386 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
As it was feared that the natives would abandon their position if they saw 
the batteries being made, these latter were constructed during the night of 
the 28th and morning of the 29th April, while the 68th Regiment was sent 
round by a swamp on the right flank of the pah, to surround the position in 
the rear, and prevent all escape in that direction. There was little or no 
transport to be got for conveying ammunition, &c. 
A few pack ponies, the two 8-in mortar carts and, late in the day, three 
or four transport carts were all the transport that could be obtained, and a 
great portion of the ammunition w r as sent up from Tauranga to the “ gate 
pah” (about 2J miles) in wheelbarrows, with fatigue parties of artillery and 
infantry. The batteries were constructed after dark, and by daylight on the 
morning of the following day, 29th April, the undermentioned batteries were 
ready to open fire. 
Two 8-in. mortars in a breastwork 800 yards from the pah under Lieut. 
Greer, R.A. 
Two 24-pr. howitzers in a breastwork 600 yards from the pah under 
Captain William Smith, R.A. 
Six small mortars behind a parapet about 300 yards from the pah, under 
Lieut. Grubb, R.A.; and two 6-pr. Armstrong's were kept ready to be 
taken to any place where they might be afterwards required. 
There was also a heavy battery of Armstrong's consisting of one 110-pr. 
and two 40-prs., manned by the Royal Navy, under direction of Commodore 
Sir W. Wiseman, C.B., R.N. This battery was about 700 yards from the 
pah. The batteries opened fire soon after daybreak, but the natives hardly 
returned a shot. The 8-in. shells seemed from the battery to fall in the 
centre of the pah. 
The fire of the howitzers and heavy Armstrong's was directed on the 
left corner of the pah where a breach was to be made; and the mortars 
threw shells into the pah and adjacent rifle pits. About noon it was 
discovered that the swamp on the left of the native position was passable by 
a 6-pr. Armstrong if taken across piecemeal. This was done under Lieut. 
Donnithorne, R.A., and after great difficulty the gun was brought into action 
on a hill beyond the swamp, which looked on to the left flank of the 
entrenchments. As soon as the gun was seen from the pah, the natives in 
the left flank of the works who had been occasionally firing at the battery of 
small mortars, left their position and went to the right flank where they 
could not be touched by the fire of the 6-pr. A small howitzer would have 
been most useful here, and a 4f-inch mortar being carried across the swamp 
threw several shells into the pah which was now enfiladed. By this time a 
large breach had been made in the parapet and in the double fence which 
was in front of it, as shown in the description of the works at Maungatautari, 
&e. The parapet w T as about five feet high and five feet thick, and was half 
sunken. Erom the hill on which the gun and mortar were placed, it was 
seen that most of the shells from the 8-in. mortars were going a few yards 
over the pah, which was much narrower than was expected. On a message 
being sent to the battery this was rectified, and the shells subsequently all 
fell into the work. 
The assault was now ordered. Very little had been seen or heard of the 
natives during the day, and it was not until the storming party, composed 
of equal numbers of the 43rd Regiment and Royal Navy, had arrived within 
a few yards of the breach, that the Maories opened a heavy fire. Then, 
