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RECORDS of the AUCKLAND INSTITUTE AND MUSEUM
Volume 33
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND 1996
Editors B.J. GILL and N.J. PRICKETT
ISSN 0067-0464 RECORDS OF THE AUCKLAND INSTITUTE AND MUSEUM Vol. 33
Published by Order of the Council
T.L.R. WILSON, Director
[Vol. 32, 1995, was published on 14 February 1996]
© Auckland Institute and Museum Private Bag 92018, Auckland 1, New Zealand
Printed by Uniprint, Auckland
RECORDS OF THE AUCKLAND INSTITUTE AND MUSEUM
VOLUME 33 CONTENTS ARCHAEOLOGY Page British Army and colonial fortifications in north Taranaki, 1863-64 TSIEN Glo DS 25 Og A a ANCL: PE WO Re Mente MMe Pa AB eo l BOTANY T.F. Cheeseman’s diary of a botanical visit to Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 1899 eG Game Re SVK Bie tacagacescuzzs cat stan soeev gee VEE ees SEIS 53 ETHNOLOGY Carved entrances of Maori semi-subterranean storehouses PORE SAMS ae ele al pat Nese Ataercaakiraep ers he nad Min valve ALP Nt hme hie 719 New Zealand Maori barkcloth and barkcloth beaters | Sofie) sj 2s hake Pg Rie de LE ceed or ont barre Me i er a 111 PALAEONTOLOGY
A new species of Haliotis (Mollusca) from the Early Miocene basal Waitemata beds, Rodney district, North Auckland iN lel Gee ate Ci: SARC MEMENTO T eer MBC Rts RN MMT R YON TE em rk 159
ZOOLOGY
Seven new species of Climocella (Gastropoda: Punctoidea: Charopidae) from northern New Zealand SORES SCL TAIN oa 5. aes. csa laces are glue ees az gaps Rae eee en eee ee LS
Scutuloidea kutu, a new species of Sphaeromatidae (Isopoda: Crustacea) from New Zealand A.D? S LEPHENSON anddiE ~ RAE Y” co. tacecnseusteeeh tian nat sec ecneceser eee 195
BRITISH ARMY AND COLONIAL FORTIFICATIONS IN NORTH TARANAKI, 1863-64
NIGEL PRICKETT
Abstract. British Army and colonial fortifications in north Taranaki in the years after 1863 tell directly of the course and success of European military strategy in the region. The purpose of most fortifications of the period was to defend the expanding frontier of settlement, and give security to farmers who were returning to their farms or taking up confiscated land. The taking of Maori land and its settlement by men who enlisted for service in the province as Taranaki Military Settlers achieved the Pakeha objective of more land, and at the same time denied Maori the means of continuing the struggle. Twenty—one redoubts, stockades and blockhouses of the years 1863-64 are described in historical narrative order.
The March 1861 truce at the end of the First Taranaki War saw Maori forces in possession of 4000 acres of European farmland at Tataraimaka, while British troops held land at Waitara for which Pakeha had gone to war. A British Army garrison made up of detachments of the 57th Regiment stayed on in the isolated west coast province, supported by local militia and volunteer corps. The issues over which the war was fought were, however, quite unresolved. For European settlers — and Maori — everything revolved around the question of land.
The Second Taranaki War was initiated by Governor George Grey in autumn 1863, to resolve loose ends of the earlier campaign, and protect New Plymouth against a perceived threat from southern tribes. Grey wished to extricate himself from Waitara, but at the same time, to maintain good relations with the settler community, he determined to reoccupy Tataraimaka. When he sent troops back to the southern block before giving up Waitara a party of soldiers was ambushed by Maori on the beach road to the outlying district, and so fighting began in Taranaki which was to continue intermittently for several years.
The reoccupation of Tataraimaka took place in April 1863, three months before British troops crossed the Mangatawhiri River to begin the decisive Waikato War. The Second Taranaki War thus took place at the same time as the Waikato campaign which ended at Orakau in April 1864, also the Tauranga Campaign of 1864, the Wanganui campaigns of 1865 and 1866, and fighting on the East Coast in 1865. In Taranaki the fighting which began with Grey’s move of autumn 1863 drifted to a close in spring 1866 in bush country near Opunake.
Whereas the 1860-61 campaign arose out of particular and limited settler ambition, the Second Taranaki War of 1863-66 became the instrument of a deliberate policy of expansion of European settlement according to the New Zealand Settlements Act. This November 1863 legislation of the settler parliament allowed confiscation of the whole of any district where a “considerable number” of Maoris were in rebellion against the Crown. The war in Taranaki was fought not just to bring about the defeat of Maori forces but to secure land for European settlement — and by taking their land, destroy any ability of Maori to continue the unequal struggle.
Most of the fortifications introduced in the following pages were frontier posts located to secure confiscated land for European settlement (Fig. 1). Other posts protected lines of communication north and south of New Plymouth. All were strategic in nature, unlike the tactical works of the 1860-61 campaign (Prickett 1994a). The works are presented in chronological order, which serves also to outline the course of campaigning. It is planned to
Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus. 33: 1-51 1996
2. PRICKETT
deal in a later publication with fortifications of the period 1865—69. Map references and New Zealand Archaeological Association site record numbers for all sites are given in Appendix I.
OPENING MOVES
ST PATRICK’S (POUTOKO) REDOUBT
Renewed fighting in Taranaki dates from autumn 1863. On 6 April Lieutenant General Cameron reported to the War Office in London as follows:
“T have the honour to inform that on the 2nd March I proceeded to New Plymouth in H.M.S. “Harrier,” in company with his Excellency Sir George Grey, with the view of taking measures for the protection of the Settlement against the Taranaki and Ngatiranni [sic, Ngati Ruanui] tribes, whose continued hostility since the war has prevented the settlers from returning to their farms, except in the immediate vicinity of the town.”
(War Office 0270.11) & Engagements @ Redoubt #@ Blockhouse @ Stockade % (9) 10 km ~% a e Mahoetahi > Stockade > 3 @ Sentry Hil! = 5 Redoubt 4 No 6 Redoubt Sugar Loaf Is , : Piveistcnts genet N o New Plymouth
(Marsland Hill & Blockhouse in use as barracks}¢
Mataitawa St. Patrick's Redoubt Redoubt & Blockhouse Fort Robert @
& St Andrew's Redoubt : a ee yaaa nw 4 May 1863 X%, \Pahitere ~Rlockhouse * S 3tG : Redoub Spe Dicto ber s = St George Timaru Re BEBE & = Redoubt c ® = 3 Rosia Cy a & uy > & > SJ FOU < 4 é e = ¥, a Pa : 5 § e é “ & a >
eae 3C00 Pouakai ange
Fig. 1. North Taranaki showing sites and localities given in text.
FORTIFICATIONS 3
The first movement in what was to be a protracted conflict was the establishment of a large redoubt within the southern boundary of the Omata Block. While the 1860 Waireka Camp (see Prickett 1994:41-43) was situated on the northern flank of the high ground extending here to the coast, and so overlooked country back to New Plymouth, the new work was high on the south side of the ridge and overlooked a wide area south and west. Except for the outlying Tataraimaka Block this country was in Maori ownership at the beginning of the decade. The new redoubt symbolises nicely the outward thrust of European ambition and strategy in Taranaki’s second war.
“On Thursday Morning [March 12] at 8.30 o’clock, 300 of the 57th Regt. under Colonel Warre, C.B, Captains Woodall, and Gorton, Lieuts. Brutton, Thompson, Tragett, and Waller, Adjutant Clarke, and Asst. Surgeon Hope, together with Lieut. Ferguson and a detachment of the Royal Engineers, paraded under Mt Eliot and marched off by the Great South Road towards Omata, preceded by several carts laden with baggage and camp equipage in charge of Lieut. Cox, 57th Regt. His Excellency Sir George Grey, General Cameron, and suite, followed. The troops reached Waireka at 10 o’clock and encamped on Wilkinson’s farm, near the southern boundary of the Omata block, where a stockade is to be erected.” (Taranaki Herald 14 Mar 1863)
The redoubt was completed and occupied on March 20 (Taranaki Herald 21 Mar 1863: Warre 1878:166 says the 24th). It was called ‘St Patrick’ s Redoubt’, or ‘Poutoko’ after a small Maori settlement on high ground seaward of today’s Plymouth Road. On | April it was occupied by seven officers and 220 non-commissioned officers and men, 57th Regiment (War Office 0270.1: App. V). It was the first redoubt built under the supervision of Lieutenant Charles Ferguson R.E. who was later responsible for the design and construction of many Taranaki works.
Throughout 1863 St Patrick’s Redoubt was occupied by troops of the 57th and 70th Regiments and briefly, during the absence of the 57th at Katikara River early in June, by the 40th (War Office 0270.1:35—36). When the 70th were sent to the Waikato in spring, nearby St Andrew’s Redoubt (see below) was abandoned, its 57th Regiment garrison replacing the 70th at St Patrick’s Redoubt (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 28 Aug 1863).
On 2 October 1863 a Maori force approached St Patrick’s Redoubt from Kaitake and a fight took place at Allen’s Hill 1.5 km south (see AJHR 1863 E-5:40-43). The troops soon pulled back from the bush edge held by the enemy. Ensign Down and Drummer Stagpoole, both of the 57th, won Victoria Crosses for bringing out a wounded soldier under heavy fire. Antonio Rodriguez of the Taranaki Mounted Volunteers gained the rare New Zealand Cross. At this time the redoubt was under the command of Captain A.B. Wright, 70th. After the fight Fort Robert was established not far from St Patrick’ s Redoubt to provide support (see below).
At the end of 1863 there were 150 militia at St Patrick’s as well as troops (NP Garrison Office Letter Book 22 Dec 1863). The garrison and volunteer force at Fort Robert were under command of the senior regular officer at St Patrick’s —in January 1864, Captain Shortt, 57th (NP Garrison Office Letter Book 20 Jan 1864). When Oakura was reoccupied in early March 1864 the troops abandoned St Patrick’s to 100 militia under Captain Carthew (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 2 Mar 1864). On 1 August 1864 the post was still held by 250 local men (Taranaki Militia and Volunteers Letter Book 1 Aug 1864),
St Patrick’s Redoubt was less important with an end to the threat from Maori positions in the Kaitake Ranges in March 1864 and the establishment of military posts further south. In spring 1864 Poutoko Blockhouse (see below) was built nearby to replace the old redoubt, one face of which was thrown down at the time.
4 PRICKETT
A watercolour by Colonel Warre shows the troops’ camp during construction of the redoubt (Fig 2.). There are also pictures by Warre of the palisaded Maori kainga ‘Poutoko’, situated on high ground just outside the Omata Block boundary.
St Patrick’s Redoubt was situated within the major bend of South Road between Hurford and Plymouth Roads. It shows up well on an aerial photograph taken in August 1950 (Fig. 3). Atthis stage the work was still largely intact, although the west and east parapets had sustained damage. The signs of soldiers’ huts can be seen, dug into the south facing slopes of the gully behind the redoubt. Photographs of the earthworks taken in the 1950s by Omata resident Len Jury are also an important record (Figs 4 and 5). The redoubt was completely destroyed when the present house was built on the site in the late 1950s.
From the aerial photograph St Patrick’s can be established as an off—square work, ca 42 x 50m, with flanking defence on all four corners in the so-called “New Zealand style’ (Young 1869:12). The entrance was through the north-east side (Fig. 6).
ST GEORGE’S (TATARAIMAKA) REDOUBT After the establishment of St Patrick’s Redoubt Cameron went back to Auckland for
reinforcements, which were to include 400 of the 65th and 70th Regiments, and Captain Mercer’s Royal Artillery battery of 100 men who were given horses to make up a mounted
Fig. 2. Colonel H.J. Warre “Camp at Poutoko” (Hocken Library, Dunedin), showing the troops’ encampment during construction of St Patrick’s Redoubt, April 1863.
FORTIFICATIONS 5
Fig. 3. Aerial view of St Patrick’s Redoubt, 14 August 1950 (NZ Aerial Mapping 1787/5).
force and equipped with swords, revolvers and carbines. Cameron then returned to Taranaki, to reoccupy Tataraimaka — which he had first proposed in 1861 but which had since been claimed by Taranaki and Ngati Ruanui “...as belonging to them by right of conquest” (WO
0270.11). The troops returned to Tataraimaka on 4 April 1863.
“The force consisted of 200 men of the 57th, under Colonel Warre, C.B., Capt. Woodall, Lieuts. Brutton, Thompson, Tragett, Cox, Waller, Lieut. and Adjut. Clarke, and Asst.— Surgeon Hope; also 100 Royal Artillery as a mounted corps, with two guns, under Capt. Mercer, R.A., and Lieuts. Rait and Pickard, R.A., together with 6 of the Royal Engineers, under Major Mould, R.E. His Excellency the Governor, Lieut.— General Cameron, C.B., and Staff, the hon. Mr. Domett, Colonial Secretary, the hon. Mr. Bell, Native Minister, and Mr. Parris, Asst. Native Secretary, and suite, arrived from town at the redoubt [St Patrick’s] at 9.30, and soon after their arrival the force moved southwards; the detachment of the 70th, under Major Mulock, from Mace’s farm occupying the redoubt vacated by the 57th.” (Taranaki Herald 1\\ Apr 1863)
6 PRICKETT
g 7 j
Fig. 4. View across the interior of St Patrick’s Redoubt to north, taken in the 1950s by Len
Jury, Omata.
photograph by Len Jury,
Fig. 5. St Patrick’s Redoubt defensive ditch, north-east side, 1950s Omata.
FORTIFICATIONS 7
N
Figs 6-7. Redoubt plans. 6. St Patrick’s Redoubt drawn from the 1950 aerial photograph. 7. St George’s Redoubt.
The undefended camp at Mace’s farm was located at Whaler’s Gate near the corner of Barrett and Omata Roads. It was occupied briefly before the advance on Tataraimaka.
On the night of the 4th the force camped on MacDonald’s farm, Tataraimaka, between Greenwood and Lower Timaru Roads. The following day the troops moved on to Bayly’s farm at the seaward end of Pitone Road where work began on a new redoubt. Two hundred men completed 268 yards of parapet in four days. The work was completed and occupied on the morning of the 13th (War Office 0270.1: App. V). By 18 April only the 57th remained at Tataraimaka.
“At Tataraimaka, the 57th have completed the redoubt on Bayly’s farm, (named St. George’s Redoubt) and have constructed another on the site of an old Maori pa, which is called Mount Tataraimaka, — a strong natural position on a small promontory which commands the first named redoubt. The utmost vigilance is maintained at these redoubts, now under the command of Major Logan, 57th Regiment, recently from Wanganui.”
(Taranaki Herald 18 Apr 1863)
On4 May 1863 a party of soldiers travelling from St George’ s Redoubt to New Plymouth was attacked by Maori on the Oakura Beach near the mouth of Wairau Stream (Cowan 1922— 23 I:216-218). Only one man escaped the ambush which contemporary reports refer to as the ‘Hope-Tragett Ambush’ (after the two officers killed) or, curiously enough, the “Wairau Massacre’ (Taranaki Herald 16 May 1863). This was the first engagement of the Second Taranaki War. Grey’s tardiness in giving up the Waitara was reaping its reward. To make safe the road St Andrew’s Redoubt was thrown up overlooking the north end of Oakura Beach.
& PRICKETT
On 4 June the 57th at St George’s Redoubt were joined by troops of the 65th and 70th Regiments and Royal Artillery for an attack on Porou, a fortified pa on the terrace country south of Katikara River. Cameron was in command, and Governor Grey watched from the Eclipse anchored offshore. The Taranaki and allied forces were driven from their position losing 28 dead (see AJHR 1863 E—S:1—5 for the reports). The pa was located on a slight but commanding mound where in the 1970s infilled earthworks could be traced over an area ca 50 x 50 m (map reference P19 863287). A lively sketch of the attack on the pa is to be found on page 75 in the Warre Sketchbook, Hocken Library.
When troops were shifted to Auckland in winter for the Waikato campaign only the 57th and one company of the 70th remained in Taranaki. It was decided therefore that St George’ s Redoubt would be given up. This was carried out the last day of June. Everything of value was brought away or burnt, and the redoubt left standing (Taranaki Herald 4 Jul 1863). It was to be 18 months before European forces returned to Tataraimaka.
In March 1864 Colonel Warre visited the abandoned redoubt in the course of operations against Maori positions on the flanks of the Kaitake Ranges.
“On Tuesday the 22nd after having destroyed the Tutu pah I visited St Georges Redoubt which remains in nearly the same state as when evacuated by the troops in July last. The Maoris not having taken the Trouble to destroy the Parapets or even the Stockade facing the
99
sea. (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 1 Apr 1864)
On 18 April 1864 150 of the 57th, together with mounted men and Bushrangers, Volunteers and Military Settlers, 500 men in all, under command of Major Butler, 57th, marched south from New Plymouth. On the 1 9th they reached St George’ s Redoubt where 100 men were left, made up of Captain Schomberg with some of the 57th and Captain Brassey’s military settlers (Taranaki Herald 23 Apr 1864). The main force went on to destroy Maori property south of Stoney River, returning to Tataraimaka on the evening of the 20th. Next day the force returned to town and the post was again left empty.
St George’ s Redoubt was reoccupied for the last time at the end of 1864. On 28 November Colonel Warre wrote the the Deputy Quarter Master General, Auckland,
“Thave the honour to report for the information of the Lieut General Comg that Tataramaika
was reoccupied by a detach 43rd L. Infy under Major Colvile 43 L.I. on the 24th inst. The
Redoubt was partially destroyed, but a few days work will restore it to its former state .” (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book)
The 43rd detachment was 285 strong, including 250 rank and file.
The redoubt lost importance as the war moved south. In January 1865 much of the garrison marched forward to the Stoney River frontier (Taranaki Herald 28 Jan 1865). A month later the garrison was down to | 14 of the 43rd (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 18 Feb 1865). On 31 May 1865 there remained just 52 of the 43rd, 19 Military Settlers and 15 Taranaki Militia (AJHR 1865 A—5:63—64). In October the 43rd at Tataraimaka were reduced to one sergeant, one bugler and 17 rank and file (NP Garrison Order Book 25 Oct 1865). The redoubt was finally abandoned on 18 April 1866 (NP Garrison Order Book 17 April 1866).
St George’s Redoubt was situated on the seaward terrace edge south of Lower Pitone Road, where a notice draws attention to the redoubt and the common grave of Maori killed on 4 June 1863. The notice names ‘Fort St George’, a term not used at the time. The summit
FORTIFICATIONS 9
For cultural reasons, this image has been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 8. G.W. Norbury, ‘The Fight of Kaitake, one Mile South of Tataraimaka. 4th June 1863’
(Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington). In the left foreground are tents, signal mast and
defensive parapet of the “‘Crow’s Nest’ on top of Tataraimaka pa. In St George’s Redoubt three
rows of tents leave a clear area behind the forward (far) parapet. Outside smoke rises from a
cookhouse. Troops are advancing on the pa— on the skyline right of the flagpole. The Eclipse 1s oftshore. The artist was a soldier in the 70th Regiment.
of nearby Tataraimaka pa which was used as a military signal station 1s still known by the soldiers’ name — the “Crows Nest’.
A watercolour by G.W. Norbury, 70th Regiment, shows the attack of June 1863 from the ‘Crows Nest’ with the redoubt in the foreground (Fig. 8). The work is of typical rectangular plan with flanking defence at each corner to cover all sides. It is also pictured in a watercolour by Robert Greenwood, held in the Taranaki Museum (Fig. 9). Neither picture confirms Colonel Warre’s “stockade facing the sea”, which may date from after the sketches were made.
The redoubt lies outside the present reserve, on the other side of a boxthorn hedge (Fig. 10). Although largely destroyed by cultivation over the years, historical and archaeological information combine to give its shape and size. Colonel Gamble says the parapet was 268 yards (245 m) in length (War Office 0270 .[). Archaeological evidence indicates a work approximately 60 m square with signs of flanking defence on the inland angles, and at the south—west corner covering the seaward face (Fig. 7). The latter angle, close to the steep scarp to the sea, is supported by beach boulders which may still be seen. The fourth angle, visible in the Norbury picture, is now beneath the hedge.
10 PRICKETT
Fig. 9. St George’s Redoubt and ‘Crow’s Nest’. (Robert Greenwood, Taranaki Museum, New Plymouth).
There is a suggestion that the seaward face was originally unflanked. Colonel Gamble writes,
“A small work for thirty men was also thrown up on a cliff overhanging the sea, and partly commanding the redoubt, of which it partly enfilades the sea face, the only one left unflanked
in the construction of the work.” (War Office 0270.1: App. V)
The Greenwood sketch offers difficult confirmation of this point. The Norbury picture, however, shows that one month after its establishment the redoubt is fully flanked. Excavation
might throw light on these alterations. The earth breastwork which surrounded the signal station is no longer visible, the
platform on top of the old pa offers no surface indication of its military use. Two tents, a signal mast and breastwork are shown at bottom left in the Norbury picture, and can also be seen in
the Greenwood watercolour.
ST ANDREW’S (OAKURA) REDOUBT
Work on St Andrew’s Redoubt began on 5 May 1863, the day after the ambush on Oakura Beach. The new work was located on the high terrace north of the Oakura River mouth,
FORTIFICATIONS | |
Fig. 10. A 1975 aerial photograph reveals the ploughed remains of St George’s Redoubt. On the headland are the remains of Tataraimaka pa and the ‘Crow’s Nest’ signal station.
overlooking the scene of the ambush. Soldiers of the 57th and 70th were employed, under the command of Major Logan, 57th. The redoubt was completed in about a week (Taranaki Herald 8 and 16 May 1863).
St Andrew’s Redoubt was occupied at the end of May by 150 of the 57th (War Office 0270.1:33), reinforced by 50 of the 70th on | June (War Office 0270.1:36), and a further 50 of the same regiment on 9 June (War Office 0270.1:39). The redoubt was abandoned when the 70th were transferred to Waikato in August.
“On the 11 August the Troops were withdrawn from the Oakura Redoubt at noon, the whole of the stores, Camp Equipage, Ammunition, Signal mast, and Howitzer being removed to
Poutoko by the carts in Two trips.” (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 16 Aug 1863)
12 PRICKETT
On 15 September 1863 troops from Poutoko made use of the abandoned redoubt in carrying out an ambush nearby, Captain Russell leaving a small part of his force there to secure his return (GBPP [3277]:77). In October about 60 Maori were reported to be pulling down the unoccupied earthwork (GBPP [3277]:91).
St Andrew’s Redoubt was reoccupied on | March 1864, after the death of a Mr Pattison at the hands of Maori from the Kaitake Ranges two days before. But Colonel Warre had already been planning the move, for reasons similar to his occupation of Mahoetahi and Sentry Hill shortly before (AD1, 64/363). Although most European forces were committed in the Waikato, resources for an aggressive policy were again becoming available in Taranaki, in particular the increasing numbers of Taranaki Military Settlers. Warre wanted these men established in quarters before winter, out of New Plymouth which had been a “...pandemo- nium of Drunkenness since their arrival” (AD1, 64/1058).
A 2 March 1864 letter from Warre to the Deputy Quarter Master General, Auckland, outlines the disposition of troops in Taranaki at this time.
“In reference to my letter of the 29th Ultimo [February] I have the honor to report for the
information of the Lieut General Commg. that in Consequence of the murder of Mr Pattison
I have re—occupied the old position at Oakura— & the Troops and Militia are now employed
in rebuilding the Redoubt which had been partially destroyed by the Rebel Maoris, who made
no attempt at opposing the advance of the Troops
Oakura About 100 of the 57th under Capt Lloyd
About 150 Mily Settlers under Capt Page
Fort Robert and 120 Militia under
Parhetiri [sic] on Capt. Corbett
the Tapuae River
Poutoko— 100 Militia under Capt Carthew
Omata— 80 Militia under Capt McKellar
The remainder of the Militia and Military Settlers occupy the Blockhouses surrounding the
Town — the Town itself — and about 60 at Bell Block Stockade.
Captain Shortt’s Company 57th Regiment occupies Sentry Hill with about the same number
of men (60) under Lieut Mills at Mahoitahi [sic] under Canvas and in the Blockhouse,” (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book)
St Andrew’s Redoubt became the central forward post for the southern front until the further advance of summer 1864—65. Colonel Warre, in a letter to the Defence Minister, Auckland, dated 27 April 1864, writes,
“It is proposed to establish a Central Depot at Oakura (St Andrew’s Redoubt) where (100) one hundred regular Infantry are stationed for the supply of all posts south of the Tapuae River — and at the St Andrews Redoubt should be established a Militia Field Hospital, Field Magazine and Stores for the supply of such articles as must be required and which it is difficult to convey during the Winter Mos.”
(NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book)
In May work was begun on barrack buildings at the post, which were probably completed about the end of July (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 13 Jul 1964). A signal station was established on 26 March after Kaitake pa was taken in the ranges overlooking the redoubt (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 3 Apr 1864),
On 31 May 1865 the garrison at St Andrew’s Redoubt was made up of three Royal Artillery, one captain, one subaltern, two sergeants and 27 rank and file, 43rd Light Infantry,
FORTIFICATIONS 13
15 rank and file, Commissariat and Transport Corps, and one man each from the 57th and 70th Regiments, a total of 67 (AJHR 1865 A—5:63-—64). By October there was only one sergeant, a bugler and 17 rank and file, 43rd (NP Garrison Order Book 25 Oct 1865). The position was finally abandoned when the 50th Regiment garrison marched forward to Stoney River on 6 December 1866 (NP Garrison Order Book 5 Dec 1866).
Two informative photographs of St Andrew’ s are to be found in Volume 2 of the Nicholl Albums, held in the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington (Figs 11 and 12). Lieutenant Spencer Nicholl, served in New Zealand with the 43rd Light Infantry, was wounded at Gate Pa, and was in Taranaki in the summer of 1864—65. The pictures were taken in December 1864 or early 1865, after blockhouses were put up at the redoubt. The 43rd is in residence.
A lithograph of the redoubt in Colonel Alexander’s Bush Fighting (1873:opp. p. 26) is based on an original sketch by Colonel Warre — dated prior to March 1864 as Kaitake is still in Maori hands. In the Warre Sketchbook, Hocken Library, Dunedin, is a pencil, pen and wash sketch of the site dated 20 April 1863, that is, two weeks before the redoubt was established, showing two Maori whare there at the time.
St Andrew’s Redoubt is situated on the terrace above Corbett Park on the north bank of the Oakura River. It is an off-square work of irregular sides (maximum length 45 m, minimum, 29 m), with flanking defence at all four corners — that is, in the ‘New Zealand’ style (Fig. 14). The work is on a slight eminence above the general level of the terrace. The trig ‘Oakura’ on the north— west corner of the redoubt wall is 43.6 m above sea level. Three levels
Fig. 11. Camp at St Andrew’s Redoubt, Oakura, December 1864 or early 1865. A general view
of the undefended area, looking south to the redoubt which is obscured by the buildings and raupo
whare on the left. Beyond the tents a parapet runs along the top of the scarp above the Oakura River valley. (Volume 2, Nicholl Albums, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington).
14 PRICKETT
Fig. 12. St Andrew’s Redoubt. The camera has been set up beyond the small shed in the left
foreground of Figure 11, to show the redoubt with tents, signal mast and large raupo—roofed huts
within. A causeway with handrail leads to the gateway. In the foreground cooking is going on over an open fire. (Volume 2, Nicholl Albums, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington).
inside the redoubt are separated by slight steps. The ditch around the work averages 8 m from the top of the wall to the outer edge; a causeway crosses to an entrance in the north— east wall.
East of the redoubt a 50 m long parapet tops the terrace edge (Fig. 13). Cart ruts can be seen running across the terrace to the seaward end of the parapet where the old road descended to the beach down the narrow spur on the seaward side of Corbett Park. It left the beach again south of Timaru River. Depressions mark the sites of semi—subterranean accommodation huts shown in the Nicholl photographs. The ragged trench parallel to the cart ruts will also be the result of traffic to the top of the descent to the beach.
The site is in good condition with earth walls protected by gorse growing on top. Where the gorse has gone walls have suffered from erosion and stock damage. The redoubt interior has apparently been used in the past as a vegetable garden. The paddock outside appears never to have been ploughed.
FORT ROBERT
Fort Robert dates from the fight at Allen’s Hill on 2 October 1863. The new work was thrown up on high ground seaward of the present junction of Plymouth and South Roads. A pa or kainga named Rangiuru once occupied the hilltop site (Wairau I and II blocksheet 45/ 2, DOSLI, New Plymouth; the settlement is depicted in the Hocken Library Warre Sketch- book, p. 53). Fort Robert was named after Ropata Ngarongamate of Poutoko, a leading Maori ally of the European settlers and military forces (Skinner 1935:6).
FORTIFICATIONS 15
Fig. 13. St Andrew’s Redoubt, 1975. Outside the offsquare work can be seen depressions which mark dug—in soldiers’ huts (see Figs 11 and 12), and the cart road which led to a steep descent to Oakura Beach.
15
14 ¢
Figs 14-15. Redoubt plans. 14. St Andrew’s Redoubt. 15. Fort Robert.
16 PRICKETT
As well as providing flanking defence for St Patrick’s Redoubt, the new post was established, “with a view to ... further advance as soon as circumstances admit” (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 10 Oct 1863). Fort Robert was occupied only by local forces, Colonel Gamble (War Office 0270.1:59) reporting that one of the reasons for its establishment was so that the newly arrived Otago contingent of Taranaki Military Settlers might “cultivate with safety”.
“On Wednesday [7 October] 50 men of the Volunteer Militia, under Capt. J.G. Corbett and Ensign J. Kelly, marched to the front, and now garrison Fort Robert, a redoubt to seaward of the abandoned native village at Poutoko, and which overlooks the Tapuae and Oakura blocks.”
(Taranaki Herald 10 Oct 1863)
The garrison was reinforced on 13 October by one officer and 24 men of the Taranaki Military Settlers (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 17 Oct 1863). In March 1864 Captain Corbett’s company was divided between Fort Robert and the new redoubt at Pahitere (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 2 Mar 1864). It is likely the July withdrawal of men to St Patrick’s Redoubt and establishment of a new blockhouse at Allen’s Hill marks the abandonment of Fort Robert (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 18 Jul 1864).
A sketch by Lieutenant Colonel E.A. Williams shows a corner of the Fort Robert defences with an earth flanking angle and palisaded wall (Fig. 16). Soldiers’ washing, a dovecote and a flagpole can be seen. A small hut is set into the hillside below the two figures. The location of some huts can be seen in the 1950 aerial photograph (1787/5, 14 Aug 1950, NZ Aerial Mapping; Fig. 17), but these are indistinct on the ground today.
The redoubt is situated on top of the hill with the trig “Poutoko A’, 97.5 m above sea level, at one angle. It measures ca 23 x 35 m, and appears from the 1950 aerial photograph to have had flanking defence at two angles to cover only the two long sides (Fig. 15). Only one of these 5 x 7.5 m bastions is now apparent. The site has been largely destroyed by cultivation, most damage occurring after the 1950 aerial photograph was taken.
Fig. 16. “Fort Robert. 28 June 1864. Coast of New Zealand — Taranaki’. (E.A. Williams Sketchbook, Hocken Library, Dunedin). Earthwork and stockade can be seen. At leftis a soldiers’ hut, typically dug into a nearby hillside. Beyond is the great sweep of the Taranaki coast.
FORTIFICATIONS 17
Fig. 17. Fort Robert, 1950, the dugout remains of semi— subterranean soldiers’ huts can be seen on the steep slope to the south. (New Zealand Aerial Mapping 1787/5).
TO SENTRY HILL MAHOETAHI STOCKADE
In the First Taranaki War a stockade was put up on a knoll — and old pa, Ngapuketurua —on the left bank of the Waiongana River, to help secure the Devon Road to Waitara (Prickett 1994a:54—-57). The post was held by Pakeha forces until Waitara was abandoned on 13 May 1863 at the outset of the second war, when it was given over to Mahau, a ‘friendly’ Te Atiawa chief. On 15 February 1864 Mahoetahi was re—occupied by troops and local forces following instructions to Colonel Warre earlier in the month (AD 1, 64/363) to build a redoubt at nearby Sentry Hill. A signal station was established at the post the day the troops arrived (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 16 Feb 1864).
When the defences at Sentry Hill were completed the Mahoetahi garrison was reduced to 20 men under Lieutenant Mills, 57th. By October the post was occupied by 26 Military Settlers and 27 of the 70th Regiment. The regulars withdrew in November and were sent forward to Te Arei Redoubt, but were apparently back at Mahoetahi in May 1865. On | July 1865 Mahoetahi Stockade was held by 34 regular troops, including five Royal Artillery, plus 16 local men. It is likely the post was abandoned shortly after.
Following re—occupation of the stockade in 1864 the post was enlarged by an earth breastwork thrown around a second knoll. The twin fortification with an encampment on lower ground, is shown in Colonel Warre’s sketch (Fig. 18), which dates from the move to Mataitawa in October 1864. An outline plan is given by the surveyor S. Percy Smith on page 10, Fieldbook W.1 (DOSLI, New Plymouth).
18 PRICKETT
Fig. 18. “Mahohitahi Oct 10th 1864”. (H.J. Warre Sketchbook, Alexander Turnbull Library). A redoubt and stockade occupy adjacent lahar mounds; activity relates to the spring 1864 advance on Mataitawa.
Mahoetahi Stockade was situated just south of Devon Road, between State Highway 3A and the Waiongana River. The stockaded, southerly, hill is topped by a platform ca 12 min diameter, below which, on the north slopes are some terraces. On the lower hill the irregular platform for earthwork defences is ca 24 x 17 m. There has been some damage by quarrying, but no cultivation so that the site may be largely intact.
SENTRY HILL REDOUBT
Sentry Hill was named for the Maori lookouts who maintained a watch from the commanding position during the First Taranaki War. Maori themselves called the hill “Te Morere’. A plan to establish a military outpost on the hill early in 1860 was not put into effect (Taranaki Herald 11 Jan 1860).
In January 1864 Colonel Warre decided to establish a redoubt on Sentry Hill, in order to push forward the exclusion zone for enemy forces, halt communication between Maori living in areas under European control and those still fighting, and prepare for an advance on Manutahi and Mataitawa at the end of the inland track from the south (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 23 Jan 1864). This was the first European fortification thrown up north of New Plymouth in the Second Taranaki War and foreshadowed considerable military activity in the area over the next spring and summer.
“On Monday last [15 Feb 1864], at 5 a.m., a force of 250 men — 100 of the 57th under Capt. Shortt, a few of the Royal Artillery under Lieut. Larcom, the two companies of Bushrangers and some of No. 1 Militia, under Captains Atkinson and Webster, the whole commanded by
FORTIFICATIONS 19
Major Butler, 57th Regt. — left town to take possession of Sentry Hill. Col, Warre, C.B.., accompanied the force to direct the first day’s operations.” (Taranaki Herald 20 Feb 1864)
A halt was made at Mahoetahi where a camp was pitched and the post which had been abandoned in 1863, re—occupied. The greater part of the force then went on to Sentry Hill where the Royal Engineer Lieutenant Ferguson laid out the redoubt and superintended construction (Taranaki Herald 20 Feb 1864). The Sentry Hill force was joined on 16 February by 150 Military Settlers from Melbourne, who had arrived in New Plymouth on the Gresham two days previously (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 16 Feb 1864).
“The work was found to be much more tedious than was expected, from the fact of there being a great deal of stone just under the surface; the soil was also so light that it was feared the embankment would not stand...but the plentiful use of fern was found to overcome the difficulty, and the banks seem likely to stand well. When finished they will be 14 or 15 feet high from the bottom of the ditch and nearly perpendicular. The redoubt itself is a simple square — flanking corners being unnecessary from the height of its sides and its commanding position, and it is meant to hold 75 men.”
(Taranaki Herald 20 Feb 1864)
Colonel Warre visited the new position on 19 February and wrote in his journal, now held in the Alexander Turnbull Library,
“The Redoubt is built much too hastily the parapets too [steep?] and too much fern has been used so that in a few weeks it will subside & very likely slip altogether the earth is not good for building parapets but I told Mr Ferguson what to expect before hand...”
Warre reported on 22 February that the redoubt was complete, and occupied on the 20th by acompany of the 57th under Captain Shortt (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 22 Feb 1864). He goes on to say that, “owing to the Rocky and loose nature of the soil and confined space on Sentry Hill, I was obliged to direct a small Stockade to be placed, as a flank defence on an adjoining knoll.” The stockade was 200 m north east of the redoubt, 22 of the Melbourne men remaining fora time with Captain Shortt’ s company to help in its construction (Taranaki Herald 27 Feb 1864). A blockhouse was built within the redoubt in March (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 2 Mar 1864).
Lieutenant Ferguson was soon to receive another blast, this time over construction of the nearby stockade. This reveals something of the principles and practical requirements of outpost defence and is worth quoting in full. In a letter dated 6 March 1864 the Garrison Adjutant, Lieutenant Brutton, writes,
a
I am directed to inform you that on visiting Sentry Hill yesterday Col Warre was much disappointed to find the flank defence so very incomplete, and also, that you have apparently, misunderstood the Colonels object, and have expended much unnecessary time and labor in the construction of a work there are not men enough properly to defend.
Iam to observe that by placing the flank Bastion on the wrong angle of the Stockade, one face has been left entirely undefended, and the door being placed on the front face, there is no possibility of reinforcing the men within, should an attack be made suddenly, and the enemy obtain possession of the Gully the stockade is intended to Command.
Col Warre desires me to add that he considers this work should not have been left to a sapper,
20 PRICKETT
but that a N.C. Officer should have been sent from Town to have superintended, when you
were precluded doing so yourself.
I am further to remark that Col Warre considers a great want of Judgement has been shewn
in commencing a building, which is liable to be attacked, at any moment, on the rear insted
[sic] of the Front face, and to request that the door may be placed on the West face of the
stockade, and by erecting a light palisading, enable men to go in and out without being seen.” (NP Garrison Office Letter Book 6 Mar 1864)
An attack on Sentry Hill Redoubt on the morning of 30 April 1864 was beaten off with heavy casualties among the attackers. Cowan (1922-23 I:22—26) has a remarkable account of the one- sided fight by one of the attacking party. Colonel Warre’s report is in the British Parliamentary Papers (1864 [3386]:31-32). At this time Captain Shortt was in command of 75 men (Taranaki Herald 7 May 1864). The attack was one of only two assaults on European military works in all the campaigning in north Taranaki. The January 1861 attack on No 3 Redoubt was equally unsuccessful.
In May troops north of New Plymouth were reorganised for the winter. The 57th at Sentry Hill returned to New Plymouth, their place being taken by militia from Mahoetahi who were in turn replaced by “friendly natives” at that post (NP Garrison Order Book 24 May 1864).
The establishment of redoubts inland in spring 1864 led to reductions in the Sentry Hill garrison. On 20 October Military Settlers at the post included two officers, three sergeants and 57 rank and file (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 20 Oct 1864). Early in 1865 the garrison was reduced to 30 rank and file (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 11 Jan 1865).
Nonetheless, Sentry Hill remained important to the end of the decade because of its commanding central position at the corner of the Waitara and inland roads. In 1868 it was for atime the base for the newly formed Armed Constabulary before they moved into permanent quarters in New Plymouth (Taranaki Herald 7 May 1868). After the Maori attack on Pukearuhe in February 1869 it was occupied by Bushrangers under Captain Kelly (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book 19 Mar 1869). The last garrison at Sentry Hill was struck off pay on 24 November that year (Taranaki Militia and Volunteers Order Book 23 Nov 1869). An 1869 Defence Office Report states that the three room blockhouse was in good repair, but that the redoubt was in bad order (AD35/12).
Sentry Hill Redoubt is pictured in a surveyor’s fieldbook pencil sketch (Fig. 19). The high walled redoubt has a bridge over the ditch to a gate on the north side. Two barrack buildings of the usual form stand inside and there is a hut outside. A watercolour by Colonel Warre shows the redoubt and stockade from Mahoetahi (Fig, 20). There is also a pencil sketch on p. 35 in the Warre Sketchbook, Alexander Turnbull Library.
A fieldbook issued to the surveyor Frederick Carrington has a rough ground plan of the redoubt and stockade, dated 15 March 1867 (Fieldbook 1.20, p. 22, DOSLI, New Plymouth). The barrack buildings are on the west side of the redoubt interior, with an open area within the gateway. The stockade is marked “33 links square” — at 190 mm per link, this makes it ca 6.3 x 6.3 m.
Sentry Hillis just off the Waitara—Inglewood road (Highway 3A), 2 km from the junction with Devon Road. The hill has been destroyed by quarrying and nothing remains of the redoubt. I have not found any surface evidence at the stockade site on the knoll north of the road.
FORTIFICATIONS 21
ite:
—
ph Mig
Fig. 20. “Morere or Sentry Hill Redoubt 1865”. (H.J. Warre, Nan Kivell Collection, National Library of Australia). At left is the stockade added as flank defence; beyond is the redoubt.
22 PRICKETT
CLOSING OFF THE KAITAKE RANGES PAHITERE REDOUBT
Pahitere Redoubt was established on 1 March 1864 by part of Captain Corbett’ s company of Military Settlers at the same time as nearby St Andrew’s Redoubt was re—occupied by troops. Both moves were to prepare for driving Maori forces from their strongholds in the Kaitake Ranges. The disposition of troops and militia in Taranaki at this time is given in the section on St Andrew’s Redoubt.
Pahitere was always held by local forces, in conjunction with the regular troops at St Andrew’s a kilometre away. A blockhouse was built within the redoubt in June and J uly 1864 (Taranaki Herald 25 Jun 1864), with accommodation for 40 men in addition to a store room and officers’ quarters (AD35/12).On31 May 1865 there were two subalterns, three sergeants, one drummer and 39 men, T.M.S., along with a 43rd Regiment drummer (AJHR 1865 A— 5:63—-64). The position declined in importance in late in 1865 and 1866 as the frontier was pushed south. In July 1866 there was just one man in residence, from No 2 Company, T.M.S. (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book 6 Jul 1866). The post was given over to Ropata Ngarongomate in November that year (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book 6 Nov 1866).
Pahitere Redoubt is situated near the corner of South and Koru Roads, near Oakura, 200 m inland of the main road (Fig. 21). An old pa (Pahitere) on a prominent knoll has been reshaped, the redoubt retaining the double ditch and bank which almost entirely encircles the central platform. Remains of the pa are described in my account of Maori fortifications of the Omata and Oakura districts (Prickett 1980:30-31).
Fig. 21. Pahitere Redoubt, 1975. An aerial view shows how an older pa was modified for the European fortification. Below the redoubt depressions mark the sites of dug—in soldiers’ huts. The blockhouse building from the redoubt can be seen bottom right.
FORTIFICATIONS 23
The 25 x 11 mrectangular platform without flanking defence was largely reworked by the Military Settlers, and had an earth breastwork still about “3 ft. high in some parts” when seen by Elsdon Best (1975:222) early this century. This is no more than 150-200 mm high today.
Figure 22 is a photograph by Lieutenant Nicholl of the post in summer 1864-65. The blockhouse has survived, shifted out of the redoubt and over a gully to serve for many years as a farm cottage (Fig. 21). A verandah has been added and an addition at the back has led to an alteration to the roof line. Blockhouses like this were prefabricated in kauri in Auckland and were shipped to various campaign theatres in New Zealand.
The redoubt earthworks are in excellent order. On the eastern slope of the hill a number of depressions marking hut sites can still be seen. Gorse and blackberry on the steep scarps protect the earthworks from stock damage and erosion.
KAITAKE REDOUBT
When St Andrew’s Redoubt was re—occupied in March 1864 the British command was able to turn its attention to enemy strongholds on the northern flanks of the Kaitake Ranges. These controlled the first of three Maori routes into north Taranaki which were soon to be closed off by European forces. The others were the inland Whakaahurangi track from the south and the coastal route from the north, which were blocked the following spring and autumn. Deputy Quartermaster General Colonel Gamble reported,
Fig. 22. Pahitere Redoubt from the east, showing dug-—in soldiers’ huts, two with barrel chimneys,
also a dovecote and well. A causeway over the outer ditch leads to the main entrance by way of
a bridge across the inner ditch. Access to the ditch 5 m from the south-east corner gave a protected
route into the redoubt from outside huts should the post come under attack, the main gate being very exposed. (Volume 2, Nicholl Album, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington).
24 PRICKETT
“The possession of Kaitake is of the greatest importance in every respect, It practically clears out the enemy from the south of the town of New Plymouth, intercepts his easy communi- cation with Mataitawa on the north, facilitates the re—occupation of and communication with Tataraimaka, and will insure the cultivation of the valuable Oakura block of land without danger.”
(War Office 0270.1:103)
The Kaitake pa had already been reconnoitred and shelled on 23 December 1863 (War Office 0270.1:81).On 11 March 1864, after the re—-occupation of St Andrew’ s Redoubt, Major Butler led a small force to the Maori strongholds but withdrew under fire (GBPP 1864 {3386]:10—12). On 25 March, at the end of a four day operation aimed at turning the enemy out of all their strongholds in the ranges, the two main pa, upper and lower Kaitake, were taken. Colonel Warre was in command of Volunteers, Military Settlers and 57th Regiment totalling 700 men (GBPP 1864 [3380]:3— 7). Colonel Gamble gives an excellent map showing Maori positions and disposition of attacking European forces (War Office 0270.I:opp. 101).
The first pa taken, on 22 March, was Te Tutu, “...situated on the Katikara River, four miles above the rebel position, so successfully attacked by the Lieut.—-General on the 4th June 1863” (GBPP 1864 [3380]:3). In May 1863 Te Tutu was reported held by Hori Patene of Wanganui, and at the time there was a pa seaward of Te Tutu named “Okaroa’ (Taranaki Herald 16 May 1863). The trig “Tutu A’ (152 m above sea level; P19 887245) fits the location, although searching has not revealed archaeological remains. Ahu Ahu was taken on 24 March. This position was situated on a steep spur of the Kaitake Ranges rising from the present main road close to the Ahu Ahu Road corner (see Cape III (14/5) blocksheet, DOSLI, New Plymouth). Ahu Ahu was occupied in May 1863 by people from Warea under Aperahama (Taranaki Herald 16 May 1863).
The upper and lower Kaitake pa were close together on the ridge east of the upper end of Wairau Road (and are marked on a map by Colonel Warre — War Office 0270.L:opp. 101). In 1863 they were held by Parenga Kingi and Tamati Oraukawa (Taranaki Herald 16 May 1863). Rifle pits were located below them on the spur; a stockade extended across the valley of the Wairau Stream. A drawing in the Warre Sketchbook, Hocken Library (p. 83), and watercolour in the Nan Kivell Collection, Australian National Library, give a distant view of Maori defences. Kaitake Redoubt was placed on the upper pa. Nothing remains of the lower Maori position.
“The three days following the capture of Kaitake the troops were busily employed in turning the upper pa into a first—- rate redoubt, and great credit is due to the regulars and militia for the energetic way they worked, but under the superintendence of such an indefatigable officer as Lieut. Ferguson R.E., this perhaps is only what might have been expected.” (Taranaki Herald 9 Apr 1864)
But Colonel Warre was displeased with work on the new redoubt, Lieutenant Ferguson receiving a letter from the Garrison Office as follows:
“Sir
I am directed to inform you that the Col Comm’ g considers the Redoubt at Kaitake requires your immediate attention, and he requests you will proceed tomorrow morning and remain at Oakura or Kaitake, as may be most convenient until the Redoubt is placed in a perfectly defensible state, which the Colonel cannot consider it at present.
If wet weather, owing to the banquette being constructed on a slope, in some places, it 1s
FORTIFICATIONS 25
impossible to walk upon it — the parapets in places, and particularly on the S.W. side near the upper angle — have sunk so much as to afford no cover to the defenders, and owing to the parapet on that side having been constructed on the inside instead of the outside of the old Stockade — the stockade obstructs the fire of the defenders, and must be removed. It will also be necessary to clear off the whole of the Palisading in front, Viz: the old Pa & wharres [sic], — leaving nothing to interrupt the fire from the Redoubt, the garrison of which, as soon as you report these arrangements complete, will be reduced, so as to allow every tent, and every man at night — to remain within the parapets.”
(NP Garrison Office Letter Book 11 Apr 1864)
At the beginning of April Colonel Warre reported to the Deputy Quarter Master General, Auckland, on the construction of the redoubt, “... which the Troops have done me the honour, with the sanction of the Lieut General Commanding to Christen “Fort Warre’” (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 1/2 Apr 1864). Sanction was presumably forthcoming for the post is occasionally called ‘Fort Warre’ in the months following (for example, a letter addressed to the “Officer Commanding Fort Warre”, NP Garrison Office Letter Book, 16 Oct 1864), although it is usually “Kaitake Redoubt’.
On 6 April Captain Thomas Lloyd led a patrol of 57th Regiment and Military Settlers from the redoubt along the flanks of the ranges to destroy enemy crops. The party was ambushed at Ahu Ahu, with Lloyd, two of the 57th and four Military Settlers killed (Cowan 1922-23 II:15—17). The episode led to Lloyd’s head being shown about the North Island as proof of the efficacy of the new ‘Hau Hau’ faith. The Maori trenches at Ahu Ahu were still clearly to be seen in the 1980s.
The garrison at Kaitake Redoubt was first made up of a company of the 57th under Captain Russell, plus Captain Carthew’s company of Military Settlers (Taranaki Herald 26 Mar 1864). It was held by men of the 57th and 70th Regiments and local forces through the winter of 1864. Duty at the post was considered “irksome” and the garrison was for some time changed every month (NP Garrison Office Letter Book 25 Apr 1864). A blockhouse was completed in the redoubt at the end of August 1864 and was initially occupied by Captain Stewart of the 57th (Warre Journal 27 Aug 1864). Early in September it was taken over by Military Settlers, this probably marking the withdrawal of regular troops from the post (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book 5 Sep 1864).
In October Warre gave orders that Military Settlers at the post were not to be reduced below 60 men (NP Garrison Office Letter Book 18 Oct 1864). Soon, however, the garrison was subject to the same reduction as other positions left in the rear of the advancing European frontier. On 31 May 1865 numbers were down to 29 T.M.S. (AJHR 1865 A-5:63—64). The post was locked up for a time following the transfer of local forces to the Patea district in September 1866 (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book 26 Sep 1866). Kaitake Redoubt was then maintained only for emergencies, to be occupied for the last time during the White Cliffs scare of 1869 (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book 26 Mar 1869).
There are two photographs of Kaitake Redoubt in the Nicholl Album, Alexander Turnbull Library. The one reproduced here shows the redoubt with tents, huts and signal mast outside, and blockhouse within (Fig. 23). Layers of fern bind the light soil earthworks. Information on a Taranaki Museum print of the photograph states that the men belong to Captain Hussey’s company of Military Settlers — at the post in late 1864 and early 1865 — and that Captain Messenger is present. Messenger visited the post over Christmas 1864 (Taranaki Herald7 Jan 1865), and it is likely the picture dates from this time. The date is consistent with the photographs of St Andrew’s and Pahitere Redoubts and almost certainly dates the entire
series.
26 PRICKETT
Fig. 23. Kaitake Redoubt. (Volume 2, Nicholl Album, Alexander Turnbull Library).
Kaitake Redoubt is located on a high point of the major spur of the Kaitake Ranges which falls to the north between today’s Wairau and Surrey Hill Roads, at the edge of a steep drop to the Wairau Stream (Fig. 24). The trig ‘10863’ (211 m above sea level) is situated at the northern angle of the work. On the near slope tell-tale depressions mark soldier’s huts and other buildings.
The work was ca 40 x 17-13 m (Fig. 25). The plan is confirmed by aerial photograph 1789/9 taken in 1950. Flanking defence appears to have been directed solely at the southern (forward) part of the two long sides. The south and west ditches are still distinct, and the entrance over the northern ditch remains visible. The eastern side has been damaged by a bulldozed farm road.
LOWER KAITAKE BLOCKHOUSE
At the end of winter 1864 work was begun on a blockhouse in the Wairau Stream valley below Kaitake Redoubt. The new post was intended to complement the key position on the hill above.
The new post was first occupied by one lieutenant, a sergeant and 20 rank and file, probably of the 57th Regiment from Kaitake Redoubt, on 16 October (NP Garrison Office Letter Book 16 Oct 1864). Two days later the troops were replaced by an officer and 25 men from the Military Settlers at Oakura (NP Garrison Office Letter Book 18 Oct 1864). In November this garrison was ordered to rejoin Captain McKellar’s company which moved forward to establish Timaru Redoubt (NP Garrison Office Letter Book 25 Nov 1864). Lower
FORTIFICATIONS 27
Fig. 25. Plan of Kaitake Redoubt.
28 PRICKETT
Kaitake Blockhouse was then occupied by one officer and “not less than” 15 rank and file from Captain Mace’s company, T.M.S., from Kaitake Redoubt.
On 20 December 1864 Colonel Warre gave permission to shut up the blockhouse during the day (NP Garrison Office Letter Book 20 Dec 1864). In February 1865 the night guard too was withdrawn (NP Garrison Office Letter Book 3 Feb 1865), and in August that year the building was removed and re—erected at the nearby Ahu Ahu town site (ADI, 65/2452).
The Lower Kaitake Blockhouse is located on the Wairau II block sheet. The original record can be found in the relevant fieldbook (Blocksheet 45/4; Fieldbook O.7, p. 58, DOSLI, New Plymouth), Interestingly the surveyor indicates partial redoubt or stockade defence. The reference to the removal of the blockhouse mentions “palisading” and it is likely therefore, as was commonly the case, that the blockhouse was enclosed by astockade, like the Mataitawa Blockhouse pictured in Figure 40. The site is just off the original line of Wairau Road on the rise about 200 m beyond the present road end. No surface evidence remains.
SECURING THE HINTERLAND
After the killing of a farmer named Pattison on Frankley Road on 28 February 1864 moves were made to secure the farming districts behind New Plymouth. In response to a settlers’ petition Colonel Warre decided to build three blockhouses in the area (AD1, 64/ 1225). Interestingly, Warre refers to a 23 April 1861 report by Royal Engineer Colonel Thomas Mould who urged aring of six blockhouses from the Waiwakaiho River to Omata at the close of the first war in Taranaki. The new blockhouses relate to reoccupation of St Andrew’s Redoubt and the expulsion of Maori forces from the Kaitake Ranges which occurred at the same time.
The new positions overlooked the Waiwakaiho, Henui and Huatoki stream valleys respectively, at the same time commanding the Mangorei, Carrington and Frankley Roads to inland farms. Later a decision was made to erecta fourth blockhouse at Allen’s Hill on Hurford Road.
DINGLE’S BLOCKHOUSE
Colonel Warre initially made the proposal to build, “2 or 3 Blockhouses behind the town — one where Mr Pattison was shot’, on 15 March 1864 (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book). At the end of March an offer was made by Mr Burton and other settlers to build the first of these at Dingle’s farm (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 29 Mar 1864). On 13 May it was reported that the tender of Messrs Burton and Kelly for the erection of three blockhouses was successful and that Dingle’ s is in the course of construction, to be completed about 20 May (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book).
A ditch was dug around the blockhouse, “in the same manner as that at the Omata Stockade” (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 4 Apr 1864). The building itself appears not to have been entirely satisfactory, however, and on 2 June Warre wrote in his diary,
“After disposing of the office business I rode out with Capt Mace to Dingles to see the new Blockhouse which is nearly completed & looks well altho it is not bullet proof & it is very difficult to make it so.— being already overweighted with 4 inch lining through which the ball penetrates with difficulty.”
Dingle’s Blockhouse was held for about 18 months. On 31 May 1865 these comprised
FORTIFICATIONS 29
Fig. 26. “Dingles Blockhouse Taranaki’. (H.J. Warre, Nan Kivell Collection, National Library of Australia).
eight men of the old Taranaki Militia (AJHR 1865 A—5:63-—64), who were struck off pay on 30 June and replaced by three Military Settlers (AD6/4, 65/4120). The post was abandoned early in January 1866 and handed over to Mr Dingle, the land—owner (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book, 6 Jan 1866). Three years later the building was in disrepair (AD35/12).
The sketch by Colonel Warre (Fig. 26) shows a two-storeyed building with upper floors overhanging the lower. This picture is unclear on loopholing except on one side, but the post was probably loopholed all around on both floors like Puketotara and Ratanui. A bridge crosses the ditch to a door. With the Warre sketch is a brief description including the remark that the, “...upper story projects over the lower to enable the defenders by opening small trap doors to fire into the ditch.”
Dingle’s Blockhouse was ona knoll now cut by Frankley Road 100 m south of the corner with Patterson Road (where a cairn marks the place Pattison/ Patterson was killed). The site is in good condition except for the west side which has been shaved off by road works (Fig. 27). A now shallow ditch surrounds a platform ca 14 x 10 m (Fig. 28). There is a discrepancy between the building pictured by Warre and the larger structure suggested by the field evidence.
RATANUI BLOCKHOUSE
On 18 July 1864 Lieutenant Clarke, Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General at New Plymouth, wrote to Messrs Burton and Kelly on behalf of Colonel Warre urging them to hurry and complete work on the Ratanui Blockhouse (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book). Approval for payment of the contractors’ account was given on 12 September (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book). Ratanui Blockhouse is sometimes called “French’s Redoubt’ after the owner of the land at the time (as in Taranaki Military Settlers Defaulters Book, 10 Dec 1864).
Like the other blockhouses Ratanui was occupied only by local forces, in April 1865 men of Captain Messenger’s Number 6 Company, T.M.S. (Taranaki Herald 8 Apr 1865). By 31
30 PRICKETT
Fig. 27. Aerial view of the Dingle’s Blockhouse site, 1975, now cut by Frankley Road.
28
29
Figs 28-29. Archaeological field evidence. 28. Dingle’s Blockhouse. 29. Ratanui Blockhouse.
FORTIFICATIONS 3 |
Fig. 30. “Ratanui Blockhouse Novy 9 [1864]”. (H.J. Warre Sketchbook, p. 33, Alexander Turnbull Library).
May it was held by five men of the old Taranaki Militia (AJHR 1865 A—5:63- 64), in turn struck off pay and relieved by three Military Settlers on 30 June (AD 6/4, 65/4120). The post was probably given up with the increased security of the district about the time Dingle’s Blockhouse was abandoned. In 1869 the blockhouse was reported “out of order” (AD35/12).
A pencil sketch by Colonel Warre shows a two-storey loopholed blockhouse, like Dingle’s except that it is enclosed by an earth breastwork (Fig. 30). A shed can be seen outside the fortification. The Warre sketch enables us to locate the site. The view is from the rise on which the present Ratanui homestead stands off Carrington Road. The road can be seen running across the picture.
The site is behind a farmhouse, 50 m east of Carrington Road and 200 m on the town side of the Atkinson Road corner. Surface evidence may have been damaged by later buildings on the site. A ca 20 x 20 m platform sits slightly above the gentle natural slope (Fig. 29). A well, said to be 120 feet deep, is covered by the concrete base of a water trough just inside the northern edge of the platform. The site is well situated to command a wide view of the Henui River valley.
PUKETOTARA BLOCKHOUSE
Puketotara was the third blockhouse built in 1864 to secure rural districts inland of New Plymouth. Like the others it was garrisoned by local forces; if indeed it was occupied by European forces at all, in December 1864 it was held by “friendly natives” (NP Garrison Office Letter Book, 2 Dec 1864). There was no garrison in May 1865 (AJHR 1865 A—-5:63- 64). In 1869 the building was reported in “very bad order” (AD35/12). A drawing by Colonel Warre shows Puketotara to be the same design as Dingle’s and Ratanui but without earthwork defence (Fig. 31). The Rex Nan Kivell Collection, National Library of Australia, holds watercolours by Warre of Ratanui and Puketotara, worked up from his pencil sketches.
32 PRICKETT
Fig. 31. ‘““Puketotara Nov 18th [1864]”. (H.J. Warre Sketchbook, p. 51, Alexander Turnbull Library).
The blockhouse was built near or on the site of Puketotara pa, destroyed by troops in September 1860 (see Prickett 1994a:44— 45). This was on a terrace edge overlooking the Waiwakaiho River, across Mangorei Road from the junction with Karina Road. A house has been built on the site in recent years and no surface evidence remains. Earthworks which may relate to the blockhouse, or even the earlier pa, can be made out on aerial photograph 1786/ 10, taken in August 1950.
ALLEN’S HILL BLOCKHOUSE
Allen’s Hill Blockhouse also relates to the autumn 1864 decision to secure the old farming districts behind New Plymouth. At first only three blockhouses were planned, but a fourth was soon after placed on Allen’s Hill at the corner of Hurford Road and the new main road south which took the high ground around the head of Waireka Stream.
In July 1864 one officer and 25 men of the Military Settlers were posted to the new blockhouse from Fort Robert (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 18 Jul 1864). Allen’s Hill was occupied on 31 May 1865 by ten T.M.S. (AJHR 1865 A—5:63—64). It is not known when it was abandoned. The building, with accommodation for 25 men, was still standing in 1869 (AD35/12).
Allen’s Hill is at the junction of Hurford and South Roads. The blockhouse was on top of the hill now deeply cut by the main road. In the 1869 Colonial Defence Office report (AD35/ 12) Allen’s Hill Blockhouse is described in the same terms as Ratanui and Puketotara, and thus is likely to have been a two-storey building, with rifle slits all round, the upper level overhanging the lower. A watercolour by Colonel Warre in the Rex Nan Kivell Collection, National Library of Australia, gives a distant view of the Allen’s Hill post beyond the Omata Stockade. No surface evidence remains.
FORTIFICATIONS 33
POUTOKO BLOCKHOUSE
Poutoko Blockhouse was put up some time between July and October 1864, replacing St Patrick’s Redoubt as the fortified post in the locality. It dates from after the four posts introduced above, but like them secured the old New Plymouth farming districts at a time when active campaigning moved away to the north and south, On 16 October the officer commanding at Poutoko was ordered to pull down the right front face (nearest the road) of St Patrick’ s Redoubt which was recently vacated by military settlers (NP Garrison Office Letter Book).
In April 1865 Poutoko was held by men of Captain Percival’s No. 7 Company, T.M.S. (Taranaki Herald 8 Apr 1865), on May 31 numbering one sergeant and 19 rank and file (AJHR 1865 A—5:63— 64). Except for one corporal and four privates these men were struck off pay on 17 June to take up confiscated land in the vicinity, parading monthly at the blockhouse for an inspection of arms (AD6/4, 65/4118). Poutoko was still occupied as late as March 1866 (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book, 3 Mar 1866), It is unclear when it was finally abandoned.
The 1869 the Colonial Defence Office reported a “...large hole burnt in floor, stockade out of repair, 13 panes of glass broken” (AD35/12). The report describes a “Blockhouse and Redoubt”, with accommodation for 35 men, plus an officer’s and store room. Nonetheless, it is unlikely the post had any earthwork defence; it was probably a single-storey building within a stockade, like Mataitawa Blockhouse (Fig. 40).
Evidence of the location of Poutoko Blockhouse is to be found on a “Plan shewing the surveyed lands within the Province of Taranaki’, signed by Octavious Carrington and dated 9 December 1865, held in the Department of Survey and Land Information head office, Wellington. The post is shown just west of the main South Road, 250 m south of the present Waireka Road corner, presumably on the commanding rise here. The map reference is ca 584867. I have not found any archaeological evidence.
TO TE AREI AND MATAITAWA
In spring 1864 European military authorities moved to expel Maori from the forest edge inland of Mahoetahi and Sentry Hill. The area was a refuge for people who had fled Waitara at the start of the First Taranaki War, and it was at the northern end of the Whakaahurangi track by which Te Atiawa and other tribes fighting in the districts about New Plymouth received assistance from south Taranaki. Te Arei, which was attacked in 1861, had been reoccupied and strengthened, and a fortified pa by the name of Manutahi was at the south end of today’s township of Lepperton. Undefended settlements and gardens of maize, potatoes and kumara were scattered among forest clearings.
Early in October Colonel Warre led British troops and local forces into the area. Positions were established at Te Arei, Mataitawa, Manutahi and Matakara (Fig. 32), and also at the old No 6 Redoubt at Huirangi (see Prickett 1994a:72—73). A key post was at Mataitawa where Whakaahurangi track came out of the bush, and where there had been a lightly defended Maori settlement at the edge of high ground overlooking a wide area to the north. Following the military advance the European farming frontier was pushed on to the Waitara River as soldier settlers took up land and townships were laid out at Mataitawa, Manutahi (Lepperton), Huirangi and Manganui.
European forces first advanced from Mahoetahi.
34 PRICKETT
\\ LEPPERTON
OMANUTAHI REDOUBT
OMANUTAHI BLOCKHOUSE (1865)
wiS punbuclDM
MATAKARA REDOUBT oO
oy Ge 2,
C
MATAITAWA BLOCKHOUSEO MATAITAWA REDOUBT ©
Fig. 32. The Lepperton district showing location of 1864-65 military posts in relation to modern roads.
FORTIFICATIONS 35
“... early on Saturday morning, 8th inst., a force consisting of 200 of the 70th under Major Ryan, two field guns in charge of Capt. Martin, R.A., Capt. Good’s, and Capt. Jonas’ companies of Bushrangers 100 in all under Major Atkinson, and Captain Maces’ mounted men, started northward... at Mahoetahi they were joined by 150 more of the 70th under Major Saltmarsh — the whole under command of Col. Warre, C.B., who was attended by his staff and also by Col. Lepper and Mr. Parris.”
Taranaki Herald 15 Oct 1864
Except for a few shots fired from Mataitawa the Maori settlements were not defended and their inhabitants retired into the bush to the south (GBPP 1865 [3425]:168—171). Colonel Warre’s force then pulled back, but returned a few days later to effect a permanent occupation.
A letter from Colonel Warre to the Deputy Quarter Master General, Auckland, dated 20 October 1864, details the garrisons at all posts north of New Plymouth at this time.
F.O. Officers Sergt R&F
Te Arei 70th Regt 6 10 164 No 6 Redoubt My Settlers 3 4 100 Mahoetahi do | ] 24
do 70th Regt 1 | 25 Sentry Hill Mily Settlers 2 3 57 Manutahi do 5 8 150 Mangakara Bushrangers 1 6 8 105 Mataitawa 70th Regt ] 8 12 208 Total 2 32 A7 833
(NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book) TE AREI REDOUBT
Te Arei was taken on 1] October 1864, three days after the operation at Manutahi and Mataitawa, but the redoubt there was the first established in the area — to control enemy movement according to Colonel Warre (Journal, 10 Oct 1864). At the same No 6 Redoubt at Huirangi, dating originally from 1861, was reoccupied to maintain communication with Te Arei.
“On Tuesday morning, at daybreak, another expedition started from Mahoetahi, where it had camped the night before, to take Te Arei, Hapurona’s stronghold. It consisted of 350 men of the 70th, under Majors Rutherford and Saltmarshe and Captains Backhouse and Ralston, a detachment of Artillery under Captain Martin, Captain Mace’s mounted men, and about 100 friendly natives — the whole under the command of Colonel Warre.”
(Taranaki Herald 15 Oct 1964)
Te Arei was taken without a shot being fired, the occupants retiring into the bush to the south, Some troops went on to destroy Te Peketu and Pukemahoe, two small villages in the bush beyond Te Arei.,
“After burning the whares and picking up the few unconsidered trifles that were to be found the force returned to Te Arei where a large redoubt was already in course of construction. This is now occupied we believe by 150 of the 70th under Major Rutherford; and to keep open the
36 PRICKETT
communication, No, 6 Redoubt has been occupied by Captain Page’s company of Military Settlers.” (Taranaki Herald 15 Oct 1864)
In the Nan Kivell Collection, National Library of Australia, are two watercolours of Te Arei by Colonel Warre. One shows troops making use of General Pratt’s 1861 sap and No. 8 Redoubt in their approach on the pa (“Rebel (Natives) pa, Te Arei”, NK 4263/12). The other depicts the outworks of the pa (“Rebel Pah at Te Arei”’, NK 4263/13). In the Alexander Turnbull Library Warre sketchbook is another picture of the Maori works, and the inscription: “Unlike ordinary Pahs the Rebels had constructed a formidable parapet in front (about 40 yards) of the stockade — connecting the two works by covered ways about 3 feet deep...”
Construction of Te Arei Redoubt was overseen by Lieutenant Ferguson (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 12 Oct 1864). On 20 October Colonel Warre reported to the Deputy Quarter Master General, Auckland, that, “the Redoubt at Te Arei is nearly completed, and I believe 100 men would hold it against any number of Natives” (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book). In the same report the garrison is given as six officers, ten sergeants and 164 men, 70th Regiment. |
At the end of November the redoubt was held by 150 men under Captain Ralston (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 29 Oct 1864), and at the end of February 1865 it was still occupied by 170 men, now under the command of Major Saltmarshe (Taranaki Herald 4 Mar 1865). On 1 July that year the garrison was down to 113 (WO 0270.11:434). Following the departure of the 70th from Taranaki the 43rd Light Infantry occupied Te Arei, in their turn being relieved on 21 December 1865 by the 68th (NP Garrison Order Book, 19 Dec 1865).
On 13 February 1866 Military Settlers took over from the 68th (NP Garrison Order Book, 12 Feb 1866). Ten days later one corporal and four privates from No. 5 Company, T.M.S., took over from the initial detachment under Captain Jonas (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book, 23 Feb 1866). As late as February 1867 Military Settlers under Major Baddeley were stationed at Te Arei (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book, 13 Feb 1867), which was probably abandoned soon after. In 1869 a blockhouse was built on the edge of the escarpment a few metres to the west (Prickett 1981:221—223).
A pencil sketch of the redoubt shows the main gate on the northern (rear) face, close to the north-west angle (Fig. 33). Beyond is Tikorangi Redoubt which was thrown up in November 1865 north of Waitara River (see Prickett 1981:195—203). The sketch dates from late January 1866, like the sketch of Mataitawa (Fig. 35) by the same unknown artist.
Te Arei Redoubt is situated in Pukerangiora Historic Reserve on Te Arei Road. The surveyor’s fieldbook sketch plan and blocksheet (Waitara LX (47/11) Blocksheet; Fieldbook W.1, p. 17, DOSLI, New Plymouth) show flanking defence covering the north and south sides only. Not shown is the bastion at the north-west angle which covers the west face, for which there is clear archaeological evidence.
The redoubt is ca 30-35 x 53-66 m in size (Fig. 34). The cliff to the Waitara River makes up the east side. Earthworks of the two long sides are in good condition, while the third side (closest to Te Arei Road) has suffered considerable damage. Probably the defences on this face were thrown down in 1869 to allow the nearby blockhouse garrison command of the otherwise dangerous defensive position close by. Flanking defence also survives 2 m lower than the main redoubt level at the north-west angle.
FORTIFICATIONS 37
Fig. 33. “The Redoubt of Te Arei, Taranaki, Captn Jonas’ Station beyond”. (Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington). Captain Jonas’ post at top left was Tikorangi Redoubt, established June 1865 on high ground north of Waitara River (Prickett 1981:195—203).
Fig. 34. Plan of Te Arei Redoubt.
38 PRICKETT
NO 6 (HUIRANGI) REDOUBT
No 6 Redoubt at Huirangi, first thrown up during General Pratt’s advance on Maori positions south of the Waitara River in early 1861, was reoccupied in 1864 when troops returned to Te Arei. At first Captain Page’s company of Military Settlers took over the post (Taranaki Herald 15 Oct 1864), but they were soon replaced by regulars of the 70th Regiment. On 6 February 1865 30 men of the 70th were withdrawn from Huirangi, now held by a day piquet from Te Arei (Taranaki Herald 11 Feb 1865). At the end of the month Captain Corbett’s company of Military Settlers was at the post (Taranaki Herald 25 Feb 1865), but only a month later Huirangi was again given up (Taranaki Herald 25 Mar 1865).
Later in 1865 a garrison returned to the position, from now on called Huirangi (initially “Hurangi’ or “Huarangi’) rather than No 6 Redoubt. In November four military settlers and a corporal were in residence, and preparations were in hand for construction of a blockhouse which was within the old redoubt or nearby (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book 13 Nov 1865). The blockhouse allowed a more economical garrison and provided a muster station for military settlers in the district at the Huirangi town site. On 25 September 1866 the remaining men on wages at the post were ordered to lock up the blockhouse and report to New Plymouth en route for Patea (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book 26 Sep 1866).
From then on Huirangi Blockhouse was used only by local militia for muster parades, until the crisis of February 1869 when Captain Messenger held the post for a few weeks before it was abandoned for the last time (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book 4 Mar 1869). An 1869 report describes the post, with one officers’ room and accommodation for 25 men, as being in “good order” (AD35/12). A site description and aerial photograph have been published in my report on fortifications of the 1860—61 war (Prickett 1994a:73).
MATAITAWA REDOUBT
On 17 October Colonel Warre was back at Mataitawa to set up a permanent post.
“On Monday last a redoubt was begun at Mataitawa, which is now occupied by 200 of the 70th, under Major Ryan. Captain Morrison’s and Captain Messenger’s companies hold Manutahi, and the Bushrangers are encamped at Matakaraha, on the other side of the bush behind Manutahi, where they have begun cutting the under bush preparatory to felling.” (Taranaki Herald 22 Oct 1864)
At the end of November troop numbers at Mataitawa were down to 150, still under the command of Major Ryan (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 29 Nov 1864). Early in 1865 the troops were replaced by 150 Taranaki Military Settlers under Major Baddeley (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 11 Jan 1865). In February these were reduced to 100 rank and file (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 19 Feb 1865), and on 31 May the garrison was made up of five Royal Artillery, one Royal Engineer, two subalterns, three sergeants and 78 rank and file, T.M.S., and three Taranaki Militia (AJHR 1865 A—5:63-64).
On 4 January 1866 Lieutenant Colonel Morant of the 68th was ordered to Mataitawa the next day with a detachment of that regiment “as strong as possible” (NP Garrison Order Book). This move was to support General Chute who arrived at the post on the 25th at the conclusion of his march from south Taranaki along the inland track (see Anon 1866; and Cowan 1922-— 23 I1:64-67). The 68th quit Mataitawa for New Plymouth on 13 February, embarking for Auckland on the same day (NP Garrison Order Book, 12 Feb 1866). Local forces then returned
FORTIFICATIONS 39
Fig. 35. “Mataitawa Redoubt, Taranaki, Jan 24 1866”. (Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington).
as garrison. Itis likely the post was finally abandoned when Ensign Morrison and his men were ordered to town en route for Patea in September 1866 (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Bok, 26 Sep 1866).
Figure 35 is dated 24 January 1866, and so depicts Mataitawa Redoubt the day before Chute’s force emerged from the bush nearby. The anonymous artist shows the post from the north on top of the escarpment with tents, huts and some men and horses visible. The road up the hill, which follows the spur rather than the present line of Elsham Road, can be seen on the left.
Mataitawa Redoubt is close to Elsham Road at the top of the hill which rises from Richmond Road (Fig. 36). The 43 m square work with 6 x 6 m flanking defence on all four corners is easily made out in a ploughed paddock despite damage (Fig. 37). The old access road can be seen running up the spur to the north-east angle. Other lines mark later cultivation.
MANUTAHI REDOUBT
Manutahi Redoubt also dates from 17 October 1864. It was established and first garrisoned by two companies of Taranaki Military Settlers under Captains Morrison and Messenger (Taranaki Herald 22 Oct 1864), on 20 October numbering five officers, eight sergeants and 150 men (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 20 Oct 1864). Early in 1 865 the garrison was down to 75 men (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 11 Jan 1865), and on 19 February was further reduced to “not less than” 50 rank and file (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 19 Feb 1865). On 31 May 1865 Manutahi was held by two subalterns, three sergeants, one drummer and 54 men, T.M.S. (AJHR 1865 A—5:63-64).
A letter from Lieutenant Clarke, Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General in New Plymouth, to Lieutenant Ferguson, R.E., refers to an addition to the redoubt a few days after
it was first put up.
40 PRICKETT
O eu he! 20m (Ee | ee | 2 N oe: 38 7, Baye / &/ ze es p, ie 37 ae a
Figs 37-38. Redoubt plans. 37. Mataitawa Redoubt. 38. Matakara Redoubt.
FORTIFICATIONS 41
“The Redoubt at Manutahi being too small for the number of men intended to occupy that Post I am directed to request you will increase it by adding to the present redoubt a large square flank, so as to admit of the whole of the Tents being with the Parapet.”
(NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 28 Oct 1864)
It seems likely a stockade was added early in 1865 (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 8 Dec 1864). Early in 1865 a blockhouse was built close by; later references are to this and not to the 1864 redoubt. Lieutenant Ferguson placed the blockhouse: “...about 50 yards South of the redoubt, keeping the top of the gentle rise which runs from the redoubt towards the old Maori works” (AD 1, 65/17).
The “Redoubt” and “Block House on Old Pa” are marked on a 1906 plan “Township of Lepperton/Paritutu Survey District”, and on the survey blocksheet (Paritutu VII; the field plan is in Fieldbook W.3, p. 50, DOSLI, New Plymouth). Both were just off Richmond Road in Lepperton. The redoubt was ca 100 m north-west of the store. The blockhouse was 150—200 m south of the redoubt, behind Lepperton School. No evidence has been found at either site. Lepperton is one of two surviving townships laid out in the 1860s for the Taranaki Military Settlers; the other is Okato south of New Plymouth.
MATAKARA REDOUBT
Matakara Redoubt was third post established in the district on 17 October 1864. In contemporary accounts alternative spellings are Mangakara, Matakaraha, Mataikara and even Mataraka, Matakara was located, “... on the other side of the bush behind Manutahi”’ (Taranaki Herald 22 Oct 1864), to secure communication between Manutahi and Mataitawa and to act as a base for working parties cutting down the bush between those two posts. At first 1t was held by Bushrangers under the command of Major Atkinson, the garrison on 20 October being one field officer, 6 officers, 8 sergeants and 105 rank and file (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book).
On 8 December 1864 orders were given for the construction of a stockade: “... required to accommodate an officer and 30 Rank and File with a Store Room and magazine” (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book). There were probably no permanent buildings at the post (AD31/24). By January 1865 the Bushrangers had been replaced by a company of Military Settlers (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 11 Jan 1865,) under Captain Carthew (Taranaki Herald 25 Feb 1865). Next month the garrison was down to 50 rank and file, T.M.S. (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 19 Feb 1865). On 15 July 1865 orders were given for the post to abandoned (AD31/24).
The remains of Matakara Redoubt are 50 m west of Richmond Road, on a low rise between the high ground —and Mataitawa Redoubt — to the south, and the Waiongana Stream — and Manutahi — to the north (Fig. 39). The 35 x 35 m fort has an unusual plan with small bastions at two angles covering four sides of a five— sided work (Fig. 38). Outside, below the entrance gateway, is typical field evidence for a small group of soldiers’ huts dug into the hillside. The site has been damaged by cultivation.
MATAITAWA BLOCKHOUSE
Mataitawa Blockhouse dates from soon after the establishment of Mataitawa Redoubt. Colonel Warre gives the reason for the new post in a letter dated 19 November 1864.
42 PRICKETT
Fig. 39. Matakara Redoubt, 1975.
**...1In order to cover the whole of the immediate vicinity of Mataitawa, it would be necessary to have a Blockhouse at Wharuanga, about 1/2 a mile to the east of Mataitawa, across a deep gully, the country between Wharuanga & Pukerangiora (Te Arei) being more or less under cultivation, and yet completely concealed by the ridge on which Wharuangais situated, from the proposed stockade at Mataitawa.”
(NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book)
The blockhouse was built early in 1865. For some time the redoubt and blockhouse were both in use (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book, 4 Oct 1865). The new post was occupied only by local forces. When the redoubt was abandoned in September 1866 the blockhouse remained in occupation as Military Settlers became established on their land.
On 26 September 1866 Private Dowdell, apparently the only occupant, was ordered to lock up Mataitawa Blockhouse and proceed to town en route for Patea (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 26 Sep 1866). The post was again occupied in October but closed up in February 1867 (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 13 Feb 1867). On 21 December 1868 Armed Constabulary and Militia under Captain Kelly were ordered to Mataitawa, to “..put the Blockhouse and ditch at that place and Manutahi in a thorough state of defence” (Taranaki Militia and Volunteers Order Book).
Mataitawa Blockhouse was reoccupied by a sergeant and six men of the Bushrangers on 15 February 1869 in response to the White Cliffs scare (Taranaki Militia and Volunteers Order Book). The next day Ensign Johnson was sent to the post with orders to make up the number to 25 men from the settlers of the district (Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book, 16 Feb 1869). Thereafter the garrison at Mataitawa and other posts was steadily reduced. In District Orders, 9 October 1869:
“R.W. Ardlie is appointed Lance Corporal and will be obeyed accordingly, and will take
FORTIFICATIONS 43
charge of Mataitawa Block House and visit Manutahi and Sentry Hill Post, at uncertain times, and see that no poultry, calves &cs are kept in the Blockhouse or enclosure and report occasionally as to the state they are kept in...”
(Taranaki Militia and Volunteers Order Book)
The remaining men at Mataitawa were struck off pay on 21 December 1869 (Taranaki Militia and Volunteers Order Book, 20 Dec 1869).
Mataitawa Blockhouse was at the old military settlers’ Mataitawa town site on Rich- mond Road. The location is given on the Paritutu VII Blocksheet (DOSLI, New Plymouth; the original field sketch is in Fieldbook W.1, p.42). The site was formerly occupied by a Maori kainga called Waruanga (WO 0270.1: opp. p. 132). Other spellings are Wharuanga and Waruhanga. A surveyor’s fieldbook gives a plan of “Te Waruhanga BlockHouse” with measurements given in links, and a sketch of the work (Figs 40 and 41). The post was made up of two buildings with a narrow yard between, enclosed by a rectangular stockade 15.5 x 14.9 m. At two opposite corners 2 x 3 m flanking angles covered all four sides.
The site survives as an earth platform 4 x 6.5 m surrounded by a shallow ditch, 50 m south of Richmond Road, 500 m south of the junction with Cross Road (Fig. 32). Flanking defence is just discernible. The site has suffered greatly from cultivation over the years.
RETURN TO TATARAIMAKA
Having pushed the northern frontier to the forest edge and Waitara River, European military authorities now returned their attention southwards. By the winter of 1864 farm land behind New Plymouth was secured by blockhouses, and the southern frontier was held from Oakura to Kaitake. The next move was re—occupation of Tataraimaka, begun by the return to St George’s Redoubt on 24 November 1864 (described above), and the establishment of the nearby Timaru Redoubt the following day.
Early in 1865 a blockhouse was built at the inland end of the Tataraimaka Block, and British troops pushed on to the north bank of Hangatahua (Stoney) River preparatory to military settlers taking up confiscated land in the Okato district. The story of these posts falls outside the years covered here.
"SS—e—- = - ~*~ 77 ies 16 _—— ae * ey 74 10 16 z ee 40 4]
Figs 40-41. Mataitawa Blockhouse. 40. Redrawn from a sketch by S.P. Smith in Fieldbook W1, DOSLI, New Plymouth. 41. Plan redrawn from Smith fieldbook. Measurements in links (1 link = 7.92 inches).
AA PRICKETT
TIMARU REDOUBT
Timaru Redoubt was thrown up on the north bank of the Timaru River on 25 November 1864. Colonel Warre wrote in his diary,
after seeing the Camp pitched [at St George’s Redoubt] & giving Major Colvile his
instructions I returned with Clarke — Ferguson &c to Huirangi where I pointed out to Capt
McKellar the site for his Redoubt & directed his Company to move there tomorrow.” (Journal, 24 Nov 1864)
Warre’s “Huirangi” was actually Hauranga, a Maori settlement situated below the redoubt site on the present sand dune area at the mouth of the river. Hauranga was occupied by Maori throughout the early 1860s, and was described in 1864 as “Meiha or Big Jack’s pa”. There is a pencil sketch of the palisaded settlement on page 39 in the Warre sketchbook, Alexander Turnbull Library. Taranaki Museum holds a watercolour by the same artist.
Colonel Warre reported to the Deputy Quarter Master General, Auckland, that,
“A Company of the Military Settlers (Otago Contingent) under command of Captain McKeller, T.M.S., has also occupied ground on the right bank of the Timaru River which post secures safe communication between Oakura & Tataraimaka,”
(NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 28 Nov 1864)
Captain McKellar’s company was made up of two subalterns, four sergeants, one drummer and 81 rank and file. The redoubt was occupied throughout by Captain McKellar’s company.
The temporary nature of the post is shown in a letter from Lieutenant Clarke, Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General, New Plymouth, to Lieutenant Colonel Lepper, command- ing local forces:
*.... am advised to inform you, that, as the Post at the Timaru River will probably be abandoned as soon as the troops move forward to the Stony River (Hangatahua), Colonel Warre considers it to be hardly worth while digging a well.”
(NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 16 Jan 1865)
In the event Timaru was abandoned when its garrison took up land at Tuahukino, near Oakura (NP Garrison Quarter Master Letter Book, 18 Apr 1865).
Timaru Redoubt was on the coastal terrace east of the Timaru River mouth. Today’s Weld Road runs through the centre of the work at the point where the gravel road begins. Earthworks can be seen on both sides of the road (Fig. 42), The redoubt is of classic plan, ca 24 m square, with 8 x 5 m flanking defence on two corners covering all four sides (Fig. 43). The ditch is in good condition under macrocarpa trees east of the road and in one paddock on the other side, but the north-west sector has been damaged by cultivation. Flanking defence at the north—west angle is distinct despite damage and we may be confident that it is matched at the opposite angle where it disappears under a boxthorn hedge.
FORTIFICATIONS 45
Fig. 42. Timaru Redoubt, 1975.
Fig. 43. Plan of Timaru Redoubt.
46 PRICKETT
THE BRITISH WAR IN TARANAKI ar: THE FORTIFICATIONS
British Army and colonial fortifications in New Zealand fall into three groups: earthwork redoubts, and wooden stockades and blockhouses (all described in Prickett 1994b). Of the 20 north Taranaki works described here ten were redoubts only, three had a combination of earthwork and stockade defence, three or more were blockhouses only, and the rest employed various combinations of blockhouse and stockade defence.
Earthwork redoubts were St Patrick’s, St George’s and St Andrew’s, Pahitere, Kaitake, Te Arei, Mataitawa, Manutahi, Matakara and Timaru. Manutahi and Matakara were altered to incorporate some stockading a few months after first being established as earthwork fortifications.
The works thrown up at Poutoko, Tataraimaka and Oakura in the first autumn of renewed fighting in Taranaki were all of the so—called ‘New Zealand redoubt’ form (Young 1869), with flanking defence at all four corners each covering one side. Mataitawa Redoubt is another example, as is Te Arei if we overlook the east face which makes use of the cliff to the Waitara River.
The ‘New Zealand redoubt’ was not used in the Taranaki war of 1860-61. The trace was adopted from the outset of renewed fighting of 1863, however, and was widely used in the years following to be given its epithet by Captain H.W. Young at the end of the decade. The question must be asked, where and how the form was developed. It is possible that credit is due to the much criticised Royal Engineer Lieutenant Ferguson, who laid out St Patrick’s Redoubt at the outset of the campaign. St George’s Redoubt, on the other hand, was the res- ponsibility of Major Frederick Mould who was engineer in charge of many works in the First Taranaki War where the ‘New Zealand redoubt’ did not appear. It does seem likely therefore that there was some general discussion of suitable works for New Zealand campaigning in the years before fighting flared up again, and that the new trace was a result.
Young in fact criticised the trace because the outer faces of corner bastions were not covered, and because it did not allow a concentration of fire on a point under attack. An advantage was that its simplicity made it easy to lay out. Also, having three angles at each corner made for greater strength than was the case at corners with five angles, required by works which defended four sides from just two corners (as at Timaru Redoubt). A trace which allowed concentrated fire on a point under attack was really designed for works which might be breached by artillery, which was not the case in New Zealand.
Timaru Redoubt marked a return to the classic form of rectangular trace with all four sides defended from just two corners. This form was used at Waireka in winter 1860 (Prickett 1994a:41—53), and also continued in use to the end of the decade, in later years employed mostly with loopholed blockhouses at the bastions (as at Manaia, Prickett 1994b:15—16).
The shape of other 1863-64 Taranaki redoubts depended on the circumstances of topography. At Pahitere a rectangular platform was developed from the earthworks of an older pa. This was also so at Kaitake, although here nothing remains of the older work beneath the European work. The trace at Kaitake also depended upon the narrow ridge on which the work was placed. The five— sided trace of Matakara Redoubt probably shows the later stockade defences; certainly, the bastions at the north and south angles are too small to have been formed by earthwork parapets.
Sentry Hill Redoubt was a simple rectangle. Like the earthwork at nearby Mahoetahi it had the advantage of commanding height from the top of a volcanic lahar. The irregular
FORTIFICATIONS 47
Mahoetahi work depended entirely on the cut down shape of the hill (and old pa). Sentry Hill and Mahoetahi employed complementary earthworks and nearby stockades, partly for flanking defence and partly to house larger garrisons than were originally intended.
The earthwork defence at Fort Robert included a stockade for part of its perimeter. This also appears to have been the case at St George’s Redoubt. Here it may have been for defence against the weather as much as anything else — as at the 1865 Warea Redoubt further down the coast, where excavations revealed a line of large posts immediately within the seaward parapet (Prickett 1994b:100, 103). How much Manutahi and Matakara redoubts were altered to stockades is not known. Kaitake Redoubt may have employed stockade defence along its short uphill side.
Stockades include ‘Lower Kaitake Blockhouse’, ‘Poutoko Blockhouse’ and ‘Mataitawa Blockhouse’, all consisting of barrack buildings within a stockade defence, as well as the independently defensible works at Mahoetahi and Sentry Hill. As has been pointed out Manutahi and Matakara were given some stockade defence after being first set up as redoubts. There was partial stockade defence also at Fort Robert and St George’ s Redoubt, Tataraimaka.
Stockades at Mahoetahi and Sentry Hill were rectangular partially flanked works. Sentry Hill appears to have had small towers at two angles for flanking defence (Fig. 20). Inside the work at Mahoetahi were one or two barrack buildings. At Mataitawa Blockhouse there were also barrack building inside, presumably loopholed for defensive fire through the stockade which fitted against the barrack walls. The barracks used here, and throughout the 1860s campaigns, were of similar construction to those shown in the Nicholl photographs of St Andrew’ s, Pahitere and Kaitake. Poutoko and Lower Kaitake Blockhouse were probably of this form of ‘blockhouse’ enclosed within a defensive stockade. Allen’s Hill may have been as well.
Blockhouses in the so—called ‘New England style’ (Prickett 1994b:15) were put up to secure European farmland behind New Plymouth in early 1864. These were square buildings of two storeys with upper floor overhanging the lower. Small garrisons could be quickly relieved by troops from town. Defensive arrangements are supplemented by what looks like an earth parapet at Ratanui (Fig. 30), anda ditch with drawbridge at Dingle’s Blockhouse (Fig. 26). Only Puketotara depends on the blockhouse alone (Fig. 31).
THE STRATEGY OF OCCUPATION
The 20 works described here were put up by British Army and colonial forces in the opening phases of a prolonged struggle for control of north Taranaki. The fighting which began in autumn 1863 continued until early 1866 when final skirmishes took place in forest country south of Stoney River. In 1869 the armed struggle was renewed at Pukearuhe where Maori from north of Parininihi (White Cliffs) killed all of a small remaining garrison, and provoked a considerable European military response north of Waitara River. A decade later Armed Constabulary and militia advanced on Parihaka to destroy the remaining independent Maori authority in the province.
The Second Taranaki War of 1863-66 and campaigns which followed may be distin- guished from the war of 1860-61 by the manner and success of European strategy. In the first war there was no way by which European forces, or indeed, Maori, might translate success in the field into the achievement of political objectives. The New Zealand Settlements Act brought about a radical change. The way was open for land belonging to ‘rebel’ tribes to be confiscated and settled by European farmers, thus gaining the political objective of more land and at the same time denying Maori the resources to continue fighting.
AS PRICKETT
Military settlers began arriving in Taranaki even before parliament enacted the legisla- tion that was to give them confiscated land. In October 1863 men who had been recruited in Otago were posted to Fort Robert with a view, at least partly, of commencing cultivation. Ironically this was on land in the possession of Ropata Ngarongomate of Poutoko who was a staunch ally of the Pakeha. From 1864 confiscation became more systematic with companies of military settlers placed on surveyed land which was balloted out according to rank.
War began in autumn 1 863 ostensibly with the limited aim of recovering the Tataraimaka Block lost to Maori forces in 1860, St Patrick’s and St George’s Redoubts were both located on European land. Only after the ambush of troops on Oakura Beach was Andrew’s Redoubt placed on Maori land to secure the road south. The withdrawal from Tataraimaka in winter 1863 was a temporary setback, brought about by the removal of troops to Auckland for the Waikato war. From early 1864 European campaigning in north Taranaki was aimed at progressively excluding Maori fighting strength from the district.
After Waitara and Mahoetahi were abandoned in May 1863 Bell Block Stockade (Prickett 1994a:10—13) was the only European post north of New Plymouth until the advance on Sentry Hill in February 1864. Strong garrisons at Mahoetahi and Sentry Hill gave security to abandoned European farmland in the Bell Block district and put pressure on inland Maori settlements. The significance of the move to Maori1s demonstrated by the assault on Sentry Hill Redoubt on 30 April where as many as 50 attackers were killed.
Military authorities now turned their attention south of New Plymouth. Two weeks after the move to Sentry Hill, St Andrew’s Redoubt was reoccupied and Pahitere Redoubt established nearby for military settlers. The objective was eviction of the enemy from positions in the Kaitake Ranges which posed a threat to European farmland behind New Plymouth. This was achieved by the end of March 1864. The military frontier between Oakura and Kaitake Redoubt greatly eased the security situation in the neighbourhood of New Plymouth. Blockhouses encouraged farmers back to their land.
In spring the focus shifted to Manutahi and Mataitawa. The purpose here was to evict Maori who posed a threat to European forces and settlement in north Taranaki, and to block off the Whakaahurangi Track by which enemy reinforcements were able to enter the region from the south. The process of isolating the Maori struggle in north Taranaki was completed when Pukearuhe was occupied in autumn 1865 to stop off the coastal route from the north.
The last fortification covered here signals a return to the south. Timaru Redoubt was thrown up when Tataraimaka was reoccupied in November 1864, Early the next year troops marched forward to the north bank of Stoney (Hangatahua) River and a blockhouse was erected at the inland end of European land at Tataraimaka to encourage farmers back to their land. The move to Stoney River marked the limit of effective confiscation of Maori land south of New Plymouth until the Parihaka Campaign of 1880-81.
In north Taranaki the confiscation of land was effectively employed as a winning strategy in the armed struggle between Pakeha and Maori. The campaigns which extended from 1863 to early 1866 represent a systematic and coherent push out of New Plymouth to claim both victory and the land. Maori reinforcements were excluded from the region in a series of European moves in autumn, spring and autumn 1864-65, which fitted into a larger pattern of alternate advances north and south of New Plymouth.
Sometimes British troops and military settlers advanced in tandem, occupying comple- mentary positions to enable the settlers quickly to take up their land. This can be seen at St Patrick’ Redoubt and Fort Robert in 1863, in March 1864 at St Andrew’s and Pahitere, also at Mataitawa and Tataraimaka later that year. As military settlers took up their farms, fortified positions at town sites gave reassurance and security.
FORTIFICATIONS 49
In the years after 1863 the fate of Taranaki was decided as land forcibly taken from its previous owners was transformed by European farmers. The 1880-81 campaign against Maori self-government at Parihaka was the end and logical conclusion of the process. Virtually the whole of the rich lowlands of coastal Taranaki was now in Pakeha hands. European fortifications which survive as archaeological sites tell of the course and success of the strategy of confiscation.
Acknowledgements. My foremost debt is to Kath Prickett. An aerial survey of a gas pipeline route which she undertook first revealed many of these sites, and so caught my interest. Later we visited them on the ground. Others who have helped in different ways include Ron Lambert, Alastair Buist, Robyn Oliver, Roger Fyfe, Kelvin Day, staff of the former Department of Lands and Survey, New Plymouth, and of Taranaki Museum and the New Plymouth Public Library.
REFERENCES
OFFICIAL MANUSCRIPTS
National Archives, Wellington
ADI Army Department, General Inwards Correspondence, 1863-1879.
AD6 Army Department, Outwards Letters, 1863-1879.
AD35/12 Army Department, Returns of Blockhouses, Redoubts and Stockades, 1869.
AD31/24 Army Department, Officer Commanding Imperial Troops and Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General, New Plymouth, Outwards Letter Book 15 May 1865-8 Mar 1867.
New Plymouth Public Library
New Plymouth (NP) Garrison Office Letter Book 30 Nov 1863-22 Mar 1865.
New Plymouth (NP) Garrison Order Book 5 Mar—2 Jul 1864.
New Plymouth (NP) Garrison Quarter Master General Letter Book 4 Aug 1863-13 May 1865. Taranaki Military Settlers Defaulters Book | Sep 1863-29 May 1864.
Taranaki Military Settlers Memo Book 16 Aug 1865-3 Apr 1869.
Taranaki Militia and Volunteers Letter Book 26 Apr—29 Sep 1864.
Taranaki Militia and Volunteers Order Book 1 Jul 1868—Oct 1873.
Taranaki Museum New Plymouth (NP) Garrison Order Book 22 Jul 1865-26 Dec 1866.
UNOFFICIAL MANUSCRIPTS
WARRE, H.J. Journal. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington,
OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS
AJHR Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives.
GBPP Great Britain Parliamentary Papers.
War Office 0270.1 Journals of the Deputy Quartermaster General in New Zealand [Lieutenant Colonel Gamble].
War Office 1270.11 Selections from Despatches and Letters Relative to the Conduct of the War in New Zealand 1860-65.
50 PRICKETT
NEWSPAPER Taranaki Herald PUBLISHED WORKS
ALEXANDER, J.E. 1973 Bush Fighting. London, Sampson Low, Marston, Low and Searle. ANON. 1866 A Campaign on the West Coast of New Zealand. Wanganui, Times. BEST, E. 1975 The Pa Maori (2nd edition). Wellington, Government Printer. COWAN, J. 1922-23 The New Zealand Wars. Wellington, Government Printer. PRICKETT, N.J. 1980 Maori fortifications of the Omata and Oakura districts, Taranaki. Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus.
17:1-48.
1981 The Archaeology of a Military Frontier: Taranaki, New Zealand, 1860-1881. Ph.D. thesis, University of Auckland.
1994 Pakeha and Maori fortifications of the First Taranaki War, 1860-61. Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus. 31:1-87.
1994b Archaeological excavations at the Omata Stockade and Warea Redoubt, Taranaki. N.Z. Arch. Assoc. Monograph 20. SKINNER, W.H. 1935 History and Reminiscences of the Okato District. New Plymouth, Taranaki Herald. WARRE, H.J. 1878 Historical Records of the Fifty-Seventh, or, West Middlesex Regiment of Foot. London, W. Mitchell. YOUNG, H.W. 1868 Hints on House Defence, Blockhouses and Redoubts. Wellington, William Lyons.
NIGEL PRICKETT, Auckland Institute and Museum, Private Bag 92018, Auckland, New Zealand.
FORTIFICATIONS 51
APPENDIX 1. New Zealand Archaeological Association site record numbers and map references. Approximate map references are given where the location is known but archaeo- logical evidence has not been found.
Allen’s Hill Blockhouse P19/32 ca 975332 Dingle’s Blockhouse P19/155 017336
Fort Robert P19/20 954336
Kaitake Redoubt P19/37 936296
Lower Kaitake Blockhouse P19/45 ca 934296 Mahoetahi Stockade Q19/118 140418 Manutahi Redoubt Q19 ca 147374
Mataitawa Blockhouse Q19/155 163354 Mataitawa Redoubt Q19/162 156353 Matakara Redoubt Q19/161 153362
No 6 (Huirangi) Redoubt Q19/147 179384 Pahitere Redoubt P19/23 940323
Poutoko Blockhouse P19 ca 969336 Puketotara Blockhouse P19/160 059359 Ratanui Blockhouse P19/161 041335
St Andrew’s (Oakura) Redoubt P19/38 930325 St George’s (Tataraimaka) Redoubt P19/44 869296 St Patrick’s (Poutoko) Redoubt P19/19 963338 Sentry Hill Redoubt Q19/166 ca 138400
Te Arei Redoubt Q19/163 193270
Timaru Redoubt P19/43 900307
a I
T.F. CHEESEMAN’S DIARY OF A BOTANICAL VISIT TO RAROTONGA, COOK ISLANDS, 1899
B.J. GILL AND W.R, SYKES
Abstract. T.F. Cheeseman, Curator of the Auckland Institute and Museum, visited Rarotonga in 1899 to study the flora. He kept a narrative diary, distinct from his field notebooks, which is transcribed here. It begins with the departure from Auckland on 9 May and ends abruptly with the entry for 3 July, near the end of the expedition. The diary details daily excursions to collect plants, traces Cheeseman’s unfolding knowledge of the plants and vegetation, and describes some aspects of life on turn-of-the-century Rarotonga. Nine of Cheeseman’s photographs of the expedition are reproduced.
Thomas Frederic Cheeseman (1845-1923) was born in Hull, Yorkshire, and came to New Zealand as a child with his parents (Goulding 1996). University training was then unavailable in New Zealand, but Cheeseman followed an interest in plants to become a self- taught botanist. In 1874 he was appointed sole Curator of the Auckland Institute and Museum collection, which position he held until his death (Powell 1967). Cheeseman married Rose Keesing (1857-1931) in 1889.
Cheeseman travelled to Rarotonga in 1899, accompanied by his wife, to collect herbarium specimens and study the flora (Cheeseman 1903). He kept a narrative diary of the expedition (Auckland Institute and Museum Library MS58, box 21, notebook 23) and this is transcribed below.
Rarotonga is 3,000 km north-east of New Zealand. The London Missionary Society was influential in the area from the 1820s and Rarotonga was declared a British Protectorate in 1888 (Douglas & Douglas 1994). With surrounding islands, it was transferred to New Zealand jurisdiction as the Cook Islands in 1901, soon after Cheeseman’s visit.
THE DIARY
The Rarotonga diary is in an exercise book separate from Cheeseman’ s field notebooks, and entries are in ink, Cheeseman’s writing is neat and fairly easy to read. The transcription below is almost completely verbatim. The dates at the start of each entry, sometimes written by Cheeseman as “May 7” and sometimes as “May nth”, have all been transcribed as “n May”. All Latin names of plants have been set in italics whether Cheeseman underlined them or not. All question marks in the transcript are Cheeseman’s.
The diary ends abruptly with the entry for 3 July, and no account of the rest of the trip exists in the Museum’s Cheeseman collection (MS58). However, we know from Cheeseman (1903) that the trip to Rarotonga ended in July. Cheeseman sought to collect all the wild species but was greatly held up by wet weather and his specimens were not drying well. He may have been too pressed for time to keep up the diary.
Figs | and 2 show place names mentioned in the diary. Current Latin names of plants, and Latin equivalents of Cook Islands Maori names of plants, are given in Appendix 1.
The journey by sea from Auckland to Rarotonga took a week. In the narrative his acquaintance with the Rarotongan flora unfolds day by day as he discovers species new to him. The diary contains descriptions of the vegetation, and detailed descriptions of the arrival at
Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus. 33: 53-78 1996
54 GILL & SYKES
ANNU tne uy, toy in
Cc
oe -
Mens > CONT a na
nnn, sy y
f s s Black Rock, 2 z BLO | i. .1001 4 Si pees Vis IM wl Ngatangiia 2 Sk Ly 418 0 some r (<= =a : H a4 En A ooty, : = yy re = ” SO sr S : 3 Sees NN pee ZI Sah SBE iim wy nr 2 < SOT FNS Canin LIRA TMS Ss ae he y = nS : i Ati Ae = Motut : . ~ = a = _ SSNS \ = pu I yi Wie or = 2 Ma, Whi. y = awh Mi pli, Yi i - = = Tororoal.
wus aot e7i iy awe
yi 5 all Ly
res tn, &, “He, . ena 9, he a 5 "ten “ 75) ey ane tna ogee gq Pep Wert yn “fea Org (e) | 2 5
Scale of Miles.
Fig. 1. Map of Rarotonga reproduced from Cheeseman (1903). “Outline from the Admiralty
Chart; interior from rough sketches by T.F. Cheeseman
Avarua
4 /kurangi
Maungatea A
a Maungaroa
a Te Manga
a
Arorangi Te Atukura
Fig. 2. Contemporary map of Rarotonga showing place names m
ay Neatangus
i D 0
Motutapu
' ‘ 4 . . ’ rT ’ ' . .
'
,
entioned in the text.
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 55
the port of Avarua (16 May) and the home and surroundings where Cheeseman stayed at Arorangi (17 May). Also of interest are descriptions of the “native settlement of Arorangi” (20 May), a method employed by boys to catch wild roosters in the bush (2 June) and details of the size and construction of irrigated taro plantations (1 July).
Cheeseman “... travelled round the island, ascended all the mountains, and practically visited every portion of it ...” (Cheeseman 1903), “The mountainous interior of the island is seldom visited” on account of the “... total absence of tracks, the steepness of the hills, and the dense jungle-like forest ...”. It‘... is most unusual for either natives or Europeans to climb any of the mountains, and I was assured that the highest peak, Mount Taitukura [= Te Atukura, the second highest peak; Table 1], had not been ascended for at least eight years previous to my visit” (Cheeseman 1903).
The diary describes the ascent of Ikurangi (28 May), Te Kou (18 June), and Maungatea (25 June). Maungaroa was attempted on 30 May but the summit was not reached until asecond attempt on 2 June, when the highest point was reckoned at 1650 ft. (This figure is confirmed by the entry for 18 June where the summit of Te Kou is described as “1850 ft, or 200 ft higher than Maungaroa.” Cheeseman’s sketch map (Fig. 1) shows Maungaroa to be 1750 ft, presumably an error since 1650 ftis closer to the actual height. ) No accounts are given of trips to the summits of Te Manga and Te Atukura. These must have taken place after 3 July when the narrative ended. The heights of peaks estimated by Cheeseman using an aneroid altimeter compare very closely with the heights measured by modern means (Table 1).
Cheeseman took photographs on Rarotonga (e.g. 21 May). In 1993, Auckland Museum Library received from a descendant of Cheeseman (Miss Patricia Grant-Taylor) some old photographs that included a series of 33 prints showing tropical scenes (Thomas F. Cheeseman photograph collection, 93/8). They are without captions but appear to be some of Cheeseman’ s Rarotonga photographs, and nine are reproduced here (Figs 4-12). Fig. 13 shows a stone pounder collected by Cheeseman on Rarotonga.
BOTANICAL BACKGROUND
By 1899 there had been over a century of botanical collecting in the tropical Pacific and numerous specimens had been taken to Europe and the United States from many parts of Polynesia and Melanesia. Major collections existed for the larger island groups (notably
Table 1. Heights of the main peaks of Rarotonga as estimated by Cheeseman (1903) and as measured today (taken from map “Rarotonga” 1985, NZMS 272/8/6, Dept. of Lands & Survey, Wellington).
ee
Peak Cheeseman (1903) Modern measurement ft (m) m Manga (= Te Manga) 2250 (686) 653 Tairukuca (= Te Atukura) 2225 (678) 638 Tekou (= Te Kou) 1850 (564) 588 Mangatea (= Maungatea) 1650 (503) 523 Maungaroa 1650 (503)* 509 Ikurangi 1575 (480) 485
* See discussion in text.
56 GILL & SYKES
Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Society Islands and Hawaii) and several published floras had ensued. However, there were many gaps, including knowledge of the botany of the Cook Islands and of much of French Polynesia beyond the Society Islands. Before Cheeseman’s visit to the Cooks only a handful of plant specimens had been collected. W.B. Hemsley of Kew Gardens wrote to Cheeseman on 5 January 1898 (Auckland Institute and Museum Library MSS8, box 8, folder 4): “I have spoken to the Director about your proposed visit to the Cook Islands for the purpose of botanical investigation, and he agrees with me that it is very desirable .,. So far as I can ascertain no trained botanist [h]as ever visited the islands, and the number of species of (dried) plants that have reached Kew in a condition for determination does not exceed three dozen, chiefly ferns.”
Before going to Rarotonga, Cheeseman may have been able to study the several regional floras then published. Flora Vitiensis (1865-73) by Berthold Seeman became one of the most important background works for botanical studies in the tropical South Pacific. Eyen more relevant to Rarotonga was Flore de la Polynésie Francaise (1893) by E, Drake del Castillo, and the same author’s ///ustrationes Florae Insularis Maris Pacifici (1886). Cheeseman may have seen W, Hillebrand’s Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (1888), and almost certainly knew W.B. Hemsley’s The Flora of the Tonga or Friendly Islands (1894). Finally, Cheeseman may have known F. Reinecke’s accounts of Samoan plants in Botanische Jahrbiiche (1897, 1898) although only a small proportion of the species had descriptions.
Apart from a visit to the Kermadec Islands in 1887 (Cheeseman 1888), the Rarotongan expedition was Cheeseman’s only botanical foray beyond New Zealand. It is unclear how much Cheeseman knew of the flora of Rarotonga before his visit, but his diary shows that he already had a good basic knowledge of tropical Pacific plants, He changed many names between the diary and the published flora (Cheeseman 1903), presumably as a result of correspondence with botanists in Europe, particularly at Kew Gardens. But for the flora he often had simply to add a specific epithet to the generic name used in the diary.
Cheeseman collected herbarium specimens of virtually all the wild Rarotongan higher plants that he encountered, some 334 species. The bulk of the specimens are held in the Auckland Museum herbarium (AK; E.K. Cameron, pers. comm.). Cheeseman acknowledged W.B. Hemsley at Kew (K) for examining and comparing specimens (Cheeseman 1903: 207), C,H. Wright at Kew for examining his new fern specimens (Cheeseman 1903: 309) and E. Hackel at Vienna (W) for examining and determining a set of Rarotongan grasses (Cheeseman 1903: 302). These duplicate specimens would have remained with the overseas specialists. Fig. 3 shows one of Cheeseman’s new species, Homalium acuminatum (Flacourtiaceae), which is represented in AK by I1 sheets, Cheeseman collected some lower plants on Rarotonga and of these AK holds 19 moss collections, representing at least 17 taxa. Most of these are ex T.W.N. Beckett herbarium, determined by V.F. Brotherus in 1902. The Beckett herbarium at Lincoln (CHR) holds other Cheeseman Rarotongan moss specimens.
Of the 18 species of plants that Cheeseman considered to be Rarotongan endemics, 15 were described in his flora (Cheeseman 1903): nine by Cheeseman himself (one fern, one monocotyledon, seven dicotyledons), two grasses by Hackel and four dicotyledons by Hemsley. Four species bear Cheeseman’s name: a dicotyledon, two grasses and a recently- described fern.
TRANSCRIPT OF THE DIARY
Tuesday, 9 May. Left for Rarotonga on the steamer Ovalau', casting off from Queen St. Wharf at quarter to nine pm. Only six passengers on board — Madame Arnaud and her
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 57
HERS. 1. Fo CHEESEMAN, oe AK 24967 aocryany Iugerrete & eogros araeran SEE ASE, BER CALAN?
FLACOURTIACEAE Homalium acuminatum Cheese.
teseitete ae.
(Ree?
Fig. 3. Herbarium sheet AK 24967, Homalium acuminatum Cheeseman (syntype). Photo: N. Payne.
daughter, two Tahitians returning to their country after a visit to New Zealand; Mr Hemus [spelling uncertain], in the employ of Messrs Donald & Edenborough; another passenger, whose name I failed to learn; and myself and wife. The night was fine but dark, and after the steamer had rounded the North Head we both returned to our cabins.
Wednesday, 10 May. A beautifully fine day, with hardly a ripple on the water. Numerous albatrosses and Mollymauks followed in the wake of our vessel, and an occasional black petrel
58 GILL & SYKES
was also seen. No incident worth mention occurred during the day. Towards evening the wind shifted to the eastward, but still continued light.
Thursday, 11 May. Gloomy and cloudy during the whole of the day, with light N.E. breeze. Towards the evening a dense bank of clouds appeared in the North, and the general impression on board was that a N.E. breeze would be encountered on the following day. Numerous albatrosses still following in our wake. Expected to see flying fish, but none was noticed.
Friday, 12 May. On awaking in the morning found that we were running before a strong S.W. breeze, with sails set to help us on. The breeze freshened during the day, and seemed to have the effect of increasing the number of albatrosses and small petrels following in our wake. Towards night the wind drew more into the West, raising a beam sea, making the Ovalau roll rather disagreeably.
Saturday, 13 May. W. breeze the whole day, with high beam sea. Still plenty of albatrosses and petrels.
Sunday, 14 May. Much finer. Light N.W. breeze, and sea much smoother. We now commenced to feel the temperature much warmer. Almost all the albatrosses have left us.
Monday, 15 May. Light N. breeze and smooth sea. Quite warm, but cloudy; and sky not at all what one would expect to see in the tropics. All the albatrosses have gone; and the only birds seen during the day were a few tropic birds and one or two noddies and terns. Flying fish abundant during the whole of the day. They disappointed me, on account of their small size,
Tuesday, 16 May. A dull, cloudy morning, with light S.E. breeze — which I suppose must be counted as the trade wind. Rarotonga was sighted about 9 o’clock. At first only the high central peak was seen; then two others appeared, standing off like two little islands. By eleven o'clock the shape of the island could be distinctly made out. Shortly after drizzly showers came on, and continued until we had reached the south end of the island. About two the steamer anchored off Avarua harbour, situated at the northern end of the island. The weather now Cleared up, and we had a good look at the island from the anchorage. High and rugged mountains were seen to occupy the whole of the central portion, with deep gorges and ravines. Many of the peaks were rocky and one remarkable column of solid rock presented a very remarkable appearance as seen from the coast a little to the south of Avarua. It must be at least 200 ft in height. Except on these steep and rocky portions the whole island, from the sea beach to the crest of the hills, was covered with luxuriant forest. Even from the anchorage one could notice that the vegetation was rich and diversified, with many varying tints of foliage. Cocoa nut palms [= Cocos nucifera] were plentiful towards the coast, and alone gave the landscape a truly tropical appearance. A fringing reef runs all round the island, usually only a few hundred yards from the shore, and on the outer rim of this a line of white and foaming breakers was plainly visible. Just opposite to our anchorage were two gaps in the reef — one leading to the harbour of Avarua, the other to that of Avaiti [= Avatiu] — situated only a few miles to the southwards [actually about a mile westwards].
The anchor had no sooner dropped than we were boarded by the health officer and the custom house officers. And then some score or two of stalwart Rarotongans — tall, lithe and well-built— climbed up on the deck to offer their services for the work of discharging the cargo. We were also surrounded by quite a fleet of little outrigger canoes — each paddled by a single man, The object of this visit was evidently fishing, for as each canoe drew up under our lee, the occupant quickly had his line and hook over the side. And notwithstanding we were anchored in ten fathoms of water, we could distinctly see the bottom, and even the fish swimming to and fro.
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 59
For cultural reasons, this image has been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 4. Family group, Rarotonga, 1899. Possibly Arorangi—““Numbers of gaily dressed men and women were sauntering up and down the road in front of their houses, and I secured several good photographs” (21 May). Photo: T.F. Cheeseman (Auckland Museum Library),
After our luggage had been examined and passed, we landed in the little oil launch that plies between the steamer and the shore, and soon landed on the Union S.S, Co’s wharf. There were crowds of gaily dressed Rarotongan women, drawn up to see the arrivals by the steamer. We were very favourably impressed by their appearance. Tall, well-built, of graceful aspect and with much natural dignity of carriage, they welcomed us without any bashfulness or hesitation, and at the same time with a politeness and suaveness seldom seen in uncivilised man. We found that Col. Gudgeon’, the British Resident, was absent on some of the other islands of the group, but we were introduced to the Rev Mr Hutchins [sic]’, the leading clergyman, and his wife and also a number of other residents.
Avarua township is a long straggling place extending for some distance along the road which runs all round the island a little distance from the beach. There are several stores or shops, interspersed with the residences of the natives. Most of them have patches of garden in front of them, and one saw many well-known tropical plants which had been imported from abroad. But I will reserve a description of the place until I have become more familiar with it.
We had arranged to stay with Mr & Mrs Rice, whose residence turned out to be between three and four miles distant, near a native village called Arorangi. Mr Rice welcomed us immediately on our landing, and we found he had a buggy waiting to drive us out. After a little delay, we left Avarua about 4 o’clock. The drive was a beautiful one. The road runs parallel with the coast, seldom being more than !/2 mile from it, and often much less. In many places it is lined with groves of cocoa-nuts, and here and there we passed through the cultivations of the natives — bananas, taro, kumaras, etc. But these I will describe later on. One of the most curious sights — orrather one which perhaps impressed us as much as any — was the screw pine
60 GILL & SYKES
(Pandanus odoratissimus) — elevated on the top of its aerial roots. We arrived at Mr Rice’s residence a little before sunset, and were glad to find a comfortable well arranged house, built with more regard to the requirements of a tropical climate than appears to be generally the case on the island,
Wednesday, 17 May. Early inthe morning Mr Rice drove in to Avarua to fetch my heavy luggage, containing my drying paper and collecting apparatus. On his return I at once commenced to unpack, A work table was improvised in one of the sitting rooms, and I soon had my drying paper, boards and straps, books, microscope, dissecting instruments, etc etc, arranged in a very convenient way. A little closet proved to be very suitable for storing away my collecting bottles and photographic requisites. My tank for larger specimens in formalin, was kept on the verandah.
Mr Rice’s house is a low edifice surrounded on three sides with a broad verandah. The foundations and walls are of concrete, the lime being obtained by burning the coral rocks. The windows are large and broad, and the rooms open into one another with broad openings six feet wide or more, without doors but furnished with portieres. There is consequently plenty of ventilation, an indispensable requisite in such acclimate. The verandah is roofed with iron, but the house itself is covered with a paper or felt covering, painted red, fastened on a boarded roof. [understand, however, that the material had proved to be hardly suitable for the climate. Under the house is a cellar, used for keeping stores, and doubtless very useful for that purpose. The kitchen, etc, is at the back of the house, and the walls, for a portion at least, are composed of open lattice work. The sitting rooms and bed-rooms in the front are very nicely and appropriately furnished. The floors are covered with clean native matting, and the windows are protected with dark green roller blinds. Altogether the house is [a] comfortable and well- arranged residence. A Rarotongan girl, and two boys make a good set of servants, and have evidently been well and carefully trained.
The house stands east and west, facing the east. Standing on the front verandah, one looks directly at the central peaks of the island — steep ridges and sharp-pointed peaks, clothed with dense and luxuriant vegetation, excepting one or two hills, which appeared to be bare on top. At the base of the hills was the thick tropical vegetation, and in front of that a grove of cocoa- nut palms, their broad feathery foliage waving in the wind, the large yellow fruit showing in clusters just at the base of the leaves. Round the house itself is a clearing of a few acres in extent, occupied here and there with a second growth of Carica papaya, a very striking plant of palm-like habit, its stems loaded with the large smooth fruits. On each side is the virgin forest, here largely composed of the Puka (Hernandia peltata) and Utu (Barringtonia speciosa), both of them magnificent and umbrageous trees. From the back of the house it is only a few yards to the beach — here a wide strand of coral sand white and dazzling in the sun. A little distance from the shore — perhaps quarter of a mile — is the fringing reef which everywhere encircles the island and on which a line of snow-white breakers is incessantly rolling. Between the breakers on the edge of the reef and the shore is a stretch of calm shallow water — here and there studded with projecting coral rocks. The shore is lined with a fringe of Casuarina equisetifolia, through the branches and filiform leaves [actually the branchlets] of which the wind soughs with a noise reminding one of a pine forest. The undergrowth close to the sea is composed of Scaevola Koenigii, which forms a continuous belt a few yards in width,
Thursday, 18 May. This day I spent in collecting the plants in the immediate vicinity of the homestead — not going further away in any direction than half a mile or so. The forest, so far as its general appearance is concerned, differs chiefly from that of New Zealand in the greater luxuriance of the foliage. A much larger proportion have large leaves. The Hernandia
peltata, Barringtonia, Hibiscus tiliaceus, Morinda citrifolia, Guettarda speciosa are all good
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 6]
For cultural reasons, these images have been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 5. Unidentified women, Rarotonga, 1899. The woman on the right appears in Fig. 3. Photo: T.F. Cheeseman (Auckland Museum Library).
Fig. 6. Family group, Rarotonga, 1899. Probably 26 May — “In the afternoon Matthew brought his father, mother and three brothers to be photographed.” Photo: T.F. Cheeseman (Auckland Museum Library).
62 GILL & SYKES
examples, bearing large broad showy leaves. The cultivations are covered with an assortment of weeds quite different to anything we possess in New Zealand. Two species of Sida are very plentiful, Urena?, Ageratum, Asclepias curassavica, one or two labiates, several malvaceous plants, Eleusine indica, Digitaria, Oplismenus, etc, are common plants.
Friday, 19 May. The weather changed early in the night, and heavy rain came down in torrents, accompanied with vivid lightning. During the day the rain was not quite so heavy, but sufficiently so to put all exploration out of question.
Saturday, 20 May. Almost the whole night the rain fell in torrents, accompanied with very vivid lightning. About sunrise the weather cleared up, and by ten o’clock the sun appeared, the rest of the day being beautifully fine. In the morning I walked to the native settlement of Arorangi, distant about a mile. Itis quite a large village, stretching along the road side for a considerable distance —indeed I did not reach the end of it. On either side of the road is a low stone wall, covered here and there with a species of Peperomia. All the houses have little patches of cultivation in front, and I was struck with the number of tropical shrubs and flowers grown for ornament. Conspicuous among these were the Frangipani, with its large panicles of scented yellow flowers and fine bold foliage; the Gardenia, with glossy foliage and pure white scented flowers; Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, a scarlet and pink-flowered variety; one or two other Hibisci; an Acalypha, with crimson foliage, etc. etc. A very handsome tree, the lo [= tou], was also common (Cordia subcordata) — also a species of Macaranga, the native name of which was given to me as Enua. The residence of the chief “Ariki” of the district — at present a female — was pointed out to me. It is a long two storied weather boarded house with verandah and balcony in front, and has a somewhat dilapidated appearance. Next to it is a large stone church — quite an imposing edifice, with huge windows [see Fig. 10]. It appeared to be undergoing repairs. Directly opposite was the public school, also a large building. The native houses were of all styles and sizes, from a mere hut to a comfortable looking stone or weather-board house. In the afternoon I strolled in the other direction to a place called “The Black Rocks”, where a mass of volcanic rocks runs down into the sea. Here I found some very interesting plants — Ficus tinctoria, a species of Pipturus, a violet Ipomoea [= /. littoralis|, etc.
Sunday, 21 May. The morning opened fine, but before breakfast it clouded over, and heavy showers fell during most of the morning. About 11 o’clock it cleared up, and I sallied out and took a couple of photographs of the breakers on the reef. There was a heavy swell, and occasionally the height of the waves rolling and curving over on the leaward side of the reef was very great indeed, In the afternoon I walked over to Arorangi, taking my camera with me. Numbers of gaily dressed men and women were sauntering up and down the road in front of their houses, and I secured several good photographs.
Monday, 22 May. Rain again during the night, clearing up in the forenoon, After lunch drove in to Avarua with Mr Rice, and delivered some letters of introduction — Mr Van Hoff, Mr Taylor, Mr Pilz, etc etc. Collected a few plants on my way home. Inthe evening developed a few photographic plates.
Tuesday, 23 May. Inthe morning changed my plants and developed some photographic plates. In the afternoon struck inland opposite to Mr Rice’s. Saw some splendid specimens of Inocarpus edulis — a tree remarkable for its fluted or buttressed trunk and large yellowish fruit. Also Cananga odorata, a most handsome tree, with a smooth straight trunk and very handsome foliage, spreading ina distichous manner, Artocarpus was also plentiful. Wandered along the old inland road — in many places paved, and bordered with low stone walls",
Wednesday, 24 May. Writing letters all the morning. In the afternoon drove in to Avarua to post our correspondence for the homeward steamer. Got back about 7 pm.
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 63
Fig. 7. Black Rock, Rarotonga, 1899. “Took a few photographs of the Black Rocks in the evening” (10 June). Photo: T.F. Cheeseman (Auckland Museum Library).
Thursday, 25 May. Got Matthew Kea, a bright young boy, to go with me and carry my vasculum. We walked half way to Arorangi and then struck inland until we reached the old road of Toi, along which we walked for some distance. Saw a splendid Banyan tree [= Ficus prolixa], with its aerial roots all fused into an enormous trunk. Unfortunately it had neither flowers or fruit. Also saw a tree called the “Pukatea” — but it too had no flowers or fruit. It attains a height of over 60 ft, has a smooth pale bark, buttressed at the base, like the New Zealand plant bearing the same name, but the foliage is altogether different. Another tree new to me is the cotton tree, or “Vavai’’. Ithas aclean cylindrical trunk with smooth and even bark, studded here and there with formidable short spines inserted on a broad base. In the evening went with Rose and the Rices to take tea with Miss Large, the teacher of the London Missionary Society’s large boarding school.
Friday, 26 May. In the morning went with Matthew Kea to Arorangi, and beyond the village to the mouth of the little stream. Then struck inland. Saw /nocarpus in great plenty, one tree having a few flowers left. Collected what I suppose to be Jussiaea suffruticosa, growing in great plenty round the margins of some artificial swamps used for cultivating the Taro. Collected also Davallia parallela (?) growing on the lower portion of the trunks of Cocoa nut palms, Oxalis, Siegesbeckia, a curious little Euphorbia, etc. etc. In the afternoon Matthew brought his father, mother and three brothers to be photographed [Fig. 6]. After- wards I took a walk to the top of a burnt hill a little distance from Mr Rice’s. A second growth of Casuarina is rapidly covering the hill; but at present the most conspicuous plants are Gleichenia dichotoma, which covers the ground like our Preris aquilina in N.Z., a tall grass notin flower; a purple Jpomoea [= I. littoralis|,and Paspalum scrobiculatum. When returning I gathered a Cyperus near a swampy hollow occasionally filled with water after heavy rains.
64 GILL & SYKES
For cultural reasons, this image has been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 8, People and horses with cultivations beyond, Rarotonga, 1899, This is probably the Rice's garden at Arorangi. The European man may be Mr Rice, and the European women Mrs Rice and Mrs Cheeseman, Photo: T.F. Cheeseman (Auckland Museum Library).
Saturday, 27 May. Struck inland from Mr Rice’s by way of Hill’s plantation until | reached the mouth of a large gully which evidently comes quite from the heart of the mountains, Found a considerable number of ferns new to me. Acrostichum, 2 species, one of which is evidently A. spicatum, Adiantum hispidulum, two or three species of Asplenium, two Trichomanes, etc. Enormous plants of Marattia fraxinea@’ were observed in several places close to the edge of the stream, some of the fronds must have been quite 20 ft long. A curious shrub, probably a Bvehmeria, was common along the stream. But the find of the day was a Fitchia, perhaps the same as the F. nutans of Tahiti. Itforms asmall tree, 10-25 ft with slender trunk. The flowers are solitary and hang downwards. They are of large size, and of a beautiful orange colour. Leaving the edge of the stream, and climbing up the hill side I saw several fine plants, A Melastoma, with large white flowers was plentiful. A large Weinmannia was also abundant. Great quantities of Schizaea dichotoma were growing in the shade of the trees and two epiphytic orchids were gathered; one being quite leafless, with the rhizomes or stems spreading in a stellate manner on the trunk of the tree [this orchid is Taeniophyllum fasciola\.
Sunday, 28 May. Had an early breakfast and drove to Avarua, Met Dr Craig there by appointment, and as soon as he had disposed of his hospital work we started to make the ascent of Hikurangi [=Ikurangi], a bald peak just to the N.E. of Avarua township. We drove acouple of miles out of the town, and then turned up a side track for half a mile or so until a little hut was reached. Here we left our buggy, and after disposing of our coats and all other unnecessary impedimenta a start was made for the mountains. Our party consisted of Dr Craig and myself, and seven Rarotongans, named respectively Pakari, Karatau, Enua, Ropou, Tere, Makitira,
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 65
and Ahpu, the latter Dr Craig’s servant. Out of the seven, only two had been engaged to come with us, the remainder joined the party out of curiosity. After leaving the hut, the track followed the bed of a little stream for some distance. Magnificent trees of Jnocarpus edulis were passed, but the chief vegetation was the Au (Hibiscus tiliaceus), Here and there were swampy patches filled with Taro, the edge of the ponds fringed with Jussiaea suffruticosa. Further on were great quantities of Marattia fraxinea, the native name of which I was told was Anae?.
After a time we left the stream, and struck up an open spur, mainly covered with Gleichenia dichotoma and acoarse and tall tufted grass notin flower. We passed through large patches of Melastoma denticulata, the native name of which is Kotaa. Lycopedium cernuum was common. Ascending a little higher, we had light scrub on each side, mainly composed of Fitchia (native name Neinei), Mussaenda frondosa (native name Kotuku) and an appar- ently Apocynaceous plant with milky juice, very shiny leaves, and large panicles of small, strongly contorted, white or yellow flowers [= Alstonia costata|. The Weinmannia noticed in the gullies opposite to Mr Rice’s was also very common.
A steep climb brought us on to a higher wooded ridge trending more to the right, and this we followed for a considerable distance. At last we reached the foot of the main peak, and here, at an altitude of about 800 ft, we called a halt. On a steep rocky face to our right I noticed great quantities of a small Rubiaceous plant 6-18 inches high, with small white flowers [= Hedyotis foetida|. Peperomia also was abundant — also Metrosideros polymorpha. Finding it impossible to keep along the ridge, we struck along the eastern face of the peak, ascending it obliquely. Great quantities of Ascarina were noticed — also Fitchia and Fagraea, and a considerable number of trees not yet identified. The very summit of the peak was exceedingly difficult of ascent, and but for the trees growing here and there would have been still more so, Great care had to be exercised by those in front, lest they should accidentally roll stones on those below. Towards the top quantities of Lycopodium flagellaria and another species were noticed, also a curious single leaved Orchid with a spike of small greenish flowers®. At last the summit was reached, my aneroid making the height to be 1575 ft.
The most abundant tree on the summit was Fitchia, in full bloom; dwarfed to a height of 8 or 10 ft. Metrosideros polymorpha —Boehmeria sp.— Fagraea Berteriana, also plentiful —the most abundant plant after the Fitchia was a small tree with oblong leaves | inch long, and with roundish immature fruit [= Xylosoma suaveolens subsp. gracile], Other plants — Oxalis corniculata, Davallia elegans, Nephrolepis exaltata, Oplismenus, Ageratumconyzoides, Polypodium phymatodes, Peperomia, Cordyline terminalis, Euphorbia (same as coast species)’, Mountain grass — etc etc.
Our party soon rigged a flagstaff, and a large flag was soon displayed to the gaze of the inhabitants of Avarua. And then to my surprise the whole of our natives knelt down and offered up lengthy prayers as a recognition of their successful ascent. The scene was a very curious one. Seven stalwart dark skinned Polynesians, ranged in a circle on bended knees, with bare heads and serious or even devout aspect, listening attentively while their leader prayed loudly and fervently. He evoked the care of the Almighty for each of the party not forgetting to mention myself, asking that the Tohunga who had come from so far to examine the plants of Rarotonga should be strengthened and supported in all his doings.
After an hour’s stay on the summit we descended, taking a more direct route than the one followed in the ascent. It was getting dark when we reached the hut. Here a brief stay was made while a meal of bread & cheese and bananas was made. Then a drive of half an hour’s duration took us to Avarua. Here a heavy shower of rain compelled us to wait until nine o'clock, after which Dr Craig drove me out to the Rice’s.
66 GILL & SYKES
For cultural reasons, this image has been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 9. Group of young men, Rarotonga, 1899. Photo: T.F. Cheeseman (Auckland Museum Library).
Monday, 29 May. The morning was occupied in arranging my collections, drying my paper, etc. In the afternoon drove in to Avarua, and called on Mr Hutchin, the resident missionary. His place is a very pretty one — the parsonage, a substantial stone building — nestles at the foot of a steep rocky hill. In front is a small and well kept grass field with a neat drive leading to the church, a large and massive stone building. Drove home in the evening.
Tuesday, 30 May. Soon after breakfast started with Mr Rice for the ascent of Maungaroa, the long range the termination of which overlooks the village of Arorangi. We drove to Arorangi, and then some distance past, turning off a little before reaching the little stream which runs into the sea about a mile beyond Arorangi. We followed a rough track until a hut was reached. Here we left the buggy, and crossing some taro patches, round the margin of which Jussiaea suffruticosa was growing in great luxuriance, struck along a footpath with abundance of /nocarpus, Vi, and other trees, we at length reached the old road of Toi. Following this to the eastwards for a short distance, we reached another footpath striking off to the left. Half an hour’s walk on this brought us to an abandoned clearing and old house, half smothered in a rank growth of Leucaena, Sida, etc. Noticed three large and handsome trees of Cerbera odollam, covered with abundance of deliciously scented large white flowers; and also with large pendant fruits — oblong, and 3-4 inches long. Leaving the cultivation, a short walk through a patch of light bush brought us to the foot of a steep open slope leading up to Maungaroa itself. This was scattered over with huge rocks of all sizes and shapes, covered over with a vegetation mainly composed of Gleichenia dichotoma, Lycopodium cernuum, a tall stout grass 4-7 ft high, and a few other plants. Here and there were plants of Mussaenda frondosa, with their panicles of yellow flowers, and white foliaceous calyx lobes. Further on large areas were covered with Entada scandens, with its tough rope like stems and
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 67
erect spikes of small greenish flowers. I did not notice pods. A little distance up the spur were a few fern trees — a species of Alsophila. The Caudex was about from 4 to 6 ft high, and barely thicker than a man’s wrist. A little higher up a single specimen of a Cyathea was observed — with a stout trunk thicker than a man’s thigh. A steep climb brought us up to the summit of the range — the lower part of Maungaroa. This part forms a flat topped hill [= Raemaru] the highest part of which was 1225 ft high. It has a steep escarpment towards the west and south, but slopes away more gradually towards the east, the side on which we ascended it. Vegetation principally stunted Gleichenia dichotoma, Lycopodium cernuum, a sedge (perhaps a Fimbristylis) a curious herbaceous plant with much of the habit of an Euphorbia, but altogether different. Here and there were patches of a small Scrophulariaceous plant [= Lindernia crustacea] with flowers much like an Euphrasia. A minute Ophioglossum |= O. nudicaule| was also plentiful. We struck along the ridge towards the higher portion of the range, first descending a little from the flat-topped hill. The ridge soon became very narrow, and covered with forest, principally composed of Metrosideros, Fitchia, Fagraea, with an undergrowth of Freycinetia and ferns. Collected specimens of what appears to be Canthium barbatum, also a species of Psychotria*, and a plant much like a Geniostoma. Finding it impossible to reach the top of the range that day we retraced our steps to the clearing and then to our horse and buggy, reaching home a little time before dark.
Wednesday, 31 May. In the morning dried my paper and changed my plants. In the afternoon walked on the beach to Arorangi. Collected a nettle like plant in one of the Maori cultivations which I take to be a species of Fleurya. The Pukatea appears to be common along the beach, mixed with the Utu (Barringtonia) and Puka (Hernandia).
Thursday, I June. Rainy and threatening in the morning. In the afternoon walked to the Black Rocks, about a mile from Mr Rice’s. Obtained Leucaena Forsteri in flower, also
Fig. 10. Ziona Cook Islands Christian Church (built c. 1849), Arorangi, Rarotonga, 1899, Photo: T.F. Cheeseman (Auckland Museum Library).
68 GILL & SYKES
Eclipta alba, a sedge new to me, and Ipomoea biloba [= I. pes-caprae subsp. brasiliensis], which creeps for yards over the surface of the rocks. So far this place is the only part of the island where I have noticed the Volcanic rocks coming down to sea level. Striking mland, | noticed some fine trees of Cacao (Theobroma) and an unusually fine grove of Jnocarpus, A little further on I came across the finest Banyan (Ficus prolixa) | have yet seen.
Friday, 2 June. Started with a Maori boy for the ascent of the culminating point of the Maungaroa Range. We walked from Mr Rice’s to Hill’s plantation. Here we found another Maori boy carrying a cock, with a long string tied to its leg. I found by enquiry that the boys are in the habit of carrying these cocks into the hills. They put them down in an open place near to where they believe there are numbers of wild fowl. The cock commences to crow, attracting the wild cocks, who come and commence to fight with the tame one. They get entangled with the string, when the boy rushes up and catches the wild bird. Our road led up the bed of the creek which I had visited on May 27th. We followed the stream until we reached the foot of a bare spur leading from the Maungaroa range. Crossing from this spur to another one, and then to a third still further up the valley, we commenced the ascent. The sides of the spur had plenty of Blechnum orientale, with Gleichenia on the face and top. The gullies on the right and left were filled with Weinmannia, Fagraea, Fitchia, Matoa [probably moto = Homalium acuminatum], etc etc. The bare ridge led up well on to the face of the mountain, but was steep and rocky towards the top. Collected a Nephrodium here, also a small green Cyperus.
Entering the forest, we found that our road led on the top of a narrow ridge. A species of Coprosma, reminding me to some extent of the Kermadec Islands C. acutifolia, was plentiful, and I obtained both G and 2 flowers. Then I observed plants of Wikstroemia —a handsome shrub, of a peculiar green tint resembling some honeysuckles. Its flowers were greenish yellow. The principal vegetation on the ridge was Metrosideros, Fagraea, Fitchia, Coprosma and one or two others. And this continued all the way up to the highest peak, which I made out to be 1650 ft. The undergrowth is principally composed of Freycinetia, Blechnum orientale, and other ferns. Towards the top were great quantities of a terrestrial orchid, with a single leaf and a spike of greenish flowers®. Oberonia was also plentiful and two epiphytic species. A species of Lomaria and a Doodia were not uncommon towards the top. On the sharp ridges I collected a shrubby plant 2-3 ft high which may be Vaccinium, also a Rosaceous plant with creeping stems and pinnate leaves, which seems to me to be near the Sandwich Islands Osteomeles. The same plant was observed much lower down on our return. After a brief stay on the top we retraced our steps, keeping much lower down the main ridge before turning off. A handsome large leaved shrub with axillary panicles of whitish flowers and fleshy fruit was also collected. Also a Loranthus, growing parasitically on Fitchia. We reached Mr Rice’s at dusk, well satisfied with our journey.
Saturday, 3 June. In the morning arranging plants and drying paper. In the afternoon drove to Arorangi, and bought a number of bowls, drums, stone beaters and other curios for the Museum’. Rain set in a little before 5, driving us home.
Sunday, 4 June. Heavy showers, with thunder and lightning, during nearly the whole of the night. Some remarkably heavy showers about breakfast and from thence onwards until about 2 o’clock, when the rain ceased. Too wet to do anything for the rest of the day.
Monday, 5 June. Changed my plants in the morning, which was somewhat drizzly. About dinner the sun came out, and I was able to dry my paper — which I could not do for the two previous days. Rain set in again in the evening; no collecting possible.
Tuesday, 6 June. Inthe morming changed my plants, and dried paper etc. In the afternoon drove through Arorangi towards Titikaveka, Collected Canavalia sericea, a Vitex like shrub
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 69
with trifoliate leaves and blueish flowers, and a sunflower like plant [= Tithonia diversifolia). Heavy showers prevented us from going off the road. In the evening called in at Arorang1, and bought some more pounders, etc.
Wednesday, 7 June. In the morning until 11 changing plants, etc. Then went out and examined the gullies and spurs coming from the lower part of the Maungaroa Range. Collected a few additional plants.
Thursday, 8 June. Changing plants and drying paper in the morning. In the afternoon went up one of the spurs of Maungaroa. Got several interesting plants new to me.
Friday, 9 June. Mr Rice drove me round the island". After passing the stream which runs into the sea a little distance beyond Arorangi, the iron-wood belt which generally fringes the sea ceased — although there was still plenty on some of the rocky hills inland. Some nice bushes of Pandanus lined the beach near Papua, of which I secured some photographs. Saw one or two trees of Calophyllum inophyllum. The beach was covered in many places with Ipomoea biloba [= I. pes-caprae subsp. brasiliensis] and Canavalia sericea. Further on, at Titikaveka, giant Pukateas lined the shore. The old ones are generally buttressed at the base and frequently hollow — often with cavities big enough to admit a man. At Ngatangia [= Ngatangiia] the reef has several little islands on it, thickly covered with vegetation, forming quite a sheltered little harbour. Found several saline plants here, not previously seen on the island. At the entrance to the harbour it is possible to walk right down to the edge of the reef. Here I collected a grass new to me, a Portulaca, and a fleshy shrubby plant with large fruit [probably Capparis cordifolia]. The whole neighbourhood is well worth a careful explora- tion. From Ngatangia we drove to Matavera, and from thence to Avarua and home. The lowland vegetation is practically the same all round the island.
Fig. 11. Dwellings, Rarotonga, 1899, Note four-wheeled buggy under lean-to, Photo: T\F. Cheeseman (Auckland Museum Library).
70 GILL & SYKES
Saturday, 10 June. At home all day, drying paper and changing plants. Took a few photographs of the Black Rocks in the evening [Fig. 7]. Heavy rain, with unusually vivid lightning, set in after dark.
Sunday, 11 June. Heavy rain before daylight. After an early breakfast drove in to Avarua by appointment with Dr Craig, to make the ascent of the flat-topped mountain between Avarua and Ngatangia. But the rain had been too heavy, and after a consultation it was decided to defer the expedition until the following day. Saw Col. Gudgeon for the first time. Drove home, and spent the rest of the day studying and arranging plants,
Monday, 12 June. Attending to plants in morning. Then walked to Nichola’s clearing beyond the “Black Rocks”. Was much impressed with a Fungus (Tremelloid?) which entirely covered the sides of the track to the clearing. It was most slippery to walk over, and in places was more than 2 or 3 inches deep. Saw a fine large Cacao tree in full fruit, but little else of importance. In the afternoon heavy showers, which kept me at home.
Tuesday, 13 June. In the morning attending to plants and photographing. In the afternoon drove in to Avarua to call upon Col. Gudgeon. Drove home in the evening, and narrowly escaped being caught by the rain. The Ovalau passed Mr Rice’s about 9 o’clock.
Wednesday, 14 June. Much cooler weather, with a strong $,W. breeze. Drove in to Avarua to get my letters in the morning, and collected weeds, etc, about the township. In the evening arranging plants, etc.
Thursday, 15 June. Drove to Papua, accompanied with a Maori boy called Josephus. Ascended the stream as far as a waterfall about 30 ft in height. In the valley below the fall, which was densely wooded, saw Hernandia Moerenhoutiana for the first time. This is in some respects handsomer in foliage than H. peltata. Also collected great quantities of Nephrolepis altescandens, climbing up trees to a considerable height. Above the falls Trichomanes rigidum was very plentiful. Struck up a spur in the direction of a tall pillar of bare rock [Te Rua Manga, “The Needle’’] which shows very distinctly from the sea. At first the spur was open, but at length the bush was reached. Collected a possibly Euphorbiaceous plant, a small tree or shrub with milky juice and oblong berries 3/4 inch long, quite black when ripe [= Alyxia stellata]. Also saw Viscum articulatum parasitic on Fitchia.,
Friday, 16 June. Drove into Avarua. Had lunch with Dr Craig, and then walked with him up the track behind the township. Collected a large Asplenium of the Diplazium section, also Preris comans, Phaseolus adenanthus, and one or two others.
Saturday, 17 June. Weather unfavourable. Working in doors attending to plants etc.
Sunday, 18 June. Had an early breakfast and then drove in to Avarua, leaving our horse and buggy at the back of the Post Office. Started with Ahpu and two other Maoris to ascend the flat-topped mountain [Te Kou] at the head of the [Takuvaine] valley. Great quantities of Taro plantations in the valley, irrigated by little streams drawn from the gully. Fehi [= Musa troglodytarum, a kind of banana] very plentiful indeed, and evidently much resorted to by the Maoris. Towards the head of the valley observed a handsome large Polypodium with fine bold pinnae, the sori showing as elevated pustules on the upper surface — also P. nigrescens and Nephrodium decompositum'', Found the ascent of the mountain very steep, and we had much difficulty in finding a practicable path. The summit proved to be 1850 ft, or 200 ft higher than Maungaroa, The principal vegetation on the top is Weinmannia, Metrosideros — apparently 2 species [actually one species existing in two forms or phases] — Ascarina, Fitchia etc with undergrowth of Freycinetia and a curious Bamboo like grass [= /sachne distichophylla]. Lomaria procera very plentiful and large size. Acrostichum [spelling uncertain but most likely this] conforme, acurious Hypolepis looking fern, Trichomanes digitatum, and Polypodium Hookeri were gathered for the first time. A species of Carumbium was noticed, closely
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY /1
For cultural reasons, this image has been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 12. Unidentified persons, Rarotonga, 1899. Photo: T.F. Cheeseman (Auckland Museum Library).
resembling our N.Z. plant, also a curious looking Pisonia like plant [probably Pisonia umbellifera|. Mosses were very plentiful on the top.
Monday, 19 June. Weather unfavourable. Kept in doors, but had plenty to do attending to my collections.
Tuesday, 20 June. Drove to Ngatangiia. Collected a number of marine shells on the reef at the back of the village, and took some photographs of the harbour. Collected Tournefortia for the first time, also a creeping water plant which may be Jussiaea repens.
Wednesday, 21 June. Attending to plants part of day, writing letters for mail rest.
Thursday, 22 June. Stormy and disagreeable. Working indoors.
Friday, 23 June. Fine. Went with Josephus up the hill to the north of Maungaroa, Saw plenty of Fitchia and most of the other plants noticed on Maungaroa. Collected Andropogon refractus and another grass new to me, also a fresh orchid, looking much like a Sarcochilus. On the way back Josephus shot two specimens of the loi bird”.
Saturday, 24 June. Inthe afternoon climbed up the hill at the back of the Tereora school. Collected Andropogon refractus and a Chloris new to me. Saw Dodonaea for the first time in N.Z. [error for Rarotonga]. A fine large leaved tree probably allied to Calophyllum [possibly Terminalia glabrata] was also collected, and a tree with alternate 3-veined leaves, Ithas milky juice, and may be Euphorbiaceous [this species is Pouteria grayana (Sapotaceae) |.
Sunday, 25 June. Drove to Avarua, and got three Maori boys to go up Maungatea with me. The track follows a ravine on the N.E. side of the mountain. Height of the mountain 1650 ft. For bearings of other peaks see note-book. A lower portion of the hillis bare and flat topped [Maungatea Bluff], covered with stunted Gleichenia. On the higher wooded peaks the principal trees, etc, were Weinmannia, Ascarina, Rata, Freycinetia, Neinei, Pua, Karaka,
72 GILL & SYKES
Melastoma, Davallia solida, Trichomanes radicans’’, Oberonia, Large leaved orchid, Coprosma, Lepinia etc, Wikstroemia. The principal trees were certainly Weinmannia, Rata, Neinei.
Monday, 26 June. Rain most of day. Kept indoors, and could not even dry my paper.
Tuesday, 27 June. Showery in early morn but cleared up and I was able to dry my paper and change my plants.
Wednesday, 28 June, A fine day at last. Atnine o'clock started with Tanei and Josephus for the gully on the S. side of Mangaroa [= Maungaroa]. We drove through Arorangi as far as the stream flowing into the sea a little beyond the village and then struck inland to Mr Gelling’s plantation. Leaving it, we passed through a patch of forest, where I obtained my first specimens of Ophioglossum pendulum. Many of the fronds were 5-6 ft in length, by about I'/ inch wide, strongly undulated at the edge. Passing on we emerged from the bush and crossed the bare south east slope of Maungaroa, the principal vegetation on which was Gleichenia and Lycopodium cernuum. We then struck into the gully. This we found to be covered mainly with Hibiscus tiliaceus, growing very closely intertwined. Here and there were large patches of the Fehi. The whole gully had evidently been cultivated at one time, for the stone foundations of the houses, the cooking places, etc, could still be easily seen, Going still further, I succeeded in finding a clump of Cyathea, to obtain which I had made the expedition. Alsophila decurrens was growing with it, together with the ubiquitous Marattia. Little else of particular note was seen. Open places on the sides of the gully were filled with Pteris incisa, growing to a great size. On our return we took the old inland road at the back of Arorangi. I observed several plants of Solanum repandum, the fruit of which my Maori boys ate with avidity".
Thursday 29 June. Drove to Avatiu, and then walked up the creek, Large orange plantations occupied the major part of the lower portion of the valley, alternating with Taro swamps. Higher up there was the usual vegetation of Hibiscus tiliaceus, Inocarpus, Aleurites etc. Here and there were open patches or clearings, mostly occupied with Guinea grass. After walking rather more than a mile the track came to an end, and after trying to force my way through the tangle of Hibiscus along the stream with very indifferent success, I at length abandoned the attempt.
Friday, 30 June. At home all day, drying paper and sorting my collections. Fine and bright, with a drying wind.
Saturday, I July. Drove to Ngatangiia. Left horse and carriage at the Chief Pa-te-Pou, and then with a native guide followed up the course of the stream [the Avana Stream] which flows into the head of Ngatangiia harbour, A good track ran along the creek of a considerable distance, crossing repeatedly from side to side. As there was a considerable volume of water in the creek this necessitated much wading and jumping from stone to stone. Lower part of valley with the usual vegetation of Utu, Maupe, Karaka, Koka, Puka, Cocoa-nuts, ete. Large taro plantations were passed, very neatly made, A little flat is selected by the side of the stream. This is levelled, and then squares ranging from 20 to 40 ft or more are dug out, and the sides walled with stone to prevent them from falling in. The squares are, of course, gradually higher and higher as the valley is ascended, A flume or ditch is cut from the stream at some convenient point, and a quantity of water turned by means of it into the squares, which are thus kept perfectly irrigated. Some of the older squares, not now used, were very elaborate structures, and must have cost much time to construct and keep in order,
Higher up the Neinei, Weinmannia, Kawakawa, Turina and other mountain trees appeared. Ferns became much more numerous. Asplenium horridum was particularly
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 73
plentiful, also the large thin Polypodium. Monogramme was gathered for the first time, also a fine new Trichomanes, not yet identified.
Sunday, 2 July. Athome all morning, drying my specimens and paper. In the afternoon
taking photographs, etc.
Monday, 3 July, Drove to Ngatangiia with Rose and Miss Gudgeon. Hired a boat and
went over to the island (Motutapu) to the seaward side of Ngatangiia Harbour. Got no plants of importance, but collected some good shells on the beach and took a number of photographs. [Narrative ends abruptly. ]
hw
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10
NOTES ON THE TRANSCRIPT
The Union Steam Ship Company’s two-masted, schooner-rigged S.S. Ovalau was built at Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1891 and was destroyed by fire at Lord Howe Island in 1903 (Brewer 1982).
Lieutenant-Colonel W.E. Gudgeon, second British Resident and (after 11 June 1901) first Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands (Douglas & Douglas 1994).
The Rey. J.J.K. Hutchin of the London Missionary Society (Anonymous 1907). Rarotonga has two circular coast roads, the outer, modern Ara Tapu, and the inner, ancient Ara Metua, Cheeseman refers to the latter in subsequent entries as the old road of Toi,
Cheeseman confused two ferns in the family Marattiaceae. Marattia salicina (M. fraxinea in the diary), also known as para, is the smaller of the two, less common, and grows only at higher altitudes. Anae, abundant in the valley bottoms where Cheeseman was describing the flora on this occasion, is Angiopteris evecta.
This orchid is almost certainly Liparis clypeolum which does not seem to have been collected or reported since Cheeseman’s visit.
This is Euphorbia atoto. Itis abundant on the makatea (raised coral) of some of the other Cook Islands but on Rarotonga today grows only on drier volcanic ridges such as around Ikurangi where Cheeseman went on this day, It is now absent from the lowlands where Cheeseman stated that it grew.
Probably not Psychotria, but perhaps the species that Cheeseman later described as /xora bracteata.
“During a visit to Rarotonga, the Curator collected a series of 132 articles, illustrating the ethnology of that island ...” (Anonymous 1900). Much of this material survives in the Auckland Museum ethnology collection (Dr R. Neich, pers. comm.; Fig. 13) including slings and sling-stones, stone axes, stone pounders, mallets, drums, net— making implements, fish—hooks, wooden seats, woven bags, bowls, spoons, masks, shoes and items of clothing.
“An excellent carriage-road runs parallel to the shore; and a drive round the island ... can easily be accomplished in four or five hours ,..° (Cheeseman 1903).
The “Polypodium” is likely to be Tectaria decurrens. “Polypodium nigrescens’, now Phymatosorus nigrescens, is absent from Rarotonga — Cheeseman may have meant Ph. conunutatus.
Rarotonga Starling Aplonts cinerascens (Sturnidae). In the Auckland Museum collec- tion there are preserved whole in alcohol four specimens of this species attributed to Cheeseman (B3716-9; see Gill 1996).
T. radicans is a Northern Hemisphere species. Which large filmy fern Cheeseman saw is now uncertain.
74 GILL & SYKES
For cultural reasons, this image has been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 13. Food pounder (penu) shaped in coral rock (Auckland Museum 12285). Collected by Cheeseman on Rarotonga, 1899. Photo: K. Pfeiffer.
This species has not been collected on Rarotonga since 1899 and now appears to be extinct there. Today itis extremely rare on Mangaia, and 1s rare or extinct on many other Polynesian islands. Its natural range is uncertain but it may be conspecific with a species of the high northern Andes. The Polynesians may have introduced it to Rarotonga for its edible fruits.
Acknowledgements. We thank staff of Auckland Museum Library (P. Hughes, E. Sun, G. Maitland) for allowing the diary to be transcribed and for providing the historic photographs; Miss P. Grant-Taylor, a descendant of Cheeseman’s, who presented the Rarotonga photographs to Auckland Museum in 1993; Ewen Cameron for information on Cheeseman’s herbarium specimens at AK, for comments on a draft of this paper and for providing Fig. 3; Roger Neich for providing Fig. 13; and Mr D. Dunn, New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, for identifying the church in Fig. 10.
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 75
REFERENCES
ANONYMOUS 1900 Annual Report of the Auckland Institute and Museum for 1899-1900: 7. 1907 The Cyclopedia of Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, and the Cook Islands. McCarron, Stewart & Co., Sydney. [Reprinted by R. McMillan, Auckland, 1983.] BREWER, N.H. 1982 A Century of Style. Great Ships of the Union Line, 1875-1976. Reed, Wellington. CHEESEMAN, T.F. 1888 On the flora of the Kermadec Islands; with notes on the fauna. Trans. N.Z. Inst. 20: 151- 181. 1903 The flora of Rarotonga, the chief island of the Cook group. Trans. Linnaean Soc. Ser. 2 Botany 6:261-313. DOUGLAS, N and N. DOUGLAS (eds) 1994 Pacific Islands Yearbook. \7th ed. Fiji Times, Suva. GILL, B.J. 1996 Notes on certain Cook Islands birds. Notornis 43: 154-158. GOULDING, J.H. 1996 Cheeseman, Thomas Frederick 1845-1923. Pp. 95-96. /n: Orange, C. (ed.) The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Vol. 3. 1901-1920. Auckland University Press, Auckland. POWELL, A.W.B. (ed.) 1967. The Centennial History of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Auckland Institute & Museum, Auckland.
B.J. GILL, Auckland Institute and Museum, Private Bag 92018, Auckland, New Zealand. W.R. SYKES, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, P.O. Box 69, Lincoln, New Zealand.
76 GILL & SYKES
APPENDIX 1. Partial list of plant names in the Cheeseman diary showing equivalent names. For Cook Islands Maori names the scientific name is given in the second column. Where Cheeseman used a generic name alone, the species is shown here where this is clear. The current equivalent, in the Rarotongan context, is given for names that are now disused (the modern names may or may not be taxonomically equal). Further equivalent names are given in the text. Names that remain unchanged since Cheeseman’s time (e.g. Carica papaya) are
not listed.
Name used by Cheeseman
Equivalent name
Acalypha Acrostichum conforme Acrostichum spicatum Ageratum
Aleurites
Alsophila Andropogon refractus Artocarpus
Ascarina
Asplenium of Diplazium section
Barringtonia speciosa Boehmeria Carumbium
Chloris
Coprosma acutifolia Cordyline terminalis cotton tree
Cyathea
Cyperus
Davallia parallela Davallia elegans Digitaria
Dodonaea
Doodia
Eclipta alba
Entada scandens Euphrasia
Fagraea
fehi
Fimbristylis
Fitchia
Fleurya
Freycinetia
gardenia Geniostoma Gleichenia Gleichenia dichotoma guinea grass Hernandia peltata Hypolepis Inocarpus edulis
A. wilkesiana Elaphoglossum gorgoneum Belvisia mucronata
A. conyzoides
A. moluccana
A. decurrens Cymbopogon refractus A. altilis
A. diffusa
Diplazium harpeodes
B. asiatica
Leucosyke corymbulosa Homalanthus nutans aggr. Enteropogon unispiceus C. laevigata
C. fruticosa
Ceiba pentandra
C. parksiae
probably C. cyperinus Humata banksii
D. epiphylla
D. ciliaris or D. setigera D. viscosa
D. media
E. prostrata
E. phaseoloides Lindernia crustacea
F. berteriana
Musa troglodytarum
F. dichotoma
F. speciosa
Laportea interrupta
F. arborea
Gardenia taitensis
G. rarotongense Dicranopteris linearis Dicranopteris linearis Panicum maximum
H. nymphaeifolia uncertain
I. fagifer
Inocarpus
iron-wood
Jussiaea repens Jussiaea suffruticosa karaka
kawakawa [= kavakava] koka
Lepinia
Leucaena Forsteri Lomaria procera Loranthus
Lycopodium flagellaria Macaranga
Marattia fraxinea maupe
Metrosideros polymorpha Monogramme Mussaenda frondosa neinei
Nephrodium decompositum Nephrolepis exaltata Nephrolepis altescandens Oberonia
Oplismenus
Osteomeles
Oxalis
Pandanus odoratissimus Paspalum scrobiculatum Peperomia
Phaseolus adenanthus Pipturus
Polypodium phymatodes Polypodium Hookeri Portulaca
Pteris aquilina
Pteris incisa
pua
puka
pukatea
rata
Sarcochilus
Scaevola Koenigii
Sida
Siegesbeckia Theobroma Tournefortia Trichomanes rigidum Trichomanes digitatum turina
Urena
Vaccinium
vaval
CHEESEMAN’S DIARY 77
I. fagifer
Casuarina equisetifolia Ludwigia peploides Ludwigia octovalvis Elaeocarpus tonganus Pittosporum rarotongense Bischofia javanica Alstonia costata Schleinitzia insularum Blechnum procerum ager. Decaisnina forsteriana probably L. squarrosum M. harveyana Angiopteris evecta Inocarpus fagifer
M. collina
Vaginularia angustissima M. raiateensis
Fitchia speciosa Lastreopsis pacifica
N. hirsutula
Arthropteris palisotii
O. equitans
O. compositus or O. hirtellus O. anthyllidifolia
O. corniculata
P. tectorius
P. orbiculare
species uncertain
Vigna adenantha
P. argenteus Phymatosorus grossus Grammitis cheesemanii P. lutea
Pteridium esculentum Histiopteris incisa Fagraea berteriana Hernandia nymphaeifolia Pisonia grandis Metrosideros collina Trachoma papuanum
S. taccada
S. acuta or §. rhombifolia Sigesbeckia orientalis
Th. cacao
T. argentea
T. dentatum
T. taeniatum
Hernandia moerenhoutiana U. lobata
V. cereum
Ceiba pentandra
78 GILL & SYKES
Vi Spondias dulcis Viscum articulatum Korthalsella platycaula Vitex V. trifolia
Weinmannia W. samoensis
Wikstroemia W. foetida
CARVED ENTRANCES OF MAORI SEMI-SUBTERRANEAN STOREHOUSES
Rocer NEICH
Abstract. Using four early nineteenth century field illustrations of rua tahuhu semi- subterranean storehouses with carved entrances from the Whanganui district, this study assembles new information on their architecture and artistic embellishment, On this basis, thirteen carvings in museum collections in New Zealand and Europe are identified as the entrances of this type of rua tahuhu. This corrects previous interpretations of these carvings as the entrances of raised pataka storehouses. Analysis of the localities of origin and the tribal associations of these carvings enables the new definition of a Whanganui/Taranaki regional type of rua tahuhu entrance which spans the major stylistic divide between western sinuous and eastern ‘square’ figure carvings. The stylistic relationships of these rua tahuhu carvings clarifies the range of tribal carving styles among Taranaki, Ngati Haua, Ngati Ruanui, Nga Rauru, Whanganui and Ngati Apa tribes. Symbolically, these carvings probably represent a local tribal ancestor rather than a more remote deified creator- ancestor. In contrast to this Whanganui/Taranaki regional type, three other different regional types of rua tahuhu entrance are now defined, namely an East Coast, an Eastern Bay of Plenty, and a North Auckland type.
In the general literature on Maori art and architecture, scarcely any attention has been paid to the carved doors and doorways of semi-subterranean storehouses. Of the earlier writers, only Best (1916:74, 76, 78) has assembled references which mention the rare occurrence of notched patterns on the maihi, a little carving on the lintel of the doorway, and a carved door, Later, mainly archaeological, writers on semi-subterranean storehouses have made very little use of Best’s wider material on these constructions, and none have followed up on the question of carved or decorated entrances,
When Fox (1974; 1976:39-43) surveyed the evidence concerning prehistoric Maori storage pits, their doors and doorways were described only in terms of the remaining archaeological evidence in the form of earth buttresses, with no discussion of any possible timber constructions. Most recently, Davidson (1984:121-127) did not discuss the entrances of rectangular storage pits. This contrasts with the extensive and detailed discussion devoted by many writers to the doorway carvings of meeting houses and raised pataka storehouses.
This study seeks to redress this neglect by clarifying the status of semi-subterranean storehouse carved doors and doorways as a distinct category of artefact and architectural element. All the evidence of their form and architectural function to be gleaned from early illustrations is presented, all the known examples of such doors and doorways now held in museums are assembled and described, their stylistic and regional distribution is examined, and their possible symbolism explored. These doors and doorways are shown to constitute an important architectural and artistic component within the known range of Maori material culture, Their identification also adds considerably to the corpus of well-documented carvings required for the better detailed definition of regional and tribal carving styles, especially needed in the south Taranaki-Whanganui region.
When these types of carvings have been mentioned in the recent literature, most notably by Day (1982; 1983:137) and Simmons (1985:34-35, 89, 93. 96, 103), they have been
Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus. 33: 79-109 1996
80 NEICH
interpreted as either the door or the figure above the doorway of a raised pataka storehouse. In the course of a wider survey, this study re-examines the work of Day and Simmons on this subject and argues that virtually all of the carvings of this type described by them as pataka carvings are actually entrance carvings of semi-subterranean storehouses.
SEMI-SUBTERRANEAN STOREHOUSES
As a distinct type of architectural construction, semi-subterranean foodstores are to be distinguished on the one hand from elevated storehouses known as pataka and whata raised on piles or high posts, and on the other hand from completely subterranean stores known as rua, cut either horizontally or vertically into the ground. Pataka and whata (where the latter term is applied to an elevated house rather than a simple platform) often display varying amounts of carving on their outer timbers, whereas rua entrances were generally left plain except for some rare examples.
The type of semi-subterranean stores which concern us here share some features of both pataka and rua, with some external carved embellishment but excavated partly into the ground, either on level ground or backed into a steep slope or bank. The floor level was excavated lower than the surrounding ground, the gabled front with the single central entrance was constructed out of shaped timbers, and a horizontal ridgepole supported the roof which sometimes abutted on to the sloping ground of the rear in the case of those built against a bank. Fox (1974) has described the various arrangements of posts supporting the ridgepole, ranging from a single row of posts to three or more postrows in a single pit-store. The main function of these semi-subterranean storehouses was the storage of kumara (Best 1925:118-9).
Elsdon Best (in Phillipps 1952:96-9) has recorded the following Maori terms of relevance to this type of semi-subterranean store:
kopani - door or board closing entrance to a pit, store patengitengi (patengi) - storehouse for kumara or pit perepere - slab over door of a rua kai, inside jambs rua kai - food store pit
rua kumara - kumara store pit
rua koauau - kumara store pit
rua pare - a storehouse made in the ground
rua tahuhu - a roofed pit semi-subterranean store
rua tatara - semi-subterranean pit store having rat-stopping appliance rua tuanui - synonymous with rua tahuhu
rua tiriwa - store with an excavated floor
Judging from these terms, the type of store to be discussed in this study would probably be called a rua kumara and more specifically a rua tahuhu or a rua tuanui, where tahuhu and tuanui refer to aridgepole and roof. However, it should be noted that Best (1916:95) maintains that the name rua tahuhu was applied only to large pit stores owned in common by several families, whereas smaller rua made for the use of one family were not called rua tahuhu. On the evidence to be presented here it is not possible to determine whether the storehouses involved were intended to serve one family or several. The possibility of regional differences in terminology must also be conceded.
The actual carved entrance element could then be called a kopani if it is the door closing the entrance, or a perepere if it functions as a slab above the actual doorway entrance. As will
STOREHOUSES 8 |
be seen below, both kopani and perepere are relevant depending on the finer details of the specific function of each of these carvings.
In an extensive description of the construction of a rua tahuhu, Tuta Nihoniho of Ngati Porou (in Best 1916:93-5) used the term “perepere” for a board or plank with notched edge for ventilation against which the top of the door rested. Nihoniho stated that the perepere was sometimes carved with a kowhaiwhai pattern and extended right up to the ridgepole which it touched. He explained that the door, for which he does not give a Maori term, was composed of one or two planks sewn together. As a detached slab, this door was inserted into a groove at the bottom of the doorway and jammed in against the perepere at the top, being held in place by pegs. Nihoniho was describing an East Coast form of rua tahuhu in which the doorway construction apparently differed from the predominantly Whanganui/Taranaki form with the type of carved entrance to be described in this study. Nevertheless, his usage of the term “perepere” is helpful.
In a Ngati Ruanui/Taranaki “lament for a plantation” (Ngata and Hurinui 1970:177), the parts of a kumara store pit are personified thus; “the supporting pillar (pou), the stepping-over beam (paepae), the lid or trapdoor (kopani) and the cleared floor-space (papa-ahu)”. This gives some confidence that the term “kopani” is authentic usage for the door of roofed rectangular semi-subterranean storehouses and therefore perhaps for the door version of the type of carvings described here, at least in the Taranaki/Aotea canoe area. Williams’s Maori dictionary gives “kopani” as a door or lid specifically fitting into an opening but not sliding or turning on hinges. Such a sliding or turning door would be called a “tatau”,
Because of some doubts concerning regional terminological differences and differences in constructional details, the evidence for the exact applicability of the terms “perepere” and “kopani” to the carvings described here is not conclusive. However, no other terms are known and these at least are very specific to rua tahuhu (as opposed to “kuwaha” which is used very generally), and have some degree of authenticity. Therefore they will be used in this study with the above proviso. Hopefully, this study might elicit authentic Whanganui and Taranaki regional terminology for these structures.
EARLY ILLUSTRATIONS OF CARVED RUA TAHUHU ENTRANCES
Fortunately, four early nineteenth century illustrations have been located showing various rua tahuhu with carved entrances in place. These illustrations provide the only available detailed evidence on how these carved elements fit into the total construction of the rua tahuhu. Ranging in date from the 1840s to the 1860s, these illustrations show a marked development of neatness in construction, perhaps reflecting the use of stone tools in the ‘manufacture of the 1840s storehouse being replaced by metal tools and pit-sawn timber by the 1860s. The localities of these illustrations also provide additional evidence for the geographi- cal distribution of this type of storehouse entrance. Each item is listed alphabetical] y toenable plotting on a distribution map (Fig. 1).
A. Rua tahuhu at Putiki-wharanui Pa, Whanganui, 1841-1847 Fig. 2
This semi-subterranean storehouse was first drawn in pencil as part of a village scene entitled “Scraps from Putiki warre nui” by the Scottish artist John Alexander Gilfillan at some time between 1841 when he arrived in New Zealand and 1847 when he left for Australia, A wash version of this sketch by Gilfillan, dated 1840, was published by T.W. Downes in his
e Te Awamutu
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Plymouth Putikituna es Pa
F Kaweka
a
S
>
3G L Waipuka
Fig. 1. Map of western areas of the North Island of New Zealand showing localities of rua tahuhu carved entrances described in the text, referenced alphabetically.
STOREHOUSES 8&3
For cultural reasons, this image has been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 2. Rua tahuhu (A) at Putiki-Wharanui Pa, Whanganui, 1841-1847. Sketch by J.A. Gilfillan. Photo: Hocken Library, Dunedin G473.
book Old Whanganui (1915:8). The same semi-subterranean store appears again in a watercolourcomposite village scene, said to represent Putiki, painted later by Gilfillan in New Zealand (Bell 1992:64). Several colour lithograph reproductions of an oil painting based on this watercolour had wide circulation and the original watercolour dated 1847 has been recently acquired by the Sarjeant Art Gallery in Whanganui. Another composite scene derived from Gilfillan of the same village showing this same storehouse was published in 1849 by W. Tyrone Power under his own name (Power 1849:160). Ina final version, Phillipps (1966:45) published a sketch of the rua tahuhu alone copied directly from Gilfillan’s original sketch, as an example of a “kumara pit, Putiki pa, Whanganui”.
Gilfillan’s original sketch clearly shows a low storehouse front constructed of roughly- hewn vertical upright slabs, probably inserted below ground-level. These slabs are simply butted together with no battens over the joins. At the centre of this triangular frontis a stylised frontal figure of indeterminate gender carved in high relief from one large timber slab with its head projecting to form the highest point of the apex. This carved slab surmounts a separate square uncarved door constructed of three vertical panels of timber, withits lower edge resting on the ground level. This door swings on what are clearly two large European hinges attached at top and bottom of the door. These two hinges have been transformed into a more traditional- looking single horizontal bar across the door in the otherwise very accurate copy published by Phillipps. The construction of the rest of this storehouse cannot be seen in Gilfillan’s sketch, but it provides good detail of the construction of the front.
Another entrance carving from a rua tahuhu appears in Gilfillan’s sketch, standing detached on the ground beside the woman on the left. Further away in the central background,
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Gilfillan has included another rua tahuhu, but this one has a plain slab above the door. In a note written across the top of this sketch, Gilfillan comments that the carvings were “invariably” painted red.
On the clear evidence of Gilfillan’ s sketch, the carved component of the semi-subterrranean storehouse functions as an architectural member above the door and could therefore justifi- ably be called a perepere. On the carving itself, the details of the face and the general proportions seem to have been rendered authentically. Carved spirals are shown on the shoulders and hips, but unfortunately the placement of the hands is not clear. They are probably splayed across the chest.
B. Rua tahuhu at Kaweka (Ranana), Whanganui River, 1861 Fig. 3
This rua tahuhu was sketched by James Coutts Crawford, an early Wellington settler and geologist, at Kaweka (also known as Ranana or London) on the Whanganui River, on 24 December 1861. Crawford was on his way up-river to inspect reported coal seams on the Tangarakau River and his party stopped at Kaweka only long enough to pay their respects to an elderly resident (Crawford 1880;100).
The quick pencil sketch in Crawford’s field sketchbook (E 47, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington) shows only the front of the rua tahuhu with no detail at ground level. As in the rua tahuhu sketched by Gilfillan (A), the Kaweka example has a front consisting of large vertical slabs of timber butted and tied together at their edges. The top edges of these slabs,
For cultural reasons, this image has been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 3. Rua tahuhu (B) at Kaweka (Ranana), Whanganui River, 1861. Sketch by J.C. Crawford. Photo: Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington 147455 1/2.
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which could justifiably here be called epa, are cut much more neatly than the rough slabs of Gilfillan’s rua tahuhu (A) but there are still apparently no maihi or bargeboards unless Crawford has seen only a detached front. In an unusual structural arrangement, the carved element of this rua tahuhu is placed between a short epa at each side with the three panels forming an insert resting above what appears to be a small low central uncarved door. If this is the case, then the carved element could again be called a perepere.
Crawford has devoted most of his artistic effort to show the detail of the carved figure. It is a frontal stylised figure of indeterminate gender with both hands on its stomach. In careful detail. Crawford has shown that the narrow stomach terminates at the top in a small profile manaia face just below the pendant protruding tongue.
C. Rua tahuhu at Pipiriki, Whanganui River, 1861 Fig. 4
On the same Whanganui River journey described above, Crawford reached Pipiriki in the evening of 24 December 1861 and was delayed there several days by heavy rains. Maintaining his interest in food stores, he sketched another rua tahuhu at Pipiriki where he had the time and leisure to fill in more detail. However, neither his diary nor his published account of this trip make any mention of the foodstores encountered here or at Kaweka.
Crawford’s fieldbook sketch shows the rua tahuhu (which he called a potato pit) set within its own small fenced enclosure. Again the front consists of vertical thick timber epa set
For cultural reasons, this image has been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 4. Rua tahuhu (C) at Pipiriki, Whanganui River, 1861. Sketch by J.C. Crawford. Photo:
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington 147460 1/2.
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directly into the ground and forming a neat roof line but without any bargeboards. The low sides are probably made with similar slabs of timber or perhaps some other material. On the roof, Crawford has shown neat rows of shingles or perhaps bundles of rushes or some similar material tied together, without any projecting over the side as an eave.
On the large central slab of the front, a high relief frontal figure with no indicated sex, is carved with all of its head projecting above the roof line. The joins with the epa on both sides of this slab are covered by a batten lashed over at regular intervals. Below this carved slab is a separate low panel which appears to be much too low to form a doorway and is therefore probably a permanent sill or paepae to the entrance. If this is so, the carved panel is the door and can therefore be called a kopani.
D. Rua tahuhu at Putiki Pa, Whanganui, 1860s Fig. 5
This photograph is included in an album, now in the Alexander Turnbull Library, of New Zealand photographs compiled by Ensign B.G. Haines of the 1 8th Royal Irish Regiment while on active duty during the New Zealand Wars. This regiment arrived in Auckland in 1863 and did not leave New Zealand until 1870, the last imperial corps to leave. Therefore, this photograph was probably taken sometime in the early to mid 1860s. The photographer was probably W.J. Harding (John Sullivan, Alexander Turnbull Library, pers. comm. 17 Novem- ber 1989). Another photograph of the same scene obviously taken by the same photographer on the same occasion but with a Maori man in the foreground has been seen in a photograph album held privately in Whanganut.
For cultural reasons, this image has been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Fig. 5. Rua tahuhu (D) at Putiki Pa, Whanganui, 1860s. Photo: B.G. Haines Album, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
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In this only known photograph of a carved entrance in place on a rua tahuhu, the same constructional details are seen as in the earlier sketches. Vertical timber panels form the front wall, with the central position taken by a high relief frontal carved figure whose shoulders meet the line of the roof. The joins between this central carved panel and flanking epa are covered by battens lashed in three places at intervals down each side. Below this carved panel is a square doorway, about 60 cm high and 55 cm wide, judging by the known dimensions of the carved panel above it. The doorway is outlined by a projecting flat plain timber lintel and a projecting plain jamb on the right side. The left side lacks this projecting jamb and seems to indicate that the plain flat timber door itself swings from here on some type of hinge. The lower edge of the door clearly terminates slightly above ground level, giving clearance for the door to swing open. This photograph therefore definitely confirms that in this case the carved component is functioning as a perepere.
ENTRANCES OF RUA TAHUHU IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
It is not always possible to determine whether these carvings actually served as the door (kopani) or the slab over the doorway (perepere) of rua tahuhu, but whichever is the case, they form a distinctive category of artefact. They can be characterised as an upright rectangular slab or panel of timber bearing a full-length frontal figure carved from the solid in high relief, with its head or part of its head projecting above the upper edge of the panel. The rear of the panel is usually flat, often with the pattern of adzing still visible. Most have some lashing holes spaced down each side. Some have various rebating or bevelling on the edges to fit into a framed aperture. A very limited number have a horizontal tunnel behind the raised body for a beam to be inserted as a locking device. These distinctive features are summarised in a comparative table listing all the recorded examples (Table 1).
Table 1. Summary of distinctive features of rua tahuhu entrances. Tick = present/yes; - = absent/no; ? = uncertain.
Slot for beam
Male/Female 4 Height (cm)
Width (cm)
pele
o)a|>| CARVING
|
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Personal investigations in museums in New Zealand and worldwide, along with reference to David Simmons’s records of his surveys of Maori artefacts in overseas museums (now held in Auckland Museum), have revealed the following examples of carved kopani or perepere: :
KE. Entrance of rua tahuhu, from Putiki, Whanganui Fig. 6; Auckland Museum 52381
Nothing was recorded in museum files about the provenance of this carving but happily it has been recognised as the actual perepere on the rua tahuhu in the Putiki photograph preserved in the Haines album (Fig. 5). On the basis of this photograph, the carving is definitely older than the 1860s and could probably date back for another 20 years at least, that is to about the 1840s.
This carving is 118 cm high and 55 cm wide. It has a flat back, three lashing holes spaced down each side and no bevelling or rebating on the edges. The high relief figure and the panel itself are all carved from one solid piece of timber with the lower arms and legs cut free of the background. This figure is clearly male, with a small but erect penis and testicles in low relief on the base of the stomach. He has five fingers on each hand, pegs for paua shell eye inserts, and one tooth on each side of his mouth. His carved surface decoration consists of whakarare on head and body, pakura on lips and arms, rauponga spirals on corners of mouth, hands and thighs, and plain spirals on shoulders and elbows. On the background panel are unpierced takarangi spirals and manaia figures, with a small wheku face between the legs of the principal figure. A heavy coat of red paint applied in the past by the museum obscures the surface, but the carving was probably done with early metal tools.
F. Entrance of rua tahuhu, from Whanganui district Fig. 7; Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford 1923.87.188
No definite locality of origin is recorded for this carving but it was formerly item number 45 in the collection of Charles Smith who lived in Whanganui from 1859 to 1900. It was collected by him, probably in the Whanganui area in the 1860s, and purchased by the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1923.
Measuring 81 cm high and 41 cm wide, this carving has three lashing holes down each side. There is no bevelling or rebating on the edges and no slots for pegs or bars to be inserted. Carved in high relief, probably with stone or early metal tools, the figure has a plain head and body with a rauponga spiral on its left shoulder and plain spirals on the other shoulder and both hips. Pakura patterns cover the arms, hands and legs, but some of this surface carving is unfinished on the figure’s right side. On the left hand are four fingers but only three fingers on the right hand. Gender is not indicated. The ancestor name, Paikapoia, has been lightly inscribed down the body, probably at a later date than the original carving. Most indications are that this carving was probably produced sometime about the 1820s or 1830s.
Simmons (1985:93) described this carving as a pataka doorjamb. This can be questioned on the evidence assembled here, which clearly suggests that it served as a perepere or, less likely, as a kopani. On both stylistic grounds and possible locality of origin, he attributed it to either Ngati Ruanui or Nga Rauru tribal groups, which seems reasonable even if the grounds for this stylistic attribution are not made clear.
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For cultural reasons, these images have been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Figs 6-9. Entrances of rua tahuhu. 6. E, Putiki Pa, Whanganui. Auckland Museum 52381. Photo:
Auckland Museum. 7. F, Whanganui district. Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford 1923.87.188. Photo:
Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. 8. G, Waipuka, junction of Mangawhero and Whangaehu Rivers.
Whanganui Regional Museum 1886.15. Photo: R. Neich. 9. H, Putikituna, Tangarakau River. Whanganui Regional Museum 1886.10. Photo: R.Neich.
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G. Entrance of rua tahuhu, from Waipuka, Whangaehu River Fig. 8; Whanganui Regional Museum 1886.15
Assumed to be part of the original S.H. Drew collection which was purchased in 1892 to form the Whanganui Public Museum, present museum files do not record the place or the date of collection of this carving. The Whanganui Museum Annual Report of 1899 confirms that it was in the museum collection by that date. In an unpublished address delivered to the Dunedin Science Congress of 1935, T.W. Downes (1935) indicated that this carving was “said to have been dug up at Waipuka, near where the Mangawhero joins the Wangaehu River”.
Waipuka seems to be an elusive locality, not shown by Rev Richard Taylor in his detailed 1843 census maps of the Mangawhero and Whangaehu River valleys (Ms 297/37, Rev. Richard Taylor Collection, Auckland Public Library). However, as Walton (1985) has documented, a considerable Maori population had previously lived in about 19 pa on higher ground along the lower valleys of these two rivers. None of these pa were still occupied from the 1840s onwards, but they had been replaced by several settlements on the richer soils of the narrow valley floors, containing about 100 people in total. Judging from the apparent age of this carving, it was probably associated with one of the pre-European sites in this area. These valleys are within the tribal territory of Ngati Apa (Smith 1910:map 1), although the inhabitants of the Mangawhero valley maintained close relationships with the people of the Whanganui River, even moving there to Parikino to avoid raiders from Taupo in 1845.
Measuring 99 cm high and 42.5 cm wide, this very old and weathered piece of stone- tooled carving has five lashing holes spaced down the figure’ s true right side. Only one lashing hole remains on the other side but others were no doubt present in the lost portion of the carving. There are two old lashing holes on the lower area of the carving and one new large metal drill hole in the figure’s left foot. No obvious bevelling is apparent but the lower area across the feet has been reduced in thickness, perhaps to accommodate a sliding bar across the front or to fit behind another panel below. The back of the carving is flat and eroded. The figure represented is clearly female with a large vulva. She is carved in low relief with all of the body engaged in the slab leaving no recesses for slots or pegs. Her eyes are carved with large studs to hold paua shell inserts and the mouth has four teeth. Four fingers are carved on her left hand and three on her right. Surface decoration consists of plain spirals on lips and face, between the arms, above her hips and on each shoulder, rauponga on her body and legs, and rauponga spirals on her hips. Judging from the stone-tool work and the general appearance of this carving, it would seem to be one of the earlier examples of a rua tahuhu entrance, dating perhaps from the early 1800s.
Downes and later Max Smart, both prominent Whanganui experts on Maori topics, were unsure what type of architectural member this carving was, opinions ranging from a tiki to a tekoteko (Files, Whanganui Regional Museum). Simmons (1985:34) described it as a doorway figure of a pataka, but in view of the evidence assembled here, its function as a perepere or kopani is much more likely.
Simmons also claimed that it represented a typical example of Whanganui River Te Ati Haunui-a-Paparangi tribal carving style. However, the documented locality of origin pre- sented above indicates that this should be regarded as a Ngati Apa carving. There are certainly very close similarities with the style of the rua tahuhu carvings from the Whanganui River as would be expected from the close relationships between these tribal groups, but the stylistic differences also need to be respected in any definition of tribal styles. This Ngati Apa carving therefore presents an opportunity to make a distinction between Whanganui and Ngati Apa
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carving styles, an opportunity expressly noted as unavailable at the time by Mead (1986:64). Certainly, a comparison of this Waipuka carving with the other Whanganui rua tahuhu entrances presented here (E,I,J,L) does highlight some interesting differences (see below).
H. Entrance of rua tahuhu, from Putikituna, Tangarakau River Fig. 9; Whanganui Regional Museum 1886.10
Also assumed to be part of the original S.H. Drew collection, this carving was in the museum collection by 1899. T. W. Downes referred to it in his same 1935 presidential address as having been “found in a cave near Putiki-tuna, twelve miles up the Tangarakau - which is a tributary of the Whanganui River about ninety miles from its mouth”. On the side of the carving itself, an inscription in ink reads “Tuka Rangatai of Tangarakau 30-9-92”, recording the name of the Maori person who found it or passed it on to the European collector and the date when this transaction occurred. Putikituna can be reached by road, ten miles eastward from Whangamomona via Kohuratahi, and had a post office at the turn of the century. Downes (1923:38) described the Maori settlement of Putikituna as being the largest of several Maori settlements along the Tangarakau River. Today there is nothing left of the settlement, but a Putikituna Road and Stream running into the Tangarakau River appears on modern maps.
Measuring 76cm high and 41 cm wide, this is a very solid carving almost certainly carved with stone tools. Most of it is still in sound condition but the face has been damaged and the figure’s true right side has been split away at some earlier period. However, it continued to be used after this piece was lost. From the rear, five lashing holes are seen spaced down both sides. From the front, four appear on the figure’s left side, while on the present right side three later lashing holes pass through the figure’s hand, leg and foot. The hole in the leg has a recessed groove cut for the lashing cord to run flush with the surface.
No bevelling or rebating appears on the edges of the slab. The back is flat and eroded but adze marks still show on the surface. The central figure is carved in deep high relief but no parts are disengaged from the background except for the looped tongue. The domed head with slight central ridge is thrust forward. Most of the head and body surface has been left plain but on the chest below the tongue, the eroded traces of a manaia hand or head perhaps with its body below, can be discerned. Pegs for paua shell inserts have been carved in the eyes. Both hands, but of disparate sizes, are represented in low relief on the body, with three fingers on the left hand and three fingers plus a spurred thumb on the right. Similarly, the feet are in low relief on the flat surface of the background slab, along with some matakupenga surface decoration. Surface decoration is restricted to rauponga over the eyes and around the lips, and on arms and legs, with rauponga spirals on the shoulders. An elongated plain spiral is carved on the remaining knee. The elbow is represented by a plain raised round disc. Although now much eroded, female gender is clearly indicated by acarved vulva. Most of the north Taranaki swamp- recovered carvings similar to this are generally considered to date from the later eighteenth or very early nineteenth centuries and this would also seem to be the most likely date for this piece.
In his presidential address, Downes (1935) wondered if this carving might have served as a sliding panel in some unspecified architectural construction but realised that the lashing holes probably ruled this out. In 1967, Max Smart was of the opinion that it “is more like a substantial cover for a pataka doorway or a food pit - rua” (Files, Wanganui Regional Museum), Simmons (1985:34, 35, 91) considered whether this carving might be a tekoteko but settled on calling it a doorway, doorslab, or door for a raised pataka, including it as a key
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example in his discussion of the Taranaki form of raised pataka. On the evidence of the four illustrated rua tahuhu presented above, a function as part of the entrance to a semi- subterranean rua tahuhu seems much more likely, confirming Smart’s opinion.
The tribal map in Smith (1910) would place Putikituna in Ngati Haua territory. Simmons (1985:34, 90) accepts this carving as coming from Ngati Haua territory, while pointing out its similarity to Te Ati Awa carvings from Manukorihi and even suggesting that “it was possibly carved by a carver from Te Ati Awa but in a Ngati Haua style”. The Putikituna carving certainly displays close similarities to Te Att Awa carvings, but if, as Simmons agrees, this is the only known early Ngati Haua carving, then it is premature to base such a supposition on the same solitary example.
I. Entrance of rua tahuhu, from lower Whanganui River Fig. 10; Museum of New Zealand, Wellington ME. 1372
This carving is part of the John Handley collection, purchased by the museum on 25 May 1905. No locality of origin is recorded but written in pencil on the back of the carving, presumably by Handley, is the note “Parerua a Pamoana’”’. This reference to Pamoana may indicate that Handley obtained the carving from Ngati Pamoana of Operiki and Koriniti, or if not from Koriniti itself at least from somewhere on the lower Whanganui River. The carving is very similar to the perepere of the rua tahuhu sketched by Crawford at Kaweka on the Whanganui River except that where the Handley carving has a small reversed figure carved at the top of the stomach, the Crawford sketch shows a profile manaia face. Many other pieces in John Handley’s collection came from the Whanganui district. Therefore, the evidence of a lower Whanganui River origin for this carving seems fairly sound and is supported by the style of the carving. .
Measuring 122 cm high and 48 cm wide, this large heavy totara carving probably dates from about the 1840s period. Two square-cut lashing holes are spaced down each side of the plain flat base panel with no bevelled or rebated edges nor any beam or pegging slots. The back is flat and roughly adzed with metal tools. Now missing one forearm, the wheku-faced figure stands out in 12 cm high relief from the flat slab, with its lower arms, legs and body actually disengaged from the supporting slab. Surface decoration is pakura on the head, very wide rauponga on eyes and mouth, plain spirals and pakura on the arms, rauponga spirals on the buttocks, and rauponga on the legs. Both ears have perforations for attaching feathers or other decorations. The boldly outcurved stomach terminates just below the tongue as a small upside-down wheku figure with its feet pointing toward the tongue (Fig. 11). No definite gender is indicated but the buttock spirals and bold stomach which could perhaps be read ambiguously as an erect penis suggest a male figure.
Handley’s reference on the back of this carving to a “parerua” is an important independent confirmation of the function of this carving, perhaps even supplying the name by which such carvings were known on the Whanganui River. The “pare” or lintel of a rua is a very apt description of these carvings. In all respects, both stylistically and structurally, this carving is a very typical example of the standard Whanganui River rua tahuhu entrance, or perepere as termed in this article.
J. Entrance of rua tahuhu, from Whanganui district Fig. 12; Museum of New Zealand ME. 4551
Presented to the museum in May 1930 by Mrs W. Mantell, this carving was part of the
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For cultural reasons, these images have been removed. Please contact Auckland Museum for more information.
Figs 10-13. Entrances of rua tahuhu. 10. I, lower Whanganui River. Museum of New Zealand ME. 1372. 11. Detail of entrance I. 12. J, Whanganui River. Museum of New Zealand ME. 4551. 13. Detail of entrance J. Photos: R. Neich.
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large collection assembled by her husband Walter Mantell, a prominent early settler in the Wellington and Otago areas and later a politician on the national scene. No locality of origin was recorded by Mantell for this carving and his collection was drawn from many parts of the country, including the Whanganui area. With wide interests in Maori studies, Mantell was presumably active as a collector from the time of his arrival in New Zealand in 1840 until sometime before his death in 1895. This long time span does not help pinpoint any possible date of collection for this carving.
Measuring 114 cm high and 48 cm wide, this is a large totara carving almost certainly cut with metal tools. Three lashing holes on the figure’s right side and two or maybe three lashing holes on the left have been drilled with modern drills. The base. board is flat and plain with a flat back and a very slight bevel down the front edges. There are no signs of any slotting beam arrangement. Carved in high relief about 16 cm deep, the figure is disengaged from the base board behind its lower arms, legs and body. Unlike all of the other rua tahuhu entrances with their stylised figures, this one has a naturalistic face with paua shell eyes and a small mouth. Where the two hands rest on the stomach, their fingers have been replaced by an upside-down wheku face in relief (Fig. 13). Prominent knobs mark the elbows and the ears are pierced for decoration. Otherwise all of the body is left plain with no surface decoration except for a lightly-incised large plain spiral on the figure’s left buttock. As well as this indication of a male rape tattoo on the buttock, the outline of small male genitals with an erect penis is still to be seen, even though they have been shaved off almost flush with the surface of the lower stomach.
An early museum label attached to the front of the body calls it a tekoteko, but it is obviously another example of a rua tahuhu entrance. Without any external prompts as to the date of this carving, its age can only be estimated on the use of metal tools and its general appearance, suggesting probably sometime about the middle of the nineteenth century. Stylistically, the carving fits within the canons of a general Whanganui style.
K. Entrance of rua tahuhu, from near Te Awamutu Fig. 14; Wagener Museum, Houhora
Obtained by the Wagener Museum from a private collection, a note in the museum records states, “very old stone tool carving from swamp west of Te Awamutu”. No other information is available but all the indications of stone adze markings and the archaic nature of the carving confirm that this is a very ancient example.
Measuring 63 cm high and 30 cm wide, which makes it smaller than most of the others, this flat panel has one large square-cut lashing hole at each corner. Also unlike all the other rua tahuhu carvings described here, this panel has simply a flat low relief carved face with no body features on the plain flat panel. Instead, facets left by a stone adze leave the surface with a dappled appearance. Carving of the stylised face is very rudimentary, with large ridged eyes and no surface decoration. No gender is indicated.
Simmons (1985:103) called it a kuwaha, that is, a doorway of a pataka. However, despite the differences noted above, the overall form and lashing arrangements on this carving agree with all the other rua tahuhu entrances described here.
Simmons (1985:103) has rightly pointed out the stylistic relationship of the head on this carving to the headform of the figure carved on the paepae of a pataka found in a swamp at Chartwell in the Waikato. He interprets this relationship to indicate a similarity in pataka construction between Waikato and Taranaki/Whanganui. However, in