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Foreword

In the year 1866, as a result of its wars with the Maoris, the Government of New Zealand found itself with a large number of prisoners on its hands. Many of these were Hauhaus (pronounced How-howz), so called from their creed of Hauhauism, a strange, fanatical religion which had spread like wild-fire among the Maoris, banding the warring tribes together in a common cause against the white man, or pakeha, as they called him.

Te Kooti, a rebel chief, and a number of Hauhaus were sent to the Chathams, a small group of islands, several hundred miles distant from New Zealand. Two years later Te Kooti and his men seized a visiting schooner, the crew of which were forced to convey the outlaws back to New Zealand.

On reaching the mainland the Hauhaus were pursued by the settlers, and were forced to retire into the mountains of a wild region known as the Urewera country. Here Te Kooti proclaimed himself the saviour of his people, and the Maoris flocked to his standard. The subsequent happenings made up one of the darkest chapters in the history of New Zealand.

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