The day’s casualties numbered two soldiers killed, one of the Defence Force Cavalry mortally wounded, and fifteen others wounded, including Ensign Doveton, of the 50th. The Maoris lost about a score killed, beside many wounded, some of whom were captured and treated in the field hospital at Te Awamutu. THE RANGIAOWHIA BLOCKHOUSE. A veteran Forest Ranger (Mr Wm. Johns, of Auckland) says: “About 1870 the Rangiaowhia blockhouse, designed exactly like that at Orakau, was built close to where the Hairini school now stands. It was constructed of four-inch planks. We used it as a refuge place in the panic times. Being doubtful of its strength, I proposed to my fellow-settlers one day that I would test whether it was really bullet-proof. We all went out, and with an Enfleld rifle at fifty yards I put a bullet not only through the front wall of four-inch planks but also nearly through the rear wall. Then I took one of the solid plugs of the floor-loopholes in the overhanging upper storey, a piece of timber seven inches thick, set it up, and drilled it through with a bullet. We decided that we could not stay in the blockhouse, as it would only be a death-trap in case of attack; so we represented its condition to Major Jackson, our commanding officer. Then the blockhouse was made really bullet-proof by giving it a plank lining and filling the intervening space, four inches or so, with sand and gravel.” CHAPTER IX. THE INVASION OF KIHIKIHI. Rewi Maniapoto’s headquarters were at Kihikihi, three miles from Te Awamutu, and General Cameron made no delay in paying his adversary a military call. Rewi had not fought at Hairini; the fact is that he was a more sagacious soldier than most of his fellow-countrymen, and perceived the impossibility of making a successful stand at such a vulnerable spot. No doubt he fully realised that with the bloodless fall of Paterangi the pakeha conquest of the Waipa was practically complete. On 23rd February, 1864, a mixed force of troops marched from Te Awamutu, and without resistance entered the large village of Kihikihi, an attractive sight with its cultivations of root and grain crops and its peach and apple orchards. The Ngati-Maniapoto retired to the Puniu River without firing a shot. After burning the large carved council-house (which stood at the south end of the present township) and destroying the tall flagstaff, the force returned to Te Awamutu. The troops were now well established in encampments around the mission station, and several redoubts were soon built. The principal redoubt, occupied by Imperial troops during 1864–65, was built in the middle of the present town, in rear of the post office, as shown on the plan here given. The site of this earthwork can still be traced, although it is intersected by a road. There were also British garrisons in occupation of Pikopiko, Paterangi, and Rangiaowhia.