Page:Tales-of-Banks-Peninsula Jacobson 2ed 1893 cropped.pdf/156

This page has been validated.
Billy Simpson.
149

first canoe which boarded her were Te Mairanui, his wife, and a daughter, twelve years of age. Rauparaha was watching from the cabin windows, and came up on deck and seized him, and, with the assistance of some others, handcuffed him and put him, with his wife and child, below. A rush was then made for the ship’s boats, and what canoes were alongside, and all made for the shore, where a terrible scene of carnage ensued. All the Natives that could be seen were butchered in cold blood. The account of the fight on Massacre Island (Banks Peninsula) is, I believe, correct, as several of the victims were cooked and eaten ashore. At dusk the Natives came back on board, most of them bringing kits of human flesh with them, which were afterwards cooked on board; but I do not think it is true that any of the prisoners were killed on the brig and cooked, as stated by Mr. Simpson. Stewart, it appears, was in a terrible fright when he saw the way things were turning out, as he said he had no idea that there was going to be any blood shed over the affair; but this is rather doubtful, as he must have known on what errand the Natiyes were bound,

On the passage up to the island of Mana, between the Straits and Kapiti, the prisoner, Te Mairanui, was tied by a rope to the main-mast, so that he could walk about a little. His daughter was allowed to run about on deck, so he called her to him and said, “They are going to kill me and make a ‘taurereka’ (slave) of you, but that will never happen,” and, picking her up, he knocked her brains out against the hatch combings. After the arrival of the brig, Te Mairanui and the other prisoners were taken ashore. He was given two days to cry, and was then to be killed. The story of red-hot ramrods being run through his body is, I believe, incorrect. He met his death in the following horrible manner: A straight tree about fifty feet high was chosen, and