Through the exertions of Captain Read, all the women and children but a few, who would not leave their friends, were safely shipped for Auckland and Napier on the night of the 10th. During that day, Captain Read toiled for many hours to overtake two vessels in sight, and by his means the female part of the community were placed out of danger, and by his directions, there being no one else left to take command until Lieut. Gascoigne arrived, the redoubts were provisioned and prepared for defence from the threatened attack on the morrow. That night of the 10th will never be forgotten by the survivors of Poverty Bay. The whole plain was lit up by blazing homesteads, which illuminated the entire horizon, and enabled the pensive settlers cooped in the redoubt to trace the passage of the vessels far out to sea which were carrying away those loved ones they might see no more.
Every man who had them stood to his arms and lined the parapets that night. About half the garrison was armed, including the “friendlies.” Little dependence was placed in the native allies, as it was evident from their demeanour and language they had no stomach for fighting. Afterwards, when reinforcements arrived, they plucked up a little more courage, but, as a rule, the friendly natives of Poverty Bay took care never to expose themselves. In the subsequent fighting with Te Kooti they had little if any share, which was reserved for the Ngatikahungunu and Ngatiporou tribes.
A faint outline has thus been given of events that occurred at the massacre of Poverty Bay. Some of the deeds perpetrated cannot be even hinted at, and will never be generally known until the great day of reckoning. Of the destruction of property, it is sufficient to say the settlement of Poverty Bay, with the exception of Turanganui and four or five houses, was annihilated; even the few houses left inland were gutted of their contents. Former visitors would scarcely recognize the district; friendly natives and Europeans alike suffered; cultivations and gardens have been swept away, and, most of the fences having been destroyed, live stock have been dispersed in all directions. The fertile lands, unsurpassed by any in the colony, now lie deserted and waste; and the few survivors, huddled together as close as possible near the coast, have been forced to build a blockhouse upon the margin of the sea; and the spot upon which Turanganui stands represents as much of the Poverty Bay district as the colony can fairly call its own.
It has been shewn that this massacre was brought on by the refusal of ministers to listen to repeated warnings. They were told by Mr. M‘Lean and others what would ensue if Fraser’s force was withdrawn from the East Coast. There is good reason to believe ministers were influenced by envy of Mr. M‘Lean’s unrivalled influence with the natives, and they have proved, by the animus shewn in their later dealings with that gentleman, an exhibition of petty spite and malevolence which have never been surpassed in the annals of New Zealand.
Nor are ministers alone to blame for such a sad calamity. There can be little doubt that it was mainly owing to the representations of their creature and tool, the officer commanding the forces, that Fraser’s force was withdrawn when most wanted. Colonel Whitmore, by his arrogant, insulting demeanour, had deeply offended almost the entire population, European and native, of Poverty Bay. After his disastrous defeat at Ruakiture, the Poverty Bay settlers were the first to expose what has since been demonstrated—his utter unfitness for command; and he never forgave them or lost an opportunity of venting his petty spleen when he safely could. It is well known that previous to Ruakiture he addressed a flattering “order of the day” to those Poverty Bay settlers who accompanied him upon that disgraceful expedition, and that afterwards, in the Legislative Council, he gave them unlimited abuse.
Intelligence of the Poverty Bay massacre was received everywhere with feelings of horror for the victims, and commiseration for the unhappy survivors. The Province of Hawke’s Bay came forward with a large subscription, and immediate aid for those who were most in want of assistance; one lady, Mrs. Tiffen, raised a large sum in two or three days. Taranaki the ruined sent a beautiful and touching address of condolence, with offers of assistance. The kindness was keenly felt, though the assistance was gratefully declined—for the reason that Taranaki out of her slender means was already supporting many people who had lost their all in that province. The distant province of Otago offered homes to the survivors; and Auckland subscribed munificently. Other provinces aided in the good Samaritan work; but it must be said that Hawke’s Bay, a small province with not a numerous population, exerted herself to relieve so much distress with a benevolence and energy rarely seen; and it was natural it should be so, for the Hawke’s Bay people saw what others at a distance could not see, and reflected that the sad fate of Poverty Bay might some day become their own.
[CHAPTER VIII.]
NATIVE ALLIES — MAKERETU — COLONEL LAMBERT AND GOVERNMENT — VICTORY — PURSUIT.
A detailed account of subsequent measures taken to punish the assassins lies not within the compass of this little work. The future historian will find ample materials for the interesting task whenever it becomes desirable to use them. At present it may suffice to summarise those operations which resulted in the capture of the mountain fortress Ngatapa, and led to other massacres by Te Kooti.