This engraving appeared in an English magazine in November 1868, captioned ‘A fresh war in New Zealand: capture of a native stronghold by a British force’. A new war had indeed broken out, with an attack by Tītokowaru’s men on an outpost at Turuturumōkai; but the journal was quite wrong to describe the next engagement, pictured here, as ‘capture of a native stronghold’. The scene was Te Ngutu-o-te-manu, the home village of Tītokowaru, and the attack was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas McDonnell. A previous expedition, on 12–13 August, had failed to capture the pā, and this attack on 21 August was called off when the weather deteriorated. A final attempt on 7 September 1868 resulted in a clear victory for Tītokowaru.
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Reference: A-423-002
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.