THE PURSUIT OF TE KOOTI.
He leapt to his feet and ran forward. Mr. Atherton was approaching,
accompanied by a party of six natives.
"Why, Mr. Atherton, I was not expecting you for another three hours."
"Well, you see, Wilfrid, your mother was anxious about you. She did not
say anything, for she is a plucky woman, and not given to complaining or
grumbling, still I could see she was anxious, so I arranged with these
natives to be ready to start three hours before daybreak, so as to get
here just as the sun was rising."
"It is awfully kind of you, Atherton; but surely the natives would have
been able to find me without your troubling yourself to come all this
way again. I am sure you must have been dreadfully tired after all your
work yesterday."
"Well, Wilfrid, perhaps I was just a little bit anxious myself about
you, and should have fussed and fidgeted until you got back, so you see
the quickest way to satisfy myself was to come with the natives."
"What time did you get in last night?"
"About eight o'clock in the evening, I think. We were all pretty well
knocked up, but the two ladies bore it bravely, so you see I had no
excuse for grumbling."
"I am sure you would not have grumbled anyhow," Wilfrid laughed; "but I
know that when one is carrying anyone the weight at the head is more
than double the weight at the feet, and that was divided between them,
while you had the heavy end all to yourself. And how is Sampson?"
"I think he will do, Wilfrid. The natives took him in hand as soon as he
got there, and put leaf poultices to his wounds. They are very good at
that sort of thing; and so they ought to be, considering they have been
breaking each other's heads almost from the days of Adam. Well, let us
be off. We have brought the stretcher with us, and shall get you back in
no time."
Wilfrid lay down upon the stretcher. Four of the natives lifted it and
went off at a light swinging pace. From time to time changes were made,
the other two natives taking their share. Had they been alone the
natives could have made the ten miles' journey under the two hours, but
Mr. Atherton reduced their speed directly after they had started.
"I have not been killed by the Hau-Haus, Wilfrid, and I do not mean to
let myself be killed by friendly natives. Three miles an hour is my
pace, and except in a case of extreme emergency I never exceed it. I
have no wish, when I get back to England, to be exhibited as a walking
skeleton.
"It is good to hear you laugh again, lad," he went on as Wilfrid burst
into a shout of laughter, to the astonishment of his four bearers. "I
was afraid six weeks back that we should never hear you laugh again."
"Oh, Mr. Atherton!" Wilfrid exclaimed a few minutes later, "were there
any other of the Poverty Bay people there last night; and have you heard
what took place and whether many besides those we know of have lost
their lives?"
"Yes; I am sorry to say it has been a very bad business. As we heard
from Butters, Dodd and Reppart were killed, and there is no doubt that
their shepherd was also slaughtered. Major Biggs, poor fellow, has paid
for his obstinacy and over-confidence with his life. His wife, baby, and
servant were also killed. The news of this was brought by a boy employed
in the house, who escaped by the back-door and hid in a flax bush.
Captain Wilson, his wife, and children have all been murdered. M'Culloch
was killed with his wife and baby; the little boy managed to escape, and
got to the redoubt at Taranganui. Cadel was also killed. Fortunately
Firmin heard the sound of musketry in the night. He started at dawn to
see what was the matter. He met a native, who told him that the
Hau-Haus were massacring the whites, and at once rode off and warned
Wylie, Stevenson, Benson, Hawthorne, and Strong; and these all escaped
with their families, and with Major Westrupp got safely to the Mahia
people.
"The boy who escaped from Major Biggs's house reached Bloomfields, and
all the women and children there managed to escape. How they did it
heaven only knows, for the Hau-Haus were all round. That is all we know
at present, and we hope that the rest of the settlers of the outlying
stations round Matawhero succeeded in getting into Taranganui. Whether
the Hau-Haus will be satisfied with the slaughter they have effected, or
will try to penetrate further into the settlement or attack Taranganui,
remains to be seen. Of course the people who have escaped are, like
ourselves, ignorant of everything that has taken place except what
happened in their immediate neighbourhood. I should fancy, myself, that
however widespread the massacre may have been, the Hau-Haus started last
night on their way back. They would know that as soon as the news
reached Wairoa the force there will be on the move to cut them off."
"Do you think they will succeed?" Wilfrid asked eagerly.
"I do not think so, Wilfrid. If Colonel Whitmore were there they would
have routed out Te Kooti long ago, but Colonel Lambert seems a man of a
different stamp altogether. Why, I heard last night that he marched six
days ago to Whataroa, quite close to Te Kooti's place, and that a
prisoner they took gave them positive information that the Hau-Haus
there had all left to assist Te Kooti in a raid upon Poverty Bay. It
seems they did not believe the news; at anyrate, although a mail left
for Poverty Bay on the day after they returned to Wairoa, they sent no
news whatever of the report they had heard. If they had done so there
would have been plenty of time for the settlers to prepare for the
attack.
"It is one of the most scandalous cases of neglect that I ever heard of,
and Lambert ought to be tried by court-martial, though that would not
bring all these people to life again. However there is one thing
certain, the news of this affair will create such a sensation throughout
the island that even the incapable government at Auckland, who have
disregarded all the urgent requests for aid against Te Kooti, will be
forced to do something, and I sincerely hope they will despatch Whitmore
with a strong force of constabulary to wipe out Te Kooti and his band.
It is curious how things come about. Almost all these poor fellows who
have been killed belonged to the Poverty Bay militia, who refused to
press on with Whitmore in pursuit of Te Kooti. Had they done so, the
addition of thirty white men to his force might have made all the
difference in that fight you had with him, and in that case Te Kooti
would have been driven far up the country, and this massacre would never
have taken place."
It was a great relief to Mrs. Renshaw when Wilfrid reached the village.
She was not given to idle fears, and felt convinced that he was running
no real danger; for she knew Mr. Atherton would not have left him by
himself had he not been perfectly convinced there was no danger of
pursuit. Still she felt a weight lifted off her mind when she saw the
party entering the village.
"Well, mother, you must have had a terrible journey of it yesterday,"
Wilfrid said, after he had assured her that he felt none the worse for
what had passed, and was indeed stronger and better than he had been two
days before.
"It was a terrible journey, Wilfrid. Fourteen miles does not seem such a
very long distance to walk, though I do not suppose I ever walked as far
since I was a girl; but the weight of the stretcher made all the
difference. It did not feel much when we started, but it soon got
heavier as we went on; and though we changed sides every few minutes it
seemed at last as if one's arms were being pulled out of their sockets.
We could never have done it if it had not been for Mr. Atherton. He kept
us cheery the whole time. It seems ridiculous to remember that he has
always been representing himself as unequal to any exertion. He was
carrying the greater part of the weight, and indeed five miles before we
got to the end of our journey, seeing how exhausted we were becoming, he
tied two sticks six feet long to our end of the poles, and in that way
made the work a great deal lighter for us, and of course a great deal
heavier for himself. He declared he hardly felt it, for by that time I
had torn two wide strips from the bottom of my dress, tied them
together, and put them over his shoulders and fastened them to the two
poles; so that he got the weight on his shoulders instead of his hands.
But in addition to Mr. Sampson's weight he carried Milly perched on his
shoulder the last eight miles. He is a noble fellow."
"He did not say anything about carrying Milly," Wilfrid said, "or of
taking all the weight of the litter. He is a splendid fellow, mother."
"He was terribly exhausted when he got in," Mrs. Renshaw said; "and was
looking almost as pale as death when we went into the light in the hut
where the other fugitives had assembled. As soon as the others relieved
him of the weight of the litter, and lifted Milly down from his
shoulder, he went out of the hut. As soon as I had seen Mr. Sampson well
cared for, I went out to look for him, and found he had thrown himself
down on the ground outside, and was lying there, I thought at first
insensible, but he wasn't. I stooped over him and he said, 'I am all
right, Mrs. Renshaw, but I was not up to answering questions. In half an
hour I shall be myself again, but I own that I feel washed out at
present.' I took him out a glass of brandy and water, he drank it and
said, 'I feel ashamed at being waited on by you, Mrs. Renshaw, when you
must be as tired as I am. Please do not bother any more about me, but if
you will ask one of the others to get a native blanket to throw over me
to keep off the dew I shall be all right in the morning; but I do not
feel as if I could get on my feet again to-night if a fortune depended
on it.' Of course I did as he asked me, and I was perfectly stupefied
this morning when I heard that he had been up at two o'clock and had
gone off with a party of natives to bring you in."
"It was awfully good of him," Wilfrid said, "and he never said a word to
me about it. Where is he?" and he looked round. But Mr. Atherton had
disappeared.
"Have you seen Mr. Atherton?" they asked Mr. Wylie, as he came out of a
large hut that had been given up for the use of the fugitives.
"He has just had a glass of spirits and water--unfortunately we had no
tea to offer him--and a piece of bread, and has taken a blanket and has
gone off to an empty hut; he said he intended to sleep until to-morrow
morning," and indeed it was not until next day that Mr. Atherton again
appeared.
Several friendly natives arrived one after another at the village. They
brought the news that the Hau-Haus had attacked only the colonists round
Matawairo, and that all the rest of the settlers were gathered at
Taranganui; but the Hau-Haus were plundering all the deserted houses,
and were shooting down all the natives who refused to join them. It was
afterwards found indeed that the natives had suffered even more severely
than the whites, for while thirty-three of the latter were murdered
thirty-seven of the natives were killed. Major Westrupp had left by ship
for Napier to obtain assistance, Lieutenant Gascoyne had made his way
safely through the Hau-Haus to Taranganui, and had sent a whale-boat out
to a schooner that was seen passing down the coast. She at once came
into the port, and the women and children were sent off to Napier. The
garrison of the fort had been reinforced by the friendly natives under
their chief Henare Potare, and were awaiting the expected attack by Te
Kooti.
A week later news came that Major Westrupp and Captain Tuke had arrived
from Napier with three hundred natives, and that the Hau-Haus had
retired with their plunder. The party at Te Mahia at once started for
the coast accompanied by some thirty men of the Mahia tribe. A waggon
had been procured for the transport of the women and children, and a
march of twenty-four miles took them to Taranganui. They found that
parties had been out the day before to bury the dead, and had brought in
two persons who were supposed to have been murdered. As one of the
parties were going along they saw a small poodle dog run into a bush,
and recognized it as having belonged to Captain Wilson. They called and
whistled to it in vain, and came to the conclusion that someone must be
in hiding there. After half an hour's search they discovered little
James Wilson with the dog tightly held in his arms; the boy was too
frightened to distinguish friend from foe, and was greatly delighted
when he recognized one of the party. He told them that his mother was
alive, and was lying wounded in an out-house at their place. He had lost
his way while trying to reach Taranganui to bring help to her.
Captain Wilson had defended his house with a revolver until the natives
brought fire to burn him out. As they offered to spare the lives of all
within if they surrendered, Captain Wilson, thinking that there was a
possibility of their keeping their word, while those within would
certainly be burned if they resisted, surrendered. The prisoners were
being led along by their captors, Captain Wilson carrying the little
boy, when the natives fell upon them. Captain Wilson was shot through
the back, his servant, Morau, tomahawked, and Mrs. Wilson and the other
children bayoneted. Captain Wilson, when shot, fell into a bush, and the
little boy in the confusion crawled away unnoticed into the scrub. He
had wandered about sleeping in out-houses for several nights, often
close to the enemy, and at last found his way back to what had been his
home, and found the bodies of his father, brothers, and sisters, and on
going into an out-house for shelter found his mother alive there.
She had been bayoneted in several places and beaten on the head with the
butt of a rifle until they thought her dead. Later in the day she had
recovered consciousness and crawled back to the house, where she got
some water and then took refuge in the out-house, where two or three
days later she was found by her son. She had since been kept alive by
eggs and other things the child found by foraging round; but he had at
last started to try to get assistance for her.
After hearing the child's story the party had galloped on to Captain
Wilson's, and the poor lady had been found and carried to Taranganui. A
few days later she was sent down to Napier by ship, but expired shortly
after from the effects of her wounds.
In the week that elapsed between the date of the massacre and their
return to the settlement Wilfrid had regained his strength wonderfully,
and the bracing air of the hills and the excitement of the events
through which he passed had acted as a complete restorative. Mr.
Atherton too had completely recovered from his fatigue, and, indeed,
professed himself to have benefited greatly by them, as he maintained
that in three days he had lost as many stone of flesh. The morning after
their return to Taranganui they had a long talk about their plans. It
was settled that Mrs. Renshaw should at once return home. She was most
anxious that Wilfrid should accompany her; but this he would not consent
to.
"No, mother," he said; "it is my duty, and everyone's duty, to aid in
hunting down these murderous scoundrels. They have massacred a number
of people who were very kind to me when I first became ill, and I will
do my best to punish them; besides, until Te Kooti's band is destroyed
there will be no peace or safety for any of the outlying settlements,
and they are just as likely to make an attack on our settlement as any
other; indeed, we are the nearest to them, therefore in fighting here I
am fighting for the protection of our home."
Mr. Atherton also announced his intention of accompanying the column in
pursuit of Te Kooti.
"I dislike fatigue amazingly," he said; "but for several reasons I feel
myself bound to see this affair through to the end. In the first place
they have attacked me and caused me to undergo great fatigue; in the
second, they have murdered a number of my acquaintances; in the third
place I have to look after this boy and see that he gets into no
mischief; and, lastly, it really seems to me that a month or two of this
sort of thing will absolutely reduce me to ordinary dimensions, a thing
which I have for years given up even hoping for."
"Well, Wilfrid," Mrs. Renshaw said at last, "I suppose you must have
your way. I do think that, as you say, it is the duty of everyone to do
all that he can to punish the people who have committed these massacres
upon defenceless people, and it is necessary for the safety of the
settlement that Te Kooti's band shall be destroyed. It is very hard on
us to know that our only son is fighting; but other men as well have to
leave perhaps wives and children behind, and if only those without ties
were to go the force would be a small one indeed. It is a comfort to me,
Mr. Atherton, that you have made up your mind to go too. It sounds
selfish of me to say so; but I suppose all mothers are selfish when
their sons are concerned."
"I understand your feeling, Mrs. Renshaw, and it is quite natural. I do
think that everyone who can carry a musket ought to join in this
expedition, and I flatter myself that Wilfrid's rifle and mine are
allies not to be despised. Anyhow, Mrs. Renshaw, I promise you that we
will not do what are called rash things. We won't try to capture Te
Kooti single-handed, and I think that we can be much more useful
covering an attack than leading an assault."
Accordingly, two days later Mrs. Renshaw embarked on a coaster for the
Mohaka River, and Mr. Atherton and Wilfrid announced to Lieutenant
Gascoyne that they would accompany his force as volunteers.
"I am heartily glad to hear it," that officer replied. "I have heard
from Wylie of your defence of that pass against the Hau-Haus, and
yesterday I had a talk with Sampson, who is getting round now, and he
gave me the history of the affair, and from what he says you and Renshaw
must have killed at least twenty Hau-Haus, for Sampson admits that he is
not much of a shot and had a very small share in the total."
"Yes; we can both shoot indifferently well," Mr. Atherton said
carelessly, "and can both be trusted to hit a Maori if we see him within
about four hundred yards of us. I fancy that we may be of service to you
in keeping down the fire of the enemy if you are attacking a pah. There
is nothing cows fellows so much as finding that it is certain death to
raise their heads from behind shelter to take aim. Of course we shall be
ready generally to obey orders, but that is the special work we join
for. You see, Renshaw is but just recovering from illness, and my build
unsuits me for violent exertion. So if you want to storm a steep hill
you must not count on us being with you except so far as shooting goes."
"Well, I will take you on your own terms," Lieutenant Gascoyne said
smiling. "Mrs. Sampson told me yesterday how disinclined you were for
violent exertion, and how she had to help you along on that journey to
Te Mahia."
Mr. Atherton laughed. "There are exceptions to all rules," he said. "I
am a peaceful botanist, but I had to fight. I hate exertion, but on that
occasion I was forced to make an effort, and terribly knocked up I was
over it. If it becomes absolutely necessary I may have to make an effort
again, but I consider it altogether outside my province."
The expedition started on the following morning, the 20th of November.
It consisted of nearly six hundred natives belonging to the Napier
tribes, the Mahia and Marsuwai tribes. The next day they came upon the
rear-guard of the Hau-Hau tribes of Patutahi and shot two of them. Great
quantities of booty which the Hau-Haus were unable to carry away were
found there, together with the bodies of several friendly natives. The
next day another encampment was come upon, and here the carts taken from
the plundered farms were found. At dusk on the 23d the column came up
with the main body of the enemy, who were encamped on the Te Karetua
Creek.
A heavy fire was opened on both sides, and the natives then charged, but
were driven back with a loss of five killed and twelve wounded. Mr.
Atherton and Wilfrid, who were walking leisurely in the rear of the
column when it came on the enemy, arrived too late to take any part in
the fight. After the repulse the friendly natives took up a position on
a ridge overlooking the Hau-Hau positions, and distant twelve hundred
yards from it. Rifle-pits were dug, and for the next week firing was
kept up by both sides, with occasional skirmishes as one party or the
other tried to take the offensive, but neither cared to try a determined
attack on the other.
The Hau-Haus had lost twenty men during the first day's fighting and
suffered more in the distant firing, especially whenever they gathered
as if for an attack, than did the friendlies. This was owing in no small
degree to the accuracy of Mr. Atherton's fire. He had got some of the
natives to dig a rifle-pit three or four hundred yards down the hill in
front of their position, and here he and Wilfrid ensconced themselves
every morning before daybreak, taking down with them their provisions
for the day, and from this point they galled the Hau-Haus greatly with
their fire. Wilfrid knew that his shooting could not be depended upon at
this distance; but Mr. Atherton had been accustomed to fire at long
ranges, and although at eight hundred yards his rifle was not accurate
he did considerable execution, and so alarmed the Hau-Haus that they
scarcely dared to move by daylight from one part of their intrenchment
to the other. The friends always left their shelter and retired to camp
as soon as the sun set.
The Hau-Haus were not, however, idle. A party of sixty men made a long
circuit and came down in rear of the column, captured the depot at
Patutahi with eight kegs of ammunition and a great quantity of
provisions, and also seized a number of pack animals on the way up. On
the 3d of December the force was strengthened by the arrival of the
chiefs Rapata and Hotene, with three hundred and seventy men from Te
Wairoa. These chiefly belonged to the Ngatiporou tribe, who were far
better fighters than the Napier or Mahia men.
As soon as the reinforcements had arrived it was decided at once to
dislodge the enemy from a hill of which they had possession, and then to
make a general attack on the intrenchments. Forty men of the Wairoa
tribe under Mr. Preece made a dashing attack on the hill, and just as
they carried it Rapata sent a message to him to say that his tribesmen
were annoyed by the enemy's shot falling into their camp, and were
therefore determined to attack at once. That tribe sallying out, carried
two of the enemy's outworks with a rush, and drove the Hau-Haus back to
their last line of rifle-pits near the river. Here they were attacked by
the Wairoa men on the left, Rapata in the centre, and the tribesmen from
Napier on the right. The assailants carried the intrenchment and drove
the Hau-Haus across the river, these suffering heavy loss from the
firing of the left column, who from their position commanded the course
of the stream.
Unfortunately this fire, though destructive to the enemy, was to a
certain extent in their favour, for it prevented the close pursuit of
Rapata's men. Thirty-four Hau-Haus, including three of their fighting
chiefs, were found dead. Te Kooti himself had a narrow escape. He was
still suffering from his wound in the ankle, and was carried up the bed
of the creek on a woman's back. A great quantity of the loot taken from
the settlers was recaptured, and many of the friendly natives held
prisoners by the Hau-Haus escaped during the fight. Mr. Atherton and
Wilfrid had joined Rapata's men in their charge, and after the fight
was over the former said: "Well, Wilfrid, it is a satisfaction to have
got some natives with us at last who will fight. It seemed at first as
if all the plucky natives had joined the enemy; but Rapata's men are
first-rate fellows, though I wish that they had rather an easier name,
for Ngatiporou is a crack-jaw word to pronounce."
Unfortunately a quarrel arose after the battle between Rapata's men and
the Napier tribesmen, and three hundred of the latter went off. The next
morning Rapata and his tribe, with the remaining Wairoa men, marched out
to attack the position the enemy occupied on the top of a hill two miles
away. Mr. Preece led the advanced party, and found the defences
consisted of two lines of strong earthworks extending across a flat
shoulder, either end resting on a cliff. Mr. Preece halted his men until
Rapata came up with the main body. Wilfrid and Mr. Atherton had attached
themselves to the Ngatiporou. Just as they joined Mr. Preece one of the
men fired off a gun, and the enemy answered with a heavy volley.
Instantly a panic set in, and the whole force, with the exception of
some sixteen or eighteen men, bolted. One of the chiefs under Mr. Preece
followed and managed to stop them, and persuaded them to wait until
Rapata could return to them. This they agreed to do, but refused
positively to return to the attack.
Mr. Preece returned to Rapata, who was in a state of fury at the
defection of his tribe. "We will go on and attack the place by
ourselves," he said. "Perhaps the cowards will come up when they hear we
are fighting." Mr. Preece at once agreed, and the party, consisting of
the two leaders, Mr. Atherton and Wilfrid, and fourteen of Rapata's
men, worked back through the low scrub until between twenty-five yards
of the first line of earthworks, when they opened fire upon the enemy.
"This is rather close work, Wilfrid," Mr. Atherton said. "We have the
best of it in some respects, because they cannot make out our position
among the bushes, and they are obliged to stand up and show their heads
above the parapet when they fire. We ought never to miss them at this
distance, and we will soon teach them that it is fatal to pause a moment
to take aim, so at the worst they will only blaze away at random."
For some time the fight continued, and then Rapata requested Mr. Preece
to go down the hill and bring up some more men. Only nine men would
follow Mr. Preece, and Rapata was so disgusted that he himself went down
for some distance and managed to get thirty more. One of the men had
brought a bill up with him, and with this shallow rifle-pits were dug
among the bushes, affording a shelter to the men as they lay flat while
loading. At three o'clock in the afternoon the chief called on his
tribesmen to follow him, and, leaping up, they dashed at one of the
outposts and carried it. A man took the news down the hill, and a chief
and thirty more men came up and joined in the fight.
At dusk Rapata requested Mr. Preece to return to camp and try to get the
main body back with ammunition, as their own was almost exhausted. Mr.
Preece could not induce the natives to start, but they said they would
go in the morning. All night the fight went on, but before dawn Rapata,
having expended his last round of ammunition, retired, having lost six
men killed and four wounded. As he and his men came down they strode
through the camp in single file, not deigning to take the slightest
notice of the fugitives, and passing on, camped apart half a mile
further on. The main body, ashamed of their cowardly conduct, were
afraid to go near the chief. As it was necessary to ascertain what he
meant to do, one of the white officers went to see him.
For some time the chief would make no reply. At last he said, "My men
have betrayed me, and I will have nothing further to do with them. I
intend to return home and get other men, and when I get back I will
attack the Napier tribe who deserted me." The same day he marched for
the coast, followed at a distance by the abashed fugitives. On the way
down they met Colonel Whitmore, who with three hundred constabulary had
just arrived by ship from the scene of operations on the other side of
the island.
The colonel begged Rapata to return with him, but the chief said, "I
never break my word. I have said I will go home, and I will; but I will
return with other men and attack the Napier tribes." After much
persuasion Colonel Whitmore got him to promise that he would not
interfere with the Napier men; but nothing could persuade him to fight
again with those men of his own tribe who had deserted him. Such being
the case, a steamer was placed at his disposal in order that he might
make the voyage and return as soon as possible.
After Rapata had left Colonel Whitmore sent out a skirmishing party to
ascertain whether the enemy retained their position. The scouts returned
with the news that there were great fires on the crest of the hill, and
they believed that the Hau-Haus were burning their huts preparatory to
returning into the interior. Colonel Whitmore believed the report, and
considering that the Hau-Haus would leave the neighbourhood of the
settlement altogether, he ordered the constabulary to march down to the
coast again as soon as possible and re-embark there, as their presence
was urgently required in the north of the province of Wellington, which
had been left open to the attack of the enemy there by their withdrawal.
Fortunately before they re-embarked Te Kooti showed his hand. He had no
idea of retreating from his position, and the fires were caused by the
clearing off of the scrub which had afforded shelter to Rapata's force.
No sooner did he hear that Colonel Whitmore had marched away than he
sent a party down against one of the outlying settlements, where they
murdered Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Wylie's son, and a friendly native. Colonel
Whitmore, on receiving news of the raid, marched rapidly to cut off the
retreat of the Hau-Haus; but they managed to evade him and to retire to
their main body.
On the 27th of December Colonel Whitmore's force occupied a high ridge a
mile distant from Te Kooti's position. Here the colonel received news
that Rapata had just landed with three hundred and seventy men, and
messenger after messenger was sent down urging him to hurry up. The
chief, who was seriously ill, was much annoyed by these messages,
especially by the last, that if he did not come soon Whitmore would take
the place without him. Rapata replied: "Very well, I have tried and
failed; it is his turn now;" and immediately ordered his men to camp for
the day.
The next morning Colonel Whitmore came down himself, having been advised
that the only way to succeed with Rapata was to treat him in a
conciliatory way. The chief's first words were, "Have you taken the
place?"
"No," Colonel Whitmore replied. "I am waiting for you, Rapata."
"Very good," Rapata said; "I will be with you to-morrow morning." The
Ngatiporou performed a great war-dance, and as no one stumbled or fell,
they considered the omen to be a good one, and marched on and joined
Colonel Whitmore's force that night.