1064 AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 



re-inforced, and, seized with a panic, the men rushed headlong out of the breach, crying 

 out, "There's thousands of them!" Captain Hamilton, of H.M.S, Esk, rushed up with 

 the reserve of the Naval Brigade in order to rally the fugitives, but he was shot 

 through the head as he mounted the breach. The enemy poured in their fire on the 

 flying column with terrible effect. Most of the officers were shot clown, and both leaders 

 of the storming party were mortally wounded. Of the various acts of individual heroism 

 which relieve the gloom of this unfortunate affair, the most notable was that performed 

 by Samuel Mitchell, captain of the foretop of H.M.S. Harrier. Seeing Commander 

 Hay struck down by a rifle shot, the gallant fellow did not hesitate a moment amid 

 the pitiless hail of lead to encumber himself with the body of the wounded officer, and 

 at his own extreme peril to bear it back to the British lines. But Commander Hay 

 was past all human succour. The enemy's bullet had lodged in the abdomen, and he 

 expired a few hours later. Mitchell's intrepidity was duly recognized, and he was 

 recommended to the Admiralty for the Victoria Cross. 



A line of entrenchments was now thrown up, by order of General Cameron, within 

 one hundred yards of the works. About midnight the Sixty-eighth were heard firing at 

 the rear of the pah, and on examination the stronghold was found to have been 

 abandoned. Some of the British wounded were in it, alive, and with no complaint to 

 make against the enemy. The British loss amounted to twenty-seven killed and sixty-six 

 wounded, of whom several died of their wounds. Only ten Maoris were found dead 

 in the pah, but it was stated that some others had been carried off. The natives now 

 entrenched themselves at Te Ranga, about three miles inland from the Gate Pah, and here 

 they were followed on the 2ist of June by Lieutenant-Colonel Greer with a detachment of 

 the Forty-third, Sixty-eighth and the First Waikato Regiment, besides a corps of cavalry 

 and some artillery. The enemy had not completed their works, and were therefore in a 

 state of unreadiness. An artillery fire was opened upon them, and then the troops 

 advanced with the bayonet, the Forty-third leading. A hand-to-hand fight ensued in the 

 trenches, while those of the enemy who tried to escape were sabred by the cavalry. 

 The assault proved a complete success, and the Maoris were almost annihilated. They 

 lost one hundred and nine in killed, and nineteen in wounded, of whom twelve died of 

 their wounds. Only eleven unwounded prisoners were taken. The New Zealand troops 

 lost eight killed and thirty-nine wounded. The remnant of the Ngaiterangi submitted, 

 and though the rest of the enemy retreated to the hills bordering the Waikato, and 

 made no overtures for peace, the campaign was ended. 



THE " HAUHAU " FANATICISM. 



Before proceeding further we must now return to the events of the second Taranaki 

 War, which followed the massacre of the escort at Oakuru. That unfortunate occurrence 

 took place in May, 1863, and, on the 3rd of June, General Cameron marched out from 

 New Plymouth, with detachments of the Fifty-seventh and the Seventieth, besides artillery, 

 and successfully stormed a native redoubt on the Katikara River, with a loss of one 

 killed and five wounded, while twenty-four of the enemy were slain. After this the 

 troops were recalled to Auckland for the invasion of the Waikato, but a portion of the 

 Fifty-seventh was left behind under Colonel Warre to garrison New Plymouth. The 



