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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 12, Issue 8 (November 1, 1937)

The Lady and the Gun

The Lady and the Gun.

How the white scout's friends contrived to recover the now-famous double-barrel made a long and eloquent story in the meeting-house later on. It was attributed by Mokena to the old dame's vigorous and tireless tongue. The Kingite chiefs yielded from sheer fatigue; she threatened, rated and coaxed; until in sheer sleepy despair they said, “Oh, take your accursed gun, take it to Te Peeti and tell him to shoot himself with it!”

page 19

The first thing the wise old woman did was to draw the charges from the double-barrel. (Bates wrote in his journal: “Now, I ask, would an old English lady have had so much sense and foresight?”). On general principles a gun was safer unloaded.

Te Waka was greatly disgusted when he saw that the gun he had confiscated was to be returned to the white man. He was an excitable, dangerous fellow, given to furious fits of anger. Leaving his flax-laden craft tied up, he took a light canoe and paddled off downstream, shouting threats of vengeance on the pakeha. Mokena and Te Raro followed him, and there was a frenzied race for the kainga.