The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-18 00:00:00

THE WAIRAU MASSACRE.

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(From the Southern Crops, New Zealand paper, of
the 23d of March.)

INTERVIEW BETWEEN HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR,
AND RAIJPARAUA, THE PRINCIPAL CHIEF PRESENT

AT THE WAIRAIJ MASSACRE.

On Monday, the 12th of February, his Excellency
Governor Fitzroy, accompanied by Sir Everard Home,
Captain of her Majesty's ship North Star, Major
Richmond, Mr. Commissioner Spain, Mr. Hamilton,
Mr. Forsaith, and several officers belonging to the
North Star, landed at Walkanae.
His Excellency and suite were received on shore
by the Rev. Octavius Hadfield, Messrs. Symonds and
Clarke, and a large body of natives, who, to the num-
ber of 400 and upwards, soon assembled in a large
open inclosure within the pah.
His Excellency commenced by reading the follow-
ing address :—" I salute you, chiefs and elder men.
Health to you. Peace be among you. I am 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 peo-
ple ;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 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
had 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 my heart
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 Wai-
rau, I was very angry, and thought of hastening here
with many ships of war, with many, many soldiers.
and several fire-moved ships (steamers). 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 account, and I saw how much you had been pro-
voked. Then I determined to put away my anger
and come to you peaceably. Let me now hear your
story."
Rauparaha then rose, and several voices from
among the crowd of his countrymen urged him to
speak out, that they might all hear. He said—
" There was evil intended in the commencement of
the affray. Land is the foundation of all our trou-
bles. The Europeans say it is theirs, but who says
so besides themselves? The Tory came to Port
Nicholson, and that was the commencement of
the evil. 'We heard of the sale of that place
by Warepori and Puni. Warepori was smoking
his tobacco and wearing his blankets alone ;
we never agreed to it; payment was made, but
we never received it; thus grew the seeds of evil.
Who authorised Warepori to receive his payment ?
Who authorised him to do it privately ? Why did he
not call the people together, and pay them all ? The
Tory anchored off Kapiti, Colonel Wakefield wanted
to buy all the land (here Rauparaha mentioned the
names of several places), but all which I sold was
Blind Bay and Massacre Bay. I and Tungia
sold these places, and Warepori and Puni sold
Port Nicholson. The land which I sold to
Colonel Wakefield I sold myself; I did not
consult anybody. Colonel Wakefield then went to
Taranaki, and when be returned he laid claim to all
the land ; nothing was said concerning Wairau, until
now he claims it. There was sufficient payment
made ; all I received was—(here he commenced enu-
merating articles, but was told that he need not go
into those details)." Rauparaha continued—" I wished
to enumerate them, because Col. Wakefield says the
Maories are holding back the land which I have been
paid for. Porirua also is claimed by Col. Wakefield,
but Rangihaeata will never consent to sell it.
Now I come to Wairau. Wairau was taken away
by Thompson and Wakefield (meaning Captain
Wakefield.) When we heard they were surveying
the land we went to Nelson to forbid them doing so.
We went to Captain Wakefield's house. He said,
I must have Wairau; I said, ' No.' He replied,
' I must have it.' I answered, No, you shall not
have it.' He said, If you do not give it up,
you shall be tied in this manner.' (Here Raupa-
raha, to explain his meaning of the threat held
out by Captain Wakefield, put his hands in the
position of a person handcuffed. Rangihaeata said,
I will not give up Wairau, neither will I be
taken prisoner by you.' Captain Wakefield then
said, We will shoot you." Well, what matter if you
do ? we shall lose our life, hut Wairau shall not be
taken.' After this interview at Nelson, Captain
Wakefield sent over more surveyors, amongst them
was Mr. Cotterell. We heard that the survey of the
Wairau was nearly finished ; Puaha went to tell them
to desist, but they would not. Puaha returned to
Porirua, and told us so. We then arose. The chiefs
and old men went on board a schooner, and the
young men in canoes to Cloudy Bay; we stayed at To-
tara-nui (Queen Charlotte's Sound) some time, and
then went to Wairau ; we pulled up until we saw Mr.
Cotterell ; we then brought all their goods, &c., down to
the mouth of the river. Our slaves and The Europeans
were engaged in moving the things. Then we pulled
up to the wood and saw Mr. Barnicoat; told him we
had come to fetch him. He had no boat; so
we took him and his things on board my canoe, and
conveyed them to the mouth of the river, having
burned the huts which they had erected. The Eu-
ropeans then left Wairau for Cloudy Bay, thence to
Nelson ; we were up the river planting. After this
Mr.Tuckett arrived with some people to survey ; I sent
to him and said, Come, Mr. Tuckett, you must
go !' He said, must survey the land.' I replied
• No, you shall not,' and brought him down to
the mouth of the river. I asked Mr. Barnicoat to
remain with me till the boat came for him; the boat
with Mr. Tuckett had gone to Nelson. We con-
tinued our planting, till one morning we saw the Vic-
toria (Government brig) ; then were our hearts re-
lieved, 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 busily engaged cleaning their arms and fixing the
flints of their guns. They met Puaha, and detained
him prisoner. They said,`Where are Rauparaha and
Rangihaeata? 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. A messenger had before come
to tell
me that Puaha and Rangihaeata had been
caught by the Europeans. Afterwards Puaha
and
e Rangihaeatashoul(i do. a r e dp,r 0 andsed
goingsve consultedinto
w,the
hat w
bush, but they said, No, let us remain where we
are ; whatr have we done, that we should be thus
beset ? Ihe Europeans slept some distance from us,
and after they had breakfasted, came on towards us
in two boats. We remained on the same spot, with-
out food ; we were much alarmed. Early in the morn-
ing 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 1' Our women had
kindled a fire and cooked a few potatoes that we had re-
maining, and we were hastily eating them, when they
came in sight. Cotterell called out Where is Puaha