The War in New Zealand ... With ... maps, etc

Front matter

THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND a PriHjjshed In Smith, Elder & (".'. C.iii.iiII. London THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND. BY WILLIAM FOX, A.M., Oxon, LATE COLONIAL 6ECBETABY AND NATIVE MINISTER OF THE COLONY. " It might be well thought, a countrie so faire, and a people so tractable, would long ere this have been quietly possessed, to the satisfaction of the adventurers, and the eternizing of the memory of those who effected it. But because all the worlde do see a defailement, this following treatise shall give satisfaction to all indifferent readers, how the business hath been carried ; where, no doubt, they will easily understand, and answer to their question, how it came to pass that there was no better speede and Buccess in those proceedings." Travels of Captain John Smith of Virginia. Book m. c. i. WITH TWO MAPS AND A PLAN.

LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHUL. 1866. [ The Right of Translation is reserved.'] PKEFACE. A gkeat many persons in England are tired of hearing about New Zealand. It is very seldom that any good news comes thence ; and, good or bad, it is very difficult to understand. Still, there are many who have friends and relations there ; many who sympathize with the Maori race ; many who have an idea that what has been going on there for some time past, means a penny in the pound on the income-tax ; so that sufficient interest is felt in the colony to make any one newly arrived from it the subject of much cross examination. " Tell us all about New Zealand," is, however, a request not easily responded to,

Preface

. VI unless the person who makes it is prepared to listen to a tale a good deal longer than that which the Ancient Mariner inflicted on the spell bound wedding guest ; and I have been often obliged to tell my inquiring friends that unless I should write a book, I despaired of making them understand the subject. That is one reason for my taking up my pen. Another reason is, that I venture to think that many persons besides my own friends will be glad to have a more connected outline of events in the colony during the entire period of disturbance than any which has yet appeared. At present there is none. The Governor's despatches are within the reach of few ; and, except when they relate to disputes between himself and the general, or himself and his ministers, are meagre and unexplanatory to the last degree.

The military despatches are no more accessible than the Governor's, and scarcely intelligible to general readers, their principal object apparently beino-

PREFACE.

. VII to enrol in the Valhalla of the Horse Guards the name of every officer who took part in a skirmish, or "stood ready to tender his valuable services, if wanted." The Times' newspaper has a very able correspondent ; but the Morning Post and Daily Telegraph, and half a dozen other papers, have correspondents also, who seem to see things with very different eyes. The result is, that even those persons in England whose duty it is to study such matters, and still more, those who profess to have done it en amateur, fall into great misapprehensions, and often very ludicrous mistakes. One noble Lord, a Member of Parliament, giving a summary of events on a public platform,* misdates the arrival of Governor Grey in the colony by nearly two whole years. Another speaks of events happening at Waikato as if they had occurred at Taranaki, 200 miles away ; while a third, hearing of the campaign at Tauranga, asks, " Who is this Tauranga ; I never Ab. Pro. Soc. Report, 1855, p. 21, at top.

PREFACE.

. VIII heard of him before ? " Misapprehensions like these may seem of little consequence, and would be so if they existed only in private circles ; but when the state of mind which they indicate is met with among those who influence the counsels of Parliament and the action of the Colonial Minister, the matter becomes serious. The noble Lord who did not know whether Sir George Grey arrived in New Zealand after the Oakura murders, or nearly two years before, could scarcely have given that attention to the subject which would make him a safe adviser. The Member of Parliament who thought that a district as large as an English county was a New Zealand chief, had probably no very clear ideas as to the origin or justice of the war. If these few pages should be instrumental in removing such misapprehensions where they exist, or in conveying information where it is wanting, I shall feel that the time spent in writing them has not been wasted.

PREFa4CE. IX In doing so, I trust I shall not be accused of presumption. I have been a colonist of New Zealand almost from its foundation as a colony. I have been a Member of the Legislature for many years, and during a great part of the present struggle I filled the offices of Colonial Secretary and Native Minister. I have probably had better opportunities of obtaining accurate information, and observing current events in the colony than any other person, at least any other person now in this country. It may be alleged that, as an actor in some of those events, I may have prejudices. But the same might certainly be said of any one who has had the personal opportunities of acquhing the information requisite for the task. I am not aware, however, that I have any prejudices on the sub ject : I have strong convictions ; but convictions are not prejudices. My convictions may possibly be the means of removing the prejudices of some who have had no sufficient opportunity of study-

PREFACE.

. X ing the subject. My object, however, is not to enforce my own convictions, but to state facts as they happened ; and in order to enable my readers to judge of the fairness of my narrative, I shall, wherever possible, give references to authentic printed documents. In describing the operations of the military campaigns, I have relied for the main facts chiefly on the despatches of General Cameron, or of his subordinate officers who may have reported to him. I have also referred to the cotemporary reports of the correspondents of the local newspapers, who were with the forces in the field, and were many of them professional reporters thoroughly up to their work. I am myself acquainted, more or less, with all the country in which operations were carried on, and as regards the Northern campaigns, I have visited all the places where the principal engagements occurred, many of them several times, and most of them in the company of officers who

PREFACE.

. XI were in the engagements, and described them to me on the spot. I do not pretend to have the smallest per sonal knowledge whatever of military affairs. I know absolutely nothing of "the disciplines of the wars," and am entirely ignorant whether a force should be taken into action at quick march, at the double, in line, in echelon, in fours, or deployed in skirmishing order. On these matters I have had quite as little expe rience as most of the special correspondents of the English press who reported the events of the Crimean war, or even perhaps as the distin guished historian of that great struggle. I have observed that when these writers are at a loss how to justify some movement which may not have ended satisfactorily, they are in the habit of saying, " no doubt it was done for excellent military reasons." When I attempt to criticise the details of the New Zealand campaigns, I confess I am very often reduced to the same con-

PREFACE.

. XII elusion ; and being entirely unable to discover any other reason for some particular step, I am compelled to adopt the solution of "excellent military reasons." It will be admitted, however, that there are many events connected with military operations on which a civilian is quite as well qualified to form an opinion as a soldier can be ; and when those occasions arise in course of my narrative, I have not hesitated to express my own convictions, subject of course always to the charitable salvo in behalf of the military mind, that what I think a blunder or an oversight, may have been done for " excellent military reasons," of which I know nothing whatever. The references which I have given are gene rally to C. P. P., or papers of the Colonial Parliament. A few to P. P., or papers of the Imperial Parliament.

Any others explain them selves. ERRATA. At page 85, omit the words, " 3— Colonel Austin, of the 14th." „ 185, in Note, for " A," read " C." „ 239, in Note, for " C," read "A." CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Introductory. PAGE Arithmetic of the War — Statistics of Native and European Forces — Exposure of current Fallacies 1

Chapter II

Origin of previous Wars in New Zealand — Effect on Native Mind — They accumulate Arms and Ammunition — Apparent Peace at period of Governor Grey's leaving the Colony — The Land League — The King Movement Ill

Chapter III

Purchase of Waitara by Governor Browne — Hostilities at Taranaki, 1860-61 — Truce arranged by W. Thompson — Governor Browne prepares to Invade Waikato — Probable Consequences of Invasion — Governor Browne recalled — Governor Grey appointed — Peaceful Solution anticipated 34

Chapter IV

Important Events overlooked — Thompson and King Natives hold aloof — Governor Grey visits Lower Waikato — His Reception — Offer made to refer Waitara Question to Arbitration refused — Further Attempts at Pacific Solu- CONTENTS. XIV i ■.■I. , , tion — Governor goes to Taranaki — Determines to give up Waitara — Takes Possession of Tataraimaka — Natives murder Escort, 4th May — Governor gives up Waitara — Distinction between Governor Browne's War of 1860, and that which now commenced 43

Chapter V

Alarming State of Affairs in Waikato — Suppression by Force of Government Printing Establishment — Obstruction of Buildings at Kohekohe — Expulsion of Resident Magistrate — Attempts made by Waikatos to rouse Rebellion in the South — Thompson's Complicity — Commencement of Waikato Campaign — The first Step taken by the Rebels — Attack on Escort, and Fight at Koheroa — Defeat of Rebels — Long Delay 55

Chapter VI

Description of Waikato Country — Causes of long Delay before Meri-Meri — Defective Transport — Neglect of River Transport 71

Chapter VII

Meri-Meri evacuated — Rangiriri captured — Natives retreat up River — Ngaruawahia occupied — Negotiations for Peace — Troops advance up Waipa River — Pikopiko and Paterangi — Rebel Position outflanked — Awamutu, Rangioawhia, and KiliiMhi taken — Orakau captured — Maungatautari evacuated — Termination of Campaign in Waikato

Chapter VIII

The Tauranga Campaign undertaken at request of General Cameron — Reasons for — Condition of Natives there — Unfortunate Repulse of our Troops at the Gate Pah — Successful Affair at Te Ranga — Submission of Tauranga Natives CONTENTS. XV PAGE

Chapter IX

Events at Taranaki during Period of Waikato Campaign — Origin of Pai Marire or Hau Hau Fanaticism — First Appearance at Sentry Hill Redoubt — Attack of Rebels on Sentry Hill — Hepaniah the Prophet killed — They attempt to attack Wanganui — Gallant Conduct of Wanganui friendly Natives — Battle of Moutua between Hau Haus and Wanganui Friendlies 124

Chapter X

A Lull in the War — Time arrived for Political Action — Policy explained — All Parties agreed — Assent of Duke of Newcastle — Aborigines Protection Society interferes — Mr. Cardwell's Despatch — Governor wavers, and holds back — Difference with his Ministers, about Confiscation — They Resign — He eventually Confiscates for their Successors — Moral Effect of Vacillation on Natives — Mr. Cardwell's Despatch, its Effect to support Minority against Majority — The Result, the Prolongation of the War 146

Chapter XII

Wanganui and Taranaki Campaign of 1865 — Why undertaken — Number of Rebels in the District — Number of Troops — Distance over which Operations to be carried on — Attack by Rebels on Road Party at Waitotara — Attack on General Cameron's Camp at Nukumaru — Advance up the Coast towards Taranaki — Reaches Waigongoro — Campaign closed for the Season — General Ciimeron goes to Auckland — Quarrel between Governor and General Cameron CONTENTS. PAGE 221

Chapter XIII

Serious Differences between Governor Grey and General Cameron — 1. As to asking for Reinforcements — 2. The War denounced by General Cameron as an " Iniquitous Job " — 3. Question of Removal of the Troops — 4. The Expediency of capturing Wereroa Pah — 5. About Colonel Warre's Expedition — 6. Secret Correspondence and Private Letters — How Mr. Cardwell disposes of the "Difficulty" 178

Chapter XIV

Wanganui River and Interior — Gallant Behaviour of friendly Natives at Ohoutai — Capture of Pehi and eighty Rebels — Pehi released by Governor — Joins the Rebels again — Captain Brassey's brave Defence of Pipiriki — Governor throws away Advantages by issuing a foolish Proclamation — Murder of Kereti and Mr. Broughton 20!)

Chapter XV

Campaign on East Coast — Murder of Rev. C. S. Volkner — Murder of Mr. Fulloon and others — Colonial Force and Native Contingent sent to punish the Murderers — Great Successes — Evacuation of Pukemaire — Storming of Hun - gahungatoroa — Five hundred Prisoners taken — Gallant Action between the Arawas and Rebels near Matata CONCLUSION. Present Relations between Imperial and Colonial Governments — Prospects of Self-reliance and Removal of Troops — Finance — The Futeu-e of the Maori Race 239

Appendix

Published by Smith. F.lder i CT Cornhill. l.niuton. THE WAK IN NEW ZEALAND

Chapter I. Introductory

Arithmetic of the War — Statistics of Native and European Forces — Exposure of current Fallacies. Before proceeding with the tale of the War in New Zealand, there are a few figures and facts which I wish to get into the reader's mind, and a few fallacies and errors which have been cur rent in England which I wish to get out of it. First, as to figures ; it may conduce to a better appreciation of the merits of the military operations if the numbers on the two sides are known. The total number of natives in New Zealand, according to a government census taken in 1858, was 31,667 males and 24,303 females ; together 55,970 of all ages and sexes and in both islands. The proportion of children being exceedingly small, not less than 20,000 of the males may be taken as fighting men, and it must be borne in mind that the women do much work connected with war, and, when pressed, fight like the men.

Of the 20,000 fighting men, however, according to Governor Grey's estimate, we never had 2,000 in arms against us at any one time, and it is shown by an examination of the General's de spatches, that the troops were never actually engaged with more than 600, and not often with more than 200 to 400. The natives had, however, two great advantages ; they were in the centre and we on the circumference ; which enabled them to move with facility to attack any of our settlements or camps they thought proper ; and they were not concentrated in one district, but scattered in many. It should also be remembered that of the total number of natives, not more than two-thirds have joined the rebel movement ; all the natives ARITHMETIC OF THE WAR. north of Auckland (about 8,000 to 10,000), remaining loyal, and considerable bodies (say 5,000 to. 6,000 more) in Cook's Straits, Hawkes Bay, and other parts.

The loyalty of some of these, however, could not have been relied upon in case of our meeting with great reverses. The natives had no artillery except three old carronades which they had got from wrecked ships, and which they only fired three or four times, and they had no better shot than steel yard weights and similar substitutes for cannon balls. These they abandoned at the evacuation of Meri Meri, from which time they never had a big gun. Their small arms consisted of old Tower muskets, many flint and steel (temporis George III.), single and double fowling-pieces, such as are made for colonial trade, and a very few rifles, not perhaps one in a thousand. At the close quarters at which the engagements generally took place, these weapons were actually better than the Enfield rifles of our troops, as being more easily reloaded, and their double barrels giving two shots for one man.

The natives had no cavalry. 1 — The European population in both islands, in December, 1864, was 171,931;* but more than half of these were in the middle island, and those in the north could not be moved about for military purposes at any distance from their homes, for the obvious reason that by so doing their homes would have been left unprotected, and aggression by rebels have been an immediate consequence. They were all, however, armed, enrolled, and drilled as militia and volunteers, and in some instances for a length of time relieved the Queen's troops, and enabled them to take the field in greater force. The actual military force serving under Gene ral Cameron was, in round numbers, 10,000 Queen's troops, including a troop of field artil lery ; 5,000 military settlers, enlisted for three years, under regular training, and, if rightly handled, capable of being formed into a first-rate Zouave force ; several small corps of volunteers and bush-rangers.

Five frigates and sloops of war of the Boyal Navy, which furnished a naval * Now estimated at 200,000. -4RITHMETIC OF THE WAR. 5 brigade of more than 300 men, and were con stantly employed in shelling pahs on the coast, blockading harbours, carrying troops, and other operations. Two steamers belonging to the commissariat, and seven or eight sea and river going steamers belonging to the Colonial Govern ment — one an iron-clad with turrets, another ball-proof against small arms. Besides the field artillery, one large 1101b. Armstrong, and two 40 lb. Armstrongs, with a great number of smaller guns, mortars, and cohoms, were used by us whenever necessary. We had four or five well-mounted and very active cavalry corps, amounting in all to about 500 men. Not nearly so much use was made of them as might have been.

So much for the arithmetic of the war. Of the numerous fallacies which are current in connection with the war and the natives in their relations to the colonists I shall notice but a very few. 1. It is inferred from the pertinacity xoith which the Maories have fought, that some deep-seated wrong has been inflicted upon them by the Europeans.— This supposition shows very little acquaintance with the Maori race. For centuries past, as far as we know, till the colonization of the country by us, the several tribes waged constant and internecine war with each other. They had a phrase similar to one which is used in the Old Testament : " The time when kings go to war," which indicated their practice. As soon as their crops were in the ground they began fighting, and generally fought till they were ripe.

Nor was it necessary that there should be any " deep-seated wrong " to fight about. The most trivial cause would give rise to the most bloody war, and the feud would be handed down from father to son. The habit of fighting, and disregard of life, had become a second nature with the Maori ; and if Cuvier be correct in saying that it takes forty generations to make a wild duck a tame one, we need not be surprised that thirty years of partial peace have not eradicated the military propensities of the Maori, or caused him to forget how to build a pah, or squint along the groove of his " tupara," or double-barrelled gun. To prove that there is no foundation for this theory of " deep-seated wrongs," I may put Bishop Selwyn into the witness-box. In a sermon preached at Nelson, in 1862, he said: — "In defence of the colonists of New Zealand, of whom I am one, I say most distinctly and solemnly, that I have never known, since the colony began, a single act of wilful injustice or oppression committed by any one in authority against a New Zealander.

It may have been difficult to persuade some few individuals that the natives were entitled to equal rights as with ourselves ; but in practice their LIBERTIES HAVE BEEN MAINTAINED INVIOLATE." 2. That the natives have no proper tribunals before which their disputes, particularly relating to lands, canbe settled. — This is a very great mistake. As early as 1849, a system of resident magistrates' courts was established in Maori and mixed districts. These courts are presided over by Euro pean resident magistrates, assisted in native cases by paid Maori assessors. There are, at present, at least twenty-five such courts, in which an aggregate of many thousand cases, civil and criminal, are annually disposed of, to the gene- * Ch. Miss. Register, June, 1862, p. 194. ZE-4LAND. ral satisfaction of the native suitors.

I know of no instance in which any native district is without such a court, unless when the resident natives have refused to have one, or have driven the magistrate away, as in the cases of Mr. Gorst, Mr. W. Baker, and some others.* As regards a court for the settlement of land disputes, that department was, till 1861, absolutely in the hands of the Imperial Government, and during that period there was no competent tribunal of the sort. An attempt made by the Stafford Ministry, in 1858, to legislate on the subject by a " Territorial Rights Bill," was defeated by Governor Browne, who vetoed the measure when it had passed both Houses of Assembly. But in 1862, the Assembly passed another measure, which received the Royal Assent, and which has been brought into operation in the north for two years past.

It establishes a tribunal before which all questions of native title can be settled ; an amending act has since been passed on the same subject ; and I believe it is in full * C. P. P. 1864, E. 7. operation in all parts of the country, except where the rebels stand in the way of the establishment of law and order of any sort. 3. That the natives have been debarred the franchise and electoral privileges which the colonists enjoy under the Constitution Act* — This is also an error. Subject to the almost universal suffrage qualification which applies to Europeans equally — an occupation franchise of 51. per annum in the country, and 10Z. in the towns — the Maori can register and exercise his vote as freely as the colonist ; and the doors of the Houses of Assembly are equally open to him. In the province of Wellington, very many Maories vote at all the elections.

I have been present at the Registration Court where the sufficiency of their qualifications was scrutinized like those of Euro peans, and the general test of 51. value was fixed by the registration officer, at a wooden door, a brick chimney, or glass windows to the claimant's house. I have attended public election meetings * So stated by Sir Wm. Martin, in letter P. P. " On Confisca tion," 23rd May, 1864. Also by Ab. Pro. Soc. in Petition to the Queen, 1865, et passim. ZEALAND. at native villages, presided over by Maori chair men, and where better order was kept than among Europeans. And I have known several Members of Assembly, of provincial councils, and at least one superintendent, whose majorities, if not created, were considerably swelled by Maori votes. It is true that two lawyers in England, before whom a case was laid some years ago, prepared by a private individual, gave an opinion adverse to the right of the Maories to exercise the franchise ; but a lawyer's Opinion I need not say is of no practical weight in such a matter, and has never, that I know of, had any weight given to it in the colony, either by any registering officer, or by the Supreme Court.

If the natives generally have not exercised the privileges con ferred by the Constitution Act on both races, it has been because they did not value them, nor care to exercise them. What they have habitually done for years all over the Province of Wellington, they could have done in every part of the colony. Even the shadow of a doubt, created by the lawyer's opinion referred to, has been now, I believe, removed by a special act of the last session of Assembly. 4. That the interests of the natives are syste matically disregarded by the Colonial Government. — The shortest reply to this is to be found in a return recently laid before the Assembly. It appears that before responsible Government was bestowed in European affairs, the amount annu ally expended on native purposes was just 5,000/. a year.

During the period of divided Govern ment, up to 1861, it increased to 17,000/. ; and since the establishment of responsible Govern ment in native affairs, that is, since its transfer to the Colonial Ministry, it has reached the very large sum of 61,071/. The whole number of officials employed specially on native work, in cluding the administration of justice, is no less than 505 (including 68 Maori pensioners), of whom at least 341 are natives. The salaries of many of the assessors and policemen are small, but so are their duties. Now the contribution of the natives towards the Colonial revenue, in 1856, was estimated by the Colonial Treasurer, Mr. W. C. Richmond, ZEALj4ND. at 15,000/. Since the war it must have fallen probably one-half. But taking it at the higher amount, the Government expends on special native objects, including schools, police, assessors, &c, more than four times the amount they con tribute to the revenue ; besides all the advantages they derive from the expenditure on roads, public works, and other operations of Government in which the Europeans share. 5.

That the war has been " got up " by the colonists for the sake of the military expenditure. — As not a soldier can be employed, or kept in the country, except by the express orders of the Governor, this charge against the colonists might seem to have very little probability in it. The colonists cannot " get up " wars. The facts which I shall presently record will show, I think, beyond all doubt, that this war was and is a Governor's, and not a colonist's war. The alle gation, when made by General Cameron, of its being " got up for the sake of military expen diture," was at once indignantly denied by Governor Grey, who told him that his object in fighting was to punish persons guilty of great atrocities, and to render it possible for Europeans and loyal natives to live in the country.* The charge is very absurd.

One hears of large fortunes made in England by contracts for vic tualling and clothing her Majesty's forces, and furnishing other supplies for the public service ; but military expenditure is to the bulk of the population of New Zealand a thing never thought of, or wished for. Indeed if the colonists had been more anxious for it than they were, they would have been much disappointed ; for great part of the supplies were got direct from other countries by the commissariat ; flour from Adelaide, horses from Sydney, hay (much of it worthless) and corn from England, while the meat contract was held for a long time by a grazier in Gipps' Land, Victoria. A very small number of persons in the colony could derive any pecuniary advantage from the expen diture of troops. They are not persons of influence, and could probably not control a single * Correspondence between Grey and Cameron.

C. P. P., A. No. 4, p. 20. vote in the Assembly. The bulk of the colonists know that the war is a grievous pecuniary loss to them. The middle island settlers, who could by no possibility derive the benefit of a single shilling from the army expenditure, supported Governor Browne in his war, while a majority of north island members in the Assembly, who are supposed to profit by it, opposed him to the utmost of their power. It is only necessary to compare the wonderful progress of the middle island, where there has been no military expenditure, with the comparative stagnation of the northern, where it has gone on, to satisfy every colonist that war expenditure affords no compensation for the evils which war brings. With the exception of half-a-dozen persons of little or no influence, I do not think there is a colonist who would not gladly see the troops sent away, if they felt it was consistent with the maintenance of peace.

There will always be sutlers and camp-followers with every army, but they could not get up a war in New Zealand. 6. That the colonists covet the lands of the natives, and are determined to have them -- recte si possunt, si non qttocunque modo."* — If this charge means that individual colonists desire to appro priate the lands of the natives for their own profit, it is, I believe, entirely untrue. But there is a sense in which it is partly true. The colonists do desire, and very earnestly, to get possession, for colonizing purposes, of those large tracts of fertile land which lie waste and unimproved in the hands of the natives, over which they even prohibit our making roads, or running a steamer on the rivers by which they are watered. We went out to colonize ; not to " grub for money," but to convert the wilderness into farms and gardens, and spot it all over with smiling villages and pleasant homesteads.