Tales of Banks Peninsula
No. 11.—Billy Simpson
No. 11.—Billy Simpson.
Another old identity on the Peninsula was Billy Simpson. He had been a fine looking man. The features were marked, determined and regular, and his high, broad forehead showed that his brains were of no mean order. There was a deep scar on the right brow, on which hung a tale, of which more hereafter. Age and hardship made him a mere skeleton, but there was still great vitality apparent in his bright eyes, which kindled when he was spoken to of old times. He had been, as most of the readers of the Akaroa Mail know, residing at Mr. Macphail's, at Island Bay, but an attack of illness rendered it necessary to bring him to Akaroa for medical aid. Simpson was an old sailor, who was born in Berkshire in 1823, according to his own account, but many fancied he was much older. He was early apprenticed to the owner of some vessels running in the West India trade, and he spent his time in the ordinary manner. When he had completed his time, he shipped to Sydney in a large ship called the Mary Ann. This vessel was built for troops, and took out the 28th Regiment to New South Wales. Her commander, Captain Smith, was described by Simpson as a perfect brute, and dire were the quarrels that took place between him and the men. This gentleman was familiarly known as "Pirate Smith," and Simpson warmly asserted that he had as good a right to fly the death's head and cross bones flag as Captain Kidd ever had. Arrived in Sydney, the crew struck and went ashore, refusing to go aboard the Mary Ann again. Brought up before the magistrates, the option was given them of sailing in the vessel, or forfeiting their wages and clothes. They all preferred the latter alternative, and stopped in the Colony. It was at a time when whaling was the principal occupation of sailors in these seas, and in Sydney Simpson soon fell in with Captain Hempleman, who, finding him a good man in a whale boat, engaged him to go for a trip in the brig Bee, as boat steerer, with one and a half shares. This was in the beginning of 1835, about seventy sevenpage 134years ago, so Simpson must have been about twenty three years of age at the time.
Captain Hempleman had been in command of several big ships before this time, though quite a young man, but had left a large vessel, an English whaler, named the James Calvert, at the Sandwich Islands, owing to some dispute, and therefore had much against his will, to accept the command of the brig Bee, a small and inconvenient vessel compared to those he was accustomed to. Long and Wright were the names of the owners of the Bee, and they fitted her out for a cruise to New Zealand, where whales were then reported as specially plentiful. One reason that Captain Hempleman accepted the command of the Bee was that he was permitted to take Mrs. Hempleman aboard. They would not allow her to be aboard the larger vessels, and he did not like leaving her ashore, so he took a short trip as mate in the ship Norwood, of Sydney, and then took command of the Bee, and amongst other hands shipped Billy Simpson, the hero of the memoir. Mrs. Hempleman, the first, who afterwards died at Piraki, was an English girl, who had came out as an immigrant to Sydney.
The Hannah had another shore whaling party to land in New Zealand, besides Hempleman's. The destination of the other was Poverty Bay, but the schooner went to Queen Charlotte's Sound There they stopped for five or six weeks, and although the one party left them to go to the North, they had a good many additions to their ranks, many of the men forming connections with Maori women. There were four boats' crews in the party, some thirty white men in all, Mrs. Hempleman being the only white woman. About a dozen Maoris accompanied then from Queen Charlotte's Sound. The Hannah went first to Akaroa, where she stopped two days before proceeding to land the party at Piraki. There were no whalers in these waters at the time, and the few Maori whares were deserted, for it was just after the massacre by Rauparaha, and he had laid all the plantations waste, destroyed the pas, and driven the few people who escaped death or slavery into the interior. As, therefore, there were no provisions to be got from the Natives, or any object to be gained by stopping in the harbour, the Hannah sailed for Piraki the second morning after her arrival, and that same day landed the party at their future home. It was fine autumn weather, and many aboard were pleased with the idea that it was St. Patrick's Day (being the 17th of March, 1836) when they landed. They soon got their things ashore, and commenced building their whares. They used to sleep in casks for some time, and they were much delayed by going after whales, before they had the trying works and their own houses put up. Hempleman's house was of sawn timber brought from Queen Charlotte's Sound. There was no time for planting. It was just page 136arranged that one boat should be on the fishing ground at daybreak one morning, and another the next, and of course when whales were got they had to be tried out. Very few amongst the men knew anything about whaling at all. Captain Hempleman was a really good hand, but he was always drinking. A sad accident, too, depressed them much. Mr. Beers, or Bean, was an excellent headsman; in fact, got most of the whales that were caught. One day his boat was upset in returning to the shore, and he and three of the hands were drowned. Two of these were Sydney natives, fine fellows who knew their work, and could ill be spared in the little settlement. Beers, it is thought, might have escaped easily, as he was a good swimmer, but he had a heavy monkey jacket on at the time, and in swimming after the hands to get them to the boat, so that they could hold on, the coat became saturated with water and dragged him down. He was very deeply regretted indeed
At this time Simpson heard from the Maoris a good many tales regarding Rauparaha's invasion, and he had previously been shipmates in the Bee with one of those who escaped. The account he gives of the matter, as related to him by the Maoris, is as follows:—Some time antecedent to these events, a Ngatiawa chief named Pahi had visited Europe. He was much impressed with the customs of civilised nations, especially with the fact that wars were usually made against people speaking a different language. He brooded deeply over this idea, and when he returned he formed the ambitious idea of doing away with the inter tribal discords, and making the Maoris a strong united people, capable of waging war on other places beyond New Zealand, and of repelling any foreigners. In the North, amongst his own people, the idea was well received, but he then wished to go through the South, and for that purpose announced his intention of coming across the straits to Taiaroa, who was the leading chief of all these tribes, though he resided in Otago He came across, but the old feeling of hatred to the Northern tribes was still strong, and when he got to Kaiapoi he was page 133treacherously murdered by a rangitira named Tangatahira The great Northern chief Rauparaha vowed revenge, and right royal "utu" he took for the assassination of his friend. Rauparaha induced the captain of a trading brig, named the Martha, to take himself and a number of his warriors to Akaroa. He had no money to give him, but he proffered a few of those preserved human heads which were then such a common article of traffic, being sold as curiosities for the museums of the old world, and he promised to fill the vessel with pigs and flax as "utu." Directly the Maoris landed, however, they immediately began to massacre all the Natives they could meet, and all the survivors fled to a strongly fortified pa at the end of that Peninsula (Onawe) running out between Duvaucbelle and Barry's Bay, now in the occupation of Mr T. L. F. Kay. The position was a strong one, and it was several days before the attacking force gained an entrance to the pa, but when they did a most horrible carnage ensued, many of those taken being killed in the most terrible manner. The Maori who was with Simpson in the Bee told him that the conquerors seized many of the children, and, cuting their throats from ear to ear, eagerly drank the hot life blood as it flowed from the terrible wounds. They held high and hideous festival on the bodies of their dead foes, and Simpson said he had himself seen the huge Maori copper in which they had roasted several corpses at a time. Bloody Jack was the Maori who held the command in defending the pa. He was not a chief, but his great fighting qualities had placed him at the head in this time of desperate danger. He and many others escaped after the last successful assault, and found a refuge in the bush. Every plantation and whare that the merciless victors could find they utterly destroyed, so that famine should be the lot of the wretched few who had escaped them.
When their horrible work was done they went aboard the brig, aud one cannot help thinking that Captain Stewart was rightly served for aiding the Maoris by carrying them on their bloody errand, when, instead of flax and pigs, these savages brought on board a number of their page 134wretched victims. He (Captain Stewart) remonstrated, but was warned that his fate would be a terrible one unless he obeyed Rauparaha in all things; and there is little doubt he would have been killed had they not required his skill to take the vessel back to Kapiti, which was their destination. The voyage must have been a fearful one for captain and crew, for the Maoris kept murdering their prisoners, and cooked their flesh in the ship's coppers, greatly to the horror of the sailors, who insisted on them being at once destroyed when the Maoris left the ship.
One terrible incident seems to stand out in bold relief. When the Martha came up the harbour, Ruaparaha and his men hid themselves under the hatches, and told Captain Stewart to make signals to the shore that he wanted to trade, in the hope that some unsuspicious Native might be lured on board and become their victim. The experiment succeeded only to well, A chief of importance seeing the signal, and thinking the Martha was an ordinary trading vessel, came on board with his daughter, and was instantly seized and bound. During the terrible time of the massacre ashore they were left in the hold of the vessel; but when these demons were once more clear of the land they loosed him, and taunted him with the horrible and bestial tortures and indignities they were going to inflict on his daughter as well as himself. Determined, if possible, to save the poor girl from the indescribably horrible fate in store for her, the gallant prisoner managed to snatch a tomahawk from one of their fiendish persecutors, and killed the miserable girl with a single blow, threw her body into the sea, and tried to leap after it. In this, however, he failed, for, before he could take the spring, he was seized by his captors, who, baulked of their proposed atrocities on his daughter, promised him a death of intense agony. Well they kept their hideous promise! On their arrival at Kapiti, at the great feast at which they celebrated their successful raid, the wretched man was brought before them and tortured to death in a most hideous manner—by having red hot bars of iron thrust through his body, Terrible indeed had been Rauparaha's revenge!
page 135Billy Simpson's narrative had the effect of causing a gentleman residing in Akaroa to write to the Akaroa Mail the following letter, which will be found very interesting: —
The Onawe Massacre.
Sir,—I have read with great interest Mr Simpson's account of the massacre at Akaroa, but I think there are several statements therein that require correction. It is stated by him that Te Pahi was murdered at Kaiapoi by a chief named Tangatihira. This is altogether wrong, as he was murdered at Akaroa by a chief named Te Mai Hara Nui; and that is why his brother Rauparaha took revenge on the Maoris here. The correct version of the affair, as far as I can learn, is as follows.—About the year 1827 Te Pahi, or, as he was sometimes called, Rakakura, went on a voyage to Sydney, and from thence to England, where he was presented to King George, who took a great interest in the sable chief, and made him some handsome presents when leaving for New Zealand, Te Pahi took great interest in all he saw when in England, and on his return described the country in glowing colours to the Natives; also the immense bodies of troops he had seen, and how they were dressed, armed and drilled.
About a year after his return (this would be abont the end of the year 1829), he made up his mind to make a friendly visit to the Natives of this island, and for that purpose sailed in a large canoe, accompanied by Rauparaha and about fifty followers, all armed with guns, some ef which he had brought out, and some he had purchased at Sydney. They called at most of the pas along the coast, and were everywhere kindly received. They reached Akaroa about three weeks after their departure from the North, It is said by some that they walked overland from Cloudy Bay to Canterbury, but, from the nature of the country and the number of rivers which had to be crossed, this I don't think at all probable.
The principal chief here at the time was named Te Mai Hara Nui, but whether he lived at Onuku or Wainui, page 136where there was a larga pa, I am unable to say. However, it appears he had in his possession a large block of splendid greenstone, which Te Pahi happened to see, and, after admiring it, asked the chief for permission to take it back with him to the North This was indignantly refused by Te Mai Hara Nui, who said, "It belongs to the tribe, and we are going to make mere meres (greenstone clubs) out of it" "Well," said Te Pahi, "If you don't give it it to me I will come and take it," and with that he left for the other pa, at which he was staying. On telling Rauparaha about the greenstone being refused to him, he said, "Tell Te Mai Hara Nui that if he does not give it up to you we will make a prisoner of him instead, and take him back with us." The message was duly delivered the next day, and still the greenstone: was refused. Next morning Te Pahi and six others went across to the pa, and, as usual, sat down. Each had a loaded musket in his band. Te Mai Hara Nui and his men had had a talk, and agreed amongst themselves, if he came again to demand the greenstone, tbat they would kill him; so when they saw them come with the guns they formad a plan, and they were rushed from behind, and all of them clubbed to death, their own guns being used to finish them. The Maoris then commenced to fire them off, the sound of which was plainly heard by Rauparaha and the others Shortly afterwards a canoe came down, 'bringing word of the fate of Te Pahi and his men.
Rauparaha heard the news of the death of his brother's party, and was very "pouri," but did not attempt to be revenged at this time He said to his men, "Tenei a na kino mahi tan ka hoki ki te kianga" (this is bad work; we will return home), so, having got his men all together, he departed, vowing vengeance at some future time. On his way back he called at most of the pas where he had been well treated coming down, and laid them waste, killing great numbers of the Natives, who were not prepared for a mob of well armed men like these The pa which offered the greatest resistance was at the Kaikorai, where the Natives were well fortified on a small hill close to the sea. page 137Rauparaha, and his men attempted to take it, but were several times repulsed. He agreed to wait and starve them out, and, after doing this for a few days, he hit upon a plan worthy of a better cause. He said to two of his men, who were splendid swimmers, "I want you to go into the sea and pretend to be kekenos (seals), swim along the beach until you get opposite the pa, then come in and flounder in the surf, and they will rush out to kill you. We will watch them, and as soon as they leave the pa we will rush in "The plan succeeded only too well. The hungry Natives in the early morning seeing, as they thought, two seals sporting in the surf, ran out in a body to take them, as their provisions had been exhausted for three days. Rauparaha had his men scattered round, so that possession was gained almost at once. And now the guns began to tell, and these poor Natives, wasted by hunger and continual watching, had not the strength to resist, so, after numbers of them were shot, the rest threw down their arms and surrendered. The men who were playing the seals paid the penalty of death, as they were caught before Rauparaha had time to relieve them. From this place about forty prisoners and a lot of greenstone were taken.
They then left for the Straits, and on their arrival found the brig Elizabeth, Captain Stewart, loading spars. A bargain was struck with him: that for fifty tons of dressed flax he was to land Rauparaha and fifty fighting men at Wangaloa, Banks Peninsula, and bring them back to the island of Te Manu, in the Straits. The captain agreed to this, but it is said, while he was down below with Rauparaha, over one hundred Natives came on board, and concealed themselves below until after the vessel was well outside. The Peninsula was made in two days, and the brig beat up and anchored abreast of the pa. All the Natives went out of sight under hatches, so that she was supposed to be a whaler, and as a good trade was generally to be done with them, some of the Natives put off to her. It happened that in the first canoe which boarded her were Te Mai Hara Nui, his wife, and a daughter, twelve years page 138of age. Rauparaha was watching from the cabin windows, and came up on deck and seized him, and, with the assistance of some others, handcuffed him, and put him, with his wife and child, below. A rush was then made for the ship's boats, and what canoes were alongside, and all made for the shore, where a terrible scene of carnage ensued. All the Natives that could be seen were butchered in cold blood. The account; of the fight on Massacre Island (Banks Peninsula) is, I believe, correct, as several of the victims were cooked and eaten ashore. At dusk the Natives came back on board, most of them bringing kits of human flesh with them, which were afterwards cooked on board;. but I do not think that it is true that any of the prisoners were killed on the brig and cooked, as stated by Mr. Simpson. Stewart, it appears, was in a terrible flight when he saw how things were turning out, as he said he had no idea that there was going to be any blood shed over the affair; but this is rather doubtful, as he must have known on what errand the Natives were bound.
On the passage up to the island of Mana, between the Straits and Kapiti, the prisoner, Te Mai Hara Nui, was tied by a rope to the main mast, so that he could walk about a little. His daughter was allowed to run about on deck, so he called her to him and said, "They are going to kill me and make a 'taurereka' (slave) of you, but that will never happen," and, picking her up, he knocked her brains out against the hatch combings. After the arrival of the brig, Te Mai Hara Nui and the other prisoners were taken ashore. He was given two days to cry, and was then te be killed. The story of red hot ramrods being run through his body is, I believe, incorrect. He met his death in the following manner: —A straight tree about fifty feet high was chosen, and to the head of this a block and haulyards were rigged up. One end was fastened to his heels, and', head downwards, he was run up and let go with a run, striking the ground with great force. Three times this was repeated; he was then hauled up clear of the ground and the veins of the neck opened, and the first to drink his blood was the widow of the murdered chief, Te page 139Pahi, He was afterwards taken down, cooked and eaten.
Shortly after this, Stewart interviewed Rauparaha about his cargo of flax, which was promised to him, but he was' very insolent, and refused to give it to him. He was afterwards given one ton, and that was all the payment he ever got for his share in the bloody transaction. He loaded up with spars and sailed for Sydney. The news of this horrible massacre had preceded him, and there was some talk of his being tried for his complicity in the affair; but, owing to the lax state of the laws in New South Wales in those days, it was allowed to blow over. Not Caring to go back to New Zealand, Stewart cleared for a South American port, and was never afterwards heard of. It is supposed by some that the discoverar of Stewart Island and the captain of the brig Elizabeth were one and the same person, but this is not so. The Captain Stewart, after whom the island was named, was a man very much respected, who gave up the sea and settled down in Poverty Bay, where he died in the year 1844—Yours, etc.,
G.J B,
Onawe Massacre.
Another Version.
We take the following account of this tragedy from the Auckland Herald, After describing the cause of the quarrel, which is precisely the same as that given in article No. 2 of this, work, entitled "European Massacre," the account; of the massacre in Akaroa Harbour, the narrative goes on to say: —
"Matters could not be expected to end here. A blood debt had been created, and an atonement had to be obtained. The Ngatitoa at Kapiti brooded over a means for revenge which was to be signal and complete. Some few months after the death of Te Pahi a vessel came from Sydney, bringing some Natives to their homes, amongst whom was a brother of Te Rauparaha. In Foveaux Straits the Natives learned the details of the sad calamity which had page 140befallen the tribe in the loss of one of their most famous men, and the captain of the vessel, seeing their sorrow, proposed 'that, if they would engage to load his vessel on their arrival at Kapiti with flax and pigs, he would convey them to Hakaroa (where Te Mai Hara Nui lived) to avenge the death of their relatives. The Natives willingly conseented to the proposal, and it was arranged that, after the vessel had been to the Auckland Islands to land a party of sealers, the design should be carried out.' But on the arrangements becoming known to some passengers who were on board they cempelled the captain to abandon his intention 'and the vessel subsequently sailed for Wellington without any attempt being made to carry out the project.' But the idea put into the heads of the Natives found lodgment there, and if one captain would not do what was wanted, why another would. In this case, as in many others 'the means to do ill deeds made ill deeds done' There was a conspicuous absence of morality in the coasting trade of New Zealand, when preserved heads were a common article of traffic, and so it came to pass that a man named Stewart, captain of the brig Elizabeth was at hand to carry. out the nefarions plan of kidnapping Te Mai Hara Nui by charter
"What follows has been told by many, but each has a different story to narrate, although there appears little doubt but what the truth can be gathered by careful analysis. 'Takou' is a corruption of ' Otakou,' the form in which 'Otago' was formerly spelt. Akaroa seventy years ago was pronounced and sometimes written Hakaroa. Mr Montefiore writes of 'Banks Island,' instead of 'Banks Peninsula,' but fixes the tragedy there, which is far better than to have it located so indefinitely as in 'Takou.' The Rev. Mr. Yate, who gave evidence before the House of Commons, asserted that the kidnapping was done at Kapiti; but the early missionaries knew little of the Middle Island, and less perhaps than the sealers and whalers did of the mission mode of writing the Maori language Mr. Montefiore had told the English Committee that twenty two years had elapsed between thepage 141death of Te Pahi and the capture of Te Mai Hara Nui, and that 300 men instead of some 50 were concealed in the hold of the brig. From a semi-official report drawn up by the Rev. Mr. Marsden for the information of the Governor of New South Wales the main outlines of the truth can be gleaned. Of the many varying versions put before the public, that given by Mr. Marsden seems most worthy of credence, when its wild offshoots are pruned and the spelling modernized: —
"'Parramatta, 18th April, 1831. May it please your Excellency.—The following is a statement given by Ahu, the youngest brother of the chief Te Mai Hara Nui of the murders committed at Takou (Akaroa) by the Natives of Kapiti, and the Europeans belonging to the brig Elizabeth and Ware, the chief of the Bay of Islands:
"'Kapiti is a native settlement situated on the west side of New Zealand, not far from Mt. Egmont, at or near Cook Straits. The name of the chief is Rauparaha. At this settlement there is a good harbour for ships. Takou is another native settlement, situated on the Middle Island and south side of the straits. The name of the chief of Takou was Te Mai Hara Nui. Some years ago a chief belonging to Kapiti, named Te Pahi Kupe, went on board the ship Uranui that was on the coast, and would not leave her; he was so anxious to see England, On his way to Europe he visited South America, and was both at Lima and Janeiro in a Liverpool vessel, which landed him at Liverpool, where he met very many friends. He visited all the provincial towns in England, and also the City of London. He returned to New South Wales in the same ship as our present postmaster (Mr Raymond) came out in, and gave me an account of his travels. He brought with him considerable property After some time he returned to Kapiti to his friends He was not long at Kapiti before he crossed the straits and landed on the Middle Island, and visited Takou On his third visit to Takou he was killed by some Natives there, in consequence of some difference there between the chiefs of Kapiti and the people of Takou. After his death, his brother came to Parra-page 142matta, and informed me that Te Pahi bad been killed at Takou. Not long after four chiefs came to Parramatta from Kapiti. I introduced them to your Excellency at Parramatta. They were invited into the drawing-room. Mrs Darling and the children came in to see them. They sat down upon the carpet, and Mrs. Darling directed the servant to bring in a sweet cake, which was given to them. The head chief Rauparaha was one of them, Since Te Pahi, their friend and relation, was killed, the Natives of Kapiti have been anxious to obtain satisfaction for his death, according to the cuatom of their country. When the Elizabeth arrived at Kapiti, the chief Rauparaha had got a quantity of flax for sale. He offered it to Captain Stewart if he would take him to Takou, and apprehend Te Mai Hara Nui, and deliver him up at Kapiti. To this Captain Stewart agreed, or Mr. Cowell, who appeared to have been an active agent in the horrible proceedings. When the above arrangaments were settled the captain of the Elizabeth sailed from Kapiti, taking with him two chiefs and about 50 men as a protection. On their arrival at Takou the vessel wag anchored, and the captain went on shore in his boat. The first person be met was a very old man sitting on the ground smoking his pipe. This old man was the father of Te Mai Hara Nui (Te Wakatitiro) The captain went up to him and spoke to him in a most kindly manner and stroked his head, saying at the same time, 'Poor old man! poor old man!' He then enquired of the old man where the head chief was. He replied that he was in the flax ground with the women who were dressing flax, The captain desired him to send a boy to call him, which be did. The captain had brought ten muskets and two casks of powder with him, which were carried up to the chief's house, to put him off his guard, as the Natives state. When the chief arrived the captain received him in the most friendly manner, and invited him to go on board and promised him some muskets and powder. When the chief learned that the vessel came from Kapiti, he hesitated much, and wanted to know what the captain wanted with him on board. He told him he had page 143plenty of muskets and powder, and that he wanted to give him pome and be already had sent ten to his house. At length the captain by his promises and attention prevailed with him to go into the boat. He took with him his youngest brother Ahu (who is now with me, and whom your Excellency saw with me in Sydney), and two of his daughters, young girls. Two canoes attended him on board laden with flax. When the boat came alongside the chief had two meres (which are hand weapons of war always used by New Zealanders; they are generally made of stone, sometimes of hard wood). The captain took one of the meres from him, and Mr. Cowell the other. When they came on deck the captain desired him to go foreward to the forecastle. The captain then took hold of the chief's hand in a friendly manner, and conducted him and his two daughters to the cabin, showed him the muskets, how they were arranged round the sides of the cabin. When all was prepared for securing the chief the cabin door was locked, and the chief was laid hold on, and his hands were tied fast. At the same time a hook with a cord to it was stuck through the skin of his throat under the side of the jaw, and the line fastened to some part of the cabin. In this state of torture he was kept for some days until the vessel arrived at Kapiti. One of his children clung fast to her father and cried aloud. The sailors dragged her from her father, and threw her from him. Her head struck against some hard substance, which killed her on the spot. Ahu, who had been ordered to go to the forecastle, came as far as the capstan, and peered through into ths cabin, and saw his brother in the state above mentioned. The captain told him he would not kill him, but he should be his slave, and he would take him to England with him. After the chief was secured the boat was sent on shore, and brought off the ten muskets and two casks of powder. The chief's wife and two of the chief's sisters came with her in the boat, not-knowing what had happened to Te Mai Hara Nui. The men that came off in the two canoes with the chief were all killed, and the women with them. They had 100 baskets page 144of flax with them, which were received on board the vessel, Several more canoes same off also with flax, and the people were all killed by the Natives of Kapiti, who had been concealed on board for the purpose, and the sailors who were on deck fired upon them with their muskets. After these Natives had bean cat off two white men were observed to leave the shore in a canoe with two Natives. The boat with sailors and the canoes belonging to the Natives who had been murdered were manned with people of Kapiti, who were ordered on shore to kill all the inhabitants they could find. They were directed to keep out of the way of the two white men who were coming to the vessel. When they arrived they went on deck, as they had brought some bags to exchange for tea, sugar, etc. When they saw the situation of the chief, they cried much. The captain wanted the Natives who were on board to kill them, and told them that, if they did not, they would go to Port Jackson, and tell the Governor, and he would send and kill them. But the Natives said they would not kill the white men; they did not like to kill them. These men had been with the chief of Takou some time; they each had a wife and one had two children. The name of one was Charley, and the other Jem. They were brought to Sydney in the Elizabeth, but returned the first opportunity. The evidence of these Europeans, if it could be got, would be very material. Ahu reports that the parties who went on shore murdered many of the Natives; the poor old man wag killed; none escaped but those who went into the wood. Mr. Cowell told Ware that he had shot persons. The bodies of those who' were killed on shore were dressed, and taken on board to eat. When they had got all the flax on board the vessel sailed for Kapiti with the chief, his wife and two sisters. When they arrived they were killed and their bodies dressed on shore and sent on board in baskets, (Signed) John Marsden,'
"A Mr. Montefiore, who was in New Zealand in 1830, gave evidence on the matter before a committee of the House of Commons, and, having had personal intercourse with Captain Stewart and Te Mai Hara Nui is a credible page 145witness as to what he saw and may have heard from the ironed chief who slept in the next room to him on board the brig Elizabeth for several nights, but the statements he repeats of what Captain Stewart told him must be received with great caution. Mr. Montefiore, it may be said, returned to 'Sydney, from whence he came in the brig in which the tragedy was mainly enacted. From him we learn the Elizabeth was regularly armed, carrying eight guns besides two swivels on her taff rail, and well found in every description of small arms The witness came to New Zealand in a vessel chartered for the purpose of making a tour of the islands of New Zealand, and to visit every place be possibly could for the purpose of becoming acquainted with their character as well as the habits and disposition of the Natives,' as he had the idea of 'forming extensive mercantile establishments' here. But, after visiting one or two places, be 'met the Elizabeth at Kapiti, and, having heard the details of the massacre, be was deterred from proceeding further in consequence of expecting that the whites would be murdered.' The brig, he says, 'which I had chartered then went round the island, but I would not go myself, and was obliged to take refuge in this very ship, where this great chief (Te Mai Hara Nui) was in irons.' With this explanation we may hear what Mr Montefiore has to say. He writes: 'He, the chief, is kept; by the captain, as a hostage until the charter party is finally arranged Te Hiko and Rauparaha had dispatched about 2000 slaves to make flax; and in six weeks from the date of the arrival she is to be filled as per agreement;. (Fifty tons of flax, valued at £1200, was the price promised to be paid for the charter.) I expostulated with the captain on big conduct, he said he saw the folly of it, but, having gone so far, he must keep him. I begged him to take him (the chief) up to Sydney, I told him I was quite certain be would not get his flax He set sail, but gave up the chief (Te Mai Hara Nui) into the hands of his enemies. I went on shore and saw the whole process, of his intended sacrifice. I did not see the man killed, but I know he was page 146killed during the night; and the following morning the widow of the great chief, Te Pahi, who had been killed, had his entrails as a necklace about her neck, and his heart was cut into several pieces to be sent to different tribes, allies of Rauparaha '
"The story which is told that a hook was fastened under the chin of the captured man, and that he was kept in that state for two or three days on board the brig, Mr. Montefiore contradicts most emphatically, saying the story is bad enough without aggravation. "I saw the chief he was as fine a man as ever I saw in ray life. Had there been any appearance of the hook alluded to it could not have escaped my notica. He was cruelly confined enough, for his legs were in a state of mortification from the irons the captain had put on them.'
"Taylor said that when Te Mai Hara Nui had been captured, 'Te Hiko, the son of Te Pahi, entered the cabin and stared fixedly at Te Mai Hara Nui for nearly half an hour without saying a word; he then approached and drew back the upper lip of the captive chief, and said, 'Those are the teeth which ate my father.' After the warfare on shore had ceased, and the pa had been taken, five hundred baskets of human fiesh, Taylor adds 'were taken on board, which the captain professed to believe was only pork, and some say that much of it was cooked in the ship's coppers.' Shortland says the daughter of Te Mai Hara Nui, called Roimata (the tears), jumped overboard when near the Heads at her father's command to escape the fate of a slave, and was drowned, Rauparaha died in his bed, as we may say, having the Church of England service read over his corpse. Cowell has not long since been dead (of whom Governor Gore Brown wrote while sti l living, 'The man's account; of his own share in that dreadful affair makes his conduct appear in a more atrocious light than has yet been reported ')., while the captain of the 'bloody Elizabeth,' as she was called in Sydney, was washed overboard when going round Cape Horn The manner of his death seems almost beyond the region of doubt, as Mr. Montefiore reported the fact to the Com-page 147mitteeof the House of Commons in 1838, and Dr. Thompson had the matter confirmed by personal enquiry when writing the 'Story of New Zealand.' These facts may be remembered when writers in the Lyttelton. Times indulge in Various surmises as to the manner of Stewart's, death. Nor is the hypothesis of a Southern writer worthy of much attention that whan Stewart could not get his 'cargo of flax' at Kapiti, that he 'loaded up with spars.' The Elizabeth, moreover, arrived in Sydney on January 14, 1831, with thirty tons'of flax on board. Mr. Rusden writes of three brothers of Te Mai Hara Nui being among the slain, but the "genealogical tables which are at hand in the North bear no evidence that we have seen of their relationship, Rusden traced the causes at some length why Stewart was not punished, but all the witnesses were sent out of the country.
"To those who maintain that our coming to New Zealand was an unmixed evil to the Maori race the above details may afford food for reflection.
"P.S.—Through the kindness of Judge Fenton in lending the writer his notes taken at the hearing of the Rangitikei Manawatu case, it appears from the evidence then given that Te Pahi on his arrival in New South Wales heralded his return by sending a vessel to Kapiti, coming home himself in a brig called the Queen Charlotte. After his arrival we are told that he took up his guns to Pikitara, a place some distance up the Rangitikei River, returning thence to Kapiti, where he is represented as staying for some considerable time—two years the witness said—before he went oh the Ngaitahu. campaign, which entailed his death."