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A DARK CHAPTER FROM NEW ZEALAND HISTORY.
BY A POVERTY BAY SURVIVOR.
“_Solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant._”
1869.
Printed and Published by James Wood, at His Printing
Office, Tennyson-Street, Napier, Hawke’S Bay.
Reprint Published by
Capper Press
Christchurch, New Zealand
1974
Printed offset by The Caxton Press, Christchurch
from the copy in the Canterbury Public Library, Christchurch
INTRODUCTION.
These pages have been chiefly written for such as desire to forward
to distant friends a brief connected account of one of those terrible
massacres, accompanied by wholesale destruction of property, which bid
fair to depopulate and lay waste the North Island of New Zealand.
It is possible that only vague, indefinite reports respecting the
calamities which afflict this colony have reached the majority of
far-away readers; more especially in Great Britain, impressions are
known to prevail which are often opposed to facts. In this little work
it is intended to tell a “plain, unvarnished tale;” to briefly review
the causes which led to the perpetration of a great tragedy, and to
shew how it might have been prevented. If the sad story contributes,
even in a slight degree, to bring about an improvement in the future,
the purpose for which it was written will have been accomplished.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF POVERTY BAY.
Turanga, or Poverty Bay, lies between the East Cape and the Mahia
Peninsula. North and south, the district consists of hills, and a
circlet of hills bounds the interior; the hills are partly occupied as
sheep runs.
The central portion of the district consists of a fertile plain, which
stretches for about 25 miles inland, and averages from six to eight
miles in breadth. The plain is traversed by several rivers, navigable
for a few miles by small craft, and is diversified by clumps of forest
in all directions.
The plain and adjacent valleys are richly clothed with grasses.
Fruit groves abound, and wild honey is found in every forest. All
descriptions of vegetables and fruits the production of temperate zones
thrive to perfection, and require little culture; exotics are reared in
gardens with little trouble or expense.
The climate resembles those of Hawke’s Bay and Nelson, but is sensibly
warmer at all seasons; rain is more equally distributed than in Napier.
All parts of the plain are accessible by dray to the coast; vessels of
moderate draught can enter the principal rivers, and the roadstead is
safe for large shipping in all weathers.
Turanganui, the village capital, is situated at the bottom of a deep
bay, from which the district derives its English appellation, on the
south bank of the Waimataha river. It contains several stores, a
handsome hotel, fine court-house, post-office, etc. On the northern
side of the Waimataha, opposite Turanganui, two redoubts are placed,
named respectively Wilson’s and Hirini’s redoubts. The population of
Poverty Bay in 1867 consisted of about 500 Maoris and 150 Europeans of
all ages. Matewhero was situated about five miles from the sea, in the
heart of the district. Many people resided there in houses surrounded
with gardens and orchards.
CHAPTER I.
“AULD LANG SYNE” — NATIVE PURSUITS — SWIFT DECAY.
Several settlers of thirty, and even forty years’ standing yet reside
in Turanga, or Poverty Bay, as it is named by Europeans; and the
description given by those settlers of its condition on their first
arrival is interesting and instructive. In those days the Maoris were
numerous and industrious; they manufactured a variety of elegant and
useful articles; their houses, sometimes handsomely carved, were of a
superior description, and their war canoes were magnificent specimens
of ingenuity and beauty. Eighty of those canoes, each capable of
carrying from 70 to 100 men, have been counted at one time in the
Waimataha river. The natives exported large quantities of prepared
flax and other produce, which was disposed of to Sydney traders by the
earlier settlers.
Hostilities sometimes broke out between different tribes, but the
settlers were slightly affected by their occurrence, and, on the whole,
the whites found the Maori was a good neighbour. At that time the
morality of the natives was of a higher standard than it subsequently
became, and the power of the chiefs was in the ascendant.
At a later date the influence of the chiefs declined; another species
of domination arose, under which the Maoris (probably the most acute
people in the world where their temporal interests are concerned)
learned to prefer their _rights_ before their _duties_. From this
period the natives rapidly degenerated: old customs were forsaken;
industry declined; and immorality prevailed where before it was almost
unknown. All these causes combined, sadly deteriorated the race. By the
end of 1863, the Turanga natives were a remnant of what they had been.
But if they had declined, the natives still far outnumbered the whites,
and had become domineering to an extent unknown before. It is true
they have learned to read and write, but it is questionable if their
knowledge was beneficial to themselves or their neighbours. Of their
religion it is sufficient to say that whilst minutely conversant with
the forms of Christianity they knew nothing of its spirit. They were
even then suspicious and distrustful of Europeans, and had become what
they have since (with a few honorable exceptions) shewn themselves to
be—a discontented and dangerous people.