Maori Wars of the Nineteenth Century:
The “Coquille” at the Bay of Islands. 1824
The “Coquille” at the Bay of Islands. 1824.
* Taiwhanga lived at Kaikohe, on the road from the Bay to Hokianga. He was a great toa, or “brave,” and accompanied Hongi-Hika on many of his expeditions. The Rev. W. R. Wade, in the account of his “Journey in the North Island of New Zealand,” published at Hobart in 1843, says that in January, 1838, he stayed a night at Taiwhanga’s home, Kaikohe. He was baptized by the name of Rawiri or David, and at that time was a consistent Christian, a fact that is also mentioned by Rev. H. Williams. That Taiwhanga in former days “cherished the widow and the orphan,” a quotation from Mr. Wade’s book will show: “He was formerly called Taiwhanga, and used to figure amongst the foremost of the bloodthirsty in their perpetual wars. In one, of his fights he slew a chief, whose widow and three young children he secured as prisoners. Having barbarously killed and eaten the children in the presence of their own mother, he made her his wife!”
* “Voyage autour du Monde,” Brussels, 1839. The “Coquille” was subsequently re-named “L’Astrolabe.” This expedition of Pomare’s was to join Te Wera and aid the Urewera in their war on the Wairoa.