Taking of the “Hawes,” 1829.

A few items of interest may be gathered from the “Church Missionary Record,” of the doings in the above year, but it seems to have been a year of comparative peace in the North, whatever may have been going on in the South.

On February 19th, the great chief Paue, of Waimate, died. Mr. Yates, on his return from Takou, a settlement a few miles north of the Bay of Islands, where he had been to visit the chief named Whata, met the chief Titore (whose other name was Takiri), of Waimate, on his way to Takou. He was carrying a small piece of stick as a memorial of the late Poue, which was fastened to the top of a spear, and page 402 he as the bearer was strictly tapu, and dared not eat till he had delivered it to the person for whom it was intended. Mr. Yates does not tell us the meaning of this, but it is probably the same ceremony that farther south is called Te Rakau-o-te-mate, “an ancient Maori custom, and one which was invariably carried out when a chief of any rank died. The rakau or stick was formerly retained for a year or longer, and was frequently taken to the pa of a former enemy against whom a grudge was felt. If any person (Maori) was met by the bearer of the rakau he was instantly killed and a war ensued. If no one was met, then the rakau was left, and an armed party came to attack the pa.”^*

On March 10th, died Te Koikoi, a warrior of some fame, and on the 14th of the same month, “the news was received of the destruction of Mr. Campbell’s brig, the “Hawes” by the natives of southward (Whakatane). Three of her crew were killed and eaten, but the vessel and the rest of the crew were rescued by Captain Clarke.” As the story of the taking of this brig is not to be found in detail in any publication now easily accessible, and as it has a certain bearing on our story, I have translated the following from Dumont D’Urville’s “Vovage de l’Astrolabe,” who quotes it from the “Revue Britannique,” of 1830.

“The object of our voyage not being attainable here, we hauled up our anchor, and made sail along the coasts of the Bay of Plenty. The natives are in great numbers here, very warlike, are robbers and treacherous. Our captain permitted some of the principal people to come on board, and treated them with respect, hoping thus to induce them to trade, and his skilful conduct succeeded in two days in obtaining as much flax as we desired. We were continually on our guard during the two days, for the islanders made many attempts to surprise us, but our vigilance, excited by the advice given us by our interpreter, baffled their designs.

“We then returned to the Bay of Islands and stored our merchandise and took in provisions, then sailed for Tauranga, situated at the entry of the Bay of Plenty (of which he gives a lengthy description). We learnt that quantities of wild pigs are to be found here, and as their pursuit would detain us some time we came to an anchor. Our interviews with the natives confirmed in appearance what we had been told as to their amicable disposition, and for several days we obtained provisions in sufficiency; but that did not last long, for at the end of seven weeks we had obtained but seven tons of potatoes and three tons of cured meat.

“As soon as the captain heard we had found plenty of pigs at Whakatane, he up-anchor and started, arriving off the place the following night. The people appeared very pleased to see us, coming off in large canoes with abundance of provisions, which we purchased without coming to an anchor. Ngarara came on board page 408 and treated us with an apparent cordiality; his people seemed animated with the same sentiments, and in conformity with his orders, kept off at a distance from the vessel. We arranged our purchases along the deck as well as possible, so we might stow more; but the wind freshening from the south-east, we returned to Tauranga to kill and salt our pigs. But the quantity was not sufficient, and we therefore again got under sail for Whakatane, where we arrived on the morning of March 1st, 1829. The weather was beautiful and we cast anchor between the isle Maltora (Moutohora) and the main. Hardly had we arrived when the natives came off in great numbers; we only wanted twenty pigs, and those were all we bought.

“On Monday, 2nd March, at six o’clock in the morning, the boat was sent ashore with an officer and eight men, including the interpreter, to kill and prepare our pigs at a hot spring we found not far from our vessel. (This spring is on Mou-tohora isle). An hour after mid-day, we called to them to come on board to dinner, but as they did not understand, the captain went to look for them, leaving me and three men to take care of the vessel, not suspecting the perfidious intentions of the natives. Ngarara was on board at that time with ten or twelve of his people. I remarked several times that they were talking vehemently about the kaipuke (ship), and suspecting some treachery I told the supercargo, who was a Tahitian, to bring out the sabres and to watch Ngarara page 409 whom I saw preparing his arms. On this, the natives sprang into the shrouds of the mainmast, having each his musket, which they had hitherto concealed in their canoes. At this critical moment we had no pistols on deck, and I felt sure, if one of us descended to get them, Ngarara would profit by it and commence the attack. As our muskets had been placed in the mizzen-top, not only because they were safer there, but for fear of a surprise, I ordered one of the men to go aloft and fire at Ngarara; but as he was not so well-assured of the evil intentions of the natives, he refused to obey. There was not a moment to lose; I went myself into the top and ordered the men to keep a strict watch. Unfortunately my men would not listen to me, saying that I meditated the death of an innocent person, and continued to joke amongst themselves. But as soon as Ngarara saw me in the top occupied in unloosing the muskets, he fired at one of our men who was only three paces from him and who was playing with a sword; the ball passed through his head, which Ngarara immediately cut off with his mere, a sort of short club terminated with a sharp flint. All his men then jumped on to the deck and our two poor sailors were both massacred. They then fired at me without hitting me, but at the moment that I was aiming, Ngarara sent a ball through my right arm, which broke the bone. When they saw me fall down in the top, they commenced a wardance, with horrible yells, and then proceeded page 410 to pillage the ship. Although I was nearly fainting with pain, I remarked that in the excitement of the pillage, the miserable natives had no regard for the authority of their chief, and as they would not obey, some of them were killed on the spot. Their diligence in filling their canoes was extreme. Ngarara ordered one of his men to come and seize me; that man not being able to accomplish this by himself, called others to his aid, and I was thus carried to the canoe. By this time the sun had set, and the savages pulled hard to enter the river before dark, which at any time is dangerous. We got in safely, although we had to pass in on a breaker. Some of the canoes, principally those in which were our arms and munitions, capsized; the natives managed to save themselves, but they lost their canoes and their booty.

“I did not know what had befallen the captain and the crew; but thought they had all been cut in pieces, and fancied myself the surviving victim. Destined to suffer on the part of these savages the most horrible tortures prior to satisfying their passion for human flesh, I regarded with indifference the loss of their canoes, and in spite of the agony of mind and body in which I was, I saw with pleasure that act of justice. When we arrived at the village, the women surrounded us, chanting and dancing, making demonstrations of extravagant joy, and praising their heroic masters for the courageous action, in their opinion, which they page 411 had performed. After the natives had disembarked their plunder, they lighted large fires, around which they gathered, the light of the fires showing more clearly their horrible contortions. They appeared to be holding a violent discussion; I understood enough of their language to know that I was the object that occupied them so violently. My fate seemed inevitable, the greater number of savages demanded my death; but it was ordered otherwise. I owed my safety to the chief who had served me as guide to Tauranga, and who interceded for me, promising that if my ransom did not arrive at a fixed date, he himself would kill me; adding that a musket was much more valuable than my life. This argument decided the natives to postpone my death.

“He then conducted me to his hut, where all the troubles of that day presented themselves to my mind, and I thanked God for his mercy in my miraculous deliverance and implored his pity.

“I passed the first two nights without closing an eye: all that I had experienced, and the pain caused by my arm rendered sleep impossible. My groans so troubled my host towards daylight that he put me outside his house, and I crawled under shelter near by. During these two days no one dreamt of helping me; eventually I found a piece of leather, which I placed in the form of a splint on my arm, and tearing up my socks used them as a bandage, my host tying it on against the wound; I often page 412 went to the river to bathe it, where one of my guardians accompanied me. The ball had traversed the bone and remained in, nor could I extract it.

“The second day of my captivity, as I was at that side of the pa facing the bay, the view of a schooner attracted my attention. She was close to our unhappy vessel, of which nearly all the rigging had been taken, I saw the natives abandon her in great haste, whilst the schooner endeavoured to tow her away. I begged of the miserable natives to take me off to her, promising them my ransom and extra payment; they were deaf to my prayers. One may conceive better than I can express, what I felt on seeing the two vessels departing, by which alone I had any chance of safety. I therefore tried to resign myself to my fate, which seemed inevitable; but the love of life and the thought of the greater danger I had escaped, caused a ray of hope to enter my heart. That which occurred the following morning was not, nevertheless, of a nature to diminish my mortal anguish. One of the natives brought to me the head of one of my unfortunate companions; it was that of the Tahitian, which they had prepared with great care, and had been tattooed. In this manner they preserve quantities of heads, and it forms one of their branches of commerce: I trembled at the idea that possibly mine would share the same fate before long.

“On the morning of the fourth day of my captivity, I was much alarmed in seeing the natives surround me. I demanded the reason; they told me the people of Tauranga, a neighbouring tribe, were about to attack them with forces superior to their own. Shortly after, Ngarara appeared with the captain’s sextant; he gave it to me and told me to observe the sun and inform him if it was really true that the Tauranga tribe was advancing towards them. To refuse would have proved fatal to me, though I did not pose as a prophet. At the same time reflecting from the well-known character of these natives that the news of the pillage of our ship would excite the cupidity of the neighbouring tribes, I obeyed the orders of Ngarara, observed the height of the sun and demanded a book, which I studied attentively. ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘The tribe of Tauranga is advancing towards your people with hostile intentions.’ ‘And when?’ demanded he. At this I felt greatly agitated, and knew not what to answer. ‘To-morrow,’ I said. He appeared satisfied, and prepared for a vigorous defence.

“The natives constructed at the foot of the pa, towards the river side a kind of rampart of earth four feet high, on which they placed our cannon and then waited with impatience, but without fear, the approach of daylight next day. I fancied I heard a discharge of musketry, when Ngarara burst into my hut and told me that the attack was about to take place, just as page 414 I had predicted. His confidence in my predictions now knew no bounds; and he prayed me inform him if he would conquer. I told him yes, which inspired his people with fresh confidence, my previous prediction having been so promptly fulfilled. The enemy was at that time on the opposite side of the river, and had commenced a brisk fire, which those of Whakatane replied to vigorously. One of them conducted me to the rear of the pa, thinking I should be in loss danger there, for my life had become an object of solicitude. I shortly heard the report of one of our cannon, then shouts of victory; the discharge had produced such fear in the assailants, that they fled as soon as they heard it. Ngarara came to me with several chiefs, addressed me as the atua (god). They cut off the heads of the prisoners they had taken, then cleaned and washed the interior of the bodies and afterwards cooked them. The avidity shown by these savages, men and women, in that horrible repast, persuaded me that they preferred human flesh to all other.”

(The author then describes how heads are preserved, but this account presents nothing new).

“Nothing interesting occurred to me until the 9th March. On that day I learnt with a joy impossible to describe, that my ransom had arrived; that extraordinary deliverance was due to the following circumstances:—

“When the captain quitted the ship to go ashore, the first that he saw was a native page 415 bearing one of the swords of our men, and when he had found the men, he learnt that they had been robbed of their arms. He at once gave the order to man the boat, but found that the oars had been stolen; and they saw one of the natives who had taken them on a rock with them. Our men gave chase with such vigour that he threw away the oars and fled. As they returned towards the boat the savages hidden behind the rocks fired on them, but happily did no harm. They had hardly left the shore, when they discovered that the natives were in possession of the brig. They were without arms, consequently it was useless to think of trying to save the vessel. They therefore put to sea, taking a north-west direction, pulling hard, and they were sufficiently lucky to fall in with the schooner “New Zealand,” Captain Clark, from Sydney, who took them on board. The latter captain, on hearing the state of our ship, resolved to retake her, which he did, as we have seen. The fragments of human flesh spread about the deck, and the remains of fires they had lighted, left no doubt that the unhappy ones left on board had been devoured by these cannibals. The schooner then returned to Tauranga, where they learnt that I was still alive and a prisoner at Whakatane. The captain sent off two chiefs to carry the muskets for my ransom; they went by land and arrived on the 9th of March. I left with them immediately, but my weakness, due to the wound, rendered the journey much page 416 harder than on the previous occasion; I had great trouble in managing to cross the mountains, covered as they were with high ferns, dripping with dew, and was not in consequence able to sleep.…We had to make many detours to avoid the inhabitants. After three days and nights of very hard travel we reached Tauranga, where I had the inexpressible pleasure of finding my captain and messmates.

“We arrived at the Bay of Islands on the 15th March, when the captain took me to the Rev. Mr. Williams, a missionary established in those parts, but not being a doctor, he could only give me a powder to prevent the excrescence of the flesh of my wound. I left for Sydney on the 17th March, on board the “New Zealand,” and we arrived on the 25th. I thus passed twenty-three days without any help or medical assistance. They extracted three bullets out of my arm, and the surgeon wished to amputate it, but to this I would not consent. After staying three months in Sydney, during which my wound healed, I returned to England, arriving there after a voyage of four months.”