Captive Wife, The

by Kidman, Fiona

  Her sister-in-law has stood listening to this exchange, a small smile playing over her face. ‘Surely, it is for the gentlemen to decide.’

  ‘Will you come with me, Miss Malcolm?’ says Roddick.

  ‘Not now. No. A thousand times no.’

  ‘I will leave,’ says Betty, ‘if it will change things. Adie, this difficulty is over me, not you. Your family doesn’t accept me, and the lieutenant listens to rumour. They are all worried that I will harm their reputations.’

  ‘I’m not leaving,’ says Adie. ‘And I beg you Mrs Guard, to stay here with me.’

  ‘I will come back the day after tomorrow,’ says Roddick. ‘Let’s hope the matter can be resolved in a sensible way.’

  He casts a last contemptuous look at Betty and turns on his heel.

  When he has gone, Percy says in a wan voice, ‘What does he mean by fight? He doesn’t really mean a proper fight, does he?’

  ‘That’s what soldiers do,’ Betty says, as she vanishes down the shadowy blue gum track.

  Chapter 31

  JOURNAL OF JOHN GUARD

  30 August 1834

  As it was decided to take extra men on the expedition, we were delayed another day while more bread was baked. There was much counting of provisions. But at last the Alligator and the Isabella were ready to sail for New Zealand. There are some queer bodies on board the Alligator with me. The Royal Navy surgeon whose name is Barrett Marshall is full of godliness and soupy talk about how we should not pass hasty judgments on the Maoris until we see what is what.

  I know what is what I said and from my pocket I took a piece of comb. It was the ½ I picked up from the beach when Betty was felled. I have seen my wife’s head cut open with an axe. Do not tell me what I should think of them.

  Well then he said in the same smooth voice, how wd you civilise them?

  How wd I civilise them I said. Shoot them to be sure. A musket ball for every New Zealander is the only way of civilising their country.

  His face turned to whey then all moist and sticky white. You cannot say that he cried. Have you not thought of what missionaries might bring to them?

  What is that?

  A knowledge of God.

  There is missionaries in the north I said.

  I know that for I have been there.

  Then you will know that the Maoris still make their own sweet way doing what suits them.

  The surgeon did not like what he heard and I do not like him.

  Then there is Miller who is a pilot. I could do as good a job as him for he does not have much experience of the New Zealand coast as I wd wish and he is to help Battersby the interpreter. I am worried about this cove. His Maori is what he learnt when he was in the grog shops in the Bay of Islands. He was drunk more often then than not. Although he speaks a kind of pidgin lingo I don’t reckon he understands much more than I do. I have enough for whaling — which you have to get right or you’ll be dead, but that is not enough for what we are going into. I am done with Maoris in my soul but I have respect for the tricks they can pull. I think they could put it across Battersby.

  I have mentioned this to Captain Lambert but he said he is under orders to carry him. Perhaps I should speak with Captain Johnstone he said who is the Captain of the 50th Regiment and the men who will do the fighting.

  So I said to Johnstone you wd do well to put me in charge of telling the Maoris what is what.

  I cannot do that Guard he said for I am under strict orders that the military carry out this operation. You have had your say in Sydney and now it is up to the professional soldiers to do our duty. We have hand-picked men and you must behave as a civilian which is what you are.

  I was being put in my place and I did not like it.

  I said to myself perhaps we wd have done better to stick to a ransom and be done with it. My mind went back to Captain Anglim who led me down this path and I do not think well of him for it seems I am out of the action.

  Also on board are the chiefs I took to Sydney aboard the Joseph Weller. I have no time for them. They are sorry for themselves even though they are being taken home. They do not like bread and they will not eat salted meat so who is to mind if they go hungry.

  3 September

  We have now been at sea 4 days. Lambert and Johnstone consult each other all the time and plan how they will land the troops. Nothing much else happens. I drum my heels on the decks and wish I was somewhere else. I have been thinking about Charlotte and that what passed between us was not wise. But what is done is done and who knows whether I will get my wife back. I read my book to pass the time, the 1 my father gave me about my duties as a man. There is a section on the faithfulness of husbands. ‘For those who are not faithful, it said the breach of the vow is no less for a man than a woman. Besides the Uncleanness, it is a downright perjury.’ I was glad then I had not made a formal vow to the girl. I need not think of her as my wife, which is relief. Conscience is a terrible thing and I do not want the burden of it. Perhaps I will make her a vow if I ever get her back. I think about my son who is missing, and she is his mother. I will be smote down if I do not have my boy back. Until I had a boy of my own I did not know how much that wd make me believe in myself as a man. Nothing else been or gone has made my life worthwhile. I will die for this boy if I must.

  I think I am in the hands of fools.

  11 September

  Land at last. I see the coast of Taranaki, as I have seen it many times before.

  12 September

  Lambert tried to land at Moturoa in order to rescue the crew but the N.W. was up to its usual tricks.

  So we came to the beach beneath Te Namu pa where I believe Betty is held. I said to the Captain, I will go ashore, I will talk with them.

  Enough Guard he said. The interpreters will go ashore.

  And what message will you send with them I said.

  You know what’s been decided. They are to communicate with the chiefs and explain to them that our Government will stay on friendly terms providing the missing crew members and your wife and children are restored at once.

  Without ransom I asked.

  We have been through this many times he said. There will be no ransom. It will be explained that if they attack His Majesty’s subjects again they will be punished in a most severe way. And if they do not hand over the hostages we will smash them and all that belongs to them to pieces.

  But the wind being what it was the chance of setting anyone on the beach was small. A group of New Zealanders came down to the beach. At this point Lambert said you may go in the whale boat Guard with the interpreters and Lieutenant Clarke who is in charge. But I will shoot you if you try to go ashore alone.

  I saw a man on the shore. Even from this distance he seemed to be smiling his teeth white lanterns in his face.

  Who are you? the interpreters called out.

  I am Oaoiti. A chief.

  Are you speaking for the tribe?

  She is not here Haari he called ignoring this question. How did he know my name. I felt something bad in the air. My hair prickled under my cap.

  I called out to him then. Where is she? Where is Betty?

  I swear he laughed. I did not like the cocksure way he had about him. She and the girl have gone to Waimate.

  My heart fell into my boots. I didn’t believe we could take the fortress of Waimate. We went back aboard the Alligator.

  Where is this place Waimate Lambert asked.

  It is 1 of 2 pa 1 is Waimate and the other is Orangituapeka I told him and they are both on very high cliffs surrounded by ravines. They are some 20 miles south of here.

  Then said Lambert in a cheerful voice we will have to send the interpreters to Waimate. 20 miles is no great distance he says to them, you can walk down there and have a talk to them. When you get back here I want you to light 2 fires on that hill and we will fetch you.

  I tried to tell him it is not as easy as that. But he wd not listen.

  There being a lull in the waves we set Ba
ttersby and Miller ashore a little south of Te Namu where it was hoped they wd not be seen by the Maoris. Neither of them looked too happy.

  I could only stand and watch.

  I wrapped myself in my greatcoat and said not a word to anyone again that day. I did not sleep at all that night. I kept seeing the chief standing on the beach. As if he was certain about himself. And then I knew what it was.

  13 September

  We stood off from the pa sites of Waimate and Orangituapeka so that the Captain could see for his self how the 2 places are like fortresses. I had been told by Oliver who was at Moturoa and had been to Waimate of a winding path about 2 parts up the S.W. face where it ends in a cliff face with a ladder. The ladder can be pulled up from the top.

  Hundreds of Ngati Ruanui were now gathered on the beach and cliff tops, waving muskets and tomahawks. I had no doubt they would kill anyone who came near.

  A gale came come upon us. We could do nothing but run before it. When we got to the top of the South Island, I offered to take the helm, which was accepted and I guided the ship into a safe cove I knew. Why this is a very pleasant place said Captain Lambert. What is it called?

  I don’t rightly know I said.

  Well then, I will name it for Gore who was the Vice Admiral of the East India Squadron. A fine chap. I’m sure he would like to have a port named after him. Port Gore it is.

  The officers did a bit of shooting practice and found some good rock oysters and had sport trying to set fire to the bush. Just as well they failed at that for there is no point in telling the locals where we are hid.

  17 September

  The weather improved a bit, long enough to secure the interpreters before we had to head south again. I was impatient to hear what they had to tell us. They looked scared half to death and didn’t want to give a straight answer as to what they had been up to.

  Have you seen my wife? I asked them.

  No.

  My children?

  No.

  Are they alive? Did anyone say they were alive?

  Yes they said sullen as they come. In the end they gave up their story and the 2 Captains were not happy as to what they heard. For the men had not been to Waimate. Miller and Battersby had got themselves as far as Te Namu in the opposite direction but the Taranaki people did not make them welcome. The interpreters gave the message hoping it would be taken to Waimate but they got laughed at. The Maoris showed them dried heads of white men and laughed and jeered and said soon all the pakea wd look the same. Under cover of darkness they escaped into the bush where they stayed a night or 2 living on their rations. In the bush they met another group of Maoris who told them they wd soon be killed and eaten.

  They decided between themselves there was only 1 course of action. They went back to Te Namu. We have come back they said to tell you that the white man is willing to barter with you. They will give you a very good ransom. They will give you a whole barrel of gunpowder.

  And if that were not enough it seems the interpreters told the Maoris the ships out there want whalebone. The 2 vessels will trade with you.

  Well said Lambert that is a terrible tale you have told for what you have said is not true.

  But said Battersby dogged-like they say they will bring the woman back to Te Namu and you can get her from there.

  I do not believe a word you are telling me said Lambert. His face was dark with fury.

  She will be back at Te Namu tomorrow said Battersby.

  The whole expedition seems to be falling to pieces. Who is to know what is truth.

  18 September

  I piloted the ship to a 2nd harbour to the south and we let the anchor go in 15 fathoms. By now I can tell the officers have more time for me as it was I who got the ship from one safe harbour to another. After dinner they offered me cigars that were very fine. The meals are prepared with great style for one of the cooks is Italian and the other Maltese. They both play the fiddle so we have music though it is melancholy to my ear and not something we can have a rousing good sing to.

  This is a very good bay too said Lambert. And so it was. The hills were covered with timber and there are many clear streams. I think I should give it a name he said. I shall name it for gallant Sir Thomas Hardy, Nelson’s flag captain at Trafalgar. Port Hardy it is.

  Do you not think, said Barrett Marshall who has had little to say for himself on this journey, that it might not be better to find out what the Maoris have called it and translate the names the better to understand them? Should we assume that we are making improvements by dotting the place with English names?

  Where upon both the Captains stared at him in silence. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away. For a minute it occurred to me the surgeon might be right. None of these new names mean much to me. Once when I was an Englishman they might have done. But I am not any more. What has England done for me?

  A memory came back of when I was no more than a lad and locked up in Newgate Prison. I was taken more than once to watch an execution and I heard again the Bellman reciting the words that went before the hanging of men:

  All you that in the condemned hole do lie

  Prepare you, for tomorrow you shall die,

  Watch all and pray: the hour is drawing near.

  I remembered the terror and wondering whether I might be next. I was glad to get out of it alive. They can call these places whatever they like, it is neither here nor there to me. I spat at Barrett Marshall’s feet the next time I passed him. He is a lily-livered piece of work full of cheap kindnesses for the Maoris we have on board. I do not know why he wants to win favour from them. They sit and weep like children when some of the soldiers have them on a bit and draw their fingers across their throats as if they are about to lose their heads. They do not understand a little humour.

  What I want now is to be done with this waiting.

  We have to get back to Te Namu.

  21 September

  Well, at last we have made progress. We took ourselves up to the coast. Why what are these islands called said Barrett Marshall, leaning against the rail as we drew close.

  Moturoa I said, thinking to please him.

  He wrinkled up his nose like a small animal, and said yes but is there some other name for them.

  There is some as call them the Sugar Loaf Islands I said, which I think is the name that Captain Cook did call them.

  Well he said in a jolly manner that is a good name, yes indeed that is what they look like and my goodness they are steep. How surprising that there is a pa on them. How do people hold to the sides of rocks like that?

  And I think you are a hypocrite I said thinking of his speech about naming places.

  I saw I had got him on the quick and he was smarting but he decided that he wd not show it. I am reminded of the work of Gray he said in his grand way. A fine English poet. He writes so well about nature and the sea. Are you familiar with his work Mr Guard? Or should I call you Haari he said with what was intended as a merry laugh.

  My name is Guard I said and I do not know any poetry.

  The chiefs were put ashore at Moturoa and given muskets and flints and powder and ammunition. In return the crew of the Harriet were given over to us. I thought this an interesting exchange for it amounted to the same as a ransom. Only as it was the chiefs that had been given the gifts Lambert said it was different. There were 8 of the crew and looking like sorry scarecrows. Some of the men had got away and tried to head north. I don’t know what’s become of them.

  Among those picked up was my bro. Charley. Have you seen Betty? I said to him.

  No he told me.

  But she is still alive? They’ve told you she is alive.

  Oh yes he said and I didn’t like the look he gives me. Knowing. He always knew too much for his own good did Charley.

  28 September

  There was less surf this morning and Lambert declared this the day we wd land on the beach beneath Te Namu.

  In all more than 100 men were picked for the boats�
�� crews. There was a Senior Lieutenant and 12 rank and file of the Royal Marines 1 Cptn 1 subaltern 1 sergeant and 60 rank and file of the 50th all to go ashore under the command of Captain Johnstone. I was given a whale boat in my charge with my men rescued from the Harriet. We collected our rations thinking we might be ashore 3 days. We each took 3 pounds of biscuit 2 and ¼ of salt pork 3 gills rum 70 rounds of ammunition. Lambert thought at the last moment the men wd not need their haversacks and greatcoats because of the fine weather. I did not know this until we were about to go and I said this is ridiculous. You do not know how cold it is within sight of that mountain. So at the last minute some of them have their gear thrown in the boats. It was not a fine start. The boats had a long hard pull to the shore because the seas came up rougher than we thought they wd. We made land at 9 of the clock.

  At this point, 2 big parties of Maoris appeared on the cliff tops. They were armed with a few muskets but they did not seem ready to make war. 2 men came down the cliff seeming not afraid. The 1 in front was Oaoiti.

  He called out to us. The woman is with me.

  The men in the boats looked at one another as if they were asking themselves what he meant.

  What have you done to her you black devil? I shouted.

  Lambert was in the boat alongside of us. Be quiet Guard he called.

  There is no harm done to her. She and the girl are well.

  Battersby interpreted this though there was no need on my account for I knew what he had said.

  Where is my son?

  He is not here.

  Where is he?

  I cannot tell you that.

  Bring my wife to me I said. I did not care what Lambert thought.

  I will see if she wants to come said Oaoiti.

  What do you mean? She wd not stay with you not for a King’s ransom.

  At that he bared his teeth in a smile or a snarl.

  But the men were looking at 1 another and I saw what they were thinking. Oaoiti approached the edge of the water.