Note I, page 17.

Two or three rather peculiar events that occurred during this long and dreary struggle of internecine warfare in the Bay may be mentioned; especially as such are never likely to happen again. But, in order the better to understand them page 39 one should first know something of the fighting ground and the position of the combatants. Several of the smaller tribes of the Ngapuhi (united) were in arms against the two chiefs Pomare and Te Mauparaoa and their followers and adherents; the head quarters of the Ngapuhi allies was at Kororareka (now Russell), which commanded the outer harbour; that of Pomare and Te Mauparaoa at Otuihu (where these chiefs both dwelt), an almost impregnable castellated war pa at the head of the narrower inner harbour, centrally situated between the two navigable estuaries of the rivers Te Kawakawa and Waikare, and commanding the whole of the inner waters, and about six miles from Kororareka. On a fine calm morning in the summer of that year (1837), at a very early hour, when the waters of the Bay were like glass, before the daily rising of the ruffling sea-breeze,—a small canoe with only one man in it was seen paddling in haste from Te Wahapu on the Opposite shore of the narrow harbour (and about half the Rstance between Otuihu and Kororareka,) towards Waitangi on the Paihia side. This man was the (afterwards) renowned chief Hoani Heke. He had crossed over before day from his village at Te Ti on the Waitangi river, to purchase powder from the merchants' stores at Te Wahapu wherewith to carry on the fight; and the eagle eyes of the foe from their eyrie or look-out on the high pa at Otuihu had descried the little canoe, and rightly guessed the errand. In a twinkling Pomare's big war-canoe, being all ready at anchor, was manned, and now the exciting chase began! Heke had seen her coming, and well-knew there was no hope for him there—at Te Wahapu—among his White friends, (who also were anxious to get rid of him, knowing they were powerless to protect him;) and so he put out to sea, taking his kegs of powder with him, really paddling for dear life! I suppose there were at least sixty rowere in that fine and handsome canoe; she glided through the water like a fast steamer, only noiselessly; while those on board of her (warriors) who were well armed with guns kept up a continual and rapid fire upon the tiny cockleshell fleeing before them. And Heke! he, too, dared to return the same; absolutely laying down his paddle now and then, and loading his piece and firing at them backwards over his shoulder—in mere defiance and bravado!! All hands in the Mission Station were out on the sea bank looking out, expecting every moment to see him struck with the balls playing around him; and feeling sure he could not possibly escape from the fleet war-canoe rushing after him; death seemed imminent—certain. But when the war-canoe had come down into the more open harbour, clearing the peninsula Toretore beyond Te Wahapu, and getting abreast of Kororareka, the Ngapuhi there, hearing the firing and seeing what was up, had speedily man- page 40 ned their canoes, and came out to the rescue and the attack; when Pomare wisely returned. From an entry in my Journal, I find, that shortly after this, the Ngapuhi tribes went up one morning in 36 canoes and boats to attack Otuihu; they landed there and fought, and several were killed and wounded on both sides; among them some head chiefs of note. In the evening they returned to Kororareka, bringing off their own dead and wounded, and also the bodies (chopped up warm and divided among them) of two chiefs of their foes, killed in that day's fight, who had only the day before arrived at Otuihu from the interior to join Pomare; both, too, were good friends of mine. For one of them, in particular, Te Koukou, I felt very much; for he had recently received me and my travel ling party of Christian Maoris very hospitably, on my visiting his pa for the first time in my returning overland from WHangarei to the Bay; and had also then given in his as herence to Christianity. Hearing that the Maoris at Te Ti (near us), had got an arm and shoulder of Te Koukou as their share of that war-spoil! T walked there early the next morning and induced the chiefs to give them up to me,—the mischievous and brave chief Te Kemara, himself climbing the tall Karaka tree to bring them down; to my surprise the whole arm, &c., was still supple! (Te Kemara was a little lithe nimble fellow, though of middle-age, and being fully and closely tattooed so as to be almost black, he always reminded me, when in heroics! (and he just could roll his eyes and grimace!) of one of Dante's demons—in Inferno!!) I sub-sequently saw at Kororareka, other and sickening portions of Te Koukou's body, hacked and stuck up on the tabooed tend porary fence erected around the body of the great chief Pi, of the Mahurehure tribe, also slain the same day in that fight; Pi with his people had come over from Hokianga on the West Coast to join Ngapuhi in the fight. The body of Pi was laid out in great state, &c., &c.; and as I had visited this large party of allies on their arrival at the Bay, while they were encamped at Waitangi, (before they crossed over to Kororareka,) and addressed them as to possible consequent I now went inside the sacred enclosure, (much to the dislike of many of the Maoris present,) and took my stand close to the dead chief's body, and there told them my mind.—To narrate the whole scene and what took place on this sad occasion would take too long. However, I could not prevail on them to give me the fragments of Te Koukou, all I could obtain was, a promise they should not be cooked and eaten but two of the head chiefs of Kororareka, Rewa and Te WHarerahi, gave up the portions in their possession for burial.—

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Several attacks were made at Otuihu by the united Ngapuhi, who had always several miles of water to cross before they could begin operations; sometimes they turned out twice in the week; while Pomare and his party kept in their pa and never once ventured to return the aggression by attacking his foes at Kororareka; yet he did go down more than once into the Bay of Kororareka, in his fine war-canoe, and there blaze away—but not within gun-shot. During this long war we (the Missionaries) had often tried in vain to bring about a peace between the belligerents. The great obstacle, at first and for some time, being, that the scales could never be made equipollent; as, according to Maori custom, peace could never be brought about until this was accomplished or nearly so,—losses on both sides must be made square or equal. On the one (lay the Ngapuhi side were the heavy losers in fighting; on a subsequent day the other side were so, too—and beyond what was required! and so it went on.—

One day in particular, towards the end of the war, when (it was said) a decisive assault was to be made by the Ngapuhi, I accompanied the Rev. H. Williams in his Mission-boat to the fighting-ground. Our boat pulled up the harbour to Opua, where we landed on the little beach, and walked out over the rocks to the bold cliff, whence we had a full view of Otuihu on the opposite shore directly before us about half a mile distant. The Ngapuhi had previously landed on both sides of the narrow arm of the harbour, and taken up their position on the two jutting headlands,—one at Opua where we two were, and the one nearly opposite, Oropa,—where they swarmed on the exposed ridges. A large amount of musket-firing was kept up on both sides, but very little harm was done, owing to the two parties being too distant from each other. We two were pretty safe, being partly sheltered by the steep rocky headland and by the large overhanging Pohu-tukawa trees that grew there, while with our glasses we could easily watch Otuihu. Pomare's people made some slight advance towards their foes in canoes, from which they kept firing as well as from the cliffy brow of their pa above, but only now and then balls fell among or near the Ngapuhi. While this was being carried on a rare thing happened: a reckless bravo (toa = warrior) paddled fearlessly from Otuihu towards the Ngapuhi in a little dingy—or very small canoe (kopapa) baited for one or, at most, two persons; he actually came over into the open water in the midst of those two headlands, nearly abreast of us two on the rocky point, between the two bands of Ngapuhi! and there he openly defied them in his song, brandishing his paddle, and turning round put his head down in his canoe and smacked his naked posteriors at them!! which done he paddled back to his party unhurt, singing as he went.

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The Ngapuhi showered balls at him from both ridges; they fell around him like hail, splashing the water around him, but he escaped; I don't think his canoe was hit. It seemed to me as if the fellow really had a charmed life; it was one of the most coolly sustained fool-hardy doings I ever witnessed. We both made sure he must be killed, and marvelled much at his escape, while the Ngapuhi were very savage over it; at the same time setting it down to the efficacy of the kara kia (= spells) which had been used, and on which he had relied. They, also, had both seen and heard of similar feats having been performed before—in the olden time.—

On that day, too, I watched some of the Ngapuhi side (raw recruits?) load and fire off their guns, mostly old flint-and-steel muskets; some actually held their pieces nearly vertical and turned away their faces when they fired; while some, in their haste, fired away their ramrods! one, who was very near me, in loading bit off the end of his cartridge and cast it down; seeing it was a printed scrap (a most rare thing! for there were no common Newspapers then, and I never allowed a bit of printed (or waste) paper to go out,) I took it up and on untwisting it found it to be a portion of a leaf of an English Bible, and to my astonishment containing these words—"How long have I to live?" (2 Sam. xiii, 34.) I showed it to Mr. Williams who was equally surprised. I afterwards heard at Kororareka of some books having been stolen by the Maoris there for the purpose of making cartridges, and among them was a Bible; paper of all kinds being then with them very scarce.—

I have mentioned, above, what was at first the cause that hindered peace being made; and afterwards—when both sides were pretty well tired of the costly and savage game at which they had been so long playing, and the general planting season near,—the second obstacle was the demand made by the Ngapuhi, that Pomare should cede to them certain lands on the adjoining Waikare estuary. A day was, at length, fixed for a meeting at Otuihu and fully discussing the terms of peace, when all the Missionaries then in the Bay district! went up to Otuihu in the big Mission boat, having a white table-cloth flying at the mast-head as a Peace standard several neutral (or related) Maori Chiefs also going thither in their canoes; there we spent that day in endeavouring to bring matters to meet—but, again, in vain! as Pomare would I not yield any land for that purpose, having had also a large number of killed and wounded on his side. Notwithstanding peace was firmly made within a fortnight from that visit; and about the same length of time after the Rev. S. Marsden's last departure from New Zealand.—