Editing Te Kooti (section)

==Escape==
In 1868, expecting a resupply boat, Te Kooti prophesied that two boats would soon arrive to take them off the island. Normally the prisoners worked on a farm but using the excuse of rain a number of convicts were able to enter the redoubt. There were actually only 6 guards on the whole Island as the majority had been removed in April to Hokitika where a Fenian uprising was feared. On 4 July 1868, Te Kooti led an escape, and with 168 other prisoners seized the [[schooner]] ''Rifleman'', with supplies and rifles, scuttled another vessel the ''Florence'' so that the alarm could not be raised and set off back to the North Island. One Chatham Island sergeant was killed because of a personal grievance.<ref>King, ''Moriori''{{page needed|date=November 2014}}</ref> The {{lang|mi|[[Pākehā]]}} sailors were allowed to live and set sail for the coast of New Zealand with help from the Māori hijackers. The sailors attempted to sail towards [[Wellington]], but with Te Kooti's expertise at sailing were caught and told they would be thrown overboard if they did not keep a course for the [[Gisborne, New Zealand|East Coast]]. On the fourth day at sea, the ship was becalmed and Te Kooti declared that a sacrifice was needed. Te Kooti had his uncle, Te Warihi Otini,<ref>Binney, ''Redemption Songs'', p 20</ref> thrown overboard and soon afterwards the ship made headway again.

Upon their arrival at Whareongaonga in [[Poverty Bay]], Te Kooti asked the [[Māori King Movement]] and the [[Tuhoe]] tribes for refuge but was rejected. He also sought dialogue with the colonial government but was rebuffed. He sent a statement to the effect that if the government wanted a war, he would give it to them in November.