** SKETCHES X- 
 
 . . . .OF. . . . 
 
 ftncien t Maori Icife * History 
 
 JOHN ALEXANDER WILiSON 
 
 LATELY A JUDGE OF THE NATIVE LAND COURT OF NEW ZEALAND, AUTHOR 
 OF “STORY OF TE WAHAROA." 
 
 [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] 
 
 REPRINTED FROM THE “AUCKLAND 
 
 STAR.” 
 
 z/6 
 
 Hucfelan& : 
 
 H. Brett, Printer, Star and Graphic Office, Show-land Streei 
 CHAMPTALOUP & COOPER, Publishers, Queen Street. 
 
 1894. 
 
' 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 On page 7, first column, on line 14 from 
 bottom, for Ngaterua read Ngatirua. 
 
 On page 8, second column, on line 31 
 from bottom, for Whangaroa, where be, 
 read Whangara, where she. 
 
 On same page and column, on line 18 
 from bottom, Jor Prengatoetoe read Paen- 
 gatoetoe. 
 
 
SKETCHES 
 
 OF 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY 
 
 IJY 
 
 JOHN ALEXANDER WILSON, 
 
 Lately a .Judge of the Native Land Court of New Zealand; Author of 
 “Story of Te Waharoa.” 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 THE MAUI MAORI NATION. 
 
 I venture, with the permission of the Ararat whence the descendants of Maui 
 reader, to offer a few remarks upon some peopled the North Island of New Zealand, 
 portions of the early history of the Maori They named their island Te Ika a Maui 
 race. Statements in various forms are j (Maui’s fish), or Ehinomaui (fished up by 
 constantly being made public, many of Maui). The head of the lisli is at Cook’s 
 them more or less erroneous, and more or Strait and the tail at the North Cape, 
 less important according to the sources where there is a subterranean opening by 
 whence promulgated ; and it is to remove the seashore through which departed spirits 
 the misapprehension that gives rise to such pass to the lower regions, when they leave 
 statements, that I would mention some this World of Light (Aomarama). From 
 points that have escaped general observa- this it will be seen that the ancient des- 
 ti 011 - cendants of Maui had a good geographical 
 
 ‘ Where heaves the turf in many a moulder- cupants of the canoe getting out and tramp 
 ing heap. 5 These remarks are, however, ing on the soil while wet and in a mudd 
 
 based upon inquiries made by myself and state, thus making hills and holes. Omit- 
 by my father, the Rev. J. A. Wilson, be- ting much circumlocutory description this 
 fore me, and extend back sixty years from is the story of how Maui fished up the 
 the present time (1894). North Island of New Zealand as it was told 
 
 I will begin by introducing an ancient fifty years ago by the natives. Since that 
 Maori tradition at which a descendant of time, I observe that some of them have 
 Noah cannot afford to smile, unless he is changed Maui’s sons into his brothers, 
 prepared to claim for his own ancestor, and In course of time the people of Maui in- 
 ;or the northern hemisphere, a monopoly of creased and spread themselves in tribes and 
 diluvian adventure. hapus over the greater portion of the is- 
 
 The tradition says there was a time when land. Probably they occupied the whole 
 
 the waters covered the earth : that, at 
 that time, Maui and his three sons floated 
 upon the waters in a canoe, fishing ; that 
 presently Maui hooked the earth, and with 
 great labour he drew it to the surface with 
 the assistance oL his som^\ Then their 
 canoe grounded upon what proved to be the 
 top of a mountain. As the earth became 
 bare the sons of Maui took possession ; but 
 Maui himself vanished and returned to the 
 place from whence he came. The canoe re 
 
 of it, but this 1 cannot affirm. It seems, 
 however, to be clear that at the time when 
 the canoes of immigrants came from 
 Hajwaiki, about six hundred years ago, 
 that the Maui or Maori nation inhabited the 
 country from Wairarapa in the south to 
 Waitakere north of Auckland, and from 
 Tuparoa and TTicks’ Bay in the east to the 
 neighbourhood of Mokau and Kawhia in 
 west. 
 
 The aborigines did not cultivate the soil 
 
 mained upon the top of the niountain/Cvherevfoj’ food— excepting the hue gourd, from 
 it may be seen in a petrified state at the which calabashes were made ; they had no 
 present time. Hi kurangi Mountain, at the useful plants that they could cultivate, 
 head of Waiapu \ alley, is this southern They ate berries and the shoots and roots 
 
 X 
 
 513/3 3 
 
2 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 of ferns and other plants, as they found 
 them growing wild in the forests! and in 
 the open country. For flesh they hunted 
 the moa,* and caught the kakapot at night, 
 and they snared pigeons, kakas, and many 
 other kinds of birds. They fished with the 
 seine and line in salt water and fresh. 
 They dived from the rocks for crayfish, and 
 in the swamps they caught eels. Before 
 the advent of the Hawaikians they had 
 neither taro nor kumara, nor karaka ber- 
 ries, they were unable to make kao,t and 
 they had no rats.§ They stored their food 
 in chambers called ruas, hollowed out of 
 the ground where the soil was dry. They 
 cooked their food in the Maori umu, just 
 as they do now. Their clothing was made 
 from flax, for the aute tree, whence tappa 
 cloth is made, had not yet been introduced 
 from Hawaiki. They spoke the Maori 
 language. Their population was mostly 
 distributed, not necessarily where the land 
 was fertile, but where the 'forests were rich 
 in birds, as at Motu ; where streams and 
 swamps yielded fish and eels plentifully, as 
 at Matata inland waters ; where fern root 
 of good quality was easily obtained, or 
 where the sea teemed with fish, as at Tau 
 ranga. 
 
 Thus it happened that certain tribes be- 
 came recognised as the producers of special 
 kinds of food, and tribal nomenclature was 
 not infrequently influenced thereby. Tn 
 this way we find the Purukupenga (full net) 
 living at Tauranga, the Waiohua (waters 
 of abundance) at Rangitaiki and Matata, 
 and other similar names will appear when 
 I enumerate them. 
 
 Here letme mention en passant that about 
 two hundred years after the Hawaikians 
 had landed at Maketu, a portion of them, 
 
 The ancient inhabitants hunted the moa 
 until it became extinct. The last bird was 
 killed with a taiaha by a man at Tarawera. 
 Ihe habits or the moa are described as solitary 
 living in pairs in secluded valleys in the depths 
 of the forest near a running stream. It fed on 
 shoots, roots, and berries, and was particularly 
 fond of nikau and tree fern. It was supposed to 
 feed at night, for it was never seen to eat in the 
 daytime. Hence the proverb ‘ moa kai hau ’ as it 
 always seemed to have its head in the air, eat- 
 ing wind The moa had a plume of feathers on 
 the top of its head. In the depths of the Motu 
 forest there is a mountain called Moanui where 
 no doubt, the bird was killed by the people of 
 Rotonui-a-wai and Wharikiri. for their descend- 
 ants knew fifty years ago that their forefathers 
 had slam the moa. 
 
 t The kakapo betrayed itself at night time by 
 its cry. With the assistance of a dog it was 
 easily caught. Only within the present century 
 did it become extinct, through constant hunting 
 Its loss as a source of food, was very much felt 
 by the Maoris. 
 
 X Kao was a favourite article of diet made by 
 drying the karaka berry and the kumera root 
 
 SThe rat was, perhaps, the most valued kind 
 of Maori game ; when in season the flesh was 
 greatly relished. They were kept in rat runs or 
 preserves, which no stranger would venture to 
 poach upon. 
 
 viz., Tapuika and Waitaha a Hei, was at- 
 tacked by the Waiohua, the Tipapa, and 
 other hapus of Te Tini o Taunu or Ngaiwi 
 tribe, the war being about land. I will not 
 anticipate the particulars of the story, and 
 will merely say now that the struggle was 
 severe and ended in the defeat of the abor- 
 igines, who fled through Waikato to Tam- 
 aki and Waitakere, and that is how 
 Ngaiwi, of whom the Waiohua were a part, 
 came to live in the district now called 
 Auckland. In those days the name Wai- 
 takere seems to have been used at a dis- 
 tance to denote the district north of the 
 Tamaki, and was used in a general manner 
 like Taranaki, Hauraki, Tauranga, etc. 
 The subsequent history of the Waiohua is 
 
 well known. 
 
 In war the aboriginal Maori was cour- 
 ageous. He is described as tall, spare, 
 active, and with a good reach in the. 
 delivery of his weapon ;* this, at any rate, 
 is what is said of one of his war-like tribes, 
 Te Rangihouhiri, now known as Ngaete- 
 rangi, who, at the battle of Poporohuamea, 
 defeated the combined Hawaikian forces of 
 Te Arawa, Takitumu, and Tainui, and 
 taking Maketu from the former, advanced 
 to lauranga, which place they wrested 
 from Ngatiranginui, who were also Hawai- 
 kian by Takitumu origin. The aboriginal 
 Maori built pas in strong positions, having 
 ramparts that were often extensive. Some- 
 times earthworks were thrown up to divide 
 the pa into two or more sections, which 
 would seem to show that while the hapus 
 combined against the common enemy they 
 had to guard against each other. 
 
 There is nothing to show that the abor- 
 qgnal practised cannibalism or that he 
 offered human sacrifices in war, whereas 
 the Hawaikian Maori when he came to 
 these shores did both. 
 
 The aboriginal Maori believed in the tra- 
 
 ' 1°. draining a swamp some time ago at 
 Knighton, the estate of S. Seddon, Esq., near 
 Hamilton, Waikato, two wooden swords, be- 
 lieved to be of maire, were dug up in a good 
 state of preservation one 2ft theother5ft below 
 the surface. It would be interesting if we could 
 be sure that these are ancient Maui Maori 
 weapons, although I suppose there can be little 
 douot about it, for they differ entirely from anv 
 weapon used by the New Zealanders when 
 Europeans first came amongst them. A man 
 taiaha or tewhatewha would 
 have but little difficulty in coping with the 
 bearer of one of these swords-notwithstanding 
 they are go<xl weapons of their kind. One is a 
 
 WrL y oi CUttl - ng ? word ’ the pitch of the handle 
 bespea ks a circular movement. It has no guard 
 the length of the handle and size of grasp is the 
 same as an English infantry officer’s Sword is, or 
 S fA ° the length of the blade is lOin 
 shorter. This shows that the hand it was made 
 for was as large as the hand of a man of the pre- 
 fl i e °ther sword, also without a 
 
 swo^d’ ?i? d \ 8 a PP a rently a thrust- 
 
 sword. The idea of the stone mere seems to be 
 
 Th'l C i ope ^ from - t *Vu ancient form of weapon. 
 
 are m the possession of Mr Seddon, 
 junr., of Gorton, Cambridge. 
 
 n 
 
u 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 dition of a Divine Incarnation, and he, of 
 course, had faith in the supernatural power 
 of such a Being. The narrative of how the 
 child Oho manifested his Divine origin, 
 when they met to do for him after their 
 law (some authorities call the rite 
 baptism),* is simple and beautiful, and is 
 pitched upon a high plane of thought, com- 
 pared with which the mythological ideas 
 of the Hawaikians, who stole their atuas 
 from one another and carried them about 
 with them, are gro veiling. 
 
 A feature in the life of this people was 
 their partiality for bird pets. A bird that 
 could talk well was prized by its owners 
 and coveted by the neighbours, and this to 
 such an extent that chiefs sometimes 
 quarrelled, and on two occasions on the 
 East Coast resort was had to war. I shall, 
 at the proper time, tell of one of these wars 
 and its unexpected outcome, for unless I do 
 1 am afraid that the origin of a tribe of 
 aboriginal extraction now nourishing will 
 be lost ; the survivors, if any, who know 
 these things being few and reticent. 
 
 This ancient people has preserved its 
 genealogies with care, tracing its an- 
 cestors back more than 1,000 years. Their 
 tree contains double the number of gener- 
 ations found upon the tree of a Hawaikian 
 subsequent to the immigration. It is an 
 interesting held of enquiry to learn what 
 (beyond the art of cultivation) the immi- 
 grants taught the aborigines, and what the 
 latter acquired from the former in various 
 forms of knowledge. There is no doubt 
 that the manners, customs, religion, polity 
 and the arts of the two peoples have been 
 fused by time and habit into the civilisation 
 belonging to one nation now ; the process, 
 however, has left its marks, some of which 
 are easily seen. Thus the aboriginal tribes 
 that remain intact have almost invariably 
 adopted the Hawaikian prelix to their 
 names. The Hawaikian gave up the use 
 of tappa clothing, and ceased to plant the 
 aute tree round his -pa because the flax 
 garments of the country suited him better, 
 they could be made at all times, whereas 
 the tappa cloth was too frequently unob- 
 tainable for years after the invasion of a 
 hostile army, as it was a maxim in war, 
 if a pa could not be taken, to destroy the 
 cultivations, and cut down the aute trees. 
 The aborigines knew nothing about ocean - 
 
 When the child Oho was being tuatia-ed, 
 and prayer that he might be brave and 
 strong in war, and strong in peace to cul- 
 tivate the ground and perform the many 
 functions of social life was being made, he 
 stretched forth his hand and took the sacred 
 food offered to the Deity and ate it. His 
 two brothers perceiving the fearful thing called 
 their father, who, when he saw the demeanour 
 and action of the child became a ware that he 
 was of Divine origin, and said to his sons, ‘ The 
 child is not one of us, it is his own food that he 
 is eating.’ 
 
 going canoes and how to build them, until 
 they were taught by men from Hawaiki. 
 Three natives of that country were cast 
 upon the coast one night, their companions 
 having been lost with their canoe. The 
 people of Toi, at Whakatane, succoured 
 them, and they in turn showed how to 
 .build ‘ Te Aratawhao ’ canoe which sailed 
 to Hawaiki to fetch kumara and taro. 
 This was before the immigrants came from 
 Hawaiki. 
 
 The tribal nomenclature of the aborigines, 
 as far as is known, was for the most part 
 borrowed from the names of natural objects, 
 not excluding favourite kinds of food. It 
 differed from that used by the people from 
 Hawaiki in not recognising by a prefix 
 the descent of a tribe from an ancestor. 
 They had before their tribal name no Ngati, 
 Ngae, Aetanga, Uri, or Whanau, and 
 where the Nga appeared it would seem to 
 have been susceptible of another meaning. 
 Some of these names were very beautiful 
 and quite unique, as the * Small Leaved 
 Tawa Tree, 5 the ‘ Waving Fronds of the 
 Tree Fern 5 ; others were descriptive as the 
 ‘Tribe of the Rocks,’ the ‘Go As You 
 Please or ‘ Travel Easily 5 ; and other names 
 were such as the ‘Red Crab 5 the ‘ Creature 
 Crouchant, 5 the ‘ Curling Wave, 5 the 
 ‘ Thickly Standing Fern, 5 and so on. 
 
 It will be twenty years next August since 
 1 first drew the attention of the public to 
 the existence of this interesting race. 
 Speaking at a meeting of the Philosophical 
 Society at Wellington, I said that the 
 people who came to this country in the 
 canoes found the land inhabited, that the 
 men of the island were hospitable to the 
 Hawaikians, and the latter intermarried 
 with the former ; but when, in course of 
 some two hundred years, the immigrants 
 had become strong, wars ensued in many 
 parts, and the aborigines were often des- 
 troyed ; that these wars, however, were 
 not universal, and where the natives had 
 lived at peace the races had amalgamated. 
 A report of the proceedings was published 
 in the local papers at the time. 
 
 I will now give the names of the tribes 
 and hapus of the Maui Maori nation that 
 have been furnished to me by the natives 
 themselves, also the districts where they 
 are, of where they lived formerly, also a 
 short account of each hapu or tribe in so 
 far as I am able, and the same may have 
 sufficient interest. 
 
 Te Tini o Taunu, also known as Ngaiwi, 
 known too as Te Tini o Awa (Awa was the 
 human brother of Oho before mentioned) — 
 but not to be confounded with Te Tini o Awa, 
 a chief of Ngatipukenga — lived in the Bay 
 of Plenty, between Rangitaiki and Taur- 
 anga. There were many hapus in this 
 tribe ; namely, Waiohua, Tipapa, Haere- 
 mariri, Raupungaoheohe, Papakawhero 
 
4 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE ANt) HISTORY. 
 
 Tururu Mauku, Tawarauririki, Rarauhi 
 Turuhunga, Ngaru Tauwharewharenga, 
 and Purukupenga. This tribe, or group of 
 tribes, fought against the Arawa, or some 
 of them, but the two last named hapus are 
 not mentioned as having taken part in the 
 strife, nor do I know what became of them 
 eventually. 
 
 It was twelve generations ago (say, 360 
 years) that that war took place. The 
 Waiohua and Tipapa were incensed at the 
 encroachments of Tapuika, then the 
 rangatira hapu of the Arawa, whose chief 
 was Marukukere ; battles ensued, in which 
 the Tapuika were defeated although 
 assisted by Waitaha a Hei, another hapu of 
 the Arawa, who lived on the eastern shores 
 of Tauranga. Many chiefs, including 
 Marukukere, were slain, and the Arawa 
 were in such straits that they sought aid 
 from their compatriots at Taupo. Moko- 
 tangatatahi led the army that came to their 
 assistance from Wharepuhunga at Titi- 
 raupenga. He was an energetic young 
 chief, and nephew to Marukukere.' The 
 struggle, however, was protracted and the 
 issue doubtful when Moko consulted 
 Kaiongonga, a noted piiest, who, to attain 
 his ends, demanded a human sacrilice, who 
 must be a man of rank. The demand was 
 complied with, and Tangarengare, a senior 
 relative of Moko, was given up for the 
 public good. The courage ot the victim 
 acted as an incentive to the people, and 
 stimulated them so that they vanquished 
 their enemies at Punakauia ; then Te Tini 
 fled and became scattered, and were de- 
 stroyed in detail, but some remnants of Te 
 Waiohua and other hapus of Ngaiwi es- 
 caped to Waikato, where they had friends, 
 and from there they went to Tamaki and 
 Waitakere, and occupied the district now 
 called Auckland. This happened about 150 
 years before the chief Hua, of Te Waiohua, 
 flourished at One Tree Hill pa, near One- 
 hunga, and the supposition is erroneous 
 that the Waiohua are named after him. 
 The natives who furnished the evidence to 
 the Native Land Court upon which that 
 opinion was based were either ignorant of 
 the history and origin of Te Waiohua, 
 which is not improbable considering it is 
 usually the victor, not the vanquished, 
 who cherishes the tradition of war and de- 
 struction, to the one it is a glory, to the 
 other a shame ; or they suppressed the in- 
 formation as unnecessary to their case. 
 This practice is not at all uncommon, and 
 sometimes all the parties to a suit will 
 agree to avoid fees and shorten labour by 
 eliminating a few chapters of history con- 
 sidered by them to have little or no bear- 
 ing on the points at issue. 
 
 It is said that some of Ngaiwi travelled 
 as far as the Bay of Islands, which is quite 
 likely, as the tribe of Ngatirahiii lived in 
 
 the North then, who were of Awa origin, 
 and would naturally be disposed to be 
 friendly towards them. Here let me ex- 
 plain who the Ngatirahiri were. Shortly 
 after the arrival of Mataatua at Wliaka- 
 tane, liahiri, a leading man amongst the 
 immigrants, made a plantation on the hill 
 side overhanging the mouth of the river. 
 When he had planted there awhile his two 
 younger brothers quarrelled with him, and 
 forcibly ejecting him from the cultivation, 
 took possession of it themselves. Raliiri, 
 unable to brook the insult, determined to 
 leave his relatives and make a home else- 
 where. He had formed a friendly con- 
 nection with some aborigines of the Toi 
 tribe (of Awa descent though not of Te 
 Tini o Awa), by whom he was advised to go 
 to Hokianga or the Bay of Islands. Ac- 
 companied by certain of these aborigines 
 lie went and founded a tribe in the North 
 that bears his name to this day, and is 
 really a cross of Awa blood aboriginal and 
 imported. It is supposed that aboriginal 
 Awa were living in the North prior to the 
 movement of Raliiri and his party, and 
 that it was the knowledge of this that in- 
 fluenced them in the choice of their new 
 home. 
 
 The Tapuika-Ngaiwi war conferred an 
 unwelcome legacy upon the victors in the 
 form of an undying feud between Tapuika 
 and Ngatimoko about the divison of the 
 land they had conquered. The former 
 thought the latter grasped the fruits of 
 victory too much, the latter considered the 
 former unreasonable, and refused to give 
 way. The ill feeling has been handed 
 down through three centuries of time to the 
 present generation. We shall see by-and- 
 by that another Hawaikian tribe managed 
 to avoid this difficulty by the expedient of 
 dividing thelandsof the aborigines amongst 
 themselves before conquest. 
 
 Ngatiawa is the tribal name of the im- 
 migrants who came to New Zealand in 
 Mataatua canoe. The name Awa is, how- 
 ever, aboriginal as well as Hawaikian, 
 and was acquired in time past by the 
 former through Awanui a liangi, a younger 
 branch of Toi family. The Ngatiawa 
 (immigrant race) had* no wars with the 
 aboriginal Awa (Toi) east of Whakatane 
 as far as inland Motu ; but to the south- 
 ward and westward it was different. On 
 those sides they displaced the aboriginal 
 element, when they had become strong 
 enough to do so. This is how the Ngaiwi 
 in course of time were thrust up against 
 Tapuika and compelled to fight that tribe ; 
 how the whole of the Uriwera district was 
 over-run and occupied by Ngaetuhoe, a 
 tribe of Ngatiawa. 
 
 Another tribe who appear to have been 
 aboriginal was Ngamarama. They lived 
 
ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 5 
 
 originally at Matamata* and other places 
 in the Upper Thames Valley, whence they 
 moved to Tauranga, and occupied the 
 central and western portions of that 
 district. They were a numerous people at 
 the time the canoes came from Hawaiki 
 too numerous, and uninviting probably, for 
 the immigrants by Takitumu to remain 
 when they visited Te Awanui, the name 
 Tauranga harbour was known by then, on 
 their way to the South. One or two of the 
 crew, however, did leave the canoe and 
 settle amongst the Ngamarama, thus a 
 link was formed between the descendants 
 of those immigrants in the south and Ngama- 
 rama that resulted in the conquest of 
 Ngamarama and the taking of Tauranga 
 by Ngatiranginui several generations after- 
 wards. There is a remnant of Ngamarama 
 still living at Te Trihanga at Tauranga; it is 
 known by the name of Ngatirangi, and is 
 not to be confused with Ngaeterangi, who 
 destroyed Ngatiranginui, and are dominant 
 now at Tauranga. 
 
 In respect to Tua Rotorua tribe, who 
 lived at Rotorua, tradition is conflicting, but 
 the balance of evidence is, I think, in 
 favour of their aboriginal extraction ; it is 
 not so much a question of whether the chief 
 of that people had Arawa (immigrant) 
 blood in his veins, a thing by no means im- 
 probable, considering his reputed grand- 
 parent hadtravelled that way to Wanga- 
 nui, as it is a question whether the Arawa 
 or any of them would have waged without 
 cause a war of extermination against a 
 branch of their own tribe ; judging from 
 their history we may say unhesitatingly 
 that even with a cam * belli such a thing 
 would not have been thought of, and an 
 utu account properly balanced would have 
 been considered sufficient to serve all pur- 
 poses of revenge, especially if supplemented 
 with the acquisition of a little land. But 
 m the war of the Arawa against Tua Ro- 
 toruaif they did not succeed in annihilating 
 the latter it was not for want of trying. 
 The remnant of this aboriginal tribe is the 
 Ngatitura now living where the Oxford 
 Road emerges from the forest on the side 
 towards Rotorua ; the trackless, waterless 
 forest has been their friend, and to it they 
 
 ' The present European Matamata and Rail- 
 way Station of that name are several miles 
 away from the true Matamata, which is at the 
 European settlement now called Waharoa. 
 The Matamata pa, a large one, stood beside the 
 river, and was some little distance westward 
 and northward from the C.M.S. Mission 
 Station, which my father helped to found in 
 1835. The Mission Station was a little to the 
 southward of where the Waharoa Railway 
 Station now stands. The line seems to run 
 through the site of the old station. Waharoa is a 
 new name for that land, borrowed probably from 
 the chief of that name, whose story I published j 
 in 1866, and given by Europeans who appro- j 
 priated the historical name of Matamata for ; 
 their own settlement many miles off. 
 
 owe their existence. Here let me instance 
 the different degrees of animus that 
 characterised ancient Maori warfare as be- 
 tween immigrant tribes and abori anal, and 
 as between the immigrants themselves. 
 Take the aboriginal group of tribes known 
 as TeTinio Taunuor Ngaiwi. of whom the 
 Waiohua were a part. Such of these tribes 
 as escaped annihilation were driven com- 
 pletely out of their native district — first by 
 Mataatua and then by Arawa immigrants. 
 The refugees of Tuarotorua only saved 
 themselves by sheltering in Patetere 
 Forest, as did Ngamarama when driven 
 out of Tauranga by Ngatiranginui, an im- 
 migrant tribe from Hanyaroa River, south 
 of Turanga, whose forefathers had come 
 to New Zealand in Takitumu canoe. And 
 yet again we find tribes of these races fight- 
 ing to the death when Te Rangihouhiri 
 drove out Tapuika and took and settled 
 Maketu, nor were the efforts of all 
 Hawaikians far and near sufficient to dis- 
 lodge them. Tematera from Hauraki, 
 Whakaue from Rotorua, and Waitaha a 
 Hei and Ranginui from Tauranga, were all 
 driven off and defeated when they at- 
 tempted to aid the Tapuika. Here we 
 have an instance of tribes of Hawaikians, 
 of Arawa, Tainui and Takitumu origin 
 combining against the aboriginal people, 
 and combining unsuccessfully. Then in 
 a little while, that is to say within the 
 same generation, Te Rangihouhiri ad- 
 vanced from Maketu to Tauranga, and 
 well nigh exterminated Waitaha a Hei and 
 Ngatiranginui. The survivors of the former 
 escaped to the Arawa at the lakes, and a small 
 remnant of the latter found a refuge in the 
 same forest that they had driven the poo 
 remains of the Ngamarama to ; thus 
 history repeated herself with a vengeance, 
 and the two remnants live almost side by 
 side at the present time. The name of the 
 Ngamarama remnant has already been 
 given as Ngatirangi. The name of Ngati- 
 ranginui remnant is Te Pirirakau (Stick in 
 the Bush), which shows pretty plainly how 
 closely they hid themselves from the con- 
 quering Isfgaeterangi, who had taken 
 possession of Tauranga. 
 
 Now the intertribal struggles of the 
 Hawaikians cannot be compared with these 
 wars ‘amort.' Take the lake district. 
 The wars between the east and west ends 
 of Rotoiti, between the north and south 
 ends of Rotorua, the feud between Moko 
 and Tapuika, the differences between the 
 legitimate and bastard branches of the 
 people on the east side, and anything that 
 may have occurred on the west, have none 
 of them resulted in anything more than 
 a little killing and eating from time to 
 time, and then mending matters by a peace- 
 making. Only at the south end of Rotorua, 
 in a struggle between the people occupying 
 
6 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY 
 
 two lakes, do Ave find that some land lias 
 changed hands, of which the area is small 
 compared with the rest of the landed 
 estate of the losers, nor in this war was 
 there any apparent intention on either side 
 to proceed to extremities. 
 
 Leaving the Arawa, whose name in 
 ancient times, I ought- to say, was Nga 
 oho Matakamokaino, and whose motto 
 was, ‘ Olio tapu nui te Arawa,’ let us turn 
 to the Ngatiawa, of Mataatua canoe. 
 There is a civil war in the ancient history 
 of this people. Te Kareke, a flourishing 
 tribe descended from Uemua, of Mataatua, 
 were driven away from Te Poroa, in the 
 Upper Whakatane Valley, by Ngaetonu, 
 now called Ngatipukeko. They fled east- 
 ward, where many became absorbed 
 amongst the aboriginal Whakatohea. 
 Estimated by its results, this may be con- 
 sidered an exceptionally severe case of civil 
 war amongst the Hawaikians. The same 
 Ngaetonu drove the aboriginal Irawharo 
 away to the westward ; this war lasted a 
 long time, and there were many campaigns 
 in it. Eventually the Irawharo found 
 shelter with their compatriots, the Rangi- 
 houhiri, at Tauranga, where their little 
 remnant still exists. Here T would note 
 that while including the Irawharo amongst 
 the aborigines, I do not mean to say they, 
 were not also of Hawaikian origin. It 
 would be quite impossible now to draw a 
 bard and fast line, and say, here is where 
 the blood of the old race ends, and there is 
 where the new blood begins, especially 
 eastward of Whakatane, where the two are 
 very intermixed, and it should be known 
 that Ngatirawharo came from Ohiwa, 
 which was their birth-place as a tribe ; but 
 the difficulty attending a line of demar- 
 cation does not interfere with the general 
 grouping of the tribes according to race, 
 and according to position, surroundings, 
 and sides taken where relationships were 
 mingled. 
 
 I might continue to compare the bitter 
 character of the war of race on the one 
 hand with the milder form of domestic 
 strife on the other, and explain exceptional 
 cases by the circumstances preceding them ; 
 but it is hardly worth while to do so, seeing 
 that each war will be presented at the 
 proper time, when the reader can judge for 
 himself whether the remarks offered and 
 examples given should have a wider ap- 
 lication ; for myself, I think it can be shown 
 y analysis of the cause and circumstances 
 of each war, that the rule applies to the 
 greater portion, if not to the whole, of Te 
 Tka a Maui Island. 
 
 I will noAV return from this disquisition 
 to the description 6f the Maui Maori tribes. 
 There Avas a great tribe knoAvn by the 
 name of Toi Avho, before the canoes came 
 from Hawaiki, and at that time occupied a 
 
 large part of Te fka a Maui, extending 
 from Whakatane eastwards. 1 might men- 
 tion Toi in a general Avay as an ancestor 
 over a very Avide country ; but it is not in 
 that sense that T use the name now. I 
 refer instead to the tribe of Toi proper, 
 Avliose country extended from Whakataue 
 to inland Motu. T Avould, hoAveA r er, ob- 
 serve first that though avc j have a HaA\ T ai- 
 kian Awa and an aboriginal Awa, also 
 HaAvaikian and aboriginal Oho tribes, Ave 
 have no Hawaikian Toi tribe in NeAv Zea- 
 land, only the aboriginal Toi is to be found 
 in Te Ika a Maui; and yet in the genea- 
 logies of each nation the names of these 
 three ancestors are found standing in the 
 closest relationship at a time lon^ before 
 the passage of the canoes. The Maui Toi 
 lived nearly 200 years, and the HaAvaiki 
 Toi 400 years before the migration. I can- 
 not tell Iioav it is that these important 
 names are common to the tAvo nations. Tt 
 might be asked Iioav was' their language 
 the same ? and Iioav did it happen that 
 they Avere of a similar appearance ? Tf Ave 
 could answer these questions Ave should 
 have the key to much besides. 
 
 A principal pa of Toi Avas Kapu, situated 
 on the highest point of the Whakatane 
 hills, as seen from the mouth of the river. 
 Hokianga, at Ohhva, Avas a fishing station. 
 TaAvhitirahi, overlooking Kukumoa stream, 
 Avas a very strong pa; another of their 
 places Avas Kohipaua, east of the Otara 
 River, and they had a settlement at 
 Te RotonuiaAvai at inland Motu, and 
 doubtless they had kaingas and pas at 
 intermediate places. As already stated, 
 this people Avere of the aboriginal AAva 
 stock. 
 
 The head man at Motu at a certain time 
 Avas Tauwharanui. He lived at Te Rotonui 
 awai, near Whakapaupakihi River. It 
 happened that a strange man came to his 
 kainga one day, who said that his name 
 was Tarawa, and that he Avas a god. 
 When asked how he claimed to be a god, 
 he said that he had swam across the ocean 
 to this country, and that no one unpos- 
 sessed of supernatural power could do that 
 thing. Then he remained at the kainga 
 and man ied ManaAvakaitu, the daughter 
 of Tauwharangi, by Avliom lie had two 
 children. But Tauwharangi failed to dis- 
 cern any Divine attributes in his son-in - 
 laAv, and sceptically aAvai ted an opportunity 
 to prove his poAver by ocular demon- 
 stration. At length a chance occurred, 
 and one night TaraAva Avas aAvakened from 
 sleep by Avater coining into his bed. He 
 arose to find a flood had suddenly covered 
 the land, and that all had fled. His retreat 
 was cut off, and he had to climb to the top 
 of his house and call for help to the others 
 who, knoAving the local signs, had avoided 
 the danger, and by their chief’s order had 
 
 n 
 
ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 7 
 
 left him unwarned. He was told to save 
 himself. He said he could not perform an 
 impossibility. ‘ O ! but you can easily save 
 yourself by your Divine power.’ It then 
 came out that lie was not a god at all, and 
 that they must send a canoe and save him, 
 which they did. Old Tauwharangi was so 
 disgusted that he thrust Tarawa out of the 
 kainga, and told his daughter that if she 
 went with him she must leave the children. 
 She departed with her husband, and they 
 settled a few miles away at Te Wharekin, 
 on Motohora Mountain, overlooking the 
 valley of the Motu. Here they lived and 
 died, and here they left a family that has now 
 expanded into the important hapu of Ngai- 
 tama, of the Whakatohea tribe. This hapu 
 Is therefore of mixed aboriginal and immi- 
 grant blood, for there is no doubt but that 
 Tarawa left one of the canoes during its 
 passage along the coast, as Taritoringo left 
 Tainui at Hawai and found his way to in- 
 land Motu, and like the woman Torere, 
 who swam ashore from Tainui at night as 
 the canoe was passing Taumata-Apanui 
 point ; also like some of the passengers by 
 Takitumu, who left her en route, and 
 whose blood now flows in the veins of some 
 of the principal chiefs inland of Ohiwa, 
 and from whom the Ngatira hapu of the 
 Whakatohea are partially descended. 
 
 From Tauwharanui’s two grandchildren, 
 whom their parents had left with him when 
 they went to Motohora, and from others no 
 doubt of his hapu or family, sprang the 
 Ngatingahere, another hapu of the Whaka- 
 tohea, and in after times Ngatipatu, 
 another hapu branched from the Ngati- 
 ngahere. 
 
 Again, when Mataatua arrived at Wha- 
 katane with Ngatiawa immigrants from 
 Hawaiki, Muriwai, the old woman who 
 headed the party, had a son named Re- 
 panga. From the top of Whakatane range 
 this man descried the smoke of the abori- 
 gines at Kohipawa. He returned to his 
 mother, told her what he had seen, and ob- 
 tained permission to visit the people. 
 Arrived at Kohipawa, he was hospitably 
 received by Ranginui te Kohu, the chief of 
 that place, whose daughter, Ngapupereta, 
 he married. From* this source at Kohi- 
 pawa sprang Ngatfrua, another hapu of 
 the Whakatohea, being the fifth and last 
 hapu of the great tribe of the Whakatohea, 
 all of which are of mixed extraction, three 
 being tinged with Tainui strain, one with 
 Ngatiawa, and one with a Takitumu con- 
 nection. 
 
 We have seen that Torere left Tainui at 
 Taumata Apanui — this she did to avoid the 
 addresses of Rakataura, one of the crew. 
 Arrived on shore, she concealed herself in 
 the bush in a valley, the stream in which 
 bears her name still. The next morning 
 when her Might was discovered, Rakataura 
 
 landed, and returning along the shore 
 passed Torere and Taumata Apanui, search- 
 ing in vain for the woman. Then he gave 
 it up, and turned and followed his com- 
 panions by land, whom he at length re- 
 joined at Kawhia. Torere joined affinity 
 with the aborigines in that locality, and 
 Ngaitai, a tribe that takes its name from 
 her canoe, represents the union then 
 formed ; and this tribe is acknowledged by 
 Tainui authority to be one that belongs to 
 their own connection. 
 
 An interesting illustration of practical 
 tradition is furnished in connection with 
 this Ngaitai tribe. Although the tribe has 
 a very ancient genealogical record extend- 
 ing some twelve generations back beyond 
 the immigration from Hawaiki, and be- 
 lieved itself to be thoroughly rangatira, 
 yet it was unable satisfactorily to define its 
 origin. The question was raised to their 
 humiliation during a boundary dispute by 
 the Whakatohea in 1844, when Rangimata- 
 nuku, chief of Ngatirua, speaking of the 
 land in question and its ownership, said to 
 Eru, the chief of Ngaitai, at a great meet- 
 ing at Opape (that was convened Dy my 
 father in the hope to settle the dispute 
 without bloodshed), ‘ Who are you ? I 
 know the chiefs of Ngatiawa, and Te Uri- 
 wera, the canoe they came in, and how 
 they obtained their possessions. I know Te 
 Whanau Apanui, who they are, and how 
 they occupy. Also, I know whom we, the 
 Whakatohea, are ; but I do not know who 
 you are. Tell me the name of your 
 canoe ?’ 
 
 Challenged thus, Eru was compelled to 
 say something in self-defence, and replied, 
 
 ‘ We came in your canoe.’ 
 
 * Oh !’ said Rangimatanuku, * you came 
 in my canoe, did you ? I did not see you 
 there, I know all who came in my canoe ; 
 all who came in the bow and all in the 
 stern. If you were on board you must 
 have been somewhere out of sight, down in 
 the bilge I suppose, bailing out the water. 
 
 Rangimatanuku was a chief of note, 
 and was no doubt very well informed in 
 Maori lore, and if so, his speech betrays 
 the pride the Maori of his time had in 
 Hawaikean descent, which is suggestive of 
 a superiority of the immigrant, not only in 
 his possession of seed and the art of cultiva- 
 tion, but as having personal qualities such 
 as tact and address, skill at sea, and a know- 
 ledge of war on shore. As a a rule, Hawai- 
 kian blood has been more thought of, and 
 this has led many natives and many tribes 
 unconsciously astray in figuring to them- 
 selves their ancient history. A fact cannot 
 be ignored for generations with impunity, 
 sooner or later it will become diminished 
 in men’s minds, or lost sight of altogether. 
 Not that F have ever found a native 
 ashamed of an aboriginal connection ; far 
 
8 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 from it, but his other side seems always to 
 be more present to him, more engrained, 
 so tospeaK, in his being and memory. 
 
 Only once have I heard a Maui Maori 
 speak in public with great and real pride of 
 his unique and ancient descent. That was 
 when the chief of Uepoliatu or Twi Pohatu 
 a Maui put the land of his tribe at Hiku- 
 rangi Mountain, Waiapu, through the 
 Native Land Court of New Zealand, and 
 obtained a legal title to it. On that occa- 
 sion the chief (Wi Tahata) said that lie was 
 descended from Maui, from whom lie 
 claimed. lie gave his genealogy 38 genera- 
 tions from Maui. He spoke of the Hawai- 
 kians as having come to their island in 
 canoes from across the sea in an age long- 
 after the time that they, the Maori nation, 
 had peopled it. He showed the boundaries 
 of the territory that belonged to his section 
 of the Maori nation before the Hawakians 
 came, and the inroads that had since been 
 made upon them, and he asked me as the 
 Judge of that Court, to accompany him to 
 the top of the mountain, there to view his 
 his ancestors’ canoe in its rocky form, a 
 proceeding, however, which to the Court 
 seemed unnecessary. 
 
 It was reserved for me to tell the Ngaitai 
 the name of the canoe they are connected 
 with, and I- got my infoimation from first- 
 class Tainui authority in the Tainui 
 country. 
 
 Beyond Taumata Apanui, at Hawai, 
 lived the aboriginal tribe Te Mann Koau, 
 who were conquered and scattered by Te 
 Whanau Apanui, which is a tribe of mixed 
 origin, being partly of Ngatiawa and 
 partly Pororangi blood (i. e . , of Mataatua 
 and Takitunu), but all of Hawaikian ex- 
 traction. This tribe now lives on the land 
 thus taken. As for the remnant of Te 
 Manu Koau it fled through the mountains, 
 and came to Raukumara Mountain in 
 Hicks’ Bay district. Here the refugees 
 were discovered by the tribe of Tuwhakai- 
 riora, who killed and ate a number of them, 
 but when Tu te Rangiwhiu became aware 
 of what was taking place he interposed, 
 and rescued them and made slaves of them, 
 setting them to work to catch the birds of 
 that mountain. Tu te Rangiwhiu was 
 the chief of the Tuwhakairiora tribe 
 at that time, now some three hundred 
 years ago. Those slaves have been 
 working there ever since. I have seen 
 them myself, and was much impressed with 
 their timid, deprecating cringing air, and 
 exceedingly rough exterior. The man who 
 placed them in bondage was a Hawaikian. 
 
 And now I come to the Iwi Pohatu a 
 Maui, or Uepohatu, as they now call them- 
 selves, to whom I have just referred. They 
 live at Tuparoa, also they reside at the 
 foot of Hikurangi, their antipodean Ararat, 
 whose summit is shrouded in snow in 
 
 winter, and they have land at Raukumara. 
 Formerly their landed possessions were 
 continuous between these points, and their 
 sea frontage extended from Tuparoa to 
 Waiapu River. This was a domain per- 
 haps 40 miles long and 15 wide. However, 
 Ngatiporou (who are Hawaikians of Taki- 
 tumu), one way or other, have now got the 
 greater part of it ; but the tribe has al- 
 ways been free, is no>v intact, and holds 
 ! the residue of its lands in independence, 
 and is ; moreover, recognised by the sur- 
 rounding tribes of Hawaikian extraction as 
 ! being aboriginal and of Maui descent. 
 
 Adjoining Uepohatu country to the west 
 was a group of five aboriginal tribes. 
 Their habitat extended from Waiapu to 
 Potikirua, near Cape Runaway. 
 
 These were the Ngaoko at Horoera 
 Hekawa, and Kawakawa. 
 
 The Ruawaipu atPukeamaruand Whare- 
 kaliika (Hicks Bay). 
 
 And the three liapus of Parariki, viz., 
 Parariki proper, Ngaituiti, and Ngaitu- 
 moana. The prefixes to the two latter 
 names are probably of Hawaikian origin. 
 
 These three liapus occupied the country 
 between Wharekahika and Potikirua, 
 Ngaituiti being at the Wliarekahika end of 
 the district, and Ngaitumoana at the Poti- 
 kirua, or western end. 
 
 Rather more than four hundred years 
 ago, Ngaoko for some reason attacked 
 Ruawaipu and destroyed them. But a 
 young chieftainess named Tamateaupoko 
 escaped to Whangar^a, wlier’&he marriedUe- 
 kaihau, of Pororangi tribe, a chief amongst 
 the immigrants, and a descendant of Pai- 
 kea, the captain who brought Takitumu 
 from Hawaiki to Whangara, near Gisborne, 
 about six hundred years ago. 
 
 In due time three sons, Uetaha, Tama- 
 le oro, and Taliania, the issue of this mar- 
 riage, grew up, and determined to avenge 
 the death of their grandfather and the 
 overthrow of his tribe. They organised a 
 strong force of the people of Takitunu 
 canoe, thereafter known as Ngaituere, and 
 set out by land along the coast. At Pfen- 
 gatoetoe the Aetangahauiti endeavoured 
 to stop their way, but were defeated in 
 pitch battle ; again, at Tawhiti, Te 
 Wahineiti attempted to bar their pro- 
 gress. and were also defeated. For the 
 rest of their march they were unopposed 
 until they encountered tlie offending Nga- 
 oko, whom they vanquished in a series of 
 engagements and seiges rather mthor more 
 than three hundred and fifty years ago. 
 Ngaoko were scattered and killed, their 
 remnant reduced to captivity, and their 
 lands were appropriated by Ngaituere, who 
 remained in undisputed possession until 
 Tuwhakairiora and his followers appeared 
 upon the scene some sixty years after- 
 wards. At this time, therefore (about 1530 
 
ANCIENT 1 MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 9 
 
 a.d.), the Hawaikian people held the 
 country from the mouth of the Waiapu 
 River to W harekahika, and the aborigines 
 continued to hold from the latter place to 
 Potikirua. 
 
 When Tuwhakairiora, who was a young 
 chief descended from Pororangi, of Hawai- 
 kian extraction, appeared, things became 
 changed ; not only did lie subjugate Ngai- 
 tuere who had attacked him wantonly, but 
 the three hapus of Parariki that had main- 
 tained their independence hitherto were 
 disturbed by him. Parariki proper and 
 Ngaetumoana were driven from their hold- 
 ings westward to Whangaparaoa, and the 
 third, Ngaituiti, from which he had married 
 a wife, Ruataupare, was reduced to a con- 
 dition dependent upon himself. Of this 
 extraordinary chief, his origin and educa- 
 tion, his mission, his wars and conquests, 
 his revenge, and of the tribe hearing his 
 name that now occupies the country be- 
 tween Te Kautuku and Potikirua — that is 
 to say, from between Waiapu and the East 
 Cape to between Point Lottin and Cape 
 Runaway, I may speak more particularly 
 later on in this narrative. 
 
 I have said that Tuwhakairiora married 
 Ruataupare ; the manner in which he mar- 
 ried this, his first wife, bespoke the domi- 
 nant character of the man. Travelling 
 alone, he arrived for the first time on the 
 shore of W harekahika Bay, and there he 
 saw two young women in the water collect- 
 ing shell fish. Their clothes were on the 
 beach. He sat upon them. After waiting 
 long in the water for the stranger to con- 
 tinue his journey, the women, who were 
 cold and ashamed, came in from the sea 
 and asked for their garments. He gave 
 them up, and told the young women to 
 take him to their parents’ kainga. The 
 women were Ruataupare and Auahi Koata, 
 her sister. On the way to the kainga he 
 told Auahi that he intended to take Rua- 
 taupare to wife, an event that speedily 
 came to pass. He was aware of the iden- 
 tity of the women when he sat on their 
 clothes. 
 
 That marriage did not turn out well* 
 Ruataupare considered herself ill used, and 
 left her husband. She went to her relatives 
 at Tokomaru (she was half Kahukuranui), 
 where she lived and died. She conquered 
 that district from the Wahineiti. The 
 tribe living at Tokomaru bears her name 
 to this day. 
 
 We read in the journal of his voyage 
 that it was here, at Tokomaru, that Cook 
 first held friendly intercourse with the 
 New Zealanders. The place was, to say 
 the least, of an autochthonous atmosphere, 
 and we may not unreasonably assume it 
 was here that that great navigator received 
 an answer to a question that must have 
 been uppermost in his mind when he was 
 
 told that the name of the country he had 
 come to was Ehinomaui. 
 
 Had he asked the same question at a 
 purely immigrant settlement such as 
 Maketu, Mercury Bay, or the Thames, he 
 would doubtless have been informed that 
 the name was Aotearoa — Long White 
 World. And why ? simply because it was 
 the name they had given to it when they 
 arrived off the coast about 1290, a.d. — es- 
 timating a generation at 30 years— and 
 having sailed along the strange shore for 
 hundreds of miles were impressed with its 
 extent and its white appearance. From the 
 eastern precipices of the Great Barrier and 
 Mercury Islands to the beaches and head- 
 lands of the Bay of Plenty, and from Te 
 Mahia to past the East Cape, all the coast 
 line was more or less white in colour as the 
 eastern summer sun shone upon it. The 
 few dark rocks only brought the white into 
 relief, and increased the impression, and 
 they were partially hidden too by the foli- 
 age of the pohatukawa tree, that was not 
 to know the white man’s axe for several 
 hundred years to come. Thus history in 
 her unceasing round repeated her recur- 
 rent ways, and the ancient Britain of the 
 South Became another Albion to another 
 band of strangers who came to occupy her 
 soil. 
 
 The Whatumamoa were another tribe of 
 aboriginal Maoris. They lived at Hawke’s 
 Bay, near Napier ; one of their principal 
 pas was Te Heipipi, near Petane, and they 
 had a pa near Taradale, and other pas. 
 This tribe was attacked by a section of the 
 descendants of the immigrants bv Takitu mu 
 canoe, who came under Teraia from Nuku- 
 taurua. They fought against Te Heipipi 
 pa, but were unable to take it on account, 
 as they believed, of the antochthon god of 
 the pa being superior to their own god ; 
 therefore they made peace with Te Heipipi, 
 but they took some other Whatumamoa 
 pas, and eventually the residue of the 
 aborigines became absorbed in the Taki- 
 tumu people, now known as Ngatika- 
 hungungu. 
 
 A tribe of aborigines called Te Tauira 
 lived at Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay, who were 
 numerous and had many pas. Their prin- 
 cipal pa was at Rakautihia. Thev were 
 attacked by a section of the Takitumu 
 people, who having got into trouble at 
 home, had migrated from Turanga to 
 Waihau, on the Hangaroa. This party 
 was led by Rakaipaka and Hinemanuhin. 
 They lived awhile at Waihau, and there 
 under some provocation made war on Te 
 Tauira, and to prevent quarrels after con- 
 quest they apportioned the lands of Te 
 Tauira amongst themselves before the war 
 commenced. The war resulted in the 
 complete conquest and expatriation of the 
 Tauira tribe, whose refugees fled to 
 
u 
 
 10 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa, where some 
 hapus of their tribe lived. The only person 
 saved by Rakaipaka was a woman named 
 Hinekura. He saved her because he had 
 had an intrigue with her before the trouble 
 began. In this war it was, at the battle of 
 laupara, that the Tauira tribe was 
 crushed. 
 
 Lastly, a large tribe of Maui Maoris, 
 Mara ngaranga, inhabited Te 
 Whaiti country. They were destroyed by 
 the descendants of the immigrants of 
 Mataatua canoe. 
 
 I have now covered the ground from the 
 Upper Thames to Hawke’s Bay, inclusive, 
 by the East Coast, and far back into the 
 interior to the middle of the island nearly ; 
 excepting two gaps on the coast, namely, 
 from north of Te Mahia to south of Tu- 
 paroa (Te Tauira occupied Te Mahia), and 
 from Potikirua, near Cape Runaway, to 
 Maraenui. I have not the information in 
 respect to the ancient inhabitants of these 
 two areas necessary to enable me to state 
 with precision who they were and what 
 became of them. We all know, however, 
 that (excepting lands alienated to Euro- 
 peans) the former is held entirely by the 
 descendants of Hawaikians, that is, of the 
 men who landed at Whangara from Taki- 
 tumu with Paikea, their captain, who very 
 likely fixed on that locality because he 
 saw no aborigines there. Into the latter, 
 as we have seen, Ngaetumoana and Para- 
 rjki proper were driven by Tuwhakairiora, 
 We also know that Ngatiawa are living in 
 that district now under the names of Ngae- 
 tawarere and Whanau Ihutu. There & is, 
 therefore, perhaps, to some extent, an ad- 
 mixture or the aboriginal element in those 
 tribes. I am not, however, able to affirm 
 anything, having never travelled in their 
 country, nor had opportunity to inquire — 
 and in covering the ground named I have 
 covered the whole of three spheres of in- 
 fluence— namely, of the three canoes, Taki- 
 tumu, Mataatua, and Arawa, in so far as 
 the relations of the immigrants with the 
 aborigines are concerned. This qualifica- 
 tion is necessary, because I am not now 
 treating of wars that took place in remote 
 parts of the island between the outpost 
 colonies of the various canoes, such as the 
 war between Tainui and Arawa people at 
 
 Taupo four hundred years ago, when the 
 latter ousted the former from the south and 
 east sides of the lake, or the wars between 
 the people of Takitumu and Tainui after 
 that at Moawhango and the Upper Rangi- 
 tikei Rivers, when the latter were again 
 expelled. These wars amongst the descen- 
 dants of the immigrants in remote parts 
 were bitter struggles for territory ; not 
 mere tribal strife with an utu account, and 
 they usually ended in one side being 
 crushed and driven off. 
 
 The same thing took place between Nga- 
 tiawa of Mataatua, and Ngatiporou of 
 Takitumu ; their theatre of war was about 
 Te Kaha, where there were many cam- 
 paigns. Te Kaha pa obtained its name 
 from the number of sieges it withstood in 
 that war. 
 
 In determining dates, I have estimated a 
 generation at 30 years’ duration, which 
 period, all circumstances considered, seems 
 pretty reasonable as a chronological stand- 
 ard. Of course, any estimate of this sort 
 is necessarily arbitrary. The reader, how- 
 ever, can reduce it if he thinks the unit too 
 large ; at the same time, it is well to re- 
 member that many Maori chiefs had many 
 succeeding wives, and the genealogies pre- 
 served embrace not infrequently the 
 youngest born of the youngest as well 
 as the first born of the first wife, nor had 
 the latter a monopoly of distinction. Twha- 
 kairiora, Tuliourangi, Tutanekai, Hine- 
 moa, and others were all youngest or nearly 
 youngest children, yet each is a promin- 
 ent figure in Maori tradition. 
 
 In concluding this sketch in the history 
 of the autochthons of New Zealand, let me 
 say that all the facts set forth have been 
 imparted to me by the Maoris themselves, 
 executing, as already stated, such things 
 as I learned from my father in the forties. 
 He prosecuted his inquiries in the thirties 
 and forties, and was one of the very few in 
 those early times who took an interest in 
 the history, laws, and customs of the 
 Maoris. Before his death he wrote' to me 
 from England urging me to publish my in- 
 formation on these subjects. 
 
 My next chapter will be upon the voyage 
 of the Hawaikians from their own country 
 to New Zealand. 
 
 J 
 
THE HAWAIKI MAORI IMMIGRATION. 
 
 The story of the immigration from 
 Hawaiki, as told fifty years ago and more 
 by old natives, was that their ancestors had 
 left that country in consequence of disputes 
 chiefly about land ; that the land available 
 for cultivation was not extensive, and in- 
 creasing population had created a pressure 
 that resulted in wars for the possession of 
 it — these troubles lasted more or less a 
 long time, during which their party was 
 gradually weakened and overpowered ; 
 that terms had then been proposed to 
 them, namely, that they must leave 
 Hawaiki and seek another fiome across the 
 sea, and that ample time to build a flotilla 
 and make all necessary preparations for 
 departure would be allowed to them. 
 They accepted these terms in the spirit in 
 which they were offered, and preparations 
 were made in a careful and methodical 
 manner. 
 
 I think the whole scope of action at 
 Hawaiki at this juncture strongly indicates 
 a knowledge of the existence and where- 
 abouts of another country to which the 
 emigrants might go. The very terms, 
 their acceptance, and the confidence with 
 which the equipment was made, all betoken 
 such knowledge ; nor is there anything in 
 the whole story, so far as I am aware, to 
 show that they were groping in the dark. 
 Moreover, the result of the action justifies 
 this remark. The direction, precision, and 
 success of their navigation show, speaking 
 colloquially, that the emigrants knew what 
 they were about. 
 
 Now, if this were so, whence came this 
 knowledge ? This question is susceptible 
 of several answers. For instance, the 
 knowledge may have been handed down by 
 tradition, that in a certain direction there 
 was a distant country, the birthplace of 
 their race, and from which they had 
 travelled in bygone ages, when the sea was 
 less continuous, and before intermediate 
 lands had sunk under its waves. But if 
 the latter part of this speculation is re- 
 jected, as perhaps it may— crust motions of 
 the earth being slow and human memory 
 short— still the former part remains 
 feasible, because the common origin of the 
 Hawaikian Maori and the Maui Maori 
 peoples is manifest philologically, myth- 
 ologically, and otherwise, and demands a 
 point of union in the past. The name 
 Rarotonga has a meaning, and tells how 
 the ancient mariner who gave the island 
 that name was impressed by the phenome- 
 non observed during his voyage towards 
 the north of the continually diminishing 
 altitude in the southern heavens of the 
 
 SUk ^ 
 
 a a,* t od'a-at, ti-A. tdrvU 
 
 * 
 
 great stars that revolve round the Pole, 
 and, as he advanced, of their disappearance 
 below the horizon when on the meridian 
 below the Pole ; so that by the time he 
 had discovered the island to which he gave 
 that name, these stars were dipped below 
 the sea a considerable time during that 
 meridian passage, and he would be the 
 more impressed by the unaccountable 
 change because he was accustomed to esti- 
 mate his latitude by the altitude at the 
 passage named of the star Matatuotonga — 
 The Watchful of the South. It is quite 
 easy, therefore, to understand how the 
 name may have been given, and whence 
 the discoverer came. Conversely, had the 
 voyager approached from the north, he 
 would have named the island Rungatonga. 
 
 Again, if the Maui Maori people broke 
 off from their countrymen at Hawaiki, 
 why did they leave the art of cultivation 
 behind them ? These considerations favour 
 the idea that a tradition of the nature 
 outlined was extant at Hawaiki, and that 
 it prompted successful exploration before 
 emigration took place. Exploration could 
 hardly have been made in the absence 
 of a tradition to guide the navigator ; 
 the chances on the carecas to be visited 
 and the points to be steered are too 
 numerous against it. Thus, New Zealand 
 subtends from Rarotonga an arc so small 
 that an error either way of three fourths of a 
 point on the compass would send the 
 voyager wide of the mark, and he would 
 pass the islands without seeing them. On 
 the other hand, it must be admitted that, 
 as canoes have no hold in the water and no 
 weight to meet the ocean swell, they could 
 not work to windward to explore, nor could 
 they run to leeward, for fear of not getting 
 back ; therefore, their movements would 
 be confined to a comparatively limited area 
 while in the trade wind region. In adverting 
 to these questions, I would interject the 
 remark that canoes sailing in low latitudes 
 towards the south must stand across the 
 south-east trades on the port tack, and 
 ought not to start from a point that is to 
 leeward of their destination ; and further, 
 
 I would say that in leaving Rarotonga for 
 New Zealand all these conditions would be 
 fulfilled. 
 
 Having now stated the reasons which 
 render the theory of an exploration prior to 
 the emigration likely, I will turn to tradi- 
 tion on the subject. One tradition says 
 that a canoe named Matawhaorua, of 
 which Kupe was the captain, sailed from 
 Tbftvaiki and arrived at New Zealand. 
 Along the coast of the North Island she 
 
■ 
 
 12 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 passed for a considerable distance, and 
 then returned safe home and made a report 
 concerning the land she had seen. Mata- 
 whaorua did not return to New Zealand. 
 As the particulars of this tradition have 
 been furnished by other writers, it is un- 
 necessary that I should repeat them, es- 
 pecially as it is my object to publish in 
 these few pages original matter only.* 
 Another tradition, to which I have already 
 referred, tells of how on a stormy night a 
 canoe from Hawaiki was wrecked on the 
 coast of New Zealand, four miles to the 
 west of Whakatane River. The next morn- 
 ing, the daughter of the chief of the pa at 
 Kapu found three strange men bereft of 
 clothing shivering on the shore, who said 
 that they had come from a distant country 
 in a canoe that had been wrecked that 
 night, and that all their companions were 
 drowned. The woman returned to her 
 father, whose name was Toi, and told him 
 what she had seen. Her father ordered the 
 men to be brought to Kapu. When they 
 arrived, food was set before the three men, 
 whose names were Taukata, Hoaki, and 
 Maku. The food was fish, fern root, and 
 the fronds of the tree-fern ; there was no 
 kumara. The three men noticed this, and 
 Taukata produced from his waist-belt some 
 kao (dried kumara), which he crumbled 
 into dust and mixed with water, making a 
 drink. This he presented to Toi, who, 
 when he had drunk, demanded, ‘ Where 
 such food, fit for the gods, could be ob- 
 tained/ The strangers all replied, ‘ From 
 Hawaiki, the country we have come from. 5 
 
 Toi said : * Alas ! I am not able to send 
 across the ocean to Hawaiki. 5 
 
 The strangers replied : ‘ O ! yes, you can ; 
 you can build a canoe. 5 
 
 Toi said : ‘ No ; there are no trees in this 
 country large enough to make a canoe fit to 
 brave the waves of the ocean. 5 
 
 The strangers : ‘We saw a tree in the 
 bed of the river at the ford this morning 
 which is quite large enough. A canoe can 
 be made of it that would reach Hawaiki, 
 and we can go and show the way and bring 
 back kumaras to you. 5 
 
 Toi replied : ‘ It is well said. A canoe 
 shall be built. 5 
 
 Then the tree (a totara) was raised out 
 of its bed at the mouth of the Orini River, 
 and out of it the canoe Aratawhao (Way 
 through the Wilderness) was made, and 
 sailed for Hawaiki. Taukata, Maku, and 
 a crew went in her. 
 
 Hoaki was kept by Toi as a hostage for 
 the safety of his people who went in the 
 canoe. Tradition is silent as to whether 
 the Aratawhao arrived at her destination. 
 She never returned to New Zealand. Toi 
 
 slew his hostage, after waiting two years in 
 disappointment, and, leaving Kapu, where 
 he and poor Hoaki had so often vainly 
 scanned the horizon for the longed-for 
 canoe, he retired to Hokianga at Ohiwa, 
 where he was living with his people some 
 time afterwards wliep Mataatua canoe 
 arrived at Whakatane. 
 
 Let us now revert to the people whom we 
 left preparing to emigrate from Hawaiki. 
 We may reasonably suppose that the 
 canoes they had were similar to those used 
 by their descendants several centuries 
 afterwards, for smaller vessels would not 
 have answered their purpose. A canoe 
 that would carry fifty fighting men on a 
 short expedition would not carry more than 
 twenty adults on a deep sea voyage with 
 safety, allowing them provisions for a 
 month at the rate of 21b of food each and a 
 quart of water per diem, and carrying half 
 a ton of seed and other belongings. The 
 bulky seed taken was that of kumara and 
 taro ; seeds of the karaka tree and of the 
 hue gourd were also taken. The gourd, 
 as I have said, was already in New 
 Zealand, though how it came there, being 
 apparently not indigenous, I am unable to 
 say. Also, they took with them their 
 valued dogs of Nga toroir an gi breed*, from 
 the skins of which their dog-skin mats 
 were woven, and they took the Maori rat 
 on board, the same being game of the finest 
 kind. 
 
 It is true that the Arawa (if a female ac- 
 companied each male) carried thirty per- 
 sons, twenty of whom were adults ; of the 
 remaining ten, who were young persons, 
 some may have been very young. She 
 must, therefore, have been a large canoe. 
 That she carried as much as they dared to 
 put on board we know, from the fact that 
 some members of the party were left behind 
 to follow in another canoe named Te 
 Whatu Ranganuku, which landed them at 
 Wairarapa. An account of this will be 
 given at the proper time. No doubt, the 
 temptation to the emigrants, in some in- 
 stances, to overload was very great. 
 
 That the Hawaikians came to New 
 Zealand from the tropics is proved by the 
 tropical character of the plants they 
 brought with them— kumara and taro are 
 both of that character. The latter is es- 
 pecially so, in the fact that it never couid 
 be properly acclimatised to the change 
 For six hundred years the taro Maori 
 always had to be grown artificially. Sand 
 or gravel was dug from a pit and carried to 
 the field and placed in a layer over the 
 soil ; this drew the sun’s rays and warmed 
 the plant, which was, moreover, defended 
 
 *The above statements about Matawhaorua 
 are not borrowed from any European writer 
 They were made to me by a chief of Ngatiawa* 
 now deceased. 
 
 ^£ at °r®*rangi dog was extinct before 
 Europeans settled m New Zealand. It is not to 
 ^LS° nf ,°- Unded w * th the Kuri Maori, which 
 
 aboutVem?S r forti^° re Eur0pean breeds - 
 
ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 13 
 
 honi cutting winds by rows of manuka 
 branches fixed in the ground at intervals. 
 The same remarks in a much less degree 
 ly!to the kumara*. 
 
 think I have shown now that the 
 Hawaikians, when they embarked in their 
 canoes, left some place in the tropics, and 
 steered to the south-west across the south- 
 east trade, and that they were probably 
 provisioned for one month. The question, 
 therefore, arises now, where did they sail 
 from ? To this the reply is, from Raro- 
 tonga, which island is within the tropics 
 and in a north-easterly direction from New 
 Zealand, the distance between being about 
 1,500 geographical miles. Now, the Arawa 
 and Tainui, as we shall presently learn, 
 were each of them coasting along the 
 shores of New Zealand about a fortnight, 
 searching for sites for settlement, before 
 their voyages ended at Maketu and 
 Kawhia. This leaves, say, fifteen days for 
 accomplishment of the voyage from land to 
 land, being an average of 100 miles a day, 
 which, all circumstances considered, is a 
 fair progress for a canoe sailing half the 
 time on a wind in the trades and the other 
 half with variable winds and perhaps 
 calms, the wind in that district of the 
 ocean at that season (December) being, 
 however, generally fair from the northward 
 and eastward. \Ve know that the voyage 
 was made in December, because the pohu- 
 tukawa (Christmas tree) was in bloom 
 when the canoes arrived on the coast of 
 New Zealand. 
 
 As for the canoes themselves, we may 
 reasonably believe that they were like 
 those used for hundreds of years after- 
 wards by the descendants of their crews, 
 and such as some persons still living have 
 seen in New Zealand. Speaking generally, 
 they were rather crank in build and dis- 
 proportionately long for sea going pur- 
 poses ; but they could accommodate many 
 rowers, and in smooth water were able to 
 make good progress for a few miles by 
 pulling. Their draught was too light for 
 sailing close to the wind. They required 
 to be about seven points oft* the wind to 
 move through the water properly, which, 
 with heave of the sea and drift when the 
 sea was rough, would make a true course, 
 say, of eight points, the course they would 
 have to make in crossing the south east 
 
 *The great labour of growing taro Maori 
 caused it to be abandoned when the taro 
 Merekena was introduced. The latter is hardy, 
 prolific— runs wild, in fact— and easily culti- 
 vated: but it is very inferior in flavour and 
 flouriness to taro Maori. I don’t think I have 
 seen the taro Maori for thirty years. In the 
 early forties a new kind of kumara (kumara 
 Pakeha) was brought to New Zealand, which 
 rapidly came into favour. It was more easily 
 cultivated and made into kao than kumara 
 Maori, and in about twenty years had super- 
 seded it. * I have! not seen the kumara Maori 
 for many years, perhaps twenty. 
 
 trades. Their lines were so tine that with 
 a fair wind they sailed very quickly. One 
 fault they all had, and that was leaking 
 through the caulking of the top sides. 
 This was due to the nature of the con- 
 struction of the vessel, and was unavoid- 
 able in the absence of ironwork attach- 
 ments. The whole force of propulsion by 
 sailing or pulling came upon the lashings 
 that secured the top sides to the body of 
 the canoe. This caused the seam to work 
 a little, and baling was necessary from 
 time to time when the canoe was deeply 
 laden. If the lashings were sound, the 
 fault was one of inconvenience, not of 
 danger. It must, however, on the 
 Hawaikian voyage, have entailed constant 
 vigilance to keep their seed dry, which, it 
 wet with salt water, would have been 
 ruined. 
 
 Before the Hawaikians commenced their 
 voyage, their anxiety was to prevent a 
 separation of the canoes during the passage. 
 They were all relations and friends, who 
 were afraid, if once the ocean parted them, 
 they would never see each other again. 
 Therefore, at starting, some canoes were 
 attached together, ana progress was made 
 in that manner while the weather remained 
 line ; but that condition did not last. A 
 change took place ; a storm arose ; the 
 canoes were endangered bv their nearness 
 to each other, and the lashings of the 
 attachments were cut one' night by the 
 crews to save themselves. When morning 
 dawned, all the canoes had separated and 
 lost sight of one another. After that, each 
 canoe pursued its own lonely course, 
 following independently the line of naviga- 
 tion that had been determined upon before 
 they left Hawaiki. 
 
 Thus, without compass, quadrant, or 
 chart, of which they knew nothing, these 
 ancient sailors possessed, nevertheless, in- 
 trinsic qualities which helped them on their 
 way. They were endowed with know- 
 ledge, skill, forethought, resolution, and 
 endurance. They knew the positions and 
 movements of the heavenly bodies suffi- 
 ciently well to be able to steer a course by 
 them to the land they were bound for. 
 Day after day, under skies for the most 
 part clear, they observed the sun, noting 
 bis position at certain times, and they 
 watcned the direction of the winds and 
 waves in relation to his course, and steered 
 thereby. At night, the task of steering by 
 the stars was easier. The motions of the 
 moon and planets in the ecliptic showed 
 the. eastern and western points of the 
 horizon, and the south (tonga) was always 
 visible as the centre round which the Cross 
 and Pointers revolved ; and so each captain 
 in his own canoe maintained his course, 
 keeping, no doubt, if anything, a little to 
 windward (i.e . , southward) of it — prevail- 
 
m 
 
 } 
 
 
 14 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 ing winds, as I have said, in November and 
 December being easterly —until he knew he 
 bad run his distance to the south, when lie 
 shaped a course to the westward and boldly 
 ran down upon the land. That this was 
 done is evidenced by the accuracy with 
 which the land-fall was made at a certain 
 parallel of latitude, and by the fact that 
 the canoes Arawa and Tainui, that had 
 overshot the mark, turned back northward 
 when they reached the coast and rejoined 
 their companions at Ahualiu, Mercury 
 Island. The captain of a canoe, and each 
 canoe had its captain, would know by 
 celestial observation when he was far 
 enough south. He could tell this by esti- 
 mating, by a standard of some sort, the 
 altitude of a polar star when nearest to the 
 horizon; thus, for instance, he might 
 hold to a southerly course until he had 
 made the lowest star in the Cross rise above 
 the horizon and be equal in altitude to half 
 the altitude of the highest star in the same 
 constellation at the time of their lower 
 meridian passage, or he might have made 
 other o-ood observations, and that without 
 a quadrant. The objection of the right 
 ascension in a short summer’s night has°no 
 force, as there are several large stars be- 
 tween 58° and 62° S. declination, and with 
 large differences in It. A., and one or other 
 of these he would be sure to catch. 
 
 The skill, tact, and ability of the old 
 sailors who navigated their* canoes from 
 Hawaiki to New Zealand, so many canoes 
 with such precision, is really wonderful. 
 Could the certificated sailor of the present 
 age have done better ? Deprive him of his 
 appliances, his compass, chronometer, and 
 chart, his sextant and nautical almanac, 
 and see then whether his intrinsic qualities 
 would, on the same voyage, have enabled 
 him to do better— especially if put into a 
 long, lean, rather leaky, open boat, that ( 
 had no draught, could he have sailed her ] 
 better, have kept a perishable cargo better, < 
 or maintained better discipline amongst a 
 numerous company of both sexes ? There ( 
 can be but one reply to these questions, \ 
 namely, that under the same circumstances « 
 and conditions, it would be difficult even J 
 now to excel the old Hawaikian sailors in \ 
 the execution of their craft. 
 
 I their names as they have been given to me 
 } and a few circumstances connected with 
 > some of them, and in noticing the others 
 ' I would wish to treat of the movements 
 * of four of them more particularly, namely, 
 i Mataatua, Takitumu, Tainui, and Te 
 i Arawa, as the immigrants by these vessels 
 settled in the districts with whose history J 
 am best informed. The following are the 
 names of the canoes : — Matawhaorua (which 
 returned to Hawaiki), Arawa, Tainui, 
 Mataatua, Takitumu, Kurahaupo, Aotea, 
 Tokomaru, Mahuhu, Pungarangi, Rangi- 
 matoru and Whatu Ranganuku. 
 
 Te Arawa made land at Whangara, 18 
 miles north of Gisborne, but did not land 
 there. From Whangara she coasted along 
 to the north ; off Whangaparaoa she spoke 
 the Tainui coming in from the sea. The 
 Arawas say that Tainui was then making 
 her landfall. This some Tainui people 
 contradict, stating that their canoe first 
 made land at Te Maliia. The Arawa did 
 not join Tainui, but continued her course, 
 then shaping westward, and crossed the 
 Bay of Plenty ; and next we hear of her 
 at Ahuahu, Mercury Island, where Ave will 
 leave her for the present. 
 
 Whether Tainui made land at Te Maliia 
 as her people say, or at Whangaparaoa .as 
 the Arawas affirm, is an open question. 
 She was making for the shore when she 
 passed the Arawa, and shortly afterwards 
 she was nearly lost, and perhaps all on 
 board, in a very simple and unexpected 
 manner. At Cape Runaway there is a reef 
 of detached rocks ; there too is a perennial 
 current that, setting strongly out of the 
 Bay of Plenty, impinges against the Cape 
 and reef. The Cape itself is a high head- 
 land studded with pohutukawa trees. As 
 the canoe approached the Cape, in the bay 
 round which a landing [was’ proposed, the 
 crew, whose attention was diverted to the 
 beautiful bloom of the trees on the hillside, 
 suddenly found themselves caught and 
 carried swiftly towards the rocks by the 
 current, of the existence of which neither 
 they nor any stranger could have had a 
 suspicion*, and because of the heavy rollers 
 of the Rangawhenuat the danger appeared 
 to be terrible. Here with a vengeance were 
 
 The time of year at which the migration 
 was made shows forethought. Tlie fine 
 season had set in and the hurricane months 
 had not begun, and there was still time on 
 arrival in the new country to plant the 
 seed they had with them ; moreover, they 
 would have several months of summer 
 weather in which to explore and form 
 settlements. 
 
 The current at Cape Runaway is the tail race 
 to a vast dam that Nature has placed across the 
 course of part of the, tropical off-flow of the 
 P^fic-’fKtThe* dam extends from the 
 -North Cape of New Zealand to Cape Runaway 
 or it may be to the East Cape. We are Justified 
 in believing that the stream comes from the 
 tropics by its warm temperature, the fish, such 
 as sharks, that frequent it, and by the tropical 
 shells, like the nautilus, that are found on the 
 shores adjacent. 
 
 It is not my intention in this narrative to 
 give all the movements of each canoe of the 
 flotilla, or all the doings of the people of 
 each after arrival. I shall simply mention 
 
 Tine .ttangawhenua is an ocean swell that 
 £ r ®*£ 8 . T h 1 ea ^ 11 ^ ° n toe north-east coast of the 
 North Island of New Zealand during the months 
 ?l November, December and January. Along 
 
 8topped aC b h y C it. 0f the Bay ° f P ‘ Cnty ’ Hshing is 
 
ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 15 
 
 ‘the waves of the summer, as one died 
 away another as sweet and as shining came 
 on. ’ The wayworn voyagers, turning their 
 eyes from the beautiful land, grasped the 
 situation at a glance, and their hearts fell 
 from the heights of joy and hope to the 
 depths of fear. Were they after all their 
 suffering and pilgrimage to be sacrificed 
 at the gates of Paradise on those jagged 
 rocks. Promptly the priest betook himself 
 to his prayers, and quickly the crew 
 plunged their paddles in the tide ; but it 
 was too late, before they conld change their 
 vessel’s course she had struck sideways on 
 a rock and remained there, the mussel 
 shells grinding into her sides to the peril of 
 her lashings ; and now the danger of being 
 dashed to pieces by the next wave or filling 
 beside the rock, which is awash, is great 
 indeed ; fortunately, the rock was between 
 them and the wave, for the current that 
 pinned them to it ran against the swell. 
 And then the very thing they feared be- 
 came their friend. A roller broke upon the 
 rock and its unimpeded portion circling 
 quickly round the rock caught one end of 
 the canoe, and raising it up Hung it off 
 wide from the rock. This was the moment 
 of salvation ; with a Hash, before the 
 current could push her back, all the paddles 
 were buried for dear life in the seething 
 foam, and Tainui, as if instinct with life, 
 had shot into the open sea. The priest said 
 they had been saved by the Atua to whom 
 he had prayed, and his words were believed 
 by those who heard him and by many suc- 
 ceeding generations. But the captain in 
 going round the point again gave those 
 rocks what sailors call a wide berth. Then 
 the wearied people of Tainui rested at 
 Whangaparaoa Bay and refreshed them- 
 selves ; but the story that they found a 
 dead whale on the beach in that bay and 
 disputed with the Arawa about the posses- 
 sion of it is difficult to reconcile with the fact 
 that the Arawa deny having gone there at 
 all, and with the harder fact that dead 
 whales not only don’t drift into the bay, 
 but cannot even be towed on to the shore 
 there by several whaleboats after they are 
 killed, the current above mentioned pre- 
 venting it. There was a whaling station 
 many years in Whangaparaoa Bay in the 
 forties, and during that time the fish were 
 ‘ tried out ’ at a place on the coast round 
 the Cape, much to the inconvenience of the 
 whalers, who at first often tried in vain to 
 tow the dead whales into the Bay. 
 
 From Whangaparaoa the Tainui sailed 
 along the shores of the Bay of Plenty, in- 
 specting the country as slie went. At 
 Hawai a man named Taritorongo left her, 
 and going inland joined the aborigines at 
 Motu, as has been mentioned ; also, we 
 have seen how Torere left the Tainui, and 
 bow she was pursued by Rakataura, who, 
 
 failing to find his inamorata, returned and 
 rejoined his companions at Kawhia. Raka- 
 taura landed at Taiharuru, atOpape. When 
 next we hear of Tainui she had arrived at 
 Aliuahu, where the meeting of canoes took 
 place. There is reason to assume from 
 subsequent events that the Arawa and 
 Tainui had made a comprehensive survey 
 of the Bay of Plenty before they met at 
 Ahuahu. 
 
 Up to this time there is not much to say 
 about Takitumu further than to report that 
 her landfall was made at the Great Barrier, 
 and that passing Cuvier Island she had 
 arrived at Ahuahu also. 
 
 Mataatua, though not in company with 
 Takitumu, sighted the same land. She 
 passed Cuvier, which was named Repanga 
 by Muriwai, the chieftainess on board of 
 her, in honor of her son, the young man who 
 afterwards went to Kohipawa, and then the 
 canoe sailed into Ahualiu Harbour. 
 
 At Ahuahu (Great Mercury) a conference 
 took place between the captains of the 
 canoes and other chiefs of the expedition, 
 which resulted in the arrangement of the 
 course, or line of action, that each canoe 
 should take on leaving the island. Hence 
 the name of the island, which is called 
 Ahuahu to the present day, and is an 
 abbreviation probably of Ahu te Ahu — to 
 shape a course. I have never heard whether 
 any of the other canoes were at this meet- 
 ing ; Pungarangi and Whatu Rangnuku 
 could not, however, have been present, as 
 they came to New Zealand afterwards. 
 
 T have referred several times to the cap- 
 tains, or nautical experts, of the canoes. 
 The captain of Takitumu was Paikea ; of 
 Tainui, Hotunui : of Te Arawa, Tama tc 
 Kapua ; and of Mataatua the captain was 
 Toroa. 
 
 And now we view these and other chiefs, 
 whose names have been handed down to 
 posterity, at this the first Hawaiki Maori 
 meeting held in New Zealand. There, too, 
 we see seated upon the pebbly strand that 
 forms the landing at Mercury Harbour, 
 groups from the several canoes, all dressed 
 in the tappa clothing of a tropical climate. 
 They are assembled listening to their 
 leaders, who are discussing the situation in 
 its various aspects. 
 
 They have, indeed, found the country 
 they sought, but exploration so far has 
 shown it to be peopled with many tribes 
 of aborigines resembling themselves and 
 speaking their own language, of whom, 
 notwithstanding their inoffensive behaviour, 
 it behoves them to be aware. Apart from 
 rugged coastlines, they have nowhere seen 
 an unoccupied country large enough for 
 them all to settle upon. They have but 
 I just escaped with labour and loss from 
 internecine strife about land, where land 
 was scarce and areas small. The horror of 
 
 
 
16 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 what occurred then is fresh in their minds. 
 They cannot forget it, and, therefore, they 
 thinK they had better separate and incur 
 the risk of war with the aborigines to fight- 
 ing amongst themselves ; besides, the 
 former risk appeared to be but small if a 
 policy of tact and forbearance were pursued 
 towards them, and that by and by when 
 they themselves had become numerous they 
 could disregard them. 
 
 Two rivers falling into the Bay of Plenty 
 had been discovered where settlement 
 would be possible, but more inviting dis- 
 tricts might yet be found. 
 
 To one of these, however, the people of 
 Mataatua under Muriwai decide to go. 
 The other the leaders of Te Arawa have 
 determined to occupy should nothing more 
 suitable be found on further search.* The 
 immigrants in Tainui are of opinion that 
 in a country so large and promising 
 the chances are that they will secure a 
 better location by prosecuting their voyage 
 of discovery ; while those of Takitumu 
 resolve to search the Bay of Plenty for 
 themselves. 
 
 Such and similar were, doubtless, the 
 affairs that were considered at that meeting 
 —a meeting which heralded to New Zea- 
 land the birth of a new nation, who should 
 cultivate her soil and increase her civilisa- 
 tion, and whose warriors, orators, states- 
 men and priests, craftsmen and people of 
 low degree, were destined in the distant 
 future to supplant the more simple sons of 
 the soil almost throughout the whole coun- 
 try. 
 
 After the meeting the canoes left Ahuahu. 
 Tainui explored the Thames and found the 
 inhabitants numerous ; she passed from 
 there along the coast to the North, and 
 turning back again arrived at Tamaki 
 River, which was ascended, and then she 
 was dragged across the isthmus at Otahuhu 
 into Manukau, from which harbour she 
 put to sea, and, coasting southwards, 
 arrived at Kawhia. This was the end of 
 her voyage, for at Kawdiiaher people deter- 
 mined to settle. 
 
 Mataatua sailed from Ahuahu to Whaka- 
 tane direct. Her unwavering course is 
 highly suggestive of information received, 
 either by Te Aratawhao (if that canoe 
 reached Hawaiki) or by Tainui, probably 
 the latter, for none of the people of Te 
 Aratawhao returned to Whakatane in 
 Mataatua. Ngatiawa found the country 
 at Whakatane unoccupied by the abor- 
 igines, and Kapu pa was empty. They 
 
 ’The Arawa had most probably visited 
 Maketu and Tauranga on her voyage through 
 the Bay of Plenty, and had found the latter 
 thickly peopled, for on her return to those 
 parts she passed close by the mouth of Tauranga 
 Harbour in the daytime without entering it, 
 and went straight to Maketu. notwithstanding 
 the inviting aspect of the Tauranga country. 
 
 lived at first on the flat by the mouth of the 
 river, and there Muriwai died and was 
 buried, and her tomb under a rock there 
 can be seen at the present time, Toroa 
 went to Hokianga, at Ohiwa, to interview 
 Toi, who asked, ‘ Who are you, and where 
 do you come from ?’ 
 
 To which Toroa replied, ‘ I am Toroa 
 (albatross) ; I have flown across the ocean 
 to this place.’ 
 
 Toi then asked, ‘ Why have you come 
 here ?’ 
 
 Toroa said, ‘ 1 have come to see and to 
 stay. ’ 
 
 Then food was set before Toroa, and 
 when he had eaten he returned to W haka- 
 tane. 
 
 This short conversation as it has been 
 handed down by tradition describes the 
 situation succinctly. 
 
 From Ahuahu the Arawa sailed to Cuvier 
 Island, where Hawaikian birds were re- 
 leased, and thence to the Great Barrier, 
 from which place she crossed over to Wha- 
 ngarei and coasted to Cape Brett ; there 
 she turned back and arrived at Tamaki, at 
 the head of which river she found Tainui, 
 whose crew w’ere engaged laying the skids to 
 tow their vessel upon in crossing the isthmus. 
 The Arawa did not remain long at Otahuhu, 
 but sailed away toMoehau (Cape Colville), 
 for time was becoming precious. Her 
 people landed at Moehau, but did not stay 
 there, notwithstanding Tamati Kapua was 
 so pleased with the place that he urged 
 them all to go no further, and to settle 
 down and make their home there. From 
 Moehau they resumed their voyage, and 
 passing along the shores of the Bay of 
 Plenty, sailed straight to Maketu. Thus 
 ended their long and toilsome voyage from 
 Hawaiki. 
 
 In passing Te Taroto, between Katikati 
 and Te Awanui (the ancient name of Tau- 
 ranga entrance), Ilei stood up and said, 
 ‘The land opposite to us, 7 pointing to Tau- 
 ranga, ‘ is Te Takapu a Waitaha ’ (the belly 
 of Waitaha), his son. Thus he bespoke the 
 Tauranga country, of which, however, he 
 and his son never got more than the 
 eastern end, which is a* comparatively small 
 part of the district. The aboriginal in- 
 habitants were too numerous to allow him 
 to take more. Oft’ Wairakei, Tia stood 
 up and declared that the land at Rangiuru 
 and country adjacent was the Takapu of 
 his son Tapuika. In this manner he took 
 the land he had pointed out. Tamati 
 Kapua then thought it time to rise. He 
 took Maketu by calling that part of the 
 country Te Kureitanga o taku Ihu, shape of 
 his nose (cut of his jib). The headland of 
 Maketu Point is still known by the name 
 of Okurei. Now, all this was a very solemn 
 and binding form of appropriation. No 
 one could interfere with the property after 
 
 n 
 
17 
 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 that without trampling on the belly , etc. , 
 of the person named, and without being 
 prepared to stand by his act in so doing. 
 
 The behaviour of those three men in 
 greedily snapping up all the land in sight 
 from the canoe before they had landed had the 
 effect of compelling other members of the 
 party to scatter in search of country, and 
 thus the Ngaoho (or Arawa) tribe quickly 
 spread into the interior as far as Taupo. 
 
 Takitumu, whose other name was Horo- 
 uta, had the reputation of being a sacred 
 canoe. It is said they took slaves on board 
 at Hawaiki, whom they kept in the bow, 
 and killed and ate from time to time as 
 they required. This canoe left Ahuahu, 
 and went to Tauranga, where they found 
 they could not settle. The aborigines per- 
 mitted a very few persons to remain, pro- 
 bably they hoped to profit by the Hawai- 
 kians’ knowledge of agriculture. The 
 canoe then continued her voyage, the next 
 place she called at being Ohiwa, where she 
 was nearly lost on Tuarae Kanawa shoal, 
 at the mouth of the harbour. A few in- 
 dividuals were suffered to leave her here, 
 Who, as we have seen, l>eeame the progeni- 
 tors of some of the present inhabitants in 
 that part of New Zealand. Toi doubtless 
 thought there were already enough Hawai- 
 kians in his neighbourhood at Whakatane, 
 and perhaps Ngatiawa objected to the pro- 
 pinquity. Leaving Ohiwa the canoe Taki- 
 tumu continued her search along the coast 
 for a place of settlement, and as evidenc- 
 ing how fully the country must have been 
 in the occupation of the aborigines at that 
 time, I will enumerate a number of speci- 
 ally favourite residences of native tribes 
 that were passed by the Hawaikians of 
 Takitumu while searching for a place 
 where they might safely make their future 
 home : Opotiki, Te Kaha, Wharekahika, 
 Kawakawa, including Horoera, Waiapu 
 Valley, Tuparoa, Waipiro, Tokomaru, 
 Tangoiro to Anaura, Uawa and Puatai — 
 all these sites for settlement were passed 
 before Paikea thrust his canoe ashore at 
 Whangara, and declared the voyage to be 
 finished. He named the place Whangara 
 from a fancied resemblance to a plo.ce of 
 that name at Hawaiki. 
 
 From the isthmus of Otahuhu northward 
 the Hawaikian element in the population 
 of Aotearoa was derived from the canoes 
 Mahihi (or Mahuhu, as it is called in some 
 parts of the country) and Kurahaupo. 
 
 The canoe Aotea landed on the West 
 Coast at the place of that name. Her 
 people travelled southwards, and occupied 
 a wide area south of the Taranaki district. 
 
 Tokomaru canoe made the coast at Toko- 
 maru, where the people who came in her 
 landed, but did not remain. We hear of 
 her next as having arrived at Mokau, on 
 the West Coast, but whether she passed 
 
 round the North Cape, or made the shorter 
 cut by Tamaki and Manukau, seems to be 
 uncertain. Her occupants were the fore- 
 fathers of the Atiawa tribe at Waitara 
 and Taranaki, fibm whom is descended a 
 Ngatirahiri hapu ; just as the Ngatirahiri 
 in the North are descended from the Nga- 
 tiawa progenitor who landed in Mataatua 
 at Whakatane. 
 
 Pungaraimi canoe made land at Rurima 
 islets, in the Bay of Plenty ; for some 
 reason they were unable to land on the 
 mainland, probably too heavy a sea was 
 breaking on the coast, or the 1* ini o Taunu 
 at Matata may have been hostile. The 
 passengers had no water, and were greatly 
 distressed by thirst. They landed in the 
 little harbour at Rurima and rested, but 
 were unable to find water, and all feared that 
 a cruel death was before them. Then the 
 chief of the party sought himself for water, 
 trying in many places. At last he found a 
 moist spot by the root of a pohutu- 
 kawa tree, he dug a hole, and water 
 trickled in and lie drank, and the 
 people drank and were saved. That little 
 cup of water is there still, six centuries of 
 time have not removed it, but the root is 
 gone. As I looked at it I came to the con- 
 clusion that underground drainage had been 
 arrested by the digging, and turned to the 
 surface, where it has since remained. From 
 Rurima the canoe went South to Waira- 
 rapa, and some of her people crossed Cook’s 
 Strait and settled at Nelson. 
 
 It will be remembered that the Arawa 
 was unable to bring all the Ngaoho party, 
 and that some were to follow in another 
 canoe. The canoe they came from 
 Hawaiki in was the Whatu Ranganuku. 
 She landed them at Wairarapa, in a part 
 where the inhabitants were hostile. The 
 leader of the party, Tauwera, was ill- 
 treated and badly burnt by them, so that 
 he could not walk. The perpetrators of 
 this outrage were not aborigines, but 
 Hawaikians who had arrived there pre- 
 viously, and their object was not to kill, 
 but to drive Ngaoho away. The latter 
 took the hint, and left, carrying their dis- 
 abled chief in a litter by the Ivowhai road 
 to the Bay of Plenty, and to the left bank 
 of Waitahanui River at Te Takanga, 
 where they settled, and this was the begin- 
 ning of Waitaha Turauta tribe, or hapu 
 of the Arawa, members of which, among 
 the other Arawa sections, are still 
 numerous. 
 
 The last canoe I have to mention is 
 Rangimatoru. It is stated that she ended 
 her voyage at Ohiwa. She is a canoe that 
 has been very much lost sight of by the 
 natives. Her reputation is eclipsed by 
 that of Mataatua, close by at Whakatane, 
 and of the existence of the representatives, 
 if any, of her immigrants, or who her im* 
 
18 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE ANT) HISTORY. 
 
 migrants were, I have no proper informa- 
 tion. The fact that the canoe came seems 
 sufficiently established. Possibly the ex- 
 tinct Whakatane sprang from the people of 
 that canoe. They were a tribe of Hawai- 
 kian extraction who owned the land be- 
 tween Ohiwa and Waioeka River inland, 
 in the mountain region. The Upokorehe 
 held the land in the north adjoining the 
 possessions of the Whakatane. The former 
 were destroyed, and the latter nearly so, by 
 the Whakatohea. More than fifty years 
 ago an old man of the name of Rangima- 
 toru was a principal man of the remnant. 
 
 This concludes my account of the voyages 
 of the canoes from Hawaiki to Aotearoa. 
 I have, however, to add that Takitumu 
 made a voyage from Whangara to Otago, 
 where she remained, and is pointed out to 
 the traveller of the present day, as she lies 
 at her journey’s end in the form of a rock. 
 The Arawa made a voyage to Te Awa o te 
 Atua and back. Then she was hauled up 
 on the eastern bank near the entrance to 
 Kaituna River, where she was burnt after- 
 wards, and where a grove of ngaio trees 
 grew down to the present generation, 
 which trees were sacred to the memory of 
 the old vessel. 
 
 In reviewing the movement from Hawaiki 
 to New Zealand from a practical point, we 
 are justified, if the foregoing statements 
 and observations are accepted, in arriving 
 at the following conclusions : — 
 
 That the Hawaikians emigrated under 
 pressure arising out of troubles chiefiy 
 about land. 
 
 That as a necessary preliminary they 
 explored the sea to discover a country 
 where they might go. 
 
 That the exploration was successful, and 
 
 was probably conducted upon an idea de- 
 rived from tradition. . .. 
 
 That the Hawaikians were skilful sailors, 
 and notwithstanding the want of appli- 
 ances they were good practical na\ lgator.*-' 
 hy celestial observation. I hat as they had 
 no means of finding the longitude on a 
 true course, the same being a rhumb line, 
 also as unknown currents and variable 
 winds rendered the making of a true course 
 impossible without the necessary aids, 
 they devised the expedient of leaving the 
 true course wide oil on one hand, say a 
 point or two, while making the required 
 latitude (which they , were probably 
 able to find), having arrived at which they 
 ran down the longitude. It was in this 
 way 1 believe that eight canoes on a voyage 
 of * 1,500 or 2,000 miles (according to 
 whether they came from Cook’s Islands or 
 the Society Islands) managed to make land 
 on the East Coast of the North Island of 
 New Zealand within 2£ degrees of latitude 
 of each other. They all came straggling in 
 singly, and four of them were within thirty 
 miles of each other. There could have been 
 nothing accidental about result s so uniform ; 
 evidently the aid of science was invoked, 
 roughly, no doubt, but sufficiently to serve 
 all practical purposes. 
 
 That the Hawaikians introduced the art 
 of cultivation into New Zealand, where 
 they found an aboriginal race resembling 
 themselves in appearance and speaking the 
 same language. 
 
 That in selecting sites for settlement 
 they avoided the localities that were 
 thickly peopled by the aborigines, towards 
 whom until they themselves had become 
 numerous they behaved with much circum- 
 spection. 
 
 n 
 

 NGAETEKANGI, 
 
 It was many years ago, before our utili- 
 tarian grass paddocks and barbed -wire 
 fences had changed the face of the country, 
 that I first saw the picturesque ruins of old 
 Tawhitirahi pa at Opotiki. Standing on a 
 high cliff that overhangs the stream of 
 Kukuinoa they were embowered with trees 
 and flowering plants that festooned from 
 them to the stream beloAv. The prospect 
 from the pa was delightful ; on the one 
 hand far as the eye could reach the ocean 
 and its coast lines were visible ; on the 
 other the valley of Opotiki was everywhere 
 in view. The site, too, was as convenient 
 as it was pleasant. Fishing in saltwater 
 and fresh, bird snaring and eel catching, 
 were near to hand, while fern root in 
 abundance of finest quality, and Tupakihi 
 wine in the season were easily obtained. It 
 was here some 350 years ago that a happy 
 tribe lived of Maui- Maoris of Awa descent* ; 
 when they received a friendly visit from the 
 chief of the powerful neighbouring tribe of 
 Ngatiha, of the same descent (afterwards 
 called Ngatipukenga), who lived at Waiaua 
 and Ornarumutu. The visitor greatly ad- 
 mired a tame tui, belonging to his host 
 Kahukino, that sang and was otherwise 
 well educated. In that age birds were 
 taught to bewitch people, and to karakia 
 (say prayers) for supplies of various kinds 
 of food. When the visitor was about to 
 return home he asked that the bird might 
 be given to him, but Kahukino could not 
 make up his mind to part with it. The 
 visitor concealed his rage and went away. 
 It was not long after this that Tawhitirahi 
 pa was surprised one night by a war party 
 with the late visitor at its head. The pa 
 was taken, some of its chiefs and people 
 were slain ; many, however, escaped and 
 fled to the forest-clad mountains of the 
 interior, where they wandered fora time, 
 but could not remain as they were trespass- 
 ing on the hunting grounds of other tribes. 
 Thus they passed through Motu country, 
 and crossing its eastern water shed, de- 
 scended into the valley of the Waikohu, 
 where they were found by the Takitumu 
 natives of Turanganui (Poverty Bay), and 
 would have been slain had not Waho o te 
 Rangi interposed. He was the chief of 
 Ngaeterangiliokaia, a hapu of Te Aetanga 
 Hauiti, of Takitumu descent, who lived at 
 Uawa (Tologa Bay). 
 
 Waho o te Rangi, like Tuterangiwliiu at 
 
 I would not imply that this tribe has not a 
 strain of Hawaikian blood : no doubt it has, 
 and like some others it knows more about its 
 Hawaikian ancestors than its aboriginal line- 
 age. This is due to causes I have already men- 
 tioned. 
 
 OF TAURANGA. 
 
 Raukumara, took the refugees and made 
 slaves of them. They were located on Te 
 Whakaroa Mountain, inland of Wairnata, 
 and) made to catch birds and carry them 
 to him at Uawa. 
 
 At this time the people who laboured in 
 this unhappy plight were known by the 
 name of Te Rangihouhiri, being so called 
 after their chief, who was the son of Kalm- 
 kino, of Tawhitirahi. Kahukino was now 
 an old man, and had ceased to take an 
 active part in administering public affairs. 
 Tutenaehe, the son of Rangihouhiri, grew 
 up in this house of bondage. 
 
 In process of time Waho o te Rangi grew 
 old and approached his end. The aged 
 chief believed that there would be no one 
 in the tribe when lie was gone who would 
 be capable of retaining possession of the 
 slaves. He felt sure that another tribe by 
 no means friendly to him would come and 
 remove the slaves, thereby strengthening 
 themselves and weakening bis (Waho’s) 
 tribe. It was bad enough to be weakened, 
 but worse that at the same time the other 
 side should be strengthened. He chose 
 the lesser evil, and determined to kill his 
 slaves. 
 
 It happened by some means that the 
 slaves learned the fate that was in store for 
 them, and as even the worm will turn, so 
 this poor people turned at bay, resolved to 
 sell their lives dearly. Although their 
 slaves had taken alarm and could not be 
 surprised, the masters thought little of the 
 task before them. J udge, then, their .aston- 
 ishment when their heedless onslaught was 
 met by an organised band of skilled 
 warriors, who killed them instead, and drove 
 them back the way they bad come. The 
 Rangihouhiri had broken their bonds and 
 never served again. They decided now to 
 leave that part of the country, and seek 
 elsewhere for a place where they 
 might make a home for themselves, and 
 marched towards the sea at Whangara, 
 near which, on the banks of the Pakarae, 
 they were attacked by the combined forces 
 of Te Aetanga* Hauiti, tlie tribe of which 
 their late masters were a section, whom 
 they defeated a second time in a pitched 
 battle, and remained masters of the field. 
 Te Aetanga Hauiti now found -that they 
 must make terms. They had altogether 
 mistaken the men whom they had been ac- 
 customed to despise, whose quality man for 
 man was far superior to their own, whose 
 prestige before the misfortune at Opotiki 
 had been equal to their own, and whose 
 spirit disciplined and elevated by adversity 
 and self-sacrifice was unconquerable. They 
 
 n 
 
20 
 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 proposed that fighting should cease, and 
 that Te Rangihouhiri should leave the dis- 
 trict, going by canoes, which were to be 
 prepared by both parties, and Te Rangi- 
 tiouhiri were to have time and opportunity 
 to collect supplies of food for the journey. 
 These proposals were accepted, they suited 
 the Rangihouhiri perfectly, and both sides 
 observed them faithfully. In due time the 
 Rangihouhiri set sail, and steering north 
 arrived in the Bay of Plenty, where they 
 landed at a place called Hakuranui, and 
 lived there. 
 
 Now, accounts conflict as to this locality. 
 
 1 will mention them, not because the site 
 of that place affects our story, but just to 
 illustrate practically how tradition, like 
 history, varies sometimes in its facts. 
 There are two Hakuranui pas at the Bay of 
 Plenty, one south of Raukokore, the other 
 at Torere. Ngaitai, of Torere, say Te 
 Rangihouhiri never lived at their place, 
 while the people of Raukokore sav Te 
 Rangihouhiri did live for a time at Haku- 
 ranui, that is upon their land. These state- 
 ments, one would think, should beconclusive, 
 but they are not, for the descendants of 
 the Rangihouhiri aver that the Hakuranui 
 in question is at Torere, and the Arawa 
 who, as we shall presently see, have a voice 
 in the matter, support the Rangihouhiri 
 version. 
 
 However, no matter where it was, 
 the location was not comfortable. The 
 people of the district disapproved of their 
 intrusion and harassed them ; they had to 
 keep close for stragglers did not return, 
 and it was almost impossible to cultivate, 
 as the following instance showed: — Two 
 men of Te Rangihouhiri, Awatope and 
 Tukoko, went out into a field to plant 
 gourd seed. Awatope proposed to sow 
 broadcast and get away for fear of the 
 people of the place. Tukoke objected to 
 such a slovenly method, and set to work to 
 dibble his seed m properly. Awatope quickly 
 sowed his broadcast and made oft. His 
 companion was busily engaged dribbling 
 in, when he was suddenly caught and 
 killed. It is true they made reprisals, but 
 the place was not worth lighting for, and 
 therefore they went away. Passing 
 Opotiki and their old pa at Tawliitirahi, 
 they came to Whakatane and built a pa 
 for themselves on the spur of the hill that 
 approaches the river next above Wainuite- 
 wliara. Here, on the strength of their 
 military reputation, they lived undisturbed 
 for a time. There was, however, sufficient 
 uneasiness and uncertainty on all sides to 
 make the chiefs of the Rangihouhiri think 
 seriously of taking the initiative by a coup 
 dc main upon the Ngatiawa stronghold of 
 Papaka (which position is immediately 
 above the town of Whakatane). To this end 
 Tamapahore. a leader of theirs, was one 
 
 night creeping about under the foitifica- 
 tions of Papaka looking out for a point of 
 attack, when a woman came out of the pa 
 on to the defences above him. bhe did not 
 see him, but he saw her, and on the im- 
 pulse of the moment he gave her a poke 
 with the point of his taialia. She raised an 
 outcry, but Tamapahore escaped ; the in- 
 cident, however, betrayed the sinister 
 designs of Te Rangihouniri tribe. More- 
 over, the woman was the chief’s daughtei , 
 and the insult was considered great by her 
 tribe. All the Rangihouhiri knew at once 
 that they must move on from W hakatane, 
 and said so amongst themselves. 
 
 Then Tamapahore stood up and ad- 
 dressed them, saying : ‘ I have acted 
 
 foolishly, and we must all leave this place 
 in consequence, for all their hapus are 
 roused, but Ave will not go meanly away ; 
 we will deliver a battle first, and then go. 
 The feelings of the people approved this 
 sentiment, but Ngatiawa would have none 
 of it, they were not going to fight for no- 
 thing. If Te Rangihouhiri stayed they 
 would be wiped out ; if they went at once 
 they would be allowed to depart in peace. 
 So the tribe of Te Rangihouhiri left 
 Whakatane, and Avent to Te Awa o te 
 Atua, Avhere they were not wanted. 
 
 This friendless tribe had noAV ivandered 
 over the country 200 miles seeking a rest 
 ing place, and no resting place could be 
 found, for the land everywhere Avas occu- 
 pied, or else claimed by someone. At that 
 time Te AAva o te Atua Avas held by a sec- 
 tion of NgatiaAva tribe, avIio not long before 
 that had expelled the Tini o Taunu from 
 the district. They did not intend that 
 Te Rangihouhiri should remain Avith them 
 too long, and by and by as tbe visitors 
 manifested no intention of moving on, an 
 intimation to go, too rude and realistic to 
 be misapprehended, Avas given to them. 
 
 Then Rangihouhiri, the chief of the tribe 
 of that name, sent Tamapahore on a 
 friendly visit to Tatahau, the chief of 
 Tapuika, at Maketu, and charged him to 
 spy out the land there. Tamapahore Avent 
 with a suitable retinue, and was hospitably 
 received by Ongakoliua, another chief of 
 Tapuika. When he returned, Tamapahore 
 reported that the place was most desirable 
 in every respect. The aspect Avas pleasant, 
 the land good, the cultivations beautiful, and 
 fish of all kinds Avas abundant in the sea 
 and rivers of Waihi and Kaituna, but the 
 place Avas very populous, and Tatahau Avas 
 a great chief, and closely connected Avith 
 Waitaha a Hei, avIio Avere a powerful tribe 
 also. However, the tempting character of 
 the prize outweighed in Rangihouliiri’s 
 opinion all consideration of difficulty, and 
 war with Tatahau Avas determined on, but 
 j a pretext was required to do the thing pro- 
 I perly, and Rangihouhiri ivas too con* 
 
ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 21 
 
 scientious to misbehave, or act unjustifi- 
 ably in the matter. Therefore, he applied 
 to Tuwewea, the chief of Ngatiawa, at Te 
 Awa o te Atua, who readily furnished the 
 information required. Oddly enough, the 
 casus belli took its rise out of the Killing 
 of their own man Tukoko, who, it will be 
 remembered, had dibbled his seed instead of 
 sowing broadcast, and that point being 
 settled satisfactorily, preparation was made 
 for the campaign, before entering on which 
 I have a few general remarks to make. 
 
 We have seen that the Rangiliouhiri tribe 
 were Awa of Toi, that the tribe at Whaka- 
 tane were Awa of Hawaiki, and that these 
 two Awa tribes became connected by mar- 
 riage and other causes, due to amicable 
 propinquity, also by a portion of the 
 latter (Te Kareke) being driven by civil 
 war into the former and being absorbed by 
 them. We may suppose that the force of 
 these affinities was greater when proxi- 
 mate ; operating as it were upon an inverse 
 ratio to the square of their distance, and 
 extended over a considerable area, includ- 
 ing Tawhitirahi ; and when in time the in- 
 tervening connection consolidated, it broke 
 up into tribes and hapus of aboriginal or 
 immigrant appellation, according to the 
 degree of relationship of each to one or 
 other of the centres of settlement, the 
 former being known as the Whakatohea 
 hapus, the latter as Ngatiawa ; but in the 
 cases of Te Rangiliouhiri of Tawhitirahi 
 and Ngatirawharo of Oliiwa (both inti- 
 mately connected together), the Awa of 
 Toi have called themselves Ngatiawa, for 
 they are related to Ngatiawa, and the 
 more popular name has been adhered to by 
 them. 
 
 It was in the summer time that the 
 Rangiliouhiri tribe set out from Te Awa 
 c te Atua and marched towards Maketu. 
 1 he main body camped at Pukehina under 
 Uangihouhiri the chief, while a strong van- 
 guard took up a position at the ford at 
 Waihi, giving out that they were a fishing 
 party. Presently ten men crossed Waihi 
 and searching among the plantations on 
 the hill above Maketu found a woman 
 at work by herself collecting caterpillars 
 off her kumara plants. She was Punoho, 
 Tatahau’s daughter. Her they outraged. 
 The last of the party to approach was 
 Werapinaki, a cripple. Filled with rage she 
 derided his appearance, saying ‘ he would be 
 a god if it were night time, in the day he is a 
 hideous spectre,’ when with a blow of his 
 weapon he killed her, the body was thrown 
 into a kumara pit where it could not be 
 found. When Punoho was missed her 
 tribe sought everywhere in vain, not a 
 trace of her was seen. They suspected the 
 Rangiliouhiri of foul play, and sent a 
 neutral woman to enquire. The answer 
 the messenger received was ‘ Yes, she was 
 
 killed by Werapinaki.’ Then a party of 
 Tapuika stealthily crossed Waihi at night 
 and slew Werapinaki, who was a chief, as 
 he slept apart under an awning, the 
 weather being hot, and next day the war 
 began. The Rangiliouhiri took the initia- 
 tive by assaulting and carrying Tatahau’s 
 great pa at Pukemaire (where the old 
 European redoubt stands). Tatahau and 
 many of his tribe were killed, the rest and 
 two of his sons escaped to Rangiuru. All 
 the smaller pas followed the fate of Puke- 
 maire. In this war the Rangiliouhiri 
 forces were materially strengthened by a 
 section of their tribe that came from the 
 Uriwera country, where it had taken 
 refuge after the fall of Tawhitirahi. 
 
 Then the Ngaoho (Arawa) commenced a 
 series of campaigns for the recovery of their 
 lost territory and prestige. The' first was 
 by Waitaha a Hei, who came from East 
 Tauranga, Tatahau’s mother was of their 
 tribe, and fought a battle, Te Kakaho, at 
 Maketu ford and retired, for the weight of 
 the Rangiliouhiri arms was greater than 
 they had expected. To mend this unsatis- 
 factory state of affairs Tapuika strength- 
 ened themselves by matrimonial alliances 
 with Ngatimaru at the Thames, and with 
 the people at Maungakawa, from whom 
 they got assistance in the next campaign. 
 In the same way they tried without success 
 to avail themselves of the help of the 
 Hawaikian Awa, or Wlianau Ananui, at 
 Maraenui. On the other hand the Rangi- 
 houhiri summoned to their aid two Opotiki 
 tribes, one of them (such is the irony of 
 fate) was Ngatipukenga, who had com- 
 menced all their troubles by driving them 
 out of their home at Tawhitirahi. 
 
 When reaily the combined forces of 
 Ngatimaru (Tainui) under Te ltuinga, 
 Ranginui (Takitumu) under Kinonui, who 
 was carried in a litter, also Waitaha and 
 Tapuika under Tiritiri and Manu, sons of 
 Tatahau, advanced upon Maketu. The 
 first encounter was a night attack upon an 
 outwork, Herekaki pa, which was taken 
 and Tutenaehe the commander was slain. 
 He was the eldest son of Te Rangiliouhiri, 
 who, when he heard the intelligence, ex- 
 claimed ‘ O ! my son you have gone by the 
 night tide, I will follow by the morning 
 tide !’ He alluded to the tide because it 
 is the custom in that part of the country, 
 where much travelling is done by the 
 beach, to wait for low tide to make a 
 journey. Sure enough the old man’s 
 words came true, and by the morning tide 
 he followed his son to the unknown world. 
 
 The next morning opened with the be- 
 ginning of the battle of Poporohuamea, in 
 which great numbers were engaged, and 
 that lasted all day. The field of battle 
 was on the high ground immediately above 
 the entrance to Waihi River, and in the 
 
22 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 valley there that descends through the 
 high ground towards the sea coast. It was 
 there that the Maui Maori and the Hawai- 
 kian Maori joined issue in perhaps the 
 greatest battle of the open held that was 
 ever fought by the two races. The struggle 
 ended at last' in mutual exhaustion. The 
 party in possession retired to its pas, and 
 the other side, who had tried to oust them, 
 gave up the attempt, re-crossed the Kai- 
 tuna, and returned to the places they had 
 come from. Te Rangiliouliiri is the only 
 great chief whose name is handed down as 
 killed in this battle. From the death of 
 Te Rangiliouliiri the tribe of that name 
 became known by the name of Ngaete- 
 rangi, by which name they are called at 
 the present day. 
 
 After the battle of Poporohuamea the 
 Ngaoho tribes (Arawa) of the lake dis- 
 trict, took up the quarrel and determined 
 to expel the intruding Ngaeterangi. A ear 
 after year they sent armies to Maketu not 
 one of which made any impression on 
 Ngaeterangi. The first army fought a 
 little and returned home. The next was 
 defeated with great slaughter at Kawa 
 swamp, near Maketu, and their chief 
 Taiwere was killed ; that army returned to 
 the lakes. Smarting under defeat and loss 
 the Ngaoho again set forth to be again 
 hurled back at lvawa with the loss of 
 Moekaha, Taiwere’s brother. They had 
 as many killed at Kawa No. 2 battle as at 
 Kawa No. 1. Assistance was now sought 
 and obtained from Ngatihaua tribe, of 
 the Upper Thames, and another campaign 
 opened against Maketu, when a general 
 action Kakaho No. 2 resulted in the 
 crushing defeat of the combined Ngaoho 
 and Ngatihaua. Haua, the chief of Ngati- 
 haua, was slain, and Ariariterangi, the 
 brother of Taiwere and Moekaha '\as 
 drowned in making his escape. After this 
 the Ngaoho, or Arawa, determined to 
 avenge the death of Ariariterangi, and his 
 son, Te Roro te Rangi, led an army against 
 Maketu. This expedition effected nothing. 
 After fighting awhile Roro te Rangi made 
 peace with Ngaeterangi, offerings were 
 given to cement the peace, .and Roro te 
 Rangi returned home to Rotorua. 
 
 Thus ended a war that had lasted many 
 years, involving many tribes and much 
 bloodshed, there had been several pitched 
 battles in the field and the conquerors had 
 stormed thirteen pas. Peace \\ as made 
 with the Tauranga tribes of Waitaha a 
 Hei and Ngatiranginui (Waitaha Turauta 
 on the east side of Maketu had taken no 
 part in the war). As for Tapuika, their 
 broken power was not worthy of considera- 
 tion and was simply ignored. Ngaete- 
 rangi now held undisturbed possession of 
 
 » r _ x -1 ci.novo irulau ni' 
 
 way to the lakes ; with them ' v ® 1 ® ‘If!?!-!, 
 at.il Ngatiwhakahinga, a eo-tnbe or Miction 
 of Ngaeterangi, that hail not ® 
 
 out of Opotiki by Ngatiha. N ^tipuken^a 
 (formerly called Ngatiha) 1 eturne.t to 
 Waiamiafter the battle of Poporohuamea, 
 where they had suffered much ; >Kaeterangi 
 availed themselves of their assistance at 
 the battle, but their presence was not pai- 
 ticularly acceptable afterwards. " e shall, 
 however, hear more of this most pugnacious 
 tribe, which, as it had rendered otheis 
 homeless, by a just retribution became 
 homeless itself. 
 
 nui&i - — t , 
 
 Maketu and about 75 square miles of ex 
 cellent land, their territory extending half. 
 
 Such was the peaceful condition of the 
 political horizon to Ngaeterangi, as restum 
 on their laurels they enjoyed the tranquil 
 outlook, when suddenly another vai-clouc 
 rose of aspect most terrible ; they were pre- 
 cipitated into it and all was strife again. 
 
 It happened that a canoe went out trom 
 Tauranga to fish in the open sea. lwo 
 chiefs were in this canoe, named laura- 
 wheke and Te Turanganui. A westerly 
 gale arose and drove the canoe betoie it 
 until it was lost and the people all drowned 
 excepting one man, Taurawheke, who 
 escaped by swimming to Okurei, Maketu 
 Point. Here he was found in an ex- 
 hausted state by a woman who was look- 
 ing for shellfish amongst the rocks. She 
 took him to a sheltered place under the 
 cliffs and went to fetch food and clothes 
 for him. On the way she met her husband 
 and told him how she had found Taura- 
 wheke and where she had left him. As 
 soon as she had departed on her errand the 
 husband Avent and killed TauraAvheke and 
 ate of him, and continued thus to indulge 
 himself from time to time secretly, the 
 people of his tribe, Ngaeterangi, knowing 
 nothing about it, but his wife knew. 
 
 At Tauranga it was supposed that the 
 canoe had been lost at sea with all hands. 
 Sometime, hoAvever, after this, the man, 
 evidently a brutal felloAv, heat his wife 
 severely, and she exclaimed, ‘Oil can 
 punish you by telling Avhat you did.’ The 
 busy-bodies of the tribe (of whom there 
 always is, have been, and will he a number 
 everywhere) iioav sought to penetrate the 
 mystery of the wife’s words, nor stopped 
 until the murder Avas out, and all over the 
 place, and news of it had been taken 
 to Tauranga. Ngatiranginui and Wai- 
 talm were not sIoav to seek revenge. They 
 caught tAvo Ngaeterangi chiefs at Otaiparia 
 at Te Tunm getting toetoe. They Avere 
 TuwhiAvhia and his son, Tauaiti. The 
 father they killed, and putting his headless 
 body into his canoe sent it adrift to float 
 down the stream to Maketu. The son 
 they took to Tauranga and killed at their 
 leisure by torture and mutilation. In his 
 agony Tauaiti said to his persecutors * My 
 nain is shall oav compared to the ocean of 
 
23 
 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI 
 
 pain to come,’ .signifying, thereby, what 
 their pain would be like before long. 
 
 The drift canoe was seen at Maketu and 
 told its own tale. Intelligence, too, of 
 Tauaiti’s suffering and deatk was subse- 
 quently received, and entered deeply into 
 toe feelings of the people. Their rage at 
 the Tauranga people was dreadful, to 
 whom they determined that the cup of 
 wrath should be administered and drunk 
 to the dregs. Then was seen how Kotorerua, 
 the younger brother of Tauaiti, rose to the- 
 occasion. Putangimaru, a chief of Rau- 
 kawa, at Waikato, was travelling at this 
 time and came to Maketu ; he was known 
 to be a wise man and powerfully possessed 
 of the art of divination. Kotorerua sug- 
 gested to his sister, Tuwera, that she 
 should be complacent to their guest. 
 Putangi was pleased and Tuwera returned 
 with him to his home as his wife, and 
 Kotorerua was invited to follow them to 
 their place at Hinuera in order that 
 Putangi and he might have opportunity to 
 divine and make plans together. 
 
 To avoid his enemies at Tauranga, 
 Kotorerua travelled through the forest by 
 Otawa to Te Pawhakaliorohoro, where he 
 found a guide left for him by Putangimaru 
 named Ika. They trav elled to Whenua- 
 kura, whence all the country could be seen 
 around. Ika pointed out the road and the 
 place where Putangimaru lived. Kotorerua 
 having got this information, killed Ika 
 unawares, because he wanted some portions 
 of his body to divine with before he met 
 Putangimaru. Having performed this 
 office, lie pursued his journey, taking Ika’s 
 head with him. Putangimaru received 
 Kotorerua with distinction, and asked if lie 
 had seen Ika. ‘ Yes,’ said Kotorerua ; 
 k he brought me through the forest, and 
 then I was able to find my way by myself ; 
 so I killed Ika, as I had to divine before I 
 met you.’ 
 
 ‘ You acted very wisely,’ said Putangi. 
 
 ‘ T have brought Tka’s head for us both 
 to divine upon,’ said Kotorerua. This also 
 received tlie approval of Putangimaru. 
 Then they divined carefully and found the 
 auguries favourable, and they took counsel 
 together and formed the plan of a campaign. 
 This done, Kotorerua returned to Maketu 
 to push his preparations, and in due time 
 he attacked the large pa of Ranginui and 
 Waitaha at Maunganui. 
 
 The pa of Maunganui, situated on the 
 hill of that name, covered about 100 acres. 
 The fortifications crossed the top of the 
 hill and ran down each side, then, 
 circling round the base towards the south, 
 they met. Waitaha held the east side 
 and Ngatiranginui the west side of the pa, 
 which enjoyed a beautiful view and 
 splendid position on the shore of the 
 harbour. The fortifications were so 
 
 I JFK AND HisTOttV. 
 
 strong and the garrison so numerous that 
 the pa seemed impregnable to Maori 
 weapons — no matter what the prowess, the 
 situation, with the means at command, was 
 unassailable. It was to take this pa that 
 Putangimaru and Kotorerua had devised a 
 plan as daring as it was able, and, perhaps, 
 the only one by which the object could 
 have been effected. On the top of the hill 
 on the north side of the pa, there was a 
 point 850 feet above the sea, which, under 
 certain circumstances, would be vulnerable. 
 Kotorerua undertook to solve the problem 
 by inducing the required conditions and 
 making the attack at that point, a narrow 
 pass, Hanked by walls of rock, and to 
 which the approach from below, for an 
 attacking party, was exceedingly steep. 
 That point once secured, the pa must fall, 
 for it was the key to the position. A 
 handful of defenders, however, could hold 
 it against any number from without. 
 Kotorerua’s scheme was to show no inten- 
 tion of making war on Kinonui, the chief 
 of Maunganui ; on the contrary, he would 
 lull suspicion by appearing to conciliate 
 him with a handsome present. The offer- 
 ing should come to Kino late on the even- 
 ing of a dark and stormy night. Kino and 
 his people would then be occupied fully in 
 entertaining the present-bearers, or pre- 
 tending to entertain them, and in counsel- 
 ling amongst themselves and trying to 
 fathom this new and unexpected departure 
 by Kotorerua. In this way, many hours, 
 perhaps the whole night, must elapse before 
 Kinonui and his people would think of 
 taking action of any kind, and during 
 these precious moments of irresolution 
 Kotorerua intended to destroy him ; for, 
 meanwhile, under cover of darkness and 
 storm, the whole force of Ngaeterangi 
 would be thrown into the pa through the 
 gap on the top of the hill. The army to 
 perform this service would have to risk the 
 storm in canoes, passing along the coast 
 unseen at night, and landing immediately 
 below the gap in a narrow channel between 
 the rocks called Te Awaiti. The bearers 
 of the present were to slip out of the pa in 
 the darkness and cut the lashings of the 
 topsides of all the canoes on the beach and 
 rocks in front of the pa. If all went well, 
 this rather complicated scheme would no 
 doubt realise the hopes of its authors, but 
 there were obviously several awkward con- 
 tingencies connected with it, which must 
 have caused considerable anxiety at the 
 time to those charged with its execution. 
 It happened, however, that everything 
 came to pass exactly as Putangimaru and 
 Kotorerua had planned. 
 
 One evening, Kotorerua and one hundred 
 and forty followers, armed, presented 
 themselves unexpectedly before the fortifi- 
 cations of Maunganui, bearing a present to 
 
24 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE ANI) HISTORY. 
 
 Kinonui of one hundred baskets of kokowai 
 (red ochre) ; it was houru, tlie kind pre- 
 pared by burning, and, it was said, had 
 been obtained with much labour from the 
 streams of Kaikokopu. The rain had over- 
 taken them on the road, and they ex- 
 plained that they had been delayed while 
 preventing their kokowai from getting wet. 
 As it was too late to go through the 
 formalities of presentation, the baskets 
 were stacked at the quarters assigned to 
 the visitors. Thus an inspection of the 
 present was avoided, which was just as 
 well, seeing that each was only a basket of 
 earth, with a layer of kokowai at the top. 
 Kotorerua and such of his followers as he 
 desired to accompany him were taken to 
 the large meeting-house in the pa, where 
 the distinguished men of the pa met them. 
 This large house, belonging to Kinonui, 
 stood on the little plateau above the place 
 that is now called Stony Point ; and then 
 ensued between the host and his guest a 
 scene, sustained for hours, of courtly 
 urbanity and matchless dissimulation, 
 covering a substratum of deadly hate ; each 
 with unparalleled ability was playing for 
 the almost immediate destruction of the 
 other and of all who were with him. On 
 the one hand, Kotorerua had to appear at 
 ease and without a trace of anxiety, con- 
 versing about anything or nothing, to gain 
 time and disarm suspicion — and this, not- 
 withstanding his men might be discovered 
 at any moment tampering with the canoes 
 on the beach below the pa, and notwith- 
 standing the safety of all concerned, and 
 the success of the enterprise, depended upon 
 the arrival in time of the canoes through 
 the storm. On the other hand, Kinonui 
 had at all hazards to keep his guest 
 interested until daylight, when his people 
 would be able to see what they were doing, 
 for it was intended that Kotorerua and all 
 bis party should then be killed ; they 
 coula not kill them in the night without 
 accident and confusion, find some might 
 escape in the darkness. Meanwhile, 
 Kotorerua was not to be allowed to re- 
 join his men ; but to kill him now would 
 alarm them, and many would try to escape, 
 therefore, the conversation was kept up 
 between these two great actors, each 
 working for his own ends, as they sat 
 facing one another with apparent indiffer- 
 ence, but. watchful of every movement. 
 Now and then an attendant of one of the 
 chiefs would come in or go out, seemingly 
 about nothing in particular, but really 
 keeping communication open with their re- 
 spective parties outside. 
 
 At length, Kotorerua was made aware 
 that his time for action had arrived. All 
 his staff* had left the meeting-house as if 
 fatigued ; presently one of them returned 
 about something and went out again, 
 
 leaving the door open after him. Koto- 
 rerua rose, and in a moment had passed 
 swiftly out. Kinonui had not time to pre- 
 vent nim, so unexpected was the move- 
 ment of the younger man and so sudden ; 
 he called after Kotorerua and ran to stop 
 him, but it was too late, the sliding door 
 was slammed in his face and the lanyard 
 fastened outside. The time for mock cere- 
 mony has passed, that which is real must 
 now take place. A torch is handed to 
 Kotorerua and quickly applied to the raupo 
 wall, the meeting-house is wreathed in 
 flames, and Kinonui with his associates 
 are immolated at the ceremony of their 
 own funeral pyre. 
 
 Then, by the illumination cast around, 
 an avalanche of war was seen descending 
 from the mountain-top, sweeping its course 
 right down to the sea, and crushing the 
 people as it rolled over them. Such as 
 escaped the dread invasion tied to their 
 canoes and thrust off into the harbour, but 
 the canoes, already wrecked, quickly filled 
 with water, and the occupants were 
 drowned in trying to swim to the opposite 
 and distant shore. 
 
 Thus, with the head rather than the 
 arm, did Kotorerua break the power of 
 Ngatiranginui and Waitaha, and it was all 
 done by a covp de main in a few short hours. 
 The conquest of the rest of the district of 
 Tauranga speedily followed. Katikati 
 and the islands on the north side of the 
 harbour were first subdued. This was 
 Kinonui’s own domain, and the poor people 
 in it were too panic-stricken to offer any 
 effectual resistance. Tamapahore took the 
 Waitaha country on the east, includ- 
 ing the possessions of the Kaponga, 
 liapu of Ngatiranginui, at Waimapu, 
 but the lands of the liapus of Kuraroa, 
 between Waimapu and Wairoa, and 
 Ituinga, between Wairoa and Waipapa, 
 were still intact when Kotorerua returned 
 to Tauranga after a temporary absence. 
 He was then surprised and displeased to find 
 that terms of peace hail been granted to 
 Ngatiranginui at Otumoetai pa, and that 
 the same had been ratified by a marriage. 
 Kotorerua refused absolutely to be a party 
 to the arrangement, and he immediately 
 attacked Otumoetai and destroyed the 
 people in the pa. This, with tlie fall of 
 some minor pas on the south side of the 
 harbour, completed the subjugation of the 
 Tauranga country by Ngaeterangi. 
 
 lvotorerua’s campaign of Maunganui de- 
 notes consummate generalship, with troops 
 of the finest quality and discipline, and a 
 high military and naval organisation. 
 Only with such material could such a 
 daring and complicated scheme have been 
 carried out, but the General knew the 
 quality of his men, and therein he showed 
 his capacity. The maxim, that for des- 
 
 n 
 
ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 26 
 
 perate cases desperate remedies are neces- 
 sary, must, I suppose, be taken as a 
 sufficient warrant for the General when 
 staking everything upon the unknown 
 quantity of a gale of wind at sea, but the 
 auguries had been favourable, and we can- 
 not tell how much that influenced him. I 
 have myself been impressed with the un- 
 questioning faith the old Maori chiefs had 
 in the auguries vouchsafed to them. I re- 
 member such an one who went through 
 many battles in the belief that no bullet 
 could harm him. He might be wounded, 
 he said (experience showed that), but he 
 could not be killed. He died in his bed, 
 with a reputation that extended throughout 
 the North Island. 
 
 Wolfe, going by boat, took the enemy in 
 rear at night on the Heights of Abraham, 
 but he had not a sea voyage by boat in 
 storm, and a night landing through 
 breakers on the coast, to make. On the 
 contrary, he had a river so calm to go upon 
 that, we are told, he recited Gray’s 
 ‘ Elegy ’ to his staff at that time ; nor had 
 he to enter the enemy’s camp and delude 
 him, while in the act of destroying his 
 means of retreat, by breaking his boats 
 not one hundred yards away. Yet there 
 was a rift in Koto rerun’s lute which well 
 nigh spoilt the harmony of his combina- 
 tions. He was a young man, and his 
 uncle, Tamapahore, was a veteran leader in 
 battles. On this occasion, the latter, with 
 his division, held aloof and did not join the 
 flotilla, which was kept waiting for hours, 
 until the very last moment possible, when 
 at length he put in an appearance. This 
 happened presumably through jealousy : 
 however, pressure or loyalty to Ngaete- 
 rangi prevailed in the end, but Tamapahore 
 never got a quarter in the pa at Mau- 
 nganui. The place he chose was made too 
 uncomfortable for occupation ; the other 
 Ngaeterangi rolled great stones down the 
 hill into his location ; he took the hint, 
 and made a pa elsewhere at Maungatapu. 
 The jealousy, if such, of this old Maori 
 warrior was natural enough ; more highly 
 civilised soldiers have felt the same, and 
 some have not come out of the ordeal as 
 well. Witness, for instance, the mis- 
 conduct of that Imperial Archduke, who, 
 by withholding his hand, caused his 
 brother to lose the field of Wagram. The 
 Waitaha remnant fled to Te Rotoiti ; the 
 remnant of Ngatiranginui, as already 
 stated, escaped into the forest at the back 
 of Tepuna, and there they became known 
 as Te Pirirakau, which is their name still. 
 
 It will be remembered how the aborigines 
 permitted a few of the immigrants by 
 Takitumu to settle at Tauranga ; those 
 persons kept up a connection with their 
 compatriots at Whangara. Kahungungu, 
 the ancestor of the great tribe of that 
 
 name, was a Takitumuan of Tauranga, 
 who left his native place and went south to 
 live amongst the other Takitumuans 
 because his elder brother had grossly in- 
 sulted him, by striking him on the mouth 
 with a kahawai (a fish). Similarly, two 
 hundred and forty years after the settle- 
 ment at Whangara had been made, 
 Ranginui moved with his people from 
 Hangaroa (between Poverty Bay and 
 Wairoa, H.B. ) to Tauranga, and camped 
 on the left bank of the Wairoa, near where 
 the bridge on the Katikati road is now. 
 They were squatting on land belonging to 
 Ngamaraina, a numerous tribe, who owned 
 the whole country west of Waimapu River. 
 The Ngamaraina resented the encroach- 
 ment, and, to put a stop to it, caused two 
 Ngatiranginui children to be drowned by 
 their own children while bathing together 
 in the Wairoa. The Ranginui children 
 fled home and told what had been done to 
 them. The tribe considered the matter, 
 and next day the children were directed to 
 return and bathe as though nothing had 
 happened, and when the Ngamaraina 
 children joined them they were without 
 fail to drown some of them ; this the 
 children did, and reported that they had 
 drowned a Rangatira girl. War followed, 
 resulting in time in the destruction and 
 expatriation of Ngamaraina, and this is 
 how Ngatiranginui became possessed of 
 Tauranga, where they lived undisturbed one 
 hundred and twenty years, until Ngaete- 
 rangi came and took it from them, about 
 two hundred and forty years ago.* 
 
 The Ngatipukenga Tribe. 
 
 I will now mention Ngatipukenga more 
 particularly, who formerly lived at Waiaua, 
 east of Opotiki, and were called Ngatiha. 
 We have seen that they drove the 
 Rangihouhiri away from Tawhitirahi, also 
 that when the same Rangihouhiri took 
 Maketu and killed Tatahau they, the 
 Ngatipukenga, came to Maketu, hoping to 
 join in the spoil, and took part at the battle 
 of Poporohuamea. Their chiefs at that 
 battle were Kahukino and Te Tini o Awa. 
 The tribe, I should say, was of the ancient 
 aboriginal stock. At the battle named 
 they suffered severely, and recrossed the 
 Wailii, whence they returned home. The 
 Rangihouhiri had not forgotten Tawhiti- 
 rahi and did not solicit their aid at the 
 campaign of Maunganui. When they 
 heard, however, of Kotorerua’s success at 
 at Maunganui, they hurried up to Tauranga 
 to try and share in the spoil, and this time 
 
 *In the story of Te Waharoa, written twenty- 
 nine years ago, though not published until the 
 year following, I have placed the conquest of 
 Tauranga by Ngaeterangi at ‘about one 
 hundred and fifty years ago.’ My unit then 
 for a generation was twenty years. My unit 
 now is thirty years. Moreover, that was 
 written one generation ago. 
 
 I 
 
26 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 they managed to get a large tract of land 
 next to Tamapahore’s selection on the west 
 side. Here they became so overbearing 
 that all the Ngaeterangi hapus united 
 against them about one hundred j r ears ago, 
 and drove them all completely out of the 
 Tauranga district. At their rout they 
 tied by way of Whareroa (where they left 
 their canoes thickly lining the beach, which 
 ever after was called Whakapaewaka) to 
 Orangimate pa, half way to Maketu. 
 Thus the measure meted by them to Te 
 Rangihouhiri was measured to them by 
 Ngaeterangi, Rangihouhiri’s descendants. 
 
 After this expulsion Ngatipukenga hated 
 Ngaeterangi bitterly, and never lost an 
 opportunity of joining the enemies of that 
 tribe. 
 
 When Tapuika fell before Ngaeterangi at 
 Te Karaka, Ngatipukenga came and helped 
 them to obtain revenge at Te Kakaho. 
 
 When Ngatiwhakahinga retired from 
 Maketu before Ngatemaru, Ngatipukenga 
 went and occupied that place. 
 
 Then Te Rarau from Waikato and 
 Ngaeterangi attacked them, seeking to 
 drive them away from Maketu, but effected 
 nothing. 
 
 Then Ngapuhi, armed with guns, came, 
 at whose approach Ngatipukenga fled in- 
 land to Te Whakatangaroa, near Te Hiapo, 
 and Maketu was evacuated by them. Rut 
 some time after Ngatitematera, from 
 Hauraki, attacked and took Te Whaka- 
 tangaroa, and Ngatipukenga fled to the 
 lakes. 
 
 A war party of Ngatirawharo, allies of 
 Ngaeterangi, going from Tauranga to at- 
 tack Okahu pa at Rotoiti, were encountered 
 euroute by Ngatipukenga, and anaction was 
 fought at Te Papanui, where Ngatipukenga 
 were defeated. 
 
 After this the elder Taipari, of Hauraki 
 made peace with Ngatipukenga. 
 
 Ngapuhi came a second tune to Tauranga. 
 and on this occasion joined Ngaeterangi 
 against Ngatipukenga, Orangimate pa was 
 taken with much slaughter, and the 
 refugees fled to Rotorua. At length 
 Ngatipukenga decided to go to Hauraki, 
 whence their feud could be carried on more 
 easily and effectively. They, therefore, left 
 Orangimate and Maketu, to which places 
 they had returned from the lakes, and 
 joined Ngatimaru at the Thames, by whom 
 some of them were located at Manaia, near 
 Coromandel, where they are now known as 
 Te Tawera. 
 
 From the Thames they went with 
 Ngatimaru to Maungatautari, from 
 whence they operated against Ngaeterangi 
 thrice, losing two engagements at T< 
 Taumata and gaining one, in which the 
 Ngaeterangi chief, Tarakiteawa, was 
 killed. 
 
 Then followed the taking of Te Papa pa 
 
 at Tauranga by Te Rohu, of the Thames 
 
 where Ngatipukenga were present and 
 
 the assault. Te 1 apa was 
 in utu for the murder by 
 
 joined in 
 destroyed 
 
 Ngaeterangi of Te Hiwi, near the Wairoa 
 
 River. Te Hiwi was a chief of Ngatirau- 
 
 k °From Te Papa Te Rohu advanced to 
 Maketu, Ngatipukeng i accompanying him. 
 They fouiiiT the pa occupied by Ngapotiki 
 of Ngaeterangi. The pa was taken and 
 
 many Ngapotiki were siain. 
 
 Again Ngatipukenga followed Ngatimai u 
 through the war at Ilaowhenua and 
 Taumatawiwi, and after the defeat suffered 
 there Ngatipukenga fled to Rotorua, where 
 they hardly escaped death because they 
 had murdered Te Kuiti at Rotorua, on a 
 former visit, and because they had killed 
 Te Oneone at Maketu. These were very 
 good reasons why they should be killed and 
 eaten, but they were saved through an old 
 marriage of one of their chiefs with a 
 Ngaitwhakane woman of rank. However, 
 Ngatiwhakane would not allow them to 
 remain at Ohinemutu, and they passed on 
 to Maketu, which place they held until Te 
 Waharoa took their pa and killed nearly 
 the whole of them. The remnant fled back 
 to Rotorua. When Maketu was re taken 
 by the Arawa this remnant returned to 
 Maketu, where it has remained to the 
 present time. 
 
 During the civil war at Tauranga in the 
 fifties Ngatipukenga were invited from 
 Manaia to help Ngatihe, with the promise of 
 receiving land at Ngapeke, at Tauranga. 
 They came and got the land, but rendered 
 no military service for it, for the war was 
 over before they arrived. A number of 
 Ngatipukenga live at Ngapeke still. 
 
 The little tui was the ruin of Ngatipu- 
 kenga. It involved them in a long 
 struggle with Ngaeterangi that lasted for 
 generations, and reduced their number to 
 such an extent that they ceased to have 
 power to disturb anyone ; moreover they 
 lost all their lands at Opotiki and Tauranga 
 through the restless and pugnacious 
 spirit which followed their adventure at 
 Tawhitirahi. 
 
 Ngatirawharo Trtbe. 
 
 Ngatirawharo were like Ngaeterangi, 
 only more Hawaikian, perhaps. Originally 
 they lived at Ohiwa, whence they movea 
 to Waiohau, on the Rangitaiki River. 
 The Ngatipukeko, a tribe of Ngatiawa, 
 objected to what they considered a trespass 
 on their land, and attacked them. Maru- 
 puku was the chief of Ngatipukeko, who 
 led this war, in which there was much 
 fighting, lasting a long time. The follow- 
 ing battles were fought : Whakaaronga, 
 where Ngatirawharo suffered severely ; 
 then Putahinui and Pounatehe were 
 engagements at which Irawharo were 
 
ancient Maori Like and history. 
 
 27 
 
 beaten and driven many miles toward the 
 sea. This happened about the time that 
 Te Rangihouhiri made their progress from 
 Opotiki to Tauranga. Xgatipukeko con- 
 tinued from time to time, with 
 more or less success, to Avage war. 
 They fought at Otamarakau at Waiohau, 
 at Tamahanga near Raerua, at Tapuae, 
 and at Omataroa. On each occasion 
 they improved their position, and 
 after the action last named Ngatirawharo 
 were compelled to move off their land ami 
 cross the river at Te Teko ; but the people 
 at Te Teko would not alloAv them to remain 
 there, so they had no option but to move 
 on, nor stopped until, with reduced 
 numbers, they arrived at Otamarakau 
 at Waitahanui. There, and at Te 
 KuataniAvha, they settled, and remained 
 a long time. At length they joined their 
 friends, the Ngaeterangi, at Tauranga, 
 where they have lived ever since. This 
 tribe has forgotten that it has aboriginal 
 blood in its veins. 
 
 Tiie War ok Xgatipukekoof Mataatua 
 With Ngatimanawa of Te A raw a. 
 
 Shortly after the termination of their 
 Avar with the Kareke tribe at Te Poroa, 
 Xgatipukeko, under Te Muinga, Avent to 
 Te Whaiti to live. Te Muinga’s example 
 Avas not immediately folloAved by all the 
 chiefs, but in the course of four or five 
 years all the great chiefs had moved from 
 Whakatane to Te Whaiti, Telie only re- 
 maining at Papaka to take care of that 
 place (Papaka, it will be remembered, Avas 
 the strong pa at Whakatane that Tama- 
 paliore Avas prowling round on the night, 
 Avhen he grossly insulted a chiefs daughter). 
 In time about six hundred fighting men had 
 settled at Te Whaiti, Avhose chiefs Avere 
 Kiln, Mokai, Tautari in his youth, Te 
 Mahuliu, and Te Moeroa. Their principal 
 pa wasNihoAvhati. Tt happened one day that 
 Tamahi of theirs set out on a journey to 
 Whakatane, for numbers of the tribe con- 
 tinually passed and repassed betAveen 
 the tAvo places. When he arrived at 
 Puketapu, a pa at Mangahouhi, Tamahi 
 met a Avar party of the Uriwera, under 
 Paiteraagi, who sleAV him. Ngatihaka saAv 
 the deed and took the body of Tamahi and 
 buried it. Soon after, three men of 
 XgatimanaAva passing by, dug up the body 
 and ate it. They Avere Manakore, 
 TareAvarua, and Matarehua. When Ngati- 
 pukeko heard of it, all the body had been 
 consumed. 
 
 Then Kilii led Xgatipukeko aAvay from 
 the members of all other tribes to a remote 
 place in the forest, Avhere he said he wished 
 a clearing to be made, but Avhen they had 
 arrived on the ground he cast aside his 
 stone axe and grasped his Aveapon, they 
 all did the same, and a council of war was 
 
 held to knoAv Avliat should be done. It was 
 unanimously decided to avenge the insult 
 offered by XgatimanaAva, and this was 
 done by making a night attack under Kihi 
 on Parakakariki pa, near Tutu Tarata. 
 They killed Te Matau and vindicated their 
 honour. Then peace Avas ostensibly made, 
 and hostilities ceased. 
 
 After the foregoing episode messages 
 came to Xgatipukeko at Te Whaiti, from 
 the tribes at Taupo and Whanganui, asking 
 them to come and fight for them. The 
 tribe was summoned to a council of war, 
 and Kihi urged the enterprise saying to 
 the chiefs Matua and Taimimiti : ‘ Go and 
 lead the fight.’ They ansAvered : ‘Xo, go 
 you and lead, for you are our fighting chief.’ 
 (Kihi was probably afraid to leave the home 
 of the tribe in the care of the tAvo chiefs 
 named.) HoAvever, he Avent Avith a Avar 
 party of seven score men, and had a very 
 successful campaign, taking pas at 
 Whangaehu, near Whanganui 
 
 During Kiln’s absence Matua and 
 Taimimiti \vent aAvay on a fishing excur- 
 sion (but Ngatimanawa chose to say they 
 Avent to kill men in utu for the violation of 
 Te Wharekohurn, Tautari’s daughter). 
 They Avere busy catching eels Avhen they 
 received an invitation from XgatimanaAva, 
 at Waiirohia near by. They accepted the 
 proffered hospitality, and, as a reAvard 
 for their simplicity, they and their 
 party of seven Avere slain. Having 
 thus committed themsel\ T es, Xgati- 
 manaAva immediately arose and de- 
 stroyed two Xgatipukeko villages, 
 Ngatahuna and another ; only one person 
 escaped, ivho lied from the latter to 
 XihoAvhati. But though Avarned, Nihowhati 
 Avas nevertheless destroyed, the bulk of the 
 people being away. T*e Muinga and one 
 hundred people were burnt at XihoAvhati 
 in a large house in the pa, called Te Umu 
 ki te Ngaere. 
 
 It happened, hoAvever, that one man, 
 named Mato, escaped unperceived from the 
 rear of the house, and gave the alarm to the 
 scattered Xgatipukeko in the surrounding 
 country, Aidio all collected at Oromaitaki, 
 Avhere they Avere joined by the refugees 
 of NgatiAvhare, tor Ngathvhare had 
 suffered also, and there they built a pa to 
 defend themselves. Karia Avas sent to 
 recall Kihi, and fortunately met him 
 returning Avith his war party close at hand 
 at Kaingaroa. 
 
 On hearing the dreadful intelligence, the 
 Avarriors of the Xgatipukeko Avhose 
 families had been massacred, determined to 
 kill Kihi on the spot for taking them aAvay 
 to Whanganui. But Kihi said : ‘ Let me 
 live to get vengeance. If the other chiefs 
 had lived you might have killed me, and I 
 would have been Avilling to die, but they 
 are all slain, and there is no one else to lead 
 
28 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 you now. Let me live to seek vengeance, 
 fhen Ngatipukeko spared him. 
 
 Soon they came upon a bird-catcher of 
 Ngatimanawa, whom they questioned, and 
 learned that they were ciose to the main 
 body of Ngatimanawa, seven or eight' 
 hundred strong, who were about to 
 attack Oromaitaki. Killing the bird- 
 catcher, they advanced, and presently per- 
 ceived the enemy reconnoitring the pa. 
 They remained unperceived, and at day- 
 light next morning attacked him unawares, 
 routing him with slaughter and the loss of 
 two chiefs ; but they found at the end of 
 the action that the bird-catcher had 
 deceived them, and that the main body of 
 the enemy had not been engaged. On this 
 they became very cautious, watching all 
 detached parties and cutting them oil’. By 
 this means several score of Ngatimanawa 
 were killed. At length a general action 
 was fought, in which Ngatimanawa, 
 although assisted by Ngatihineuru from 
 Runanga, were defeated. Then for the 
 first time Kihi’s war party went to 
 Oromaitaki to mingle their lamentations 
 with the people there for the many 
 murdered members of the tribe. For a 
 short time only did they weep, and then 
 they went out from the pa the same day to 
 fight the enemy at Okarea. This was not 
 a decisive action, but the next battle fought 
 at Mangatara was entirely favourable to 
 Ngatipukeko. It was a very peculiar 
 battle, because it was fought by women. 
 There were only thirty-seven Ngatipukeko 
 men engaged, all the rest who fought were 
 women, and the odds against them were 
 fearful. But first, I should say that the 
 Ngatipukeko army had beenout-generaled. 
 They were scattered in pursuit ol detached 
 parties, when suddenly rJgatimaii{iwa fell, 
 with concentrated force, upon their head 
 quarters, where their families were. The 
 women were equal to the occasion. They 
 rigged up guys so well that the enemy was 
 deceived, and in forming for attack laid 
 himself open to an irresistible onset in 
 flank. The Amazons displayed a wonder- 
 ful courage and knowledge of the art of 
 war. With hair cropped short and bodies 
 nude* they charged into the undefended 
 side of the enemy with such force as to 
 throw him into confusion. Moenga was 
 the distinguished Amazon of the day. She 
 fought with a paiaka, and hewed the 
 Nyatimanawa down on every side. On all 
 sides the enemy fell, until he broke and 
 fled ; the main body of Ngatipukeko army 
 came up in time to follow in pursuit, nor 
 stopped until Runanga was reached. From 
 
 *In Maori warfare it was absolutely 
 necessary to fight naked, and with short hair, 
 in order to give the enemy no means of catching 
 hold of the body ; for the same reason oil or 
 fat. when obtainable, was smeared over the 
 body before going into action. 
 
 there the Ngatimanawa, or rather, what 
 were left of them, passed on to Monaka, 
 where Te Kahu o te Rangi, a chief of 
 Ngatikahungungu, made slaves of them. 
 Te Kahu soon found that he was being 
 cheated by his slaves. The birds they 
 caught were given to the chief of another 
 tribe. Finding they were not to be 
 trusted, he ill-treated and killed them. 
 
 Then Ngaetuhoe, a tribe of the Uriwera, 
 took compassion on the miserable remnant 
 of Ngatimanawa, and brought them away 
 to Maungapohatu, and they had some old 
 kumara pits given them to live in. W hile 
 they lived in this abject condition at 
 Maungapohatu, the Ngatimanawa sent 
 Kato and others to Kihi to sue for peace. 
 Their petition was granted, and terms were 
 fixed. The next day another section of 
 Ngatipukeko sent for Kato and his friends 
 to hear and discuss the terms named ; 
 this, how r ever, was only a ruse, for, as soon 
 as Kato and his companions^ appeared, 
 some of whom were related to Ngatiw hare, 
 they killed and ate them. Therefore, for 
 ever after that treacherous liapu of Ngati- 
 pukeko >vas called Ngatikohuru (liapu 
 of murderers). 
 
 Now r , when Ngatipukeko had conquered 
 Ngatimanawa, Ngatiwhare became afraid 
 at their inflamed and blood-thirsty 
 demeanour, and quietly withdrew to the 
 mountains, and there remained, until 
 intelli ence was received of the murder of 
 their friends by Ngatikohuru. Then, from 
 being friendly from a distance, they 
 changed and became active enemies to 
 Ngatipukeko, although closely related to 
 them, and revenge in some way was 
 determined upon. The opportunity was 
 not long in coming. New r s was received 
 that Ngatipukeko were sending a deputa- 
 tion of chiefs to the Uriwera at Ruatahuna ; 
 instantly Ngatiwhare dispatched Karia, 
 their chief, to Ruatahuna, there to persuade 
 the Uriwera chief, Rangikawhetu, to kill 
 the deputation when it should arrive. 
 Rangikawhetu assented to Karia’s proposal, 
 and tried to carry it out. His success was 
 only partial, for Mokai and Kuraroa 
 escaped. This affair created a further com- 
 plication in the political outlook, and for a 
 long time Ngatipukeko were embroiled 
 with the Uriwera tribe. 
 
 At this time Ngatipukeko had possession 
 of. the right bank of Rangitaiki from 
 Waiohau to Te Whaiti, where they lived 
 many years undisturbed, and then they 
 returned under Kihi to Whakatane. From 
 Whakatane they went to Te Awa o te Atua 
 and lived a while, and there they saw’ 
 Captain Cook's ship pass by. They went 
 off to the vessel and saw the people on 
 board of her. Again they returned to 
 Whakatane, where a deputation from 
 Ngatimanawa and Ngatiwhare sued for 
 
 n 
 
ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 29 
 
 peace and to be permitted to return to their 
 homes at Te YVhaiti, and Ngatipukeko 
 allowed them to go there. 
 
 A Maori Duel. 
 
 When the Chief Matua was murdered, as 
 I have said, while eel-catching at Waiirohia, 
 he left a little son named Tama te Rangi, 
 who grew up to be a man imbued with the 
 strongest hatred of his fathers murderers. 
 This feeling had been carefully instilled 
 into him by his widowed mother from 
 earliest childhood, by songs and hakas, and 
 by the persistent character of remarks 
 which were specially directed against 
 Potaua, and she took care to have Tama te 
 Rangi thoroughly trained to the use of 
 arms. 
 
 Potaua heard what the widow had done, 
 and he feared to approach Te Tirina coun- 
 try, where she lived. At length he came 
 to Puketapu, a pa on the Rangitaiki, by 
 the racecourse at Te Teko. He was en- 
 couraged to venture there by the presence 
 of Harehare and two other chiefs, with 
 whom he thought he should be safe from 
 insult and attack. 
 
 Tama te Rangi heard that Potaua had 
 come to Puketapu in the Pahipoto country, 
 and when he heard it he said to his people 
 at Whakatane that be would go and see 
 him. 
 
 Taking two companions he went, and at 
 night he camped in the fern a mile or two 
 from Puketapu pa. He informed the chiefs 
 of the pa by a messenger that he had come, 
 and they invited him to the pa for the night. 
 
 Tama te Rangi replied that they would 
 see him come into their pa by tlie light of 
 day. 
 
 The next morning Tama was seen ap- 
 proaching, and the whole population turned 
 out to see what he would do. He came and 
 walked up the narrow roadway into the 
 public place of the pa, all people respect- 
 fully making way for him and his com- 
 panions. Here on an arena already formed 
 and guarded stood Potaua. The chiefs of 
 the pa were standing at the further end of 
 the space, beyond Potaua. Tama te Rangi 
 entered the arena at once, and advanced 
 confidently upon his enemy, who had a 
 presentiment that his hour had come. 
 This unnerved him, and the young man’s 
 vigour and skill overcame him, and be fell, 
 slain by the avenger of blood, in the 
 presence of all the people. 
 
 Hatua, the father of the late Rangitu- 
 kehu, leaped forward, and by his great in- 
 fluence saved the other Ngatimanawa 
 visitors, who in the excitement of the mo- 
 ment would have been killed on the spot 
 by the people of his tribe. 
 
 Another Maori Duel. 
 
 It was in the lake country that Eke, a 
 faithless fair, eloped to the forest with Utu, i 
 
 a middle-aged chief of considerable au- 
 thority and weighty connections. The 
 feeling of the tribe was very much roused 
 against Utu, for Tua, the injured husband, 
 was a popular man, and one of their best 
 fighting chiefs, whereas Utu had never 
 distinguished himself in any way, except- 
 ing on the present occasion, which had 
 proved him oblivions to the obligations due 
 to a friend and neighbour. The truant 
 pair journeyed to other parts, and remained 
 away until Utu, tireu of his toy, and 
 wearied of the exile, determined to go 
 home and face the consequences. So one 
 morning an affair of honour came off' on the 
 sands of Ruapeka Bay, at Ohinemutu. 
 Utu, accompanied by his friend, Ana, were 
 there on one side, and Tua, with four other 
 principals, were there on the other side. 
 Ana was not a principal, and was not there 
 to fight, but the four men who were with 
 Tua had each of them come to get satis- 
 faction as near relations to the husband, or 
 to the wife, for the Maoris were communis- 
 tic in their customs. Any of these princi- 
 pals could have taken Tua’s children from 
 him, and they were equally entitled to 
 avenge his honour, for was it not their 
 honour also ? 
 
 Utu sat before these five adversaries on 
 the sand, unarmed, provided only with a 
 short stick called a karo, with which to 
 ward off* any spears thrown at him, or blows 
 from other weapons that might be used. 
 Had he been a slave he would not have been 
 allowed to have even a karo, but must 
 have defended himself with his hands and 
 arms. Utu’s karo had been well karakia-ed 
 by the priest. 
 
 All being ready the duel began. Tua re- 
 mained inactive while each of the four men 
 who had accompanied him advanced in 
 turn and threw a spear at Utu, who 
 managed to karo, ward off, the four darts 
 without hurt to himself. The rights of 
 the four were now exhausted. The Atua 
 having caused their attacks to fail, they 
 could not be repeated without danger to 
 themselves ; any one of them who, contrary 
 to all canons human and divine, should 
 renew his attack, would be liable in himself 
 or his family to misfortune (aitua) by sick- 
 ness, accident, or otherwise. Even against 
 a slave attack could not be renewed. These 
 assailants had had every chance. The 
 choice of weapons and how to use them 
 had been theirs. They had chosen spears. 
 
 I he weight of the weapon and the distance 
 at which to throw it had been at their 
 option. Any one of them for that matter 
 might have walked straight up to Utu as 
 he sat and speared him on the spot at short 
 point, had he been able, but they were too 
 experienced to attempt it. Utu would 
 have defended himself easily in that case. 
 Rising at the right moment, and advancing 
 
30 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 a pace, he would have fixed his opponent’s 
 eve, and by a dexterous movement of his 
 right hand would have seized and averted 
 the thrust — thus to disarm an enemy to 
 one who knew how was as simple as shaking 
 hands with a friend. 
 
 As we have disposed of the four in theory 
 and practice, let us return to Tua, whom 
 we left looking on, apparently almost an 
 indifferent spectator. The four had failed, 
 and this seemed suddenly to rouse his feel- 
 ings, for he went off* into a dance wholly 
 scornful in gesture of his friends, and 
 somewhat defiant of his enemies, treating 
 all to an exhibition of agility as lie darted 
 from place to place, and skill in brandishing 
 his weapon, and riveting attention, his own 
 the while being fixed in semi -challenge to 
 the bunglers, and thus he gained his point 
 of vantage, and wheeling, struck a blow 
 that killed the unsuspecting Ana, whom 
 nobody wished to hurt, and thus the duel 
 ended as communistically as it had begun. 
 
 1 should say that Hea, a brother of Tua, 
 being of a utilitarian disposition, had 
 refrained from exercising his right at the 
 encounter. The satisfaction he required 
 was a bit of land. Utu recognised the 
 claim, and gave him a nice little town site 
 overlooking the lake. 
 
 Maori Communism. 
 
 As in his private warfare, so in his general 
 life. The Maori was a thorough communist. 
 But through the warp of his. communism 
 woofs of chieftainship and priestcraft were 
 woven into a texture strong enough to 
 answer all the requirements of his simple 
 civilization. Where communal usage did 
 not reach the case the chief’s was the 
 executive governing power that dealt with 
 it. Thus, communal usage might require 
 a muru,* and it would be made accordingly 
 by persons having the right. If a man’s 
 wife went wrong her people would muru 
 him for not taking better care of her, this 
 was usage ; but if the chief ordered a muru 
 it would be for reasons known to himself, 
 presumably for the benefit of the tribe. If 
 a man gave much trouble the chief might 
 have him muru-ed, or he might take his 
 wife from him. If he misconducted himself 
 in war, the chief might strike him with his 
 weapon. As a rule, however, these mani- 
 festations of authority were seldom needed, 
 and very seldom exercised. The chieftain- 
 ship of the tribe was an hereditary office, 
 passing from father to son by the law of 
 primogeniture ; if the regular successor 
 lacked the mental vigour and force of 
 character necessary to the position, then 
 another member of the hereditary family 
 would be put in his place. The chief 
 
 *To muru a man was to strip him of his per- 
 sonal property or some of it, or communist pro- 
 perty in which he hail an interest might be 
 muru ed. 
 
 generally consulted advisers, or \vas sup- 
 ported by a council. In any case the cl lef 
 could not run counter to the will of the 
 
 "The priest performed many religious 
 offices for the community. Questions o 
 tapu were in his keeping. At times ot 
 sickness his aid was invoked. At births 
 he was not absent, and at baptisms his 
 presence was necessary. He advised the 
 chief as to the will of the g°ds, and 
 the greatest weight was attached to his 
 utterances on such occasions. He always 
 received fees in the form of presents. As 
 a rule he supported the governing power. 
 If the priest (tolmnga) stood high in his 
 profession, and was sent for from a dis- 
 tance to perform an important function, his 
 fee would be commensurate to the event. 
 He did not neglect the requirements of the 
 lminble members of the community, lhe 
 widow with her small offering received his 
 conscientious attention. Her child s ill- 
 ness was diagnosed and prescribed for and 
 karakia-ed the same as for a more pros- 
 Thft nriest’s office was 
 
 np.rnns np.rfcon. 
 
 hereditary. 
 
 Although the chief carried himself with 
 an air of authority, and the priest wore an 
 appearance of superiority, each was subtly 
 influenced by the communism of the body 
 of which he formed a part. The former 
 felt the pulse of the people before taking 
 a step ; the latter did not disregard their 
 feelings and prejudices. Each lived in 
 the same way as the people around him. 
 Sometimes, however, a chief rose by vio- 
 lence or intrigue to such a commanding 
 position among other tribes that his own 
 tribe acquired perfect confidence in his 
 judgment and ability, and followed him 
 implicitly. Such men were Tuwhakairiora, 
 the first Te Waharoa, Te Rauparaha, and 
 Hongi Hika. 
 
 As I have said, the Maori was a com- 
 munist. Excepting perhaps a patch of 
 land he might own privately, and his 
 weapons and ornaments, the only thing he 
 could draw the line at, and safely say, 
 
 ‘ This is mine,’ was his wife, who, before 
 she blended her life with his, had been 
 from earliest youth in principle and prac- 
 tice also a communist of the free love kind, 
 not that much love had been involved, only 
 that ‘ through some shades of earthly 
 feeling,’ she n ad tripped from pleasure to 
 pleasure, not waiting to be wooed, and 
 shedding in lieu of the ‘ meek and vestal 
 tires,’ ‘ a glow so warm and yet so shadowy, 
 too,’ upon her associates,' ‘ as made the 
 very darkness there more sought after than 
 light elsewhere.’ May 1 be pardoned for 
 adapting the lines of the poet to my subject, 
 who was neither a Delilah nor a ftlessalina, 
 but a simple Eve of nature, against whom 
 in her own and people’s eyes there was 
 
ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 31 
 
 no law, nor fault to find — kaliore e ture. 
 But when she became a wife she rose to a 
 higher sphere. Her animal habits changed 
 as if by magic. Her communistic shell 
 was cast, and she emerged an individual, a 
 faithful Maori matron, with all the rights 
 and obligations pertaining to her new con- 
 dition. 
 
 But to return to our Maori communist. 
 He could not even claim his own children 
 exclusively. For his brother, if childless, 
 might, and most likely would, come and 
 take one of them away and adopt it, and 
 his sister might come and take another ; so 
 also his wife’s sister might assert a similar 
 right, but they could not among them 
 deprive him of all his children. Com- 
 munism stepped in at that point and took 
 his part, for was he not as well entitled as 
 they to share in the offspring ? 
 
 The house he lived in was called a 
 wharepuni (living close together house). 
 Tt contained but one room, in which both 
 sexes, old and young, married and single, 
 lived together night and day, and, accord- 
 ing to size, it accommodated from say a 
 dozen to four times that number of persons + 
 Again, when he went to cultivate the soil, 
 lie did not go by himself, taking perhaps 
 his son, or sons, as a European would. 
 No, when he went lie went with the com- 
 mune. It was not his motion, but the 
 motion of a body of people, whom the chief 
 apparently led, while instinctively following 
 the democratic desire. Men and women, 
 boys and girls, all went together, as to a 
 picnic, cheerful, happy, and contented, 
 and it was a pleasant sight to see them 
 ranged in rows, and digging with their 
 ko-es (wooden Maori spades), as they rose 
 and fell, and their limbs and bodies swayed 
 rythmically to the working of the ko, and 
 the chorus of an ancient hymn, invoking 
 a blessing on the fruit of" their labour. 
 Still a large yield was not always a benelit, 
 for it would sometimes induce friends and 
 relations to come from a distance and eat 
 the commune out of house and home. 
 
 In the same way our communist was 
 quite unable to keep any new thing, especi- 
 ally in the way of clothing. Did lie sell a 
 nig, and get a blanket in payment, his 
 rather presently paid him a visit, and was 
 
 tMore than fifty yearR ago the missionaries 
 strongly discountenanced the wharepuni sys- 
 tem amongst their converts. The Maoris, how- 
 ever. as was quite natural, could not under- 
 stand their objection. Even their most devoted 
 teachers were unable to appreciate it at first. 
 But time has worked a change. Missionary 
 perseverance and the example of European 
 civilisation have swept away the old Maori 
 wharepuni. Each little family has now its 
 own separate whare, and these are generally 
 partitioned. The wharepuni of the present 
 generation is a sort of town hall, in which 
 strangers are 'lodged when visiting the tribe, 
 and does not represent the old communism of 
 the past 
 
 -seen returning with the blanket draped 
 round his person, and if he sold some kits 
 of corn for a shirt, a pair of trousers, and a 
 hat, his cousin would come from live or six 
 miles away and the hat would be given to 
 him. Of course, the custom cut both ways, 
 for when reduced in circumstances lie, too, 
 made calls upon his friends at auspicious 
 times. But the system he lived under 
 discouraged individual effort, and those 
 who tried individually to better themselves 
 under it sooner or later gave up the 
 attempt, and it was not until the example 
 of the early settlers had fully influenced 
 another generation, stimulating it to further 
 action, t and the Native Lands Court had 
 individualised their holdings, that the ice 
 that bound and chilled their every effort 
 was broken, and the communistic element 
 in their system of civilization that had 
 stunted enterprise and retarded material 
 interests was greatly diminished, though 
 not entirely removed. 
 
 But when it came to fighting, the Maori’s 
 communism helped him. When summoned 
 to do battle for the commonwealth he 
 instantly obeyed without conscription or 
 recruiting, and with no swearing in, no 
 shirking, no grumbling, he appeared at his 
 post a trained soldier, active, willing, and 
 determined, in an army where courts-martial 
 were unnecessary and unknown. He was 
 animated by a living principle, he thought 
 not of himself, but the body he belonged 
 to was ever in his mind, 'fhe spirit that 
 was in him inspired the whole, giving 
 fierceness to the war dance, zest to the 
 tuki* of the war canoe, and proved a 
 powerful factor in war. 
 
 Communism in war did not extend to 
 the department of the Commander-in-Chief. 
 The General was free to do his own think- 
 ing, and to issue his orders, and implicit 
 obedience was rendered to him. 
 
 With certain exceptions the Maori held 
 his land as a member of the tribe. In the 
 matter of this, his real estate, the com- 
 munistic element in his system of civili- 
 sation was well developed, and with the 
 exception of slaves and refugees there was 
 not a landless person in the community. 
 As time advanced, and posterity increased, 
 lands that had belonged to one passed into 
 the possession of many persons, for after 
 
 *To tuki was to give the time to rowers in a 
 canoe. To tuki to a war canoe required tact 
 and skill. The chiefs prided themselves upon 
 the proper performance of this function. Pass- 
 ing to and fro upon the narrow thwarts between 
 the rows of rowers (itself an acrobatic feat), 
 the kai-tuki gave the time and inspired the 
 crew by words, exclamations, Rhort speeches, 
 snatnhes of Rong, all delivered to time, with 
 gesture, attitude, and motions of his weapon, 
 also in time. In very large canoes there were 
 sometimes two kai-tukis, the senior of whom 
 promenaded the after part of the vessel, while 
 the other occupied the fore part. 
 
32 
 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI L 
 
 several generations there would be a hapu, 
 where one man had settled. This tendency 
 was counteracted on the other hand by acts 
 of individualisation within the tribal fresh 
 boundaries, and sales of land for valuable 
 consideration by one individual to another 
 were by no means unknown. The subject 
 of ancient land tenure amongst the Maoris 
 is interesting and instructive, and would 
 in itself fill a small volume, if treated 
 exhaustively. Their claims were often 
 singularly complex, and very far-reaching. 
 Thus Ngaiterangi,in the early days, claimed 
 and obtained payment for Tawhitirahi pa 
 when a European bought the land about 
 there, and this notwithstanding they had 
 not ventured to occupy it for three hundred 
 years, and the natives living near the place 
 approved of the transaction ; but not until 
 they had, in justice to themselves, already 
 taken care to be paid for the full value of 
 the land. 
 
 A slave was the property of the person 
 who captured him in war. A master could 
 kill his slave. A husband could beat his 
 wife. A man might have more than one 
 wife. The women worked more than the 
 men, and had to do the more laborious 
 work, such as carrying heavy burdens, 
 which the men never did, for they had 
 tapued their backs. When Christianity 
 diminished the power of the priests, they 
 did not strive against the innovation. 
 Many of them became converted, and the 
 others appeared to accept without question 
 the change in the mind of the commune. 
 
 Tuwhakairiora Tribe. 
 
 This is a section of Ngatiporou tribe whose 
 country extends from a point a little south 
 of the East Cape to Potikorua, west of 
 Point Lottin a few miles. From these 
 points their boundaries running inland con- 
 verge rapidly towards each other until 
 they meet. Their territory, therefore, is 
 triangular in form. We have seen how 
 this country was occupied by the aborigines, 
 and how Ngaetuari came from Whangara 
 and conquered and settled upon the greater 
 portion of it, and it will be remembered 
 that the Ngaetuari were Hawaikians of 
 Takitumu canoe. 
 
 About sixty years after the Ngaetuari 
 had settled themselves, Tuwhakairiora ap- 
 peared on the scene and altered the face of 
 affairs in that district to such an extent 
 that the tribe living there now owes its 
 origin to him, and bears his name. Tu- 
 whakairiora was also of Takitumu extrac- 
 tion, and it is of the rather remarkable 
 Takitumuan movement that was made 
 under him that I would tell. But first I 
 will briefly outline the Takitumuan pre- 
 lude to our story from the landing at 
 Whangara to the time of our hero. 
 
 We have seen that Paikea, the captain 
 
 n 
 
 IKE AND HISTORY. 
 
 of Takitumu, settled the immigrants at 
 Whangara, after which he sailed for 
 Hawaiki in another canoe, and so dis- 
 appears from our view. About on , e 
 hundred and twenty years after Paikea s 
 time, the chiefs of the colony at W hangara 
 were the brothers Pororangi arid Tahu. 
 The latter went south to Kaikoura, but 
 Pororangi, from whom the Ngatiporou are 
 named, lived and died at Whangara. 
 
 When Pororangi died, Tahu returned 
 from Kaikoura to mourn for him, bringing 
 a number of slaves with him. He married 
 his brother’s widow, and the issue of the 
 union was Ruanuku, a son, to whom lahu 
 gave the party of slaves ; which party be- 
 came a tribe, bearing the name of Rua- 
 nuku, their master. After some years, 
 Tahu returned to the other island, taking 
 his son with him, and thus these two are re- 
 moved from the scene ; but the Ngatirua- 
 nuku were left behind to play an important 
 part in it. 
 
 Pororangi had two sons, Hau and Ue. 
 The latter took the country southward 
 from Turanga. The former and his 
 descendants went northward, settling from 
 time to time in various places, nor stopped 
 until they had claimed the land as far as 
 Taumata Apanui, near Torere. Here, 
 however, their tide of success was met and 
 rolled back by the Whanau Apanui, a 
 tribe of Hawaiki-Awa descent. About 
 two hundred and seventy years after the 
 colony had been planted at Whangara, 
 Poromata, a descendant of Hau, took an 
 active part in the movement northward, 
 and settled at Whareponga, where Ngati- 
 ruanuku, who had become a numerous 
 tribe, bad arrived before him, and here 
 they all lived for a time, beside the 
 aboriginal Uepohatu tribe, of whom I have 
 already made mention. 
 
 Now, Poromata was not a young man. 
 He had several grown-up sons and daugh- 
 ters, who, like himself, were of a tyran- 
 nical disposition. They despised and 
 oppressed the Ngatiruanuku as if they 
 had been the slaves brought from Kaikoura 
 one hundred and fifty years before ; and, 
 ignoring the fact that they were but a few 
 individuals surrounded by a numerous 
 people, they plundered the best of every- 
 thing the Ngatiruanuku produced, and 
 forcibly took their women from them, and 
 they were particularly fond of seizing the 
 best fish from the Ruanuku canoes when 
 they returned from fishing out at sea. At 
 length Ngatiruanuku, goaded beyond en- 
 durance, conspired to slay the old man and 
 his sons, and they, by surprise, attacked 
 them while fishing, and killed them all 
 except one son, who escaped, and nothing 
 more is heard of him in this story. 
 
 At this time Haukotore, a brother of 
 Poromata, lived near by at Matakukai. 
 
ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 33 
 
 He was related to Ngatiruanuku by marri- 
 age, and was on better terms with them 
 than his brother had been. He did not 
 attempt to avenge the death of his brother, 
 or seek assistance for that purpose ; 
 neither did he retire from among his 
 brother’s murderers. His behaviour was 
 altogether pusillanimous, as for many 
 years he remained on sufferance in the 
 presence of his natural foes, even after 
 they had refused his request to be per- 
 mitted to establish a tapu where his 
 brother had been killed. 
 
 Very different was the spirit that ani- 
 mated Atakura, the youngest of Poro- 
 mata’s daughters. She was at Whareponga 
 when her father and brothers were killed, 
 and was spared by Ngatiruanuku. Her 
 finger, however, was not appeased by their 
 forbearance. All the thirst for revenge 
 that was lacking in her soulless uncle was, 
 as it were, added to her own thirst, and 
 concentrated in her burning breast. She 
 left Whareponga immediately, and went 
 to Uawa, where she married for the avowed 
 purpose of raising up a son to avenge the 
 murder. Thence she and her husband, 
 whose name was Ngatihau, went to Opo- 
 tiki, to which place he belonged, and there 
 a son was born whom they named Tu- 
 whakairiora, from the odd circumstance 
 that an uncle of his at Waiapu had lately 
 been buried alive (or rather put in a trough 
 made for the purpose, and placed up in a 
 tree, for that was a mode of sepulture). 
 From bis birth Tuwhakairiora was conse- 
 crated to the office of an avenger of blood. 
 Atakura and her husband lived at Opotiki 
 many years, and had a family of several 
 children. It was there that Tuwhakairiora 
 received the education necessary to a chief, 
 and the military training that should fit 
 him for the part lie was destined to per- 
 form. He was not like other young chiefs, 
 for all knew, and lie knew, that he had a 
 mission to which lie had been dedicated 
 from the womb, and it was proverbial how 
 his lusty embryonic struggles had been 
 welcomed by his mother as a token of man- 
 hood and power to slay her father’s 
 murderers. 
 
 Thus it was that our young chief, when he 
 came to man’s estate, was the centre to 
 whom a wide circle of adventurous spirits 
 looked and longed for warlike excitement. 
 Nor did he fail to take advantage of this 
 feeling, by visiting from tribe to tribe and 
 increasing his prestige and popularity. At 
 length he determined to take action. For 
 this purpose he moved with his parents to 
 Te Kaha, Oreti, and Whangaparaoa, living 
 at each place awhile, ingratiating them- 
 selves with the inhabitants, and drawing 
 recruits to their cause. From the place 
 last named his parents passed on to Kawa- 
 kawa, leaving the rest of the party at 
 
 Whangaparaoa, where Kahupakari, Ata- 
 kura’s first cousin, received them joyfully 
 and gave her several hundred acres of land 
 to live on. Kahupakari’s father had taken 
 part in the Ngaetuere conquest sixty years 
 before. 
 
 Shortly after this, Tuwhakairiora fol- 
 lowed his parents to Kawakawa, travelling 
 by himself. On this journey he saw 
 Ruataupare for the first time, and married 
 her at Wharekahika in the masterful 
 manner already described. She was the 
 daughter of the principal chief of that 
 district, which was peopled at that time by 
 aboriginal tribes. Our hero required some- 
 thing then to soothe his feelings, for he 
 had just hurried away through wounded 
 pride from Whangaparaoa, where he had 
 met his match in a young woman of rank 
 named Hinerupe, towards whom he had 
 conducted himself in a plantation where 
 they were working with a freedom so un- 
 becoming that she met him with her 
 wooden spade, and hit him a blow on the 
 jaw that sent him off. The plantation is 
 called Kauae (jaw) to this day. 
 
 From Kawakawa Tuwhakairiora made 
 an excursion to the East Cape, whence for 
 the first time be viewed the Ngatiruanuku 
 country, and doubtless thought upon his 
 mission and revolved in his mind the task 
 before him. But he was not to get venge- 
 ance yet, nor indeed for many years. 
 Although be knew it not, he was even then 
 in a path that would lead to a train of 
 events fated to alter his position, and 
 change him from a wayfaring adventurer 
 to the warlike bead of a powerful tribe. 
 He tinned and retraced his steps. He was 
 alone, and his dog followed him. Passing 
 near Hekawa pa, two men, Wahia and 
 Wliata, appeared and killed his dog. He 
 slew them both, then, putting his dead dog 
 on his back, lie went on his way ; but was 
 presently overtaken by a number of men 
 from Hekawa. He turned and killed Pito, 
 the foremost, but others pressed on, and 
 after slaying several he took refuge on a 
 mound that is an island at high water. 
 The people of Hekawa surrounded the little 
 mound and kept him there. In this posi- 
 tion he was seen by his younger brother, 
 Hukarere, and recognised by his red dog- 
 skin mat. His brotlier, who was fishing in 
 a canoe, came instantly to the rescue. 
 Tuwhakairiora descended the hill, cut his 
 way through his enemies, killing Waipao, 
 and escaped to the canoe. That place is 
 still called Waipao. Thus Hukarere 
 saved his brother’s life, and thus Tuwhaka- 
 iriora became incensed against the Ngae- 
 tuere, and he determined to make war 
 upon them. He sent, therefore, to his 
 followers to muster and come to him, and 
 they quickly responded, especially at 
 Opotiki, where he was so well known and 
 
34 
 
 ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 admired. It was with these troops that he 
 conquered the Ngaetuere. 
 
 Now we have seen that Ngaetuere were 
 a tribe of Takitumu descent who, sixty 
 years before, had driven out tjie aboriginal 
 Ngaoko, who were of Toi extraction. 
 More than thirty years before that time 
 the Ngaoko had emerged from the moun- 
 tain forest of Tututohara and destroyed 
 the aboriginal tribe named Ruawaipu, that 
 occupied the coast from Pukeamaru to 
 Maraehara, and killed their chief, whose 
 name was Tamatea Arabia. Tamatea 
 Upoko, the daughter of this chief, escaped 
 with other refugees to Whangara, where 
 Ngatiporou, of Takitumu, received and 
 sheltered them. Tamatea Upoko married 
 Uekaihau, of Ngatiporou, and in due 
 course three sons of that marriage, Uetalia, 
 Tamokoro and Tahania, grew up. The 
 Ruawaipu element had, meanwhile, so 
 strengthened itself among the Ngatiporou, 
 that the three brothers named were able to 
 raise an army of Ngatiporou and half-caste 
 Ruawaipu -Ngatiporou sufficiently numer- 
 ous to justify them in attacking Ngaoko, 
 for the purpose of revenge and to regain 
 the lost territory. 
 
 They set out, and on their march were 
 attacked at Uawa (Tologa Bay) by Te 
 Aetanga Hauiti, who failed to bar their 
 passage. Again at Tawhiti mountain they 
 were attacked by the Wahineiti, and again 
 they forced their way against those who 
 would have stopped them. After this they 
 marched unmolested through the Waiapu 
 country, belonging to the Wahineiti*, an 
 aboriginal tribe who were a section of Te 
 Iwi Pohatu a Maui. Having passed the 
 East Cape the army, whom from this time 
 I shall speak of as Ngaetuere, travelled 
 through Horoera and Hekawa without 
 meeting a soul, the Ngaoko had evidently 
 fallen back to some vantage ground to 
 await their attack. When they arrived at 
 Kawakawa, they found the Ngaoko posted 
 in two pas, one at Karakatuwhero, the 
 other, Tilii o Manono, at Kopuaponamu, 
 was the largest pa they had. A scouting 
 party of the invaders fell in with a similar 
 party of the people of the place, and cut 
 them off, killing the chief, Tuteuruao. 
 Then the Ngaoko came out of their pas in 
 full force and attacked Ngaetuere in the 
 open field, when the latter, by a stratagem, 
 led Ngaoko into Aw r atere Gorge, and, 
 getting them at a disadvantage, inflicted 
 severe loss upon them, and killed their 
 chief, Tangikaroro. At the next engage- 
 ment Ngaoko were again defeated, and 
 another chief named Rakaimokonui fell. 
 At the third battle Ngaoko were com- 
 
 *The Wahineiti of Waiapu are not to be con- 
 founded with the Wahineiti of Waipiro. The 
 latter was a small tribe of Pororangi origin. 
 The former was a section of the aborigines. 
 
 pletely worsted, and fled for the first- time 
 before their enemies. On this occasion the 
 chiefs Maonoho and Te Awhenga were 
 slain. On the same day the great pa Tihi 
 o Manono was taken by assault. ^ Ngaoko 
 rallied, however, at the pa at Karakatu- 
 whero, and finally at Tarapahure, another 
 pa at Pukeamaru, but the three brothers 
 pursued them and took these pas also, and 
 this completed the conquest of the tribe 
 and country. The remnant of the Ngaoko 
 became slaves called Ngatirakainmtapu ; 
 but they intermarried with the conquerers, 
 and became absorbed by them. 
 
 This, then, was the tribe of Ngaetuere, 
 against whom Tuwhakairiora was about to 
 declare war. After a lapse of sixty years, 
 the component parts of the tribe had con- 
 solidated into a homogeneous whole, of 
 which the elements were probably half 
 aboriginal and half immigrant in character. 
 And the force, chiefly Whakatohea, that 
 was coming against them, and destined to 
 overthrow and absorb them — what was it ? 
 We have already seen that the people it 
 was drawn from were a tribe of aborigines 
 with but a strain of immigrant blood in its 
 veins, and this is the material, united and 
 cemented together by time, of which the 
 Tuwhakairiora tribe is formed. From that 
 time, more than three hundred years ago, 
 the tribe has always been ruled by chiefs 
 of the same distinguished Ngatiporou 
 family. 
 
 Tuwhakairiora crossed the Awatere with 
 his forces, and engaged and utterly de- 
 feated the Ngaetuere at Hekawa. Then 
 he established himself at Kawakawa, and 
 built a pa called Okauwharetoa at Awatere. 
 Some or the Ngaetuere were now subject 
 to him, but others were not. About this 
 time some Ngaetumoana people killed Te 
 Rangihekeiho of Ngaetuiti, of which tribe 
 was Ruataupare, Tmvhakairiora’s wife ; 
 this was a sufficient excuse for Tuwhaka- 
 iriora to wage war against them. He 
 fought them at the battle of Whanakai- 
 maro, at Matakawa, and destroyed the 
 tribe, driving the remnant off westward 
 towards Whangaparaoa. Thus one tribe of 
 aborigines disappeared from the district. 
 Then another tribe of aborigines became 
 uneasy at the presence of the invaders, and 
 insulted them. These were the Pararake. 
 War followed, and the battle of Pipi- 
 whakau was fought, where the aboriginal 
 chief Whakapuru te Rangi was slain, and 
 his tribe was defeated and driven to Wha- 
 ngaparaoa. The aboriginal Ngaetuiti were 
 allowed to remain intact because the con- 
 queror had married into their tribe when 
 he came from Opotiki, but they fell into a 
 very subordinate position ; nevertheless, at 
 their desire some of the Pararake were 
 allowed to remain in the district. 
 
 It happened that while Tuwhakairiora 
 
 n 
 
ANCIENT MAOfcl LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 35 
 
 was taking a wife to himself at Whare- 
 kahika, his brother Hukarere was similarly 
 engaged at Whangaparaoa. He married 
 Hinerupe, who had used her spade so well, 
 the granddaughter of TamaKoro, one of 
 the three brothers who led Ngaetuere from 
 Whangara against Ngaoko. At the time 
 of the marriage Uetaha ; her father, was 
 the chief of a large section of Ngaetuere. 
 This alliance favoured the designs of Tu- 
 whakairiora by neutralising at the time of 
 active hostilities a great number of the 
 Ngaetuere. It enabled him to conquer 
 the tribe in detail, instead of having them 
 all against him at one time. Not that 
 Tuwhakairiora acted treacherously towards 
 the Tamakoro section of Ngaetuiti. The 
 trouble that came they brought upon them 
 selves. The half brothers of Hinerupe 
 were jealous of some advantages granted 
 to her by Tuwhakairiora, who was her 
 brother-in-law, and they cursed her ; this, 
 of course, could not be overlooked, and 
 action was determined upon. Tuwhakairi- 
 ora sent to friends he had made at Waiapu 
 and Uawa, asking them to come and assist 
 him in the forthcoming struggle, and in 
 response the chiefs U muariki and Kauta- 
 harua appeared, with their respective fol- 
 lowings. In this manner a considerable 
 force was collected, and the campaign of 
 Waihakia took place, resulting in the 
 entire defeat of the Tamakoro party, whom 
 the conqueror reduced to a state, not 
 exactly of slavery, but of great degrada- 
 tion. 
 
 I have now told how the tribe of Tu- 
 whakairiora was planted and grew up on 
 the soil where it nourishes at the piesent 
 time. The war had commenced with an 
 attack made upon Tuwhakairiora while he 
 was visiting liis cousin Kahupakiri at 
 Kawakawa. The descendants of the 
 people who made that attack are now in- 
 corporated in the general tribe of Tuwhaka- 
 iriora, under the name of Te Wakeoneone. 
 
 Many years had elapsed before these 
 conquests were all completed, and affairs 
 connected with them consolidated suf 
 ficiently to permit Tuwhakairiora to turn 
 his hand to that to which he had been 
 ordained. At length, however, a time 
 arrived when he felt able to discharge the 
 duty imposed, and preparations were ac- 
 cordingly made to assemble a force to 
 chastise the murderers of his grandfather. 
 From Opotiki, where he was so popular, he 
 easily obtained as many men as lie wanted. 
 With these added to his own troops, he set 
 sail in a fleet of canoes for the country of 
 Ngatiruanuku, where one morning before 
 daybreak he surprised and carried by 
 assault Tonganiu, a pa, and killed Kahu- 
 tapu, the chief of that place. Then he fought 
 the battle of Hikutawatawa in the open, 
 and took two other pas called Ureparkheka, 
 
 and another. Many were killed in these 
 ias, the people who escaped fled inland, 
 eaving all their land and property to the 
 victors. Tuwhakairiora then considered 
 that ample revenge had been obtained, 
 and he returned home to Kawakawa, 
 leaving his great uncle Haukotore and 
 other relations, who had continued to live 
 there after the murder, in possession of the 
 land. 
 
 Mate, the sister of Atakura, heard at 
 Turanga of Tuwhakairiora’s campaign, and 
 that two or three pas had fallen, and 
 said, ‘ My sister’s side has avenged, but 
 mine is not avenged,’ and she sent for 
 Pakanui, her grandson, to return from a 
 war he was prosecuting in the south, and 
 directed him to wage war against the re- 
 maining portion of Ngatiruanuku, and 
 against their allies, the Wahineiti of Poro- 
 rangi, who lived at Waipiro. 
 
 Pakanui obeyed his grandmother, and 
 fitted out a number of canoes for an ex- 
 pedition, and for want of warriors he 
 manned them with a force so inadequate to 
 the object intended, that he devised the 
 extraordinary ruse of taking the women 
 and children in the canoes, in order to 
 deceive Ngatiruanuku as to the nature of 
 the flotilla, and for the rest he hoped that 
 some accident might befriend him. When 
 Pakanui and his party arrived at Waipiro, 
 they landed there and camped on the 
 shore. To all appearance they were 
 travellers en route , the presence of the 
 women and children quite put the people 
 there oft’ their guard ; but the strangers 
 could not remain indefinitely, their chief 
 knew this, and was puzzled what action next 
 to take. He could not send for Tuwhakairi- 
 ora’s assistance, for his enterprise was a 
 sort of set ofl against what that chief had 
 done. He could not attack the enemy 
 openly without courting defeat, while to 
 return home would be to make himself a 
 laughing stock, and nothing had happened, 
 or was likely to happen, to assist him. In 
 this dilemma he racked his brains, and an 
 idea occurred to him, upon which, for want 
 of a better, he determined to act. He told 
 each man to make a hand net, such as was 
 used for catching small fish among the 
 rocks on the seashore ; with the help of the 
 women this task was soon accomplished. 
 Then lie distributed his men along the 
 shore in onen order a little before the right 
 time of tide for fishing, and they were all 
 engaged in fishing at the many little 
 channels in the rocks through which the 
 tide flowed, some of them made artificially, 
 and each belonging to some man in the 
 neighbouring pa. * 
 
 Tn many parts of the East Coast, south of 
 Hicks’ Bay, a limestone formation prevails, the 
 strata of which, tilted at a high angle, run in 
 I parallel lines from the land to the sea. At the 
 
IK 
 
 36 Ancient Maori life and history. 
 
 The owners of these fishing channels did 
 not admire the freedom of the strangers 
 with their private fishing ground, and they 
 mustered to occupy their fishing channels, 
 and at the right time of tide they presented 
 themselves in a body, each man with his 
 hand net, and their chief Rangirakaikura 
 at their head. The chief found that 
 Pakanui had appropriated his stream, for 
 Paka had noted beforehand which was the 
 chief’s stream, and said to him, ‘ And 
 where am I to fish ?’ Paka promptly drew 
 his net out of the water, and replied, 
 
 ‘ Fish here,’ and he stood beside Rangi as 
 he fished. This little pantomime was 
 enacted all along the line, until Pakanui 
 saw all his men distributed like Thugs, 
 each man standing close to a man of the 
 other side, apparently looking at the 
 fishing, really awaiting the pre-arranged 
 signal that he was to make, the tide mean- 
 while washing high over their feet. Sud- 
 denly the signal was given, then each man 
 of Paka’s side simultaneously drew a mere, 
 attached to his foot under water, and throw- 
 ing his net over the head of his enemy 
 entangled him in it, while he killed him 
 with the mere. Tn this manner Pakanui’s 
 party killed one hundred fighting men, in- 
 cluding the chief, and struck such a terror 
 into the remainder of the enemy, that 
 Pakanui was able to follow up .the success 
 effectively. This affair is known as Te 
 Ika Koraparua, which may be freely 
 rendered, ‘ Two fish in one net.’ The kelie 
 and the man. It took place near Tangitu 
 stream, between Akuaku and Whareponga. 
 The Ngatiruanuku fled inland, whither 
 they were followed and finally destroyed. 
 Thus Mate was avenged for the death of 
 Poromata, her father, by the extinction of 
 the remnant of Ruanuku people whom 
 Tuwhakairiora had spared, but the Wahine- 
 iti tribe remained in full force south of 
 Waipiro stream, being too numerous for 
 Pakanui to venture to disturb them. How- 
 ever, he settled on the land he bad con- 
 quered, and lived there several years, at 
 the end of which lie was compelled by the 
 hostility of the Wahineiti to obtain the aid 
 of Tuwhakairiora, who came with a strong- 
 force and crushed the Wahineiti at the 
 battle of Rorohukatai, fought on Waipiro 
 beach (so named because the brains of men 
 were mingled there with the froth of the 
 tide), and by taking their three pas, Poro- 
 poro, Turangamoahu and Maungakowhai. 
 At the end of the w T ar Tuwhakairiora re- 
 turned home, whence he sent Iritekura, his 
 
 coast these lines of rocks are cutoff by the waves, 
 and because their clearage is at right angles with 
 their strata, a serrated and fluted shore line 
 filled with parallel channels running from high 
 water mark to low water, is formed. Up these 
 channels the kehe fish passes in search of food 
 with the flood, and returns to the sea with ebb 
 tide. 
 
 niece, to occupy the conquered territory. 
 She went with her family to W aipiro 
 about three hundred and thirty years ago. 
 She lived and died there, and her descend- 
 ants, who bear her name, live there at the 
 present time. 
 
 But Iritekura, who founded the tribe of 
 that name, is not the only Maori woman 
 whose name figures in the history of her 
 race. 
 
 It was a woman, Torere, who swam 
 ashore from Tainui canoe, and founded 
 the Ngaitai tribe. 
 
 It was the woman, Muriwai, who led 
 the Ngatiawa to Whakatane in Mataatua 
 canoe. 
 
 It was a woman, Atakura, that caused 
 several pas to be destroyed out of revenge. 
 
 It was a woman, Mate, that caused a 
 tribe to be annihilated from feelings of 
 revenge. 
 
 It was a woman, Hinewaha, whose thirst 
 for revenge enabled her to raise the 
 Ngatitematera at the Thames, and incite 
 them to make war on Ngamarama at Kati- 
 kati, because her brothers had been slain 
 in battle by the latter. 
 
 It was a woman, Ruataupare, who in- 
 vaded the Wahineiti at Tokomaru, and 
 took that country from them, and founded 
 a tribe that bears her name now. 
 
 It was a woman, Moenga, who led the 
 Amazons at the battle of Mangatara, and 
 routed, the enemy. 
 
 But if there have been women political, 
 women revengeful, and military women, 
 amongst the Maoris, there have also been 
 merciful women, and women of a peaceful 
 disposition. 
 
 Of such was the woman Kurauhirangi, 
 who intervened on the field of battle and 
 made peace between Te Roroterangi and 
 Ngaeterangi at Maketu, and terminated a 
 war that had lasted many years, and had 
 probably cost thousands of lives, for great 
 efforts had been made by many tribes to 
 recover that place from Ngaeterangi. 
 
 When Te Rohu, a chief of Hauraki, in- 
 fluenced by revenge, took the large pa at 
 Tauranga called Te Papa, and slew its un- 
 fortunate people, it was a woman, one of 
 his wives (whose name I regret I have mis- 
 laid), who persuaded him to relinquish his 
 intention to destroy Otumoetai, and to be 
 satisfied with the utu obtained. She saved 
 the lives in that large pa of, perhaps two 
 thousand persons, and returned home with 
 her husband. 
 
 Now, observe the sequel. It happened 
 within a short time after, that Te Waharoa 
 urged Ngaeterangi to help him in the ap- 
 proaching campaign against the Hauraki 
 tribes at Haowhenua. They responded 
 to the call, and sent a contingent of about 
 two hundred men, who all returned home 
 without fighting because they had received 
 
ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY. 
 
 37 
 
 a message from that woman before the 
 battle of Taumatawiwi asking if they 
 remembered Otumoetai ?* 
 
 Lastly, it was a woman, Mapihiterangi, 
 who stopped the chronic state of warfare 
 between Ngaeterangi and the remnant of 
 Ngatiranginui. She was a Ngaeterangi 
 woman of rank, who, unknown to her own 
 
 The return home of Ngaeterangi without 
 fighting at Taumatawiwi, is not mentioned 
 in the story of Te Waharoa. I had heard of 
 that return at the time I wrote that book, from 
 a man who was a slave in the Haowhenua pa. 
 All he could say was that Ngaeterangi had 
 turned back at Horotiu River, without crossing 
 it, and therefore, without reaching the field of 
 
 tribe, passed over to the enemy’s tribe, and 
 married its guerilla chief. 
 
 And it was quite a common thing in 
 ancient Maori life and history, for women 
 of rank to sacrifice their own feelings, and 
 all they held dear, and marry stranger 
 chiefs of other tribes, from whom in times of 
 public emergency assistance was required. 
 
 Taumatawiwi. I hesitated, however, to attach 
 historical weight to an improbable and inexplic- 
 able story. 1 have since learned from Nga- 
 eterangi chiefs now deceased, that the story of 
 the slave was correct, and that the woman’s 
 message was the cause of the extraordinary 
 proceeding. 
 
 r 
 
H. HRF.TT PRINTER, 
 
 Rucfclatrt, 1 W.Z. : 
 
 EVENING STAR OFFICE, SIIOR LAND AND FORT STREETS. 
 
 
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