Ururoa, An Early Tauranga Visitor

 A tonne of ordnance crosses the Kaimai Range, 1832

Ururoa (the great white shark), also known as Rewharewha Te Koke, c. 1780–1861, was a prominent Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu, and Te Tahawai rangatira (chief) of Whangaroa. A close relative and brother-in-law to the renowned Ngāpuhi musket general Hongi Hika, Ururoa led many taua or fighting expeditions alongside him during the 1820s, and following Hongi’s death in 1827, cemented his role as a leading rangatira at Whangaroa.

The artillery general Ururoa or Rewharewha Te Koke. [1]

An enthusiastic artilleryman, Ururoa joined Titore Takiri’s grand amphibious artillery expedition against the Tauranga iwi in December 1831. Ururoa’s Whangaroa contingent arrived at the Bay of Islands in waka taua carrying 140 musket-armed warriors and four 12-pound carronades from the Boyd which had been attacked at Whangaroa in 1809. Their arrival boosted the number of Titore’s toa or fighting men to 600 and the number of cannon and short barrelled carronades to ten.

To revenge Ngāpuhi’s previous reversals at Tauranga, Titore Takire and his rangatira assembled ten artillery pieces for their 1832 campaign [2]

Accompanied on the little schooner Karere (Messenger) by the Rev. Henry Williams and fellow missionaries, who hoped to end the fighting, the expedition comprising 80 waka and Māori-owned cutters entered the Hauraki Gulf in January 1832. Here, Ururoa’s taua and Ngāti Maru allies ascended the Waihou River by waka and laid siege to the great fortress of the Ngāti Haua people and their paramount chief Te Waharoa at Matamata.

Rev. Henry Williams’ schooner Karere (Messenger) accompanying Ngāpuhi’s 1832 amphibious expedition. Stowed in the hulls of the waka taua and Māori-owned sailing boats, their artillery pieces and munitions served as ballast.[3]

 Despite subjecting the pā and its inhabitants to musket and artillery fire during a 2–3-week siege, Ururoa’s artillerymen were unable to create a breach in the palisades that would allow his allied infantry to storm the fortress. Following a surprise foray by Te Waharoa’s warriors, who captured some Ngāpuhi who were crucified on his palisades, Ururoa raised the siege.

Urgently needing to reinforce Titore’s main fleet, in February 1832, Ururoa set out to take his force of 200 musketeers and his artillery train directly over the Kaimai Range to Tauranga Harbour by means of the centuries-old Wairere track

Like Ururoa’s artillery expedition, trading and missionary parties struggled to negotiate the vast Mangapouri swamp that surrounded Matāmata Pā on three sides.[4]

When traversing the Mangapouri swamp between Matamata and the Waihou river below the Kaimai Range, Ururoa’s men dragged and floated the artillery pieces and their munitions across in small waka. Described by the travelling botanist J. C. Bidwill in 1841 as ‘of a custard like consistency and of a light brown colour’, any heavily loaded warrior straying from the column immediately sank to his armpits and could be extracted only with the assistance of his comrades.

 After emerging from the quagmire and crossing the fast-flowing Waihou River, the Ngāpuhi camped that night below the dark, bush clad Kaimai Range, which rose abruptly 1,510 feet to the summit of Mount Wairere. Nearby, the rain-swollen Wairere Stream, a glistening silver beacon which marked the entrance to the track, thundered down from the heights.

The Waihou River, Kaimai Range and Wairere Falls 
A notoriously difficult mountain crossing to this day, the Wairere Track climbs steeply on the right of the falls, from the Matamata Plain to a high summit plateau at 1200 feet, before descending to the Te Puna Peninsula on Tauranga Harbour [5]

Placing their precious carronades at the centre of the column, the following morning, Ururoa’s taua began the steep ascent to the summit plateau. The gun captains distributed men along the length of the single haul rope attached to each carronade and sled while others were tasked to heave on the sides and ends of the gun sleds as opportunity offered. There were gradients where the toa on the haul ropes bent double with the strain and preserved their balance only by supporting themselves on their hands and knees. The upper section of the track was most difficult for it was slippery due to clouds settling on the tops. Here, the gun teams could catch their breath only by securing the carronades to trees.

A 12-pound carronade from the plundered Boyd. [6]

Favoured by Māori predatory raiders like Ururoa, who referred to them as pū repo (great guns), early 19th-century British 12-pounder carronades were short, smoothbore cast-iron naval guns. Requiring a crew of four, they were used by artillery chiefs to fire single gunstones or quantities of round stones when iron cannon balls and grapeshot were unavailable. With each gun weighing between 290 and 318 kgs and each iron ball 12-pounds (5.4kg), in February 1832, Ururoa’s gunners hauled more than 1.000 kgs or one metric ton of ordinance over the Kaimai Range to Tauranga.

At last, the carronades were dragged over the shoulder of the peak to the summit plateau, where Ururoa’s taua camped the night beneath a canopy of tawa, rimu, miro and many softwoods. At first light the column commenced the day-long crossing of the summit plateau. The deeply rutted track was muddy and overgrown in many places, requiring the gunners to slide the gunsleds over or beneath fallen trees and struggle through thickets of head-high fern, the carronades crashing after them. 

A waka used by Ngāpuhi to haul cannonballs at Ruapekapeka Pā, Northland in 1845. Ururoa used similar waka to haul his carronades and munitions over the Kaimai Range in 1832.[7]

Proceeding down the range after camping overnight on the eastern edge of the plateau, the carronades were slid down the track. Precipitous drops on either side of the ridge required all the strength of the anchor men; and sure footedness, and constant use of hand holds by the brake men using shrubs and trees to retain control. On the steepest sections, the stern ropes of the gunsleds were passed around a tree and slowly played out as the gun slid downhill. When the stern rope was nearly played out, the bow haulers snubbed the guns to trees on either side of the track to secure them, while the brake men made their way down the ridge to repeat the process.

The lower track provided glimpses of Tauranga Harbour, the Bay of Plenty coast and Ongarahu village on the Te Puna Peninsula. The expedition soon found the track levelling off and the forest opening out. The gruelling six-mile descent ended where a tiny tributary of the Pārapāra Sream crossed their path amid bright afternoon sunshine and low fern covered hills.

On 7 March 1832, Titore Takiri and Ururoa’s fleet of 80 waka taua and sailing boats moved down the harbour to besiege and bombard the Ngāi Te Rangi hapū defending Otūmoetai Pā.[8]

Ururoa’s taua subsequently attacked and dispersed the inhabitants of Ōngarahu and elsewhere on the Te Puna peninsula before mounting the carronades in the bows of plundered waka. His little fleet of waka pū repo reunited with Titore Takiri’s grand fleet at Matakana Island on Tauranga Harbour on 6 March 1832.

 Rev. Henry Williams noted that Ururoa’s taua had already engaged the Ngāi Te Rangi people at Otūmoetai Pā ‘in four or five severe engagements. The most recent had occurred that very afternoon when several artillery rounds were exchanged. Ururoa’s gunners subsequently participated in the historic artillery sieges of Otūmoetai and Maungatapu Pā - extraordinary and unique events in the military history of New Zealand.

Sources

Bentley, Trevor, Tribal Guns and Tribal Gunners, Wilsonscott, Christchurch, 2013: 85-95.

Bentley, Trevor, Early Maritime Tauranga, Vol. 1. Kererū Books, Tauranga, 2025: 103, 188-189, 217,

Bidwill, John, Rambles in New Zealand, W. S. Orr & Co., London, 1841: 78-79.

Gudgeon, T. W; Reminiscences of the War in New Zealand, Southern Reprints, Papakura, New Zealand,

1986: 127.

Matheson, Alister, Wairere Track: Ancient Highway of Missionary and Māori, Publicity Printing, Tauranga, 1975: 10, 13, 21, 24, 75, 30-32, 189, 220.

Wade, William, A Journey in the Northern Islands of New Zealand, George Rolwegan, Hobart, 1852: 131-132.

Williams, Henry, The Early Journals of Henry Williams, 1826-1840, (L. M. Rogers ed.), Christchurch, Pegasus Press, 1961: 107, 110, 133, 148, 243, 251, 440-441,

Williams, William, Christianity Among the New Zealanders, Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday, London, 1867: 158.

Woon, William, Reports from Select Committees on New Zealand, British Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XX, 1837-40, (680), 158.

Images

[1] Ururoa Rewharewha Te Koke (1780-1861), Wiki Tree, https://www.wikitree.com › wiki › Te_Koke-1

 [2] Titore Takiri, Sherrin, R. A. A.; Wallace, J. H.; edited by Thomson W. Leys. Early History of New Zealand: From Earliest Times to 1840. H. Brett, Auckland, 1890: 342.

 [3] Williams, Henry, ‘War canoes and Mission boats’ Sherrin and Lees, 1890: 150.

 [4] Williams, Henry, 1792-1867. [Williams, Henry] 1792-1867 ‘Passing through a swamp in New Zealand’. [London, Seelys, 1836]. Ref: PUBL-0031-1836-1. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

 [5] Merrett, Joseph Jenner, 1815-1854. [Merrett, Joseph Jenner] 1816-1854. View from the Banks of the Thames of the Fall of Wai Riri. Ref: PUBL-0076-090. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

 [6] Carronade, Carron Company; artillery maker(s); circa 1780; Scotland, cast iron. Dimensions Overall: 500mm (width), 350 mm (height), 1220 mm (length), 460kg (weight). Registration Number DM000143, Te Papa Tongarewa, National Library of New Zealand, Wellington.

 G[7] raham, David Henry, 1885-1965: Men alongside a waka used to sledge cannon balls at Ruapekapeka. Photographs of taonga Māori. Ref: 1/4-018228-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

 [8] Joseph Josenhans, ‘War Canoes’ in Illustrations of Missionary Scenes, An Offering to Youth, Mainz, Joseph Scholz, 1855. XII.