Two considerable tribes, however, the Arawa and the greater part of the Ngatiporou, had refused to join the Hau Haus, and threw in their lot with the Europeans. The former of these proved themselves to be the most useless allies, being the only New Zealand native tribe of a cowardly disposition; they were also prone to overvalue themselves and give trouble to the white officers sent to command them, for which reason I suppose the Government pampered them to an inordinate extent, thereby making them more useless and insolent than ever Providence intended them to be. The Ngatiporou, however, were a splendid fighting race, who, under their glorious war chief Rapata-te-Waha-waha, rendered most valuable services. The New Zealand wars brought to the front many colonial officers, some of whom had previously served in the regular army, while others had acquired their training and experience through long years of active service, making up for any lack of theory and barrack-square knowledge by their sterling common-sense, their acquaintanceship with Maori customs and the ready way they adapted themselves to the exigencies of bush fighting. Names such as Whitmore, Tuke, McDonnell, St John, Von Tempsky and many others, men never heard of in England, should be treasured in New Zealand, and with these every colonial boy should be taught the names of the two gallant Maori chiefs, Rapata-te-Waha-waha and Meiha-Kepa-Te-Rangi-Hiwinui, whose splendid courage and devout loyalty did so much to bring the long, weary war to a successful termination. General Cameron with his forces arrived at Tauranga in April 1864, and at once took the field, commencing operations by an attack on the Gate Pah, at which place he was badly beaten. Many and varied are the accounts I have heard about this disastrous action, both from old soldiers who took part in it, and also from natives who fought there against them, and after weighing the pros and cons the only conclusion that I can come to is that the defeat was due to the crass stupidity and folly of the General and his staff, who had neglected to scout or make any reconnaissance of the so-called pah. If you care to read an account of how two thousand seasoned British troops plus a strong naval brigade amply supplied with artillery and supported by the broadsides of three ships of war were defeated by one hundred and thirty Maoris, the majority of these being youths, badly armed with old muskets, double-barrelled guns and tomahawks, I will give you a native version of the affair as recounted to me by one of the few seasoned warriors who defended the place.