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.