they were standing by their horses before the foot men fell in, so it was through no fault of theirs they were not employed.
Now the troopers were well aware that they were the men who should have been selected to have
The synopsis of the wretched affair was this.
This action on his part clearly shows he was instigated by one of two ideas: either he considered the infantry most suitable to effect his purpose or he wished to gain all the credit of the relief for himself and men regardless of the danger the other fort ran through not receiving speedier assistance. Most certainly
Anyhow poor
Colonel McDonnell returned to the district on the same day as the fight at Turu Turu Mokai took place, reaching the blood-stained ruin at noon.
There was, however, nothing to be done but wait for the reinforcements, which, as they arrived, were licked into shape as rapidly as possible, although it was not till the 21st of August they were deemed fit to be introduced to the Hau Haus.
On this date a strong patrol was sent to have a look what Titokowaru was doing, but that nobleman, not caring to have his privacy intruded upon, hunted the new chums out of the bush, killing four and wounding eight of them. So the disgusted O.C. decided to await the arrival of the
At last seventy splendid
It was therefore now or never. The country simply howled for him to wipe out Titokowaru; our
Now, before I begin the yarn of this most disastrous expedition let me inform you that at this period I do not think our gallant and much respected O.C. was at his best, nor was this to be wondered at. For nearly two years he had been struggling, not only against the Hau Haus but also against an obtuse Government, who had listened to his bitterest detractors and enemies, while they wilfully closed their eyes to the obvious requirements of the district, and who, regardless of his expostulations, had reduced his fighting strength to an absurdly inadequate force, and even now, when his prognostications had been proved correct, suffered the very men whose lying reports had misled them to remain in office and hamper the endeavours he was making to straighten out the desperate muddle for which they were responsible.
Again he had at present under his command for a very limited space of time a field force on the bulk of which neither himself nor his officers could rely, and with which he was expected to work immediate miracles, and, as if all these circumstances were not enough to worry him to distraction, just at the moment his services were most in demand his only trusty spy,
Anyhow, as something had to be done, he issued orders that a field force composed of two hundred white men and the seventy friendly natives should parade on the night of the 6th of
During the day every preparation was made, but alas when night fell the Tohungas (medicine men) discovered something had gone wrong with the moon and a star, an unfortunate occurrence, as it denoted the overthrow of the expedition, and the Maoris, who up to that time had been in a state of huge delight at the chance of a scrap, now hung back.
In a moment the whole aspect of affairs was changed, as even Te
At this decision the hearts of the Maori warriors became very dark indeed, and they held a meeting so as to discuss what on earth should be done. They were all keen for a fight, but it was flying in the face of Providence and courting disaster for themselves should they neglect such pregnant
At last, after many speeches, a grim old warrior of great experience got on his hind-legs. Quoth he: "Men of Wanganui, we have done all in our power to persuade the white chief not to go, but he insists on doing so, notwithstanding the predictions of certain disaster we have received. We are bound by honour to accompany him; besides, we languish for a fight. The taua will be defeated and the white men cut to pieces, which will serve them right for neglecting this warning. But we, my children, having protested against such godless profanity, will escape without injury, and as we go in honour we shall, provided we fight bravely, all return safe with our honour enhanced." This speech ended the meeting and the friendlies determined to come with us.
Now you good people who live at home at ease may laugh at a white man believing, or even tolerating, the prophecies of a savage devil-dodger, but very many experienced frontiersmen, in the course of their pilgrimage through wild countries and among wild races, come across so many queer and uncanny incidents quite inexplicable to their philosophy, therefore they are not so ready to laugh at or deny that which they cannot understand. Consequently many of our old hands believed in the sombre prognostications of the Tohungas, and perhaps were not wrong in doing so, for if the proof of the pudding is in the eating of it, surely the value of a prophecy is in the veracity of its fulfilment, and on this occasion the soothsayers
Well, this difficulty being satisfactorily overcome, we paraded at ten-thirty P.M. on the 6th, two hundred white men and seventy Maoris, a force quite sufficient had the former been of the same calibre as the old rangers and military settlers, but alas, out of the two hundred, not more than forty men had ever been in the bush before, and these old hands had no confidence in their in-experienced comrades; in fact, the old joyous devil-may-care spirit so noticeable in the ranks when starting on past expeditions was on this parade entirely wanting, and the old war-dogs looked more as if they were attending their grandmother's funeral than starting for a jolly romp with the Hau Haus in the bush.
Anyhow we started, the night being bitterly cold, with a very heavy frost that gave our nearly naked allies jip, laming their bare feet to such an extent that some of them were crippled for weeks afterwards, so that even they did not escape scot-free, but were in some way punished for accompanying their ungodly and incredulous white comrades.
Two miles had been covered when we came to the flooded
Now we had no idea where the Hau Haus really were, as all the information the Colonel had received since
We had therefore to follow the old bush-whackers' plan—viz. enter the bush and cross it in a straight line, and if you cut a well-defined track follow it in the most likely direction to the bitter end.
This we did until one-thirty P.M. on the 7th, when we cut a well-worn path which ran nearly north and south. This was a streak of luck, and at a short council of war it was decided we should follow the track in a southerly direction towards the sea.
After a short halt and a bite of cold, sodden food, for of course no fires could be lighted and our rations had been soaked in the waters of the
The fellow ran up one of the huge pendent vines like a monkey, being soon lost to sight among the lichens, orchids and parasites that draped the branches. He had not been gone over a few minutes when down he slid, reporting he could see plenty of smoke not more than half-a-mile down the track, and could plainly hear the sound of a haka (indecent dances accompanied by unprintable libretto). This was a real slice of luck, as if the Hau Haus were hakaing they could not be aware of our vicinity, and we might catch them on the hop.
Another council of war was held, when Te
The chief's advice was as follows:—"We are here without the Hau Haus suspecting us, but we ourselves are ignorant what sort of a pah we have to attack or where it is exactly situated. Now therefore let the white men, many of whom are tired, retire a short distance off into the bush, where, keeping perfectly quiet, they can lie down and rest. I will place my men in ambush along the track, so as to tomahawk any one of the enemy who may pass without noise, though I do not expect any of them to do so. Then when it is dark I and my picked scouts will go and reconnoitre the Hau Haus' position, so that at daylight tomorrow morning we shall know what to do and fight with our eyes open."
Now there was much wisdom in this counsel, and had the Colonel followed it we should have at one
Te
Te
As the pursuing natives passed the tent a man and two children jumped out, who were at once shot, though another child was saved, one of Te
The screams of the woman, together with the firing, had of course alarmed the Hau Haus; the singing of the haka at once ceased, and as there was now no possible hope of surprising them we pushed on rapidly, though with all due caution, until we came to a large clearing.
Here we halted for a few minutes, while the O.C. made his final arrangements. Not a vestige of
The Colonel's orders were concise. Te
So far so good, and as soon as Te
This inclination to crowd into a mob became worse as we entered the bush, so that, notwithstanding all the efforts of us officers, and the objurgations of the old hands, all formation was speedily lost.
Passing through a narrow strip of bush we came to a deep and broad creek, whose steep banks were covered with dense undergrowth. This we had to cross, and as we descended the bank the left of
In vain we raved at them, even going so far as to strike some of them and threaten others with our revolvers, but it was no good, the wretched conscripts had a bad attack of bush funk and would not obey orders.
As we struggled down into the creek I fell over Tim, who said to me: "For the blessed Virgin's sake, take care of yourself this day, Mr Dick, sure these damned hooligans will land us up to our necks in the bog. May Satan scrape ye wid red-hot oyster shells, ye narvous spalpeens, will ye extend or will ye march to hell in sub-divisions," he howled, while doing his best to second my efforts, but it was all of no avail, and we started to cross that creek, so as to ascend the far side, in a disorganised rabble.
Up to this time dead silence had brooded over the bush, but when we reached the centre of the creek's bed a terrific war yell was raised and a tremendous volley, of at least three hundred rifles and guns, was poured into us, from a distance of not more than ten yards; which, tearing our disorganised mob into tatters, transformed the bed of that forest, fern-embowered creek into a bloody shambles.
This reception was far too stern a one for our nervous new chums, over forty of whom at once scrambled out of the creek and bolted, never pausing in their flight until they reached the crossing place of the
In vain with the old hands and those of the new chums who had the pluck to stand, though not the sense to extend, we made a rush and attempted to charge.
We failed at once, for the cunning enemy had woven the ground vines and undergrowth on their bank so closely together that nothing except an elephant could have broken through, while from the lofty rata-trees, in whose branches the best
The casualties among our officers had been very heavy.
In the meantime, Te
Our plight, however, was now hopeless, as the enemy manned a low, well-bushed hill, the fire from which enfiladed the creek, rendering our position in the bed of it more untenable than ever. Still I am convinced that, had our men all been old hands, our gallant O.C. would have pulled us out of the mess, and we should have won the day, but nothing could be done with the raw new chums, most of whom seemed to be paralysed by the slaughter and the blood-curdling yells of the Hau Haus.
This being the case,
We had brought ten stretchers with us: these had been rapidly filled, and as we had now not more than sixty men, officers and privates, left, we were just able to handle fourteen wounded men, four being carried on rifles, as it required at least four men to carry a stretcher and six men to carry a man on rifles through the rough bush, so that all the remaining dead and wounded men had to be abandoned.
This abandonment of our wounded comrades was a heart-rending calamity, but nothing else could have been done under the circumstances, although we knew well the dreadful fate that awaited the unfortunates.
It takes time to write an account of a scrimmage of this sort, but in reality not ten minutes had elapsed from the moment we had descended into that infernal creek until we started to get out of it, during which period, out of the two hundred white men, one-fourth of our force had bolted, and out of those that had remained over one-third of their number lay dead or dying in the bed of it.
We had just succeeded in extricating the fourteen wretched sufferers when
This order he carried out splendidly, as just when he reached the place he fell in with, and utterly destroyed, the party the enemy had dispatched to seize the defile, so that, thanks to the Colonel's foresight and his brother's gallant action, our retreat was secured.
As soon as we had got the wounded up the bank the retreat began, Te
Now it is no pleasant duty for a tired man to struggle through a New Zealand bush under the most favourable circumstances, but when he has to form one of a stretcher party to carry a heavy
It was now ascertained that
This argument the Colonel was forced to admit, and when he was informed that six of Te
The sun had set as we reached Te Maru, so, as we had abandoned our packs and haversacks, we had to toil, hungry and worn out, through the bush, carrying our suffering wounded, at which heart-breaking job Te a.m. on the morning of the 8th.
Here we found everything in a state of chaos, as the d——d runaways, who had arrived there hours before, had spread the blood - curdling report that the whole outfit had been cut to pieces and killed, themselves being the only survivors. Oh, but they received toko from fist, boot and belt of the infuriated old hands.
There was, however, no news of Buck and his party, which greatly disturbed our much troubled O.C., and again gave the gallant Te
This he did, but had only proceeded two miles when he met them returning dead beat, under the command of
Fortunately he had just been joined by Te
So ended the unfortunate expedition against Titokowaru in his stronghold at Te Ngutu-o-te-
Our defeat caused consternation through the country, bitter recrimination flying like hail before a southerly buster, while it added greatly to Titokowaru's prestige, who was at once joined by every wavering native in the district. He had moreover captured from us over fifty rifles and carbines, as well as revolvers and ammunition, which enabled him to arm his recruits.
We, on the other hand, had lost heavily, for not only had fifty men been killed or severely wounded, but out of the other men who had been engaged more than half their number had been more or less wounded, and very many of them were not fit for further active service, while the remainder of the new chums became so utterly disorganised that it was not even safe to let them do a sentry-go.
The state of the camp at
The
Under these circumstances
With these and our own reliable men we at once moved out to reconnoitre the Hau Hau position, but although we numbered three hundred men and found the enemy, yet for some reasons I never understood we fell back after skirmishing to within less than three hundred yards of them, and that without firing a shot.
Three days after this reconnaissance the retrograde movement to
These movements put the fear of the Lord into the
It was at this time that
Titokowaru now became very active, for although he was too knowing to attack strong posts, yet he swept off every head of cattle, burned every house, ambushed every track, murdered a few
The authorities, however, had not been idle.
This was nuts to our old hands, for now everyone felt we could again put up a fight that would not disgrace us, so the hearts of the Lost Legionaries grew light and cheerful.
Our organisation had also greatly improved, as all the permanent fighting men had been embodied into one corps, which for the future was to be known as the New Zealand Armed Constabulary, and which soon became a picked body of men, second to none in his Majesty's dominions, and as they were all trained bush fighters were invaluable for the work they were called on to perform.
It was now high time to put a limit to Titokowaru's capers, so the Colonel therefore ordered a field force to pay him a visit on the 6th November, the said force to consist of Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 6 Divisions of the Armed Constabulary, two small parties of the
At six a.m. on the morning of the 7th we found ourselves outside the bush within which at a distance of about four hundred yards we expected to find the stronghold of the Hau Haus, and we had been informed that it only consisted of a simple stockade. This was false, as we afterwards discovered it to be one of the strongest and most cunningly constructed works ever built by Maoris.
The O.C. orders were that Te
The order was successfully obeyed, Te
It was now a regrettable incident happened through
As soon as the allotted time had expired
A well-defined dray road led straight into the forest, along which we marched in close order, and before we had proceeded two hundred yards we came to a clearing. This clearing was only a narrow one, perhaps sixty yards across, but what made it look ominous was that all the tree stumps had been extracted, leaving no cover for a rabbit, while the undergrowth on the far side seemed unnaturally dense. However
The morning was a damp and slightly foggy one in early summer, a light mist rising from the ground in spiral wreaths and curling away among the trees looked very beautiful in the rising sun.
We could see nothing of a stockade, in fact I do not think
At a steady double we crossed the clearing, reaching within fifteen yards of the far side, when a single shot rang out, followed quickly by two more.
"Charge," shouted
Down in a heap fell a third of our number, but the groans and cries of the wounded were smothered by the frantic cheer of us men left on our feet as we made a wild rush at the undergrowth, so as to get to hand-grip with our enemies. It was in vain, the network of well-woven vines and creepers was impervious, while their elasticity simply bounced us back, when in desperation we hurled our bodies against them.
"Out tomahawk," I howled. "Here, Tim, you and half-a-dozen men cover us," and my subdivision sprang at the entanglement, trying to chop our way through the tough lianas so as to open a path for the rest.
The distance between ourselves and the yelling Hau
In a moment the four men who had followed me with their tomahawks were shot dead, and
This we did, and although much hampered by dead and wounded comrades, for more than half of our men were by this time hors de combat, we lay down ten yards from the bush in extended order and opened a well-directed fire, aiming at the line of the enemy's flashes.
It was now the saddest event of the day happened. We had been firing for some minutes, and had already caused the enemy's fire to slacken and grow wilder, when
"Lie down, sir, for God's sake, lie down," shouted some of the men, who all loved him dearly. "There is no need to expose yourself, sir; we'll stand by you, sir, to the last grip."
But he refused to do so, saying: "No, no, boys; I must show the world to-day I am no coward."
Under such circumstances the end could not be long delayed, and he fell mortally wounded, having sacrificed his life, giving the lie to the scum of unjust accusers who had thrown mud at him after the fight at Turu Turu Mokai; he was carried out but died immediately.
Well, there we of the storming party lay out in the open, and although more than half our men were dead or wounded, still we were determined to hold our grip on the position, even if we could not succeed in getting into the work.
Heavy firing was going on round the pah, perhaps some other party might have better luck, anyhow
We had hung on like this for more than half-an-hour when the enemy's fire slackened off, and of course ours followed suit, and we were wondering what was to be the next move, when all at once a stark-naked Hau Hau, probably mad with fanaticism and wishing to give an exhibition of his invulnerability, jumped on to the top of their breastwork, exposing his whole person to us from his knees upwards, and of course standing up as he was he could also see us lying down within ten yards off from where he stood, and began to go through his incantations, holding his hand, palm turned towards us, at the full stretch of his arm and barking the words Hau Hau at us like a dog.
Poor fool, he had either not learned the right incantation, or something else must have been amiss, or at all events he was wrong in his conjectures re invulnerability, as our men, who had all been waiting for a chance, let drive a volley at him that simply lifted him off his feet, so that if he finished his formula at all he must have completed the peroration in a hotter climate.
It was just after this interlude the fire breezed up again, and Tim, who was lying close to me, said, "Begorra, Mr Dick, here comes the boys to help us. Do you not think, sor, we may bate the beggars yet? Sure isn't it a trate to have rale men beside ye? Look to the rear, sor, sure they're splendid."
I turned on my side and looked, and there I saw the Colonel—I hated the diminutive beast, but, by gad! he could handle men—leading No. 6
These calls, loth as we were to quit, we obeyed, carrying with us, however, all our wounded and, with the exception of the four men who had been shot in the undergrowth, all our dead. These four bodies it was certain death to approach, nor had we sufficient men left to have carried them had any of us succeeded in getting hold of them; as it was most of us had to carry each his man as far as the bush. Strange enough to say the wounded man I individually carried out was an old school-fellow of mine who had been in the same house as myself.
Retiring in perfect order, though as fast as we could, we passed through the files of No. 6 Division, and in a short space of time reached the dray track, where we deposited our loads and lined the bush to cover the retreat of No. 6.
No sooner were we safe than our gallant rescuers fell back as if on parade, and the Hau Haus, poor misguided miscreants, fancying they had got us on toast, leaving the pah, rushed after us, thinking they were going to enjoy a high old time cutting up a beaten taua; but here they made a blooming error, for no sooner had No. 6 reached the bush than they also halted and joined us.
Howling with exultation and mad with fanaticism the Hau Haus rushed across the clearing to tomahawk the men whom their prophet had promised them that the angel
Then out rang his word of command: "Give them hades, boys," the last word being lost in a volley that knocked the immortal stuffing out of them and sent them howling back to their pah.
Now it is my firm belief that had
Anyhow, picking up our dead and Wounded we slowly retreated to Nukumaru, and next day took up a new line of defence on the Kaiiwi, as it was the best position to defend the town of
A few days afterwards we received the intelligence of the massacre of
After a voyage during which nothing happened worth recounting We landed at
It is very difficult to write an account of New Zealand warfare, as it was mainly a jumble of innumerable skirmishes dotted here and there with an engagement that by stretching a point might be termed a battle. Again so many different tribes took part in the twelve years' continuous fighting, while the various campaigns would often partially die away only to flare up again, and so many separate expeditions took place at one and the same time as to render it almost impossible to write an account of the long war so that it could be understood, much less be made interesting to an ordinary reader, who would quickly become confused and bored by a superfluity of dates and of the Maori names of trivial combats, although
When the war originally broke out in 1860 the east coast tribes sat tight and did not join the
At this period, many settlers having been murdered,
Two considerable tribes, however, the Arawa and the greater part of the
The New Zealand wars brought to the front many
Names such as
If you care to read an account of how two thousand seasoned British troops plus a strong naval brigade amply supplied with artillery and
Tourists proceeding in the mail-coach from Tauranga to
I had been out ka ka and pigeon shooting in the big bush that lies between Tauranga and
A tot of the former having been disposed of, the
"Augh! augh!" grunted the ancient, allowing a dense column of smoke to escape through his nostrils. "The flesh of the pigeon and ka ka is sweet, the warmth of the burning log is good, the taste of waiperou (rum—lit. stinking water) and tobacco are very good, but better than all these is war, and the next best thing is talking about it. Yes, I will tell you of our victory and of our defeat by the soldiers of the Great
"More than ten years are now dead since we joined the coalition of tribes who had lately elected the new Maori king, we doing so not that we were so hungry to fight against the soldiers, but had we not done so we could not have withstood the anger of the
"Pass me, my white friend, the bottle, and now I have moistened my throat I will tell you first of all about our victory, and it is right that I should do so, because it happened to take place before our defeat, and it is well to speak of events in their due and proper order, also in recounting our glory I may perchance gain courage to tell you better about the way the soldiers took utu on the Ngaiterangi for their brothers we had killed.
"Now it fell out in this way. News had come to us of the fighting at
"Now there were in the kainga one hundred and thirty Maoris, but out of that number there were only four of us who were real warriors—i.e. who knew from personal experience the joys and the responsibilities of war, the remainder were young men who had been entrusted to us to be taught all the arts becoming to a Maori warrior, and who were at that period learning to cure and catch fish. These young men, however, were all rangatera (well-born gentlemen). There were no slaves with us for it is not seemly to train rangatera with slave boys, and it so chanced that on this occasion these youths were to be called upon to do warriors' work before they had received their full instructions.
"Well, my friend, the fishing was progressing, and we had already caught, cured and sent to our homes very many loads of dried fish, and in a few days more we should have returned to our tribe. One day, however, we received news that some big ships with many soldiers had reached Tauranga and that the great chief himself was coming to attack us. This was a great honour, but we could not understand it, for the white men must have known that where we were fishing was not a suitable place for us to fight in, that it was only an open kainga, the taking of which would gain the soldiers no credit. Also the big white chief must have
"These Ngati Jacks you must understand, boys, do not belong to the same tribes as the soldier, though they likewise fight for the Great
"After we had despatched the messengers, we four warriors held a council to decide what we should do under the circumstances. It was plain we could offer no prolonged resistance in the kainga, yet we must fire at least one volley in honour of it, should the great white chief deem it worthy of attacking. Again, although its occupants were nearly all young men and boys, still they were born rangatera, and their honour and future reputation must not be jeopardised by retreating without making a show of resistance, moreover we could not insult the soldiers who had come so far to fight us by allowing them to occupy the place without being fired at. We had, however, heard it was the custom of the great white chief to fire many shots with his big guns before he ordered his storming party to charge, and if he did so on this occasion we, who were without entrenchments, must all be killed before we could fire one volley in honour of the kainga, ourselves or the soldiers, and our hearts grew dark with perplexity. It was then that our chief man spoke. He had fought against the soldiers in the
"These were his words: 'It is true, friends, we cannot defend the kainga against the soldiers, nor can we withstand the fire of their big guns,
"We saw his words were very good so we acted on them, and by working hard all night we completed our preparations. Next day (29th April 1864) our scouts came in with the information that the soldiers were marching out of Tauranga to attack us, and that the ships were coming up the bay, so at once we ran and concealed ourselves in the pits and trenches we had dug.
"Presently we saw the soldiers arrive on the high ground and in a short time their big guns began to fire, when to our joy we at once saw that misled by the flagstaff and flag they were aiming at the hill on which it was erected some hundred fathoms away from the kainga. At this our hearts grew light, for the noise of the big guns, especially those belonging to the ships, sounded like thunder, while the hill on which the flagstaff stood was shrouded in flame and smoke, and groaned with the bursting of the big power-filled balls which, had they been directed at us, must have quickly destroyed every
"We obeyed his order and when we had lined the fence we also peeped through it and saw a long line of soldiers with a line of Ngati Jacks in rear of them advancing to the attack. When they had reached within twenty fathoms Wai Mati gave the word and our fire darted out through the fence to meet them, then waiting no longer we ran to the rear of the kainga and broke through the back fence meaning to disperse in the raupo swamp, and each man make his way as best he might to Te
"But as we broke through the fence for a breath we stood still with amazement, for there drawn up in line was another strong taua of soldiers whom the big white chief had sent round to intercept our retreat. What were we to do? We were all rangatera and it was not befitting to our rank to be taken prisoners, as that misfortune would reduce us to the level of slaves. No, we must conquer, escape, or die, and we felt justly angry with the want of consideration on the part of the great white chief for placing us in this dilemma. There was no time to delay, the loud shouts of the charging taua as they crashed through the fence and entered the kainga rang in our ears, while the intercepting soldiers were making ready to fire a volley
"In a breath we turned, and every man, tomahawk in hand, rushed back into the village, and threw himself on to the astonished soldiers who had already occupied the place. Now happened a strange thing. Those soldiers who had been sent to cut us off commenced firing into the kainga, and the men working the big guns, seeing they had been misled by the flagstaff, recommenced their fire, this time aiming at the right spot, the ships likewise doing the same. Then truly was the mana of the soldiers inside the kainga very evil. They had charged like brave warriors, and having broken through the fence and having occupied the place, they had a perfect right to think they were entitled to the consideration of the big chief and his other tribes (regiments).
"But just at the time when they thought they had finished their work they found themselves not only called upon to resist the desperate charge of enemies whose sole longing was to kill and die, but also they were subjected to the fire of their own allies and the big ships with whom they were unaware they had any quarrel whatever. Nor had they any time to make inquiries as to why they were subjected to such treatment. They were falling fast by the bullets and shell of their allies and among them raged the Maoris, who, although most of them were boys, yet regardless
"The soldier is a brave man, none braver, but astonished and confused as these warriors were after a feeble resistance they broke and fled from the place, rushing in their flight against the Ngati Jacks, whose formation they broke and who they carried away with them in their race for safety. No, we did not pursue them, but jumped into our pits to save ourselves from the fire of the big guns and the other soldiers. The big guns and the soldiers, however, did not continue firing, many bugles were blown, the fire ceased and to our astonishment on jumping out of our trenches expecting another attack, we saw all the soldiers retreating, which they continued to do although we danced a war dance, so as to show them we were not all killed but ready to furnish them with another fight should their big chief deem us worthy to be attacked again. This he did not do as perchance he had by this time been informed that ours was only a fishing kainga and not a pah worthy of being attacked by such a redoubtable warrior, so he with all his men returned to Tauranga, and that evening we retreated through the swamps to Te
"Be still, oh boy, and ask not foolish questions. It befits youth to listen attentively to the discourse of warriors so as to acquire wisdom and knowledge without interrupting, but I answer you this one. No; the white rangatera did not run away when their soldiers fled. It is not their custom to do so. Like as it is with us, a white rangatera must
"On this occasion they did all that brave men could do to prevent their men from running away, and when this took place those who were left alive and unwounded faced us still, some were quickly killed or wounded by our young men whose wakahihi (fighting madness) was roused, before we, the trained warriors, could stop them. It is not right for rangatera to kill rangatera. When unable to resist they remain on the field of battle, restrained as they are by their sense of honour, nor can you take them prisoners, so that when we forced the young men to cease from killing, those white rangatera, who remained unwounded, retired slowly from the kainga, some of them saluting with their swords, which salute we returned, for this is a befitting thing to do between rangatera, be they Maoris or white men, all brave men should respect one another.
"Nor did we torture, nor even kill the wounded men left in the kainga, as although we had given up the missionaries and most of us had become Hau Haus, yet we had not adopted their ferocity. No, we made fern mi-mis for the wounded and brought them water to drink, one of their own officers, a Tohunga (medicine man) who was unwounded, remained with them and attended their hurts; him also we did not molest, but when the evening came we departed for Te
"My throat is dry and my pannikin is empty,
"I have told you, my friend, that our allies were driven back at
"Now the construction of our entrenchments was in this manner. Te
"Now it had been our intention to erect fences in front of each line of rifle pits, so as to delay the rush of the soldiers should they charge us, and also to construct covered ways through which we could retreat with safety from one line to another; but this part of the work had not been done, although the lines of pits themselves were all completed. Two moons were nearly dead since our victory, when we heard that the soldiers under another war chief (
"Having plenty of time before us, as from our elevated position we could see the approaching soldiers still a long way off, we danced a war dance suitable for the occasion, and the Hau Hau prophets performed their incantations promising us victory with immunity from wounds and death, which promise made our hearts light, for, although
"But oh, my white friend, the Hau Hau prophets were humbugs and liars, or knew not their art perfectly, as wounds and death were the lot of the Maoris that day. Give me the bottle, oh friend, it makes me athirst with anger to think of the lies of those Hau Hau prophets, and my old wounds ache and burn again wlien I talk of them. Augh! I feel better, I will continue. Our war dance and incantations being over it was time to man the rifle pits, which we did full of confidence and hope. I myself was placed in one of the advanced pits, that the soldiers must first attack, and in the same pit were ten other Ngaiterangi, all of us being tried warriors of acknowledged courage and repute.
"Our orders were not to fire a shot until the senior war chief gave the word, and then to fire all together, those of us having tuparas (double-barrelled guns) being ordered not to fire the second shot until the smoke cleared away and then only to do so on receipt of the order, by doing this we thought that the men armed with muskets would gain time to cast about and reload, and this order was impressed on every man.
"Situated where I was I had a good sight of the advancing soldiers who came in the order of two fish [Maori term for two columns of fours], but as they drew nearer they deployed into line, when for a brief space of time they halted, then
"As they approached closer I could see their faces and the faces of the rangatera who led them, and I could see that each face carried on it a look of fierce determination quite different from the usual look of joyous excitement that is so becoming to a brave warrior when he advances to earn honour and renown in the glorious game of war.
"No, they had danced no war dance to excite their courage, nor had they indulged in incantations to save themselves from wounds or death, but they looked like men who, having a hard task before them, meant to see it through. They had come to exact utu and they received it.
"Well, friend, the soldiers advanced in the most perfect order, and, when about fifty fathoms or less from us, at the sound of a bugle, began to run, not tumultously, but each man in his place, while we looked along the barrels of our muskets, and with beating hearts awaited the order to fire. This at last came and the thunder of our volley rumbled among the hills, but it was at that same moment the
"Oh, ye boys, whose fathers all fell at Te
"Yes, oh friend, without a pause those white soldiers flung themselves upon us, their long knives stabbing deep, so that we fell like children before the fire of their wrath. I, as I have before related, had been posted in the advance line of
"Here I might have gained the mastery, for he was quite a youth, but before my strength could prevail or my friends help me, his men poured in on us, they likewise coming unceremoniously, for with many curses one drove his long knife through my breast while another struck me on the head with the butt of his musket, which made me see many stars, and I fell in a corner of the trench with my head swimming and unable to move hand or foot but still conscious, though the soldiers thinking I was dead left me alone, and turned to kill my friends in the pit. This they did very expeditiously, for although the Maoris fought with the greatest courage still they could not withstand the anger of the soldiers who had come to take utu for their past defeat. Again, circumstanced as we were, we could not retreat, for as our men tried to scramble out of the pits, which were deep, those soldiers who had not jumped in on top of us slew them, and the slaughter was very great, while those soldiers, being placed opposite to the open spaces between the pits, finding no Maoris to kill there, rushed on without a pause and threw themselves into the second line of trenches, where they slew and slew,
"Augh! I grow thirsty again talking of that disastrous day. The bottle, friend; perchance the rum may lighten my heart. Now I will finish my long story.
"Soon the fight was over and the few Maoris who escaped the fury of the soldiers had fled away into the swamp and bush. Now the white men had time to come back to examine the dead and assist the wounded Maoris, for it is the custom of the soldiers, fighting being over, to try and cure the men whom just previously they had been doing their best to kill. This, my sons, is a right and wise thing for them to do, for the Great
"Presently a party of soldiers came to the trench in which I lay, and finding that I was the only one there to whom life still clung they lifted me carefully out and bore me on a blanket to their medicine-man, who bandaged my wounds,
"And oh, you boys, this is my word to you: think not of utu against the white men for the slaying of your fathers; the war is past, the soldiers have gone, and we now are all children of the Great
And the old warrior, chock-full of rum and loyalty, tried to get up, but pitched head first on his soft bed of fern, where the rising generation of Ngaiterangi carefully covered him up with blankets and he slept the sleep of the brave and just.
Now the trouble caused by the defeat at the Gate Pah did not end when the troops retreated to Tauranga, for recriminations, charges and countercharges flew like hail, while the New Zealand press wrote the usual twaddle that ignorant editors generally do write on matters of war; but there was one paper in
Now the Ngati Jacks were not given to writing to the newspapers or any tommy-rot of that sort. They were men of action; they would right their own wrongs and teach the miserable ink-slinging stool-polisher decorum in their own way. They had lost a number of officers and shipmates, and it was through no fault of theirs that, after the Tommies had fallen back, they had not been allowed to take the place and finish up the job ship-shape and
Weil, a, short time after the disaster the ships anchored in
There was no time given for palaver; there was the hawser, there Jack stood in orderly array, there stood the bos'n's mates, whistle to lip, and the thoroughly cowed editor caved in at once. Orders were quickly given, and the smartest piece of type-setting and printing ever accomplished in New Zealand was carried out. Soon sheafs of paper bills, still wet from the press, were handed out and showered from the windows, and then the Ngati Jacks, having received the amende
honorable, withdrew the hawser, and, thoroughly satisfied with the utu they had obtained, retired themselves to more convivial pursuits, while the still trembling editor recorded a solemn oath that for the future he would curb his poetic licence, at least so far as her Majesty's navy was concerned.
And now I must tell you something about that bounder, Te
Every country in the world has at some time or other produced diabolically cruel villains who, under one cloak or another, religion for choice, have perpetrated horrible excesses and gratified their love for blood. Yet very often these men have been great and brainy ones. Europe has produced Tilly, Alva, Torquemada, Cæsar Borgia, and many others.
A number of Maori prisoners had been taken in the successful action at Waerenga-a-Hika, which followed upon the atrocious murder of the
Now these prisoners should either have been killed or, at all events, should have been well taken care of, as on two previous occasions Maori prisoners had successfully made daring escapes, one of which is worth recording.
About one hundred and fifty Maoris, prisoners of
The old bow-port of the ship, however, had been forgotten or overlooked, and one very dark, stormy night the Maoris, who had discovered it, forced it open, when every man, woman and child slid noiselessly into the rough, shark-infested water, and swam for the shore, nearly two miles distant, where most of them landed in safety and disappeared into the bush, nor was their escape found out till next morning when the hatches were opened to serve out breakfast.
The
Now during the siege of Waerenga-a-Hika a native belonging to the native contingent, named Te
The great fighting chief Rapata had, however, a private grievance against him, and wished to kill him out of hand, but this the Government would not allow, an act of very short-sighted policy, as it turned out to be on their part. They, however, feared to offend Rapata, so they transported Te
Te mauvais sujet whose room was more valuable than his company. He was a man of no rank by birth, nor had he exhibited
It must not be imagined that the prisoners were shut up in jail or confined in any way; they were made comfortable and lived in huts. The burlesque guard during the night inhabited a tiny, toy sand fort in which the arms and ammunition were kept, but during the day the fort was left in charge of one of their number, the remainder being scattered over the place, employed as ration issuers, clerks, etc.
The prisoners had been landed on the
On the 3rd of July 1868 the three-masted schooner, Rifleman, was sighted making for the island, loaded with stores for the use of the convicts, a boat-load of whom pulled off and assisted the crew
In accordance with custom one of the old images who composed the guard was on duty in the toy fort, the remainder being scattered apart at their usual occupations, and as he pottered about he saw a strong body of the prisoners approaching him and at once demanded their business. They replied that they wanted the arms and ammunition which were stored in the fort. He answered they should not get them. They rushed him. He was a good old soldier though past work, and, promptly shooting one, tried to use his bayonet, but was immediately knocked down, his rifle wrenched out of his hand, and he finished his service by being run through and killed with his own bayonet. Truly the brave old fellow deserved a better fate.
Te Rifleman, boarded her, and drove the mate and crew (the captain was ashore) down below, threatening to kill anyone who
Florence, which chanced to be lying at anchor, sent her crew ashore, and then, cutting the cable, sent their vessel after them so as to prevent her being used in any way against them.
Te
Next day they again made sail and got away from the island, but being delayed by foul winds Te
On the following day, the 10th of July, and during the whole of that night, the Maoris working like beavers, they landed some forty tons of stores, about fifty rifles and a number of other weapons, then releasing the crew Te
In the meantime Te
Now during the Year of the Lamb 1867 the infatuated
Owing to these circumstances Te
But a change was to come over the scene, for Rapata, with a party of
Te
I think I have now given you some vague idea of what had happened on the east coast previous to our accompanying
I think I may now trek on with my own adventures.
We landed at Tauranga in December 1868, and
This would have meant wheels within wheels, or rather a civil war within a civil war, a regular Donnybrook, and it was only after much talk that the indignant warrior could be persuaded to forgo his vengeance against the other friendlies, though he sternly refused to fight again in their company or to alter his determination to proceed to
Rapata Te Wahawaha had from the outbreak of the
Although of aristocratic birth, he was not a great chief by descent, nor had he up to the commencement of the war given any proof of possessing any first-rate administrative qualities, or possibly in his paternal sub-tribe he had no chance of displaying them, but from the first fight, Mangaone, in which his tribe took part, he displayed such indomitable courage and resource that by the time I met him he was not only the principal war chief, but was looked upon as quite the most prominent man in the great and powerful tribe of
The inhabitants of village after village, mission station after mission station, throwing away their Christianity, had joined the Hau Haus, but when the apostles came to Rapata's sub-tribe he sternly bade them be gone, or he would test their
Rapata was a polished Maori gentleman who with a polite and easy nonchalance could entertain the highest colonial dignitary, tomahawk a Hau Hau, or shoot a deserter with his own rifle. He was indeed a worthy ally, for had he not made the firm stand he did the whole of the powerful tribe of
The following morning Rapata departed, still in high dudgeon, and the Colonel, selecting four scouts, sent them to find out whether or not Ngatapa
That afternoon, while lolling on my mi-mi with
The foreigners at once attached themselves to us, but old Jack had to return that evening to Tauranga, so that after his oaths of gladness at meeting us had rolled away like summer thunder he drank a tot out of my flask, forced me to accept a big prick of naval tobacco, and drifted away, swearing softly, to join his party.
"Et maintenant, messieurs," quoth
"But, batterie?"
"Ah, monsieur, ze brave pot, ze poor pot; ah, monsieur, such misfortune, my magnificent pot lies mort sur le champ de battaille. Ah, monsieur, it was heart-rending.
Messieurs remained tranquil, and in good time, instead of supping off the putrid pork and mouldy biscuits Tim had been fumbling over, we enjoyed a delicious ragout of fowls, fresh pork, potatoes and the Lord only knows what else. It is well for you, oh, my son, when on active service two scallywag foreigners, past masters in the art of looting, and owning not one ghostly idea of meum and tuum, attach themselves to you and take upon themselves the onerous duty of catering for your table. Be not inquisitive, oh, my son; ask no questions, but accept the luck Providence sends you and you will fare sumptuously.
In due course of time the scouts returned and reported that Te
Now this was all tommy-rot, and I marvelled at a smart soldier listening to such twaddle. In the first place a Maori does not build a hut to burn it down. Again, we had heard from Rapata that the position of Ngatapa was one of extraordinary strength. Te
Now I happened to be present at the time the scouts reported to the Colonel, and, when they had finished their yarn, ventured to state my opinions, at the same time offering to take
It would have been better for me had I held my tongue, for I received in reply a most stinging rebuke, which was both unjust and unmerited.
Anyhow, the Colonel chose to give me a most unmerciful slating for what he was pleased to term my impertinence, and also added some most caustic remarks on my general utility, and these in such a sarcastic and bitter tone that it was only my strict sense of discipline that prevented me using the whip I carried in my hand over his hide, and I was greatly delighted when I met him years afterwards, when we were both civilians, to be able to give him my plain and unvarnished opinion of his conduct both as an officer and a gentleman.
However, to return to our mutton; orders were immediately given for our return to Tauranga, which were promptly carried out, and Sturt for the west coast, but by the merciful dispensation of Providence the skipper was absent, and the old tub, objecting to the officer temporarily in charge, sat down on a rock, which, knocking a hole in her bottom, necessitated the relanding of the men.
Now my theory re the smoke had been perfectly
On the receipt of this news the little Colonel went hopping mad, and without losing a moment we started off to intercept Te
We had, however, been driven off the ground when
The advance, however, had begun in earnest, and at the end of the third day, the 27th of December,
On receipt of this chit Rapata immediately halted his men and returned this reply: "It is well. I have tried to take it once and failed; it is your turn now. I will camp here and await your success."
This brought the Colonel to his bearings, and he saw he had gone too far, especially as some of the senior officers plainly pointed out to him that if he continued to try and bounce Rapata, that chief would return insolence for insolence, and that a quarrel with their great fighting chief would be looked upon by the
Now
"Have you taken the place?" queried the chief.
"No," replied the Colonel, "I want you to help me."
"I will be with you to-morrow morning," responded Rapata, and the interview terminated.
The
The position of Ngatapa was by nature a very strong one, a high conical peak rising abruptly amidst heavily bushed hills, the face fronting our camp sloping gradually up to the summit, but the sides of the slope, although surmountable in some places, were not so in others, especially in one place, where it was so precipitous as to be quite unnegotiable, the side of the hill having slipped away, leaving a perpendicular precipice of rock quite seventy feet high, and this was the spot where the enemy eventually escaped. The ground in rear of the pah narrowed into a razor-backed indented ridge, the formation of which was gigantic steps, only to be descended by rope ladders, and down the ridge ran a path by which the Hau Haus hoped to escape, if driven to do so, but the path was at once blocked by our men, although for the time being we did not make use of it as a way to attack.
The front slope of the position, in fact the only one possible to march up, was defended by three lines of stoutly built earthworks with ditches in front of them and trenches in rear of them in which
All these lines were connected by covered ways, and altogether it was what it looked, a most imposing fortification with its parapets rising one above the other on the steep slope and growing narrower as the ridge contracted. Yes, imposing it looked, in fact impregnable, or only to be taken with an immense loss of life, but it had, like most Maori pahs, one sad defect, it contained no water. This would have been no drawback in old-time Maori warfare, as it had never been the custom of the chivalrous sportsmen-like savages to prevent the women from leaving a besieged pah for the purpose of obtaining food and water. "For," said the old-time cannibal warrior, "how can a man's heart be strong, and how can he fight well, should he be famished for want of sustenance?"
Civilised white men, however, use hunger and thirst as two of their most formidable weapons, and did so even during the most chivalrous epochs—to wit, the siege of Calais—by that mirror of chivalry,
At daybreak on the last day of the year 1868 we broke camp, and the whole force, by this time considerably augmented, took up a position on a conical hill some seven hundred yards in front of the pah, which, although a part of the same ridge, was divided from it by a deep gully, and this hill we fortified, working under a heavy fire.
Next day the
The artillery division of the Armed Constabulary, assisted by some natives, had for the last few days been working like beavers to get a mortar across some miles of the most awful country, consisting chiefly of deep, rocky and precipitous ravines, every shell having to be carried on men's backs across these natural obstacles, and just as No. 7 were completing their trench the gun was brought into action, the vertical fire from which having a great moral effect upon the defenders.
On the next day the place was thoroughly invested, with the exception of the one small length
The attack was now pushed briskly forward, though for some days we were hampered by heavy rain that filled our trenches with mud, and added greatly to our discomfort, as we occupied them day and night. It moreover supplied the enemy with water to drink. Notwithstanding this drawback we all worked away with good hearts, though of course the risks officers and men ran, working in the flying sap, soon caused our gimcrack hospital to overflow.
I was at this time attached to
This they bitterly resented, and made sally after sally to drive us out of our hardly gained position, but we clung to it like limpets to a rock, and, although we lost many good men in the savage hand-to-hand fighting, still we managed to hold on to the end.
The defenders drew to that end to oppose him, and were doing their best, when with a cheer the Armed Constabulary, who were in the advanced trench of the attack, jumped out and rushed the parapet. The Hau Haus, taken in front and flank, fought bravely, but were either killed or driven pell-mell behind their second line of defences. A fresh sap was immediately commenced, the captured trench being used as a new base, and the men working like niggers, notwithstanding the heavy fire and a furious sally by the enemy had excavated by
It was now
All that night we sat with our weapons in our hands, silently awaiting the dawn, but about two a.m. a woman in the pah, having relations among the
As day dawned we advanced cautiously into the interior of the pah, and found her yarn to be true; but we also plainly saw that had we made an attempt to rush the place we should most probably have been beaten back with great loss. The
The way the bounders had escaped was truly marvellous, as they had descended the face of the precipice, and that so silently as not to have been heard by the pickets posted at either end of it, these pickets being not more than sixty yards apart.
It was not long before small parties of the Ngati-porou began to return, bringing batches of prisoners back with them, the latter being brought at once before Rapata, a stern judge, forsooth. Few and brief were the questions he asked them, and they received a short shrift and a long drop, as they were placed by squads at the edge of the highest precipice, when they were shot, their bodies toppling over and falling to the foot, and there their bones lie to the present day.
This was a frugal way of getting rid of them, as it saved rations, burial fees and all other expenses. True it may seem to you good people who live at home under the lee of the law and the police that our conduct was cruel and bloodthirsty in the extreme, but you must remember that every one of those one hundred and thirty Hau Haus who were disposed of in this summary manner had borne a hand in the massacre of women and children, and that in a way too awful to write about; moreover we were fighting without gloves; and that it was war to the knife.
By the end of the second day the last of Rapata's
I will now relate a short yarn which illustrates a phase of Maori customs, and how the astute Rapata got to windward of a Maori law.
One of the prisoners brought in was a man named
It now behoved Rapata to square the other chiefs, who were as yet ignorant of the execution, so, taking the bull by the horns, he called a meeting of the tribal notabilities, the agenda being, What was to be done with the delinquent? At this meeting Rapata made a most eloquent and diplomatic speech, pointing out how wrong they would be to spare such a man simply because he was a relation of their own. Again, what would the white men say if a man of good blood was allowed to go scathless while men of lower rank were shot by the dozen? In fact he so cornered them that they knew not what to say, until at last old
"Then," rejoined Rapata, "he is a dead man"; and so he was and had been for twenty-four hours.
Of course a large number of Hau Haus had escaped with Te
One case was as follows: A man named
One more case. The general killing was over when eight prisoners were brought in, and the Government representatives, who by that time were on the spot, thought they should receive a trial. This was equivalent to releasing them, as it is impossible to get a witness to bear evidence after he has been murdered. Anyhow these eight beauties Were confined in a hut with a trooper on guard over them. Now it chanced that among the troopers was a man named Hunt, whose wife and family had been butchered by the gang these ruffians belonged to. He was a quiet, methodical man who said nothing, but awaited his opportunity; and it came. One day he was detailed as prison guard, which he mounted, having previously borrowed a
Directly after the fall of Ngatapa,
Taking
We again proceeded up the side of the ravine, entered it high up and descended, guiding ourselves through the pitch darkness by feeling our way cautiously along the side of the track. This of course was running an awful risk, but I saw no other way of solving the problem. My men were all game; if we were cut off some firing must occur, the camp would be alarmed, and, if none of us reported, still the Colonel would know the enemy were in occupation of the gorge.
Moving as quietly as death, and just as the dawn was lightening the sky, we reach the most dangerous point of the ravine, when M'Kenzie tripped in a rut and fell. Immediately a shot rang out, then two, and before you could say knife, both sides of the gully blazed with musketry. Hastily pulling Mac to his feet we all bolted, as, with the crashing of bush and yelling like fiends incarnate, a swarm of Hau Haus started in pursuit.
Lord, how we did run, M'Kenzie and the settler being in front, while myself and Tim, who would not leave me, brought up the rear. Fortunately we were close to the end of the defile, and as we came out into the open we somehow got separated, as each man took what he considered to be the best line for camp, which he knew must be alarmed
The Hau Hau volley must have been heard, and the Maori did not exist who could catch the little Colonel on the hop. I had no fear of being hit, as, although an occasional Maori would squib off his gun at us, still they could not stop to take aim or load, so we only had to keep ahead to win through and each of us sprinted for what he was worth. Tim and myself had kept to the road, and had still plenty of run left in us, when I heard the hoof-thuds of galloping horses and saw the troopers come charging through the fern. But, alas! at the same moment I heard from my right the triumphant yell a Maori warrior lets go (which being interpreted means, "I have caught the first man").
In a moment Tim and myself halted and faced about; the party who had been actually in pursuit of us had also halted, taking cover; and, looking
In the first glance I had seen, a few yards in rear of this pair, another warrior, who, waving in the air a blood-stained tomahawk, yelled again the same triumphant cry, "I have caught the first man," and at the same moment I heard Tim's vengeful cuss: "Have ye, ye blaggard? Thin go to hell wid him." The two carbines rang out nearly simultaneously, and through the smoke I caught a momentary glimpse of the triumphant figure let fall his weapon and collapse.
Before either of us could speak a word a small party of horsemen reached us, while, in rear of them, advancing at the double, came two divisions of the Armed Constabulary, who, passing us with a cheer, swept forward and quickly drove the retreating Hau Haus back to the bush.
We now went up to where the settler and M'Kenzie were lying; the former we found alive, though badly wounded, but the latter, poor fellow, had lost the number of his mess; as for the two Maoris, they were past conversion.
It had been indeed a stroke of luck our flushing the Hau Haus as we did, although I could not take any credit to myself for the way I had engineered the contract, as we quickly discovered they had planned a most artful ambuscade in such a manner that, had the column entered the gorge in the ordinary way, it must have been cut to
The Colonel, without losing a single moment, took advantage of the retreat of the Hau Haus, for troth! the little fiend, with all his faults, was a splendid soldier, always ready for a fight, so, without giving the enemy a single minute to gather together, he immediately rushed four divisions through the gorge, and took up a strong position some two miles on the other side of it. Here he remained for a couple of days, gathering together all his available forces, and then, on the 2nd of February, advanced to attack Titokowaru in his new stronghold of
It was late in the afternoon when we reached the place and saw we had a stiff job before us, for, although the natural difficulties were not nearly so hard to overcome as had been the case at Ngatapa, still it was a very strongly built pah, heavily palisaded, and extremely difficult to surround. It, however, had one defect, as in front of the pah and quite close up to it ran a long bank and ditch, which for some inscrutable reason the enemy had not cleared away, but which the Colonel spotted at a glance, and ordered three divisions of the Armed Constabulary to immediately advance in skirmishing order and seize them. My division was one of those told off for this duty, so, without a pause, we extended from our centre and advanced. There was not much cover, but what there was
Here we quickly opened fire so as to cover the advance of the other two divisions, who were equally fortunate, and on their arrival we poured a combined volley into the place, just to let the Hau Haus know the sort of music we expected them to dance to. I do not think we did much damage, as their works were so beautifully constructed that during the whole of the evening we never saw so much as a head to aim at. Still we kept on sending them an occasional volley, which they answered vigorously, and between these we collogued one another; as we were so mighty adjacent it was quite easy to carry on a conversation, and a conversation was kept up.
Chiefly, I regret to say, the dialogue was of a personal nature more pungent than polite, although now and again some old cannibal would call both sides to order and preach a homily on the etiquette that should be observed between hostile warriors when engaged in the serious pastime of war.
At last night fell, and we received orders to remain where we were, as it was the Colonel's intention to surround the pah the following day, he quite rightly judging it to be far too dangerous a job to tackle during the dark. We had food in our haversacks, though water was scarce, and of course we could not sleep, especially as the Hau Haus every now and again fired a volley, so as to warn us they were awake.
One old buster was good enough to preach us an eloquent sermon, and tried hard to convert us to the
This is only a fraction of what our Christian hero said, and the apostle of Hau Hauism, handicapped as he was by the non-existence of cuss words in the Maori language, and having not yet
After midnight the Hau Hau fire gradually died away, as did the religious arguments, till just before dawn not even the choicest abuse from our side could draw any response. Naturally this reticence on their part put us doubly on the qui vive, as we thought most likely the enemy were up to some devilry or another, a sudden sally or a flank attack, but neither of these we feared, as all our preparations were in order and we were ready for anything. Nor were we nervous about the main body, as we knew the impish little Colonel, who could go a month without sleep himself, would not only be on the alert, but would jolly well have all his men awake and lively.
The dawn came at last, but brought no attack with it, complete silence resting on the pah, so one of our men, named Black, very pluckily jumped over the bank and walked quietly up to the place. As he heard nothing he climbed the fence and shouted out the pah was deserted.
We were soon inside it, and were astonished at its strength, all hands plainly seeing we should never have taken it without expending enormous labour in mining, or by reducing the defenders through starvation. It was evidently the latter Titokowaru feared, as it contained but little food or water, and he was fully aware of the fate of Ngatapa.
Without a moment's delay the pursuit began, the Colonel with the main body making for Weraroa, while
In a very short time he came up with their rearguard, who turned, and in overpowering numbers attacked him, but he succeeded after a brisk hand-to-hand fight in getting clear of them, and turned the tables by hanging on their skirts until the firing brought up one of our divisions, when the Hau Haus were so roughly handled that they broke and fled and the pursuit went on.
Bivouacking that night on their line of retreat we advanced next day to Moturoa, where we had been defeated the previous year, and where we fully expected the enemy would make a determined stand. Strong as the place was, however, Titokowaru had not seen fit to hold it, but had passed on, so we took the opportunity of gathering together the remains of the poor fellows we had had to abandon on that unfortunate day, and cremated them.
Without going into nauseous particulars I may state there was ample evidence of how they had been desecrated by the enemy, which did not improve the temper of their comrades. Some sharp skirmishing ensued, in which we always got the best of it, but after a few days we had to fall back owing to the lack of food, it being impossible to furnish us, in the rough and broken country, even with the scantiest supply of rations.
As we retired the enemy followed us, and soon let us know they had done so, as a sergeant and nine men who had crossed the
The white men seized their rifles and made a bolt for the river, which they reached in safety, and where, had they made a stand under cover of the bank, they might have stood their pursuers off, as the already alarmed camp was in sight and quite close to, but instead of doing so they tried to escape in the canoe, and the Hau Haus lining the bank shot them down in a heap, killing seven and wounding one. The natives were immediately driven back, but not before they had dreadfully mutilated the dead men.
Just as we had recuperated and were about to again take the field we received the news of an outbreak at
This rising necessitated the Colonel sending one hundred of his men to the
I had been sent forward to scout, taking with me my usual companions, and after three days'
On the 16th of March
During this interlude
One old
Another then took the floor, and asserted that the late honourable member, who had wasted his breath, was quite wrong; that they had not abandoned
The next speaker, I think, must have been Titokowaru himself or his representative, as he asserted that they would fight on that spot, that the white men could not reach them for three days, and wound up by assuring them he had received a revelation that they would gain a decisive victory.
The council then separated, and it required no great skill in the art of prophecy to foretell that should the coalition of the Hau Hau tribes get another good shake up they would fall asunder like a bundle of sticks when the cord binding it together is severed.
Creeping back I reported to the Colonel, and rejoined the storming party to which I had been told off. The weary waiting was almost over, in another quarter of an hour the dawn of day would have given us the signal to charge, when a mounted native came out of the pah and rode towards us. Greatly surprised as we were, we lay as still as death, and he cantered right through our party without spotting one of us, only to come full butt against the main body. In a breath he slewed his horse round and galloped back, yelling as if he had the stomach-ache, and firing off a revolver. All our fine plans were knocked galley west; out rang the order to charge. We charged; crash went the fence, and head first, feet first, or landing in a sitting position, in we went, but it was too dark to see, much less to aim, and all we could hear was the
As soon as it was light enough to see,
But now the question arose: Where was this fabled Te Ngaihere? No one seemed to know its locality or what it was like. Everyone seemed to have heard traditions about it, but no one had ever set eyes on it. It was a place tapu, not to be talked about, much less to be visited, and whether it were a mountain, a bush, a lake or a cave, no one could give us a single pointer. However, if a place be worth finding it is worth prospecting for, so away went
The whole force, moved up by a night's march, camped close to the swamp and quite out of sight of the stronghold, and although in dense bush, not a fire was allowed to be lit during the whole time we were making our preparations for attack, though our scouts kept the island under observation day and night. It was now a case for all hands to off shirt, out tomahawk and work like beavers, constructing out of supple jacks, hurdles, fifteen feet long and four feet wide, in sufficient quantity to cross the quagmire. So well did we work and so well were we handled that in four days every preparation had been made, and at dark on the 24th we began to lay our frail bridge across the bog, this being finished at four a.m., when without a second's delay the column began to cross. The first lot of us got over dry shod, but then the bridge began to sink, so that the rear of the column had to struggle through slime and water, which took the rear-guard up to their middle.
Notwithstanding this drawback we were all safely across, then, leaving
It was now an extraordinary accident was about to happen that again saved Titokowaru and the remnant of his bloodthirsty tribe from our just resentment. The day broke clear, when the natives immediately discovered us. Their astonishment was most ludicrous, as they all thought we had dropped from the sky. Some ran away from us; some ran towards us, shouting out words of welcome; others, too overcome to move, could do nothing else but stand with goggle eyes and with palms stretched out, hoarsely muttering the mystic words "Hau Hau," none making the slightest attempt to resist us.
The long-waited-for execution was just about to commence when the Wanganuis, usually so ready to begin killing, shouted out to us to be careful how we fired as two of their chiefs were mixed up with the now flying crowd. The Colonel, not understanding the Maori tongue, fancied that because the Wanganuis had not fired we had in some miraculous manner fallen across an unknown friendly tribe, so ordered us not to fire. None of us did fire, and because we did not fire the Wanganuis did not do so, so we simply stood and watched long lines of men, women and children wading through the swamp within a few yards of us, and it was only when the hindermost fugitives made very many indecent gestures at us, previous
Well, we sat down and looked at one another; and as each man thought over the forced labour of the past few days, of the long, dreary night marches, of the short rations, of the blistered hands and the torn feet which he had suffered and which, through that morning's miserable misunderstanding, he would have to suffer again, he forbore to swear, being unable to find in his repertoire any cuss words suitable to express his sentiments.
Notwithstanding his escape Titokowaru was beaten; he had lost his mana (luck); all the allies who had flocked to him in his prosperity deserted him like rats running from an unseaworthy ship, and after the retirement of the field force he was for a time hunted by small parties of local levies, together with a few of the Armed Constabulary belonging to the district, until he disappeared into the interior, where the Government let him rip.
The subjugation and disarmament of the tribes who had joined him being left to junior officers,
We were therefore shipped on the steamers Sturt and St Kilda, on the 10th of April, reaching
After a night of ceaseless work we managed to get all but sixty on board, the Colonel remaining behind to gather together the stragglers; nor did he let slip the opportunity of venting his unjust spleen, as he reported to the Government that his men were all mutinous and his officers discontented.
This was not true, and caused intense bitterness right through the field force, as the men were not
It was now high time to call on the
The
On Te Koati's landing, without receiving any 325
As it was well known this was going to be a most arduous campaign, all hands, officers and men, had to undergo a rigorous medical examination, and even then only those were selected who were well known to possess determination and ability to put up with hardships without grousing, and of course every man was a past master in the art of bush fighting.
terra incognita at different points were strong enough to act alone, and give a good account of themselves should they even be attacked by the whole strength of the
I should have gone in with the mounted column, which was to start from
en route in the way of pahs, kaingas or food he might come across; then, provided the two columns did meet at this mysterious trysting-place, they were to capture it, and then, combined, were to trust to Providence
The heaviest righting and the hardest work would fall to the lot of
Although everyone worked with a will, it was not before the 2nd of May sufficient stores and ammunition arrived to enable us to make a start, but at daylight the following morning the field force paraded in front of our camp at Oporiau, numbering, all told, two hundred and forty-five
To give you some idea of our loads let me tell you what each man had to carry: a Schneider carbine with one hundred and sixty rounds of ammunition; a revolver with thirty rounds; and of course each man carried his tomahawk, sheath-knife and pannikin; then each four men had to carry, taking it in turns, an axe, shovel or pick; then every twelve men in like manner carried a case containing four hundred and eighty rounds of carbine ammunition; while each division had to carry five stretchers.
After these loads had been apportioned, each individual might hump as many blankets, as much clothing, rations and private property as he saw fit, but all officers under field rank had to take their turn at the extra ammunition, tools, etc., as well as to hump their own swag. True we were all picked men, tried and seasoned by many months of bush warfare, in robust health, and, with the exception of a couple of field officers, not a single man under the age of twenty-four or older than thirty.
Oh, my gentle tourist friend, you who buckle on a pretty, light knapsack, and tramp for a few hours on a summer's day along the shady lanes of Old
I have previously stated I was delighted at having been told off to join
He was, moreover, just and considerate in his dealings with his junior officers, who regarded him more as a father than as a colonel. To me individually he was always most kind and friendly, and as he knew my father and family well I was only too pleased to serve under him.
It was on the morning of the 4th of May,
The first day's march was a very bad one, as it necessitated the column crossing the river twenty-eight times during the twenty miles that brought the tired men to a deserted kainga called Tunanui, where we bivouacked with fair comfort, this being the jumping-off spot into the unknown.
The next day the same sort of thing had to be gone through again. The river-bed did not improve, while during the day heavy showers of sleet and rain soaked us through. Moreover, as we were now in the enemy's country we dare not light fires when we bivouacked, so that we had to get what rest we could during the bitter cold night, deprived of any warmth and without the pannikin of miserable tea we all so greedily looked forward to after a cold and fatiguing day.
The following morning at the first glimmer of dawn we scouts left the bivouac, and pushed on up the river-bed, but before we had progressed a couple of miles we came to a place where the river rushed through a deep, rocky gorge that prevented us making any further use of its bed as a thoroughfare. I therefore awaited the arrival of the Colonel, who shortly joined me, and after a short discussion he determined the column should cross the stream and make its way up a steep, razor-backed ridge that sloped down to the water. We had considerable difficulty in crossing, as not only the current ran very fast, but the bed was faute de mieux, could be used for attacking purposes. Facilis decensus Averni may be true, but we found it by no means easy, much less pleasant, to descend that infernal hill, and it was only by lowering our loads, and even one another, down the worst places that at last, tattered and torn, we reached the foot, but fortunately, although many men were badly bruised, still no one had received sufficient injury to render him unfit for further exertions.
On reaching the valley the Colonel, taking myself and scouts with him, moved forward to reconnoitre, while the main body rested, and as best they could repaired damages. We had, however, barely time to make certain that the aforementioned spurs were practicable when from the kainga on the plateau above out rang the report of a gun that, being multiplied by the echoes of the mountains and valleys, rumbled like thunder. Of course we thought we had been spotted, and cursing our bad luck we fell back to the main body as rapidly as we could. As there was nothing to be gained by delay the Colonel determined to attack immediately, so throwing off our packs fifty of the most bruised men were rapidly told out to remain in charge of them, then, the remainder of the force being divided into two parties, we started off to force our way up
The
Whoop, then there was a deuce of a commotion, women and children running and screaming, men yelling, pigs grunting and singing hymns, while above all this turmoil out rang our bugles, which, together with our cheering, added to the din that was in a moment multiplied a thousandfold by the crash of firearms, while the echoes of all these noises combined were so extraordinary that anyone might have thought thousands of men were engaged, or that all the fiends in Hades were holding their
Completely surprised as the
Our losses on that day were trivial, only amounting to one man killed and four wounded, while we captured fifteen women, a great many pigs and large stores of potatoes. The women, after being well questioned, we let go; the pigs were killed, and when each man had taken as much meat as he could eat and carry, the remainder, with the surplus potatoes, were destroyed. Truly it was a shocking waste of food, but absolutely necessary in savage warfare.
That night we fared sumptuously, those men not being on duty sleeping the sleep of the just, and next morning, as soon as it was light enough to see, we completed the destruction of the kainga, ate a big breakfast, and again made our way to the river above the gorge to proceed on our weary way.
It was now a case of looking out for squalls, as
On reaching the bed of the river the Colonel took every precaution, one of which being, instead of sending forward three or four scouts, who might be captured, he ordered a party of twelve men to precede the main body. These men were only to carry their own personal swags, so that they might be ready at a moment's notice to put up a fight. The loads the men of the main body had to carry on this day were very heavy. In the first place we had three wounded men, who, being unable to walk, had therefore to be borne on stretchers, and then every man had brought along with him as much pork and potatoes as he could stagger under. The bed of the river was also if possible worse than it had been before, as it was full of big slippery boulders over which the heavily laden men staggered and tripped as if drunk, many of them having very nasty falls indeed.
We had journeyed about two miles when the advance-guard halted, and at the Colonel's request I accompanied him to the front, where we found the officer in command of them uncertain as to what course he should pursue. Our advance up the side of the stream we were on was blocked by a steep though not very high ridge that was covered as usual with densely tangled scrub, the end of it jutting out into the water, which was there too
After carefully studying the look of the country the Colonel decided to cross the river and take to the path, so that when the main body had closed up the' advance-guard began to wade over, the water in the centre of the stream, which there ran very fast, taking them half way up their chests.
That day they were being led by
The advance-guard entered the ford and had crossed three-fourths of the way when from the dense brushwood on the far side, over which up till now the silence of death had reigned, came a tremendous volley, and down went poor
It was a nasty place; the ford was a very narrow
Away we went and tackled the job, having to put in two hours' hard chopping before we could get a crossing place, and then, when we had succeeded in crossing, we had to cut our way down the bank till at last we came close to the ford, when a toot on our bugle let the Colonel know we were on the enemy's flank, there or thereabouts. Out rang his bugle, and with a cheer we tore and struggled through the remaining undergrowth, while a storm of whizzing bullets, which fortunately did us but little harm, tore the foliage to pieces over our heads. At the same time we charged we could hear close to us the shouts of the Colonel's party as they dashed through the water, the sharp file-firing of his coverers and the volleys of the defending Hau Haus.
Bristling with wrath, we cut and forced our way through the last intervening scrub, fondly hoping that a good hand-to-hand scrap would recompense us for our past labour, but as both of our parties simultaneously broke through the curtains of greenery we found not one single Maori there to receive us.
Their lines of rifle pits had been beautifully
A party of us at once rushed on up the ridge, exchanging a few shots with the enemy, who by some hidden path had gained a similar ridge some three hundred yards off, which they dared us to attack.
The Colonel, however, was convinced that we were on the right footpath—else why had they taken the trouble to build such elaborate rifle pits to defend it?—and he was far too old a bird to be drawn away on a wild-goose chase. His plan was to push on to the famous Ruatahuna, of course attacking any pahs he came across, and not to lose time in running after Maoris, who, if he did so, would only retire in front of him.
As soon as poor
The Colonel therefore again despatched a party to try and turn the Hau Haus' right flank, and again, after immense labour, the movement having been carried out, we made a combined rush, and charged, the rifle pits receiving two smashing volleys, and when we entered them we found nothing but three guns, which some of the Hau Haus must have dropped in their retreat. These rifle pits were also well constructed, and were well worthy of being better defended, but, by their having been vacated without a stouter resistance, we saw it was evidently the game of the Hau Haus to carry on a war of ambuscades and not risk a stand-up fight.
After a short halt we again moved forward, our advance-guard being fired into every few hundred yards, while sometimes, by way of a change, the enemy would tickle us up on the flanks; in fact it was a most sinful and cuss-wordy march, as the track, if you could call it such, was never broad enough to allow us to show a greater front than two men abreast, while the wounded men we had now to carry added considerably to the toil of our already overloaded men.
We had moved forward about three miles when we sighted on a spur, with a bush in rear of it, a pah which we afterwards learned was called Te
The Hau Haus in the pah were evidently very upset and excited by our call, as they opened a
At last we were all ready; the bugle sounded the advance and charge, when we all rushed at the tumbledown works, to be met by the usual heavy but badly directed fire. There was nothing to make us pause; the rotten fences gave way before our rush, so with a cheer we burst into the place, just in time to see the tail end of the bolting Hau Haus disappearing into the bush, and to send a volley after them that hastened their departure. We did not pursue, as most likely they had planted a nice little ambuscade at the edge of the bush, and as a rule there is nothing to be gained by running your head against a stone wall or walking into a Maori trap, so we humped up our swags and the wounded men, whom we made as comfortable as possible, and occupied the pah ourselves for the night.
During the night we had one false alarm, caused by a patrol falling into a ditch, and various ill-bred Hau Haus prowled round us, telling us nasty things about ourselves. One of these lewd fellows kept it up till daylight, and so interfered with one man's rest that just at day-dawn he took his carbine and went gunning after the disturber of his slumber. Good luck attended him, for just as it became light enough to see his foresight the retiring night
The Maoris had left us a bare larder in Te
This pah, or rather fortification, was built on a flat, with a dense bush to its right front; the
The Maoris were not only holding the pah, but they had detached parties in the bush who had to be driven back before we could rush the work itself. We had just about completed this portion of the
Orders or no orders, we were not going to stand that, so turning on our pursuers we flew at them like wild cats, and as just at that moment we received the new orders we pushed our charge so well home that we drove the Hau Haus before us like chaff, nor did they even make an effort to defend the pah, but bolted as hard as they could for the shelter of the bush and broken country, while we occupied the place, which we eagerly prospected for food.
It was not long, with two such sublime marauders as
Our men started cheering, and shortly afterwards it was reported that
The two columns having completed the first part of the programme by uniting at Ruatahuna it behoved our O.C. and the senior officers to turn to and stage the second act, but here Nature chipped in and bade them pause.
Our force was composed of picked men, admirably suitable for the work that lay before them, and, with the exception of the Arawa tribe, the only cowardly race in New Zealand, the whole outfit were full of fight and ready to go anywhere. Still it is a well-known fact that, no matter how good and willing men are, nevertheless they must eat sometimes, and we were, within twenty-four hours of our junction, absolutely without food The inclemency of the weather also greatly added to our sufferings, as we were never dry during the day, while the bitter frosts at night froze us hard. Moreover the enemy, though unable to face us in a stand-up fight, still lingered in our vicinity, and had even the cheek to commence fortifying a high hill overlooking the camp, a movement on their part that required a sharp skirmish to dissuade them from continuing.
Nothing daunted, the little Colonel still determined to carry out his original plans and make a push for
Previous to returning, however, he determined to attack and destroy a big kainga that my scoutingparty had discovered while spud-hunting. This expedition, trivial though it might be, and of no importance, was yet a very popular one, all hands eagerly volunteering to take a part in it, not on account of any glory that might be reaped from its capture, but the men were all so hungry that they were only too anxious to undergo the extreme hardships of a long, bitterly cold night's march through rugged bush on the chance of being able to get a few mouthfuls of pork and potatoes; as for the chance of being knocked over or wounded,
I am only mentioning the above facts as during this insignificant affair an incident happened to myself that was the cause of making me the target for a lot of chaff, which though good-natured caused many a hearty laugh at my expense. It fell out in this way:
At dark a party of two hundred men, under the command of
Presently there was a sound of women muttering and grumbling, then a fire was kindled, followed quickly by others, the combined flare from these lighting up the cooking places, while we, shrouded in the outer darkness, lay and licked our lean chaps as we heard the boss woman directing so many kits of potatoes and so much pork to be cooked in each hangi; verily I for one wanted no sherry and bitters to sharpen my appetite. Presently, the stones being hot enough, the fires are removed, and darkness again covers the scene as the food is placed in the ovens and covered up.
Again a weary wait, and just as we know breakfast ought to be ready the sky begins to lighten, and we can see the outline of the kainga. Surely in my impatience I may be forgiven for uttering the following prayer:—"O gods of war, ye who pass your days in fighting and your nights in feasting, listen to your humble votary. Hurry up Phoebus, the beggar's slack to-day. Grant us only light enough, and we vow to fight like bricks and eat like heroes. Let us but get at our enemies and to our victuals."
The light comes slowly. Will the Colonel never give the word? His expectant bugler lies beside him, bugle to lip. The women inside the kainga call to the men: "Arise, the food is ready to be eaten," and we hear the yawns and grunts of the warriors as they wake up from their natural slumber, some of them soon to be put to sleep again in a speedier and more permanent manner. There goes the trumpet, endorsed by a cheer from our over-willing men as with a rush we dash into the village. Here takes place the usual turmoil: screaming women and children rush for the bush; men, resisting and fighting desperately, are shot down, while others are driven out of the place in headlong flight. We do not pursue, but, with mouths watering, instinctively gather round the hangis. The women had stated that the food was cooked; we required no expert evidence, off came the earth-covered mats, when the steam of the luscious pork and spuds rose to still further tantalise the famished men.
There was, however, no greedy scrambling. Starving we might be, but we were comrades in noblesse oblige, have had to wait, so as to make sure there was enough to feed the men before attending to their own wants. There was, however, no fear on this occasion of anyone going short, as one oven remained still unopened, and around this we eagerly clustered.
"Damn," said the Colonel. "
As I stumbled to my feet I did not say "damn," as it would not have been an appropriate expression on such an occasion, and I felt utterly unable to coin one suitable, so picking up my precious viands, which I carried in the mat on my left fore-arm pressed against my chest, where they raised blisters wherever they came in contact with my bare skin through my tattered shirt, in less than a minute I had the men extended,
After seeing that all my men were present and unwounded I gave the word to retire, and we started wending our way back to the kainga. I was now clearly entitled to break my longsustained fast. True, I could not sit down to eat, but it is better for a hungry man to eat while walking rather than not to eat at all, so that as my men fell back at a brisk pace I opened my mat, and, grabbing a handful of the by now well-smashed and greasy potatoes, conveyed it to my mouth, instinctively slowing up my pace as I began to eat the precious food.
Lord, how good it was!—not tempting to look at, my gentle reader, nor was there any romantic refinement in the tableau of a gaunt, unshaven man, dressed in a tattered shirt and shawl, feeding himself with an unwashed, blood-stained hand while pushing his way through the tangles of a New Zealand bush.
Well, refinement or no refinement, I was thoroughly enjoying it; as I swallowed each grimy morsel I somehow, without noticing the fact, moved slower and slower, until my men had gained considerably on me, and I loitered perhaps fifty or sixty yards in rear of them. This of course was both foolish and wrong, and Nemesis the slut was on my spoor in a moment. I had swallowed some half-a-dozen handfuls of thesmashed potatoes, and was thinking of tearing off with my teeth a mouthful of pork, when fizz! just past my ear whizzed a bullet. Disgusted, I turned round and saw a Maori lad, perhaps thirteen years old, with a revolver in his hand, running after me, who had evidently made up his mind to gain distinction by bagging a white man. His intentions, though highly commendable from his point of view, were deucedly unpleasant from mine, as the moment I stopped he fired again, making such a good shot that he put a bullet through my rags which seared my ribs like a red-hot iron. Angry as I was there was only one thing for me to do, and that was to bolt, so, infra dig. as it might be, I bolted, and went tearing through the bush pursued by a native urchin who every now and again squibbed off a shot so as to keep me going. Of course I knew the report of the first shot would bring my men to
The fallowing day we marched to Ahikereru, and then it became evident, even to our little game-cock of an O.C., that we had shot our bolt, and that without a proper supply of food it would be an act of madness for us to try and surmount the tremendous Huiarau range of mountains, then quite unknown and deeply covered with snow. Even to stay where we were was an impossibility, as the distance to our base was so great that the supply of rations, never regular, must cease on account of the inclemency of the weather, so that much against his will he determined to continue
We were, however, not allowed a long rest, as the Colonel received information that Te
Te en route to ambuscade two despatch-riders. One of these succeeded in scraping clear and reached Galatea with the news that Te
We were, however, quickly to receive further news of Te
Presently two Maoris strolled up. "Tena koutou" (salutations to all of you), quoth they; "we are Arawas," and they stood among the troopers, warming themselves and expressing their delight at the chance of doing so.
In a few minutes three more turned up, with words of salutations on their lips and murder in their hearts; and this goes on until at last the infatuated volunteers grow suspicious and try to get hold of their arms; but it is too late. They are already outnumbered. A signal is given and the tomahawk does its work. Some two or three, however, escape, and reach Galatea, but nine of them lie butchered in cold blood. The Colonel also had a most wonderful escape, as the Hau Haus, ignorant of his vicinity, moved off the ground immediately the slaughter was ended and continued their march towards the lake. Of course directly we got the
Had the above coalition taken place it would have been a most disastrous affair for the colony, as Te
Nor were we of the old field force idle. Winter or no winter, we kept hard at it, scouting and patrolling and learning the country thoroughly, so that when spring came on we should be ready to take the field again.
Our dear old O.C,
About this time I was despatched with the mounted division to
True to time we arrived on the scene, but the en route I should tumble across Te
The Colonel not being quite satisfied with my report determined to call on Te
The following morning Hare Tauteka, one of the friendly chiefs, turned up at the Colonel's hut in a great state of mind, reporting that four of his scouts had been cut off, tortured and killed. This was decidedly unpleasant though, alas! by no means uncommon news. Scouts did at times get captured, and the Hau Haus, especially Te
The old dame was so hideous and unsightly that she would have afforded a gang of godly Puritans exquisite delight to torture and burn as a witch; while the son, who suffered from some horrible form of leprosy, appeared to be falling to pieces. Notwithstanding the old faggot's homeliness she was gifted with a most eloquent tongue, for no sooner had she appeared than she started in and prophesied a whole hurricane. Moreover, there was no Delphic ambiguity in her statements, as she stoutly asserted and maintained that the four scouts had been captured alive, tortured to death, and that their remains had then been thrown into a certain swamp, the name of which she mentioned.
Now of course we white men were inclined to laugh and ridicule the whole yarn, but refrained from doing so, as we should have deeply offended the superstitious Maoris, so, like the sailor's parrot, we thought profoundly, but said nothing.
The following day
Upon hearing this news the Colonel despatched a strong patrol of mounted men to search the place, and there, sure enough, we found the poor fellows' remains, which, from, the treatment they had evidently been subjected to before death mercifully put an end to their sufferings, showed us plainly that the damned Hau Haus had spared no torment that devils could invent or fiends inflict.
The old Witch of Endor was now very cock-a-hoop, as her lucky dream sent up her scrip many points on the market, and her name resounded through the field force as being quite a first-class, high-toned, up-to-date and always to be relied upon dreamer of dreams and seer of visions, in fact a puka old-time witch that all respectable elderly Maori fighting men must needs give ear to.
Now prophets and cattle of that sort were rank poison to an O.C. of a column in which a large number of natives served, and our field force had many more of these critters on our strength than we were entitled to or desired, in fact they troubled us exceedingly, as, just when the Colonel would want to make a move, some confounded old image, possibly suffering from a repletion of villainous ration bacon, would dream that the proposed expedition would be an unlucky one, and at once the whole of his congregation would plump
Subsequently we heard how these scouts had come to grief. They had been despatched to discover the route that Te
The temptation was too great for the worn-out, wet-through and starving men. Surely they might rest and eat; anyhow they would chance it. They did so; and entering the best hut they lit a
Of course they had played the fool, and had done what they well knew to be wrong, but yet I think St Nemesis might have closed her eyes on the faux pas of these poor scallywags, but she is not built that way, for she was on their spoor like a jumping wild cat before they had eaten a single pratie, and she punished their sin in a most cruel manner.
It happened this way: Although they were in blissful ignorance of the fact, they had been spotted by two separate parties of Hau Haus, each numbering forty men. These parties, posted on high ranges of hills, had not pursued them, as they deemed it impossible to overtake them, but when they saw them enter the hut they came down from their heights, and closely surrounded the place. One of them creeps up and peers through the chinks of the rickety door, and there he sees the four wretched scouts fast asleep, with their guns made fast to the hut-pole. In a moment the door of the hut is knocked into splinters, and before one of the inmates can move a finger they are overwhelmed by numbers, and securely tied hand and foot.
Next morning the captives are brought before the arch-devil, Te
If in the far future there should chance to be a corps d'élite among the legions of angels, I will wager my golden crown that those four Maori rangateras will swing their flaming tomahawks in its ranks.
Well, now let's get on with the main yarn. I have previously mentioned the infernal weather, which that year was the worst ever known in New Zealand, and as Taupo is always bleak and cold, we came in for more than our share of snow, sleet and frost; in fact, it being impossible for human flesh and blood to keep the field, the Colonel occupied the two strong positions of Rotoaira and Tokanu, while Te
While we are marking time for the clerk of the weather, I think I may take the opportunity of telling you about a wonderful occurrence that took place at Tokanu, which is situated among the hot springs and geysers close to the shores of
On a flat of silica, quite smooth to the bare feet, are three huge basins, perfectly round, some seventy feet in diameter and all in a row, each separated at the surface by only a few feet of silica. Now the odd thing about these basins is, that the water in the two end ones rises and falls—that is to say, when the one nearest the lake is brimful the water in the farther one will sink out of sight, and vice versa. This takes place as regularly as clockwork, one being full and the other empty, while the middle one always remains brimful, and although the water in the two end ones is boiling hot, that in the centre basin is cool enough to bathe in.
This pool had been the favourite resort of the natives for untold generations, and had never been known to monkey—i.e. to blow up—so of course when we occupied the place we gladly made use of it; in fact it was full all day long, as in the inclement weather it was the custom of everyone not on duty to strip in his hut and rush off naked to the pool, into which he would plunge, and remain for hours in the hot water, thereby keeping himself warm and out of the icy sleet. Now
Well, one wretched afternoon all hands not on duty, perhaps one hundred and fifty of us or more, were in this bathing hole when, oh, joyful sound, the grog call rang out! Without a moment's pause every man in the water jumped out and ran as hard as he could to hustle on his rags and make the best of his way to the rum-bucket. We were just in time, for the last man had barely cleared the silica flat when, with a roar like ten thunder claps lashed together, up went the bathing hole, and what a minute before had been a placid pool of warm water became a roaring geyser, throwing up a huge fountain of boiling water at least two hundred feet into the air, while the screams of it were like ten thousand steam hooters blowing off at the same time.
Well, now that was a slice of luck, as had the bust up taken place one minute earlier the whole lot of us would have been blown to Kingdom Come in smithereens. Think of that, oh, my crazy, fanatical teetotalerising, red-nose wind-bag, only just think, one hundred and fifty lives saved by their smartness in answering the wicked grog call. Ponder over it, my brother, and lay this flattering unction to your soul, should you by chance have one, that bar the alarm it was the only call in the bugler's repertoire that would have been answered in such a unanimous and energetic style, but cheer up, Brother Stiggins, I will give you a tip. The next time you spout trash to your brother
Just as the weather began to clear, a trooper riding despatch from Rotoaira to Tokanu returned at the gallop reporting that the road was blocked and that he had only scraped clear by the skin of his teeth.
The friendly natives refused to believe the yarn, so next morning the Colonel, with a dozen of us mounted men, rode out to reconnoitre, and near Tokanu we found the Hau Haus had taken up a strong position on the spurs of a range overlooking the track.
They at once opened a heavy fire on us, but following the Colonel's lead we galloped past them, and in a few minutes met a strong body of friendlies, led by
The Hau Haus were in strong force, swarming on the top of the range across the spurs of which they had dug lines of shelter trenches, the first line of which, the Colonel leading, we took with a rush, but the main body of the Hau Haus, undaunted, swept in masses down the spurs to drive us back. At the start we were far out-numbered, but were being reinforced every moment by fresh arrivals of friendlies from both camps, who, coming up at the run, threw themselves promiscuously into the fight. The charge of
Faith, it was as swate a. little fight as I have ever had the luck to take part in, for, although it took place upon the spurs of a range and we had to charge uphill, yet the battle-ground was free from bush till the summit was reached, so that we could see all the fun that was going on around us. Another factor greatly to our advantage was that, the scrap being quite unpremeditated on our part, none of our limbs of Satan (prophets) had been able to dream dreams, consequently our friendlies fought with all their native courage, which was in no wise handicapped by the lugubrious prognostications of some old humbug suffering from the mullygrubs. A gay and festive hand-to-hand fight took place that lasted a few minutes, in which tomahawk clinked against tomahawk, and yell answered yell with all the reckless devilment of a good old-fashioned Irish faction fight, but at last the Hau Haus give ground, while we press them so closely, and drive them back so rapidly that they have to abandon their dead and wounded, who fall into our hands, the latter receiving the same amount of mercy as they would have bestowed upon us had the tables been turned.
Presently they give way and bolt, but we pursue just as fast as they fly, and reach the top rather breathless, but mighty adjacent to their shirt tails. Here they turn and try to make a stand, but without a pause we fly at them like a pack of wild dogs at a flock of sheep, and in less than five minutes they are driven across the summit of the ridge, and disperse on the far side, a broken, beaten, dispirited mob of fugitives, while we white men sit down and laugh, and our bould allies vent their superfluous energy in a bloodcurdling war dance in which the heads of the defunct Hau Haus are passed from hand to hand like footballs.
This fight, Te Pononga, insignificant as it may appear, was yet of tremendous importance, although at the moment we were quite unaware of the fact, but we ascertained shortly afterwards that the celebrated
The following day, as we were ready to start in pursuit, the Colonel received a message from
While waiting for
His apparent supineness quickly bore fruit, as we scouts soon discovered that the broken Hau Haus were drawing together, and in a few days they had regained sufficient cheek to try and drive off horses and slaughter cattle grazing in the vicinity of the camps. Yes, slaughter cattle, my friends; for as regards meat rations we were now fairly well off, as, a pack-horse track having been cut through the bush to
This had been all right up till now, as on our arrival in Taupo huge stores of potatoes had been captured, but alas, the succulent spuds had been eaten, so could not be issued again. It was therefore necessary to renew our stock, and we scouted hard to find any ruas, but although we found plenty of these underground storerooms, still they were invariably empty, the truth being that the Maoris of the district, having lost such large
While we looked on an officer said to me: "I wish to goodness,
We scouts had by now located Te coup de grâce to the foul gang of murderers we had been so long in pursuit of.
The Colonel's plan of attack was excellent, and I have no doubt we should have succeeded in surrounding and destroying the whole hive of vermin had it not been for the old image i.e. the evening before the attack should have taken place, which said dream caused
The attack therefore was made anyhow, it culminating in a race between the Wanganuis, St
Pourere was rushed in a most orthodox style, as we surmounted the parapet, which was eight feet high, by climbing on to one another's shoulders and jumping on to the top of the defenders, whom we finished off with butt, tomahawk and revolver. It was quite a tidy little scrap, in which I came out the richer by receiving two tomahawk cuts and the poorer by having my shirt and shawl torn to pieces off me, a very serious loss, believe me, as until I got back to Tokanu every rag of clothing I possessed was my boots, a somewhat scanty well-worn Maori mat and bandages. Pourere was a bad beating for Te
Our loss as far as numbers went was trivial, four men only being killed and four wounded, but alas, we lost two men we could badly spare, one being the gallant and chivalrous
He was killed in the following way:—The parapet of the work was eight feet from the ground line and
Her saintship Nemesis on this occasion made use of a rod she must have kept a long time in pickle for the back of that ancient sinner and believer in dreams,
Old
The
The Taupo Field Force now had to foot it in what the men called a devil's dance—i.e. marching and counter-marching all over the big inland plateau—for Te
Eventually he disappeared altogether from our ken, and we were utterly nonplussed as to what had become of him. This was indeed a very grave and serious responsibility, as no one could surmise from which direction some horrible story of murder and rapine might be sprung upon us. Every officer and man, from the O.C. downwards, did his best to pick up the lost spoor, and despatch-riders were sent to ride day and night to inform the distant settlers and commandants of frontier districts that Te
At last it was discovered, after we had marched the boots off our feet, and our riding-breeches were more holey than a cold wet saddle demanded, that Te
There we could not meddle with him, for to have done so would have been to declare war against the powerful
In the meantime we starved, but never for a moment relaxed our vigilance or discontinued our scouting and patrols, as
The Maoris were the most hospitable people in the world, being bound to defend their guests, as their guests were bound to fight for their hosts. On this occasion, however, Te
Accordingly on osse comitatus of six hundred first-class up-to-date fighting men, whom he placed under
Te
Now this was one of the most extraordinary facts about this very extraordinary bounder. Here was a man possessed of no blue blood, yet Maoris regard high descent to be an essential in their leaders. Again Maoris have no faith in an unsuccessful general, and it was impossible to argue that he had been successful. True, he had succeeded in three or four raids, in which he had ruthlessly tortured and murdered women and children, yet whenever he had stood up to us in a fair fight, even although he had chosen the battle-field himself, he had been beaten and driven off the ground with a great loss of men. Moreover, he had set himself up as a prophet, and granted a lucky prophet had immense influence over the superstitious natives, yet on the other hand an unlucky prophet met with scant ceremony; in fact on more than one occasion Hau Haus relentlessly killed prophets who had misled them.
Now as a prophet Te
On the 20th of January 1870
Of course the Colonel at once determined to go for him, and
The following morning, just as I was about to leave camp with the scouts, a dense fog came on, so thick that you could have cut chunks out of it with a knife, when of course it was a case of sit tight, as it would have been worse than madness for men ignorant of the locality to attempt to move.
Time passed, the men fell in, and were ordered to lie down at their alarm posts—i.e. in square surrounding the camp—and wait quietly till it was possible to move. Daylight came, but the fog was thicker than ever, the Colonel got vexed, the men did not, as they had been vexed ever since they had rolled up their blankets, still although everyone had profound convictions as to the unsuitability of the weather, none expressed them, for to have done so would have only added to the sulphurous density of the atmosphere.
The sun must have been well up, although no one could see a foot in front of his nose, when to our intense surprise crash came a volley, and a storm of bullets swept over our recumbent force that plainly demonstrated to us that instead of our being the attackers the boot was on the other leg, and that Te
Now at first sight this move on his part might
Te
Well, rip came his first volley which was followed up by others, while we lay dog-o, as what was the use of firing when we could not even see the flash of his men's rifles to aim at. For some time the above game went on, the Hau Haus occasionally firing a volley, ourselves lying quite silent, hoping that they would charge, and let us get to hand-grips, but this they evidently feared to do, as they were bothered by our silence.
At last the fog cleared, and we saw them, when the Colonel ordered us to fire and charge, which we did, the enemy bolting like redshanks, pursued by
The loss of the horses and loot was a great blow to Te en route to Tauranga.
The Taupo campaign had been a disastrous one for Te
Te
I have previously pointed out that but little quarter was served out to Hau Hau prisoners, very many of whom preferred death to being made captives, especially if they could get the chance of killing an enemy before taking their own quietus, so that frequently when a Hau Hau found he could not get away he would sham death, and await the opportunity of shooting or tomahawking one of our men, and then resign himself to his death in such a philosophical way as to be "worthy of a better cause." Now a lot of these bounders carried a good deal of money, which they had looted from the white settlements, and therefore their pockets and pouches were well worth prospecting.
Among others who were not above replenishing their exchequers in this way were my two foreign scallywags,
On the occasion of the catastrophe both
I was deeply sorry for poor
Te
Te
It now very much looked as if we were in for another winter's campaign in that awful country, but our men were by this time fairly worn out, and as it had been too often conclusively proved that untrained, untried white men were worse than useless in the bush, and also that the Taupo line must be guarded by men who could be thoroughly depended upon, and not by new chums, the new Defence Minister determined on trying a novel plan, which was giving a contract to the friendly natives to run down Te
Rapata and i.e. they received no daily pay, but were paid in the lump for the number of Hau Haus they killed and captured.
Another expedition was started, composed solely of friendlies, under their magistrate,
It would take me far too long to describe the services rendered by these native columns and the bitter hardships they underwent following up, capturing or exterminating the remnant of Te
In this way the remainder of the year 1870 and the commencement of 1871 passed, during the whole of which period Te
And now my yarn is finished, as I think I have told you sufficient to give you some sort of an idea of what the colonial irregular forces went through while flattening out the
I must, however, ask you to understand that I have only told you of the small portion of fighting that I took part in myself, for the war raged in many places at the same time, so that I am clearly not to blame for being unable to give you a full account of all the fighting, as it was impossible for me to be in half-a-dozen localities at once.
So trusting to your charity that you will be to the few merits of his book ever kind, and to its manifold faults a little blind,