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

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, 70u 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 to make a tie Raupa-
raha.' 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 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 I' 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 Wake-
fidd 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 chil-
dren 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 Rangiha-
eata. 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 over-
took them. Captain Wakefield and Mr. Thomp-
son were caught by the slaves, who brought
them to me. Rangihaeata came running to me,
crying out, ' What are you doing ? Your daugh-
ter 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 and the slaughter of the
prisoners. When the prisoners were killed the rest
of our people were still engaged in the pursuit ;
when we arrived at the top of the hill, Mr. Cotterell
held up a flag, and said, That is enough, stop fight-
ing.' Mr. Thompson said to me, Rauparaha, spare
my life !' I answered, A little while ago I wished
to talk to you in a friendly manner, and you would
not, now you say save me. I will not save you.'
Rauparaha continued, It is not our custom to save
the chiefs of our enemies ; we do not consider our
victory complete, unless we kill the chiefs of our op-
ponents ; our passions were much roused, and we could
not help killing the chief.'"
Rauparaha then sat down. His Excellency the
Governor said—" I thank you for the relation you
have given me. I shall now calmly consider the
whole matter, and give my decision in a short time."
After a silence of about half an hour, his Excel-
lency rose and addressed the natives as follows :
" Now I have heard both sides ; I have reflected on
both accounts, and I am prepared to give my deci-
sion. I, the representative of the Queen of England,
the Governor of New Zealand, have made my decision,
and it is this :—Hearken, 0 chiefs and elder men,
to my decision :—ln the first place, the English were
wrong; they had no right to build houses upon lands
to which they had not established their claim—upon
land the sale of which you disputed, on which Mr.
Spain had not decided. They were wrong in trying
to apprehend you, who had committed no crime.
They were wrong in marking and measuring your
land in opposition to your repeated refusals to
allow them to do so, until the Commissioner had
decided on their claim. Had you been English-
men you would have known that it was wrong
to resist a magistrate under any circumstances,
but not understanding English law, your case wa,
different. Had this been all, had a struggle caused
loss of life in the fight, wrong and bad as it would
have been in the sight of God, I could not have
blamed you so much as the English. The very bad
part of the Wairau affair, that part where you were
so very wrong, was the killing men who had sur-
rendered, who trusted to your honour as chiefs.
Englishmen never kill their prisoners ; English-
men never kill men who have surrendered. It is the
shocking death of those unfortunate men that has,
filled my mind with gloom ; that has made my heart
so dark—that has filled me with sorrow. But I
know how difficult it is to restrain angry men when
their passions are roused. I know that you repent
of your conduct, and are now sorry that those men
were killed. As the English were very greatly to
blame, and as they brought on and began the fight,
and as you were hurried into crime by their miscon-
duct, I will not avenge their death. In future let us
dwell peaceably without distrust. I have told you
my decision, and my word is sacred. I will punish
the English if they attempt to do what is unjust or
wrong. Your chiefs must help me to prevent
the natives from doing wrong, so that we may
live happily in peace, helping and doing good to one
another, no man injuring or encroaching on his
neighbour, but buying and selling freely as each
may desire, with the consent of the other, but not
uo willingly. By such measures, we shall receive
mutual advantages. The natives must not interfere
with Englishmen who have settled on land fairly
purchased ; the English shall not encroach upon
land which
„the natives have not fairly sold. , No
path, nor dultWation, nor burying:ground, shall be
taken ex encroached upon, by any Englishman, except
by the general desire of the natives to whom it belongs.
Where there is any mistake or doubt about boun-
daries of purchase, appeal must be made to the law.
The law will see justice done, and I will be respon-
sible for its execution by properly qualified persons.
Recommending you to the advice of your best
friends, the missionaries, the protectors, and officers
of Government, I now bid you farewell, and wish
you all health, and the blessing of God."