Orders or no orders, we were not going to stand that, so turning on our pursuers we flew at them like wild cats, and as just at that moment we received the new orders we pushed our charge so well home that we drove the Hau Haus before us like chaff, nor did they even make an effort to defend the pah, but bolted as hard as they could for the shelter of the bush and broken country, while we occupied the place, which we eagerly prospected for food. It was not long, with two such sublime marauders as Pierre and George looking after my interests, before I had a good square meal stowed away under my waistbelt, and the Colonel had just sent for me to settle about some scouting when we heard a distant bugle-call. Our men started cheering, and shortly afterwards it was reported that Colonel Whitmore’s column was in sight, while the little man himself, attended by a few men, came into the pah before sunset, his column camping some two miles away. That two columns should have been able to march through such rough country and meet at an appointed though unknown spot on the prearranged day, speaks well for the officer who planned the campaign, and also for the men who carried his plans out. CHAPTER VI THE TAUPO CAMPAIGN The two columns having completed the first part of the programme by uniting at Ruatahuna it behoved our O.C. and the senior officers to turn to and stage the second act, but here Nature chipped in and bade them pause. Our force was composed of picked men, admirably suitable for the work that lay before them, and, with the exception of the Arawa tribe, the only cowardly race in New Zealand, the whole outfit were full of fight and ready to go anywhere. Still it is a well-known fact that, no matter how good and willing men are, nevertheless they must eat sometimes, and we were, within twenty-four hours of our junction, absolutely without food. The inclemency of the weather also greatly added to our sufferings, as we were never dry during the day, while the bitter frosts at night froze us hard. Moreover the enemy, though unable to face us in a stand-up fight, still lingered in our vicinity, and had even the cheek to commence fortifying a high hill overlooking the camp, a movement on their part that required a sharp skirmish to dissuade them from continuing. Colonel Whitmore had brought some horses with him to Ahikereru; these now had to be killed, and the flesh served out in short rations, while parties were detached to try and locate the Maoris’ hidden stores of potatoes. These ruas (potato pits), however, were so well concealed that we could find but few, and those we did find we had to skirmish for previous to looting, and even when we had gained them the supply did not equal the day’s demand.