Supplejack: a romance of Maoriland ... With ... illustrations

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SUPPLEJACK "ACCEIT THE SACRED OIL, 0 TIEI ! ' Frontispiece SUPPLEJACK a "Romance of slDaorilano BY R. WARD WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, Ld. THE AUTHOR'S APOLOGY. It is sincerely hoped hy the Author that the reader will find, when he has summoned fortitude enough to enahle him to follow the fortunes of the hero, that he will be enlightened in the manners, customs, &c, of the Maori at a time previous to the settlement of this Colony. E. Ward. MorNT Roskill, Auckland, N.I., New Zealand. SYNOPSIS. X and flight — Arapata carries off the gTeenstone god, TiM — Pursuit — The river — The sea — The cave — The golden boulder — They sail for Whangaroa — En voyage— Father and daughter — Tarara on her island home— The disguised Hiha — The battle in the surf — Supplejack and Hiha dye and fight, but Hiha, like their colours, won't stand — Arapata falls — Great tangi over bim — Conies to life again — Tarara assists at his recovery and they love — Missionary acquaints Jack with his parentage — Jack and Madge united — All sail for England, rich in gold and experience — "E Noho " (Farewell). SUPPLEJACK.

Chapter I

gone ! ! ! The earth gave way beneath his feet, and with a loud cry he disappeared from the gaze of the astonished natives, who arrived breathless at the brink of the yawning precipice. The sound of a splash from below indicated that the body of him who had thus escaped their hands had reached the bottom, and, as they knew, must now be carried away by the underground current and for ever lost to view. The scene of this occurrence was in a wild, rugged district, amid the solitudes of Karangahake, situate between the river Ohinemuri and the Bay of Plenty ; the year somewhere between the advent of Captain Cook and the arrival of Governor Hobson in New Zealand waters, a period of which little is really known, and yet, with out doubt, one of the most interesting in the history of this now flourishing colony.

In those days the different tribes held undisputed SUPPLEJACK. 2 possession of those highlands, from the Bluff, in the extreme south, to Cape Reinga, the most northerly point of land, from which latter place the spirits of the departed were believed to take a header, and wend their way to the region of everlasting bliss, the abode of their gods in Hawaiki, from whence the first Maori emigrants are believed to have sailed, which, according to native chronology, marks their appearance on these shores. These tribes warred and fought against each other in deadly feuds similar to the North American Indians, described by that master of redskin romance, Fenimore Cooper. But, in spite of their warlike proclivities, their can nibalism, and their aversion to strangers, there were round the coasts, especially on the North Island, and even well inland, a few scattered Anglo-Saxons, mostly runaway or shipwrecked sailors, traders, and a few enterprising missionaries.

These pioneers of Greater Britain led a precarious life among the native tribes, and may be said to have carried their lives in their hands ; indeed, many fell victims to superstition or tribal jealousy, and lost their lives over some trifling pretext ; but others lived with the natives after their own fashion for years, and not only enjoyed perfect immunity, but were looked up to with a certain degree of respect. HIHA. GONE ! ! ! 3 The twenty or more natives who arrived too late at the spot where the sudden disappearance took place belonged to the Ngatipoa tribe, who were settled mostly in this part of the country. Clad in haka mats and armed with spears and meres, with heaving chests and angry cries they squatted on the fern above the craggy steep. Then uprose the young chief Hiha — the Cæsar of the tribe — and spoke to his war riors with vehemence : " Where is the pakeha ?

He is gone. You call me the ' Rushing Wind ' ! Who can catch me in the race? None ; ha ! " Then he adds in a suppressed voice : " Ngatipoa, I was as a tuatara lizard behind the pakeha. Rushing Wind is fleet of foot, but the stranger can fly ; ha ! " Receiving no reply to this expression of feeling, he turned away with a cloud upon his brow, shouldered his spear, and strode down the mountain-side. The other warriors followed at a distance, with difficulty keeping their hands off He Toki (The Worm) a little dried-up native who taunted the braves on their failing to capture the pakeha. He called them " snails," "lame dogs," and heaped other degrading epithets upon them, but with surprising agility he kept out of their reach. Meanwhile the young chief Hiha continued his way down through the mountain scrub until he reached the valley, following a track along the banks of the river, SUPPLEJACK. 4 and in an hour's time came to the path that led up to the stronghold of his tribe — one of the most important pahs in the country.

Here he paused in an undecided manner, leaning on his spear. A splendid specimen he was of the genus Maori, his face and form imbued with a rugged grandeur that marked him out as a leader of men, or warriors, for in those days warfare was a popular profession. After inwardly debating for some minutes whether he should ascend to the village or otherwise, he settled the doubt by starting off towards the river through the bush. Making his way to a small creek higher up, that was almost hidden from the river-way by a curtain of overhanging willows, he drew out from the raupo flags a small light dug-out canoe ; pushing it off into the stream, he paddled along against the strong current, keeping close in to the bank. The sun was low when he reached the old hut beside the falls; here he stepped on shore, and making fast his canoe, he made his way, with wary movements, towards the cabin.

Pausing behind some clumps of flax, he drew out from the folds of his mat, an instrument fashioned from a human arm-bone into something after the style of a flute, and began to play a weird soul-searching air, which had the effect of bringing out to the door an old GONE ! ! ! 5 native woman with wiry frame and wrinkled face. The old men of the tribe were wont to say that in her young days she was a beauty, but Hiha, who had known her from his childhood, never could remember her any different. Her name was Huria — by occupation, a weaver of mats ; but she was known principally to the young chief and his tribe as an authority on all the movements and intended expeditions of the Nekea pahui, a treacherous and thriftless tribe, who were the scourge and terror of the weak and scattered hapus, and who lived chiefly at the expense of those more industriously inclined, by making unexpected raids and plundering their winter stores.

Hitherto the Ngati poa, from their numbers and strong position, had ignored the existence of these notorious brigands, but lately rumours were about and thunder was in the air. This partly accounts for the visit of the young chief to the abode of the old mat-weaver. At the termination of the obligato on the arm-bone, Huria called out, " Haere mai " (Come in). "What brings the Rushing Wind to the whare of the old woman by the falling water ? " The young man accepted the invitation, and, enter ing the but, flung himself down upon a pile of mats with a weary and dejected air, muttering aloud, "What have I done that I should be called fleet of SUPPLEJACK. 6 foot? I am only fit to be a Nekeapahui ! a dog stealer ! ha ! " Old Huria, hearing these recriminative expressions, hastened to inquire the reason for them.

Hiha, whose respect and esteem for this isolated old woman amounted to veneration, thereupon proceeded to tell her of how, some few days ago. he and a number of his companions, while out hunting and spearing the wild pig in the forest of Mataura, came upon a pakeha who had evidently been cast ashore during the recent gale, and had apparently sought refuge iu the forest, where they found him fast asleep ; how they had seized him, and postponing indefinitely the massacre of pigs, hurried home to the pah with their captive, to the delight of the tribe, the joy unspeakable of old Whakawaka, the chief, and the satisfaction of the tohunga Ratatarapa- — who had, of course, prophesied this event before — and of how the women had raved about this stranger, for he was fair to see. " But," added the young man in hissing tones, and clutching his tomahawk convulsively, "this pakeha, this stranger from the Moana, bewitched Tarara, daughter of Te Roi, the chief of the Honga ; she has not looked at me since she beheld him.

We met in council and decided to make the pakeha a slave, for Tarara could not look upon a slave ; ha ! This morning the tohunga struck GONE ! ! ! 7 the stranger across the face with his korokio-stick ; the pakeha knocked the tohunga down ; we rushed at him, but ha ! the stranger ran through us, jumped the palisades, the best runners of our tribe followed him, down the hill, along the river track, and up the mountain-side. I was leading, but oh Huria, the pakeha was before me, and Rushing Wind could not approach him. He reached the hole in the hill, and ha ! he fell down, down to the waters beneath the earth ; he is no more, but Hiha would rather have caught him in the race." After this burst of information the young chief relapsed into a moody silence, and nothing was heard save the never-ceasing hum of the adjacent waterfall.

Then old Huria, grasping the young man by the arm, and in a voice unimpaired by age, broke forth : " Son of Whakawaka ! child of my heart ! hear Huria who cares for you as the kahu ", (falcon) " for its young. Grieve not for failing to catch the pakeha ; he is now in the bowels of the earth where the water has borne him ; nor trouble about the maiden Tarara — she will look upon you again ; but listen, oh Rushing Wind. To-morrow's sun sees the Nekeapahui on the war path. They journey to the fishing-ground of the Maka tana at Maketu ; their canoes will pass below your pah SUPPLE J A CK. 8 before daybreak. This, oh Hiha, is the time for you to prove to your tribe that you are a toa, a warrior ! " As she spoke the young chief gradually threw aside his lethargy, the smouldering fire in his eyes began to kindle and glow, and, as she finished, he sprang to his feet, rattled his spear, and swore in good Maori that if he did not compass the destruction of the dogs of Nekeapahui he would eat mud for the remainder of his days, an oath that seemed to satisfy Huria, for she knew he would keep his word, providing he could always get the mud when hungry.

She then set about and prepared a dish of eels and kumeras, or sweet potatoes, which was greatly relished by the young chief, and it was evident that, whatever else he excelled in, there was no mistake about his appetite, a con clusion that tended to add to the importance of his recent oath. After learning all the details of the Nekeapahui expedition, and finding that the shades of evening were drawing around, Hika finished picking his teeth with his spear, and intimated his intention of returning to the pah. The old mat-weaver accompanied him to his canoe, and saw him off, returning to her lonely hut — her sole companion a native dog minus its tail, lost in a late war. There she stood in the doorway, listening to the strains of Hiha's flute as he played softly his GONE ! ! ! 9 light craft floating down mid-stream in the deepening twilight — the soothing cadence of his notes stealing along the surface of the limpid water, causing a tear to trickle down the furrowed cheek of Huria, as her memory went back to the days when the young men of her tribe used to serenade her upon their primitive instruments, which generally had the effect of starting all the dogs in the village to howl as they would at a full moon.

Chapter II. Underground

Through the shadows of a subterranean passage a human form could be seen, clambering over boulders, around slippery abutments, and across yawning fissures, heading for a gleam of sunshine some distance off that indicated an exit to the outer world. Had this mortal been exploring these regions for pleasure he would, doubtless, have been enraptured with the metamorphic and sedimentary formation in the different stratas, the veins of quartz, and the snow white sihcated stalactites hanging in fairy tracery from the roofs of the galleries. But as he was only a tired, hungry young man, the only quality in their formation that forced itself upon his notice was their uniform hardness, experienced hj him at every step. After considerable difficulty he reached the opening, a fissure in the face of the cliff about ten feet hi<_i and four wide.

The passage for about forty feet inside this opening dropped down at a steep angle, UNDERGROUND. 11 so steep that the young man came down with a rush, and only saved himself from falling into the river below by clutching hold of some rata-vines which trailed their course from the heights above, and hung within easy reach of the base of the rocks. Dense shrubs covered the ledge on either side, and straight upwards the beetling cliffs rose to the height of two or three hundred feet. Before him lay the river, its opposite banks hidden with a luxuriant growth of native vegetation, and beyond, the wild and hilly bush clad country stretched for miles. As the young man stood gazing at this scene in the warm, bright rays of the morning sun, we will seize the opportunity to introduce him to the reader, for he is to be that indispensable character to a veracious narrative — the hero.

All heroes, as a rule, are hand some, but this one was something between a god and a human being — tall, well made, and muscular, with chestnut curly hair, and a determined expression in his hazel-Lrown eyres that betokened energy, pluck, and a soul that would rise above misfortune. His name is Jack Crossbar, and some day he will tell his early history. At present we know that as a boy he was engaged as an acrobat in a circus in the Old World. He eventually ran off to sea, had been many voyages, had come to New Ztaland in the ill-fated SUPPLEJACK. 12 Floyd, and was asleep in his bunk when she was blown up in Whangaroa Bay. Next thing he had found him self in the water, swam ashore unseen by the natives — who had massacred the crew to a man — and, after many difficulties, had succeeded in reaching a mission aries' station on the coast, with whom he had lived for the past twelve months.

He then had joined a French brig which had put in for wood and water ; in this craft he sailed south, and for days they encountered a series of gales. The French captain and his superstitious crew began to believe that there was a great deal of the Jonah about their new hand, and determined to put him on shore, which they did, as soon as the sea went down suffi ciently to enable them to lower a boat, and land through the surf. There they left him to his fate, and rowed back to the brig, singing out their "Bons jours" to the luckless outcast, who stood, like a second Napo leon in St. Helena, with folded arms and lowered crest. Beside him, on the beach, lay a small bag of biscuits, a keg of rum, and a small barrel of gunpowder. In his belt was a knife, pistol, and powder-flask. This array showed that the Frenchmen did not mean him to be without the means of existence, and thev, no doubt, felt easy enough in their minds over this action.

After watching the brig until it had disappeared UNDERGROUND. 13 below the horizon, he bethought himself of finding a safe place to remove his stock-in-trade to, congratulating himself on possessing nearly as much to start with as his prototype, Robinson Crusoe, was blessed with. In fossicking round the beach he soon came upon a cavity in the rocks, high and dry, overhung with karaka, a shrub like the English laurel. Here he placed his stores, and, as evening was approaching, he proceeded over the hillocks covered with tussock-grass, and entered the forest that for miles along the coast covered the rising background. Here amongst the tangled fern he had rested for the night, lulled to sleep by the beat of the surf upon the shingly beach. By sunrise he was up, and had a swim in the sea, and had the luck to shoot a kupuka, or wood-pigeon, which he had roasted at a fire he made under the cliffs where a clear stream of fresh water percolated through the rock.

It was midday when he had been surprised by Hiha and his companions, having, through the effects of the heat, lain down under the shade of a towai-tree. He suddenly awoke to find four natives kneeling upon him, while his arms and legs had been bound by withes of flax. His knife, pistol, and flask, being hidden beneath his guernsey, had escaped their notice. As the young chief Hiha has already related to old Huria the events that had followed his capture, we SUPPLEJACK. 14 will take it for granted that Jack Crossbar is intro duced in due form to the reader. It may be explained here that, after he had tumbled into the rocky chasm, to the disgust of his pursuers, he had entered the cold watery depths feet foremost. How far he had sunk he knew not, but, when he arose to the surface, he had struck out with the desperate energy of a drowning man through the dark, roaring flood, and, more dead than alive, had caught hold of the rocky side and drasrsed himself out.

Here he had rested until he had DO gained his senses and could make out objects in the gloom. Then, as his strength returned in a degree, he began exploring the place, and, climbing upwards, he had reached a sort of gallery that ran a winding course for some distance, and then developed into a tunnel. This opened into a spacious cavern, dry as tinder, and warm enough to send the blood coursing through his chilled frame. Here he had undressed, wrung out his garments, found his powder dry, and as there was no way of gratifying the feeling of hunger which was now active within him, and in order to restore exhausted nature, he coiled himself up en the floor of the cavern and went to sleep. The morning had brought hope to his breast, and, as we have seen, his further exploration had brought him within view of the outer world, with the UNDERGROUND. 15 glorious prospect of virgin country before him, the blue vaulted heavens overhead, and the swift-flowing river below, but nothing to eit.

As he reclines upon the ledge the thought forces itself upon him, " How am I to get out of this romantic situation ? " And finding no solution to this mental inquiry, he arose to his feet and made another survey of the surroundings. Below, the river breasted the perpendicular base of the cliff, forming a sort of eddy in the basin of the inlet. " Deep water, and a tough swim it would be across if I tried it, but I have had enough of that element lately," he thought. Then looking upwards, he began to con sider the possibilities of scaling the overhanging cliff, when from up the river loud cries came borne along upon the air. From where he stood he could com mand a view of the river above and below. Suddenly, as the yells became louder, two canoes with about twenty natives in each, came sweeping along towards him.

They were a part of the Nekeapahui expedition hotly pursued by three canoes manned by the Ngatipoa. Disaster had apparently overtaken these bold Nekeapahuian freebooters, as several members of their crews were disabled, and their crafts bore unmistakable signs of ill-usage. On came their pur suers, yelling out their "Ake, akes! " and eager for the fray. In the foremost of the canoes stood Hiha, urging SUPPLEJACK. 16 on the rowers, brandishing his spear, and arrayed in all the glory of his war-paint. Just below where Jack stood these heroes closed up on the fugitives, and, in a moment all five boats were mixed up together and jammed against the rocky abutment that formed the inlet beneath the cave. Then pandemonium reigned, and in a short space Hiha and his party were masters of the situation, and the enemy vanquished.

One or two of them took to the water and were being borne down bjT the current, their chances of getting out alive being extremely slight ; the remainder were either dead or prisoners. There was now no reason why young Hiha should ever have to stay his stomach with mud, for he had indeed that day proved himself a warrior of the first magnitude. The surprise of the Nekeapahui was great indeed when the canoes of the Ngatipoa had shot across their path that morning, just before daybreak, and, uttering their war-cries, smote them hip and thigh. The unexpected nature of the attack, combined with the indis tinct light, had thrown them into confusion, and, as daylight broke, it disclosed the wreck of their well equipped armament. Two canoes had gone to the bottom ; four captured, together with the two whose fate we have seen decided, made the victory complete.

Wherever the blows were thickest there Hiha was UNDERGROUND. 17 to be seen, his mere finding a foe at every swino of his strong right arm. He eclipsed even Matapa, whose skill at this occupation was a theme of song from Taupo to Monganui. However, between these two the number of "dogs of the Nekeapahui" who " bit the wave " on that bright summer morning would certainly make a big deficiency in the census returns of that particular tribe. From the ledge on the cliff our friend Jack was an unseen spectator of the tail end of the fight. He could not help but to admire the promptitude and despatch displayed by his old acquaintance, Hiha, in wiping out the enemy. But there was one sight that fascinated the gaze of the young man above any thing, and that was several bundles of dried fish, preserved pigeons, and kits of kumeras that lay in the bottom of one of the enemy's canoes.

This the vic torious natives were about to tow upstream. As everything else was fixed up, wounds washed, the prisoners laid out and securely bound, two stout warriors endeavoured to pull this canoe free, as it had got jammed in the rock below, but found they could not move it. After a confab it was decided to leave it until they had more leisure, as one and all were anxious to return to the pah with the tidings of their victory and their trophies. c SUPPLEJACK. 18 Away they went, these warriors, flushed with the heat of battle, chanting their songs of exultation in the following modest terms : — "Oh, Ngatipoa ! You have this day Killed in war The dogs of Nekeapahui. Who can fight like Hiha ? Or hke brave Matapa ? Ha ! none there are can slay their foe Like the Ngatipoa, Tribe of toa ! ! " Away up the river they proceeded, and soon disappeared round the bend, the plaint of their songs growing fainter, until quietness once more reigned.

As soon as the coast was clear Jack prepared to possess himself of the edibles in the boat below, or perish in the attempt. As we have already stated, the rata vines hung down the face of the cliff, reaching the water's edge. Jack found that they were as strong as the stoutest rope, and to him it was a simple matter to slide down and reach the canoe. He then set about and tied all in one bundle, which he attached to a stout vine ; then, fixing around his waist a haka mat, tomahawk, and several other native articles of every day use, he, with the skill of an acrobat, clambered up the creepers, and gained the ledge in safety. His next care was to draw up the bundle of food. This UNDERGROUND. 19 he managed with little difficulty, and conveyed it to the warm cavern, and, with the aid of his sheath knife, proceeded to enjoy a good meal, the first for twenty-four hours.

As most of this stock was cooked and dried, there was no necessity for him to light a fire, which, under the circumstances, would have been no easy task, having only his flint and steel to aid him. He found now that, with care, he had enough to eat for a week to come, and, in order to keep it from perishing, he hung the bundle up in the cool draught near the mouth of the cave. Water there was in abundance, so, for the time being, hope once more inspired his breast. The remainder of the day he spent in exploring this underground region, wherever the light was strong enough to admit him to do so without fear of losing his way. The more he saw of the place, its intricacies, numberless caverns, galleries, and passages, the more he was impressed with the belief that for a hiding-place or impregnable fort, nothing built by hands or devised by the brain of man could be more suitable.

Before he retired to pass another night in the hos pitable walls of the warm cavern, he made it his business to spend an hour or so on the ledge outside. Here he watched the sun go down, its declining raj's glinting the rugged country, and throwing a golden SUPPLEJACK. 20 sheen upon the surface of the flowing river. The canoe was still firmly fixed below, and Jack knew from his experience of native character that no attempt would be made to remove it for this day at least, as the Ngatipoa would celebrate their victory with pro longed feasting in their mountain home. So with a tranquil mind and an easier feeling about the region of his waistbelt, he prepared to pass another night in the solitudes of this subterraneous retreat, an outcast as far removed from the ken of the outer world as the Russian exile who works out his destiny in the bowels of the earth, deep in a Siberian mine.

Chapter III. The Disgusted Warrior

Hiha sat alone in his whare on the morning of the day following the battle on the river; sat with an expression of ineffable disgust stamped upon his dignified countenance, gazing through the open doorway at nothing in particular. Great were the honours heaped upon him yesterday, loud was the ovation with which he had been greeted upon his return with the fragments of the Nekeapahui expedition. How his heart had swelled when old Ratatrapa, the tohunga, in the presence of the entire population, proclaimed that "He who stood before them, this young toa, who had established his claim to that proud title, and whose mana was now beyond reproach, was an example for all the young men of the tribe to emulate," and, in fact, was the beau ideal of a fighting-man. Even Matapa had to play second fiddle on this auspicious occasion.

And then, his father, the veteran Whakawaka, had embraced him, rubbed noses with him, and shed a few tears over him, SUPPLEJACK. 22 ultimately decorating him with a greenstone hetieki, or talisman, worn round the neck, a distinguished honour. And his joy was further augmented when Tarara came forth and had smiled upon him. Then had followed the feast. And Hiha in this department secured fresh honours. Indeed, he was about one of the last to retire to his whare in order to sleep away the overpowering seeling induced by his sojourn at the festive board. The evening air revived the appetites of these sons of the wilderness. And once more the succulent kumera, wild pigeons, eels, and other edibles, cooked on the hot stones in pits dug in the ground, formed side dishes to that ever popular joint, the native dog, for this animal was of a most toothsome and savoury nature, quite different to the imported modern mongrel.

Then the prisoners were brought out and disposed of; not killed, by any means, but told off to the different chiefs to act as slaves. Hiha had two of these unfortunate bondsmen presented to him, whose duties were to fetch and carry, clean his boots, if he ever had the misfortune to wear such marks of civilisa tion, and otherwise attend upon him hand and foot. If they turned rusty it was expected of him to spear them, and no questions were asked. And if, throuo-h the fortunes of war, he fell in battle, and his slaves survived, they were promptly done for, in order that they might continue their duties to their master in the happy hunting-grounds up Hawaika way. So it may be inferred from this peculiar code that there was really no termination to their bondage, once they had become indentured to their conquerors through the exigencies of war.