Chapter I: Preface

This book is not a work of fiction. It is a plain narrative of real life in the New Zealand bush, a true story of adventure in a day not yet remote, when adventure in abundance was still to be had in the land of the Maori. Every name used is a real one, every character who appears in these pages had existence in those war days of forty years ago. Every incident described here is a faithful record of actual happenings; some of them may convince the reader that truth can be stranger than fiction.

Numerous instances are recorded of white deserters from civilisation who have allied themselves with savages, adopting barbarous practices, and forgetting even their mother-tongue. In the old convict days of New South Wales escapees from the fetters of a more than rigorous "system" now and again cast in their lot with the blacks. Renegades of every European nationality have been found living with and fighting for native tribes in Africa and America and the Islands of Polynesia. But none of them had a wilder story to tell than has the man whose narrative is here presented--Kimble Bent, the _pakeha_-Maori. Ever since 1865--when he first "took to the blanket"--he has lived with the New Zealand Maoris. For thirteen years he was completely estranged from his fellow-whites; he had deserted from a British regiment and a price was on his head. British troops and Colonial irregulars alike hunted him and his fanatical Hauhau companions. His hairbreadth escapes were many; he had to risk death not only from British bullet and bayonet, but from the savage brown men of the forest with whom he lived. When at last he came out of hiding, and dared once more to face those of his own colour, he had almost forgotten the English language, and could speak it but with difficulty and hesitation. He has been out of his bush exile many years, but is still living with his Maori friends, and is still known by the Maori name, "Tu-nui-a-moa," which his chief Titokowaru gave him in 1868. When he writes to me, he usually writes in Maori, and he is practically a Maori himself, for he has lived the greater part of his life as a Maori, and he has assimilated the peculiar modes of thought and some of the ancient beliefs of the natives, as well as their tongue and customs.

One of the most remarkable portions of Bent's narrative is his account of the revival of cannibalism by the Hauhaus in 1868. Vague stories have been heard concerning the eating of soldiers' bodies by the bushmen of Ngati-Ruanui and Nga-Rauru and of rites of human sacrifices performed in the woods of Taranaki, but this account of Bent's is the first detailed description from an eye-witness of the man-eating practices in Titokowaru's camps. Many of Tito's Hauhaus are still alive; but they are very reticent on the subject of "long-pig."

I first met Kimble Bent in 1903. In that year Mr. T. E. Donne, now the New Zealand Government Trade Commissioner in London, had induced the old man to come to Wellington for the purpose of being interviewed and photographed; and it is these interviews, very considerably expanded during a seven years' acquaintance with Bent, and carefully checked by independent Maori testimony, that are now embodied in this book.

In confirmation and extension of Bent's story, I have gathered data at first-hand both from Taranaki Maoris who fought under Titokowaru, and from soldiers and settlers who fought against him, and these particulars are incorporated with the old _pakeha_-Maori's narrative.

The 1868-9 portion of the book is, therefore, practically a history of the Titokowaru war in Taranaki; and it embraces a great deal of matter not hitherto recorded.

Many of the settler-soldiers who survive from those wild forest days now farm their peaceful lands within sight of the battle-fields of Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu, and Pungarehu, and Moturoa, and Otapawa. With them the recollections of bush-marches and ambuscades and storming of Hauhau stockades are still fresh and vivid. But the younger generation know little of the dangers and troubles through which the pioneers passed. The available histories deal very meagrely and often very inaccurately with the story of the Ten-Years' Maori War, even from the white side, while the Maori view-point is absolutely unknown to all but a few colonists. Therefore it is fortunate, perhaps, that one has been enabled to gather before it is too late from the old Hauhau warriors themselves the tale of their ferociously patriotic past, and to place on record this true story of wild forest life from the lips of one of the last of that nearly extinct type of decivilised outlander, the _pakeha_-Maori.

For information and assistance in regard to various engagements in Titokowaru's war I am indebted to Colonel W. E. Gudgeon, C.M.G., Colonel T. Porter, C.B., and other old Colonial soldiers. Tutangé Waionui, of Patea, who was one of Titokowaru's most active scouts and warriors, has given me many details concerning the campaign from the Maori side; and the Rev. T. G. Hammond, Wesleyan Missionary to the Taranaki Maoris, has also furnished assistance on the same subject. To Mrs. Kettle, of Napier, daughter of Major von Tempsky, I owe my thanks for permission to reproduce three of the illustrations in this book, copies of water-colour sketches by her celebrated father, representing scenes in the Taranaki campaign of 1865-6. The picture of the fight at Moturoa in 1868 is from a black-and-white sketch by a soldier-artist who took part in the engagement; the original was in the possession of the late Dr. T. M. Hocken, of Dunedin, who allowed me to have it photographed for this book.

J. C.

<sc>Wellington, N.Z.</sc>,
_Feb. 1, 1911_.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

THE DESERTER

On the banks of the Tangahoé--The runaway soldier--A
Maori scout--Off to the rebel camp pp. 1-6

CHAPTER II

KIMBLE BENT, SAILOR AND SOLDIER

Kimble Bent's early life--An Indian mother--Service in the
American Navy--Departure for England--"Taking the Shilling"--British
Army life--The flight to America--A sinking
ship--Rescue, and landing in Glasgow--Back to the Army
again--Soldiering in India--The 57th ordered to New Zealand--The
Taranaki Campaign--A court-martial--At the triangles pp. 7-21

CHAPTER III

THE CAMP OF THE HAUHAUS

In the Maori country--Arrival at a Hauhau _pa_--Maori
village scenes--The ceremonies round the sacred flagstaff--"_Riré,
riré, hau!_"--The man with the tomahawk--A white slave--The
painted warriors of Keteonetea--The blazing oven pp. 22-33

CHAPTER IV

IN THE OTAPAWA STOCKADE

The return from Keteonetea--The hill-fort at Otapawa--A _korero_ with
the Hauhaus--Bent's one-eyed wife--"The wooing o' 't"--Bent is
christened "Ringiringi" pp. 34-42

CHAPTER V

TE UA, PRIEST AND PROPHET

Te Ua and his gods--The _Pai mariré_ faith--"Charming" the British
bullets--Bent's interview with the prophet--His life _tapu_'d--Preparing
for battle--Life in the forest _pa_ pp. 43-54

CHAPTER VI

THE STORMING OF OTAPAWA

British forces attack the stockade--The bayonet charge--Flight of the
Hauhaus--Through the forest by torchlight--Doctoring the wounded--The
_tangi_ by the river pp. 55-65

CHAPTER VII

BUSH LIFE WITH THE HAUHAUS

Wild days in the forest--The Hauhau hunters--Maori wood-craft--
Bird-snaring and bird-spearing--The fowlers at Te Ngaere--The slayer
of Broughton--Another runaway soldier, and his fate--The tomahawking
of Humphrey Murphy pp. 66-77

CHAPTER VIII

THE HAUHAU COUNCIL-TOWN

Life in Taiporohenui--A great praying-house--The ritual of the
_Niu_--Singular Hauhau chants--"_Matua Pai mariré_"--Bent's new
owner, and his new wife--The tattooers--Another white
renegade pp. 78-91

CHAPTER IX

A FOREST ADVENTURE

The two eel-fishers--Bivouac in the bush--A murderous attack--The
Waikato's tomahawk--"Ringiringi's" escape pp. 92-101

CHAPTER X

THE WAR-CHIEF AND HIS GODS

The war-chief Titokowaru--Ancient ceremonies and religion
revived--Uenuku, the god of battle--Titokowaru's _mana-tapu_--Bent
makes cartridges for the Hauhaus--A novel weapon pp. 102-107

CHAPTER XI

"THE BEAK-OF-THE-BIRD"

The stockade at Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu--In the _Wharé-kura_--Singular
Hauhau war-rites--The "Twelve Apostles"--The enchanted _taiaha_--The
heart of the _pakeha_: a human burnt-offering--An ambuscade and a
cannibal feast pp. 108-118

CHAPTER XII

THE ATTACK ON TURUTURU-MOKAI REDOUBT

Hauwhenua's war-party--A night march--Attack on Turuturu-Mokai
Redoubt--A heroic defence--The heart of the
captain--Touch-and-go--Relief at last pp. 119-133

CHAPTER XIII

THE KILLING OF KANE

Bent and Kane brought before Titokowaru--Kane's flight--Captured by
the Hauhaus--A traitor's end pp. 134-138

CHAPTER XIV

ADVENTURES AT TE NGUTU-O-TE-MANU

In the midst of dangers--Bent stalked by Hauhaus--Old Jacob to the
rescue--"Come on if you dare!"--The white man's new Maori
name--Government forces attack and burn Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu--A new
use for hand-grenades pp. 139-144

CHAPTER XV

A BATTLE IN THE FOREST; AND THE DEATH OF
VON TEMPSKY

The second fight at Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu--Titokowaru's prophecy--Tutangé
and his sacred war-mat--Bent's narrow escape--Government forces
defeated--How von Tempsky fell--A terrible retreat--Colonial soldiers'
gallant rear-guard fight pp. 145-179

CHAPTER XVI

THE CANNIBALS OF THE BUSH

After the battle--The slain heroes of Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu--A terrible
scene on the _marae_--What Bent saw from his prison-hut--The
sword of "Manu-rau"--A funeral pyre--Priestly incantations--A
soldier's body eaten--Why the Hauhaus became cannibals pp. 180-194

CHAPTER XVII

SKIRMISHING AND FORT-BUILDING

Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu abandoned--On the march again--Skirmishing on the
Patea--_Pakeha_ in pickle--A new stockade--Bent the _pa_-builder pp. 195-200

CHAPTER XVIII

THE FIGHT AT MOTUROA STOCKADE

Kātené's vigil--Attack on the stockade--Major Hunter's death--A
Hauhau warrior's desperate feat--Over the palisades--Government
forces repulsed--A rear-guard fight--An unanswered prayer--Scenes of
terror--Tihirua's burnt-offering--A soldier's body eaten pp. 201-225

CHAPTER XIX

THE TAURANGA-IKA STOCKADE

Another fighting-_pa_ built--Scouting and skirmishing--The watcher on
the tower--McDonnell and Titokowaru--How Trooper Lingard won the New
Zealand Cross--Hairbreadth escapes--Pairama and the white man's
leg pp. 226-239

CHAPTER XX

A SCOUTING ADVENTURE

The passage of the Okehu--A night's vigil--Mackenzie the
scout--"Maoris in the bush!"--The watchers in the fern--A race for
life pp. 240-254

CHAPTER XXI

THE FALL OF TAURANGA-IKA

Shot and shell--The fort abandoned--Flight of the Hauhaus--The
chase--The fight at Karaka Flat--Mutilation of the dead--The ambuscade
at the peach-grove--The sergeant's leg--Rewards for Hauhau
heads pp. 255-261

CHAPTER XXII

THE FOREST-FORAGERS

Fugitive Hauhaus--Hard times in the bush--The eaters of
_mamaku_--Bent's adventure--Lost in the woods--Rupó to the
rescue--The _tapu_'d eels pp. 262-269

CHAPTER XXIII

A BATTLE IN THE FOG

The surprise of Otautu--An early morning attack--Kimble Bent's
dream--"_Kia tupato!_"--A gallant defence--Brave old Hakopa--Flight
of the Hauhaus pp. 270-276

CHAPTER XXIV

THE HEAD-HUNTERS

The skirmish at Whakamara--Hauhaus on the run--Government head-hunters
--Major Kemp's white scout--Sharp work in the bush--Barbarism of the
Whanganui--_Kupapas_--Smoke-drying the heads--A present for
Whitmore--The heads on the tent floor--End of the war pp. 277-292

CHAPTER XXV

THE LAND OF REFUGE

The flight from Rukumoana--Retreat to the Waitara--The Kawau _pa_
--Life in the Ngatimaru country--Rupé and his white man--A Maori
Donnybrook fair--A tale of a _taniwha_ pp. 293-305

CHAPTER XXVI

BUSH LIFE ON THE PATEA

The return to Rukumoana--The forest-village--Bird-snaring and
bird-spearing--Bent the canoe-builder--His third wife pp. 306-310

CHAPTER XXVII

HIROKI: THE STORY OF A FUGITIVE

Hiroki, the slayer of McLean--Strange faces at Rukumoana--A forest
chase--A meeting and a warning--Hiroki's wild bush life and his
end pp. 311-320

CHAPTER XXVIII

OUT OF EXILE

Canoeing on the Patea--The voyage to Hukatéré--The white man's world
again--Bent the medicine-man--_Makutu_, or the Black Art--Bent's
later days--The end pp. 321-332