Twain begins this chapter by proclaiming the virtues of the New Zealand Railways, the Ballarat Flyer in particular. The Ballarat Flyer, however, seems to be a fictitious railroad. His 50 mile journey from Palmerston North to Whanganui was aboard "The Napier Express", which ran from Napier to Wellington, and not all of this line was as pleasant as the leg to Whanganui.

The War Memorial at Whanganui:

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/moutoa-gardens-nz-wars-memorial

At Moutoa, cousin fought cousin. In May 1864, Matene Te Rangitauira led 300 anti-European Pai Mārire supporters (Hauhau) from the upper Whanganui River in an attack on Whanganui town. Their path was blocked at Moutoa, a small island in the river near Rānana (London). There, on 14 May, they faced kūpapa led by two chiefs from Pūtiki, near the rivermouth, Hōri Kīngi Te Ānaua and Hoani Wiremu Hīpango.

Although it lasted only half an hour, the Moutoa engagement cost the lives of about 50 Hauhau and 15 kūpapa. A European, lay brother Euloge from a nearby Catholic mission, was fatally shot as he stood on the riverbank.

The grateful European citizens of Whanganui interpreted the victory at Moutoa as a sign of the absolute loyalty of lower Whanganui River Māori. They dug deep into their pockets and commissioned a statue and flag to honour ‘loyal’ Māori who had stood firm against the Pai Mārire threat. The memorial was erected near the river, at Pākaitore, a sandy beach where Māori canoes traditionally moored for trade and exchange. This site became known as Moutoa Gardens. The inscription on the memorial – New Zealand’s first war memorial – reads:

To the memory of those brave men who fell at Moutoa 14 May 1864 in defence of law and order against fanaticism and barbarism.

The memorial inscription’s reference to upriver Māori as fanatics and barbarians was a source of ongoing controversy. The American writer Mark Twain, who visited Whanganui in 1895, pulled no punches in his book, Twain in Australia and New Zealand (1897).

Patriotism is Patriotism. Calling it fanaticism cannot degrade it … But the men were worthy. It was no shame to fight them. They fought for their homes, they fought for their country; they bravely fought and bravely fell.

Twain’s outrage was such that he mistakenly recalled two separate memorials – and thought that the fallen opponents of ‘fanaticism and barbarism’ were white men.