A Dive for Life.

“At length the Ngati-porou stormed Makaretu, and drove us out of it and killed many. When the assault was made I was in a tent. I hastily filled all my pockets with cartridges, and rushed out, with a rifle slung over my shoulder and another in my hands. I ran to the edge of the cliff; the pa was on the edge of the precipice above the Wharekopae River. The cliff was lofty—it was quite as high as those trees in the field yonder [about 60 feet high]. It was no use attempting to fight then; the fort was in the hands of the enemy. I jumped from the brink of the cliff into a deep pool of the river. As I fled I was fired at. A man named Nama, who was near me was also fired at and was shot and wounded; he was captured and killed afterwards.

“I escaped from the river but many of my comrades were shot in the water or on the banks. I crept into the thick manuka on the other side of the Wharekopae. There I was seen by page 28 page 29 Huhana (Susan) one of Te Kooti's wives, who had escaped with him. She called to me from the bush, and I joined her and Te Kooti. Our leader had a wounded foot, which had been injured in the rocky bed of the river, and Huhana and I took turns in carrying him off on our backs.