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

Chapter VI

page 69

Chapter VI.

So time wore on. One lovely evening Ihaka, Celia, and Henry strolled up to the small hill immediately above the rifle-pits. It was a favourite seat of theirs, as from thence they could see anything that was going on in the British camp on the heights of Whangaraarino, or any boats that were stirring on the river below.

After a long silence, Ihaka said to Henry—

"What do you think the General will do? He cannot attack us here. Will he go away?"

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"I think not," replied Henry. "You will find that he will wait till he has some means of attacking you."

"You mean by passing troops up the river in a steamer; but the river is shallow; there is little water. A steamer could not come here."

"Steamers can be made drawing little water. I think you will find that one will come."

"But," said Ihaka, "the channel of the river passes close to this bank; we could shoot every one on board the steamer."

"Not so; her bulwarks will probably be made of iron, or some means will be taken to make them shot-proof."

"But if she is crowded with soldiers we can fire down upon them from this height on which we sit; the bulwarks would not cover them."

"That may be true enough," said Henry; page 71but I think you would find that the troops intended to be placed in your rear would be marched up the other bank; that the steamer would then pass up the river with no one exposed to fire at, and would afterwards ferry the soldiers over to this bank."

"I wonder what that smoke is?" said Celia, "on the island below the camp; it is very black. They must have been lighting a large fire."

Henry Ancrum looked long and anxiously in the direction indicated. At last he said—

"I think it is the very thing we have been talking about; I think it is a steamer, as the smoke is not stationary. It moves, you see."

They all stood up now, and looked anxiously down the river; several Maories who had been standing near joined them.

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At last the long low hull of the vessel was plainly visible.

"Te teemer!" Tima said Ihaka, with, a sort of groan (be it remembered a Maori cannot pronounce an s). "Te teemer!" repeated those nearest, and presently the cry ran all through the camp, "Te teemer—te teemer!" and out they all rushed like a hive of bees suddenly disturbed, and with much the same buzzing noise.

Long and anxious were the koheros korero; that night, and various were the opinions urged. Every one was aware that if a force got into their rear they would be in a most critical position, as with the river on one side, and the deep swamp on the other, their retreat, and their means of obtaining supplies would be entirely cut off; but by far the greater number still clung to the idea that the steamer could not pass their fortifications, and that the fire from their rifle-page 73pits would be so deadly that not a soul could live on her decks.

The Maories were very vigilant that night; after their custom, their watchmen would occasionally shout out to show they were on the alert. They would call their enemies "dogs;" they would say they saw them, and would call to them to come on and fight, &c.

So the night wore on, and morning came at last, but for some time every object was veiled by the usual thick white mist; when it cleared up, about nine o'clock, the Maories looked anxiously down towards the British camp, to see if their enemies were about to attack them; but everything was quiet there. The steamer lay at anchor under the bluff hills, but no smoke was issuing from the funnel, and no stir appeared to be taking place in the camp. So things continued until about twelve page 74o'clock, when Henry Ancrum observed that the steamboat was getting up her steam; and before very long she began to move up the river. The Maories crowded into their rifle-pits, and silently awaited her approach.

On she came, slowly, silently; not a man was to be seen on her decks; if there were any there, they must have been lying down under cover of her bulwarks.

Towards her stern was a small erection, like a diminutive round-house, which Henry Ancrum rightly conjectured contained the steersman, and had been rendered shotproof. On she came.

The Maories did not throw away any shot by firing at a distance, but waited till she was well within range, then they peppered her in earnest: their bullets fell thick against her bulwarks, they pattered on her deck, they glanced off her round-page 75house, but all without effect. It was evident that every portion of her where it was necessary had been rendered bullet-proof.

On she came. There was a sort of solemnity in her slow steady progress. She seemed like some leviathan tormented by gnats, but not deigning to brush them off her sides. On she came. Now she is abreast of the rifle-pits; now she is past them; now she is proceeding on her course up the river.

She went up a long distance, evidently reconnoitring the bank, and examining the best places to land troops. After a time she returned. The Maories fired at her again, but with the same result, and eventually she anchored in her old position under the bluff.

There was now no difference of opinion amongst the Maories, all agreed that they must abandon the position of Mere-Mere, page 76and retire upon a still stronger one higher up the river, which they had already fortified at Rangiriri.

A Maori camp is easily moved. They are not troubled with baggage. And if they have built wharies, these wharies have cost nothing. They are simply constructed of wood from the nearest forest, and raupo and rushes from the nearest swamp, and new ones can be easily made from the same materials. No stir was apparent at Mere-Mere during the day; but when darkness set in, the Maories began to move silently away; and when day broke not a single living thing was to be seen in their position, and their whole force was concentrated at Rangiriri.

It has been said that the Maories are in some things a fickle race, that they will enter with great ardour into an undertaking, and in a short time get tired of it.

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This applies also to their wars. One tribe will attack another, and if it finds that its enemy's pahs are too strong to take, or that no immediate advantage can be gained by hostilities, it will get weary of the war, and return to its own country.

Now the tribe of which Ihaka was chief, had got tired of the war; and besides, there were other reasons for their wishing to be back again in their own district, which was situated near the mouth of the river Te Awa-o-te-Atua in Bay of Plenty. Bordering their country on its northern and western side, was situated that of the Arawas, a tribe, or rather collection of tribes, friendly to the British Government. These Arawas occupied the post of Maketu, where they had a large pah at the entrance of a small harbour on the east coast; and also the country round a cluster of lakes about twenty-eight miles in the interior, of which page 78the principal are Rotorua, Rotaoiti, Tarawera, &c., &c. Now, whilst almost all the fighting men of Ihaka's tribe were away with him at the seat of war, these Arawas used to make incursions into his territory, carrying off a horse here, a fat cow there, and grievously vexing those left behind who were not strong enough in numbers to resist them. Under these circumstances Ihaka and his people came to the conclusion that their first duty was to look after their own interests, and so very shortly after the Maories had set up their head-quarters at Rangiriri, the whole tribe started on their journey back to their own country.

In travelling the Maories always follow the paths which have been used for hundreds of years by their ancestors. So much is this the case, that the tracks which have been much used, such as the one along the page 79banks of the Waikato river, have by the mere passage of their naked feet been worn in places two and even three feet deep into the ground.

Now the path which Ihaka's tribe had to follow, in order to proceed from Rangiriri to the cast coast, passed by the territory of their enemies the Arawas; but no danger was anticipated from this circumstance, because it was known that the main body of that tribe resided at present at Maketu, where they had the advantage of constantly receiving rations of flour, biscuits, &c., from the government, with a view of preserving their loyalty to British rule.

It is true that there were two pahs containing natives friendly to the Pakehas, the one on the strip of land between the lakes of Rotorua and Rotaoiti, and the other further to the southward on the banks of page 80the latter lake; but they did not contain many combatants, and moreover the section of the Arawas at the point where the path struck the lakes, that is, at the western extremity of Lake Rotorua, near Ohiniemutu, were decidedly king natives, that is to say, rebels, and friendly to Ihaka and his tribe.

Comparatively few Europeans have had the advantage Henry Ancrum had in seeing this wonderful lake district of New Zealand, with its boiling springs and geysers (resembling those of Iceland), situated in a lovely climate, and surrounded by all the beauties of mountain and woodland scenery—a district which must some day, when the country is more settled, become not only the resort of the tourist for amusement, but also that of the invalid for the curative properties of its hot springs.

Space does not permit us to give a page 81lengthened description of all Henry Ancrum saw of this interesting region, but we cannot resist attempting to describe some of the marvels of the Rotomahana lake.

This lake is one of the smallest of the group, but it is celebrated for the wonderful hot springs which surround it—the most remarkable of these is that of "Te Tarata." Out of the lake side rises a sloping hill, covered with fern of the brightest green. In this hill-side, about eighty feet above the surface of the lake, there is a basin of boiling water about seventy or eighty feet wide, ever in a state of ebullition and commotion.

This water is beautifully clear and pellucid, and its overflow has caused a succession of terraces to be formed, one below another, of silicious deposits, each of these terraces containing a basin of water varying in page 82temperature, those at the top being the hottest, and the water in each becoming cooler as it descends towards the lake. These basins form a succession of the most luxurious natural baths, some of them large and deep enough to swim about in.

The effect of the view under a brilliant New Zealand sun is most lovely; the clouds of snow-white steam rising out of the crater hide the centre of the hill. On each side is seen the brilliant green of the fern clothing its sides; in front are the descending steps or terraces of silicious deposit we have mentioned, of the most dazzling whiteness, making the water in their basins appear to be of a beautiful light blue colour. Altogether the scene is one which almost baffles description; to be perfectly realized it should be seen.

After leaving the lakes, Ihaka and his page 83tribe proceeded down the right bank of the river Te Awa-o-te-atua till they reached its mouth, near which Ihaka's own kainga or village was situated. They approached it on a lovely morning, just after sunrise. On the sloping sides of the elevation on which it was situated could be discerned a large crowd of old men, women, and children, interspersed with a few men of middle age. As they came nearer loud shouts of "Haerie mai, haerie mai" (Come here, come here, welcome!) were heard.

Nearer still, and when they had almost reached their friends, there arose into the still morning air the melancholy notes of the "Tangi," the wail or dirge for the dead who had departed this life since last they met. When this was concluded the final welcoming or embracing took place, but they did not kiss one another as relations amongst us might do; no, they rubbed pressed page 84their noses together, a custom which the Maories always adopt, and which has a moat amusing appearance to any one looking on.

Generally speaking, when a portion of a tribe returns home there is a "war dance," but the ceremony was dispensed with on this occasion, as there were not enough of fighting men in the pah to get it up in an imposing manner on their side.

The war dance is performed by the party arriving and the party resident forming themselves into two long oblong bodies, generally seven or eight men in breadth, opposite to one another; they then advance towards each other, dancing a wild sort of dance, shouting, making the most hideous faces, and brandishing their tomahawks and guns, occasionally firing off the latter in the air, and instances have occurred where they have not taken the trouble of drawing the bullets.

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After reaching Ihaka'a village the tribe separated, the individuals composing it proceeding to their own dwellings, which were scattered in villages along the coast to the eastward of the one occupied by Ihaka.

During the whole journey, from the time when they left Mere-Mere up till the period when they finally reached their destination on the banks of the Te Awa-o-te-atua, Celia had been constant in her attendance on Henry Ancrum, nor was it without cause that she was so.

Shortly before the Maories left Mere-Mere, Henare te Pukeatua (which being translated means Henry-of-the-hill-of-God) had gone to Ihaka and demanded Celia in marriage. Ihaka had spoken to Celia on the subject, and her answer had been a decided refusal. Ihaka had remonstrated with her, when she replied with that deter-page 86mination which was so essentially a part of her character—

"You may kill me if you like, but I will never be the wife of Henare-te-Pukeatua, nor will I again marry any man unless I love him."

Ihaka was obliged to communicate this refusal to Henare, and it was evident that the latter attributed his rejection to Celia's preference for Henry Ancrum. He was a dangerous man, and had great influence in the tribe, and Celia knew that he would hesitate at no crime if he thought it would enable him to succeed in his designs; she therefore communicated her fears to Henry Ancrum, and implored him to be on his guard, and at the same time managed to convey to him (in that sort of imperceptible manner which only a woman can accomplish, that is to say, without using direct words) the impression that she con-page 87sidered that his permanent safety could only be really insured by his being united to her in marriage, as the tribe would then recognise her perfect right to defend him.

Celia had two half-brothers, sons of her mother by a former marriage, previous to that contracted with her father, the English trader; she had also several cousins, and she managed so to ingratiate herself with these relations as to form them into a sort of bodyguard for the protection of Henry Ancrum and herself.

Henry's position was now one fraught with the greatest difficulties; he was a captive, and it was impossible to say when his captivity would cease; he was in danger of his very life from the machinations of some of those who held him in bondage, and his only apparent means of escape was in a course which, however easy and even pleasant it might have seemed to some page 88men, involved to him a breach of faith, truth, and honour towards the woman to whom he was engaged. To add to the unpleasantness of his situation, he had, the day before the tribe arrived at Ihaka's kainga, met with an accident which rendered him nearly helpless. It happened on this wise. It was evening, and they had nearly reached their halting-place for the night, Celia, who was riding (and we may here remark that all the tribes on the east coast are well supplied with horses), had gone on to prepare food for the evening meal. Henry Ancrum was walking with her two half-brothers; when they came to a small stream one of the brothers took it in a running leap, and Henry followed him, but in doing so the crumbling bank gave way beneath his foot, and in trying to recover himself he sprained his right knee so badly that he was obliged to sit down page 89for some time to recover himself. After a while he felt so much better that he was able to limp into camp with the assistance of a stick; the exertion however swelled the knee to such an extent that the next day he was unable to move, and had to ride Celia's horse on that their last march to Ihaka's kainga.