THE WAR ON THE EAST COAST--THE HAU HAUS
Before I begin my yarn of the New Zealand wars it may be as well to
tell you about the ferocious fanatics I assisted in exterminating,
and you will find I always speak about them as Hau Haus. This is not
the name of any tribe of Maoris, but was the designation given to all
the natives who joined the extraordinary faith which I am now in this
chapter attempting to explain, and to do so I must dip into New Zealand
history.
Christianity was first introduced into New Zealand in 1814 by Marsden,
who started the first Church of England Mission. The Wesleyan
missionaries arrived in 1822 and the Roman Catholics in 1838; other
denominations quickly followed. Up to the year 1830 very few converts
had been made, but in 1838 more than one-fourth of the natives had been
baptised, and the numbers increased rapidly. In 1838 the New Testament,
published in the Maori language, was in the hands of the converts, and
the complete Bible was finished in 1853. Very many of the natives had
learned to read, and the Sacred Writings were read with avidity.
Now the Maoris were puzzled, like many others, by the different dogmas
set forth by the various denominations, each claiming they were right
and that the others were wrong, yet all asserting they drew their
inferences from the same Book. Among the tribes existed bitter rivalry,
hatred and jealousy, so they gloried in belonging to different sects,
and consequently added religious rancour to their tribal hatred.
Missionaries, however, travelled through the country with impunity, not
one receiving any harm until 1865. There was, however, a very great
desire on the part of a vast number of the natives to find out which
was the real and true faith, so that many of them joined one sect after
another, as if to discover which fancy brand of religion suited his own
constitution best, and being highly intellectual and keen reasoners
they came to the conclusion that each sect was only formed from the
interpretation by the devotees of the Book itself, and that therefore
they (the Maoris) had a perfect right to interpret the Sacred Writings
in any way they saw fit.
Just previous to the promulgation of the Pai Marire faith the Maoris
had elected a king. Why, therefore, should they not have a new
religion? Hence the growth of the Hau Haus. The Hau Haus first came
into collision with the white men in April 1864. For although this
extraordinary religion was known to exist previous to this date, the
majority of the settlers and the authorities only looked upon it as a
farce, and never for a moment thought that the natives, most of whom
professed Christianity, could tolerate such an absurd, fantastic and
fanatical creed of murderous tendencies as that denominated the Pai
Marire or Hau Hau religion. The origin of this fanatical creed is
obscure, as well it might be, for the author, Te Ua, had up to the date
of his inspiration been considered a harmless lunatic, and had been
tolerated by his tribe as such. (The Maoris, like all other wild races,
never interfere with and are always kind to the demented.)
Previous to the teaching of Te Ua the majority of the tribes had for
a short time combined together for mutual support against the white
men, and had chosen a king (the head chief of the Waikato tribe).
This coalition did not last long, as the intense jealousy between
the various tribes caused many of them to abandon it, some of them
remaining neutral, while others joined the Government and fought with
the greatest gallantry on our side. This alliance was strengthened by
the acts of the apostles of Te Ua, the disciples of whom spared neither
white man nor Maori refusing to join them or their absurd faith.
Te Ua, although a man of weak intellect, was of a peaceful disposition,
and more friendlily disposed towards the white settlers than he was
toward the king, so much so that when the ship _Lord Worsley_ was
wrecked on the Taranaki coast he attempted to persuade his tribe not to
plunder the ship nor passengers. In this he was unsuccessful, as the
sight of so much loot was too tempting to the nature of the Maoris. He
was much upset by his failure, and solaced himself by long-continued
prayers to his atua (god or spirit), Pai Marire.
Just about this time he assaulted a woman, whose husband seized him,
and, after tying him up, left him in a whare (hut) to meditate and
repent. Had Te Ua been in his right mind the man would have killed him.
It was during this punishment that his atua stood by him and rendered
him the assistance that made him famous and all-powerful among the
superstitious tribes. His yarn was this, and, absurd as it may seem
to us white men, yet it was swallowed and implicitly believed by the
majority of the natives, most of whom were so-called Christians. Te Ua
asserted that the archangel Michael, the angel Gabriel, and a host of
minor spirits landed from the wrecked ship, _Lord Worsley_, and came
to him. Gabriel, who took the lead in everything, ordered him to break
his bonds, which he did easily, whereupon the woman’s husband, finding
him loose, tied him up again, this time using a chain. Again at the
angel’s command Te Ua burst the chain in fragments, and afterwards was
considered by the superstitious natives to be a man under the direct
protection of God. After this Gabriel visited Te Ua frequently, and
between them they concocted a wonderful religion. The angel instructed
Te Ua to plant a pole a certain height in the ground, to be called
Niu, around which all true believers were to worship, and those found
worthy were to be granted the gift of tongues and also to be rendered
invulnerable to the bullets of the white man.
The symbol of their faith was Pai Marire, which may be interpreted, if
each word is taken separately, as good, peaceful, but the words must
have had a very different meaning to the worshippers if we may judge by
their actions, where very little that is good or peaceful can be found.
The meanings of the words Hau Hau also received from the angel are very
obscure, as they simply mean wind, wind, but probably referred to the
wind which was supposed to bring the angels to the worshippers round
the pole, as the spirits were always spoken of as Hau Anihera (wind
angels). No matter what meaning the words conveyed to the Maoris, they
were convinced that the utterance of them, at the same time raising the
hand with the palm turned towards their enemies, would render the true
believer invulnerable, causing the hostile bullets to deflect and fly
high.
These words, after the first fight, became their charging cry;
pronounced short they sounded like the bark of a dog, and the hostile
tribes, no matter what their proper tribal designation was, were soon
only recognised by the name of Hau Haus.
Up to April 1864 Te Ua and his disciples lived in a peaceful manner,
and the religion had not been looked on as a factor in the war, but
now he was unable to control his zealous followers, for a furious,
fanatical and murderous spirit was soon shown, which took a form of
hostility not only against the white man, but also against all the
natives who refused to adopt the Hau Hau faith, and this turned the
North Island of New Zealand into a pandemonium of cold-blooded murder
and savage warfare. The Maori wars which began in 1860 had up to 1864
been carried on by the natives in a manner that had earned them the
respect of our men. Their splendid courage, combined with their wild
chivalry, made them an enemy worthy of the highest praise, and very
many men, such as Sir George Grey and Bishop Selwyn, looked on them
with esteem and affection. This now was all to be changed, and the
subsequent wars, which lasted till 1871, were wars of savage murder,
treachery and torture on the one side, and bitter reprisals on the
other, until the remaining Hau Haus, unable to face us any longer,
fled for refuge to the King Country and remained quiet.
On the 6th of April 1864 a party of the 57th Regiment and a few
military settlers, in all about one hundred strong, under the command
of Captains Page and Lloyd, were destroying crops in the Taranaki
district. They had piled their arms while at work, when they were
surprised and rushed by a large band of natives. Captain Lloyd and
six men were killed, twelve more were wounded and hid in the fern,
the remainder falling back in something like a stampede to the Potuka
redoubt and the town of Taranaki. Reinforcements were quickly on the
ground, and found the bodies of the slain shamefully mutilated, the
heads having been carried away. This brutality was quite a new feature
in Maori warfare, and was the intimation of the barbarities that were
to follow. The 57th regimental call was sounded, when the wounded and
a few fugitives crept out of the fern. They informed their comrades
that the natives had rushed upon them, barking like dogs, and seemingly
quite regardless of their own lives. Our men were much astonished at
this conduct, as little was known of the new faith at this time, but
it was soon discovered that it was the result of the fanatical belief
of the Maoris in their invulnerability. Now it is a strange thing, but
none of the four men whom the Maoris had lost in the above skirmish had
joined the Pai Marire faith, and this fact added to the natives’ belief
in its virtue. The heads of Captain Lloyd and his men were carried
round the district as a proof of this victory, and were buried, but
Gabriel ordered Te Ua to exhume and preserve the Captain’s head, and
to use it as a medium through which the angel could communicate with
himself and his disciples.
There was no delay or ambiguity in Gabriel’s orders through this
oracle, for the head spoke at once to Te Ua, saying, “You are the chief
prophet of Pai Marire. Matene and Hepanaia will be your apostles.”
Te Ua was also informed that all his followers should be called Pai
Marire, that the head should be carried peacefully round all the
tribes, and, that having been done, Gabriel with legions of angels
would assist the Maoris in their general rising, help them to slaughter
all the white men, and then bestow upon the faithful a complete
knowledge of all the languages, arts and sciences in the world.
These supposed instructions were admirably conceived, and reflect
great credit on Te Ua, who, it must be remembered, was a man of weak
intellect; for had the head been carried by its escort of fanatics
peacefully through the country, and had these fanatics abstained from
hostility towards the tribes who professed friendship to the white man,
there is but little doubt that all the tribes would have been converted
and that when the general rising took place it would have been most
disastrous to the Europeans even if Gabriel and his promised hosts had
not rendered the looked-for active assistance.
It must be remembered and thoroughly understood that the magnificent
service afterwards rendered by the friendly Maoris was not prompted
by their love for the white man, but by the hatred and jealousy they
entertained against the hostile tribes, in very many cases their bitter
enemies in old-time wars. It was indeed fortunate for us that Te
Ua’s subalterns, Hepanaia, Matene, Kereopa and Patara, allowed their
diplomacy to be outrun by their ferocious desire for blood, and the
savage murders perpetrated not only on inoffensive white men but also
on friendly natives roused such desires for revenge in the hearts of
the latter’s tribes that caused them to be just as anxious as the white
man to stamp out the fiendish brutality of the Pai Marire faith and
allowed us to retain our hold on the North Island, which we should have
undoubtedly lost, at least for a time, had they joined the Hau Haus.
The first among Te Ua’s apostles to make a stir was Hepanaia. For
some time Pai Marire had been preached through the Taranaki district,
and there were hundreds of zealous warriors waiting a prophet to lead
them. This want was soon filled by Hepanaia, a very brave warrior, but
one lacking in discretion, for he promised the natives, if they would
attack the fort on Sentry Hill (the strongest post in the district),
not only victory but absolute immunity from injury or death; also that
with the assistance of Gabriel the soldiers should be turned into stone.
The fort stood on a steep hill, the sides of which had been scarped,
and was held by Major Short and fifty men of the 57th Regiment.
Hepanaia sent two hundred men to the rear of the fort to make a false
attack, but these men, not liking the look of the place, and perhaps
being new converts and so not strong in the faith, wisely went home,
leaving the prophet with three hundred men to do the work himself.
There was no attempt made to surprise the place, for previous to the
assault at daybreak on the 1st of May 1864 the fanatics danced a
war-dance (a very noisy ceremony) and went through their incantations.
These finished, they advanced in close formation to the attack.
Hepanaia must have been very strong in the faith, for he led the charge
in person, accompanied by some distinguished chiefs. One of them,
Titokowaru, was afterwards to become our bitterest enemy on the west
coast, and one who, on two occasions, defeated us.
The natives, three hundred strong, advanced in broad daylight in
close column, shouting “Hau Hau” and confident of gaining a bloodless
victory. Something, however, must have gone wrong with their
incantations, for the angel Gabriel was not on deck on this occasion to
deflect the bullets, nor even to turn the Tommies into stone.
The latter lay quiet behind the parapet until the taua (war party)
reached the peg that marked the three hundred yards’ range from the
fort, then, jumping up, poured a steady volley into the head of the
advancing column, and also opened fire with two Cohorn mortars. The
immediate slaughter took the natives by surprise, but they were
Maori warriors, as brave as any men on earth, and they charged home,
attempting to escalade the steep, scarped sides of the hill, a feat of
impossibility without scaling ladders, only to be swept back by the
steady fire of the Diehards, and at last they had to turn and bolt, as
strong reinforcements of the troops advanced.
In this defeat Hepanaia and most of the principal chiefs were killed,
Titokowaru losing an eye. Anyone would think that a disaster of this
sort would make the natives pause in accepting and believing in their
wild faith. It did nothing of the sort, as Te Ua quickly persuaded them
that the men who had been killed must have broken one of the numerous
directions given by Gabriel through the medium of the head, and thereby
caused the jealous angel to bring about the catastrophe. So the crazy
superstitions spread and flourished until the whole of the west coast
and the interior of the island reeked with murder and violence.
Te Ua’s second apostle, Matene, had been despatched to the tribes on
the Upper Wanganui River. These readily received the new faith, but
their relations on the lower part of the river refused to do so, or
else there is no doubt that the rising township of Wanganui would have
been wiped out. Not only did they refuse to join the Hau Haus, but they
informed them that if they attempted to descend the river that attempt
would be resisted, and wound up by offering to fight them on the island
of Mutoa.
It is not for a moment to be thought that the Lower River natives
were prompted to act in this way by their love for the white man--not
a bit of it--they only acted as they did to assert their ownership
to the right-of-way on the river. This sporting challenge was
accepted, the numbers and date agreed on--the fight to take place on
the aforementioned island--date fixed, 14th May 1864; numbers, one
hundred a side. These arrangements being amicably settled a tremendous
fight took place, fortune varying during it, both sides fighting
hand-to-hand with the greatest ferocity, but in the end the Lower River
natives won the day, killing seventy and wounding twenty of the Hau
Haus, the remainder being driven into the river and forced to swim
for it. Matene was among the latter, but he was soon recognised and
followed by Te Moro, who killed him with his mere (short battle-axe)
when he reached the bank, notwithstanding the incantations used by the
misguided prophet.
Te Ua had thus lost his two factotums in their first fights, and this
ought to have been a set-back to the new religion; but it was not so,
as he asserted, and with justice, that they had both disobeyed the
orders of the angel, who had directed that the head should be carried
through the country peacefully and without bloodshed, so that Hepanaia
and Matene were to blame for bringing disaster and death to the
faithful through their disobedience.
Accordingly he despatched two more apostles, Kereopa and Patara,
who were to take Captain Lloyd’s head, together with two white men
prisoners or deserters (for strangely enough several men deserted from
her Majesty’s forces and joined the rebels), and preach the Pai Marire
faith to the east coast and Taupo tribes, so that there could be no
mistake this time.
Te Ua gave them the following written orders:--“While on your journey
be careful not to interfere with those whom you may meet; do not
quarrel with the pakeha (white man). When you reach Taupo, go on to
Whakatane, thence to Opotiki, from thence to Waiapu, and finally to
Tauranganui, where your journey will end. If this piece of paper should
get torn or dirty, ask another piece from your white friends and
rewrite it, that it may arrive clean and in good condition to Hirini Te
Kani at Tauranganui. Give him also this flag and the man’s head.”
The apostles, far from obeying these orders, at once began to pillage
and murder. To start with, on their reaching Taupo, Patara began by
breaking into the house of the Rev. Mr Grace, who at the time was
absent, and, appropriating the reverend gentleman’s goods, sold them to
the Christian flock, who at once became converts to Pai Marire. This
was playing a low-down game on the absent missionary, but much worse
was to follow.
Having converted Taupo, Kereopa and Patara again disobeyed orders, for
instead of proceeding direct to Whakatane they altered their route to
the Uriwera country and held a meeting that for crazy devilry would
be hard to beat. Forming some two or three hundred of the Uriwera
warriors into double rank, facing inwards, they then proceeded down
them, carrying the head, forcing each man to look into the dead eyes,
at the same time working them up to a pitch of mad fanaticism by their
wild prayers and incantations which drove their hearers into a raving
frenzy. Then calling for the widows of the warriors slain at Orakau to
come forward, Kereopa directed them to vent their revenge on the head
and the two wretched white men.
The women, mad with excitement, pretended to eat the head, but it was
eventually taken from them; the fate of the white men, however, had
better be left to the imagination of the reader.
The apostles, having converted the Uriwera, departed and left for
Whakatane, where all the people at once joined them, and proceeded
to Opotiki, a flourishing mission belonging to the Church of England,
under the charge of the Rev. C. S. Volkner, who had resided there
several years. This gentleman by his admirable conduct had justly
earned the respect of both settlers and natives, the latter especially
(his own flock) professing much love for him. Yet on the advent of the
apostles they at once joined the Pai Marire faith, their Christianity
falling from them like a garment.
Mr Volkner was absent in Auckland when Kereopa and Patara reached
Opotiki, and the latter, before proceeding on a short journey,
wrote him a letter telling him not to return. Mr Volkner, however,
accompanied by Mr Grace, was on his way, and reached Opotiki on the 1st
of March 1865, in the schooner _Eclipse_, which was immediately boarded
and seized by his late parishioners. All the passengers and crew
were made prisoners (with the exception of Captain Levy, who, being
a Hebrew, was considered a Hau Hau of sorts), and marched up to the
Roman Catholic Church, inside which Kereopa was holding a council to
try Mr Volkner on the most absurd charges. The council was adjourned,
the prisoners being confined in a tumbledown hut, but again met that
night, when, with the exception of two or three, all of the tribe voted
for their minister’s death. Next day at two P.M. Mr Volkner was led
out and murdered in a most brutal manner, being hung, Kereopa firing
a shot into him at the same time. The body was then carried into the
church, where this fiend ordered it to be decapitated, and directed his
new converts to drink and smear themselves with their victim’s blood,
which they all did, Kereopa giving them a lead by gouging out the eyes
and swallowing them. The first to participate in this horrible act was
Volkner’s own woman-servant, who from a child had been brought up and
educated by the Church Mission. Patara returned the same night and was
bitterly angry with Kereopa on account of this foul murder, although
he had annexed and sold all Mr Volkner’s belongings previous to his
departure on his short journey. A few days afterwards the cutter _Kate_
put into Whakatane and was immediately boarded by the Hau Haus. Her
crew and passenger, Mr Fulloon (a Government agent), were soon brutally
murdered. Kereopa, followed by Patara, reached Poverty Bay.
At once the Christians joined them, and Bishop Williams of Waiapu was
only saved from being murdered, together with his whole family, by two
or three chiefs who remained loyal to him, and these would have failed
had not the Bishop just escaped in the nick of time on board a steamer.
The Hau Haus built a pah at Waerenga-a-Hika (the Bishop’s residence),
where they were subsequently attacked and defeated by the colonial
troops in November 1865, who killed over one hundred of them and forced
over three hundred of them to surrender. The prisoners were brought to
Tauranganui, where two hundred of them were transported to the Chatham
Islands, the remainder being allowed to return home. Small bands of the
most fanatical of the natives, who had escaped, still wandered about
the district.
Just before the last of these events I had set sail for New Zealand.