HH^^HHH^BHBBHB^HH 
 
 HHHHi
 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE 
 
 HISTOKY OF TABANAKI 
 
 BY 
 
 IB. -W" IE H, IL, Sz 
 
 A STANDARD WORK ON THE HISTORY OF THE 
 PROVINCE. 
 
 " It appears to me to be a noble employment to rescue from oblivion 
 those who deserve to.be eternally remembered, and by extending the 
 reputation of others, to advance at the same time our own." 
 
 PLINY THE YOUNGER. 
 
 NEW ZEALAND : 
 
 EDMONDSON & AVERY, " TARANAKI NEWS" OFFICE, 
 NEW PLYMOUTH. 
 
 1878.
 
 4-30 
 
 PEEF ACE. 
 
 THE Establishment of the European Settlements of Taranaki 
 was attended with no ordinary difficulty. Not only had the 
 heroic pioneers to contend with the primeval wilderness which 
 received them when they landed on the Taranaki shores, and a 
 barbarous and turbulent race of aborigines, but also with the 
 inability of the Plymouth and New Zealand Companies ta 
 fulfil in a satisfactory manner the work of colonisation which 
 they had undertaken. The records of these proceedings are few and 
 very scarce, death has removed some of the chief actors in them 
 and age has dimmed the memories of others ; it seemed therefore 
 right to me, having a love for the work and having more than 
 ordinary opportunities for its accomplishment, to collect, arrange, 
 and publish all the more important documents and traditions 
 relating to these affairs. My labors having been brought to a close, 
 I am able now to present to my fellow settlers a lasting 
 memorial of those truly heroic deeds in which a majority of 
 them have taken part, and which have happily resulted in the 
 foundation of a beautiful home for us in a fertile land and 
 under genial skies, and in adding another Province to that 
 Empire on which the sun never sets. I am persuaded that this 
 little work will be generally welcomed in the Province whoso 
 history it relates, and tliat it will have the use of all history by 
 
 1407027
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 extending the lives of its readers into the past by leading them 
 to the sources of existing things, and therefore to a deeper 
 eomprehension of them, and by examples of heroism and patient 
 endurance incite a repetition of such virtues. I desire very 
 cordially to express my thanks for aid rendered to me in the 
 preparation of this work to F. A. Carrington, Esq., M.H.R., 
 late Superintendent of Taranaki ; Major Charles Brown, Civil 
 Commissioner; R. Parris, Esq., late Civil Commissioner; Major 
 Charles Stapp, Commanding Taranaki Militia and Volunteers ; 
 O. D. Whitcombe, Esq., Commissioner of Crown Lands ; Mrs. 
 S. Popham King; Miss Kate Flight ; G. D. Hamerton, Esq., 
 Coroner; J. B. Lawson, Esq., Clerk to the Provincial Council 
 of Taranaki; Mr. F. U. Gledhill, and Mr. Max. D. King. 
 
 In passing the work through the press I have received 
 every assistance from Messrs. Edmondson and Avery, the 
 printers. 
 
 B. WELLS. 
 
 M News Office," New Plymouth, 
 March 31st, 1878.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 MAORI traditions respecting the Morioris. Resemblance of the Maoris to 
 a tribe in India. Affinity of the Maori and Indo-European tongues. 
 Resemblance of Maori customs with those of a tribe in China and 
 with those of the ancient Africans. Indian ship's bell found in New 
 Zealand. Remarkable resemblance of some Maori and Egyptian 
 words ... ... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The canoes of the Maori immigrants. The naming of the Taranaki rivers 
 and hills. The Etymology of some Maori common names. The 
 arrival of the Ngatiawa at the Bay of Islands They double the 
 North Cape and enter the Waitara They subdue the aborigines and 
 establish themselves at Ngapuketurua They roam about the island 
 They send a taua to assist Rauparaha They flee to the Chatham 
 Islands, and return to Taranaki The location of the hapus. Maori 
 antiquities 4 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Description of Pukerangiora. Description of Ngamotu. Waikato spies 
 arrive in a canoe. War party of Waikatos arrive at Waitara The 
 assault on Pukerangiora The Massacre of the Garrison The cannibal 
 feast The attack and defence of Ngamotu The defeat and. retreat 
 of the Waikatos. Visit to Poarama 7 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Discovery of New Zealand. Juan Fernandez. Tasman sights Taranaki. 
 Captain Cook names Mount Egmont. M. Marion du Fresne ... 12 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Commerce with New Zealand. Arrival of the Missionaries. Kororareka 
 The British Resident. Native Confederation. The New Zealand 
 Company Grant of Charter Difficulties of the Company Relin- 
 quishment of Charter Debt Cancelled ... ... ... ... ... 15 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Despatch of the Tory Arrival of the Tory in Cook Strait. Richard 
 Barrett. Guard the whaler. Wreck of the Harriet. Rev. H. 
 Williams. E. Puni and Warepori. Sale of land by Ngatiawa. 
 Colonel Wakefield sails northward Anchors off the Sugar-leaves. 
 Dr. Dieffenbach a^nd Barrett land at Ngamotu 19
 
 II CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Dr. Dieffenbach obtains view of Egmont and Ruapahu Description of 
 the Ngamotu rocks Description of the Huatoki, Henui, and 
 Waiwakaiho rivers Starts for the Mountain Travels up the right 
 bank of the Waiwakaiho Returns unsuccessful to Ngamotu Makes 
 a second attempt to reach the Mountain The ascent Returns to 
 Ngamotu -Starts to the Waitara Visits Mokau Buys the land of 
 the natives. The deed of sale 23 
 
 . CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 New Zealand made a dependency of New South Wales. Captain Hobson 
 appointed Lieutenant-Governor. Mr. Somes remonstrates with Lord 
 Palmerston. Arrival of Governor Hobson. The Treaty of Waitangi. 
 A French expedition arrives at Akaroa ... 43 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The establishment of the Plymouth Company. Despatch of the Chief 
 Surveyor. Taranaki overland exploring expedition The expedition 
 reaches Ngamotu. Colonel Wakefield's letter to the Plymouth 
 Company. The prospectus of the Company. Arrival of Mr. 
 Carrington in Wellington He sails in the Brougham on an expe- 
 dition in search of a site for a settlement Selects Taranaki Lands 
 at Ngamotu with his staff 48 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Despatch of the William Bryan. Failure of Wright's Bank. Port to be 
 called Port Eliot. Mr. Cutfield's letter describing the landing of the 
 pioneers. Commencement of trouble with the natives. Mr. Cutfield 
 sows the first European seeds. Despatch of the Amelia Thompson 
 Farewell dinner at Plymouth God Speed the Ship. Bahia. Arrival 
 at New Plymouth. Arrival and wreck of the Regina. Arrival of 
 the Oriental. Captain Liardet 59 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Governor Hobson His service in the Royal Navy Attempts to establish 
 a town at the Bay of Islands Founds Auckland Opposes the 
 settlement of Wanganui and Taranaki Constitutes a Legislative 
 Council. Te Kaka of Waikato visits Taranaki to claim the land by 
 right of conquest.- Governor Hobson purchases the rights of Waikato 
 Proclaims a commission to inquire[into land claims by Europeans. 
 Mr. Spain appointed commissione'r. New Zealand constituted a 
 distinct Colony. The Governor attempts to curtail the New Plymouth 
 settlement. Financial difficulties of the Government. Governor 
 Hobson's death 74 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Arrival of the Timandra. Moorings laid in the roadstead. Colonel 
 Wakefield visits the settlement Appoints Mr. Wicksteed Resident 
 Agent. Mr. Wicksteed's report. Death of Mr. C. Brown, senr. 
 The Nairn's employed to open a bridle path behind the Mountain. 
 Quarrels between settlers and natives. Introduction of horses. The 
 Chief Surveyor's horse. State of the settlement Return of the 
 Ngatiawa slaves. The first Waiwakaiho bridge. Arrival of 'the 
 Blenheim. Another quarrel with the natives ... 81
 
 CONTENTS. Ill 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Arrival of the Essex. Captain Cooke drives cattle and sheep from 
 Wellington. Mr. E. J. Wakefield visits the settlement. Reduction 
 of expenditure. Notice to the Chief Surveyor that his services are 
 no longer required. Arrival of the Thomas Sparks. Reduction of 
 wages. The Wairau massacre. Governor Shortland's proclamation. 
 Mr. Wicksteed 's report. Erection of the first mill and brewery. 
 Appointment of Rev. \V. Bolland. Arrival of the William Stoveld. 
 Arrival of the Himalaya. Governor Fitzroy ... ... 93 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Scarcity of food. Natives cut the timber on Captain Cooke's section at 
 Te Hua. State of the settlement. Arrival of the Theresa Mutiny 
 on board. Arrival of the Bella Marina. --Arrival of Colonel Wake- 
 field and Mr. Commissioner Spain. Mr. Spain's award. Threatenings 
 of the natives. Messengers despatched to Auckland. Arrival of the 
 Governor by H.M. S. Hazard, and of Bishop Selwyu, Rev. J. Whiteley 
 and Mr. Maclean overland. Temporary concilliation of the natives 
 effected. Governor again visits the settlement and reduces New 
 Plymouth to a block of 3,500 acres. Extracts from the reports of 
 Messrs. Forsaith and Maclean. Extract of a letter from the Rev. 
 John Whiteley. Wi Kingi's letter to the Governor. Other reports 
 and letters relating to the affairs of the settlement ... ... ... 102 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Rev S. Marsden. Rev. J. F. Churton. The Church Society for New 
 Zealand. Arrangement for the endowment of a Bishopric. Despatch 
 of Mr. Wicksteed to the colony as agent. Nomination of Rev. G. A. 
 Selwyn to the office of Bishop Consecration Presentation of Com- 
 munion service at Windsor Description of the service. The Bishop 
 sails for Sydney. His arrival in Auckland His tour of his diocese 
 Description of his journey to New Plymouth. Waimate College. 
 Cathedral library. First confirmation. The Company's grant for 
 churches. Appointment of Rev. W. Bolland to New Plymouth His 
 zeal. Church building committee Collecting materials Laying the 
 first stone. Fever in the parsonage. Death of Rev. W. Bolland. 
 Appointment of Rev. H. Govett, B.A. Brief notice of other 
 clergymen. Roman Catholic Church. Appointment of Bishop 
 Pompallier by Pope Gregory XVI Lands in the North Takes up 
 his abode at the Bay of Islands. Father Pezant visits Taranaki. 
 Chapel built in Courtenay-street. Arrival of Father Tressallet. 
 Church built in Devon-street. Rev. Father Pertius. Rev. Father 
 Rolland His bravery. Fathers Binfield and Lampillia. Wesleyan 
 Methodist Church. Mission established at Wangaroa Missionaries 
 driven away. Re-establishment of the Mission at Hokianga. Mr. 
 Creed sent to Ngamotu. Mr. Skevington sent to Taranaki proper. 
 Wesleyan Chapel built in Brougham-street. Captain King and Mr. 
 Wicksteed wish to hold a horticultural show in the chapel and are 
 refused. Wesleyans ordered to remove their chapel. Air. Grotibe 
 commences the erection of a sandstone chapel in Courtcnay-street 
 Sells it to the Wesleyans. Mr. Turton. The Grey Institution. 
 Deatli of Mr. Skevington. Arrival of Mr. Whiteley. Mr. Ironside. 
 Other Ministers. Primitive Methodist Church. Origin of Primitive 
 Methodism. Bible Christians. Mr. Veale gives a site for a chapel. 
 Mr. Ward preaches on the town bridge Bible Christians accept him as 
 theirminister Takesup hisresidence at Te Henui Attempts to preach 
 to the Maoris who threaten to tomahawk him Succeeded by Mr. Long.
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Chapels built at Bell Block and Hurdon. Return of Mr. Ward His 
 sufferings during the war. Erection of Queen-street chapel. Arrival 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Waters. Arrival of Messrs. Dumbell, Standrin and 
 Clover. Congregationalism in New Plymouth. Mr. Groube arrives 
 in the Timandra Conducts service in a raupo whare Attempts to 
 erect a sandstone chapel in Courtenay-street Builds a timber chapel 
 in Devon-street. His sufferings during the war. Leaves for Mel- 
 bourne. Presbyterianism in Taranaki. Rev. J. Thorn visits the 
 settlement Conducts the service in the Independent Chapel Induces 
 the Military Settlers to petition the Church of Scotland for a 
 Minister. The ordination of the Rev. R. F. Macnicol His arrival. 
 The building of the kirk. Mr. Macnicol accepts a call from Auck- 
 land. Rev. T. Blain. Lay Ministry. Rev. M. S. Breach. Death 
 of Rev. J. Thorn. The Baptist cause. Laying foundation stone of 
 chapeL The trustees. Building shut up . 122 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Mr. Day .goes to Sydney in the Slaines Castle to buy cattle and goods. 
 The Paul Jones conveys eighteen despairing settlers to Adelaide. 
 Maoris build a church at Mangoraka of materials stolen from the 
 settlers. Dreadful storm and loss of the schooner Richmond on 
 Kawhia bar. W. Bayly's barn and wheat stack burned at Mangoraka. 
 Mr. Bolland returns from Auckland overland with the news of the 
 appointment of a new Governor. Sir George Grey His birth and 
 education-sloins the 83rd Regiment Commands an expedition sent 
 to the interior of Australia Assumes the Governorship of Australia 
 Arrives in Auckland Brings the war in the North to a close Is 
 invested with the Star of the Order of the Bath Chooses Tamati 
 Waka Nene and Te Puni as his esquires Settles the land claims in 
 New Plymouth Establishes Pensioner Settlements in Auckland 
 Delays the proclamation of the Constitution Returns to England 
 His literary works He receives the degree of Doctor of Civil Laws 
 at Oxford Is appointed Governor of the Cape Colony Is re- 
 appointed Governor of New Zealand Tries diplomacy and fails 
 Breaks the pow.er of Waikato Treats his prisoners in a weak and 
 ridiculous manner Proceeds to England Returns and retires to 
 the Kawau Accepts the office of Superintendent of Auckland 
 Enters Parliament and becomes Premier of the Colony. Origin of 
 the Union Mill. Arrival of the Marianne. Letter from Mr. 
 Gladstone to Governor Grey. Suicide of Mr. Williams. Arrival of 
 the Madras and Ralph Bernal. Constabulary Barracks built. Site and 
 
 S'an for the hospital. Bells Falls discovered. Arrival of the Elora. 
 eath of Richard Barrett. Arrival of the Inflexible with Governor 
 Grey. The Governor's instructions to Mr. Maclean. Quarrel among 
 the Puketapu. Purchase of Tataraimaka. Death of Rev. W. 
 Bolland. Mr. F. D. Bell supersedes Mr. Wicksteed as Resident 
 Agent. Bishop Selwyn lands from the Undine. Quarrel between 
 the Puketapus and Taranakis of Omata. Arrival of Lieutenant 
 Collinson, R.E. and Corporal Henderson^R.A. on secret service. The 
 Grey and Omata Blocks purchased. Land allotted to the whalers. 
 Dr. Wilson and Mr. Hulke leave Wanganui for Taranaki. Mr. 
 Devenish brings a herd of cattle from Wellington. The Governor 
 revisits New Plymouth. Mr. Bell purchases Bell Block of the 
 Puketapu. The Waikanae migration. Kingi settles on the south 
 bank of the Waitara. Opening of the .Omata block. Establishment 
 of the Grey Institution. Death of Colonel Wakefield. Severe 
 earthquake. Table of Waikanae migration 135
 
 CONTENTS. V 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Depression. State of New Plymouth in 1849. Compensation. Arrival 
 of the Barque Cornwall. Dates of Conveyances of Blocks. Major 
 Lloyd molested at Omata 147 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Company resign their Charter to the Crown. Arrival of the Acheron. 
 Consequences of gold discovery in Australia. The Taranaki Herald 
 published. Constitution proclaimed. Eeduction of price of Waste 
 Lands of the Crown. Election of the first Superintendent. Election 
 of the first members of the Provincial Council. Death of James 
 Foreman. Departure of Sir George Grey. Severe earthquake. 
 Difficulties of negotiation with the natives. Purchase of the Hua 
 and Waiwakaiho Block. Te Puui seizes all the open land on the 
 Block. Murder of a native at Kaipakopako. Death of Simon 
 Crawley. Mary Rodgers murdered at Omata by Cassidy. A tract 
 against land selling printed, and published among the natives. Deaths 
 of Richard Eaton and William Holloway. Earthquake. Public 
 Works Ordinance First election under it. Arrival of Acting 
 Governor Wynyard. Arrival of the Duke of Portland with troops. 
 The Bishop publishes a pastoral letter. Arrival of Governor Brown. 
 Natives cut a line across the ranges ... ... ... 150 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Puketapu hapu Their ancient home. The chief Rawiri. Land- 
 leaguers and anti-land-leaguers. Rawiri and his men while cutting a 
 line are fired on by Katatore and his men. Death of Rawiri. Great 
 excitement. Appeal to the Government. Colonel Wynyard fears to 
 interfere with the matter. Efforts made to settle the quarrel. 
 Katatore offers land to the Government. Death of Rimene. Ngati- 
 ruanui besiege Ihaia Ihaia retreats to Mahoetahi Joins Arama 
 Karaka. Settlers petition for military protection. Arrival of 
 detachments of the 58th and 65th Regiments. Tragical death of 
 Katatore. The burning of the Ikamoana pa. Ihaia retreats to 
 Muni. Ihaia Kirikumara 158 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Governor Gore Browne. Origin of the Anti-land-selling League. Origin 
 of the King movement. Mr. Cutfield elected Superintendent. First 
 publication of the Taranaki News. The second session of the Maori 
 Parliament. Public Debt Apportionment Act. Calling out of the 
 Taranaki Militia. Death of Captain Dawson. Death of John Wright. 
 Change of the name of the Province to Taranaki .... ... ... 166 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Puketapu natives receive payment for the Tarurutangi Block. Pre- 
 parations for erecting a bridge over the Waiwakaiho. Volunteer 
 regulations Election of officers. Arrival of the Iris with the 
 Governor. Conference with the natives. Te Teira of \Vaitara offers 
 land to the Governor. Maori statistics. Opening of the Waiwakaiho 
 bridge. The Council Chambers burnt. Contraction of the town of 
 New Plymouth. Wiremu Kingi Whiti Rangitaki 174
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 The Tarauaki war. Minutes of the Executive Council. Instructions to 
 Mr. Parris. Natives stop the survey at the Waitara. Proclamation 
 of martial-law. Settlers remove into New Plymouth. Commencement 
 of hostilities. Defection of Manahi. Engagement at Waireka. 
 Reports of the engagement. Narrow escape of Mr. Parris. Requests 
 for aid made to the Australian Colonies. Arrival of reinforcements. 
 Captain Richard Brown. Battle of Puketakauere. Death of Hugh 
 Corbyn Harris. Death of John Hurford. Wreck of the George 
 Henderson. Death of Ephraim Coad and Henry Crann. Attack on 
 Mahoetahi. Death of John Hawken. Death of Joseph Sarten. 
 Taking of Matarikoriko. Expedition to the South. Attack on the 
 Huirangi Redoubt. Death of Captain W. C. King. The sap. Death 
 of Captain Strange. Death of E. Messenger. . Death of Lieutenant 
 McNaughten 186 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Arrival of Tamihana. Hapurona hoists the white flag. Arrival of the 
 Governor, Ministers, Mr. D. Maclean and Tamati Waka Nene. 
 Arrival of General Cameron. Terms offered to the insurgents. 
 Declaration of Hapurona. Sickness. Mr. C. Brown reelected 
 Superintendent. Arrival of reinforcements from India. Colors pre- 
 sented to the Taranaki Militia and Volunteers. Bank of New Zealand 
 opened. Sir George Grey re-appointed Governor. Bishop Selwyn 
 attempts to travel along the coast. Canon Stowell's opinion of the 
 Taranaki settlers. Death of E. G. Wakefield. Wreck of the s.s. 
 Lord Worsley. Wreck of the Orpheus. The Governor with his 
 Ministers arrive by the Harrier for the purpose of reinstating the 
 Province. Compensation. Troops take possession of Tataraimaka. 
 Warning of ambuscades ... ... ... ... ... 226 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Massacre at Oakura. Abandonment of the Waitara purchase. Attack 
 on Katikara. The Maori toll-gate. Hapurona sends a challenge. 
 Rebels take possession of a spur of the Kaitake Ranges. A fishing 
 party of the rebels attacked by an ambuscade of the 58th Regiment 
 near Kaitake. Death of Mr. Patterson. Rebels disturbed at Mangorei. 
 Skirmish at Kaitake. Defeat at Ahnahu. Origin of Pai Marireism. 
 Defeat of rebels at Sentry Hill. Capture of Manutahi, Mataitawa, 
 and Te A'rei. Colonel Maxwell Lepper. Disbanding of the old 
 Militia. Native murders at Kaipikari. Death of Frank Roebuck. 
 General Cameron arrives at Patea. Military settlers and Bushrangers 
 embark for Patea. Accidents to the surf boats. Death of Joseph 
 Hawke. Expedition embarks for the White Cliffs. Demand of the 
 Imperial Government for payment for the troops employed in the 
 Colony. Scheme for the settlement of Tikorangi. Skirmish at 
 Whatino. Colonel Warre attacks the rebels inland of Warea. 
 Revocation of the proclamation of martial-law. Engagement at 
 Warea. General Cameron resigns the command of the army in New 
 Zealand. Wreck of the steam transport Alexandra. Arrival of 
 General Chute. Embarkation of the Imperial Forces ... ... ... 235 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Confiscation Military settlements. Arrival of Military settlers. Lands 
 proclaimed under the Military Settlements Act, 1863. Area of lands 
 confiscated, Exodus of Military settlers. Occupation of other
 
 CONTENTS. Vli 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 confiscated lands. The Waste Lands Board. Establishment of 
 Inglewood 257 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 General Chute marches from Wanganui Attacks Otapawa Marches 
 through the forest Emerges at Mataitawa His reception at New 
 Plymouth Proceeds to Patea. Waiwakaiho bridge swept away. 
 Death of Roby, at Maiiutahi. First sale of land at Waitara. Dis- 
 turbance at Patea. Attack at Turuturumokai. Capture of Te Ngutu 
 o Te Manu. Repulse at Ruaruru. Major Von Tempsky. Repulse at 
 Okutuku. The Brothers Hunter. The massacre at the White Cliffs. 
 Rev. John Whiteley 265 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Peace. The iron sand. Provincial Government. Land fund. Local 
 Government. Immigration and public works. New Plymouth harbor. 
 Electric telegraph. Judicature. Literary Institute. Education. 
 Hospital. Botanic Garden. Acclimatisation. Victories of peace ... 288 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Taranaki pioneers. Mr. F. A. Carrington. Captain Henry King. Mr. 
 Charles Brown, senr. Mr. Chilman 298 
 
 List of Ships 309 
 
 Bibliography 311
 
 THE HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MAORIS. 
 
 is a tradition among the Maoris that their forefathers 
 came to New Zealand in certain canoes from a country called 
 Hawaiiki, and that on their arrival they found the land 
 thinly populated with a race short and plump, but physically 
 inferior to themselves, called Moriori. The concluding part of this 
 tradition is borne out by the fact of a people of that name and 
 character having existed at the Chatham Islands within the memory 
 of the present generation. It has also been confirmed by the dis- 
 covery in the Waikato district of a number of skeletons arranged 
 round a circular pit in an erect position, each with a block of wood 
 upon its head, which was a mode of burial adopted in certain cases 
 by the Morions of the Chatham Islands. The Maoris are members 
 of the brown portion of the Polynesian family, their language being 
 a dialect of that spoken in the Sandwich Islands, and there are strong 
 reasons for supposing that the family migrated from India at an early 
 date. Mr. Thomson, of Otago, who has spent many years in India, 
 says in a valuable paper in the " Transactions of the New Zealand 
 Institute " that there is in that country a people who bear a very 
 strong resemblance to the Maoris. The fierceness of the passions of 
 the Maori, and the occasionally dusky hue of his skin, would lead us 
 to suppose that he has African blood in his veins, and Mr. Thomson 
 supposes that the original inhabitants of India were Ethiopians and that 
 they were driven out by the influx of Aiyans. The analogy between 
 the Maori and Indo-European tongues is very striking. Mr. Fairburn, 
 writing on this subject in the " Transactions," observes that " the 
 definite and indefinite articles in Maori are te and ///>, the latter 
 pronounced ha, which are nearly identical with the English the. and a. 
 The Maori ko is also interchangeable with our to, and like it is a sign 
 of the dative case." Mr. Fairbum also observes that " it is a mistake
 
 2 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 to suppose Maori to be a section of the Turanian group of tongues. 
 It is rather a mixture of the Indo-European and Semitic. Maori 
 Moriori Malay Maure Moor the evident relationship between 
 these names indicate that the Maori is a fierce cross between the Arab 
 and the Ethiopian. Again, the name Maori seems to indicate that 
 this people came from the East ; Maori Malay that is to say an 
 inhabitant of Malacca or Malaka bears evident affinity to the 
 Maori words maranyai the east, arangi rising, and maranga to arise. 
 The Maori contains many old Arabic and Egyptian words." There 
 is a singular circumstance in connection with this subject mentioned 
 by Professor Max Muller in his " Chips from a German Workshop " 
 " In the Chinese province of Yunnan there are tribes of aborigines 
 not Chinese called Mau-tze or soil-children, who salute as they 
 did when first observed by Marco Polo in the thirteenth centmy by 
 rubbing noses." The identity of this mode of salutation with that 
 practised by the Maoris, the approximation of their names in sound 
 and signification for the word Maori signifies native are at least 
 very remarkable. Still more remarkable are the resemblances we 
 can trace between existing Maori customs and some which have 
 become obsolete among certain tribes of Africans. In Max Muller's 
 review of the " Zulu Nursery Tales," by the Rev. H. Calloway of 
 Natal, he says : " There is one feature in these stories which to a 
 great extent attests their antiquity. Several of the customs to which 
 they allude are no longer in existence among the Zulus. It is not 
 for instance any longer the custom among the natives of South 
 Africa to bake meat by means of heated stones, the recognised mode 
 of cooking among the Polynesians. Yet when Usikulumi orders a 
 calf to be roasted he calls upon the boys of the kraal to collect large 
 stones and to heat them. There are several other peculiarities which 
 the Zulus seem to share in common with the Polynesians. The 
 avoiding of certain words which form part of the names of deceased 
 kings or chieftains is a distinguishing feature of the Zulu and Poly- 
 nesian languages. If a person who has disappeared for some time 
 and is supposed dead returns unexpectedly to his people, it is the 
 custom both among the Zulus and Polynesians to salute him first by 
 making a funeral lamentation. There are other coincidences in the 
 stories of both races which make it more than probable that at some 
 distant period they had lived either together or in close neighbour- 
 hood." 
 
 A circumstance strongly tending to show that oceanic communication 
 existed between India and New Zealand in ancient times is the fact 
 that in the interior of the Northern Island of New Zealand part of 
 a ship's bell has been found, bearing an inscription in very ancient 
 Tamil, which was thus translated in Ceylon : " Mohoyden Buks 
 Ship's Bell." Proof is also not wanting of an intimate connection 
 between the Maori and the Egyptian at some very distant date. Ra 
 is the term used by the Maori as expressive of day and the light of the 
 sun, and it was used in precisely the same sense by the ancient 
 Egyptians. A magnificent hymn to the sun, recently translated by
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 3 
 
 M. Marietta and attributed to the 12th Dynasty, begins thus : 
 " Thou awakenest beneficially Ammon-Ha." In the Egyptian Ritual 
 of the Dead the Divinity is made to say, " I am Ra, at his rising in 
 the beginning, he who governs that he lias made." In the Egyptian 
 Trinity Ra is also the solar agent. The idea is also entertained that 
 Pharaoh, the general title of the kings of Egypt, corresponds to the 
 Egyptian phra or ra the " sun," which is written as an hieroglyphic 
 symbol over the titles of kings. The similarity in sound and 
 meaning of the Egyptian word typhon with that of the Maori taipo, 
 both being the name of the Spirit of Evil, is also not a little 
 remarkable.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE HISTORY OP THE NGATIAWA TRIBE. 
 
 CCORDING to the tradition of the tribes the ancestors of the 
 Maoris came to New Zealand in several successive migrations. 
 The first canoe that reached this country was named Mata- 
 hourua, and was commanded by a chief named Kupe, who 
 took possession of the country by naming all the mountains and 
 rivers from Wanganui to Patea. The next canoe that arrived was 
 called Aotea, and was commanded by the chief Turi, who gave names 
 to all the rivers and mountains from Patea to Aotea. Some of these 
 names are poetical, most are expressive, some are gross, and of some 
 the meaning is obscure. Taranaki, the name given to the great 
 mountain, is derived from tara, a peak or prominence, and naki 
 probably from ngaki, clear from vegetation, signifying the barren or 
 treeless mountain. It was customary in old times for the distant 
 tribes to call this mountain Pukehaupapa, which is a common 
 appellation for a snow clad mountain like Mount Taranaki. Waitara, 
 one of the most considerable rivers in the Taranaki district, signifies 
 mountain stream. Te Henui, another river, signifies the great sin. 
 Huatoki, fruitful in worms. Tapuae, the echo of footsteps. Oakura, 
 the spot where the sun lingers. Among the rocks and capes - 
 Paritutu, the great sugarloaf rock, signifies the rising precipice; 
 Moturoa, the tall Island ; Motumahanga, the twin island ; Ngamotu, 
 the islands, and Omata, near to the headland or cape. 
 
 According to Mr. John White the ancestors of the Ngatiawa came 
 to New Zealand in a canoe named Tokomaru, commanded by the chief 
 Manaia, who having murdered a number of men who were working 
 for him felt himself under the necessity of seeking fresh fields. 
 Manaia made the land in the vicinity of the Bay of Islands, and 
 coasting along he doubled the North Cape, stretched along the bight of 
 the West Coast and eventually entered the Waitara river where he 
 took up his abode. From this latter circumstance the tribe took its 
 name Ngatiawa, signifying the tribe of the river. Manaia found the 
 district occupied by a tribe called Ngatimokotorea of whom he had 
 not previously heard. They were not a warlike race and were easily 
 overcome by the new arrivals. Manaia killed many of them, others 
 escaped, and a portion of them intermingled with the conquerors. 
 Tradition assigns Ngapuketurua as the most ancient settlement of 
 the Ngatiawa. This place is situated on the west bank of the 
 Waiongona river among a number of singular volcanic hills, and has 
 been more recently called Mahoetahi, or the grove of mahoe trees. 
 This spot seems to have been chosen for the large extent of good 
 land in its vicinity, and from the facility it afforded for forming a 
 number of fortified villages. The Ngatiawa are said to have been
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 5 
 
 in old times a very restless race, and of all the tribes in New 
 Zealand they were the most numerous and powerful. They are now 
 located in the north end of the North Island, in the Bay of Plenty, 
 at Taranaki, on both shores of Cook Strait, and at the Chatham 
 Islands. They migrated first to the Bay of Plenty, and after a brief 
 stay there went up the East Coast to the Thames, and ultimately to 
 the North Cape. In the course of their wanderings they drove the 
 tribes out of each district which they visited. They overran all the 
 Ngapuhi district in the north, and were the cause of that portion of 
 the Ngatiwhatua, who were located at the North Cape, coming south 
 and joining the main body at Kaipara, and having by force of 
 numbers taken all the land on the west coast to the north of Wangarei, 
 they claimed it as their rightful property, not only by the law of 
 might, but also becaiise of having buried their dead in the sacred 
 places of the tribes of the land. For they had, according to the 
 native law, proved the power of their own heathen customs relative 
 to the dead to be superior to that of the tribes into whose territory 
 they had come. There is a small river to the north of Hokianga 
 called Wangape, near to which H.M. sloop of war Osprey was 
 wrecked. In the neighbourhood of this stream there is an old 
 repository of bones which are, it is said, the remains of the people 
 of the Ngatiawa tribe. The native laws relative to the burial of the 
 dead are very strict. It is supposed that to bury the dead of an 
 inferior tribe in the same place where the superior chiefs ai'e in- 
 terred without the consent of the relatives of these chiefs would 
 cause the gods of the superior chiefs to ^destroy the tribe of the 
 relatives of the inferior persons so buried. Hence, the circumstance 
 of the Ngatiawa having buried their dead in utter disregard of such 
 consent proved their undisputed right to the district, 'not only by the 
 law of force, but also by that of superior rank. The restless dis- 
 position of the Ngatiawa led them again to the south, and in this 
 migration the tribe divided, part going by the West Coast, and part 
 by the East Coast. The chief of the West Coast party took with 
 him a tame lizard. The Maoris are not more in fear of any known 
 thing than of a lizard, and this tame one became the passport of the 
 Ngatiawa from Hokianga to Taranaki. Being in the midst of 
 enemies, and reduced in numbers by the division of the tribe, they 
 had to travel circumspectly. The East Coast party went by water 
 and landed at the Bay of Plenty, taking possession of the district 
 they still retain. The West Coast party settled at the home of their 
 ancestors on the banks of the Waitara river and in the neighborhood 
 thereof, where they remained till many of the tribe were induced to 
 go to the south to assist the great chief of Kawhia, the renowned 
 Rauparaha, in his exterminating ware. Quarrelling with that chief, 
 the Ngatiinutunga liapu fled from Wellington in the English brig 
 Rodney in 1836 to the Chatham Islands, where they destroyed a 
 great number of the Morioris and enslaved the rest. In 1870, 
 having sold their possessions in the islands to Europeans, many of 
 them returned to Taranaki and were located north of the Urenui,
 
 6 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 where they rapidly decreased in numbers and are now nearly extinct. 
 Taranaki was originally the name of the district inhabited by the 
 Taranaki tribe south of the Sugaiioaves, and Tokomaru the name of 
 that extending from the Sugarloaves to the White Cliffs ; but the 
 whole district lying round the mountain is called by the Europeans 
 Taranaki. The hapus of the Ngatiawa in the district settled as 
 follows : Atiawa at the White Cliffs, Pukerangiora near the junction 
 of the Waitara and Manganui rivers, Ngatimarua, Ngatimutunga, 
 and Ngatirahiri north of the Waitara ; Ngatimaru on the Waitara, 
 considerably inland and to the east of the mountain ; Puketapu 
 south of the Waitara on the mount in Puketapu Bay, where in old 
 times the crimson veronica flourished, and Ngainotu at the Sugar- 
 loaves, a spot attractive by reason of the excellent fishery afforded 
 around the basis of the islands and the fastnesses of the rocky 
 pinnacles. 
 
 Maori antiquities abound in the shape of old forts and pits, and 
 stone axes. The Ngamotu pa was until very recently in existence. 
 The ruins of a veiy strong pa were observable before the war on the 
 top of Marsland Hill in New Plymouth. The name of this strong- 
 hold was Pukaka. The ruins of a very strong pa near the North 
 Head of the Waiwakaiho River are still observable. The intrench- 
 ments around it are equal to European military works. This pa was 
 called the Rewarewa. It is said to have been constructed to with- 
 stand an assault of the Taranaki tribe during some intertribal quarrel, 
 and that it was garrisoned by 2000 men. A few Maoris resided at 
 this pa when some of the early settlers arrived, but it has been 
 deserted for many years. 'The mount opposite to the landing place 
 at New Plymouth was called Pukeariki, or the hill of chiefs, on 
 account of its being the burial place of some of the principal chiefs 
 of the district. It was held sacred by the natives for many years 
 after the arrival of the Europeans, but is now doomed by the Harbor 
 Board to be levelled in order that it may form part of the town.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI, 7 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE FALL OF PUKERANGIORA AND THE DEFENCE OF NGAMOTU. 
 
 "-TjYUKERANGrlORA is the abrupt termination of a high ridge on 
 Ifj the banks of the Waitara River, situate about seven miles 
 J\ from the river's mouth. In the course of ages the waters of 
 the stream have eroded the foot of the hill and caused at this 
 spot a high and steep escarpment, the verge of which forms a strong 
 military position. On this account the spot was selected by a hapu 
 of the Ngatiawa as a fit site for their pa. The spot received its name 
 from the fact of the hill being in old time clad with rangiora, a well 
 known shrub remarkable for its large leaves, green on the upper 
 surface, and covered with a white and papeiy epidermis beneath. 
 The prospect from this hill is very fine, and in addition to the Waitara 
 valley, embraces much of the Tokomaru district between the river 
 and the Sugarloaves. Owing perhaps to the abundance of food 
 yielded by the neighbourhood the population was numerous. The 
 river beneath furnished them with mullet, eels, lampreys, and other 
 fish. On the good land of the district they raised in their gai'dens 
 large crops of maize, potatoes, kumera, taro, calabashes, melons and 
 pumpkins. The extensive forest in the immediate vicinity furnished 
 them with fat arboreal pigeons and luscious tuis, besides abundance 
 of rats. Through the forest a long narrow path, some three days' 
 journey in length, led to the shores of Cook Strait, and was probably 
 intended to aid in a retreat in case of a successful assault from the 
 enemy. At the time of which we write the garrison of the pa had 
 been considerably reduced by many of the warriors having gone to 
 the South with Rauparaha to assist him in his wars. 
 
 Eveiyone who has caught a glimpse of the settlement of Taranaki 
 has seen those peaked rocks which are known to the settlers as the 
 Sugarloaves, and to the Maoris as Ngamotu the Islands. Geologists 
 tell us they are comj>osed of trachytic breccia, cemented with volcanic 
 mud. They are, probably, the fragments of the lips of a great crater 
 which existed in by-gone ages. The adventurous youth who climbs 
 their lofty summits, finds their peaks perforated with pits, which 
 were excavated by the natives to serve as hiding places for their 
 persons and food, in time of war. He may also, perchance, light 
 upon a weapon of green nephrite, for the neolithic age of Muoridom 
 has given way to that of iron within the memory of the present 
 generation. 
 
 In the neighborhood of these rocky islets a pa had stood from time 
 immemorial, which next after Pukerangiora, was the strongest 
 fortress of the Ngatiawa tribe in the district. Not that the site was 
 particularly commanding, but it embraced a good view of the sea- 
 beach the highway in ancient times, and was in close proximity to the
 
 8 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 pitted pinnacles. The spot was also sheltered from the prevailing 
 winds, so that extensive gardens could all be cultivated to perfection, 
 and in the partially sheltered bay in front of the Pa there was 
 excellent fishing ground, and abundance of fish. 
 
 It was early summer in the year 1831, when a Waikato canoe 
 came to Ngamotu for a cargo of that Maori delicacy, dried shark. 
 The strangers excused themselves by saying that the fish in question 
 were scarce in their district, while here they are abundant. Friendly 
 greetings were exchanged, the fish prepared, the canoe, which was 
 damaged, repaired, and the Waikatos sent back in peace. Little did 
 the Ngatiawas think these men were spies ; such, however, was their 
 character, and in a month afterwards December, 1831 a taua con- 
 sisting of nearly 4,000 Waikatos was at the "Waitara. The enemy 
 at first scattered himself about in disorderly parties at Tikorangi 
 and its neighborhood. A few Ngatiawas soon fell into his hands ; 
 these were sacrificed to Tu, the god of war, and Wiro the evil spirit. 
 Soon an unsuspecting party of twenty-five persons, returning from a 
 distant village, was taken, slain and devoured. A panic seized the 
 Ngatiawas, who flew to their stronghold with such precipitation that 
 they had not time to procure any quantity of provisions. Next the 
 enemy destroyed all their sacred places, crossed the river and attacked 
 the Pa. He was, however, repulsed, and fell back with the loss of four 
 chiefs and several men of inferior grade. For twelve successive 
 days the enemy made repeated assaults, but was constantly repulsed, 
 and lost in these attacks thirty-six men. Famine and watchfulness 
 now reduced the garrison to a state of despondency. Instead of 
 stealing away under the cover of the night, they made the mistake 
 of attempting an evacuation in the day time. The enemy perceiving 
 this, pursued and captured numbers of the half famished wretches. 
 Then mothers threw their children over the precipice, and leaped 
 themselves into the river below to avoid a more dreadful fate at the 
 hands of their sanguinary foes. The captives were driven into 
 whares and guarded by sentinels armed with sharp tomahawks. On 
 that day the Waikatos glutted themselves with the flesh of the slain. 
 On the morrow morning, nearly two hundred prisoners were brought 
 out ; those who were well tatooed were beheaded on a block for the 
 sake of their heads. Some of the remainder were slain by a blow or 
 cut on the skull ; on others every refinement of cruelty was practised, 
 particularly the thrusting of a red hot ramrod up the bowels. 
 Children and youths were cut open, eviscerated, spitted, and roasted 
 over fires made from the defences of the dismantled Pa. In the 
 afternoon, a similar massacre took place, and so greedily did some of 
 these vampires feast that they died from the effects of their gluttony. 
 The feast was graced with the tatooed heads of the slain, which were 
 stuck on short poles, and placed vis-a-vis with the captors, who would 
 at times pause in their feasting to address them with the most 
 insulting expressions. Having finished the work to their satisfaction, 
 the Waikatos proceeded to the Sugarloaves to attack Ngamotu Pa, 
 the garrison of which consisted of eleven Europeans and three
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 9 
 
 hundred and fifty Maoris. The presence of the Europeans, who were 
 possessed of four carronades, somewhat intimidated the enemy ; but 
 he remembered that he was strong in numbers ; moreover, he deter- 
 mined, if possible, to effect his object by treachery. 
 
 At daybreak on a morning of Februaiy, 1832, the watchers dis- 
 covered the enemy advancing in his usually disorderly manner along 
 the beach. Eveiy preparation was immediately made for his reception. 
 All the provisions at hand were taken within the pa, the walls of the 
 whares were defended with earth or sods, and the guns were got into 
 position. The garrison, possessed no round or grape shot, accordingly 
 scraps of iron and stone were improvised for the occasion. Fearful 
 of the kind of reception he should meet with, the enemy halted, 
 deliberated, and then signalled for a parley. Then a Waikato chief 
 advanced along the beach to the front of the pa, and the Ngamotu 
 chief came out alone to meet him. The two sat down on the sand, 
 rubbed noses, and commenced the tangi. The Ngamotu chief enquired 
 what his people had done to provoke the anger of Waikato, and 
 wished to know whether it were wise for Maoris to destroy each 
 other for the benefit of strangers. The Waikato chief could not 
 reply to this question, and promised to return peacefully ; " but first," 
 said he " let us into your pa to embrace our friends." This could 
 not be acceded to. In less than an hour after this parley the Wai- 
 katos danced the war dance in front of the pa, fired a volley, and 
 charged, but were repulsed with loss. The next day, while shots 
 were exchanging, a Ngatiawa chief in a fit of valour rushed from the 
 pa in the direction of the enemy, discharged his piece and retired. 
 Before he could reach the pa he fell shot through the back, and a 
 party from the enemy rushed to take him, while another party of his 
 friends flew to protect him. Then followed a skirmish in which 
 several fell or were taken prisoners. Several Waikato chiefs now 
 advanced to the pa with expressions of the purest affection, and ad- 
 vised the besieged to Borreader ; some of the Maoris felt inclined to 
 comply, but the English would not hear of it. On the fom-th day of 
 the siege, a slave came to the pa with a message requesting another 
 parley. The two chiefs met again on the beach in front of the pa. 
 The Waikato chief professed to be ashamed of his former perfidy, 
 and promised to withdraw his people immediately. When this news 
 reached the pa the foolish ]>eople wished to invite the Waikatos to a 
 friendly dance, but the English and many of the natives feared 
 treachery. Then followed quarrelling. One man, the son of a chief, 
 threw himself on a fire in a fit of vexation, and burned himself so 
 severely that he died a few days afterwards. Two sisters quarrelled ; 
 one who had confidence in the promise of the enemy ran out of the 
 pa to prove his good faith, but she was taken and cut to pieces within 
 sight of her friends, and her flesh washed in the streamlet from which 
 the garrison procured their water, to tapu it, so that they should not 
 be able to drink it. An assault was next made and bravely resisted, 
 after which a sap was commenced under the pa, but this work was 
 frustrated. Firebrands were also thrown into the pa, but by the
 
 10 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 vigilance of the people no damage was sustained by them. In the 
 midst of the siege the schooner Currency Lass, of Sydney, came 
 in with supplies for the Europeans. The enemy tried to take her, 
 but was prevented by the vigilance of the master, Mr. Love. One 
 of the besieged managed to board her under the enemy's fire, and to 
 return to the pa unhurt. A message was now sent to the pa, desiring 
 that Mr. Love, who had landed, would return to the schooner and there 
 confer with the Waikato chief. The meeting took place, and ended 
 precisely as the other parleys had done, the wily chief's treacherous 
 intentions being apparent. Strange as it may appear, business was 
 earned on at times between the contending parties. For blankets 
 and tobacco the Englishmen bought muskets and ammunition of the 
 enemy while skirmishes were going on around them. 
 
 The enemy now built mounds, from which, under cover, he could 
 fire down into the pa. During a brisk trade a quarrel arose about a 
 musket, dining which three Waikatos were killed, and were after- 
 wards roasted, and eaten. The next day one of the carronades burst 
 without seriously hurting any of the besieged. The enemy cheered 
 by this accident, sent a message stating that he should storm the pa 
 at day break on the following morning. The siege had now lasted 
 for three weeks, and the enemy's food was getting short, for he had not 
 a single slave or prisoner left to cut up into rations. That night many 
 of the besieged slept as soundly as though perfect peace reigned 
 around, but others, with the Englishmen, kept an anxious watch. At 
 the first dawn of the day the assault was made by the whole force of 
 the enemy. Amid terrific yells, the fences were cut, and a party was 
 within the pa before some of the besieged were well awake. A brave 
 and faithful little band of the besieged fought with the energy of 
 despair, cutting off the retreat of those who had entered the pa. 
 British courage now rose to heroism. The three remaining carro- 
 nades were served with celerity and precision, the missiles which they 
 belched out inflicting horrible wounds in the bodies of the assailants. 
 The enemy charged again and again, until at last a panic seized him, 
 and he retreated, dragging his dead chiefs but leaving his wounded. 
 Three hundred and fifty mutilated bodies lay around the pa, some 
 dead and some living. Then the Ngamotus rushed out to wreak 
 vengeance on the wounded. Some were burned alive. One prisoner 
 had a tomahawk thrust into his mouth, while an incision was made 
 in his throat, and a wretch drank his warm flowing blood. He was 
 then quartered, and his heart sent as a present to an old chief. A 
 traitor coming to the pa in the hour of victory was seized, tortured, 
 and slain. The dead which the enemy had buried were exhumed and 
 devoured. The beach in the vicinity of the pa presented a horrible 
 spectacle, portions of human bodies lay scattered aboiit, and the dogs 
 fed on human entrails. Ngatiawa lost thirteen chiefs in this fight ; 
 these were buried with barbaric honours. Each chief had eight 
 muskets and a quantity of ammunition buried with him, and for each 
 ten slaves were killed, to become servitors in the reinga, or spirit 
 land.
 
 HISTORY OP TABANAKI. 11 
 
 The Waikato never repeated their attack, though they threatened 
 to do so ; and the remnant of the Ngatiawa finding themselves too 
 weak to oppose effectually any renewed attack from Waikato 
 migrated with their women and children, and rejoined their relatives 
 at Otaki, Wellington, Queen Charlotte's Sound, and other places. A 
 few forlorn wretches clung to the land of their fathers, stealthily 
 cultivating small gardens in the depth of the forest. A party of 
 fugitives from Pukerangiora sought refuge in the Kaiauai gorge, 
 situated between the Pouakai ranges and Mount Egmont, where they 
 were discovered and slain by the relentless Waikato. A man named 
 Mangu fell shot through the neck at Pukerangiora and was left for 
 dead. Seeing a favourable opportunity he snatched up a young 
 child which had been spared, and placing it astride on his shoulders 
 he started off with it along the forest path which led to Cook Strait. 
 Fear of pursuit impelled him onward, and he fed the child with the 
 forest berries which overhung the path and threw water up to its 
 mouth with his hand, not daring to put it down. Ihaia and Tiraurau, 
 chiefs of Ngatiawa have borne testimony to the desolation of the 
 land after the Waikato raid : " All was quite deserted, the land, the 
 sea, the streams and lakes, the forest, the rocks were deserted ; the 
 food, the property, the works were deserted ; the dead, the sick were 
 deserted ; and the land marks were deserted." 
 
 In the summer of 1873-4 we paid a visit to Ngamotu Pa and 
 found its aged chief and three or four of his people working in an 
 adjoining garden. We addressed him as Poarama, but he told ns 
 that that was no longer his name for he had joined Israel ; alluding 
 to a superstition then prevalent among the Maoris. We asked him 
 the name of the chief who defended the pa against the Waikato, and 
 the names of the Europeans who assisted in its defence. The old 
 man's memory seemed at fault, but after a time we gleaned from him 
 that the name of the chief was Warepori, and the names of the 
 Europeans were Barrett, Love, Akerau, probably Akers, Taruiriri, 
 probably Wright, Kopiri probably Phillips, and Oliver. On the 
 neighbouring island, known as Mikotahi, there is an inscription 
 which probably records the arrival of one of these men ; it is as 
 follows: JOHN WRIGHT, October, 1829.
 
 12 HISTORY OF TARANAKI, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE EUROPEAN DISCOVERY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 fHE DISCOVERY of New Zealand is popularly attributed to 
 Abel Jansen Tasman, a Dutch navigator, who, under a com- 
 mission from Anthony Van Diemen, the Governor-General of 
 the Dutch East India Company, sailed on a voyage of discovery from 
 Batavia on the 14th August 1642, and made the shores of New 
 Zealand on the 13th December of that year. The journal of this 
 navigator contains a clear admission that he was not the discoverer of 
 the country, for in it he says, " the land which I found in my chart 
 marked New Zealand, I have called Staaten Land." Bleau, a Dutch- 
 man, who died four years before Tasman commenced his voyage, 
 published a large folio atlas in which, indistinctly, a line of coast is 
 shown with the name against it " Zelandia Nova." There is strong 
 probability that Juan Fernandez, the Spanish navigator, was the 
 actual European discoverer of these islands. In the year 1574, sailing 
 from the coast of Chili, in about the latitude of forty degrees, in a 
 small vessel with some of his companions, he reached in about a month 
 a Terra Firma which was fertile and pleasant, and inhabited by a race 
 of white people, well made and dressed in a species of woven cloth, 
 and who were of an amiable disposition. The country contained 
 several rivers which fell into the sea, and it appeared better and richer 
 than Peril. Native tradition concerning the arrival of a ship, and the 
 introduction of the dog and pig, together with the names given to 
 these animals by the Maoris, tend to corroborate the idea of Spanish 
 intercourse with this country at an early date. On the Admiralty 
 Chart of the Indian Ocean of 1827, against the draft of the group 
 appears this note : " New Zealand discovered and named by Tasman, 
 1642, but whose Eastern Coast was known to the Portuguese about 
 1550," and also against Cook's Strait, east side " Gulf of the Portu- 
 guese, 1550." On old charts also, the East Cape is marked as Cabo 
 Formosa. Tasman, who had under his command the yacht " Heems- 
 kirk," and the fly-boat " Sea Hen," appears from his chart to have 
 made the coast at Cape Foulwind on the west coast of Nelson. Coas- 
 ting to the North he entered Massacre Bay and came to anchor there ; 
 apparently without the slightest provocation he was attacked by war 
 canoes full of armed Maoris and lost several of his men. This in- 
 duced him to weigh anchor and sail to the eastward. He then anchored 
 off the mouth of the Pelorus River, and again weighing he made still 
 farther to the eastward, but not perceiving the strait, and having, as 
 he says, the land all about him, he 'bouted ship and made for the 
 westward and northward. On the 26th December, after the subsid- 
 ing of a north-easterly gale, Tasman sighted Mount Egmont and the 
 coast of Taranaki. To Cape Egmont he gave the name of Cabo Pieter
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 13 
 
 Boreels. Bearing off the land he failed to discover the Siigarloaves, 
 but he approached the coast near to Kawhia, and then sailing north- 
 ward discovered the cape which he named after his patron's daughter, 
 afterwards his wife, " Cape Maria Van Diemen." 
 
 Captain James Cook was sent by the British Government, in 1768, 
 to Tahiti to observe a transit of Venus over the sun's disc. After 
 reaching that island and making a successful observation of the transit, 
 which occurred on June 3rd, 1769, he sailed southward and made the 
 coast of New Zealand on the 6th October of that year. Sailing 
 northwards from Poverty Bay, and doubling the North Cape, he came 
 in sight of Mount Egmont at 7 o'clock on the evening of Wednesday, 
 January 10th, 1770. "At this time," says Cook, "Albatross Point 
 bore N.E., distant nearly two leagues, and the southernmost land in 
 sight bore S.S.W. W., being a very high mountain and in appear- 
 ance resembling the Peak of Teneriffe. In this situation we had 
 thirty fathoms of water, and having little wind all night we tacked 
 about four in the morning, Thursday, llth, and stood in for the shore. 
 Soon after it fell calm, and being in forty-two fathoms water, the 
 people caught a few sea-bream. At eleven a light breeze sprang from 
 the west, and we made sail to the southward. We continued to steer 
 S. by W., and S.S.W. along the shore, at the distance of about four 
 leagues, with gentle breezes from between N.W. and N.N.E. At 
 seven in the evening we saw the top of the peak to the southward 
 above the clouds, which concealed it below. At noon, on the 1 2th, 
 we were distant about three leagues from the shore which lies under 
 the peak, but the peak itself was wholly concealed by clouds ; we 
 judged it to bear about S.S.E., and some remarkable peaked islands 
 which lay under the shore, bore E.S.E., distant three or four leagues. 
 At seven in the evening we sounded and had forty-two fathoms, being 
 distant from the shore between two and three leagues. We judged 
 the peak to bear east, and after it was dark we saw fires upon the 
 shore. At five o'clock on the morning of Saturday the 13th we saw 
 for a few minutes the summit of the peak, towering above the clouds 
 and covered with snow. It now bore N.E. it lies in latitude 39 
 16' S., longitude 185 15' W., and I named it MOUNT EGMONT, in 
 honor of the Earl. It seems to have a large base, and to rise with a 
 gradual ascent ; it lies near the sea and is surrounded by a flat country 
 of pleasant appearance, being clothed with verdure and wood, which 
 renders it the more conspicuous, and the shore under it forms a large 
 cape, which I have named Cape Egmont. It lies S.S.W. | W., 
 twenty-seven leagues distant from Albatross Point, and on the north 
 side of it are two small islands, which lie near to a remarkable point 
 on the main, that rises to a considerable height in the form of a sugar 
 loaf." 
 
 The next navigator who approached the shores of Taranaki 
 was M. Marion du Fresne, a Frenchman, who made the land hero on 
 the 10th February, 1772. He named the mountain Lo pic do Mius- 
 carin, after the name of his ship. This unfortunate commander was 
 shortly afterwards killed and eaten by the Maoris at the Bay of
 
 14 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Islands. Crozet, one of his officers, in his narrative of this sad affair, 
 says : " The natives treated us with every show of friendship for 
 thirty-three days, with the intention of killing and eating us on the 
 thirty-fourth." It is supposed that the French unwittingly broke the 
 tapu, by taking some drift- wood from the shore for the ship's use, on 
 which the tapu had been laid. Colonel Wakefield, in his despatches 
 mentions the presence of a Russian man-of-war on this coast, and of a 
 trigonometrical measurement of the mountain by a German mathema- 
 tician on board, but of this event we possess no farther account.
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 15 
 
 CHAPTER V. ' 
 
 THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. 
 
 fHE discoveries of Captain Cook, in the South Seas, led to the 
 formation of a British penal settlement at Botany Bay, or 
 more strictly speaking at Sydney, in New South Wales. The 
 British commercial spirit was quickly manifested in the young colony, 
 and was fostered to a considerable extent by the need of home freight 
 for the ships visiting the colony. Whales, especially those yielding 
 sperm, were known to abound in the surrounding seas, and vessels 
 were fitted out and despatched for their capture. Flax (phormium) 
 and spars for masts and yards of ships were known to be in abundance 
 in New Zealand, and small trading vessels were sent thither to barter 
 with the natives for these commodities. 
 
 In 1814 the Rev. S. Marsden, senior chaplain of New South 
 Wales, started on a missionary tour to New Zealand, preaching his 
 first sermon in the country at the Bay of Islands on Christmas Day 
 of that year. Shortly after this visit, Church of England and Wes- 
 leyan Mission stations were established in the neighborhood of the 
 Bay. It having been discovered that whales abounded on the New 
 Zealand Coasts, whaling vessels were sent thither from Sydney, and 
 shore parties were also established in spots favourable for the business 
 of catching whales and preparing the oil. Traders from Sydney 
 visited the rivers and maritime villages of the Islands, giving manu- 
 factured goods for scraped flax and for spars. These people after 
 establishing a trade left agents, whose business it was to collect cargo 
 during the absence of vessels. The Maoris very quickly appreciated 
 the benefits of trade, bringing as it did to them many comforts and 
 conveniences to which they had heretofore been strangers. Iron pots 
 for cooking, blankets, clothing, and tobacco were in special request. 
 Each tribe, nay, each hapxi sought to have a resident pakeha trader, 
 and to these traders chiefs' daughters were freely given to wife. The 
 Bay of Islands soon became a port of refreshment for whaling ships 
 of various nations ; here they could refit, procure spars, firewood, 
 potatoes and pigs. On the Kororareka beach a small town sprang up, 
 peopled with whalers, traders, absconding seamen, and escaped convicts, 
 and in this Alsatia, where no law but that of might prevailed, 
 scenes were enacted which tended to undo much that the missionaries 
 had attempted for the improvement of the Maoris. In consequence 
 of the representations of the local authorities of New South Wales, 
 and of a letter to King William the Fourth from thirteen New 
 Zealand chiefs, praying for the protection of the British Crown, 
 Lord Ripon, on the 14th June, 1832, despatched Mr. Busby to tho 
 Bay of Islands, as British resident, accrediting him to certain ollicers 
 of tho Church Missionary Society, and thereby treating the country
 
 16 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 as a foreign state. Mr. Busby, on his arrival, was hailed by the 
 roughs as a man-of-war without guns, because he came among them in a 
 state of legal and administrative helplessness. In 1834, in conse- 
 quence of the assumptions of the Baron de Thierry, the Resident, 
 assisted by Missionaries, attempted to establish a Native Government, 
 a number of chiefs being procured to form a confederation, and 
 to declare the independence of the country. On 29th April, 1834, 
 General Bourke, Governor of New South Wales, transmitted to Lord 
 Stanley a proposal from Mr. Busby for establishing a national flag 
 for the tribes of New Zealand in their collective capacity, and advised 
 that ships built in the islands, and registered by the chiefs, should 
 have their registers respected in their intercourse with the British 
 possessions. Sir R. Bourke reported that he had sent three patterns of 
 flags, one of which had been selected by the chiefs, and that the chiefs 
 had assembled with the commanders of the British and three 
 American ships to witness the inauguration of the flag, at which 
 inauguration the officers of H.M.S. Alligator were also present. The 
 flag had been declared to be the " National flag of New Zealand," 
 and being hoisted, was saluted with twenty-one guns by the Alligator, 
 British ship of war. On 21st December, 1834, a dispatch was 
 addressed to Sir R. Bourke by Lord Aberdeen, approving of all 
 these proceedings in the name of the king of Great Britain. A copy 
 of a letter sent to the Admiralty was also sent stating that they had 
 instructed their officers to give effect to the New Zealand registers 
 and to acknowledge and respect the National flag of New Zealand. 
 
 Attempts were made by public companies to colonise New Zealand 
 in the years 1825 and 1837, which were resisted by the Government. 
 In 1833, Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield published his "View of the 
 Art of Colonisation," the principle of his system being that the new 
 lands of the colonies should be sold in small allotments at low prices 
 to settlers, and the funds thus obtained be expended in carrying out 
 fresh emigrants. This system was adopted by the founders of South 
 Australia, and it was with a view of colonising New Zealand on this 
 plan that on the 22nd of May, 1839, the New Zealand Company was 
 formed with the following directory : 
 
 Governor : The Earl of Durham. 
 Deputy-Governor : Joseph Somes, Esq. 
 Directors : The Right Hon. Lord Petre. 
 
 John William Buckle, Esq. 
 
 Russell Ellice, Esq. 
 
 Ralph Fenwick, Esq. 
 
 James Brodie Gordon, Esq. 
 
 William Hutt, Esq., M.P. 
 
 George Lyall, Esq. 
 
 Stewart Majoribanks, Esq. 
 
 George Palmer, Esq., M.P. 
 
 John Pirie, Alderman. 
 
 Sir John Sinclair, Bart., M.P.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 17 
 
 John Abel Smith, Esq., M.P. 
 
 William Thompson, Esq., Alderman, M.P. 
 
 Colonel Ton-ens. 
 
 Sir Heniy Webb, Bart. 
 
 Artlmr Willis, Esq. 
 
 George Frederick Young, Esq. 
 
 To these the following names wei-e afterwards added : 
 T. A. Hankey, Esq. ; T. Weeding, Esq. ; J. Ellerker Boulcott, 
 Esq. ; A. Nairne, Esq. ; Hon. F. Baring, M.P. ; Sir W. Molesworth, 
 Bart. ; -Viscount Ingestre, M.P. ; J. R. Gowen, M.P. ; E. G. Wake- 
 field, ^Jsq. ; John Hine, Esq. ; Hon. F. Tollemache, M.P. ; H. A. 
 Aglionby, Esq., M.P. ; Alderman Copeland, M.P. ; R D. Mangles, 
 Esq. ; (J. Buller, Esq. ; W. King, Esq. ; Sir Pvalph Howard, Bart., 
 M.P. ; Viscount Courtenay, M.P. ; Sir J. L. Goldsmid; A. Hastie, 
 Esq. ; J. Pilcher, Esq. ; G. Lyall, Esq. ; Alexander Currie. 
 
 The names of these gentlemen are a sufficient proof of the res- 
 pectability of the Company. Thirteen of them were members of 
 Parliament, three were aldermen of the city of London, and the 
 majority of the remainder were either princely merchants, or extensive 
 ship owners. The Company did not so much seek for direct personal 
 gain as for a fresh outlet for British commerce, and a field of emigra- 
 tion for the over-populated districts of Britain in a time of great 
 commercial depression. . That object was ultimately attained, but it 
 was in the face of a fierce and powerful opposition. Opposed by the 
 Colonial Office, and denied a Charter, the Company engaged in the 
 forlorn hope x>f colonising a land ostensibly governed by a flimsy con- 
 federacy of native chiefs, who might possibly one day attempt to devour 
 each other ; but in reality, ruled so fai; as there was any government, 
 by a missionary hierarchy. After the Company had despatched their 
 pioneers, circumstances arose which rendered it impossible for the 
 Government to withhold a Charter. One was accordingly granted on 
 12th February, 1841. Owing to the opposition of many of the 
 Church of England missionai-ies in New Zealand to the unjust and 
 arbitrary measures of Governors Hobson and Fitzroy, and owing also to 
 the Wairau massacre, the Company were compelled to suspend opera- 
 tions in 1844. In consequence of this the Imperial Parliament passed 
 two Acts, one in 1846 granting to the Company a loan of 100,000, and 
 another in 1847 giving them an additional loan of 136,000, with 
 this proviso, that if they could not repay the money in 1850 they 
 were to discharge the debt by surrendering their charter and property 
 to the Crown. In 1850 the charter was relinquished, and a New 
 Zealand Settlement Bill passed the Imperial Parliament, by which 
 Act the debt of 236,000 was cancelled, and the directors were to 
 have five shillings an acre for their property in the island ; in other 
 words 268,370. In 1852, when a constitution was granted to New 
 Zealand, one fourth of the price of all lands sold was appropriated for 
 the payment of the capital and interest of this debt, and the directors 
 offered to cancel it on the immediate payment of 200,000. In 1856 
 2
 
 18 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 a Bill passed the General Assembly of New Zealand authorising the 
 borrowing of this sum which was to be paid off by the middle Island 
 Provinces on condition that their revenue was not taken to purchase 
 native lands in the North Island. With the aid of the Home Go- 
 vernment the money was borrowed in 1857, and at a meeting of the 
 directors of the Company in 1858 the debt was paid.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 19 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE OPERATIONS OF THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. 
 
 /J\N May 13th, 1839, the New Zealand Company despatched from 
 Xy the Port of London their first ship, the Tory, 400 tons, Captain 
 
 I Chaffers, laden with British manufactured goods for the pur- 
 pose of barter. Captain Chaffers was singularly fitted for the com- 
 mand of this vessel, being one of the best navigators in the royal navy, 
 and having been master of the Beagle surveying ship when Captain 
 Fitzroy was making for the Admiralty a survey of the New Zealand 
 coasts. On board were Colonel Wakefield, the brother of Edward 
 Gibbon Wakefield, the Company's principal agent, a gentleman who 
 had distinguished himself in Spain and Portugal .as an intrepid com- 
 mander of a i-egiment of Lancers ; Mr. Edward Jerningham Wakefield, 
 his nephew and secretary ; Doctor Ernst Dieffenbach, of Berlin, and 
 Fellow of the Royal Society of England, the Company's naturalist ; 
 Mr. Heaphy, draughtsman ; Mr. John Dorset, Company's agent ; and 
 Nati, a Maori interpreter. 
 
 After a good passage of ninety-six days they sighted New Zealand, 
 and on the following day came to anchor in Queen Charlotte's Sound. 
 The Maoris paid friendly visits to the ship and the Europeans paid 
 frequent visits to the shore. After staying at the anchorage till the 
 31st, they weighed and took the ship up to Terawiti. -Here Richard 
 Barrett came on board from a whale-boat, and Colonel Wakefield 
 engaged him as his factotum as pilot, interpreter, and Maori agent. 
 Barrett was born at Rotherhithe, near London, and came out to 
 Sydney, from whence he removed to New Zealand, living and marry- 
 ing with Ngatiawa, with .whom he traded and fought. He had with 
 him a powerful negro who had escaped from an American ship, and 
 went by the name of Sippy or Scipio. At Terawiti Colonel Wake- 
 field came in contact with Guard, an old whaler, who conducted him 
 in a boat to the Pelorus river ; he being a man well acquainted 
 with that part of the coast. In 1827, being then njaster of a trading 
 vessel, Guard had taken shelter from a gale in the Pelorus. On 29th 
 April, 1834, while being conveyed with his wife and family from 
 Sydney to Port Underwood, hi the whaling ship Harriet, Capt. Hall, 
 he was wrecked on the coast of Taranaki proper, not far from Cape 
 Egmont For six days friendly relations were maintained between 
 the shipwrecked ]>eople and the Maoris ; the plunder of the wreck 
 probably diverting the attention of the latter. The vessel had a 
 quantity of soap on board, a substance with which the Taranaki were 
 totally unacquainted. SupjKxsing it to be food, they cooked it in their 
 ovens, and ate a quantity of it. After this a quarrel arose in which 
 twelve sailors and twenty-five natives were killed, and Mrs. Guard, 
 two children, and ten seamen made prisoners. Guard and several 
 sailors were allowed to depart on promising to return with powder as
 
 20 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 a ransom for the others. Guard proceeded to Sydney and represented 
 the matter to the Government, which sent H. M. S. Alligator, Capt. 
 Lambert, to rescue the prisoners. This was effected, but according to 
 Thompson, in a treacherous manner ; many Maoris were killed, and 
 two villages destroyed. 
 
 Hearing that the Rev. Henry Williams had sent a message to the 
 Maoris at Wellington, advising them not to sell their land, and 
 promising to visit them shortly in his schooner, Colonel Wakefield 
 determined to reach that spot as quickly as possible. This Mr. 
 Williams was, in his younger days, an officer in the Royal Navy, and 
 he is -said to have been on "board the Shannon at the time she engaged 
 the Chesapeake in the American War of 1813. After that he 
 took holy orders, and came to New Zealand as a missionary in 1823, 
 taking up his abode at the Bay of Islands, where he built a schoonei*, 
 and navigated it himself to Sydney and to various parts of the New 
 Zealand coast. He was a most uncompromising opponent to coloniza- 
 tion, but he laid claim to twenty-two thousand acres of land, out of 
 which he was awarded nine thousand acres. He died in 1872, at an 
 advanced age. 
 
 On the 20th September, the Tory entered Port Nicholson, being 
 piloted thither by Richard Barrett. E. Puni and Warepori, two 
 principal chiefs of the Ngatiawa, came on board, and entertained with 
 satisfaction Colonel Wakefield's proposal to buy the land. On the 2nd 
 November, the Toiy was again in Queen Charlotte's Sound. Under 
 this date Colonel Wakefield writes : " The Natives here, some of 
 the ancient possessors of Taranaki, are very desirous that I should 
 become the purchaser of that district, in order that they may return 
 to their native places without fear of the Waikato tribes. They will 
 yield all their claims on the district to the Company, but stipulate for 
 the same reservation of land for Mr. Barrett and the children of the 
 late Mr. Love as for the Native chiefs ; these two Englishmen having 
 lived for so many years among the Ngatiawa during their wars, and 
 having had children born of Maori wives on the spot, have long been 
 considered as belonging to the tribe." On 8th November, 1839, a 
 deed was executed in Queen Charlotte's Sound, by which the Ngati- 
 awa conveyed to the Company all the land from the Mokau river 
 past Taranaki, Wangamii, and Wellington, to Cape Tikukahore, in 
 latitude 41 on the East Coast. This deed was personally signed by 
 thirty Maoris, and by two by proxy. The chiefs E Hawe and E 
 White signed it, and the hapus signed as follows : Puketapu ten, 
 and one by proxy ; Ngamotu sixteen ; Taniwa one ; Ngatimaru one ; 
 the chief E Riri signed by proxy. The witnesses were : Richard 
 Barrett, Richard Lowry, George Doddney, and Himiona. 
 
 Having completed this business in Cook Strait, Colonel Wakefield 
 resolved to proceed to the North to view some land at Kaipara, 
 which the Company had bought of the New Zealand Association. On 
 his way he determined to leave Dr. Dieffenbach and Barrett at 
 Ngamotu, and to take them up on his return. The following is 
 his account of the voyage :
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 21 
 
 "SUGARLOAF ISLANDS, 
 
 " Wednesday, November 27th, 1839. 
 
 " At length, after a tedious voyage of nine days from Kapiti, being 
 only 1 30 miles off, having experienced much bad weather and three 
 gales of wind, we anchored this morning in nine fathoms water, at 
 two miles from the land to the north of these islands. The gale had 
 left a heavy swell which caused a great surf on the beach, so as to 
 prevent a boat landing. Mr. Barrett, with Te Atirau and E Whare, 
 whom you will recollect I brought from Port Nicholson, .went near 
 the land in a boat, and succeeded, after some time, in making them- 
 selves recognised by the inhabitants. Two chiefs swam off to the 
 boat through the surf and came on board the ship. This specimen of 
 communication with the shore will give a bad opinion of the place as 
 regards its roadstead, and I can say nothing to palliate it. It is com- 
 pletely open to the north-west, and never accessible but after a long 
 calm or south-east wind, both of which are rare events. Ships, more- 
 over, would have a difficulty in going to sea, if a gale came on sud- 
 denly. No talking on the part of the natives took place in the boat ; 
 surprise at seeing their old friends, and the national custom preventing 
 any demonstration of feeling ; but after coming on board an affecting 
 scene took place, in which one of the new comers described the 
 wretched existence that he and his companions had led since the mass 
 of the tribe had migrated to Cook Strait, six years ago. Continual 
 war had been carried on against them by the Waikato people ; and 
 nothing but the refuge afforded by the Sugarloaf peaks had preserved 
 the small remnant, not amounting to more than fifty, who still held 
 their ground, with occasional assistance from their southern neighbors. 
 They expressed great anxiety respecting their future fate ; hoped their 
 enemies now being missionaries would no longer persecute them ; but 
 declared their intention not to remove from, but to die on the laud of 
 their grandsires. Mr. Williams had been here a fortnight ago, and 
 had left at Otamatua, where the original Taranaki people 'live, many 
 missionary books and some instructors. The country to the south of 
 Mount Egmont, after doubling the Cape, appears extremely valuable ; 
 an immense table land extends as far as the eye can reach, no part of 
 which is free from vegetation. The finest flax grows nearly to the 
 sea side. Immediately at the base of the mountain, towards the sea, 
 many volcanic upi>earances present themselves in the confused assem- 
 blage of hillocks, the nature of the rocks, and the black sand surroun- 
 ding them. The mountain commences at about twenty miles from 
 the coast, and slopes down gradually to the north for at least forty 
 miles. Within this slope and the sea is a fertile undulating plain, 
 covered with small timber and abundant vegetation. It is belted by 
 a narrow ridge of sand hummocks, and in its fertility and general 
 appearance strongly reminds one of French Flanders, to which its 
 dangerous and inconvenient coast further assimilates it. 
 
 , "Thursday, November 28. 
 " It being impossible to collect the chiefs whose consent is requisite
 
 22 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 for the transfer of the land from Manawatu to Mokau, under at least a 
 week, and having been detained so much by baffling winds, I deter- 
 mined not to remain longer here, but to leave Mr. Barrett, who would 
 be an efficient agent in the transaction, from his intimate knowledge 
 of the territory I am desirous to acquire, from his personal influence 
 with the chiefs, and from the acknowledged claims he has by marriage 
 and the birth of his children on the land. He accordingly landed this 
 morning with his wife and children, with instructions to assemble the 
 numerous chiefs on a coast line of 150 miles in a month's time, when 
 I am to return to make the payment for the different districts, and 
 to receive the written assent of the chiefs to the sale. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the qualities of the soil of the Taranaki district, 
 which are allowed to be superior to those of any land in these islands, 
 such is the difficulty of communicating with it by water, that I do 
 not see any probability of settlers being placed there for some years. 
 Looking, however, to the future, and to the interests of the Company's 
 future representatives, and hoping that by the unconquerable energies 
 of the British inhabitants, this country will shortly assume a different 
 aspect as regards its interior communications, sanguinely hoping 
 even to see commenced such an undertaking as the construction of a 
 road from this district, and that of all the valuable land to the north- 
 ward of Port Nicholson, a distance of not more than 156 miles, in 
 which, however, many obstacles in the mountain ranges occur, I 
 cannot but be anxious to obtain this fine territory. The many con- 
 flicting interests and divisions of the occupants, whose numbers and 
 places of residence you will find in the table, would render it almost 
 impossible for any individual without shipping and large means at 
 his disposal to acquire this portion of country ; and the agent I have 
 employed is from his connection with the natives, perhaps the only 
 man who could negotiate the bargain, I have every hope that on 
 my return here the completion of it will be effected. 
 
 " Dr. Dieffenbach, the naturalist, also remains on shore here with 
 the view of ascending Mount Egmont, and of examining the country 
 in the neighborhood. As it could seldom happen that a man of 
 science should have the opportunity of being put down here, with a 
 family who could protect him in what has hitherto been considered, 
 with reason, the wildest part of New Zealand, with time to examine 
 the most important district as regards mineralogy in these islands, 
 and to be taken off again when he had achieved his object, I strongly 
 recommended him to stay here in preference to proceeding to Kaipara, 
 which has been visited by many naturalists, and presents nothing so 
 worthy of the examination of the learned. We got under weigh so 
 soon as the party had landed, and with a fair wind stood to the 
 northward,"
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 23 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 i 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF DOCTOR DIEFFENBACH IN TARANAKI. 
 
 ERNST DIEFFENBACH, the New Zealand Company's 
 naturalist, in his work entitled " Travels in New Zealand " 
 thus describes his adventures and explorations in the Taranaki 
 district : 
 
 " On the 22nd of November we obtained the long-wished-for view of 
 Mount Egmont, and also of the Ruapahu, both of which were to a 
 great extent covered with snow. But they were soon again hid from 
 our view ; and it was only on the 27th of November, after having 
 experienced much bad weather and several severe gales, that we 
 anchored to the northward of the Sugarloaf Islands, about two miles 
 from the shore. Soon after we had cast anchor a waterspout rose not 
 far from us. The weather had now begun to clear up ; and I 
 scrutinised the sides and lofty summit of Mount Egmont, which, 
 once thrown up by the mysterious fires of the deep, was now appa- 
 rently in a state of repose, to discover whether there was any possi- 
 bility of ascending it, an undertaking which had never yet been 
 achieved. 
 
 " We had brought from Port Nicholson one of the principal chiefs, 
 Tuarau, who was delighted to see the land of his birth, and to assist 
 the Company's agent in the purchase of it. Our boat, which was 
 sent ashore, was unable to land on account of the surf, but brought 
 back two natives who had plunged into the foaming sea and swum 
 to it The meeting on our deck between them and Tuarau 
 was almost solemn ; they did not utter a word, and struggled to 
 conceal the deep feelings which evidently agitated them. 
 
 " Our anchoi'age was not regarded as safe ; and as the continual 
 gales of the last few days had left a heavy swell, which made com- 
 munication with the shore difficult and hazardous, it was determined 
 that the Tory should proceed on her voyage to the northward, and that 
 Mr. Barrett should remain in Taranaki to keep possession of the 
 land for the New Zealand Company. I immediately resolved to stay 
 with him, and we landed on the morning of the 28th. I could not 
 have found a better opportunity for examining a district so little 
 known, and determined to occupy the time until the return of the 
 Toiy in ascending Mount Egmont, which I exj>ected would prove in 
 more than one respect an interesting and profitable achievment. I 
 must mention that Mr. Barrett had lived for several years near the 
 Sugarloaf Islands, prior to the period when almost all the original 
 natives yielded, after a long-continued contest, to the tribe of the 
 Waikato, who live about sixty miles to the northward. The natives 
 of Taranaki migrated to the eastward, and settled on both sides of 
 Cook's Straits, and especially at Kapiti, Port Nicholson, and Queen
 
 24 . HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Charlotte's Sound. Only a few remained, who could not be per- 
 suaded to leave the land of their forefathers, for which, indeed, 
 all migrated tribes evince the greatest predilection, and cherish the 
 hope that, by the help of the European colonists, they will one day 
 be able to return and recover their lost territory. Since the removal 
 of the majority, the small remnant of the original natives of Taranaki 
 had lived a very agitated life, often harassed by the Waikato, and 
 seeking refuge on one of the Rocky Sugarloaf Islands, at times dis- 
 persed into the impenetrable forest at the base of Mount Egmont, 
 sometimes making a temporary truce with their oppressors, but always 
 regarded as an enslaved and powerless tribe. They could not, how- 
 ever, be induced to join their relations, and the reader can well 
 imagine with what joy they hailed the arrival of their old friend 
 Barrett, and how they cherished the hope of rising from the degra- 
 dation in which they had lived for so long a time, and again becoming 
 an independent tribe. 
 
 " We landed to the northward of Paritutu, or Sugarloaf Point, a 
 dome-like cone of trachytic porphyry, which rises to about 500 feet, 
 and stands quite by itself. We turned our whale-boat over, and made 
 preparations for passing the first night under it. 
 
 " As soon as we had landed the Tory weighed her anchors, and with 
 a favourable breeze, was soon out of sight. 
 
 " On the beach, from which large -sand-hills here rise, I picked up 
 many specimens of the neat and delicate shells Spirula australis. 
 
 " The land near the beach is, in some parts, covered with shrubs ; in 
 others the loose sand here and there acquired some solidity from the 
 roots and fibres of a running carex, which is the first preparatory 
 step to its becoming fit for other plants. In several places behind 
 these sand-hills lagoons of fresh water are found, which abound with 
 ducks, but contain no other fish than some large eels, in order to 
 catch which the natives formerly cut through the sand-hills and 
 emptied the lagoon. Round these lagoons the vegetation was very 
 rich, and amongst the shrubs was the handsome Apeiba autralis, 
 which I observed here for the first time. 
 
 " Towards Sugarloaf Point, large boulders, all consisting of volcanic 
 rocks of apparently an old date, as basalts, greenstones, trachyte, 
 augitic rock, &c., were cemented together into an extremely solid con- 
 glomerate, which appeared to extend like a stream of lava from Mount 
 Egmont into the sea, but cannot be traced far. Where the water 
 washes these rocks the conglomerate is peculiarly hard, and this is 
 caused by a chemical action of the salt water, either on the particles 
 of the iron pyrites, with which several of the rocks abound, and 
 which often cover the pebbles with a metallic crust, or else on the 
 black titanic -iron-sand which is found on the beach. In some places 
 this chemical action is accompanied by the development of a good 
 deal of heat, which is perceived where, at the retiring tide, the sea 
 leaves ponds of water between the rocks. A strong smell of 
 sulphuretted hydrogren gas may also be observed about a mile from 
 high-water mark, The natives have a whimsical story of an Atua
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 25 
 
 (spirit), who they say was drowned hei-e, and is still undergoing 
 decomposition. 
 
 " In some places the sandy downs at a little distance from the shore 
 are covered with a hard crust of oxydated iron-clay, which forms the 
 most fantastic shapes of tubes, saucers, &c., evidently owing to the 
 oxydation of the particles of iron in the sand by water and air, and 
 subsequent adhesion to each other. All this interested me much, 
 proving a former extensive activity of volcanic powers, the centre of 
 which was Mount Egmont, situated at a distance of twenty-five 
 miles ; its summit afforded me a never-failing object of attraction 
 when it was free from clouds, or when the morning or evening sun 
 gilded its snowy summit with a rosy hue. 
 
 " Aqueous formations were visible on both sides of Sugarloaf Point ; 
 they consisted of cliffs of yellow clay, and in some places contain for- 
 mations not of coal or lignite, but of wood embedded in discoloured 
 blackish earth. Towards Mokau these formations are especially 
 visible, and form everywhere one of the most remarkable features in 
 the geology of New Zealand. Elevated about ten feet above the 
 level of the sea, they consist, according to all that I could ascertain, 
 of the remains of trees belonging to species still existing in the island, 
 and are an indubitable proof that an elevation of the land above the 
 level of the sea has taken place at a period when the same vegetation 
 existed as at present. I never found any remains of animals in these 
 formations, which are however irregular and interrupted. 
 
 " It is a question of great interest to geologists, to what cause is to 
 be ascribed the formation of those extensive coal-fields which form 
 the principal source of our industry, whether they have taken their 
 rise from the submersion of a whole forest, or the floating of 
 uprooted timber in estuaries of the sea or lakes, or whether they are 
 due to the submersion of peat-beds. Guided by the principle that 
 the former epochs in the earth's history can be best deciphered by 
 studying her present aspect and the alterations which are going on 
 before our eyes, I have arrived at the opinion that our coal formations 
 were formerly peat ; that the timber which is deposited in estuaries 
 or inland lakes will ultimately become lignite or brown coal, which 
 has lost scarcely any of the qualities of wood. A river which brings 
 vast masses of wood to the sea must of necessity deposit them in a 
 very unequal manner, mixed with alluvium of various descriptions, 
 and must imbed in this formation such testaceous animals as are 
 living near the spot. Such is the case at present with the New Zea- 
 land rivers ; such are the lignitic formations which we observe at 
 present above the level of the sea in this country ; and of the same 
 nature are the mines of lignite which are worked in many parts of 
 Germany. Will anybody contend that it is possible by any agency 
 whether by the pressure of a suj>erincumbent formation, or by 
 igneous causes from below, or by both agencies combined to convert 
 that mixture of trees and earthy or mineral substance into the homo- 
 geneous substance which is spread out in such regular stratifications, 
 and whigh we call coal 1 I, for my part, cannot credit the possibility
 
 26 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 of such a change. It is different with peat, which occupies large tracts 
 in the countries out of the tropics, very often in horizontal and equal 
 layers, and which we see imbedding trees in an upright position. If 
 artificially compressed it resembles coal far more than does any lig- 
 nitic substance that I have ever seen. I have brought specimens of 
 peat from the Chatham Islands, taken from a layer not in actual for- 
 mation, but covered by a loamy earth several feet in thickness. In 
 these specimens, which it was evident were formerly pure peat, I can 
 observe a conchoidal fracture and lustrous appearance greatly resemb- 
 ling coal, whilst in other parts of the same specimen the gradual tran- 
 sition from true .peat is evident. I am well aware that eminent 
 geologists have contended for the double origin of coal, and others will 
 only admit the simple one from wood ; but they will, probably, come 
 to a different conclusion if they turn their attention more to present 
 processes, and divest their minds of preconceived ideas regarding a 
 difference of phenomena in former days. 
 
 " One of the Sugarloaf Islands also consists of aqueoiis deposits, 
 namely, yellow and soft sandstone. But the rest of these islands are 
 steep and conical masses of a greyish trachyte, containing much feld- 
 spar, with scarcely any vegetation oil them beyond the Phormium 
 tenax, Mesembryanthemum australe, Pteris esculeiita, Peperomia 
 d'Urvillei, Microcalia australis, epacris, linum, &c. Numerous sea- 
 weeds float at their base, amongst which were the Laminaria flabelli- 
 formis, Sargassum carpillifoliiim, Marginalia urvilliana, <fec. 
 
 " I found about twenty natives near Sugarloaf Point ; the place 
 seemed only a fishing station ; the remainder of the Taranaki tribes 
 lived either on concealed potatoe-plantations, or farther south near 
 Cape Egmont. On our arrival being known, they assembled around 
 Mr. Barrett, and with tears welcomed their old friend. In a singing 
 strain of lamentation they related their misfortunes and the continual 
 inroads of the Waikato. The scene was truly affecting, and the more 
 so when we recollect that this small remnant had sacrificed everything 
 to the love of their native place. I perceived in the evening how 
 much they stood in dread of the "Waikato. A fire had been observed 
 in the direction of Kawhia, and the fear that the Waikato were 
 again on their way to Taranaki kept them awake during the greater 
 part of the night. 
 
 " The principal village of the Taranaki natives formerly stood a 
 little to the eastward of Sugarloaf Point. Besieged by the Waikato, 
 who had come in great numbers from Kawhia, they effectually kept 
 them at bay, with the help of Mr. Barrett and eight other traders, 
 who at that time lived with them in the village. Three pieces of 
 cannon in their possession made great havoc amongst the Waikato. 
 The exasperation on both sides was great, and the prisoners captured 
 at occasional sorties were devoured. The Waikato at last raised 
 the siege, and returned to Kawhia ; nevertheless the Ngatiawa 
 resolved to quit the district, and, 2,000 in number, they started 
 together with "the Europeans. This took place in November, 1832. 
 At a second attack the Waikato destroyed the pa, of which now
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. ' 27 
 
 scarcely any vestige remains, with the exception of the fosses ; the 
 cannons had been spiked by the Ngatiawa on their departure, and 
 were still lying on the beach. 
 
 " South of Sugarloaf Point to Cape Egmont and Waimate, the 
 country, as I ascei^tained from many subsequent excursions, slopes 
 very slowly from Mount Egmont to the sea-coast. In fact the 
 country is so level round the base of Mount Egmont that the latter 
 seems almost to rise immediately from the plain. The coast forms 
 a cliff of moderate height, and consists of a yellowish sandy loam- 
 an excellent substratum for a rich moidd which covers the top, and 
 which increases in depth towards the foot of the mountain. Near 
 the sea-shore the soil is light, intermixed with sand. In general the 
 land for three or four miles from the coast is open, and covered with 
 a uniform vegetation, especially of flax or fern ; in the little dales, 
 however, are groves of trees, or swamps covered with bulrushes and 
 reeds. 
 
 " A countless number of small streams here discharge themselves 
 into the sea : scarcely a mile was passed without our crossing a 
 streamlet, which was sometimes knee-deep. They came from Mount 
 Egmont, or from several small lagoons situated between it and the 
 coast. 
 
 " The Sugarloaf Islands are five in number : the three nearest the 
 shore are Pararaki, Paparoa, and Mikotahi ; then Moturoa ; and 
 afterwards Motumahanga, which is the outermost. Besides, there 
 are some rocks and reefs. The native name for them, as well as for 
 the whole district near Sugarleaf Point, and for the tribe formerly 
 living near them, is Ngamotu the Islands. 
 
 " To the northward of Sugarloaf Point are three small creeks the 
 Huatoki, the Henui, and the Waiwakaiho. Everywhere on their 
 banks are traces of former cultivation and of native villages, but now 
 no one lives here : thus the finest district in New Zealand is almost 
 uninhabited a sad instance of the mutual hatred existing among 
 savage clans. 
 
 " The natives could not understand what induced me to ascend 
 Mount Egmont ; they tried much to dissuade me from the attempt, 
 by saying that the mountain was tajnt, that there were nyarara 
 (crocodiles) on it, which would undoubtedly eat me ; the mysterious 
 bird ' moa,' of which I shall say more hereafter, was also said to 
 exist there. But I answered that I was not afraid of these creations 
 of their lively imagination, and if they wanted large payment for 
 their land I must first go and look at it ; that it was possible though 
 not very probable that the monikoura (money-gold) was found on 
 the mountain, and that if, through their refusing to provide me a guide, 
 I was the first to reach the summit, I should make the mountain tapu 
 for myself, according to their own law. An old Tohunga, or priest, 
 was therefore persuaded to show the way as far as he knew it, and 
 with him, and an American man of colour, I started on the 3rd 
 of December. Tangutu-na-Waikato, as the worthy chief was called, 
 was particularly qualified for the oflice of guide on this exjuxlition.
 
 28 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 In the wars between the Ngatiawa and Waikato, the latter had 
 earned away his two wives into slavery ; he himself escaped to the 
 mountain, where they were unable to find him. There he lives by 
 himself, as all his kindred are gone, and cultivates small patches in 
 the impenetrable forest, which supply him with food. The Waikato 
 often chased him, but he was always fortunate enough to escape. 
 The old man was renowned for his skill in the arts and the -mystic 
 lore of a priest of his nation, and had lately become a zealous mis- 
 sionary ; and although he almost invariably kept his puka puka 
 (hymn and prayer books) upside down when he pretended to sing his 
 psalms or read the service, yet what he sung or said pretty neai'ly 
 corresponded with the text, as he knew the books by heart A mat 
 of his own manufacture, as he had no female to work it for him, was 
 his only dress ; a- hatchet his only weapon. We did not take much 
 provision with us, as the party in Ngamotu had little to spare, and as 
 we had no means of carrying it. I trusted to my gun and to the 
 stores of Tangutu in the bush. 
 
 " Our road led us along the beach to the northward. We crossed 
 the Huatoki and Henui creeks, and then turned into the interior over 
 the downs and hillocks of the coast which were covered with ferri 
 and flax, overshadowed here and there by a picturesque ti (Dracaena 
 australis). About two miles from the coast we came into a low 
 shrubby forest where the soil consisted mostly of a veiy dark vege- 
 table mould. Tangutu had here cleared a place in the middle of the 
 bush, where he had formed a clean and well-weeded garden, planted 
 with potatoes, taro, onions, water-malons and pumpkins. Not far 
 from this point we crossed the river Waiwakailio, a rapid but not 
 very deep stream, with a broad and pebbly bed, all the pebbles con- 
 sisting of hard and blue trap-rock. About a mile farther we passed 
 another deep creek Mangoraka a tributary of the Waiongona, 
 where my guide had another potatoe-field. The forest consisted 
 generally of tawa ; here and there might be seen a majestic rimu 
 pine, or rata, bearing crimson flowers. There were many aborescent 
 ferns, and in the deepest shade grew the Nikau palm (Areca sapida). 
 Sometimes we came to an open spot, several square miles in extent, 
 probably cleared by natives, but now grown over with the highest 
 Phormium tenax I ever saw. The leaves in many instances were 
 twelve, and the flower-stalks twenty feet long ; the flowers contain a 
 kind of sweet liquid in considerable quantities, the extraction of 
 which forms a favourite occupation among the New Zealand children. 
 The cryptogamous plants, ferns, jungermannias, and mosses, bear in 
 New Zealand rather an undue proportion to the phanerogamous a 
 circumstance which is unfavourable to the rearing of bees. I am not 
 aware that there is any native bee in New Zealand, but in certain 
 seasons the European bee would find a great quantity of honey and 
 wax in the Phormium tenax. Bees have been introduced into New 
 Zealand from New South Wales. My excellent friend, the Rev. 
 Richard Taylor, at Waimate, had a hive, and they were thriving 
 remarkably well ; but in that neighbourhood many European plants 
 had been introduced,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 29 
 
 " The country began now to rise a little, but the elevation was so 
 slight as to be scarcely perceptible. Everywhere vegetation appeared 
 most vigorous, and the primeval forest was often almost impenetrable, 
 on account of thick creepers, and the briers, tataramoa (m&ws), of 
 which several species are found, and which tore our hands and faces 
 severely. We scarcely ever obtained a view of the sun, and the 
 shade of the trees produced a delightful coolness, although the ther- 
 mometer in open places rose to 90, and at six in the evening on a 
 hill it stood at 80. We did not see many birds, and I need scarcely 
 repeat that the most perfect silence reigned through the forest. 
 Although we walked on a track, it was one visible only to the eyes of 
 Tangutu ; and it was not until after much practice that I could dis- 
 tinguish, in the turning or the pressure of a leaf, indications that 
 the path had ever been trod by mortal feet. My guide went patiently 
 forward, carrying a heavy load for me, without a murmur, although 
 a priest and a person of consequence among his own people. We soon 
 came to another potatoe-field of Tangutu, whei'e he had a house ; he 
 here entered the forest, and quickly returned with some fern-root and 
 some dried shark which he had concealed, and which greatly increased 
 our scanty stock or provisions. In consequence of the insecurity of 
 their persons and property, it is very usual with the Taranaki natives 
 to have plantations of this sort in the forest, which are often known 
 to the proprietor alone, and to which he can fall back in times of 
 need. Frequently Tangutu would on a sudden make me stop on the 
 way, and, entering the forest, would return either with a dried fish, 
 or with some oil contained in a dilated joint of kelp, with which he 
 would grease his dark and glossy hair ; sometimes he brought a 
 handful of leeks, which were always welcome. ,<' 
 
 " At sunset we arrived at the clear summit of the hill, where we 
 found several houses for provisions, which are always built on posts, 
 to guard against the rats, and also two other houses. A thick forest 
 surrounded this place on all sides. The plantations of potatoes, all 
 belonging to Tangutu, and planted with his own hands, were in 
 tolerably good order. There was no want of provisions ; and pigeons, 
 }>otatoes, leeks, taro, cabbage, turnips, and the young shoots of 
 Sonchus oleraceus were all at our command. 
 
 " Before it was quite dark, flights of the Austral Nestor passed 
 over our encampment, shrieking in a dismal manner, and alighted for 
 a moment on one of the dead trees at the skirt of the forest, to watch 
 with a stupid curiosity what was going on below ; but they soon 
 became quiet, with the rest of the inhabitants of the forest. In the 
 twilight there was also a small bat flying about, but I did not succeed 
 in shooting one. During the day a sandfly (ityamu), a tipula, is veiy 
 troublesome in New Zealand, especially near the sea-shore ; and, 
 diminutive as they are, they are perhaps the most bloodthirsty 
 animals that exist, attacking aU the most exposed parts of the Ixxly. 
 With the last ray of the sun they all disapj>ear, but are immediately 
 replaced by the mosquitos, which, however, are numerous only in 
 particular spots, such as the cleared places of the forest. We had
 
 30 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 taken our abode in an old house, where the rats ran over us all night, 
 and two species of smaller animals, not to be named to ears polite, 
 were by no means scarce. An old native house is a hotbed for all 
 vermin, and after this night's experience I always preferred sleeping 
 in the open air, or under my own tent, which I found by far the most 
 comfortable. 
 
 " Before sunrise on the 4th of December the thermometer stood at 
 44. We took an east-south-east direction, and after descending the 
 hill we had to pass a large creek flowing to the eastward. Our road 
 lay over gently undulating hills, which were covered with a dense 
 forest. The cabbage-palms were the highest I ever saw. We 
 passed several other streams, and at noon halted at another 
 plantation belonging to our guide. He rested here during the day to 
 arrange our provisions for the continuance of the journey. This 
 field was situated at the side of .a river, which rolled over a pebbly 
 and rocky bed, and was canopied by the trees on its banks. From 
 the high towai trees a graceful moss hung down in long festoons. 
 This creek was the Mangoraka, which we passed the day before. 
 
 " The temperature here at noon was 91 in the sun and 72 in the 
 'shade, and I found the heat very oppressive. 
 
 " I could not prevail upon Tangutu to start the next morning, as 
 this was his last plantation. The sky was overcast, and he said that 
 the weather would be bad for several days. We had some dried 
 shark and potatoes, with maize, but not sufficient to last us many 
 days. Birds are everywhere scarce, and too small to be worth 
 powder and shot. One bird that I found here is of a new species ; 
 it is called E Ihi, and belongs to the class of the honey-eaters. 
 Another bird, the tierawaki (Icterus rafisater Less.,), is very common. 
 It is as large as a blackbird, of a jet-black plumage, with red-brown 
 coverlets on the wings and tail. It has two small orange-coloured 
 appendages at the base of the beak. This bird is seen on the lower 
 branches of trees, is very lively, and has a loud penetrating note.' It 
 always screams when anything attracts its attention huei, huei, 
 tierawak, tierawak. It feeds principally on fleshy berries, but also 
 on coleopterous insects. 
 
 " Pouring rain lasted during this and the following day. On the 
 afternoon of the 7th, the weather having somewhat cleared up, we 
 started, but had not proceeded far before the rain again compelled us 
 to halt. It must be observed that travelling through the bush in 
 New Zealand is rather a scrambling affair, and with a load is very 
 fatiguing, and cannot be kept up for a long time. Fifteen miles I 
 considered a very good day's work, even in the open parts of the 
 island. We took up our quarters under the shelter of a rata-ti'ee. 
 Several species of the kind to which this enormous ti-ee belongs were 
 common ; but the pukatea was the most frequent. I was roused in 
 the night by the psalm-singing of old Tangutu, who could not sleep, 
 and was probably afraid that Atua was determined to oppose our 
 ascending the sacred mountain by means of the bad weather which 
 had now set in.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 31 
 
 " On the 8th we several times crossed the Mangoraka. Its banks 
 are steep, and from one of them Tangutu dug out a titi ; this bird, a 
 Procellaria, or mutton-bird as it is commonly called, has many pecu- 
 liarities. In the month of December it conies from the sea to the 
 mountains inland, especially to the fore-hills of Mount Egmont. 
 Here the female, which is at that time veiy fat, but afterwards 
 becomes thin and emaciated, lays one egg, which is remarkably large 
 for the size of the bird. Instead of building a nest, she deposits and 
 covers over her egg in a deep channel under 'the roots of trees, or at 
 the sides of a cliff, and never leaves the place until the egg is hatched. 
 The natives believe that during this period the female takes no food, 
 and have accordingly named it " the bird of one feeding " (He manu 
 wangainga tahi. 
 
 " On the 9th we travelled for some time on the right bank of the 
 Waiwakaiho river, which is the largest of those that take their rise 
 on the northern side of Mount Egmont. Although of very unequal 
 depth, it is a true mountain stream ; it rolls over a broad bed of 
 boulders and pebbles, and" often rises suddenly when the snow melts, 
 or when the rain has been heavy. Its banks were moderately 
 elevated ; on their top the land was flat, and the whole was covered 
 with forest of the wildest and most primeval aspect. We passed 
 numerous tributaries of this river, some of which were of considerable 
 depth, owing to the late rains, which had also formed stagnant pools 
 between the roots of old trees. At one place Tangutu con- 
 ducted us into the bed of the river, whence we had the satisfaction, 
 for the first time since we had entered the forest, of seeing Mount 
 Egmont, which rose to the south-by-west, covered with snow, but with 
 its summit hid in the clouds. The dense forest 011 both sides of the 
 liver formed, as it were, a framework to the picture. My guide 
 suddenly stopped at the bank near this point, and, clearing away with 
 his hatchet a few of the young towai-trees, chanted some hymns, and 
 begged me to read a chapter from St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. 
 On my asking the reason of this sudden procedure, he told me that 
 many years ago, going with a party to fetch kdkowai (red ochre), from 
 the foot of the mountain, they had been surprised at this spot by a 
 party of Waikato, and that in the struggle which ensued his mother 
 had l)een killed. He had never, he said, visited that spot without 
 paying a tribute to her memory. 
 
 " We stopped for the night on a low island in the Waiwakaiho, 
 called Waiwiti, grown over with kahikatoa (Leptospennum), inter- 
 mixed with a junceous plant the Hameliuia veratroides of Achillo 
 Richard (Astelia Banksii), the seeds of which form the food of the 
 kiwi and weka (Apterix australis and Rallus australis). The island 
 bore evident marks of being frequently overflowed, as large stems of 
 drifted trees were collected on it. The river Waiwakaiho is extremely 
 well adapted for the application of water-power to manufactories and 
 mills ; and the whole district of Taranaki, as far as I have yet seen, 
 rivals any in the woi'ld in fertility, beauty, and fitness for becoming 
 the dwelling-place of civilised European communities.
 
 32 HISTORY OF TARAKAKI. 
 
 " Our provisions grew veiy scanty ; and when on the following 
 day the sky was again overcast, and the rain poured down in torrents, 
 I almost gave up the hope of ever reaching the summit of Mount 
 Egmont, especially as Tangutu now frequently lost all trace of the 
 right tlirection. We proceeded, however, along the left bank of the 
 river, wet to the skin. The trees' over which we had to clamber were 
 extremely slippery, and, although they preserved their outward shape, 
 we often sunk knee-deep into their soft and decayed substance. To 
 appease our hunger we had nothing but the young shoots of a fern, 
 or the mucous undeveloped leaves of the Cyathea medullaris ; these, 
 with the heart of the cabbage-palm, and, in open spots, the roots of 
 the Pteris esculenta, are, generally speaking, the only eatables that 
 can be obtained in a New Zealand forest. The rain had made my 
 gun useless a matter, indeed, of less consequence, as there was no 
 game, and very few of the smaller birds. The confidence shown 
 by these birds proved that they are not often disturbed by the 
 approach of man. The boldest was a fly-catcher of an ashy colour, 
 which hopped continually over the rotten trees, searching for insects. 
 It builds its nest on the lowest branches of small trees, where they 
 join the stem, and constructs it neatly of moss, lining it inside with 
 the soft and villous cover of the young undeveloped leaves of the 
 Cyathea medullaris. 
 
 " The rain continued during the 10th and llth, and all our pro- 
 visions were gone. We could procure no dry wood to make a fire ; 
 we had no tent with us, and got but little shelter from the trees. 
 During these nights the forest assumed a beautiful appearance : the 
 fallen trees, and almost the whole surface of the ground sparkled in 
 a thousand places with the phosphorescence of the decayed matter ; 
 we seemed to have entered the illuminated domain of fairy-land. 
 
 " When the weather cleared up we determined to return, abandon- 
 ing, for the present, the attempt to reach the summit of the mountain. 
 Taking a different track from that by which we had come, we again 
 stood on the sea-shore on the evening of the 15th of December. 
 
 " Dining our absence plenty had reigned at Nganiotu : the natives 
 had daily gone out fishing, and the quantity of fish they took was so 
 great that they were enabled to dry large numbers in the sun for 
 store. Pigs and potatoes had also been brought from the soxithward. 
 A Waikato chief, with his followers, had come on a friendly visit 
 from Kawhia, and there was apparently a good understanding between 
 them and the natives at this place. The abundance of food enabled 
 me to start again on the 19th, determined, at all hazards, to accomplish 
 the ascent of the mountain. I persuaded E Kake, one of the chiefs, 
 to accompany me, who took a slave with him, and sent on before a 
 female slave to one of his plantations which lay in our route, with an 
 order to prepare maize-cakes for us to carry as provisions. The 
 companions of my last trip again accompanied me, and our party was 
 joined by Mr. Heberley, a European, who had come with us from 
 Teawaiti, where he had lived for several years as a whaler, and who 
 was most expert in finding his way through all the difficulties
 
 HISTORY OF TARAXAKI. 33 
 
 attending such an expedition as this. This time I was more fortu- 
 nate. Although we took a different route, in order to obtain 
 provisions at the settlements of E Kake, in four days we reached 
 our last halting-place at the foot of the mountain. We had to walk 
 for some distance along the rocky bed and through the icy ' water 
 of the Waiwakaiho ; but notwithstanding the force of its rapid 
 current, which often threatened to throw us down, we heeded not the 
 difficulty, as we had the gratification of seeing the summit of the 
 mountain directly .before us. We climbed at last up a ridge rising 
 on the left bank of the river, and running in a north-east direction 
 from Mount Egmont. This ridge is very narrow, and forms, towards 
 the river, a sharp escarpment ; nor was it without much difficulty 
 that we reached its crest. Higher up is a frightful precipice, close to 
 the edge of which we had to walk. Lying down, we looked over 
 into the deep gorge, which appeared to have been split asunder by 
 volcanic agency, and to have been hollowed out more and more by 
 the action of the river. This i-idge was still covered with wood ; but, 
 as we ascended, the trees gradually became less lofty, and soon gave 
 way to stunted shrubs. Low and crooked pines, especially totara and 
 miro, and the manuka, gave a character to the vegetation as affiliated 
 kinds of trees do to the mountain-crests of Europe. -I found one 
 plant of ar new pine two feet high, and very much resembling the 
 Tax us baccata of Europe. The thermometer rose during this day 
 to 76, and when we halted in the evening, shortly before sunset, it 
 stood at 61, but fell back immediately afterwards to 51, and the 
 cold became very severe ; our altitude was about 5,500 feet. We 
 prepared to rest amidst the stunted and dwarfish shrubs amongst 
 which I observed the Dracophyllum rosmarinifolium, Solidago 
 arborescens, and several other compositous plants. We were able to 
 obtain sufficient firewood a little way down the sides of the ridge, 
 where we found many bleak and dry stems of large dimensions. 
 
 " The escarpment which I have mentioned consisted of a blue 
 basaltic Java, overlaid to the depth of from ten to fifteen feet by a 
 formation of fragmentary rocks, boulders, and pebbles, 'which how- 
 ever, I could not accurately examine. 
 
 " Scarcely any birds were to be seen at this height ; the cry, how- 
 ever, of the parrots re-echoed from the woody gorges ; and a little 
 bird, which is ]>eculiar to these heights, busied itself in our neighbor- 
 hood ; it is related in shaj>e and habits to our Sitta, but is much 
 smaller, and of a dark-green plumage. It is the Acanthisitta 
 tenuirostris of our Index, and called piwauwau by the natives, 
 
 " Not far from this point the ridge forms a platform from which 
 rises the pymamidical summit. We reached the platform by 
 descending into a deep gorge which an arm of the Waiwakaiho river 
 has scooped out of the blue lava. We walked with ease in the rocky 
 channel thus formed, and soon came to the source of this arm, which 
 took its rise from under a frozen mass of snow which filled up the 
 ravine and remained unmelted, although it was now in the middle of 
 .summer. This place, however, is not to bo regarded as Iving within 
 3
 
 34: HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 the limits of perpetual snow, as the duration of this frozen mass 
 resulted from the fact that the influence of the sun was obstructed 
 by high walls rising on both sides. There was very little vegetation 
 here ; I collected, however, a Viola, a primulaceous and ranuncula- 
 ceous plant, a Myosotis, and the Microcalia australis, the southern 
 representative of our daisy, which it much resembles. We now 
 began to ascend the cone, which, consisted of cinders, or slags of 
 scoiiaceous lava, of various colours white, red, or brown, and had 
 been reduced almost to a gravel, so as to offer no resistance to our 
 feet. These volcanic products can be distinguished in their 
 lithological characters from scoriae of the Auvergne. We soon came to 
 the snow, at a point of about 1,500 feet below the summit. The 
 limits of perpetual congelation in New Zealand correspond nearly 
 with the result obtained by calculation according to Kirwan's formula, 
 which, taking 59 as the mean annual temperature of New Zealand, 
 would give the limit of perpetual snow 7,204 feet ; deducting this 
 number from 8,839 feet, which is about the height of Mount Egmont, 
 we have 1,635 feet below its summit as the lowest point at which 
 snow is perpetual. Vegetation had long ceased, not from the great 
 elevation, but from the entire absence of even a patch of soil where 
 plants might take root. In the ravines, as I have already observed, 
 the snow was found nmch lower down. 
 
 " As soon as we reached the limits of perpetual snow, my two 
 native attendants (the third had been left behind at the last night's 
 halting-place) squatted down, took out their books, and began to 
 pray. No native had ever before been so high, and, in addition to 
 that awe which the grand scenes of nature and the solemn silence 
 reigning on such heights produce in every mind, the savage views 
 such scenes with superstitious dread. To them the mountains are 
 peopled with mysterious and misshapen animals ; the black points, 
 which he sees from af ar in the dazzling snow, are fierce and monstrous 
 birds ; a supernatural spirit breathes on him in the evening breeze, or 
 is heard in the rolling of a loose stone. It is this imaginative super- 
 stition which gives birth to the poetry of infant nations, as we see in 
 the old tales of the Germans, which evidently have their origin in the 
 earliest ages of the race, and bear the impress of the ethics and 
 religion of a people not yet emerged from barbarism ; but with the 
 Polynesians these fears lead to gross superstition, witchcraft, and the 
 worship of demons. My native attendants would not go any farther, 
 not only on account of their superstitious fears, but because, from the 
 intensity of the cold, their uncovered feet had already suffered 
 severely. I started, therefore, for the summit, accompanied by 
 Heberley alone. The slope of the snow was very steep, and we had 
 to cut steps in it, as it was frozen on the surface. Higher up we 
 found some support in large pieces of rugged scoriae, which, however, 
 increased the danger of the ascent, as they obstructed our path, which 
 lay along a narrow ridge, while on both sides yawned an abyss filled 
 with snow. However, we at length reached the summit, and found 
 that it consisted of a field of snow about a square mile in extent.
 
 ' HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 35 
 
 [It is really bxit an acre in extent.] Some protruding blocks of 
 scoriae, of a reddish-brown colour, and here and there slightly vitrified 
 on the surface, indicated the former existence of an active volcano. 
 A most extensive view opened before us, and our eye followed the 
 line of coast towards Kawhia and Waikato. The country over which 
 we looked was but slightly elevated ; here and there broken, or with 
 irregular ramifications of low hills, towards the snowy group of the 
 Ruapahu in the interior, which bore N. 60 W. [It really bears 
 east.] I had just time to look towards Cook's Straits and distinguish 
 Entry Island, when a dense fog enveloped us, and prevented all 
 further view. Whilst waiting in the hope that the fog would 
 disperse, I tried the temperature of boiling : water with one of Newman's 
 thermometers, and found it to be 197^, the temperature of the air 
 being 49, which, taking 55 as the mean of the temperatures at the 
 summit and the base, would give 8,839 feet as the height of Mount 
 Egmont ; the whole calculated according to the tables given in 
 an article in the London ' Geographical Journal,' vol. iii., and 
 communicated by Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Sykes, F.R.S. 
 
 " I have above mentioned that the cone, forming the summit of 
 Mount Egmont, rises from a platform. The cone of cindei*s' and 
 scoriaceous lava is separated from this platform by a deep saddle, 
 which descends laterally towards the side of the mountain. The 
 high rocky walls, near the source of the Waiwakaiho, show the com- 
 position of the exterior cone to be a hard lava of bluish-grey colour, 
 which sounds to the hammer like phonolite or clink-stone, and breaks 
 into lai-ge tabular fragments. The wall where this rock is seen is 
 fissured in a perpendicular direction. There seems to be a great 
 scarcity of simple minerals in the principal rock of which this 
 mountain consists. 
 
 " The natives have no historical account of any eruption of Mount 
 Egmont, and maintain that the country at its base is less subject to 
 movements of the earth than any other parts of the islands, 
 especially those which are the most mountainous. They have, indeed, 
 tales which, if divested of their figurative dress, might be referred to 
 the recollection of former volcanic activity ; such is their account 
 that the Tongariro and Mount Taranaki are brother and sister, and 
 formerly lived together, but quarrelled and separated. 
 
 " The branches or buttresses which Mount Egmont throws out 
 towards the sea-coast and to the interior being of inferior height, the 
 cone itself appears to be very isolated. A ridge of hills runs towards 
 Cape Egmont ; another, that on which we made the ascent, goes to 
 the north-east-by-east, and a third towards the interior, in the direction 
 of the Ruapahu and the still active volcano of Tongariro. 
 
 " On the summit of the mountain I found the entire skeleton of a 
 rat, carried there, no doubt, by a hawk. 
 
 " After staying for some time on the summit, in the vain hope 
 that the clouds which enveloped us would disperse, we retraced our 
 steps, and accomplished the descent with comparative ease. The 
 natives expressed their joy at seeing us again, as they had already
 
 36 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 given its up as lost. We encamped on the bank of the left branch of 
 the Waiwakaiho amidst trees of the Leptospermum species. Our 
 resting-place which, from finding the boiling-point to be 207 
 Fahrenheit, while the mean temperature of the air was 57, I 
 calculated to be 2,699 feet above the level of the sea was the utmost 
 limit of the excursions of the natives ; at this spot they obtain the 
 best sort of kokowai in the bed of the river, which was for some 
 distance quite yellow from a solution in its waters of this oehreous 
 substance, which glazed the rocks with a metallic coating. Imme- 
 diately on our arrival our native companions set to work to make 
 baskets of rushes and flax-leaves, for the carriage of this muddy 
 ochre, which they dug out from swamps formed by the Waiwakahio 
 at its banks. This substance was afterwards slowly dried at the fire, 
 and, by further burning and preparing, a fine vermillion was obtained, 
 which they carried home as an acceptable present to their families. 
 This ochre is formed in great quantities in many places of New 
 Zealand, where water has become stagnant, and is constantly deposited 
 either from the iron contained in vegetables or from the ferruginous 
 soil. I have often seen the natives forming weirs at stagnant creeks 
 in order to obtain it. They use it for many purposes ; when mixed 
 with shark's oil, it forms a durable paint for their houses, canoes, and 
 burying-places ; it is also universally in request to rub into their 
 faces and bodies. The custom of besmearing the body in this manner 
 is common to almost all barbarous nations, and is adopted for objects 
 widely differing. When going to battle, the savage bedaubs himself 
 in order to strike terror and fear into the heart of his enemy ; when 
 joining in the funeral ceremonies or the festivities of his tribe, he 
 employs the same means to increase the beauty of his appearance ; 
 the custom of covering themselves with a thick coating of this 
 substance at the death of a relation or friend may have a symbolical 
 meaning, reminding them of the earth from which they have sprung, 
 and is similar to the practice prevailing among Oriental nations of 
 mourners heaping ashes on their heads. The New Zealander also 
 regards this pigment as a good defence against the troiiblesome sand- 
 flies and musquitos. Whether it is the cause of the sleekness of the 
 skin for which the natives are so remarkable, I will not pretend to 
 say ; .as this may be owing to their frequent bathing and continual 
 exposure to the air, or, which it is still more probable, may be a 
 characteristic feature of the Polynesian and other coloured races, in 
 consequence of a greater development of the vascular pupilhe between 
 the epidermis and cutis than is the case with the white or Caucasian 
 races. 
 
 " But to return from this long digression. The Waiwakaiho was 
 at this point confined between high walls overshadowed by trees ; 
 here and there large masses of the clifis had fallen into the bed of 
 the river. In future times this picturesque valley, as well as Mount 
 Egmont and the smiling open land at its base, will become as 
 celebrated for their beauty as the Bay of Naples, and will attract 
 travellers from all parts of the globe.
 
 HISTORY OP TARAXAKI. 37 
 
 " On the 28th of December \ve again reached the beach without 
 accident, and with somewhat better reason to be satisfied with our 
 success than on our last return. I found a large number of natives 
 at Ngamotu from the Otumatua and Waimate assembled for the 
 purpose of selling the whole Taranaki district. As the return of the 
 Tory was daily expected, the beach looked as if a fail- was being held 
 on it. A European also had arrived from Kawhia, accompanied by 
 many natives, for the purpose of dissuading those at Taranaki from 
 ceding to the Company their territorial rights ; not, however, from 
 any disinterested intention, or for the sake of the Taranaki natives, 
 but because some parties were anxious to buy the land for themselves, 
 either from the small remaining body of the original native 
 proprietors, or, if they woidd not agree to the terms proposed, from 
 their conquerors, the Waikato tribes. It was said that the mis- 
 sionaries were much concerned in these transactions. 
 
 " On the 31st I started in the boat for the Waitara, which is twelve 
 miles to the northward of the Sugarloaf Islands. This river has a 
 bar at the entrance, over which there is onlv five feet of water at low 
 the tide, but inside the bar it deepens considerably, and two miles from 
 its mouth I found the depth to be two fathoms and a half. The Waitara 
 does not take its rise in Mount Egmont, but comes from a hilly 
 range which runs froni Tongariro in a south-westerly direction, and is 
 called Rangitoto. [The Manganui and other tributaries of the Waitara 
 flow from Mount Egmont.] It flows through a fertile and open country. 
 About twelve miles from its mouth, and situated on the left bank, 
 was formerly a large and prosperous village, called Pukerangiora, 
 peopled with 1,500 of the Ngatiawa tribes. About ten years ago it 
 was taken, after a veiy long siege, by the Waikato, and nearly 500 
 of the inhabitants were slaughtered, fifty of them by the hand of 
 Te Wherowhero, who is at present a great ' Mihanere ' (as the natives 
 call those who have adopted Christianity, from the word missionary), 
 and lives at Waitemata or Manukau ; the rest of the popiilation was 
 carried away into slavery. There are no natives here at present, nor 
 is there any trace of the path which formei-ly led from Pukerangioi'a 
 round the base of Mount Egmont to the districts of Cook's Straits. 
 
 " I returned in the evening delighted with the general aspect of the 
 country. 
 
 " We were now in the middle of summer ; the weather was verv 
 agreeable ; the thermometer in the afternoon stood in the shade at 
 86, rising to 100 in the sun, and generally falling in the evening to 
 62. But I must observe that we were living amidst the sand-hills of 
 the coast, which were often so much heated that I could not tear to 
 walk upon them. But we were never a week without rain, and 
 sometimes had a thunder storm, after which a delightful coolness 
 pervaded the atmosphere. The rivulets always retained their 
 quantity of water ; the humidity in the forest rarely ceased ; and the 
 mosses and ferns continued as fresh as ever. Fishing was attended 
 with great success, and I often had occasion to admire the expertness 
 of the women in diving for crawfish in the surf near (lie Sugarloaf
 
 38 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Islands. The New Zealanders, men women and children, swim well, 
 and can continue the exertion for a long time ; in common with the 
 North American Indians, they, swim like dogs, not 'dividing the 
 water, as we do, with the palm of the hands, but paddling along 
 with each arm alternately. Bathing was one of our favourite amuse- 
 ments, as there was a beautiful pond of fresh water immediately 
 behind our hut, and great was the mirth and good fellowship at our 
 daily bathing-parties. 
 
 "In the beginning of January two messengers of the Ngatiawa 
 tribe, who had been enslaved by the Waikato, arrived from Kawhai ; 
 they brought intelligence that the Ngateraukawa had sent to the 
 Waikato to request their aid in exterminating warfare against the 
 Ngatiawa tribe in Waikanae, in revenge for their losses there. 
 They also told us that the Waikato were prepared to make an imme- 
 diate descent on us, in order to prevent the natives of Taranaki 
 from selling any of the land, which they regarded as their property. 
 In consequence of this information we prepared for defence, in case 
 a tribe of the Waikato should attack us during the night, although I 
 did not think that our party had anything to fear. It was impos- 
 sible to sleep, as the natives talked all night as to the possible result 
 of a conflict with the Waikato. On the following morning they 
 advised us to shift our habitation to Moturpa, the largest of the 
 Sugarloaf Islands, and to take all the women and children with us. 
 The men resolved to remain on the mainland opposite the island, and 
 to provide us with necessaries ; if the Waikato should make a 
 descent, they might thus more easily resist, or fly towards the moun- 
 tain. We followed their advice, and lived on Moturoa during the 
 rest of our stay, as we daily expected the arrival of the Tory. This 
 island is a conical rock, extremely steep, about one mile in circum- 
 ference and 300 feet high ; the formation is trachyte. The rock 
 contains much augite and feldspar, and includes here and there 
 fragments of a different formation. The augite appears often in 
 nests ; and the micaceous iron-ore occurs in thin veins. The summit 
 was scarcely accessible, but the native women, with their children on 
 their backs walked up and down the hill, and along steep precipices, 
 with the utmost unconcern. From time immemorial Moturoa has 
 been a place of refuge and security for the Ngatiawa tribes, but 
 more so of late, since the departure of the greater portion of them. 
 Wherever there was a platform, or level space on the rock, they had 
 built dwelling-houses and stores, in which they kept wood and 
 provisions. In case of an attack, they could, if watchful easily keep off 
 an enemy. We took possession of a good house on the north-west 
 side of the island, about 190 feet above the water, and placed in a 
 diy niche, with the rock overhanging it. The vegetation of the 
 island is confined to flax, cabbage, and parsley, which grow in the 
 interstices of the i-ock. 
 
 " On the 10th I started on an excursion to Mokau, situated three 
 day's journey from the Sugarloaves, in order to visit a large tribe of 
 the Waikato" living there. The sou of the chief of that tribe, who
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 39 
 
 had come to Taranaki a few days before, accompanied me as a guide. 
 On the hard sandy beach which lies to the northward of the Sugar- 
 loaves, we passed the Huatoki, the Heiiui, and the "Waiwakaiho 
 rivers. The escarpment of the coast shows here volcanic boulders, 
 kept together by yellow loam. This formation is covered with sand. 
 "From the Waiwakaiho to the river Mirni the shore consists of sandy 
 downs. We passed the latter river at low water. At its right bank 
 is an escarpment, which consists entirely of shai*p-edged volcanic 
 fragments. A whale was lying on the beach, which seemed to have 
 been stranded a few days before. An enormous quantity of drift- 
 wood was imbedded in the sand, intermixed with human bones, 
 probably the remains of the cannibal feasts held during the seige of 
 Piikerangiora. We slept on the banks of the Waitara river, after having 
 passed several smaller streams. From this point the seashore becomes 
 elevated ; the cliffs consisting of a stiff blue clay, with a formation of 
 yellow loam above it. We travelled for the greater part of our route 
 over fertile fern-hills, with beautiful groves of trees. The vegetation 
 continued down to the water's edge. 
 
 " We passed the rivers Onaero and Urenui ; the latter flowed with 
 a sluggish stream through a deep bed of white mud. After we had 
 crossed this river we heard voices at a' distance, and soon came up 
 with a Exiropean, who had been sent by the Wesleyan missionary in 
 Kawhia, and was travelling for missionary objects to the southward. 
 With him was a large pai-ty of Waikato natives, and also men, women, 
 and children _belonging to the tribe of the Ngatiawa at the Sugar- 
 loaves. They had been taken into slavery during the last war, and 
 had been obliged to live at Kawhia ; but now their masters had 
 allowed them to go to Taranaki for the purpose of paying a visit. 
 They saluted us very heartily, rubbing noses and shaking hands, 
 and an old woman began a lamentation over me. I found that she 
 was the mother of Barrett's wife. The undisguised joy and sorrow 
 she expressed when I told her of the fortunes or trials of her daughter 
 and grandchildren, showed me once more how equally Nature has 
 distributed amongst the whole of the human family the kindly 
 affections of the heart, which are not the privilege of any one race or 
 color, nor increased by civilization, which indeed too often blunts 
 and destroys them. 
 
 " The country near the sea-coast bears, in many places, the traces of 
 former extensive native cultivation, and the ruins of several pas. 
 Here formerly lived the Ngatitonia and Ngatimotunga tribes, the 
 present inhabitants of the Chatham Islands, who migrated there many 
 years ago. The whole district between Taranaki and Mokau has not 
 at present a single inhabitant, although one of the most favored 
 districts of New Zealand. 
 
 " Near the Urenui river we again reached the sea-shore ; the cliffs 
 were here about a hundred feet high ; the lowest formation was a 
 marly clay. About twenty feet above the level of the sea was a 
 formation of wood, very little altered or carbonized, and ten feet in 
 thickness, but irregular ; above that was a loamy soil. From the
 
 40 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 lowest formation I dug out a quantity of protophosphate of iron ; it 
 is found in small pieces or balls, is of an earthy consistence, and 
 of a pale blue colour ; the natives call it jmkepoto, and when freed 
 from the earthy particles and washed it is esteemed highly as 
 paint. A little farther on the shore becomes very picturesque ; it 
 consists of a micaceous, soft yellowish, sandstone, which the waves of 
 the sea have worn into the most fantastic shapes ; sometimes it 
 resembles the wall of a fort with round towers, and surrounded by 
 balconies, crowned with beautiful shrubs. In some parts, and at one 
 particular level, large boulders of trap-rock protruded out of the 
 wall, the soft mixture in which they had been deposited having been 
 washed away ; in fact, the whole shore had the appearance of having 
 been artificially cut out. This formation extended as far as Mokau, 
 which place we reached the following day. My arrival was espied 
 from the first pa> which is built on a hill near the outlet of the river. 
 I was welcomed with a salute of musketry, and conducted in the 
 midst of the assembled chiefs, who were dressed in their best attire. 
 The sale of the lands and the colonization of the country by 
 Europeans, engrossed their whole attention, and formed the subject of 
 our interview. On the following day we went several miles up the 
 river, and visited some other pas, which were numerously inhabited ; 
 we were everywhere received with the most studied attention. 
 Disunion had, however, been spread amongst them by the arrival of 
 some native missionaries, sent from the Wesleyan establishment at 
 Ka~whia. The larger and more respectable part of the little com- 
 munity were not well inclined to them, as an idea prevailed that the 
 missionaries sought to convert them only with a view to their own 
 aggrandizement. 
 
 " These natives, which are a subdivision of the tribe of the 
 Waikato, and are called Ngatimaniapoto, seem to be in very pros- 
 perous circumstances. The river Mokau, which takes its rise in the 
 mountains of Rangitoto, a hilly range running near the western 
 coast, flows through a very fertile and moderately hilly district. On 
 its banks are well-cultivated spots, bearing potatoes, maize, melons, 
 and taro ; the natives were also growing a great proportion of the 
 tobacco they consumed in the year. Flax covers extensive districts ; 
 and the industry formerly displayed in manufacturing mats has not 
 yet entirely disappeared. The settlement never having been reached 
 by European visitors or ships, these natives had retained their 
 unsophisticated virtues. They sometimes, indeed, have come in contact 
 with Europeans at Kawhia, where they exchange their pigs for 
 foreign commodities. A brig once entered the river, and from the 
 general aspect it appeared to me as if there was sufficient depth over 
 the bar for vessels of moderate burden, at all events for steamers. 
 Inside the bar I sounded, and found three fathoms ; according to the 
 natives, there is one fathom and a half over the bar at low water. 
 Inside the headlands the river takes a sharp turn, and forms a deep 
 and completely sheltered basin. 
 
 " I returned to Taranaki accompanied by the principal chiefs of
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 41 
 
 Mokau, and greatly satisfied with the reception they had given me, 
 and reached the Sugarloaf Islands after an absence of eight days. 
 
 " After we had waited a great length of time for the return of the 
 Tory, a brig, the Guide, arrived on the 31st January, having on board 
 some gentlemen belonging to the Toiy, and bringing the intelligence 
 that she was refitting at the Kaipara, having grounded on the bar at 
 the entrance to that harbour. This news relieved us from the 
 anxiety which we had felt as to the possibility of securing the 
 Taranaki district for the New Zealand Company ; as since my arrival 
 churchmen and laymen had vied with each other to obtain possession 
 of that district. 
 
 " On the arrival of the Guide a liberal price was given to the 
 natives for their land, and the good will of the Waikato purchased 
 by presents. Thus the New Zealand Company became proprietors of 
 the finest district in New Zealand, which offers to the colonist, 
 besides its natural resources, the advantage of there being no 
 natives on the land, with the exception of the small remnant of the 
 Ngatiawa tribe at Ngamotu. 
 
 " Since the above was written the settlement qf New Plymouth 
 has been established at Ngamotu, or Sugarloaf Point, which must be 
 prosperous even without a harbour, which is wanting there, as it 
 possesses cultivable land, extensive facilities of land communication 
 both with Cook's Straits and along the coast to Mokau and Kawhia, 
 and, as I can state from my own experience, a very delightful 
 climate." 
 
 On the 15th February, 1840, the Maoris of the district signed a 
 deed of sale to the Company, of which. the following is an extract : 
 " Know all men by these presents, that we the undersigned, chiefs of 
 Ngamotu, near Mount Egmont, in New Zealand, have this day sold 
 and parted with all our rights, titles, claims, and interests, in all the 
 lands, islands, tenements, woods, bays, harbors, rivers, streams, and 
 creeks, within certain boundaries, as shall be truly described in the 
 deed, unto John Dorset, Esquire, his executors and administrators', in 
 trust for the Governor, directors, and shareholders of the New 
 Zealand Land Company, in London, their heirs, administrators, and 
 assigns forever. * * * * And in order to prevent any dispute 
 or misunderstanding, and to guarantee more fully unto the said 
 Governors, directors, and shareholders, of the New Zealand Land 
 Company of London, their heirs, administrators, and assigns forever, 
 tnie, undisputed ix>ssession of the said lands, islands, tenements, 
 woods, bays, harbors, rivers, streams and creeks, we, the said chiefs, 
 for ourselves, families, tribes and successors forever, do hereby agree 
 and bind ourselves to the description following, which constitutes tho 
 boundaries of the aforesaid lands, islands, tenements, woods, bays, 
 harbors, rivers, streams and creeks, now sold by_us, the undersigned 
 chiefs, to the said John Dorset, this 15th day of February, in the 
 year of our Lord, 1840, that is to say, from the mouth of the Waka- 
 tino river, along the seashore by Te Kawau, Oman, Tongaporutu, Te 
 Oro, Pariniuilii, Puka, Arawa, Perairoa, Otuinatua, Wukariwa,
 
 42 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 Orapapa, theMimi river, Arapawa, theUrenuiriver,TePianga, Onaero, 
 Waiaua, Te Tanewha, Turangi, the Waitara river, Waiorua, Waion- 
 gona, Rewatapu, Te Puketapu, the Pohui river, Waita, Mangate, 
 Matakitaki, the Puka lagoon, the Waiwakaiho liver, Pukaweka, the 
 Henui river, the Huatoki river, Rawaroa, Te Arawata, Pukatuti, 
 Waitapu, Otaki, Mataipu, Arakari, the Ongeonge lagoon, Te Tutu, the 
 islands of Ki Mikotahi, Moturoa, and Motumahanga, commonly called 
 the Sugarloaf Islands ; Te Kutu, Paparoa, Paritutu, commonly called 
 Sugarloaf Point ; Wahine, Taraiiaki, Mataora, Motuotomatea, 
 Arakawi, Ahanui, Porapora, Waioratoki, Waireka, Omata, Te Wairiri, 
 Opo,Otiti, Tapmvairuru, Kakiorangi, Omura, Oakura, Wakau, Wairau, 
 Waimoku, Otupota-te- Wairiri, Ahuahu, Oraukiwa, to Hauranga ; 
 the said seashore at low water mark forms the north-western 
 boundary of the said lands, islands, tenements, woods, bays, harbors, 
 rivers, streams and creeks. From the Hauranga on the seashore, 'a 
 line striking inland by Patua, Heringa, Pawaka, Te.Kiri, Pouakai, 
 and from the said Pouakai to the summit of Taraiiaki, commonly 
 called Mount Egmont, forms the southern boundary of the said lands. 
 # * * * * . * From the summit of Taranaki, a line striking 
 by Taumataitawa, Purakahua, Wakahinangi, Ratapiho, Pukarimu, 
 Mangotoku, Wakaikatoa, Makahu, Waiigaihu, Moangiha, Te Kopua, 
 Te Waitetanga, "Wangamomona, Makuri, Te Po, to the river Wanganui, 
 and from the said river by Te Taiigitangi. Mangohewa, Paringa, 
 Pukekura, across the Onaero river, to Te Tuahu, by Kaipikiri, Waka- 
 mahuki, Tupari, Pukewakamaru, across the Urenui river by Puketa- 
 rata, across the Mimi river by Rangiurapaki, Waitaoura, Te Pokuru, 
 across the Papatiki by Turangarua, Romanu, Pukakao, Te Awera, 
 across the Wakaramu and Waipikaho rivers, by Paraninihi, Timinuka, 
 and Wangatorowai, on the said Wakatino river, and down the 
 said river and its mouth, forms the eastern and northern boundary of 
 the said lands, islands, tenements, woods, bays, harbors, rivers, streams 
 and creeks. And we, the aforesaid chiefs, do hereby acknowledge for 
 ourselves, families, tribes, and successors forever, to have this day 
 received a full and sufficient payment for the aforesaid lands, islands, 
 tenements, woods, bays, harbors, streams and creeks. 
 
 " In witness whereof, the said Chiefs of the first part, and the said 
 John Dorset of the second" part, have hereunto put their hands and 
 seals this 15th day of February, in the year of our Lord 1840." 
 
 Here follow 72 signatures of Maoris ; also that of John Dorset, 
 Acting Agent for the New Zealand Land Company. 
 
 The deed was witnessed by Richard Barrett, George Doddney, and 
 Ernst Dieffenbach, M. D. 
 
 On the 10th February the Doctor left the roadstead of Taranaki, 
 and arrived at Wellington on the 21st of the same month.
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 43 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE BRITISH ASSUMPTION OF SOVEREIGNTY. 
 
 ^yjL FTER the British Government had fully and unmistakeably 
 -Hi recognised the independence of New Zealand, it discovered that 
 j ^ in so doing it had made a serious mistake. A despatch from 
 the Governor of New South Wales, bearing date 9th September, 1837, 
 and covering two reports illustrative of the then state of New Zealand ; 
 one from Captain Hobson, commanding H. M.S.- Rattlesnake, and 
 the other from the British Resident, brought about a Treasury Minute 
 sanctioning the despatch to New Zealand of a British Consul and 
 eventual Lieutenant Governor, also an advance from the revenues of 
 New South Wales on account of his expenses. By letters patent 
 under the great seal of the United Kingdom, bearing date 1 5th June, 
 1839, the former territories of New South Wales were extended so as 
 to comprehend any part of New Zealand that might be acqiiired in 
 sovereignty by Her Majesty ; and by a commission under the royal 
 signet and sign manual, bearing date 30th July, 1839, William 
 Hobson, Esq., captain in Her Majesty's navy, was appointed to be 
 Lieutenant-Go vernor " over any territory which may be acquired in 
 sovereignty by Her Majesty in the islands of New Zealand." Captain 
 Hobson was instructed by the Marquis of . Normanby to seek the aid 
 of the missionaries in coaxing the Maoris into the cession of the 
 sovereignty of the country to the British Government, and to win over 
 their consent thereto by presents or -other pecuniary arrangements. 
 On 7th November, 1839, Mr. Somes, Deputy Governor of the New 
 Zealand Company, addressed a letter to Lord Palmerston, Secretary 
 of State for Foreign Affairs, complaining that the Colonial Office 
 refused in any way to acknowledge the New Zealand Company, and 
 \irging the immediate assumption of sovereignty over New Zealand 
 by Great Britain on the following grounds : " We are assured that 
 this question engages the attention of various commercial bodias, and 
 of a large portion of the public press in France ; that the sovereignty 
 of England in New Zealand is denied ; that the French Government 
 is urged either to join in that denial by protesting against the 
 colonisation of the islands by England, or to claim an equal right with 
 England to plant settlements there. We are not without fear that 
 some such protest or claim should t>e admitted by your lordship's 
 department, as it appears to have been admitted by the Colonial depart- 
 ment j and we are therefore desirous of laying the following statement 
 before your lordship : 
 
 " It appeare that the agitation of this question in France has been 
 produced by the publication of a Minute of the British Treasury, 
 made at the instance of the Colonial department, and bearing date 
 19th July, 1839, and also an extract from certain instructions recently
 
 44 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 given by that department to Captain Hobson two documents by 
 which the Crown of England seems to repudiate the sovereignty of 
 New Zealand. The apparent repudiation consists of an acknowledg- 
 ment of the sovereignty of the native chiefs, from whom Captain 
 Hobson is to procure, if possible, a cession thereof to Her Majesty. 
 It is this acknowledgment, according to all our information, which 
 has given occasion to the pretensions now urged in France. That 
 which England, it is contended, instructs her officer to procure, if 
 possible, she admits that she does not possess, and she thereby admits 
 the right of France either to obtain sovereign jurisdiction in New 
 Zealand by the means which Captain Hobson is directed to employ, 
 or, if France should prefer that course, to sustain the independent 
 sovereignty of the natives. The argument appears conclusive. It 
 becomes very important, therefore, if it is of great importance to 
 England to prevent the establishment of French power in the midst 
 of the English colonies of Australasia, that your lordship should be 
 made aware of the acts of the British Crown which lead to a conclu- 
 sion directly at variance with that which may be drawn from the said 
 minute and instructions." 
 
 Capt. Hobson sailed to Sydney in H.M.S. Druid. Arriving in 
 safety, he took the oaths of office, and then sailed with a small party 
 of subordinate officers to New Zealand in H.M.S. Herald, arriving 
 at the Bay of Islands on 29th January, 1840. On the following day 
 he issued two proclamations, one announcing his commission, and the 
 other the refusal of the Queen to recognise any titles to land not 
 derived from or confirmed by herself. The Governor by the aid of the 
 British Resident and Missionaries, and by presents of a few casks of 
 tobacco and bales of blankets, obtained the cession, or rather recession, 
 of the sovereignty of the country, and in eight days after his arrival 
 the Treaty of Waitangi, of which the following is the text, had been 
 drawn up by the Missionaries, and signed by many of the natives of 
 the Bay of Islands. 
 
 THE TREATY OF WAITANGI. 
 
 " Her Majesty, Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great 
 Britain and Ireland, regarding with her royal favor the native chiefs 
 and tribes of New Zealand, and anxious to protect their just rights and 
 property, and to secure to them the enjoyment of peace and good 
 order, has deemed it necessary, in consequence of the great number 
 of Her Majesty's subjects who have already settled in New Zealand, 
 and the rapid extension of emigration both from Europe and Australia 
 which is still in progress, to constitute and appoint a functionary 
 properly authorised to treat with the aborigines of New Zealand for 
 the recognition of Her Majesty's sovereign authority over the whole, 
 or any part of those islands. Her Majesty, therefore, being desirous 
 to establish a settled form of civil government, with a view to avert 
 the evil consequences which must result from the absence of the 
 necessary laws and institutions, alike to the native population and to 
 her subjects, has been graciously pleased to empower and to authorise
 
 HISTORY OF TARAXAKI. 45 
 
 me, William Hobson, a captain in Her Majesty's royal navy, Consul 
 and Lieutenant^Govemor over such parts of New Zealand as may be, 
 or hereafter shall be, ceded to Her Majesty, to invite the confederated 
 and independent chiefs of New Zealand to concur in the following 
 articles and conditions : 
 
 " Article the First. The chiefs of the confederation of the united 
 tribes of New Zealand, and the separate and independent chiefs who 
 have become members of the confederation, cede to Her Majesty, the 
 Queen of England, absolutely and without reservation, all the rights 
 and powers of sovereignty which the said confederation or individual 
 chiefs respectively exercise 'or possess, over their respective territories, 
 as the sole sovereign thereof. 
 
 " Article the Second. Her Majesty, the Queen of England, con- 
 firms and guarantees to the chiefs and tribes' of New Zealand, and to 
 the respective families and individuals thereof, the full, exclusive, and 
 undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries,- 
 and other properties which they may collectively or individually 
 possess, so long as it is their wish and desire to retain the same in their 
 possession. But the chiefs of the united tribes, and the individual 
 chiefs, yield to Her Majesty the exclusive right of pre-emption over 
 such lands as the proprietors thereof may be disposed to alienate, at 
 such prices as may be agreed upon between the respective proprietors 
 and persons appointed by Her Majesty to treat with them on that 
 behalf. 
 
 " Article the Third. In consideration thereof, Her Majesty, the 
 Queen of England, extends to the natives of New Zealand her royal 
 protection, and imparts to them all the rights and privileges of British 
 subjects. 
 
 [Signed.] "W. HOBSOX. 
 
 " Now, therefore, we the chiefs of the confederation of the united 
 tribes of New Zealand, being assembled in congress at Victoria, in 
 Waitangi, and we the separate and independent chiefs of New Zealand, 
 claiming authority over the tribes and territories which are specified 
 after our respective names, having been made fully to understand the 
 provisions of the foregoing treaty, accept and enter into the same in 
 the full spirit and meaning thereof. 
 
 " In witness whereof, we have attached our signatures or marks, at 
 the places and dates respectively specified. 
 
 " Done at "Waitangi, this 6th day of February, in the year of our 
 Lord, 1840." 
 
 Here follow 512 signatures. 
 
 On 21st May, 1840, Governor Hobson issued two proclamations at 
 Russell, Bay of Islands, one declaring the Queen of Great Britain's 
 sovereignty over the Northern Island of New Zealand, and the other 
 asserting her sovereignty over the whole of the New Zealand Islands. 
 
 On the 20th February, 1840, the Secretary of the New Zealand 
 Company, at the desire of the directors, wrote to Lord John Russell, 
 enc|osing extracts from the Journal de Havre, a French nowspa]>er, 
 from which it appeared that a French cxj)cdition had been despatched
 
 46 HISTORY OF TARANAKl. 
 
 for the purpose of founding a colony at Bank's Peninsula, in the 
 Middle Island of New Zealand, and that the French entertained the 
 idea of forming a penal settlement in that locality. The Company at 
 the earliest opportunity forwarded to their principal agent a despatch 
 containing all the intelligence they could glean with respect to the 
 doings of the French, and instructed him to aid Governor Hobson in 
 frustrating their designs to the utmost of his power. Governor 
 Hobson, on receiving intelligence of the expected arrival of the French, 
 immediately despatched Capt. Stanley in H.M.S. Britomart to Akaroa. 
 The following is that officer's report of his expedition. 
 
 " Capt. Stanley, K.N., to Lieut. Governor Hobson : 
 
 "Her Majesty's Ship Britomart, at sea, 17th Sept. 1840. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to- inform your Excellency that I proceeded 
 in Her Majesty's sloop under my command to the port of Akaroa, in 
 Banks' Peninsula, where I arrived on the 10th of August, after a very 
 stormy passage, during which the stern boat was washed away, and 
 one of the quarter boats stove. 
 
 " The French frigate L'Aube had not arrived when I anchored, nor 
 had any French emigrants been landed. 
 
 "llth August I landed, accompanied by Messrs. Murphy and 
 Bx)binson, police magistrates, and visited the only two parts of the 
 bay where there were houses ; at both places a flag was hoisted, and 
 a court, of which notice had been given the day before, 'was held by 
 the magistrates. 
 
 " Having received information that there were three whaling 
 stations on the southern side of the Peninsula, the exposed position of 
 which afforded no anchorage for the Britomart, I sent Messrs. Murphy 
 and Robinson to visit them in a whale boat. At each station the flag 
 was hoisted and a court held. 
 
 "On the 15th August the French frigate L'Aube, Capt. Lavaud, 
 arrived, having been four days off the point : On the 16th August 
 the French whaler, Comte de Paris, Captain Langlois, having on 
 board 57 French emigrants, arrived. 
 
 " With the exception of M. Billingi, from the Jardin des Plantes, 
 who is sent to look after the emigrants, and who is a good botanist 
 and mineralogist, the emigrants are all of the lower order, and include 
 carpenters, gardeners, stonemasons, laborers, a baker and a miner, 'in 
 all 30 men, 1 1 women, and the rest children. 
 
 " Capt. Lavaud, on the arrival of the emigrants, assured me on his 
 woi'd of honor, that he would maintain the most strict neutrality 
 between the British residents and the emigrants, and that should any 
 differences arise bet weeen them he would settle matters impartially. 
 
 " Capt. Lavaud also informed me, that as the Comte de Paris had 
 to proceed to sea whaling, that he would cause the emigrants to be 
 landed in some unoccupied part of the bay, where he pledged himself 
 they should do nothing which could be considered hostile to our 
 Government, and that until fresh instructions should be received from 
 our respective Governments, the emigrants should merely build them- 
 selves houses for shelter, and clear away what little land they might 
 require for gardens.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 47 
 
 " Upon visiting the Comte de Paris, I found that she had on board, 
 besides agricultural tools for the settlers, six long 24r-pounder guns 
 mounted on field carnages. 
 
 " I immediately called upon Captain Lavaud to protest against the 
 guns being landed. Captain Lavaud assured me that he had been 
 much surprised at finding that guns had been sent out in the Comte 
 de Paris, but that he had already given the most positive orders that 
 they should not be landed. 
 
 " On the 19th August, the French emigrants having landed in a 
 well sheltered part of the bay, where they could not interfere with 
 any one, I handed over to Messrs. Murphy and Robinson the instruc- 
 tion intrusted to me by your Excellency to meet -such a contingency. 
 
 " Mi-. Robinson finding that he could engage three or four English- 
 men as constables, and having been enabled, through the kindness of 
 Capt. Lavaud, to purchase a boat from a French whaler, decided upon 
 remaining. 
 
 " Capt. Lavaud expressed much satisfaction when I informed him 
 tliat Mr. Robinson was to remain, aixd immediately oftered him the 
 use of his cabin and table as long as L'Aube remained at Akaroa. 
 
 " Mr. Robinson accepted Capt. Lavaud's offer till he could establish 
 himself on shore. 
 
 " On 27th August I sailed from Akaroa for Pigeon Bay. * * * 
 
 " I have the honor to be, etc., 
 
 " W. M. STANLEY, R.N." 
 
 " To his Excellency, Lieut. Governor Hobson, 
 
 New Zealand." 
 
 By letters patent, bearing date 16th November, 1840, the Islands 
 of New Zealand were erected into a separate territory, and on the 
 same date Lieut. Governor Hobson was commissioned Governor and 
 Commander-in-Chief over the said territory.
 
 48 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE SETTLEMENT. 
 | 
 
 T A PUBLIC meeting held in the town of Plymouth, England, 
 on the 25th of January, 1840, was formed the Plymouth 
 Company for colonising New Zealand from the West of England, 
 with a capital of 150,000, and with the following gentlemen as its 
 directors and officers : Governor : The Earl of Devon. Deputy- 
 Governor : Thomas Gill, Esq. Directors : Sir Anthony Buller, 
 Capt. Bulkley, Chai-les Briggs Calmady, Esq., J. Collier Cookworthy, 
 M.D., Nathaniel Downe, Esq., Lord Eliot, M.P., Richard "Willis, 
 Esq., Thomas Gardner, Esq., William John Gilbert, Esq., John Hine, 
 Esq., George Leach, Esq., Sir Charles Lemon, Bart., M.P., E. W. W. 
 Pendarves, Esq., M.P., Edward St. Aubyn, Esq., R. Hippesley Tuck- 
 field, Esq., Right Hon. Sir Hussey Vivian, Bart., M.P. Trustees : 
 Lord Courtenay, John Buller, Esq., Thomas Gill, Esq. Managing 
 Director : Thomas Woollcombe, Esq. Superintendent of Emigra- 
 tion : J. C. Matthews, Esq. The Company purchased from the 
 New Zealand Company 10,000 acres of their newly-acquired land, and 
 on the 1 3th of August despatched their chief surveyor with a staff of 
 officers and men, by the barque London, to select a site for their 
 settlement and to commence the surveys. On the 26th of August the 
 Company made a further purchase of 50,000 acres from the New 
 Zealand Company, which sent out instructions to Colonel Wakefield 
 to give Mr. Carrington. (the Company's Surveyor), every assistance 
 in his power in making the selection. On the 27th August, 1840, in 
 obedience to instructions received from the Surveyor-General, an 
 overland exploring expedition left Wellington for Taranaki. It 
 consisted of Messrs. Stokes and Park, surveyors; Mr. Heaphy, draughts- 
 man to the Company ; Mr. Dean, a volunteer, and six men, bearers of 
 blankets and provisions. After a very fatiguing journey of a month's 
 duration, the party reached the Sugarloaves, and after a very brief 
 stay, retraced their steps to Wellington. 
 
 "Our resting place," Mr. Stokes reports, " was within sight of the 
 Sugarloaf Islands, which we reached the following afternoon, after a 
 fatiguing walk over the rocky beach, crossing in succession the 
 Waimariri, the Timaru, the Oakura, the Tapuae, and the Ongeonge, we 
 passed over a high sand hill, running down to Sugarloaf Point, and 
 descended to the pa on the other side, which is a small collection of 
 huts, without even a fence, and containing very few natives. The 
 house in which we slept during our stay at Ngamotu had been built 
 by the Maoris in expectation of the arrival of immigrants among them, 
 and was intended for their reception. It was the longest house we 
 had met with, being 140 feet long, and 18 feet wide, having seven 
 doors or openings, and a rude verandah in front, about thi'ee feet
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 49 
 
 wide. There are two others in progress, one 011 either side of that 
 just described ; they are to be the same width with the first and 90ft. 
 long. The houses are near the anchorage, on the edge of a terrace 
 which skirts the beach from Sugarloaf Point to the eastward, following 
 the curved line of the bay. The anchorage is formed by three islands 
 and the reefs connected with them, called, from their conical shape, 
 the Sugai-loaves ; the fourth of these conical hills terminates Sugarloaf 
 Point. The district is called from them Ngamotu, ' the islands ; ' 
 and Moturoa, ' the tall island.' The highest of these rocks has an 
 elevation of from four to five hundred feet (503 ft). On the farthest 
 island the natives keep their property and provisions, to secure them 
 from a sudden incursion of the Waikato ti'ibes. The soil from the 
 beach to the hills, which are a quarter of a mile distant, is rich and 
 black, and has evidently, in more prosperous days, been under culti- 
 vation. There is not much wood in the immediate neighborhood ; and 
 the natives bring the wood, used in the construction of their houses, 
 a distance of some miles. All their time of late has been occupied 
 with the erection of houses, even to the neglect of their potatoe grounds. 
 They speak of nothing else but Port Nicholson and the settlers there, 
 and all their questions are directed to that point. The day after our 
 arrival it rained heavily, but the next day we were able to go into 
 the country as far as the wood. The ground in the immediate 
 neighborhood of the beach has been already described ; beyond this it is 
 rather broken. After crossing a small stream, we ascended a hill of 
 very moderate elevation, on the top of which there is a level space of 
 several hundred acres, the low hills on each side sloping towards it ; 
 this is covered with fern of luxuriant growth, indeed, from the hills 
 near the beach to the wood is mostly overgrown with fern. Beyond 
 this, the ground again becomes more broken, until passing a small 
 stream we enteied the wood. We were now obliged to think of 
 returning. From Patea to Ngamotu, from various causes we had found 
 it extremely difficult to procure provisions, and at Ngamotu the diffi- 
 culty was still greater. There is no settlement between Ngamotu and 
 Mokau, so that it was impossible to proceed any farther. I have 
 been since informed that there really is a scarcity along the coast. 
 We regretted this the more, as the district of Waitara, the country 
 immediately beyond Ngamotu, and the land on the other side of 
 Mount Egmont, is said to be more valuable than any portion of 
 Taranaki we had seen. The Waitara is said to have its rise in the 
 Wanganui District. It flows through a level country of the richest 
 description, and after a long and winding course, in which it is navigable 
 for boats the whole way, falls into the sea l>cyond Ngamotu. We 
 could hardly refrain from wishing that a small vessel hud taken us 
 direct to Taninaki with provisions and supplies, to have rendered us 
 independent of every contingency, and enabled us to devote that time 
 which must now be consumed in retracing our steps homeward over 
 the same ground we had already traversed, to exploring and gaining a 
 more ]>erfect knowledge of this district We left Ngamotu on '27 ih 
 September ou our way back to Port Nicholson, and arrived at Patea 
 in six days." 4
 
 50 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 About four months after this expedition had been sent from 
 Wellington by the Surveyor-General to explore the Taranaki country, 
 Colonel Wakefield wrote the following despatch to the Secretary of 
 the Plymouth Company of New Zealand : 
 
 "Wellington, New Zealand, 
 " 22nd December, 1840. 
 
 " Sir, I take the advantage of a ship going direct to Bombay to 
 write to you shortly for the overland mail, and have the honor to 
 acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th August last. 
 Having received by the Martha Ridgway instructions from the Court 
 of Directors in London regarding the New Plymouth Settlement, I 
 was prepared to recommend a place of location to Mr. Carringtoii. 
 Since that gentleman arrived here, I have seen the instructions given 
 to him by the Board of Directors ; and feeling that great responsibility 
 attaches to him, I have refrained from pressing any particular place 
 upon him, until he has seen all that is eligible in the Company's 
 possessions. I have placed the barque Brougham at the disposal of Mi\ 
 Carrington, with a recommendation to proceed in her immediately 
 to Queen Charlotte's Sound, Blind Bay, and Taranaki, with full 
 instructions as to the advantages and capabilities of each place. I have 
 also induced Mr. Barrett, who is better acquainted -than anybody I 
 know with these coasts, to accompany the expedition. Mr. Carrington 
 will proceed, I believe, on his tour of inspection in a few days. 
 As regards the relative merits of the three places I have named, you 
 will be partially informed by my correspondence with Mr. Ward, 
 already published. Queen Charlotte's Sound presents an unexcep- 
 tionable harbor, and it will be for Mr. Carrington to say whether he 
 considers the available level land in it sufficient for the purposes, 
 present and prospective, of the settlement. It strikes me that the 
 hilly nature of the country throiighout it would hold out few induce- 
 ments to British cultivators, until they become better acquainted with 
 the nature of this country, the cleared fern lands of which have been 
 much over-estimated. Blind Bay has a safe anchorage, under Adele 
 Island, and a large flat clear district, with sufficient timber for all 
 purposes, at a distance of fifteen miles from it, but the removal of immi- 
 grants with their goods to which would be a serious drawback to the 
 place. Its position in the Strait is good, the prevalent winds allowing 
 ships to enter and leave the bay at nearly all times. The vicinity of the 
 high mountains at the back renders the climate less agreeable than 
 that of the Northern Island. Taranaki, the district abreast of the 
 Sugarlcaf Islands, has but one disadvantage. It has no harbor. The 
 roadstead is not unsafe for ships well found in ground tackle, and 
 formerly numerous traders used to lie there whilst unloading. Con- 
 sidering the genial climate and fertile soil, the vast space of easily 
 available territory, the land communication with numerous settle- 
 ments, and the facility of transporting produce to Port Nicholson, or 
 Australia by means of small craft which can anchor under shelter of 
 the islands with safety ; seeing in fact, that the only obstacle to the 
 rapid rise of a settlement there is the inconvenience to large ships
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 51 
 
 from Europe, which might be remedied by a breakwater or mole 
 connecting the largest island with the main a work infinitely less 
 formidable than that which in modem times has made the name of our 
 English Plymouth familiar to the world I cannot but recommend 
 Taranaki as the most eligible place for the settlement of her offspring. 
 Permit me to assure the directors of the Plymouth Company, through 
 you, that duly sensible of the nattering recommendation to their 
 surveyor to learn my opinion on this subject, I shall spare no pains 
 to insure to the immigrants, under their auspices, the most favorable 
 location, and to assist the officers of the Company by my advice and 
 exertions upon all occasions. I have &c., 
 
 " WILLIAM WAKEFIELD." 
 
 The following prospectus had meanwhile been issued by the 
 directorate of the Company, and preparations were being made to 
 despatch immigrants immediately on the receipt of intelligence that a 
 site for the New Plymouth settlement had been selected : 
 
 " THE PROSPECTUS OF THE NEW PLYMOUTH COMPANY. 
 
 " The New Plymouth Settlement is intended to consist of three 
 classes of land : (1.) The town land, comprising 2,200 sections of a 
 quarter of an acre each : (2.) The suburban lands, comprising at 
 least 1,150 sections of 50 acres each. All sales in England will be 
 confined, xintil further notice, to actual colonists, on the following 
 terms : (1.) With a view to distribute as generally as may be 
 practicable the advantages to be derived from the possession of 
 preliminary lands, no application from an individual colonist will be 
 entertained for more than eight allotments of lands, each allotment 
 containing one section of town land, and one section of rural land. 
 (2.) Two hundred and fifty allotments are set apart as above 
 mentioned at the price of 75 for each allotment, and applications 
 for the same are to be made in writing to the undei'signed, which, if 
 accompanied by a deposit of 10 in respect of each allotment, will 
 entitle the applicant to receive separate land orders for each town and 
 rural section, with such priorities and rights of selection as are herein- 
 after mentioned, in exchange for the residue of the purchase money. 
 (3.) The numbers signifying the priority of choice for the town, 
 sections have been selected on a fair average from the 1,000 numbers 
 of choice which have fallen to the Company in the general ballot above 
 referred to. These selected numbers are deposited in a wheel, from, 
 which the purchaser's number will be drawn in the presence of three 
 Directors and the applicant, if he chooses to attend, either in person, 
 or by his agent. The purchasers will be entitled to such to\vn 
 sections as may have been chosen by the Company's Agents in virtue 
 of the priority of choice signified by the numbers so respectively 
 drawn. The purchasers will also bo entitled to select the rural 
 sections from any land in the Plymouth Settlement surveyed and 
 declared open for choice as rural sections, at the time and according 
 to the order of presenting the land order in the Colony, subject only
 
 52 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 to the regulations of the land office for preserving fairness and 
 regularity of choice. (4.) The sum of c50, in respect to every 75 
 received for each allotment as above, will be transferred to the 
 Emigration Fund, and a purchaser to the extent of 300 will be 
 entitled to an allowance from the said Fund towards the passage of 
 himself and family to the Colony, at the rate of 25 per cent, on the 
 amount of his purchase money provided that no person will be 
 entitled to a larger allowance on the above mentioned accoimt than 
 will pay his own passage and that of his family, according to the rates 
 which will be issued from time to time by the Court of Directors. 
 The residue of the Fund will be expended in the conveyance of 
 laboring emigrants to the Colony. Any person proceeding to New 
 Zealand with a view to purchase land in this settlement from the 
 Company, will receive liberal allowances in passage money, etc., 
 particulars of which may be obtained at the office. 
 
 " WILLIAM BRIDGES, 
 
 " Secretary." 
 
 By the date of the following letter from the Company's Surveyor, 
 Mr. F. A. Carrington, to ' his brother, it will be seen that the 
 party sent by the Surveyor-General to explore Taranaki had returned 
 and reported the result of their expedition long before the arrival of 
 that gentleman in New Zealand. 
 
 " Ship London, Port Nicholson Harbor, 
 
 " December 14th, 1840. 
 
 " I have just now heard -that there is a vessel to sail to-morrow 
 morning for Valparaiso, and although it is past eleven o'clock at 
 night, and I am much tired with running about I cannot do less than 
 send you a few lines. Capain Blisset sails, perhaps, in tAvo or three 
 days. By him I send letters which I expect you will get long before 
 this reaches you, I shall therefore say but a few words. 
 
 " We had a fine passage, touched nowhere, tried to make Tristan 
 d'Achuna, but could not on account of contrary winds. We were 
 185 days from land to land, and anchored in this place on the morning 
 of the 12th. The scenery is beautiful, and the climate lovely, the 
 only thing in the least against it being the frequency of very stormy 
 winds. Wellington on account of its harbor will no doubt become a 
 great place and the grand depot of the Islands. The land is neither 
 what I could wish, nor what I expected, there being no level ground, 
 but immensely steep hills, covered with evergreen woods to the 
 waters' edge. The surveying goes on . but slowly on account of the 
 heaviness of the countiy. Things are very far from being right with 
 regard to the confidence in the Government. I shall strain every 
 nerve to be off from here as soon as possible and fix upon a locality 
 for New Plymouth. My next letter shall tell you much. I cannot 
 say what I wish now as there is to be a meeting on Tuesday to settle, 
 if possible, the present hitch ; I have not time to Avrite more. 
 
 " Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 "F. A. CARRINGTON."
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 53 
 
 EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OP A SITE FOR THE NEW PLYMOUTH 
 
 SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Colonel Wakefield, hi accordance with the instructions he had 
 received from London to afford Mr. Carrington all the aid in his 
 power in the selection of a suitable, site for the New Plymouth 
 Settlement, placed the barque Brougham at his disposal for that 
 purpose. This vessel was singularly fitted for the sei*vice, being small 
 and easily handled, and possessing a hull of singular strength. 
 Fortunately, the particulars of this exploration have been preserved, 
 and are as follows : 
 
 Journal of Mr. R. H. Aubi-ey, attached to the Surveying Staff at 
 New Plymouth : 
 
 " Port Nicholson, February 2nd, 1841. 
 
 " We left Port Nicholson on an exploratory expedition with a 
 fine S.E. breeze on 8th January, and steered our course in the first 
 instance for Taranaki Mr. Barrett, who was the chief agent 
 employed in effecting the purchases of land for Colonel Wakefield, 
 accompanied us in the double capacity of pilot and interpreter, and 
 it is impossible we could have met with a person better qualified for 
 the task. He has resided for fifteen years in New Zealand, and, 
 from his constant intercourse with the natives has become well 
 acquainted with their language, manners and habits. To this he 
 unites a thorough knowledge of the coasts, especially of Cook's 
 Strait, in which there is not a cove, however unimportant, that has 
 not, at some time or the other been visited by him. He has seen 
 many reverses of fortune, and had some remarkable escapes. More 
 than once, he tells us, he has been tied to the stake preparatory to 
 becoming a meal for one of the chiefs. Two years ago he married, a 
 chief s daughter, and from that moment obtained great influence over 
 the whole of the tribe. He has derived considerable benefit in a 
 pecuniai-y point of view, from the manner in which he exerted 
 himself for the Company. A large wooden hoiise, originally the 
 property of Dr. Evans, now belongs to him, and is the best hotel in 
 Wellington. His wife and several of her relations accompanied him 
 to Taranaki, part of which formerly belonged to them ; and even 
 now they are in possession of a considerable tract of land where they 
 intend settling. The scene that ensued on their landing baffles 
 description ; such lamenting, crying, and rubbing noses I never 
 l>efore witnessed a most extraordinary manner of testifying their 
 joy, and one that was exceedingly amusing to us. We reached our 
 destination the following evening, and anchored in a very unsheltered 
 situation close to the Sugnrloaf Islands. Luckily the breeze subsided 
 or we might have had to slip and run with the loss of a cable. The 
 lateness of the hour compelled us to defer landing till next day. In 
 the meantime our fishing tackle was brought into requisition and 
 a couple of hours enabled us to catch seventy -five large snappers, the 
 smallest of which weighs four ]K>umls. They are similar in appearance 
 to the English mullet, and are capital eating. At daybreak on the
 
 54 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 10th Mr. Barrett landed his family, and shortly afterwards Mr. 
 Carrington, Messrs Baines, Nesbit, Rogan, and myself went on shore 
 with our guns. The natives to the number of at least one hundred 
 were assembled on the beach, busily employed in landing Mr. Barrett's 
 goods and chattels, which was not done without difficulty, for 
 although it was a jdead calm the surf ran high. They gave us a 
 hearty welcome, and having gone through the ceremony of shaking 
 hands, which lasted some time, we were invited into their whares or 
 huts to partake of a collation of fern root and cold water. We next 
 proceeded to take a view of the country, which was not done without 
 difficulty, for almost at every step we were stopped by impenetrable 
 barriers of evergreens and ferns, the latter in many cases considerably 
 above our heads. There are three houses close to the beach built of 
 reeds by the natives for Mr. Barrett ; one of which is 96 feet long. 
 I was astonished at the ingenuity displayed in the erection of these 
 buildings. With no other materials than reed, native grass, that 
 grows in abundance, and flax which serves for ligatures, are they able 
 to construct houses, comfortable, and of considerable durability. 
 Near to a small lagoon I picked up the skull of a New Zealander, 
 and having mentioned the circumstance to Mr. Barrett, he informed 
 me that seven years ago a great battle was fought on that spot, at 
 which he played a distinguished part, his party being besieged. 
 Their pa, or native fort, was surrounded by deep trenches, which are 
 still visible, and defended by several guns, which are at present lying 
 on the beach spiked and dismounted. Although not more than 300 
 men they succeeded, he says, in keeping at bay upwards of 3,000 of 
 the enemy. He relates many horrible and disgusting atrocities that 
 were committed on this occasion. The country about Taranaki is 
 unquestionably better adapted for agricultural purposes than that in 
 the environs of Port Nicholson. For twenty or thirty miles along 
 the whole coast before we reached the Sugarloaves it presented a 
 continuation of flat land. Mount Egmont rises in the back ground, 
 towering far above the surrounding hills, and when the clouds are 
 for a moment withdrawn from the snow clad summit the sight is 
 exceedingly beautiful. The want of a harbor, however, is an 
 insuperable objection to our fixing the site of the settlement here, 
 not one point along the coast having even a cove which could afford 
 shelter to the smallest coaster. There is a very fine beach at Ngamotu, 
 to the north of which is a reef on which the surf during a north- 
 wester is said to break with great fury. Taranaki would undoubtedly 
 become of great importance if a road could only be made from Port 
 Nicholson ; her superfluous produce could then be safely and 
 expeditiously transported to a market. 
 
 " On the llth it was our intention to have visited the Waitara, of 
 which Mr. Barrettt speaks in high terms. Rainy weather, however, 
 compelled us to defer this until the 12th. We started accordingly at 
 day-break, and after rowing for five hours under what might be termed 
 a tropical sun, reached the entrance. Its appearance was, however, 
 inferior to the description he had given. It is unquestionably a fine
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 55 
 
 river, considerably wider than the Hutt, but it is not, and I fear 
 never can be made capable of admitting any but vessels of the smallest 
 tonnage. A bar extends across the entrance. Soundings were taken 
 at high water, and the depth found to average from eight to twelve 
 feet upon it, but there was a considerably greater depth both inside 
 and outside of it. We rowed up the river for nearly three miles, 
 and found its banks covered with a luxuriant vegetation which quite 
 surpassed my expectations. The wretched beings farming it appeared 
 much surprised to see us pounce upon them in so unexpected a manner; 
 but the sight of Mr. Barrett soon dispelled any fears they may have 
 entertained respecting their personal safety. I was too tired to think 
 of returning to the ship that night. In anticipation of this 
 we had brought a tent which we lost no time in pitching, after which 
 we made a hearty meal upon pork and potatoes steamed in a native 
 oven. Having a few hours of daylight left, we determined on making 
 the most of it, and accordingly took a walk into the brushwood, 
 which presented obstructions at every step, and at last we were 
 compelled to give it up without accomplishing our object so satis- 
 factorily as we could have wished. What we did see quite satisfied 
 us that if brought into cultivation the banks of the Waitara might 
 become the garden of the Pacific. There are no hills to contend with 
 as at Port Nicholson, and the size of the timber, with few exceptions, 
 presents but few obstacles to the clearance of the land. Nothing can 
 surpass the quality of the soil if we are to judge from the luxuriant 
 vegetation springing up everywhere. Some potatoe stalks growing at 
 the native settlement exceeded four feet in length. Wild cabbage is 
 also to be found here in the greatest profusion, affording a delicious 
 vegetable. But what chiefly attracted my attention was the Indian 
 corn. This is a plant which I have seen cultivated in France, Spain, 
 and Italy, but never did I see it come to greater perfection than here. 
 These ai-e, I think, sufficient proofs of the fertility of the soil. We 
 had reason to repent the sitiiation we had chosen for pitching our 
 tent. The middle of the bush certainly sheltered us from the rays of 
 the sun during the day, but when night came, notwithstanding a 
 roaring fire to keep them off, we were devoiired by sandflies and 
 mosquitos. These pests, as you may imagine, entirely banished 
 sleep, and so covered our hands and faces with venomous bites, that 
 anyone not knowing the circumstances would have thought we were 
 just recovering from an attack of the measles. Our appearance, in 
 short, was most wretched, and great was our delight at finding 
 ourselves on our way back. But our troubles were not yet at an 
 end ; for in going down the river at low water we ran aground on 
 the bar, and it was only by leaping out and lightening the l>oat that 
 we could get her off. A cold bath was rather unpleasant just then, 
 especially as we had no time to doff our clothes, but we endured this 
 additional trouble with the most patient and heroic resignation. At 
 length we reached the Brougham in a most woeful plight, and a few 
 hours after weighed anchor, and set sail for Blind Bay. Contrary 
 winds and calms kept us knocking about the Straits for two days.
 
 56 HISTORY OF TARANAKI- 
 
 " On the evening of the 15th we anchored in Port Hardy. The 
 weather from the time we left Taranaki was lovely in the extreme, 
 and re-called to my mind the sunny clime of Italy. Port Hardy is 
 by far too mountainous ever to be made available as a settlement, 
 the hills rising almost perpendicularly from the waters edge, covered 
 with verdure to their summits. The harbour, were it anywhere else, 
 would leave nothing to be desired, but owing to the land being totally 
 unavailable, it can never become a station of any importance. A 
 few natives came off in a canoe, looking almost as miserable as their 
 brethren at the Waitara. We bartered tobacco with them for 
 potatoes and turnips. 
 
 " On the 16th we left Port Hardy for Astrolabe Roads. We had a 
 fine run through the bay* and anchored on the 17th within gunshot 
 of Fisherman's and Adele Islands. The country immediately in 
 front of our anchorage presented equally as mountainous an appearance 
 as any that I had previously seen. At the distance of ten or twelve 
 miles to the left, flat land was plainly discernible. Having fired a 
 gun to apprise the natives of our arrival, three of them shortly 
 afterwards came on board, and appeared delighted to see Mr. Barrett, 
 whom they greeted with the friendly appellation of 'EDiki!' by 
 which name he is known to all the New Zealanders. They expressed 
 a wish that he should visit their settlement, which they described as 
 being about eight miles distant on the banks of the Motueka river. 
 It was, however, too late to think of going there, and we agreed to 
 postpone our exciTrsion until the following day. In the mean time 
 we went on shore near the ship, and soon obtained a plentiful supply 
 of birds, among which I may enumerate the shag, red-bill, several 
 of the gull species, sand-pipers, and terns. While enjoying this 
 sport I made a few observations which may prove interesting. This 
 part of the coast abounds in granite precisely similar to the Cornish ; 
 a fine white sandstone, admirably calculated for building is equally 
 plentiful, and from a few specimens I obtained, there can be but little 
 doubt but that marble will be found amongst it. I also collected 
 some curious mussels. 
 
 " On the 1 8th we visited the Motueka settlement, situated on a 
 sandy flat, which is nearly covered at high water, althoiigh nearly 
 three miles from the sea. We had some difficulty in reaching it, the 
 tide at the time being on the ebb. On our return the river presented 
 a fine appearance, being in some places nearly as wide as the Thames 
 at Westminster, but very shallow everywhere. The natives had 
 prepared a homely meal of fish and potatoes, to which we did ample 
 justice ; in fact it was impossible for any human beings to be kinder 
 or more attentive than they were to us. This was the largest 
 settlement we had visited, forming quite a little village, and surrounded 
 as usual by the native stockade. The men for the most part are fine 
 athletic fellows, but I regret to say I cannot bestow any praise on 
 the appearance of the women, who were without exception the most 
 degraded, hideous, dirty set of human beings I ever set my eyes upon. 
 The appearance of the land did not answer Mr. Carrington's
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 57 
 
 expectations, being chiefly low, swampy, and liable to inundations. 
 Level land apparently extended to a very considerable distance ; it 
 was therefore necessary to employ another day in the examination. 
 Accordingly, early on the 19th we again sallied forth, fully prepared 
 for a long walk, and accompanied by several of the natives, who 
 acted as guides. The country throughout was as level as a bowling 
 green, but the soil had not the richness of that of Taranaki, as it was 
 chiefly of a sandy description, and covered with dwarf flax and 
 stunted fern. After walking for a considerable distance and fording 
 several rivers we reached a magnificent forest, many of the trees of 
 which might serve for the mast of a large ship. The country here 
 bore the same swampy appearance as that nearer to the settlement. 
 Ducks, pigeons, and terns were plentiful, and afforded capital sport. 
 To my great surprise I saw several quails, and succeeded in. killing 
 one. I found it similar in every respect to those I have seen in Italy. 
 By the account of the natives they are plentiful, not only here, but 
 also on the level land that surrounds Mount Egmont. I left , Blind 
 Bay with regret ; it was the only part of New Zealand I had seen 
 which came up to my ideas of the romantic and beautiful. I allude 
 of coxirse to the scenery about Adele and Fisherman's Islands, and 
 not to that at Motueka, which has no advantages of this description 
 to boast of. It began to blow immediately we left Blind Bay, and 
 the wind increased to a gale as we neared Queen Charlotte's Sound, 
 which we entei'ed on the 21st, the day after leaving the bay. Thanks 
 to our pilot we soon came to an anchor in East Bay. The weather 
 here bore a strong contrast to that we had lately experienced. As 
 soon as it moderated a man named Nott came off with goats milk, 
 vegetables, and poultry, which we purchased of him at high prices. 
 He was one of the most disgusting blackguards I ever met with, but I 
 believe a very good specimen of a whaler. 
 
 " On the 22nd we left East Bay and ran up to Tory Channel, 
 where we anchored close to the whaling station of Mr. Thorns. We 
 found him to be a much more respectable man than the other 
 individual. He has a very snug house and a capital garden, 
 containing all sorts of vegetables, which appeared to be thriving 
 exceedingly well. Queen Charlotte's Sound would be appropriately 
 termed the Bay of Harbours, the whole of it consisting of a 
 succession of channels and coves, every one of which contains water 
 sufficiently deep to float a ship of war close into the shore. The 
 character of the land is however mountainous, which is much to 
 l>e regretted, for did it contain any flat land there would not be. a 
 place in the world better adapted for a settlement. We left Tory 
 Channel on the 24th, ran across the Strait in six hours with a lino 
 south-easter, and anchored at Port Nicholson the sixteenth day after 
 our departure." 
 
 Mr. Carrington having determined to fix the site of the Plymouth 
 Settlement at Taranaki, sailed thither with his stafl' and party of 
 intending settlers in the iMirqtie Brougham, which anchored at 
 Ngamotu on 12th February, 18 il. Here, in the graphic language
 
 58 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 of one of his chain-men, ' he turned his party loose into the fern like 
 wild pigs.' 
 
 Writing to Mr. Woollcombe, under date May 4th, Mr. 
 Carrington says : " All the harbors of New Zealand are surrounded 
 with mountains and hills too steep for cultivation, even to the water's 
 edge. I have therefore been obliged to take a roadstead, but at the 
 same time that I lament the want of a harbor, I have much pleasure 
 in informing you that I have selected a place where small ones can 
 be easily made, and with trifling expense, close to the town, abundance 
 of material being on the spot. We now have the best anchorage 
 hard sand and clay, and vessels have only one wind to be uneasy 
 about, that is the N.W. This wind has been blowing but twice since 
 I have been here, and then a ship might have remained. The 
 prevailing wind is S.W. From my own observation, and from what 
 Mr. Barrett has told me, I believe that this wind blows for nine 
 months in the year. The Sugarloaf rocks shelter from this wind. 
 The fact is the wind is either as I have named or else off the land. 
 I have fixed the town between the rivers Huatoki and Henui. The 
 former two miles from this (Moturoa), and the latter three. TAVO or 
 three brooks also run through the town, and water is to be had in 
 any part of it. The soil, I think, cannot be better. There is much 
 open, or fern country, and abundance of fine timber. We have also 
 fine rivers between this and the Waitara, a distance of about twelve 
 miles. I have twice been up this river, once at low water for three 
 miles. The banks are parallel, and the country and river beautiful. 
 I once had made up my mind to have the town there, but the almost 
 constant surf upon the bar has caused me to prefer this place. A 
 good roadstead is certainly before a bad harbour. There is thirteen- 
 and-a-half feet of water at high tides at Waitara, and inside the bar 
 plenty for a large ship. However, it would never do for the town, 
 owing to the surf. As you will see by my journal, I have minutely 
 examined about seven or eight hundred miles of coast. The Plymouth 
 Company has the garden of this country. All we want is labour, and 
 particularly working oxen. I trust this scrawly letter will be excused 
 as I am. writing in a wretched hovel with many annoyances at my 
 elbow." 
 
 The following letter from Captain Cooke, of Te Hua, to Mr. 
 Woollcombe, explains Mr. Carrington's oversight of the snug little 
 harbor of Wakatu, or as it is now called Nelson Haven, when exploring 
 in Blind Bay : " The next day we arrived at Nelson Haven. It 
 occasioned great surprise to many of the colonists at Taranaki when 
 informed of a settlement at Blind Bay, that Mr. Carrington should 
 have overlooked it in his exploratory voyage in the Brougham. 
 This mystery to my eyes was now cleared up, for the harbor which is 
 formed by a nai-row bank of boulders running out in a semi-circular 
 direction from the main land, is nearly invisible until you are within 
 it when off Pepin Island. From this cause I believe not a soul on 
 boai'd the Brougham knew anything about Wakatu or Nelson 
 Haven,"
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 59 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE DESPATCH OF THE PIONEER SHIPS. 
 
 |fN NOVEMBER, 1840, preparations were made in Plymouth, 
 it England, for the despatch of a pioneer vessel to the Plymouth 
 I Company's settlement at Taranaki. For this service the barque 
 William Brian, 312 tons, commanded by Captain Maclean, was 
 selected. Previous to" the departure of the expedition a dinner was 
 given to the pioneer emigrants, at which Mr. E. G. Wakefield was 
 present The emigrants" were chiefly from Cornwall, Sir William 
 Molesworth having made great efforts to induce a number of 
 agricultural and mining laborers who resided on his estates or in their 
 neighborhood, to enter into the scheme. Much enthusiasm prevailed 
 at the meeting, and each emigrant was promised a town section in the 
 town of New Plymouth, on his arrival. The dejeuner took place on 
 the 30th October, the Earl of Devon being in the chair, and on the 
 previous day the proclamation of the British Sovereignty of the 
 Islands of New Zealand was published in London in the Government 
 Gazette. Mr. Gibbon Wakeneld was in London at the time, and on 
 hearing the important news he immediately started for Plymouth by 
 the mail coach, and arrived there in the midst of the feast, where he 
 was called upon by Lord Devon to communicate to the assembly the 
 intelligence he had brought from London. The vessel sailed from 
 Plymouth Sound on the 19th November, 1840, Mr. George Cutfield, 
 a naval architect, and late of H.M. Dockyard, at Devonport, being in 
 charge of the expedition. On board were Mr. Richard Chilman, of 
 London, who, on the voyage, was appointed clerk to Mr. Cutfield ; Mr. 
 Thomas King, of London ; and Mr. A. Aubrey, son of Colonel Aubrey, 
 of the Horse Guards. Mr. Weeks was the ship's surgeon. In. the 
 steerage there were 42 married, and 22 single, adults, and 70 children. 
 After a favorable voyage the vessel entered Cloudy Bay for orders, 
 on the 19th March, 1841. Finding no one in the Bay able to give 
 him any information respecting the site of the new settlement, Mr. 
 Cutfield hired a cutter and proceeded to Wellington, for the purpose 
 of seeing Col. Wakefield on the subject. After a brief stay he 
 returned with a pilot, and with orders to proceed to Taranaki. The 
 William Brian again set sail on the 28th March, and came to anchor 
 off the Sugarloaves at six o'clock on the evening of March 30th, 1841. 
 Scarcely had the Plymouth Company commenced operations, when 
 they were involved in pecuniary difficulties by the failure of their 
 bankers, Messrs. Wright and Co., of London. This misfortune 
 resulted in a deed of agreement, dated 10th May, 1841, by which the 
 Plymouth Company was merged in the New Zealand Company, the 
 Directors of the Plymouth Company continuing to act in connection 
 with the New Zealand Company, under the title of the West of 
 England Board,
 
 60 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 It was determined by the New Zealand Company, while the nego- 
 tiations for the merging were pending, to name the new port after 
 that of a residence of Lord St. Germains, in Cornwall, and the 
 following instructions to that effect were sent out to the Colony : 
 
 " F. D. Bell, to Colonel Wakefield : 
 
 "New Zealand House, 
 "April 22nd, 1841. 
 
 " It is the particular desire of the Court of Directors that the shore 
 on which New Plymouth may be built shoiild be called Port Eliot, 
 which is the name of a residence of Lord St. Germains, in Cornwall. 
 The Directors wish that the compliment to Lord Eliot were as 
 adequate to the debt of gratitude which all the settlers in British 
 New Zealand, no less than this Company, owe to his Lordship, as the 
 name is suitable to that hai'bor which is destined to be the chief port 
 of arrival for the emigrants from the west of England," 
 
 The following letter from Mr. Cutfield to the Directors of the 
 Plymouth Company gives a detailed account of the landing and initial 
 works of the pioneei's : 
 
 " Mr. Cutfield, to the Directors of the Plymouth Company : 
 
 "New Plymouth, Taranaki, 
 
 " May 2nd, 1841. 
 
 " Gentlemen : Being fully immersed in business, and living in a 
 very rough way, almost in the open air, I am not in the condition to 
 correct my rough journal, and send you a copy. I cannot, however, 
 allow the ship to depart without writing some short account of the 
 ' pioneer expedition,' since it debarked on the shores of New Zealand. 
 
 "We left Cloudy Bay on Sunday, 28th March, and on the 
 following Tuesday evening came to anchor to the eastwai'd of the 
 Sugai'loaf Islands, at about a mile and a half from the shore. On 
 the following morning we landed the whole of the passengers, and all 
 the live stock we intended for New Zealand when we left England. 
 I erected tents, and procured different places of shelter for the people 
 from Mr. Barrett rough certainly, but better than being out of 
 doors. From the time of our landing until the 6th of April, we were 
 constantly employed unloading the vessel and landing the goods on a 
 bank, just above high water mark, having fortunately during the 
 whole of the time most beautiful weather. You have already, I 
 believe, been apprised of the site for the town being fixed two 
 miles east of the Sugarloaves, between two small rivers, called 
 respectively the Huatoki and Henui. I have, in consequence, to 
 remove the stores and baggage along the land and over the Huatoki, 
 which is about 50 feet across, to the storehouse in the town. In 
 order to do this I have had to construct a bridge over the river. 
 You will be fully aware of the great difficulty we have had in the 
 transit of these goods with the small means at our disposal, which 
 consists of but one timber dray, two hand carts, and six wheelbarrows,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 61 
 
 the narrow wheels of all cutting deeply into the sand. The traction 
 had to be entirely manual. A pair of bullocks or a horse would be 
 of invaluable service to us, and a great saving of expense to the 
 Company. 
 
 " On the 6th the ship left for Port Hardy, to take in ballast. On 
 her leaving, I commenced with the storehouse and bridge. The 
 former took all the carpenters three weeks, and so much of the 
 timber was lost by hoisting it in and out of the ship, and by rafting, 
 that I feared I should not be able to get the building up in a respec- 
 table way. The bridge was built by laborers who had to cany all the 
 timber used in its construction, and some of it a distance of two miles. 
 I think it is strong enough for a horse and a well loaded cart. The 
 storehouse being up, and the bridge finished, I commenced on the 29th 
 removing stores, and continued doing so till the return of the ship, 
 when we in part broke off from this duty, to unload. Captain 
 Maclean has shown great energy in landing the stores, and has done 
 everything in his power for our welfare. 
 
 " This is a fine country with a large qxiantity of flat land, but eveiy 
 part is covered with vegetation fern, scrub and forest. The fern, on 
 good land, is generally from four to six feet high. There are thousands 
 of acres of this land which will require but a trifling outlay to bring 
 into cultivation. 
 
 " Rats are numerous, and we require arsenic and a good breed of 
 terriers, or I fear that our stores and pi-oduce will suffer. Few 
 natives have been living here since the war with the Waikato tribe, 
 about seven years since, consequently, pigs and potatoes are scai-ce, 
 and, as the native population is likely to increase, I fear provisions 
 will be still more scarce before the spring. I have, therefore, purchased 
 all the stores Capt. Maclean can spai-e. We are on very good terms 
 with the natives. Mr. Barrett has done everything in his power to 
 assist us in landing the cargo with one of his whaleboats, for which I 
 shall have to pay him. 
 
 " Strong, warm clothing, and large blankets will, for a long time, 
 l>e the best .articles to barter with the natives. There is, at this time, 
 no demand for guns or powder ; blankets ! blankets ! is all the cry. 
 Nails and tools they already appreciate, and they will, I trust, soon 
 take to agricultural implements. They are quick in understanding, 
 but are very dirty and idle. Finer men I never saw, but the women 
 are by no means prepossessing. Since we have been here there has 
 l>een much talk of the Waikato tril>e coining. Should they come with 
 a Imd feeling, I shall be prepared for them ; however, I hope they 
 know better than to molest the whites. 
 
 " Not having the means myself, I am endeavoring to make arrange- 
 ments witli Mr. Barrett for building a large boat of from live to eight 
 tons, of a suitable construction for landing on tlio.se sands. I hope to 
 accomplish this by the arrival of the next ship, otherwise, it will be 
 difficult to unload her. Our small boats are ill fitted for this service. 
 
 " Moorings for a 600 tons ship would here be of essential sen-vice ; 
 vessels then might go to sea at a few minutes' warning, and in
 
 62 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 threatening weather, might go to sea at night, and return in the 
 morning. Hoping that what I have done since I landed on these 
 shores may meet with your approval, I am, etc., 
 
 " GEORGE OUTFIELD." 
 
 Mr. Carrington commenced operations by cutting a base line for 
 his survey from the great Sugarloaf toward the Mountain. Owing 
 to the dense vegetation which clothed the face of the country, it was 
 found impossible to survey any large portion of the land without 
 first cutting lines through the high fern and the scrub and forest. 
 Accordingly, most of the working people in the little community, 
 together with some natives, were employed in this labor. While so 
 engaged, Mr. Carrington's first dispute with the natives arose, the 
 particulars of which we shall give in his own words : "I employed 
 nine natives when first I commenced the works in New Plymouth, 
 with the few white men I had, namely, six laborers, who came out in 
 the Slaines Castle, and who joined me after my return from exploring 
 the coast. Some time prior to the 8th of March, 1841, while engaged 
 in cutting lines on the banks of the Huatoki, I went to a bend of the 
 river with a man named Enoka, and a man of the name of Whiti, a 
 petty chief. These two men were the farthest in the bush with me, 
 and I made signs, not being able at that time to speak a word of the 
 language, for them to go to work. They looked at me very curiously, 
 and I recollect they uttered the words E koe lito, which mean " you 
 are a liar." I did not know what this meant at all. After looking 
 at me for a moment, they threw off their mats and stood stark naked, 
 and began clapping their hams ; I thought my doom was fixed. In 
 less than a minute, however, they were at work most vigorously. All 
 that ended very well, and it all went off for two or three days. Then 
 they were joined by some natives from the interior, who said that we 
 should not cut any more. They flourished their tomahawks, and 
 danced, and yelled, and I thought we should all be massacred ; how- 
 ever, it all became quiet. We went to Barrett, and got him to send 
 for a man of the name of Joseph Davis, as an interpreter ; and the 
 next day, after some little explanation, and my drawing on the 
 ground some squares, and showing them that this was the land of 
 the natives, and this the land of the Europeans, and that the land 
 had all been bought, they admitted that the land had been sold, and 
 everything went on again peaceably, and, as I thought, all right ; but 
 it appeared afterwards, when the next misunderstanding arose, that 
 they supposed I meant only that piece of land which I had marked 
 was sold ; it was a very small patch, and belonged to a native named 
 Poarama. a chief of Ngatiawa, who had been captured by Waikato, 
 and afterwards liberated." Mr. Carrington discovered that the 
 discontent of the natives arose from the fact of their not having 
 received all the goods which had been promised them for the land. 
 He accordingly wrote to Colonel Wakefield on the subject, who sent 
 the articles by the schooner Jewess, which was unfortunately wrecked 
 near to Kapiti while on her voyage, and her gear and cargo
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 63 
 
 plundered by the natives on that part of the coast. A few 
 weeks after the arrival of the William Bryan, a party of Waikatos 
 came and asked for utu, for some whares they had built near to the 
 settlement on speculation, expecting that the white people would be 
 very glad of them on their arrival, but, as the price they asked was 
 considerably too high, the purchase was refused, and a present being 
 made to the chief, the party returned satisfied. 
 
 Huts built in the native manner, of rushes and sedges, served as 
 temporary dwellings for the pioneers. Rations were served out to all 
 hands from the Company's store on Devon street, which was in after 
 years the Court House, and is, at the time we write, the Police 
 Station. Near to this building Mr. Cutfield sowed the first English 
 garden seeds. At a meeting of settlers with the Company's Agent, 
 wages were fixed at 7s. per day for mechanics, and 5s. per day for 
 laborers. A smithy and carpenter's shop were erected, and sawyers 
 and boat-builders set to work. The boys were employed cutting fern 
 preparatory to the sowing of wheat. On the 27th June, the Speculator 
 came into the roadstead with the news that a charter had been 
 granted to the Company, and that Britain had not quite ignored her 
 adventurous sons in New Zealand ; also, that the Company had 
 despatched the Amelia Thompson from Plymouth. In the middle of 
 July a fresh supply of provisions was obtained from the schooner 
 Lapwing, and all the spare hands were employed cutting lines for the 
 town. 
 
 On the 25th March, 1841, the barque Amelia Thompson, 480 tons, 
 Capt. Dawson, was despatched from Plymouth for New Plymouth, 
 with the following persons Capt. Henry King, R.N., Chief Commis- 
 sioner of the New Plymouth Colony, his lady and son ; Mi*. Edwin 
 Brown, lady and two children ; Capt. Davy and son ; Capt. Cooke ; 
 Mr. Webster, lady and three children ; Miss Baker ; Mr. Wallace and 
 son ; Mr. Merchant and lady ; Messrs. C. Brown, junior ; W. and H. 
 Halse, Ibbotson, Goodall, Lewthwaite, St. George, Marshall, Mr. 
 Evans, ship's surgeon ; eight in the intermediate, and 156 in the 
 steerage; total, 187 passengers. 
 
 FAREWELL DINNER AND DEPARTURE OF THE FIRST COLONISTS TO 
 NEW PLYMOUTH. 
 
 The Plymouth Company of New Zealand having resolved on giving 
 a farewell dinner to the cabin passengers of the Amelia Thompson, 
 previous to her departure for her destination, the entertainment took 
 place 011 Friday, 19th March, at Whiddow's Royal Hotel. The 
 following Directors of the Plymouth Company were present : Capt. 
 Charles Bulkeley, of 8tonehou.se ; Richard Fillis, Esq., of Plymouth ; 
 George Leach, of Stoke; and Dr. Thorburn, Princess-square, Plymouth. 
 The cabin passengers present were : Captain Henry King, R.N. ; 
 Captain L. H. Davy, late of tin; Bengal Army ; James Webster, Esq. ; 
 William and Henry Halse, Esqrs., of St. James' Palace, Ixmdon ; 
 George John Cooke, Esq., late of the 1 1th Regiment ; Charles Brown, 
 Esq., of Plymouth ; Mr. John Wallace, of Birmingham ; Messrs.
 
 64 HISTORY OF TARAXAKI. 
 
 Edwin Brown, Isaac Goodall, and John Lewtliwaite, of Halifax, 
 Yorkshire ; Mr. Edmund Marshall, of London ; Mr. Thomas Ibbotson, 
 Mr. Charles Merchant, and Mr. St. George, of Staffordshire. A few 
 friends of the gentlemen from the neighborhood, who were passengers, 
 were also invited. The officers from the Company's establishment, 
 including W. Bridges, Esq., Secretary ; and Mr. J. Matthews, 
 Accountant, and Superintendent of Emigration, were also present. 
 Messrs. Saunders and Haswell, the Company's Shipping Surveyors ; 
 Mr. John Borwarva, and a few other gentlemen were among the 
 guests. 
 
 The Chair was taken at six o'clock by Thomas Gill, Esq., Sub- 
 Governor of the Plymouth Company of New Zealand, who was 
 supported on his right by Captain King, Chief Commissioner of the 
 Company's Settlement; and on his left, by J. Watson, Esq., the 
 representative of a numerous body of purchasers of land in the settle- 
 ment. Thomas Woollcombe, Esq., Managing Director, officiated as 
 Yice-Presideat. About forty gentlemen sat down to dinner, which 
 was served up in Mrs. Whiddow's usiial style, and consisted of every 
 luxury that could be desired. The healths of the " Queen," the 
 " Queen Dowager," " Prince Albert," and the " Royal Family," were 
 drunk with the usual honors, followed by the " Army and Navy," 
 acknowledged by Captain Bulkeley and Captain King, on behalf of 
 their respective services. 
 
 T. Woollcombe, Esq., then rose, and after addressing some observa- 
 tions on the particular event which had called them together, in 
 which everyone present must take an especial interest, and none 
 more so than himself ; he begged to propose a toast, which, apart 
 from all political feelings, would, he was certain, call for the approba- 
 tion of all present. Whatever might be the opinions of gentlemen 
 with respect to the political career of the Noble Lord, the Secretary 
 for the Colonies, he was sure all would join him in applauding the 
 statesmanlike and generous manner in which he had now taken up 
 this great and interesting Colony. It was owing to the manliness 
 and courage with which Lord John Russell had practically acknow- 
 ledged, and fearlessly corrected the error which had been originally 
 committed with regard to New Zealand, that the Colony now stood 
 in its present proud position in this great commercial country. He 
 therefore begged to propose the health of the " Noble Secretary for 
 the Colonies." The toast was warmly received, and drunk with great 
 applause. 
 
 The Chairman then proposed the health of " Captain King," the 
 Chief Commissioner of the Colony. He was a gentleman of high 
 moral feeling, of great worth, and whose energies had prompted him 
 to accede to the wishes of the Directors in undertaking the arduous 
 task of superintending the social condition, and the formation of a 
 compact, which shall descend to future generations. In this gentle- 
 man, he observed one on whom they could all rely ; and in whom 
 they could place the most undivided confidence. The health of 
 Captain King was received and drunk with the greatest enthusiasm.
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 65 
 
 Captain King, in rising to return thanks for the honor conferred 
 upon him, wished also to allude to the manner in which the Directors 
 had brought them together upon the present occasion, and which he 
 deemed most honorable to them. It was always more or less painful 
 to take a final farewell of friends, but much depended upon the way 
 in which it was done. On the present occasion, most of the intending 
 colonists had youth on their side, and those who had not, had perse- 
 verance ; and the pleasure derived from the confidence of success 
 inspired by these was sufficient to counterbalance every feeling of 
 fear or regret. Nothing beyond this was necessaiy but unanimity 
 among themselves. He begged to thank the Chairman for the honor 
 conferred upon him, and the company present, especially for the 
 manner in which they had responded to the call of the Chairman in 
 drinking his health. Captain King concluded by proposing the health 
 of the " Chairman, Thomas Gill, Esq." which was enthusiastically 
 responded to by the assembly. 
 
 The Chairman could not suffer the observations of Captain King 
 to pass without attention, and, at the same time that he assured them 
 of his own endeavors to do his duty, he was fully convinced that 
 every one who had acted with him had strained eveiy nerve to do 
 theirs. One thing he might safely say, that there never was a set of 
 men more enthusiastic with regard to their object, and that the 
 welfare of the settlement, and the well-being of the colonists were 
 equally desired by them all. As regarded the Colony, their efforts 
 would still be unceasing, for it was their intention to send out another 
 ship immediately, in succession to that noble vessel, the Amelia 
 Thompson, which would take the present intending colonists out. In 
 doing this, the same attention would be paid to the health, conve- 
 nience, and comfort of every individual, as had been shown in the 
 present instance. When he looked back at colonisation as it was 
 carried out formerly, and made a comparison between that and the 
 mode which was now adopted, he must say that the misery and 
 suffering endured in the one case, and the convenience of arrangement, 
 and comfort and pleasure, arising out of it in the present instance, 
 afforded a marked and pleasing contrast. The class of persons now 
 assembled round the table was, in fact, such as would reflect credit on 
 any place, so that, in addition to the marked improvement in the 
 mode of going from one climate to another, an equal change had taken 
 place in the class of individuals who left their native land for the 
 country of their adoption. The facilities of emigration, he would add, 
 were in a progression so rapid that we should shortly be enabled to 
 go from one country to another with as little difficulty as we formerly 
 stepped from our own door to that of our neighbor ; and the establish- 
 ment of a regular line of steam packets in the Pacific would, he 
 doubted not, be carried out eventually, to the great benefit of our 
 colonies in the southern hemisphere, and to none more so than to the 
 Colony of New Zealand. 
 
 T. Woollcombe, Esq., said he hoped he might be permitted to 
 explain to those assembled the objects which the Company had in 
 5
 
 66 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 view in sending out the Chief Commissioner. He had much pleasure 
 in assuring them that these objects were no farther of a commercial 
 nature than to realise a reasonable profit upon the goods which they 
 shipped to supply the colonists themselves. Competition with the 
 settlers formed no part of their enterprise, and their instructions to 
 their officers were that they were on no account to enter the market 
 in this character, either as regard the necessaries of life or the 
 disposal of land. (Cheers). With their permission he would read to 
 them the Company's intention respecting land. [Mr. "Woollcombe 
 then read to the company the Chief Commissioner's instructions, 
 which were received with the warmest approbation.] He believed 
 that all who were concerned in the enterprise were animated strongly 
 by these feelings, which he might say were cradled in these counties. 
 From the west of England had proceeded the early founders of that 
 great and glorious colony of England, the United States of America, 
 towards which, notwithstanding any transient cloud which might lower 
 for a time on the political horizon, every true Briton would look with 
 pride and reverence. Those bold and energetic men whom he now 
 addressed were departing from their native land on a mission which 
 he firmly believed would end in bringing great glories to this country, 
 and would add another brilliant page to the records of our commercial 
 greatness. To ensure this they need only recall the deeds of their 
 forefathers in a like cause, and they would render New Plymouth as 
 celebrated as any part of the United States. They would carry with 
 them the blessings of civilization, and they would attain the dearest 
 reward of all exertion the consciousness of having achieved their 
 own fortunes and independence. 
 
 C. V. Bridgman, Esq., of Tavistock, rose and begged that he might 
 be allowed to propose the health of the Vice-President. In making 
 this request, he hoped he should not be considered an intruder. This, 
 he was sure, would not be the case, for, besides the interest which he 
 felt in the colony itself, he was connected by ties of relationship with 
 one who held an important office on board the Amelia Thompson he 
 meant the surgeon, James Evans, Esq. whom he hoped to have met 
 at this interesting party, but whose paramount duty to the emigrants 
 had detained him on board. He begged to propose the health of 
 Thomas Woollcombe, Esq. 
 
 The Vice-President, in returning thanks, wished to observe that 
 the pride and satisfaction which he felt in having done his own duty 
 to the best of his ability, was not greater than the pleasure which he 
 experienced from seeing his humble efforts crowned with success, 
 through the aid and cordial co-operation of his brother directors. He 
 could not do anything by halves, and he knew of no cause in which 
 he had been engaged which had afforded him so much gratification as 
 this one of aiding in the establishment of a colony of Britons in the 
 southern hemisphere. 
 
 The Chairman proposed the toast of " Ships, Colonies, and 
 Commerce," which was duly honored. 
 
 The Chairman begged to remark that although the ladies formed
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 67 
 
 no part of the present company, they would not be absent on board, 
 and would be found a most essential ingredient in the Colony at New 
 Plymouth. It had hitherto been an error in emigration to leave this 
 very important part of a social community out of the question, and great 
 inconvenience had been the result. He must say, however, that all 
 would feel deeply indebted to those ladies who, on the present occasion, 
 had had the resolution to embark themselves on so long a voyage, and 
 whose patient endurance of trial so proverbial of the softer sex had 
 given them the courage to adventure on administering to the wants 
 and comforts of their fellow passengers. He would conclude by 
 drinking the health of the ladies on board the Amelia Thompson. 
 
 Mr. Webster returned thanks on the part of the ladies. 
 
 The Chairman felt convinced that the preceding toast would give 
 satisfaction to all interested persons, both present and absent, but he 
 was sure that there was one among them who would take an especial 
 interest in seeing that the comforts of the ladies themselves were not 
 overlooked he meant the commander of the Amelia Thompson, 
 Captain Dawson, whose health he now begged to propose. 
 
 Captain Dawson's health was drunk with much enthusiasm. 
 
 Captain Dawson said he felt highly honored by the marked manner 
 in which the President had alluded to his humble services. When he 
 first heard of the Plymouth Company of New Zealand, he happened 
 to be in Scotland, and ever since the expedition had been made known 
 to him, he had felt an especial interest in it, and that interest had 
 increased up to the present moment. He was sure that this feeling 
 could never subside, for the more he saw of the Company the more 
 convinced he was that the liberality and kind support which had been 
 accorded to him would be continued until his mission was crowned 
 with success ; and they might rely upon it that the comforts of the 
 ladies would meet with his especial attention. 
 
 Mr. Charles Brown, sen., of Laira Green, begged to make a few 
 remarks before the company separated. He was not going out 
 himself in the Amelia Thompson, but he was nevertheless equally 
 interested, on account of one in whose welfare he was immediately 
 concerned, and whom he intended speedily to follow. He could see 
 clearly that in matters of this kind no good could be accomplished 
 unless every man acted truly for himself, which was the reverse of 
 selfishness, for if every man acted well for himself he would also act 
 well for the community. 
 
 Mr. Watson rose to propose a bumper toast. He stood there as 
 one of the early purchasers of land, and the representative of a large 
 portion of proprietors. In the first instance they found opposed to 
 them not only the Government but the press, and against these the 
 directors had to contend in all their early proceedings. How had 
 they acted in this emergency, however? Had they flinched from their 
 duty 1 No. If any gentlemen were present who had witnessed the 
 assembling of the merchants of London on this interesting subject, he 
 was sure they would coincide with him in his opinion. The Govern- 
 ment at length had met all their wishes, and they had now the
 
 68 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 satisfaction, not only of being severed from a convict Colony, but of 
 enjoying all the blessings of the British Constitution. The emigrants 
 now leaving Plymouth he was sure would have all the comforts of a 
 house on board the vessel in which they were about to embark, and a 
 wide field was opened for their labor on their arrival out. Here, in 
 England, they were pressing too closely upon each other, and all their 
 united exertions were insufficient to keep the body and soul together j 
 there, he doubted not, but that they would be enabled not only to 
 live comfortably, but also to lay by sufficient in store of the good 
 things of this world to ensure an old age of ease and happiness. Nor 
 had they forgotten the Aborigines. They were going to join them in 
 the wilderness and to aid in rendering it the abode of civilized men, 
 and when their country would be converted from a waste into a paradise 
 what remained to them would be infinitely more valuable than the 
 whole had been in a state of desolation. The directors were entitled 
 to the thanks and good wishes of all for having laid the foundation of 
 accomplishing so much, both for them and the natives, and he begged 
 now to conclude by drinking their health in a bumper. 
 
 T. Woollcombe, Esq., returned thanks on behalf of the Directors. 
 
 Mr. Charles Brown, jun., having obtained the consent of the Chair- 
 man to propose the health of the Officers of the Company, it was 
 drunk with enthusiasm. 
 
 Mr. Bridges returned thanks on behalf of himself and brother 
 officers. 
 
 Mr. Lewthwaite proposed the health of Captain Haswell. 
 
 Captain Haswell returned thanks. 
 
 The company separated at an early hour of the evening. 
 
 The Amelia Thompson got under weigh on Thursday morning, and 
 on passing the Impregnable, lying in the Sound, was greeted by every 
 soul on board, the ship's band playing the National Anthem. 
 
 The beautiful schooner E/egina, which had just been launched, and 
 belonged to Messrs. Row and Billing, of Plymouth, had been chartered 
 by the Directors for the purpose of conveying the baggage and stores 
 of the emigrants who were shut out from the Amelia Thompson. 
 She was to sail on the Saturday following the farewell banquet. The 
 cargoes of the two vessels were estimated to considerably exceed 
 20,000. 
 
 GOD SPEED THE SHIP. 
 
 [Written by Mr. S. H. Stokes, of Truro, on the departure of the 
 Amelia Thompson, for Taranaki, New Zealand.] 
 
 God speed the ship 1 her anchor's up, 
 
 Her sails are spreading in the breeze, 
 With filling eyes and foaming cup, 
 
 We now commit her to the seas j
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 69 
 
 And as she leaves old England's shore 
 
 Hark ! from yon stately vessel's side 
 What well-known strains are wafted o'er, 
 
 The waves that swell with conscious pride ; 
 See, see the " meteor flag " unfurled, 
 
 At once the lofty yards are mann'd, 
 And with such cheers as daunt the world 
 
 The bold adventurers leave their native land. 
 
 God speed the ship to that far isle 
 
 Where in the vast Pacific Main 
 Another Albion seems to smile, 
 
 And Britons find their home again ; 
 Green hills appear with streamlets clear 
 
 And waving woods and showery skies, 
 And Ocean loves to murmur there 
 
 While many an echoing cave replies ; 
 There birds chimei,in the matin hour, 
 
 And when the trembling stars grow bright 
 Sweet voices from the woodland bower 
 
 Remind the swain of England's summer night. 
 
 God speed the ship ! her company 
 
 Have hearts as tender as they're true ; 
 Good bark ! Oh bear them gallantly 
 
 The deep's tempestuous perils through ; 
 A dear, a sacred charge is thine, 
 
 Good ship be staunch, be strong, be swift, 
 Soon may the glorious Southern Sign 
 
 Its cross above the waters lift, 
 To prompt perchance some grateful hymn 
 
 " A holy and a cheerful note," 
 Such as did once on Ocean's brim 
 
 By the remote Bermudas sweetly float. 
 
 God speed the ship ! For conscience sake 
 
 No more the Briton leaves his home, 
 In transatlantic wilds to make 
 
 With forest boughs his temple dome ; 
 Not thus with cheers and blessings went 
 
 The Pilgrim Father's from the coast ; 
 Some silent prayers to heaven were sent 
 
 For good men to their country lost ; 
 Few, few, to bid farewell stood by, 
 
 And hastening from the lonely shore 
 The exiles 'neath a lowering sky 
 
 Heard but the sea birds scream and billow's roar.
 
 70 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 God speed the ship ! God speed the ship ! 
 
 To all on board a long adieu ! 
 In the blue waves the white sails dip, 
 And soon elude my anxious view ; 
 
 Yet like the faithful Albatross 
 In thought I'll track the rapid bark, 
 
 With her the burning line I'll cross 
 And seek the Bay with pine woods dark, 
 
 Where safe from storms on some blythe morrow 
 The eager crew will leap to land, 
 
 And on the soil their ploughs shall furrow 
 The flag of England plant, 'mid cheers that shake the strand. 
 
 When the Amelia Thompson reached the South American coast, 
 Captain King determined to put into Bahia, one of the most important 
 ports of Brazil, for water and refreshment, and from thence he sent 
 the following letter, descriptive of the early part of the voyage, to 
 Mr. Woollcombe : 
 
 " On board the Amelia Thompson, 
 
 " Bahia, May 7th, 1841. 
 
 " Sir, I wrote you, per Lord Auckland, on 22nd April, in latitude 
 4 27' N., longitude 23 17' W., and now beg to communicate, for 
 the information of the Directors, that we crossed the Equator on 
 the 23rd April, in longitude 25 38' W., since which the prevailing 
 south winds having carried us so far to the west on the Brazilian 
 coast as Bahia, and the ship making little progress in consequence of 
 light variable winds, I considered it a favourable time to run in and 
 break the monotony of the voyage which was visibly depressing 
 both cabin and steerage passengers, as well as to give the people a 
 supply of water for washing their clothes and refreshing them by a 
 change of provisions, fruits and vegetables, which I hope will 
 contribute to their health for the remainder of the voyage. Since 
 my last, one female infant has been added to the number of steerage 
 passengers, and I am very sorry to say we had a death yesterday, 
 Mr. Merchant losing his youngest son in convulsions from teething. 
 We anchored in this fine harbor on Wednesday afternoon, shall 
 complete watering the ship this afternoon, and intend sailing 
 to-morrow morning, when we hope to meet with favorable winds to 
 convey us to our destination before we anchor again. I am, &c., 
 
 " HENRY KING." 
 
 The Amelia Thompson after a long, but pleasant voyage, and after 
 anchoring in Cloudy Bay, anchored in Port Nicholson on the 2nd 
 of August. Sailing from thence on the 13th she again anchored in 
 Cloudy Bay for the purpose of taking in ballast. She again set sail 
 and anchored in New Plymouth roadstead on the 3rd of September. 
 This being the period of the vernal equinox the weather was stormy ; 
 Captain Dawson also was in much dread of the coast, and put to sea 
 every time the sky threatened, going out so far that he could scarcely
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 71 
 
 get back again till the fine weather was over ; the consequence of 
 which was that the unloading of the ship occupied a considerable time. 
 
 The schooner Regina, 174 tons, Captain Browse, after a stormy 
 passage arrived at Port Nicholson on the 31st August. On the 27th 
 of September she sailed for New Plymouth, conveying as passengers 
 from Wellington, Captain Liardet, R.N., the Company's Agent, and 
 Messrs. Dorset and Smith. The Regina experienced a succession of 
 gales from the time of leaving Plymouth till she arrived at Wellington. 
 In Cook Strait she only escaped a lee shore and certain destruction 
 by a press of sail which her tough masts enabled her to carry. She 
 arrived at New Plymouth on the 3rd of October, and landed part of 
 her cargo, but owing to the stormy weather had several times to put 
 to sea ; on one of these occasions she ran to Port Hardy for ballast. 
 About half-past two o'clock on the morning of the 5th of November, 
 she from some unexplained cause drifted from the anchorage opposite 
 to the town on to the long reef, and became a total wreck. There was 
 a swell rolling in from the N.E. at the time of the accident, and the 
 sky was hazy with light rain, but there was little or no wind. The 
 crew were rescued without any difficulty, for the sea was sufficiently 
 calm to permit a small boat to reach the wreck from the shore. 
 This disaster was severely felt in New Plymouth ; it gave the 
 settlement an ill name as a place of danger to shipping, it deprived 
 the Colony of a much needed coasting vessel, and was the cause of 
 the loss of a quantity of valuable goods and machinery. 
 
 The ship Oriental, 506 tons, Captain Wilson, which left Plymouth 
 on June 22nd, arrived at New Plymouth on November 19th. She 
 brought seventeen cabin passengers and seventy-four in the steerage. 
 Great despatch was made in landing the passengers and cargo, 
 notwithstanding which the Captain had to slip his cable and thereby 
 lost an anchor and chain. 
 
 The pioneers who came out in the London with Mr. Carrington, 
 in the Slaines Castle, and in the William Bryan, located themselves 
 in whares in that pai-t of the town* at the junction of Queen Street, 
 and St. Aubyn Street, which in the early days was called Devonport. 
 The immigrants by the Amelia Thompson and Oriental encamped 
 near to the beach till they could get " cob " and timber houses 
 constructed. By the 4th of November the survey of the town had 
 been completed, and the sections were ready to be given out to the 
 purchasers. The promise made of the gift of a town section to each 
 of the heads of the families of the pioneers who came in the William 
 Biyan was never fulfilled. After pressing their claims for a 
 considerable period they were allowed the privilege of selecting 
 sections in St Michael's Square at .5 each. This concession was 
 accepted by many of the poorer settlers and thus the quarter lost 
 its oinginal name for that of Poverty Square, its popular designation 
 to this day. 
 
 CAPTAIN LIARDET, R.N. 
 
 Owing to the merger of the Plymouth and New Zealand Companies, 
 the appointment of Captain King as Chief Commissioner of the
 
 72 HISTOEY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 Colony of New Plymouth was but of a temporary character. 
 Shortly after the departure of the Amelia Thompson the Company 
 chose Captain Liardet, formerly of H.M.S. Powerful, and a friend of 
 Colonel Wakefield, to be their permanent Resident Agent at New 
 Plymouth. This officer had served on the coast of Syria and was 
 present at the bombardment of St. Jean d'Acre as a flag Captain of 
 Admiral Napier's. He was a bold sailor-like fellow, and a perfect 
 gentleman. He sailed for New Zealand in the barque Whitby, 347 
 tons, Captain Lacy, which left Gravesend on the 27th of April, 1841, 
 and arrived at Wellington on the 18th of September of the same 
 year. The Whitby with the Will Watch conveyed the first expedition 
 to Nelson, Captain Liardet having as a fellow passenger the late 
 lamented Captain Wakefield, who was afterwards killed at the 
 Wairau by the red-handed Rauparaha. On Tuesday evening, 20th 
 of September, Captains Wakefield and Liardet were entertained at a 
 public dinner at Barrett's Hotel, Wellington, at which seventy 
 gentlemen sat down. After the customary loyal toasts had been 
 given, and the health of Captain Wakefield had been drunk, Dr. 
 Evans gave " Captain Liardet and prosperity to New Plymouth." 
 In doing so he paid a high compliment to the gallant Captain for his 
 Naval reputation, and referred to his recent exploits at the siege of 
 St. Jean d'Acre. They now found him, he said, abandoning the 
 prospects of his profession, and engaged in the satisfactory work of 
 transplanting Englishmen to a land enriched with the bounties of 
 nature, and that was far more satisfactory than the work of destroying, 
 however just and honorable the cause of the warfare might be. In 
 the gallant Captain, the New Zealand Company had an enthusiastic 
 admirer of their plans, and he (Dr. Evans), was sure nothing would 
 be wanting on Captain Liardet's part to give proper effect to them. 
 The toast was responded to with three times three and one cheer 
 more. Captain Liardet briefly returned thanks, and said, " Since I 
 have seen New Zealand I like it^ and intend to make it my home." 
 Captain Liardet sailed from Wellington for Taranaki in the schooner 
 Regina, which arrived at New Plymouth on the 3rd of October. 
 After a brief stay at Taranaki he returned to Wellington in the 
 schooner Ariel, arriving there on the 25th of October. On his 
 arrival in Wellington he found the Oriental, from Plymouth, about 
 to sail to New Plymouth. He took passage in her and again arrived 
 at New Plymouth on the 19th of November. By this ship came 
 Mr. Charles Brown, senior; and Mr. Watson, late master of the 
 Amelia Thompson, returned in her from Wellington with the 
 intention of settling at New Plymouth. Captain Liardet's period of 
 effective service in the settlement was exceedingly brief, for ten days 
 after his return he met with a very serious accident which nearly 
 cost him his life, and which is thus described in a letter by one of 
 the pioneer settlers : 
 
 "On 29th November, 1841, Captain Liardet and Mr. Watson 
 met with a dreadful accident at a quarter to ten in the morning, near 
 to our tent. It was found necessary to clear the vent of a small
 
 HISTOBY OP TARANAKI. 73 
 
 four-pounder gun lying on the beach, which had been recovered from 
 the wreck of the Regina. To effect this, Captain Liardet, assisted 
 by Mr. Watson and a seaman, elevated the muzzle of the gun by 
 resting it upon another gun lying at right angles to it. He then 
 threw into the chamber a few ounces of loose powder, and cautiously 
 dropped a fire-stick down the muzzle. The brand failed to reach the 
 powder, and no explosion took place. Some five minutes after this, 
 thinking the brand was extinguished, the Captain and Mr. Watson 
 attempted to lower the muzzle, and while so engaged the loose 
 powder reached the still burning brand, exploded and dreadfully 
 scorched both their faces. The faces of both were blackened and 
 covered with blood, and it was feared they would both lose their 
 sight. As Captain Liardet came out as the representative of the 
 Company, and we placed the utmost confidence in him, the accident is 
 most deeply to be regretted." 
 
 Mr. E. J. Wakefield thus bears testimony to the worth of this 
 officer : 
 
 " Captain Liardet has given unbounded satisfaction during his 
 short administration of office. High-minded and generous and 
 possessed of great moral and physical courage, this well-known type 
 of the British naval officer had soon acquired the devoted love and 
 respect of the colonists, whose energies he had undertaken to direct. 
 They felt that he was to be depended on in any emergency which 
 might befall them ; and while his powers of mind thus secured 
 general confidence, his very commanding personal appearance, 
 combined with the affability of a gentleman, and the frank- 
 heartedness of a sailor, to make him the universal favorite of his 
 little society." 
 
 Captain Liardet having partially recovered, left New Plymouth 
 for Sydney in February, 1842. From thence he proceeded to 
 England, in the ship Caroline. Both he and Mr. Watson recovered 
 their sight, but the gallant Captain never returned to New Zealand. 
 Shortly after his departure, some young men, his nephews, came out, 
 and were bitterly disappointed to find that their uncle had been 
 compelled to return to England. Liardet Street, New Plymouth, is 
 the only token that remains to perpetuate the memory of this once 
 promising Resident Agent.
 
 74 HISTORY OP TARANAKI, 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 GOVERNOR HOBSON. 
 
 A r APTAIN WILLIAM HOBSON, the first Governor of New 
 V// Zealand, served as lieutenant at Jamaica, in 1823, when it was 
 found necessary by Sir Charles Rowley, the commander-in-chief 
 of that station, from the swarms of pirates annoying British commerce 
 in those seas, to fit out two schooners to go in search of them. 
 Lieutenant Hobson volunteered, and was put in command of the Lion, 
 on which service he distinguished himself by taking several piratical 
 vessels, with their crews and most notorious chiefs, whom he brought 
 to punishment. Subsequently he himself fell into their hands, and 
 his reputation for generosity and courage alone saved him and his 
 comrades from a violent death. It is said that some of the incidents 
 of this transaction furnished Michael Scott materials for one of the 
 most interesting passages in "Tom Cringle's Log." A short time 
 after this, for his remarkable bravery Lieutenant Hobson was made 
 a Commander and was appointed "to the Ferrett, and again was sent 
 among the pirates. At the paying off of the Scylla, to which vessel 
 he had been removed, in 1828, he was promoted by the Lords of the 
 Admiralty to the rank of Post-Captain. He afterwards commanded 
 the Rattlesnake, detached from the East India station to New 
 Zealand, and it was his connection in this manner with the islands 
 that led to his appointment as the first Governor. 
 
 The hopes which had been raised by the Governor's proclamation 
 of the Sovereignty of Her Britannic Majesty over New Zealand were 
 doomed to disappointment. To the intense disgust of the settlers who 
 came out under the auspices of the New Zealand Company, the 
 Governor, instead of fixing the seat of Government at Wellington, 
 made an abortive attempt to establish himself at the Bay of Islands, 
 by purchasing one of the islands in the Bay of a whaling Captain, 
 named Clendon, for the enormous sum of 13,000. Being thwarted 
 in this foolish business, he proceeded to the Waitemata, or river of 
 sparkling waters, and on its banks founded the City of Auckland. 
 Governor Hobson's hostility to the colonists of the Company is 
 probably attributable to his having unreservedly thrown himself into 
 the hands of the Rev. Henry Williams and other missionaries of the 
 Bay of Islands. 
 
 Owing to the facilities which its magnificent inland waters offer to 
 navigation and trade, and also to its rich gold fields, Auckland has 
 risen to be one of the chief cities of the Colony ; but in the early days 
 of Colonial history it was a wretched vampire, preying upon the vitals 
 of the Company's settlements. Possessing but little good land in its 
 immediate vicinity, and scarcely any agricultural population, its 
 community was composed of the Governor and his officials, a few
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 75 
 
 scamps from Sydney and Parkhurst Prison, a clergyman, and a few 
 immigrants crimped from the Company's settlements. Here sat the 
 Legislative Council, composed chiefly of Government officials, and 
 here alone were the High Courts of Justice established. One of the 
 Governor's early acts was the appointment of Maori Protectors, who 
 were chosen from among the missionaries and partook of all their 
 anti-colonial prejudices. 
 
 During the period in which New Zealand remained an appendage 
 of New South Wales, the settlers of Wellington sent a deputation to 
 the Govemor-in-Chief complaining of the grievances which they 
 suffered at the hands of Lieut. -Governor Hobson. which resulted in 
 the following correspondence : 
 
 " Lieutenant-Go vernor Hobson to Governor Sir George Gipps. 
 " Government House, Russell, 
 
 "December 29, 1840. 
 
 " Sir : Referring to your Excellency's letter, dated and numbered 
 as in the margin, covering copies of communications made to the 
 deputation from Port Nicholson by your Excellency, and informing 
 me of the conditions on which the settlers are to remain undisturbed 
 on the lands they have taken possession of, I do myself the honor to 
 inform you that notice has been published in the Port Nicholson 
 papers by Captain Smith, R.A., who signs himself Surveyor-General 
 of the New Zealand Company, that plans of the district of Wanganui 
 and Taranaki were ready for inspection, and that the selection therein 
 would take place on Monday, February 4th, 1841. 
 
 " I have to request that your Excellency will furnish me with 
 instructions as to the course I should pursue to prevent the serious 
 consequences that must inevitably result from the Company appor- 
 tioning lands so distant from their settlement, in contravention of 
 your Excellency's conditions, reservations, and limitations as expressed 
 in Enclosure D, the lands of Taranaki being distant one hundred 
 miles from Port Nicholson, and those of Wanganui being far beyond 
 the limits of any block including Port Nicholson that can be comprised 
 within 110,000 acres. 
 
 " I have the honor to be 
 
 "W. HOBSON." 
 
 " Governor Sir George Gipps to Lieutenant-Governor Hobson. 
 " Government House, Sydney, 
 
 " January 12th, 1841. 
 
 " Sir : I had the honor to receive your despatch of 29th December, 
 informing me that a notice has been published in a newspaper at Port 
 Nicholson that plans of the districts of Wanganui and Taranaki are 
 ready for inspection, and that selections therein would take place on 
 Monday, 4th February, the notice being signed by a person who calls 
 himself Surveyor-General to the New Zealand Company ; and I have, 
 in consequence, to desire that you will, without loss of time, direct 
 the Police Magistrate at Port Nicholson to notify in the most public
 
 76 HISTORY OP TARANAKI- 
 
 mannner possible that no such selections will be acknowledged by 
 Her Majesty's Government, nor any titles whatsoever derived from 
 the New Zealand Company, beyond the lands of 110,000 acres taken 
 in one continuous block round Port Nicholson. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, etc., 
 
 " GEORGE GIPPS." 
 
 On the 3rd May, 1841, the Governor, by proclamation, constituted 
 a Legislative Council in the following terms : " And I do hereby 
 proclaim and declare that Her Majesty has been pleased to appoint a 
 Legislative Council for the Colony of New Zealand and its dependen- 
 cies, and to appoint and direct that such legislative council shall 
 consist of the following members : His Excellency, the Governor for 
 the time being ; the Colonial Secretary for the time being ; the 
 Attorney General for the time being ; the Colonial Treasurer for the 
 time being ; and the three senior Justices of the Peace, nominated as 
 such in any commission of the peace to be issued by me, the said 
 Governor and Commander-in-Chief, or by the Governor, or acting 
 Governor for the time being." 
 
 In a despatch to the Secretary of State, dated 13th November, 
 1841, the Governor thus writes concerning the claims of the Waikato 
 tribe to the land at Taranaki : " At Taranaki the powerful tribe of 
 "Waikato threatens to dislodge the settlers, because they did not buy 
 the land from them, they claiming it by right of conquest." Again, 
 on the 13th December, the Governor thus addresses the same 
 Minister: "Now Te "Wherowhero claims Taranaki by right of 
 conquest, and insists that the remnant of the Ngatiawa are slaves ; 
 that they live at Taranaki by sufferance, and that they have no right 
 whatever to sell the land without his consent." 
 
 In December, 1841, a party of Waikatos under the chief Te Kaka, 
 paid a visit to New Plymouth respecting their claim, causing 
 considerable alarm to the unsophisticated settlers by their warlike 
 bearing. Their war dance is thus described by Mr. T. W. Shute, a 
 well known pioneer, in a letter to a friend at Plymouth : 
 
 " New Plymouth, 
 
 " December, 1841. 
 
 " This day we have had a much finer sight than ever you saw on 
 the Hoe with soldiers. A part of a strange tribe of natives have 
 arrived here, and something appears to have occurred which does not 
 please them. They were all armed with double-barrelled guns, and 
 met the natives residing here in a place appointed for the purpose. 
 When they came in sight of the place they began to run, and a 
 Ngatiawa chief ran to meet them, casting a stick, taiaha, towards 
 them. When they came up as far as the boundary, they sat down 
 for a little time, and then got up at the command of their leader and 
 commenced the war dance. The chiefs then commenced speaking to 
 each other, one at a time, at the end of which they engaged in a feast. 
 The food consisted of a large quantity of potatoes, cooked for the
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 77 
 
 occasion, with meat, fish, rice, pease and Indian corn, dished up in 
 three-legged iron pots. The piece de resistance consisted of a pig, 
 split down like a fish, and cooked whole. You may be sure it was a 
 fine sight. The Waikato is one of the largest tribes of the island. 
 We have but 150 of the original tribe of this district here, the others 
 having been killed in war or taken captive, and it is only since we 
 have been here that these have returned from captivity." 
 
 By means of trifling presents this party was induced to return in 
 peace to "Waikato, where shortly after the Governor prevailed on Te 
 Wherowhero to part with his claim to the land, on the terms shown 
 in the following translation of the deed of sale : 
 
 " Know all men by this paper, that we, chiefs of Waikato, do let 
 go and sell these lands of ours to George Clarke, the protector of 
 natives, for Her Majesty, the Queen of England, her heirs and 
 successors, whether male or female ; the land, and all things that are 
 on or under this land, we sell to George Clarke, the protector of 
 natives, for an estate for the Queen, her heirs and successors, whether 
 male or female, forever. 
 
 " The beginning of the northern boundaiy is at Tongaporutu, the 
 western boundary is along the seashore between Tongaporutu and 
 Waitotara, the southern boundary is from Waitotara inland by 
 Piraunui. 
 
 " We receive these payments on behalf of the tribes of Waikato 
 for their interest in the said lands, namely, one hundred and fifty 
 pounds in money, two horses, two saddles, two bridles, and .one 
 hundred red blankets. 
 
 " Witness o\ir names and signs : 
 
 " Written in Auckland, on this thirty-first day of January, in the 
 year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two. 
 
 "TE KATI, 
 "TE WHEROWHERO. 
 " Witness : 
 
 "J. COATES, 
 
 "GEORGE CLARKE, 
 
 " Sub-Protector." 
 
 The Treaty of Waitangi gave to the British Crown a pre-emptive 
 right to all the lands in New Zealand. Before the Treaty the New 
 Zealand Company and others had made extensive purchases of lands 
 from the natives, and to meet these cases it was recommended by the 
 Colonial Office and notified by the Governor's Proclamation " That 
 in order to dispel any apprehension that it is intended to dispossess 
 the owners of any land acquired on equitable conditions, and not in 
 extent or otherwise prejudicial to the present or prospective interests 
 of the community, I do hereby further proclaim and declare 
 that Her Majesty has been pleased to direct that a Commission 
 shall be appointed, with certain powers to be derived from the 
 Governor and Legislative Council of New South Wales, to 
 inquire into and report on all such claims on lands." To investigate
 
 78 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 these claims and to adjudicate upon them the Colonial Office 
 commissioned Mr. Spain, an English barrister, who left London on 
 this mission in the ship Prince Rupert, on the 21st April, 1841. 
 The vessel was unfortunately wrecked at the Cape of Good Hope, 
 but Mr. Spain managed to reach Wellington in the brig Antilla, on 
 December 8th, and Auckland on December 24th. 
 
 The next important event which took place was the political 
 detachment of New Zealand from the Colony of New South Wales, 
 and the erection of the islands into a separate Colony. This was 
 effected by letters-patent from the Queen, and by the Governor's 
 proclamation thereof, as follows : 
 
 " Proclamation by his Excellency Captain William Hobson, 
 Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Colony of New 
 Zealand and its dependencies. 
 
 " Whereas Her Majesty has been pleased by letters-patent, under 
 the seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 
 bearing date the 16th day of November, in the year of our Lord 
 1840, to erect the islands of New Zealand into a separate territory, 
 by the name of Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand. Now, 
 therefore, I, the Governor and Commander-in-Chief, by commission 
 under the great seal appointed, do hereby notify and proclaim that 
 under Her Majesty's said letters-patent the islands of New Zealand 
 are henceforth to be designated and known as Her Majesty's Colony 
 of New Zealand and its dependencies. And I do further notify and 
 proclaim that Her Majesty has been pleased to direct that the three 
 principal islands of New Zealand heretofore known, or commonly 
 called the North Island, the Middle Island and Stewart's Island, 
 shall henceforth be designated and known respectively as New 
 Munster, and New Leinster, of which all Her Majesty's subjects are 
 hereby required to take notice. 
 
 " Given under my hand and seal at Government House, Auckland, 
 this 3rd day of May, in the fourth year of Her Majesty's reign, and 
 in the year of our Lord, 1841. 
 
 " (Signed) WILLIAM HOBSON, Governor. 
 
 " By his Excellency's Command, 
 " (Signed) WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND." 
 
 New Zealand having been constituted a distinct Colony, Mr. 
 Spain's Court of Land Claims had to be legalised by an Act of the 
 New Zealand Legislative Council, and accordingly an Ordinance was 
 passed to that effect on 9th June, 1841. There was other legislation 
 upon the subject, but the above Ordinance was ultimately acted 
 upon, subsequent Acts being disallowed by the Imperial Government. 
 
 Mr. Carrington's surveys extended from Paritutu to the Taniwha, 
 situated about three miles on the east side of the Waitara river. 
 The Governor, however, for some reason attempted to curtail the 
 New Plymouth Block, the particulars of which appear in the 
 following correspondence :
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 79 
 
 " Governor Hobson to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 "Barrett's Hotel, Wellington, September 6th, 1841. 
 " Sir : Understanding that some doubt is entertained as to the 
 intentions of the Government with respect to the lands claimed by the 
 New Zealand Company, in reference both to the right of pre-emption 
 vested in the Crown, and to conflicting claims between the Company 
 and other purchasers, it may be satisfactory to you to know that the 
 Crown will forego its right of pre-emption to the lands comprised 
 within the limits laid down in the accompanying Schedule, and that 
 the Company will receive a grant of land, as may by any one have 
 been validly purchased from the natives ; the Company compensating 
 all previous purchasers according to the scale fixed by local Ordinance. 
 You are at liberty to give the utmost publicity to this communi- 
 cation. I have the honor to be, 
 
 " WILLIAM HOBSON. 
 
 " Schedule of Lands referred to in the above letter : Fifty 
 thousand acres, more or less, to be surveyed and allotted by the said 
 Company in the neighborhood of New Plymouth, the boundaries 
 whereof are as follows, viz. : The coast line from Sugarloaf Point 
 extending in a northerly direction ten miles in direct distance ; from 
 thence a line at right angles with the coast line eight miles ; from 
 thence by a line parallel with the coast line ten miles ; and thence 
 by a line parallel with the Northern boundary to the sea coast at 
 Sugarloaf Head." 
 
 These ten miles entirely excluded the Waitara district. On 15th 
 October, 1841, Mr. Carrington pointed out the injury this would 
 be to the settlement, as follows : 
 
 " Mr. Carrington to Captain Liardet. 
 
 " New Plymouth, 15th October, 1841. 
 
 " Sir : I have this morning read in the New Zealand Gazette of 
 the llth of September, a copy of a letter and Government notice 
 forwarded by his Excellency Governor Hobson to William Wakefield, 
 Esq., bearing date 5th September, 1841. I am not a little grieved 
 to find that one of these notices will militate most seriously against 
 this settlement, and will, if enforced, blast all hope for the colonists. 
 I therefore lose not a moment in informing you of the position in 
 which we are now placed, and hope you will, with the least possible 
 delay, communicate with his Excellency, praying that the said notice 
 may be cancelled." 
 
 On 15th November, 1841, Colonel Wakefield wrote to the 
 Company : " I am about to apply to the Governor for an extension 
 of the block at Taranaki, to the amount of 30,720 acres." On the 
 25th April, 1842, Governor Hobson wrote to the Resident Magistrate 
 at Taranaki, Captain King : " I have purchased To Wherowhero's 
 claims, as well to your block of laud as that which extends thirty
 
 80 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 miles to the north of what Colonel Wakefield pointed out to me as 
 your northern boundary. * * * * I have permitted the Waikatos 
 to settle near you, but by no means to infringe on you. They "will 
 locate on your northern frontier. * * * Have the goodness to 
 point out to Mr. Whiteley your boundary line, and to inform him on 
 behalf of the natives where they may go without interfering with the 
 settlers." 
 
 During his visit to "Wellington Governor Hobson placed Capt. King, 
 Capt. Liardet, Capt. Cooke, Mr. Cutfield, and Mr. W. Halse, in the 
 commission of the peace. 
 
 Governor Hobson's troubles increased daily. Some of the officers 
 he had brought from Sydney had turned out badly. He found it 
 very difficult to raise a revenue, and his government became involved 
 in a debt of 100,000. Everybody but the missionaries was dissatis- 
 fied with him. Memorials asking for his recall were sent home both 
 from Auckland and the Company's settlements. The newspapers 
 lashed him unmercifully. Weakened in body and mind by paralysis, 
 he sank under his political and physical afflictions, and died on the 
 10th of September, 1842, in the 49th year of his age, and the thirty- 
 first month of his government of New Zealand. In the words of Dr. 
 Thompson, " Auckland is his monument."
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 81 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1842. 
 
 fHE first event of importance which happened in 1842 was the 
 arrival of the barque Timandra, 382 tons, Captain Skinner, 
 which left Plymouth on the 2nd of November, 1841. She 
 brought 212 passengers, and moorings for the roadstead, consisting of 
 two sets of anchors, chains and buoys. The Timandra laid one set of 
 these moorings at about two miles from the shore. Of the other set 
 the chains and buoys were landed on the beach, one anchor was lost 
 in an attempt to convey it to the shore on a raft, and the other was 
 taken by the v.essel to Sydney, where it remained at Mr. David 
 Moore's Wharf till the wharf dues on it equalled its value, when it 
 was sold or appropriated to pay expenses. 
 
 The following letters convey a good idea of the events of this 
 period, and the condition of the settlement at this time : 
 
 ' ' Captain Cooke to Mr. Woollcombe. 
 
 " New Plymouth, April 16th, 1842. 
 
 " In consequence of poor Liardet's accident, and the consequent 
 derangement of affairs, Colonel Wakefield determined upon visiting 
 this place, taking Nelson en route. The Brougham, a very fine 
 barque, chartered by the Company, being at his disposal, he sailed 
 from Wellington on 2nd March, accompanied by Mr. Murphy, the 
 Chief Police Magistrate at Wellington, and myself. After calling at 
 Nelson we arrived here on Sunday, the 20th. We found to our great 
 delight that the Timandra had arrived, remaining almost a fortnight, 
 enjoying the most lovely weather during the whole of her stay, and 
 landed her cargo and passengers with perfect safety. We made fast 
 to the buoy she had laid down, and went on shore. It came on to 
 blow in the night from the N.W., when the old Brougham slipped 
 and stood out to sea, where she lay to until the end of the gale. 
 Captain Robertson said that there was now no more danger in 
 coming to Taranaki than to any other port in New Zealand. Colonel 
 Wakefield remained here three days, and expressed himself delighted 
 with the country and its fertility. Mr. Murphy also was loud in 
 its praises. I mention this latter fact as I hear there is a probability 
 of his being our future agent. He is an active, intelligent, 
 gentlemanly person. Soon after my arrival here a small vessel came 
 in from Port Nicholson with eight working bullocks and a horse, 
 which I had purchased at that place. Four of these bullocks were 
 for King and Cutfield ; they were landed in admirable order, and I 
 have had the satisfaction of seeing them plough every day. Colonel 
 Wakefield's visit has been productive of some good results. A road * 
 to the Waitara has been commenced, and a bridle path to Wanganui 
 6
 
 82 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 is talked of. When the latter is effected I shall be able to ride to 
 Port Nicholson in five or six days. Yon will receive by Captain 
 Liardet a specimen of the coal (shale), that our miners have 
 discovered on the Waitara. I am, &c., 
 
 "J. G. COOKE." 
 
 [EXTRACT.] 
 
 " Letter from an Early Colonist to a friend in London. 
 
 "Taranaki, April 18th, 1842. 
 
 " With regard to the progress of the settlement, we are laboring 
 under the serious disadvantage of having no capitalists here. The 
 capabilities of the place are very great, for although I admit the 
 great drawback of having no harbor, yet, from all we can learn of 
 the neighboring settlements, we decidedly have the advantage as 
 far as land is concerned. But we want money to develop the 
 resources of the place. I am convinced that for persons intending 
 to farm this is the most eligible location, as I doubt not by the time 
 we have produce to export we shall have convenience for so doing in 
 the shape of a jetty or small harbor, as projected and forwarded 
 to the New Zealand Company. As a consequence of the small 
 amount of capital here, we are without those two aids to the 
 advancement of a settlement, a bank and a newspaper, both of which 
 with a population of 1,000 we should be able to support if we had 
 a due proportion of monied men. I wish the Company would hold 
 out some tempting inducement to capitalists, for the district is 
 extensive and easily available for cultivation." 
 
 Colonel Wakefield fortunately did not select Mr. Murphy for the 
 post of Resident Agent in the room of Capt. Liardet, who by his 
 accident had been compelled to resign his appointment, for that 
 " perfect gentleman" speedily fell into irretrievable disgrace. On the 
 5th of May Mr. John Tylson Wicksteed was despatched from 
 Wellington to Taranaki by the Brougham, to undertake the duties of 
 the resident agency. Mr. Wicksteed was in some respects a remark- 
 able man. He was one of the most fluent speakers we have ever 
 heard, and a scarcely less ready writer. In his early days he was sub- 
 editor of the London Spectator under Mr. Rintoul, the friend of Mr. 
 Edward Gibbon Wakefield, and of Sir William Molesworth. Under 
 these circumstances bis connection with Colonial affairs can be easily 
 accounted for. In oi'der to propitiate the Church party, the New 
 Zealand Company not only devoted a portion of its funds to the 
 building of churches in the Colony, but it offered to give 2,000 aci-es 
 of land on condition that the Church Society would purchase an equal 
 quantity, towards the endowment of a bishopric in New Zealand. 
 As the Agent of the Church Society for the purpose of administering 
 this land, Mr. Wicksteed came to the Colony, in the London, in 
 December, 1840. Mr. Rintoul is said to have declared that in Mr. 
 Wicksteed he lost a valuable assistant. The services of an enei'getic
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 83 
 
 man of business were much needed in the settlement, for the changes 
 which had taken place in the office of Agent, and the accident which 
 had prevented Capt. Liardet from attending to his duty, had left the 
 Company's affairs in New Plymouth in a very complicated state. To 
 Mr. Wicksteed we are chiefly indebted for the history of what may 
 not be inappropriately termed the dark ages of Taranaki history, that 
 is, of the period between 1842 and 1848, a period as cheerless as ever 
 fell to the lot of a colony, when retrogression took the place of advance- 
 ment, and nothing but the dogged courage of Britons could have 
 stood against the flood of adversity which came over the infant 
 settlement. It was Mr. Wicksteed's custom to write a monthly 
 report to the principal Agent ; and the following is an extract from his 
 first report : 
 
 " New Plymouth, June 1st, 1842. 
 
 " I found the surveys in a sufficient state of forwardness to justify 
 the publication of a notice that a selection of rural lands would take 
 place on the 20th June, 1842. I have reason to believe that very 
 nearly if not all the land sold being 8,200 acres will be selected on 
 the day named ; in which case there will be a surplus of surveyed 
 land to meet future sales of not less than 4,000 acres, the quantity to 
 be offered for choice being upwards of 12,000 acres. 
 
 " The conclusion of the contracts for cutting lines has thrown many 
 unemployed laborers on the Company's hands ; but there is reason to 
 believe that when the rural lands are given out on the 20th instant, a 
 considerable portion of this labor will be absorbed by the proprietors, 
 several of whom are ready to commence farming operations upon 
 a small scale. At present all applicants for employment are put on 
 the Waitara Road on the reduced wages of 16s. per week and 
 rations. 
 
 " The principal difficulty in opening up communication with the 
 Waitara district is in making a safe passage across the river Waiwa- 
 kaiho, which is wide, with a stony bottom, a very rapid current, and 
 subject occasionally to floods. The cost of a substantial bridge would 
 be so great, that for the present I think of providing a good raft with 
 ropes fastened to trees or stakes on each bank, such as are used in 
 America for crossing much larger and more rapid rivers. I have no 
 doubt that a small toll to pay for the repairs of the raft and ropes, 
 and the wages of a ferryman, would be cheerfully paid. 
 
 " A surveyor's party of twenty-four men and boys depart this clay 
 for the Waitara district to stake out the sections, so that any 
 proprietor or agent may at once be put on his sections after the day 
 of selection. 
 
 " In concluding this report I ought to add that the general 
 appearance of things is improving, and that a spirit of cheerfulness 
 begins to prevail among the settlers." 
 
 In June Mr. Charles Brown, senr., died of apoplexy, after but seven 
 months' residence in the Colony.
 
 84 HISTORY OP TAEANAKI. 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed being anxious to open up communication with 
 Wellington by means of a road through the forest, sent two of Mi-. 
 Nairn's sons in June to Patea, to engage a gang of twelve Maoris to 
 cut a bridle road from the coast to a point east of Mount Egmont. 
 
 After these were set to work one of the brothers returned to New 
 Plymouth, and with another gang proceeded to cut another line from 
 Mataitawa to meet the line from Patea. Mr. E. J. Wakefield in his 
 journal thus writes concerning this line : 
 
 " The Agent of the New Plymouth Settlement had determined to 
 cut a bridle-road inland of Mount Egmont, to connect New Plymouth 
 with the coast of Cook Strait somewhere between Waimate and Patea, 
 by an easier and shorter route than that round the coast. This 
 object had at length been effected, notwithstanding the opposition of 
 the great body of the natives on the Cook Strait side, entirely by 
 native labor. 
 
 " A-Wesleyan missionary residing at Waimate, named Skevington, 
 had made the most strenuous efforts to overthrow the scheme, telling 
 the natives that the road was made with a view to seize their lands, 
 and that it was nothing but a design upon them which ought to be 
 viewed with the utmost suspicion. Accordingly, the natives had 
 refused to allow egress to the road at Waimate, Manawapou, or 
 Patea. 
 
 " But a Maori, named Pakeke, who at New Plymouth had become 
 acquainted with the Nairn family, at once gave the plan his cordial 
 support, and engaged that his own especial followers should do the 
 work. He appointed Waingongoro, or the snoring river, as the place 
 of egress on the coast, as his out-cultivations were on the edge of the 
 wood near the valley of that river. 
 
 " Upon this the missionary raised such a hornet's nest about his 
 ears, that though he had formerly lived in Waimate Pa, and had 
 been one of the most zealous attendants on Mr. Skevington's religious 
 instruction, he removed his own family and retinue to a new village 
 which he built at the mouth of the river where the road was to 
 emerge, and suddenly but resolutely abjured his profession of 
 Methodism and called himself a Churchman. His following all did 
 the same, and the most revolting religious feud ensued. The road, 
 however, was finished, and we met a party of workmen at Manawapou 
 who were on their way to show the guns, in which they had insisted 
 on receiving the principal part of the payment, to their friends at an 
 inland settlement, between the rivers Manawapou and Patea." 
 
 The despatches of the Resident Agent bear unmistakable evidence 
 that increasing pressure was brought to bear upon him to induce 
 retrenchment in the Company's establishment. The reason for this 
 may be found in the fact that very few men of capital came out to 
 New Plymouth, the labor market was overstocked, and the Home 
 and Colonial Governments hampered the Company as much as possible. 
 In June, 1842, Mr. Weekes, the Colonial Surgeon, resigned his
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 85 
 
 appointment, and the Agent reported that the two remaining surgeons, 
 Messrs. Evans and St. George, were sufficient for the wants of the 
 settlement. In this month some dispute arose about the native 
 reserves. The settlers who possessed land orders were permitted to 
 draw lots for priority of choice of sections, and it was originally 
 intended that the Maoris who were to have every tenth section 
 returned to them were to draw lots with the settlers, or some 
 qualified person was to draw for them. A quantity of rural land had 
 been surveyed, and a day was fixed for the drawing of the lots. 
 Those holders of land orders who wished to obtain land in this block 
 drew, but, by some unexplained circumstance, Capt. King, who had 
 been appointed, pro tern., Protector of Aborigines, failed to draw for 
 the Maoris. But when the 20th of June arrived, the day for selecting 
 the land, Capt. King protested against the selection, because no 
 numbers had been drawn for the Maoris, and claimed the right of 
 selecting for them by virtue of authority received from the Govern- 
 ment. Mr. Wicksteed refused to receive Capt. King's protest or to 
 entertain his proposal, because the Directors had instructed their 
 Agents to select for the Maoris, for fear that others in selecting for 
 them should interfere with a privilege they had given to Europeans, 
 of selecting sections in contiguity with those of relatives and friends. 
 The Agent was anxious that the Maoris shoidd have their land in a 
 block by themselves. The idea of mixing up the Maoris and Euro- 
 peans arose from a desire to benefit the natives as much as possible, 
 but in practice it did not answer, for the British husbandman found 
 the Maori a bad neighbor, permitting his pigs to trespass, his curs to 
 worry the sheep, and his neglected fields to produce rich crops of 
 groundsel, docks, and other kinds of noxious weeds. 
 
 Now commenced those troubles with the natives, which resulted in 
 driving off the settlers from their newly-acquired farms, and ultimately 
 in the Taranaki war. The following letters of the Resident Agent 
 describe the particulars of the first of these difficulties : 
 
 " Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 "New Plymouth, July 25th, 1842. 
 
 " Sir : The settlers in this part of the Company's territory have 
 recently had some difficulty with the natives, the particulars of which 
 I think it right to state, as they are liable to misconstruction. 
 
 " You are aware that a considerable number of natives have lately 
 been liberated by the Waikatos, who, some years ago, overran the 
 Taranaki district, and earned off a large portion of its inhabitants as 
 their slaves. The manumitted natives are now returning to this 
 district, and not having been parties to the sale of the land to tho 
 Company, now complain that they have neither ]X)tatoe grounds nor 
 utu in money or recompense. In point of fact, however, the native 
 reserves are sufficient for a population twenty-fold larger than that 
 likely under any circumstances to belong to Taranaki ; and I cannot 
 discover among the malcontents a single person who, according to the 
 cxistom of the natives, has or had a light to sell the land. On the
 
 86 HISTORY OF TARANAKI- 
 
 contrary, many of those who did sell the land have distinctly warned 
 me not to enter into any bargain or treaty with these returned slaves. 
 
 " Not being encouraged by me to expect any utu, some of these 
 natives had resource to violence, and entered a section on the Mango- 
 raka, belonging to a very peaceable settler named Pearce, burnt down 
 his cottage and destroyed some raupo for thatching. They then 
 proceeded to the next section where the Messrs. Bayly had put up 
 their tent and were commencing their farming operations. They were 
 very furious, brandishing their tomahawks, and attempted to tear 
 down the tent ; but the Baylys, very resolute and strong men, resisted, 
 and a sort of scuffle or wrestling match ensued between one of the 
 brothers and a native who acted as champion of the assailants. Twice 
 Bayly threw the Maori but was thrown himself the third time ; 
 whereupon the natives crowded round him and one apparently was 
 going to cleave his skull with a tomahawk, when a bystander levelled 
 his fowling piece at the native who then gave way. There were 
 about thirty natives and six white men. A parley ensued, and they 
 agreed to refer the case to me. 
 
 " Accordingly the ' mob' of natives came to my house two days 
 after, and there I told them of my determination to put the white 
 settlers on their land, and to call upon the police magistrate to send 
 any native who broke the peace into prison; at the same time 
 assuring them that any chief who had any real title to the land should 
 receive such compensation as Mr. Spain on his arrival might award. 
 They very well knew they had no such chief among them, and being 
 also certain that I should protect the settlers, they promised to give 
 the Baylys no farther annoyance ; and they are now very good friends 
 "with the settlers, working for them, sleeping in the same tent, and 
 apparently quite satisfied with the excellent land reserved for them in 
 or near that part of the country. 
 
 "Another affair of the same kind happened soon after at the 
 Waitara. A body of armed natives drove Messrs. Goodall and Brown, 
 agents of large absentee proprietors, off their section lying on the 
 north side of the Waitara, cut down trees and brushwood, and declared 
 their resolution to keep the settlers to the south of the Waitara. I 
 perceived the necessity of stopping this at once, especially as the real 
 chiefs assured me that the rioters had no claim whatever to the land, 
 and only intended to terrify me into paying utu. The day after 
 the riot I called upon Captain Cooke, a magistrate, to swear in a body 
 of special constables, and that gentleman administered the oaths in 
 the presence, and with the sanction of Captain King, the chief police 
 magistrate. I put twelve muskets and fifty ball cartridges into the 
 boat, and accompanied by Mr. Cooke, who nominally commanded the 
 party, proceeded to the Waitara, and there we swore in the surveying 
 men, making our force twenty-eight men. 
 
 " As I fully expected, this demonstration had the desired effect. 
 A long talk with the natives ended in their entire submission, and 
 promise of better behavior in future. Mr. Cooke told the ringleader 
 that on the next occasion of his breaking the peace he would himself
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 87 
 
 go to the pa and arrest him and send him for trial to Port Nicholson. 
 We crossed over the river, formally took possession of the land, fired 
 a volley by way of and tapu, then, but not before, I gave away a 
 few blankets and some tobacco. The principal natives at the Waitara, 
 as well as here, expressed their satisfaction at the proceeding. 
 Among the settlers there is but one opinion in its favor, and I have 
 received thanks on every side. At present all is quiet, and I think 
 will continue so. I wish it to be particularly observed that I had the 
 express authority and countenance of the magistrates throughout ; and 
 that I took, what the event proved to be, the best means of preventing 
 an otherwise inevitable collision with the natives. ***** 
 
 " I have the honor to be, etc., 
 
 "J. T. WlCKSTEED." 
 THE INTRODUCTION OF HORSES TO TARANAKI. 
 
 Mr. E. J. Wakefield thus describes the panic of the Maoris on the 
 coast between Wanganui and Patea when they first saw a horse : " I 
 was not seen by the inhabitants of the pa until close to the river 
 Whenuakura. They then ran down to the beach. By this time I had 
 plunged into the river, which here flows over soft and shining sands. 
 The horse's body was nearly hidden; and though many of my old 
 friends here had recognised me and shouted ' Tiraweka I Haeremai !' 
 they evidently thought that a native was carrying me 011 his shoulders. 
 There were now nearly a hundred natives collected, many of whom 
 had never seen a horse before, crowding over each other to give me the 
 first greeting. With two or three vigorous plunges the horse suddenly 
 emerged from the water and bore me into the middle of them. Such a 
 complete panic as ensued can hardly be imagined. They fled, yelling, 
 in all directions, without looking behind them; and as fast as I galloped 
 past those who were running across the sandy flat and up the steep 
 path leading to the Tihoe pa, they fairly lay down on their faces and 
 gave themselves up for lost. Half-way up the hill I dismounted, and 
 they plucked up courage to come and look at the kuri nui or ' large 
 dog.' The most amusing questions were put to me as to its habits 
 and disposition. ' Can he talk ? ' said one ; ' Does he like boiled 
 potatoes 1 ' said another ; and a third, ' Mustn't he have a blanket to 
 lie down upon at night ! ' This unbounded respect and admiration 
 lasted all the time that I remained. The horse was taken into the 
 central courtyard of the pa ; a dozen hands were always offering him 
 Indian corn, grass, and sow-thistles, when they had learned what he 
 really did eat, and a wooden bowl full of water was kept constantly 
 replenished close to him ; and little knots of curious observers sat 
 round the circle of his tether-rope, remarking and conjecturing and 
 disputing about the meaning and intention of every whisk of his toil 
 or shake of his ears." 
 
 In October and November, 1839, the Rev. W. Williams was 
 at Waikanae with some horses, for the purpose of establishing a 
 mission there. He also came up the coast as far as the Sugarloaves, 
 leaving books and native catechists at Otumatua, near to Opunake, but
 
 88 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 it is doubtful whether he bi'ought a horse with him beyond Waikanae. 
 When the William Bryan arrived the only horses in the district were 
 a mare and foal belonging to Richard Barrett, and shortly afterwards 
 the mare was killed by falling into a Maori pit. The first horse 
 landed on the beach was brought from Kawhia, in a sailing vessel, 
 for the use of Mr. Creed, the Wesleyan Missionary. As soon as it 
 reached the shore, William Marshall leaped upon its back, and rode 
 up and down the beach. On the 24th October, 1841, the animal 
 being ill, Mr. Creed brought it to the tent of a gentleman who 
 possessed some knowledge of the veterinary art, for the purpose of 
 getting it bled. William Marshall, who was near at the time, took 
 hold of the animal's foreleg, which caused it to paw at him and strike 
 him in the abdomen. The kick was so severe that the poor man died 
 two days afterwards. The horse was a large awkward creature, which 
 had been spoilt by the natives in their unskilful attempts to break 
 him in. He was for many years attached to the Mission Station at 
 Waimate, and, while there, killed a Maori. He died at last of old 
 age. 
 
 A longer, but less doleful,, story is connected with the next horse 
 which arrived in the Province. The Chief Surveyor found it very 
 rough and laborious work to travel on foot over the settlement, 
 especially as he had to wade through rivers and swamps at the peril 
 of his life. He therefore requested Captain Liardet to procure him a 
 horse; the Captain promised to do so, and commissioned Captain King, 
 who was about to proceed to Sydney for the purpose of buying live 
 stock, to get a horse for Mr. Carrington. We presume that Captain 
 King was not much of a judge of horse-flesh, nevertheless, the horse 
 was duly purchased, together with the necessary harness, and shipped 
 on board the barque Jupiter, bound for New Plymouth. After a 
 very stormy passage of a month's duration, in which many of the 
 cattle died, the vessel arrived and was made fast to the moorings then 
 newly laid down. The Chief Surveyor's horse was landed, stabled, 
 fed, and groomed, and when sufficiently recovered, was saddled and 
 bridled for use. No longer would the Chief Surveyor run the risk of 
 cramps, rheumatism, or drowning, by wading through the snow-fed 
 rivers of the settlement. Fallacious hope ! the brute was full of 
 wickedness, and after three attempts to ride him, his master gave him 
 up in despair. Some months afterwards Mr. Wicksteed thus addresses 
 Colonel Wakefield concerning the animal : " The horse purchased by 
 Captain King for the Chief Surveyor, at Captain Liardet's orders, I 
 have sold to Mr. Creed, the Wesleyan Missionary, for 39, and his 
 saddle and bridle for 5. The animal, with his saddle and bridle, 
 cost 79, and I was sorry to lose 44 by him, but he was aged, had 
 bad tricks, and was constantly in danger of breaking his legs in the 
 woods. He never was fairly worth 40, and Captain King was 
 cheated when he purchased him. If I had kept him he would have 
 cost the Company 40 per annum." The story of this animal may 
 be extended a little further. The Board of Directors of the New 
 Zealand Company sat in solemn conclave upon him as appears from
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 89 
 
 the following minute : " Mr. Carrington's claims, as stated in Mr. 
 Wicksteed's letter of 17th May last, have much surprised the Court. 
 He is certainly not entitled to a horse, an indulgence not granted to 
 the principal surveyors at either Wellington or Nelson, and you will 
 please retrench from his allowance the sum (stated to be about 70), 
 expended in the purchase and keep of that animal." 
 
 The following letters describe the state of the settlement towards 
 the close of the year : 
 
 Messrs. Aubrey to a Gentleman at Plymouth, England. 
 
 "Port Nicholson, August 12th, 1842. 
 
 " We came overland from New Plymouth to ascertain whether or 
 not it was possible to drive cattle back from Port Nicholson ; we have 
 now determined to make the trial, and are going to take four working 
 bullocks there on our own account, but hope to get some one to join 
 us. We are well aware of the difficulties we should have to encounter, 
 for it took us a fortnight to walk here, and I assure you the road is 
 none of the best, and we expect to take a month to return. We 
 have been seven months without letters from England. Wellington 
 is a large town compared with New Plymouth, and the land valuable. 
 Bullocks are now worth from ,20 to 30 each, which is a reasonable 
 price. At present there are but four at New Plymouth, which are 
 daily hired at 2 per day." 
 
 These young men returned to Taranaki overland, but sent their 
 bullocks by sea. 
 
 On 30th September the first anniversary of the arrival of the 
 Amelia Thompson was celebrated. In the day there were boat races, 
 foot races and wrestling matches ; in the evening the first ball was 
 held in the hospital, a small imported building, which then stood on 
 the beach under the Kawau pa, but afterwards stood for thirty years 
 at the corner of Brougham and Devon streets, and was used as a shop 
 for the whole of that period. The event was also celebrated by a 
 display of fireworks. Captain King had a small flock of merino 
 sheep, and Mr. Devenish had one of southdown which he had carefully 
 reared from a few he had obtained from a vessel. A subscription for 
 the erection of a Wesleyan chapel had been satisfactorily commenced. 
 
 A Taranaki Settler to Thomas Woollcombe, Esq. 
 
 "New Plymouth, September 28th, 1842. 
 
 " I can now give you the most cheerful account of our dear little 
 settlement, to which we are becoming more attached every day. The 
 recent appointment of Mr. Wicksteed as Agent has been attended 
 with the happiest results ; people are now beginning to resume their 
 entire confidence in the good intentions of the Company. 
 
 " At the Huatoki we have several excellent wooden and cob houses 
 building and built. A new bridge has also been erected over that 
 river. A miserable lock-up has also been built, the expenses of which 
 have not yet been paid by the Government, and I suppose never will 
 be, We have two public houses, 120 raupo and cob huts, and four
 
 90 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 lai^ge wholesale and retail stores, viz., Capt. Davy's, Mr. Dorset's, Mr. 
 Baine's, and Mr. Richard Brown's. On Devonport Hill* there are 
 three or four Maori whares and a cluster of immigrant's houses. We 
 have seven or eight master carpenters, who have their hands full of 
 work and complain that they cannot get journeymen ; four blacksmiths, 
 and thatchers, hedgers, and ditchers, who get from five to ten shillings 
 per day. 
 
 " On the banks of the Henui we have several houses, amongst 
 them my own, and a substantial bridge over the river on the Devon 
 line. A tremendous cutting through a high bank on the east side of 
 the river, which is just completed, takes you along as fine a road as a 
 man can desire, to the banks of the river Waiwakaiho. On each side 
 of the road are the houses of the early emigrants, who have nearly all 
 bought four or five acres of ground each. At present the river is 
 crossed in a ferry-boat, but Messrs. Edwin Brown and Goodall have 
 contracted to build a suspension bridge for .500, and if they 
 can procure the chains in Wellington it will be finished in four 
 months. The road, as far as the river Waiongona, would now 
 be in a forward state, but the landowners have all the laborers 
 in their employ. About six miles along the Waitara road are 
 situated the farms and clearings of the brothers Bayly, Messrs. 
 Flight and Devenish, Pearce, Paynter, Edgcombe, and a few 
 others. At the Waitara Mr. Goodall is clearing extensively. To 
 return to the suburban district. Capt. King and Mr. Outfield have 
 cleared about 70 acres and built a capital house and farm buildings 
 upon their estate. Norice has built a capital thatched house and 
 has cleared about three acres which I am ploughing for him. To the 
 northward, Mr. Chilman has partly cleared and fenced a 50 acre section 
 belonging to Mr. Blank, who let or sold nearly all his land at the 
 average rate of 20 per acre, and then left the Colony to abuse us at 
 Sydney. Distin has a house and clearing in the same direction, but 
 more easterly. Across the Waiwakaiho Capt. Davy and myself are 
 clearing and putting in crops. Added to all these clearings we have 
 nearly 40 acres of garden ground this year, and have established a 
 Horticultural Society." 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Ironside, Wesleyan Missionary, thus speaks of 
 the return of the Ngatiawa from captivity in Waikato : " Waikato 
 hearing of the sale of lands at Taranaki by those whom they deemed 
 their slaves, were very angry, and resolved to come down in 
 force, and utterly destroy the remnant there. But there were many 
 sincere Christians in Waikato, chiefly under the care of Rev. John 
 Whitely, at Kawhia, and the Rev. James Wallace at Whaingaroa. 
 These Christian natives opposed the design of their heathen relatives, 
 and farther, resolved to give freedom to their Taianaki slaves, and 
 escort them back to their native place. At the annual meeting of 
 the Wesleyan ministers stationed in and near Waikato, in May, 1842, 
 I was directed to go with these Christian natives on their errand of 
 mercy. I went on this journey attended by some hundreds of
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 91 
 
 Waikato natives, Christian and heathen. At Mokau we left all 
 signs of population behind us, and for sixty miles travelled through a 
 silent country. On nearing New Plymouth the few inhabitants, not 
 over twenty, took alarm, hurried into their canoes and paddled off to 
 their rock, leaving the food cooking in their iron pots on the tire. It 
 was only after considerable persuasion that they ventured to come 
 ashore. We spent two or three days in discussion, and at length, 
 the Waikato natives receiving a large portion of the purchase money 
 for the country, and filing off their guns in memory of their dead 
 there, and in token of their rights, returned home leaving the poor 
 Taranaki people in peace." 
 
 In the winter of 1842 the contract for erecting a bridge over the 
 Waiwakaiho river was let to Messrs. E. Brown and Goodall. These 
 persons erected a suspension bridge, utilising for tliis purpose the 
 chain cables of the ship Fifeshire, wrecked in Nelson. Unfortunately 
 they used pukatea piles for the suspension of the chains, and this 
 being a soft and perishable wood, the structure was a complete wreck 
 in five years after erection. In October Bishop Selwyn and Chief 
 Justice Martin visited the settlement. A cutter and a surf boat, 
 iron fastened, had been built in the settlement, the cutter at an 
 expense of 200, and the boat of .104. Another large surf boat, 
 copper fastened, was in course of construction. The expenditure in 
 salaries at this time was great ; the Chief Surveyor received 350 
 per annum ; First Assistant, 290 ; Second Assistant, 290 ; Third 
 Assistant, 250 ; Fourth Assistant, 200 ; Fifth Assistant, 170 ; 
 15 men, 80 each; total 2,750. The total charge for surveys for 
 the year ending March 31st, 1842, was 6,025. 3s. Od. The 
 department was now subjected to the following reduced scale : Chief 
 Surveyor, 350, as before : First Assistant, Mr. Octavius Carrington, 
 290, as before ; Third Assistant, Mr. Bogan, 200 ; 6 men at 80, 
 and one boy at 40 per annum ; total, 1360. 
 
 On the 19th November the Blenheim arrived from Plymouth, 
 having left that port on the 1st July. She brought 159 souls, 49 of 
 whom were cabin passengers. By this vessel came Mr. Pan-is and 
 family, Mr. Smart and family, Mr. and Mrs. Murch, Miss Chilman, 
 and Mr. George Duncan. 
 
 December 31st, 1842. The cutter built in the settlement had been 
 sold for 200 at Wellington ; the launch of the Oriental had also been 
 sold. A lock-up had been finished at an expense of 57 13s. 2d. 
 Heretofore prisoners had been confined in a small wooden cabin. Mr. 
 Copps had been sent to Mokau to examine the district, and reported 
 two large veins of coal sixteen miles up the river on the lower side of 
 a rapid, and another vein above the rapid ; also, the existence of 
 limestone forty miles up the river. 
 
 During the month a person made application to the Agent for the 
 possession of a town section which he had purchased, but which some 
 natives were fencing in for the purpose of planting potatoes. On the 
 23rd Mr. Wicksteed proceeded to the spot with 20 men, and the 
 natives having refused to give up the laud, he directed the men to
 
 92 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 remove the fence. They did so, but the natives replaced it as it was 
 removed. Mr. Wicksteed then retired, promising the natives to 
 return on the following morning. On the morning of the 24th Mr. 
 Wicksteed again appeared at the place with his men, and again had 
 the fence pulled down, when one of the natives, a son of the chief E. 
 Rangi, brandished a tomahawk over the Agent's head. The Maori 
 was taken into custody, and being brought up before the Resident 
 Magistrate, was bound over to keep the peace. Captain King wrote 
 to the Colonial Secretary, complaining of the illegality of Mr. 
 Wicksteed's conduct in this affair. In exonerating himself Mr. 
 Wicksteed replied : " The representative of the Government here, 
 Capt. King, except where the possession of his own land is in jeopardy, 
 gives me the least possible assistance. Once, when the natives took 
 possession of part of his property, I had great difficulty in preventing 
 the arrest of a number of Maoris who had come to my house under a 
 safe conduct from Mr. Carrington a breach of faith which might 
 have produced the worst consequences."
 
 HISTORY OF TAEANAKI. 93 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1843. 
 
 N 23rd January, 1843, the Essex, 392 tons, Captain Oakley, 
 arrived from Plymouth, bringing two sons of Colonel Aubrey 
 
 t in her cabin and 114 immigrants. She was the last vessel 
 despatched from Plymouth to New Plymouth, and excepting military 
 settlers during the war, no such number of immigrants arrived at 
 one time in the settlement for a period of thirty-one years. 
 
 On 20th February, Captain Cooke left Wellington for New 
 Plymouth with a herd of seventy head of cattle and a large flock of 
 sheep. They defiled along the beach followed by their owner, two 
 or three stockmen, and Richard Barrett, some mounted and some on 
 foot. Mr. Cooke had been spending the anniversary of the Colony 
 at Wellington, and Mr. Barrett had been giving his evidence before 
 the Court of Land Claims. 
 
 On the 25th, the officer administering the Government, Lieutenant 
 Shortland, arrived in Taranaki roadstead, but would not land or 
 permit any of the official persons with him to leave the Goverment 
 bi-ig. The Resident Agent went off to the vessel and had a long 
 conversation with his Excellency, who informed him that, he 
 considered the Taranaki distiict to have been fairly purchased from 
 the Chief of the Taranaki tribe, the real owner of the land. 
 
 Mr. E. J. Wakefield started overland for Taranaki on horseback 
 and overtook Mr. Cooke with his sheep and cattle on the road, but 
 afterwards got again behind them. Both intended to reach the 
 settlement by the road through the forest on the east of Mount 
 Egmont. Mr. Wakefield was much struck with the appearance of 
 the country as he entered the bush track. We quote from his 
 journal : 
 
 " After all the beautiful spots and districts which I had already 
 Been in New Zealand, I was struck with the sm*passing beauty and 
 luxuriant productiveness of the country hereabouts. Just after 
 entering the wood, which is at first like an immense shrubbery, with 
 occasional large trees, the abundance of the crops in the existing 
 native gardens, the rankness, and yet softness of the grass which had 
 spiling up in the old deserted patches, surrounded with flowering 
 shrubs, amidst which singing birds were chasing each other, all 
 combined with the genial weather, although it was approaching to 
 the middle of winter, to remind me touchingly of Shakespeare's 
 sweet picture of the perfection of agriculture 
 
 " ' Earth's increase and foyson plenty, 
 Barns and garners never empty,
 
 94 HISTORY OP TABANAKI. 
 
 Vines, with clustering branches growing, 
 Plants with, goodly burden bowing, 
 Spring come to you at the farthest, 
 In the very end of the harvest. 
 Scarcity and want shall shun you 
 Ceres' blessing so is on yov.' 
 
 " A long trudge through the forest, of which the trees increased 
 in size as we advanced, presented but little variety till we emerged 
 on the picturesque broken country which stretches northward from 
 Mount Egmont at a distance of ten or twelve miles from the coast 
 (Kairoa). We had slept two nights in the bush, and on the third 
 we reached a hut in a small cultivation on the northern edge of the 
 forest. The journey had proved very tedious from the extraordinaiy 
 number of gullies and streams we had to cross. Among these were 
 the Patea and several of its tributaries which take their rise in the 
 side of Mount Egmont. After passing them we came to those which 
 join to swell the Waitara. 
 
 " "We had passed about half way in the bush the skeletons of two 
 horses. These had belonged to Mr. Cooke and his stockman. On 
 his journey with the herd of cattle he had expected to find the road 
 open. On being disappointed he left his horse, being guided by the 
 natives through the forest along the line which the road was to take. 
 His cattle and sheep were in the meanwhile feeding on the rich 
 pastui'e of the coast of Cook Strait. He directed his stockman to 
 take the horses back, and drive the cattle along the coast ; but the 
 stockman left his horse too, and also came through the forest to New 
 Plymouth. When he got back again both horses were dead of 
 starvation. 
 
 " Descending from the broken country we found ourselves on the 
 plains of New Plymouth, which are almost entirely covered with 
 fern. Scattered groves of timber and gentle undulations from the 
 plain into the valleys of the watercourses and their tributaries, 
 diversify the view agreeably. At length we got into a line of road 
 through the fern. One or two strong wooden bridges over the 
 streams, and three or four neat houses and fields in various directions, 
 soon told of the neighborhood of a European settlement. We 
 crossed the Waiwakaiho river by a rough suspension bridge in 
 process of erection, of which the chains were supported on the round 
 trunks of four large trees ; then some smiling gardens, neatly hedged 
 and ditched ; a forge, a row of laborers cottages, some cob houses in 
 various stages of progress, and we reached the house of Mr. Cooke, 
 who had invited me to come and find him out. From thence to the 
 mouth of the Huatoki river the houses and gardens thicken apace ; 
 and there a little nucleus of dwellings form the town. 
 
 " The population of New Plymouth seemed a particularly happy 
 set of people. As they are little troubled with politics I saw very 
 few of them in the town, which is a dull place, except to look at as 
 you can imagine. But on going to their little farms a mile off in one
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 95 
 
 direction, or two miles in another, I found them hard at work, 
 delighted at the fertility of the soil which they were turning over, 
 with hardly a complaint to make, and spending homely English 
 evenings round a huge farm-house chimney ; rising early and not 
 long out of their beds after their tea and pipes." 
 
 At this date the wages of the laborers in the employ of the 
 Company were reduced to sixteen shillings per week, and preparations 
 were also made for still more important reductions as will appear by 
 the following letters : 
 
 " The Resident Agent to George Outfield, Esq. 
 
 " New Plymouth, March 24th, 1843. 
 
 " Sir : I beg to inform you that instructions have been received 
 from the Court of Directors of the New Zealand Company, which 
 instructions have been communicated to me by the Principal Agent, 
 to discontinue, as far as practicable, the issue of stores and rations, 
 and to abolish the Storekeeper's Department. I am also instructed 
 to discharge in future the duties of Immigration Agent myself. You 
 will please therefore to take notice that after the close of the next 
 quarter your employment under the Company as Storekeeper and 
 Immigration Agent will cease. I have the honor to be, &c., 
 
 " JOHN TYLSON WICKSTEED, 
 
 " Resident Agent." 
 
 " The Resident Agent to F. A. Carrington, Esq., Chief Surveyor. 
 
 "New Plymouth, March 31st, 1843. 
 
 " Sir : As the quantity of land now surveyed and ready for 
 selection in this settlement greatly exceeds the present demand, and 
 will probably prove sufficient to meet any sales which may be made 
 for a considerable time, I am instructed by the Principal Agent of 
 the New Zealand Company to give you notice in pursuance of the 
 terms of your engagement, that your employment as Chief Surveyor 
 of the Company in this settlement will cease on 31st March, 1844. 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 "JOHN TYLSON WICKSTEED." 
 
 At this date Nairn's Mountain Road was finished. In April the 
 Waiwakaiho Bridge was finished and tested. 
 
 On May 29th, the barque Thomas Sparks, Captain Sparks, arrived 
 from London, via Nelson, bringing Messrs. John and Charles 
 Hursthouse, John Smith, their families, and other passengers. Her 
 passage occupied six months, but a considerable portion of that 
 time was s]>ent at the Cape of Good Hope, whither she put in for 
 repairs. The passengers by this ship introduced the Cape Acacia to 
 the settlement, which proved useful as a shelter to gardens in 
 exposed situations. 
 
 In June laborers' wages were reduced by the Company to eight 
 shillings per week. There was a considerable importation of sheep
 
 96 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 and cattle, and twenty pairs of oxen were at work. The Waiwakaiho 
 Bridge partially broke down through the failure of a portion of the 
 ironwork. 
 
 On 17th June, a fatal collision with the natives, headed by 
 Rauparaha and Rangihaeata, took place at the "Wairau river in the 
 Nelson district. In this affray twenty-two Europeans were killed, 
 and five wounded. Among the killed were : Captain Arthur 
 Wakefield, R.N., uncle to Colonel Wakefield; H. A. Thompson, Esq., 
 Police Magistrate of Nelson; G. Richardson, Esq., Crown Prosecutor; 
 and Captain Howard, late of the 12th regiment. The affray arose 
 out of an attempt to arrest the two chiefs on a warrant for arson. 
 In consequence of this affair the Acting Governor issued the 
 following Proclamation : 
 
 " By his Excellency Willoughby Shortland, Esquire, the officer 
 administering the Government of the Colony of New Zealand and 
 its Dependencies and Vice- Admiral of the same, &c. 
 
 " Whereas it is essential to the well being of the Colony that 
 confidence and good feeling should continue to exist between the 
 two races of its inhabitants, and that the owners of the soil should 
 have no cause to doubt the good faith of Her Majesty's solemn 
 assurance that their territorial rights would be recognised and 
 respected. Now therefore I, the officer administering the Government, 
 do hereby publicly warn all persons claiming land in this Colony in 
 all cases where the land is disputed or denied by the original native 
 owners, from exercising acts of ownership thereon, or otherwise 
 prejudicing the question of title to the same, until the question of 
 ownership shall be heard and determined by one of Her Majesty's 
 Commissioners appointed to investigate claims to land in New 
 Zealand. 
 
 " Given under my hand and issued under the public seal of the 
 Colony of New Zealand at Government House, Auckland, this 
 twelfth day of July, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight 
 hundred and forty-three, 
 
 " WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND, 
 " The Officer Administering tho Government." 
 
 The following reports of the Resident Agent give interesting 
 details of the affairs of the settlement at this period : 
 
 " Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 " New Plymouth, July 31st, 1843. 
 
 " Sir : During this month the settlers have been annoyed by 
 constant rumors of a hostile visit from, some Waikato chiefs. Those 
 who have announced this intention profess friendly feelings towards the 
 Europeans, and I am convinced that if suffered quietly to occupy 
 certain lands on the Waitara there would be amicable intercourse 
 between the two races. It is, however, so desirable to prevent an 
 irruption of the Northern tribes whose chief has sold all his claims
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 97 
 
 in this part of New Zealand to the Company that, while I 
 concurred with Captain King, the chief police magistrate, in 
 declaring that the Europeans would not interfere in a native quarrel, 
 I have nevertheless, in common with almost all the principal settlers, 
 shown a marked sympathy towards our own natives, and aided them 
 in constructing a new pa ; at the same time we have let the Waikatos 
 clearly understand, that to bring war into this settlement would 
 almost inevitably produce a collision with the white population, who 
 had taken precautions to defend themselves. In fact, the magistrates 
 have sworn in about 250 special constables, most of whom have arms 
 of some desciiption, and some of them being old soldiers or Preventive' 
 Service men, know how to use them. The guns and ammunition 
 belonging to the Company I have placed in Captain King's hands for 
 the public service. 
 
 " These precautionary measures have had the double effect of 
 making the settlers easy, and of postponing, at least for a while, the 
 visit of the Waikatos, who dread the hostility of the whites. In 
 fact the principal object of their movement would be to obtain for 
 themselves the advantages of the European connection which are 
 enjoyed by the resident Maoris, almost all of whom have till very 
 lately been slaves to the Waikatos. Their former slaves have now a 
 much better supply of blankets, tobacco, and double-barrelled guns, 
 than they have or can hope to procure, except from intercourse with 
 the European settlers. 
 
 " I have had some trouble with ^Maoris, not Waikatos, at .the 
 Waitara. A number of men belonging to Kapiti appeared lately 
 among the Waitara people, and in conjunction with a chief, who 
 lives some miles up the river, stopped a party of surveying men who 
 were cutting a line preparatory to making a road. They were not 
 armed and used no violence, but sat down in the road to the number 
 of about 188, including men women and children, and quietly 
 declared that they would not allow the white men to occupy any 
 land at the Waitara. When the assistant surveyor and some of the 
 white settlei's attempted to reason with them they said ' You are all 
 Wicksteed's slaves, and we will not listen to you.' As soon as I 
 heard of this occurrence I withdrew all the Company's men from the 
 Waitara, wishing at present to avoid collision with the natives ; and 
 the more especially as the Government has prohibited us from taking 
 effectual measures, directing us to apply for aid in all similar 
 circumstances to the Chief Police Magistrate, who is utterly 
 powerless. I do not think that the settlers will be molested, and 
 stopping the road is of little consequence. 
 
 " I have authorised Mr. Wellington Carrington to remain at the 
 Waitara to take care of the Company's property there, and have 
 requested him to afford eveiy assistance to the settlers which his 
 knowledge of the Maori language, and considerable influence with 
 the natives, may enable him to give. 
 
 " Although the circumstances above mentioned indicate a disturbed 
 state of thing*, I am happy to inform you that in reality they seem 
 7
 
 98 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 to make but little impression on the settlers, who enjoy the advantage 
 for the most part of living near to one another, and of a good 
 understanding with nearly all the natives. They do, however, 
 complain, and justly so, of the inability of the Government 
 representative to afford that protection which they claim as British 
 subjects. The Chief Police Magistrate has not a single gun, sword, 
 or weapon of defence ; and his position in a time 'of peril is 
 pitiable. I have the honor to be, &c. 
 
 "JOHN TYLSON WICKSTEED." 
 
 On August 27th F. A. Carrington, Esq., late Chief Surveyor, with 
 his family, left the settlement in the Deborah, bound to Wellington. 
 To prevent all the silver from going out of the settlement, Mr. Richard 
 Brown took 100 worth for the Resident Agent's draft on Colonel 
 Wakefield. 
 
 The Resident Agent to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 "New Plymouth, August 31st, 1843. 
 
 " Sir : By the abolition of the office of Chief Surveyor a saving of 
 upwards of 400 per annum will be effected. Mr. Nairn, also, who 
 acted as superintendent of the workmen on the roads, at a salary of 
 3 per week, has been discharged. I was enabled to effect this 
 reduction by the success of an experiment which has relieved the 
 Company of the greatest part of the cost of employing the laboring 
 immigrants. Finding that I could not get rid of them, even by 
 sending them twenty-two miles inland, where they had little or no 
 shelter, but that the men returned at the end of the week, many sick, 
 and all of them miserable and discontented, I offered to the landowners 
 to pay 6s. a week to the married men, and 2s. to the xinmarried, 
 provided they would pay the amount wanting to make up the Company's 
 wages of 16s. and 8s. per week. This proposal was acceded to, and 
 about 50 laborers are now employed in agriculture, within a reasonable 
 distance of their homes, having the opportunity of using their 
 overtime in cultivating their own gardens. 
 
 " As this is a dull season of the year for mechanics, many have 
 applied to me for the same privileges as the laborers have obtained; 
 but I adhere to the rule of paying and employing those only who 
 would be destitute without such aid, excluding all who have had the 
 opportiinity of saving money when wages were higher. The refusal 
 has subjected me to the fiercest storm of menaces and abuse I have as 
 yet had to encounter in New Plymouth. 
 
 " Such an impulse has been given to jihe process of preparing land 
 for cultivation by the above mentioned measure, that I fully anticipate 
 a natural, instead of a forced increase in the demand for labor, arising 
 from the necessity of saving the larger crops which must be produced. 
 This is the fairest prospect I can discern, of a complete relief from the 
 ' Company's laborers.' 
 
 " The proclamation recently issued by the acting Governor, pro- 
 hibiting the exercise by the settlers of any act of ownership on land
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 99 
 
 claimed by the natives, is used as a not unreasonable excuse for non 
 payment of instalments due on land purchases, and acts as a bar to 
 future sales. The Maoris, stimulated by this document from head- 
 quarters, have given Capt. King, Chief Police Magistrate, notice to 
 quit, and threatened to burn down the house of Mr. Creed, Wesleyan 
 missionary, unless he yields peaceable possession of the same to the 
 native claimant. I have no fear that these threats will be put in 
 execution, but they create annoyance and uneasiness. In my opinion, 
 the decision of Mr. Spain, whose name has become a bye-word, would 
 only be respected where favorable to the natives. 
 
 " All apprehension of a hostile visit from the Waikatos has 
 disappeared. 
 
 " Seven vessels have, within the last few days, arrived and been 
 discharged in the roadstead. I have the honor to be, 
 
 " JOHN TYLSON WICKSTEED." 
 
 September 30th. The settlement is reported to be in a floxirishing 
 condition. Capt. Davy had entered into contracts for the erection of 
 a malt house and brewery. A flour mill was in course of erection. 
 A party of natives had cut away a large quantity of timber from a 
 section on the banks of the Waiwakaiho, the property of Captain 
 Bulkeley, for whom Capt. King was agent. Capt. King endeavored 
 to stop the devastation, but the natives treated him with ridicule and 
 defiance. 
 
 The Bishop of New Zealand had sent a message announcing - the 
 appointment of Mr. Bolland, nephew of the late Judge, to be the 
 clergyman of the Episcopalian church in New Plymouth. To defray 
 the cost of his maintenance and the erection of a church at New 
 Plymouth, the Bishop proposed . that the settlers should make 
 contributions " in kind," and in labor, the value of which he would 
 furnish in money. Mr. Bolland was to be expected at the close of 
 the next month, and it was proposed to let him have the residence of 
 the late Chief Surveyor. On the 26th October the ship William 
 Stoveld arrived from London, vid Nelson. She brought about forty 
 tons of merchandise, chiefly for Capt. Davy. Mr. Law, a passenger 
 by the Phoebe, who had purchased and commenced to cultivate a 
 siiburban section on the east side of the Waiwakaiho, was visited by 
 some Maoris, one of whom menaced him with a tomahawk, but Mr. 
 Law, a strong and resolute man, used .him so roughly that he wag 
 glad to fly, and the visit had not been repeated. The Waiwakaiho 
 bridge had been repaired. 
 
 On the 23rtl December the barque Himalaya arrived, bringing as 
 settlers Capt. Creagh, lady and five children ; two sons of Capt. Davy ; 
 Messrs. Thatcher, Watt, Low, Crooke, and several steerage passengers. 
 She left Plymouth on the 7th September, and touched at St. Jago and 
 St. Paul's. 
 
 GOVERNOR FITZROY. 
 
 In December, 1843, Captain Robert Fitzroy, R.N., arrived at
 
 100 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 Auckland, in H.M.S. North Star, to take the reins of government, 
 in the room of the late Governor Hobson. Captain Fitzroy was 
 probably selected for the post on account of his having given evidence 
 concerning New Zealand before a Committee of the House of 
 Commons in 1838 ; his knowledge of the country having been 
 obtained while employed on a hydrographic strrvey of its coasts in 
 H.M.S. Beagle. His ridiculous landing in Auckland is thus described 
 by Dr. Thompson : " A gentleman connected with the Native 
 Department earned a pole surmounted with a crown of flax 
 (Phormium), from which waved the New Zealand flag, and Captain 
 Fitzroy, excited by the occasion,' cried aloud when stepping on shore, 
 * I am come to do you all the good I can.' The crowd of fifty persons 
 replied to this noble sentiment with a cheer, and the commanding 
 officer of the company of soldiers in attendance shovited ' quick march,' 
 immediately the two drummer boys and the fifer of the guard of 
 honor struck up ' The King of the Cannibal Islands,' to which 
 appropriate air his Excellency marched to Government House. 
 Next day a curious scene occurred at the levee. The Colonial Office 
 had given Captain Fitzroy tiles of a New Zealand paper, famous for 
 abusing Acting Governor Shortland, to read during the voyage, and 
 when the editor of that paper was presented at Government House, 
 the Governor informed him that he highly approved of the principles 
 of the ' Southern Cross.' This speech, which was equivalent to 
 announcing in the Government Gazette that the Colonial Secretary 
 was an arrogant fool, caused Mr. Shortland ' to resign his office, and 
 Dr. Sinclair, a surgeon of the Royal Navy, who had acccempanied 
 Captain Fitzroy to explore the natural history of- the country, was 
 appointed Colonial Secretary in his stead." Governor Fitzi-oy quickly 
 proved to be a mere tool in the hands of Mr. Protector Clarke and 
 the missionaries. The result of his policy was the almost complete 
 ruin of Taranaki, the crippling of the other settlements of the 
 Company, a disasti-ous war in the North, and the serious financial 
 embarrassment of the Colony. After performing an incalculable 
 amoant of mischief, he was superseded in the government by 
 Governor Grey, in November, 1845. 
 
 Captain, afterwards Admiral Robert Fitzroy, Superintendent of 
 the Meteorological Department of the Board of Trade, was bom in 
 1805. He entered the Navy at the age of 14, was made lieutenant 
 in 1824, served on the Mediterranean and South American stations, 
 and at the close of 1828 was appointed to take part as commander 
 of the Beagle in the Government expedition for the survey of the 
 coasts of South America. In 1831 he was charged with the conduct 
 of a second scientific expedition to South America, in command of 
 the Beagle. Mr. Darwin accompanied the expedition as naturalist. 
 The valuable scientific results of this voyage, which occupied five 
 years, were published in Darwin's weR known* ' Journal of a Voyage 
 round the World,' and in a separate narrative by Admiral Fitzroy. 
 In 1841 Admiral Fitzroy entered Parliament as member for Durham, 
 and two years later he was appointed Governor of New Zealand, a
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 101 
 
 post whieh he held till 1846. In the subsequent portion of his life 
 he was greatly distinguished for his patient researches in meteorology, 
 and his admirable practical application of the new science to naviga- 
 tion. As Superintendent of the Meteorological Department of the 
 Board of Trade he rendered important services by the establishment 
 of his system of stown warnings and forecasts communicated to the 
 principal ports of Great Britain ; which, though of so recent a date, 
 no doubt contributed to the acknowledged decrease in the rate of 
 deaths of British sailors. His latest publication was the ' Weather 
 Book,' containing the explanation of his method of forecasts and the 
 chief results of his studies and observations. He was a fellow of the 
 Royal Society, and of the Royal Geographical Society, and a corres- 
 pondent of the French Academy of Sciences. At the time of his 
 death he was engaged with Le Verrier and other foreign men of 
 science in establishing a European system of storm signals. Mental 
 overwork and excessive wear and tear of brain and nerves \inder- 
 mined his health and destroyed his powers, and, in a state of extreme 
 depression or derangement, he committed suicide by cutting his 
 throat, at his residence, Upper Norwood, 30th April, 1865.
 
 102 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 EVENTS OF 1844. 
 
 ^yl T the commencement of the year there was a great scarcity of 
 
 Jj( food in the settlement ; musty biscuits which had lain a long 
 
 I time in store were in request, and to sustain life some of the 
 
 pooi-er settlers had little else but small potatoes. The reason assigned 
 
 by Mr. Wicksteed for this state of affairs was that the coasting 
 
 traders refused to sell flour where they could not dispose of draperies, 
 
 and that the New Plymouth merchants imported their drapery goods 
 
 ' direct from England. 
 
 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 " New Plymouth, Jan. 30th, 1844. 
 
 " Sir : The settlers have been engaged in saving the grain crops, 
 planting potatoes, and breaking up ground for autumn sowing. I 
 have much pleasure in stating that notwithstanding some wheat has 
 been damaged by smut, and barley by caterpillars, the result of the 
 harvest is very satisfactory. Where due precaution has been taken 
 in preparing both the seed and the soil, the yield has been very large ; 
 in one instance from 55 to 60 bushels per acre. From the exertions 
 now in progress for next year's crops, we may safely anticipate that 
 upwards of 100 tons of wheaten flour will be available for home 
 consumption, which, when added to the considei-able quantities of 
 barley bread used by the Devonshire and Cornish laborers, and the 
 profusion of vegetables, will render the settlement almost independent 
 of a foreign supply of flour. 
 
 " The natives have continued to cut down the bush and timber on 
 Mi\ Cooke's section, and have extended their devastation to Mr. 
 Marshall's, adjoining Mr. Cooke's. I- have made repeated attempts 
 to stop their progress, but they can safely disregard the warnings and 
 menaces of those who are prevented by the Government from acting 
 in self-defence. The settlers are anxiously awaiting the Governor's 
 reply to the address and memorial recording their grievances and 
 praying for redress, which Messrs. Cooke and Thatcher have taken 
 overland to Auckland for presentation to his Excellency. Mr. Taylor, 
 the Church Missionary at Wanganui, who has recently visited New 
 Plymouth, used his utmost endeavors to save Mr. Cooke's property 
 from destruction. Mr. Whiteley, also Chairman of the Wesley an 
 Missionaiies, has written an earnest letter to deter them from 
 farther depredations, but apparently without effect. It is, indeed, a 
 general opinion, confirmed by my own observation, that the missionary 
 influence with the natives is rapidly on the decline. These pro- 
 ceedings of the natives have somewhat alarmed the settlers by the 
 Himalaya, whom I have difficulty in persuading that an alteration 
 for the better is at hand. Captain Creagh, who was disposed to act
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 103 
 
 with spirit as a farmer, has been turned off the land he selected ; but 
 I hope yet to fix him in a spot where he is less likely to be molested. 
 I have given notice that after the 9th of February the Company's 
 allowance to agricultural laborers will be reduced from 6s. to 3s. per 
 week ; an anouncement which has provoked a tin-eat of personal 
 violence against myself, but I am not deterred by such conduct from 
 carrying -'nto effect a retrenchment which can now be fairly made. 
 I am, etc., 
 
 "J. T. WICKSTEED." 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 "New Plymouth, March 2nd, 1844. 
 
 " Sir : The reduction of the Company's allowance to laborers from 
 6s. to 3s. per week has been submitted to with less opposition than I 
 anticipated ; and the enth-e abolition of this payment will soon be 
 effected. I am confident that under the peculiar advantages of the 
 settlement, the allowance has been highly advantageous to the Com- 
 pany, as well as to all classes of settlers. There appears to be eveiy 
 disj)osition on the part of the farmers and land owners to extend 
 their agruniltural operations to the utmost of their ability, the result 
 of this year's harvest having been on the whole very satisfactory. 
 In various directions clearing is going on, and the holders of superior 
 grain obtain high prices for the"* seed. I am informed that Captain 
 Davy, 'who is employing more capital than any other settler, will 
 retain nearly all his crop of wheat for his own autumn sowing. 
 Captain Creagh is clearing a section of land between the town and 
 the Sugarloaves, and Mr. Thatcher, also a passenger by the Himalaya, 
 is similarly employed. No molestation from natives is apprehended 
 in the district where these gentlemen have commenced farming, but 
 at Te Hua, in the neighborhood of Mr. Cooke's section, the Maoris 
 are still clearing and burning. Two floxir mills are at work on the 
 Huatoki, within five minutes walk of Mount Eliot. In one of them 
 Italian stones are used ; in the other, stones cut out of the trachytic 
 rocks on the sea beach. The Star of China, from Sydney, and the 
 Deborah, from Launceston, have supplied the settlement with about 
 fifty tons of flour, which is now selling at the moderate price of .17 
 per ton. I bought five tons on the Company's account at XI 5, to 
 prevent an advance of price by combination among the very few 
 holders during the ensuing winter. "With the assistance of the 
 Deborah, the heavy buoy which was laid down two years ago by the 
 Timandm, has been brought ashore for examination, and replaced by 
 the buoy last sent from England. The first buoy appears to be 
 perfectly sound, but it was completely incrusted by mussels and other 
 shell-fish, and requires fresh pointing. It is my intention to use it 
 for a second set of moorings, to be laid down as near the shore as 
 practicable, for the accommodation of small vessels under 250 tons 
 burden. When this is accomplished I think there can be no reason- 
 able demand for farther outlay to improve the roadstead. The 
 moorings and the boats will be sufficient for the purposes of this
 
 104 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 agricultural settlement for a long period of time. No accident worth 
 mentioning has occurred in the roadstead to vessels, boats or human 
 beings since May, 1842, when the term of my agency commenced. 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 "J. T. WlCKSTEED." 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 "New Plymouth, March 22nd, 1844. 
 
 " Sir : I have the pleasure to report the safe arrival of the barque 
 Theresa from London direct. She left the Channel on the 29th 
 November, and reached New Plymouth on the 19th instant. She 
 brings eighteen passengers for this settlement, including some farmers 
 who have bought land in England. The day of the Theresa's arrival 
 and the two following were extremely fine ; but owing to bad arrange- 
 ment of the cargo, the sickness of the Captain and the inefficiency of 
 the crew, not more than twenty tons have been discharged, and we 
 have with difficulty obtained two boat-loads per day, instead of eight. 
 This morning the wind is from the N.W., and the work of discharging 
 the vessel has been suspended, which makes me the more regret that 
 advantage was not taken of the calm weather. Stricter attention to 
 the loading of the vessels in England wo\ild be very desirable on all 
 accounts. 
 
 " One death occurred in the Theresa, that of a steerage passenger 
 for Wellington, John Bray, who was drowned at sea on the *22ird of 
 February. I have the honor to be, 
 
 "J. T. WICKSTEED." 
 
 Poor John Bray had been emptying the brine out of a pork tub 
 through the lee gangway, after which he took a broom and attempted 
 to sweep the steps outside the bulwarks, on which some of the salt 
 had lodged. In a lurch of the ship he lost his balance, fell across a 
 brace and from thence into the sea. The ship was immediately brought 
 to, and a boat was lowered, bi;t the unfortunate man was lost. 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 " New Plymouth, April 1st, 1844. 
 
 " The arrival of the barque Theresa was reported in my despatch 
 forwarded by the overland mail. I there mentioned that the work 
 of unloading the vessel had been suspended by the weather ; and I 
 now regret to add that during an equinoctial gale, the buoy parted 
 from the moorings, the ' bridle,' or chain, which connects the buoy to 
 the chains attached to the anchors, having been broken. The buoy 
 has been preserved, and I hope the disaster may be repaired without 
 much expense or loss of time. In the meanwhile I have the 
 satisfaction to state that the Theresa rode out the gale in perfect 
 safety ; also- that after an interval of two clays southerly weather, 
 she also endured another gale at a different anchorage. At the 
 commencement of the first gale I directed Mr. Watson, the beach 
 master, to board the Theresa with a good boat's crew, which was
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 105 
 
 afterwards reinforced by another party of. seven, every able-bodied 
 seaman on board the Theresa having refused to work, and only 
 resumed duty when the vessel having discharged her cargo started 
 for Nelson. 
 
 " The newly arrived settlers are much pleased with the country, 
 and others who had not purchased land in other settlements, remain 
 or intend to return to New Plymouth. 
 
 " There is now a small surveying corps engaged in opening 
 up a veiy splendid district, about three miles and a half east of the 
 Devon Road, to which a line has been cut through a nearly level 
 country between the rivers Mangoraka and Waiongona. The road 
 made by the natives behind Mount Egmont comes into this distinct, 
 which is the same you admired so much on yoxir last visit to New 
 Plymouth. In the course of a few days, notice of selection will be 
 issued, when the late purchasers will have the option of choosing 
 their sections out .of a large extent of excellent land at a moderate 
 distance from the town, and approachable by good roads. I have the 
 honor to be, 
 
 "J. T. WICKSTEKD." 
 
 On the 27th May, the Bella Marina, 600 tons, Captain Ashbridge, 
 arrived from London vid Hobart Town. She brought Messrs. F. IT. 
 Gledhill and Bateman as passengers, and the latter, after landing his 
 goods and appointing an agent, departed again to Tasmania for the 
 purpose of purchasing live stock. 
 
 [EXTRACT.] 
 Mr. Spain to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 " Land Claims Office, 
 
 "Wellington, April 16th, 1844. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to inform you that it is my intention to 
 leave this place on Thursday" next for Manawatu, Wanganui, and 
 Taranaki in order to settle the native claims in those districts ; and I 
 have to request the attendance of yourself to meet the Protector 
 of Aborigines in order to carry out the arrangement you have made 
 with his Excellency the Governor for that purpose. I remain, <ic. 
 
 " WILLIAM SPAIN, 
 
 " Commissioner." 
 
 Mr. Spain and Colonel Wakefield reached Tai*anaki overland. 
 The Colonel, in a dispatch to the Secretary of the Company thus 
 writes : 
 
 " The journey from Wanganui occupied us ten days in consequence 
 of some bad weather, and the swollen state of the streams. The 
 Waimate plain, which I have before described, was covei-ed with 
 a thick coat of fine grass. The Commissioner and his party 
 expressed their admiration of its qualities as the finest field for 
 flocks and herds they had seen in New Zealand. 
 
 " The Commissioners Court opened at New Plymouth on the 31st of
 
 106 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 May, when a large assemblage of natives took place. Richard 
 Barrett's evidence was interpreted, word for word, to about 300 of 
 them. After several days occupied in examining witnessess, whom I 
 called in favour of the Company's claim, and one against it, who 
 completely broke down, Mr. Clarke declined to call any more 
 evidence. On the 8th June, Mr. Spam pronounced judgment as 
 follows : 
 
 MR. COMMISSIONER SPAIN'S AWARD. 
 
 " I, William Spain, Her Majesty's Commissioner for investigating 
 and determining titles and claims to land in New Zealand, do hereby 
 award, that upon the payment by the New Zealand Company of 
 two hundred pounds sterling to His Excellency the Governor of 
 New Zealand, to be applied for the benefit of the resident natives of 
 New Plymouth or Taranaki in the Northern Division of New 
 Zealand in any way His Excellency may think necessary to promote 
 their interests, the Directors of the New Zealand Company of 
 London, and their successors are entitled to a Crown Gimtt of a 
 block of sixty thousand (60,000) acres of land, situate, lying, and 
 being in the district or settlement of New Plymouth or Taranaki in 
 the Northern Division of New Zealand : Which said block of land 
 commences on the north side of the Sugarloaf Islands, and extends 
 in a northerly direction to a place called Taniwha, and which said 
 block of land is more particularly set forth upon the accompanying 
 plan, saving and excepting as follows : All the pas, burying places, 
 and grounds actually in cultivation by the natives, situate within 
 any part of the before described block of land hereby awarded to 
 the New Zealand Company as aforesaid, the lands of the pas to be 
 the grounds fenced in around their native houses, including the 
 cultivation or occupation around the adjoining houses, without the 
 fence, and cultivations on those tracts of country which are now 
 used by the Aboriginal Natives of New Zealand since the 
 establishment of the Colony. And also excepting all the native 
 reserves equal to one-tenth of the sixty thousand acres hereby 
 awarded to the said Company, part of which said native reserves 
 have already been chosen and are marked yellow upon the said 
 district hereinbefore referred to, and the remainder of the resei-ves 
 are to be chosen according to the rate of one choice in ten, as fully 
 explained to the Resident Agent of the New Zealand -Company in 
 my letter to him under date, the 13th June, 1845, forming enclosure 
 No. 7 of this report : And also excepting all that piece of land 
 containing one hundred acres reserved by the natives at the time of 
 sale to the New Zealand Company, for the Wesleyan Mission Station, 
 which said piece of land is delineated and set forth upon the said 
 plan of the district and also upon the plan herewith enclosed, No. 
 10 : And also excepting all that piece of land containing eighty 
 acres, and all that piece of land containing one hundred acres, being 
 sections 23 and 37, which have been reserved for Richard T-aiTett, 
 his wife and children, which said two pieces of land are del* seated
 
 HISTORY OF TABANAKI. 107 
 
 and set forth upon the said plan of the district, and also upon the 
 plan herewith enclosed, No. 11 : And also excepting any portions 
 of land within any part of the block of land hereinbefore described, 
 and hereby awarded to the said Company, to which private claimants 
 have already or may hereafter prove before the Commissioner of 
 Land Claims a title prior to the purchase by the New Zealand 
 Company." ' 
 
 This decision of the Commissioner, as might be expected, was 
 satisfactory to the .settlers, and the reverse to the Maoris. So 
 threatening was the aspect of the latter, that messengers were sent off 
 to Auckland to report to the Governor the state of affairs. The Gover- 
 nor, immediately on receiving the news, dispatched a competent 
 pei-son (Mr. Maclean), with special instructions, overland to Taranaki, 
 and himself embarked on board H.M.S. Hazard and hastened thither. 
 The Bishop also repaired to the scene of difficulty with the utmost 
 celerity, travelling from Auckland by Kawhia to Taranaki in eight 
 days; while Mr. Whiteley, the Wesleyan Missionary at Kawhia, 
 preceded them. On the 3rd of August a large meeting of English 
 and natives assembled at Mount Eliot to hear the formal decision of the 
 Governor, who informed the assembly that he did not take the same 
 view of the question as Mr. Commissioner Spain, and that he should 
 not confirm the award of that gentleman, however carefully and 
 conscientiously it had been weighed and delivered. On points of law, 
 especially the law of New Zealand considered with reference, to 
 national laws in general, authorities might differ, without prejudice 
 to the opinion of either, but it was for him, the Governor, to decide. 
 He would immediately cause farther investigation to be made as to 
 the various claimants to particular portions of land. He would then 
 endeavor to make special arrangements with those claimants, and he 
 woidd allow, in all their integrity, the claims of those of the Ngatiawa 
 tribe who were not parties to the safefrof 1840. As time would be 
 required for these additional enquiries, he would now return to 
 Auckland and the Bay of Islands, where his presence was impera- 
 tively wanted, and would again visit Taranaki in about two months 
 to adjust this laud question satisfactorily. Meanwhile he recom- 
 mended and urged upon all parties the exercise of forbearance and 
 conciliatory conduct. After promising the natives that they should 
 not be dis|x>ssessed of their lands, and instructing their Protector, 
 Mr. Maclean, how to proceed, the Governor, with the Bishop, 
 embarked on board the Hazard on the 5th of August and proceeded 
 to Auckland. On the 8th of November the Governor again landed 
 at New Plymouth from H.M.S. Hazard. This time he had some 
 difficulty in assembling the natives, but by the 25th they were got 
 together in the town, when he declared the whole of the settlement 
 forfeited, and induced the natives to accept j350 in goods, money, 
 and animals, as a full compensation and completion of payment 
 for a block of land at and around the town, containing aliout 
 3,500 acres, The consequences of this, insane act were crushing.
 
 108 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 After all the excellent speeches at Plymouth, after all the hopes that 
 had been excited, after thousands of pounds had been spent, and 
 hundreds of simple-hearted people had left their homes, traversed the 
 seas, and established themselves in the wilderness, the settlement was 
 diminished to the dimensions of a nobleman's park. What was 
 perhaps the most unjust part of the business was that the 350 paid 
 to buy '.back the township and a small block of land behind it was 
 taken from the New Zealand Company. By this act was laid the 
 foundation of quai-relling and bloodshed. To it is to be attributed 
 the deaths of Rawiri and Katatore, and also the Taranaki war. For 
 yeai*s the settlement pined under this almost overwhelming affliction, 
 and the only wonder is that it was not entirely broken up. As soon 
 as the Governor's decision was made known the exulting Maoris 
 commenced a series of persecutions upon all the settlers who were 
 living outside the lines of the reduced settlement. One by one they 
 sorrowfully came in, abandoning their newly reclaimed fields, which 
 soon reverted to a state of nature, containing here and there a thorn 
 or some other very hardy British plant to prove to another generation 
 that Britons had made an attempt to cultivate that part of the wilder- 
 ness. If the Governor had felt that the manumitted slaves should 
 receive payment for their share of the land, it was within his power 
 to have ordered payment to be made to them. He, however, did not 
 so act, but chose rather to give back the entire settlement- to the 
 natives, and then re-purchase with the funds of the Company the 
 township and its suburbs. To injury the Governor added insult ; 
 when the simple-minded Devonshire and Cornish peasants attempted 
 to remonstrate with him and plead the cause of their families, he told 
 them they were all trespassers and deserved transportation. Years after 
 this transaction, when discussing the events of 1844 over the winter's 
 evening fire, the conclusion universally come to by the settlers was that 
 Governor Fitzroy was insane, and the fact of his afterwards dying by 
 his own hand seems to shovtf that that conclusion was not far from 
 the fact. Not only ought the decision of Mr. Commissioner Spain to 
 have been accepted, armed as he was both with Imperial and Colonial 
 jurisdiction in the matter, but there are strong grounds for believing 
 that the Company's claims ought never to have been brought into his 
 Court. 
 
 Governor Fitzroy to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 "Wellington, August, 1844. 
 
 " Sir : I take the earliest opportunity of informing you that it 
 is not my intention to comply with the recommendation of Mr. 
 Commissioner Spain regarding the New Zealand Company's purchase 
 of land in Taranaki, and that I shall cause a further investigation to 
 be made as speedily as possible. A large number of natives would 
 be set aside by Mr. Spain, namely those who were absent, .or in 
 captivity, at the time their lands were said to be sold, whose claims 
 I am bound to recognise and maintain. I have the honor to be," 
 
 It is remarkable that the. above letter bore no signature.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 109 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 . " New Plymouth, August 4tli, 1844. 
 
 " Sir : It is impossible to get off a nearly completed despatch 
 about the Governor's proceedings. At first lie was dreadfully 
 unpopular, having partially set aside Spain's award, maintaining the 
 right of absentees and slaves to compensation, attacking the 
 Company, and positively abusive to me. But in private converse 
 the Bishop and I brought him round, and he is now veiy civil and 
 full of faii % promises. But I fear we shall have to pay altogether 
 .500 of the Company's money. He says that will do, and I really 
 think that it would have been next to impossible to have obtained 
 peace with the natives without some payment. He is to come here 
 by the 1st of October and settle the affair himself. In the meanwhile 
 any small sum which I may pay to get rid of present and pressing 
 difficulty is to go as part of the future payment. I suspect neai'ly all 
 the land we actually want will have to be paid for even on his own 
 showing. Yours most truly. 
 
 "J. T. W." 
 
 [Extract from Report of Mr. Forsaith, 10th July, 1844.] 
 
 " On the 17th of May we left Wanganui and Wellington through 
 Waitotara, Otihoe, Manawapou, Waimate, Kaupokonui, Otumatua, 
 Waiaua, Warea and Hauranga to New Plymouth, at which place we 
 arrived on the 29th. The following day Mr. Clarke and myself 
 visited the different settlements as far as Waitara, to request v the 
 attendance of the natives at the Commissioners Court. On the 31st 
 the Court opened, and the investigation was continued without any 
 material interruption until the 6th of June. Oil the -8th the Com-t 
 again opened, when the Commissioner notified the nature of his 
 decision ujxm the case, which was an award in favour of the Company 
 of all the land described in the chart which was exhibited, excepting 
 some reserves which were specified, lying between Ngamotu on the 
 South and Te Taniwha on the North. 
 
 "When I interpreted Mr. Spain's decision some considerable 
 excitement was at first manifested among the natives, who strongly 
 objected to it; but this ebulition of feeling subsided, and they 
 refrained from all further expressions of discontent, except signifying 
 their intention of appealing to His Excellency. On the 31st the 
 Victoria arrived, and Mr. Spain, accompanied by Colonel Wlutmore 
 and Mr. Protector Clarke embarked, ami about 4 p.m. the brig again 
 made sail. I, according to my orders received from the brig, resumed 
 my journey Northward, and arrived at Auckland on the 8th instant, 
 having left New Plymouth on the 24th ultimo." . 
 
 [Extract from Report of Mr. Protector Maclean.] 
 
 " Taranaki, August 5th, 1844. 
 
 " I have the honor to acquaint you that, in pursuance of your 
 instiiictions of the 16th July 1 proceeded on my journey to Tunumki 
 on the 18th, culling at the station of the Rev. J. Whitoley, Wesleyan
 
 110 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Missionary at Kawhia, who accompanied me to New Plymouth, at 
 which place I arrived on the 28th. On- the 29th that gentleman 
 went with me to visit the natives at their different residences in the 
 neighborhood of Ngamotu, where we found a considerable degree of 
 excitement and bad feeling existing among them, arising principally 
 from portions of their land having been occupied by the Europeans 
 without the consent of the real owners, who were in captivity at the 
 time the purchase was effected by the New Zealand Company from a 
 small party of natives, whose claims I am given to believe were but 
 to a limited portion of the lands now claimed by the Company. I 
 then took an opportunity of informing them that His Excellency 
 was coming to remain at this settlement for a few days, and that he 
 would hear their causes of complaint. They then assured me that 
 whatever their former resolutions might have been, they would be 
 peaceable and not disturb the settlers till they saw His Excellency 
 and made their case known to him. I am happy to inform you that 
 His Excellency's anival here, and his late interview with the natives, 
 has produced a most salutary effect in quelling then- excited feelings ; 
 and I am in hope that an amicable arrangement will be entered into 
 with regard to their lands. When I have had further intercourse 
 with the natives and am more acquainted with the different portions 
 of the land they dispute, I shall be enabled to report to you more 
 fully upon the matters to which my attention has been directed in 
 my instructions." 
 
 [Extract of a Letter from Rev. J. Whiteley.] 
 
 "August 15th, 1844. 
 
 " On receiving your letter of July the 16th, together with one 
 from. His Excellency, requesting me to accompany Mr. Maclean to 
 Taranaki, I immediately prepared for the journey, and in a few hours 
 after that gentleman arrived at my house we were on our way. I 
 first, however, despatched a messenger with a letter to the chief 
 Haupokia Te Pakaru, desiring him to follow me as soon as possible, 
 as I believed that his presence and influence in Taranaki would, in 
 the present state of affairs, be most beneficial. We arrived at New 
 Plymouth on the 30th ult., and in passing through the suburbs 
 endeavored to see and converse with all the natives we could meet. 
 The next day, accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Turton, we visited the 
 settlements, and had a long conversation with the natives of 
 Mangoraka, who are stated to have been the most dissatisfied and 
 troublesome. On Thursday I was glad to hear that Haupokia had 
 arrived at Waitaiu, and I arranged to spend the next day in private 
 and friendly t:onversation with the different parties of natives at 
 their respective settlements. At dawn of day, however, the 
 Governor's ship appeared in sight, and leaving Mr. Maclean to 
 arrange with the resident natives, I rode off with Mr. Turton to 
 bring up Haupokia from Waitara, and the other natives from 
 diffei*ent localities. Some objected to go at all to meet His Excellency, 
 and others were for putting it off until after the Sabbath on account
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. Ill 
 
 of food. On arriving at Waitara, however, and requesting Haupokia 
 to attend at once, he instantly complied, and his example infhiencecl 
 all the rest, so that on Saturday morning we had the satisfaction of 
 seeing all the natives present before His Excellency." 
 
 [TRANSLATION.] 
 
 Wiremu Kingi Whiti and other Ngatiawa Chiefs to Governor 
 
 Fitzroy. 
 
 V Taranaki, June 8th, 1844. 
 
 " Friend Governor : Salutations ! Great is our love* to you ; 
 this is our speech to you. Listen to us respecting this land, respecting 
 Waitara. Our hearts are dark by reason of Mr. Spain's words. 
 Indeed the Europeans are wrong in striving for this land which was 
 never sold by its owners, the men of Ngatiawa. 
 
 " Now, when the Ngatiawa tribe went to Kapiti they left some 
 men behind on our lands, who were surprised by the Waikatos, and 
 some of them led away captive, who having arrived at Waikato were 
 afterwards returned by the Waikatos to Waitara to dwell there. 
 Others came back from Kapiti. We love the land of our ancestors ; 
 we did not receive any of the goods of Colonel Wakefield ; it was 
 wrong to buy the land which belonged to other men. There are 
 many chiefs to whom this land belongs who are now at Waikanae 
 and Arapaoa. It was love for the land of our forefathers that 
 brought us back to those lands. Friend Governor our thoughts'are 
 that those lands were never settled by the Waikatos ; and when we 
 embraced Christianity, we learnt the rules of the .Gospel and to 
 dwell in peace. 
 
 " This also is the determination of our people ; Waitara shall not be 
 given up ; the men to whom it belongs will hold it for themselves. 
 There was not a single man of the Ngatiawa tribe who received the 
 payment of Colonel Wakefield. These are the only men who took 
 the payment the men of Ngamotu and Puketapu, and they had no 
 right in Waitara. The Ngatiawa are constantly returning to their 
 land, on account of their attachment to the land of their birth the 
 land which we have cultivated and which our ancestors marked out 
 and delivered to us. 
 
 " Friend Governor, do you not love your land England the land 
 of your fathers, as we also love our land at Waikira ] Friend, let 
 your thoughts be good towards us. We desire not to strive with the 
 Europeans, but, at the same time, we do not wish to have our land 
 settled by them ; rather let them be retained to the places which havo 
 been paid for by them, lest a root of quarrel remain between us and 
 the Europeans. Friend Governor, be kind to the natives. The 
 places which have l)een justly purchased by the Europeans, let them 
 have them, that your judgment may be just. 
 
 " This is not from us only, but from all the Ngatiawa, though the 
 greater part are absent From Hakopa, Tipene, Te Wataraui,
 
 112 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 Tutarahaiiia, Paturoi, Te Wareraka, Tamete Tiraurau, Hirini 
 Maugonui. 
 
 " By us, by t all the men at "Waikanae and Warekauri. 
 
 " Written by me, Wiremu Kingi Whiti." 
 
 The writer of the above letter signed the deed known as the Queen 
 Charlotte's Sound Deed, which purported to convey a large territory 
 to the New Zealand Company. He states that not a single man of 
 Ngatiawa received payment for the land from Colonel Wakefield, yet 
 he acknowledges that Ngamotu and Puketapu received payment. 
 Now, Nganiotu and Puketapu are but hapus or families of the iwi or 
 tribe of Ngatiawa. 
 
 [Extract from Mr. Forsaith's Report to Governor Fitzroy.] 
 
 "Taraiiaki, 22nd October, 1844. 
 
 " Again the Taranaki captives, released by the Waikatos from the 
 purest and best of motives, have assumed a position of importance 
 which can hardly be tolerated by these powerful chiefs, their former 
 masters ; and, in some instances, the emancipists have so far forgotten 
 their obligation and the respect due to their former conquerers, as to 
 ridicule the poverty and destitution of their present circumstances. 
 I mention these matters because they afford a key to the interpreta- 
 tion of the sentiments of the Kawhia and Ngatimaniapoto Chiefs, 
 which were formally conveyed to me on the eve of my departure, and 
 which appear to me to involve principles bearing an important 
 relation to the Taranaki land question, the successful settlement of 
 which is so great a desideratum, and which your Excellency is now 
 endeavoring to ' effect. I shall give these sentiments as nearly as 
 possible in the same words in which they were delivered to me by the 
 Chiefs, without comment : ' You are going to Taranaki ; listen to 
 our parting words. That land is ours. We claim it by right of 
 conquest, and some part of it by possession. We have power to 
 enforce our claim if we choose, but our inclination is for peace, not 
 war. The Governor who is dead professed to buy the interests of the 
 Waikatos in the lands of Taranaki, and paid Te Wherowhero for 
 them. Te Wherowhero had a perfect right to sell his own or his 
 tribe's interest, but not ours. He was not the principal man in sub- 
 jugating Taranaki, many were before him ; we do not recognise his 
 sale. We might insist on our right to a payment equal to that of 
 Te Wherowhero, but we are not so very anxious about that, as we 
 want Europeans. You have told us that the Governor will do all 
 in his power to send them to us ; now, we will wait a reasonable time ; 
 if they come, well ; if not, we must go to them. We hold the late 
 Governor's permission to settle on any of the lands at Taranaki, pro- 
 vided we do not go south of Urenui. We sent the present occupants 
 of Taranaki home to the land of their fathers, and we did so from the 
 influence of Christian principles, but we did not send them back to 
 assume the airs of superiority they haye done, or to molest the 
 Europeans. They have Europeans, but do not know how to treat
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 113 
 
 them, while we who would treat them well, cannot get them. "We 
 are therefoi-e determined in the event of no Europeans coming to us, 
 to go back and resume our rights. We shall not go in hostile mood, 
 though we shall go prepared to resist opposition. If kindly received 
 and treated with respect by our former captives, we shall simply 
 arrange for our joint occupation of the land. But on the contrary, 
 if opposed we shall take the matter into our own hands, and settle the 
 disputes with the Europeans in our own way. Go and tell the 
 Ngatiawa that the Waikato Chiefs remind them that the land is 
 theirs, and advise them to settle their dispute with the Europeans, or 
 the Waikatos will settle it for them." 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakeh'eld. 
 
 "New Plymouth, August 31st, 1844. 
 
 " Sir : In sepai'ate despatches I have noticed the principal events 
 of the month, namely, the arrival of the Governor at New Plymouth, 
 with an account of his proceedings, and the arrival of the Raymond 
 on the 29th inst., with the intelligence of the suspension of the 
 Company's operations. It only remains for me to state that your 
 instructions relative to the discharge of persons in the Company's 
 employment at New Plymouth have this day been carried into effect. 
 Mr. Carrington and Mr. Rogan, with the surveying men, Mr. Watson, 
 beachmaster, Mr. Wellington Carrington, stationed at the Waitara, 
 witli the boatmen and a few persons employed upon the roads, have 
 l>een discharged. Mr. Chilman, whose services as clerk to .the 
 Resident Agent and clerk of the Land Office are indispensable, is the 
 only officer retained besides myself. Mr. Octavius Carrington 
 continues to reside at the Surveyor's house, taking care of the maps, 
 instruments and other property of the Company there. He has 
 promised to afford, without pay, the usual assistance in explaining 
 boundaries, showing plans, and so forth, in the hope, which I have 
 partially encouraged, of being again employed in the Company's 
 service. For the present he and Mr. Rogan waive the claim they 
 have for a year's notice prior to dismissal. I have made a temporary 
 arrangement with Mr. Watson for the use of the boats. He is to 
 have them without rent for six months, on condition of keeping them 
 in thorough repair, and at all times affording at moderate prices the 
 accommodation to settlers and vessels visiting New Plymouth hitherto 
 afforded gratuitously by the Company. At the end of the six months, 
 when the success or failure of the experiment may be ascertained, a 
 new arrangement may be entered into, or the same terms continued. 
 The Company will not, under any circumstances, be again saddled 
 with the cost of a boat establishment. 
 
 "These necessary changes have been effected quietly, without 
 anger or remonstrance from any of the parties interested, though it 
 will be easily believed that they have spread gloom over the settle- 
 ment. I trust, however, that the prospect of an abundant harvest, 
 of a successful whale fishery, and the development generally of the 
 resources of the country, will soon restore the spirits of the settlers.
 
 114 HISTORY OP TAEANAKI. 
 
 It is certain that they are very much better able to endure the with- 
 drawal of the Company's expenditure now than last year. Almost 
 every person in the district has a comfortable house and garden. All 
 might have them ; and it is calculated that at least 4,500 which 
 last year went out of Tai-anaki for flour alone, will this year be 
 retained. This, and other facts of an encouraging nature, it is my 
 constant habit to present to the settlers. Twenty tons of oil, and 
 more than a ton of whalebone from R. Barrett's whaling establishment, 
 have been shipped in the Urgent for Sydney. The business of salting 
 pork for exportation has been commenced, and will probably be 
 carried out to some extent. The Taranaki pork is of the very best 
 quality. It is now retailed at 3d. per pound. The weather .has been 
 remarkably fine and favorable to the growing crops. I have the 
 honor to be, etc., 
 
 "J. T. WICKSTEED." 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 "New Plymouth, November 9th, 1844. 
 
 " Sir '. His Excellency arrived yesterday evening in the Hazard, 
 which vessel immediately sailed for Kapiti, to return next week and 
 convey the Governor to Auckland. Immediately after landing, and 
 before I received your despatch, which unaccountably was not 
 delivered to me till the middle of the day by Mr. Secretary Hamilton 
 to whom you had entrusted it, His Excellency, with Captain King 
 and Mr. Forsaith, called upon me to enquire what amount of money 
 I could put into his hands for the purpose of treating with the 
 natives, at the same time expressing his own readiness to advance an 
 equal sum. I replied that until the question of title was so settled 
 as to enable one to collect debts and to effect sales, I was not prepared 
 to expend any more of the Company's funds in payment of the 
 natives, but that if His Excellency could himself make such a 
 settlement I would pay the amount he advanced, provided it did not 
 much exceed the sum he formerly named, 350 to 500. The 
 Governor thought that on these terms he should probably succeed in 
 his negotiations with the natives, so far as the actual settlers are 
 interested ; but he would not undertake to secure the property of the 
 absentee owners. This is the present state of the question ; of its 
 progress, if any is really made, you will be advised by the earliest 
 opportunity. In the meanwhile, you may rely upon my not entering 
 into any engagement by which the interests of the absentees will be 
 sacrificed, or the Company deprived of the advantages of Mr. Spain's 
 award, in the event of any proceedings being taken against the 
 Company in England, on the plea that the land sold was not fairly 
 purchased in the first instance from the natives. I think that a great 
 point will be gained if the actual settlers are secured from molestation 
 by the Maoris ; and that thereby the whole question will be virtually 
 set at rest. At all events nothing more will be paid except in 
 exchange for a substantial benefit. I hope you will think that so far 
 J have acted in compliance with the spirit of your despatch,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 115 
 
 though I had not seen it at the time the Governor called upon me. 
 His Excellency this morning had a long interview with the laboring 
 people, who complain of low wages and want of employment during 
 the few weeks proceeding the harvest ; evils, as I took care to assure 
 the Governor, arising solely from the delay in settling the land 
 question, which has prevented several capitalists from commencing 
 agricultxiral operations. His Excellency promised to send a vessel 
 in the course of next month to take about twelve miners with their 
 families to Auckland, whence they might proceed to the Earner 
 Island, and obtain work in the copper mines. The other laborers 
 and artisans he recommended to remain at New Plymouth, and 
 promised them present employment in some public work at 2s. per 
 day for five days in the week. He complained of the number of 
 men he had on his hands at Nelson, Wellington and this place, in 
 consequence of the Company's 'failure;' especially when the low 
 condition of the treasury compelled him to reduce Government 
 salaries one half. His Excellency might have said, as regards New 
 Plymouth at least, that want of money forced him to suspend 
 payment of their entire salaries, as even the constables wages are 
 many weeks in arrear. How the Governor will find the means of 
 dealing with the natives and paying the laborers it is not easy to 
 comprehend. He has already offered his debentures to almost every 
 gentleman in the place at ten per cent, discount, but nobody will take 
 them. It is not believed that any net revenue will be derived from 
 the tax of one per cent, on property and income, and therefore that 
 the security for the redemption of the debentures does not exist. 
 His Excellency intends to visit the Waitara on Monday, and to talk 
 to the natives on Tuesday. I have the honor to be, 
 
 "J. T. WICKSTEED." 
 
 [EXTRACT.] 
 
 Colonel Wakelield to Mr. Wicksteed. 
 
 " Wellington, November 30th, 1844. 
 
 , " Sir : The proceedings of the Commissioner's Court in June last 
 made you fully acquainted with the purchase of the land by the 
 Company in February, 1840. In the month of October of the 
 following year Governor Hobson set at rest, as he thought, the right 
 of preemption vested in the Crown, and the conflicting interests 
 l>etween the Company and other purchasers, by the publication in the 
 ' Government Gazette ' dated October the 13th, 1841, of a letter to 
 me, as the Agent of tho Company, enclosing a schedule in which the 
 block of land at New Plymouth is especially included. Tho decision 
 of the Commissioner that the whole block claimed by the Company 
 was fairly and fully purchased from the natives by proving our 
 fulfilment of the conditions subject to which Governor Hobson 
 engaged on behalf of the Crow;i to issue a grant of such land, 
 places us in a jK>sition to call upon the local Government to fulfil its 
 pledge. The completion of the scheme of the Settlement, and tho 
 engagement of the Company with the public as well as in the interests
 
 116 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 of the actual settlers, are dependent on the fulfilment of Governor 
 Hobson's engagement. And as a measure calculated to quiet the 
 minds of the natives, agitated as they have been by the colonisation 
 of their country, the delays of the Court of Claims, and the ever 
 changing measures of the present Governor, none could be more 
 effective and just. The Company's purchase was made from all the 
 natives resident in the block, the remnant of a tribe of two thousand 
 souls, which removed ten years ago to Cook Strait in fear of their 
 northern neighbors. 
 
 "I have lately had authentic accounts of a meeting in Queen 
 Charlotte's Sound of six hundred of these emigrants, who determined 
 upon returning to the New Plymouth block of land, upon the ground 
 that they have more right to it than the returned slaves from the 
 Waikato, whose claims the Governor has allowed. The district south 
 of the Sugarloaf Islands which the Company also purchased, but the 
 claim to which was not brought by me before the Commissioner, in 
 consequence of its having become thickly inhabited by its former 
 owners, who have returned to it since the European settlement was 
 established between it and their enemies, will not alone be re-inhabited. 
 From the Sugarloaf Islands to the Waitara your settlement will be 
 overrun with its former occupants, induced to return thither more by 
 the recognition of the Governor of their claims to utu, than by any 
 patriotic feelings. Already numeroiis individuals who have received 
 payment from the Company under the Commissioner's Award for land 
 in this district are amongst you, and are the most urgent for compensa- 
 tion for their claims in your settlement. I may instance Moturoa, who 
 received .200 in March last for his pretended rights here. It is 
 probable that it is unknown to the Governor and Mr. Maclean that 
 these men have already received compensation, and since Mr. Spain 
 and Mr. Clarke are no longer parties to the adjustment of claims in 
 your district, I know of no one there who can recognize similar 
 claimants. Neither the Wesleyan Missionaries, Messrs. Whiteley, 
 Skevington, and Turton, nor the Sub-Protectors, Maclean and 
 Forsaith, to whom the adjustment of the Maori claims seems to be 
 entrusted, can be cognizant of the Commissioner's proceedings in 
 other districts that bear on the question. The encouragement thus 
 held out to the present resident natives of Waikanae, Queen 
 Charlotte's Sound, Port Nicholson, and other parts of the shores of 
 Cook Strait, to the number of 1 200 men, to return to the neighbor- 
 hood of Mount Egmont, will, it appears to me, be productive of ruin 
 to the colonists, and may hereafter convert the New Plymouth Block 
 into the battle field of the New Zealand tribes. I have the honor 
 to be, etc., 
 
 " W. WAKEFIELD." 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 "New Plymouth, 23rd Nov., 1844. 
 
 " Sir : Since I had the honor of writing to you on the 9th inst., 
 His Excellency the Governor has been employed in negotiations with
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 117 
 
 the natives for a final purchase of a portion of the block of land, 
 the whole of which the Company is entitled to under Mr. Commis- 
 sioner Spain's award. The land in question lies between a road cut 
 behind sections owned by Captain Davy on the north side of the 
 Waiwakaiho river, and the southern boundary of the Mission Station 
 near the Sugarloaves, extending inland to a line cut beyond the 
 sections occupied by Captain King, Mr. Hursthouse and others. I 
 hope by the next opportunity to send you a separate map of this 
 block, but in the meanwhile can inform you that it embraces nearly 
 all the land in what may be called the Home District, excluding part 
 of that owned by Mr. Smart, and the sections belonging to Messrs. 
 C. Brown, Candish, Broadmore and Barrett. The Governor having 
 failed in his attempt to purchase the Mangoraka and Waiongona 
 District from the very troublesome chief Katatore, proposed to 
 remove the settlers within that district to the Block above 
 mentioned, or to carry them to some other part of the Island 
 Whaingaroa, Kawhia, or the country nearer Auckland making an 
 allowance at the rate of one-half, two-thirds, and three-fourths of their 
 outlay, respectively, during the fii-st, second, and third years of their 
 occupation. The sum required to meet this engagement has been 
 computed to amount to 1,345 11s. 8d., the total estimated outlay 
 being 2,402 19s. Id. The settlers were to defray the expense of 
 inland removal of their crops, houses, etc. The disinclination to 
 leave the settlement was universal ; but no final decision has yet been 
 given as to the removal within the Home Block. It is, however, 
 most improbable that more than two or three will accept the 
 Governor's offer, both because the loss on removal of property would 
 be great, and the quantity of land within the block barely sufficient, 
 although increased by the belt round the town, and four sections of 
 Native Reserves, which the Governor has placed at my disposal for 
 the purpose of effecting this arrangement. The chief inducement for 
 removal is the Crown title and protection of property, which the 
 Governor has unreservedly and repeatedly promised to those within 
 the Home District. I enclose copies of a communication received 
 yesterday from the Governor, and my reply of this day's date, from 
 which you will obtain an outline of the plan which His Excellency 
 has determined to pursue. I have as yet no reply to my request for 
 a distinct and written engagement to give a Crown title and 
 protection, but I understand that both will be forthcoming. 
 
 " In my reply to His Excellency's letter, you will perceive that I 
 expressly repudiate any liability on the part of the Company to an 
 additional payment beyond 500, which was the outside sum the 
 Governor assured me would be required, when on his last visit to 
 Taranaki. I have also, during the negotiation with the natives, 
 protested against payment of those absent at the time of tho sale, 
 and repeatedly against additional iittt to those who then received so 
 much, and who are now the most troublesome and importunate for 
 more compensation. The Governor will not listen to anything against 
 tho claims of absentees, but he IMS often appeared to acquiesce in the
 
 118 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 justice of my remonstrance against giving more to those who 
 according to His Excellency's own opinion must have already been 
 greatly overpaid, inasmuch as they were deemed owners of a very 
 large district instead of a fraction of it ; yet a few minutes afterwards 
 the Governor will act as if there never had been any previous 
 transaction, and the whole business is recommenced. I consider the 
 Company's property taken as cash by the Government as on the 
 whole fairly valued. It comprises many articles now utterly useless 
 to the Company, and constantly becoming less valuable by wear and 
 tear. Although the quantity of land now about to be secured to the 
 Company and settlers is very small only about 3,800 acres it 
 comprises most of that to which the natives have attached the highest 
 value, and I have reason to believe that little difficulty will be 
 experienced in acquiring large additions to it. Already several 
 offers are made ; but having found land for the immediate wants of 
 the actual settlers, it is not my intention at present to appear ready 
 to purchase more. In the meantime, it is not impossible that the 
 extraordinary and most arbitrary proceedings of the Governor may 
 be checked by the interference of the Home Government. Nothing, 
 you may be assured, but pressing necessity has induced me to accede 
 so far to the Governor's proposition. The amount of the additional 
 payment now being made in blankets, guns, tobacco, cattle, and so 
 forth, is about .300. His Excellency appears to treat his brother 
 Commissioners of Native Reserves and to deal with that property in 
 the same slashing manner which he adopts towards the Company's 
 officers and the Company's land. I have mentioned his making over 
 to me four Native Reserves within the Home Block, and you will 
 observe in the last paragraph but one of the enclosed copy of His 
 Excellency's letter, that the Trustees of the Native Reserves are to 
 obtain land in future by small purchases from the natives. Thus it 
 would seem that, as regards Taranaki, the whole scheme of the Native 
 Reserves is annihilated ; for in future, the Trustees, not the Company, 
 are to purchase land out of non-existent fmids. The natives have 
 been signing the Deed of Sale this day, and the Governor is to take 
 his departure in the Hazard for Auckland on Monday next. I had 
 hoped to have forwarded to you by this mail a statement of the 
 conclusion of the affair, but this will not be effected before Monday, 
 if then. I have the honor to be, etc., 
 
 "J. T. WlCKSTEED." 
 
 [Enclosed in the last Letter.] 
 
 Governor Fitzroy to Mr. Wicksteed. 
 
 " New Plymouth, Nov. 22nd, 1844. 
 
 " Sir : Under the present difficult and very critical circumstances 
 of this settlement I am obliged to take unusual measures for the 
 assistance of the settlers here, and for the tranquillity of the Colony 
 in general measures of which I must bear the whole responsibility ; 
 and I now call upon you as the Resident Agent of the New Zealand 
 Company to aid and assist me to the utmost of your means. The
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAK1. 119 
 
 circumstances to which I principally refer are, the suspension of 
 payment by the New Zealand Company ; their defective title to the 
 land in this neighborhood ; and the consequent distress prevailing in 
 this settlement. The measures I am about to take, or have already 
 taken with the view of diminishing the evil effects of such a state of 
 things, are the following : (1.) To secure the rightful possession of 
 a small block of land about the town, sufficient for the present 
 occupation of the settlers, by completing that small part only of the 
 purchase said to be made by the New Zealand Company. (2.) To 
 remove outlying settlers from distant locations to land within the 
 boundai'ies of such a block. (3.) To remove settlers from Mangoraka 
 or that neighborhood within four months from this date ; unless, 
 within that time, the free consent of the native owners of the lands 
 on which those settlers are now resident be obtained for their 
 occupation of them. (4.) A valuation of the outlay or expenditure 
 on such lands, respectively, has been completed, and an allowance 
 will be made by the Government on account of the New Zealand 
 Company to each settler so removed, to enable him to establish 
 himself in a nearly equivalent position on other land given him in 
 exchange. (5.) Settlers so removed to be allowed to choose unoccu- 
 pied land within the boundai-ies of the said block, exchanging acre 
 for acre outside the Town Belt, or one acre within the Belt for two 
 acres of other land. (6.) To enable you to effect such changes more 
 readily, the whole of the Town Belt, including spaces intended for 
 parks, will be placed at your disposal for this purpose only. 
 (7.) Reserves, hitherto intended for the natives, within the said 
 small block, and not required for their present use or occupation, 
 will likewise be placed at your disposal for the above mentioned 
 purpose alone. (8.) To enable you to complete purchases of land 
 outside the boundaries of the aforesaid small block, the Crown's 
 right of pre-emption will be waived, in favor of the New Zealand 
 Company only, throughout the whole extent of the large block of 
 land already surveyed by the Company, and said to contain about 
 60,000 acres. (9.) To enable you to make payments for the several 
 portions of land to be purchased or of which the purchase is to be 
 completed, the Government will advance funds from time to time, on 
 such satisfactory security as the New Zealand Company's property 
 may afford. (10.) A survey having been held at my desire on the 
 New Zealand Company's boats, stores, cranes, and storehouse, as 
 shown in the enclosed documents, I am ready to accept these effects 
 for the purposes of Government, at the valuation annexed in the 
 accompanying Report of Survey, as an equivalent for so nrmch sterling 
 money advanced by Government. 
 
 " More land may be obtained by small purchases from the proper 
 owners from time to time ; and in a similar manner land for the 
 future benefit of the natives themselves may be obtained by the 
 trustees of Native Reserves. 
 
 " By adopting these measures I believe that tho settlement will bo
 
 120 HISTORY OF TARAXAKI. 
 
 beneficially concentrated, and that prosperity will gradually follow. 
 I have the honor to be, etc., 
 
 " EGBERT FITZROY, Governor." 
 
 The Company's property alluded to in the above letter was valued 
 at X382 17s. Od., and was handed over to Captain King for the 
 Government. It consisted of the storehouse, boats, oars, cranes, 
 studs, capstan, flagstaff, two cannon, muskets, rifles and other 
 ammunition. 
 
 [EXTRACT.] 
 
 Colonel Wakefield to Mr. Wicksteed. 
 
 "Wellington, 13th Nov., 1844. 
 
 " I can imagine no other reason than the haste which is apparent in 
 your negotiations for your omitting to protest in the strongest terms 
 against the ungrounded assumption of the Governor that the 
 Company's title to land in the neighborhood was defective, and that 
 that combined with the suspension of payment by the Company was 
 the cause of the distress prevailing in the settlement. I consider it 
 due to the character of the Company to record my unqualified 
 contradiction of such statements, and to repudiate any tacit admission 
 of their truth. The land in question has been solemnly awarded, 
 after a lengthened and patient investigation into its sale and purchase, 
 by a Commissioner appointed under the Queen's Sign-Manual, to be 
 the property of the New Zealand Company. The assumed distress 
 amongst the laboring population is, I am assured by yourself, of 
 trifling amount, and entirely caused by the interference of the 
 Governor with Mr. Spain's Award, deterring landowners from 
 employing hands ; and the suspension of payment by the Company 
 has no reference to the settlement of New Plymouth, where none of 
 its servants' salaries are in arrear, where its expenditure on other 
 objects had nearly ceased before a cessation of outlay on its part 
 became a measure of policy calculated to secure justice from the 
 Home and Local Governments, and where an absolute debt to the 
 Company to a considerable amount for sales of land will be sacrificed 
 by the accomplishment of Captain Fitzroy's designs. I must also 
 protest against the delusive promises held out to settlers and laborers 
 to abandon the settlement for the neighborhood of Auckland. I 
 have the honor to be, etc., 
 
 "W. WAKEFIELD." 
 
 [EXTRACT.] 
 
 Mr. Wicksteed to Colonel Wakefield. 
 
 " New Plymouth, Jan. 2nd, 1845. 
 
 " The delay of Captain Fitzroy in returning to New Plymouth to 
 Settle the Land Question had annoyed all parties. The Maoris 
 especially were insolent and tixmblesome, marking out very narrow 
 boundaries of the land they intended to give up to the Europeans ; 
 who first were to be confined to the seaside of the Devon line, then
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKt. 121 
 
 to be allowed to progress towards the Belt, or, in the event of large 
 utu not being forthcoming, to the south side of the Huatoki. The 
 settlers in the Home District, Captain King, Captain Davy, Mr. 
 Chilman, the cottagers at the Henui, and others were irritated by the 
 violence and threats of the natives. The settlement was in a very 
 feverish and excited state when Captain Fitzroy arrived with his plan 
 for breaking it up. 
 
 "J. T. WICKSTEED."
 
 122 HISTORY OF TARANAK1. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF VARIOUS RELIGIOUS 
 DENOMINATIONS IN TARANAKI. 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BRANCH OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 HE establishment of the Church of England in New Zealand 
 \) dates from Christmas Day, 1814, when the Rev. Samuel 
 Marsden, Senior Chaplain of New South Wales, preached the 
 first sermon at the Bay of Islands. This inaugural labor of that 
 excellent minister was followed by the services of the agents of the 
 Church of England and "Wesleyan Missionaiy Societies. The 
 missionaries located themselves among the Maoris, and confined their 
 ministrations to that race, consequently when the Colonies were 
 founded there was a lack of spiritual instructors for the Europeans. 
 The Company sent the Rev. J. F. Churton to officiate at Wellington, 
 but he speedily left his post for Auckland, to the great disgust of the 
 Company's settlers. 
 
 On the 20th of March, 1840, an Association was formed in London, 
 under the title of The Church Society for New Zealand, having for 
 its object the procuring for New Zealand a bishop and an associated 
 body of clergy, and the erection and maintenance of churches and 
 schools for the Colonists and Natives. The Earl of Devon, Viscount 
 Sandon, Viscount Coiirtenay, Lord Ashley, Dr. Hinds, Archdeacon 
 Hall, Rev. S. Hawtrey, and others of equal note were members of 
 its committee. To endow the proposed bishopric the Church Society 
 and the New Zealand Company came to the following arrangement : 
 The Company agreed to set apart for this object 4,000 acres of land 
 in the vicinity of its chief settlement at Wellington, and the Society 
 agreed to pay to the Company at the end of twelvemonths .2,000 
 as the price of half the land set apart, with the understanding that 
 the Company should make its customary rebatement on land 
 purchases for the purpose of conveying the bishop and his suite to 
 the Colony. After this the Society memorialised the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury for the appointment of a bishop. The Archbishop 
 forwarded the memorial to Lord John Russel, who, in reply, under 
 date July the 6th, 1840, stated that he was unable to do anything 
 in the matter, becaiise Her Majesty's Government had repeatedly 
 and distinctly refused to recognise the body associated under the title 
 of the New Zealand Company. The Society, however, obtained from 
 the Company a land order for 4,000 acres, and despatched Mr. John 
 Tylson Wicksteecl, in the London, as their agent, to make an early 
 selection. In the course of the following year the Government 
 granted a Charter to the Company and determined to found a 
 bishopric in the Colony. At the recommendation of the Archbishop
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 123 
 
 of Canterbury, Lord John Russell nominated the Rev. George 
 Augustus Selwyn, Curate of New Windsor, to the office of Bishop, 
 and he was accordingly consecrated at Lambeth on the 17th of 
 October, 1841. Dr. Selwyn was of the high church school, and was 
 possessed of high mental and physical endowments. Indeed, as men 
 judge, he appeared to be specially fitted for the office he was destined 
 to fulfil. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 17th of November, a very numerous meeting 
 of the inhabitants of Windsor, and the gentry and clergy of the 
 neighborhood, was held at the Town Hall for the purpose of 
 witnessing the presentation of a splendid Service of Communion 
 Plate, purchased by subscription, to the Right Rev. Dr. Selwyn, the 
 Bishop of New Zealand. The hall was completely filled. The 
 service, which cost nearly 300, consisted of six pieces A. large 
 flagon with modelled and chased wreaths of olives, corn, and passion 
 flowers, on the body and cover, and palm branches and leaves on the 
 body on one side, and on the other the Christian monogram IHS and 
 the glory ; in the four compartments of the foot were introduced 
 double seraphs with clouds, and the lip was supported by the figure of 
 an angel, the handle being richly modelled and chased to correspond 
 with a chased cross on the cover ; two richly chased chalices which 
 corresponded with the flagon ; one large salver with shaped moulded 
 edge, divided by bold gothic shapings into compartments, in which 
 were placed alternately wreaths and doves, with the monogram and 
 glory in the centre to match the flagon ; two patens with moulded 
 shaped edges, on high feet, with seraphs and the glory in the centre. 
 The plate bore the following inscription : " Presented to the Right 
 Reverend Father in God, George Augustus, First Bishop of New 
 Zealand, by the inhabitants of Windsor, Berkshire, England, as a 
 mark of their high esteem, regard, and gratitude. A.D. 1841. John 
 Banister, Mayor." 
 
 The Bishop sailed for Sydney in the ship Tomatin, on Saturday, 
 the llth of December, 1841, and arrived in Auckland from Sydney 
 in the brig Bristolian, on Monday, the 30th of May, 1842. Young, 
 strong, and full of zeal, he speedily made the tour of his 
 great diocese, visiting all the mission stations, preaching to all the 
 tribes, addressing the whalers, and bringing to their remembrance 
 truths which they had not heard for many a day. Homely and 
 forcible were his addresses to these rough men. YoU labor hard, 
 said he, and procure barrels of oil in exchange for barrels of rum. 
 No distance was too great for the Bishop to travel ; where the 
 Maoris went he ventured to follow ; and no river was too broad, too 
 deep, or too rapid for him to cross. Furnished with a pedometer he 
 measured distances, and after his tour he published an itinerary in 
 which distances were given with sufficient accuracy. 
 
 "On the 10th of October, 1842," says the Bishop in a letter to 
 a friend, " I left Wellington on foot, accompanied by several natives 
 who carried our tents, beds, food, clothes, and books, and set out on 
 a land journey to New Plymouth, one of the principal settlements of
 
 124 HISTORY OP TARANAK1. 
 
 the Company, which is situated to the north of Cape Egmont, the 
 western extremity of New Zealand, and near the Sugarloaf Islands. 
 After a few days journey I was detained by a slight inflammation 
 in my heel and was obliged to rest, while some of the natives went 
 forward to procure me a horse. I was encamped near the river 
 Wanganui, 011 some low sand hills, with three of the natives as my 
 companions. My little tent was pitched in the hollow of the sand 
 hills, and my native attendants made themselves comfortable round a 
 large fire, under a little hut, which they soon constructed of drift 
 wood and coarse grass. You would be surprised with the comparative 
 comfort which I enjoy in my encampment. My tent is strewn with 
 dry fern or grass ; my air bed is laid upon it, my books, my clothes, 
 and other goods lie beside it ; and though the whole dimensions of 
 my dwelling do not exceed eight feet by five, I have more room than 
 I require and am as comfortable as it is possible for a man to be 
 when he is absent from those whom he loves most. I thus spent 
 October the 17th, the first anniversary of my consecration, in my 
 tent on the sand hills ; and while in that situation I was led naturally 
 to contrast my present position with the very different scenes in 
 England last year. I can assure you the comparison brought with it 
 no feelings of regret ; on the contrary I spent the greater part of 
 the day, after the usual services and readings with my natives, in 
 thinking with gratitude on the many services and blessings which 
 have been granted to me in the past year. Indeed, in looking back 
 Tipon the events of the year ; upon my happy parting with all my 
 friends, my visit to the Bishop of Australia, my voyages eight in 
 number my favorable reception in every town in my diocese, 
 my growing friendship with the natives, who hear me in every part 
 of the Country, and receive me with characteristic cordiality ; 
 all from an inexhaustible subject of joy and thanksgiving, which 
 sometimes fills the heart with joy and overflowing. Here," he 
 afterwards adds, " my favorite text came into my mind, ' The lot is 
 fallen unto me in a fair ground ; Yea, I have a goodly heritage." 
 
 The Bishop organised an institution for the education of his 
 clergy. In a letter dated November, 1842, he says : " Our 
 institution at Waimate will probably consist of a small college for 
 candidates for Holy Orders, under the care of the Rev. Thomas 
 Whytehead ; a collegiate school under the direction of a competent 
 master, assisted by the young students of the college ; and 
 a native boarding school for the education of native children 
 selected from the different mission stations. By putting our plan of 
 life upon a collegiate system, and by the aid of a good extent of 
 land, formerly the farm of the Church Mission, I hope to be able to 
 make the whole institution support itself without much assistance 
 from home." A little later the Bishop writes : " Next door to our 
 own house, which is the college, is the collegiate school, which has not 
 yet been opened, but will probably be set on foot after Easter. The 
 premises have hitherto been used as the missionary school, and are 
 very complete for the purpose. The cathedral library is established
 
 HISTORY OF TARAXAKI. 125 
 
 at Kirikiri, two miles from this place, in a fine stone building partly 
 used as a store. I have just completed the arrangement of the 
 library, so that the goodly presents of my numerous friends are all 
 accessible ; and a beautiful sight they are. It is enough to cheer the 
 heart to see such a body of sound divinity collected in this most 
 distant of the dioceses of the Church of England; add to this the 
 private feeling of knowing that eveiy one of the books is the gift 
 of some friend, whose heart, and whose prayers are with us. 
 One of the chief advantages of the Waimate is, that we have a 
 spacious church close to the house. It is built entirely of wood, 
 painted white, and gives a very English look to the village. In the 
 interior we have a stone font, an altar cloth and cushions, a pulpit, 
 and beautiful large books, all the gifts of different friends in England. 
 Here I held my first confirmation, at which 325 natives were con- 
 firmed. A more orderly, and I hope impressive, ceremony could not 
 have been conducted in any church in England ; the natives coming 
 up in parties to the communion table and audibly repeating the 
 answer ' E wakaoetia ana e ahau, (I do confess).' It was a most 
 striking sight to see a church filled with native Christians, ready at 
 my first invitation to obey the ordinances of their religion. On the 
 following Sunday 300 native communicants assembled at the Lord's 
 table, though the rain was increasing. Some of them came two days' 
 journey for this purpose. My Windsor communion plate was used 
 for the second time on this occasion. The natives were much pleased 
 when they were told that it was a present from my congregation in 
 England, and seemed to enter fully into the spirit of the gift." 
 
 On the Bishop's appointment to his diocese, he was informed by the 
 New Zealand Company that they would make certain liberal grants 
 towards the endowment of the church in their various settlements, 
 provided the Bishop would meet these grants by equal contributions 
 on the part of the church. The sum given by the Company towards 
 the endowment of the church in Taranaki was j500. Early in 1844 
 the Bishop appointed the Rev. William Bolland, whom he had 
 recently ordained at Waimate, to be minister at New Plymouth. 
 The young clergyman was full of zeal, but he lacked the robust and 
 well-knit frame of Bishop Selwyn. Horses were scarce in those days, 
 yet the services of the church were regularly conducted in a teinjKmiry 
 building in town and also at Mangorakn. On Sundays the slim figure 
 of the young clergyman might be seen hasting along the very rugged 
 roads, assisted by a taia/ta, to fulfil his clerical appointments. To the 
 poor he was a true friend. Soon after Mr. Bolland's arrival steps 
 were taken towards the erection of a substantial church. A committee 
 was apixrinted consisting of Rev. W. Bolland, and Messrs. Thatcher and 
 Wicksteed, who undertook to receive from the settlers contributions 
 either in cash or produce. Mr. Thatcher being by profession an 
 architect, designed the building in the Gothic style, and gave his 
 professional assistance to the work. Mr. Wicksteed, under date 
 Jan. 31st, 1845, thus writes to his Chief : " Most of the materials 
 for the erection of a church in New Plymouth are collected. The
 
 126 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 settlers have paid up nearly all their contributions, and the building 
 will be completed in the course of three or four months. The Bishop 
 provides a sum equal to that contributed by the settlers. His 
 Lordship has also given instructions for building out of his own funds 
 a small wooden chapel at the Henui." The first stone of the sacred 
 edifice was laid 011 the Reserve fronting Marsland Hill on the 25th 
 March, 1845, and the church was consequently dedicated to St. Mary. 
 On the 29th September, 1846 the new church was opened without 
 ceremony. Indeed, to this day it has not been ritually consecrated. 
 It was built by the local masons and carpenters, the materials being 
 the trachytic rock from the sea beach, and rimu or red pine timber 
 from the forest. The cost of erection was 800, of which the Bishop 
 paid one-half out of funds at his disposal for church building purposes, 
 and the settlers contributed the remainder. During the war the 
 church was twice enlarged, at a very considerable expense, and was 
 furnished with an organ, and the roof has recently been slated. 
 Notwithstanding the delicacy of his frame, Mr. Bolland on one 
 occasion undertook the journey to Auckland and back, overland, a 
 task sufficiently arduous to try the strongest constitution. In the 
 autumn of 1847 Mr. Fisher, the Superintendent of the Bishop's 
 College, arrived at Taranaki, and took up his abode at Mr. Bolland's 
 house. When he left Auckland fever prevailed both there and at 
 the College. The fever poison was evidently latent in his system 
 when he arrived, for he shortly afterwards sickened, and the 
 fever ran its coiirse. Mr. Bolland was then attacked, and, in 
 the absence of a medical man. was treated by Mrs. Bolland and 
 a well-intentioned lady, the wife of one of the principal settlers. 
 After languishing a few weeks, a son was born to him ; he took the 
 infant in his arms, thanking God, and blessing it, after which he 
 expired, to the grief of the entire settlement, and the inconsolable 
 sorrow of his young widow. He was buried in the church yai'd, a 
 short distance from the east window, and for several years his grave 
 was constantly bedecked with flowers. It is now marked by a stone 
 bearing the inscription : " Sacred to the Memory of the Rev. 
 William Bolland, who departed this life May 29th, 1847, aged 27 
 years. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord." 
 
 The death of Mr. Bolland having left the Episcopal Church at 
 Taranaki without a minister, Mr. Turton, of the Wesleyan Mission, 
 proffered his services to the Bishop, but the Bishop refused to accept 
 them. After an interval of some months, the Rev. Henry Govett, B. A., 
 son of the incumbent of Staines, Middlesex, a descendant of the Rev. 
 W. Romaine, a popular Calvanistic divine of the last century, and one 
 of the Bishop's candidates, was appointed to the vacancy. With the 
 exception of an interval of three years, 1856-9, during which he 
 paid a visit to England, Mr. Govett has continued to labor diligently 
 among both the races in this province. In 1855, Mr. Woollaston, 
 then a Catechist, but now a minister of the Episcopal Church in 
 Melbourne, officiated at Bell Block. He was much beloved by the 
 settlers, and would doubtless have made an excellent clergyman, but,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 127 
 
 on account of his objecting to qualify himself for ministering to the 
 Maoris, the Bishop refused him a permanent appointment. During 
 Mr. Govett's absence the Rev. Mr. Lally officiated in town, and the 
 Rev. G. Bayley at Omata. On the resignation of Mr. Bayley the 
 Rev. Henry Handley Brown, Rector of Burton Pedwardine, and 
 Vicar of Howell, Lincolnshire, England, was appointed to Omata. 
 Mr. Brown and family arrived from England in the barque Eclipse, 
 Capt. Elliot, on 4th March, 1859, and has up to this date (1877) 
 acted as the laborious coadjutor of Mr. Govett. In August, 1859, 
 Taranaki was constituted an Archdeaconry, and Mr. Govett was 
 appointed Archdeacon. In 1874 the Rev. Mr. Kennedy was 
 appointed to Patea. From his own purse Bishop Selwyn erected in 
 1844 a chapel at the Henui village. In 1872 this chapel was put 
 into a state of thorough repair. In 1848 a wooden clmrch was erected 
 at Omata, on a plot of land given for the purpose by Mr. Wicksteed. 
 This having decayed, a new church in that district was opened on 
 February 14th, 1875. In 1854 a substantial timber church was 
 erected at Bell Block, and in 1859 a church was erected in the Barrett 
 Road. In January, 1875, Mr. Walsh was appointed Curate of 
 Waitara, and on the 16th October, 1877, a church was opened at 
 Inglewood. In districts where there are no churches, divine service 
 is held in school rooms and block houses. 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN TARANAKI. 
 
 In the year 1836, Pope Gregory XVI, appointed J. B. Pompallier 
 Roman Catholic Bishop of New Zealand, and the Lyons Association 
 for the Propagation of the Faith furnished him with money. In the 
 year 1838 he landed in the North with several priests, and took up 
 his abode at Karorareka in the Bay of Islands. Since then French 
 missionary priests have established themselves in various parts of the 
 Islands, both among the Maori and European inhabitants, and at the 
 time we write there are three Roman Catholic Bishops in the Colony ; 
 one in Auckland, one in Wellington, and one in Dunedin, Bishop 
 Redwood of Wellington being of New Zealand birth. Taranaki 
 has never been regarded with favor by the Roman Catholics of 
 England or Ireland. One or two families who came with the early 
 settlers soon left the district for Sydney for the sake of their 
 children ; those that remain are chiefly the families of soldiers who 
 have fought in the wars of the Colony. The district was for several 
 years visited annually by the Rev. Father Pezant, who traversed on 
 foot the whole distance between Wanganui und Taranaki. Although 
 a grant of a town section in New Plymouth was made to the Catholic 
 Mission by the Provincial Government, and was supplemented by a 
 donation of an adjoining section by Mr. Richard Brown, a New 
 Plymouth merchant, no attempt was made to build a chapel till the 
 year 1856, when one or two companies of the 65th Regiment were 
 stationed at New Plymouth in consequence of the Puketapu feud 
 which was then raging, many of whom were catholics. At that 
 time a collection was made, wot only in Taranaki, but also in
 
 128 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 Wellington and other places, and from the funds so obtained a small 
 chapel was erected on the Mission land in Coui-tenay Street, New 
 Plymouth. Until the outbreak of the Maori rebellion in 1860, no 
 resident priest was stationed in the district, but at that time the 
 Rev. Father Tressallet was sent thither. He soon perceived as the 
 war proceeded, and fresh troops were poured in, that the chapel was 
 too far from the town for the soldiers to attend. He therefore com- 
 menced a new subscription and succeeded in purchasing an acre of ground 
 in Devon Street, nearly facing Queen Street, and upon it he built a 
 larger chapel, which was subsequently added to and enlarged by the 
 Rev. Father Pertuis, who succeeded Father Tressallet, and also by 
 the Rev. Father Rolland, a most energetic and exemplary Priest in 
 the performance of his duties under tire in the field of battle to the 
 wounded and the dying. Had the funds at the disposal of Father 
 Rolland been equal to his desire, a thriving Catholic community 
 would most probably have been established in the district. Father 
 Rolland was succeeded by Father Binsfeld, shortly after whose 
 arrival the war ceased and the troops were withdrawn. The ill- 
 judged abandonment of the Military Settler System by the Govern- 
 ment rechiced the trade of the province to its lowest ebb, and the 
 Catholic community now scattered over a lai-ge extent of forest 
 country, and numbering about 800, is composed almost entirely of 
 discharged soldiers, who have taken up land under the land regulations, 
 with their families. At the time we write the Rev. Father Lampilia 
 is the resident Priest at New Plymouth, and efforts are being made 
 under his direction for the erection of a chapel at Inglewood. 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WESLEYAN METHODIST SOCIETY IN 
 
 TARANAKI. 
 
 Shortly after the formation of the Church Mission in New 
 Zealand, the Wesleyan Missionary Society sent out agents to the 
 country, who established themselves on the shores of the fine harbor 
 of Wangaroa in the North. Being driven from thence in 1827, a 
 successful re-establishment was effected at Hokianga. By an 
 arrangement the Chxu-ch missioned the East Coast and the Wesleyans 
 the West Coast. As soon as the agents of the Plymouth Company 
 took possession of the land situate between Ngamotu and Waitara, 
 and under the aegis of the Europeans the fugitive Ngatiawa began to 
 return to their homes, Mr. Creed was sent down and established 
 himself on a fine section of 100 acres at Ngamotu, reserved for the 
 use of the mission. Mr. Skevington, another missionary, was at the 
 same time stationed among the Taranaki and Ngatiruanuis at 
 Waimate. 
 
 In 1842, the Wesleyan settlers, aided by a grant of 10 from the 
 Company through its agent, Captain Liardet, erected a temporary 
 church on the hill in Broiigham Street South. Refusing to admit 
 Captain King and Mr. Wicksteed for the purpose of holding a horti- 
 cultural show within it, they were ordered to remove the building, 
 having erected it before the survey was completed in what after-
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 129 
 
 wards proved to be a public road. Mr. Groube, the Independent 
 Minister, had begun the erection of a small sand-stone chapel 
 at the corner of Courtenay and Liardet streets, but was unable 
 from want of funds to finish it. The Wesleyans took it off 
 his hands, completed it, and worshipped in it for many years. 
 When the Episcopal Church was closed, which happened every fourth 
 Sunday, in order that the clergyman should devote that day to the 
 Maoris, the two congregations used to mingle in harmony in the 
 Wesleyan Chapel. 
 
 In 1844, Mr. Creed was succeeded by the Rev. Henry Hanson 
 Turton, a young, clever, handsome man. In its policy with the 
 natives the Government required the assistance of Maori linguists, 
 and such, unless they were missionaries, were scarce in those days. 
 Mr. Turton was employed in much secular business with the Maoris, 
 by Governor Fitzroy, which did not result in the spiritual improve- 
 ment of either himself or people. 
 
 In 1848, Governor Grey erected an industrial school on the Mission 
 land at Ngamotu, for the education and training in useful employment 
 of the Maori youth of both sexes. This institution was placed under 
 the care of Mr. Turton. At first it gave some little promise of good, 
 .but ultimately failed through the apathy of the Maoris. When 
 parents were requested to send their children to be taught to work 
 they not unfrequently replied by asking how much utu they were to 
 receive if they complied In 1849, Mr. Turton lost his wife through 
 a cold caught shortly after confinement, and buried her with many 
 tears on a hill on the Mission land. 
 
 Mr. Skevington having died suddenly at the District Meeting in 
 Auckland, was succeeded at Waimate by the Rev. William Woon. 
 Mr. Woon was a native of Truro in Cornwall, a man of gigantic 
 proportion, possessing a trumpet voice, but withal as gentle as a 
 child. He was sent out to Tongatapu in 1830 as a missionary 
 printer, but the climate affecting his health he was removed to the 
 north of New Zealand, where he resided during Heki's rebellion in 
 1845. Great demands upon his charity were made by the wounded 
 rebels who were brought to his house for surgical aid. Mr. Woon 
 received much ill-treatment from the people of Waimate. After 
 enduring many insults from the very cowardly and ungrateful people 
 among whom he labored, he obtained his superannuation, after a 
 service of twenty-three years, and retired to Wanganui, where he 
 died in 1858, aged fifty-two years. He has had no successor. 
 
 In 1856, in consequence of the alarming state of the district, Mr. 
 Whiteley was sent to Taranaki to co-operate with Mr. Turton. In 
 the following year Mr. Turton was removed to Auckland, and was 
 succeeded by Mr. Ironside. In consequence of the increase of 
 Hettlers, and the presence of troops in the town, the stone chapel 
 became too small for the congregation. In 1856, a fine new chapel 
 was erected diagonally opposite to the old one, and was opened on 
 October the 2nd of that year. In 1859, Mr. Ironside was succeeded 
 by Mr. Fletcher. Since then Messrs. Innis, Reid, Watkins, Crump, 
 9
 
 130 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Kirk, Cannell, Smith, Russell, Hammond and Isitt have ministered in 
 the district. The Society has at various times been assisted by lay 
 preachers, several of whom have gone to their rest. Thomas Skinner 
 and William Edgecombe labored among the Maoris ; Sergeant 
 Marjouram, of the Royal Artillery, among the troops ; and Messrs. 
 Hooker, Rawson, and Veale among the settlers. During the war 
 the church was considerably enlarged and schools erected. In 1864, 
 the building formerly used as an Independent Chapel was purchased 
 and removed from Devon Street East to the Outfield Road, and there 
 used as a Wesleyan Chapel. In 1875 it was removed to the Waitara 
 and opened in March. In 1876 a chapel was erected at Inglewood. 
 The Wesleyans pei-form their part with other denominations of 
 Christians in the evangelisation of the district, holding Sunday services 
 in various locatities between Tataraimaka and Tikorangi. Very 
 recently a minister has been appointed to Patea. 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIMITIVE METHODISM IN TARANAKI. 
 
 The angularity which characterised early Methodism gave way to 
 the abrading influence of time, prosperity and education. Time 
 toned down its fiery zeal ; prosperity the result of obedience to its 
 precepts elevated its members among the gentle and respectable of 
 society ; and education taught them that intense earnestness could 
 exist beneath a peaceable demeanour. In some districts of England, 
 lying remote from the centre of national life and progress, this 
 modification of early Methodism was looked upon as a declension 
 from its original stand point, and a relapsing into worldliness. In 
 the year 1801, some zealous Wesleyan 'Methodists in the Staffordshire 
 potteries proposed a day's praying upon Mow Cop, a high hill on the 
 borders of Staffordshire and Cheshire. The proposition was not 
 carried out till 1807. On the 31st of May of that year, under the 
 leadership of Hugh Bourne, of Bemersley, a Camp Meeting was 
 held on the " Cop " or Mount, the Wesleyan Methodist authorities 
 treating this, and similar meetings as decidedly irregular, Hugh 
 Bourne and his friends seceded and established the Primitive 
 Methodist Connexion in 1810. Primitive Methodism has grown to 
 be the most extensive of all the Methodist secessions. Its government 
 is more democratic than that of Wesleyan Methodism, but in doctrine 
 and church order it is almost identical with it. 
 
 There is a Methodist body called Bible Christians or Bryanites, 
 which is not the result of any secession from the Wesleyan Methodists, 
 but grew up as an independent community and adopted the 
 principles of Methodism. Its founder was one William 'Bryan, a 
 Wesleyan local preacher of North Cornwall, who left that body in 
 1815, and began to form societies on the Methodist plan. In 
 doctrine and order they do not differ from the other Arminian 
 Methodists. They have never been a very numerous body. Many 
 of the early settlers in Taranaki came from North Devon and 
 Cornwall, and were members of the Bible Christian Society. Among 
 them were several local preachers of that body. Shortly after the
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 131 
 
 establishment of New Plymouth, 'the elder Mr. Veale offered these 
 people a site in the centre of the town for a place of worship. The 
 offer was acccepted, and very speedily a small chapel was built upon 
 it, in which they conducted worship among themselves. Supposing 
 that they needed a leader, they wrote home to the officers of their 
 society requesting that a minister, or to use their own phraseology, a 
 travelling preacher, should be sent out to them. In reply they 
 received a number of queries as to the means they possessed of 
 supporting a minister. While this matter was pending, an event 
 took place which threw this little church into the lap of the Primitive 
 Methodist Connexion. On a Sunday afternoon, September the 1st, 
 1844, after the afternoon service had concluded in their little chapel, 
 they observed a stranger standing on a chair preaching on the 
 Huatoki Bridge. Mingling with his congregation they soon 
 perceived that the strange preacher taught doctrines in accord with 
 their own religious opinions. The pi-eacher proved to be the Pvev. 
 Robert Ward, a missionary sent out by the Primitive Methodist 
 Society, who had just arrived by the ship Raymond, from London. 
 The result was that Mr. Ward, became their minister, and they were 
 absorbed into his Connexion. A plot of land having been given to 
 the Society at the Henui village, a small chapel was there built, and 
 Mr. Ward took up his residence in the neighborhood. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Green followed Mr. Ward and labored in the settlement for some 
 time, during which Mr. Ward paid a visit to some of the 'other 
 settlements. Mr. Ward set himself to study the Maori language, 
 and as soon as he had mastered it sufficiently to converse with 
 the natives, attempted to preach to them. This aroused a pitiful 
 jealousy, which resulted in the Mangoraka Maoris driving him out 
 of their district by flourishing their tomahawks over- his head. When 
 in 1848 the Omata block was opened many of the Henui villagers 
 removed thither, and those among them who were Primitive Methodists 
 erected a small chapel in the district. In 1850, Mr. Ward removed 
 to Auckland, and was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph Long, who won 
 golden opinions from all classes by his affability. Shortly after this 
 minister's arrival the Bell district was opened, and he, with his local 
 preachers held service there in the rush built houses of the settlers till 
 Sept. 22nd, 1855, when the present chapel was opened. Through Mr. 
 Long's exertions a chapel was built at Hurdon, on the Franklyn. Road, 
 and preaching services instituted at Mangoreiand Tataraimaka. Having 
 fulfilled his term, Mr. Long i-emoved to Auckland on the 24th of 
 January, 1859, and was succeeded by Mr. Ward, who returned to 
 the settlement on the 31st of the same month. During the war Mr. 
 Ward suffered much from being driven to take shelter within the 
 intrenchments and from the alarms consequent on continually 
 expected assaults. In 1862 a large connexions! chapel was erected 
 in Queen Street, New Plymouth. In the following year it was 
 considerably enlarged. In 186">, Mr. Ward removed to Wellington, 
 and was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Waters. They having 
 fulfilled their term were succeeded by the Rev. John Dumbell, who
 
 132 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 was succeeded by the Rev. Me'ssrs. Standrin and Clover, the 
 present ministers. The settlement owes a debt of gratitude to the 
 plain, but earnest members of the connexion. At their Sunday 
 schools many obtained all the book learning they ever received. 
 When there were no newspapers, and but little literature of any 
 kind in the Province, the Primitive Methodists distributed books in 
 their schools and congregations, and while other denominations 
 devoted a very large part of their attention to the Maoris, these 
 directed all their labors to the spiritual, moral, and intellectual good 
 of their fellow countrymen, the colonists. Messrs. Thomas Bayly, 
 Henry Gilbert, William Bassett, and Edward Moyle, are the persons 
 who have labored longest and most constantly in the cause of the 
 connexion. 
 
 THE HISTORY OP CONGREGATIONALISM IN NEW PLYMOUTH. 
 
 The Rev. Horatio Groube, son of Admiral Groube, of Dorsetshire, 
 England, a minister of the Congregational body, arrived in New 
 Plymouth by the Timandra, in February, 1842, and for some time 
 conducted divine service in a raupo whare in Devon street East, not 
 far from the Huatoki stream. He attempted the erection of a 
 sandstone chapel, but failing to complete it for want of funds, sold 
 it to the Wesleyans. Among the early settlers there were very few 
 Congregationalists, and Mr. Groube in consequence failed to secure 
 much favor as a minister. In 1849 he erected a small wooden 
 chapel in Devon street East, and ministered for eleven years to a 
 small congregation. In 1861, owing to the wretched condition to 
 which he and his family were reduced by the war, he determined to 
 leave the settlement, and he accordingly removed to Melbourne, 
 Victoria. Since his removal the Trustees have sold the chapel to the 
 Wesleyans, who, after removing it to the Town Belt, have finally 
 enlarged and re-erected it at Waitara East, and Congregationalism 
 has ceased to exist in the province. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN TARANAKI. 
 
 About the year 1858 the Rev. John Thorn, a Presbyterian 
 Minister, came up from Wanganui on a ministerial visit to Taranaki. 
 He was gladly received by the few Presbyterian families in the 
 settlement, and preached acceptably in several of the places of worship. 
 Shortly after the removal of Mr. Groube to Melbourne Mr. Thorn 
 came to reside permanently at New Plymouth, conducting divine 
 service in the Independent chapel. Mr. Thorn was well adapted for 
 pioneer work, but did not succeed as a stated minister. He did 
 not obtain the hearty co-operation of his congregation. During the 
 war there were a number of young men in the province, Presbyterians 
 by profession, who had come to serve as Military Settlers, but had no 
 intention of residing permanently in the province. Mr. Thorn, 
 representing to these fugitives the desirability of a young Presby- 
 terian Minister being stationed in Taranaki, induced them to sign a 
 memorial to the Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland in
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 133 
 
 Edinburgh, praying that a minister might be sent to take the pastoral 
 charge of St. Andrew's Kirk in Taranaki. In answer to this 
 memorial, the Rev. Robert Ferguson Macnicol, of Oban, who had 
 recently left the University of Glasgow, was ordained by the Presby- 
 tery of Lome, in Argyleshire, Scotland, in June, 1865, and he shortly 
 aftei*wards embarked at Glasgow in the ship Robert Henderson, with 
 his young wife for his distant field of labor, arriving in New Plymouth, 
 vid Otago, on 23rd November, 1865. 
 
 On the young minister's landing in the settlement, he found to his 
 surprise and vexation that St. Andrew's Kirk had no existence, 
 except in the imagination of those persons who had memorialised the 
 Colonial Committee of the Church. Some of the old and substantial 
 Presbyterians, however, rallied round the young minister, and by 
 dint of great exertions succeeded in erecting a place of worship in 
 Devon street. The first stone was laid with Masonic ceremony early 
 in 1866, and the building was opened for Divine worship in November 
 of the same year by the Rev. David Bruce, of Auckland, who 
 preached from the text " Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in 
 due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Mr. Macnicol's congre- 
 gation was never very numerous, but it managed to pay the interest 
 on the church debt, and to allow the minister .150 per annum, 
 which was supplemented by an annual grant of 150 from the Colonial 
 Committee. As the excitement and expenditure attendant upon the 
 war gradually ceased, the province sank into a state of great depression. 
 The peace was fitful and disturbed, and there was no security that 
 hostilities might not at any time be renewed. As a climax to the 
 depression of the settlement, the Home Government withdrew all the 
 troops, and the settlers lost thereby not only their protection but 
 also the pecuniary aid they afforded by their presence. As the 
 prospect of supporting a minister became more and more doubtful to 
 the Presbyterians, Mr. Macnicol was induced to accept a call made 
 to him by the congregation of St. James', Auckland, the ministerial 
 office having become vacant by the removal of Mr. Hill to the 
 Thames. Mr. Macnicol left New Plymouth for his new charge on 
 the 29th January, 1869, and was succeeded in the following February 
 by the Rev. Thomas Blain, of the Ulster Presbytery. Mr. Blain left 
 for New South Wales in July of the same year, and the ministry 
 devolved on Mr. B. Wells, ai member of the congregation, who 
 conducted divine service gratuitously, till June, 1872, when the 
 church made a call to the Rev. M. S. Breach, of Kaipara, the present 
 minister. During Mr. Wells' lay ministry the church debt was 
 cleared off. 
 
 The Rev. John Thorn, after memorialising the Colonial Committee, 
 left Taranaki for New South Wales, where as a laborious pioneer lie 
 succeeded in founding several churches. His last station was on the 
 banks of the Richmond river, and there, while in the act of ferrying 
 a friend across the water, his boat was accidentally upset, and ho 
 was drowned.
 
 134 HISTORY OF TARANAK1. 
 
 HISTORY OP THE BAPTIST CAUSE IN NEW PLYMOUTH. 
 
 On the 12th of March, 1868, the foundation stone of a Baptist 
 Church was laid 011 the section situated at the corner of Gill and 
 Liardet streets, New Plymouth, by the Rev. John Whiteley. In the 
 stone was placed a bottle containing a piece of pai-chment bearing the 
 following inscription: "On the llth March, 1868, the foundation 
 stone of this chapel, intended for the Baptist Denomination, was laid 
 by the Rev. John Whiteley. The building is held in trust by Josiah 
 Flight, William Bayly, T. G. Billing, Richard Hart, and George 
 Hoby." The building was in due time completed, but up to this 
 date it has never been opened for Divine service.
 
 HISTORY OF TAKANAKI. 135 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1845-48. 
 
 fHE promised re-purchase of tlie rural lands of the settlement did 
 not take place. We may reasonably suppose that the 
 Governor was very anxious that such a transaction should 
 occur, moreover, his finances were in a deplorable condition, and 
 the natives having got their ancestral lands into their possession held 
 them with a firm grasp. The Fitzroy Block now formed the settle- 
 ment ; many of the Europeans who had taken up their lands at 
 Mangoraka were permitted to hold them at the sufferance of 
 the Puketapu hapu, but eventually they were all driven into the 
 Fitzroy Block. ' In February an excellent wheat crop had been 
 reaped. On Capt. King's farm the produce, after accurate measure- 
 ment, was ascertained to be at the rate of 60 bushels to the acre. 
 Mr. Day had gone to Sydney in the Slaines Castle, for the purpose 
 of procuring cattle. At a meeting of the employers of labor it was 
 agreed to pay farm laborers 1 2 shillings per week, partly in cash and 
 partly in wheat at 6 shillings per bushel. Messrs. White and 
 Gillingham's saw mill was completed, and it was expected that their 
 flour mill would be soon at work. A large body of natives had 
 assembled at the Mimi to resist an expected attack of the Ngnati- 
 ruanui. The expected collision did not take place, and they had 
 returned home in peace. In March the Slaines Castle came in with 
 a quantity of English goods. Fears were entertained both by 
 Europeans and Maoris that an attack would be made on the district 
 by the Ngapuhi tribe. A number of special constables were sworn 
 in. In April the Paul Jones sailed for Adelaide, with 18 despairing 
 settlers, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Yems, whose loss was much 
 deplored. In May two small exports of flour were made in the vessels 
 Carbon and Richmond. Coal was reported to have been found on 
 suburban section No. 1 2, on the West side of the town, and specimens 
 of nickel have been dug up in the same locality. Mr. Gledhill had 
 commenced the manufacttire of leather. The Maoris had committed 
 several robberies at Mangoraka, and had attempted to violate a little 
 girl, the daughter of a settler. A. church had been erected by the 
 Maoris at Mangoraka, the materials for which they had stolen from 
 the settlers. The Governor had refused to send troops, because ho 
 considered New Plymouth to be a place inaccessible both by sea and 
 land, and consequently a place where troops could not be kept. The 
 overland mail to Auckland had been stopped. In July a dreadful 
 storm occurred at Kawhia, during which the schooner Richmond was 
 lost on the Kawhia bar, and all hands perished. She was manned by 
 Spencer, Frederic Aubrey, and some other young gentlemen connected 
 with the settlement who led a free lifo among the natives on the 
 coast. The vessel is said to have been under-manned and badly
 
 136 HISTORY OP TARANAK1. 
 
 found. She was to have been refitted at "Wellington. A suspicious 
 fire occurred at Mangoraka which destroyed a barn and wheat stack, 
 the property of Mr. William Bayly. 
 
 In September the land in cultivation was 1,1 06J acres, of which 
 635 were in wheat, and 128^ in barley. It was estimated that the 
 surplus produce for export in the coming autumn would be 267 tons 
 of flour, 1600 bushels of bai-ley, a quantity of salt pork and other 
 articles. On the 30th the Rev. Mr. Bolland returned overland from 
 Auckland, bringing the joyful intelligence of the appointment of a 
 new Governor in the place of Governor Fitzroy. Mi-. Bolland had 
 performed the entire journey of 200 miles in six days. In October 
 Messrs. Broadmore and Lethbridge had nearly completed a saw mill 
 which they had constructed with part of the machinery brought out 
 by Mr. Charles Brown. The Carbon arrived with the intelligence 
 that Captain Grey had been appointed Governor. In November the 
 Maoris were all busy strengthening their pas, an attack by Waikatos 
 having been threatened. In December wages were high and labor 
 scarce. 
 
 SIR GEORGE GREY, K.C.B., D.C.L. 
 
 Sir George Grey was born at Lisburn, in Ireland, the 14th April, 
 1812. His father, Lieutenant-Colonel Grey, fell at the siege of 
 Badajoz during the Peninsular War, just thi-ee days before the birth 
 of his son. Being intended for the military profession he was 
 educated at Sandhurst, where Mr. Ligar, formerly Surveyor-General 
 of the Colony, and the lamented Colonels Nixon and Austen, who 
 fell in the war, were his contemporaries. At Sandhurst Sir George 
 laid the foundation of that vast and accurate learning for which he is 
 so justly celebrated. Eventually Sir George joined the 83rd Regiment, 
 and was first brought prominently forward in the year 1837, when, 
 being then a Captain, he commanded an expedition which was 
 undertaken to gain information as to the state and resources of the 
 interior of Australia. In this expedition Captain Grey and his party 
 suffered extraordinary hardships from want of water, and from the 
 attacks of the natives. There is little doubt that the success of the 
 expedition and the preservation of the lives of the men composing it 
 were the fruits of the energy, prudence, and foresight of its leader. 
 On the death of Mr. Spencer, the Governor of Adelaide, Captain 
 Grey, as the officer commanding the troops, assumed the reins of 
 government, and so well did he administer the affairs of that little 
 Colony that the Imperial Government appointed him to be the 
 Governor of it. 
 
 In 1845 the Honorable East India Company's ship Elphinstone, 
 which had been sent from Bombay to South Australia with despatches, 
 conveyed Captain Grey to Auckland. The mismanagement of 
 Governor Fitzroy had involved the Colony in troubles of every sort. 
 The Treasury was bankrupt, and war was being feebly waged by a 
 weak and faint-hearted commander against the natives in the north. 
 Practically assuming the command of the troops in the field Captain
 
 HISTORY OF TAEANAKI. 137 
 
 Grey directed all the operations against the enemy until the war in 
 the North was brought to a triumphant conclusion by the siege and 
 storming of Ruapekapeka. Disturbances took place both at Welling- 
 ton and Wanganui, but the natives being treated with a judicious 
 mixture of rigor and diplomacy, peace was restored in those districts. 
 Moreover, a potent lesson was taught the so called friendly natives 
 by the kidnapping of the double-dealing Rauparara, at Porirua, on 
 23rd July, 1846. On the institution of the Civil Order of the Bath 
 in 1848, Captain George Grey was made a Knight Commander, and 
 when invested with the star of the order at Auckland, Tomati Waka 
 Nene and Te Puni were the chosen esquires of the newly made 
 Knight. Sir George deserved both the civil and military decorations, 
 for he accompanied the soldiers in all their expeditions against the 
 natives. Sir George, so far as he was able, satisfactorily settled the 
 land claims of the dispossessed settlers of New Plymouth. In 1847 
 Sir George established Pensioner Settlements around Auckland. In 
 1846 the Imperial Government expressed its willingness to grant a 
 Constitution to New Zealand, but Sir George Grey caused the grant 
 to be deferred for five years, owing to the unsatisfactory state of the 
 native mind. At length, in 1852, when Heke, Kawhiti, Pomare, 
 Taniwha, Rauparaha, and Rangihaeata were dead, he consented, and 
 by Act of the Imperial Parliament a representative constitution was 
 given to the Colony. Early in 1853 the Constitution was proclaimed 
 in New Zealand. After ruling New Zealand for eight years Sir 
 George Grey obtained the Secretary of State's permission to return to 
 England, and he left New Zealand on 31st December, 1853. Having 
 made some valuable contributions to literature by translating the 
 traditions, cosmogony, chants, and Karakias, or mysteries of the 
 Maoris, the University of Oxford conferred on him the degree of 
 Doctor of Civil Laws. Shortly after his arrival in England he was 
 appointed Governor of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1861 Sir George 
 Grey was again sent to New Zealand. The natives were then in 
 rebellion, and it was thought that by his skill they would be quickly 
 pacified. He was again proclaimed Governor on 2nd October, 1861. 
 At first Sir George tried his old method of diplomacy with the 
 natives, known as the "sugar and blanket policy," but he soon 
 discovered that it had lost its efficacy, and he was, by the massacre 
 of an escort of the 57th Regt. at the Wairau, near Tataraimaka, on 
 4th May, 1863, reluctantly compelled to permit General Cameron to 
 commence hostilities. Then followed the destruction of the power of 
 Waikato. The hand of the corrector was, however, stayed too soon, 
 and the rebel prisoners were treated in a weak and ridiculous manner, 
 the result of which was an unnecessary prolongation of the war and 
 an unnecessary waste of blood and treasure. At length the spirit of 
 the rebellion being crushed Sir George Grey again left New Zealand 
 for England on the 7th of October, 1868. After staying a year or 
 two in England he returned and took up his alrcde at the Kawau 
 island, in the Hauraki Gulf, near Auckland, which is his proi>erty. 
 Here he amused himself by acclimating valuable birds and animals, 
 and by collecting rare and valuable books.
 
 138 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 After spending a few years in seclusion at the Kawau, Sir 
 George Grey accepted the office of Superintendent of Auckland, 
 and entered the House of Representatives as member of one 
 of the Auckland Electoral districts. In the House he distinguished 
 himself by his ultra-democratic opinions and by his opposition to 
 the abolition of Provincial institutions. On the defeat of the 
 Vogel- Atkinson Ministry in October, in 1877, he became Premier 
 of the Colony. 
 
 Sir Grey is the author of "Journals of Discovery in Australia," 
 " Polynesian Mythology and Traditions of New Zealand," 
 " Proverbial Sayings of the Ancestors of the New Zealand Race," 
 and other works on New Zealand. 
 
 EVENTS OF 1846. 
 
 January. In consequence of the attempt of the millers to raise 
 the charge of grinding wheat from, sixpence to ninepence per bushel, 
 a company was formed for the purpose of erecting a Union Mill. 
 
 February. The grain crops were never so abundant, nor so free 
 from blight. Working bullocks and cows were in demand. 
 
 April. Mr. Broadmore had to pay the Maoris utu for every tree 
 he cut down for his mill. Governor Grey abolished the Maori 
 Protectorate, and appointed Mr. Maclean, the Protector, Inspector of 
 a small body of armed police. 
 
 May. Prices Current : Clearing fern land, .3 per acre ; clearing 
 timber, .8 to 12 per acre ; working bullocks, 35 ; cows, 14 to 
 20 each; pigs supplied by the natives to the butchers at Id. to l|d. 
 per Ib. Retail Prices : pork, 3d. per Ib ; mutton, 6d.; beef, very 
 seldom in the market, 6d. to 8d. per Ib.; Taranaki beer, 2s. per 
 gallon; potatoes, Is. 6d. per cwt.; fowls, Is. 6d. per couple; sawn 
 board, 12s. per 100 feet superficial ; limestone, delivered from 
 Massacre Bay at 1 per ton. Statistics : Land sold and selected 
 14,000 acres; land surveyed, but unsold, 11,000 acres; minimum 
 price of suburban land, 2 5s. per acre; rural land, '1 5s. per acre ; 
 95 suburban sections remained unsold and 800 town sections, the 
 minimum price of the latter being 12 10s. The European population 
 was 1,200, and there was an excess of males over females. 
 
 May. The roads were in a very bad condition owing to the 
 unusually wet weather ; subscriptions were being made for putting 
 them in repair. 
 
 June. The Marianne, from Nelson to Auckland, with emigrants, 
 called and took away Mr. and Mrs. William Edgecumbe, who came 
 out in the Amelia Thompson. 
 
 July. 400 Waikatos visited the settlement and stayed a fortnight. 
 There was great feasting during their stay. They sold a number of 
 pigs to the settlers. Mr. Maclean's force contributed much to the 
 maintenance of peace. 
 
 Despatch from the Secretary of State to Governor Sir George Grey. 
 
 " Downing Street, 2nd July, 1846. 
 " Sir : I have received Governor Fitzroy's despatch marked
 
 fclSTORY OF TARANAK1. 139 
 
 Separate, the 29th of October last, enclosing a copy of a letter 
 addressed to the Colonial Secretary by the principal agent of the New 
 Zealand Company. Captain Fitzroy states that letter to have been 
 forwarded by him as it might be required for reference in connection 
 with the arrangements made at New Plymouth. 
 
 " From that letter it appears that Colonel Wakefield adverting 
 to the arrangement entered into by the Company with the Government 
 in the year 1840 for the purchase of land in New Plymouth, and to 
 the award of Mr. Commissioner Spain, which had been overruled by 
 Captain Fitzroy, had refused to accept on the part of the Company 
 the Title Deeds to 3,500 acres of land at that settlement. 
 
 " I cannot but express my great surprise and regret at not having 
 been placed by Captain Fitzroy in possession of a full report of the 
 course which he pursued in this case, and of his reasons for that 
 course. I, however, indulge the hope that you may have found 
 yourself in a condition to give effect to the award of Mr. Spain in 
 the case of the Company's claims at New Plymouth, and in any case 
 I rely on your endeavors to gain that end so far as you have found it 
 practicable, unless, indeed, which I can hardly think probable, you 
 may have seen reason to believe that the reversal of the Com- 
 misioner's judgment was a wise and jxist measure. I have, &c. 
 
 " W. E. GLADSTONE." 
 
 August. Mr. Williams, farm bailiff to Captain Davy, shot himself 
 at Barrett's Lagoon. Mr. Copps the surveyor died. Fifty tons of 
 whale oil ready for exportation. 
 
 September. The Madras, from London vid Nelson, arrived, 
 bringing Mr. and Mi's. Green of the Primitive Methodist Mission. 
 Her goods for New Plymouth were transhipped on board the vessel 
 Fanny Morris then in the roadstead. 
 
 October. The Ralph Bemal arrived from Auckland. Captain 
 McLaren purchased all the oil remaining at the whaling station, and a 
 quantity of flour, biscuit, salt pork, and hams for his homeward 
 voyage. 
 
 November. Constabulary Barracks built in Courtenay Street. 
 The Carbon arrived with Mr. Ryan and family. Mr. Ryan brought 
 a quantity of goods from Sydney with the intention of opening a 
 store. 
 
 December. The police collected the statistics as follows : Land 
 in cultivation : wheat, 838 i acres; barley, 132J acres ; rye, 3 acres ; 
 oats, 74] acres; potatoes, 132| acres; turnips, 57 acres; maize, 1 
 acre; grass, 153 acres; flax, f acres; fallow, 122] acres; total, 
 1,515} acres. Live Stock: Horses, 22; mules, 2; honied cattle, 
 363; sheep, 571 ; pigs, 702; goats, 96; total, 1,696. Population: 
 males, 586; females, 502; total, 1,088. A plan for a hospital, to 
 cost 700, had been sent to New Plymouth by the Governor, who 
 had purchased as a site for it five acres of land in the Town Belt, 
 near the Henui river, being part of the land taken by William 
 Edgecumbe for land at Mangoraka under Governor Fitzroy's 
 arrangement.
 
 140 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 Sometime during this year Mr. F. Dillon Bell and Mr. "Wellington 
 Carrington ascended Mount Egrnont, and discovered Bell's Falls. 
 
 EVENTS OF 1847. 
 
 January 30th. The Elora arrived from London direct, bringing 
 Mr. Pestel and a quantity of goods, among which were two threshing 
 machines. The overland mail to Auckland was re-established. 
 
 February 23rd. Died at Moturoa, Richard Barrett, whose name 
 has been often mentioned in connexion with the early history of the 
 Province, and who rendered signal service to Colonel Wakefield, Dr. 
 Dieffenbach, Messrs. Carrington and Cutfield, in the purchase, 
 survey, and establishment of the settlemement. 
 
 About 9 a.m., on the 26th, H.M.S.S. Inflexible came smoking up 
 from the Southward towards the anchorage, and being the first steam- 
 ship seen in the roadstead, excited much surprise among the natives 
 and the New Zealand born children of the Europeans. At 10.30 a.m. 
 His Excellency Sir George Grey landed, accompanied by Colonel 
 Wakefield, the old Ngatiawa chief Te Puni, and other natives of his 
 tribe from Wellington. The object of His Excellency's visit was the 
 adoption of some conciliatory measures for the obtaining of more 
 land for the settlement, and for this purpose he had an interview 
 with the Ngamotu and Puketapu hapus. High talk was indulged in 
 on both sides, the natives expressing their determination to sell no 
 more land, and the Governor threatening to recognise the claims of 
 Waikato as the conquerors of the district. Wi Kingi, who had 
 come in the steamer from Waikanae, professedly to further the 
 Governor's plans, was veiy insolent. His Excellency had proposed 
 a site for a hamlet for Kingi and his people on the north side of the 
 Waitara, laid out in streets with plots for cottages, gai'dens, church, 
 school-house, minister's residence, and small farms, on condition that 
 the hapu would consent to his purchasing the land from thence to 
 the Mokau for the Europeans. Kingi objected to this and told the 
 Governor that he did not need his assistance, that he would erect his 
 pa himself and build it where he pleased, and when he pleased, without 
 asking permission of anyone. Governor Grey, who was much 
 annoyed at this speech, replied : " Tell him, that I say he is to 
 remain at Waikanae, and that I will now place him under guard, and 
 that if he dares to remove to Waitara without my permission I will 
 send the war steamer after him and destroy all his canoes." 
 
 On the 6th of March His Excellency embarked for Nelson. The 
 result of this was the issue of the following : 
 
 Instructions from Governor Grey to Commissioner Maclean. 
 
 "March 5th, 1847. 
 
 " (1.) Mr. Commissioner Spain reported that the New Zealand 
 Company wei-e entitled to a Crown Grant of a block of 60,000 acres 
 of land lying within certain defined limits. 
 
 " (2.) The Governor (Fitzroy) did not take the same view of the 
 question as Mr. Spain and would not confirm that gentleman's award;
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 141 
 
 on the contrary, in November, 1844, he sanctioned a totally new 
 purchase of a small block of land of 3,500 acres, by the Agent of 
 the New Zealand Company, and he made certain promises to the 
 natives which have induced many of them to return to lands which 
 they state they understood Captain Fitzroy to guarantee to them in 
 permanent possession. On these lands they have now extensive 
 pas and cultivations included in the block awarded by Mr. Spain. 
 
 " (3.) Thus on the one hand the New Zealand Company claim the 
 rights (if any) which they may have acquired under Mr. Spain's 
 award ; while on the other hand the natives claim the disallowance 
 of that award by the Governor, the rights which the late Governor 
 promised to maintain to them in all their integrity, and the fact of 
 their present occupation of the land under the sanction of the 
 Governor. 
 
 " (4.) It is proposed to evade, in as far as practicable, the various 
 difficulties which have arisen under these conflicting circumstances, 
 by in the first place reserving to the several tribes who claim land in 
 this district tracts which will amply suffice for their present and 
 future wants ; and secondly, resuming the remaining portion of the 
 district for the European population, and where the extent of the 
 land so resumed has been ascertained, to determine what price shall 
 be paid to the natives for it ; this amount not to be paid at once, but 
 in annual instalments, extending over a period of three or four years, 
 at the end of which time it may be calculated that the lands reserved 
 for the natives will have become so valuable as to yield them some 
 income, in addition to the produce raised from those portions of them 
 which they cultivate. 
 
 " (5.) Every effort should be made to acquire for the European 
 population those tracts of land which were awarded to the New 
 Zealand Company by Mr. Spain ; and where blocks are reserved for 
 the natives within these limits, portions of land of equal extent 
 (if possible), must be purchased without the limits for the New 
 Zealand Company. 
 
 "(6.) If possible the total amount of land resumed for the 
 Europeans should be from 60,000 to 70,000 acres ; a grant of this 
 tract of land will then be offered by the Government to the 
 Company. 
 
 " (6.) The price paid for any portion of the laud should not exceed 
 Is. 6d. per acre, and the average price should be below this amount. 
 The greatest economy on this subject is necessary. 
 
 " (8.) No time must be lost in completing these arrangements. 
 
 " (9.) Two surveyors and parties upon the most economical scale 
 must be engaged for this purpose. The police should as far as 
 practicable be employed on it. 
 
 " (10.) This arrangement should l>e carried out in the first instance 
 with those parties who have given their assent to it, including the 
 natives who have offered a tract of land for sale to the south of the 
 Sugarloaves. 
 
 "(11.) Where laud without the block awarded by Mr. Spain is
 
 142 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 newly acquired, and requii-ed for immediate use by the Company's 
 settlers, sections must be surveyed for them. 
 
 " (12.) Those natives who refuse to assent to this arrangement 
 must distinctly understand that the Government does not admit that 
 they are the true owners of the land they have recently thought 
 proper to occupy. 
 
 ''(13.) Mr. Maclean is intrusted with the conduct of these 
 arrangements, but in all matters of importance he must consult 
 Captain King, and acquaint him with the steps which he proposes to 
 take. 
 
 " (14.) In reserving the blocks intended for the natives, the 
 surveyed lines of the Company should in as far as practicable be 
 observed, but whenever there is a necessity for a departure from this 
 course the lines must be run as Mr. Maclean thinks proper. 
 
 "G. GREY." 
 
 March. Messrs. Gillingham and E. Davy made an unsuccessful 
 attempt to ascend the mountain. 
 
 April. A quarrel took place among the Puketapu hapu respecting 
 the boundaries of lands lying between Waiwakaiho and Waiongona. 
 The Tataraimaka Block was purchased at the rate of three halfpence 
 per acre. Capt. King and Mr. Cutfield were desircms of obtaining a 
 lease of this block at the rent of 12 per annum, with power to 
 purchase 300 acres for 120. If the lease were granted they 
 proposed placing 200 head of cattle upon the block. Tataraimaka 
 at this time was a beautiful shrubbery, which 20 years previously 
 was all in a state of cultivation. In old times it possessed a very 
 strong pa, capable of holding a very large garrison, which was called 
 Pukeporoporo. The purchase of Omata from the Taranaki tribe was 
 expected to be soon completed. May 29th died the Rev. Mr. Bolland, 
 the first Episcopal minister of the settlement. His premature death 
 was universally regretted. 
 
 May 1st. An Ordinance for establishing a court for the recovery 
 of small debts came into operation. On Mr. Bulkeley's section at the 
 "Waiwakaiho the natives claimed 41 out of 50 acres, but Governor 
 Grey refused to interfere in the matter, as Governor Fitzroy had 
 allowed the claim. Mr. Maclean was authorised to purchase the 
 Grey Block. 
 
 August 31st. Mr. Frederick Dillon Bell arrived from Nelson by 
 the Catherine Johnson to supersede Mr. J. T. Wicksteed in the office 
 of Company's Agent. 
 
 . September 9th. Bishop Selwyn arrived in the Undine, but only 
 remained ashore for a few hours. The Comet arrived from Sydney 
 with cattle. A great quarrel arose between the Puketapu hapu and 
 the Ngatitairi hapu of the Taranaki tribe about a Taranaki girl whom 
 some of the Puketapu had abducted and carried into the forest. 
 Puketapu determined to attack the Omata chiefs when they came to 
 town to receive payment for their land. By a piece of strategy the 
 Omata chiefs led Puketapu to suppose that they would come into 
 town on a certain day, but they deceived them by coming in on a
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 143 
 
 different day. They signed the deed on that day, received the first 
 instalment of the payment, and then danced the war dance, but while 
 so engaged Puketapu stole out to Omata and burnt the pa. There 
 were two whaling parties at this time in the settlement, but this 
 season they had only succeeded in capturing one small whale. On. 
 the 14th Lieutenant Collinson, R.E., and Corporal Henderson, R.A., 
 came up the coast from. Wanganui and visited Waitara and Ka \vhia, 
 but the object of their visit did not transpire. Most probably it was 
 of a military nature. Dr. Wilson, of Wanganui, paid a visit to the 
 settlement, and was so pleased with it that he determined to settle 
 here if he could get his Wanganui land exchanged for land at New 
 Plymouth. He thought he should be able to induce Capt. Campbell 
 and other friends to follow his example. The remaining portion of 
 the Waiwakaiho bridge gave way and the whole became a total 
 wreck. Between the Henui and the Waiwakaiho there were many 
 cases of fever. Mr. Carrington was engaged surveying a road to 
 Omata. Mr. Hulke, of Wanganui, purchased the Union Mill. 
 
 September 22nd. A small block of land containing 3,560 acres, 
 situate about nine miles from New Plymouth, was purchased from 
 the natives for 150. The Omata Block containing 12,000 acres 
 was purchased for 400, or 8d. per acre. The Grey Block was also 
 purchased for 390. The payment for these blocks was, according to 
 the Governor's instructions, to be made by instalments. 
 
 October. 50, due to the Ngamotu hapu for some of their land 
 included in the Fitzroy Block, was paid. The sum had been owing 
 to them since 1844. The hapu expressed its willingness to sign the 
 deed conveying the Grey Block, and to receive the first instalment of 
 the payment. More than 1,000 acres of the best land in this block 
 were to be reserved for the natives. The settlers had a great desire for 
 the re-purchase of the lands at the Waitara. Negotiations were 
 being made for the purchase of a block of 10,000 acres at 390, or 
 lOd. per acre. The cutter Sarah Berry called and took away several 
 working men to Auckland. A meeting of settlers took place, Capt. 
 Cooke in the Chair, to memorialise the Government for compensation 
 for the loss of their lands through the reversal of Spain's award by 
 Governor Fitzroy. The natives of the district were quiet, but a letter 
 had been received from a Waikato chief named Te Kareao, acquaint- 
 ing the authorities of intrigues which were being carried on in the 
 north by Rauparaha, and particularly of his recent attempt, at a 
 meeting of the Waikato tribes, to unite them in a war of extermina- 
 tion against the tribes of the south, between Port Nicholson and the 
 Sugarloaves. Te Wherowhero opjK>sed the plan, but the Ngatipawas, 
 the Ngatimarus, and the Ngatimateras, together with some of the 
 Waikatos themselves, were all for war and were prepared to follow 
 Rauparaha. Private and reliable information from Auckland stated 
 that Rauparaha was incessantly, though secretly, laboring to stir up 
 the northern tribes to avenge his captivity. 
 
 November. In accordance with a promise of Colonel Wakefield 34 
 acres of laud were allotted to the old whalers out of section No. 13,
 
 144 HISTORY OF TABAXAKI. 
 
 John "Wright received 10 acres, Simon Crawley 4 acres, William 
 Bnndy, 4 acres, Robert Sinclair 4 acres, James Bosworth 4 acres, and 
 James Robinson 4 acres. The Inspector of Police reported that the 
 police had cut a road through the Omata Block, which had cost the 
 Government but 3s. per chain. The forest was reported to consist of 
 Rata, Hinau, Rimu, Pukatea, Karaka, and Koromiko trees. Evidence 
 of Puketapu intrusion were evident, and marks had been set on trees 
 to indicate where distinguished warriors had fallen in battle. The 
 Edward Stanley came in from Wanganui with goods belonging to 
 Dr. Wilson and Mr. Hulke. Mr. Maclean had been to the Waitara, 
 but had been unable to repurchase any of the lands in that district. 
 Mr. Devenish returned from Wellington overland with 22 head of 
 cattle. His bullocks sold at from 26 10s. Od. to 36 10s. Od. per 
 pair, and his heifers from 10 10s. Od. to 17 10s. Od. each. He 
 was 21 days coming up, and had but 1 horse and one white man as an 
 assistant. 
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1848. 
 
 In March Sir George Grey revisited New Plymouth and specially 
 advised Mr. Bell, the Company's Agent, to enter into negotiations 
 with a portion of the Puketapu hapu for the purchase of the land 
 lying between the Mangati and Wataha streams, now known as Bell 
 Block. The land was offered by Rawiri Waiaua and others, but the 
 sale thereof was violently opposed by Katatore, Parata Te Huia, and 
 their followers. After the preliminary negotiations had taken place, 
 a day was named in which to commence cutting the boundary lines 
 in order to try the right of the disputants, Parata, Katatore, and the 
 other hostile men, who immediately cut lines as boundaries to their 
 own lands, and then prepared to resist by force the determination of 
 the others to sell theirs. Mr. Bell took out with him the whole of 
 the friendly party to work, numbering nearly sixty men. The battle 
 began at the first line, and at some places the gi-ound was fought for 
 inch by inch. The natives only used their fists, sticks, and the backs 
 of their tomahawks ; anything like a sharp edge was most carefully 
 let alone, and it was wonderful to see the amount of battering they 
 endured without really using their deadly weapons. The end of it 
 all was that in a few days the whole of the lines were cut, and after- 
 wards tangis and feasts caused a speedy oblivion of the hard blows 
 that had been exchanged. Wi Kingi made a claim upon a portion of 
 this block, and was invited to be present when payment was made. 
 He accordingly came, but no portion of the utu was allotted to him 
 by the Puketapu, for he had no claim. Shortly after this transaction 
 Mr. Bell left the settlement, and was succeeded as Company's Agent 
 by Mr. William Halse. 
 
 In April a great migration of natives from Waikanae to Waitara 
 took place. They were chiefly of the Ngatiawa tribe, and had either 
 left their birth place to assist Rauparaha in his wars, or had fled from 
 the Waikatos in their Southern raids. The number of souls who 
 took part in this movement was 587, viz., 273 males, 195 females,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 145 
 
 and 119 children. They were conveyed from Waikanae to Waitai-a 
 in one vessel, four boats, and forty-four canoes, and twenty men and 
 one woman travelled overland on horses. The reasons for this 
 migration were (1) The love the people bore to their native place ; 
 
 (2) They had sold Waikanae, a conquered district, to the British ; 
 
 (3) Wi Kingi, who was related to the Tainui, had obtained Te 
 Wherowhero's consent to return. When preparations were first 
 made for this migration the Government was alarmed and seriously 
 thought of seizing the canoes and boats prepared for the journey. 
 But on Wi Kingi promising to settle on the north bank of the 
 Waitara, the expedition was suffered to depart. When the people 
 reached Waitara Kingi pretended that he was afraid of settling on 
 the north bank of the river, because some Ngatimaniapotos had culti- 
 vations there, so he obtained permission of an old chief named Tamati 
 Rum, the father of Teira, to settle near to the South head of the 
 river, and there he quickly erected a very large and strong pa. 
 
 During this year the Omata Block was opened, the Grey Institution 
 an industrial school for young Maoris on the Wesley an Mission 
 Farm at Moturoa was inaugurated, and a new bridge constructed 
 in the Devon Road over the river Henui. On the 17th September 
 Colonel William Wakefield died at Wellington, and on the 17th, 
 18th, and 19th of October severe shocks of earthquake were felt. 
 
 THE WAIKANAE MIGRATION IN APRIL, 1848. 
 
 Where 
 intending' to 
 settle. 
 
 Tribe. 
 
 Name of Canoe. 
 
 Principal Men in 
 Canoe. 
 
 1 
 
 Women. 
 
 Children. 
 
 North of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Waitara 
 
 Ngatimama 
 
 Takahurihuri 
 
 Rangikatatu 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 M 
 
 Nangaroa 
 
 Kurihanga 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 Ngatimutanga 
 
 Tokekure 
 
 ERu 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 tt 
 
 Poterangi 
 
 Kotuka 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 G 
 
 
 Puketapu 
 
 Marutaugata 
 
 Katekamotakirau 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 M 
 
 (Vessel) 
 
 Te Ponga 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 1 
 
 
 Ngatirahiri 
 
 Kairuru 
 
 Te Nirihana 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 Mohia 
 
 Ko Ongiougi 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Karurukiterangi 
 
 Tutawa 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Kiriorakau 
 
 Areno 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 f> 
 
 
 
 Kakaniwa 
 
 Governor Grey 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Kaikaka 
 
 Nicodemus 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 (Boat Kaitonu) 
 
 Tekahinga 
 
 6 
 
 f> 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Wakarangi 
 
 Te Kaokao 
 
 13 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 Waitara 
 
 Manukorihi 
 
 Taupaki 
 
 Te Heke 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Piritahataha 
 
 Maika 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Maroro 
 
 Tararau 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Wikitoria 
 
 Enoka 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 Marohopa 
 
 Tamati 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Oropi 
 
 Te Rangui 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 Tipapa 
 
 Koane 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 Tiarora 
 
 E Kauinu 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tauinainata 
 
 E Pcro 
 
 C 
 
 fi 
 
 4 
 
 10
 
 H6 
 
 HISTORY OF TAKANAKI. 
 THE WAIKANAE MIGRATION Continued. 
 
 Where 
 intending to 
 settle. 
 
 Tribe. 
 
 Name of Canoe. 
 
 Principal Men in 
 Canoe. 
 
 I 
 
 Women. 1 
 
 1 
 
 Waitara 
 
 Manukorihi 
 
 Kaupahanui 
 
 Wi Kingi 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Konenuku 
 
 Maruiratimutu 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 KoE Au 
 
 Poko Pomate 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Konotekateka 
 
 WR Taupinga 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Apupu 
 Maketu 
 
 Panua 
 Takaratahi 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 
 
 Pukawa 
 
 Kewai Tumihaka 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Heu Heu 
 
 Hapimana 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Hupipaipa 
 
 Wirihana 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Rauparaha 
 
 Ihaia te Waripa 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 Aratotara 
 
 Heke 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 (Boat) 
 
 Te Teira 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 (Boat Louisa) 
 
 Kauriri 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 (Boat Prince 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Albert) 
 
 Albert 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Tamakaikau 
 
 Ramera 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 (On horses) 
 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Between 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Waitara 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 and New 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Plymouth 
 
 Puketapu 
 
 Waikaane 
 
 Martin Luther 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 }J 
 
 tl 
 
 Okatarewa 
 
 Patekita 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 Pawakawa 
 
 Henry 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 South of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Plymouth 
 
 Taranaki 
 
 Kekenui 
 
 Horopapera 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ruapairoa 
 
 OHua 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maratuahu 
 
 Haia 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 TeNaru 
 
 Petua 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 Ngatiruanui 
 
 Harawangi 
 
 Herewene 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 TeRaho 
 
 Paura 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Tu Puruatainui 
 
 Rewiti 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Rongotekateka 
 
 Orumene 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 273 
 
 195 
 
 119 
 
 Total Persons 
 Vessels 
 ,, Boats 
 ,, Canoes 
 Horses 
 
 587 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 44 
 
 21
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI, 147 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE EVENTS OP 1849. 
 
 fROM 1844 to 1848 the settlement experienced its deepest 
 depression ; not even in the midst of the war did its position 
 seem so utterly hopeless as then. But after that period the 
 darkness seemed to brighten a little. In 1849, the town consisted 
 of a few small stores on either side of the Huatoki Bridge, a few 
 cottages at Devonport, as St. Aubyn Street was then called, and a 
 few around the church. There was the lingering remnant of a 
 Maori pa on Mount Eliot, near the flag staff, and a thickly peopled 
 pa called the Kawau at the seaward end of Currie Street. Within 
 a radius of 500 feet of the Huatoki Bridge all was a ferny 
 wilderness. At Omata the settlers had just commenced clearing. 
 Beyond the Waiwakaiho all was wilderness except Davy's, Smart's, and 
 Nairn's farms, near the east bank of the Waiwakaiho, and Captain 
 Cooke's at the Hua, and Wills' at Mangati. In order that the 
 Pakeha should never return to the lands on the east of the 
 Waiwakaiho, Parata te Huia, Katatore, and other turbulent natives 
 erected a carved pole on the east side of the river, beyond which the 
 white people were not to settle. This year the road from Puketotara 
 to Mangorei was cut, and the first settlers went out to that district. 
 The only draught horse in the settlement at this time was Lightfoot, 
 the property of William Richards, but Dalby's bullock Redmond, 
 who would suffer himself to be harnessed into a cart with shafts, 
 assisted in performing the little cartage at that time required. It 
 frequently happened that the little town ran completely out of some 
 commodity. Once there was no salt to be had, and sea water had to be 
 evaporated in order to obtain that necessary article. Now there was 
 a tobacco famine. The times were duller than they would otherwise 
 have been by reason of the partial failure of the wheat crops through 
 excessive wet, and by many of the Puketapu natives insolently refusing 
 to permit the completion of the purchase of Mangati, or, as it was 
 afterwards called, Bell Block, because the whole of the money was 
 not paid at once, and more especially because in a quarrel in town, 
 Richard Brown, a merchant, had nearly cracked the skull of a Maori 
 named Witana Rangiora. As the Huatoki Bridge was the most 
 central and public spot in the little town, a black board was erected 
 upon its rails, and upon this board all proclamations and adver- 
 tisements were posted. Some of these were sufficiently ludicrous. 
 For instance, a jocular parson of the period had a pony for sale, and 
 the advertisement upon the bridge ran thus : " For Sale. That 
 redoubtable l>ony POMPEY, possessing all the admirable and 
 characteristic qualities of horse, ass and mule. For particulars apply 
 at the Mission House." 
 
 On the 4th of May, 1849, the New Zealand Company agreed to
 
 148 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 grant compensation in land to those settlers who had been deprived 
 of their holdings by the arbitrary act of Governor Fitzoy in 1844. 
 
 On the afternoon of Saturday, the 18th of August, a gun was 
 heard at sea, and to the joy of the whole community, an English 
 barque was seen approaching the Sugarloaves. A volunteer crew 
 was soon procured, and one of the surf boats put off with Mr. 
 Webster, the Custom House Officer ; Mr. Watson, the Pilot ; and 
 others. The barque proved to be the Cornwall, 580 tons, chartered 
 by the New Zealand Company which having come to an under- 
 standing with the Government had recommenced operations and 
 commanded by Captain Dawson, formerly commander of the Amelia 
 Thompson and Slaines Castle, who had brought some of the first immi- 
 grants to the settlement. Captain Dawson had called to land Mr. 
 Charles Brown, who had returned from England with a large quantity of 
 hardware, and a few other passengers, but the greater part of the 
 immigrants were bound for the new settlement of Otago. Captain 
 Dawson was hospitably received by his old friends who came out in 
 the Amelia Thompson. Unfortunately the children in the Cornwall 
 were suffering from measles, and the disorder was communicated to 
 the settlement. 
 
 The Cornwall was followed by other ships chartered by the 
 Company, and a number of respectable settlers were added to the 
 little community. 
 
 Donald Maclean, Esq., to Captain King, R.N., Resident Magistrate. 
 
 "New Plymouth, 19th October, 1849. 
 
 " Sir : In compliance with your instructions that the original 
 deeds for lands purchased from the natives in this district should be 
 forwarded by the next mail to Auckland, I hereby do myself the 
 honor to hand them over to you for transmission. If you deem it 
 advisable I shall order a small wooden or tin case, in which they 
 may be placed for greater security. For reference at the settlement, 
 copies and translations of the several deeds are duly entered in a 
 book I am keeping expressly for that purpose. I should have sent 
 the deeds, as you suggested, direct to the Colonial Secretary, but on 
 after consideration it occurred to me that documents of such 
 importance had better be examined and passed through your hands 
 as the resident representative of the Government. The deeds are : 
 
 "No. 1, November. 1844 Conveyance of the Fitzroy Block. 
 
 " No. 2 May llth, 1848 Conveyance of a block of land between 
 the Timaru and Katikara rivers at Tataraimaka. 
 
 "No. 3, August 30th, 1847 Conveyance by the Taranaki tribe 
 of the Omata Block of 12,000 acres. 
 
 "No. 4, October 10th, 1847 Deed of the resident Ngamotu 
 natives conveying their claims to the Grey block of 9,770 acres. 
 
 "No. 5, April 12th, 1848 Deed by absentee natives of the Ngamotu 
 tribe residing at Wellington and Cook Strait, relinquishing their 
 claims to the Fitzroy and Grey blocks of land respectively. 
 
 "No. 6, November 24th ; 1840 Deed of conveyance by the
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 149 
 
 Puketapu natives for lands situate near the Hua, in the occupation 
 of John George Cooke, Esq. 
 
 " No. 7, November 29th, 1848 Deed by the Puketapu natives 
 conveying about 1,500 acres of land. 
 
 " I shall feel much obliged by your acknowledging the receipt of 
 the foregoing documents. I have, &c. 
 
 " DONALD MACLEAN." 
 
 The Fitzroy block, mentioned in Mr. Maclean's letter, contained 
 3,500 acres ; the Tataraimaka block 3,500, to which by a subsequent 
 purchase was added 500 acres; the Omata block 12,000 acres; 
 
 the Grey block 9,770 acres; Bell block 1,500 acres. 
 
 
 
 Donald Maclean, Esq., to Captain King, RN., Resident Magistrate. 
 
 " Taranaki, November 23rd, 1849. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 letter of yesterday's date enclosing a copy of a letter from Mr. 
 Richard Brown, complaining that Major Lloyd who intends purchasing 
 some sections of which Mr. Brown is agent, was molested by Peter 
 and other natives residing at Waireka. On the 19th instant I gave 
 notice to the Waireka natives to relinquish all their cultivations on 
 the above sections, which they agreed to do, offering on the 22nd 
 instant to dispose of their old fencing on the abandoned cultivations 
 to Major Lloyd. Major Lloyd declined the offer, and from what I 
 can learn from that gentleman he referred them to Mr. Brown, 
 while he himself proceeded with his work on the section. Peter 
 threatened if he were not paid for the fencing he would set fire to it, 
 removing a fire-stick from Major Lloyd's fire as if to carry his threat 
 into execution. He did not, however, interfere with the fencing, but 
 set tire to a few straggling sticks which accidentally burnt a small 
 quantity of dry fern. I rebuked Peter, who is usually a quiet 
 native, for such conduct towards a stranger who could not 
 understand the nature of his demands for utu for fencing on land 
 fairly purchased, and he expressed his sorrow for what had taken 
 place, stating that he and the rest of the Waireka natives would 
 forthwith abandon all their cultivations and fencing on Major 
 Lloyd's section. I have, &c., 
 
 " DONALD MACLEAN."
 
 150 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 FROM 1850 TO 1855. 
 
 iJjlURING the year 1850 the New Zealand Company gave their 
 BT Charter back to the Crown. The season was a wet one, but 
 T the settlers at Mangoraka and Omata were busy dealing bush 
 and cropping with wheat. On Friday morning, 2nd August, the 
 cutter William and James, from Manukau, drifted ashore in the little 
 bay on the east side of Paritutu, the great Sugarloaf, and became a 
 wreck, Eliza Bishop, a passenger, being drowned. On the 14th 
 October, 1850, Charles Macdonald, aged 13, one of the passengers by 
 the Cornwall, was injured by the overturning of a bullock cart near 
 Seccombe's Brewery in the Carrington Road, and died early the next 
 morning. He had been struck by a projecting screw on the rail of 
 the cart, on the occipital bone. In October the ship Eden arrived 
 from London with several respectable settlers. In November 
 Caroline Freeman, a half caste, aged 7 years, died in consequence of 
 severe burns, accidentally received. 
 
 During the year H.M.S.S. Acheron, engaged on hydrographical 
 service, anchored in the roadstead for the purpose of enabling her 
 officers to ascertain by trigonometrical admeasurement the altitude of 
 Mount Egmont. The result of this survey was the assigning of a 
 height of 8,270 feet to the mountain. 
 
 In 1851 gold was discovered in New South Wales, and a large 
 demand for potatoes sprang up. Ships chartered by Messrs. Willis 
 and other London Shipping Agents now began to make regular calls 
 at the settlement, bringing goods and passengers, and the demand for 
 land became more and more urgent. 
 
 On the 4th of August, 1852, the Taranaki Herald, the first news- 
 paper published in the province, was started by Mr. William 
 Collins. In 1852 Captain King, R.N., on account of his age and 
 increasing infirmities, resigned his post as Resident Magistrate, an 
 appointment he had held from the early days of the settlement, his 
 commission as Justice of the Peace being signed by Governor Hobson, 
 and published in the Government Gazette of September 29th, 1841. 
 He was succeeded by Mr. Josiah Flight, formerly of Lyme, Dorset- 
 shire, England. In. February, 1852, Elizabeth Crann was found 
 drowned in the Waiwakaiho river. 
 
 Early in 1853 the Constitution was proclaimed. In 1846 an Act 
 to make farther provision for the government of the New Zealand 
 Islands passed both Houses of the Imperial Parliament. The Charter 
 was to come into operation in Jamiary, 1848. To this Charter 
 Governor Grey, influenced by Bishop Selwyn and Chief Justice 
 Martin objected, and the result of this objection was an Act passed 
 in May, 1848, suspending the Charter and intrusting the Governor 
 with the power of granting or withholding representative institutions
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 151 
 
 upon any basis suitable to the Colony. In. virtue of this law Governor 
 Grey assembled the Legislative Council, which had been instituted in 
 1840, and passed a Provincial Councils' Ordinance which gave to the 
 provinces of New Ulster and New Munster, provinces defined by the 
 Constitution Act of 1846, an Executive and Legislative Council 
 composed of officials and nominees. In 1852 an Act, giving to the 
 Islands a Representative Constitution, passed both Houses of the 
 Imperial Parliament. The Act was as follows : " There was to be 
 a General Government, conducted by a General Assembly composed 
 of a Governor appointed by the Crown ; a Legislative Council of ten 
 members, increased in 1857 to twenty members, appointed by the 
 Crown for life ; and a House of Representatives, consisting of from 
 twenty-four to forty members, elected for five years by the people. 
 The franchise to include alt British subjects twenty-one years of age, 
 having 50 freehold estate. 10 household in town, or 5 household 
 in the country. The General Assembly to have the power of making 
 laws for the government of the Colony, which must be in accordance 
 with the laws of England. A Civil List of 16,000 to be provided 
 for without power of alteration, except with the Sovereign's sanction. 
 The expense of collecting the revenue and payments for land to be 
 first provided for ; all the remaining revenue to be under the control 
 of the General Government. All money votes to be brought forward 
 by the Governor. The Sovereign has the power of vetoing all Acts 
 within two years, and the Governor of reserving Acts for' Her 
 Majesty's approval. The natives to be tinder the laws of the Colony, 
 but the Sovereign to have the power of purchasing land from the 
 natives. 7000 of the 16,000 on the Civil List to be spent in 
 native purposes, and the remainder in paying the salaries of the 
 Governor and Judges. The Colony was to be divided into six 
 provinces, viz., Auckland, Wellington. New Plymouth, Nelson, 
 Otago and Canterbury. Each province was to be ruled by a Super- 
 intendent elected by the people ; the Governor to have a veto on the 
 election. There was to be a Council for each province composed of 
 members elected for four years, the franchise to be the same as for 
 the General Assembly. The Provincial Council to have the power 
 of making all laws for tho government of the province with the 
 exception of customs, high courts of law, currency, weights and 
 measures, port duties, marriages, crown and native lands, criminal 
 law, and inheritance. The Governor to have the power of vetoing all 
 laws within three months. The Sovereign to have the power of 
 establishing municipal colorations, subject to the approval of the 
 Provincial Council." 
 
 On the 4th of March Governor Grey, by proclamation, reduced the 
 price of the waste rural lands of the Crown to an upset price of 10s. 
 per acre. 
 
 On the 17th of July, 1853, the election of the first Superintendent 
 took place at the old Court House in Devon street. There were 
 three candidates for the office ; Charles Brown, William Halse, and 
 John Tylson Wicknteed, and Charles Brown was elected and drawn
 
 152 HISTORY OP TARANAK1. 
 
 iu triumph througli the town by a troop of enthusiastic young men. 
 Prior to this the following gentlemen were elected members of 
 the Provincial Council : George Outfield, R. Chilman, Robert Parris, 
 George Rutt Burton, Thomas Good, Samuel Vickers, and Isaac 
 Newton Watt. Mr. Watt was chosen Speaker, and Mr. Chilman 
 Provincial Treasurer. Mr. Christopher William Richmond was 
 chosen Clerk to the Council and Provincial Attorney, and Mr. Charles 
 Batkin Private Secretary to the Superintendent. The first session of 
 the Provincial Council was opened at the Old Court House, Devon 
 street, on Tuesday morning, 16th September, 1853, at 11.30 o'clock, 
 and by a provisional arrangement of the Governor Provincial institu- 
 tions were supported by two-thirds of the Customs duties of the 
 Colony. 
 
 In 1853, five years after the payment of the first instalment of the 
 purchase money, and after very much opposition, the Government 
 ventured to open the Bell Block to the settlers. On the evening of 
 the 29th May, James Foreman, a fine young man, fell into the 
 Mangatuku stream in Brougham street, and was drowned. 
 
 On the last day of the year 1853 Sir George Grey left Auckland 
 for London, and Colonel Wynyard, C.B., of the 58th Regt., the 
 senior military officer in the Colony, and newly elected Superintendent 
 of the province of Auckland, assumed the administration of the 
 Government. 
 
 On 1st January, 1854, at half-past 8, p.m., a severe shock of 
 earthquake was felt in New Plymouth. The afternoon had been 
 hazy, and a remarkable round cloud, which sent out a long tail-like 
 streamer, hovered near to the peak of the mountain. On the 6th of 
 February Mr. G. S. Cooper was appointed Sub Commissioner for the 
 purchase of lands in New Plymouth. 
 
 The Chief Commissioner to the Honorable the Colonial Secretary. 
 
 " Land Commissioner's Office, 
 "Taranaki, 20th Feb., 1854. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to report to you, for the information of 
 His Excellency, the officer administering the government, that the 
 negotiations at present in progress with the natives for the acquisition 
 of land at this settlement, are of such a complicated nature, involving 
 conflicting interests of different tribes who are at variance with each 
 other respecting their claims, that I apprehend it will yet take some 
 time either to effect a satisfactoiy purchase or enable Mr. Cooper to 
 go on with fresh negotiations. Another cause of delay arises from 
 the fact that the natives are busily engaged with the wheat harvest, 
 and any interruption of their labors would not only be a serious loss 
 to themselves, but would also affect the Europeans who employ 
 many of them to secure their crops. In the meanwhile, however, 
 the surveys of Reserves in the Waiwakaiho Block are earned on, and 
 I am in hope that most of these difficulties which have delayed the 
 occupation by settlers of that purchase, and which I am engaged with 
 Mr. Cooper in arranging, will soon be adjusted. The purchase of
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 153 
 
 the land in question lias been greatly complicated by a league which has 
 been entered into by the Ngatiawa, Taranaki, and Ngatiruanui tribes, 
 by which they have solemnly bound themselves and each other to put 
 a stop to all sales of land to the North of the Bell Block, or South of 
 Tatarairnaka ; and so much political importance do they attach to this, 
 that, in order to give greater solemnity to the covenant, and by way 
 of rendering it as binding as possible on the parties, a copy of the 
 Scriptures was buried in the earth with many ceremonies, thereby, as 
 it were, calling on the Deity to witness the iuviolabilty of their 
 compact. It is therefore a matter of the utmost importance to the 
 interests of the Province that eveiy exertion should be used without 
 delay, not only to obtain possession of the lands at present unaffected 
 by this league, but also to endeavor by every possible means to 
 induce the natives to break through, or, if possible, entirely put an 
 end to the ill-advised compact they have made. 
 
 " To facilitate the acquisition of land to the south of the settlement 
 I have deemed it advisable to secure the services of Mr. Wellington 
 Carrington, a surveyor, to assist in effecting arrangements for this 
 purpose, in order that his professional services, and any influence he 
 may possess over the natives, with whom he is connected by marriage, 
 may, under the urgent necessity for acquiring land, be made 
 temporarily available for this object. 
 
 '' I feel most anxious to proceed to Auckland, and shall not delay 
 an hour longer in this place than I can avoid ; but I fear that my 
 leaving abruptly at present would prove injurious to future 
 negotiations, on the result of which the prosperity of the Province 
 depends. I beg to enclose for His Excellency's information copies 
 of letters that have been received by me from his Honor the Super- 
 intendent, and the Resident Magistrate on the subject. His 
 Excellency will no doubt be informed by his Honor the Superin- 
 tendent of this Province that an Ordinance has been passed in the 
 Provincial Council to authorise the raising of a loan of 5,000, in 
 the event of such a sum being required for the purchase of land 
 from the natives. I have, &c. 
 
 " DONALD MACLEAN, 
 
 " Land Commissioner." 
 
 The Same to the Same. 
 
 " Land Commissioner's Office, Taranaki, 7th March, 1854. 
 " Sir : I have the honor to report to you for the information of 
 His Excellency, the officer administering the Government, that after 
 numerous meetings with the majority of the native tribes of this 
 Province, an arrangement has been effected for the purchase of a 
 block of land contiguous to the settlement and estimated to comprise 
 from 12,000 to 14,000 acres of fine open agricultural land. The 
 growing opposition to the sale of any of their land ; their knowledge 
 of its increased value, and of the extreme urgency of the Euro]>eans 
 to obtain it ; their apprehension of never being allowed to repurchase 
 any part of what they once alienate ; the fear that they should thereby
 
 154 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 lose their distinctive national character and standing and be reduced 
 to a state of slavery and indigence has encouraged a combined and 
 systematic opposition by those tribes to the cession of their territory. 
 
 " From the decided minority of natives in favor of a sale it has 
 become a most difficult matter to acquire any land in this Province, 
 and consequently it has been found necessary, after due con- 
 sideration by His Honor the Supeiintendent, and the officers 
 of the General Government at this place, to accede to their 
 lowest demand of <3,000, which was paid subject, however, 
 to conditions which I shall presently notice. The most interesting 
 feature in this transaction, and the only one which I considered 
 justified my assenting to so large a payment was, that the natives 
 agreed, instead of having extensive reserves which would monopolise 
 the best of the land, to repurchase out of the block they have sold 
 one thousand pounds worth of land with a pre-emptive right of 
 selection at ten shillings per acre. I have every reason to expect 
 that this arrangement will be most important in its results by 
 giving the natives a security of tenure they never previously enjoyed, 
 by removing all appi-ehension as to 'their inability to repurchase 
 from the Government, by leading them to take an interest in the 
 political institutions of the country by being qualified to take part in 
 them, by introducing a feature in their mode of living which must 
 improve their circumstances, while it dispenses with the necessity 
 that existed under their former precarious tenure and custom of 
 living in confederate bauds in large pas, ready at a moment's notice 
 to collect and arm themselves either for defence or depredation. 
 Nor are these the only advantages to be gained from the introduction 
 of this system ; another most important one is, that it will lead 
 without much difficulty to the purchase of the whole of the native 
 lands in this Province, and to the adoption by the natives of 
 exchanging their extensive tracts of country at present lying waste 
 and unproductive for a moderate consideration, which will be chiefly 
 expended by them in repurchasing land from the Crown. The 
 natives have entered into the spirit of this arrangement with greater 
 readiness than might be at first expected, and instead of having 
 reserves of several thousand acres they have been satisfied with three 
 hundred acres round their pas ; they have also deposited the 
 thousand pounds with Mr. Cooper for the repurchase of the 
 additional land they may require and the arrangements for the 
 survey of those lands and the settlement of natives on them are now 
 in progress, so that the land may be thrown open for European 
 selection with as little delay as possible. 
 
 " I am glad to add that the several meetings with the natives at 
 which the claims of district tribes to the Taranaki moimtains were 
 discussed have terminated, notwithstanding considerable excitement, 
 without any disturbance, and this notice is due to the natives, since 
 upwards of twelve hundred of them representing conflicting interests 
 were collected in town. I have, &c., 
 
 " DONALD MACLEAN, 
 
 " Land Commissioner."
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 155 
 
 The result of the purchase of the Hua and "Waiwakaiho block 
 proved unsatisfactory. In order to obtain the consent of "Wi Tako, 
 a great partizan of the King movement, and other powerful chiefs 
 residing in Wellington who had an interest in. the block, it became 
 necessaiy to make large reserves of the best of the land. Then 
 Henry Puni, a son of the great Ngatiawa chief Te Puni, seized a 
 large portion of the open land from the sea coast to the south of the 
 Devon Road, including the ancient pa Rewarewa, at the mouth of 
 the Waiwakaiho river, which was at one time garrisoned by a 
 thousand men, and successfxilly resisted a fierce and powerful attack 
 of the southern tribes. On the Mangaone Hill, Puni erected a strong 
 pa and bid defiance thereby to the pakeha. Inland of this seizure 
 and of these reserves the other Maoris exercised their pre-emptive 
 right of purchase, after which the only land left for the settlei's was 
 the very broken district above the junction of the Waiwakaiho river 
 with its numerous tributaries. The repurchase of the lands by some 
 of the natives, and the possession of a Crown Title to them, led to no 
 beneficial results. The holders of these lands never cultivated a 
 tithe of them, shirked all their duties as land owners under the 
 Crown, refused to pay highway rates, and ultimately sold their lands 
 to the settlers and spent the money in intoxicating drink. 
 
 In May, Ihaia and Tamati offered some land at Waitara for sale. 
 
 On the 13th May, Harihanu, a Maori, killed another Maori 
 named Aperahama, by striking him on the head with a hammer at 
 Katatore's pa, Kaipakopako. No legal proceedings were token in the 
 case. 
 
 The first session of the General Assembly of New Zealand was 
 opened at Auckland by Colonel Wynyard, the officer administering 
 the Government, on the 27th May, 1854. The Representatives of 
 Taranaki in that Assembly were in the Legislative Council : Major 
 J. Y. Lloyd in the House of Representatives : for the town of 
 New Plymouth, Mr. F. U. Gledhill ; for the Grey and Bell district, 
 Mr. T. King, and for Omata, Mr. W. Crompton. 
 
 On the 3rd July, Simon Crawley, whaler and boatman, escaped 
 from the Colonial Hospital while suffering from delirium tremens, 
 and drowned himself in the sea on the Henui beach. 
 
 On the 14th September, Joseph Cassidy, a discharged soldier, in a 
 fit of jealousy killed Maiy Rodgers, a widow, residing at Omata, by 
 stabbing her with a knife. Cassidy was removed to A uckland for 
 trial, and being found guilty, was reprieved on the ground of insanity. 
 He shortly afterwards died worn out with remoi-se and fear. 
 
 Towards the close of the year a Church Missionary clergyman and 
 a catechist conjointly published a Maori tract against the selling of 
 land to Europeans, and comparing the latter to Ahab who coveted 
 the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite. 
 
 On the 3rd January, 1855, Richard Eaton was drowned in the 
 endeavor to get some sheep across the Waiwakaiho river. On the 
 23rd, at 9.15p.m., a severe earthquake occurred, which did much 
 damage to chimneys and sandstone buildings. On the same day
 
 156 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 William Holloway, in endeavoring to catcli a goat, fell over a cliff at 
 Omata and was killed. On the 25th the ship Josephine Willis, Capt. 
 Canney, arrived from London, and reported having felt the shock of 
 earthquake at sea. On Saturday evening, February 10th, Mr. 
 Thomas Bayly's house was accidentally burned down. About this 
 time much dissatisfaction was expressed in the Provincial Council at 
 the refusal of the natives to give up the seaward end of the Hua and 
 Waiwakaiho Block which had been purchased by Mr. Cooper. They 
 took advantage of a promise of reserves made at the time of purchase, 
 which was not defined by writing or plans. One of the earliest 
 enactments of the Provincial Council was that of the " Public Works 
 Ordinance," by which provision was made for the repair of the roads. 
 Since the cessation of the operations of the New Zealand Company 
 very little had been done to the streets of the town or the country 
 highways, and most of the rivers were unbridged. The first election 
 under this Ordinance was that for the district of the town of New 
 Plymouth, which took place at the Old Court House, Devon street, 
 on Saturday, 17th February, at 4 p.m. About 18 persons were 
 present and Mr. I. N. Watt was called to the chair. The meeting 
 decided that a uniform rate of 5s. should be levied on all sections, 
 and chose Messrs. H. L. Redhead, G. Y. Lethbridge, and W. Brooking, 
 Commissioners. In March, at a public meeting it was determined to 
 memorialise the Queen on the unprotected state of the settlement in 
 the midst of the Puketapu feud which was then raging. On the 25th 
 H.M.S. Pandora arrived, bringing Acting Governor Wynyard, Capt. 
 Travers, and Mr. J. White, Maori Interpreter. After personally 
 investigating the unsettled state of the district His Excellency re- 
 embarked on the 10th of April. On April 19th a schooner designed 
 by Mr. Cutfield, and built at Moturoa in front of Barrett's farm, by 
 Messrs. Rundle, Clare, and others, was launched and named by Miss 
 Anna Rundle the " Taranaki." On June 3rd the ship Cresswell 
 arrived from London, bringing Mr. E. J. Cudd and the Kelly family. 
 In August the whole of the male adult population were sworn in as 
 special constables, and a strict account of arms was taken. On 
 August 19th the ship Duke of Portland, Capt. Seymour, arrived from 
 Auckland with 250 rank and file of the 58th Regiment, ten officers, 
 13 non-commissioned officers, three drummers, detachments of 
 Artillery and Sappers, and several field pieces. On September 6th 
 the Duke of Portland arrived from Wellington with 210 non-commis- 
 sioned officers and men of the 65th Regiment. The crown of Mars- 
 land Hill was levelled for the erection of barracks of galvanized iron 
 which had been brought from Melbourne. During the process of 
 levelling human bones were found, and a coffin containing a skeleton 
 which had fair hair attached to the skull. Naval buttons were found 
 in the coffin, from which it was supposed that the skeleton was that 
 of some Naval Officer who had died off the coast, and whose body 
 had been brought ashore for burial. In September a pastoral letter 
 of Bishop Selwyn was published in the settlement, and gave great 
 offence to many of the settlers on account of the charge of greed
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 157 
 
 which it brought against them as regarded their desire to obtain more 
 land, and the special pleadings and apologies it made on behalf of the 
 Maori land leaguers. 
 
 On the 27th October Governor Gore Brown arrived in the S.S. 
 Zingari on a visit to the settlement. On Nov. 5th Mr. Christopher 
 William Richmond was returned to the House of Representatives for 
 the Town of New Plymouth, in the room of Mr. F. U. Gledhill who 
 had resigned. On Nov. 5th the ship Egmont arrived from London, 
 bringing the Upjohn family. 
 
 On Dec. 25th a portion 'of the 58th Regiment left for Auckland by 
 the Ocean brig, the Regiment being ordered to England, having 
 completed its term of service. During this year the Taranaki natives 
 cut a line about ten feet broad aci-oss the northern face of the ranges 
 adjoining Mount Egmont, which they call Iringanui, but the Ngatiawa 
 Pouakai ; faces were cut on all the prominent trees along the line. 
 These people were so superstitious as to believe that the retention of 
 these ranges would preserve them from the encroachments and 
 dominance of the Pakehas. The Public Works Ordinance of this 
 year was a mild measure of the Provincial Council for promoting the 
 repair of roads and the erection and maintenance of bridges. It 
 provided merely for an optional road rate.
 
 158 HISTORY OF TARANAKI, 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE PUKETAPU FEUD. 
 
 fHE Puketapu were one of the most powerful families of the 
 whole Ngatiawa tribe. They took their name from that 
 remarkable hill on the sea coast in the broad and beautiful bay 
 which is situated between the rivers Waiwakaiho and Waiongona. 
 Sheltered by reefs the bay abounds with fish during the summer 
 months, and the reefs themselves yield a harvest of molluscs. The 
 land around the hill is very fertile, and on the hill a dense littoi-al 
 vegetation grows. Here, according to tradition, the beautiful 
 crimson veronica once flourished. From some unknown cause the 
 hill was named Puketapu, the sacred mount, and on it the great pa 
 of the hapu once stood. The shepherd boy seeking some stray ewe 
 occasionally meets with some relic of its inhabitants in the shape of 
 a stone ear-drop or axe. Possibly, like Jeshurun, this family 
 waxed fat and kicked by reason of the fruitfulness of their inheritance. 
 They formed part of the army which Rauparaha led against the 
 Southern tribes, and Colonel Wakefield in his journal speaks of the 
 diificulty he experienced in dealing with them in Cook Strait. After 
 their return from the South they wei'e in a state of degeneracy, most 
 of their great chiefs had fallen in battle, and their places had been 
 taken by inferior men. It was by the unremitting opposition of 
 these people that the settlers were driven from the Mangoraka 
 district, and the settlement reduced to the smallest limits. These 
 remarks, however, do not apply to the whole, for there were chiefs 
 and others among them who were amicably disposed towards the 
 Europeans. The most notable friendly Puketapu Chief was Rawiri 
 Waiaua, i.e., David the Porpoise, a well-proportioned man, mild of 
 disposition, profusely tatooed, who was in the habit of paying visits to 
 the town on a gray horse, wearing a white hat and green spectacles. 
 By this chiefs influence the Bell Block came into the hands of the 
 Europeans, and now he was pressed by the Sub Land Commissioner 
 to sell more land in the same district, land being greatly in 
 demand through the influx of substantial settlers, and the high price 
 of farm produce, brought about by the recent discovery of gold in 
 Australia. This had the effect of dividing the Puketapu hapu into 
 two parties ; the anti-land-selling-leaguers, headed by the chief 
 Waitere Katatore, and the land-sellers under the leadership of 
 Rawiri Waiaua. Early in the morning of the 3rd of August, 1854, 
 Rawiri and a party of his followers went out with billhooks to cut a 
 line for the purpose of marking the boundaries of a piece of land they 
 intended to sell to the Europeans. While they were engaged in the 
 work they were met by an armed pai'ty under the command of 
 Waitere Katatore, who fired upon them, killing four persons, 
 mortally wounding Rawiri and another, severely wounding four, and
 
 HISTORY OF TAKANAKI. 159 
 
 slightly wounding six. In proof of the murderous nature of the 
 attack, out of twenty-six persons composing Rawiri's party, sixteen 
 were hit. Arrangements were made as quickly as possible after the 
 affray to convey the wounded to the hospital. Paora's case was 
 hopeless, so that nothing could be done for him, and he could not 
 bear removal Rawiri had received a ball in his side which had 
 passed upwards and out through the breast bone. The natives were 
 in too great a state of excitement to remove him the day he fell, and 
 the settlers were afraid to interfere in the quarrel. All, therefore, 
 that could be done for him was to put a tent over him. The news of 
 the encounter quickly spread among the natives, and by noon an 
 armed party had collected from the Hua and Tairutu. These first 
 visited Katatore's pa at Kaipakopako and fired a volley into it, after 
 which they proceeded to the scene of the encounter where they buried 
 the dead and encamped for the night. The next morning Paora 
 expired, and after his interment Rawiri was conveyed in a litter to 
 the hospital, but medical skill was of no avail in his case, for he 
 expired at half-past one on the morning of the 6th inst. Then pas 
 were strengthened, roads were tapued, and preparations were made 
 for conflict. The Government was appealed to for the purpose of 
 executing the law against the murderers. It was argued that Rawiri 
 was a British subject, was in the Commission of the Peace, and was 
 performing an act of friendship to the Europeans when he fell. But 
 His Excellency Colonel Wynyard was afraid to interfere, and 'the 
 feelings of Rawiri's friends were soothed to some extent by the 
 influence of the Rev. John Whiteley, Mr. Maclean, William Nero, 
 an influential Waikato chief, and others. The murderer, Katatore, 
 either out of fear or remorse, suddenly turned his back upon the 
 league, and offered to sell some land to the Government. In Novem- 
 ber, 1854, just three months after the death of Rawiri, another 
 tragical event took place at the Mamaku pa, on the west bank of the 
 Waitara. A young native named Rimene, who had been residing 
 with the Puketapu and Waitara natives, committed adultery with 
 the wife of Ihaia, the chief of the Mamaku pa, and when taxed with 
 it confessed the crime. At the instigation of Ihaia a Maori named 
 Hori approached Rimene as he was sitting in the pa, presented a gun 
 to his breast, and killed him. Ihaia was friendly with the Europeans 
 and willing to sell them land, the committal of this act was therefore 
 taken advantage of by the anti-land-selling-leaguers to pick a quarrel 
 with him. Rimene, besides being a member of the Ngatiruanui 
 tril>e, was related to that of TaranakL Accordingly Wi Kingi, of 
 Waitara, artfully represented to these tribes that the killing of Rimene 
 was not on account of his crime of adultery, but because he had been 
 for some time a follower of Katatore. By this means the death of 
 Rimene became mixed up with the land quarrel, and the con- 
 sequence was that on the 20th of December the Mamaku pa 
 was besieged by three hundred and eighty warriors of tlio 
 Ngatiruanui tribe. Ihaia erected elevated platforms at tin? 
 angles of his pa for sharpshooters, and lined his stockade with bundles
 
 160 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 of green flax for a defence against nmsket balls. The friendly 
 portion of the Puketapu sympathised with Ihaia, and before the 
 action Wi te Ahoaho, commonly called by Europeans Sam 
 Puketap, a considerable chief, entered the Mamaku to take part in 
 its defence. Ihaia and his people fought bravely, but they were 
 out-numbered by the Ngatiruanui. Seeing that he was hard pressed, 
 Ihaia's Puketapu friends made a diversion in his favor, and he 
 retreated to Mahoetahi. Ihaia had six killed and five wounded, and 
 the Ngatiruanuis had five killed and ten wounded. 
 
 After making some attempt to renew the contest on the 22nd, and 
 threatening to return home coastwise through New Plymouth, the 
 Ngatiruanuis on the 25th, Christmas Day, quietly commenced their 
 march homewards by the mountain road through the bush. These 
 people had not been home long before a report was circulated among 
 them that Ihaia had desecrated the graves of their slain at Waitara. 
 This caused a great ferment, and threats were made of returning to 
 annihilate Ihaia, but these were not carried out at that time. The 
 relatives of Rawiri were loud in demanding the Government to 
 punish Katatore for the murder of their chief and relative, but the 
 Government was not strong enough to enforce the law, therefore 
 Mr. Maclean, the Rev. Messrs. Whitely and Turton, and sevei-al 
 "Waikato chiefs were sent to appease their wrath. Finding that 
 the Government would do nothing in the matter, the chief Arama 
 Karaka, the relative and successor of Rawiri, came up from the 
 south with his f ollowers to avenge his relative's death. The east end 
 of Bell Block and the Puketapu beyond, now became a battle-field. 
 For months Maoris armed and clad in gaily colored shawls xised to go 
 out to fight every morning with great regularity. The sounds of the 
 musketry could be plainly heard in town and at Mangorei. Ihaia 
 joined his force with that of Arama Karaka, and the latter gave him 
 a piece of land at Puketapu, on the Devon Road, and near to the 
 Te Arei Road, on which Ihaia built a pa to which he gave the name 
 of Ikamoana, sea-fish. Wi Kingi, Katatore, and some detachments 
 of Ngatiruanui formed one party, and Arama Karaka, Ihaia, and 
 Mahau and their followers formed the other. Considering the 
 number of persons engaged, and the quantity of cartridges exploded, 
 few casualties occurrred. Sometimes a skirmish took place among 
 the hedges of the- settler's farms, and occasionally bullets pierced 
 their houses, but no Pakeha was injured. At length a truce was 
 made in 1856 after sixty Maoris had been killed, and one hundred 
 wounded. 
 
 In 1855, the settlei-s of New Plymouth petitioned the Govern- 
 ment for military protection. Mr. Maclean advised that block-houses 
 should be built, the Militia called out, and that other steps should be 
 taken for the defence of the settlement. 
 
 In August and September, 1855, detachments of the 58th and 65th 
 Regiments, with two twenty-four pounder guns, landed at New Ply- 
 mouth under the command of Major Nugent of the 58th Regiment. 
 These were shortly afterwards followed by Colonel Wynyard,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 161 
 
 accompanied by Tamati Waka Nene, Te Whero, and To Puni. 
 The result of this visit was a i-atification of the neutral policy to 
 which we have alluded. 
 
 In July, 1857, Ihaia and Mahau offered the land at Ikamoana and 
 Waiongona for sale, and in August following Katatore offered 40,000 
 acres for sale. The land-leaguers were astonished at this proceeding 
 of their once staunch adherent, and wrote letters to him saying how 
 dark their hearts were by reason of his apostacy. Katatore continued 
 to press the land upon the Government, and the Government took 
 preparatory steps towards the pui'chase, ignoring the offer of land by 
 Ihaia and Mahau. Then Ihaia determined to destroy Katatore. In 
 order to cany out his plan he caused Katatore to be made merry 
 with drink in New Plymouth on Saturday, the 9th January, 1858, 
 and as the old chief turned up the Wills Road, at Bell Block, to 
 proceed to Kaipakopako, he was killed with his relative Rawiri 
 Karira, by an ambuscade headed by Tamati Tiraurau, the brother of 
 Ihaia. Katatore was not only the open enemy of the Mangoraka 
 settlers, never resting till he had expelled them from their homes, 
 but the arch scoundrel secretly planned a general massacre of the 
 settlers, and nothing but extreme endurance and moderation on their 
 part preserved them from this end. Nevertheless, the atrocious 
 manner in which he was destroyed, filled eveiy one with horror. 
 
 Report from Assistant Native Secretary Halse, to the Native 
 
 Secretary. 
 " New Plymouth, January llth, 1858. 
 
 " Sir, I have to report to you that Katatore was killed last 
 Saturday under very atrocious circumstances. On his return from 
 town towards sundown, with three natives, all on horseback, he was 
 waylaid by Tamati Tiraurau and a party of five natives four 
 Ngatirahiris and one belonging to Mahoetahi on one of the main 
 roads of the Bell district and shot. His relative, Rawiri Karira, 
 fell at the first shot and was literally hacked to pieces. 
 
 " Tamihana pushed on, but Katatore dismounted, and whilst 
 leading his horse up the cross road towards the Huira, was overtaken 
 and pierced with several bullets, then beaten about the head with the 
 discharged guns three of which were broken over him and finally 
 mangled with tomahawks. 
 
 " The plans laid for Katatore's death were Ihaia's, as he has 
 admitted to Mr. Pan-is ; but they were so well kept by the natives 
 concerned that nothing was known of them until they were effected. 
 Even Katatore, who received a warning on the road from Mr. 
 Hollis, who had observed armed natives remaining in one spot, had 
 no thought of being attacked. Ihaia wax observed watching him 
 about town during the day under an assumed desire for reconcilliation, 
 and he followed him out of the town. I am of opinion that that 
 attack must have been meditated for some time, ns on the first 
 occasion of his moving out unarmed he has been killed. It may 
 be attributed partly to revenge for Rawiri Waiaua's death, and 
 11
 
 Ibli HISTORY OF TARANAK1. 
 
 jealousy that Katatore, after all their efforts to punish him for it, 
 should be iu a position to offer land for sale when Ihaia's offer was 
 rejected. 
 
 " I am quite unable to venture an opinion on the probable conse- 
 quences of this unfortunate business. I fear it will lead to serious 
 native troubles. Wiremu Kingi of Waitai'a occupied the Tima pa 
 yesterday, and will aid the Kaipakupaku natives. The latter intend 
 to attack the Ikamoana at once, rather than i-emain prisoners in 
 their own pa. Hone Ropiha, the Assessor, met Katatore in town on 
 Saturday, and was quite ignorant of Ihaia's plans. 
 
 " In conclusion, I deem it my duty to observe that Tamati 
 Tiraurau, who resides in a well furnished wooden house in town, and 
 is remarkable for his intelligence and extensive mercantile transactions 
 with the settlers, was especially prominent for his ferocity in this 
 attack. He dragged Rawiri off his horse, when mortally wounded 
 by the first volley, and seizing him by the hair of his head, with the 
 most fiendish gesticulations, as witnessed by two of the Bell Block 
 settlers, first hacked his body and then his head and face to pieces. 
 I have, etc., 
 
 " HENRY HALSE." 
 
 After the death of Katatore the followers and allies of that chief 
 laid siege to the Ikamoana, and in less than a month brought Ihaia to 
 great straits. Ihaia had not then the aid of Arama Karaka, for that 
 chief, worn out with anxiety, had died in January, 1857. On the 
 night of Saturday, February 6th, 1858, Ihaia quietly evacuated his 
 pa and retreated to the Karaka, a pa near to a ford of the river 
 Waitara, in the midst of groves of the beautiful corynocarpus laevigata. 
 Early on Sunday morning the friends of Katatore entered the 
 Ikamoana and made a great fire in the midst of it, in which they 
 consumed all Ihaia's agricultural implements, ploughs, harrows, 
 winnowing and threshing machines. The pigs were caught, and after 
 their eyes were dug out with pointed knives, they were thrown alive 
 into the fire. The poultry were also caught and thrown into the 
 flames. All that Sunday morning the work of destruction went on 
 till the Ikamoana and all that it contained was utterly consumed. 
 Having driven Ihaia from the Puketapu territory, Katatore's friends 
 followed him to the Waitara, and there laid so close a siege to him 
 that he and his people were in danger of pei-ishing for want of food. 
 The Eui-opeans sympathised much with Ihaia, because, in spite of all 
 his atrocities, he had been friendly and true to them, but they were 
 powerless to help him in his distress. At last the Rev. John 
 Whiteley and Mr. Commissioner Parris, out of compassion to him, 
 persuaded his enemies to permit him to escape. They consented 
 to do so, and Ihaia fell back upon the river Mimi, where he 
 received contributions of food from the Europeans, and built a pa at 
 a place called Papawera, on a fine district of land called Te Kaweka, 
 close to the south side of the river. Respecting the evacuation of 
 the Karaka pa Mr. Parris thus wrote to the Colonial Secretary under
 
 HISTORY OF TARAKAKI. 163 
 
 date December 21st, 1860 : " When Ihaia, Nikerima and their 
 party were besieged in the Karaka pa at Waitara, and were in a 
 most miserable plight, Mr. Whiteley suggested to me that I should 
 try and arrange terms of peace on the following basis, namely ; that 
 the besieged should be allowed to vacate the pa, and that the besiegers 
 should then destroy it. I availed myself of the suggestion, and 
 obtained the consent of Ihaia and Wiremu Kingi, the former to leave 
 the pa, and the latter to destroy it, and not to follow them, any 
 farther ; and shortly after, in the middle of the night, Ihaia's party 
 took a loud farewell of their pa, but their places were immediately 
 occupied by his Wanganui and Mokau allies. They thus tried to 
 take advantage of arrangements which I had attempted to make for 
 their preservation, and, but for my opportune arrival and discovery 
 of the ambush, would probably have succeeded." No excuse can be 
 offered for this act of treachery, but it will appear less atrocious when 
 we remember that Ihaia's enemies declared their intention of roasting 
 him alive if he should fall into their hands. 
 
 Mr. Cooper, shortly after the death of Rawiri, was transferred to 
 another Province, in order to remove as much as possible all sources 
 of irritation from the quarrelling natives on the part of the Govern- 
 ment. Messrs. H. Halse and J. Rogan performed the duties of 
 Commissioners temporarily. At length, in August, 1857, Mr. R. 
 Parris was permanently appointed Commissioner of the District. 
 
 IHAIA KIRIKUMARA. 
 
 This celebrated warrior chief, and ally of the British, died of con- 
 sumption accelerated by hard drinking, at the Wakatete pa, on the 
 ejist bank of the Waitara river, on 9th July, 1873, and was interred 
 in the burial place of his people at the Karaka on the llth of the 
 same month. 
 
 Ihaia was a chief of the Otaraua hapu of the Ngatiawa tribe. His 
 early days were spent in captivity in the Waikato country, but in 
 1842-3 when, by the interference of the Missionaries, the Waikato 
 tribe manumitted its slaves, he, with the rest of the captives, was 
 permitted to return to the home of his fathers on the banks of the 
 Waitara. Ihaia played a very prominent part in the Puketapu feud, 
 which raged in the settlement from 1854 to 1860, the particulars of 
 which have already been given. During the rebellion Ihaia occupied 
 a pi-ominent ]K)sition among our native allies, and was present with 
 the British troops and settlers in several engagements. In stature 
 lie was below the ordinary standard of his race, and his physiognomy 
 was of so mild an appearance that from it no one would have suspected 
 the true character of the man. One who knew him well declared that 
 he was neither true to his race, his tribe, or to the British. 
 
 On July 15th, 1860, Ihaia, in conjunction with his friend Tamati 
 Tiraura, wrote a letter to the New Plymouth settlers, from which we 
 give the following extracts : 
 
 " Friends : Formerly we, the Maoris, lived alone in New Zealand ; 
 we did wrong one to another, made war on one another, we ate one
 
 164 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 another, we exterminated one anothei-. Some had deserted the land, 
 some were enslaved, the remnant that was spared went to seek other 
 lands. 
 
 " Now this was the arrangement of this Ngatiawa land. Mokau 
 was the boundary on the north, Ngamotu the boundary on the south ; 
 beyond were Taranaki and Ngatiruanui. 
 
 " All was quite deserted ; the land, the sea, the streams, the lakes, 
 the forests, the rocks, were deserted; the food, the property, the 
 work, was deserted ; the dead and the sick were deserted ; the land- 
 marks were deserted. 
 
 " Then came the Pakeha hither by sea from other dwellings they 
 came to this land and the Maoris allowed them they came by chance 
 to this place they came to a place whose inhabitants had left it. 
 There were few men here the men were a remnant, a handful 
 returned from slavery. 
 
 " And the Pakeha asked, ' Where are the men of this place ] ' and 
 they answered, ' They have been driven away by war ; we few have 
 come back from another land.' And the Pakeha said, 'Are you 
 willing to sell us this land 1 ' And they replied, ' We are willing to 
 sell it that it may not be merely barren ; presently our enemies will 
 come, and our places will be quite taken from us.' 
 
 " So payment was made; it was not said, ' let the place be simply 
 taken,' although the men were few ; the Pakeha did not say ' let it 
 be taken,' but the land was quietly paid for. 
 
 " Now the Pakeha thoroughly occupied the piirchase made with 
 their money ; and the Maoris living in the house of bondage, and 
 those that had fled, heard of it ; they heard that the land had been 
 occupied, and they said, ' Ah ! ah ! the land has revived, the men 
 have revived, let us return to the land.' So they returned. Their 
 return was in a friendly manner. The thought of the Pakeha was, 
 ' Let us dwell together, let us work together.' 
 
 "The Maoris began to dispute with the Pakeha. When the 
 Governor saw it he removed the Pakeha to one spot to dwell. After- 
 wards the Pakeha made a second payment for the land, and after- 
 wards a third ; then I said, ' Ah ! ah ! veiy great indeed is the goodness 
 of the Pakeha, he has not said that the payment ceases at the first 
 time.' 
 
 " My friends the Pakeha, wholly through you this land and the men 
 of this land have become independent ; do not say that I have seen 
 this your goodness to-day for the first time, I knew it formerly. At 
 the coming here of Governor Grey, I was urgent that the land might 
 be surrendered and paid for by him; that we might live there 
 together, we the Maori and the Pakeha. And my urgency did not 
 end then, but continued thixmghout the days of Governor Grey till 
 the death of Rawiri. The death of Rawiri was owing to obstinacy 
 about the land. Rawiri was killed for his friendly disposition 
 towards the Pakeha. My interference on the occasion of the death 
 of Rawiri was because I thought him a man more favorable to the 
 Pakeha, a man whose opinion was like my own j if he had been
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKl. 165 
 
 evil disposed towards the Pakeha, then I should not have interfered ; 
 if he had been a parent or a relative, I should not have interfered. 
 But, however, Rawiri and the rest are dead ; it was by God that 
 they were made chiefs of the land, and I was urgent that the land 
 should be a payment for their deaths. By the obstinacy of Katatore 
 he became a payment. If he had yielded, the land would have died, 
 he would have been spared. 
 
 " Although after his death all the hapu gathered to overthrow and 
 kill me, I was urgent for the sale of the land. Although my pa the 
 ' Karaka ' was besieged, and I was besieged, that I might be killed, 
 when I earnestly prayed God that I might be saved, I urgently wrote 
 to the Governor that he would purchase the land. However, I 
 arrived at Mimi I know that the Governor is a parent to me I 
 was urgent at that time about the sale in my letter to the Governor ; 
 although my word at that time did not influence him, what was that 
 to me ? my urgency was fixed in my heart. Although peace was 
 renewed to me, I did not say through this peace I shall be preserved ; 
 but I consider that my security is from the Pakeha. And at this 
 day I know that my security is great, for the Pakeha is a bulwark 
 for me against destruction. 
 
 " IHAIA KIRIKUMARA, 
 
 "TAMATI TlRAURAU, 
 
 " Waitara, July 15th, 1860."
 
 166 HISTORY OF TARANAKt. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1856-58. 
 
 GOVERNOR GORE BROWN. 
 
 /j COLONEL WYNYARD, after administering the Government of 
 V^ the Colony for twenty months, was supei*seded by Colonel 
 Gore Browne, who landed in Auckland on the 4th of 
 September, 1855, and took the oaths of office on the 6th of September. 
 Colonel Sir Thomas Gore Browne, K.C.M.G.. son of Robert Browne, 
 Esq., of Morton House, Buckinghamshire, England, and brother of 
 the Bishop of Winchester, was born in 1807. Entering the army 
 at sixteen he served many years with the 28th Regiment, acted as 
 aide-de-camp to Lord Nugent, Lord High Commissioner of the 
 Ionian Islands, and was for some time Colonial Secretary. In 
 1836. Major Gore Browne exchanged into the 41st Regiment, and 
 served during the occupation of Afghanistan. After the massacre 
 of our troops at the Khyber Pass, the 41st joined General England, 
 and advanced to the rescue of General Nott and his troops. During 
 that war Major Browne held the command of the 41st, and also 
 commanded the reserve at the disastrous battle of Hykulzie, and by 
 forming a square when the van of the army had been broken, was 
 enabled to repulse the enemy and cover the retreat. He held 
 command of the regiment at the battles of Candahar, Ghuznee, 
 Cabul, and dining the march through the Khyber Pass, where he 
 commanded the rear, and under General McGaskell at the storming 
 of the hill fort at Issaliff, the most daring action during the war. 
 Major Gore Browne's gallantry and humanity were praised in the 
 general's despatches, which were quoted in both Houses of Parliament, 
 and for his services he obtained a lieutenant-colonelcy, and was made 
 C.B. On his return with his regiment from India, he exchanged 
 into the 21st, which he commanded until made Governor of St. 
 Helena, in 1851. From St. Helena he went in 1855 to New Zealand. 
 On the breaking out of the Maori war in the last year of his 
 government, Colonel Gore Browne showed a vigor which was essential 
 in resisting the land-league and the Maori King movement, the 
 outcome of the feeble .rule of his predecessors. In 1861, having 
 completed his term of office, he was siicceeded in the government of 
 New Zealand by Sir George Grey, and he himself succeeded Sir 
 Henry Young as Governor of Tasmania. He resigned the last- 
 mentioned office in. January, 1869,, when he was created a Knight 
 Commander of the Order of S. S. Michael and George. Sir Thomas 
 was appointed Governor of Bermuda in 1870. He is now in 
 England, and still takes an interest in New Zealand, being a Director 
 of the National Bank, and of some other mercantile institutions 
 connected with the Colony.
 
 HISTORY OF TARAXAKI. 167 
 
 Colonel Gore Brown arrived towards the close of the first 
 session of the General Assembly. He prorogued that body on 
 the 15th of September, declaring Ids intention of carrying on the 
 Government by responsible advisers. 
 
 In the session of 1856, under Mr. Stafford's Ministry, some 
 important measures were passed for obtaining loans for the redemption 
 of the New Zealand Company's and other debts. Money was also 
 voted for the promotion of steam communication. The great event 
 of the year however, was the Maori King demonstration at the 
 Waikato. Dr. Thomson thus relates the circumstances attending 
 this movement : 
 
 "The Anti-land-selling League formed in 1854 had acquired 
 extensive ramifications. At a meeting of several influential chiefs 
 of the League near the residence of Iwikau, on the Taupo Lake, in 
 December, 1856, it was decided, not however without opposition, 
 that Tongariro should be the centre of a district in which no land 
 was to be sold to the Government, and Hauraki, Waikato, Kawhia, 
 Mokau, Ngatiruanui, Wanganui, Rangitikei, and Titi o Kura, the 
 circumference ; that the Queen should not be prayed for ; that roads 
 should not be made within this district ; and that a king should be 
 elected to rule over the New Zealandei-s, as the Queen and 
 Governor did over the settlers. In imitation of the Constitution 
 Act, this meeting was called the Maori General Assembly, and was to 
 be held annually." 
 
 The Rev. J. Morgan, in a letter addressed to the Select Committee 
 of the House of Representatives on Waikato affairs, thus speaks of 
 this movement : 
 
 " The origin of the King movement was, first, a land league to 
 prevent the sale of land by aboriginal owners to the Government, 
 or the private sale of such land to individuals of the European or 
 Pakeha race ; secondly, a desire to stop the rapid advance of 
 European colonisation ; thirdly, a desire to introduce a code of laws 
 suited to their own requirements ; fourthly, and chiefly, a desire to 
 establish first in the Waikato, and afterwards gradually in all Maori 
 districts, an independent sovereignty over all Maori and European 
 residents in such districts. Many of the aboriginies saw with fear 
 the rapid advance of European colonisation and the earnest desire of 
 the Pakeha to obtain possession of their lands. They also noticed 
 what they considered the confined bounds to which some tribes who 
 had sold land were reduced. As the promoters of the league knew 
 there were many tribes favoi-ably disposed to the sale of land and 
 European colonization, they felt that their league would be powerless 
 unless they could unite the various tribes of Waikato, and afterwards 
 other districts under one chief or king whose flag when received, 
 even by the minority of any tribe in any district, should cover all 
 lands in such districts, and prohibit the sale thereof to EurojKjans. 
 The aborigines also feared, as their own numbers were being so 
 rapidly diminished by death, that unless European colonization 
 could Ixj arrested the white settlers would in a few years greatly
 
 168 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 outnumber them, and that then the Treaty of Waitangi would be 
 set aside, and their lands seized by the English Government." 
 
 In February, 1856, the ship Josephine Willis, bound for New 
 Zealand, was sunk in the English Channel by collision with the s.s. 
 Mangerton, and Captain Canney and most of the crew and passengers 
 drowned. 
 
 On the 1 3th of March the first stone of the new Wesleyan Church 
 was laid by the Resident Magistrate, Josiah Flight, Esq., the services 
 on the occasion being conducted by the Rev. S. Ironside and the 
 Rev. J. Long. 
 
 On the 15th of March the remainder of the men of the 58th 
 Regiment left in the s.s. Zingari for Auckland, and in the same 
 month new moorings for vessels were laid down in the roadstead ; 
 and the barracks on Marsland Hill were finished and the troops 
 removed into them. 
 
 On the 16th of August, Mrs. Jones of Bell Block was drowned 
 in the Waiwakaiho while crossing the flooded stream in a bullock 
 cart. 
 
 The year 1857 commenced with the excitement consequent on an 
 election. Mr. Charles Brown's term of office having expired, the 
 election of a Superintendent of the Province took place on the 1 3th 
 of January, when Mr. George Cutfield was returned. Just prior to 
 the election, the Taranaki " Herald " in one week changed from the 
 advocacy of the return of Mr. Brown to that of Mr. Cutfield, and 
 Mr. Pheney failing to concur in the change was dismissed by the 
 proprietor, in consequence of which the friends of Mr. Brown 
 started the Taranaki " News," the editorship of which was given to 
 Mr. Pheney. 
 
 In May, the second session of the Maori Parliament met on the 
 banks of the Waikato river, and was attended by 200 natives. The 
 flag given by William the Fourth to the united tribes at the Bay of 
 Islands was hoisted by one of the party, bearing the inscription, 
 " POTATAU, KING OF NEW ZEALAND," and the Union Jack by 
 another party. Several days were spent in disciission, during which 
 Iwikau Te Heuheu demanded total separation between the two races, 
 the erection of a native custom-house at Kawhia, and the ultimate 
 expulsion of the settlers from New Zealand. The old Waikato 
 chief, Potatau Te Wherowhero, a pensioner of the British Govern- 
 ment, was asked to accept the royal office, and although he declined 
 it yet he was hailed King of the Maoris. Prayers were offered up 
 for his safe guidance, arms were presented in his honor by a body of 
 drilled men, his flag was sent over the land to obtain the allegiance 
 of the distant tribes, 51 was collected to xiphoid his dignity, and 
 100 to establish a printing press. By a Government Gazette the 
 Governor, by the advice of his responsible Ministers, relaxed the 
 " Arms Ordinance " by which the natives obtained permission under 
 certain circumstances to biiy guns and powder. 
 
 Two events of importance to the settlement took place in the 
 Parliamentary session of 1868 ; the one was the alteration of the
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 169 
 
 name of the Province from New Plymouth to Taranaki, and the 
 other the passing of the " Public Debt Apportionment Act," a 
 measure of considerable moment in the histoiy of the Province, and 
 therefore here given in extenso. 
 
 " The 21st and 22nd of Victoria. An Act to apportion among the 
 provinces of the Northern Island the sum of 180,000 to be raised 
 for the extinguishment of native title ; and to make the provincial 
 revenues of the several provinces chargeable, in exoneration of the 
 revenue of the Colony, with specific portions of the public debt. 
 [Passed 21st August, 1858.] 
 
 " Contents : Preamble. (1.) Apportionment amongst Provinces 
 of Northern Island of fund for extinguishment of native title. (2) 
 Sums raised for such extinguishment to be charged against the 
 Provinces for which it is raised. (3) New Plymouth to be allowed 
 20,000 out of fund for extinguishment without charge. (4) New 
 Plymouth receipts for land sales to be made up to 2,200 per annum. 
 (5) Apportionment amongst Provinces of Southern Island of the 
 charge of 200,000. (6) Auckland relieved from annual charge of 
 balance of refund. (7) Interpretation. (8) Short title. 
 
 " Whereas, under and by virtue of the Act of Assembly entitled 
 ' The New Zealand Loan Act, 1856,' the general revenue of the 
 Colony is or will become charged with the repayment of the principal 
 sums to be borrowed under the said Act, amounting in the whole to 
 the sum of 500,000, and with interest thereon at the rate of 'four 
 per centum per annum, and with a farther payment at the rate of 
 two per centum per annum on the amount of such principal sums, 
 for the purpose of providing a sinking fund for the liquidation of the 
 said debt. 
 
 " And whereas, by the said Act it is provided that the money to be 
 borrowed under the authority thereof shall be applied as follows, 
 namely : First, the sum of 200,000 in liquidation and full discharge 
 of the debt then due to the New Zealand Company, and towards the 
 repayment of such sums as the Province of Auckland shoxild have 
 paid towards liquidation of the said debt ; secondly, any sum not 
 exceeding the sum of 120,000, in payment of any public debt of the 
 Colony which should be due on the 1st day of January, 1858 ; 
 thirdly, any sum not exceeding the sum of 180,000 for the purpose 
 of extinguishing the right of the aboriginal inhabitants to lands in 
 the Northern Island of New Zealand. 
 
 " And whereas, the said sum of 200,000 has been fully raised and 
 began to bear interest on the 1st day of January, 1858. 
 
 " And whereas, it is expedient to provide, as between the several 
 Provinces of the Northern Island, in what proportions the said sum 
 of 180,000 shall be applied for the extinction of the rights of the 
 aboriginal inhabitants to lands within the bounds of the several 
 Provinces thereof, that the Provincial revenues of the several 
 Provinces shall be chargeable in exoneration of the revenue of the 
 Colony with specific portions of the said sums of 180,000 and 
 200,000.
 
 170 HISTORY OF TARAXAtfl. 
 
 " And whereas, in consideration of the limited extent of land over 
 which the title of the aborigines to lands within the Province of New 
 Plymouth has been extinguished, and on other grounds, it is also 
 expedient to make special provision respecting the charge of such 
 extinguishment within the Province ; and to make temporary provision 
 for making good to the same Province the deficiency in its land 
 revenue in any year in which the same shall not amount to the sum 
 of 2,200. 
 
 "And whereas, it is expedient that the sum of 911 8s. 9d., 
 being the principal money secured by certain outstanding debentures 
 issued under an Ordinance of the Lieutenant-Govenior of New 
 Zealand and the Legislative Council thereof, Session VII, No. 22, 
 entitled ' An Ordinance to authorise compensation in Colonial deben- 
 tures to be made to certain claimants to land in the Colony of New 
 Zealand,' should be charged against the Province of Auckland in 
 exoneration of the general revenue of the Colony. 
 
 " And whereas, in pursuance of the provisions of the 'New Zealand 
 Loan Act,' 1856, and of resolutions of both Houses of the General 
 Assembly, to the effect that a refund ought to be made to the Province of 
 Auckland of such sums as should have been contributed from its revenues 
 towards the liquidation of the New Zealand Company's debt, the 
 sum of 32,973 9s. 3-Jd., being the balance of the said sum of 
 200,000 remaining after the discharge of the said debt, has been 
 paid, or is in course of payment, to the Treasurer of the said Province 
 on account of such refund. 
 
 " And whereas, after making the said payment of 32,973 9s. 3d, 
 and after charging against the Province of Auckland the said sum of 
 911 8s. 9d., there will remain payable into the Treasury of the 
 said Province on account of the said refund a balance of 11,151 
 10s. Hd. 
 
 " And whereas, the said balance of the said refund is payable out 
 of monies raised under the 'New Zealand Debentures Act, 1866,' but 
 will ultimately be chai'ged against the said sum of 120,000. 
 
 " And whereas, it is expedient that provision be made for reliev- 
 ing the Provincial revenue of the Province of Auckland from any 
 part of the annual charge of such part of the said sum of 120,000 
 as shall be applied in discharge of the said balance. 
 
 " Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of New 
 Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, 
 as follows : 
 
 "1. The sum of 180,000, part of the said loan of 500,000 to be 
 raised under the 'New Zealand Loan Act, 1856,' shall be applied for 
 the extinguishment of the rights of the aboriginal inhabitants to lands 
 within the present limits of the Provinces next hereinafter mentioned 
 in the following proportions, that is to say, within the Province of 
 Auckland there shall be applied for the purpose aforesaid five-tenths 
 of the sum of 180,000; within the Province of Wellington three- 
 tenths of the said sum ; and within the Province of New Plymouth 
 two-tenths of the said sum.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 171 
 
 " 2. As between the Colony on one part and the Provinces of 
 Auckland, Wellington, and New Plymouth respectively, on the other 
 part, the principal sums raised from time to time out of the said sum 
 of 180,000 in order to be applied as aforesaid within the limits of 
 any one of the said Provinces, and the annual charge in respect of 
 such principal sums, shall be primarily charged upon the Provincial 
 revenue of such Province, in exoneration of the ordinary revenue of 
 the Colony. 
 
 " 3. Provided always that the Provincial revenue of the Province 
 of New Plymouth shall not be so chargeable until after the sum of 
 20,000 in the aggregate shall have been raised in order to be applied 
 as aforesaid within the limits of the said Province, and then shall be 
 chargeable only with the principal of such sums as shall for the time 
 being have been raised in excess of the sum of 20,000, and with the 
 annual charge in respect thereof. 
 
 " 4. Commencing on the 1st day of July, 1858, and until the sum 
 of 20,000 in the aggregate shall have been raised as aforesaid, and 
 expended within the limits of the said Province of New Plymouth, 
 there shall be annually payable into the Treasury such a sum as, 
 together with the gross proceeds during the year, of the sale, letting, 
 disposal, and occupation of the waste lands of the Crown, within the 
 said Province, will amount to the sum of 2,200. 
 
 "5. As between the Colony on the one part, and the Provinces of 
 Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, respectively, 011 the other part, the 
 principal sum of 200,000, part of the sum of 500,000, raised 
 under the 'New Zealand Loan Act, 1856,' and the anmial charge in 
 respect thereof, shall, on and after the 1st day of January, 1858, be 
 primarily charged upon the respective Provincial revenues of the said 
 Provinces in exoneration of the ordinary revenue of the Colony, in the 
 following proportions, that is to say, upon the Provincial revenue of 
 the Province of Nelson the principal sum of 45,000 together with 
 the annual charge in respect thereof ; upon the Provincial revenue of 
 the Province of Canterbury the principal sum of 77,500 together 
 with the annual charge in respect thereof; and upon the Provincial 
 revenue of the Province of Otago the principal sum of 77,500 
 together with the annual charge in resjiect thereof. 
 
 " 6. In order to relieve the Provincial revenue of the Province of 
 Auckland from the annual charge of the balance of 1 1,151 10s. 1 H, 
 payable to the Treasurer of the said Province as aforesaid, the said 
 Province, shall, as from the 30th day of June, 1858, be annually 
 credited in account with the Colony, with such a sum as will suffice 
 to throw such charge exclusively upon the Provincial revenues of the 
 other Provinces of the Colony. 
 
 " 7. In the construction of this Act, the expression ' Provincial 
 Revenue' shall import the moneys payable under the Acts of the 
 Assembly respectively intituled ' Tho Surplus Revenues Act, 1858,' 
 and ' The Land Revenue Appropriation Act, 1858,' into the Treasury 
 of the Province with reference to which such expression is used ; and 
 the expression ' annual chargr,' used in reference to any principal
 
 172 HISTORY OF TABANAKI. 
 
 sum raised under the Act of Assembly intituled ' The New Zealand 
 Loan Act, 1856,' shall include both the interests thereon, and the 
 annual payment of two per cent, for providing a sinking fund for the 
 liquidation thereof. 
 
 " 8. The short title of this Act shall be ' The Public Debt Appor- 
 tionment Act, 1858.'" 
 
 The Act was amended in 1861 on account of the boundaries of the 
 Provinces of the Middle Island being defined, and their former 
 assumed boundaries altered ; but it left the provisions of the original 
 Act relating to the Provinces of the North Island intact. 
 
 This Act was the ratification of a compact made in 1856 between 
 the representatives of the North Island on the one part, and the 
 representatives of the Middle Island on the other. By it the North, 
 in consideration of certain sums of money paid to it, was to permit 
 the Middle Island Provinces to hold entire possession of their waste 
 lands, and to devote the proceeds of the sale thereof to their several 
 Provincial Treasuries. The sums of money paid to the North were, 
 however, ridiculously incommensurate with the privileges granted to 
 the South, and it was afterwards very truly said concerning the trans- 
 action by an hon. member in the House that by it the North sold its 
 birthright to the South for a mess of pottage. By this compact 
 alone Taranaki existed as a Province up to 1875. For nearly 20 
 years after the compact her land fund was nil through the natives 
 refusing to sell their waste lands, and on the guai-anteed .2,200 per 
 annum she supported her Superintendent and Provincial Officers 
 up to the period of the abolition of provincial institutions. 
 
 In February, 1858, the Taranaki Militia were called out for 
 training, Charles Brown, Esq., being appointed the captain. Each 
 man was served with an old smooth-bore musket, a bayonet, and 
 belts and pouches of ancient date. The drilling was performed by 
 old soldiers of the 65th Regiment, under the superintendence of 
 Major Lloyd, who had settled at Omata. This officer was eventually 
 superseded by Lieutenant Stapp of the 58th Regiment, who had 
 seen active service with his regiment in the North during the native 
 rebellion, and as a volunteer in the Crimea. This duty was felt 
 as very irksome by the settlers, most of whom had never handled a 
 musket or a ball cai'tridge in their lives, but it was patiently 
 submitted to by the majority. 
 
 On the 27th of July, 1858, at Singapore, on his voyage from 
 Melbourne to Hongkong, died William Dawson, of Tarbert, Argyle- 
 shire, Scotland, commander of the barque Cornwall. When in 
 command of the Amelia Thompson he landed many of the early 
 settlers at New Plymouth in September, 1841. On his return 
 voyage the vessel foundered in a storm off Madras and several hands 
 perished. He afterwards revisited New Zealand in the Slaines 
 Castle, which was taken up as a transport by the Colonial Government 
 during the rebellion at the Bay of Islands, and finally visited the 
 Colony in the barque Cornwall in 1849.
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 173 
 
 In December, two fatal occurrences took place at Omata. On the 
 22nd, Francis Jlenry Newsham, a lad eight years of age was killed 
 by falling from a horse, and being dragged hanging from the stirrups 
 of the saddle ; and on the 30th of December, John Wright, an old 
 whaler, and the oldest inhabitant of the Province, committed suicide 
 at Pataweke, the district near Moturoa given by the New Zealand 
 Company to the members of the original whaling fraternity. Wright 
 was a very quiet man, and like most of his class reticent concerning 
 his antecedents. He carved his name in large and deep letters on 
 the south side of the island of Mikotahi, and affixed the date October 
 18th, 1829. As he carefully kept this inscription legible till his 
 death, it may be assumed that it was the date of his arrival at 
 Ngamotu. He fought with Barrett and the Ngamotu hapxi of the 
 Ngatiawa tribe, in the defence of the Ngamotu pa against the 
 Waikatos in 1832. He was buried by Mr. Whiteley at the Waitapu 
 burial ground at Moturoa, a spot where lie the families of Barrett 
 and other traders and whalers of the pre-colonial time, and some of 
 the early colonists. 
 
 By the " Roads and Bridges Ordinance, 1858," road rates were 
 made compulsory in the settled portion of the Province. 
 
 11 Colonial Seci-etai-y's Office, 
 
 " Auckland, 17th December, 1858. 
 
 " It is hereby notified for general information that from and after 
 the 1st day of January, 1859, the Province of New Plymouth will 
 be called the Province of Taranaki, in accordance with the provisions 
 of the ' Province of Taranaki Act, 1858.' 
 
 "HENRY JOHN TANCRED, 
 " In the absence of the Colonial Secretary."
 
 174 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1859. 
 
 the 1st of January the Puketapu natives went into New 
 Plymouth to receive payment for the Tarurutaugi Block. 
 This was the piece of land concerning which the chief Rawiri 
 lost his life. For a block of 20,000 acres the Government paid the 
 owners .1,400. Preparations were at this time making for the 
 erection of a bridge over the Waiwakaiho river, a work which was 
 much needed, several valuable lives having been lost in attempts to 
 ford the stream. The river has its sources high up on the peak of 
 the mountain, and when flooded comes down with great impetuosity. 
 A sapper and miner, named Jones, designed the structure from an 
 engraving published in the Illustrated London News. The contiuctors 
 for the building were Messrs. Brooking and Bundle. 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " In pursuance of the authority in me invested by the ' Militia 
 Act, 1858,' I, Thomas Gore Brown, Governor of the Colony of New 
 Zealand, do hereby make and ordain the following Regulations 
 respecting the training and exercise, arms and accoutrements, clothing 
 and equipments, of a Company of Volunteers enrolled in the district 
 of Taranaki, under an order in Council dated the thirteenth day of 
 January, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-nine. 
 
 " 1. The Company shall be called 'The Taranaki Volunteer Rifle 
 Company,' and shall consist of one Captain, two Lieutenants, fcnir 
 Sergeants, four Corporals, and ninety-two Privates. 
 
 " 2. The arms will be a rifle and bayonet, with accoutrements to 
 be issued by the Adjutant to each volunteer, the value of which, for 
 determining the amount to be paid in case of loss or damage, is hereby 
 fixed at 'six pounds six shillings. 
 
 " 3. The Company shall be divided into the following local sub- 
 divisions, viz., the Town, Grey, Omata, Bell, and Hua, and each 
 volunteer shall belong to such one of the sub-divisions as he shall 
 think fit. 
 
 " 4. Drill shall be local and general. The several sub-divisions 
 shall meet for local drill as follows : The Town at some place 
 within the Town of New Plymouth or Town Belt; the Grey at 
 some place within the Grey Block ; the Omata at some place within 
 the Omata Block ; the Bell and Hua -at some place within the Bell 
 or the Hua Block. Such places of meeting and the times thereof to 
 be from time to time fixed by the Captain of the Company. 
 
 " 5. The general drill shall be at such times and places as the 
 Captain of the Company shall from time to time fix for that purpose, 
 subject to the approval of the Governor. 
 
 " 6. Provided always that the time required for attendance on
 
 HISTORY OF TAUANAKI. 175 
 
 general drill shall not exceed forty-two hours within the year. 
 
 " Given under my hand at Government House, at Auckland, this 
 thirteenth day of January, One Thousand Eight Hundred and 
 Fifty-nine. 
 
 "T. GORE BROWNE." 
 
 On Saturday, the 12th February, the nomination of officers took 
 place as authorised by 3rd Clause of the Order in Council dated 1 3th 
 January, 1859, as follows : 
 
 " All officers of Companies will be appointed by the Governor, 
 and names for that purpose are to be submitted to him for 
 his approval by the Company to which they are proposed to be 
 appointed." 
 
 The election terminated as follows : For Captain, Isaac Newton 
 Watt ; 1st Lieutenant, James Hirst ; 2nd Lieutenant, Robert 
 ChLsenhall Harnmerton. 
 
 The New Zealand Government Gazette of 25th February, notifies 
 the following appointments by the Governor : Isaac Newton Watt 
 to be Captain ; James Hirst to be 1st Lieutenant ; Robert Chisenhall 
 Hammerton to be 2nd Lieutenant, in the Taranaki Volunteer Rifles ; 
 Commissions to date from 12th of February. Also, the appointment 
 of Christopher William Richmond as a member of the Legislative 
 Council. 
 
 On Sunday, the 6th March, H.M.S. Iris, 26 guns, Captain Loiing, 
 C.B., arrived at Port Eliot, New Plymouth, having on boai-d His 
 Excellency the Governor, attended by Captain Seward, Private 
 Seci-etary. His Excellency left the frigate under a salute, and on 
 landing was received by the Officer commanding the troops and a 
 guard of honor. A salute was fired by the Royal Artillery when 
 His Excellency reached the shore. On Tuesday, the 8th March, a 
 meeting of the Moturoa, Town, Waiwakaiho, Puketapu, and Waitara 
 natives was held in a paddock adjoining the residence of the Land 
 Purchase Commissioner. It was less numerously attended than 
 many former ones, the muster of the Waitara natives being particu- 
 larly small. Shortly after 11 o'clock His Excellency the Governor, 
 attended by his Private Secretary and Mr. Maclean, the Chief Land 
 Purchase Commissioner, ai'rived on the ground and was welcomed by 
 the assembled natives, the whole rising up to receive him, witli the 
 exception of William King and some few of his followers. 
 
 The principal Chiefs then paid their respects to the Governor. 
 
 Tahana, a native assessor, opened the proceedings by acknowledging 
 the benefits conferred on the natives by the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity and European customs, and expressed the desire of himself 
 and his tribe to have British law established among them. 
 
 Mr. Maclean, on behalf of His Excellency, spoke as follows : 
 " The Governor wished them to understand that the Queen regards 
 eqtwlly all her subjects ; that all her Governors have had and would 
 have the same instructions, viz., to do their utmost to promote the 
 welfare of her subjects without distinction of race. The missionaries
 
 176 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 had imparted to them the blessings of Christianity and translated the 
 Bible for their use. It was not in the power of man to confer any 
 other gift which would bear comparison with that of the Bible ; but 
 out of consideration for the natives His Excellency had caused an 
 abstract of English law to be translated into Maori. He had no 
 wish to enforce this law ; on the contrary, it would only be put in 
 force in those districts where the people were wise enough to desire it, 
 and prepared to carry it into effect by themselves. One tribe in the 
 North had already desired to have English law, and a Magistrate had 
 been appointed to instruct them how to put it into practice. They 
 were now engaged in doing so with every prospect of becoming a 
 prosperous people and uniting themselves with the Pakeha. This 
 tribe was the Ngapuhi. The Governor had but two subjects on which 
 he desired to speak particularly to the tribes living near Taranaki, 
 and they were First, in reference to criminal offences ; second, in 
 reference to laud. He wished these subjects to be considered 
 separately, and as having no sort of reference to each other. The 
 tribes in the vicinity of Taranaki had greater advantages than most 
 others, as they were much intermixed with the Pakeha, and ought to 
 profit by their intercourse with them. If they chose to live peaceably 
 and cultivate their land they would grow rich and multiply, instead 
 of which they were constantly at war with each other, and their 
 numbers were decreasing. Their disputes were almost always about 
 matters of little or no importance, or aboiit land which was 
 not worth quarrelling for. Had His Excellency the Governor 
 been in New Zealand when Katatore slew Rawiri, he would have 
 had him arrested and brought before the judge, and if the judge had 
 sentenced him to be hanged, he would have caused him to be hanged. 
 He had not thought proper to an-est Ihaia, because though the 
 murders to which he was a party were horrible and disgraceful, yet 
 they admitted of some extenuation, inasmuch as they were committed 
 in retribution for the murder of Rawiri. All this, however, now 
 belonged to the past, but for the future he had determined that 
 every man, whether he were Maori or Pakeha, who should commit any 
 violence or outrage within the European boundaries, should be arrested 
 and taken before the jxidge, and the sentence of the judge, whatever 
 it might be, should be carried into effect. He was determined that the 
 peace of the settlers should no longer be disturbed by evil doers, and 
 that those Maoris who were not content to live in peace among the 
 Pakehas had better go elsewhere. In reference to the second subject, 
 the Governor thought the Maoris would be wise to sell the land they 
 could not use themselves, as it would make what they could use more 
 valuable than the whole, but that he would never consent to buy land 
 without an undisputed title. He would not permit any one to 
 interfere in the sale of land unless he owned part of it, and on the 
 other hand he would buy no man's land without his consent." 
 
 Tahana again addressed his tribe, approving of that portion of His 
 Excellency's speech declaring that if murder were again committed 
 the murderer should be arrested and tried by British law. He then
 
 HISTORY OF TAEAXAKI. 177 
 
 supposed a case of a native policeman or assessor, himself for 
 instance, shot while arresting a murderer, and inquired who would 
 avenge him. He stated that if he were assured of the suppoi't of 
 His Excellency, as he knew His Excellency would receive the 
 support of the Queen, he could hereafter single-handed ax-rest 
 offenders. 
 
 Te Teira, of Waitara, then stated that he was anxious to sell land 
 belonging to himself, and that he had heard with satisfaction the 
 declaration of the Governor referring to individual claims, and the 
 assurance of protection that would be afforded by His Excellency. 
 He minutely defined the boundaries of his claim, and repeated that he 
 was anxious to sell. He then rapidly asked if the Governor would 
 buy this land. Mr. Maclean, on behalf of His Excellency, replied 
 that he would. Te Teira then placed a parawai or bordered mat at 
 the Governor's feet, which His Excellency accepted. This ceremony, 
 accoi'ding to native custom, virtually placed Teira's land at the 
 Waitara in the hands of the Governor. 
 
 Hemi Huku then followed, and stated his desire to dispose of land 
 at Onaero, but in consequence of violent opposition his offer was not 
 entertained. 
 
 Piripi, a relative of Ihaia, then offered his land at Waitara ; his 
 right to sell was denied by Te Teira, Te Waka, of the town, and 
 several of the Waitara natives, who asserted that his land was 
 forfeited by reason of the murder of Katatore by his relatives. 
 
 Paora then informed the Governor that Te Teira could not sell the 
 land he had offered without the consent of Waiteriki, and himself, 
 as they had a joint interest in a portion of it. 
 
 Te Teira replied to Paora, and was immediately followed by 
 William King, who expressed his determination not to give the 
 land up. 
 
 Kipa, of the Waiwakaiho, then expressed the satisfaction which 
 the Governor's speech afforded him, and proposed that henceforward 
 British law should not prevail l>eyond the Waitaha or eastern 
 boundary of Bell Block. 
 
 Matin, of the Una, wished to address His Excellency on the King 
 movement, but was informed that another opportunity for so doing 
 would be afforded him. 
 
 The Assembly then separated. 
 
 The flourishing condition of native agriculture in 1859 may be 
 gathered from the following statistics : In the Waitara, Huirangi 
 and Ngatimaru districts there were 894 acres of laud in cultivation 
 by Maoris, who were in possession of 82 horses, 380 horned cattle, 
 690 pigs, 3G carts, 30 ploughs, 1 2 harrows, and 4 threshing machines. 
 In the districts of Waiongona, Mangoraka, Ikamoana and Kaipa- 
 kupaku, 403 acres of land were in cultivation, and the people 
 possessed 49 horses, 111 horned cattle, 248 pigs, 27 carts, 32 ploughs 
 and 15 harrows. In the Mangati, Te Hua and Waiwakaiho districts, 
 G08 acres were in cultivation, and the people possessed 53 horses, 
 144 horned cattle, 258 pigs, 28 carts, 2G ploughs, 12 harrows and 3 
 12
 
 178 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 threshing machines. At Puketotava and Pukenui, 45 acres were in 
 cultivation, and the people possessed 17 horses, 41 horned cattle, 14 
 pigs, 5 carts, 5 ploughs and 2 harrows. At Ararepi, Ratapihipihi 
 and Moturoa, 109 acres were in cultivation, and the people possessed 
 17 horses, 16 horned cattle, 16 pigs, 14 carts, 9 ploughs and 4 
 harrows. The total number of acres in cultivation in the native 
 districts was 2,061, and the Maoris possessed 218 horses, 692 honied 
 cattle, 1,226 pigs, 110 carts, 102 ploughs, 45 harrows and 7 threshing 
 machines. 
 
 On the 2nd of April a band for the Volunteer Rifles was formed, 
 Mr. Manley undertaking to teach the members gratuitously for 
 twelve months. His Excellency gave a donation of 5 towards the 
 purchase of instruments. 
 
 The Government Gazette of the 5th of April notified that His 
 Excellency the Governor had appointed Charles Stapp, Esq., junior 
 Captain of the Taranaki Regiment of Militia, Charles Brown, Esq., 
 being the senior Captain. 
 
 Steps were taken at this time for the enlargement of St. Mary's 
 Episcopal Church, New Plymouth, and the Provincial Council were 
 busy with a Bill for consolidating the town. 
 
 On Thursday, the 18th of August, the new Waiwakaiho bridge 
 was formally opened by His Honor the Superintendent, and a public 
 luncheon given on the banks of the river. In the evening a 
 subscription ball to celebrate the event took place at the Masonic 
 Hotel, the garrison band performing by permission of Colonel Murray. 
 At three o'clock on the following morning some late wassailer, in a 
 state of intoxication, set fire to the Council Chambers and Govern- 
 ment Office in Courtenay Street. The buildings were burned 
 down and all the Provincial records destroyed. 
 
 On the evening of the 29th of August there was a very splendid 
 display of Aurora Australis. 
 
 On November the 29th, 100 was paid to Teira on account of his 
 land at Waitara. 
 
 On December the 1st, the Tarurutangi Block was offered for sale. 
 
 PROCLAMATION, 
 
 " By George Outfield, Esq., Superintendent of the Province of 
 
 Taranaki. 
 
 " Whereas by an Ordinance of the present Session of the 
 Provincial Council of Taranaki, entitled ' The Town of New Plymouth 
 Consolidation Ordinance, 1859,' it is among other things enacted 
 that it shall be lawful for the Superintendent, with the approval of 
 the Provincial Council, to alter and contract the boundaries of the 
 Town Site of New Plymouth, and to declare such alteration and 
 contraction by proclamation in the Government Gazette of the 
 Province. Now therefore, I, the Superintendent of the Province of 
 Taranaki, do hereby proclaim and declare that the boundaries
 
 HISTORY OF TARAXAKI. 179 
 
 described in the Schedule hereto shall be taken to be the boundaries 
 of the Town of New Plymoiith. 
 
 ''Given under my hand at New Plymouth, this 16th day of 
 Decembei', one thousand eight hundred and fifty nine. 
 
 " G. OUTFIELD, 
 
 " Superintendent. 
 " J. C. Richmond, 
 
 " Provincial Secretary." 
 
 [Schedule Referred To.] 
 
 " On the North, the sea at high water ; on the East, the Henui 
 River ; on the Soxith, Lemon Street to Watson Street, along Watson 
 Street and the North boundary of Native Reserve No. 14 to Hobson 
 Street, along Hobson Street to Gilbert Street, along Gilbert Street 
 to Gardner Street, thence in a dii-ect line to Fillis Street, along Fillis 
 Sti-eet to the boundary of the Military Reserve, along the South 
 boundary of the Military Reserve to Down Street, along Down 
 Street to Dawson Street, along Dawson Street to Fulford Street, 
 along Fulford Street to the C\itfield Road ; and on the West the 
 Cuttield Road." 
 
 WIREMU KIXGI WHITI RANGITAKI. 
 
 The natives who in old time resided in Auckland and occupied 
 Mount Eden as their principal fortification, assert that they came to 
 New Zealand in a canoe named " Tainui," higli tide, by which name 
 the tribe is called to this day. The remnant of these people now 
 reside at Raglan. The Tainui is said to have come in company with 
 the canoe "Arawa," The people of the Arawa first discovered land. 
 Tainui then parted company with Arawa for some time, but they 
 met again at Whaingaparoa, and having there quarrelled about a 
 whale the Arawa went along the East Coast, and Tainui went into 
 the Tamaki river, where the people observed sea-birds coming from 
 the west. This led them to suspect that there must be a sea coast 
 in that direction, and searching they discovered the Manukau river. 
 They then dragged the Tainui across the portage and launching it in 
 the Manukau waters near Ofahuhu, proceeded out of the harbor and 
 coasted along southwards to Kawhia. Here part of the people 
 lauded and settled, and the remainder returned to Mount Eden, and 
 took possession of the Auckland district. 
 
 There is in the Wellington province a portion of a Waikato tribe 
 called Ngatinvukawa. A quarrel of two brothers near Maunga- 
 tautari, in Waikato, was the cause of the tribe fighting. The defeated 
 section retreated to the south, and located themselves in the present 
 home of their descendants. It was in the war of these brothel's 
 that the ancestor of Wi Kingi came from Waikato to Waitara, and 
 took a wife from the youngest female branch of the family of Te 
 Teira, and lived with her at an old pa called Manukorihi, on the 
 north bank of the Wai tarn. This old pa was abandoned in 182C, 
 but up to that time Wi Kingi's relatives lived there and were the
 
 180 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 last to leave, hence his hapu or branch of the Ngatiawa are called 
 to this day Manukorihi, which signifies the singing bird. Up to 
 1826, Wi Kingi's relatives had never cultivated the north side of the 
 "Waitara but once, and that cultivation was allowed for the following 
 reason : A number of canoes manned by Ngatiawa went out of the 
 Waitara on a deep sea fishing expedition, when they were caught by 
 an unexpected squall, and all swamped but one, and the people 
 drowned. The other was driven to the Sugarloaves, where the crew 
 effected a landing, and according to Maori custom remained for some 
 time at the place of their deliverance. The people of Manukorihi 
 mourned the loss of the fishermen, believing them all to be dead, but 
 Wi Kingi's ancestors hearing of the escape of one canoe's crew, 
 crossed over the river, and cleared a spot of land for the survivors of 
 the disaster. The escaped men then came back to the Waitara, and 
 were permitted by Te Teira's ancestors to live for one season on the 
 clearing on the south side of the river, near to the spot where the 
 Kuhikuhi pa was afterwards built. Keretawhangawhauga, the 
 father of Wi Kingi, lived at the Manukorihi pa, and there early in 
 the present century Wi Kingi was born. Just before the siege and 
 taking of Pukerangiora by the Waikato, Wi Kingi went to Kapiti 
 and put himself under the protection of Rauparaha, at Mana. The 
 reason of this was that Rauparaha was descended from the Tainui 
 migration, and was conseqiiently related to Wi Kingi. Hence when 
 the Waikato intended to attack Pukerangiora they sent word to Wi 
 Kingi to leave the district, and he obeyed and saved himself and family 
 by so doing. 
 
 In 1839, when Colonel Wakefield visited Cook Strait for the 
 purpose of buying land for the New Zealand Company, Wi Kingi, 
 who was then called E Whiti, or the shining one, sailed in the Tory 
 from village to village in Cook Strait to persuade the Ngatiawa to 
 sell their lands at Taranaki in order that he and they might return to 
 the north of the Waitara and dwell there in the security afforded 
 by the presence of the white people, and upon reserves which were 
 promised to be set apart for such purposes. The name of E Whiti 
 is the first signature upon the deed of sale known as the Queen 
 Charlotte Sound Deed. A year or two after this he went to Ngapuhi, 
 where he had a dispute with Kati, the younger brother of Potatau, 
 about the land. Kati said to Wi Kingi, " That land Taranaki will 
 be sold to the Governor." Kingi replied, " Then I will sell the 
 Waipa Valley as a payment for ray slain," alluding to an encounter 
 which took place between the Ngatiawa of Taranaki and the people 
 of Waipa. On Kati's return from the north he repeated what had 
 passed between himself and Wi Kingi to the old chief Potatau. 
 Soon afterwards Potataii went to Kapiti with Governor Hobson, and 
 on one occasion thus addressed His Excellency : " Friend, listen to 
 me, Taranaki is mine ; my hand holds it : I wish to sell it to you." 
 The windows of the room in which this conversation took place 
 happened to be open, and some papers which had been lying on the 
 table had been scattered by the wind, The old chief collected them,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 181 
 
 and placing them upon the table put a weight upon them, and 
 addressing the Governor, said : " This is like Taranaki ; if I press 
 the Taranaki people they will remain quiet. See, O Governor, when 
 I put a weight upon them they are still, they cannot move." It was 
 probably just prior to this last occurrence that "VVi Kingi was baptised 
 by the Rev. Octavius Hadfield, the present Bishop of Wellington. 
 
 In 1846, when Rauparaha and his fighting general, Rangihaeata, 
 were in rebellion at Wellington, Wi Kingi took up arms on the side 
 of the British. 
 
 In 1847 Kingi visited Taranaki with the Governor in the Inflexible, 
 and afterwards, with xtpwards of 500 Ngatiawa, began to make 
 preparations for a return from Cook Strait to Waitara. Having 
 sold the land at Waikanae, which he held with others of his tiibe 
 by right of conquest, he proposed to the natives of Ngatiruanui and 
 Taranaki to give them allotments of land at Waitara with the 
 avowed object of helping to prevent further sales of land to the 
 Pakeha. The origin of Wi Kingi's opposition to the sale of land 
 may be leamed fi-om the following statement of Mr. Maclean : 
 
 "In the years 1848 and 1849, when negotiating the purchase of 
 land at Raugitikei and Manawatu, several of the Ngatiruakawa tribe 
 of Otaki publicly stated at meetings held at Te Awahou, that they 
 had, by the advice of their missionary, formed a league against the 
 sale of land." 
 
 Wi Kingi having received an invitation from Potatau, the' great 
 Waikato chief, to return to Waitara, said to Teira : " Let us return 
 to Waitara ; you take one side and I will take the other, as Waikato 
 gives us permission to return." He pretended to be anxious not to 
 act in opposition to the Government, but pressed on Major Richmond, 
 the officer of Waikanae, the sale of the district, his anxiety on this 
 head being caused by the scarcely concealed intention of the Ngatitoa 
 tribe to seize on Waikanae the moment he left it. The Governor 
 hearing that canoes were being built at Porirua for the migration, 
 sent peremptory orders that they should be dismantled, and if 
 necessary seized and destroyed ; and these orders, and a memorandum 
 recorded by the Superintendent, show cleai-ly that at that time it 
 was seriously in contemplation to prevent the migration by military 
 force. But Sir George Grey, desirous of trying a last effort to come 
 to terms with Kingi, made a further proposal of certain conditions 
 on which he would permit him to sell Waikanae and come up to 
 Waitara. The basis of this proposal was that Wirenui Kingi should 
 settle on the north bank of the Waitara, and should relinquish all 
 pretensions to any land on the south bank. The exact terms of the 
 agreement were as follows : 
 
 " Upon all pretension being at once relinquished to all lands on 
 the south of the Waitara, the Government will, without further 
 inquiry into such pretensions to these lands, admit that from the 
 prompt settlement they are making of this question the natives are 
 entitled to such compensation as may lx> agreed on l>et\veen themselves 
 and the officers of the Government. The Government will then also
 
 182 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 recognise and permit them immediately to dispose of their claims at 
 Waikanae and Totaranui for such compensation as may be agreed 
 upon." 
 
 Kingi agreed to these terms, and an offer made to the Government 
 at the end of 1847 was kept in abeyance till all the claims should 
 be ascertained. Under these circumstances the Government no 
 farther opposed the return of Kingi to Waitara, and the migration 
 took place in 1849. On reaching the Waitara he went to reside at 
 his ancestral place near to the Manukorihi pa. But as some of the 
 Waikato, under Rewi and other chiefs, were then cultivating land 
 in the vicinity, and Kingi being in fear of an invasion from that 
 tribe, he asked permission of Tamati Rum, Teira's father, to build 
 a pa upon the south bank of the river, in what is now the township 
 of Raleigh, which permission was granted. 
 
 In the summer of 1849-50, Kingi had a large and strong pa 
 erected, his flotilla of boats and canoes were drawn up near to it, and 
 he had extensive gardens for a considerable distance along the south 
 margin of the river. Kingi after his return maintained an insolent 
 demeanour towards the Europeans, and rejected all overtures made 
 to induce him to part with the land or to remove to the north bank 
 of the river. Governor Grey on one of his visits to New Plymouth 
 spent a whole night with him in endeavouring to bring him to terms. 
 Kingi cultivated the friendship of Katatore, a Puketapu chief, who 
 resided at Kaipakopako, a determined opponent of the Pakeha. 
 
 Shortly after the discovery of gold in Austi-alia in 1851, a great 
 demand for potatoes arose ; the demand culminated in 1856 when 
 potatoes to the value of 19,000 were exported from New Zealand. 
 Kingi and his people grew large quantities of these useful tubers on 
 the alluvial soils of the Waitara, and selling them to the merchants 
 in town, became richer than ever they were in their lives. In 1854 
 these people possessed, in. addition to considerable sums of money, 
 150 horses. 300 head of cattle, 40 carts, 35 ploughs, 20 pairs of harrows, 
 3 winnowing machines, and 10 wooden houses. In the same year 
 the seeds of the anti-land-selling-league, sown by Kingi at Waikanae 
 in 1847, began to grow. According to Mr.* Taylor, Matene Te 
 Whiwhi, on his return from a political visit to Taupo and other 
 places, wrote a letter to the Ngatiruanui and Taranaki natives, 
 calling a meeting at Manawapou ; there the natives erected a very 
 large building, the largest perhaps which has ever been made by 
 them, being 120ft. in length by 35ft. in width. This was named 
 Taiporohenui, or the restraining of the great evil, i.e., selling land to 
 Europeans ; and there all the great chiefs from Wellington to the 
 Waitara. a distance of nearly 300 miles, assembled. Five hundred 
 were present, and much speaking and bad spii-it were displayed. The 
 result was a determination to sell no more land to the Government, 
 and to hinder any one who felt disposed to do so. In token of their 
 determination to carry out this arrangement to the fullest extent, a 
 tomahawk was handed around to each person and afterwards buried 
 with a copy of the New Testament beneath the floor of the house
 
 HISTORY OF TAKANAKI. 183 
 
 called Taiporohenui. A few months after this the Puketapu feud 
 commenced, and Taranaki became a scene of strife and blood-shedding. 
 Ihaia having been driven to the Karaka pa on the banks of the 
 Waitara, and closely besieged until he was on the verge of starving, 
 the late Rev. John Whiteley and Mr. Pan-is prevailed on Kingi to 
 permit Ihaia to vacate the pa without molestation. Kingi agreed to 
 do so, and Ihaia with loud lamentations left the pa in the night, but 
 he also left behind a armed party of his allies hidden within the pa, 
 so that Kingi and his followers might be slaughtered when they came 
 to take possession of the fortress. Mr. Parris having become aware 
 of this piece of treachery, warned Kingi of it and saved him from 
 destruction. In one of his encounters with Ihaia, Kingi thus addressed 
 his Taranaki allies : " Men of Taranaki, be strong ! Be brave and 
 capture Ihaia, Nikorima, and Puhere, as payment for the ttipu. of 
 Taranaki and Umuroa. Then we will stretch out their arms and 
 burn them with fire. To prolong their torture let them be suspended 
 over a slow tire for a week, and let the fire consume them. Like the 
 three men of old whom Nebuchadnezzar commanded to be cast into 
 the fiery furnace, even as it was with Shadrach, Meshach, and 
 Abednego, shall it be with Ihaia." On Tuesday, March 7th, 1859, 
 a meeting of natives was held in a paddock adjoining the residence 
 of the Land Purchase Commissioner, New Plymouth, at which His 
 Excellency Governor Brown, Wi Kingi, Te Teira, and other natives 
 were present. After the Governor had addressed the meeting Te 
 Teira came forward and offered his land at Waitara for sale to His 
 Excellency. In doing so he placed a purawai (worked mat), at the 
 Governor's feet, which His Excellency accepted. This ceremony, 
 according to native custom, virtually placed the lands in the hands of 
 the Governor. Wiremu Kingi, before addressing the Governor, said 
 to his people, " I will only say a few words and then we will depart," 
 to which they assented. He then said, " Listen, Governor ; notwith- 
 standing Teira's offer, I will not permit the sale of Waitara to the 
 Pakeha. Waitara is in my hands. I will not give it up ; e kore, 
 e kore, e kore I will not, I will not, I will not. I have spoken." 
 Then making use of an insulting expression towards His Excellency, 
 he turned to his people and said, " Arise, let us go." Whereupon 
 he and his followers abruptly withdrew. 
 
 Wiremu Kingi to the Governor. 
 
 "Waitara, 23th April, 1859. 
 
 " Sir : Salutations to you. Your letter has reached me about Te 
 Teira and Te Retimana's thoughts. I do not agree to our bed-room 
 being sold I mean Waitara, for this bed belongs to the whole of us ; 
 and do not you be in haste to give the money. Do you hearken to 
 my word. If you give the money secretly you will got no land for it ; 
 you may insist, but I will never agree to it. Do not suppose that 
 this is nonsense on my part : no, it is true, for it is an old word ; and 
 now I have no proposal to make, either us regards selling or anything 
 else. All 1 have to say to you, O, Governor, is that none of the
 
 184 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 land will be given to you, never, never, till I die. I have heard it 
 said that I ana to be imprisoned because of this land. I am very sad 
 because of this word. Why is it ] You should remember that the 
 Maoris and Pakehas are living quietly upon their pieces of land, and 
 therefore do not disturb them. Do not also say that there is no one 
 so bad as myself. This is another word to you, 0, Governor. The 
 land will never, never, be given to you, not till death. Do not be 
 anxious for men's thoughts. This is all I have to say to you. From 
 your loving friend, 
 
 " WIREMU KINGI WHITI." 
 
 In December, 1859, a native called Waitere, from Rangitikei, an 
 active agent of the King movement, called at Waitara on his way to 
 the South, and left secretly a King's flag with a native called Erueti, 
 a miscreant, who at one time proposed to murder Mr. Parris, and 
 who did a great deal of mischief in the district. As soon as Wi 
 Kingi found that this flag had been left there, he accused those who 
 sanctioned the transaction with acting treacherously to him, and 
 finding some of his own people favorable to it he threatened to leave 
 the district. This caused a division in the party, and Wi Kingi left 
 the Waitara, and went to live with Te Ito, near the Waiongona, 
 while the other party retained the flag, bearing thei'eby allegiance to 
 the Maori King, and set about preparing a flagstaff. Two old men, 
 Tamati Ruru, and Rawiri Raupongo, declared they would lose their 
 lives rather than allow the flagstaff to be erected on their lands. 
 
 On Tuesday, 29th November, 1859, Mr. Parris paid Te Teira and 
 others an instalment of 100 for their lands at Waitara. On the 
 preceding Friday Mr. Parris went to Waitara and informed Wi 
 Kingi of his intentions, who on the 29th came into New Plymouth 
 with a party of about thirty to oppose the payment. In the presence 
 of a large number of Europeans Mr. Parris put the following questions 
 to him and received the corresponding replies, calling the Rev. John 
 Whiteley to be witness : 
 
 Q. Does the land belong to Teira and his party. 
 
 A. Yes, the land is theirs, but I will not let them sell it. 
 
 Q. Why will you oppose the selling of that which is their own. 
 
 A. Because I do not wish for the land to be disturbed, and 
 although they have floated it, I will not let it go to sea. 
 
 Q. Show me the justice or correctness of your opposition. 
 
 A. It is enough, Parris, their bellies are full with the sight of 
 the money you have promised them, but do not give it to them ; if 
 you do, I will not let you have the land, but will take it and cultivate 
 it myself. 
 
 On Monday, 20th February, 1860, Mr. Parris, with Mr. O. 
 Carrington and Mr. Hursthouse, of the Survey Department, and one 
 of the armed police force, proceeded to Waitara for the purpose of 
 surveying the block of land sold by Te Teira and others to the 
 Government. Arrived at the land to be sxirveyed, a party of 70 or 
 80 native men and women were found assembled, some of whom
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 185 
 
 attempted, withoiit success, to hinder the unpacking of the instru- 
 ments, but when the chain was thrown out they effectually prevented 
 any use being made of it. The obstruction was managed in the least 
 objectionable way possible. The Maoris laid hold of the middle of 
 the chain and so disturbed the measuring, and the surveying party 
 finding it vain to persist farther, forthwith returned to town. Sub- 
 sequently a communication from the authorities was made to Kingi, 
 giving him twenty-four hours to apologise for the obstruction offered 
 by his people, and to notify the relinquishment of his opposition to 
 the survey. To this Kingi returned an answer to the purport that 
 he did not desire war ; that he loved the white people very much, but 
 that he would keep the land. On the 22nd of February the Procla- 
 mation of Martial Law was published by Colonel Murray. It was 
 published both in the English and Maori languages, and extended 
 over the whole Province. On the 1st of March the Governor arrived 
 from Auckland with extra troops, and immediately sent a message to 
 Kingi requesting that, to prevent misunderstanding, he would come 
 into town and learn the Governor's intention, and offering him a safe 
 conduct. After a long conference with the Governor's messengers 
 he said he would either come or send his final decision to the 
 Governor the next day, but on the following day he sent a letter 
 declining to come. On the 5th March the troops were marched down 
 to Waitara and occupied a position on the disputed block. On the 
 13th and 14th Te Teira and his party pointed out the boundaries of 
 the land. On the night of the loth a pa was built by Kingi's people 
 on the disputed block. The next day they pulled up the survey pegs 
 and burnt them. On the 17th March the conflict began. Kingi 
 being no warrior himself, fell to the rear, and his relative, Hapurona, 
 became his fighting general. Kingi and his general wrote to Waikato 
 for help, and their letter was immediately responded to by the arrival- 
 of Te Wetini Taiporutu and other men of note at the scene of conflict . 
 After the war had been carried on for twelve months, Kingi's party 
 and their Waikato allies met with a signal defeat at the Huirangi 
 redoubt, upon which Hapurona submitted to the British, and signed 
 articles of peace on the 8th of April, 1861. At this time Wi Kingi 
 was safe in Waikato. After the peace Kingi returned and lived for 
 ten years a secluded life in the inland native district of Ngatimaru. 
 After this long seclusion he ventured to town and was present at a 
 native gathering and feast, after which he went to Parihaka, a 
 Taranaki stronghold, 33 miles south of New Plymouth, and took up 
 his abode with the Chief and Prophet, Te Whiti, who teaches the 
 Maoris that they are Israel, and the British Pharaoh and the Egyp- 
 tians who enslave Israel. Since then Wi Kingi has been living at 
 Ngatimaru, near the head waters of the Waitara. In the prime of 
 his life Wi Kingi was alxmt six feet three inches in height, and pro- 
 portionately stout. His physiognomy was heavy and disagreeable, 
 and his character that of a blusterer and a coward.
 
 186 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE TARANAKI WAK. 
 
 'E now approach the most eventful period in the history of 
 Taranaki, when the artizan was called from his workshop, 
 the shepherd from his pastures, the husbandman from the 
 fields, and the bushmaii from the forest, to hold the land for the 
 British Crown, and to repel the hordes of Maoris who came from all 
 quarters to endeavor to drive the pale-faced Pakeha into the sea 
 from whence he came. The change from the avocations of peace to 
 the pursuits of war was not entered into without very serious 
 thoughts as to the nature of the struggle that would have to be made. 
 80 far as the settlers were concerned there was no alternative 
 to engagement in the strife. The Governor had come to the 
 conclusion with his Council that it was necessary for the interests of 
 the Colony, and also as a matter of justice that the land-league should 
 be broken up, and that the imperium in imperio, established in the 
 person of the Maori King should be subverted, and accordingly the 
 district was placed under martial law. The settlers were led to 
 understand that hostilities would be resorted to should Kingi continue 
 contumacious, and they instinctively proceeded to New Plymouth to 
 seek protection for their families. The pioneers who had witnessed 
 the war dances of the Maoris in the early days of the settlement, 
 who had received every kind of insolence short of personal violence 
 from the Puketapu hapu after its release from Waikato slavery, and 
 had witnessed the internecine feud of that family, who had been 
 compelled to submit to the exactions and robberies of the Taranakis, 
 and to cultivate the most broken and heavily wooded portions of the 
 district, while all around them lay thousands of acres of fine fertile, 
 level, and open land in a state of nature, felt how necessary it was 
 for the sake of ultimate peace and prosperity to plunge into the war, 
 and let the tyrannical barbarians learn once and for ever the royalty 
 of the Pakeha race and the majesty of their laws. 
 
 The following document shows the feelings and intentions of the 
 Government with regard to this subject at the commencement of the 
 year 1860 : 
 
 [Extract from the minutes of the Executive Council, held on 
 Wednesday, 25th January, I860.] 
 
 " Present : His Excellency the Governor, the Honorable the 
 Officer Commanding the Troops, the Honorable the Colonial Secretary, 
 the Honorable the Attorney-General, the Honorable the Colonial 
 Treasurer, the Honorable Mr. Tancred. 
 
 " The Governor submits to the Council the question of the 
 completion of the purchase from the native chief, Te Teira, of a 
 certain block of land, situated in the Province of Taranaki, at the
 
 HISTORY OF TARAXAKI. 187 
 
 mouth of the Waitara, on the South and left bank, as a preliminary 
 to which a survey of the land is necessary. 
 
 " The Council, after a full consideration of the case, advise : 
 
 " 1. That Mi*. Parris be instructed to have the land surveyed in 
 the ordinary manner, and to take care that the native chief William 
 King, is indirectly, but not officially, made aware of the day on which 
 the survey will be commenced. 
 
 " 2nd. Should William King or any other native endeavor to 
 prevent the survey, or in any way interfere with the prosecution of 
 the work, in that case that the surveying party be protected during 
 the whole performance of their work by an adequate Military Force 
 under the command of the Senior Military Officer; with which 
 view power to call out the Taranaki Militia and Volunteers and to 
 proclaim Martial Law be transmitted to the Commanding Officer at 
 New Plymouth. 
 
 " 3rd. That when the survey shall have been completed, the 
 Officer Commanding at New Plymouth, shall, until further instructed, 
 keep possession, by force if necessary, of the said laud, so as to 
 prevent the occupation of, or any act of trespass upon it by any 
 natives. 
 
 " 4th. That the Civil Authorities at New Plymouth be instructed 
 to assist and co-operate, by every means in their power, with the 
 Military Authorities in carrying out these instructions, and the 
 Honorable Colonel Gold, and the Honorable C. W. Richmond are to 
 give the necessary directions accordingly. 
 
 "F. G. STEWARD, 
 " Clerk of Executive Council." 
 
 Mr. Richmond to Mr. Parris. 
 
 " Office of Minister of Native Affairs, 
 
 "Auckland, 25th January, 1860. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor, by the direction of His Excellency the 
 Governor, to inform you that His Excellency with the advice of the 
 Executive Council, has determined that the survey of Te Teira's 
 land at Waitara shall be proceeded with without further delay. 
 
 " The survey is to be commenced in the first instance without any 
 display of force, by a surveyor attended only by an ordinary survey 
 party all l>eing unarmed you yourself Iwing present on the ground, 
 or not, as may seem expedient. 
 
 " You are to take care that the intended commencement of the 
 survey is publicly known ; and in particular that Wirenm Kingi and 
 his party are made fully aware of it, and of the firm determination 
 of His Excellency to complete the purchase. You will, however, 
 avoid any official or formal announcement which might wear the 
 HSj)ect of an irritating challenge to the op]>osiiig party. 
 
 " Should resistance be made to the survey, the survey party will 
 quietly retire ; and you air then to intimate to Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Murray that the assistance of a Military Force has Income 
 necessary.
 
 188 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 " Military possession of the Block will thereupon be taken and 
 kept by the Forces under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Murray, who has received instructions upon this subject, and the 
 survey is to be prosecuted under the protection of the troops. 
 
 "As regards the payment of Te Terra's purchase-money before 
 commencing the survey, or at any subsequent time, you are to use 
 your discretion. The Sub-Treasurer at New Plymouth has been 
 instructed to make the necessary advances on your requisition. 
 
 " The Governor relies upon your tact and firmness in the execution 
 of the difficult service entrusted to you, hoping that matters may be 
 so conducted as to obviate the necessity of resorting to force, but 
 feeling at the same time that it is impossible for himself as Her 
 Majesty's Representative to withdraw from the position which he 
 had deliberately assumed in reference to this affair. I have, &c., 
 
 "C. W. RICHMOND. 
 
 " R. Parris, Esq., New Plymouth." 
 
 The summer had been fine, and the settlers were busy harvesting 
 their grass seed and other early crops assisted by a goodly number of 
 natives from the South, when on Saturday, the 18th of February, the 
 following notice was published by His Honor the Superintendent : 
 
 PUBLIC NOTICE. 
 
 " Superintendent's Office, 
 " Saturday, 18th February, 1860. 
 
 " All persons are earnestly requested not to visit Waitai-a on 
 Monday next, as a surveying party will proceed there on that day for 
 the purpose of surveying the new block of land, and the presence of 
 private individuals on that occasion would cause irritation among the 
 natives. 
 
 " GEORGE OUTFIELD, 
 " Superintendent." 
 
 On Monday, the 20th, Mr. Parris, with Mr. Octavius Carrington 
 and Mr. W. Hursthouse, of the Survey Department, and one of the 
 armed police force, proceeded to "VVaitara. They were met at various 
 parts of the road by parties of natives, bixt no obstruction was offered 
 to their progress. Arrived at the land to be surveyed, a large 
 number of natives, men, women, and children, were found assembled, 
 and a party, apparently appointed for the purpose, attempted to 
 obstruct the unpacking of the instruments, without success, but when 
 the chain was thrown out and taken by Messrs. Parris and Carring- 
 ton they effectually prevented their making any use of it. The 
 obstruction was managed in the least objectionable way possible ; 
 there was no noisy language, and no more violence was used than was 
 necessary to prevent the extension of the chain. They laid hold of 
 the middle of the chain, and so disturbed the measuring, and the 
 surveying party, finding it vain to persist farther, forthwith returned 
 to town. Subsequently a communication from the authorities was
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 189 
 
 made, giving the Waitara chief twenty-four hours to apologise for the 
 obstruction offered by his people, and to notify his relinquishment of 
 his opposition to the survey. To this an answer was received to the 
 purport that he, Wiremu Kingi, did not desire war, that he loved the 
 white people very much, but that he would keep the land, and that 
 he and the Government might be very good friends if the survey 
 were relinquished. 
 
 On the 22nd of February the following notice was published and 
 posted in every district : 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " By His Excellency Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, Com- 
 panion of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Governor 
 and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony 
 of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of 
 the same, etc. 
 
 " Whereas active military operations are about to be undertaken 
 by the Queen's Forces against natives in the Province of Taranaki 
 in arms against Her Majesty's Sovereign Authority. 
 
 " Now, I, the Governor, do hereby proclaim and declare that 
 MARTIAL LAW will be exercised throughout the said Province from 
 publication hereof within the Province of Taranaki, until the relief of 
 the said district from Martial Law by public proclamation. 
 
 " Given under my hand and issued under the Public Se,al of 
 the Colony of New Zealand at Government House at 
 Auckland, this Twenty-fifth Day of January, in the Year 
 of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty. 
 " By His Excellency's Command. 
 
 " E. W. STAFFORD. 
 "God Save The Queen. 
 " Published 22nd February, 1860. 
 
 " G. F. MURRAY, 
 " Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding Troops," 
 
 HE PANUITANGA. 
 
 " Na te Kawana Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, Tino Ranga- 
 tira, aha, aha, na te Kawana o tenei Koroni o Niu Tirene 
 tenei Panuitanga. 
 
 " Ko te mea, meake ka timata nga Hoia o te Kuini ta ratou malii 
 ki nga Maori i Taranaki, e tutu ana, e whawhai ana, ki to te Kuini 
 mana. Na, ko ahau tenei ko te Kawana, te panui te whakapuaki nui 
 nei i tenei kupu, Ko te Ture whawhai kia puta inaianei ki Taranaki, 
 hei Ture tuturu tae noa ki te wa ka panuitia te whakarerenga. 
 
 " I tukua e taku ringa, i whakaputaia i raro iho i te Hiri Nui o te 
 Koroni o Niu Tirene, i Akarana, i tenei ra i te rua tekau ma rima o 
 Hanuere itetauo to tatou Ariki, Kotahi mano ewaru ran e ono tekau. 
 
 " THOMAS GORE BROWXE, Kawana. 
 " Na te Kawana i mea 
 
 " E. W. Stafford, 
 " Kai tuhituhi o te Koroni 
 
 " Tohungia E. Te Atua Te Kuini,"
 
 190 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 NOTICE. 
 
 " It having become necessary to issue the Governor's Proclamation 
 placing the district under Martial Law, I deem it advisable in oi'der 
 to prevent unnecessary alarm among the settlers to assure them that 
 should events lead to actual collision with the natives that due notice 
 will be given to enable them to provide for the safety of their 
 families. 
 
 "G. F. MURRAY, 
 
 " Lieut. -Colonel Commanding Troops. 
 "Taranaki, 22nd February, 1860." 
 
 Shortly after the publication of this proclamation the coxintry 
 settlers began to move into New Plymouth. The little town had 
 not room for half of them, much less for their goods. Many 
 contented themselves with taking the most portable of their valuable 
 goods and leaving the rest to fate. Others more wisely took their 
 perishable goods to town and buried such as were not likely to be 
 seriously damaged by the earth. The parting from the domestic 
 animals was in many cases painful; pet lambs ran bleating after those 
 that fed them as if foreseeing the horrible troubles that were coming 
 on the land. Many of the domestic cats went wild and preyed upon 
 the rats, mice and birds, but some lingered about the deserted houses 
 till they perished with grief and starvation. The dogs fared much 
 better, for they all accompanied their masters and appeared to 
 thoroughly enjoy both the military parades and the actual engage- 
 ments. Seeing the settlers crowding into town, an old Maori woman 
 cried out in one of the streets, " Ah, you are leaving your houses and 
 I shall shortly be applying a fireband to them," and then she chuckled, 
 gleefully anticipating the mischief she was about to indulge in. All 
 the dwelling-houses, warehouses and some of the places of worship 
 were filled with fugitives and their effects. 
 
 On Mai'ch 1st the s.s. Airedale arrived from Auckland with 
 Governor Browne and suite, accompanied by Colonel Gold, a military 
 staff, and 200 rank and file of the 65th Regiment. The same day 
 H.M.S.S. Niger anchored in the roadstead. 
 
 THE COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES. 
 
 On Monday morning, March 3rd, at four o'clock, the troops of the 
 garrison of New Plymouth to the number of over 400 officers and 
 men, ordered for the occupation of Teira's land at Waitara, under 
 the command of Colonel Gold, left the town with a long train of 
 baggage and provision waggons, escorted by an armed body of mounted 
 settlers, by the Devon line, and passed over the Waiwakaiho bridge 
 and through the Hua and Bell districts, to the site of the Ikamoana 
 pa, when they branched off to the left, pursuing a line about equi- 
 distant between the coast and the Devon line, where the country is 
 more open. The troops after refreshment encamped on high ground, 
 the site of an old pa commanding the coast line of the disputed land. 
 The s.s. corvette Niger was lying off the mouth of the river when
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 191 
 
 the troops arrived. During the following night a pa was built by 
 the natives across the Devon line, but was found deserted on the 
 arrival of an escort from town with the following letter : 
 
 " To the Chief who obstructs the Queen's Road 
 " You have presumed to block up the Queen's road, to build on 
 the Queen's land, and to stop the free passage of persons going and 
 coming. This is levying war against the Queen ; destroy the places 
 you have built ; ask my forgiveness and you shall receive it. If you 
 refuse, the blood of your people be on your own head. I shall fire 
 upon you in twenty minutes from this time if you have not obeyed 
 my order. 
 
 "T. GORE BROWNE, 
 " Camp Waitara, 6th March, 1860." 
 
 The following notice was posted at the Militia Office : 
 
 "New Plymouth, March 5th, 1850. 
 
 " The natives of the Kawau pa having left it at the request of 
 His Excellency the Governor, the pa is in charge of the Garrison of 
 the town, and must with all the property it contains be respected by 
 all persons accordingly. 
 
 " (By Order) C. STAPP." 
 
 On the same day was published the following Gazette notipe of 
 promotions : 
 
 " His Excellency has been pleased to make the following pro- 
 motions and appointments in the Taranaki Militia : 
 
 " Lieut. H. Richmond to be Capt., vice Watt, resigned. 
 
 <: Ensign J. H. Armstrong to be Lieiit., vice Richmond, promoted. 
 
 " Thomas Good to be Ensign, vice Armstrong. 
 
 " W. B. Messenger to be Ensign, vice Blackett, resigned. 
 
 " Lieut. Chevalier, 65th Regiment, to act as paymaster. 
 
 " Charles Des Voeux to command the Volunteer Mounted Foi-ce. 
 
 " Alexander King to be supernumary Lieutenant, and to act as 
 Aide-de-Cainp to the Officer Commanding the Forces." 
 
 On Friday, March the 9th, twenty marines, thirty blue jackets, 
 the first and second lieutenants, a midshipman, an assistant sui'geon, 
 and a gunner, with a 12-pounder howitzer were landed from 
 H.M.S.S. Niger, and encamped on Mount Bryan, a hill on the east 
 side of New Plymouth, which was temporarily re-named Fort 
 Niger. 
 
 On Friday evening, March the 16th, it was reported to the officer 
 commanding the forces that Wiremu Kingi's natives had erected 
 another pa on the land purchased from Teira. Early on Saturday 
 morning, the 17th, Mr. Parris was sent to ascertain whether or not it 
 was within our boundaries. It was found to be two chains within 
 the boundary, and about four from the Devon line. Soon after it 
 was reconnoitred by one of the mounted escort, who reported that it 
 was a very strong pa with double palisading, ditch and galleries.
 
 192 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 A letter was addressed to the natives by Colonel Gold ordering 
 them to move off the Queen's land, and warning them of the 
 consequence of refusal. This they would not even receive. 
 
 Subsequently Colonel Gold resolved to destroy the pa with rockets 
 and 24-pounder howitzers. At half-past twelve, three companies of 
 the 65th Regiment, under the command of Colonel Gold, assisted 
 by Lieutenant-Colonel Sillery, Captains Paul and Barton, 65th 
 Regiment, and six subalterns ; six sailors from H.M.S. Niger, under 
 Lieutenant Wells, with a rocket tube ; two sergeants and seventeen 
 men of the Royal Artillery, with one 12-pounder and two 
 24-pounder howitzers, under Lieutenant McNaughten ; nine sappers 
 and miners, under Lieutenant Mould ; and twenty mounted volunteers 
 under Captain Des Voeux. This force passed along the Waitara 
 Road within range of the pa unmolested, when Lieutenants 
 McNaughten and Mould were despatched with the mounted escort to 
 find a suitable position for the guns and rocket tube. They fixed 
 upon a little mound at the distance of 750 yards from the pa, from 
 whence, as soon as the artillery and troops reached the position, a 
 fire was opened, upon which the natives danced the war dande, 
 hoisted their fighting flag, and returned the fire from the three faces 
 of the pa. From the pa being placed in a hollow at the head of a 
 gully, at first a few of the shells and rockets fell short, but the range 
 was ascertained and the practice was excellent, the shells and rockets 
 exploding in the pa and raising clouds of dust and smoke. After a 
 short time it was found that the distance was too great. The 
 Mounted Volunteers were extended on the right to threaten the 
 enemy's line of retreat, and soon exchanged shots with some natives 
 stealing up the gully to the pa, one of whom was wounded in the 
 back and was toppled over. The guns moved to within three 
 hundred yards of the inland face of the pa and with the rocket 
 tube kept up a smart fire, making good practice and carrying away 
 the flagstaff. The troops then took ground to the left, and the guns 
 were fired at long intervals, when the enemy having ceased for more 
 than an hour to reply to our fire it was supposed he had deserted the 
 pa. Under this impression two or three of the volunteers made a 
 dash at the flag, reached the palisade and were tugging away at it 
 when a volley was fired from every face of the pa ; the two at the 
 palisade escaped unhurt with about two-thirds of the flag, but the 
 third, who was galloping up, received a dangerous wound, fell from 
 his horse, and after crawling a short distance was gallantly carried 
 beyond the reach of fire by a sailor of the* Naval Brigade and a 
 private of the 65th Regiment. About this time two privates of the 
 65th Regiment were also badly wounded, one of whom afterwards 
 died. 
 
 The guns soon silenced the fire of the pa, and finally took up a 
 position within 200 yards of it. Night now approached and the 
 gun ammunition was expended, the skirmishers were called in, and 
 the troops formed in close column, the escort was despatched with the 
 ammunition waggons to the camp, entrenchments were traced by the
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 193 
 
 Engineer officer, and the trenches soon formed, whei-e under cover 
 of the guns the weary soldiers lay down under arms. During the 
 whole of this time the enemy kept up a smart fire from rifles, of 
 which he had several, and musketry, and bullets were flying about 
 the ears of the troops like hail. The natives at dark having 
 come out of the pa, the escort returning with the ammunition was 
 under fire for ten minutes, biit providentially escaped uninjured, and 
 having completed their mission were ordered back to camp, and ran 
 the gauntlet by creeping slowly along the road and under cover of 
 their horses. The supperless soldiers remained in the trenches all 
 night. Shortly before day-break the enemy fired three guns, and is 
 supposed then to have vacated the pa. 
 
 At early dawn on the 18th, the guns and skirmishers advanced 
 nearer to the pa, the sappers throwing up an earthwork in their 
 front ; the fire was opened, under cover of which another breastwork 
 was completed within fifty yards of the stockade. The shot soon 
 reduced to splinters the palisading at the south end, and through the 
 breach Lieutenant McNaughten coolly entered, followed by the troops, 
 who were chagrined to find the pa abandoned. The pa was somewhat 
 in the shape of a capital L, about 110 feet long and 33 feet wide. 
 The ditches were five feet wide, and four feet deep, and were covered 
 with a framework of split timber, and about two feet of earth and 
 fern in layers on the top. These communicated with chambers 
 worked out of the solid red earth, and were snugly lined with fern. In 
 them fragments of shells, whole shells used as solid shot, and grape 
 shot were found scattered about, also two spears, a bugle, two mats, 
 with a supply of potatoes, melons, prepared maize, dried mutton-fish, 
 and other food sufficient for several days consumption. As it is 
 positively known that there were not less than 80 men in the pa 
 when it was attacked, it may be assumed that the casualties were 
 numerous. 
 
 THE DEFECTION OF MANAHI. 
 
 On Friday, March the 23rd, news was brought to town of the 
 defection of Manahi and his people at the Native Reserve called 
 Katapihipihi, on the Barrett Road. This old chief and his people 
 had but recently sworn allegiance to the British, and were armed for 
 their defence. 
 
 On the following day news arrived that several hundred natives 
 of the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui tribes were on their way to 
 Ratapihipihi, and that" the advanced guard numbering 70 men had 
 already arrived and danced the war dance. It was reported that 
 they intended to create a diversion in favor of Wi Kingi by menacing 
 the settlement in that direction. In the evening, at about 9.30 
 o'clock, 250 troops from the camp at Waitara marched into town, 
 bringing three field guns with them. 
 
 Ou Sunday, the 25th, at 4 a.m., 130 Tamnaki Rifle Volunteers 
 and Militia, with 200 men of the Goth Regiment, under Lioutenant- 
 Colonel Murray, marched to Ratnpihipilii, the natives having already 
 
 13
 
 194 HISTORY OF TAKANAKI. 
 
 commenced to kill the settlers' cattle and sheep and to commit other 
 depredations. The Volunteers, led by Major Herbert, formed the 
 advance, and proceeded in skirmishing order under Captain Stapp 
 within range of the rebels before they were observed. An order on 
 no account to engage the rebels in the forest having been issued 
 before the expedition started, the skirmishers fell back upon the troops 
 in good order without provoking attack. The plan for this particular 
 service was well laid, and would have cut off the natives and placed 
 them between the fire of the troops and militia, who were to have 
 reached the enemy by different roads. 
 
 On Monday, the 26th, firing was heard at Ratapihipihi, and was 
 supposed to be salutes by the enemy welcoming the arrival of 
 reinforcements. The enemy, with the intention of encompassing the 
 town, commenced to build a pa on Burton's Hill, on the Barrett or 
 Mountain Road. The volunteers and militia were busily engaged in 
 erecting small stockades, digging rifle pits, and in strengthening the 
 Kawau pa. The Niger arrived from Manukau with 30 men of the 
 65th Regiment. The Rev. Mr. Wollaston reported the death of 
 Sarten. From the first his wound was considered mortal, the ball 
 that struck him having entered near his left hip, passed through his 
 body, and was cut out from his right breast. 500 Taranakis and 
 Ngatiruanuis arrived at Hauranga. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 27th, intelligence was brought into town that Wi 
 Kingi's natives were about to build two large pas, one on Teira's 
 land, and the other outside the boundary. They were to be near 
 to one another, and were to be built of puriri. About five o'clock 
 intelligence was brought to town of the murder of three settlers at 
 Omata. The victims were Mr. Samuel Ford, a saddler and merchant 
 of New Plymouth ; Mr. S. Shaw and Mr. H. Passmore, farmers of 
 Omata, These persons while on their way to different parts of the 
 block were shot down by natives concealed behind a furze hedge near 
 to the Primitive Methodist Chapel, and were afterwards tomahawked, 
 Mr. Ford was on his way to see some sheep on Mr. Grayling's fariti, 
 and had that morning ridden out to Moturoa with Mi\ George and 
 purchased six of his bullocks. Mr. Ford proceeded from Moturoa 
 towards Omata alone, and on passing the stockade was by several 
 persons warned not to go on. Mr. H. Passmore was out with his 
 bullocks and cart for the purpose of obtaining some puriri fencing. 
 His bullocks were both shot in the head and the yoke was taken off 
 and thrown into the hedge. Shaw accompanied . Passmore, and was 
 supposed to have been going to his farm to milk his cows. Informa- 
 tion was given to the men at the stockade by Mr. "W. Gilbert, who, 
 as he was riding along the road, saw a body lying on the ground, and 
 at once galloped back and gave the intelligence. A party then 
 proceeded to recover the bodies, and on arriving at the spot found 
 three corpses lying within a few yards of each other, and they also 
 saw a native in the act of taking off Mr. Ford's coat. They fired at 
 the native but missed him, and he ran off. Ford and Passmore
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 195 
 
 appeared to have (lied instantaneously, but Shaw had evidently 
 struggled for some time. Passmore and Shaw were tomahawked 
 about the head. Two boys named Pote and Parker were reported 
 missing. 
 
 ENGAGEMENT AT WAIREKA 
 
 On Wednesday, the 28th, news arrived in town that the two boys, 
 Parker and Pote, had been found by the Rev. H. H. Brown, dead 
 and dreadfully tomahawked. No. 10 Company of the 65th Regiment, 
 commanded by Colonel Murray, 25 blue jackets, under Lieutenant 
 Blake, and 102 volunteers and militia proceeded to Omata with the 
 intention of rescuing the Rev. H. H. Brown, his family, with other 
 settlers who still remained out in that district. Before the departure 
 of the volunteers and militia they were addressed by the Governor, 
 who expressed a hope that they would do their duty. About noon 
 two signal guns, fired from Mars! and Hill, brought all stragglers from 
 town, and Captain Cracroft, from the Niger, with 60 blue jackets and 
 marines, and a 24-pounder rocket-tube and rockets. The troops 
 proceeded along the road, and the volunteers and militia went by the 
 l>each, and proceeded inland diagonally from Paritutu towards the 
 Waireka stream at Omata, They were engaged as soon as they 
 came within range of the enemy, who came down from the hill on 
 the south-west side of the stream to meet them. After the departure 
 of the troops, volunteers, and militia from town, the Niger's men 
 took up a temporary position, near to the boat house, and an officer 
 went to the truck of the flagstaff on Marsland Hill. As soon as he 
 pei'ceived that the engagement had begun he ran down Brougham 
 Street without his hat, and with his cutlass at his shoulder, and at 
 once led his men off to the scene of action. Intelligence soon 
 arrived in town that Sergeant Fahey of the militia was killed, the 
 gallant Captain Blake severely wounded, and that the volunteers 
 were hotly engaged and were running out of ammunition, and were 
 surrounded until succoui-ed by the soldiers and sailors. The 
 excitement in town was intense. When night closed in the soldiers 
 returned, and also a party of the blue jackets with some of the 
 wounded. It was then learned that the blue jackets under Captain 
 Cracroft, after firing a few rockets into it, had gallantly stormed the 
 pa on July's Hill, and killed many of the inmates and captured the 
 rebel flags. Alxwt 8 p.m. the sailors came in bringing into town the 
 flags, and were heartily cheered by the people. The volunteers were 
 said to be surrounded by the Maoris, but to have possession of 
 J ury's house near to the beach ; it was also said that their 
 ammunition was expended. A mixed volunteer force was despatched 
 to their rescue at 11 p.m., but they had not long gone when great 
 cheering announced that the forces had met each other. 
 
 Mr. Wellington Carrington, who resided at the time at Tapuao, 
 and counted the Maoris as they pissed his house towards Omata, 
 gave the following particulars respecting them : 
 
 " First hapu, Nga Muhangu, headed by Kingi Parenga and
 
 196 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Paretene Kopara, numbering 66, struck off into the bush at Tapuae 
 and went on to Ratapihipihi ; this was on Saturday, the 24th of 
 March. 
 
 " On the 27th, 64 natives of the Patukai hapu, headed by Paora 
 Kututae and Aperahama passed on. This party went along the main 
 road and settled themselves at Ratanui, a little above Mr. Jury's 
 house. 
 
 " On the 28th, 200 went along the main road ; they were the 
 Ngatituwekerangi, Upokomutu, Ngarangi, Ngatihau and Ngati- 
 haumia hapus, headed by old Hori Kingi, the head man of the whole 
 Taranaki tribe, Wi Kingi Matakatea, Arama Karaka, and several 
 other chiefs of lesser note. Those that I have mentioned were the 
 whole of the Taranaki tribe engaged in the insurrection. 
 
 " In the afternoon of the 28th, 130 Ngatiruanui natives of the 
 Ngaruahine hapu passed along the main road, and joined the others 
 at Ratanui. They had hardly taken off their pikaus when the 
 action commenced." 
 
 At Major Lloyd's fann, Waireka, the battle was fought by the 
 Nga Mahanga, headed by Kingi, Paretene and Perere, the best 
 fighting men of the tribe. The first was wounded, the two latter 
 were killed. On Jury's farm the battle was fought by Ngatiruanuis, 
 headed by Te Hanatau, the head chief of the tribe, who was 
 killed. The main body was posted behind the pa they had 
 erected at Ratanui, and a number were also in Mr. Armstong's 
 turnip field. Old Paul was killed when the pa was stormed and the 
 colors taken. From that time the whole of the hapus became 
 thoroughly disorganised, and early next morning commenced their 
 retreat. However, they carried off most of their dead and all their 
 wounded. The road between their pa and Poutoko was strewed with 
 all sorts of plunder. The number of dead positively ascertained is 
 17. This includes the principal chiefs, but more men of note fell 
 and were buried at Omata. There were 450 more Ngatiruanui and 
 some Ngarutu natives coming up, but meeting the broken taua at 
 Warea and Kapoaiaia, they remained for a time at those places. 
 Taking 330 as the number of the Taranakis who came up, and 
 allowing 100 as the number of those who remained neutral, we arrive 
 nearly at the strength of the tribe, 430. Adding 130 Ngatiruanuis 
 to the 450 who were on their way xip, we get 580 as the strength of 
 the Ngatiruanui and Ngarauru tribes, which makes a grand total of 
 1,010 natives capable of bearing arms between New Plymouth and 
 "Wanganui. 
 
 The following is a translation of a notice posted at Omata by the 
 rebels : 
 
 " Listen ! Listen ! all the tribe. The road to our minister must 
 not be trodden upon ; also the road to his friends, James who is 
 from Kihi ; to Emmanuel who is a Portuguese, to his children and 
 wife ; to Touet and his wife and children, who are French ; let the 
 thought of these three tribes be light to their farms, to their property ; 
 let it be light, becaxise the woixl has gone forth from Paratene, Hoani,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 197 
 
 and Kiiigi Parenga to those people that we must strictly preserve 
 them. Let there be no mistake ; with vis the three tribes of Taranaki, 
 Ngatiruanui and Ngaraura ; let it be light. That is all from 
 " PARETENE, From " KINGI, 
 
 " HOANI, " PORIKAPA." 
 
 The following are the official reports of the engagement at 
 Waireka : 
 
 " Lieutenant-Colonel Murray to the Major of Brigade. 
 
 " New Plymouth, 20th March, 1860. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to report for the information of the 
 Officer Commanding the Forces in New Zealand, that on the 28th 
 instant I proceeded agreeably to orders in command of a force, as 
 per margin, to Omata for the purpose of rescuing some European 
 families stated to be in the hands of the rebel natives assembled in 
 considerable force at that village. 
 
 " The plan of operations was, that Captain Brown, in command of 
 the militia and volunteers, should proceed by the beach, keeping the 
 sea coast, and passing in the rear of the natives, who had built a pa 
 on the Waireka Hills, whilst I should proceed by the main road 
 with a view to dislodge a party of rebels reported to have taken up 
 a position at a spot called Whaler's Gate, for the purpose of cutting 
 oft' the communication between Omata and the Town. In the 
 meantime,' Captain Brown, should he succeed in recovering the 
 European families, was to join me at or near this spot. On reaching 
 the spot named, I found the road clear and no trace of natives 
 anywhere near, accordingly I moved on leisurely with a view to sooner 
 meeting Captain Brown ; but on reaching the top of a lull about a 
 quarter of a mile on the side of the Omata stockade, the sound of 
 rapid tiling, about two miles off and towards the sea, made it evident 
 that the volunteers were hotly engaged. I accordingly pushed on to 
 the stockade, when I dispatched Lieutenant Blake, R.N., with his 
 men, supported by a subdivision of the company, 65th Regiment, 
 under Lieutenant Urquhart, with orders to proceed in a direct line to 
 the assistance of Captain Brown's party, whilst I continued along 
 the road witli the remainder of the force to a lane about a quarter of 
 a mile beyond the stockade, which leads from the road down to the 
 sea. About half way down this lane I turned into the fields and 
 formed line of skirmishers, with the intention, also, of proceeding to 
 the assistance of the volunteers, ifec. The rebels, however, showed 
 such a disposition to get round our left, and so cut us off from the 
 main road, that I was obliged to abandon that intention, and 
 maiKCUvre to prevent it, keeping up a fire whenever they gave us 
 an opportunity, as they were covered by a wood and deep ravine, out 
 of which we attempted to dislodge them with rockets. I ultimately 
 took up a position in the lane so as to secure the main road ; and tho 
 natives seeing xis retire came down through the wood and ravine, 
 but such an effective fire was kept up wherever they showed them- 
 selves that they retired to the bush again. Considering my force,
 
 198 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 however, too small to keep our communication open, should they 
 attack us in force, I recalled Lieutenant Blake's party and Lieutenant 
 Urquhart's, particularly as the day was so far advanced and my 
 orders were to return by dark. I continued to occupy this position 
 until it became absolutely necessary to return, keeping up a frequent 
 fire of rockets on the pa and any groups of rebels we observed. It 
 became necessary, however, to detach Lieutenant TJrquhart a second 
 time to drive back the rebels, who were attempting to get up on our 
 right, and between us and the volunteers, which, having accomplished, 
 he rejoined me in time to return. I beg to add that nothing I can 
 say could adequately describe the steadiness and gallantry of both 
 ofiicers and men composing my little force. I have but one regret in 
 reporting that I was early deprived of the very able assistance of 
 Lieutenant Blake, H.M.S.S. Niger, who was severely wounded. 
 
 " I enclose returns of casualties. I have received 110 report of 
 Captain Brown's proceedings, who was too far off for observation, 
 apparently in a gully, with the natives about him. I have, &c. 
 
 "G. F. MURRAY, 
 " Bt. Lieutenant-Colonel, 65th Regt., 
 
 " Commanding Garrison. 
 
 " The Major of Brigade, Taranaki. 
 
 [Force engaged.] 
 
 "Royal Navy 3 officei's and 25 men. 65th Regiment-r-4 officers 
 and 84 rank and file. Names of Officers -Lieiitenant Urquhart, 
 65th Regiment ; Lieutenat Whitbread, 65th Regiment ; Surgeon 
 White, Lieutenant Blake, R.N., H.M.S. Niger." 
 
 " Captain Cracroft, R.N., to Colonel Gold. 
 
 " H.M.S.S. Niger, New Plymouth, 28th March, 1860. 
 
 Sir : In compliance with your requisition, I landed the force 
 noted in the margin at 2 p.m. this day, and, at your request that I 
 should advance to the support of Colonel Murray, who was 
 represented to be hard pressed by the natives and short of ammunition, 
 I proceeded to the Omata blockhouse, from which post I was enabled 
 to obtain a good view of the country and of a pa constructed on the 
 crown of a hill about a mile beyond, which displayed flags, and 
 fi-om which a continued fire of musketry was kept up upon 
 Colonel Murray's force on my right, with whom I immediately 
 communicated. 
 
 " It was now about half-past five, and as there was only half-an- 
 hour's daylight left, I determined to attack this pa at once. I 
 accordingly planted the 24-pounder rocket tube aboiit 700 yards from 
 it, and after a few discharges the men stormed this pa under a heavy 
 fire in the most gallant style, William Odgers, leading seamen, 
 doing duty as my coxwain, being the first man in it ; and having 
 captured the flags and destroyed everything living in the trenches, as 
 far as could be ascertained in the dark, I returned to the blockhouse. 
 
 " In performing this service I am thankful to say that there were
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKi. 199 
 
 only four men wounded, which may be in some measure accounted 
 for by the rapidity of the attack, taking the enemy completely by 
 surprise, and giving no time for the usual Maori tactics, while the 
 increasing darkness also favored our small force and prevented a 
 good aim being taken by their sharpshooters. It is difficult to 
 estimate the numbers opposed to us, nor could their exact loss be 
 ascertained. Sixteen dead were counted inside the intrenchments, 
 and several were lying in the road outside. 
 
 " After a short rest at the blockhouse I returned to town, placed 
 the wounded in the military hospital, and re-embarked my men, as I 
 did not consider the sliip safe without them at this exposed 
 anchorage. 
 
 " I cannot speak too highly of all engaged in this affair, and I 
 should wish to recommend to yo\ir notice three of the volunteers, 
 who accompanied me from the blockhouse and pointed out the road 
 to the pa. 
 
 " I beg to enclose for your information the surgeon's return of 
 casualties, and I have, &c., 
 
 " P. CRACROFT, 
 " Captain and Senior Officer, 
 
 " At New Zealand. 
 
 " The Honorable Colonel Gold, 
 
 " Commanding the Forces in New Zealand. 
 
 * 
 
 [Force engaged.] 
 
 " Lieutenant A. J. Villiers ; Mr. Smith, acting mate ; Mr. T. 
 Gassiott, third mate ; Mr. J. Carslake, third mate ; Dr. W. Patrick, 
 surgeon ; Mi-. W. H. Hyatt, assistant paymaster. Officers 7, 
 seamen 43, marines 10 : total 60, and a 24-pounder rocket and tube." 
 
 " Captain Brown to Major Herbert. 
 
 " New Plymouth, 29th March, 1860. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to report what took place yesterday, 
 from the time I left the town with the force under my command 
 at half-past one, till my return at half-past twelve this morning. 
 
 " The officers and men who accompanied me were : 
 
 "Captain and Adjutant Stapp, Militia; Captain H. A. Atkinson, 
 Volunteer Rifles ; Lieutenant McKechney, Militia ; Lieutenant 
 McKellar, Militia ; Lieutenant Hirst, Volunteer Rifles ; Lieutenant 
 Hanmierton, Volunteer Rifles ; Second Lieutenant Webster, Volun- 
 teer Rifles; Second Lieutenant Jonas, Volunteer Rifles; Ensign 
 Messenger, Militia. Rank and File : Militia 52, Volunteer Rifles 
 98. 
 
 " After a quick inarch of about two hours we reached the stream 
 Waireka, where it runs on to the beach. We here perceived that 
 the natives were rapidly running clown from their pa, about a mile 
 oft', on the Waireka hill, to meet us. We were, however, able to gut 
 into position without difficulty on the high land in the following 
 manner, under Captain Stapp's direction :
 
 2UO HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 " A Company of Volunteers, under Captain Atkinson, were thrown 
 forward, and reached the high ground on the south side of the 
 Waireka, driving back the natives ; but greater numbers of the 
 enemy coming on both flanks, Captain Stapp, who had joined and 
 taken command, ordered a retreat on position No. 1, shown in the 
 enclosed tracing made by the Provincial Surveyor, the position 
 consisting of a house, stacks, and furze and rail fences on level 
 ground on the brink of two gullies running out on the beach. From 
 this point Captain Atkinson was moved on to No. 2, to cover the 
 rear of the main body. Lieutenant Hirst with his Company occupied 
 No. 3, and was joined by Lieutenant McKechuey and myself, when I 
 pushed Lieutenant Hirst forward to endeavor to occupy the bush 
 in the Waireka gully, under cover of which the natives were 
 swarming, and followed myself. Lieutenant Blake with a party of 
 the Niger's men having thrown themselves in advance by another 
 route, I directed Lieutenant Hirst to turn his attention to the 
 natives on the lower and open part of the Waireka gully, whence 
 they were annoying Captain Atkinson's party as well as our own. 
 Lieutenant Hirst having done some execution, passed across the 
 gully by No. 2, to Captain Stapp at No. 1. The natives soon made 
 us aware that they possessed pieces of long range, against which our 
 muskets were of no use, and I had to fall back on the scanty cover 
 at No. 3, where I had not been long when Lieutenant Urquhart, 65th 
 Regiment, with some 25 men joined me, as also some stragglers of the 
 Naval Brigade, and some volunteers from the Omata Stockade, 
 under Lieutenant Armstrong, Militia, and Lieutenant McNaughten, 
 R.A. With their assistance we drove the natives out of sight into 
 a straggling and slight line of cover in the gully that runs into the 
 Waireka, and as I perceived the intention of the natives was to 
 intercept our line of 'retreat to the Omata Stockade by occupying 
 the cover of flax between Nos. 3 and 4, I requested Lieutenant 
 Urquhart to leave me a few men, and with the remainder occupy 
 No. 4, thus placing the natives creeping along the gully between two 
 tires, and securing our communication with the Omata Stockade ; to 
 my surprise and regret Lieutenant Urquhart had not many minutes 
 occupied No. 4 before I saw him and his men retire, recalled, as I am 
 informed by Colonel Murray, by his orders. The position commanded 
 my own, was uncommanded by any other, had open and level country 
 between it and the Omata Stockade, and had excellent cover of flax 
 at the edge of the position to seaward. When the natives saw them 
 retire they called out ' Kia hohoro, Kia hohoro,' and boldly ran along the 
 open part of the gully to the cover on the North side of the Waireka, 
 bringing themselves under the murderous fire of Captain Atkinson, 
 which dropped them in twos and threes aboxit the ground. At this 
 time finding my position untenable and valueless to the natives, I 
 ordered our wounded and dead to be earned to Captain Stapp's 
 position. These consisted of one of the marines of H.M.S.S. Niger, 
 wounded in the head and since dead, one militiaman shot through 
 the neck, and Sergeant Fahey of the Stockade at Omata shot dead,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 201 
 
 the first ;uid last were shot by the same native, who was himself 
 shot by Mr. P. Wilson with a fowling piece. 
 
 " I then sent my men to join Captain Stapp, while I went to see 
 Captain Atkinson, who joined me in going to see Captain Stapp and 
 conferring with him ; when I saw the extensive defences we should 
 have to maintain at this place and their weak nature, I was of 
 opinion that the whole force should be concentrated at No. I. 
 Captain Stapp and Captain Atkinson differed with me, and considered 
 that No. 2 ought to be maintained to the last. I gave way to their 
 opinions, and am happy to say their judgement proved correct, as 
 Captain Atkinson from his position killed at least two-thirds of the 
 natives that were killed. We then proceeded at No. 1 to make our 
 position defensible by throwing up breast works of sheaves of oats 
 and fencing, so as to enable us to enfilade our position. While thus 
 employed we became aware of the diversion effected in our favor by 
 the attack on the pa by Captain Cracroft, R.N., and his Naval 
 Brigade, and which I considered enabled us to retreat after dark 
 unmolested. Had my men been concentrated at No. 1, I would have 
 endeavored to ascertain, what had taken place at the pa with a view 
 of joining Captain Cracroft ; but under the circumstances, very few 
 charges of ammunition being left, and believing that the retreat of 
 our wounded by No. 4, the shortest route, would be open after dark, 
 in consequence of the diversion effected, I determined to remain in 
 our positions till the moon had set, when Captain Stapp took charge 
 of the advance to No. 4, followed by the wounded, and thence on to 
 the Omata Stockade. I told off the men by fours, and marched 
 from No. 1 , one four just keeping the other in sight ; when the last 
 four had left No. 1, I went to Captain Atkinson and directed him 
 to follow with his men and eight men of the 65th who had been 
 left with us, and who did its gallant service, also three men from 
 the Naval Brigade and the party from the Garrison of the Omata 
 Stockade. 
 
 " After resting a short time at the Omata Stockade, and reinforcing 
 that post with 20 men, we resumed our march to Town, passing the 
 Whaler's Gate without seeing anything of the support, which, 
 according to my instructions, I was to expect there. We reached 
 Town unmolested at alxmt half-past twelve at night, bringing with us 
 also the dead and all the wounded but two, who were left at the 
 Stockade. 
 
 " Where every one l>ehaved so well it would be invidious, not to 
 say im|>osHibIe, to recommend particular otficei-s or men for particular 
 notice. I will, therefore, limit myself to commending the gallantry 
 and coolness of Captains Stapp and Atkinson, of Lieutenant 
 Urquhart, 65th, and of Private Inch of the Volunteers, who shot 
 two natives after he had himself received a wound across his chest. 
 The casualties are as follows in my Detachment : 
 
 " Killed Sergeant Fahey, Militia. 
 
 " Wounded Lieutenant Hammerton, Volunteer Rifles ; Private 
 W. Bayley, Militia ; Private J. Climo, Militia ; Private J. Hawken,
 
 202 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Volunteer Rifles; Private Inch, Volunteer Rifles; Private Mes- 
 senger, Volunteer Rifles; Private W. Oliver, Militia; Private 
 Rawson, Volunteer Rifles, 
 
 " I ain happy to state that the wounded, though not all out of 
 danger, are all doing well. 
 
 " I have carefully estimated the number of the enemy killed at 
 not less than thirty, besides wounded. I have, &c., 
 
 " CHARLES BROWN, 
 " Senior Captain of Taraiiaki Militia. 
 " Major Herbert, 
 
 " Commanding Militia and Volunteers." 
 
 The village of Omata at the time of the war was situated at the 
 junction of two roads at the foot of the Waireka Hill, and a little 
 westward of the present church and school house. After the battle it 
 presented a very sad appearance. In the centre lay a pair of fine 
 working bullocks, dead and swollen, and near to them a dead horse. 
 These animals were the property of the hien who were nrurdered 
 just prior to the battle. The houses had all been sacked, all the 
 windows had been broken by the butt end of guns being driven 
 through them, and such domestic articles as the rebels were unable 
 to carry away were wantonly broken and scattered about. The 
 children's dolls were derisively hung up by the neck on the fences. 
 The curtains and calico linings of the houses had all been carefully 
 taken away to serve as bandages for the wounded. 
 
 Much indignation was felt at the conduct of Colonel Murray in 
 withdrawing his men at sunset, and leaving the volunteers to their 
 fate, and men wondered why the advantages which had been gained 
 were not followed up. On the day after the battle the Niger steamed 
 down the coast and shelled the native settlement at Warea, after 
 which armed parties went out and obtained as much of the crops as 
 possible, and the natives commenced pillaging the farms and burning 
 the houses of the settlers. 
 
 On Sunday, April the 2 2nd, three Companies of the 65th Regiment, 
 with one brass howitzer and some artillery men, started on a 
 reconnoitring expedition to Wareatea, and returned a few days 
 afterwards without seeing any natives or effecting anything. In the 
 meantime Hapurona had been strengthening his position at Waitara, 
 and his garrison had been reinforced by a number of Waikatos. 
 
 NARROW ESCAPE OF MR. PARRIS. 
 
 A number of Taranaki and Ngatiruanui natives, who were on a 
 visit to Potatau, the Maori King at Waikato, being desirous at this 
 time to return to their homes, the Waikato chief, Rewi, went to the 
 Rev. Mr. Morgan of Otawa, and expressed a desire to see Mr. Parris 
 on the road, as his people were about to escort the Taranaki and 
 Ngatiruanui deputations towards their homes. Mr. Parris accordingly 
 stax-ted for the north on Friday, the llth day of May. On reaching 
 Urenui he was informed that the natives were expected to be between
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 203 
 
 Tongaporutu and Mimi, but on arriving at Pukekohe he unexpectedly 
 caine upon the whole party, finding them seated behind the breakwind 
 away from the pa. A Ngatiruanui chief having been the first to 
 observe Mr. Parris, rose and shook hands with him, for which he 
 afterwards received the censure of the whole of his tribe. The 
 natives of Pukekohe Nikorima's people seeing Mr. Parris 
 approach waved to him with their blankets to keep off from the war 
 party. Mr. Parris at once rode to the pa, when he discovered that 
 there had been no communication between the two parties. Here 
 he remained a little time. The pa natives, according to custom, put 
 out some potatoes and other food for the war party, after which 
 some of the latter rose and said : " This white man Parris has 
 arrived and entei-ed the pa, and therefore we suppose the pa belongs 
 to him ; in consequence thereof the food is tapu" i.e. not to be 
 accepted or eaten by them. This produced a discussion which ended 
 in the Waikatos declining to agree with the others. The Ngatiruanui 
 and Taranaki ate nothing but dry karaka berries brought by them from 
 Waikato, but the Waikatos partook of some food from the pa. 
 Wetini, a Mokau chief, entered the pa and informed Mr. Parris of 
 the state of feeling amongst the natives being against him, advised 
 him to be cautious, and added that the Mokaus had endeavored to 
 keep the party back. Mr. Parris asked Wetini if he had any 
 objection to return and to invite the heads of the Waikato party to 
 come and speak with him. He consented, but said it would lead to 
 nothing. He went and remained away fully an hour, during which 
 time Mr. Parris recognised Hone Pumipi, a Kawhia chief, among the 
 party. Mr. Parris asked a native of the pa to go and see if Hone 
 would come and see him. Mr. Parris saw Hone submit the proposal 
 to the natives, after which he came towards the pa accompanied by a 
 body guard of four men armed with guns. Hone approached the 
 side of the pa, and addressing Mr. Pan-is, said : " I have come 
 because you have sent for me, but the people are pouri," evil disposed. 
 Mr. Pan-is observing an indisposition on Hone's part to converse 
 probably owing to the presence of the armed natives said, " I merely 
 sent to see you and ask you how you are." Upon which one of the 
 guard said " Let us return," and they returned. As soon as they 
 rejoined the party the Ngatiruanui and Taranaki rose and fired off 
 their guns, and started for Urenui, some few miles nearer town. The 
 Waikatos remained. Shortly afterwards the head of the Waikato 
 party, Epiha, came to the pa to see Mr. Pan-is, and made the following 
 disclosm-e. He commenced with a regular scolding : " You ai*e 
 foolish : you have brought your body upon us without sending a 
 messenger or a letter to let us know you were coining ; if we liad 
 met you on the march you would have been shot dead without our 
 being able to save you. As it is you are dead." Mr. Pan-in 
 interrupted him to explain that it was in consequence of Iwing 
 requested by Mr. Morgan and llewi to meet the party tliat he hud 
 fome, and he asked Epiha to explain what he meant by saying he 
 wa dead. Epiha replied, " It has been pn>i>osed to murder you.
 
 204 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Shortly after your arrival this morning Erueti one of Wi Kingi's 
 natives came to us Waikatos and said when he saw you his flesh 
 shook, and that he was going to Urenui. Epilia asked, ' What for?' 
 Erueti answered, ' to wait for Parris's return.' Epiha said, ' What to 
 do V Erueti replied, ' To finish him.' Epiha observed, ' We have 
 not come from Waikato for any such thing as murder, and if you 
 determine to do it we shall leave at once and return, to Waikato.' 
 Eureti was displeased and left for Urenui with three others Hori, 
 Paori and Taimona, all of Kaipakopako." This occurred before the 
 Taranakis and Ngatiruanui started for Urenui. A long and anxious 
 conversation ensued as to the course to be taken, which ended in 
 Epiha stating that he would wait for Mr. Parris at Urenui and see 
 him safely across. 
 
 After Epilia left it was arranged with Nikorima that a party of 
 ten of his natives should accompany Mr. Parris as far as Waitara. 
 Night was now setting in, and as the party approached Ui'enui they 
 sang out to warn Epiha, who was across the river. In ascending the 
 cliff the natives were found assembled near the top, the party halted, 
 and Mr. Pan-is was asked to come to the front. A row of armed 
 natives was on each side of the path. As soon as Mr. Parris had 
 got clear of the armed men, Epiha ordered a halt, and requested the 
 ten natives who had accompanied Mr. Parris from Pukekohe to 
 return to their pa. This they refused to do, and as it threatened an 
 xinpleasant discussion Mr. Parris entreated them to return, as he 
 threw himself entirely on the Waikato. Hone Pumipi thereupon 
 stepped forth from the crowd and said, " Parris, I'll take charge of 
 you." As Hone said this a man in a flax mat forced his way forward 
 and rubbed noses with Mr. Parris. Hone observing this seized the 
 stranger by the chest and forced him back, when he explained, " This 
 is my white man," and he proved to be a brother of Teira, of the 
 Waitara. The situation was one of extreme peril. A large body of 
 natives hustled Mr. Parris, and amongst the crowd, though they 
 could not be distinguished in the starlight, were many of the 
 conspirators. 
 
 The chiefs Epiha and Hone now called out to them to stand clear 
 of the Pakeha, and the dark mass of Maoris fell back. It was 
 communicated to Mr. Parris that the ambush party had gone on to 
 Onaero. An armed party of Waikatos then fell in, a native on each 
 side of Mr. Pan-is grasping him by the hand, besides a rear and an 
 advanced guard ; and in this way Mr. Parris was conducted to Waiau, 
 about five miles, in the darkness of the night. On arriving at 
 Onaero where the road passes through a piece of bush the party 
 halted, one native remarking, " This is the spot in which they said 
 they would kill him." Double files were here placed around Mr. 
 Parris, and the whole were directed to keep close together. From 
 Waiau to Waitara the road was 011 the beach. At the former place 
 Mr. Parris was required to join in a clever extempore prayer for the 
 King, the Queen's and his own safety. After which Mr. Parris 
 separated from his preservers.. Epiha, in reply to the acknowledg-
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 205 
 
 ments made to him, told Mr. Parris not to attribute his deliverance 
 to him, but to God ; that he would yet meet him as an enemy by 
 daylight, but that; he (Mr. Parris), had seen that he woiild not consent 
 to his being murdered. 
 
 The Waikato escort was estimated at 150 natives, the Taranaki 
 and Ngatiruanui depution at 50. 
 
 The Government apprehending the serious nature of the conflict 
 in which they had become involved, sent pressing requests to the 
 Australian Colonies for troops and warlike stores. In response 
 to these requests the City of Sydney steamer arrived in the 
 roadstead with H.M.S. Cordelia on the 16th of April, bringing of 
 the Royal Artillery 1 captain, 2 corporals, 3 bombardiers, and 39 
 gunners ; of- the Royal Engineers, 1 corporal and 5 privates ; of 
 the Commissariat Department, Deputy- Assistant Commissary Dunn ; 
 of the 1st Battalion of the 12th Regiment, 2 captains, 2 subalterns, 
 1 staff officer, 7 sergeants, 2 drummers, 9 corporals, and 117 rank 
 and file ; with two 24-pounder howitzers, two 9-ponnder gnus, and 
 six mortars, and a large amount of ammunition. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 24th of April, the City of Hobart arrived with 
 230 officers and men of the 40th Regiment. 
 
 A strong stockade, well garrisoned, was maintained at Omata, and 
 another at Bell Block, and temporaiy guard rooms were constructed 
 on the Race course and elsewhere. Eveiy night a cordon of sentinels 
 kept watch around the town, many of whom were without any 
 shelter, and the weather proved very wet. Naval Camps were also 
 established in various parts of the town, and a strong force guarded 
 the port, flagstaff, and the boats. 
 
 CAPTAIN RICHARD BROWN. 
 
 Richard Brown was born in Dublin in 1804, and was brought up 
 and educated in that city by an uncle. In his youth he was 
 employed in a mercantile house in Hobart Town, Tasmania, and at 
 the age of 20 paid a visit to the Bay of Islands, and to the islands 
 of the Pacific Ocean, in a Tasmanian whale ship. Shortly after the 
 foundation of New Plymouth he came hither, and after conducting 
 a coasting trade for some time ultimately became a merchant in the 
 town, having for his place of business a long low warehouse near to 
 the boat sheds. 
 
 In 1847 he had a quarrel with the natives about a horse, and 
 striking one on the head with a heavy whip handle he nearly paid 
 for his temerity with his life, for the natives came into town in largo 
 mimbers, danced the war dance, and demanded that he should be 
 given up to them. For his safety the authorities confined him in the 
 town prison, around which the natives kept watch all night. In the 
 morning the natives were pacified by the prisoner's consenting to 
 give up the horse as utu for the damage he had done. For some 
 time after this Mr. Brown engaged in whaling, employing a shore 
 party at Moturoa, under the leadership of Robert Sinclair, Next lie
 
 206 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 added to his business the profession of laud agent, and eventually he 
 super-added to it that of editor of the " Taranaki Herald." When 
 the war broke out he received a commission as Captain of the Native 
 Contingent, and proved himself to be an intrepid officer. 
 
 On Saturday, May the 26th, 1860, Captain Brown left the camp 
 at Waitara for the purpose of seeking a straying horse. Riding 
 along the beach towards New Plymouth, on reaching the ford of the 
 Waiongona river he was surprised by three of Wi Kingi's natives, 
 one of whom, a young man named TawatiM, who had recently been 
 in Captain Brown's employment, sprang out of a bush and fired at 
 him. The first shot struck Captain Brown's revolver-cartouch-box 
 and glanced off, the next penetrated his thigh, and the third passed 
 through his left side and lodged in his body. After the first shot 
 Captain Brown's horse swerved, and the succeeding shots struck him 
 as he was turning. Captain Brown galloped back to the camp, and 
 being observed to drop out of the saddle, was carried to the camp in 
 a fainting state. Here he lingered, suffering with great patience and 
 resignation, till the 21st of August, when death brought him release. 
 Captain Brown was a person of education and of polite manners, 
 a clever improvisatore, and convivial, but sober in his habits. He 
 was singularly reticent as regarded his antecedents and business 
 transactions. He was strictly just and pleasant in his dealings, but 
 there was an inner intrenchment in his nature that was impenetrable 
 and a fire in his eye that forbade too close an acquaintance. To a 
 certain extent he lived and died a mystery. Dying intestate and 
 without legal heirs his estate was escheated. 
 
 BATTLE OF PUKETAKUERE. 
 
 After the ineffectual demonstrations made by several expeditions 
 to the South the British remained inert, waiting for the rebels to 
 renew hostilities. Very many of the settlers' wives and children 
 were removed to Nelson, where they were received with much 
 compassion. The militia and volunteers aided the military and 
 the blue jackets in guarding the town from the attacks which were 
 constantly threatened by the enemy. Such of the natives as 
 professed friendship with the British were armed, supplied with 
 rations, and furnished with serge blouses marked with a large white 
 bull's-eye on the back to prevent their being taken for rebels. The 
 service of this contingent was of but little use to the British, on 
 account of the ill-disguised sympathy of many of its members with 
 their countrymen in rebellion. In the meantime house-burning and 
 the plunder of cattle, horses^ and sheep was going on in the country 
 districts, and Hapurona was at work strengthening his position on 
 the edge of the table land overlooking the Waitai'a Valley, between 
 the Devon Road and the site of the present township of Raleigh, 
 and receiving daily reinforcements from Waikato. 
 
 At length, on Saturday, the 23rd of June, a reconnoitring pai-ty 
 of the 40th Regiment were fired upon from the enemy's works at 
 Puketakuere, and the officer in command determined to make
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 307 
 
 preparations for an attack on the pa. The enemy's works consisted 
 of two stockades, one erected upon an entrenchment of an old pa. 
 They stood npon a ridge formed by two small gullies, which met a 
 little below the pa, and opened on to the swampy ground in the 
 Waitara valley, forming a sort of long Y with the stalk towards the 
 river, and the stockades in the fork. 
 
 On Wednesday, June the 27th, Major Nelson marched the troops 
 from the camp in three divisions. The main body consisting of the 
 grenadier and light company of the 40th Regiment, under Captain 
 Richards, and 60 blue jackets under First Lieutenant Battiscombe 
 of the Pelorus, with the Artillery, approached the pa by the direct 
 road from the camp, and at 7 a.m. the guns were brought to bear 
 and the men extended on the seaward side of the pa, the smaller 
 gully behind them and it. With this division were Major Nelson 
 and Captain Seymour of the Pelorus. A second division of aboiit 
 50 men, Tinder Captain Messenger, was posted on the flat of the 
 Waitara to cut off the retreat on that side, and a third, under 
 Captain Bowdler, passed along the river bank and attempted to take 
 the pa in the rear. The natives, from their position on the edge of 
 the plateau, could observe every movement of the troops, while the 
 British could see little but the palisading of the pas and the high 
 fern. The firing of the enemy commenced on the rear of our troops, 
 the natives at the time leaving the pas and seeking the shelter ^of the 
 gullies in order to pour from thence volleys of musketry on our 
 men. 
 
 Shortly after the commencement of the engagement lai-ge rein- 
 forcements of Maoris poured in from the inland villages of the rebels, 
 who creeping in the fern, fired unseen, but at close quarters with the 
 British, and the main body of the latter overlapping a dangerous 
 gully, was exposed to a terrific fire from numerous rifle pits within it. 
 
 When the attack was planned it was arranged that Colonel Gold, 
 with a large force and two 24-pounder howitzers, should co-operate 
 with the Waitara force by proceeding from town and attacking the 
 rebels from the plateau on the edge of which these works were 
 situated. Had he done so the fortune of the day would have been 
 the reverse of what it proved to be ; but the Colonel after reaching 
 the Mangoraka considered the river too high for the troops to cross, 
 and marched back to town, leaving Major Nelson to do the best he 
 could. The fire at this engagement was said by veterans to have 
 been hotter than that at Feroszeshah and Sabraon, and a soldier 
 of the Crimea declared it to be hotter than the attack on the Redan. 
 The natives, as was their custom, used double-barrelled guns and 
 loosely fitting lulls, and in loading jerked the charge down the barrels 
 by striking the butt of their pieces on the ground. So much pressed 
 wei-e the British at last that it was only by a timely discharge of 
 canister shot that a retreat was effected. Finding that his expected 
 reinforcements did not apjx'ar, Major Nelson ordered the retreat to be 
 sounded, and the men withdrew, sadly harassed by the enemy, and by 
 the swampy nature of the ground. So hasty was the retreat that
 
 208 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 many of the dead and wounded were left on the field, and quantities 
 of ammunition were shot out of the cai-ts into the fern to facilitate 
 the flight. 
 
 Captain Seymour had his leg broken by a bullet, and Lieutenant 
 Brooke of the 40th Regiment was barbarously killed in a swamp 
 after surrendering his sword to the enemy. Thi'ee or four of the 
 wounded men crept through the fern to the camp during the after- 
 noon, and another was brought in after dark, after having crawled 
 on one knee for four hours through the fern, the other knee having 
 been shattered by a shot. One man escaped by swimming the river, 
 and two others were drowned in attempting to do so. 
 
 " Major Nelson to Major of Brigade. 
 
 " Camp Waitara, 27th June, 1860. 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to inform you, for the information of the 
 Colonel commanding, that, in reference to your letter of yesterday's 
 date, I moved out this morning at 5 o'clock, with the detail noted in 
 the margin, to attack the new pas on the mounds of the South-East 
 of the camp, and returned from thence at 11 a.m. 
 
 "The attack was commenced by the Artillery at 7 a.m., at a range 
 of 400 yards to the North- West of the pas. A breach was, however, 
 not made in the large pa of a sufficient size to justify me in ordering 
 the men to assault it. 
 
 " During the time the Artillery was playing on the pa, large 
 bodies of Maoiis were seen advancing from the rear and occupying 
 in extended order a ditch and a bank, about 400 yards in advance of 
 our right flank, from which they kept up a constant fire. 
 
 " Seeing there was no means of entering the pa, I immediately 
 ordered an advance towards the ditch and bank just mentioned, 
 which was made in a most continued and gallant manner until the 
 men reached a deep ravine with an intrenchment behind, and which 
 they found it impossible to pass, it being defended by two, if not 
 more, large bodies of Maoris, who were almost entirely concealed 
 behind it, and another entrenchment in rear ; as well as the very 
 high fern. 
 
 " Here a desperate and destructive fire was opened upon us, and 
 gallantly returned. 
 
 " Our skirmishers being far fewer in number, and exposed in a 
 much greater degree than the enemy, I deemed it desirable to direct 
 them to join the main body ; and our ammunition being neai'ly 
 expended, I withdrew the whole of the men, and returned to camp 
 in regular order. 
 
 " I regret to report that the casualties have been numerous, but 
 when, as it is supposed, the whole of Wi Kingi's natives came down 
 to support the Waikatos in the pas, the whole amounting to about 
 700 men (foremost among whom was a European, who was shot dead), 
 it cannot be considered that the number is great in proportion to the 
 number opposed to us. 
 
 (( Among the deaths I have to lament that of Lieutenant Brooke,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 209 
 
 40th Regiment, who fell in the noble discharge of his duty, and 29 
 non-commissioned officers and men of the different corps. 
 
 " Among the wounded, Captain Seymour, R.N., severely, and 33 
 non-commissioned officers and men of the different corps. 
 
 " I enclose a return of casualties. 
 
 " The loss of the rebels, from personal observations, must have 
 been very great. 
 
 " I cannot speak too highly of the gallant bearing of the officers 
 and men of all arms engaged, and I should particularly beg to 
 mention the valuable services rendered by the several officers in 
 command, viz.: Lieutenant McNaughten, R.A.; Lieutenant Battis- 
 combe, R.N.; Lieutenant Morris, R.M.A.; Captains Bowdler and 
 Richards, 40th Regiment. 
 
 " I would also desire to express my sense of the very valuable 
 services of Captain Seymour, R.N., who was so good as to accompany 
 me, and afforded me every assistance until he was severely wounded. 
 
 " I feel much indebted to Assistant-Surgeon B. Stiles, 40th 
 Regiment; Assistant-Surgeon Edwards, R.N.; and Mr. J. N. Murray, 
 Surgeon (attached to the 40th Regiment), for the very efficient 
 services they afforded to the wounded in the field. 
 
 "The best thanks are due to Lieutenant Mould, R.E., who 
 attended me, and to my Staff-Officer Ensign and Acting- Adjutant 
 Wlielan, Detachment 40th Regiment, I have, &c., 
 
 " THOMAS NELSON, 
 
 " Major 40th Regt., 
 
 " Camp, Waitara. 
 
 " P.S. 5 p.m. I have just visited the wounded in the whares and 
 hospital tent. There are five dangerous cases ; the remainder are 
 doing as well as could be hoped for. 
 
 T. N. 
 
 [Force engaged.] 
 
 " Royal Artillery, two 24-pounder howitzers, 1 officer, 1 sergeant, 
 19 men ; Royal Engineers, 1 sergeant, 6 men ; Naval Brigade, 4 
 officers, 50 bluejackets; Royal Marines, 1 officer, 10 rank and file; 
 40th Regiment, '10 officers, 245 men." 
 
 On July the 7th, the s.s. Airedale brought from Auckland 104 
 men of the Royal Engineers and 64th Regiment, and two breaching 
 56-pounder guns. 
 
 On the 8th, H.M.S.S. Cordelia came in from the Manukau, 
 bringing Commodore Loring and 200 more blue jackets and marines 
 from the Iris and Elk, also the Victorian Government s.s. Victoria. 
 The Victoria's men only were landed and took up their quarters at 
 Fort Niger. 
 
 On the 23rd, H.M.S. Fawn arrived with 112 officers and men of 
 the 12th Regiment, and on the 24th the City of Hobart arrived with 
 the head-quarters of the 40th Regiment, consisting of 1 1 oflicei-s and 
 233 men, under the command of Colonel Leslie. 
 14
 
 210 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 DEATH OF HUGH CORBYN HARRIS. 
 
 On June the 29th, Hugh Corbyn Harris, a Taranaki Volunteer, 
 on service at the Waitara Camp, went out to the swamp in front of 
 the camp unarmed, accompanied by two soldiers, who were also 
 unarmed, for the purpose of getting firewood. Arriving at the 
 swamp, some natives who had been lying in ambush rushed upon 
 him, and placing a musket to his head shot him through the temple. 
 The soldiers who were with him made their escape, and alarmed the 
 camp. A party of soldiers immediately turned out, and the natives 
 took to flight, leaving the bullocks and cart of the deceased. This 
 young man was of exemplary character, the hope of his parents, and 
 highly esteemed by a large circle of friends. The body was taken 
 by boat to New Plymouth for interment. 
 
 At this date a party, consisting of 200 men of the 12th and 40th 
 Regiments, with Artillery and Engineers, under the command of 
 Major Hutchins of the 12th Regiment, started from New Plymouth 
 for the purpose of taking up a position on Waireka Hill, in order 
 to check the advance of the southern natives. 
 
 On August the 3rd, H.M. Colonial steam sloop Victoria, Captain 
 Norman, arrived from Melbourne, bringing General Pratt, C.B.; 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Carey, Deputy- Adjutant General ; Lieutenant 
 Foster, R.A., A.D.C. ; Deputy-Inspector General of Medical 
 Department, J. Mouat, C.B. ; Captain Pasley, R.E., and 50 men of 
 the 40th Regiment. 
 
 DEATH OF JOHN HURFORD. 
 
 On August the 3rd, news was brought into town that on the 
 previous day John Hurford, an old settler and a farmer at Omata, 
 had left the Omata stockade to visit his farm, and had not returned. 
 It afterwards was discovered that he had called at the newly formed 
 camp at Waireka, and left there accompanied by three Artillerymen. 
 It appeared also that after many hours absence two of the Artillery- 
 men had returned by different routes to the camp, and reported that 
 they had encountered a party of natives while searching for pigs on 
 Hurford's farm, who had fired at them, and being unarmed they 
 separated, and took to flight, and had great difficulty in finding 
 their way back to camp. After an interview between Captain 
 Burton in command of the Militia at the Omata stockade, and Major 
 Hutchins in command of the camp at Waireka, it was arranged to 
 send a guard of ten men from the camp with a party of Militia in 
 search of the missing men. In the course of the afternoon this 
 detachment returned, bringing with them the body of Gaffney, the 
 Artilleryman, which they had found in a gully near to Hurford's 
 house, mutilated to a frightful extent about the head and body with 
 a tomahawk, but without any gunshot wounds. They were not able 
 to find the body of Hurford, but had no doubt about his fate. 
 
 On Sunday, the 5th, another party went out, and after a long 
 search found Hurford's body among some bushes, The unfortunate
 
 HISTORY OP TABANAKI. 211 
 
 man appeared to have been shot in attempting to escape, and had 
 fallen down a steep bank into the bushes. The ball had struck him 
 in the region of the heart, and his death must have been instan- 
 taneous. There were no other marks of violence about his person. 
 He left a wife and large family, who were at that time refugees in 
 Nelson. 
 
 The town of New Plymouth was now entrenched in triangular 
 form, the sea coast being the base, and Marsland Hill Barracks the 
 apex, one side of the triangle being Liardet Street, and the other 
 Queen Street. There were gates on the lines at the junction of Devon 
 and Liardet Street, and at the junction of Devon and Queen Street. A 
 strong redoubt around the Port flagstaff was held by the blue jackets, 
 and Fort Niger was also held by the sailors, besides which there were 
 blockhouses at the Hemii, on the racecourse, on the hill on the 
 Carrington Road, and on the hill in Young Street, west of Dawson 
 Street. 
 
 On Saturday, the 4th, the town presented a scene of great 
 confusion, arising out of an alarm that the natives were in force on 
 the Mangorei Road, near to the old Colonial Hospital, and were 
 marching on the town. The alarm was sounded, and the guns from 
 Marsland Hill thundered out the preconcerted notice to all persons 
 outside to hasten into the town. Crowds of women and children 
 were to be seen Imrrying up Marsland Hill the face of ' which 
 seemed to be covered with them, while the men were falling in 
 under arms. The confusion was happily speedily put an end to by 
 further intelligence arriving to the effect that the natives had 
 contented themselves with wrecking several houses, and had then 
 retired across the Waiwakaiho. 
 
 The result of this alarm was the following 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " As it is indispensibly necessary that families should leave town, 
 they must prepare to embark for such place as shall be decided 
 upon. 
 
 " By Order, 
 
 "R. CAREY, 
 
 " Lieut. -Colonel, 
 " Deputy- Adjutant General. 
 "August 6th, 1860." 
 
 On the 16th, the brig George Henderson, which was being fitted 
 up for taking the families of the settlers to Nelson, was driven 
 ashore northward of the Hemii in a gale. A large party of blue 
 jackets, in command of Commodore JLoring, followed her course 
 on the beach with a gun and a rocket, and when she grounded lent 
 all possible aid. In town the assembly was sounded, and a largo 
 party of Militia and Volunteers were marched to the wreck to 
 preserve it from being plundered by the natives.
 
 212 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 On tho 20th, Ephraim Coad, an old settler, while proceeding from 
 the wreck towards town, was shot dead on the beach near the mouth 
 of the Henui by an ambuscade. At this time there was continuotis 
 skirmishing in the vicinity of the town, and the rebels burned the 
 Henui village, leaving the church and chapel and the minister's 
 house. 
 
 About this time, Henry Crann, while searching for his bullocks on 
 the Avenue Road, was shot by a professedly friendly native of 
 Puketotara. 
 
 The General Assembly being at this time in. session, the native 
 policy of the Government was endorsed in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, Members voting by a large majority in favor of the following 
 resolution, which was moved by Mr. Stafford, the Colonial Secretary : 
 " That in the opinion of this House the interference of Wiremu 
 Kingi at Waitara, and his resort to force to prevent the survey of 
 the land, that rendered the measures adopted by His Excellency the 
 Governor indispensible for the maintenance of Her Majesty's 
 sovereignty, and the welfare of both races of Her Majesty's subjects, 
 peremptorily requires a vigorous prosecution of the war to a successful 
 termination." 
 
 Early in September the troops were engaged in burning the old 
 pas in the neighborhood of Bell Block, which had been erected 
 during the Puketapu feud, also the pas on the edge of the plateau 
 between Puketakauere and Huirangi, which had been deserted by the 
 enemy. A blockhouse was also erected at Puketakauere. On the 
 other side of the town marches were made to Burton's Hill on the 
 Barrett Road, and towards Waireka, for the purpose of checking the 
 advance of the Taranakis and the Ngatiruanuis. 
 
 On the 18th, a large force marched to Kaihihi, which destroyed 
 several pas. The proclamation of the General demanding the 
 removal of all the women and children was not only disobeyed, but 
 in some instances resisted, the women positively refusing to leave 
 their husbands and sons, choosing rather to suffer the miseries of the 
 siege. A proclamation was then made offering a discharge from 
 Military service to all married settlers who were willing to remove 
 with their families to Nelson. To alleviate to some extent the 
 misery of the besieged, a comic paper, under the title of the Taranaki 
 Punch, was commenced. It was chiefly devoted to skits on the 
 Military commanders. 
 
 THE ATTACK ON MAHOETAHI. 
 
 Mahoetahi is a hill a little to the westward of the Waiongona 
 river, through which the Devon Road now passes. It is of volcanic 
 formation, and is one of a series of small volcanic mounds in the 
 neighborhood which are called collectively Ngapuketurua, and as we 
 have already stated are the sites of the first settlements of the 
 Ngatiawa tribe in the district. Kingi having appealed to Waikato 
 for help, received a powerful reinforcement from that tribe. 
 
 Early in November, Mr. Parris received the following letter :
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKi. 213 
 
 " To Mr. Pan-is : 
 
 " Friend, I have heard your word come to fight me, that is 
 very good ; come inland, and let us meet each other. Fish fight at 
 sea come inland and stand on our feet ; make haste, do not prolong 
 it. That is all I have to say to you make haste. 
 
 " From WETIM TAIPORUTU, 
 "From PORUKORU, 
 " From all the Chiefs of Ngatihaua 
 and Waikato." 
 
 On the 5th of November, news reached town that the Waikatos 
 had crossed the Waitara liver in force, and that they would probably 
 be in the neighborhood of Mahoetahi on the following morning. It 
 was at once arranged by General Pratt that a force from New 
 Plymouth, and another from the camp at Waitara under Major 
 Nelson, should march so as to join early in the morning at that place. 
 This arrangement was carried into effect, and on the forces arriving 
 at the spot it was found that the main body of the Waikatos 
 occupied an inti'enchment on the crest of the Mahoetahi hill, in 
 which were some entrenched whares. 
 
 The detachment of the 65th Regiment, which had formed the 
 advanced guard from town, now formed a line of skirmishers under 
 Lieutenants Bailie and Toker, at the base of the hill, and extended 
 towards their right. This body was commanded by Captain Turner. 
 The Rifle Volunteers continued this extension towards the left, under 
 the direction of Major Herbert ; and the 40th Regiment, commanded 
 by Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie, were massed in columns, forming the 
 reserve, while the detachment of the 12th Regiment, under Major 
 Hutehins, which had formed the rear guard during the march, now 
 remained in charge of the baggage and spare ammunition. The 
 detachment of Artillery under Captain Strover and Lieutenant 
 McNaughten, rendered, as usual, important service. 
 
 The whole force was commanded by Major-General Pratt, C.B., 
 who throughout the engagement occupied a foremost place, and was 
 much exposed to the hot and i-apid fire of his determined enemy. 
 
 The Waikatos commenced the action by firing the first shots from 
 an old entrenched position in the crest of the Mahoetahi hill. This 
 was quickly returned by the skirmishers, and after a short fire the 
 65th and Volunteers rushed up the hill, and stormed that position. 
 In performing this service they were exposed to heavy flanking fires, 
 but it was not until they hud entered the entrenchments that they 
 experienced any loss. Within that confined space a heavy tire from 
 entrenched whares laid low the gallant son of the Rev. H. H. 
 Brown, a volunteer, not 16 years of age, and private F. Rooncy, 
 Light Company, 65th Regiment, while further towards the left Mr. 
 Henry Edgecombe, aged 20, also of the Volunteers, received his 
 mortal wound. Here Captain Turner was struck in the face by a 
 musket ball, and Colonel Hillcry slightly wounded. A rush was 
 now made on the whares, and the bayonet speedily silenced all
 
 214 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 further annoyance. This service was accomplished by some 65th men 
 and Rifle Volunteers. Some shells thrown into the raupo swamp caused 
 the Waikatos to quit their lairs, and now commenced the work of 
 extermination, for a detachment of the 40th under Major Nelson, 
 and a company of the 65th, under Lieutenant Talbot, from Waitai-a 
 (the latter advancing in skirmishing order), came up from the north 
 side of the hill, and the Light Company of the 65th, led on by 
 Lieutenant Urquhart (then forming a flank guard), closing on their 
 centre, together with a good show of Rifle Volunteers. The rebels, 
 who were almost surrounded, then dashed into the swamp, and a 
 hand-to-hand encounter followed, the bayonet and the butt end of the 
 rifle, when the bullet had missed, speedily convincing the brave enemy 
 that the avenger was at hand. They commenced their retreat, still 
 fighting with desperate valour, and in one of these encounters private 
 McGivern met his fate, though not before the enemy had felt the 
 effects of his prowess. They gradually got in the Huirangi road, 
 followed by a part of the 65th, under Lieutenants Urquhart and 
 Talbot, their retreating steps marked by pools of blood, and a storm 
 of shot and shells bursting over and among them. In their terror 
 they threw away their arms and pouches, and any articles of clothing 
 that impeded their flight, and the pursuers followed them to near 
 the Waiongona river, when fatigue alone compelled them to desist, 
 for the day had been intensely hot, without a breath of air. 
 
 The melee in the swamp had been a succession of desperate hand to 
 hand encounters, and many instances of courage were exhibited on 
 both sides. Private Gilligan, 65th, shot one Waikato, and brained 
 another with the butt end of his rifle. Many other daring acts were 
 witnessed, but must remain unrecorded as the individuals could not 
 be identified. But the bayonet played a conspicuous part in the 
 exciting scene. 
 
 When all but the dead and mortally wounded Waikatos had 
 disappeared, a reconnoitring party, under Major-General Pratt, 
 composed of 12th, supported by 65th, proceeded to Ngataiparirua, 
 and came in sight of a pa having a red flag flying, bxit it was speedily 
 hauled down, and a white flag half-mast high succeeded it. The 
 party then proceeded round by Puketakaure, and thence returned to 
 Mahoetahi. In the course of the afternoon, after having buried in 
 one grave some 28 or 29 Waikatos, the main body returned to the 
 town (having left a strong force to retain possession of the field of 
 battle), laden with Maori spoils, in the shape of double-barelled guns, 
 ornaments, shawls, <fcc., &c., many battered and bloody, proving that 
 they had not been parted with willingly. 
 
 On the force passing the town barrier, loud and continued cheers 
 proved to them that their conduct was duly appreciated by their 
 countrymen. The list of casualties proves who bore the brunt of 
 the day: 65th Regiment, 2 killed, 10 wounded, 1 officer, wounded; 
 Volunteers. 2 killed, 4 woxinded ; 40th Regiment, 1 wounded. 
 
 The following is an extract from Mr. Parris' report of this affair 
 to the Native Secretary, dated the 6th of November, 1860 :
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKi. 215 
 
 " We left town this morning at 4 o'clock, six hundred strong, 
 under the command of the Major-General, for the purpose of taking 
 possession of Mahoetahi, and on our arrival found it occupied by the 
 rebels. On approaching the pa the enemy opened fire upon iis, which 
 was warmly returned, and the seaward end of the pa soon taken. 
 They at last went out of the pa into a swamp, situated on the inland 
 side of the pa, and there remained until Colonel Mould arrived with 
 his party from Waitara, when they were placed between two fires, 
 the cross-firing wounding some of our own men. After they had 
 lost about twelve of their number they ran away, under a heavy 
 fire, along the road leading to Huirangi, and before they got to the 
 Waiongona ford, ten or twelve more of them fell, and among them 
 Wetini Taiporutu. We followed them to Huirangi, and found four 
 on the road nearly dead, and there is no doubt but a great many 
 have got away badly wounded. 
 
 " I recommended that the three chiefs, mentioned at the head of 
 the following list, should be brought into town and buried, which the 
 General sanctioned. We have brought in four prisoners badly 
 wounded, one wounded in the leg, and one not wounded, from whom 
 I obtained a list of the names enclosed. I believe there are as many 
 more killed and wounded whom we have not yet found or heard of. 
 
 " The following is a list of Waikatos killed : 
 
 " Wetini Taiporutu, Chief of Waikato ; Wharangi, Qhief of 
 Ngatiapakura ; Hakopa, Chief of Ngatikoura ; Tamu, of Ngatiruru ; 
 Hikaraia, of Ngatihaua ; Hakapo, of Ngatikoroki ; Heneriko, of 
 Te Urkopi ; Wirihana ; Wanganui, of Ngatikoriki ; Pari, of Ngati- 
 haua ; Tamihana, of Ngatikoroki ; Harawira, of Ngatihaua ; Hiriiii, 
 of Ngatikahukura ; Tamihana, of Ngatiruru ; Wharawhai'a, of 
 Ngatihaua ; Hemi Karena, of Ngatiruru ; Harawira, of Ngatihaua ; 
 Hakopa. 
 
 " Besides these there were twelve whose names I have not obtained. 
 
 " ROBT. PARRIS, 
 " Assistant Native Secretary." 
 
 On the night after the battle, the soldiers who held Mahoetahi 
 were astonished to hear the Maoris dancing a war dance in token of 
 defiance, and of their determination to be avenged for their loss on 
 the preceding day. Some shots were fired from the hill in the 
 direction of the spot from whence the noise proceeded, but nothing 
 further transpired. 
 
 When the news of the affair at Mahoetahi reached Auckland, 
 fears were entertained that reprisals would be made in the north by 
 the Waikatos, and accordingly the Niger and Victoria were sent 
 to fetch 400 troops from New Plymouth for the protection of 
 that city. 
 
 In the neighborhood of the Waitara the enemy seemed exasperated 
 at the loss he had sustained. Numbers of Waikatos poured into 
 Kingi's pas, and small marauding parties issued forth to waylay and 
 murder any European they might meet.
 
 216 HISTORY OF TARANARI. 
 
 THE DEATH OF JOHN HAWKEN. 
 
 On the day after the rout of the Waikatos, Mr. John Hawken, who 
 had formerly been in business as a miller at the Blagdon Mill, and 
 afterwards as a butcher at New Plymouth, but during the war had 
 been engaged as contract butcher to the camp at Waitara, left the 
 camp and proceeded towards Mahoetahi on horseback, probably for 
 the purpose of seeking for cattle. As he did not return search was 
 made for him, and his horse was found shot between Mahoetahi and 
 Huirangi, and also a letter which had evidently been taken from his 
 person. 
 
 On the 1 6th, his body was found, lightly covered with earth, about 
 three-quarters of a mile from Mahoetahi on the road to Huirangi. 
 The friendly natives say that a volley was fired at him which wounded 
 him, and brought down his horse, and that before he could extricate 
 himself he was tomahawked by Tamihana, of Kaipakopako. 
 
 On the 9th, eleven more bodies of natives were found about 
 Mahoetahi, making the ascertained loss of the enemy to be 45 killed. 
 It was said by the friendly natives that the loss was 71, several 
 having died at Huirangi, and others in the neighborhood in attempting 
 to reach it. 
 
 A blockhouse was erected on one of the Ngapuketurua hills, 800 
 yards in advance of Mahoetahi, which at that time was covered with 
 a dense growth of karaka trees, Corynocarpus Iwvigaia, which have 
 long since been felled for military purposes. Not far from this hill 
 is another of a similar character, which was the tapu burial place of 
 the chiefs of the hapu, and here during the war several relics were 
 frnuid. The most interesting of these was a trachytic boulder of 
 oval shape, measuring about ten inches by six inches, with the top 
 cut off so as to form a lid, and the centre hollowed out and con- 
 taining a piece of red ironstone about the size of a man's thumb. 
 This relic is said to be the memorial of the great ancestor of the 
 tribe, who was buried on this hill, and it was the custom when any 
 of his relatives died to uncover the stone, light a fire, and cook food 
 near to it. 
 
 DEATH OF JOSEPH SARTEN. 
 
 On Tuesday, December the 4th, at 4 p.m., a lad named Joseph Sarten, 
 who was at the Henui on horseback, seeking a bullock, was shot and 
 tomahawked. A boy, named William Northcote, who was riding 
 alongside him, witnessed the whole affair. A volley was fired and 
 Sarten fell, and directly afterwards several natives ran from behind 
 a furze hedge and tomahawked him. Northcote escaped and rode 
 into town with the intelligence, and a party of Militia and Rifles, 
 and the inlying picket of the 12th, with the Mounted Volunteers, 
 proceeded to recover the body. It was found where he fell, in the 
 lane running from the Devon Road past the Henui Church, towards 
 the beach, about midway between the Henui and Waiwakahio rivers. 
 He had received three bullets in the back and sides, and was brutally
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 217 
 
 hacked aboxit the head and legs by tomahawks. The horse was led 
 into town with a bullet through its neck. The mounted men brought 
 the body as far as the Henui, where they met the troops ; it was then 
 put into an ambulance cart, and taken to the hospital. The shots in his 
 body and in the horse showed that at least four persons were concerned 
 in the murder, and from the character of the wounds they had evidently 
 been posted within a few yards of where their victim passed. The poor 
 boy was sixteen years of age, and was the second of the family who met 
 a violent end from the rebels, John Sarten, his brother, being the 
 first man who received a death wound in the war. A party of 
 Waikatos were at this time located at Purakau, near Smart's farm, 
 about half-a-mile from the Waiwakaiho river. A dense fog Avhich 
 hung over the district this day was taken advantage of by the enemy 
 for the perpetration of this murder. 
 
 The Waikatos in large numbers now began to pour into the pas at 
 Matarikoriko and Huirangi, on the edge of the plateau overlooking the 
 Waitara valley, and leading up to the ancient fastness of the tribe at 
 Pukerangiora. 
 
 In order to reduce these, General Pratt marched for the Waitara, 
 where he encamped on December the 27th. The next day, with a 
 force consisting of 1,000 men, with all the appurtenances required 
 for a protracted siege, he advanced towards Kairau, where the .enemy 
 in great strength had formed an extensive series of field works, 
 consisting of rifle pits connected with viaducts that led to gullies 
 bordering the dense bush surrounding the Matarikoriko pa. 
 
 The following graphic account is from a letter written at the camp, 
 dated December the 31st, 1860 : 
 
 TAKING OF MATARIKORIKO. 
 
 " The day we left town (28th), we arrived at Mahoetahi about 7 
 a.m., and halted for an hour for breakfast, after which we moved on 
 by the road to the left of the blockhouse, and crossed the Waiongona 
 at the prophet's pa, above the junction of the Mangoraka with the 
 Waiongona. Fortunately the river was not too deep, but it would 
 have been too deep the day before, and we arrived at Waitara at 
 10 o'clock a.m., and encamped near the pa. We got orders to move 
 at 4 a.m. next morning, and got on the road at that hour, passed the 
 site of the old L pa, and arrived at Ngataiparinia at 5.30 a. in., 
 moved on the advanced ground to Kairau, and commenced tiring and 
 throwing shells in the gully towards the pa at Matarikoriko. A 
 working party commenced making a redoubt, and after a short time 
 (8.30 a.m.), the natives crept up through the fern and gave us a 
 volley. A sharp fight until 9.30, and then all quiet until 12.30 
 p.m. A heavy fire was then commenced and continued all day and 
 night. One man of the Goth killed, and 1 sergeant and 3 men 
 wounded; two 40th killed, and 14 wounded; one naval brigade, 
 wounded severely. Tins Goth fell in at 7 a.m., and marched back to 
 camp (WuiUim), with the Naval Brigade. Left tho 12th and 40th
 
 218 HISTORY OP TARANAK1. 
 
 in camp at Kairau, who were engaged with the enemy till 5.30 next 
 morning. All quiet on Sunday. 
 
 " The fire all Saturday was most terrific, and well sustained on 
 our side, which kept the rebels well in check. They fired out of 
 rifle pits without showing themselves or taking aim, and the bullets 
 went very high. Our people fired 70,000 rounds of ammunition, and 
 about 120 shell and case shot. 
 
 " The Rev. Mi\ Wilson went down to them yesterday morning, 
 and there was a truce all day. Mr. Wilson's object was to get them 
 to agree to spare the dead and wounded, and after a good deal of 
 parleying, an agreement has been made to that effect ; one old 
 savage fellow (a chief) dissenting, but they will not mind him. 
 
 " In going over some of the rifle pits a splendid tomahawk, all 
 bloody, and a pouch, a large knife and pipe were found, and various 
 other articles. Two Maori letters were also found, one from 
 Takerei Terangi to Wiremu Hoeta, Rewi, and others, in which 
 he urges them to spare the women and children. This morning 
 intelligence was received that the enemy had evacuated their pa and 
 position, and two companies of the 65th, and a few of the blue 
 jackets rushed into it, and hoisted the Union Jack one the Colonel 
 of the 65th had for the purpose. It was well and quickly done. 
 We found the graves of five men, and one buried far down in the 
 gully. A young fellow came over with Mr. Wilson to-day to show 
 his father's and uncle's grave. It has been fenced in. The enemy 
 is determined to fight. The following names were found carved on 
 calabashes ' Namahuta,' and ' Mihi,' and in a rifle pit ' Kopuareti.' 
 140 men of the 65th have gone to garrison Matarikoriko. 
 
 " The Tasmanian Maid left for Waitara with stores, &c., and 
 returned at midnight. The Cordelia also came up, bringing Colonel 
 Carey, D.A.G., Dr. Mouat, and some wounded men, and returned 
 again in the afternoon. Weather continues fine. 
 
 " The following is a list of killed and wounded on Saturday and 
 Sunday : 
 
 " December the 29th, I860. Killed : 40th Regiment Private 
 James Chinnery, Private Michael Lehan ; 65th Regiment Private 
 John Cain. Wounded : Royal Artillery Gunner William Smoker, 
 twice in left leg sevei'ely, Gunner Jeremiah Wright, left arm, severely; 
 Royal Engineers Sapper Johnston, left arm, severely ; Naval 
 Brigade Alfred Broome, A.B., dangerously; 12th Regiment 
 Private Robert Dye, slightly ; 40th Regiment Sergeant Instructor 
 of Musketry Patrick Collins, slightly, Private Roger Lyons, 
 dangerously, Private Richard Fitzgerald, severely, Private James 
 Southwell, dangerously, Private John Sullivan, severely, Private 
 Benjamin Greenwood, severely, Private William Caplice, dangerously, 
 Private John McBren, severely, Private Thomas Davy, slightly, 
 Private J. A. Fox, slightly. 
 
 " December the 20th, I860. Wounded : 40th Regiment 
 Sergeant F. Thale, severely. 65th Regiment Sergeant William 
 Speakman, slightly, Private James Haggan, slightly, Private Martin 
 Kinsella, severely.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 219 
 
 " Accident. Private John "Weir, 65th Regiment, explosion of 
 rifle, three fingers amputated." 
 
 On June the 14th, 1861, General Pratt again advanced towards 
 Huirangi, throwing up No. 2 redoubt, about 570 yards from Kairau, 
 and afterwards No. 3, a three-angled redoubt en edtelon, and within 
 three-quarters of a mile of the Huirangi rifle pits, from whence he 
 ran the longest sap on record towards the enemy's position at the 
 foot of Pukerangiora. 
 
 EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH. 
 
 In the hope of diverting the General's attention from the north, 
 the southern natives again occupied the Waireka and Burton's Hills, 
 forming an extensive seiies of fortifications and field works so as to 
 command every road, and lock up the British within the town and 
 the stockades. In a very short time they had completed, in a direct 
 line across the country, ten palisaded pas. 
 
 On Tuesday, January the 22nd, at about 3 a.m., 40 of the 12th, 
 under Captain Williams and Lieutenant Dudgeon, 10 of the 40th, 
 under Ensign Murphy, and 130 of the 65th, under Lieutenant and 
 Adjutant A. H. Lewis and Lieutenant Chevalier, the whole under 
 the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Young, 65th Regiment, with 
 one 24-pounder howitzer, left town to take part in a combined attack 
 on Waireka hill, a party of 120 blue jackets from H.M.S. Niger, 
 under Captain Cracroft, R.N., having left in boats during the night 
 to land on the coast in rear of the rebels' position. At daylight, 
 firing having been heard in the direction of Waireka, the bugles of 
 the Militia were sounded, and 108 Militia and Rifle Volunteers, 
 under the command of Major Herbert, mustered, and followed by 
 the road taken by the military. Abreast of Mr. Langman's farm, 
 where the furze fences offered great cover to an enemy, the advanced 
 guard observed three or four natives running towards the road to 
 tire at Major Herbert, who was some 200 yards in advance with a 
 few mounted volunteers, with whom he was riding alongside. The 
 rising sun prevented the natives from seeing the approach of the 
 men, who after giving a shoxit or two, pxished through the fence at 
 every gap, and in skirmishing order, firing as opportunity offered, 
 drove the natives from their cover off the farm, across the road into 
 Mr. Stephenson Smith's and Mr. P. Elliot's farm and finally into the 
 bush, where they were left to themselves. This was evidently 
 a party out for live stock, and but for the check received would 
 have fired into the backs of the horsemen. No further incident 
 occurred on the road. 
 
 On reaching the Omata Stockade, where the troops were halted, it 
 was ascertained that they had been fired upon by natives from John 
 Wright's house (near the Whaler's Gate), and Hospital Sergeant 
 Burnett mortally wounded. It is l>elieved the natives suffered some 
 loss from the fire of the troops. Sergeant Burnett died at the 
 stockade. Large parties of natives could be seen crowning the
 
 220 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Waireka hill, and whilst a signal of the whereabouts of Captain 
 Cracroft was anxiously looked for in that direction, a telegram was 
 received from town that the gallant Captain had returned to his ship, 
 owing to a difficulty in finding the proper landing-place. The land 
 force then started homewards, and struck off the Omata Road 
 through W. George's farm to the beach. 
 
 On their arrival in town, it was stated that in Mr. George's house 
 was concealed a party of 50 or 60 natives, who probably not deeming 
 it altogether safe to attack so large a force, remained out of sight 
 until the road was clear, and they were seen from a hill top to leave 
 the premises and go in the direction of Ratapihipihi. This party 
 was probably on the look out for the Omata escort, which needed 
 sufficient strength to repel attack. Whilst the force bivouacked 
 at the Oniata Stockade, Major Lloyd's house at Waireka was burnt 
 by the rebels, and shortly afterwards Mr. W. C. King's large barn 
 of hay, near the site of his house, burnt last September. 
 
 THE ATTACK ON THE HUIRANGI REDOUBT. 
 
 The 23rd of January, 1861, was a fortunate day for the settle- 
 ment, for at its earliest dawn a blow was struck which virtually turned 
 the tide of battle in the favor of the British, and led to the 
 relinquishment of the struggle of Wi Kingi and his allies of the 
 north, for the possession of the Waitara district. Before daylight 
 on the morning of this day, about 140 natives of the Waikato and 
 Ngatiawa tribes, headed by B-ewi, Epiha, Hapurona, and others, 
 contrived to creep into the ditch of No. 3 redoubt, which had not 
 been completed 011 the previous evening. It is said that the officer 
 in command had given orders that the cry of " All's Well " should 
 not be made, and that the greatest silence should be observed during 
 the night. This, with the fact of the men having worked very hard 
 at the entrenchments during the previous day, possibly led the enemy 
 to think that the garrison was tired and asleep, and that the 
 opportunity for attack was favorable. While in the ditch, in the 
 darkness, the rebels were engaged in cutting steps in the embankment 
 with their tomahawks. In the grey of dawn a sentry perceived one 
 Maori the last of his party creeping to the brow of the ditch ; he 
 fired on him, and was immediately shot dead himself. The garrison, 
 consisting of the greater part of the 40th Regiment, under Colonel 
 Leslie, met the attack with great promptitude, and a scene ensued 
 which baffles description. Sapper Chubb, striking a match in order to 
 see to lace his boot, revealed himself to a Maori who was posted in 
 the xmfinished part of the redoubt, and was shot dead. 
 
 Our troops, as fast as they could load their rifles, fired down over 
 the parapet, and the artillerymen, with great coolness, cut short the 
 fuses of the shells, and lighting them pitched them over into the 
 trench with frightful execution. Lieutenant Jackson, 40th Regiment, 
 while in the act of firing at a native over the parapet with his 
 revolver, was shot through the head, and fell mortally wounded. 
 Some of the natives succeeded in getting so far up the parapet that
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 221 
 
 they were bayoneted by the garrison. A soldier in the act of 
 bayoneting a Maori overbalanced himself and fell in the trench 
 among the rebels, but escaped alive ; and a Maori on the embank- 
 ment, transfixed by a bayonet, drew himself up arid tomahawked 
 the soldier who had bayoneted him. This sanguinary conflict was 
 prolonged till daylight, when the support came up from Kairau. A 
 party of the 65th, under Colonel Wyatt, attacked the rebels on their 
 right flank, while the 1 2th attacked them on the left of the redoubt ; 
 hei'e they met the rebel reserve who rose out of the fern, it is stated, 
 like a flock of birds. These were charged by the 12th at the point 
 of the bayonet, and those of the natives who could, turned and fled, 
 leaving many behind them. It was all over before 6 a.m., and in the 
 trench of the redoubt and around lay 49 bodies of i-ebels, 5 only of 
 whom were alive, 41 were bmied in a grave between Nos. 2 and 3 
 redoubts, others were buried by the friendly natives. Thirteen chief 
 men were said to be amongst the slain, b\it many of the bodies wei'e 
 beyond identification. The wounded natives were all dangerously so. 
 Our casualties were 5 killed and 1 1 wounded, viz. : 
 
 Killed Royal Engineers : Sapper George Chubb ; 12th Regiment : 
 Private Edward Archer ; 40th Regiment : Lieutenant J ackson, 
 Private W. Gilbert, Private Edward Gorray. 
 
 Wounded Royal Artillery: Daniel Bushell, slightly; 12th 
 Regiment : Captain T. E. Miller, slightly, Private Patrick Cahill, 
 severely, tomahawk ; Private Edmond Power, slightly; 40th Regi- 
 ment : Private Henry Wakefield, severely, Private John Officer, 
 dangerously, Private John Mullins, slightly ; 65th Regiment : Lance 
 Coi'poral James Howard, dangerously, Private Edward Smith, 
 dangerously, Private Joseph Robinson, dangerously, Private Samuel 
 Hamilton, severely. 
 
 On the same day as this memorable and decisive engagement 
 occurred, the first instalment of the gallant 57th Regiment arrived 
 from India, vid Auckland. This Regiment had seen active service 
 in the Crimea, and under its brave commander, Colonel Warre, was 
 destined to render very important service to Taranaki in the 
 guerilla warfare which was maintained by the southern natives for 
 years after the capitulation of Wi Kingi's allies at Waitarn. 
 The detachment of this Regiment arrived in the ship Star Queen, 
 Captain Barber, from Bombay, and consisted of Major Butler, 
 Captain Brown, Lieutenants Baynton, Hasted, Thompson, Cox and 
 Waller ; Ensigns Clarke, Murray, and Clayton ; Assistant-Surgeon 
 Davis, 16 sergeants and 314 rank and file. 
 
 On the 2nd of February, Lance-Corporal Howard of the 65th 
 Regiment died of the wound which he received at the attack on No. 
 3 redoubt. Before he died he sent for Lieutenant Urquhart, and 
 revealed to him his history. It was reported at the time that he was 
 a son of Sir William Campbell, of Tu 11 icheven Castle, Dunbarton- 
 shire, Scotland, but this was afterwards contradicted.
 
 222 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 DEATH OF CAPTAIN W. C. KING. 
 
 On February the 8th, a profound sensation of grief and indignation 
 was caused in New Plymouth by the murder of Captain William 
 Outfield King, of the Volunteer Rifles. Captain King had been in 
 the habit of occasionally visiting his estate, known as Woodleigh, 
 situated but a short distance from town, and in sight of the garrison 
 on Marsland Hill, for the purpose of looking after his cattle. On the 
 day in question, shortly after he had reached the place on horseback, 
 he was fired at by a party of Ngatiruanui rebels in ambush, and 
 wounded. Finding that his horse was wounded he dismounted, and 
 was chased by two natives named Hori Kiwi and Hohepa. These 
 two again fired and Captain King fell. His murderers then ran up 
 to him, when he said, " I am badly wounded leave me." This 
 was answered by Hori Kiwi discharging both barrels of his gun at 
 his head. The whole of the transaction was witnessed from the 
 barracks on Marsland Hill. The Volunteers and Militia hastened 
 to the scene, followed by the military, but they were too late to 
 render aid to their young captain, or to intercept his murderers, who 
 were seen decamping in the direction of Ratapihipihi. Captain 
 King's body was fcmnd pierced by six bullets, three through his 
 head, two in his body, and one in his thigh. From the appearance 
 of the wounds in his head it seemed that he was fired at while lying 
 on the ground. The horse was conveyed into town shot in three 
 places, but the saddle and bridle were taken away by the murderers. 
 
 Captain King was the only son of Captain Henry King, R.N. 
 He was born in Devonshire, England, and when but twelve years 
 of age came out with his parents and the pioneer settlers in the 
 Amelia Thompson. He had but recently been elected to represent 
 the Grey and Bell districts in the General Assembly, and was a brave 
 and promising man. He was 32 years of age when he fell, and left 
 a young widow and two infant daughters. The only charge against 
 him was one that reflects the highest credit on his memory he 
 refused to compel some of the females of the settlement to leave 
 their husbands and embark for Nelson. 
 
 The General continued to push on his sap towards the position of 
 the rebels at Te Arei. This sap was a work of immense labor, 
 and was a very questionable piece of military strategy, for with the 
 force at his disposal he could have stormed Pukerangiora, and have 
 taken it with less loss than he sustained in extending the sap. 
 
 In fourteen days 1,200 yards of this sap, a demi-parallel of 21 
 yards, and three large redoubts were constructed under a heavy fire. 
 During the extension the enemy frequently removed the sap roller 
 in the night in spite of the vigilance of the sentinels. This piece of 
 impudence was at length stopped by affixing to the roller a live shell 
 fitted with a friction fuze. For the construction of the sap roller 
 and gabions, the supple-jacks of the forest (Ripogonum parviftorum) 
 were extensively used, and the friendly natives were employed in the
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 223 
 
 service of procuring them. As an instance of the curious habits of 
 these people, it was stated at the time that in this business the enemy 
 co-operated with the friendly natives, and received a part of the price 
 paid by the British for these canes. 
 
 On Sunday the 10th, the General advanced from No. 6 redoubt 
 with the intention of constructing a redoubt about a mile in advance. 
 The foi'ce consisted of a party of Royal Engineers under Colonel 
 Mould, a detachment of Royal Artillery under Captain Strover and 
 Lieutenant McNaughten, a detatchment of the Naval Brigade under 
 Commodore Seymour, two divisions of the 12th Regiment under 
 Major Hutchins, 100 men of the 14th Regiment, four divisions of 
 the 40th Regiment under Colonel Leslie, and four divisions of the 65th 
 Regiment under Colonel Wyatt. Four field pieces and two cohorn 
 mortars, and a 24-pounder rocket tube accompanied the force. Lines 
 of skirmishers were thrown out by each corps, those of the 40th 
 Regiment having the honor to cover the advance and the whole 
 force was quickly on the i-oute towards Pukerangiora by the avenue 
 through the belt of the forest, which at that period stretched across 
 Huirangi. A few minutes' march brought the men to the open 
 ground on the east side of the belt, and no opposition was offered 
 until they reached a flat thickly covered with fern, situated about 
 500 yards from the hill on which stood Hapurona's pa. Here they 
 received a sudden, but not unexpected volley of musketry from the 
 natives, who were wholly concealed in rifle pits within short-range. 
 The bullets, however, whizzed harmlessly over the men, and the 
 skirmishers returned the fire. The guns and rocket tube were at 
 once brought into position, and the pa, the hills, and gullies around 
 were scoured with shells and rockets. The 8-inch gun also opened 
 fire from the Huirangi redoubt, and threw several shells into the 
 very centre of the pa. This gun was manned by a detachment of 
 the Naval Brigade, whose practice was always excellent. The Maoris, 
 however, held formidable positions. Having long expected the 
 attack they had spared neither labor nor ingenuity in their pre- 
 parations for defence. Every available spot that a musket could be 
 effectually fired from was entrenched and manned, and their defences 
 formed a semicircle, extending from some ravines of the Waitara 
 valley on the left of the British, to a dense bush on their right. 
 They had also dug trenches around their pa, and the whole ridge of 
 hills in front of the advancing force had tiers of pits, one over the 
 other, from which the enemy fired as from so many little batteries. 
 It was most annoying to the British to be able to see nothing of the 
 rebels but their smoke and fire, and yet to be so near to them as to 
 hear their taunts. 
 
 When the firing commenced the site for a new redoubt was selected 
 by Colonel and Captain Mould. The Royal Engineers superintended 
 its erection, and the men of each regiment in the force worked at it 
 under fire with great zeal. The enemy finding he could not interrupt 
 the work, nor silence the guns, endeavored by stratagem to turn the 
 right flank of the British. To effect this he showered a heavy fire
 
 224 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 from the hills, and while the attention of the British was directed to 
 this, he would open a sudden fire on their right rear from the forest. 
 Every pass was, however, so well guarded by the skirmishers of the 
 various regiments, that the Maoris were always frustrated in their 
 attempts, and cut off every time they attempted to advance upon the 
 British lines. 
 
 Several hours of the morning passed before any casualty occurred, 
 but at length Captain Strange, of the 65th Regiment, was struck by 
 a bullet in his thigh, which severed the femoral artery, and although 
 he received prompt medical assistance he died from loss of blood, 
 after several hours agony. In the storm of bullets which fell 
 around the force several narrow escapes occurred. A man of the 
 65th Regiment had his ear pierced by a ball, and one of the 40th 
 Regiment was touched on the crown of his head by a ball which 
 passed through his cap ; six of the working bullocks which dragged 
 the guns were wounded. 
 
 About 6 p.m., the fort being nearly completed, a force of 400 men, 
 composed of the 12th, 40th, and 65th Regiments, was left to 
 garrison it, under the command of Colonel Wyatt, and the remainder 
 of the force marched back to their respective camps not to rest, but 
 to mount guards and pickets until the morning's sun should call them 
 again to labor or to fight. 
 
 The gaiTison of the new redoubt had no tents, and it required all 
 their vigilance to keep the rebels out of it, firing being kept up 
 till the morning. 
 
 Early on Monday a division of the 57th Regiment, and two 
 divisions of the 65th Regiment, advanced to the new redoubt, and 
 formed working parties and coverers. The firing was kept up all 
 day, and a corporal of the 40th Regiment was hit within the breast- 
 works. The poor fellow placed his hand 011 the part of his body 
 where the ball entered, and walking outside the fort sat down and 
 died before his comrades knew that he was hit. 
 
 The casualties in this affair were : Killed : Captain Strange, 65th 
 Regiment, and a corporal of the 40th Regiment. Wounded : 12th 
 Regiment, 2 ; 40th Regiment, 2 ; 65th Regiment, 3 ; Artillery, 2 ; 
 Militia, 1. 
 
 DEATH OF E. MESSENGER. 
 
 On Sunday morning, March the 3rd, E. W. Hollis (Sergeant), W. 
 S. Ginger, J. G. Ginger, H. J. Hall, W. Harrison, senior, C. W. 
 Hursthouse, J. E. W. Hussey, C. Messenger, E. Messenger, H. 
 Newland, C. A. Pope, W. Smart, W. B. Walker, privates of the 
 Rifle "Volunteers, and H. W. Brewer, a civilian, started from town 
 to Walker's farm, for the purpose of gathering peaches, Sunday 
 being a day when the natives generally retired to their pas. Not 
 finding any peaches at Walker's farm they determined to go to Mr. 
 Hursthouse's orchard for some, and while on the road they passed 
 through a hedge to cross Captain King's orchard at Brookland's in 
 order to avoid a piece of bush directly behind it, and seeing some
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 225 
 
 peaches there commenced to gather them. They had been so 
 employed for a few minutes, when they were startled by hearing a 
 shot fired at the farther end of the orchard, where two of their 
 number were. Thinking it was fired by one of the party, they called 
 out to know the cause, but before an explanation could be given a 
 volley was fired at them by about 30 natives, within ten yards from 
 a ditch immediately behind the trees, but which was concealed by a 
 hedge, severely wounding W. Smart in the back. The Volunteers, 
 including Smart, fired their rifles and ran for cover through the gap 
 by which they had entered, but before they were all through a second 
 volley was fired by the natives, and Edward Messenger fell shot 
 through the head as he faced about to return his fire. On the rest 
 getting outside the gap they halted to recover Messenger's body, and 
 ran round to the front, then after placing three as sentinels to prevent 
 them being surrounded, and despatching one to town for assistance, 
 they gained cover behind a gate, and a few yards of hedge. The 
 rebels thinking the party had gone, rushed to the body of Messenger 
 for the purpose of tomahawking it, and obtaining the rifle and accoutre- 
 ments of the deceased, but as soon as the foremost man, who was 
 dressed in a friendly native's blue serge shirt with badge, perceived 
 them, he exclaimed " Hallo," fired both barrels of his gun, and in the 
 act of retreating was shot dead by three of the party. At the same 
 time a second native was fired at while in the act of crossing the 
 orchard hedge on the right, and appeared to fall. No more was seen 
 of the rebels after this, and a small party of friendly natives from 
 Fort Herbert, and six men of the 65th Regiment from the Carrington 
 Road Blockhouse, under Lieutenant Bailie, coming to their assistance, 
 Messenger's body was brought out and earned to town. Deceased 
 was 17 years of age, was the best shot of a family of marksmen, 
 and was emphatically a volunteer, being under age for compulsory 
 service, and yet taking part in Waireka, Mahoetahi, and other 
 encounters with the enemy. The attacking natives were 30 of the 
 Ngatiruanui and Waitotara tribes. 
 
 DEATH OF LIEUTENANT MCNAUGHTEN, R.A. 
 
 On Sunday, March the 17th, the first anniversary of the Taranaki 
 war, at about 3 p.m., Lieutenant McNaughten fell while laying a 
 cohorn mortar at the head of the sap which had been pushed up 
 close to Te Arei. The mortars had been doing great execution among 
 the rifle pits of the enemy during the day, and while this intrepid 
 soldier was standing with a plumb line in his hand, laying one of 
 these pieces, a Maori from the brow of a precipice which commanded 
 the sap fired, and the ball wounded his hand which held the plumb 
 line and then entered his breast. An officer who was near to him 
 exclaimed " McNaughten you are hit," but the Lieutenant smiled, 
 and with his usual calmness replied, " Oh never mind, 'tis but in the 
 hand." These were his last words. He stood, turned pale, staggered 
 backwards, fell and died. The ball had severed the aorta. He fell 
 on the anniversary of the day the Artillery opened fire on "Wi 
 Kingi's pa at the Waitara. He fired the first gun, and his death 
 concluded the first chapter of the Taranaki war. 
 15
 
 226 HISTORY OF TARANAKI, 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE TRUCE. 
 
 [HEN Wirerau Tamihana te Tarapipi, anglaice Thompson, was 
 residing at Ngaruawahia, he received several letters from 
 Bi-Vop Selwyn, and the late Chief Justice Martin, soliciting 
 his interference for making peace with the tribes at Taranaki This 
 was during the height of the war, and he paid no attention to them ; 
 but the fourth, containing an intimation that the Governor had 
 joined in the request, induced him to make up his mind to interfere. 
 He accordingly started to the scene of conflict, and arrived at 
 Waitara early in March. The result of his arrival was the hoisting 
 of a flag of truce at Hapurona's pa on the 12th of March, and a 
 brief conference, which ended in the renewal of hostilities. On the 
 19th, Hapurona again hoisted the white flag. 
 
 On the 27th, the Colonial s.s. Victoria brought from Manukau 
 His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Weld the Native Minister, Mr. 
 Whitaker the Attorney-General, Mr. Commissioner McLean, and 
 Tamati Waka Nene, the great Ngapuhi chief. 
 
 On the 30th, the s.s. Airedale brought from Manukau Major- 
 General Cameron, C.B., and Miss Cameron. Major-General 
 Sir Duncan Cameron's commissions date as follows : Ensign, April 
 the 8th, 1825; Lieutenant, August the 15th, 1826; Captain, June 
 the 21st, 1833 ; Major, August the 23rd, 1839; Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 September the 5th, 1843; Colonel, June the 20th, 1854; Major- 
 General, March the 25th, 1859. .He was the President of the 
 Council of Army Education. He served in the Eastern campaign 
 of 1854-55 ; commanded the 40th Regiment at the battle of Alma, 
 and the Highland Brigade at the battle of Balaklava, and on the 
 expedition to Kertch, siege of Sebastopol, and assault on the out- 
 works on the 18th of June. His decorations are medal and clasps, 
 C.B., Officer of the Legion of Honor, Sardinian medal, third class of 
 the Medj indie, Knight Commander of the Bath, 1864, Knight Grand 
 Cross of the Bath, 1873, and New Zealand medal. He was made 
 Colonel of the 42nd Foot in September, 1863, and in 1868 became 
 Governor of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He was born 
 about 1808, and is of an ancient Scottish Highland Clan. 
 
 Hapurona having kept the white flag hoisted, a lengthened korero 
 took place, occupying several days. At length Hapurona and a few 
 followers accepted the following terms, the "Waikatos agreeing to 
 return to their homes, while Wi Kingi, who was in the Waikato 
 district, refused to give his sanction to them or to meet the Govern- 
 ment : 
 
 " Terms offered by the Governor to the "Waitara Insurgents. 
 " HAPURONA AND NGATIAWA : For twelvemonths you have been
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 227 
 
 carrying arms against Her Majesty the Queen, and the authority of 
 the law ; you have now laid down your arms, and expressed your 
 desire for peace ; believing your desire to be sincere, I have come 
 from Auckland for the purpose of stating the terms upon which it 
 will be granted, and upon which Her Majesty's gracious pardon and 
 protection will be extended to you. 
 
 " They are as follows : 
 
 "1. The investigation of the Title, and the survey of the land 
 at Waitara, to be continued and completed without interruption. 
 
 " 2. Every man to be permitted to state his claims without 
 interference, and my decision, or the decision of such persons as I 
 may appoint, to be conclusive. 
 
 " 3. All land in possession of Her Majesty's forces belonging to 
 those who have borne arms against Her Majesty to be disposed of 
 by me as I may think fit. 
 
 " 4. All guns belonging to the Government to be returned. 
 
 " 5. All plunder taken from the settlers to be forthwith restored. 
 
 " 6. The Ngatiawa who have borne arms against the Govern- 
 ment must submit to the Queen, and to the authority of the law, 
 and not resort to force for the redress of wrongs, real or imaginary. 
 
 " 7. As I did not use force for the acquisition of land, but for the 
 vindication of the law and for the protection of Her Majesty's 
 native subjects in the exercise of their just rights, I shall divide the 
 land, which I have stated my intention to dispose of, amongst its 
 former owners, but I shall reserve the sites of the blockhouses and 
 redoubts, and a small piece of land around each for the public use, 
 and shall exercise the right of making roads through the Waitara 
 district. In conformity with the declaration made on the 29th of 
 November, 1859, the rights of those who may prove their title to 
 any part of the piece of land at Waitara will be respected. 
 
 " On your submission to these tenns you will come under the 
 protection of the law, and enjoy your property, both lands and goods, 
 without molestation." 
 
 THE DECLARATION OF HAPURONA. 
 
 " I hereby declare that the terms of peace proposed by the 
 Governor have been read and fully explained to me, and that I 
 understand them thoroughly ; and I declare that on behalf of myself 
 and people I agree to abide by and fulfil them. 
 
 " HAPURONA PUKERIMU." 
 
 " These terms have been read and explained in our presence, and 
 made thoroughly to be understood, this 8th day of April, 1861. 
 " J. A. WILSON, Missionary, C.M.S., 
 
 " of the District of Auckland. 
 " MORE, 
 " DONALD McLEAN, Native Secretary." 
 
 " I, Hapurona, speak for myself, for all these men whose names are
 
 228 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 hereunto described, for the women and children." 
 
 Here follow 64 signatures. 
 
 THE DECLARATION OF PATUKAKARIKI. 
 
 " I hereby declare that the terms of peace proposed by the 
 Governor have been read and fully explained to me, and that I 
 Tinderstand them thoroughly ; and I declare that on behalf of myself 
 and people I agree to abide by and fulfil them. 
 
 "WiREMU NGA WAKA PATUKAKARIKI, 
 
 "His + Mark." 
 
 " These terms have been read and explained in our presence, and 
 made thoroughly to be understood. 
 
 "TE WAKA NENE, + 
 
 " FRED. A. WELD, Native Minister, 
 
 " DONALD McLEAN, Native Secretary." 
 
 Similar terms were offered to the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui 
 natives, who after considerable hesitation declared that they woiild 
 neither accept nor refuse the'n, but await the result of a conference 
 on native matters at Waikato. 
 
 In times of peace Taranaki is one of the most healthy places in 
 the world. In the early days an entire year has been known to 
 elapse without a single death occurring, and the medical men had to 
 cultivate the land in order to live, there being no sickness to require 
 their aid. During the period of hostilities, however, diarrhoea, 
 fevers, and ultimately diphtheria, were fatally prevalent, the latter 
 disease carrying off numbers of young people. And not only did 
 those suffer who remained in the besieged town of New Plymouth, 
 but those who took re"uge in Nelson were afflicted almost as 
 severely. 
 
 Considerable irritation was felt in the settlement at this time by 
 the arrival from England of a pamphlet containing a letter to the 
 Duke of Newcastle, entitled, " One of England's Little Wars," 
 written by Archdeacon Hadfield, wherein he defended the action of 
 the rebel Wi Kingi, by endeavoring to show that his claim to the 
 Waitara was superior to that of Te Teira, and blamed Governor 
 Gore Browne for plunging the Colony into war. 
 
 Early in May, Mr. Cutfield's term of office as Superintendent of 
 the Province being about to expire, he again became a candidate for 
 the Superintendency, in connection with Messrs. J. C. Richmond and 
 Mr. C. Brown. Before the election Mr. Cutfield withdrew from the 
 contest, and on the 23rd Mr. Brown was elected. 
 
 In the New Zealand Gazette of the 31st of May, Judge Johnston 
 was appointed to be H.M. Commissioner to determine questions as 
 to the proprietary rights of certain portions of the Ngatiawa tribe 
 lately in arms against Her Majesty, in a block of land at Taranaki, 
 and John Rogan, Esq., was appointed to mark out the boundaries of 
 the same,
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 229 
 
 On the 3rd of June, the Prince Arthur steam sloop, of the Indian 
 Navy, arrived from Bombay, with 147 men of the 57th Kegiment, 
 42 soldiers' wives and 69 children, and Brevet-Major Hassard, 
 Captain Sir Bx)bert Douglass, Bart., Captain C. J. Clark, and 
 Lieutenants McClintoc, and A. C. Manners. 
 
 On the 15th, E. J. Willcocks, Esq., was appointed Registration 
 and Returning Officer, and Registrar of the Supreme Court for the 
 Province, vice Ritchie. 
 
 On the 25th, Colors were presented to the Taranaki Militia and 
 Volunteers, from the ladies of Taranaki, by Mrs. Colonel Warre, 
 wife of Colonel Warre, 57th Regiment, the ceremony of con- 
 secration being peiiormed by the Ven. Archdeacon Govett. 
 
 The sum of 25,000 having been voted by Parliament during the 
 session of 1860 as compensation to the Taranaki settlers for the 
 losses sustained by them dui-ing the war, Mr. Sewell, the special 
 Commissioner, arrived at New Plymouth to investigate claims, on 
 July the 8th. 
 
 On August the 10th, the prospectus of the Bank of New Zealand 
 was advertised in the Taranaki Herald, Messrs. T. King and J. J. 
 Looney being the provisional trustees for Taranaki. 
 
 News having reached the Colony of the appointment of Sir George 
 Grey as successor to Colonel Gore Browne in the Governorship of 
 New Zealand, a valedictory address was presented to Colonel Gore 
 Browne, signed by the entire male adult population of Taranaki. 
 On the 26th of September Sir George Grey arrived in Auckland 
 from the Cape of Good Hope by H.M. steam corvette Cossack, 20 
 guns, and was welcomed on shore by Colonel Gore Browne. 
 
 On the 1st of October, Colonel Gore Browne and family embarked 
 at Auckland for Sydney in the Henry Femie, amidst the wannest 
 expressions of respect and esteem from the inhabitants. 
 
 On the 16th of November, Bishop Selwyn left New Plymouth for 
 the purpose of reaching Wanganui by the coast track, and in order 
 to prove to the world that the Taranaki and Ngatiruamii tribes were 
 not so bad as the Taranaki settlers represented them to be. The 
 Bishop returned to New Plymouth on the 22nd, and was very reticent 
 as to the results of his journey. From a letter written by Erueti, a 
 chief of Warea, to the Rev. Mr. Reimenschneider, the following 
 particulars of this journey were obtained : 
 
 " When the Bishop got to Moutoti the Maoris sent a young man 
 after him to demand of him his reason for persisting in pursuing his 
 journey southward, when he knew the Maoris had forbidden any 
 Pakehas to pass that way. As the Bishop proved obstinate his 
 bundle and home were demanded of him in order that he might turn 
 back to town. The Bishop agreed to return, but desired to be 
 permitted to sleep there that night. This was permitted, and the 
 young man left him. The Bishop slept there two nights, and then 
 went on with the horse, but his bundle was detained for his persistence. 
 The Bishop went on as far as Ohangi, a place fifty miles on this side 
 of Wanganui, and then returned to New Plymouth to catch the
 
 230 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 steamer. On passing Moutoti his bundle was restored to Mm." 
 
 Much anxiety was felt at this time concerning the spread of thistles 
 over the cultivated parts of the district. The grass paddocks of the 
 forest clearings were infested with this plant to such a degree that 
 scarcely any grass was to be seen in them. 
 
 On the 18th of November, a branch of the Bank of New Zealand 
 was opened at Mr. Richmond's stone house, near Mount Eliot, Mr. 
 T. King being manager. 
 
 In December, Governor Grey announced a new scheme of native 
 policy. It consisted chiefly in dividing the Colony into Native and 
 European Districts, and in permitting Native Courts of Law, called 
 Runangas, to have jurisdiction in Native Districts. These Courts 
 were ultimately established, and while they entirely failed to cure the 
 Maoris of their rebelliousness, became the object of derision to all 
 who knew anything about them, the most ridiculous farces being 
 performed in connection with them. 
 
 On the 1st of January, 1862, the foundation stone of the 
 Primitive Methodist Church, Queen Street, was laid by Josiah 
 Flight, Esq., KM. 
 
 Governor Grey at this time established camps between Auckland 
 and Waikato, and employed the troops in making roads. 
 
 On. the 14th of January, the Superintendent of Taranaki pro- 
 claimed the Public Cemetery Ordinance, 1861, on which basis the 
 Public Cemetery at Te Henui was established. 
 
 On the 1st of February, an extract from a speech delivered by 
 the late Canon Stowell, of Manchester, before a meeting of the 
 Douglas Branch of the Isle of Man Auxilliary of the Church 
 Missionary Society, as reported in the Manx Sun, was published in 
 the Taranaki Herald, and produced considerable indignation. This 
 extract contained the following extraordinary and impassioned 
 statements : " New Zealand is the brightest gem in the diadem of 
 the Church Missionary Society. Who has brought this trouble on 
 New Zealand 1 Was it not the grasping, unfair, and oppressive 
 emigrants 1 How did the civilised settlers treat the natives ? Why, 
 in the way that hunters treat wild animals they hewed them up 
 and cut them down to make way for their boasted civilisation. 
 Alas ! alas ! that British civilisation should so far forget itself as to 
 allow the aborigines to be cut down and treated like dogs. The 
 emigrants in many cases the off-scouring and vagabonds of our own 
 country ought not to be allowed to take advantage of the ignorance 
 of the natives, and oppress them as they have done, to a great extent 
 pillaging their lands from them, and then when the natives turn 
 round to defend themselves they are cried out against as ' rebels ' 
 and savages." These were veiy cruel and unjust words to say against 
 the settlers who had been dispossessed of their farms at Mangoraka 
 by the manumitted Puketapu slaves, and those whose homes had 
 been rifled, farms bespoiled, and blood been shed by the red-handed 
 murderers of Taranaki and Ngatiruanui. Canon Stowell was, 
 however, the victim of ignorance and misrepresentation.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 231 
 
 On the 14th of February, the Taranaki Militia was virtually 
 disbanded, and arrangements were made for employing the men in 
 constructing the roads. Mr. F. A. Carrington was appointed 
 Engineering Surveyor for these works. The women and children 
 who had taken refuge in Nelson returned by every steamer, and a 
 number of timber houses were erected for their temporary 
 accommodation by the Provincial Government in St. Germaiiis 
 Square. 
 
 On the 16th of May, Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, whose labors 
 connected with modern colonisation, and with the colonisation of 
 New Zealand have already been alluded to, expired at his residence 
 in Wellington, at the age of 66 years. He arrived in Wellington in 
 1853, just before the Constitution Act was brought into operation, 
 and was returned for the Hutt by an overwhelming majority as one 
 of its representatives, both in the Provincial Council of Wellington 
 and General Assembly. 
 
 On the 8th of July, a great native meeting was held at Kapoaraia. 
 The number present was estimated at 600, and consisted of members 
 of the Taranaki, Ngatiruanui, Ngaruru, and Wanganui tribes. The 
 meeting resolved that if the road making were extended beyond 
 Waireka it would be looked upon as a declaration of war. After 
 the meeting was over Mohi Te Pveiroa, of Waikato, cried out 
 Whitiki! whitiki ! "Gird yourselves," when all the Maoris rushed 
 out of the house, put on their belts, seized their guns, and began the 
 war dance. Mohi then took- a taiaha, and began a most violent 
 harangue, cut down numbers of imaginary Pakehas, and worked 
 himself up into such a state of frenzy that he fell dead. A similar 
 occurrence took place on the 6th of the previous January, at the 
 runanya at Whatino, when Hori Kingi Ngatairakaunui, while 
 discussing the same question, fell down dead. 
 
 On the night of the 1st of September, the s.s. Lord Worsley was 
 wrecked at Cape Egmont on her passage from Nelson to New 
 Plymouth. From some inexplicable cause the steamer was run 
 ashore in a small bay near to the cape and became a wreck. The 
 passengers, among whom were several ladies, and the crew were 
 safely landed in the enemy's country, but several of the crew escaped 
 with a boat to New Plymouth with the intelligence. At first much 
 alarm was created by the intelligence, it being feared that the Maoris 
 would kill the whole of the shipwrecked people who remained in 
 their territory, but by the good offices of Wi Kingi, of Umuroa, and 
 the prospect of a rich booty from the wreck, the people were spared 
 and sent up to New Plymouth in bullock carts. 
 
 On tlie 7th of Feb -uary, 1863, H.M. steam corvette Orpheus, 21 
 guns, was lost on Manul.au bar, with 187 of her crew. 
 
 On the 4th of March, H.M.S.S. Harrier arrived with His 
 Excellency Sir George Grey, General Cameron, the Hon. Mr. 
 Domett, Colonial Sectretmy ; and the Hon. Mr. Bell, Native Secretary. 
 The object of the Governor's visit was the reinstating of the Province, 
 and to further tliia object the House of Representatives had
 
 232 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 recommended that a sum of .200,000 should be raised on the general 
 security of the colony, but as a special charge on the land and ordinary 
 revenue of the Province of Taranaki, for the purpose of compensating 
 the settlers for their losses, and reinstating them on their farms. 
 
 Shortly after the Governor's arrival, strange natives were seen in 
 the bush in the neighborhood of the Kent road, passing apparently 
 to the south. When this fact was mentioned to His Excellency he 
 replied that he was assured that these natives had gone southward 
 with the most laudable intention. 
 
 As a first step towards the reinstatement of the Province, the 
 Governor determined to take possession of Tataraimaka, which the 
 natives claimed by right of conquest. 
 
 On Thursday, the 12th of March, 300 men of the 57th Regiment, 
 under Colonel Warre, C.B., Captains Woodall and Gorton, Lieutenants 
 Brutton, Thompson, Tragett, and Waller, Adjutant Clarke, and 
 Assistant-Surgeon Hope, together with Lieutenant Ferguson and a 
 detachment of the Royal Engineers, paraded under Mount Eliot, and 
 marched off by the South Road towards Omata, preceded by baggage 
 under the charge of Lieutenant Cox. His Excellency the Governor 
 and General Cameron followed. The troops reached Waireka, and 
 encamped. A number of the Taranaki tribe had been for several 
 days at Wairau, a native settlement lying on the coast, between 
 Oakxu*a river and Tataraimaka. The smoke of large fires, supposed 
 to be signals, was seen at Tataraimaka and beyond it after the 
 arrival of the troops. For several days after this the Governor, the 
 General, the Colonial Secretary, and the Native Minister, paid visits 
 to the Camp at Poutoko, and on one occasion delegates from Taranaki 
 proper met them, and informed them that Tataraimaka would not 
 be given tip unless the British first gave up the Waitara. 
 
 The Governor's intention, however, was to take repossession of the 
 Tataraimaka block, and the natives were well aware of this, for in 
 a conference with Tamihana at Waikato in the previous January the 
 following dialogue occurred : 
 
 Taminana : " O Governor, all the blocks in the neighborhood of 
 Waitara over which the soldiers went you shall retain for the Queen 
 alone ; but the determination of Ngatiruanui and Taranaki, as 
 expressed by them, is to continue in the possession of the Waireka 
 and Tataraimaka blocks over which their feet travelled." 
 
 The Governor : " Do you hearken ; I shall be obstinate about 
 Tataraimaka. After my return to Auckland I shall embark in the 
 steamer, and proceed to that place, and there abide. Now will 
 Waikato go there and join them, or will Waikato go to Taranaki and 
 assist me ? O ye sons, you are in error, for I have Tataraimaka in 
 my hands, and my hands shall be strong to hold it." 
 
 On the 19th, H.M.S.S. Harrier arrived at New Plymouth with 
 200 men of the 70th Regiment, under Captains Rutherford, Tovey, 
 and Tighe, Lieutenants Huskisson and Collins, and Ensign Clarke, 
 and Assistant-Surgeon Alston. 
 
 On the 21st of March, the Governor in Council recommended the
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 233 
 
 Provincial Council of Taranaki to pass a Bill for raising, by 
 debentures, the sum of 50,000 for the purpose of partly paying 
 Mr. Sewell's award for compensation for losses sustained by the war, 
 which was accordingly done. 
 
 The following Council Paper will set the rather complicated 
 arrangement of this compensation in a perspicuous manner : 
 
 " His Honor the Superintendent of Taranaki. 
 
 " New Plymouth, 21st March, 1863. 
 
 " Sir : In reference to the expenditure of the sum of 200,000 
 to be raised under the Loan Act, 1862, to assist in any measitres 
 adopted by His Excellency the Governor in Council for the rein- 
 statement of the settlement and inhabitants of Taranaki, I have now 
 the honor to convey to you the substance of some measures adopted 
 this day by the Governor in Council for the purpose just stated. 
 
 " In order to place the settlers of Taranaki, who have been driven 
 from their homes, or suffered losses during the war, in a position 
 to resume their ordinary operations on their farms or elsewhere, and 
 at the same time to provide funds for the execution of measures 
 absolutely necessary for their permanent security, it is proposed that 
 a sum of 120,000 be considered payable out of the 200,000 for 
 settlers' losses ; of this sum 30,000 has been already received by the 
 settlers, and Government propose to raise immediately, if possible, 
 the balance of 90,000, and to pay it to the claimants under Mr. 
 Sewell's award. With the 25,000 paid under the former grant of 
 the General Assembly, this will make 145,000 paid out of the 
 total of 189,000 or thereabout, awarded by Mr. Sewell or the 
 Sub-Commissioners on acccount of all classes of the settlers' claims. 
 
 " Although there will thus be left a balance of about 44,000 
 unprovided for out of reinstatement fund, it is to be remembered 
 that the remainder of that fund will be expended on measures for 
 the permanent reinstatement of the Province generally, including 
 the individual colonists who have suffered during the war ; but the 
 Government are desirous that the settlers should receive either in 
 cash or in some acknowledgment bearing interest, the full amount 
 awarded for their losses. 
 
 " In order to effect this object and to provide for the balance last 
 mentioned, namely 44,000, it is proposed that the Superintendent 
 and the Provincial Council of Taranaki should immediately pass an 
 Act authorising the issue of debentures to the amount of 50,000, 
 payable at any time after the expiration of ten years, bearing interest 
 at the rate of 7 per cent, per annum, and chargeable on the Provincial 
 revenue of Taranaki. This arrangement must necessarily be 
 submitted to the sanction of the General Assembly, but the General 
 Government will at once guarantee the interest of the first five 
 years, reserving for that purpose a sufficient sum from the reinstate- 
 ment fund. 
 
 " If your Honor and the Provincial Council accede to the above 
 proposition, and will pass the requisite Act without delay, the assent
 
 234 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 of His Excellency will be given to it, and instructions will be 
 thereupon immediately issued for the raising of the first mentioned 
 sum of 90,000. I have, &c., 
 
 "ALFRED DOMETT." 
 
 Early in March the Maori King natives committed two outrages 
 in Waikato. The Governor had determined to build a Court House 
 and Police Station at Te Kohekohe, and carpenters were employed 
 on the work. After inducing the carpenters to leave their work, 
 the natives took possession of the building, and rafted the timber of 
 which it was being ei'ected and floated it down the river. 
 
 On the 24th, they went to the premises of Mr. Gorst, a celebrated 
 Maori apologist, who lived at Te Awamutu, and conducted a Maori 
 newspaper, called Pihoihoi Mokemoke. Breaking open the printing 
 office they took away the press and type. 
 
 On March the 30th, H.M.S.S. Harrier arrived at New Plymouth, 
 from Manukau, with 80 men of the 65th Regiment under Lieutenant 
 Pagan, and 120 men of the 70th Regiment, under Captain Ralston. 
 
 On Saturday the 4th of April, the troops moved from Omata. and 
 took possession of Tataraimaka, encamping on Mr. McDonald's farm, 
 but deciding to build a redoubt on Bayly's farm by to the edge of 
 the cliff overhanging the road, near to the Katikara river. 
 
 On Sunday evening, the 19th, the Maoris, under the chief Parenga 
 Kingi, threw into the Tapuae river the stones which the soldiers 
 had collected for repairing the road at that spot. 
 
 The Taranaki Herald, of May the 2nd, gave full particulars of 
 ambuscades which had been laid for cutting off Europeans passing to 
 and from Tataraimaka and New Plymouth, and the Governor was 
 informed of the same, but blinded by the supposition of his own 
 personal influence over the natives he refused to listen to advice or 
 warning.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 235 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES. 
 
 N Monday, May the 4th, 1863, a party consisting of seven 
 armed men of the 57th Regiment, in charge of a prisoner, 
 left the Tataraimaka Camp for town. Knowing nothing of 
 the warnings which had been given to the Government, they marched 
 on regardless of danger. They had not proceeded far on their way 
 when Dr. Hope and Lieutenant Tragett of the same regiment 
 overtook them on horseback, both being unarmed. The officers 
 passed the party and proceeded onward at a walking pace, about 200 
 yards in advance, until nearing the Wairau stream, when they came 
 to a sudden halt, and awaited until the party on foot came up to 
 within five yards of them, when a shot was fired from the bush 
 which at that spot slopes downward to the river, and runs parallel to 
 the beach. So sudden and unexpected was the report, that the man 
 Kelly, who alone escaped to tell the tale, turned round and enquired 
 of Sergeant Ellers, who was immediately in front of him, if his 
 piece had gone off by accident. The question was scarcely answered 
 in the negative when another shot brought poor Ellers to the ground, 
 and another Color-Sergeant Hill. In front Dr. Hope was lying in 
 the stream, having fallen wounded from his horse. Private Flynn, 
 on being requested to aid in the defence, stated his inability to do 
 so from a wound which he had received in his arm. Private Banks, 
 the prisoner, was also prostrate on the ground. While matters were 
 in this state, Lieutenant Tragett, instead of riding off and saving 
 his life, dismounted from his hoi-se and joined the three survivors, 
 remarking, as if speaking to himself, " What is best to be done." 
 Florence Kelly replied, " We had better retire firing." The noble 
 officer replied, " We cannot leave our dead and wounded," so he took 
 a rifle and accoutrements to aid in the defence. After continuing 
 the fire for some time and receiving a wound, he gave his white 
 }>ocket handkerchief to Kelly with directions to place it on his 
 bayonet, and use it as a flag of truce. Kelly obeyed this order, but 
 the call for mei'cy was unheeded. The little party again opened 
 fire, which was answered with telling effect by the ambuscade, Kelly 
 alone being left alive. A Maori now, in attempting to take Sergeant 
 Hill's firelock, was shot dead by the survivor. Kelly then retreated 
 towards Tataraimaka, but a Maori trying to outflank him, and the 
 strings of his shoes which were of flax breaking, he kicked off his 
 shoes, threw away his rifle and l>elts, ran for his life, and escaped. 
 The names of the victims of this massacre were : Staff Assistant- 
 Surgeon William Astle Hoi>e, M.D. ; Lieutenant Thomas Heathcote 
 Tragett, 57th Regiment ; Color-Sergeant Samuel Ellers ; Sergeant 
 Samuel Hill ; Private Edward Kelly ; Private John Fly mi ; Private 
 Bartholomew McCarthy, and Patrick Egan.
 
 236 HISTORY OF TARANAKt. 
 
 That night the Militia and Volunteers again mounted picket, and 
 occupied their old posts around the town. What were the feelings 
 of Governor Grey when the real object of the Maoris, whom he 
 supposed to have crept through the bush with " the most laudable 
 intentions," was thus vividly brought before him we cannot say, but 
 General Cameron was heard to say to him that he would not have 
 his men cut to pieces in that fashion with impunity. 
 
 THE ABANDONMENT OF THE WAITARA PURCHASE. 
 
 On the llth, the following extraordinary proclamation was issued 
 by the Governor : 
 
 " PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " By His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B., &c. 
 " Whereas an engagement for the purchase of a certain tract of 
 land at the Waitara, commonly known as Teira's block, was entered 
 into by the Government of New Zealand in 1859, but the said 
 purchase has never been completed. 
 
 " And whereas circumstances connected with the said purchase, 
 unknown to the Government at the time of the sale of the said land, 
 have lately transpired, which make it advisable that the said purchase 
 should not be further proceeded with. 
 
 " Now, therefore, the Governor, with the advice and consent of 
 the Executive Council, doth hereby declare that the purchase of the 
 said block of land is abandoned, and all claim to the same on the 
 part of the Government is henceforth renounced. 
 
 " Given under my hand at New Plymouth, and issued under 
 the Seal of the Colony of New Zealand, this llth day of 
 May, 1863. 
 
 "G. GREY. 
 
 " By His Excellency's Command, 
 " ALFRED DOMETT, 
 
 " GOD SAVE THE QUEEN." 
 
 On the night of the 24th, two militiamen, Ward and Wolfe, were 
 posted together on the edge of the gully near to the Carrington 
 Road Blockhouse, when by a mistake Ward fired at Wolfe and 
 wounded him in the wrist. 
 
 On the 29th, as Lieutenant Waller, 57th Regiment, was riding from 
 St. Andrew's Redoubt to Poutoko, he received a volley from a party 
 of natives in ambush, which killed his horse. While disengaging 
 himself from the fallen beast a native leaped out with a tomahawk 
 to despatch him, when Lieutenant Waller shot him with his revolver, 
 and succeeded in escaping to the redoubt. 
 
 THE ATTACK ON THE ENEMY'S POSITION AT KATIKARA. 
 
 On the 3rd of June, a force under the command of General 
 Cameron marched from New Plymouth by the Great South Road, 
 and received reinforcements at Poutoko and Oakura, and continued
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 237 
 
 its march in silence to Tataraimaka, where it was again reinforced. 
 
 At about 6.15 on the following morning the force advanced to the 
 attack, the course taken being to the left of the redoubt over Bayly's 
 farm. After marching about 400 yards the Armstrong battery 
 halted, and was posted on the edge of the ridge overhanging the 
 Katikara river. Fire was immediately opened upon the native 
 redoubt, about 800 yards distant, and directly inland, the 57th at the 
 same time doubling down the valley in single file to attack the rifle 
 pits to the right of the enemy's position. After dashing across the 
 stream and ascending the opposite height, the advance under 
 Lieutenants Waller and Brutton, with their Colonel in command, 
 immediately charged the rifle pits to the right, and drove the rebels 
 from their position above the mouth of the river, thereby opening 
 up the road to the reserves which came rapidly up. Meanwhile the 
 supporting party, under Lieutenant-Colonel Logan, having been fired 
 Tipon from the redoubt, turned to the left, and running over an open 
 space of 300 yards with fixed bayonets stormed the place, killing 
 every native within it. Captains Shortt and Russell, with their 
 parties, charged the redoubt almost simultaneously, while Ensign 
 Duncan was coming over at another part. The men behaved well 
 and charged impetuously. The natives were at once driven to their 
 holes, and the bayonet then did its work. On the right Colonel 
 Warre's party cleared the rifle pits, and pursued the flying enemy 
 southwards and inland. The General was highly pleased at the gallant 
 manner in which the enemy's works were earned. Twenty- four 
 bodies of natives were taken in carts to the Tataraimaka Camp and 
 buried. Several guns and a fine taia/ia were taken. 
 
 H.M.S. Eclipse was anchored off the mouth of the valley, and 
 threw some shells while the troops were advancing to the attack. 
 The ship lay about a mile from the rebel redoubt, and threw a shell 
 into the middle of the works which killed at least one Maori, for a 
 piece of the fuze was found in one of the bodies. 
 
 The loss on the side of the British was 1 private killed and 2 
 mortally and 2 severely wounded of the 57th Regiment, and 1 private 
 severely wounded of the 70th Regiment. 
 
 The most interesting of the spoils taken by the troops on this 
 occasion was the list of tolls which was set up by the rebels near to 
 Te Ika roa a Maui, the great assembly house at Kapoaiaia, near 
 Warea, but which was afterwards brought up to Puketehe, just beyond 
 Tataraimaka. 
 
 The following is a translation of this singular notice : 
 
 " Taranaki Te Ika a Maui. The house where lie the laws which 
 are in force here of King Matutaera Potatuu, near the gate for 
 payment of offences which stands here. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 1. Minister of the Gospel 50 
 
 2. Newspaper Mail 300 
 
 3. Maori Disciple of the Governor 200
 
 238 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 4. Wealthy Pakeha don't let them go through the 
 
 gate, if they do ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 5. Pakeha Policeman 500 
 
 6. Maori Policeman ... ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 7. Maori Assessor ... ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 8. If he comes as a Kingite ... ... ... ... 15 
 
 9. A King's Letter in the Mail ... ... ... 050 
 
 10. A Letter against the Authority of the King ... 1 00 
 
 11. Letters from Kinsmen Outside ... ... ... 050 
 
 12. Letters Tempting the Tribe 15 
 
 13. Letters not sent by the MaH 100 
 
 14. A Neutral coming as a Pakeha ... ... ... 050 
 
 15. A Preaching Maori Minister ... ... ... 55 
 
 16. Letter Badly Tempting the Tribe, seize it and make 
 
 the bearer pay ... ... ... ... ... 050 
 
 17. The above is the Law for the Pakeha Tolls of the 
 
 Maori. 
 
 1. A Cart of Wheat or other things ... ... ... 010 
 
 2. Things carried on a man's back ... ... ... 001 
 
 3. A Pig cai-ried in a cart ... ... ... ... 006 
 
 4. A Pig driven ... ... ... ... ... 006 
 
 5. A Cow or Horse each ... ... ... ... 006 
 
 6. There are no rules referring to neutrals outside, but 
 
 a load carried from inside the gate ... ... 001 
 
 7. Money of the tribe for purchasing, free 
 
 8. The Law of the Maoris inside and outside of the 
 
 gate 
 
 9. Do not Steal, O Man (or evade the tolls) if you do 
 
 you will pay ... ... ... ... ... 500 
 
 By authority of the keepers of the gate of Matutaera, 
 
 KERB, Policeman, 
 Bo POM A, Policeman. 
 8th July, 1862. 
 
 On June the 25th, Hapurona sent a challenge addressed to the 
 Governor, the General, Mr. Bell, and Mr. Parris. It was written on 
 half a sheet of account paper, and signed by " Hapurona, the 
 General of the Maoris." He said that he and all his people were 
 ready to fight by the light of the sun. He also desired that the 
 troops would go and fight him, stating that if they did not he should 
 have to make them by occupying land at Bell Block. Hapurona had 
 not been in town since the 25th of January, 1862, when he was 
 arrested by the police for riotous conduct in the streets. He was 
 at that time in the receipt of 100 per annum as commandant of 
 the Matarikoriko Blockhouse, which he threw up in consequence of 
 his having been apprehended, or, as he termed it, made a slave of by 
 the police. 
 
 On the 27th, H.M.S. Eclipse arrived with the intelligence that
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 239 
 
 the "Waikato tribe had risen in rebellion, and that troops were needed 
 for the defence of Auckland. On the same evening she returned to 
 Manukau with detachments of the 40th, 65th, and 70th Regiments. 
 The Governor and General were at this time in Auckland. 
 
 The insurrection in Waikato revealed the cause of the renewal of 
 hostilities in Taranaki. The Maoris who crept through the forest at 
 the back of the settlement, as the Governor supposed " with the 
 most laudable intentions," were emissaries from Waikato sent to stir 
 up the rebels to active measures in order to divert the attention of 
 the Government from what was taking place in the Waikato, and it 
 was a fortunate thing for Taranaki that the rebels received a check 
 at the Katikara before the troops were withdrawn to the North. 
 
 The policy of the Maoris was revealed by the following letter 
 found by the Bushrangers at Parakamahoe, when that place was 
 destroyed in April, 1864 : 
 
 " Huiterangiora, February 1st, 1863. 
 
 " To Parenga Kingi, Minarapa, Hoani, Inaraira, Aperahama 
 Ngatawa, Totaea, to all the runanga of King Potatau. Friends, 
 greeting to you all, the tribes and the people of the canoe of my 
 ancestors. Do you listen, I am living here with the object of your 
 respect the King. Listen ; Te la has been occupied by the soldiers. 
 If the road crosses the Maungatawhiri there will be war ; if the war 
 does not begin here it will begin where you are, at Taranaki. Take 
 care what you do. My word to you is go carefully. This is what 
 your King says, " Leave it to the men of the canoe (Waikato) to 
 say how it is to be steered, whether to go with the waves or to turn 
 its head towards them. If they say ' put its head to face them,' 
 then do it ; if they say ' give way ' then give way.' 
 
 " Enough of that. Friends, do not be troubled at what I said to 
 you about the road for the mail let it be open and Pakeha 
 travellers let them go to and fro. Be careful in what you do, so as 
 to leave the Governor to bruise the nose of the King's runanga 
 that the other tribes may see clearly that we are in the right. 
 Enough of that. This is another thing concerning Taranaki ; leave 
 it as it is. Tataraimaka and Waitara, let them both be as they are. 
 If what the Governor says about Waitara is satisfactory, there will 
 be no difficulty about Tatarainiaka. The satisfactoriness of what 
 the Governor says must consist of this the giving back of Waitara 
 into our hands, and then it will be right about Tataraimaka. Leave 
 the Pakehas to begin the war that the Governor's fine words may be 
 laughed at. Enough ; it is finished. 
 
 " WIREMU KINGI WHITI." 
 
 The southern rebels now established themselves on the north- 
 western spur of the Kaitake Puinges, and on the 27th Colonel Warre, 
 who, in the absence of the General, had been appointed Commandant 
 of the garrison, commenced to shell them with the Armstrong 
 batteries.
 
 240 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 On the 30th, Tataraimaka was evacuated for the second time. 
 Bush parties of Volunteers were at this time organised under the 
 command of Captains Atkinson and Webster, for the purpose of 
 attacking the rebels in the forest, and intercepting their communi- 
 cations with the northern and southern parts of the Province. 
 
 On the llth of July, the Governor, by proclamation, threatened 
 the confiscation of rebel native lands. 
 
 On Sunday, September the 13th, T. Langman, J. Sole, and W. H. 
 Howe were attacked by a party of natives on the Frankley Road, 
 and Langman's arm was badly fractured by a ball. This event was 
 followed by skirmishes on either side of the settlement. 
 
 On the 15th, at 3 a.m., Captain Russell, with Lieutenant Manners 
 and Ensign Powys, and 75 men of the 57th Regiment, left the 
 Poutoko redoubt, and leaving 25 of his party in the empty redoubt 
 at Oakura, crossed the river, and turning inland a little way up the 
 road from Wairau to Kaitake, planted an ambush in three parties. 
 The men lay in the scrub beside the road till about eight o'clock, 
 when a body of natives approached from Kaitake. They were 
 headed by an old chief, square shouldered, and with grizzled hair, 
 carrying a handsome taia/ta, who, when he came opposite to Lieu- 
 tenant Manners' party, seeing tracks on the road shouted he pake/ta ! 
 The old man was immediately shot with such othei-s as were within 
 reach, but the main body of the natives had not come up to the 
 ambush. Seeing what had happened, the rebels at Kaitake and 
 Ahuahu rushed down from the hills in force for the purpose of 
 taking possession of the redoubt in order to cut off Captain Russell's 
 retreat. Their dismay, when they discovered that it was occupied 
 by soldiers, may be easily imagined. Sergeant Hackett hit one 
 rebel at the distance of 300 yards, who fell and rolled down the 
 steep bank. After this the return to Poutoko was effected without 
 molestation. The loss of the enemy was not exactly known, but 
 Captain Russell stated that he saw seven bodies on the ground, and 
 two men wo\uided, who were led away. 
 
 On January the 18th, 1864, at a Skirmish at Sentry Hill, Hone te 
 Horo, an active rebel of the Puketapu hapu was killed, and several 
 other rebels wounded. 
 
 DEATH OF MR. PATTERSON. 
 
 On Sunday the 28th of February, several settlers tempted by the 
 beauty of the day roamed abroad on a visit to their once happy, but 
 now desolate homes. The first that pi-oceeded on the Frankley Road 
 was one of Mr. Dingle's sons, who was in the habit of daily visiting 
 his father's farm. This morning he found one of the horses entangled 
 in the supplejacks. Having set the animal free, he returned 
 unharmed. A party of four on foot soon followed, accompanied by 
 Mr. George Patterson, on horseback, who passed on some 300 yards 
 in advance. When the four on foot reached the hill near to where 
 Mr. Dingle's house formerly stood, they saw Mr. Patterson wave his 
 hand as a signal for them to return, and at the same time sevei'al
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 241 
 
 natives, armed with guns and tomahawks, appeared on the scene and 
 shot Mr. Patterson. The four on foot seeing this, and having but 
 one gun and five rounds of ammunition, retreated towards town, W. 
 Bishop turning and firing occasionally on the pursuers. When the news 
 reached town Col. Warre collected a force and went out and recovered 
 the body, which was found lying on some logs by the side of the road 
 with three bullet wounds in it, one through the heart, and frightfully 
 mutilated with tomahawks. Mr. Patterson's boots and hat were 
 gone, and his horse lay shot and tomahawked. Mr. Patterson was a 
 native of Northumberland, and by profession a steam and civil 
 engineer. He had performed some professional service in Spain, and 
 in Taranaki erected and worked a saw mill. He was a most 
 energetic settler, and was much respected. He left a widow and 
 several young children. 
 
 THE REBELS DISTURBED AT MANGOREI. 
 
 On the 12th of February, W. Richards, jun., reported that rebel 
 natives were on Mr. T. King's farm at Mangorei. At 2 p.m. two 
 parties of Bushrangers started for that locality, one party going by 
 Ratanui, and the other by the Avenue Road. When the latter 
 party got into the neighborhood of Mr. King's farm, they saw a 
 column of smoke before them in the bush, and about the Mangorei 
 Bridge they found tracks of natives, and marks of sheep having 
 been dragged. The party that went by Ratanui came up about 5 p.m., 
 and then an advance was made. Following the tracks a Maori was 
 seen fishing in the river, and was fired at, but made his escape into 
 the bush apparently unharmed. 
 
 Crossing the river an encampment was discovered, which had the 
 appearance of having but very recently been abandoned. Here were 
 eight very large Maori ovens, from some of which meat had just 
 been taken and laid upon branches ; some were still unopened, and 
 contained a barrow-load, or more, of mutton each. A number of 
 kidneys had been reserved in a heap uncooked, and these the men 
 appropriated, and conveyed to town for their suppers. Potatoes, 
 kumeras, and apples were also at hand, as well as a quantity of that 
 Maori delicacy, rotted maize. From the fact of twenty skins being 
 found in a neighboring clearing, and from the number of tracks seen, 
 it was judged that a large number of natives intended to partake of 
 the preparing feast. 
 
 The camp was about three-quarters of a mile from the Meeting of 
 the Waters, and about 300 yards beyond the site of an old pa, called 
 Papamoa, but on the eastern side of the Wiiiwakaiho River. The 
 rebels appeared to have intended to stay there for some time, for 
 they had commenced to build whares. 
 
 SKIRMISH AT KAITAKK. 
 
 On Friday, March the llth, an alarm was given in town by two 
 settlers, who had been out on the Frankley Rood, that the rebels 
 were out in that direction. Bush parties were sent out in pursuit in 
 16
 
 242 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 various directions, and Major Butler, with a company of Volunteers 
 advanced towards Kaitake. Captain Corbett left Pahitere, a singular 
 mount on the east of the Oakura, and made his way with his men 
 to the left of the Kaitake spur, on which the rebels had their strong- 
 hold, while Major Butler advanced straight for the spur, with a force 
 consisting of 84 men of the 57th, and a small detachment of the 
 Royal Artillery under Lieutenant Larcom, with a 24-pounder howitzer 
 and a cohorn mortar. On advancing to within 500 yards of the 
 lower pa firing was opened upon the position. The natives replied 
 by a weak and desultory fire, and the British advanced to a rising 
 ground within 200 yards of the pa, and here the gun was again got 
 into position. This had scarcely been done when the enemy opened 
 a heavy cross fire from three different directions. In this predicament 
 there was no choice other than to retreat, and this was effected in 
 good order, the men retiring skirmishing. The greatest number of 
 casualties occurred in the neighborhood of the gun, at which the 
 rebels chiefly directed their fire. 
 
 In the midst of the engagement, Antonio Rodiquez De Sardinha, a 
 member of the Royal House of Portugal, and one of the mounted 
 orderlies, displayed great gallantry by conveying two of the wounded 
 men to the rear under fire. Major Butler also manifested cool 
 courage throughout the affair. 
 
 The casualties of this engagement were : Lieutenant Larcom, 
 R.A., wounded severely ; Private Michael Kennedy, No. 1 Company, 
 57th Regiment, killed ; Privates "William Henry, Martin Stagpoole, 
 James Adley, John Chamberlain, and Charles Keane, 57th Regiment, 
 wounded. 
 
 On the 20th of March, the villages of Ahuahu and Te Tutu were 
 taken with trifling loss. 
 
 THE DEFEAT AT AHUAHU. 
 
 On the 6th of April, in compliance with orders, Captain Lloyd of 
 the 57th Regiment left the Kaitake Camp in order to effect a 
 reconnaisance of the site of the Ahuahu Village. At 6 a.m., 
 Lieutenant Cox, with a party of the 57th, and Captain Page, with 
 the Melbourne Volunteers, crossed the Oakura River from the camp 
 on its banks, striking inland by a newly formed road up the river 
 towards the ranges. Here they halted until joined by Captain 
 Lloyd and his party, the force then consisting of one captain, one 
 subaltern, two sergeants, one drummer, and 53 rank and file of the 
 57th, with Dr. Jones, and one captain, one subaltern, two sergeants, 
 and 41 rank and file of the Melbourne Volunteers ; the united 
 numbers making a force of 101. The march was continued as near 
 to the foot of the ranges and towards the south as the broken state 
 of the country would admit, the men having to toil through a dense 
 and luxuriant growth of fern, tutu, and manuka, up one hillock and 
 down another. On a portion of table land, on a rise to the left, 
 a small plantation was met with. Captain Lloyd gave orders that
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 243 
 
 this should be destroyed, handing his sword to Sergeant Anderson 
 for the purpose of cutting it down, and taking in exchange the 
 Sergeant's rifle and ammunition. Whilst this work was proceeding, 
 Lieutenant Cox, with the right sub-division of the 57th, advanced 
 up another rise to a flat piece of land, posting sentinels near to the 
 ruins of a number of whares, which were destroyed by the soldiers 
 on a former occasion. Afterwards six men under Sergeant Anderson 
 fell back as a picket on the outer spur of the range, carefully 
 searching all around, Henii, the native guide, having reported that 
 he had heard a call, and that the party had been discovered by 
 the enemy. 
 
 Captain Lloyd then passed to the front, descending the hill on to 
 a flat near to a series of rifle pits, the men, after an interval, 
 following down the hill, leaving a rear guard of ten men on the 
 look out. The word was now passed to light pipes, and for the 
 men to make themselves at ease, and the soldiers and volunteers 
 began to congregate about the cart road leading to the beach. 
 Ten minutes had scarcely elapsed, when from the thick fern on 
 the spur the natives poured in a volley, wounding one man. 
 Captain Lloyd then leaped into a rifle pit, ordering his men to 
 seek cover as quickly as possible, and open fire towards the 
 enemy, the Captain himself .tiring as rapidly as he could with the 
 Sergeant's rifle, which he still retained in his possession. - After 
 tiring for a quarter of an hour the word was given to retire. 
 In the i-etreat Captain Lloyd with several of the 57th and 
 Volunteers fell. 
 
 When it was known in town that some disaster had befallen 
 Captain Lloyd's party, Colonel Warre despatched a force consisting 
 of the Bushrangers, and a large party of the 57th under Major 
 Butler. When the orders came the Bushrangers were on their 
 way to attend the funeral of Sergeant Appleby, of Captain Corbett's 
 Company of Volunteers, who had died of the wound he received at 
 Kaitake. They immediately fell out, got their arms, and pi-oceeded 
 to Oakura, and from thence by Wairau to Ahuahu. Colonel 
 Warre, with an Annstrong gun, went to Hauranga, and from thence 
 by the road to the ranges, and when pretty near to the foot of 
 the spur he ordered two shells to be tired. This had the effect 
 of rousing the men who were still hiding in the fern. Two men 
 where picked up by the Buslmuigei-s, and one by Colonel Warre's 
 party. An advance was then made to the little plateau where 
 the tragic event of the morning took place, and there a fearful 
 scene presented itself. Six bodies were found by the rifle pits, 
 stripped nearly naked and decapitated, and their heads taken 
 away. Another man, whose body could not be found, appeared 
 to have been viscerated, some intestines being found on the ground. 
 The Ixxlies were placed in two carts and covered with fern, and 
 conveyed to town. 
 
 The casualties in this affair were : 57th Regiment : Captain 
 Lloyd, decapitated; Privates Jeremiah Dooley, decapitated ; George
 
 244 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Sadler, decapitated ; Andrew Collins, wounded ; Lawrence Cronin, 
 wounded ; John Kirby, wounded ; P. Murray, wounded ; and Isaac 
 Smith, wounded. Militia : Corporal H. Banks, decapitated ; 
 Privates James Nagles and H. Bartley, decapitated ; John Gallagher, 
 missing; Color-Sergeant George Bentley, wounded; Corporal 
 Robert Stokes, wounded ; Privates Francis T. Tomlins, wounded ; 
 Edward Whatmore, wounded, and James McKenna, wounded. 
 
 About this time the rebels threw off all pretensions to Christianity, 
 and practised fanatical rites called Pai Marire, and called themselves 
 Hauhaus. For some occult purpose the heads of the unfortunate 
 persons killed at Ahuahu were dried after the native fashion, and 
 conveyed from one native settlement to another by these fanatics. 
 
 On the 21st, Lieutenant Hirst found the missing man Gallagher 
 on the ranges, decapitated, and part of his breast and one leg 
 cut off. 
 
 DEFEAT OF THE REBELS AT SENTRY HILL. 
 
 Sentry Hill is a mount near the termination of the Waioiigona 
 and Mangoraka Rivers. After the second rebellion of Hapurona, 
 Wi Kingi's fighting general, it was taken possession of by the 
 British, a redoubt formed, and a blockhouse erected on it which was 
 strongly garrisoned. 
 
 From an early hour of the morning of Saturday, the 30th of 
 April, the men in the fort heard the rebels shouting and chanting 
 their war songs at Manutahi. The sounds gradually drew nearer, 
 and at 9 a.m. it was evident that the rebels were in force at 
 Waiongona ford, which is nearly opposite to Sentry Hill. Shortly 
 after they were seen by the sentries to be emerging from the bush 
 which lies in the river valley between the ford and the hill, and 
 distant about 800 yards. About 300 of them advanced along the 
 road, and made slowly and steadily for the redoubt. Captain Shortt 
 of the 57th, who was in command, ordered his men, 75 in number, 
 to lie down iinder the breastwork of the redoubt, and kept the 
 sentry marching to and fro as usual, as if no danger was 
 expected. The rebels advanced till they were about 150 yards off, 
 but then halted as if rather doubtful. Then Captain Shortt gave 
 the word of command, and the men sprang upon their feet, and 
 opened a murderous fire upon the rebels with their rifles and two 
 cohorn mortal's. The rebels drew back a little, but stood the fire 
 remarkably well, taking such cover as the high fern and irregularities 
 of the ground gave them. They returned the fire, but only succeeded 
 in hitting Drummer D. Hurley in the shoulder. One rebel came up 
 to the redoubt, and was shot within 20 yards of it. Major Butler 
 came up with reinforcements from Mahoetahi, and ordered a charge, 
 when the last of the rebels ran, leaving 34 dead and wounded, two 
 of the wounded dying shortly afterwards. A flag of truce was then 
 hoisted at Sentiy Hill, and a native messenger despatched to 
 Manutahi to tell the natives to come and bmy their dead. The
 
 HISTORY OF TARAKAKI. 245 
 
 messenger found a large number of Ngatiawa, Taranaki, and Ngati- 
 ruanui natives there in a great state of grief at the loss they had 
 sustained, but he could not persuade them to come up for their 
 dead. On the messenger's return the flag of truce was hauled down 
 and the Union Jack hoisted. 
 
 Among the rebels who fell on this occasion were Parenga Kingi, 
 chief of Taranaki ; Manahi, of the Ngamotu hapu of Ngatiawa, 
 whose defection at Ratapihipi at the commencement of the war we 
 have alluded to, and who was concerned in the Omata murders ; 
 Tupara Keina (Tubal Cain), chief of Ngatiawa ; and Tamati Hone, 
 head chief of Ngatiruanui. 
 
 During the time in which the foregoing events were taking place 
 in Taranaki, General Cameron was engaged with a large force in 
 quelling the insurrection in the Waikato, and no sooner were the 
 northern rebels defeated than those around Taranaki began to slink 
 back to the remoter parts of their districts. 
 
 In August, the Maori King with some of his chief people came 
 to reside at Hapurona's pa at Te Arei, Pukerangiora. 
 
 CAPTURE OF MANUTAHI, MATAITAWA AND TE AREI. 
 
 Intelligence was received in New Plymouth on the 7th of October 
 that the Puketapu section of the Mataitawa natives were desirous of 
 making peace, that Wi Kingi's own people had removed to the east 
 side of the Waitara, and that there would be no difficulty in taking 
 possession of Manutahi and Mataitawa. Accordingly, early on 
 Saturday morning, the 8th, a force consisting of 200 men of the 70th, 
 under Major Ryan, two field guns in charge of Captain Martin, 
 R.A., the Bushrangers of Captains Good and Jonas, numbering 100 
 men, under Major Atkinson, and Captain Mace's mounted men, 
 started northward. At Mahoetahi they were reinforced by 150 men 
 of the 70th, under Major Saltmarsh, the whole being under the 
 command of Colonel Warre, C.B., who was attended by his staff, 
 and also by Colonel Lepper and Mr. Pan-is. The force halted for a 
 short time at Sentry Hill, while messengers went on to Manutahi, 
 and shortly afterwards Colonel Warre ordered the advance, and in 
 doing so addressed the Bushrangers telling them that as they had 
 been often disappointed he would give them the post of honor that day, 
 although he did not suppose it would be one of much danger. Some 
 friendly Puketapu natives went first to see if the pa was evacuated, 
 but when some of them were within a few yards of it they were 
 fired upon, and retired. 
 
 In front of Manutahi there was at that time a plot of open fern 
 land nearly surrounded with forest, and the pa was built at the 
 south end of this where the open land was about 150 yards wide, 
 the two ends of the pa resting on the forest. Colonel Warre divided 
 Major Atkinson's men into two parties, sending one into the bush on 
 the right, and the other into the bush on the left, and ordering the 
 70th to advance in the oj>en land as a support. The natives in the
 
 246 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 pa fired briskly as the Bushrangers approached, but finding themselves 
 outflanked on both sides, they broke and fled, and two of them fell 
 as they ran out of the back of the pa, while a third was wounded 
 and escaped. 
 
 The pa was of a very singular shape, being, as has been already 
 stated, 150 yards long, but in the shape, of a double concave lens, 
 20 yards wide in the middle, but expanding in a curve towards the 
 ends. The ditches were deep, the banks high and 12 feet thick, and 
 had it been adequately garrisoned it would have been hard to take. 
 
 The loss on the side of the British was but slight Private 
 Scammel of the Bushrangers being shot through the upper part of 
 the arm while looking through the palisading of the pa ; Private 
 Henry Turner had a very narrow escape, part of the socket of his 
 bayonet being shot away, and the end of his revolver preventing 
 the ball entering his hip. He and a rebel had a duel from 
 opposite sides of the palisading. 
 
 Leaving the Bushrangers to destroy Manutahi, Colonel Warre 
 went on with Major Saltmarsh's party of the 70th, and the mounted 
 men and friendly natives, to Mataitawa, but no resistance was 
 attempted there. No fortifications were found at this place. 
 
 On Tuesday morning, the llth, at daybreak, another expedition 
 started from Mahoetahi, where it had encamped the night before, for 
 the purpose of taking Te Arei, Hapurona's stronghold. It consisted 
 of 350 men of the 70th, under Majors Rutherford and Saltmarsh, 
 and Captains Backhouse and Ralston, a detachment of Artillery 
 under Captain Martin, Captain Mace's mounted men, and about 100 
 friendly natives, the whole under the command of Colonel Warre. 
 The force crossed the Waiongona and passed No. 6 Redoubt, where 
 a picket was left, and soon afterwards divided, one party going to 
 the right over the burnt hill and the long hill next to it, and the 
 other keeping straight on till some of the leading files were little 
 more than a hundred yards from the palisading. As the troops 
 advanced the natives were heard going through their karaldas, and 
 as soon as they had done these they opened fire, and after firing 
 about twenty shots retired to safer quarters. In the meantime the 
 force on the right, led by native guides, crossed the gully between 
 the long hill and Te Arei, and coming up through a piece of bush 
 entered the pa at the back without firing a shot. The pa was strong 
 against an attack in front, having two lines of palisading, with a 
 considerable space between them, in which were two lines of deep 
 trenches, and a high bank which at one time formed part of the old 
 Pukeraugiora pa. But at the back the pa was so constructed that an 
 assailant would have been under cover while the inmates of the pa 
 would have had no shelter at all. This is the position which 
 General Pratt endeavored to take by means of advancing redoubts, 
 and one of the longest saps on record, and after losing a number of 
 officers and men did not succeed in capturing it. 
 
 In a flat open space at the back of the pa a pole was standing 
 with two circles round it, made by the feet of the Hauhaus in the 
 practice of their Pai marire rites.
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 247 
 
 After resting awhile the friendly natives, Captain Mace's men on 
 foot, and Captain Backhouse's company of the 70th, under Major 
 Saltnwsh, went over the hill to the village of Pekatu. While yet a 
 long way from this place it was observed, by the help of glasses, 
 that there were four or five natives there performing their religious 
 exercises round another pole. When the British got near to the 
 village the rebels fired off their guns and retired to the little village 
 of Pukemahoe, about 400 yards farther off across a small valley, 
 where they got into the whares and commenced firing again, but 
 after a short skirmish retreated again, taking with them one of their 
 number wounded, as was shown by the blood along the road. They 
 were followed by a few men for half a mile farther, but without 
 effect. The people of this village, before their perversion to the 
 Pai marire fanatacism, were probably of the Roman Catholic faith, 
 for a portrait of St. Clotilde, a Roman Catholic Catechism, in 
 manuscript, and other similar matters were foiind there. It was 
 situate in the Waitara Valley, not far from the junction of the 
 Manganui After burning the whares, and picking up a few trifles, 
 the force returned to Te Arei, where a large 1'edoubt was in course of 
 construction, and was shortly afterwards garrisoned by 150 men of 
 the 70th, under Major Rutherford, No. 6 Redoubt being occupied 
 by Captain Page's company of Military Settlers. 
 
 On September the 17th, Maxwell Lepper, Esq., late Major in the 
 14th Regiment, was appointed Colonel of the Taranaki Military 
 Settlers. Mr. Lepper entered the 86th Regiment on 13th August, 
 1847, as ensign, and became lieutenant, by purchase, on 23rd 
 February, 1849, and purchased his captaincy on 25th September, 1855. 
 In 1858 he went with his Regiment to India. He was present at 
 the siege, storming, and capture of Chandaree, and of the town and 
 fortress of Jhansi, also at the battles of Betwa and Golowlee, the 
 action of Koonch, and the capture of the town and fort of Calpee. 
 Between the 15th and 21st of May, 1858, he was present during 
 the operations before Calpee, and commanded the European infantry 
 in the pursuing columns from Calpee. He was engaged in the battle 
 of Morar, and in the battle before and capture of the town and 
 fortress of Gwalior. He was thrice mentioned in despatches, and 
 was promoted to the brevet of Major. He possessed also a medal 
 and clasp. On the second battalion of H.M. 14th Regiment coming 
 to New Zealand Major Lepper exchanged into it. 
 
 In October, the old Taranaki Militia was disbanded. 
 
 On the 25th of October, the Governor issued a proclamation 
 offering a pardon to all such persons implicated in the rebellion, 
 other than the persons charged with murdering the settlers, who 
 should surrender themselves and take the oath of allegiance before 
 the tenth of the succeeding December, and cede such territory as 
 might in each case be fixed by the Governor and the Lieutenant- 
 General commanding the forces in New Zealand. 
 
 On the 19th of November, General Cameron arrived in New
 
 248 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 Plymouth with a reinforcement of the 43rd and 70th Regiments, 
 and ordered the re-occupation of Tataraimaka. The General's stay 
 was short. 
 
 On the 28th, Private Hartley of the 70th, who had gone out 
 unarmed from the Mataitawa Redoubt was met in the bush by the 
 rebels and decapitated. 
 
 On the 19th of December, His Honor the Superintendent returned 
 from Auckland, whither he had been attending the session of the 
 General Assembly, bringing with him Mr. Doyne, a civil engineer, 
 who had served in the Army Service Corps in the Crimea, for the 
 purpose of obtaining his opinion respecting the formation of a 
 harbor in the Taranaki roadstead. Mr. Doyne was subsequently 
 joined by Mr. Balfour, a marine engineer, in the service of the 
 Provincial Government of Otago, and the two prepared a preliminary 
 report on the subject. 
 
 On the 31st of December, Henare Ngatoke, a TJrenui native, left 
 Waitara, where he had some cultivations, to go to Kaipikari, a place 
 on a forest covered ridge to the eastward of Waitara. His chief 
 object in going was to see some of the people there, and to let them 
 know of the arrival of Te Rakatau and othei's from the Chatham 
 Islands. He had some misgivings before starting, for he said to his 
 friends at leaving that if he were not back on the following day 
 they might conclude that he was dead. He went, and on arriving 
 near to Kaipikari he met some of the men of the place xinarmed, 
 among whom were his relatives Pitiroi and Te Retiu. When these 
 men saw him they immediately ran for their guns, and fired at him, 
 wounding him in the arm. He fell from his horse and attempted to 
 run, but was fired on again and was killed. After waiting a week 
 for his return, his wife Rina, and an adopted child, in desperation, 
 whaka momori, went after him to ascertain what had become of him. 
 On arriving at Kaipikari they were treated with far greater barbarity, 
 being wounded, thrown into a hole and killed. The murderers were 
 some of them the relatives of their victims, and belonged to the 
 Manukorihi, Wi Kiugi's own hapu. 
 
 In January, 1865, General Cameron, at the request of the 
 Colonial Government, proceeded to attack the rebels at Wanganui, 
 leaving orders at New Plymouth for Colonel Warre of the 57th to 
 operate from Taranaki towards the south. In obedience to this 
 instruction a force left New Plymouth on the 23rd, for the purpose 
 of occupying Te Ngana, on the Hangatahua, or Stony River. 
 
 On the same day, Private Frank Roebuck, of the 9th Company of 
 Military Settlers, was wantonly shot dead at the Camp at Mataitawa 
 by a comrade named John Harris, who was afterwards convicted of 
 manslaughter. 
 
 On the 2nd of March, the Rev. Sylvius Volkner, of the Church 
 Mission, and formerly assistant to the Rev. J. Reimenschneider, at 
 Warea, was barbarously murdered by the Maoris at Opotiki, on the 
 East Coast, at the instigation of some Pai marire fanatics from 
 Taranaki.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 249 
 
 On the 13th of March, General Cameron, having arrived at Patea, 
 ordered the whole of the available force there to march on 
 Kakaramea. The 57th, under Major Butler, led the advance, 
 followed by detachments of the 50th and 68th. When within a 
 short distance of the pa the natives opposed their further march. 
 After a short engagement the enemy was completely routed, leaving 
 33 dead. The casualties of the British were one killed and three 
 wounded. The soldiers rushed into the pa, and found a quantity of 
 food just cooked. They also found pork, fowls, bullocks, and about 
 seven tons of flour. 
 
 On the 19th, a skirmish took place at Kaipikari between some 
 friendly natives and the rebels. 
 
 On the 21st, a force embarked at New Plymouth in the s.s. 
 Ahuriri, for Patea, consisting of 158 non-commissioned officers and 
 men of Nos. 8 and 10 Companies of Taranaki Military Settlers, and 
 a company of Volunteer Bushrangers, composed pai-tly of Taranaki 
 Bushrangers and Volunteers, and partly of Military Settlers, 
 raised by Colonel Lepper, all armed with breech-loaders and revolvers, 
 also the following officers : Captains Brassey and Pennefather, 
 Lieutenants Kirkby and Wilson, Ensigns Dalrymple and Beer, and 
 Assistant-Surgeon Luther. The whole were under the command of 
 Captain Hirst, who had for his subalterns, Lieutenant W. Newland, 
 and Ensign Chapman. The steamer was not able to land the force 
 at Patea owing to the weather, and took them on to Wanganui in 
 order that they might march overland to Patea. The men, however, 
 were detained at Wanganui for some time, and most of them 
 subsequently volunteered for the East Coast, where they were joined 
 and commanded by Captain Stapp, and performed important 
 services. 
 
 While the General was operating on the coast he ordered several 
 surf boats to be conveyed to the coast for the purpose of holding 
 communications with steam vessels bringing supplies. 
 
 On the 30th of March, a boat was launched at Manawapou to go 
 out and under-run the mooring buoy. In going out of the creek it 
 was struck by three successive seas, and dashed to pieces against the 
 cliffs. The crew fortunately escaped after incurring considerable 
 danger. On April the 2nd, another boat went off from the same place to 
 the s.s. Ahuriri with despatches, and brought ashore some cai'go. 
 The crew on landing told Major Locke that there was too much sea 
 on to allow of the boat going off again. Shortly afterwards the 
 steamer Gundagi arrived, and ran up her ensign " Union down." It 
 being thought there was something the matter, at imminent i-isk the 
 boat went off. All the captain wanted was to land passengers and 
 cai-go, and he adopted this rune to induce the crew to launch the Ixwxt. 
 Just as the boat left a sea swept the decks of the steamer. The 
 boat succeeded in reaching the surf warp when she was struck 
 by a sea and took a run. Before she could recover herself the 
 chock was carried away, and the next sea turned her bottom 
 upwards. Seven lives were lost. The names of the boatmen
 
 250 HISTORY OP TAEANAKI. 
 
 drowned were Francis McGuire, and William Graul alias Scotty. 
 Of the rest, two were men of the 57th, one of the 50th, and two of 
 the Colonial Transport Corps. On the 12th another accident 
 happened to a surf-boat at the same place, by which three more 
 lives were lost. 
 
 DEATH OF JOSEPH HAWKE. 
 
 On the 22nd, early in the morning, Major Colville, commanding 
 the Camp at Stony River, directed four mounted men Baddeley, 
 Hawke, Reynolds, and Clements to proceed in the direction of 
 Warea in search of some of the Commissariat bullocks that had 
 strayed. The party after crossing the river detected the tracks of 
 the animals, and followed them as far as Mokotunu, where six 
 soldiers, who had left the camp without permission, were fallen in 
 with. One of the soldiers, named Jury, was mounted on a borrowed 
 horse. The united parties then proceeded as far as to Waiwhiri- 
 wherua, where they turned up for a mile and a half inland. Seeing 
 some horses they made an endeavor to capture them, but the animals 
 taking fright, started off" rapidly towards the forest. Presently two 
 cows and a calf were met with. The cows ran towards the beach, 
 but Hawke and Clement succeeded in making the calf fast by means 
 of a tether line. The calf then got into a swamp, and while the 
 men were occupied in trying to get it out some rebels appeared and 
 fired at them. Hawke fell, and Jury rode inland and was never 
 seen again. The rest of the Europeans, having only three revolvers 
 amongst them, retreated, and reached the camp. 
 
 On the following day, Major Colville, with a party of the 43rd, 
 went out to reconnoitre, and found the body of Hawke shot in 
 several places, and with the left eye gouged out. It was conveyed 
 to town and buried with military honors. 
 
 On the 22nd, the following force embarked in the s.s. Phoabe for 
 the White Cliffs : Colonel Mulock (in command), Captains Ralston 
 and Cay, Lieutenants Gilbert and Bally, Ensign Pierson, Lieutenant 
 and Adjutant Fenneran, 8 sergeants, 2 buglers, and 144 rank and 
 file of the 70th Regiment; A.D.C.G. Castray, Assistant-Surgeon 
 Jones, Lieutenant Ferguson, and 2 gunners of the Royal Artillery ; 
 Captain Jonas, Lieutenant Free, Ensign Lawson, 5 sergeants, 4 
 corporals, 2 buglers, and 49 rank and file of the Taranaki Bushrangers, 
 and Mr. Parris. Owing to a storm the Volunteers and Bushrangers 
 were not landed, but were taken on first to Auckland, and afterwards 
 to Patea. 
 
 General Cameron did not advance northward of the Waingongoro 
 River, but Colonel Warre took possession of Opunake, expecting 
 the General to join him there. 
 
 An explanation of the General's slow advance may be gathered 
 from the following memorandum by Mr. Weld, Colonial Secretary : 
 
 " In reference to certain statements made by Lieutenant-General
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 251 
 
 Sir Duncan A. Cameron, which have been communicated by the 
 Governor to his responsible advisers, Ministers express their 
 regret that the Lieutenant-General should have thought fit to 
 attribute base and unworthy motives, and a culpable disregard for 
 the lives of British officers and men, to the Ministry of New 
 Zealand, and by implication to Her Majesty's representative in the 
 Colony. 
 
 " They believe that having regard to the character of the Colony, 
 which it is their duty to uphold, and to their own, which as public 
 men is the property of the Colony, it is impossible longer to accept 
 assistance so unwillingly rendered. Nor, indeed, can it be hoped 
 that the zeal and energy which alone can secure or lead to any useful 
 results in operations in the field will be displayed by any officer, 
 however distinguished, in support of a cause which is branded by 
 him with such severe reprobation. 
 
 "FRED. A. WELD. 
 
 " April 8th, 1865." 
 
 At this time the Colony was placed in a dilemma. On the one 
 hand it had a savage and unconquered foe to deal with, and on the other 
 an unwilling General, and a demand by Mr. Cardwell, the British 
 Minister, that the troops should be paid for. As a solution of this 
 difficulty, Mr. Weld recommended that the Colonial Parliament 
 should undertake a reasonable liability for troops engaged in the" field, 
 and that to the 6,000 Militia and 4,000 Military Settlers then in the 
 North Island, a force of 1,500 Armed Constabulary should be 
 added. 
 
 In May, a scheme for the settlement of Tikorangi was published 
 by Major Atkinson. Two companies of Bushrangers were to be 
 foi'med under Captains Jonas and Armstrong. The men were to 
 occupy the district against the enemy till September, 1866, and 
 were then to receive each 50 acres of rural land and a town allot- 
 ment. Until put in possession of their land they were to receive 
 2s. 6d. per day, but after they were put in possession of their land 
 they were to receive rations for six months longer. Afterwards it 
 was found that there was only land enough for one company, and 
 the other had to take land at Patea. 
 
 SKIRMISH AT WHATINO. 
 
 On the 1st of June, Lieutenant-Colonel Colville, of the 43rd 
 Regiment, went down from Opunake to Whatino, a distance of five 
 or six miles, with an escort of the Mounted Corps. While there 
 some of the men expressed a wish to go a little inland to see what 
 they could in that direction. The Colonel having no objection to 
 their fulfilling their wishes, a small party consisting of Cornet 
 Johnson and six men J. Johnson, O'Neill, Olson, C. Curtis, J. 
 Hoskin, and A. Harrison started accordingly. After proceeding 
 about a mile they saw six Maoris, and supposing them to be decoys 
 the party lialted. The Maoris then challenged them to come on, iu
 
 252 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 abusive language. The party then put spurs to their horses and 
 rode up to the rebels, who fired one volley at them as they advanced, 
 and another when they closed on them. The revolvers of the 
 British, however, did their work, and soon put the rebels to flight. 
 On the side of the British Private O'Neill fell mortally wounded. 
 Of the six rebels, three were left dead, or dying on the ground, and 
 one or two of the others who escaped were wounded. Besides their 
 wounded comrade, the party brought away three guns and a mere 
 pounamu. 
 
 On the 13th of June, Colonel Warre proceeded to attack the 
 Taranaki natives in their settlements inland of Warea. With 
 commendable humanity, he first released a prisoner and sent him up 
 to tell them that if they came and met him at Te Puru they would 
 not be hurt, otherwise they must take the consequences. The 
 ambassador was intrusted with the watch of Mr. Edward Stockman, 
 the interpreter, in order that he might not mistake the hour allotted 
 for his ambassage and return. As nothing was seen of the messenger 
 or the people after the appointed time, Colonel Warre proceeded to 
 carry out the plan of attack which he had previously arranged. The 
 force was divided into three parties. The main division, consisting of 
 a detatchment of the 43rd Regiment, under Colonel Colville, and the 
 Bushrangers under Captain Jonas, went up the road from Te Ikaroa ; 
 the second division, under Major Holmes of the 43rd, went straight 
 up to Te Puru from Warea, Colonel Warre accompanying it ; and 
 the third, consisting of a party of the 70th, under Major Russell of 
 the 57th, went up on the north side of Warea to a village called 
 Ngakumikumi, after destroying which this party joined the centre 
 one. Colonel Colville's party, who were in front, passed through a 
 mile or two of light bush, and then came upon a village, known as 
 Okeanui. A skirmish took place here ; some guns and other things 
 were taken, the houses burnt, and the party went on through a mile 
 or more of heavy bush and up a steep hill, when they came all at 
 once upon Nekeua, which was an old pa with a deep trench round it, 
 and had been recently occupied. It was palisaded against an advance 
 from Te Puru, but not on the other side where the bush came right 
 up to the trench. So siidden was the advance of the 43rd and the 
 Bushrangers, that they surprised a native, named Te Meiha alias 
 Big Jack, who was quietly looking through a telescope at Colonel 
 Warre's party at Te Puru. At the first shot he jumped down into 
 the gully, leaving his telescope and a loaded rifle behind him. The 
 other natives fled to the bush, excepting two, who ran to the whares 
 and closing the doors fired out through the rush walls at the British. 
 The whares were then set on fire, and one old man was dragged 
 out from the burning huts and saved. In the meantime Colonel 
 Warre had advanced to Te Puru, and found the rebels running 
 round a Pai marire pole ; a slight skirmish took place, and the 
 village was destroyed. Colonel Colville, after the destruction of 
 Kekeua, joined Colonel Warre, and the whole force returned to Warea.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 253 
 
 At some of the villages whares were found filled with the plunder 
 trow, the Lord "Worsley. 
 
 REVOCATION OF THE PROCLAMATION OF MARTIAL LAW. 
 
 [Proclamation.] 
 
 " By His Excellency Sir George Grey, Knight, &c. 
 " Whereas by Proclamation, bearing date 25th day of January, 
 1860, His Excellency Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, the Governor of 
 the Colony of New Zealand, did proclaim and declare that MARTIAL 
 LAW should be exercised throughout the Province of Taranaki from 
 the date of the publication of the said Proclamation within the said 
 Province, until the relief of the said District from Martial Law by 
 Public Proclamation. 
 
 " And whereas it appeal's unto me expedient to Revoke the 
 said Proclamation : Now therefore I, Sir George Grey, the 
 Governor of the said Colony, in pursuance and exercise of all 
 powers and authorities in this behalf enabling me, Do hereby declare 
 the aforesaid Proclamation of the 25th of January, 1860, to be and 
 the same is hereby revoked. And I do further Proclaim and declare 
 that this Proclamation shall take effect on and after the first day of 
 August, 1865. 
 
 " Given at Wellington, &c., 
 
 " This first day of July, 1865, 
 
 "G. GREY." 
 
 ENGAGEMENT AT WAREA. 
 
 On Friday, July the 28th, Captain Close of the 43rd Regiment, 
 stationed at the Warea Redoubt, went with a party of 40 or 50 
 men into one of the forest dealings, inland of Warea, for the 
 purpose of getting firewood, when he was suddenly fired upon by a 
 party of rebels in ambush. Captain Close and Corporal Hanaghaii 
 fell mortally wounded, and a private and a native named Hemi, 
 who was with the party, were slightly wounded. The troops 
 immediately opened out in skirmishing order, and drove the natives 
 back. On the following morning, a force of 300 men left New 
 Plymouth for the puqwse of chastising these rebels. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 2nd of August, a party paraded at Warea, at 
 3 a.m., consisting of 100 men of the 43rd and 140 of the 70th, 
 under Lieutenant-Colonel Colville and Captain Cay, Lieutenants 
 Bally, Tylden, and Howard, Surgeon Turner, 43rd Regiment, 
 Captain Mace of the Volunteers, and 150 men of the 70th Regiment. 
 The Hon. Captain Han-is, Lieutenants Talbot and Langley, and 
 Assistant-Surgeon Grant, 43rd Regiment, also accompanied the 
 force. The party proceeded as far as Kapoaiaia, where it separated 
 into two divisions, that under Major Russell turned inland and took 
 the track for Okea, and that under Colonel Colville proceeded down 
 the coast and turned inland for the purpose of reaching u place 
 called Kairuru, where it was supjtosed the natives were. It waa 
 believed that a track ran from Kairuru to Okea, and the plan was
 
 254 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 that after Colonel Colville had driven the rebels out of Kairuvu, 
 they should be cut off by Major Russell's party. Major Russell 
 reached Okea about 7 a.m., and going to the top of some high hills 
 that commanded the flat, smoke was seen in the dense scrub at a 
 distance of about 500 yards. Captain Cay was at once sent with 60 
 men to reconnoitre ; and after getting through the bush, found 
 himself close to about twenty whares. The natives were completely 
 surprised, and at first made no resistance. Eleven Maoris were 
 bayonetted in the open, and a large number more must have fallen 
 in the dense scrub and in the whares. Five were taken prisoners. 
 The loss the 70th sustained in this place was one man shot dead, and 
 Lieutenant Tylden sevei'ely wounded in the hand and face. Captain 
 Cay's party then returned to the reserve with their wounded and 
 prisoners. Whilst Dr. Turner was examining the wounded, the 
 natives exchanged a few shots with the party, and a skirmish 
 ensued, the rebels fighting with determination and aiming with 
 remarkable precision. 
 
 After destroying the native position the force retired, but was 
 galled in its retreat by swarms of rebels on its flanks, who sought 
 utu for their slain. During the retreat Lieutenant Bally, while in 
 command of the rear guard, fell, a bullet entering his side, and 
 causing almost instantaneous death. The troops retired to camp at 
 1.30, and during the march three of the prisoners, in attempting to 
 escape, were shot. 
 
 Colonel Colville, hearing the firing, forced his way through a 
 narrow track, guided by Minarapa, and having got on the same 
 road as Major Russell had traversed, fell in with six natives, and 
 shot five of them, two of whom were recognised by Minarapa as 
 chiefs. The casualties of the British on this occasion were as 
 follows : Killed Lieutenant Bally, Privates Smith, Brown, and 
 Ralph. Wounded Lieutenant Tylden, severely ; Privates Laughton, 
 severely ; Royal, severely ; Saville, severely ; Ward, dangerously ; 
 Maley, dangerously. 
 
 On the following day. Colonel Colville with his party returned to 
 the scene of the engagement, and burnt some whares, during which 
 the rebels killed Private S. Bolton, one of his outlying sentries. 
 
 On the 1st of August, Lieu tenant-General Sir Duncan Cameron 
 resigned the command of the Army in New Zealand, and was 
 succeeded by Major-General Trevor Chute. This resignation had become 
 necessary by the strange conduct of General Cameron in remaining 
 for a long time inactive with a force of 10,000 men under his 
 command, writing secret despatches to the Imperial Government, and 
 complaining that the Colonial Government were regardless of the 
 lives of the officers and men of the Army. 
 
 On the 9th of August, the Colonial steam transport Alexandra, 
 having sprung a leak by striking on a rock, \vas beached at fhe White 
 Cliffs, where she became a total wreck. 
 
 On the 2nd of September, the Governor proclaimed peace to all
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 255 
 
 the Maoris who had taken part in the rebellion on the West Coast, 
 excepting the murderers. 
 
 On the 4th of September, Mr. H. R. Richmond was elected 
 Superintendent of the Province. 
 
 On the 1 4th of October, the New Plymouth Building Society was 
 established. 
 
 On the 20th, Captain Mace, with a small party of the Mounted 
 Corps, was fired on by an ambuscade of about thirty rebels at the 
 three hills between Warea and the Hangatahua River, which slightly 
 wounded him, and struck W. Bullot in the neck, and W. Oxenham 
 in the foot. 
 
 On the same day, Major-General Chute arrived in New Plymouth 
 in order to consult Colonel Warre as to a plan of operations. 
 
 On the 22nd, before day-break, Colonel Colville, with a force of 
 83 men of the 43rd, Captain Hon. J. Harris, Lieutenants Langley 
 and O'Brien, and Captain Mace and a party of the Mounted Corps, 
 marched out to chastise the rebeles who had fired on Captain Mace's 
 party on the 20th at the three hills. A skirmish ensued, in which 
 Sergeant Clifford and Private Pratt were killed, and Colonel Colville 
 and Sergeant Dyer were wounded. 
 
 On the 9th of December, Major Stapp returned from Opotiki, 
 having resigned the command there to Colonel Lyons, on whose 
 assumption of command the following orders were issued : _. 
 
 " Lieutenant-Colonel Lyons has much pleasure in publishing the 
 following communication received from the Hon. the Defence 
 Minister, dated Wellington, 13th November, 1865 : 'I am at the same 
 time to request you will convey to Major Stapp the thanks of the 
 Government for the zeal, ability, and discretion with which he has 
 performed veiy arduous and important duties, from the time he 
 joined the force, and especially since he assuumed the chief 
 command.' 
 
 "J. HOLT, 
 '/ Captain and Under Secretary." 
 
 " In giving over the command of the Expeditionary Force, I feel 
 it incumbent on me to express my thanks to the officers and men 
 composing it for the ready manner in which they have co-operated 
 with me on all occasions in the performance of very arduous duties, 
 and more particularly for the gallantly they have displayed when- 
 ever engaged with the enemy. I sincerely regret parting from a 
 force with which I have served for upwards of three months, with 
 great satisfaction to myself, and in doing so heartily wish it every 
 success in the future, whether with the sword or the plough. 
 
 "C. STAPP." 
 
 At this* period the embarkation of the Imperial Forces for England 
 commenced, the first regiments to leave being the 70th and 65tb. 
 At the end of the year the Imperial force in the Colony consisted of
 
 256 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 ten regiments, embodying 10,000 men; the regiments being the 12th, 
 14th, 18th, 40th, 43rd, 50th, 57th, 65th. and 70th, two Batteries of Field 
 Artillery, with Engineers and Military Train. There were also at 
 this time four ships of war in New Zealand waters, namely : the 
 Curacjoa, Eclipse, Esk, and Miranda.
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 257 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 CONFISCATION OP LANDS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY 
 SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 A 
 
 111 WING to the extreme reluctance with which military aid was 
 \J/ granted by the Imperial Government to New Zealand during 
 
 J the Native Rebellion, the demand made for payment for the 
 troops, the inactivity of General Cameron and his extraordinary 
 attempts to interfere politically with the Colonial Government, it 
 became necessary for the latter to adopt measui-es for the pacification 
 of the country. In this emergency, Mr. Domett suggested the 
 establishment of a series of outposts around the unsettled districts, 
 garrisoned by military settlers, who were to combine within them- 
 selves the profession of arms and agriculture, and were to receive 
 lands as a recompence for their military service, and pay and rations 
 until they had subdued the enemy around them and firmly established 
 themselves. In order to caiuy out this project, an Act intituled 
 " An Act to enable the Governor to establish Settlements for 
 Colonisation in the Northern Island of New Zealand," was passed 
 on the 3rd of December 1863, which pixtvided that, " Whenever the 
 Governor in Council shall be satisfied that any Native tribe or "section 
 of a tribe, or any considerable number thereof, has since the first 
 day of January, 1863, been engaged in rebellion against Her 
 Majesty's authority, it shall be lawful for the Governor in Council to 
 declare that the district within which any land being the property or 
 in the possession of such tribe or section or considerable number 
 thereof shall be situate, shall be a district within the provisions of 
 this Act, and the boundaries of such district in like manner to define 
 and vaiy as he shall think fit. That it shall be lawful for the 
 Governor in Council from time to time to set apart within any such 
 district eligible sites for settlements for colonisation, and the 
 boundaries of such settlements to define and vary. That for the 
 purposes of such settlements, the Governor in Council may from 
 time to time reserve or take any land within such district, and such 
 land shall be deemed to be Crown land, freed and discharged from 
 all title, interest, or claim of any person whomsoever, as soon as 
 the Governor in Council shall have declared that such land, is 
 required for the pur]K)ses of this Act and is subject to the provisions 
 thereof." 
 
 Shortly after the passing of this Act, agents were employed to 
 enlist men for military service in the Province from among the gold 
 miners of (Hugo and Mel bom ne. 
 
 On the 30th of December, 1863, the Choice arrived at New 
 Plymouth from Melbourne vid Lyttelton, with 40 volunteer for this 
 service. 
 
 On the 16th of January, 1864, the s.s. Phoebe brought Captain 
 17
 
 258 HISTORY OF TAEANAKI. 
 
 Edward Carthew and 29 volunteers from Otago. 
 
 On February the 13th, the ship Gresham brought from Melbourne 
 Lieutenants Pennefather and Sisson, Ensign Roddy, and 420 
 volunteers. 
 
 On the 17th of February, the barque Brilliant brought from 
 Melboiirne Lieutenants Kirkby, Clark, Gascoigne and Jackson, 
 Mrs. Kirkby, and two children. These were followed by others at 
 various times. 
 
 " PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " PROCLAIMING CERTAIN LANDS UNDER THE NEW ZEALAND SETTLE- 
 MENTS ACT, 1863. 
 
 " By His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B., &c. 
 " Whereas by the New Zealand Settlements Act, 1863, it was 
 enacted among other things that whenever the Governor in Council 
 shall be satisfied that any native tribe, or section of a tribe, or any 
 considerable number thereof, have since the 1st of January, 1863, 
 been engaged in rebellion against Her Majesty's authority, it shall be 
 lawful for the Governor in Council to declare that the district within 
 which any land being the property or in possession of such tribe, or 
 section, or considerable number thereof, shall be situate, shall be a 
 district within the provisions of the said Act, and the boundaries of 
 such district in like manner to define and vary as he shall think 
 fit: 
 
 " And whereas the Governor in Council is satisfied that certain 
 native tribes, or sections of tribes, having landed properties and 
 possessions in the lands described in the Schedules hereunder written, 
 have been engaged in rebellion against Her Majesty's authority : 
 
 " Now, therefore, I, Sir George Grey, the Governor as aforesaid, 
 in exercise of the power vested in me by the said recited Act, do 
 hereby, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the 
 Colony, set apart as an eligible site for settlement for colonisation 
 the lands described in the Schedule to this Proclamation, being lands 
 described within the said proclaimed district of Middle Taranaki, and 
 the Governor doth declare that the lands described in the said 
 Schedule are required for the purposes of the said Act, and are 
 subject to the provisions thereof, and doth reserve and take such land 
 for such purposes as aforesaid. 
 
 " Given under my hand and seal, at the Government House, 
 Auckland, and issued under the seal of the Colony of New 
 Zealand, this 30th day of January, in the year of our 
 Lord, 1865. 
 
 "G. GREY. 
 " GOD SAVE THE QUEEN." 
 
 [SCHEDULE.] 
 
 " MIDDLE TARANAKI. 
 
 " All that block of land at Taranaki bounded on the north and 
 west by the sea, on the east by the Waitara River from its mouth to the
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 259 
 
 the Waitara to the crossing place of the Kairoa and Waimate Road, 
 junction of the Manganni River, and by the Manganui River from, 
 thence on the south by the said road to its junction with the 
 Wanganui and Taranaki coast road, and thence by a straight line 
 from the said junction of roads to the sea at its nearest point ; 
 excepting all lands within the said boundaries held imder Grant 
 from the Crown." 
 
 Similar proclamations at the same date were issued respecting 
 lands in Waitara South and Oakura, described in the following 
 Schediiles : 
 
 WAITARA SOUTH. 
 
 All that block of land at Taranaki bounded on the north by the 
 sea, on the east by the Waitara River, from its mouth to the junction 
 of the Manganui River ; on the south by a straight line from the 
 junction of the Manganui and Waitara Rivers to Tarurutangi on 
 the Waiongona River, and on the west by a straight line to the sea 
 at Waitaha ; excepting lands within the above described boundaries 
 held under Grants from the Crown. 
 
 OAKURA. 
 
 Bounded on the north by the sea, on the east by the Omata Block 
 from the sea to where the boundary of the Omata Block is cut by 
 the native pa running between the Patua and Poxiakai ranges, 
 thence by a straight line running between the above mentioned 
 ranges till it cuts the Hangatahua river, thence by the Hangatahua 
 River to the sea, except the block of land known by the name of 
 Tataraimaka, 
 
 On the 2nd of September the following districts were pro- 
 claimed : 
 
 NGATIAWA. 
 
 Bounded on the north-west and north by the sea from the mouth 
 of the River Waitara to the tunnel at Parininihi, and thence by a 
 straight lino in a direction due east (true l>oaring) for a distance of 
 20 miles; on the south-east by a straight line from the eastern 
 extremity of the said northern louiulary in a direction south 39 
 degrees west (true) till it intersects the straight line between the 
 su in MI i t of Mount Egmont and Parikino on the Wanganui River ; 
 on the south by the said last named straight line from its intersection 
 with the said south-eastern boundary to its intersection with the 
 Kairoa and Waimate Road ; on the west by the eastern boundary of 
 the Middle District of Tiiraimki proclaimed under the New Zealand 
 Settlements Act, 18G3, from the point last named to the commencing 
 jx>int at the mouth of the River Waitara. 
 
 NGATIRUANUI. 
 
 On the north-east by a straight line bearing on the summit of 
 Mount Egmont, commencing at the Kairoa and Waimate Hoad and 
 drawn thence to Parikino on the River Wanganui ; on the east by 
 the said river to the sea ; on the south-west by the sea from the
 
 260 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 mouth of the said River Wanganui to the Waiinate stream ; and on 
 the west by the said Kairoa and Waimate Road from the said 
 Waimate stream, which last or western boundary is also part of the 
 eastern boundary of the said district of Middle Taraiiaki ; excepting 
 all lands held by or under the Crown prior to the date of this 
 Proclamation. 
 
 NGATIAWA COAST. 
 
 Bounded on the west and north-west by a line drawn straight 
 from the summit of Mount Egmont to the source of the River 
 Waiongona, thence along the said River Waiongona to Tai*urutangi, 
 thence straight to the junction of the Rivers Manganui and Waitara, 
 thence along the said Waitara to the sea, thence along the sea-coast 
 to the tunnel at Parininihi ; on the north by a straight line in a 
 direction due east (true) from the said tunnel at Parininihi for a 
 distance of 20 miles ; on the south-east by a straight line drawn 
 from the eastern extremity of the said northern boundary in a 
 direction south 39 degrees west, till it intersects the straight line 
 between the summit of Mount Egmont and Parikino on the 
 Wanganui River ; and on the south-west by the said straight line 
 last named from its intersection with the said south-eastern boundary 
 to the summit of Mount Egmont. 
 
 NGATIRUANUI COAST. 
 
 Bounded on the north by the River Hangatahua from its mouth 
 to the southern angle of the Oakura district, and thence by a straight 
 line passing between the Poukai and Patua (Kaitake) Ranges to the 
 point where the Native path passing in the same direction intersects 
 the south-western boundary of the Tapuae Block to the River Mango- 
 raka, thence by the said River Mangoraka to its source, thence by 
 a straight line to the summit of Mount Egmont, and thence by a 
 straight line to Parikino on the River Wanganui ; on the south-east 
 by the said River Wanganui from Parikino to the sea, and on the 
 south-west by the sea from the mouth of the said River Wanganui 
 to the mouth of the said River Hangatahua ; excepting all lands 
 within the said boundaries held by or under the Crown prior to the 
 date of this Proclamation. 
 
 The total area of land north of the Waingongoro River con- 
 fiscated under orders in Council and dealt with under the New 
 Zealand Settlements and Continuance Acts was 934,325 acres. Of 
 this area, 47,800 acres were laid out as Military Settlements ; viz., 
 45,681 acres as rural lands, 1,115 acres as suburban, and 1,004 in 
 townships. The districts were Pukearuhe, Urenui, Tikorangi, 
 Huirangi, Manganui, Mataitawa, Manutahi, Oakura, Koru, Ahuahua, 
 and Okato. Of the total area confiscated, 35,000 acres were allotted 
 to the Military Settlers, 6,622 acres were returned to the natives or 
 reserved for their use, and the remainder was allotted for education 
 and other reserves, or devoted to roads. 
 
 South of the Waingongoro River, an area of about 50,000 acres was 
 laid out in military settlements, forming collectively the Patea district,
 
 HISTORY OF TARAKAKI. 261 
 
 the towns being Kakaramea, Ohawe, and Makoia. It was hoped at 
 the time when these settlements were established that the men when 
 released from military duty would settle down upon their allotments, 
 and becoming permanent settlers in the Province would tend by 
 their numbers to ensure peace and security ; but from a variety of 
 causes the 'Military Settlements scheme did not result in the 
 immediate permanent increase in the population anticipated, and 
 even before the expiration of the three years residence required to 
 establish a title to the land allotted under their terms of service, a 
 large proportion of the original military settlers had left the Province, 
 settlers, and the sons of settlers, taking their place in the corps, and 
 the reversion of their land as substitutes. 
 
 In 1866, when the prescribed three years of service had elapsed 
 and the men became entitled to a grant of their allotments unfettered 
 by any conditions, the great majority of the military settlers then 
 remaining in the Province either sold or mortgaged their land and 
 left, and by the end of 1867 probably not more than a tenth part of 
 the men introduced under the Militaiy Settlements regulations 
 remained in the Province. Of the eleven towns laid out north of 
 the Waingongoro, the majority had not a single house upon them, 
 whilst the most populous could scarcely boast of a dozen. The bulk 
 of the rural allotments had passed into the hands of settlers. One 
 great cause of this general exodus was that when the Military 
 Settlements scheme was adopted the great requirement of the colony 
 was men, and the immediate exigency of this requirement was such 
 that there was no time to select men who might be expected to 
 utilize their land beneficially and become permanent settlers. But 
 the chief cause of the departure of numbers of those who would 
 have proved themselves useful Colonists, was the total inability of 
 the Provincial Government after the settlements had been handed 
 over to the Province either to provide work for these men, or to 
 open communication between their allotments and the settled centres 
 of the district. Isolated from the original settlement, and without 
 any employers of labor among them, the men had no other alternative 
 in most cases than to part with their land, more especially as the 
 financial position of the Province was such that little could be done 
 to aid them in opening up the roads and bridging the streams. . 
 
 So severely was this strain on the Provincial Treasury felt, even 
 in the little that was accomplished in respect of opening up roads 
 through confiscated lands, that although the military settlements 
 were handed over fully surveyed and with a fair population located 
 on them, without expense to the Province, yet the expense actually 
 incurred, or estimated as being necessary for opening road com- 
 munication between them anil the original settlement, constituted tho 
 chief groundwork of all the applications from the Province; to tho 
 General Government for financial aid. By degrees, however, these 
 lands have been traversed by roads, and though the original Military 
 Settlers no longer occupy them, they are rapidly being utilised, either 
 for cultivations or pasture, and support a fair and increasing
 
 262 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 population. These remarks apply equally to the magnificent Patea 
 district, now the most flourishing portion of the Province. 
 
 In 'addition to the military settlements, and in order to keep up 
 the line of communication between them and New Plymouth, blocks 
 were laid out at Waitara, including the town of Raleigh and 
 suburban districts of Waitara East and West, at Opimake, and on 
 the Patea Biver at Carlyle. At various times auction sales of town 
 and suburban allotments in these localities were held, and over 
 20,000 acres of land sold m the Taranaki County District, realising 
 over 10,000. 
 
 During the years from 1868 to 1871, great expectations were 
 entertained of the phormium trade, and large works were erected at 
 Opunake, the centre of a very extensive flax district, involving an 
 expenditure of several thousand pounds by the projectors and under- 
 takers of this industry. Had the results hoped for been realised, 
 the district would have progressed rapidly, as the natives showed 
 every disposition to throw open their lands to capitalists ; but 
 unfortunately the trade collapsed, and the site of the town of 
 Opunake was for a long period all but deserted by Europeans. The 
 only acquired rural land is an area of 735 acres, formerly allotted to 
 Major C. Brown and Captain R. C. Hanimerton for services in 
 connection with Militia and Volunteers. 
 
 By a special arrangement with Military Settlers, the settlements 
 of Hawera and Manutahi-Patea were formed, the Government 
 granting 10 acres of land to each man who would consent to hold 
 the positions in those localities. Flourishing towns are now springing 
 up in those districts, the town of Carlyle having been established 
 by Government, and that of Normaiiby and others in the Patea 
 County by private speculation. 
 
 Under the several Acts bearing on the confiscated lands, powers 
 were reserved to His Excellency the Governor to return portions of 
 these lands to the natives, and to make reserves for native and other 
 purposes within their boundaries. There has accordingly been 
 returned to natives in this district, or reserved for them, an area of 
 about 170,000 acres. 
 
 It was perceived at an early date that the most judicious course 
 which jcould be adopted in dealing with the confiscated lands would 
 be to promote their settlement and occupation as speedily as possible, 
 and various schemes were propounded with a view to this end. 
 
 In the years 1865 and 1866, a lengthened correspondence was 
 earned on between the Ministry and His Honor H. R. Richmond, the 
 Superintendent of the Province, on the subject of the settlement of 
 the confiscated lands, an offer being made by the Government that 
 the Provincial authorities should take over and administer them 
 as part of the territorial estate. Among the letters which passed 
 is one from the Hon. Sir Julius Vogel to the Hon. E. Stafford, 
 dated 14th September, 1865, forwarding a scheme for the speedy 
 utilization and settlement of the districts acquired by confiscation, 
 and which is farther interesting as containing the first germs of the
 
 HISTORY OP TARAXAKI. 263 
 
 Immigration and Public Works Policy, since inaugurated under the 
 administration of the writer of the letter. This communication, 
 favorably reported on by the Superintendents of Auckland and 
 Wellington, was, with the correspondence between the Ministry and 
 the Superintendent, laid before the Provincial Council of Taranaki, 
 when a resolution was carried to the effect that it was not expedient 
 to recommend the adoption of the scheme proposed. In fact, such 
 was the condition of the Provincial Revenue, and so avowed was the 
 impotence at that time of the Province to utilize these lands, that 
 nothing could be done to further their settlement ; nor were the 
 Provincial authorities in a more favorable situation financially even 
 at a later date had not the General Government intervened. 
 
 The insuperable difficulties with which the Provincial Government 
 had to contend were : firstly, the question of unmolested occupation 
 being secured to purchasers. It was felt that purchasers of lands 
 within the confiscated boundaries would require some farther and 
 stronger guarantee than that of the Provincial Government of the 
 acquiesence of the former native owners of the soil in its confiscation 
 and subsequent sale, and that such guarantee could be given only by 
 the lands being administered by the General Government of the 
 Colony. Secondly, the financial position of the Province was such 
 that even if the land had been handed over free from native 
 encumbrances yet the preliminary cost of surveys no inconsiderable 
 item in forest lands and of opening up communications by roads, 
 would have been beyond the resources of the Provincial exchequer. 
 Under these circumstances the bulk of the confiscated lands in the 
 Taranaki district remained unutilized until in 1873 the Government 
 adopted the system of obtaining the concurrence of all natives 
 interested in any block of land subject to the confiscation procla- 
 mations in its alienation, paying a certain amount of compensation 
 to dispossessed owners not implicated in the rebellion. Under this 
 system land to a very considerable extent has been acquired in the 
 district within the boundaries of the confiscation, the title to which 
 is clear and uncontested. 
 
 The Moa, Waitara-Tai-amouku, Kopua, Pukemahoe, Onaero- 
 Urenui -Taramoukou-Ruapekapeka, Waipuku, Waipuku-Patea, 
 Manganui-Te Wera, Huiroa, Otoia, Ahuroa-Ratapiko-Manawawiri- 
 Mangaotuku, Mangaehu, Kataroa No. 1, and PukekinO, iu all about 
 253,000 acres, have been handed over to the Provincial authorities, 
 and since the Abolition of Provincial Institutions to the Waste 
 Lands Board, to be dealt with as Waste Lands of the Crown. 
 Other lands have also been acquired but arc not yet handed over. 
 
 The Waste Lands Board, constituted under the Taranaki Waste 
 Lands Act, 1874, and recognised by the Land Act, 1877, the 
 Commissioner of Crown Lands, Mr. Charles Douglas Whitcoml>o, 
 being its chairman, and Messrs. William Morgan Crompton, Thomas 
 Kelly, Arthur Standish, and William Neilson Syme its members, 
 commenced proceedings in January, 187o, and its first land sale was 
 held on the 20th of February in that year. Since that date other
 
 264 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 sales of rural, suburban, and town lands in the Moa and other 
 acquired districts have been held, a special feature in which has been 
 the sale of portions on terms of deferred payments. 
 
 On the 23rd of January, the town of Inglewood, in the Moa 
 distiict, was established by the Provincial Government; and in 
 December, 1877, the village of Waipuku, and the town of Stratford 
 on Patea, by the Waste Lands Board. 
 
 Besides these transactions, arrangements were made with Colonel 
 Robert Trimble, a gentleman who arrived from England in 1875, 
 for the purpose of settling in Taranaki, for the sale to him of 2,000 
 acres of land, under the 66th Clause of the Taranaki Waste Lands 
 Act, 1874, in which provision was made for special settlements. In 
 1876, a block of 2,000 acres was sold by the Government to Messrs. 
 Jones and McMillan, and in 1877 Mr. A. Cracroft Fookes was 
 permitted to take up 5,000 acres on the Mountain Road, under 
 certain conditions, for the purpose of forming the Midhirst Special 
 Settlement.
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 265 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION OP THE WAR. 
 
 * 
 
 /j ^ENERAL CHUTE, on taking the command of the forces in 
 XJj New Zealand, determined on crushing the rebellion and 
 avenging the murders which had been perpetrated on the West 
 Coast. The return of the Volunteers and Native Contingent from 
 the East Coast afforded him a favorable opportunity for prosecuting 
 this design, and on Saturday, the 30th of December, 1865, he 
 marched from Wanganui with the following force : 
 
 Royal Artillery, commanded by Lieutenant Carre, 1 subaltern, 
 2 sergeants, and 30 gunners; H.M. 14th Regiment 1 captain, 
 1 subaltern, 4 sergeants and 101 rank and file; Native Contingent, 
 under Major McDonnell, consisting of about 200 men of all arms ; 
 Transport Corps 45 drivel's, 45 drays with two horses each. At 
 Wereroa the force was joined by the Forest Rangers, under Major 
 Von Tempsky. numbering 45 men. 
 
 On the 2nd of January, Dr. Featherstone, the Superintendent of 
 Wellington, accompanied by several influential native chiefs joined 
 the force, and on the following day the force was again strengthened 
 by a detachment of the second battalion of the 14th Regiment, 
 commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Trevor, and consisting of 1 
 subaltern, 4 sergeants, 6 buglers, and 120 rank and file. 
 
 On the 4th of January, the force marched upon Okotuku, a strong 
 position on the top of a forest clad hill, which was taken without 
 much difficulty, but most of its rebel defenders escaped during the 
 assault into the forest, where they were unsuccessfully pursued by 
 Major Von Tempsky and the Forest Rangers. 
 
 On the 6th, the General with his men marched upon Putalii, a 
 strong rebel position on the banks of the Whemiakura River, and at 
 daybreak on the 7th the pa was assaidted and taken without much 
 loss on the side of the assailants. 
 
 On the 9th, the General marched towards Otapawa. On the llth, 
 the force was joined by Lieutenant-Colonel Hassard, with 120 men 
 of the 57th Regiment. 
 
 On the next day the united force marched to Ketemarae, and 
 encamped at 4 p.m. within a mile of Otapawa, where it was joined 
 by Lieutenant-Colonel Butler of the 57th. Here tho house, called 
 Taiporohenui, where the Land League was established, was taken 
 and destroyed. 
 
 At 2 a.m. on the 18th of January, the following force marched 
 for the attack u}ion Otapawa : Royal Artillery 3 guns, with the 
 necessary complement of gunnel's and drivers; 14th Regiment 200 
 men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Trevor ; 57th Regiment 180 men, 
 under Lieutenant-Colonel Butler ; Forest Rangers 36 men, under 
 Major Von Temjwky ; Native Contingent 200 men, under Major
 
 266 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 McDonnell. The pa was garrisoned by 300 rebels, who were mostly 
 concealed in rifle pits, but it was taken in twenty minutes, and 
 consigned to the flames. The enemy's loss was 50 killed, and a 
 proportionate number wounded. The British casualties were severe, 
 nine being killed, among whom was Lieutenant-Colonel Hassard, 
 who fell while bravely leading his men to the attack, and 14 wounded, 
 including Major McDonnell. 
 
 At 2 a.m. on the 15th, the force was again on the march, the 
 Native Contingent being under the command of Ensign McDonnell, 
 the brother of Major McDonnell, who was wounded at Otapawa, 
 the advance on this occasion being made on Ketemarae. The native 
 settlement of Ketemarae was one of the oldest and most venerated 
 villages in New Zealand. It formed a converging point for several 
 paths, leading to various parts of the island, was a halting place for 
 travellers, and a centre for the dissemination of news. The pas in 
 this neighborhood were found to be deserted and all were burned, but 
 a body of rebels made an imsuccessful attempt to cut off a straggling 
 party of the assailants. 
 
 THE MARCH THROUGH THE FOREST. 
 
 On the 1 7th of January, General Chute with his force commenced 
 to march from Ketemarae through the forest on the east side of 
 Mount Egmont to New Plymouth. We have already mentioned 
 that in pre-colonial times the natives had a path leading from Puke- 
 rangiora, on the banks of the Waitara, to the shores of Cooke's 
 Strait, and that the Brothers Nairn, with gangs of natives under 
 instructions from Mr. Wicksteed, the New Zealand Company's 
 Agent, cut a bridle path along this route, but at this time these 
 forest paths, by .the growth of vegetation and by disuse, had become 
 nearly obliterated. At 4 a.m., the General marched from Ketemarae, 
 with 240 men of all ranks, of whom 54 were Forest Rangers, and 
 68 members of the Native Contingent. The transport service 
 consisted of 67 pack horses, with their drivers, and 24 saddle horses. 
 General Chute advanced in front, accompanied by the following 
 staff: Colonel Carey, D.A.G. ; Lieutenant-Colonel Gamble, 
 D.Q.M.G. ; Major Pitt, A.M.S. ; Captain Leach, acting A.D.C. ; 
 Mr. Commissary Strickland ; Surgeon Gibbs, and Dr. Featherstone, 
 Superintendent of Wellington. Each man earned a water-proof 
 sheet, a blanket, a great coat, and two days' supply of biscuits. 
 The entrance into the forest was a broad dray track, which led 
 through a succession of small plantations with several whares in 
 them ; and fences, whares, and everything combustible were set on 
 fire as the force proceeded onward. During the day they crossed 
 four gullies, two considerable streams, and made about 9i miles 
 journey. 
 
 On the 18th they started at 5.30 a.m., the Forest Rangers forming 
 the advanced guard, and the 14th the rear guard. The forest now 
 became more dense and difficult of passage, and the supplejacks 
 Ripogonum scandens, formed a net work which had to be cut away.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 267 
 
 On approaching the Patea River, gullies became numerous and deep, 
 and the underwood still more dense. The river was crossed at noon, 
 and the force then halted till 3 p.m., in order to allow the baggage 
 to come up. The men then marched three miles farther, having cut 
 their way through thirteen miles of forest, crossed one liver and 
 thirteen gullies. 
 
 On Friday, the 19th of January, the force started at 7.30 a.m., 
 the men having had time to take a good breakfast, and to give the 
 horses a little food to prepare them for the difficulties of the day. 
 The Forest Rangers again formed the advanced guard, leading the 
 column, and cutting a passable road, working with a good will, 
 bridging swamps and gullies, and cutting passages round the fallen 
 monarchs of the forest. The best and most easily obtained material 
 for road making was found to be the trunks of tree-ferns, which 
 when laid side by side gave a firm footing to the horses over the 
 swampy places. The force halted at 3 p.m. on the banks of the 
 Maketawa River, a clear and rapid stream, conveniently shallow, 
 and about seventy feet wide. The pack horses did not arrive at the 
 camping place till 6 p.m. The force this day passed one of the 
 worst gullies yet met with, and six rivers in a march of six miles. 
 Provisions now began to run short, but the horses were in good 
 condition, and being relieved of their burden of rations were 
 loaded with the men's bundles. ^ 
 
 On Saturday the 20th, the force again moved at 7.30, the weather 
 being gloomy, and nothing but a leaden sky to be seen through the 
 dense foliage over head. Anxious to see where they were, Ensign 
 Churchward of the 14th, and several men of the force, climbed the 
 trees, and discovered that the peak of Egmont bore S.W., proving 
 that the force had pushed its way well round it. This evening the 
 last of the rations were served out. The supply would have lasted 
 longer had not the natives desired their full supply at starting, part 
 of wliich they left behind them. Fifteen gullies and seven rivers 
 were passed tliis day, and a journey made of eleven and a half miles. 
 Two objects were now very desirable of attainment to reach 
 supplies and convey them to the troops. In order to reach these 
 ends, Mr. Commissary Piice bravely volunteered to start that night 
 for Mataitawa in the Taranaki district, and Captain Leach and 
 Ensign McDonnell, with ten of his ablest natives, also volunteered 
 their services. This heroic little party started before the pack horses 
 came up, and had little or no provisions for their journey, and no 
 track over the gullies and precipices in the benighted forest. The 
 rain fell in torrents, but they pushed on until Mr. Price became so 
 exhausted, that he had to lie down under a tree. Covering him 
 with a blanket, and giving him a wet biscuit, his comrades left him 
 in his damp and dreary couch while they pushed onwards. They 
 made but five miles during the night, but by 10 a.m. on the following 
 day they had the satisfaction of reaching Mataitawa. Here 
 with alacrity provisions were obtained and forced into the forest, but 
 meanwhile 400 men had divided their last biscuit, and were doubtful
 
 268 HISTORY OF TARANAKl. 
 
 as to the success of the forlorn hope which had pushed forward. 
 Without tents or provisions, they had bivouacked in the forest 
 during that wet and dismal night, yet not a murmur escaped from 
 any, nor was there a sick man in the whole force. 
 
 On Sunday, the march was resumed, but the day was wet and 
 gloomy, and the Forest Rangers were worn out with the pioneering 
 work. Working parties of the 14th, under Colonel Carey, were 
 now sent to the front. Fifteen gullies and four rivers were crossed 
 this day, and at 3.30 p.m. the force halted, after performing a march 
 of four miles. The General, who had exerted himself all day in 
 bringing up up the rear, did not reach the camp till 9 p.m. This 
 evening one of the horses was killed for a meat ration. By the prudent 
 foresight of Mr. Strickland the men had received a half ration of 
 rum in the morning, and still had a little biscuit left. They stowed 
 themselves away under trees and brushwood as best they could, but 
 during the night it rained so heavily that refreshing sleep was out 
 of the question. 
 
 The morning of the 2 2nd broke gloomily over the force, and the 
 fates seemed to have declared against them. Beneath was a quag- 
 mire, and above a constant shower of rain. The Native Contingent, 
 driven by want of food through their own imprudence, ran through 
 the forest on the previous day, and some of the Rangers with them, 
 so that this morning not a brown skin was seen among the force in 
 the foodless forest. The horses showing signs of fatigue a halt was 
 ordered, and a day's rest taken. At night another horse was killed 
 for rations, his heart being reserved for the General. That evening 
 Captain Leach returned from Mataitawa, leading a party of the 43rd 
 and 68th, under Lieutenant Palmer, laden with supplies of biscuits 
 and groceries. 
 
 On the 23rd, being the seventh day of their journey in the foi-est, 
 and the 3rd day of the rain, the troops had a comfortable breakfast, 
 and started at 7 a.m. Before ten, a messenger met the advanced 
 guard, announcing that two fat bullocks, biscuit, rum, and groceries 
 were coming on, and were only a few miles a-head. When the 
 column reached the camping ground at 3 p.m., the men were 
 abundantly supplied with fresh meat, biscuit, and groceries. During 
 their eight hours' march the troops had crossed twenty-one gullies 
 and three rivers, and had made but six miles, wading deeply in 
 mud. 
 
 On the 24th, the weather was still gloomy, and the land very soft 
 and wet. Six gullies were crossed this day, and an advance made of 
 four miles. 
 
 On the 25th, a march of five miles without a gully brought the 
 force out of the forest. The sun shone warmly and brightly upon 
 the men and refreshed them. At 10.30 a.m. they halted in the 
 Mataitawa valley, enjoying the warmth of the sun, and drying their 
 clothes and blankets. At noon the men fell in, and marched to the 
 Waiwakaiho, where they encamped. The weather was fine, and 
 arrangements were made by Colonel Carey with the Military Store
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 269 
 
 Department in New Plymouth for the supply of such comforts as 
 the men required. 
 
 On the 27th, at 10 a.m., General Chute at the head of his force 
 marched into New Plymouth on his return southward by the coast. 
 Here a substantial dinner was set before the men, and beneath a 
 triumphal arch erected over the Huatoki Bridge the General was met 
 by the Superintendent of Taranaki, and the leading men of New 
 Plymouth, and presented with the following address : 
 
 " To Major-General Trevor Chute, Commanding Her Majesty's 
 Forces in New Zealand. 
 
 " Sir : I have been deputed by the inhabitants of this settlement 
 to express to you their sense of the benefit you have confen-ed on 
 them, and on the Colony, by the operations just now successfully 
 concluded between Wanganui and Waitara. Without entering on 
 any invidious questions, it is allowable for us to state the fact that 
 the recent march through the bush inland of Mount Egmont is the 
 first in which a large body of regular troops have been led for several 
 days together through the difficult forests of New Zealand. Having 
 from the beginning of the present troubles maintained that the war 
 could not be ended, beyond the chance of re-kindling, until our forces 
 should habitually penetrate the bush in pursuit of the enemy, it is 
 peculiarly gratifying to us to see the happy issue of these first bold 
 movements, and we are bound to acknowledge the practical sagacity 
 which dictated and the courage which undertook and executed the 
 operations. But we have not merely to admire the plan and conduct 
 of the operations we have to thank you warmly for the vigorous 
 course you have adopted, as closely affecting our personal interests. 
 At this particular moment the matter is of special importance to us. 
 The war, which has languished on for six years, has taxed the 
 treasure and the patience of the empire beyond endurance, without 
 effecting its object the establishment of law and order ; and whilst 
 the empire is weary, the colony seems to be on the eve of financial 
 and political convulsions, mainly from the same cause. The 
 extinction of the struggle this summer may yet arrest the threatened 
 evils, or at least place the settlements of the North Island in a 
 condition of strength and security, which will render constitutional 
 changes less utterly destructive of prosperity and hope than they 
 would be at present. The capture of Okotuku, Putahi, Otapawa, 
 and Ketemarae, and the march in the rear of Mount Egmont will 
 contribute greatly to this result. These operations have shown that 
 against British forces, regular and irregular, New Zealand has no 
 impregnable fortresses ; they have shown that British coin-age, and 
 British arms, can penetrate wherever man can hide ; that there is 
 no security for rebellion ; and that the only course open to the 
 hostile natives Ls frank submission to the just and equal law which 
 the Empire and the Colony hold out for their acceptance. 
 
 " In the name of the settlers of Taranaki I beg to thank you for 
 the wise and courageous course you have taken, and the officers and
 
 270 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 men under your command who have so gallantly and successfully 
 carried out your plans. 
 
 " H. R. RICHMOND, 
 " Superintendent of Taranaki. 
 " New Plymouth, January 27th, 1866." 
 
 General Chute having courteously accepted the address and replied 
 to it, the force moved on, and at 3 p.m. reached Oakura, where it 
 encamped for the night. 
 
 On the 28th, the fox'ce resumed its march across Tataraimaka and 
 Okato, and encamped at the Stony River. 
 
 On the 29th, the General was reinforced by 70 men of the 43rd, 
 and by Captain Mace's Mounted Corps. At noon, Warea was 
 reached, and Ensign McDonnell with his Native Contingent was 
 ordered to scour the country, and, if possible, find the track leading 
 to the Warea pa. 
 
 At 3 a.m. on the 1st of February, the General moved silently out 
 of camp, with a force of 450 men of all ranks, to attack Waikoko, 
 a strongly fortified position, situated about six miles inland. At 
 daylight he met Captain Corbett's party at a place previously 
 appointed. Emerging from the scrub and dense bush the force 
 reached a large clearing, at a point about 500 yards distant from the 
 pa. The 14th were on the right, the 43rd on the left, the Forest 
 Rangers in the centre, all in skirmishing order, and the Native 
 Contingent formed the reserve. The enemy silently watched the 
 movements of the force until the General ordered the advance, when 
 a heavy fire was opened from the pa, which was responded to by a 
 British cheer, and a charge which soon drove the rebels from their 
 position. The whares were soon in flames, and Waikoko was 
 speedily a mass of ruins. Only four dead bodies were found. On 
 the side of the British, one man of the 14th was shot dead, and a 
 sergeant of Corbett's Rangers and two friendly natives wounded. 
 
 On the 2nd, the force reached Te Namu, where some prisoners 
 were taken, and other natives took the oath of allegiance. 
 
 On the 6th, the force reached Patea, and on the 7th the campaign 
 ended, after active service of five weeks and two days. 
 
 While General Chute was passing through the bush, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Butler of the 57th was operating with a flying column on the 
 coast from the camp at the Waingongoro. On the 18th of January 
 he moved out of camp with one field gun, 200 men of the 50th and 
 97th Regiments, and about 120 friendly natives, and proceeded in 
 the direction of Oukuti, which he found destroyed. He then went 
 to Tiwitiri Moana, where three bodies were discovered, one being 
 that of Hohepa, a chief of considerable importance. This pa was 
 destroyed, but the bulk of the defenders escaped as usual by the 
 rear, and pursuit was impossible. Fifteen cart loads of potatoes 
 were taken, and the cultivations destroyed. The troops returned to 
 the Waingongoro camp the same evening.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 271 
 
 On the 20th, Lieutenant-Colonel Butler marched out of camp at 
 10 a.m., with 20 of the Military Train, under Lieutenant Creagh, 
 80 men of the 50th, and 100 of the 57th, also about 120 of the 
 Native Contingent, with the intention of attacking a strong position, 
 called Ahipipi He detatched the Native Contingent along the 
 left bank of the Waingongoro River, with directions to cross it at 
 the edge of the bush, and endeavor to get in the rear of Ahipipi in 
 order to intercept the retreat of the rebels. He then advanced 
 directly upon the position, and found it deserted, but the rebels fired 
 upon his party as they were destroying the whares and wounded 
 one man of the 57th severely. The Native Contingent then pursued 
 the rebels into the bush, and in so doing came upon a large village. 
 The pursuers receiving support from a party of the 57th, under Sir 
 Robert Douglas, the village was attacked under a heavy fire, and 
 was taken in about twenty minutes. A number of the enemy 
 earned off a body with great care, which was supposed to be that of 
 a great chief. A substantial and well-furnished European, built 
 house erected close to the flagstaff was destroyed in common with 
 everything to be found, including cultivations. The destruction of 
 this place was considered of importance, as it was newly built by 
 the rebels, with unusual care, and was the head-quarters of the 
 fanatics of the neighborhood. In this affair ftve rebels were killed, 
 and one man of the Native Contingent wounded. 
 
 After these events, nothing of an important military character 
 occurred in the Province for some time. The Imperial troops were 
 gradually withdrawn until July, 1867, when the last detachments of 
 the 50th were removed, and Taranaki was left without a single 
 soldier of the Imperial Army. After an interval, two companies of 
 the 18th were stationed at New Plymouth, but they were shortly 
 afterwards sent to Adelaide. There was no proclamation of peace, 
 nor any guarantee of safety given to the settlers, but many persons 
 were compelled by necessity to return to their farms, while the rebels 
 maintained a sullen truce. 
 
 Owing to the great depression of trade, consequent on the removal 
 of the troops, efforts were made to obtain wealth by preparing the 
 fibre of the phormium for the home market, by boring for petroleum 
 at the Sugarloaves, and by attempts to manufacture the iron 
 sand. 
 
 On the night of the 7th of January, 1867, the Waiwakaiho 
 Bridge, which had been built of iron-wood in 1858, at a cost of 
 2,405, was swept away by a flood, and landed on a small island 
 Home ten chains distance down the stream. 
 
 On the 7th of November, 1867, an unfortunate affair occurred at 
 Manutahi, near to Mataitawa. A young native, named Inia, who 
 had stolen some clothes from a Military Settler, named Marshall, 
 was apprehended and given into the charge of John Daniel Roby, 
 also a Military Settler, until a policeman could be obtained from 
 New Plymouth. Roby loaded Ixis rifle, and took the prisoner into
 
 272 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 one of the rooms of the Manutahi Hotel, and fastened the door. 
 After some time the report of the rifle was heard, also a scream and 
 a crash. When the room was entered, Roby was found lying on the 
 floor, mortally wounded, and it was seen that the Maori had escaped 
 by leaping through the window. It was supposed that Inia had 
 thought that Roby intended to shoot him, and that in his terror he 
 seized the rifle while Roby was off his guard, and shot him with it. 
 Inia escaped to Kaipakopako, but was given up to the police. He 
 was tried and found guilty of manslaughter. 
 
 During 1867, the first portion of the township of Raleigh, at the 
 mouth of the Waitara, was sold. 
 
 In January, 1868, the Government ordered the raising of the 
 Armed Constabulary Corps, and Major Von Tempsky was sent to 
 Patea to take command of the force raised in that district. 
 
 On the 16th, the Tasmanian Maid, a small iron steamer which 
 had rendered important services at the Waitara during the war, 
 was wrecked on the long reef off New Plymouth by an error of 
 the steersman. 
 
 On the 4th of February, Governor Sir George Bowen landed in 
 Wellington with his family, from the s.s. Kaikoura. 
 
 On the 15th, the Waiwakaiho Bridge was again opened for traffic, 
 after being rebuilt and having iron cylinder piers, and two spans 
 added at a cost of 1,500. 
 
 In February, Mr. H. R. Richmond was appointed Resident 
 Magistrate of New Plymouth. Shortly after which Mr. Flight 
 retired from the same office on a pension. 
 
 On the 19th of May, the Royal Hotel, which stood at the corner 
 of Liardet and Devon-street, was burned, and a lad named Peter 
 Hillam was consumed in the flames. 
 
 DISTURBANCE AT PATEA. 
 
 In May, complaints having been made by the settlers at Patea 
 of the natives stealing their horses, and Captain McDonnell having 
 had a favorite racer stolen, Mr. Booth, the Resident Magisti-ate, 
 issued orders to Captain Page to take 100 men and demand the 
 lost horses of the natives. The Maoris received Captain Page 
 peaceably, and promised to restore the animals. Signs of impending 
 mischief were, however, evident by the burning of the huts formerly 
 used by the military at Warea and Waihi. 
 
 On the 10th of June, Sergeant Cahill and Privates Squire and 
 Clarke were brutally murdered by the rebels while engaged in 
 putting a log on a saw pit. 
 
 On the 12th, a trooper named Thomas Smith was shot while in 
 the act of mounting his horse at Waihi, and was afterwards dread- 
 fully mutilated with tomahawks. 
 
 Endeavors were at once made by the Government to collect a force 
 from various quarters for the quelling of the rising rebellion. Major 
 Von Tempsky, who had been ordered to Auckland, was sent for, and 
 Colonel McDonnell, Captain Ross, Captain Page, Captain Newland,
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKl. 273 
 
 and other officers were ordered to pi-oceed to the disturbed distiict. 
 Major Hunter, in the absence of Colonel McDonnell, was at this 
 time in command at Waihi. 
 
 On the 29th, Captain Newland and his company embarked at New 
 Plymouth in the Colonial steamer Sturt for Patea, and on the 
 following morning the Mounted Corps, under Sergeant Bennett, 
 proceeded thither overland. 
 
 THE ATTACK AT TURUTURUMOKAI. 
 
 The Turuturumokai Redoubt was situated about three miles south 
 of Waihi, and was a place of some strength, being situated on a 
 knoll, and surrounded by a ditch and breastwork. Here were 
 stationed 25 men, under the command of Captain Ross, who in 
 false security slept in a whare outside the redoubt. 
 
 At 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, the 12th of July, the sentry inside 
 the redoubt saw a Maori creeping in the fern outside the ditch, and 
 shortly afterwards the sentry outside perceived in the twilight the 
 outlines of a human form, and challenged twice and fired. This was 
 the signal for a yell, a rush, and a volley from the rebels, by which 
 Lacy, the ouiside sentinel, received a wound in the shoulder. The 
 redoubt was then assaulted by the rebels, and the awakening 
 garrison, panic struck, leaping over the embankment, were cut down 
 by the enemy outside. Captain Ross rushed fi-oni his whare to the 
 gate of the redoubt, firing a rifle handed to him by Lacy, the wounded 
 sentry, and emptying the chambers of his revolver in a hand to 
 hand encounter with the foe. Falling in the gateway with a bullet 
 through his head, he called out, " I am done for ; men, you must do 
 the best you can for yourselves." Four men held a corner of the 
 redoubt, but the rest were either shot down, tomahawked or had 
 escaped. 
 
 On healing the firing at Waihi, Major Von Tempsky and his men 
 at once mounted and started off' in the direction of the redoubt. On 
 approaching it they saw the natives actively engaged in the attack, 
 but the rebels finding themselves about to be charged in the rear, 
 quickly retired to the bush. Finding that he could not cut the rebels 
 off', Major Von Tempsky rode to the redoubt, where a shocking 
 sight awaited him. About three feet inside the gateway lay Captain 
 Ross, frightfully tomahawked, and with his heart cut from his body, 
 and not far from him, near the gate, were the remains of Gaynor. tu 
 one of the angles of the redoubt lay the bodies of Sergeant 
 McFadden, Corporal John Blake, and Private Shield, Captain Ross' 
 servant, weltering in their blood, and on the parapet on the outside 
 was the body of Private Holden. Lemon, the canteen keeper, lay 
 alongside a whare on the outside of the redoubt, with his heart torn 
 out, and his body cut to pieces. The following is a list of the 
 casualties incurred in this unfortunate affair: Killed Captain 
 Ross, Sergeant McFaulden, Corporal Blake, Constables Shields, 
 Holden, Ross, A. Beamish, Swords, Gaynor, Lemon. Wounded 
 Constables Lacey, Beamish, Kemhaw, Flanagan, TutHn. Total, 10 
 18
 
 274 HISTORY OF TARAKAKI. 
 
 killed, and 5 wounded. Only 3 dead bodies of rebels were found. 
 
 On the 29th, at about 10 a.m., as the escort was returning from 
 Waihi to Patea with the carters who had conveyed supplies to that 
 outpost, it Avas fired upon by an ambuscade of 70 or 80 rebels. The 
 escort consisted of eleven of Von Tempsky's men, and six mounted 
 troopers. Two of Von Tempsky's men were wounded one through 
 the groin dangerously, and the other in the calf of the leg. As the 
 attack took place close to Waihi, Von Tempsky and his men heard 
 the firing and at once ran to the rescue. Getting between the rebels 
 and the bush they gave them a volley, after which they were seen 
 carrying away their dead, but the number killed was not ascertained. 
 
 During the month news arrived of the escape of 200 rebel 
 prisoners, in the schooner Rifleman, from the Chatham Islands, and 
 of their landing at Whareongonga, in Poverty Bay. 
 
 On the 10th of August, 43 Volunteers left New Plymouth for 
 Patea in the Colonial steamer Sturt, \mder the command of Lieutenant 
 Roddy. 
 
 CAPTURE OF TE NGUTU O TE MANU. 
 
 On the 21st of August, Colonel McDonnell left Waihi at 7 a.m., 
 with a force of 230 men, in order to attack the stronghold of the 
 rebels at Te Ngutu o Te Manu (the beak of the bird). Considerable 
 delay took place at Waingongoro, there being a freshet in the river. 
 After the force had proceeded some distance the rain commenced to 
 fall, and continued to pour during the rest of the day. When the 
 expedition arrived about two miles beyond Pungamahoe, breast 
 works and rifle pits were seen flanking the road, and it was evident 
 that an ambuscade had lately lain there, as fresh tracks of natives' 
 feet were visible. When the force was within 500 yards of the 
 enemy's position a strong palisading was seen, and Colonel McDonnell, 
 Sergeant R. Blake, and a few men went forward to reconnoitre. 
 The natives were heard to be singing, and apparently had not the 
 slightest idea of the approach of the British. The Colonel then 
 went back to the force and ordered an advance. On approaching the 
 palisading the men found a back track along which they rushed into 
 the pa with a terrific yell, the bugles at the same time sounding the 
 charge. Volley after volley was poured into the village, and the 
 natives after filing fled, leaving nine dead behind them. About 
 fifteen or twenty pounds of powder, in pound canisters, was found 
 and destroyed. Bags of bullets of all descriptions were also found, 
 also two revolvers, a double barrelled gun, and a quantity of breech 
 loading ammunition of native manufacture. The casualties on this 
 occasion were : 
 
 Wellington Rangers, Captain Page's Company Killed : Private 
 R. Wallace, Private W. A. Kerr. Wounded : Private Thompson, 
 Corporal Lloyd, Bugler Middleton, Private Sedgewick. Captain Buck's 
 Company Killed : Private H. Garey. Wounded : Private J. Garey. 
 
 Armed Constabulary Wounded : Private Collopy.
 
 HISTORY OF TARAJfAKI. 275 
 
 Major Von Tempsky's Company Killed : Private McCoy. 
 Wounded : Private Whiteside, Private Hope. 
 
 Major Hunter's Company Wounded : Private Dyer, Major 
 Hunter's servant. 
 
 The brothers Garey were shot in the retreat by the hovering rebels. 
 
 At this engagement the Rev. Father Holland was present, and 
 administered the consolations of religion to the dying under fire. 
 
 THE REPULSE AT RUARURU. 
 
 On the 7th of September, at 3 a.m., a force consisting of 250 
 Europeans and 100 Wanganui natives left Wailu for the purpose 
 of attacking Ruaruru, the stronghold of the chief Titoko Warn. It 
 was divided into three divisions, No. 1 being under the command of 
 Major Von Tempsky, with Sub-Inspectors Cummings, Brown, and 
 Roberts, Captain Palmer, Lieutenants Hastings and Hunter, Ensign 
 Hirtzell, and about 140 men. No. 2 was commanded by Major 
 Hunter, with Sub-Inspectors Newland and Goring, Captains 
 Buck and O'Halloran, Lieutenant Rowan and 108 men. No. 3 
 was composed of Wanganui natives about 100 strong, and 
 was under the command of Captain W. McDonnell, Kawana, Hunia, 
 Kempi, and other chiefs ; the whole force was commanded by Colonel 
 McDonnell. Dr. Walker accompanied No. 1, and Acting- Assistant 
 Surgeon Best, No. 2 division. After the force had crossed the 
 Waingongoro and entered the bush, the main track to Te Ngutu o 
 Te Manu was followed for some distance. The column then, under 
 the guidance of the Kupapas, entered the bush on the right, and 
 after a tedious march arrived in the rear of Ruaruru at 2 p.m. A 
 few bark huts were seen and a tent. Here the natives killed a child 
 by dashing out its brains, and took a little boy prisoner. The force 
 then proceeded, and under heavy fire took up a position in a narrow 
 valley, through which ran a stream of water. At this place the force 
 remained about ten minutes exposed to a heavy fire from the pa in 
 front, and from the bush on both sides. Trooper Hogan was here 
 shot in the thigh, and Lieutenant Rowan through the face, the ball 
 breaking both his jaws. It was now discovered that the enemy had 
 sharpshooters posted in some large rata trees, which commanded the 
 pa. Volley after volley was poured into these trees without effect. 
 The men now began to drop fast, and the force got uneasy. Seeing 
 this, Major Von Tempsky asked for permission to assault the pa 
 with his division, and soon afterwards Major Hunter made a similar 
 request Colonel McDonnell, however, would not consent, fearing 
 that the position was too strong for a successful attack, and that 
 it was commanded by the natives posted in the trees. The wounded 
 were then collected and placed under a strong escort of some SO or a 
 100 men, which was commanded by Colonel McDonnell, witli Major 
 Hxinter and Sub-Inspectors Newland and dimming. Von Tornpsky 
 was now left with his force to cover the retreat, exposed to a heavy 
 fire. He walked up and down in front of his men, endeavoring to 
 persuade them to take cover, while they, partially disorganised, kept
 
 276 HISTORY OP TARANAK1. 
 
 exposing themselves in parties of twenty or thirty. Von Tempsky 
 then fell, but accounts differ as to the precise mode of his death. 
 Immediately he fell Captain Buck ran forward to recover his body, 
 and he too fell to rise no more. Lieutenant Hunter then ran 
 forward, and his gallantry cost him his life. About the same time 
 Captain Palmer fell mortally wounded. There were now 110 officers 
 left with that portion of the force which was nearest to the enemy, 
 the confusion of the men under fire increased, and they felt that they 
 must escape as best they could. The repulse was complete, and the 
 rebels closely pursued the retreating men. The dead, and wounded 
 who could not walk, were left behind, and some of the wounded were 
 dragged to the pa and burnt to death. The force under Colonel 
 McDonnell kept well together, and by the aid of the Kiipapas 
 reached the camp at 10 p.m., with all the wounded it had started 
 with, Yon Tempsky's division having received the full brunt of 
 the fury of the rebels. 
 
 The casualties on this occasion were : 
 
 Killed Major Von Tempsky, Captain Buck, Captain Palmer, 
 Lieutenant Hastings, Lieutenant Hunter, Corporal Russell, Constable 
 Elkin, Privates Finnessey, Hart, Gilgru, Israel Davis, E. G. Fan-am, 
 Hughes, Lumsden, Grant, Decks, and Wells. 
 
 Wounded Lieutenant Rowan, Dr. Best, Constables Houston, 
 O'Brien, O'Connor, Burke, Hogan, Walton, Fulton, Shannigan ; 
 Sergeant Towey ; Privates McGeneskin, Harris, Caldwell, McManus, 
 Waldeii, Griffiths, Locker, Quinsey, Melvin, Hamblyn, Holloway, 
 Hyland, Flynn, Dire. 
 
 Missing Darlington and Downs. 
 
 This terrible defeat acted so injuriously upon the force which had 
 been hastily collected, that it became partially disorganised, and Von 
 Tempsky's men having lost their leader took their blankets and left 
 the district. 
 
 MAJOR VON TEMPSKY. 
 
 Gustavus Ferdinand Von Tempsky was the second son of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Von Tempsky of the Prussian service, and was 
 educated at the Military College at Berlin, and eventually obtained 
 his commission in the 3rd Regiment of Fusileers in 1844, but being 
 of a roving disposition, with an intense abhorrence of routine and 
 red tape, and also strongly imbued with a love of adventure, he made 
 xip his mind to give up his profession, and accordingly started with 
 some of his countrymen for the Mosquito shore on the Eastern 
 coast of Centi'al America, intending to found a new colony. The 
 British Government at that time had established a sort of pro- 
 tectorate there, and had appointed R. Walker, Esq., as Consul 
 General and Diplomatic Agent, to represent British interests on that 
 coast. The emigration scheme turned out a failure, but Von Tempsky 
 was made Captain to form an irregular force of Mosquito Indians, 
 who did good service against the Spaniards, and in leading and 
 guiding the British officers and crews of H.M.S. Alarm, s.s. Vixen,
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 277 
 
 and brig Daring, against the Spanish stockades of Castillo, Viojo, 
 Sarapequi, and San Carlo, which were taken. Here the Consul 
 General met with a fearful death, having slipped overboard from one 
 of the boats, and been immediately devoured by alligators before 
 assistance could be rendered. Von Tempsky having lost his most 
 intimate friend in this horrible way, now seems to have become 
 partially disgusted with his post, and gold being discovered in Cali- 
 fornia about this time he essayed to try his fortune there. 
 
 After remaining some little time in California he started backward, 
 and landing at Mazatlan, on the west coast of Mexico, in the Sierra 
 Nevada and Rocky Mountains, he, with a friend, determined to pass 
 through Central America, which he did till he arrived at Blewfields 
 on the Mosquito shore. This journey forms the subject of an 
 excellent work called " Mitla ; or, Travels in Mexico and Central 
 America," of which the gallant Major was the author. After 
 staying at Blewfields for a short time he married the daughter of the 
 Commandant of the Station, and then set sail for England with his 
 wife and father-in-law. 
 
 Once again he left Europe, this time bound for Victoria, where 
 Mrs. Von Tempsky had a married sister. At first he turned 
 his attention to agricultural pursuits, but some time after the 
 Government having planned an expedition to explore the interior, 
 candidates to take ornmand of the party were enquired Jfor. Von 
 Tempsky came forward for the appointment, but Burke was the 
 successful man. A feeling of national pride that the interior should 
 be explored by a Briton was probably the bar to Von Teiipsky's 
 success in this matter. He was, however, offered the sub- command, 
 but refused it. About this time rumours of the discovery of gold at 
 Coromandel, New Zealand, reached Victoria, and as great depression 
 existed at that time in Australia, Von Tempsky at once sailed for 
 New Zealand, and proceeded to Coromandel, where his knowledge as 
 a practical miner aided the Government considerably in developing 
 the resources of that gold field. 
 
 On the Waikato war breaking out in July, 1863, he offered his 
 services to the Government, and was appointed an Ensign in the 
 Forest Rangei-s in August, 1863. From this time to November of 
 that year he was attached to the Flying Column, which was engaged 
 in scouring the Hernia Ranges, in whose faxtnesses the rebels had 
 congregated. He next was engaged at the Mauku, where the 
 natives had entrenched themselves behind some logs in a 
 bush clearing, and fired a volley at the Hungers at a distance 
 of twenty yards, but fortunately missed them. After this, in 
 company with Captain Thomas McDonnell, then u Sub-Inspector of 
 the Defence Force, he stole at night to Puparutu, where the rebels 
 were assembled in groat fotve, and hiding in the fiux continued 
 <luring the whole of the next duy to observe the movements of tho 
 enemy. Reaching the Cuinp nt Whangauarino the noxt night, lie, 
 with Sub-Inspector McDonnell, reee'ved t le thanks of General 
 Cameron for his gallantry, and for the information conveyed. This
 
 278 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 was one of the most hazardous services rendered during the war, 
 there being at least 500 natives in the vicinity of the spot these 
 officers visited. For this service both were promoted to the rank of 
 captain. 
 
 Von Tempsky's next action took place on the llth of February, 
 
 1864, at Mangapiko on the Waipa, where, in the quaint words of 
 his despatch to the Lieutenant-General, he says : " My men with 
 promptitude surrounded the thicket, and entering the same revolver 
 in hand extracted, in a short time, seven natives." For this duty he 
 was mentioned by General Cameron in his despatches to the 
 Governor. 
 
 On the 22nd and 23rd of February he was in action at Rangiawhia, 
 which lasted two days. After this fight the return of the Forest 
 Hangers was thus described by an eye-witness " They were loaded 
 with pigs, potatoes, spears, tomahawks, cooking utensils, and all 
 kinds of Maori goods." 
 
 On the 2nd of April, 1864, he took part in the siege of Orakau, 
 behaving with his usual courage, and for which he was promoted to 
 the rank of Major. After this action Waikato was subdued, and 
 Von Tempsky's sword rested till the breaking out of the war in 
 
 1865. When the Government determined to chastise the rebels at 
 Wanganui, Von Tempsky's Company of Forest Rangers were asked 
 to volunteer for service in that quarter. The officers and half the 
 men acquiesced in the request. When at Wanganui they were 
 asked to go with Major Brassy's expedition to Opotiki, for the 
 purpose of chastising the murderers of the Rev. Carl Sylvius 
 Volkner and others. This was in the absence of Von Tempsky, who 
 was away at the time on leave. Von Tempsky proceeded to the 
 East Coast, expecting to meet his men there, and in their absence 
 joined Major Brassy's force as a volunteer. After this he returned 
 to Wanganui with the object of inducing his men to volunteer for 
 the East Coast. Having gained the consent of his men to proceed 
 he marched \\ 1th them to Wellington, where he received orders to 
 put himself under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser. 
 This bo vexed Von Tempsky that he refused to proceed, and resigned 
 his commission. 
 
 In November he recalled his resignation, and took command of a 
 company of Forest Rangers, composed of men from the European 
 arc. Maori Militia of Wanganui, under orders for service at Patea. 
 He then went to Auckland, but on the renewal of the disturbance 
 at Patea was sent to Waihi. He was present at the assault of Te 
 Ngutu o Te Manu, and fell nobly doing his duty before Ruaruru. 
 He was one of the bravest of men, and scarcely received from the 
 Government the consideration which his high qualities entitled him 
 to. His commission as Major in the First Regiment of Waikato 
 Militia bears date 4th of April, 1864. 
 
 Shortly after the defeat at Ruaruru, Colonel McDonnell gave up 
 the command, and was succeeded by Colonel Whitmore.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 279 
 
 On the 30th of September, an escort while on its way from 
 Manawapou to Patea, was fired on by an ambuscade at Manutahi, 
 and one man was killed. 
 
 Early in October, a settler at Kakaramea, named McCullock, went 
 out to look for his sheep and never returned. 
 
 On the 16th, Thomas Collins, of New Plymouth, was murdered 
 and dreadfully mutilated, while crossing the Manawakawa River. 
 
 THE REPULSE AT OKUTUKU. 
 
 On November the 7th, Colonel Whitmore made an attack on 
 Okutuku, with a mixed force of 266 Europeans and 80 Maoris, but 
 was repulsed after a hard fight, which lasted from 8 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. 
 The men behaved well and retired in good order, but were followed 
 by the rebels to within 700 yards of the Wairoa Camp. Major 
 Hunter fell at about 30 yards from the pa, while leading a storming 
 party. He was struck in the thigh by a ball which severed the 
 femoral artery, and bled to death. The casualties were : 
 
 Killed Major Hunter, Sergeant Kirwin, Constables Lee and 
 Satler, Privates Path, TJrquhart, and one not named. Wounded 
 Constables Eastwood, Dolan, Monk, Thompson, Wesley, Williams, 
 Cooksley ; Privates Cole, Kelly, Foot, McDowell, Vance, Keane, 
 Mepa, Lindar, and five Wanganui natives. Missing Constables 
 Kennedy, R. Thompson, Poole ; Privates Brown, Kenneally, 
 Norman, Savage, Rogers, Nicholls, Devon, Negus, Kenally. 
 
 THE BROTHERS HUNTER. 
 
 The brothers Major William Hunter and Lieutenant Henry 
 Hunter arrived in Auckland in the spring of 18G1. They were 
 l>oth natives of the County of Antrim, Ireland, and wei'e grandsons 
 of Bishop Magee, the author of a standard work on the " Atone- 
 ment," and nephews, by marriage, of the Rev. Hugh McNeil of 
 Liverpool. 
 
 The elder brother, William, who was a student in Trinity 
 College, Dublin, when the ( 'rimean war broke out, led away 
 by martial ardor abandoned the University, and obtained a 
 commission in the Antrim Militia Rifles, and after undergoing 
 the regular course of training at Hythe, under Colonel Pitt, 
 became Adjutant of the Regiment, in which capacity lie served for 
 five years. At the close of the Crimean war, when the Militia were 
 disbanded, Major Hunter, accompanied by his brother Henry, 
 emigrated to Auckland. Coming out with lettci-s of recommendation 
 to several of the leading persons in Auckland, they without difficulty 
 obtained situations und<-r Government. 
 
 The elder brother was during the year, 1862, assistant clerk to the 
 Auckland Provincial Council, in which capacity he became known to 
 and appreciated by many public men. After this he went down to 
 Wellington to attend the first session of the General Assembly that 
 was held there, and was on board the s.s. White Swan when she 
 was wrecked. Those who were on board the vessel perceived the
 
 280 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 sterling stuff of which he was made. In the midst of the danger 
 he was perfectly cool and collected. So efficiently did he dischai'ge 
 the duties required of him during the session at Wellington that he 
 was offered permanent employment as clerk assistant, by the Hon. 
 Mr. Bartley, the Speaker of the Upper House; but the war 
 breaking out in Waikato in 1863, he abandoned the Civil Service 
 for service in the Colonial Forces, when the war was almost at the 
 doors of the citizens of Auckland. Colonel Pitt was then engaged 
 in raising the First Waikato Regiment, and William Hunter was at 
 once gazetted Captain and Adjutant of that Regiment, which post he 
 held till the regiment was disbanded in 1866. While he held that 
 post it was admitted that although there were ten regiments of Her 
 Majesty's regulars in the Colony that there was no more efficient 
 officer, or more accomplished drill-master, than William Hunter in 
 New Zealand. 
 
 His younger brother, Henry, after serving a brief period in the 
 Post Office department in Hawke's Bay, also joined the 1st Waikato 
 Regiment, and served throughout the Waikato war, and afterwards 
 in the Wanganui and Taranaki campaigns. His genial manner 
 endeared him to many, and none that knew him will ever forget the 
 light-heartedness of one whose military career was like that of those 
 who " march to death with military glee." Henry Hunter fell at 
 Ngutu o Te Manu, leaving a wife and one child. William. Hunter 
 fell leading a forlorn hope on the Okotuku pa. 
 
 Titoko Waru, with his force of rebels, now approached towards 
 Wanganui, burning houses, and creating great alarm, both in 
 Wanganui and Wellington. 
 
 On the 21st of November, the news of the massacre in Poverty 
 Bay by Te Kooti, and the escapees fi'om the Chatham Islands, was 
 published in New Plymouth. 
 
 On the 24th, a great fire occurred in Devon-street, New Plymouth, 
 and .10,000 worth of propei^y was destroyed. 
 
 On the 28ch, the barque Collingwood arrived from Waitangi, 
 Chatham Islands, with 2 Europeans, 1 Chinese, 69 native men, 45 
 native women, and 38 native children. These people were located 
 by the Government on the north side of the Urenui River, They 
 were the descendants of the Ngatimutunga, who fled from Rauparaha, 
 the celebrated warrior chief of Kawhia, to the Chatham Islands 
 from Wellington in the brig Rodney, in 1836. They returned to 
 Taranaki on account of having sold their lands in the Chatham 
 Islands to Europeans. 
 
 Early in December, the Superintendent of Taranaki received from 
 Dr. Pollen, of Auckland, a copy of a telegram which had been 
 forwarded to him by Mr. Searancke of Waikato, to the effect that the 
 NgatJmaniapoto feeling angry al; the refusal of the other Waikato 
 tribes to sanction a general rising in that district, had uttered a 
 thi-eat that they would go to the White Cliffs, in the Taranaki 
 district, on their own account. The Government Agent forwarded it
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 281 
 
 so that the Provincial Government might be on its guard, but stated 
 that as Rewi, the greatest chief of the Ngatimaniapotos, was 
 against any aggressive movement, the likelihood of its being 
 carried out was very improbable. The Superintendent caused the 
 information to be conveyed to the settlers at the White Clifis and 
 Urenui, and Mr. Parris placed some trustworthy natives on the 
 look out at the White Cliffs to guard against the possibility of a 
 surprise, as it was deemed to be impossible for an armed party to 
 march along the coast beyond the cliffs without detection during 
 their journey. After the native scouts had been employed in this 
 service for a short time they were dismissed, because no danger was 
 apprehended by the Provincial Government. 
 
 THE MASSACRE AT THE WHITE CLIFFS. 
 
 On Saturday, the 13th day of February, 1869, excited by the 
 success which had attended the arras of the rebels under Te Kooti 
 and Titoko Waru, and encouraged by the fact that the whole of the 
 Imperial and Colonial troops had again been withdrawn from 
 the Taranaki Northern outpost, a taua, or war party of Ngati- 
 maniapoto, the section of the great Waikato tribe residing at Mokau, 
 approached Pukearuhe, the British redoubt at the White Cliffs. 
 
 Pukearuhe is "situated about 36 miles from New Plymouth, and 
 commands the approaches from the Mokau and Waikata country. 
 To the south it affords a view of the country for at least two miles, 
 but from the eastward it is commanded by a range of hills, distant 
 from it about 500 yards. There is, however, a deep gully between 
 these hills and the redoubt, which affords a protection from any 
 sudden attack. 
 
 The taua approached in broad daylight, and found two Europeans 
 at the blockhouse, whom they enticed away by telling them there 
 were pigs on the beach for sale. Milne went first, and was toma- 
 hawked on the path leading to the beach. Seeing that Richards, the 
 other man, did not follow, the party returned, urging him to come 
 and look at the pigs. The unfortunate man descended the hill, and 
 was killed near to where Milne fell. The taua then rushed up to 
 the redoubt, and found that Lieutenant Gascoigne and his family 
 were absent in their field of corn and potatoes. Lieutenant 
 Gascoigne looking up saw the natives at the blockhouse, and at once 
 proceeded towards them, carrying his youngest child ; Mi's. Gascoigne 
 and the other children followed him. On arriving at a little stream 
 at the base of the hill on which the blockhouse stood, Lieutenant 
 Gascoigne gave the child to his wife, and went forward to meet the 
 Maoris. Approaching them they shook hands with him and accom- 
 panied him to the door. Upon his raising his hand to open the door 
 lie was struck from behind and fell. Soon after Mrs. Gascoigno 
 came with her children, and she and the little ones wore killed. 
 The murderers then tomahawked the house dog and the cat. About 
 sunset Mr. Whitely was seen approaching on horseback, but he was 
 noi recognised until he descended the hill which led to an old pa.
 
 282 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 After crossing the stream and ascending Pukearuhe he was ordered 
 to return, but refusing to do so, he and his horse were shot. The 
 blockhouse and huts were then burned. 
 
 This frightful atrocity was first discovered on the following 
 Monday, by a young man named Macdonald, who immediately took 
 the news to New Plymouth. 
 
 On the following day an armed party pi'oceeded to the Cliffs in the 
 s.s. Wellington, and recovered the bodies. The i w emains, gory, 
 mutilated, and partially decomposed, were brought up to New 
 Plymouth, and interred with military honors in the public cemetery 
 where an obelisk of trachyte has been erected to their memory 
 bearing the following names : 
 
 Rev. John Whiteley, aged 62 years. 
 Lieutenant Bamber Gascoigne, aged 40 years. 
 Annie Gascoigne, aged 27 years. 
 Laura Gascoigne, aged 5 yea~s. 
 Cecil John Gascoigne, aged 3 years. 
 Louisa Annie Gascoigue, aged 3 months. 
 John Milne, aged 40 years. 
 Edward Richards, aged 35 years. 
 
 Mr. W. N. Searaneke, Resident Magistrate at Waikato, in a 
 letter to Dr. Pollen, gave the following account of these murders : 
 
 " The actual murderers at the White Cliffs were a half-caste lad, 
 a son of a European, named Frank Philips, residing at Mokau 
 Heads; Wetere, a son of the late Takerei, of Te Awakino, near 
 Mokau ; Herewini, a son of the late Peketai, formerly residing at 
 the Waitara, subsequently of Mokau ; and Te Tana of Moka\i 
 Heads. These four actually committed the murders. Mr. Whiteley 
 was shot by Wetere. He was told to go back and refused. His 
 horse was then shot. Mr. Whitely then sunk on his knees and 
 commenced praying ; while so doing he was shot at twice by 
 Wetere with a revolver, and missed. Wetere then went up close, 
 and shot the unfortunate gentleman dead." 
 
 THE REV. JOHN WHITELEY. 
 
 The Rev. John Whiteley was born of Christian 'parents at 
 Kneesal, Nottinghamshire, England, on July, the 20th, 1806. From 
 childhood he was religiously disposed, and in his 20th year became a 
 a decided, and, as he believed, an accepted Christian. At this period 
 he became a member of an Independent Church, but shortly after- 
 wards his connection with that body of Christians was severed by 
 his removal to the vicinity of Newark, where he threw in his lot 
 with the Wesleyans, and became a local preacher. In 1831, he was 
 accepted as a candidate for missionary work. He was married on 
 the 4th of September, 1832, at a small parish church in the Newark 
 circuit, and proceeded with his wife to the old Mission House in 
 Hatton Garden. .London, where he received a very kind reception.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 283 
 
 After receiving recognition as a Missionary Minister at Lambeth 
 Chapel, he pi'oceeded to Portsmouth, and there embarked with his 
 wife, on the 5th of November, 1832, in the ship Caroline, Captain 
 Treadwell, bound for Hokianga, New Zealand. Early in the 
 following year the ship reached the coast of New Zealand, but the 
 weather being rough Captain Treadwell declined to enter the 
 Hokianga River, and took the vessel round the North Cape to the 
 Bay of Islands, where the debarkation was safely effected. The 
 Wesleyan station at that time was at Mangungu on the Hokianga, 
 the original station at Wangaroa having been destroyed by the 
 natives in 1827, and there was but one missionary there. Mr. 
 Whiteley proceeded to his post overland, and found his solitary 
 brother awaiting his arrival. Here he learned the Maori language, 
 and qualified himself for the great work of his life. In 1837 he 
 was visited by the Rev. N. Turner, the Wesleyan Pioneer Mis- 
 sionary of New Zealand, who in search of health had come to 
 revisit the scenes of his early labors. On the 17th of November of 
 that year, Messrs. Whiteley and Turner set out to visit Houruru 
 and other places on the eastern coast, where a good work had begun 
 among the natives. By 7 p.m. they reached the foot of Mount 
 Taniwa, the camping ground of native travellers. Here they 
 erected, in native fashion, a breakwind of the fronds of the Nikau 
 palm, and after taking tea, and performing their devotions, they 
 wrapped themselves in their blankets and slept soundly. By sunrise 
 they were on the top of the mount, which is a remarkable cone, 
 capping a high range of hills. Here, the beauty and grandeur of 
 nature repaid their toil in climbing the peak. At an immense depth, 
 just below them, were silvery streams lighting up the panorama of 
 forests and vales spread out below them. On the east coast, skirted 
 by a low thick fog, was the noble Wangoroa Bay, with its bold cliffs, 
 and the island guardian of its ocean gate ; and on the west, beaming 
 its welcome to the rising sun, their own lovely Hokianga. Far 
 reaching in the distance beyond their sight was the North Cape of 
 our sea-girt home. They saw the coast line of cliffs, and sands, and 
 craggs, laved by old ocean rolling in his majesty, and in spirit they 
 heard the grand and harmonious anthem of the waves, east and west. 
 Hei-e they tarried for half-an-hour, and indulged in thoughts of New 
 Zealand worthy of Christian Missionaries. Descending by the 
 eastern side they travelled over hill and dale, crossing one serpentine 
 steam nearly twenty times. They reached the first native village in 
 the Houruru Valley an hour before noon. The people, thirty or 
 forty iu number, including children, were busy in their plantations 
 and much surprised bv their visit. Shaded by a copse in a sequestml 
 dell, the whole tribe assembled for woi'ship. A youth named 
 Matthew, whom Mr. Turner had baptized at Mungungu twelve 
 months before, had been their teacher ; and it was richly assuring to 
 find that hearts, hardened by threescore years of heathenism, had 
 been subdued by the Spirit, under the teaching and prayers of the 
 babe in Christ. Matthew received a few books, and was much
 
 284 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 encouraged for further labor. Having halted for two hours the 
 Missionaries travelled on up the lonely valley, observing as they 
 wept traces of a lai-ge population in former days. 
 
 They next tamed at a village whose chief had lately been 
 baptized by the name of Joseph Orton. Mr. Whiteley was remark- 
 able as a pedestrian. Few Englishmen, even renowned explorers, 
 could excel him ; but his companion in travel was tired out, not 
 having before walked so many miles in one day. Their wash from 
 a calabash, and a cup of tea, were very refreshing. They then 
 conversed till evening with the people. Mr. Turner preached to 
 about seventy people on a traveller's theme, Philip and the Eunuch. 
 Several native helpers had lately gone among this people, and had 
 led many of them to God ; and now they earnestly desired the 
 appointment of a Missionary. It was in the very spot were Samuel 
 Leigh had thought of beginning his labors, and was in some respects 
 a most eligible and commanding position. But the people were now 
 too few to have their wish gratified. A bed of fern in Joseph 
 Orton's verandah afforded rest till daybreak. 
 
 After prayers, at five o'clock, they resumed their ti'avels. The 
 roads being muddy, and the rain falling heavily, they were four 
 hours, instead of two, in reaching Kohumaru. As they approached 
 the village they h6ard the bells ringing for worship. The people had 
 not been aware of their coming, and gladly deferred worship till 
 they had changed their clothing and refreshed themselves. Forty 
 persons were present, in whose hearts desires for salvation had been 
 begotten by the agency of native teachers. The Missionaries were 
 storm stayed, and held another service in the evening. They sought 
 the road at six the following morning, and by eleven arrived at Mr. 
 Lever's, three miles from Wangaroa. That gentleman, who had 
 been accustomed to sit under Mr. Turner's ministry in Hobart Town, 
 received them with nrnch pleasure. After refreshment he took 
 Mr. Turner in his boat to visit his fii - st New Zealand home. The 
 journey of three houi-s was amidst the familiar scenes of former 
 years ; and a rush of memories of mercies, trials, dangers, and 
 deliverences filled his mind. Wesley had suffered nothing by the 
 lapse of time. Indeed, its native loveliness had been somewhat 
 increased by the growth of scented groves of sweet-brier. But as 
 the Missionary stood once more on ground hallowed by toil, by 
 suffering, by prayer, and by a tender consecration, the silent air 
 seemed weighted with melancholy. At his feet was all that remained 
 of his own manual work a few broken bricks. He looked to the 
 right and left as if for those he had known ; but there were no 
 family groups circling round their fires, no children sporting in the 
 bushes, and he felt the desolation. He sought the spot where his 
 first child had lain. The soil was sunken and disturbed, and told of 
 the despoilers' hands. The little one's sepulchre had been in his 
 garden ; his own hands, when younger, had trained that garden's 
 trees. Though now all traces of any enclosure had disappeared, 
 there wei*e lovely flowers and fruits, He gathered some roses to
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 285 
 
 cany home, for there were other sympathies with the silent spot he 
 plucked them as God's own emblems. 
 
 The valley had been harvested. Sin, war, and disease had been 
 the weapons ! Though for three hours he travelled the familiar 
 walks, now covered with grass, he saw but a small remnant of the 
 tribes. Of those whom he had known ten years before, only two 
 old people remained. 
 
 Heavy rains detained them till noon next day. Their course 
 homeward lay through the Otangaroa, which they found in high 
 flood. The natives tested the stream-depth, here and there they 
 found footing with their heads above water, they then conveyed the 
 Missionaries across. Two Maoris took hold of Mr. Turner's arms, 
 other two of his legs, and with the water supporting his weight as 
 he lay upon it between the two couples of bearers, he was partially 
 earned and partly floated over. Mr. Whiteley was conveyed over 
 in the same way. They made slow progress through a country 
 almost untravelled, and overgrown with bushes and fern, and at 
 length lost their way and were benighted. With their clothing 
 drenched, every tree and bush dripping, the ground deluged by the 
 down pour of many hours, and without shelter, or the apparent 
 means of procuring it, they were more than weary in their evening's 
 discomfort. They set too, however, to make the best of it. All 
 hands gathered bushes, and within an hour they had constructed a 
 partial shelter. The natives got two dry pieces of wood from a 
 hollow tree, and by rubbing them together obtained a fire. The 
 Missionaries dried their clothes, reduced their discomfort as much as 
 they could, and by the light of their camp fire at midnight read 
 the holy word. They then in that dense wild forest rested beneath 
 the Almighty's shade and rose unharmed. It took an hour to 
 regain the overgrown path, a circumstance not unusual in New 
 Zealand travel. Upon a hill top they passed one of the big guns of 
 the ship Boyd. Years before some Hokianga natives had conceived 
 the idea of securing it for t^eir great pa, to be used as an arm of 
 defence in time of war. They had dragged it over hill j-rd dale, 
 and through streams, until food and courage failin" t*iey had 
 abandoned it, and it remained on this hill top, a witness of their 
 folly. Travelling down the mountains the Missionaries crossed one 
 stream sixty times. At four o'clock they n?r.ched the : r l>oat at 
 Mangamuka. :.nd by twilight reac' ed their lion 'js, tli.-i nkC.il for the 
 travelling mere es of six days. 
 
 A .ter res'V ig fo" a few years at Ho'cianga, Mr. Whiteley removed 
 to Kawhia, and there among the Waika.o trilnss spent the best of his 
 days. Strong, active, al>steinious, loving the country and jKsople, he 
 was not troubled with sickly longings for home, or sentimental 
 languishing*! for refined society, but as a good soldier and servant of 
 Jesus Christ he nimblv trod the narrow and devious paths, paddled 
 his canoe up the rivers, or travelled on horseback long distances over 
 the open wilderness, or along the wide reaches of the solitary sea- 
 beach in search of the villages of the dusky race he had given his
 
 286 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 life to serve. Sitting in the rush-built hut upon a cushion of fern 
 he would partake with the people of their homely supper, from the 
 steaming oven, and after the meal would hold " karakia," or devo- 
 tional service, singing with his flock the evening hymn in their own 
 tongue, and to an air perfectly hideous to most European ears, but 
 musical to him. Then after refreshing sleep, in the early hours, 
 he would awake at the voice of the bird, proceed to some neighboring 
 stream, shave, perform his ablutions, not forgetting his feet, return 
 to the pa, hold karakia, breakfast, and depart to some other portion 
 of his large diocese, there to repeat the proceedings of the previous 
 day. Without forgetting that he was a civilised Briton, so identified 
 did he become with his people, and so readily did he fall into their 
 habits -of thought and catch the idiom of their language, that he 
 became one of the best Maori preachers, and obtained great influence 
 over the native people. Shortly after the foundation of the New 
 Plymouth Settlement, he was chiefly instrumental in inducing the 
 Waikato tribes to manumit the Ngatiawa slaves they took at the 
 siege of Pukerangiora. In 1844, he, at the special request of 
 Governor Fitzroy, attempted to smooth the ^ill-feeling which arose 
 between the freedmen and the pioneer settlers of Taranaki. In 
 1856, in consequence of the Puketapu feud, Mr. Whiteley was 
 stationed at New Plymouth. Here he labored amidst all the scenes 
 of alarm, misery, and blood-shedding, with which this province was 
 afflicted for so many years, preaching both to friends and foes, now 
 in the camp of the British, and now in the war pa of the Maori. 
 There was no outpost too remote for the missionary to reach, and he 
 has freqiiently entered a blockhouse on a Sunday wet to his loins by 
 wading through swollen rivers. He labored for some years in the 
 endeavor to impart instruction to the natives at the Grey Institution 
 on the Mission Reserve at Ngamotu. He was instrumental in 
 causing the erection of a native chapel on the Kawau Pa in New 
 Plymouth, and when, during the war, the pa and chapel were 
 purchased by the Government, it was chiefly by his exertions that 
 another native chapel was built at the Heiiui. In 1859, he accom- 
 panied the present writer with Rev. J. Fletcher, Messrs. Webster, 
 senior, Hulke, Burton, and Knight, with a party of natives on a 
 long forest journey from Bell Block to Mount Egmont. At length 
 the good old man finished the work which was given him to do. 
 It was his custom to lide out to some remote post on Saturday, sleep 
 there on Saturday night, rise and hold early Sabbath service, and 
 then proceed homewards, preaching at all the villages on his way. 
 In pursuance of this plan he left New Plymouth on Saturday, the 
 13th day of February, 1869, on horseback for Pukearuhe, "fern 
 root hill," an out-post in the White Cliff district in the extreme 
 north of Taranaki. He was not unconscious of danger, for he had 
 written a warning letter to the Government concerning this very 
 outpost. As the old missionary rode along, now on the margin of 
 the high sea cliffs, with the spectacle of Ruapehu in front and 
 Egmont on his right, both lifting their snowy crests from the bosom
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. . 287 
 
 of the dark forests to the bright blue sky, and the dancing wavelets 
 flashing the i-eflected sunlight in the watery abyss on his left, now 
 cantering along the sandy beach amidst the iridescent bubbles of the 
 sea foani, little did he think how black a crime was being perpetrated 
 on the spot he was rapidly approaching. Pukearuhe had that day 
 been stained with the blood of a young English mother of 27, and 
 of her three babes, with the blood of three harmless men, and even 
 with the blood of their domestic cat and dog. The Missionary 
 crossed the stream at the foot of the hill and commenced to ascend 
 the steep path, when from among a war party of 20 Ngatimaniapoto, 
 headed by a chief, who had been baptized as a believer in a merciful 
 Saviour, and by the name of Wesley, voices were heard exclaiming, 
 "hokia ! hokia!" go back ! go back 1 Then there was a discharge 
 of arms, and the missionary's horse fell. Disengaging himself from 
 the dying beast, the aged minister fell on his knees, and clasped his 
 hands in the attitude of prayer. Arms were again discharged ; five 
 bullets pierced his body, and so he passed to his everlasting rest. 
 
 With the death of Mr. Whiteley, the war in Taranaki was ended. 
 The Government were unable to punish the murderers, but to this 
 day the blood-stained cliff of Pukearuhe has been held by a garrison 
 of the Armed Constabulary of New Zealand.
 
 288 HISTORY OF TARANAKi. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 PEACE. 
 
 FTER nine years of turmoil and bloodshed, peace was restored 
 Jfi to Taranaki, but the restoration came about in such a dubious 
 I manner that the joy which usually attends the cessation of 
 hostilities was witheld from the long-suffering people of the district. 
 By many, the massacre at the White Cliffs was looked upon as 
 presaging another and still more terrible chapter of war. Many 
 settlers fled from their farms to New Plymouth, and a few with their 
 families left the Province with the intention of not returning until 
 the rebellion should cease. There was also a temporary revival of 
 military activity. A force was sent to the South to surround Titoko 
 Warn, and another to the North to make reprisals on the Mokau 
 murderers. Colonel Whitmore embarked some of the latter in the 
 Colonial s.s. Sturt, and proceeded to the Mokau Heads. Finding 
 the country very difficult for military operations, he merely fired a 
 few shells on to the shore and returned. The refusal of the Maori 
 King to aid Titoko Waru and the Maori rebels, together with the 
 paucity of Colonial troops, and the poverty of the Colonial exchequer, 
 induced the Government to cease military operations on the West 
 Coast. Gradually, therefore, it became apparent that the war was 
 at an end, and gradually a sense of security was restored to the 
 settlement. The change from the intense excitement of war to the 
 quiet of a small agricultural and pastoral settlement was very great. 
 No longer the reveille was sounded at daybreak from Marsland Hill 
 to arouse the garrison and the inhabitants of the besieged town, 
 and to give the weary night pickets license to leave their posts for 
 their home and their firesides; no longer the ''alarm" called all 
 men off duty to arms, and to face the foe ; and no longer the mournful 
 dead march wailed out its sorrowful strains over the remains of the 
 fallen brave. 
 
 Owing to the drain made upon the Colony by the war, the peace 
 was attended by great commercial and financial depression, and New 
 Plymouth suffered most severely in this respect by the entire with- 
 drawal from it of the Imperial troops and military establishments. 
 
 THE IRON SAND 
 
 Along the shores of Taranaki exists a very considerable quantity 
 of magnetic iron sand, which has been washed out of the tufa 
 which suiTOunds the base of Mount Egmont by the rivers and 
 carried to the sea beach. It appears to be a sublimate of iron and 
 titanium, produced by volcanic agency, and converted into a black
 
 HISTORY OP TABANAKI. 289 
 
 magnetic oxide while in a heated state by contact with heated 
 steam. Its analysis is as follows : 
 
 Magnetite ... ... ... ... 71.0 
 
 Titanite 8.0 
 
 Quartz and Olivine 21.0 
 
 100.0 
 
 It produces in smelting from 50 to 61 per cent, of iron of the finest 
 quality, the tensile strength of which has been discovered by 
 experiment to be greater by 33 tons 5 cwt. to the square inch than 
 that of the best English iron. The iron, when converted into steel, 
 has been put to the most severe tests by many eminent steel and 
 tool makers in Great Britain, and has been admitted by them to 
 be unsurpassed by any in the world ; its closeness of grain, brilliancy 
 of polish, keenness of edge, elasticity and strength exciting general 
 admiration, and leading to a unanimous statement that it must 
 some day supersede all other brands of steel for the finer and more 
 expensive branches of the cutlery and edge tool trade. In 1848, 
 Mr. John Perry, carpenter, and an old settler of the Province, made 
 an attempt to smelt this sand by erecting a small furnace on the 
 banks of a small stream which flows into the Huatoki River on 
 the Carrington Road. Mr. Perry was encouraged in this work by 
 His Excellency Governor Grey, who promised him a lease of the 
 sand if his experiments were successful. Mr. Perry found a great 
 difficulty in the fineness of the sand, which made its way to the 
 bottom of the furnace before the fire could operate upon it with 
 sufficient power to smelt it. Some small quantities of iron were, 
 however, produced by him, and forged into small articles by Mr. 
 Wood, the blacksmith. ' After this, Mr. C. Sutton made some 
 experiments in the same direction on the town cliff, near to Mount 
 McCormick, but was unsuccessful. 
 
 In 1858, the Provincial Government of Taranaki granted a lease 
 of the iron sand to Captain Morshead, a retired officer of the Hon. 
 East India Company's Service, who went to England for the 
 purpose of endeavoring to raise a company to work the ore. 
 Captain Morshead, returning unsuccessful from his mission, in 
 1869 a firm from Wellington, trading under the name of 
 Henochsburg and Co , erected a furnace on the South Road, 
 just outside the boundaries of New Plymouth, and attempted to 
 work the sand. Partial success attending these operations, the 
 firm was expanded into a company, tearing the title of the Pioneer 
 Steel Company. Failing to make the metal flow freely fi-om the 
 furnace, the company suspended operations, and deputed Mr. Chilman 
 to the iron masters of England to represent to them the value of 
 the ore, to obtain information as to the best method of reducing it, 
 and to sell the works if jwssible and raise a new company. Mr. 
 Chilman returned, having effected the sale of the lease and 
 19
 
 290 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 interest of the company to Mr. Walcluck, and with some valuable 
 information. 
 
 Mr. Walduck failing to make use of the works, or to avail himself 
 of the interest of the Pioneer Company, another Company was 
 formed chiefly by the exertions of Mr. E. M. Smith, who had 
 discovered a method of preventing the choking of furnaces by the 
 iron sand by forming it with clay into compound bricks before 
 subjecting it to the fire. This Company bore the name of the 
 New Zealand Titanic Steel and Iron Company (Limited). Its 
 proposed capital was 50,000, in 5,000 shares of 10 each, 
 with power to increase to 100,000. Of this capital 20,000 
 was called up and expended in works at the Henui, including 
 a blast charcoal furnace on the best American plan, and 
 a powerful engine and apparatus for producing a hot blast. 
 After the works had been completed, and everything was 
 in readiness for commencing operations, the Company shut up the 
 place and refused to charge the furnace. At the earnest solicitation 
 of the shareholders residing in Taranaki, and on their guaranteeing 
 to protect the Company from loss or damage, permission was given 
 for experimental operations to be conducted. The first of these was 
 an experimental reduction of ore which was chiefly haematite 
 from the Parapara mine at Nelson. 'The next experiment 
 was that conducted under the supervision of Messrs. E. M. Smith 
 and D. Atkinson, by which iron sand alone was reduced. On 
 Saturday the 23rd of September, 1876, the furnace was tapped, and 
 3 tons 15 cwt. of metal in pigs was produced, which has since been 
 tested in England, and reported to be iron of the best possible 
 quality. After these experiments the furnace was blown out and 
 the works have since remained in a quiescent state. 
 
 PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 On the 15th October, 1859, Mr. F. A. Carrington succeeded Mr. 
 H. R. Richmond in the Superintendency of the Province, and was 
 re-elected to that ofiice on 22nd November, 1873. At the end of 
 1876, Provincial institutions were abolished by the " Abolition of 
 Provinces Act, 1875." 
 
 THE LAND FUND. 
 
 By the " Financial Arrangements Act, 1877," the compact of 1856, 
 under which certain sums were paid to the Northern Provinces in order 
 that the Southern Provinces might enjoy their own land funds, was 
 broken up, the Act providing that the land fund of the colony should 
 become general revenue, except "20 per cent, which is to be paid 
 back to the Counties for local purposes, and except in the case of 
 the Provincial District of Taranaki, which is to receive one-fourth 
 of the land fund of the district for the purpose of assisting to 
 construct a harbor at New Plymouth. From the time the compact 
 of 1856 had been ratified by the " Public Debt Apportionment Act, 
 1868," to the Abolition of the Provinces, Taranaki received the sum
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 291 
 
 of 2,200 per annum as interest on the 32,000 which had been 
 allotted to it by the Act of 1868, and by this sum the Provincial 
 Government was almost entirely supported, the Province having no 
 land fund owing to the refusal of the Maoris to part with their 
 waste lands to the Government. 
 
 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 With the exception of the formation of new districts as colonisation 
 has extended, the Road Districts have remained unchanged since 
 1858. For several years the town of New Plymouth was treated 
 simply as a road district, and its roads were repaired by rates raised 
 under the provisions of the Roads and Bridges Ordinance, and 
 expended under the supervision of Commissioners. But in 1863 
 special provisions were made for the improvement of the town by 
 the constitution of a Town Board by an Ordinance of the Provincial 
 Council. This Ordinance, with some amendments, remained in force 
 till the llth of August, 1876, when, by the exertions of Mr. \V. 
 H. Scott and other members of the Town Board, New Plymouth 
 was proclaimed a Municipality by His Excellency the Governor. 
 On the 22nd of September, 1876, the following gentlemen were 
 elected members of the New Plymouth Borough Council J. Ellis, 
 R. Chilman, W. H. Scott, A. Laird, D. Callaghan, T. E. Hamerton, 
 A. Standish, J. M. Vivian, and Walter Read, and Mr. L. 
 H. Cholwill was chosen town clerk. On the llth of October 
 following Arthur Standish was elected the first Mayor of the 
 Borough. The towns of Carlyle, Raleigh, Hawera, and Ingle wood 
 have Town Boards, established under the provisions of the Town 
 Boards of Taranaki Ordinances of 1872 and 1875. 
 
 In 1876 the town of New Plymouth was raised, and a stone 
 bi'idge erected over the Huatoki River. This improvement, which 
 was in many respects desirable, was necessitated by the construction 
 of the mil way in the town. Since the establishment of the 
 Municipality, extensive improvements have been made in the Borough. 
 Bridges have been built, streets formed and metalled, and other 
 important works effected. In February, 1878, the assent of the 
 burgesses was given to the raising of a loan of .2."), 000, on the 
 security of the endowments of the Borough some of which, through 
 the exertions of the Mayor, had been then recently obtained for the 
 construction of water works, gas works, and the general improvement 
 of the streets of the Borough. 
 
 On the abolition of the Provinces, Taranaki was divided into 
 the Counties of Taranaki and Patea. Taranaki County is entirely 
 within the limits of the Taranaki Province, but Patea County is 
 partly within the Wellington provincial district. Taranaki County is 
 bounded towards the north by the eastern boundary of Kawhia 
 County, which is formed by the centre of the Mokau River from its 
 mouth to its most northerly source, and by a right lino thence to the 
 Rangitoto Mountain ; towards the east by a right line to the source 
 of the Ongaruhe River, and thence by the centres of the Ongaruhe,
 
 292 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 the Ngahuinga (or Tah.ua), and Wanganui Rivers to the junction 
 with the Tangarakau River ; thence towards the south by a right 
 line to the eastern corner of the Mangaotukti Block, thence by the 
 southern boundary of that block to its south-west cornei', thence by 
 a right line to the eastern corner of the Ahuroa Block, by the 
 eastern boundary of the last mentioned block to the Patea River, 
 thence by the centre of the "ffetea River to its source in Mount 
 Egmont, by a right line thence by the source of the Taurigatara 
 River, and by the centre of the last mentioned river to its mouth ; 
 and towards the west and north-west by the ocean to the mouth of 
 the Mokau River, the commencing point. 
 
 Patea County is bounded towards the north by the southern 
 boiindary of the County of Taranaki hereinbefore defined, from the 
 mouth of the Taungatara River to the summit of the western 
 water-shed of the "Wanganui River, near the eastern corner of the 
 Mangaotuku Block : thence towards the east by lines from hill to 
 hill along the said summit of the said water-shed by Mataimoana, 
 Taumatarata, Taurangapiopio, to Paparangiora, thence along a ridge 
 separating the watersheds of the Waitotara River and Kai-iwi 
 Sti'eam to Tutukaikatoa ; thence by a ridge and the summit of the 
 Rangitatau Range to the nearest corner of the Auroa Native 
 Reserve, thence by the northern boundary of the Waitotara Block 
 to the Waitotara River, and thence by the centre of that river to the 
 ocean ; and towards the south-west by the ocean to the mouth of 
 the Taungatara River, the commencing point. 
 
 The County of Taranaki is divided into three Ridings, namely : 
 Moa Riding, Omata Riding, and Waitara Riding. The first 
 representatives of these Ridings were Moa Riding : R. Trimble, T. 
 Kelly, W. Courtney ; Omata Riding H. Brown, H. D. Vavasour, 
 W. Berridge ; Waitara Riding F. L. Webster, B. C. Lawrence and 
 J. Rattenbury. Colonel Robert Trimble was elected the first 
 chairman, Mr. J. B. Lawson county clerk and treasurer, and Mr. T. 
 K. Skinner the first permanent engineer, Mr. G. F. Robinson 
 having been at the first establishment of the County Council 
 partially and temporarily employed in that capacity. The " Counties 
 Act, 1876," being of an indefinite and permissive character, time will 
 be required for the full development of the county system. At present 
 the County Council of Taranaki has taken over the management of 
 the main roads and the principal bridges, but in all probability the 
 various Road Boards will be merged into it, and the whole of the 
 roads and bridges outside of the municipalities and beyond the 
 jurisdiction of the Town Boards will be subject to its administi'ation. 
 
 IMMIGRATION AND PUBLIC WORKS. 
 
 To raise the Colony from the depression under which it labored by 
 the drain on its resources consequent on the Native Rebellion, 
 Sir Jiilius Vogel projected a scheme for promoting immigration and 
 public works. This scheme was embodied and given effect to by the 
 " Immigration and Public Works Act," and "Loan Act, 1870." By the
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 293 
 
 authority of these Acts large sums of money were borrowed in the 
 London market and applied to the purposes of bringing immigrants 
 to the Colony and of constructing railroads and other public works. 
 Various sums from these funds were at times voted by the House of 
 Representatives for Public Works in Taranaki, but only a portion of 
 them were expended in the province. In 1874, the sum of 20,000 
 was voted for opening up the track leading from Mataitawa to the 
 shores of Cook Strait, near Hawera. The duty of administering 
 this money fell on Major Atkinson, who gave His Honor F. A. 
 Carrington, Esq., the Superintendent of Taranaki, and Mr. Kelly, 
 the Provincial Secretary, carte blanclie to expend it, the result of 
 which was the opening up of the Mountain Road from Sentry Hill 
 and the Junction Road, and from the Meeting of the Waters to 
 Inglewood and onwards towai-ds the Patea River. In the Session 
 of 1877, a further sum of 10,000 was voted for the completion of 
 this road. 
 
 On the 21st of August, 1873, the first sod of -the New Plymouth 
 and Waitara Railway was cut at New Plymouth amidst great 
 rejoicings by Mrs. Henderson, daughter of F. A. Carrington, Esq. 
 This line was opened on the 14th of October, 1875, after which a 
 branch was extended along the Mountain Road, and was opened for 
 traffic to Inglewood on the 29th of August, 1877. The first portion 
 of this line was constructed by Brogden and Co., Railway Engineei'S 
 and Contractors, of England, under the superintendence of Mr. 
 Henderson. The line was surveyed by Mr. C. W. Hursthouse, who 
 is at present the Resident Engineer of the line, and is engaged in 
 extending it towards Patea. In June, 1874, Mr. W. M. Burton 
 was appointed Immigration Agent to the Province by the Provincial 
 Council, and shortly afterwards proceeded with Mrs. Burton to 
 England, vid San Francisco, where he was engaged for three years 
 lecturing in the agricultural districts of the East of England, and in 
 superintending the embarkation of emigrants for Taranaki. 
 
 NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOR. 
 
 In 1866, Messrs. Balfour and Doyne were employed by the 
 Provincial Government to survey the New Plymouth roadstead for a 
 harbor site. This work was executed by these gentlemen, and plans 
 of harbors at the Sugarloaves and opposite to the town projected by 
 them at a cost of 2,000. In 18GG, the Provincial Council passed 
 the Harbor Trust Ordinance, which set apart Mount Eliot, some 
 land at the seaward end of Brougham Street, and at the mouth of 
 the Huatoki River for harbor purposes. In 1875, the Provincial 
 Council passed the New Plymouth Htirbor Board Ordinance, 
 constituting a Harbor Board consisting of nine members, six 
 of whom were to be elected by the members of the Provincial 
 Council, and three to be appointed by the Governor in Council, 
 vesting the harbor reserves and one-fourth of the land fund of 
 the Province in the Board, and empowering it to raise a loan for 
 harbor puqioses of 350,000. In 1877, an Act of the General
 
 294 HISTORY OF TARANAK1. 
 
 Assembly was passed limiting the borrowing powers of the Board to 
 200,000, and simplifying the mode of raising the loan. The 
 first members of the Board wei-e : elected by the Council Majors 
 Atkinson and Brown, Messrs. Syme, F. A. Carrington, A. Standish ; 
 appointed by the Governor in Council Messrs. T. Kelly, H. Weston, 
 and G. Cui'tis. Mr. Carrington was chosen chairman and treasurer, 
 and Mr. J. B. Lawson, secretary. In 1876, a new plan for a harbor at 
 the Sugarloaves was projected by Messrs. Carruthei-s and Blackett, 
 connected with which was a scheme of a central prison at the harbor 
 works. At the time we write, Messrs. Carruthers and Blackett's 
 harbor design is under the .consideration of the Governor in Council, 
 while the central prison scheme has apparently fallen through. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 On the 10th of June. 1871, the electric telegraph was open from 
 New Plymouth to Opunake. On the 15th of April, 1872, com- 
 munication was opened with Wellington, partly by telegraph, and 
 partly by mounted messengers, who rode to and from Opunake and 
 Hawera, between which places the natives would not suffer the 
 telegraph line to be erected. On the 29th of June, 1876, direct 
 telegraphic communication was obtained with Wellington by the 
 Mountain Road; and in February, 1878, Waitara was placed in 
 connection with the telegraph system. 
 
 JUDICATURE. 
 
 For many years Captain King, R.N., officiated as Resident 
 Magistrate of the district, but when, by reason of his age, he was 
 compelled to seek retirement, he was succeeded 011 the bench by Mr. 
 Flight, who in his turn succumbed to age, and was succeeded by Mr. 
 H. R. Richmond, who filled concurrently the offices of Superintendent 
 and Resident Magistrate. Mr. Richmond having fulfilled his term 
 of office as Superintendent, and failing to obtain re-election, this 
 arrangement fell through, and Mr. Harry Eyre Kenny, a banister 
 of considerable promise, who had for some time efficiently filled the 
 office of Registrar of the Supreme Court and Clerk of the Resident 
 Magistrate's Court, was appointed Resident Magistrate, and has since 
 in conjunction, with that office been appointed District Judge. In 
 the early days, Mr. Donald Maclean, afterwards Sir Donald, held the 
 office of Inspector of Police. He was succeeded by Mr. H. Halse, 
 who was succeeded by Sergeant Dunn, who was succeeded by 
 Sergeant Duffin. At the commencement of 1878 the Civil Police 
 and Armed Constabulary were amalgamated, and Mr. Sub-Inspector 
 Kenny was appointed to command the division performing civil 
 police duty in New Plymouth. 
 
 THE LITERARY INSTITUTE. 
 
 At the foundation of the Settlement, the New Plymouth Company 
 sent out a copy of the " Encyclopaedia Brittanica," as the nucleus of a 
 public library for New Plymouth; this has been religiously preserved,
 
 HISTORY OP TABANAKI. 295 
 
 and around it from time to time have clustered other works, until 
 the library has assumed large proportions. The Taranaki Institute 
 consists of a general library, and a library of reference, containing 
 a total of 3,000 volumes, also a free reading room, well supplied 
 with periodical literature and newspapers. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 In the early days of the settlement the education of the young 
 was sadly neglected. No provision was made for general instruction 
 by the Plymouth or New Zealand Company, or by the Government 
 of the- Colony ; the district was also too sparsely populated, and the 
 people were generally too poor for private teachers to hope for 
 support in the pursuance of their avocations. Mi's, and the Misses 
 King rendered important service in the instruction of the female 
 children of the more wealthy classes, and Messrs. Murch, Sharland, 
 Batkin, and Beardsworth at different periods gave instruction to the 
 boys of New Plymouth. Many of the poorer children were taught 
 to read in the various Sunday Schools of the town, and Mesdames 
 Homeyer and Parker kept preparatory schools. Many children, 
 however, grew up without instruction. During the war the children 
 who were sent as refugees to Nelson received instruction in schools 
 specially opened for them by the Government, and also in the Nelson 
 Public Schools. When the families returned from N^elson the 
 Wesleyans established a school, which was conducted by Mr. and Mi's. 
 Schofield, and afterwards by Mr. and Mi's. Collis. 
 
 In 1857, the Provincial Council passed the Education Commission 
 Ordinance, which authorised the Superintendent to appoint a Com- 
 mission to enquire into, and consider what system of Education 
 should be adopted for the Province. In 1868 the Council passed an 
 Ordinance for making provision for the establishment and main- 
 tenance of schools in the Province. The result of this legislation 
 was that a few schools were established, but the funds at the disposal 
 of the Provincial Government were so small, that the system of 
 instruction inaugurated by it was very imperfect In 1S74, His 
 Honor the Superintendent held meetings in the various districts 
 surrounding New Plymouth, for the purpose of testing public opinion 
 respecting a projected provincial measure for placing public education 
 on a sound basis by the levying of a household rate of .1 per annum 
 for its sup|>ort. Notwithstanding very great opposition to the scheme, 
 the Council passed an Educational Ordinance dividing the Province 
 into two Districts, constituting Hoards and levying a household rate. 
 The members of the Hoards were elected by the people, the first 
 members of the New Plymouth District being : A. Standish, IF. A. 
 Atkinson, B. Wells, It. K. Richmond, C. W. Hursthousc, II. 
 Govett, and Mr. W. N. Syme. 15. W'lls was chosen diairniiin, 
 W. Northcroft secretary and treasurer, and W. M. Crompton 
 inspector. The funds of tin; Boards consisted of the household nit*-, 
 the rents of lands set apart for education purjoses, and grants from 
 the Provincial Government. By the exertions of the Boards a very
 
 296 HISTORY OF TARANAtfl. 
 
 great improvement was effected in the educational system of the districts. 
 The teachers were encouraged by the increase of their very small 
 salaries, the blockhouses scattered about the country were utilised 
 as school houses, and many new school buildings were erected and 
 schools established in various parts of the Province. In 1877, a 
 Colonial Act of a provisional character came into operation, by which 
 all the public schools of the Colony were brought under the control 
 of the General Government, and in 1878, by the Act of the session 
 of 1877, public education became free, secular and compulsory, and 
 was provided for out of the general revenue of the country in 
 connection with educational endowments. 
 
 THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 Dr. Peter Wilson for many years performed the duties of Colonial 
 Surgeon in New Plymouth, his patients being chiefly Maoris. Since 
 the war the hospital has been chiefly a local institution, and is now 
 supported by the Borough and Countv Councils. Dr. T. E. Pvawson 
 has for many years filled the office of Provincial Hospital Surgeon, 
 and Mr. and Mrs. Hill that of Steward and Matron. 
 
 THE BOTANIC GARDEN. 
 
 In 1875, by an arrangement between the Provincial Government, 
 the Board of Education and the Board of Public Trustees, 
 which was ratified by the Taranaki Botanic Garden Act, a large 
 piece of broken land at the south of the town of New Plymouth, 
 and abutting on the Carrington Road, was set apart for a botanic 
 garden and recreation ground. The Board of Trustees consists of 
 T. King (Chairman), R. Bayley (Hon. Secretary), Pv. C. Hughes, J. 
 Gilmour, H. Ford, J. T. Davis and T. Colson. 
 
 ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY. 
 
 During the war pheasants were introduced from Nelson. On the 
 27th of January, 1871, skylarks were introduced from Nelson by Mr. 
 H. R. Richmond. Since then sparrows have been introduced from 
 Auckland by Mr. A. Colson, and greenfinches from Nelson by Mr. 
 Harley. The society has introduced the Indian mainah from Nelson, 
 and partridges, blackbirds, thrushes, and goldfinches from England, 
 by the aid of Mr. Burton, the Immigration Agent. The society is 
 supported by fees paid for licenses to shoot game and by donations. 
 Mr. C. D. Whitcombe is the Secretary. 
 
 Fresh victories of peace are being gained year by year; fresh 
 fields are gained from the leafy and wooded wilderness ; roads, 
 railways and telegraphs are being extended, explorers are out in the 
 interior searching for metals and minerals, and for lines of com- 
 munication with other districts; local government promises to operate 
 beneficially, attempts are being made to provide the district with a
 
 iHSTORY OP TARANAKI. 297 
 
 haven for ships, and the towns with the comforts and luxuries of 
 civilised life. The pioneers who came to the wilderness in the full 
 vigor of manhood are now aged, but they can look backward on the 
 heroic struggle they have endured in their endeavor to plant an 
 empire under southern skies, and look forward to the fruit of their 
 labors which their children will possess as an inheritance.
 
 298 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE TARANAKI PIONEERS. 
 
 MR. P. A. CARRINGTON. 
 
 ALONZO CARRINGTON was bom at 
 
 JK ford, Essex, England, in the year 1807, and is the son of 
 I Captain William Carrington, afterwards barrack-master at 
 Douglas, Isle of Man, whose father and grandfather were Senior 
 Prebendaries and Chancellors of the Diocese of Exeter and cadets of 
 the family of Carrington of Sponton, in Yorkshire. Mr. Carrington was 
 specially instructed by the distinguished military engineer, surveyor 
 and draughtsman, Robert Dawson, the father of Colonel Dawson, 
 R.E., C.B., for the duties of the Ordnance Survey Depai-tment. 
 He was appointed to office by His Grace the Duke of Wellington, 
 Master General, and the Hon. Board of Ordnance in January, 1826. 
 He surveyed tracts of country in Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, 
 Monmouth, and Glamorgan shires ; triangulated, surveyed, and 
 minutely delineated a continuous piece of country from Brecknock- 
 shire, through Glamorganshire, to the Bristol Channel. He revised 
 blocks of original survey work in various parts of England, and 
 consequent on the Reform Bill of 1832 to a large extent detei'mined 
 on the ground and described for the Commissioners the Parlia- 
 mentary boundaries of Boroughs in the districts from Bristol to 
 Manchester. He compiled and reduced for engraving many of the 
 original surveys, and minutely delineated in the field large tracts of 
 country in different parts of England ; he also, in the map office in 
 the Tower of London, made the finished drawings of the Hills from 
 Hertford to Halifax in Yorkshire for publication, embracing more 
 than a thousand square miles of country. 
 
 In 1839, Captain Smith, of the Royal Artillery, who had then 
 recently been appointed Chief Surveyor to the New Zealand Company, 
 called at the Surveyor General's Office in the Tower of London for 
 the purpose of consulting Mr. Carrington and his brother concerning 
 certain duties devolving on him in his new capacity. In the course 
 of his enquiries Captain Smith spoke in such glowing terms of New 
 Zealand as to induce the young surveyor to desire to proceed thither, 
 and shortly afterwards, by the advice of Sir Hussey Vivian, the 
 Master General of the Ordnance, and by the offer of great induce- 
 ments, he arranged to accept the appointment of Chief Surveyor to 
 the Plymouth Company of New Zealand. It was arranged that his 
 duties should be to select and found the settlement, and to purchase 
 land for the Company, and that in addition to a salary of 350 |per 
 annum he should be supplied with rations for himself and family, and 
 should receive the sum of 4d. per acre for all lands surveyed by himself 
 and staff, and 1 per cent, on the price of all lands sold. Mr. Carrington
 
 HISTORY OF TAEANAKI. 299 
 
 sailed from London in the ship London, and arrived in Wellington in 
 December, 1840. Colonel Wakefield having kindly placed at his 
 disposal the barque Brougham, Mr. Carrington explored various 
 parts of the coast, and under many difficulties selected, surveyed, 
 delineated, and laid out the settlement of New Plymouth. Owing to the 
 native difficulties which beset the settlement, and the differences of 
 the New Zealand Company with the English Government, Mr. 
 Carrington's services were dispensed with in 1843, and in 1844 he 
 an-ived in England. On the 6th of June, 1844, Mr. Carringtoii 
 gave evidence before the Select Committee appointed by the House 
 of Commons to inquire into the state of the Colony of New Zealand, 
 and into the proceedings of the New Zealand Company. Mr. 
 Carringtoii took to England a large and valuable collection of 
 specimens and curiosities, consisting of bird skins, insects, Maori 
 mats, models of canoes, war clubs, spears, native knives, nets, fish 
 hooks and lines, musical instruments, carvings, coal, limestone, and 
 marble, iron sand, and specimens of indigenous timber. These 
 articles were exhibited at a soiree at Sir Roderick Murchison's house in 
 Belgrave Square, London. The Prince Consort called to see the 
 exhibition, and expressed himself much pleased with it. The 
 marble was specially admired, and was pronounced to be superior to 
 that of Carrara. The specimen was said to have been procured 
 somewhere between the Waipa and the Mokau. 
 
 Mr. Carrington received the following testimonial from the Court 
 of Directors of the New Zealand Company : 
 
 " New Zealand House, 4th May, 1849. 
 
 " Sir : Having laid before the Court of Directors of the New 
 Zealand Company your letter of the 2nd instant, I am instructed to 
 inform you that the Directors have much pleasure in stating that 
 you were employed as Chief Surveyor of the Plymouth Company of 
 New Zealand and the New Zealand Company for the Settlement of 
 New Plymouth, from June. 1840, to March, 1844; that the sole 
 cause of your leaving the service of the latter Company was the 
 suspension of its colonising operations occasioned by differences 
 (since adjusted) with the Home Government ; and that the zeal and 
 ability which marked your performance of the several duties with 
 which you were successively entrusted in exploring the country, 
 selecting a site for settlement, designing and laying out the 
 allotments and roads, and in delineating the features of the ground, 
 were at all times such as to call forth the perfect approbation of the 
 Court. I have, &c. 
 
 "T. C. HAUIXGTOX, 
 
 " F. A. Carrington, Esq." 
 
 From 1844 Mr. Carrington was occupied in delineating and 
 modelling country, superintending and directing the surveying, and 
 getting up Parliamentary plans and models for Parliamentary 
 Committees on projected railways, waterworks, and harbors in 
 England and Scotland.
 
 300 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 
 
 So much did Mr. Carriiigton excel in the art of modelling country, 
 that he received on one occasion at Buckingham Palace the 
 approbation of the late Prince Consort for his works, and Sir 
 Robert Peel and Dr. Buckland paid visits to his studio. 
 
 The Times of September the 5th, 1849, thus notices his model 
 plan of the Midland Counties : 
 
 " Mr. F. A. Carrington, of 10, Henrietta Street, Coveut Garden, 
 has just executed a model plan of the Midland Counties, which as a 
 work of art is extremely interesting, and well deserves to attract 
 public attention and patronage. Upon this plan are delineated with 
 the greatest accuracy the vaiying surfaces of that great district 
 which stretches from Lincoln westwards to Congleton in Cheshire, 
 from Congleton northwards by Manchester to Burnley, thence 
 eastward by Bradford and Leeds to South Cave on the Humber, and 
 from the Humber south to Lincoln. Within this parallelogram are 
 marked out the sites of 46 cities and towns, innumerable villages, 
 parks, woods, roads, railroads, and canals ; the great natural water- 
 sheds of the country, and the sources and windings of the Trent, 
 the Mersey, the Derwent, the Don, and other rivers and streams are 
 also traced. The mountain ranges, the extent of plain, and the 
 physical peculiarities of the country are all definitely defined, and a 
 bird's-eye view of the whole is obtained so complete, satisfactory 
 and simple as to distance entirely every other form of topographical 
 illustration. 
 
 " In a military point of view such works as this are of incalculable 
 importance, but in these days of agitation for peace it is doubtful 
 whether, were such the only uses to which his labors could be turned, 
 Mr. Carrington's ingenuity would meet the reward which it deserves. 
 His system of surface delineation and plan modelling, however, has 
 far higher merits. It is, perhaps, the best means that has yet been 
 devised for regulating the lines of drainage, as by it the loAvest levels 
 of any given district can be determined at once, and thus the nearest 
 approach be made to that natural law which guides the course of 
 livers, and renders them the great means for carrying off supei'fluous 
 water .to the sea. The present system of sections and contour lines 
 gives but a partial knowledge of the character of the ground, 
 inasmuch as the undulation can only be shown where the traverse is 
 made with the level. To contour ground for practical purposes is 
 also very expensive, and to do so in towns with strict accuracy is 
 impracticable from the obstructions offered by the buildings. More- 
 over it is impossible on a contour map to discover the direction in which 
 the lowest level of a district runs, and valuable and indispensable as 
 sections are, they fail to supply that comprehensive and detailed 
 whole which is so desirable in designing and carrying out any great 
 work. 
 
 " We understand that Mr. Carrington many months ago offered 
 to complete a model plan of the Metropolis and its environs, from 
 Greenwich to Chiswick, for the sum of 4,500. He offered if ten 
 or twelve copies were taken to do the work at 4d. per acre ; and
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 301 
 
 there can be but little doubt that such a model plan would have been 
 most useful in inti'oducing a proper system of drainage into the 
 Metropolis. By its aid every Commissioner could see at a glance 
 what ought to be done, and the new works might have been set 
 agoing withoxit all the delay and expense which have arisen in 
 connexion with the Ordnance Survey. The Commissioners of 
 Sewers rejected Mr. Carrington's offer, and thus an interesting 
 branch of art suffers. 
 
 " Mr. Carrington was fifteen years in the Ordnance Survey 
 Department. He was also employed by the New Zealand Company 
 in selecting and surveying some of their settlements, and the large 
 experience which he has had in that particular department of art to 
 which' he has devoted himself, makes it a matter of public interest 
 that he should meet with encouragement to persevere. His model 
 plan of the Midland Counties has been visited and admired by many 
 of the most distinguished and scientific men of the country." 
 
 At the great Exhibition of 1851, Mr. Carrington was awarded 
 the prize medal for models of country. 
 
 From 1851 to 1856 he was employed in making three special 
 journeys to California and other parts of America, and one to Paris 
 and Belgium, for the purpose of reporting on speculative business 
 connected with the London Stock Exchange, and respecting projected 
 railways and contract works in Paris, and for the purpose of valuing 
 an estate in Belgium. 
 
 In January, 1857, Mr. Carrington again left England with his 
 family for New Zealand, with the view of erecting iron works, and 
 bringing into commerce iron from the iron sands of Taranaki, 
 making a survey for a harbor, occupying his own land, and managing 
 the property of others as an agent. The native rebellion breaking 
 out shortly after his arrival, he offered his services to the Govern- 
 ment, and was appointed engineer for the pxirpose of making roads 
 in Taranaki. In September, 1869, he was elected Superintendent 
 of the Province, which office he continued to hold till the abolition 
 of provincial institutions in 1 876. For many years he has represented 
 the Grey and Bell district in the House of Representatives, and ho 
 is a member of the Harbor Board. 
 
 For many years he strove to obtain compensation for lands selected 
 by him on the banks of the W.iitara in the early days of the 
 settlement, for Messrs. Hartoris and Downe, but which were first 
 seized by the natives, and afterwards by the Government as a site 
 for the town of Raleigh, and in the Session of 1877 he obtained his 
 long sought object. 
 
 Sir Roderick Murchison has given the following testimony of Mr. 
 Carrington's ability : 
 
 " He possesses a remarkable faculty in delineating the true 
 physical features of any tract, and I have no hesitation in saying 
 that if I wished to be satisfied in my own mind of the real relations 
 in detail of any piece of country, I should fool entire confidence in 
 his faithful report upon it. His geometrical measurements may bo 
 most entirely relied on."
 
 302 HISTORY OP TARANAKI, 
 
 Mi\ Carrington also holds testimonials as to his professional ability 
 from General Pasley, R.E., Major-General T. Colby, K.E., Colonel 
 Mudge, R.E., Sir John Rennie, C.E., F.R.S., and from Sir. H. T. 
 De la Beche, the geologist. 
 
 CAPTAIN HENRY KING, R.N. 
 
 The half-masted .ensign on the flagstaff at Mount Eliot on the 
 afternoon of June the 6th, 1874, announced to the people of New 
 Plymouth that a chief had fallen, and the intelligence soon spread 
 abroad that Captain King was dead. The deceased officer had long 
 passed tliQ usual bounds of human life, being at the time of his 
 death in his ninety-second year. He was the last survivor of those 
 who took part in the battle of St. Vincent, and after fighting his 
 country's battles he came out to Taranaki to do battle with the 
 wilderness, a hale man of fifty-eight, an age at which most men seek 
 repose. After his arrival he lived a second life of thirty-three years 
 in the Colony, taking his full share in the arduous work, excitement 
 and perils of a pioneer. At last his vital force showed signs of 
 exhaustion, and on May the 30th, just a week before he expired, 
 he was seized with paralysis of the throat. On the following 
 Tuesday he revived, was cheerful, and even jocose ; this revival 
 however, proved to be but the last fiicker of the flame of life, for he 
 speedily relapsed into a comatose state, which ended in death. 
 
 Captain Henry King was born at Torquay, Devonshire, England, 
 on the 7th of April, 1783. He entered the Royal Navy as 
 midshipman on board the Namur, Captain Sir James Whitshead, on 
 the 27th of November, 1795, being at that time but twelve years 
 and eight months old. He was present at the battle of St. Vincent, 
 which took place on the 14th of February, 1797, the Namur forming 
 a part of the fleet under the command of Admiral Sir John Jervois, 
 afterwards Lord St. Vincent. Mr. King served five years in the 
 Namur, distinguishing himself by many acts of daring in connection 
 with cutting-out expeditions, and left his ship with the rank of 
 third lieutenant. He next joined the Canopus, Captain Sir G. 
 Campbell. There, at the recommendation of his captain, he was 
 promoted to a second lieutenancy. His next ship was the Ambuscade; 
 after serving in her for some time, he was appointed to the Unite, a 
 vessel which afterwards lay for many years as a convict hospital 
 hulk off Woolwich Arsenal. He was invalided from this ship, 
 having his leg broken in three places by the topsail tie falling upon 
 him. On his recovery he was appointed first lieutenant of the Sea 
 Horse, Captain, afterwards Sir Alexander Gordon, and served in her 
 in the Potomac and at the taking of Alexandria in the American 
 war of 1812-14. A number of merchantmen at Alexandria, laden 
 with corn, cotton, and tobacco, requiring a convoy, the Sea Horse 
 was ordered to perform that service, and successfully conducted the 
 fleet through the midst of the enemy ; for this service Mr. King 
 obtained his promotion to the rank of commander, Sir Alexander 
 Gordon, in his official letter to Vice- Admiral Cochrane giving an
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 303 
 
 account of his operations in the Potomac, dated from H.M.S. Sea 
 Horse, Chesapeake Bay, September the 19th, 1814, thus speaks of 
 his first lieutenant : 
 
 " So universally good was the conduct of all the officers, seamen, 
 and marines of the detachment, that I cannot particularise Avith justice 
 to the rest, but I owe to the long tried experience I have had of Mr. 
 Henry King, first lieutenant of the Sea Horse, to point out to you 
 that such was his eagerness to take the part to which his abilities 
 would have directed him on this occasion, that he even came out of 
 his sickbed to command at his quarters, while the ship was passing 
 the batteries. The first two guns pointed by Lieutenant King 
 disabled each a gun of the enemy." 
 
 Peace being shortly after this proclaimed, Captain King retired 
 from active service. In March, 1852, he was gazetted post captain 
 on the retired list. 
 
 On his retirement from the service Captain King went to reside in 
 his native Devonshire, where he soon became actively engaged as a 
 barge master on the Bude and Holsworthy Canal, conveying a shelly 
 sand from the sea-coast to the interior, where it is extensively used 
 as a manure. On the establishment of the Plymouth Company for 
 colonising New Zealand, he was appointed Chief Commissioner of 
 the Company, and came out to the Colony in the Amelia Thompson, 
 arriving in New Plymouth on September the 3rd, 1841. Imme- 
 diately on his arrival he was appointed Police Magistrate, his 
 appointment being published by Governor Hobson's command in the 
 Wellington Gazette of September, 1841. In consequence of the 
 amalgamation of the Plymouth and New Zealand Companies, he was 
 shortly after his arrival superseded in his commissionership by 
 Captain Liardet, R.N. In connection with his brother-in-law, Mr. 
 George Cutfield, formerly a naval architect in Plymouth Dockyiml, 
 Captain King settled on the suburban section now known as Brook- 
 lands. Shortly after his arrival he took a voyage to Sydney, and 
 returned with a cargo of cattle for the settlement in the barque 
 Jupiter. After this he never again left the settlement. At an 
 early period he was appointed Resident Magistrate, in connection with 
 which office he acted as Government factotum for many years. In 
 those days crime among the European settlers was so infrequent that 
 he had to commit but one person for trial during ten years that he 
 exercised judicial functions. The conduct of the natives, however, 
 demanded of him the utmost amount of discretion. The handful of 
 peaceful country formers who at that time formed almost the entire 
 European population of the settlement, neglected by the Ifnme 
 Government, poor, and defenceless, were at the mercy of a band of 
 insolent manumitted slaves and returned refugees of the Maori 
 race, and the threats and war-dances of these ]>eople were successfully 
 met by the brave but judicious old Captain with the only j>ossilile 
 effective weapon diplomacy. 
 
 In 1852, Captain King retired from active life, receiving a piece of 
 plate from the settlers as a token of their grateful recognition of his
 
 304 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 services. In March, 1860, the breaking out of the Maori rebellion 
 necessitated his retreat from the pleasant villa at Brooklands within 
 the lines of New Plymouth. On the 8th of February, 1861, 
 his only child, Captain "William Outfield King, of the Taranaki 
 Volunteers, a young man of great promise, was killed by a party of 
 rebels in ambush, within sight of a garrison of British troops on 
 Marsland Hill. 
 
 If the gallant deeds of this brave Naval officer are lost sight of 
 in England in the midst of the galaxy of glorious achievements 
 effected by his contemporary heroes, his peaceful, but no less 
 honorable and useful services in the foundation of the Province of 
 Taranaki will be honorably remembered in the Colony for ever. 
 
 MR. CHARLES BROWN, SENR. 
 
 Mr. Charles Brown was born in 1786, and was in early life a 
 Russia merchant, but failing in business through the substitution of 
 fringe whalebone for bristles, and the anticipation by Britain of a 
 war with Russia, he devoted the remainder of his days to literature 
 and art, and to the society of literary men. He was intimate with 
 Charles Wentworth Dilke, John Hamilton Reynolds, Thomas Hood, 
 Leigh Hunt, Walter Savage Landor, Lord Byron, and had brotherly 
 affection for Keats. Mr. Brown was of Scotch extraction, the family 
 tradition being that his father left Long Island with a Bible as his 
 sole property, and proceeded to London, where, by wisdom, 
 prudence, and industry he attained affluence and a good position in 
 society. 
 
 In 1809, when Mr. Brown was 23 years of age, he composed a 
 Comic Opera, which was performed at Drury Lane Theatre, and 
 for which he received a silver ticket, admitting him for life to the 
 theatre. The following is one of the songs of the opera : 
 
 THOU ART ALL TO ME, LOVE. 
 
 [Sung by Mr. Braham in the Comic Opera of " Narensky ; or, 
 the Road to Yaroslaft," at the Theatre Royal, Dniry Lane. The 
 Poetry by Charles Brown, Esq. The Music by Mr. Braham, London. 
 Printed by Goulding, D'Almane, Trotter and Co., 20, Soho Square, 
 and to be had at Westmoreland Street, Dublin.] 
 
 The Summer gale that gently blows, 
 Joys not to meet the balmy rose 
 
 As I delight in thee, love. 
 The rosebud opening to the view, 
 Loves not to bathe in morning dew, 
 
 As I delight in thee, love. 
 Oh ! thou art all to me, love, 
 
 All my heart holds dearly, 
 Never loved a village swain 
 
 So truly, so sincerely.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 305 
 
 The bee exults not in the sweets, 
 Enriching every flower she meets, 
 
 As I delight in thee, love. 
 The lark rejoices not to rise 
 At early morn in cloudless skies, 
 
 As I delight in thee, love. 
 Oh ! thou art all to me, love, 
 
 All my heart holds dearly, 
 Never loved a village swain, 
 
 So truly, so sincerely. 
 
 In June, 1818, Brown and Keats started on a walking tour among 
 the English lakes, and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. 
 Dming this tour Keats, who had an hereditary tendency to con- 
 sumption", caught a severe cold among the swamps of the Island of 
 Mull, from which he never thoroughly recovered. The summer of 
 1819 was spent by the two friends in company at Shanklin, in the 
 Isle of Wight. There they amused themselves by sketching the 
 beautiful scenery of the Island, and by conjointly writing the tragedy 
 of " Otho the Great," Mr. Brown supplying the fable, character, and 
 dramatic conduct, Keats the diction and verse. The two composers 
 sat opposite at a table, and as Mr. Brown sketched out the incidents 
 of each scene Keats translated them into rich and ready language. 
 In August the friends removed to Winchester, where they shortly 
 afterwards parted for a time, Keats remaining at Winchester and 
 Brown going to London. A gloomy letter of Keats took Mr. 
 Brown back to Winchester in September, and the two friends shortly 
 afterwards proceeded to London. After reaching town, Keats 
 ruptured a blood vessel in his lungs, and Mr. Brown was unremitting 
 in his attention to him. During the winter Mr. Brown occupied 
 himself with drawing. In February, 1820, Keats in a letter to 
 Rice says, " Brown has left the inventiye and taken to the imitative 
 art. He is doing his forte, which is copying Hogarth's heads." On 
 the 7th of May the two friends parted never to meet again ; Mr. 
 Brown determined on a short tour in Scotland, Keats being too 
 weak to accompany him remained behind. After Mr. Brown had 
 gone, Keats fancied that a ti-ip to Italy would do him good. Mr. 
 Severn, the artist and composer, agreed to accompany him to Rome, 
 and th'e two set out on their journey, before Mr. Brown's return 
 from Scotland. As soon as Mr. Brown heard of the increasing 
 illness of Keats he lost no time in embarking at Dundee this was 
 in September, 1820, and he arrived in London only one day too 
 late. Unknown to each other the vessels containing theso two 
 anxious friends lay a whole night side by side at Gravesend, and by 
 an additional irony of fate, when Keats' ship was driven back into 
 Portsmouth by stress of weather, Mr. Brown was staying in the 
 neighborhood, within ten miles, when Keats landed and spent a day 
 on shore. Nothing was left to Mr. Brown but to muke his 
 preparations for following Keats as speedily as possible, and 
 20
 
 306 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 remaining with him in Italy, if it turned out that a southern 
 
 climate was necessary for the preservation of his life. On the 23rd 
 
 of February, 1821, Keats died at Rome, having received the almost 
 
 womanly care of Severn, and before his friend Brown could reach 
 
 him. 
 
 . A letter from Mrs. Dilke, to her father-in-law, in 1820, has the 
 
 following : 
 
 " There has been a wager between Dilke and Mr. Charles Brown. 
 It was made on Christmas Day. The conversation turned on faiiy 
 tales Brown's forte Dilke not liking them. Brown said he was 
 sure he could beat Dilke, and to let him try they betted a beefsteak 
 supper, and an allotted time was given. They having been read by 
 the persons fixed on Keats, Reynolds, Rice and TayloiN the 
 wager was decided in favour of Dilke. Next Saturday night the 
 supper is to be given ; beef steaks and punch the food of the 
 Cockney school." 
 
 Shortly after the death of Keats Mr. Brown retired to Italy, and 
 took up his abode at Florence. On the 12th of November, 1822, 
 he wrote to Mr. Dilke, " When Lord Byron talked to me of the 
 Vision of Judgment I interrupted him, for a Blackwoodish idea 
 came across my mind, with " I hope you have not attacked Southey 
 at his fire side," when he expressed quite an abhorrence of such an 
 attack, and declared he had not. There never was a poor creature 
 in rags a greater radical than Byron. My qualms were satisfied 
 much in the same reasonable way as the/ were executed, and my 
 satisfaction will appear to you just as unreasonaWe. I was angry 
 with him not for expressing an opinion on Keats' poetry, but for 
 joining in the ridicule against him. He did so in a note forwarded 
 to Murray, but soon afterwards, when he learnt Keats' situation and 
 saw more of his works, for he had only read his first volume of 
 poems and flew out at the passage about Boileau, he ordered the 
 note to be erased, 'and this, foolish soul that I am, quite satisfied me 
 together with his eulogium on Hyperion, for he is no great admirer of 
 the others." 
 
 . In 1826, Mr. Dilke, with his son, visited Rome, and went with 
 Mr. Brown to see Keats' tomb, which had been erected by Severn, 
 then a rising artist, without permitting Brown to pay part of the 
 expense of it. Mr. Brown was brought to tears, and young Dilke 
 also cried. During his sojourn in Italy, Mr. Brown employed his 
 time in writing for some of the London magazines, and translating. 
 He was intimately acquainted with, and intensely enjoyed what has 
 been called the frailer charms of Southern song. He hardly ever 
 passed a day without translating some portion of that school of 
 Italian poetiy, and he has left behind him a complete and admirable 
 version of the first five cantos of Bajardo's " Orlando Innamorato." 
 He also to some extent followed art. The present writer has seen a 
 series of heads, copied from Hogarth's "Rake's Progress," which 
 was drawn at Florence in 1831, and so beautifully executed that 
 he can fully appreciate the statement made by Keats while the two
 
 HISTORY OP TARANAKI. 307 
 
 friends were living together at the Isle of Wight, that if Brown had 
 taken a little of his advice he would have been the first palette of 
 the day. 
 
 In 1833, Mr. Monckton Milnes met Mr. Brown at the villa of 
 Landor, the poet, in the beautiful hill-side of Fiesole, and a 
 friendship from that moment sprang up between the two which never 
 ceased till Mr. Brown's death. 
 
 In the year 1837, Mr. Brown returned to England, and took up 
 liis residence at Laira Green, near to Plymouth. Here he edited the 
 Plymouth Journal, and gave lectures on Shakespeare at the Plymouth 
 Institution. These lectures he published in. a collective form in 
 1838, under the title of " Shakespeare's Autobiographical Poems." 
 The work bears mai'k of considerable ingenuity and research, and 
 is an attempt to deduce Shakespeare's character and biography from 
 his works. About this time he was busy editing Shakespeare's Poems. 
 The chief task, however, which he set himself, was the publication of 
 the " Remains of his friend Keats," few of which had escaped his 
 affectionate care. The preliminary arrangements for giving them to 
 the world were actually in progress when the accident of attending 
 a meeting on the subject of the formation of a Plymouth Company 
 for colonising a portion of New Zealand altered his plans and 
 determined him to transfer his fortunes and the closing years of his 
 life to this country. Before lie left England he confided to Mr. 
 Monckton Milnes' care all his collections of Keats' writings, 
 accompanied with a biographical notice. 
 
 Mr. Brown was so eager to engage in colonial life that he 
 despatched his only son to New Plymouth by the Amelia Thompson, 
 which sailed from Plymouth Sound on March the 25th, 1841, and 
 followed himself in the Oriental, which loft Plymouth on the 22nd 
 of June of that year, and arrived at New PI ymoxith on the 1 9th of 
 November. The stern utilitarianism of pioneer colonial life such as 
 existed in New Plymouth in those days must have been a great, and 
 we should think distasteful contrast, to the life Mr. Brown had led 
 in London and Florence, among the elite of literature and art. It 
 was, we believe, with the hope of benefiting his son that he took this 
 step. After seven months' residence in the colony, lie suddenly 
 expired in a fit of apoplexy, in June 18-12. Mr. Brown was buried 
 on the brow of Mui-sland Hill, in New Plymouth, facing the sea. 
 A large slab of stone was placed over his grave, but when the hill 
 was escarped and fortified during the war this rude memorial was 
 covered with earth, and only a few old settlers can now j>oint out 
 exactly his resting place. 
 
 MR. RICHARD CHILMAN. 
 
 Mr. Richard Chilman was born in London, on the Gth of May, 
 1816, where his father was in business. He received an excellent 
 commercial education, and became a skilful penman and arithmetician. 
 When a youth of sixteen lie embarked for America, and after 
 travelling through Canada, and visiting New York, New Orleans,
 
 308 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 and other places in the States, he returned to London. In 1840, in 
 his twenty-fifth year, and having recently married, he embarked with 
 his wife at Plymouth, in the Plymouth Company's pioneer vessel the 
 William Bryan, and arrived at New Plymouth on the 30th of March, 
 1841. On the passage, Mr. Chilman received from Mr. Outfield, 
 who had charge of the expedition, an appointment as clerk, which 
 he held under the successive agents of the Plymouth and New 
 Zealand Companies until the New Zealand Company ceased its 
 operations. He then commenced farming at the little farm on the 
 east side of the Henui. River, near to the Beach. From thence he 
 removed to a suburban section on the south side of the Devon Road, 
 and nearer to the Waiwakaiho. In 1849 he removed to Mangorei, 
 where he cultivated a farm in the forest, and planted an orchard. A 
 representative constitution having been granted to New Zealand, 
 Mr. Chilman, in September, 1853, was appointed Provincial Trea- 
 surer, which office he held till March, 1861, when he received the 
 appointment of Collector of Customs at the Port of New Plymouth. 
 He was also appointed Provincial Auditor, Receiver of Land 
 Revenue, and Acting-Paymaster of the Province of Taranaki. Mr. 
 Chilman was an energetic settler, and took a deep interest in the 
 progress of Taranaki. He was Chairman of the Petroleum Company, 
 the Opunake Flax Company, and the Pioneer Steel Company. He 
 was one of the founders of the Taranaki Institute, and held the 
 office of Treasurer for many years. He was a Justice of the Pe,ace, 
 a Trustee of the New Plymouth Savings' Bank, a Trustee of the 
 New Plymouth Building Society, Chairman of the New Plymouth 
 Harbor Board, and Warden of St. Mary's Church. Having obtained 
 leave of absence of the Government, he, on May the 6th, 1871, 
 left the Colony, and proceeded vid San Francisco to England, for the 
 purpose of inducing English capitalists to work the iron sand. He took 
 great interest in the running of the sand at the Henui works in 1876. 
 Latterly Mr. Chilman's attention was chiefly directed towards the 
 obtaining of a harbor for New Plymouth, and with this end in view 
 he labored asssiduously. Feeling his powei's decline, he in 1876 
 obtained his superannuation, after which his constitution rapidly 
 broke up, and he expired at his residence, Fern Dell, New Plymouth, 
 on the 12th of March, 1877, in the 61st year of his age.
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 309 
 
 SHIPS WHICH VISITED THE COAST OF TARANAKI IN 
 EARLY TIMES. 
 
 YEAR. 
 
 Yacht Heemskirk ) ~ , . m -n i. 
 
 Fly-boat Sea-hen } Captain Tasman, December 15/4 
 
 Barque Endeavor, Captain Cook, January ... ... ... 1770 
 
 Ship Mascarin, Captain Marion du Fresne, February ... 1772 
 Barque William Stoveld, Captain Davidson, anchored off the 
 
 Waitara and traded with the natives, who came out of 
 
 the river in large canoes ... ... ... ... ... 1823 
 
 Bombay, whaler, anchored off Ngamotu, and landed Heberley 
 
 and others , 1828 
 
 Schooner Currency Lass, of Sydney, traded at Ngamotu 
 
 February 1832 
 
 Ship Tory, Captain Chaffers, landed Dr. Dieffenbach at Nga- 
 motu, November 28 1839 
 
 Brig Guide 1840 
 
 Barque Brougham, February 11 ... ... ... .... 1841 
 
 Barque Wil liam Bryan, March 30 1841 
 
 Barque Amelia Thompson, September 3 ... ... ... 1841 
 
 Schooner Regina, October 3 ... ... ... ... ... 1841 
 
 Ship Oriental, November 18 1841 
 
 Barque Timandra, February 24 1842 
 
 Bai'que Jupiter ... ... ... ... ... ... 1842 
 
 Barque Blenheim, November 7 ... ... ... ... 1842 
 
 Barque Essex, January 23 ... 1843 
 
 Barque Thomas Sparks, May 29 1843 
 
 Barque William Stoveld, October 26 1843 
 
 Barque Himalaya, December 23 ... ... ... ..; 1343 
 
 Barque Theresa, March 19 1844 
 
 Barque Bella Marina, May 27 1844 
 
 Government Brig Victoria, June 31 ... ... ... ... 1844 
 
 Bai'que Raymond, August 29 ... ... ... ... ... 1844 
 
 H.M.S. Hazard, August 1844 
 
 Barque Slaines Castle ... ... ... ... ... ... 1845 
 
 Paul Jones, April ... ... ... ... ... 1845 
 
 Marianne, June ... ... ... ... ... 1846 
 
 Barque Madra s, September ... ... ... ... ... 1846 
 
 Bai'que Ralph Bernal, October 1846 
 
 Barque Elora, January ... ... ... ... ... ... 1847 
 
 H.M.S. Inflexible, February 26 ... 1847 
 
 Barque Cornwall, August 18 ... ... ... ... ... 1849 
 
 Barque Poictiers ... ... ... ... ... ... 1849 
 
 Berkshire 1850
 
 310 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 
 
 YEAR. 
 
 Kelso 1850 
 
 Mariner 1850 
 
 Eden, October 1850 
 
 PhffibeDunbar 1850 
 
 H.M.S. Acheron 1850 
 
 Victory, May 1 1851 
 
 Lord William Bentinck, January 6 ... ... ... 1852 
 
 William Hyde, March 1852 
 
 Barque Cresswell, July ... ... ... ... ... 1852 
 
 Barque Grwalior, August ... ... ... ... ... 1852 
 
 Ship Joseph Fletcher, October 1852 
 
 St. Michael, December 1 852 
 
 H.M.S. Faintome. December ... ... 1852 
 
 Tasmania, April ... ... ... ... ... 1853 
 
 Barque Cashmere, July ... ... ... ... ... 1853 
 
 Simlah, August ... ' ... 1853 
 
 Sir Edward Paget 1853 
 
 Barque Cresswell, August ... ... ... ... ..." 1853 
 
 Ship Joseph Fletcher, September ... ... ... ... 1853 
 
 Ship John Taylor, November 1 853 
 
 Barque Hamilla Mitchell, February ... 1854 
 
 Bai'que Lady Clarke, April ... ... ... ... ... 1854 
 
 Barque Eclipse, June ... ... ... ... ... ... 1854 
 
 Barque Cashmere, August ... ... ... ... ... 1854 
 
 Ship Joseph Fletcher, October ... 1854 
 
 Barque Monarch, October ... ... ... ... ... 1854 
 
 Ship Josephine Willis, January ... ... ... ... 1855 
 
 H.M.S. Pandora, March 1855 
 
 Bai-que Cresswell, June ... ... ... ... ... 1855 
 
 Barque Rock City, July ' ... 1855 
 
 Barque Duke of Portland, August ... ... ... ... 1855 
 
 Ship Egmont, November ... ... ... ... ... 1855 
 
 Barque Cashmere, November ... ... ... ... ... 1855 
 
 Barque Ashmore, March ... ... ... ... ... 1856 
 
 Barque Chatham, May ... ... ... ... ... ... 1856 
 
 Barque Inchinnan, July ... ... ... 1856 
 
 Barque Gipsy, October ... ... ... ... ... 1856 
 
 Barque Euphemeus, March ... ... ... ... ... 1857 
 
 Barque Cashmere, April ... ... ... ... ... 1857 
 
 Barque Kenilworth, July ... ... ... ... ... 1 857 
 
 Barque Melbourne, August ... ... ... ... ... 1857 
 
 Ship Dinapore, October ... ... ... ... ... 1857 
 
 Barque William Watson, December ... ... ... ... 1857 
 
 Brig Duchess of Leinster, January 1859
 
 HISTORY OF TARANAKI. 311 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Chapman's Centenary Memorial of Captain Cook's Description of 
 New Zealand. 
 
 Appenc"ce to the Journals of the New Zealand House of 
 Representa tives. 
 
 Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons 
 appointed to inquire into the State of the Colony of New Zealand, 
 and into the proceedings of the New Zealand Company, 1844. 
 
 Life, Letters, and Literary Remains of John Keats, edited by 
 Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton. 
 
 Polack's Residence in New Zealand, from 1831 to 1837. 
 
 Travels in New Zealand, by Dr. Ernst Diefienbach. 
 
 The Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. 
 
 Chips from a German Woi-kshop, by Max Muller. 
 
 The New Zealand Journal, 1841, 1842, 1843. 
 
 Journal of Colonel William Wakefield. 
 
 Journal of Mr. E. J. Wakefield. 
 
 Reports of the Directors of the New Zealand Company. 
 
 The New Zealand Statutes. 
 
 The Story of New Zealand, by Dr. Thompson. 
 
 Papers of a Critic, byC. Dilke. 
 
 New Zealand Parliamentary Debates. 
 
 Men of the Time. 
 
 Life of the Rev. N. Tumer, Wesleyan Missionary. 
 
 Grayling's History of the Taranaki War. 
 
 The Campaign on the West Coast. 
 
 The Taranaki Herald. 
 
 The Taranaki News. 
 
 Printed at the TARANAKI NEW.-J Office, Ncvr Plymouth.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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