Baillie. — The First New Zealand Navy. 31 



the Maori flag. He was promoted to be a warrant officer by the Admiralty 

 on the 26th June, 1860, and the Cross was presented to him on parade at 

 Devonport, England, July, 1862. Lieutenant Blake, who, with some men 

 of the " Niger," took an active part in the military operations, was pro- 

 moted to be commander for his services, later taking command of H.M.S. 

 " Falcon " on the New Zealand station. The " Niger " had shelled the 

 Warea Pa on the 20th March. 



A Naval Brigade under Captain (later Commodore) F. Beauchamp 

 Seymour, afterwards Lord Alcester, was stationed at Waitara, where Captain 

 Seymour was wounded, June, 1860, at the attack on the Puketakauere Pa. 

 The brigade, which was in service 1860-61, was composed of men and 

 officers from H.M. ships " Niger," " Pelorus," " Cordelia," " Iris," " Elk," 

 and the Victorian steam-sloop " Victoria." 



In 1862 the Government purchased the paddle-steamer " Avon " for 

 £2,000. This steamer, which was 60 ft. in length, 14 horse-power, 27 tons 

 register, and drawing 3 ft. of water, had been brought from England in 

 sections and put together at Lyttelton in 1861. She had been engaged 

 in the trade between Lyttelton, Heathcote, and Kaiapoi. On the 22nd 

 November she left Lyttelton in charge of Lieutenant Easther with a crew 

 of fifteen men from H.M.S. " Harrier," in tow of that vessel. Lieutenant 

 Easther retained command until the close of the Waikato War. Mr. Ellis, 

 who is still living (1920) in Auckland, was engineer. The vessels arrived 

 on the 26th November at Onehunga, where the " Avon " was refitted and 

 .armoured for service on the Waikato River. She assisted in the rescue 

 of survivors from the wreck of H.M.S. " Orpheus," on the Manukau bar, 

 7th February, 1863, the men being transferred from the steamer " Wonga 

 Wonga," which happened to be crossing the bar at the time of the disaster. 



The " Avon " was towed to the Waikato Heads on the 25th July, 1863, 

 by H.M.S. "Eclipse," Commander Richard C. Mayne (Plate V, fig. 1). 

 Thirty men were transferred from the " Eclipse," and Commander Mayne 

 took the " Avon " up the river to the Bluff — a little below where Mercer 

 now stands. On the 6th August Captain Sullivan, H.M.S. " Harrier," senior 

 naval officer in New Zealand, took the vessel on a reconnaissance as far 

 as Meremere, where the Maori opened fire, which, on completion of observa- 

 tions, was replied to from the " Avon's " 12-pounder Armstrong gun and 

 a 12-pounder rocket-tube. 



While the " Avon " was being fitted at Onehunga four large barges 

 were brought overland from Auckland. These were also armoured with 

 an iron-plate covering, and pierced for rifles and sweeps, or oars, this work 

 being done under the superintendence of Captain Mercer, R.A., who was 

 later killed at Rangiriri. 



The " Avon " was on service during the course of the Waikato War. 

 On the 18th February, 1864, through striking a snag in the Waipa River, 

 she became partly submerged. She was used for a time as a coal-hulk 

 at Port Waikato, which in those days was a busy place, with building and 

 repairing shops. Later the " Avon ' : was renamed " Clyde," and was 

 occupied in mercantile trading in the run between Tamaki and the Thames. 

 In 1876 her paddles were dismantled and twin screws siibstituted. She 

 was broken up in Auckland about 1883. 



In 1860 a small paddle-steamer, the " Tasmanian Maid," 53 tons 

 register, 36 horse-power, which had been trading between Nelson, Wairau, 

 and Wellington, was sent over by the Nelson people to bring the women 

 and children from New Plymouth if necessary. She was then used as a 



