Henare was very much interested in the changes he noticed, changes in manners, dress and houses. In two days they passed through three different countries, viz., France, Belgium and Germany. page 74Īfter leaving England they spent their first night at Brussels and their second at Cologne. Of course, the two young men were both educated and in looks there is no other word to describe them than handsome. They stayed at the best of hotels and travelled first-class. Henare said in his letters that the man doted on them, and treated them as though they were his own sons. The gentleman had previously taken Terei on a visit to Paris. The red-letter day for Henare and his cousin, Terei Ngatai, came when a wealthy English gentleman proposed to them to accompany him on a trip to Europe and an excursion on the River Rhine. The Maoris proved a perpetual centre of interest to hundreds of visitors. It was at first suggested by the Home authorities that all native troops should be in a different camp from that used by the white troops. Henare enjoyed everything he saw: Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, receptions, etc., etc., but he wrote home most enthusiastically of their visit to the estate of the Duke of Westminster. This made the Maoris very popular wherever they went in England and Scotland. He turned out to be a very useful member of the contingent, for he was able to train a team of wardancers and to lead them in their performances. When a New Zealand contingent was sent to the Coronation of King Edward VII, in 1902, Henare was included in the Maori section. For this gallant deed Henare was presented with the bronze medal of the Royal Humane Society. Fortunately the Maori had swum out and was just in time to hold up the exhausted man and to help him ashore. Bertie could not hang on any longer, and he slipped into the water. Before the man lost his hold Henare had decided to go out to lend him a helping hand and bring him ashore. One after another they were washed off and drowned, with the exception of one, named Bertie. A crew of five for hours clung to the keel. The little vessel leaked badly, and when it reached East Cape it turned over. Before it reached Gisborne it met with a southerly gale, and Captain Bonner was left with no choice but to run before the wind.

This was temporarily patched up and the scow left for Gisborne. After the timber had been discharged it was found that the vessel had sustained damage to her hull. Captain Bonner, in order to facilitate the discharging of a load of timber at Tokomaru Bay, had run his little vessel on the beach.

It was during their residence at East Cape that the scow Whakapai came to grief in the passage between the mainlandĪnd East Island. My brothers, Poihipi, Henare and Tawhai, followed later. Here my mother found shelter for a few years until my sister, Kuata, and her husband later followed her and erected a temporary home. It was left to the loyal chief, Wikiriwhi Matauru, relative of her long-dead aunt Wikitoria, to take her in. There was not one of her people then living to give her a welcome or to offer her a home. The boys were all educated at Te Aute College, and my sister had only two years at Hukarere.Īfter the death of my grandfather in 1894 my mother felt that the last tie to my father's family was snapped, and she returned to her old home at Pakihi, East Cape. Jones dismissed our claim, and for over 35 years I have unsuccessfully striven to recover our heritage and three burial grounds.) There were five of us in our own family, four boys and one girl, I being the eldest.

(Strange to relate, in 1913 my people put in a claim before the Native Land Court for that portion of the Kautuku block, but Judge R. He died at Te Araroa in 1887, but his body was carried to Kautuku, in the Waiapu Valley, where it was buried. At any rate, members of the tribe helped themselves to the cattle. When my father died he left behind large herds of cattle, which, although he did not formally do so, he left to the whole of the local sub-tribe. He was, however, exceedingly popular, especially during our long residence at Kawakawa (the name of which for postal reasons was changed to Te Araroa). My father must have been old enough to have carried a gun when the Hauhau war on the East Coast broke out in 1865, but I never remember hearing him refer to it. Some were born at Kamiti and others at Waioratane, both places being in Kautuku, or Marangairoa 1 D. My Father, Hone Hiki, was the eldest of a large family, of whom, besides my father, I saw only five- four uncles and one aunt.

Point blank mokena