Old New Zealand: A Tale of the Good Old Times: And a History of the War in the North against the Chief Heke, in the Year 1845Maning, Frederick Edward
History
Old New Zealand: A Tale of the Good Old Times: And a History of the War in the North against the Chief Heke, in the Year 1845
Maning, Frederick Edward
Māori (New Zealand people) -- Social life and customs; New Zealand -- Description and travel
After the Kapotai pa had been plundered and burnt, Walker and his men
went in pursuit of the Kapotai, who had retreated into the forest, but
the soldiers remained behind on the clear ground near the pa. Walker,
Mohi, and Repa went into the woods with three hundred men, followed
the Kapotai, and overtook them. When the Kapotai perceived they were
followed, their anger was very great, so they turned, and fought with
great courage against Walker. Walker was not able to beat them, so
they remained a long time fighting in the forest. But Hauraki, the
young Hikutu chief, had, with his thirteen men, taken another path,
and he met the young chief of the Kopatai, who had with him sixty men,
and they were both young men and fighting for a name, so a desperate
fight commenced. Hauraki and his thirteen men thought not of the light
of the sun or the number of the enemy; their only thought was of war,
and to elevate their names. It was a close fight, and whenever the
rifle of Hauraki was heard a man fell, and soon he had killed or
wounded several of the Kapotai, who began to fall back. Then Hauraki
cried out to the retreating Kapotai, "Fly away on the wings of the
wood-pigeon, and feed on the berries of the wood, for I have taken
your land." Then a certain slave of the Kapotai said, "That is
Hauraki, a very noble born man. He is a chief of Te Hikutu, and of Te
Rarawa, and of Te Ngati Kuri." Now when Hari the young Kapotai chief
heard this, he cried aloud to Hauraki, saying, "Swim you away on the
backs of the fish of the sea,[25] there is no land for you here."
Then these two young warriors drew nearer to each other. Hauraki had
just loaded his rifle, but the caps which he had were too small, and
he was a long time trying to put on the cap. While he was doing this,
Hari fired at him, and the ball struck him on the breast and passed
out at his back; but so great was his strength and courage that he did
not fall, but took another cap and fixed it, and then fired at the
Kapotai chief, and the ball struck him on the side under the arm-pit,
and went out at the other arm-pit. So Hari staggered and fell dead.
When Hauraki saw this, he said, "I die not unrevenged," and then sank
gently to the ground. His people then seeing this, two of them led him
away towards the rear. The Kapotai also carried away their chief, and
then, enraged at his death, rushed upon the Hikutu, who were now only
eight in number, the rest having been killed or wounded. These eight
were _tino tangata_ (practised warriors), but were too few in number,
and had lost their chief; so when the Kapotai rushed upon them, they
lost heart and fled, and the Kapotai chased them, and soon the
foremost of the flying Hikutu overtook Hauraki and the two men who
were leading him off. Then Hauraki said, "Do not remain with me to
die, but hide me in the fern and escape yourselves, and go to my
relation Walker, and tell him to muster all his people, and come and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account