Cannon, Ruapuke Island

Cannon, Ruapuke Island

This cannon was bought by the famous southern Ngāi Tahu chief Tūhawaiki, on one of his visits to Sydney. Like his great opponent Te Rauparaha at Kapiti Island, Tūhawaiki based himself on an island – Ruapuke, near Bluff in Foveaux Strait. Tūhawaiki defeated Te Rauparaha on two occasions in the 1830s, and drove the northern chief out of the South Island. He was known as Bloody Jack, not for being ferocious, but because he was said to have picked up the swear word ‘bloody’ from local whalers, using it frequently in broken English.