On or around the 21st May 1821, a whaling ship (possibly the Active) pulled into anchor at Mercury Bay, aka Whitianga. On that ship was a very tall black former slave by the name of Webster, or Big Buck. He was nearly 7 feet tall and highly muscled. He had joined the whaler ship from Jamaica a few years before.
Whilst at anchor and while replenishing, Webster jumped ship and went bush. That was to be the last confirmed sighting of him. There are tales of Moehau Man from around that era and area (Cape Jackson north Coromandel to southeast Kaimai Ranges near Matamata). Like all supposed myths, there is an element of truth.
On occasions in the last 200 years, many Captain Cooker pig carcasses have been found mutilated and littering the Coromandel and Kaimai Ranges. There have also been humans who inexplicably disappeared. I have been blessed to walk in Moehau Man's realm on two occasions, one in May 1986 tramping from Thames Hospital, over the top and down to Coroglen on the other side. And also in 1989, from Fantail Bay, on west Firth Of Thames, around Port Jackson on the north and down to Stony Bay on the east coast. We tramped over the tops (Moehau Maunga) back to Fantail Bay. On both occasions I sensed we were being watched.
So when and where did Moehau make a mark? Is it possible David Tamihere was not guilty after all? When I served at Paremoremo in August 1996, he was serving a life sentence for the double murders of Urban Hoglin and Heidi Parkkonen? Whenever I saw him, he was calm, and I didn't sense any guilt in him. Was it Moehau Man, aka Webster??
If one was to search the internet for similar sightings there are several anecdotes where people have disappeared. Some may be related to happenstance sightings of Marijuana plantations, but I don't think so.
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