HONGI’S ARMOUR.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2350, 17 November 1908, Page 7

HONGI’S ARMOUR.

HISTORIC TROPHY UNEARTHED. DESTINED FOR THE MUSEUM. The “Maori Napoleon” is a name which hardly does justico'-to the “homicidal glory” of Hongi, the terrible Nga Puhi chief of the early nineteenth century. Napoleon might have ‘shuddered at the crowd of conquered victims whom his New Zealand namesake was not content with killing. Hongi was the earliest Maori chief to arm his warriors with muskets, and awful devastation they wrought. But it was his wonderful suit of armour which enhanced—his personal mana even more than guns. This armour was given to Hongi by King Georgo IV., when the adventurous chieft-an made a trip to England. Hongi’s armour was spoken of With awe and admiration all over the. North Island, and, when Hongi died, which he would not have done so .soon if he had always worn it, his armor still survived, and was spoken of with fear and trembling. For about half a century, however, its whereabouts has been unknown, except to a very few. It had found its way to the Pukehika pa, opposite Jerusalem, on the Wanganui River. There is has been hidden for many year's, but Dr. Pomare, health officer to the Maoris, heard of its existence, and, with the assistance of the Native sanitary inspector in that district, obtained possession of the trophy. The armour is l made to cover back and chest, and there are gauntlets for the arms, which are, however, greatly injured by rust. The coat of mail was brought- to Wellington, and will be lent to the Dominion Museum by Dr Pomare. Hongi’s helmet was not unearthed, but Dr Pomare states that he knows where to find it...A ROMANTIC STORY.

The- story of. Hongi’s armour and his guns is told at length in Angus's “Savage Life and Scenes,” published in 184 V. “The subsequent history of this armour is somewhat curious,” says Angus. “It passed from the Nga Puhi to Tetori, and from Tetori to Te Whero Where, at the Waikato feast, and came into. Taonui’s hands under the following circumstances: “On the death of a favorite daughter Te Whero Whero made a song, the substance of which was that he would take off the scalps of all the chiefs except the Ngaweka and fling them into his daughter’s grave to revenge her untimely death. The words of the song highly. insulted the various individuals agains twhoni it was directed, more especially as it was a great curse for the hair of a chief, which is sacred, to be thus treated with , contempt. But the only chief who dared to resent this insult from so great a man as Te Whero Whero was Taonui, who demanded a taua or gift as recompense for the affront, and received the armour of Hongi in compensation. I made a drawing of the armour, which was old and rusty; it is steel, inlaid with brass; and although neyer worn by the possessors in battle —for it would sadly impede their movements —it is regarded with a sort of superstitious-veneration by the Natives, who look upon it as something extraordinary.’ ” Thompson, in his “Story of New Zealand,” writes: “This armour (Hongi’s) is n.ow scattered about the country. In 1849 I found the breast plate in the possession of a chief living near the source of the Waipa River; in 1853, .Waikato, the chief who accompanied Hongi to England, told me he had buried the helmet with his son’s hones a few weeks before my visit to him at the Bay of Islands.” HOW _ HONG I DIED. The story ’of the death of Hongi, and his last reference to the armour, is told by the Rev. R. Taylor, who writes: —“Hongi received liis wound in January, 1827. The next day he fainted, and was supposed to be dead. When lie revived, he said, he should die, but not until the morrow. He ordered his powder to be brought to him, and when he saw it he said 1 to liis children, Ka ora. koutou —you will be safe; intimating the -powder would be their protection. He then summoned his sons, and gave the.coat of mail he had received from the King of England to one of them, sternly demanding, “Who will dare to attack my follower after I am gone?”

THE FINDING OF THE ARMOUR

The history of Hongi’s armour, after his death, as given to Dr Pomare by the Wanganui Natives, differs a good deal from the accounts previously qifoted, but nearly all Maori stories have their variations. Dr. Pomare states that after Hongi’s death the armour descended to his relative and fighting chief, Tuwhare. About the end of the ’twenties this chief led an expedition against the Wanganui tribe, and in a bloody battle which resulted his nephew, Tokiwhati, with others of the Nga Puhi, was taken prisoner. Tuwhare, who was wounded in the same fight, and died shortly afterwards at Mokau, on his way back to the Bay of Islands, learned that Tokiwhati was still alive, and entered into negotiations for . his release. Either as a girt or ransom the treasured suit of armour was handed over to Hori King! Te Anaua, uncle of the late Major Kemp. The ■armour was placed in the sacred house at Pukehika, opposite Jerusalem,- till the walls -of that edifice were tumbling down, and Hori Pukehika, a relative of the late Hori Kingi, and the present Native sanitary inspector for that district, hear-ing-that some Europeans were planning how to carry off the relics, concealed them very carefully near the pa. This was 30 or 40 yearg ago, and the armour lay undisturbed till a few weeks past.- Then Hori Pukehika and Dr Pomare sought out the place, and after laborious searching,‘for the scrub and other features had changed great deal in the interval, discovered the old armour, rusty, hut quite recognisable. THE FATE OF THE HELMET. A local authority on Maori folklore, in conversation with :a “Gisborne Times” representative, claims that from authentic .records in his possession it as shown' that Hongi’s helmet is not buried' with, the hones of Waikato’s son; as stated in Thompson’s “Story of Ne w "Zealand. ” His records, he states, show that the - helmet was lost overboard from :a war canoe at the eastern end of Molsoia Island, in Lake Rotorua, at the time when Hongi was making his raid against the Arawa tribe. The exact date of the oocurrejp:© is also given

as April 22nd, 1822, and the circumstances of the loss are described in detail. It is told that Hongi and his warriors were approaching the island in tlieir canoes. The island was thickly crowded with the'Arawas, and Hongi was standing up in the bow of the foremost rangatira’s canoe, outlining to his warriors the plan of operations to be followed when they landed- Some time previously the Arawajj had become possessed of an old blunder-buss, which they had taken from a white trader named Cabbage, who had been slain by them, and as Hongi’s canoes were approaching the island one of the Arawa chiefs fired off the gun loaded with slugs. Some of these missiles struck Hongi, with the result that he stagggered, over-balanced, and before he could save it his helmet fell off his head -into the water, where it lies to the present day at a depth of about 14 fathoms, and probably still more deeply embedded in tho bed of the lake. Hongi was so enraged at the loss of his helmet that lie swore an oath of vengeance to slay all the Arawas on the asland l , and although. the latter numbered several thousands, only a very few of them, who were lucky enough to get away in canoes from the western side of the island, escaped tho wrath of their terrible opponent. .