Auckland Star, Volume VII, Issue 1925, 20 April 1876, Page 2 How Winiata Escaped. We have received the following from a correspondent. As our readers will perceive, the account is very circumstantial, as the writer must have enjoyed his confidence since his escape:— Rahiupokeka, April 14th, 1876. To the Editor : Dear Sir, —It may be interesting to your readers to know how Winiata escaped to the King Country after murdering poor Packer. He (Winiata) was planted near Kohirnarama in a cave for about two weeks. He left his hiding place at dusk one evening, and started for the Waikato, keeping the Great South Road. He travelled through Mercer and Rangiriri, arriving at a place named Kiriwai at daylight, making the trip through on foot. There are a party of men working at Kiriwai on the railway line. Winiata was very hungry, and went into their camp; they gave him some breakfast. While he was eating, there rode into the camp a Maori policeman, named Tamapo, and a white policeman. Tamapo bid Winiata— Tenakoe, and asked him where he had come from. He said— From Pokeno, where I have been working for the Pakeha. He seemed-quite at his ease, the white constable not taking much notice of him. Mr Jackman then asked the policemen to have something to eat, and the white constable went into the whare; Tamapo stayed outside with Winiata talking to him. As soon as the constable turned his back Winiata said to Tamapo, I must be off. Kua ora ahau i te kai: I have done eating. He then started up the road. The police started soon after thinking to overtake the Maori on the road but Winiata was planted in the manuka, thanking his atua for his escape. He stayed hiding until he saw the. constables ascend the hill towards the Piako to search for the man they had just met and many a weary mile they rode, leaving the prize far behind them. This Maori policeman now says he called the constables attention to the murderer, but he pooh poohed it, and said Winiata was a powerful-looking man—not at all like the one they had met. Winiata then started on his road, meeting an old Pakeha-Maori who had known him years before, but did not now recognise the murderer. This old man paddled Winiata to the west bank of the Waikato river to a native village named Kaitumutimu, where Winiata has a relative named Paora Puni. He stayed with Paora all that day, and at night they started up the river in a small canoe, and arrived safe above Ngaruawahia, where Paora landed Winiata on the west hank of the Waipa river, whence he travelled on foot to Te Kowhai, further up the Waipa about five miles beyond Ngaruawahia where has a half-brother named Putukamu A sweet youth this is. He stayed at Te Kowhai four days, starting again at night for the King Country. When passing Alexandra he saw one of Sir Donald McLeans beef-eaters lying fast asleep on the side of the road. He walked past, and the beef-eater slept on! He was now in the Pirongia Ranges, near the King Country, where he had nothing to fear and as long as the King Party are recognised as a power, there is no safe place in the Wajkato. All a Maori has to do is to bury his tomahawk in your head, start for the King place, and say my Atua told me to kill the white man, and that is all about it, The King says Go my child, to Mokau, and join the brothers, (Te Kooti. Purukutu, & other murderers). There is a nice lot of those wretches at Mokau, and there must be a row with them before Jong; they are getting stronger every day.—Kawititiro.,
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 08:13:07 +0000
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