The adventures of Kimble Bent: A story of wild life in the New Zealand bush

The narrative follows a soldier who deserts his regiment and lives for many years among Maori fighters, adopting their language, customs, and beliefs. It recounts bush life, hunting, woodcraft, rituals of the Pai marire movement, the organization and stockaded camps of the Hauhau, and grim wartime practices including an eyewitness account of cannibalism. Episodes of skirmish, ambuscade, bayonet charges, and life in forest pā are described alongside personal recollection, corroborating testimony from surviving Maori and settler combatants, and illustrative material. The result combines personal memoir and campaign history to portray frontier warfare and cultural assimilation.