with sixty of his followers,
at once bolted. Captain Richardson was therefore obliged with the
remainder to fall back, and, unfortunately, in the retreat one of the
natives fell; his gun went off and, bursting, injured his hand. This was
considered by the natives a most unfortunate omen, and dissipated what
little courage remained in the Wairoa tribe.

At eleven o'clock next morning the enemy advanced and the action began;
but the Wairoa chief, with fifty of his men, again bolted at the first
shot. Captain Richardson with the remainder held the position until four
in the afternoon, when the ammunition being almost exhausted, he retired
quietly. The force fell back to Wairoa, where it was reorganized and
increased to two hundred men. In the meantime Colonel Whitmore had been
toiling on over a terrible country in Te Kooti's rear, having with him
in all about two hundred men, as he had been joined by Major Fraser with
fifty of the No. 1 Division Armed Constabulary.

But when they arrived at the boundary of the Poverty Bay district the
settlers belonging to it, who had not recovered from their indignation
at Colonel Whitmore's unfortunate remarks, refused to go further, saying
that the militia regulations only obliged them to defend their own
district. Colonel Whitmore, therefore, with a hundred and thirty men, of
whom but a handful were whites, marched on to attack two hundred and
twenty Hau-Haus posted in a very strong position in the gorge of a
river. Twelve of the little party from the Mohaka River still remained
with the column, one had been killed, four wounded, while five had
remained behind completely knocked up by the fatigues they had
encountered.

Mr. Atherton had not gone on with them after the arrival of Colonel
Whitmore. "It is of no use, my dear lad," he said to Wilfrid. "I know
Colonel Whitmore well by reputation, and the way in which he blew us up
this morning because, exhausted as we were, we were physically unable to
set out for a fresh march, confirms what I have heard of him. He is a
most gallant officer, and is capable of undergoing the greatest fatigue
and hardships, and is of opinion that everyone else is as tireless and
energetic as he is. He will drive you along over mountain, through
rivers, with food or without food, until you come up to Te Kooti, and
then he will fight, regardless of odds or position, or anything else. It
isn't the fighting I object to; but I never could keep up with the
colu