A few moments before the bush had been as silent as a grave, but now it was an inferno; fire darted from the roots and from the sides of the tree-trunks in front of us, while yell after yell tore the disturbed air; and the smoke from the black powder either lay low on the ground or curled in spiral wreaths up through the trees. Nor were our own men silent, as cheer after cheer answered our opponents’ yells, and carbine shots rang out all along the line. Up to this I had not fired a shot, as I had seen no one to fire at, and an intense longing to advance came over me, so spotting a tree some six or seven yards farther on I ran, crouched up and bending low to it, throwing myself down on my face at the foot of it just as a piece of bark the size of my hand was torn from its hole and the deflected bullet passed me with an angry whir that sounded extremely unhealthy. My idea of advancing must have come to many others simultaneously, for I saw several men rush forward to fresh cover, and we were now in the enemy’s smoke, that hung close to the ground, and had to breathe the saltpetre befouled atmosphere. Another advance and we were already on the position the Maoris had originally occupied; it was therefore quite evident they were giving ground, besides which the distance between us had increased, as we could tell by the sound of the reports of their firelocks, for they still continued to fire heavily although only an occasional shot was fired by our men in reply. “Forward!” shouted Mr Roach, and the word was echoed along the line, and we shoved ahead, although we still took cover. Soon the trees grew thinner, and we increased our pace, until it became a running fight which rapidly turned into a pursuit, and as we cleared the bush we saw a long line of Maoris making off as fast as they could towards the pah. At these we fired a volley and pressed on loading, in doing which I experienced much difficulty in getting hold of a cap and placing it on the nipple of my carbine. The clearing was, as George had described it first of all, some hundred and fifty yards of ground with the stumps still standing in it, and then perhaps sixty or seventy yards of ground scraped as bare as the palm of your hand. Firing ceased entirely as we crouched and crawled from stump to stump, and we took advantage of this to correct our intervals and the dressing of the line, while word was passed from both ends of it that with the exception of a few chips being knocked off no one was hurt. Presently we came to the end of the stumps, where, in accordance with orders, each man lay down behind the most suitable cover he could select and waited for what was to eventuate. And now while we are waiting there, let me try and give you an idea of the pah.