Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Henry Ancrum: A Tale of the Last War in New Zealand, Volume 2

Chapter I

page 1

Chapter I.

When the Maories from the wharie in which Henry Ancrum had found his bed, reached the council chamber, which was itself built like a whare, only of much larger dimensions, one of their principal chiefs was just beginning to speak, with all that action and flourish which the Maories always adopt. First he would say a word or two, then he would rush forward five or six paces, then suddenly stop page 2and step back a pace or two, speaking all the time; anon he would dart off to the right a few paces, then again step back a pace or two, then run to the left, all the time waving his arms (in one of which he held a tomahawk) frantically about; in fact his appearance was exactly like that of a person who had made up his mind to inflict a deadly blow with his tomahawk on one of the assembly, towards whom he rushed, but who suddenly changed his mind, and therefore retreated back again.

Thus he began: "Friends, this is my word to you. We made our rifle-pits on the Koheroa Range. We dug them deep. We made them strong; but te hohia (the soldiers) were too numerous for us. They were like" (making a motion as if brushing sandflies off his arm) "the sandflies in number. They rushed on us. Our men were brave, but they were overpowered; they had to retire page 3here. But here at Mere-Mere we are safe. Te hohia cannot come here. Looking towards them, we have the river on the left, and within a few feet of it the deep swamp. Te hohia could not come along the narrow path a few feet wide in face of our lines of rifle-pits one above another. They could not do it. They would be all shot. Here we are safe. It has been said that steamers will come up here, that they will pass by here, and land troops behind us. Do not believe it. It is a lie of the governor's. He tells lies. He deceives us. Governor Brown was a hawk; we saw him in the air. Governor Grey is a rat; we do not know where he may come up. No, it is not true about the steamers; they cannot come here. I have been in Auckland. I have seen steamers that go on the big sea. They go down deep in the water— very deep. They could not come here; they could not come into the shallow river.

page 4

It is a lie. Do not believe it. But we want men; we are not numerous enough. We must be as the sand on the sea-shore in number, and then we shall beat the pakehas. We shall drive them back. We shall drive them to Auckland. We shall drive them into their ships, as Heke did at Kororareka, long ago. The chiefs therefore have written a letter which I will read to you. Oh, my friends, these are its words:—

"To Wiremu Tamihana (William Tompson),

To Riwi,

To Hori Tupeia,

To Hakaria (Zachariah).

"'Salutations to you—salutations to you all. The pakeha attacked us at Koheroa. Our men behaved bravely. They waited till te hohia came close to them before they fired. They killed a great many; but as some were killed others came on, for te page 5hohia were numerous. There were a great many of them, and our men had to give way. They had to retire here—to Mere-Mere. And now, oh friends, our enemies are upon us; they are close behind us. We are carrying them on our backs. Come and succour us. Defend us, oh friends. Oh, friends, defend us properly. With you there are many men. This position is strong. If you join us it never can be taken. The general will wait some time. Then he will find that he can do nothing. He will get tired. He will go away.

"'Oh, friends, come to us, the pakeha is the enemy of us all. Let us unite together against him. Let there be peace amongst the tribes. Let us all join to fight the pakeha. This is our word to you. We have spoken—enough.'"

Here followed the names of all the chiefs who had signed the letter. After this several page 6chiefs and other Maories spoke. Finally the letter was agreed to, and at once despatched by messengers to its destination, and then the ranunga or assembly broke up late at night.

Henry Ancrum had been so thoroughly worn-out both in mind and body that he did not wake until rather late on the following morning; when he did so he found the whole scene in front of the door of the wharie enveloped in a thick white mist, which shrouded every object, and through which figures even near at hand could only be dimly seen. These mists are very frequent on the Waikato river, in fact they occur almost, every morning during the summer months, and probably arise from the immense extent of swamp on either side of the river. Gradually the mist lightened, and Henry Ancrum was able to perceive figures gliding about, ap-page 7parently occupied in some business of a very interesting nature, from the way in which they talked to one another.

In the first place they had traced something on the ground which looked very like the figure of a problem in Euclid, and Henry laughed to himself as the idea struck him of a party of Maories going in for Euclid. But now a new step was taken in me business. Ihaka (for Henry by this time ascertained that it was he and his friends whom he was observing) took a strong pole from a heap lying near him, and forced it firmly into the ground. He then took a sort of rope, made of pieces of flax knotted together, and began to measure along a line already marked on the ground. This New Zealand flax is a very peculiar plant; its leaves are very long, and the fibre is so strong that narrow strips of it will support large weights, as for instance barrels page 8of liquor or water are frequently carried attached to poles by narrow pieces of the New Zealand flax; and indeed according to its breadth it can be used as a rope, cord, or twine, and it is consequently most useful to the Maories in building their wharis.

When Ihaka had measured the required length on the line we have mentioned, a second pole was placed in the ground; he then returned to the first pole and measured a distance, evidently intended to be at right angles with the line of the two first poles, and then a third pole was put down; after this he went to the second pole and measured an equal distance, also intended to be at right angles with the above mentioned line, and a fourth pole was placed. The distance between the third and fourth pole was then measured, and as it was found to correspond with that between the first and second poles, the architects of the page 9new whare expressed themselves highly pleased with their work; but unfortunately for themselves they were not satisfied with this test but tried another—namely, a diagonal measurement between the poles. Now if the lines from the first and second poles to the third arid fourth ones had been laid off at right angles the diagonals must have been the same length as one another, but it so happened that both these lines had diverged in about an equal degree to the right, and consequently one diagonal line was longer than the other. The Maories could not understand this, all the other measurements had been correct, why were not these last measurements correct also? A cloud settled on all their brows; Ihaka sat down, and looked gloomily at the ground,—his followers sat down and looked gloomily at Ihaka, as if watching what he would do next.

page 10

"Karkino" Ka kino (it is bad), said Ihaka. "Karkino, karkino," said all his followers in chorus.

The scene was too much for Henry Ancrum; he burst into a roar of laughter. Ihaka looked up astonished, but presently his face cleared, he had evidently been thinking whether all the work should be done over again.

"No good?" he said, interrogatively, pointing to the poles, "no good?"

"Oh, yes!" said Henry, "very good. Carpoi kapai (very good)—Carpoi te wharie— why, it will do capitally. There is only a few inches difference, and even that will not be seen when the whari is built."

"That is true," said Ihaka, greatly relieved; and he directed his men, to their great delight, to go on with their work without making any change in what was already done.

The construction of the whari occupied page 11several days. Whilst it was going on Henry Ancrum rapidly improved in health. Thanks to his youth and good constitution, his wound soon healed, and he was able before long to walk about a little with the aid of a stick. His first thought was—Was there any chance of his escaping from his confinement?

To explain his exact situation, we must go back a little. On the day of the battle of Koheroa, the main body of the Maories had retired directly on Mere-Mere. In doing so, they came upon a line of rifle-pits, which they had constructed at Whangamarino. A few of their bolder spirits threw themselves into these rifle-pits, whilst their main body descended the steep, almost precipitous sides of the hill at this place to the Whangamarino creek, which they passed in canoes. Luckily for the Maories who held the rifle-pits, the pursuit had page 12rather slackened at this time, and so they also were able to cross the creek in comparative safety, only a few shots being fired at them, which did not do much harm.

Shortly after the battle of Koheroa, the whole of the British forces, with headquarters, were concentrated on the heights of Whangamarino. A fort was constructed there, and two heavy Armstrong guns were placed in position, which occasionally bombarded the enemy's rifle-pits at Mere-Mere, but probably with, small effect beyond knocking a little earth about. The right of the army rested on the Waikato river, here rather a deep stream, perfectly navigable for steamers of small draught of water. In its front extended the Whangamarino creek, also a deep stream, and joining the Waikato at this point. On the left the range of hills the General page 13occupied trended rather backwards, and at their feet was a deep and inaccessible swamp.

The position was therefore very strong had it been required for defence; but the position of the enemy was even stronger. We have mentioned that, from the top of the Whangamarino range down to the creek of the same name, the descent was almost precipitous. On the other side of the creek there was a narrow belt of land rising a few feet above the level of the water. Beyond this was the deep swamp. Turning to the right along this narrow belt of land, a few minutes' walk brought the traveller to the point where the waters of the Whangamarino creek flowed into the Waikato river.

Proceeding from this point up the Waikato, a similar narrow belt of land extended between the river on the right page 14hand, and the deep impracticable swamp on the left hand. It varied in breadth; sometimes it might be several yards, at others it was only a few feet. Along this narrow belt of land the old Maori path extended from the banks of the creek till it reached the first line of rifle-pits of the enemy—a distance of about a mile and a half. This first line of rifle-pits was very little above the level of the natural ground, and swept the narrow road as far as their pieces would carry. It also curved round to its own left, so as to face the river, and be able to fire into any enemy who might attempt to cross in boats.

Above this line, and higher up on the hill, was a second line of rifle-pits; and there were also detached rifle-pits on the slopes off to the right facing the deep swamp. Behind all and about a quarter of a mile from the first line of rifle-pits, rose a page 15conical hill, which was strongly fortified after the native fashion.

From the above description it will be seen that there was no possible way of attacking the Maori position by land, except by advancing for a mile and a half along the narrow road between the river on the right hand, and the deep swamp on the left; a mode of proceeding which even if successful (and the chances of success were very small), must as a certainty have involved a frightful loss of life.

The General therefore was compelled to remain in his present position, and await the arrival of a steamer which had been ordered up to his assistance.

We have said that Henry Ancrum's first thought, when he was able to move about a little, was as to his chance of escaping from his present confinement. His was a very tantalizing situation. There, on the page 16top of that steep ascent, only a mile and a half distant, were the long lines of tents of the British army. Occasionally bodies of troops might be discerned moving about, and frequently the bugle calls of his own regiment came wafted on the breeze. And he was a prisoner. Of what avail was the short distance? it might as well have been hundreds of miles.

Ihaka had seen his restlessness, and had cautioned him on the subject. "My friend," he had said, "with me you are safe, I will protect you; but if you attempt to escape, you will certainly be killed. Our scouts watch in every direction, you could not pass them. They would tomahawk you at once, before I could even hear where you were."

"But," said Henry Ancrum, "why keep me here? Surely, my detention can do no good."

page 17

"My friend," said Ihaka, "my brother chiefs are very angry with me for having saved your life at all. They say you are as it were a spy in our camp, and that you must on no account be let go, as you would tell the General all about our fortifications."

There was sad truth in what Ihaka said, and Henry Ancrum felt that it was so. On the one hand, if be attempted to escape, he was nearly certain to be killed; and on the other, there was no chance of the Maori chiefs consenting to his release, for fear he might give information to the British authorities. He therefore felt that the only plan he could adopt, was to wait patiently and watch the course of events, in the hope that some opportunity might at length offer of deliverance from his present captivity.