Heaphy. — On Port Nicholson and the Natives in 1839. 39 



ately wounded, and supported themselves on the shoulder or hand of their 

 neighbour, decorously to pay the melancholy rite. 



But a party of men were still out amongst the sand-hills burying the 

 dead of the enemy, or bringing in the corpse of a friend. Before we en- 

 tered the pa we noticed, standing on a provision stage high up above the 

 stockade, a woman, who appeared by her violent gesticulations to be much 

 excited. Closely following us as we passed into the stockade was a litter- 

 party carrying a dead body, the last of the missing. Suddenly there was a 

 heavy fall, or thud, close by us ; it was the woman from the high stage, 

 recognizing at last the corpse of her son she had frantically thrown herself 

 down, nearly twenty feet, and lay there, apparently dead, while the litter- 

 party passed on. Such matters were apparently of trifling moment while a 

 tangi was proceeding. 



There were a number of seriously- wounded men to be attended to, and 

 gun-shot to be extracted. One native had the tendon-achilles cut through, 

 and the foot was drawn upward and powerless. To some bones of the arm 

 and.leg, fractured by shot, they had already applied splints, fairly made from 

 the thick part of the leaf of the Phormium teaax. To cut and lacerated surfaces 

 they had applied dressings of herbs. How far these were effective, medici- 

 nally, it is impossible to say, but after a few days nearly all the wounded 

 were progressing favourably and without fever. One man had his knee 

 smashed by a bullet, and he was advised to submit to amputation. He 

 agreed to have the operation performed, and was told about being able to 

 walk with a wooden leg. The children considered there was fun to be 

 found in wooden legs, and proceeded to manufacture them according to 

 their lights — stumping about before the wounded man. At this ridicule he 

 changed his views, and said that he would rather keep his leg and have it 

 buried with him than live to be laughed at. 



Most of the wounds healed by what is termed "first intention." The 

 severed tendon-achilles united, but with increased length and consequent 

 loss of power in the foot. The Ngatiraukawa had 45 killed, and the 

 defenders of the pa 14 killed and about 30 wounded. The man with the 

 injured knee recovered for a time, but with a stiffened joint. Four years 

 afterwards he had it removed by Dr. McShane, of Nelson. He smoked his 

 pipe during the whole of the operation. 



