One day in the early 1880's, long after the war, Kimble Bent visited some of his friends in Parihaka.  They lived in a whare by the side of the road which led through the village. As Bent entered the house, stepping over the high paepae or threshold, a Māori man sitting inside said, 'You have crossed a very rich threshold.'

 'What do you mean?' asked Bent.

 'Beneath that beam of wood lies the sword of Manu-rau,' the man said.

This was the truth.  The owner of the whare had taken possession of von Tempsky's sword, which was preserved as a sacred relic, a taumahatanga, or offering to the gods.  It was not displayed in public, but placed beneath the threshold, where valuable objects were often placed to assure the safety of the house and occupants.  The sword had been carefully greased and wrapped in flannel first, before it was laid in place.  Some years later it was buried in the grave with its Hauhau owner, and there it lies to this day.  Or does it?

From The New Zealand Wars and the Pioneering Period by James Cowan

He died with his sword in hand: The Death of Von Tempsky at Te Ngutu o Te Manu

Image: Chromolithograph, Kennett Watkins

Where von Tempsky's sword ended up was a mystery in James Cowan's day, and still is today.  It's a mystery well-known investigative journalist Pat Booth would love to solve. As a tireless seeker of truth, Booth was instrumental in securing the pardon of Arthur Alan Thomas after he was wrongly imprisoned for murder.

In 1949, as a young reporter on the Hawera Star, he and fellow trainee journalist Harry Dansey often pondered what might have become of von Tempsky's 'trusty Mexican blade'. 

'I was just out of school and Harry was doing his training course. Harry and I used to prowl around places like Turuturu Mokai and Te Ngutu o te Manu and the von Tempsky sword was something we talked about.'

Their discussions fired Pat up with the thought that he should one day try to find it.  'I'd love to, love to,' he says.  But try as he might, then or since, he's never been able to satisfy himself with the facts about where it lies.

Ailsa Smith wrote that a warrior named Tohu held the sword on the day Parihaka was plundered. 'In the midst of his concern for his people at the time of the raid, Tohu did not forget von Tempsky's sword which Titokowaru had given him for safekeeping.  Anticipating that the village would be searched for arms when the troops arrived, Tohu handed the sword to a kuia and instructed her to bury it in the village middenheap.'

Another account says that as the man responsible for von Tempsky's death, the sword should have gone to the warrior Tutange Waionui but he was given only the revolver. 'Titokowaru himself had von Tempsky's sword taken away and hidden.'

James Belich in I Shall Not Die said the warrior Tutange believed his bullet to have despatched von Tempsky, but his comrades disagreed.  According to them it was 'the veteran Te Rangihinakau who, taking careful aim, shot the major through the forehead.'

So which story is right? Booth finds the tale that the sword was taken from its first burial place and interred with whichever Hauhau warrior actually killed von Tempsky a little unlikely.  Titokowaru had great respect for the enemy he called Manu-Rau, and would hardly have let it go so easily.

'It's pretty obvious it would have been a prized war prize, one of the great relics of Te Ngutu o te Manu, but I would have thought it would have been a rangitira type possession.'

Does he have any kind of gut feeling about what might have happened to the sword?  'I haven't.  I wish I did know.'

But there is a strong possibility he might one day still go hunting for it.  'It's been a great ambition of mine to do it.  I've got a particular interest in Japanese swords, not that that has anything to do with it, but I would, from a New Zealand point of view, love to find it.'

Footnote: After this story went live, well-known New Plymouth businessman John Matthews contacted Puke Ariki to say he might have the sword, bought at auction and attributed to von Tempsky.  A lighter-weight dress sword with unusual gilt on the blade, it might possibly have belonged to the swashbuckling mercenary. 

When told of this development, Pat Booth said he too had been notified by a different person claiming to hold the sword. 'Another claimant, which to my count, brings the total of known candidates to about five and counting!'

Puke Ariki also holds a sword, said to have belonged to von Tempsky, in its collection. A plain, heavy utilitarian weapon with a wooden grip and a weld mend on the blade, it doesn't seem to match existing photos.