THE ADVENTURES OF
KIMBLE BENT
THE ADVENTURES
OF KIMBLE BENT
A STORY OF WILD LIFE IN THE
NEW ZEALAND BUSH
By
JAMES COWAN
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
WHITCOMBE AND TOMBS, LIMITED
LONDON MELBOURNE
CHRISTCHURCH, WELLINGTON AND DUNEDIN, N.Z.
1911
PRINTED AND BOUND BY
HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,
LONDON AND AYLESBURY.
PREFACE
This book is not a work of fiction. It is a plainnarrative of real life in the New Zealand bush, atrue story of adventure in a day not yet remote,when adventure in abundance was still to be hadin the land of the Maori. Every name used is areal one, every character who appears in thesepages had existence in those war days of fortyyears ago. Every incident described here is afaithful record of actual happenings; some ofthem may convince the reader that truth can bestranger than fiction.
Numerous instances are recorded of white desertersfrom civilisation who have allied themselveswith savages, adopting barbarous practices, andforgetting even their mother-tongue. In the oldconvict days of New South Wales escapees from thefetters of a more than rigorous "system" now andagain cast in their lot with the blacks. Renegadesof every European nationality have been foundliving with and fighting for native tribes in Africa[Pg viii]and America and the Islands of Polynesia. Butnone of them had a wilder story to tell than hasthe man whose narrative is here presented—KimbleBent, the pakeha-Maori. Ever since 1865—whenhe first "took to the blanket"—he has lived withthe New Zealand Maoris. For thirteen years hewas completely estranged from his fellow-whites;he had deserted from a British regiment and a pricewas on his head. British troops and Colonialirregulars alike hunted him and his fanaticalHauhau companions. His hairbreadth escapes weremany; he had to risk death not only from Britishbullet and bayonet, but from the savage brownmen of the forest with whom he lived. Whenat last he came out of hiding, and dared once moreto face those of his own colour, he had almostforgotten the English language, and could speakit but with difficulty and hesitation. He has beenout of his bush exile many years, but is still livingwith his Maori friends, and is still known by theMaori name, "Tu-nui-a-moa," which his chiefTitokowaru gave him in 1868. When he writes tome, he usually writes