His Excellency commenced by reading the following address:-"I salute you, chiefs and elder Health to you. Peace be among you. I am men. glad to see you. I rejoice to meet you here. I have much to say to you-many important things. I have heard of all that has been done some things good, but some very bad. When I see your Church the work of your own hands, and when I hear from your true friend, Mr. Hadfield, what progress you have made in Christian knowledge, I rejoice greatly; but when I hear of the evil that has been done by some, I can hardly believe it can have been done by the same people; so bad is it in my sight. I have heard of all that happened at the Wairau, according to the English account, and it has grieved my heart exceedingly. I now ask you to tell me your story, that I may compare the two and judge fairly. When I have heard your account of that dark day, I will reflect, and then tell you what I shall do. The bad news I have heard about killing the English so cruelly at the Wairau, after they had ceased fighting, and had trusted to your honour, has made very dark, has filled my mind with gloom. Tell me your story, that I may compare it with the English and know the whole truth. When I first heard of the death of my friends, of the English who fell at Wairau, I was very angry, and thought of hastening here with many ships of war, with many, many soldiers, and several fire-moved ships'. my heart Had I done so, your warriors would have been killed, your canoes would have been all taken and burnt, your houses and pahs would have been all destroyed, for I should have brought with me from Sydney and other places an irresistible force. But these were hasty, angry, unchristian thoughts, they soon passed away. I considered the whole case; I saw that the English had been very much to blame, even by their own 1 Steamers. account, and I saw how much you had been provoked. Then I determined to put away my anger, and come to you peaceably. Let me now hear your story. Rauparaha then rose to detail the origin of the fray. "Land," said he, "is the foundation of all our troubles." He then explained how Wairau was surveyed by Captain Wakefield and Mr. Thompson, although it had never been sold by the authority of the Chiefs, and the latter had expressly requested them to desist from their operations. He next recounted the expedition made by the Chiefs, for the purpose of removing their obnoxious visitants. Then came the crisis. All that preceded and all that relates to the melancholy conflict, we will give in the language of the Chief himself: "We continued our planting, till one morning we saw the Victoria (Government brig); then were our hearts relieved, for we imagined that Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke had come to settle the question of our lands. Being scattered about at different places on the river, we took no further notice, expecting a messenger to arrive from Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke; but a messenger came up to say that it was an army of English, and that they were engaged cleaning the arms and fixing the flints of their guns. They met Puaha, and detained him prisoner. They said, 'Where are Rauparaha and Rangihaeta?' Puaha said, 'Up the river.' They answered, 'Let us go.' Puaha was glad to hear them say this, as he was afraid they would kill him. He afterwards watched his opportunity, and ran away and came to us. Α messenger had before come to tell me that Puaha and Rangihaeata had been caught by the Europeans. Afterwards Puaha and Rangihaeta arrived, and we consulted what we should do. I proposed going into the bush, but they said no; No, let us remain where we are; what have we done, that we should The Europeans slept some distance be thus beset?' 6 from us, and after they had breakfasted, came on towards us in two boats. We remained on the same spot, without food; we were much alarmed. Early in the morning we were on the look-out, and one of our scouts, who caught sight of them coming round a point, called out, 'Here they come, here they come!' Our women had kindled a fire and cooked a few potatoes that we had remaining, and we were hastily eating them, when they came in sight. Cotterell 6 called out, Where is Puaha ?' Puaha answered. 'Here I am, come here to me.' They said again, 'Where is Puaha?' Puaha again saluted them. Cotterell then said, 'Where is a canoe for us to cross?' (Rauparaha here described the manner of their sitting down, some one side, some on the other.) Thompson, Wakefield, and some other gentlemen, crossed over to us with a constable to take me, but the greater number stopped on the other side of the creek. Thompson said, 'Where is Rauparaha?' I answered 'Here.' 'Come, you must come with me.' I replied, Where?' He said, 'On board the ship.' I replied, What for?' He answered, 'To talk about the houses you burned down.' I said, 'What house was it I burned? Was it a tent belonging to you, that you make so much ado about it? You know it was not; it was nothing but a hut of rushes; the materials were cut from my own ground; therefore I will not go aboard, neither will I be bound; if you are angry about the land, let us talk it quietly over; I care not if we talk till night and all to-morrow, I will settle the question about the land.' Mr. Thompson said, ' Will you not go?' I said 'No,' and Rangihaeata, who had been called for and who had been speaking, said so too. Mr. Thompson then called for the handcuffs, and held up the warrant, saying, 'See, this is the Queen's authority, Rauparaha.' I said, 'I will not listen either to you, or to your book.' He was in a great passion; his eyes rolled about, and he stamped his foot. I said, 'I had rather be 66 killed than submit to be bound.' He then called for the constable, who began opening the handcuffs and to advance towards me. Mr. Thompson laid hold of my hand. I pushed him away, saying, · What are you doing that for?' Mr. Thompson then called out, Fire!' he called out once, and then Thompson and Wakefield called out together 'Fire.'"-On being asked which of the gentlemen it was who gave the command to fire, Rauparaha answered, Thompson gave the word of command, but Wakefield recommended him to do so. The Europeans began to cross over the creek, and as they were crossing they fired one gun. The women and children were sitting round the fire. We called out, • We shall be shot.' After this one gun they fired a volley, and one of us was killed, then another, and three were wounded. We were then closing fast. The English guns were levelled at us. (Here he described by comparison the distance between the contending parties.) I and Puaha cried out, Friends, stand up and shoot some of them in payment.' We were frightened, because they were very close; we then fired, and three of the Europeans fell. They fired again, and killed Rongo, the wife of Rangihaeata. We then bent all our energy to the fight, and the Europeans began to fly. They all ran away, firing as they retreated. The gentlemen ran too. We pursued them, and killed them as we overtook them. Captain Wakefield and Mr. Thompson were brought by the slaves who caught them to me. Rangihaeta came running to me, crying out, 'What are you doing? Your daughter is dead. What are you doing, I say?' Upon which some heathen slaves killed them. (Rauparaha here particularly mentioned that those who killed the prisoners were, to use his own literal expression, devils, not missionaries, meaning heathen natives, at the instigation of Rangihaeata, neither Puaha nor the Christian natives being present.) There was no time elapsed between the fight missionaries, the protectors, and officers of Government, I now bid you farewell, and wish you all health, and the blessing of GOD." If the language here used by the Governor of New Zealand may be understood to illustrate his plan of administering the affairs of the colony, we think that both English and native subjects are to be congratulated on their good fortune; for had these principles been promulgated and enforced by men of station and authority in our older colonies, how many acts of injustice, rapine, and murder would the historian have been spared from recording!-Times. SINCE life's best joys consist in peace and ease, Beyond all flattery, and all price above; The taunting word suppress'd as soon as thought'; Hannah More. What! dost thou shrink from a cross laid upon thee, not by this or that person, but sent from thy Father who is in heaven? (Spiritual Combat.) 1 The sentiment is here better than the rhyme. |