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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 
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 Maori Chief.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 A SKETCH OF THEIR HISTOIU 
 
 LEGENDARY LORE. 
 
 BY 
 
 CANON STACK 
 
 Christchurch, Wellington, Dunedin and Auckland : 
 WHITCOMBE & TOMBS LIMITED

 
 DU 
 
 A-- 
 
 Jlcliicatiort. 
 
 I DEDICATE THIS SKETCH OE MaORI TRADITIONS 
 TO THE 
 
 PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Chiistchurch Savage Club, 
 
 in acknowledgment of the interest shewn 
 
 1!v them in all ^matters relating 
 
 to the history and customs of the 
 
 Maori People. 
 
 Christchurch, 
 
 October, 1898. 
 
 lir,t95G
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The Maoris of New Zealand are a portion of a race which shares with 
 two other races — the Papuan and Malay — the countless islands of the 
 Pacific. The chief centres of Maori population are found in the 
 Hawaiian, Samoan, Rarotongan and New Zealand Islands. 
 
 The language spoken by the New Zealanders is a dialect of the 
 language common to all branches of the Maori race. The extreme 
 simplicity of its structure is a proof of its great antiquity. The grammar 
 is peculiar as compared with the ancient and modern languages of 
 Europe. Nouns are not inflected nor the verbs conjugated in the same 
 way. To form the cases or the plurals of nouns, or the mood, tense, 
 or person, of a verb, all that is required is to put a participle before or 
 after the word. There is no auxiliary verb " to be," but its place is 
 supplied by a participle. The pronouns are very complete and possess 
 double duals and double plurals. 
 
 The vocabulary is wanting in words to express abstract ideas, but 
 full of terms to describe outward objects. But there are here and there 
 words which seem to indicate that abstract ideas were once more 
 familiar to the minds of the race than they are now. But while the 
 language is defective for the purpose of argumentative discourse, it is 
 peculiarly well adapted for the purpose of narration and the peculiar 
 style of oratory cultivated by the people. 
 
 The art of writing was unknown till it was introduced by the 
 English missionaries about the year 1S20. It was by the advice of 
 Professor Lee, of Cambridge, that Roman letters were employed to 
 represent the sounds of the language, and a i)honetic system of spelling 
 adopted in forming the words. Only Jourteen letters are used to 
 express the sounds of the dialect spoken by the New Zealanders — five 
 vowels and nine consonants, none of which are sibilants. This is a 
 noticeable peculiarity as sibilants do exist in the .Samoan, Rarotongan 
 and Hawaiian dialects. Except in forming the sound Nga no two 
 consonants ever come together, and every syllable and every word ends 
 in a vowel, which renders the language when spoken soft and 
 euphonious.
 
 PREFACE 5 
 
 The local difterences of dialect in New Zealand though important 
 in the estimation of the natives appear trivial to us, being nothing like 
 as great as the differences which exist between the dialects of the 
 northern and western counties of England. 
 
 The South Islanders substituted A' for N-^a, in the same way that 
 the Hawaiians and most other Polynesians do. Instead of pronouncing 
 the word for village as if spelt Kainga, it was pronounced as if spelt 
 Kaika ; but I have not thought it advisable to adopt this local 
 peculiarity when spelling the Maori words which occur in the following 
 pages. I have preferred to spell them as they will be found spelt in all 
 standard books printed in the Maori tongue. 
 
 The letters of the Maori alphabet are : — 
 
 A pronounced as a in father 
 
 E ,, as a in acorn 
 
 H ,, ha 
 
 I ,, as ee in sleep 
 
 K ,, ka 
 
 M ,, ma 
 
 N , , na 
 
 O pronounced O 
 
 P ,, pa 
 
 R ,, ra 
 
 T ,, ta 
 
 U ,, as 00 in too 
 
 W ,, wa 
 
 Nga ,, as ngah 
 
 When pronouncing a Maori word, the reader must be careful to sound 
 every vowel distinctly. 
 
 I regret that I have been unable to obtain photographs of the sites 
 of the ancient pas which can still be recognised by the earth works 
 which protected them, such as O te Kaue, at the mouth of the Wairau 
 River, Waipapa, Kahutara, Waikouaiti, etc. I have been unable, too, 
 to procure a correct picture of a Maori fortress as it existed before the 
 period of colonization. It was a structure as unlike anything to be 
 seen in this country now as a Norman castle was unlike a modern 
 English villa. 
 
 The war canoe shewn on page 47 does not represent the largest 
 of the sea-going canoes, which were longer, wider and deeper than 
 this modern specimen. 
 
 The portrait of Pita Te Hori found on page 36 is worthy of 
 special notice, as it is the likeness of the last Tohunga, or learned chief, 
 of Ngaitahu. It was from him that I obtained most of my knowledge 
 of South Island tribal lore. 
 
 I would recommend those of my readers who wish to obtain more 
 information about the subjects referred to in the following pages, to 
 read Sir George Grey's book on " Polynesian Mythology ; " " Old 
 Pakeha Maori," by Judge Manning ; Vates' " New Zealand ; " Dr. 
 Shortland's \V<jrks ; " Ika-a-maui," by Rev. R. Paylor ; and the
 
 6 PREFACE 
 
 admirable series of papers on Maori habits and customs contributed by 
 the Rev. W. Colenso to the "Transactions of New Zealand Institute." 
 
 I am largely indebted to the writings of the late Sir George Grey 
 for the contents of the last chapter of this publication ; and while 
 acknowledging how much I owe to him, I wish to point out to my 
 readers how greatly all New Zealanders are indebted to our late 
 Governor for rescuing from oblivion the most interesting and most 
 valuable portion of the Maori traditions which we possess. In a letter 
 which I received from him in February, 1892, he told me how he first 
 became acquainted with the story of Hinemoa ; and the account given 
 by him is so interesting that I feel that it would be an act of injustice 
 to him not to publish it. "I think," he wrote, "you may be interested 
 to know that the story was not as you seem to suppose, committed to 
 writing by a Maori chief, Ijut was written down by myself under the 
 following circumstances : — 
 
 " On Wednesday, December 26th, 1849, I was on a pedestrian 
 tour from Auckland to Wellington (we were then compelled to make 
 all land journeys on foot ; there were no roads, and, I may say, no 
 horses in the interior ; we often suffered from fatigue and hunger). 
 
 " With some of my party I was on the island of Mokoia, but I 
 wandered away alone, accompanied by three or four old chiefs. We 
 sat down to rest on the rocky edge of a hot spring shaded by Pohutu- 
 kawa trees — the bath that Hinemoa had swum to. My constant work 
 was collecting old poems and legends. The chiefs knew this, and began 
 to tell me the story of Hinemoa. I saw that it was a thing of beauty 
 and got them to repeat the tale ; and then by questioning them, 
 obtained it fully with all its details as it stands now. When I got back 
 with my party to the mainland to dine with the good and hospitable 
 missionary Mr. Chapman, I related briefly to him the tale at dinner. 
 He said I had been deceived ; if there was such a tale he must have 
 heard it, as he had lived there for several years. He was so excited 
 that he got up from iiis dinner and went out to speak to some of the 
 natives ; returned and said he found I was right. I then took 
 considerable pains with the translation, choosing the most fitting words 
 to convey the meaning of the Maori original, and to convey the spirit 
 and sense of the original ; and the tale was published early in 1851 
 with my translation in a .Maori newspaper, and taken from that and 
 published in a little journal of my journey overland, published in 
 Auckland in 1851. My translation of the tale was published in 1855, 
 by Murray, in my " Polynesian Mythology. 
 
 " From that time many persons writing of New Zealand, have 
 introduced the tale without any acknowledgement, and it became a
 
 PREFACE 7 
 
 (avourite exercise to produce a translation of it which should excel 
 mine — which I have never touched since I first wrote it. Amongst 
 others, Manning, who was a great Maori scholar, in 1S70 or 1871 
 [luhlished an English version of the tale ; and Lord Penibrokf, in his 
 writings, attributes the discovery of it to Manning. In this manner the 
 discovery of the tale has been attributed to several people, many of 
 whose translations were perhaps better than mine. The only credit I 
 claim is having probably rescued it from loss or corruption ; and for 
 having by questions and interest shewn, elicited niceties of thought 
 and expression which could not perhaps have been drawn out by 
 others. These remarks apply equally to the tale of I'onga t<i which 
 you also allude." 
 
 I am painfully aware that this publication has suffered from the 
 haste with which its materials have been put together ; a haste necessitated 
 by my approaching departure from the colony ; Vnit the readiness with 
 which Messrs. Whitcombe & Tombs have kindly undertaken to publish 
 it for me at short notice, and the remembrance of the favourable 
 reception given a few years back to my story of " Kaiapohia,'' has 
 emboldened me to ask the public to accept, in spite of its defects, this 
 small contribution to Maori history, and the attempt I have made in it 
 to correct some of the erroneous opinions which are current regarding 
 the character and attainments of the Maori people. 
 
 JAMES W. ST.\CK. 
 The Vicarage, FciidaUon, 
 
 Can/erl itiy, Nac Zealand.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface — 
 
 Maori Language. 
 
 Rules regarding pronunciation. 
 
 Sir George Grey's letter re Hinemoa. 
 
 Chapter I. — 
 
 Sources of information . . 
 
 Difficulty of unravelling thread of the 
 
 history . . . . . . . . 13 
 
 Chronology . . . . . . . . 14 
 
 Chapter II. — Fabulous Traditions — 
 
 Kongo, The Strider .. .. .. 15 
 
 Tama, circumnavigator . . . . 19 
 
 Ogre of Molyneux . . . . 20 
 
 Chapter III. — Uncertain Traditions 
 
 Waitaha . . . . . . . . 72 
 
 Tutevvaimate and Moko . . . . 25 
 
 Destruction of large bird of prey . . 26 
 
 Ngatimamoe till 1677 .. .. .. 28 
 
 Connection with Chathams 29 
 
 Chapter IV.— Reliable Traditions — 
 
 Ngaitahu 30 
 
 Causes which led to their migration 
 
 from the North Island . . 31 
 
 Maoris from west coast, North Island 32 
 
 Tutekawa 38 
 
 Last migration 41 
 
 Commencement of war with 
 
 Ngatimamoe .. .. .. 43 
 
 Marus leniency .. 44 
 
 Waitai's defection 44 
 
 Naval engagement . . . . . . 45 
 
 Battle of Ika a Whaturoa 49 
 
 Capture of Waipapa 55 
 
 Battle of Opokihi ... .. 56 
 
 Battle of Kahut.ira .. .. .. 56 
 
 Raid on Omihi 57 
 
 Kangitauneke's duel . . . . . • 60 
 
 Death of Manawa .. 64 
 
 Siege of Pakihi . . 
 
 Occupation of Caves . . 68 
 
 The Maiden of Taiari . . ^ . . . . 69 
 
 Te Wera 7' 
 
 Chapter V. — 1 
 
 Turakautahi's sons arrive 
 Taking possession of the land 
 Tutekawa's death 
 West coast natives' discovery of 
 
 greenstone 
 Ngaitahu Expedition against West 
 
 Coast . . 
 Raid on the South 
 Great Battle of Teihoka 
 Tarewai 
 
 Final destruction of Ngatimamoe 
 Internal dissensions 
 Chapter VI.— Mythology, Ancient 
 History, Legends and Poetry, 
 etc., etc. — 
 Rangi and Papa . . 
 
 Maui 
 
 Tawhake . 
 
 Ancient home in Hawaiki 
 Origin of the name Hawaiki . . 
 How Maoris got to New Zealand 
 Pleasing traits in Maori character . . 
 Hinemoa .. 
 Te Ponga and Puhihuia 
 Fairies 
 
 Magical wooden head . • 
 Taniwhas . 
 Poetry 
 Proverbs . . 
 
 Proofs of refinement of feeling and 
 intelligence .. 
 
 91 
 9.S 
 97 
 
 lOl 
 
 103 
 104 
 109 
 II I 
 '<3 
 "7 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 Maori chief 
 Figure-head of Maori canoe . . 
 
 Pita Te Hori 
 
 War canoes 
 Maori ladies 
 Greenstone ornament 
 Specimens of carved boxes, etc. 
 Whatas or storehouses . . 
 Specimens of carved sternposts
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 THIS sketch of the History of the South 
 Island Maoris from the commencement 
 of their occupation of the country until Ngai 
 Tahu became established as the rulers of it, is 
 intended to complete the accounts of the Ngai 
 Tahu tribe which have already appeared in the 
 author's Stories of Kaiapohia and Banks 
 Peninsula. 
 
 The materials for this sketch were collected 
 between 1859 and 1863, from native chiefs 
 residing in different parts of the island, who 
 were recognized by their fellow countrymen as 
 authorities upon all questions relating to the 
 history of the Maori race. The knowledge 
 which they possessed had been handed down 
 to them by tradition. But as the reliability of 
 any oral tradition may fairly be questioned, I will 
 endeavour to show why these may be considered 
 worthy of credit, and also how in the absence of 
 a written language, the Maoris were enabled 
 accurately to preserve their history. Classes
 
 lO SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 for instruction in the various subjects of 
 knowledge cultivated by the people existed in 
 every tribe. These classes, which were held in 
 a building specially set apart for the purpose, 
 called the Whare-pu-rakau, or Armoury, were 
 opened annually with great ceremony at the 
 beginning of winter, the date being fixed by 
 the rising of Puaka (Rigel), a star in the 
 constellation of Orion, which took place between 
 May and June. 
 
 The classes were kept open for about three 
 months. Instruction was imparted by a band 
 of "tohungas," or skilled persons. The subjects 
 taught comprised the myths relating to the 
 origin of all things, and to the gods and demi- 
 gods, the religious beliefs of the race, charms 
 and incantations, the rules of " tapu," legends, 
 fables, history (national and tribal), laws, gene- 
 alogies, treatment of diseases, astronomy, 
 agriculture, etc. The most proficient of the 
 pupils trained in these schools formed the 
 learned class, from which the "tohungas" were 
 from time to time chosen. 
 
 To Europeans whose memories have not 
 been exercised and trained to the same extent 
 that the Maoris memories were, it seems almost 
 incredible that so large an amount of knowledge 
 on such a variety of subjects could have been 
 preserved for any length of time by oral 
 tradition ; but a comparison of the most ancient 
 traditions of the Maoris of New Zealand with 
 those of other branches of their race scattered
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS I I 
 
 over the Pacific, from all intercourse with whom 
 they had been cut off for many centuries, proves 
 that they have been correctly handed down, as 
 they are identical in every particular point. 
 " You white men," the Maoris say, " keep your 
 knowledge on your bookshelves, we carry it 
 about with us in our memories " 
 
 Every tribe was composed of hapus, and every 
 hapu of families. Each family, hapu, and iwi 
 carefully preserved the names of their ancestors, 
 and their ancestors' wives and offspring. In 
 transmitting this knowledge, the greatest care 
 was taken to avoid errors, because, as the Maoris 
 were very punctilious in the matter of preced- 
 ence, a mistake made on the occasion of any 
 public assembly of the tribes might be construed 
 into an insult, and result in a blood feud. Such 
 mistakes were all the more likely to happen 
 from the custom which prevailed, when speaking 
 of a chief, of alluding to him as a relation — 
 "Brother, uncle, son, grandson, nephew, brother- 
 in-law," etc., etc. A very accurate knowledge 
 of tribal genealogies was therefore required to 
 enable a speaker to apply to any given person 
 that term which exactly described the rank to 
 which he was entitled in the tribe. This know- 
 ledge was not confined to a class of learned 
 genealogists, but was possessed by every 
 rangatira or native gentleman. To acquire it, 
 each one from childhood up was obliged to make 
 this subject a constant study ; and the public 
 recitals which were held at frequent intervals
 
 12 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 kept the names and the facts connected with 
 them always fresh in their memories ; for, 
 besides the names of their ancestors it was held 
 to be of equal importance to know the deeds 
 for which they were distinguished. The value 
 attached by the Maoris to land is too well known. 
 From the time that the first arrivals from 
 Hawaiki ascended the highest mountains to 
 partition all the country they could see from 
 thence amongst themselves, the title to land has 
 been a fruitful source of strife. Every part of 
 the country was owned and named. Not only 
 were the large mountains, rivers, and plains 
 named, but every hillock, streamlet, and valley. 
 These names frequently contained allusions to 
 persons or events, and thus served to perpetuate 
 the memory of them and to preserve the history 
 of the past. Every Maori was required to 
 know by what title the land claimed by his tribe 
 was held, whether by right of original occupa- 
 tion, conquest, purchase, or gift ; and thus it 
 happened that traditions relating to the same 
 transactions were preserved by tribes whose 
 interests were antagonistic ; and several 
 opportunities have been afforded in recent 
 times of comparing these accounts, which have 
 been transmitted for several generations through 
 separate and independent channels, and they 
 have invariably been found to agree. With 
 this fact before us, it is hardly possible to deny 
 the historical value of a large portion of these 
 traditions which have been preserved by the
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 13 
 
 same method but which cannot be vouched for 
 in the same manner. 
 
 I experienced considerable chfficulty at first 
 in disentangling the complicated narratives, 
 because my Maori informants being themselves 
 so familiar with the history did not see the 
 necessity of explaining as they went along why 
 things happened as they did. They would 
 repeatedly break off from the continuous history 
 of the tribe to follow the fortunes of a favourite 
 hero, and again as abruptly leave him to resume 
 the thread of the original narrative. One 
 prolific source of confusion arose from the 
 intermarriages which took place between the 
 members of hostile tribes. It was bewildering 
 to find the same person fighting for one tribe 
 but wishing success to the other, and guilty of 
 treachery towards both. The man who married 
 a Ngatimamoe woman would be found plotting 
 the ruin of his wife's relations ; and the 
 Ngaitmamoe man who, by marriage with a 
 Ngai Tahu woman, was admitted to that tribe, 
 would still sympathize with his own people, and 
 betray his connections whenever he could. 
 Another element of confusion arose from the 
 two tribes being spoken of as totally distinct 
 from each other, whereas they had a common 
 origin, and this fact afforded the only explanation 
 of many strange things done on either side. The 
 history throughout is one dark narrative of 
 treachery and ferocity, brightened here and 
 there by displays of great courage and occasional 
 acts of generosity.
 
 14 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 The method I have adopted for ascertaining 
 the chronological order in which the various 
 events occurred, has been first to form a genea- 
 logical table, and then allowing ^twenty years 
 for a generation, to count back the generations 
 from the present time, and thus fix the date of 
 any event by the position in the table which 
 the persons connected with it occupy. Of 
 course this plan only gives an approximate date, 
 but it is sufficiently near to render the history 
 intelligible, though further investigation may 
 lead to some alteration beincj made here and 
 there in the sequence of events. 
 
 The history may be divided into four periods : 
 
 I St. Prior to the arrival of Waitaha. 
 
 2nd. Waitaha occupation, 1477 to 1577. 
 
 3rd. Ngatimamoe occupation, 1577 to 
 1677. 
 
 4th. NgaiTahu occupation, 1677 to 1827 
 (the date of Rauparaha's invasion). 
 
 '^I have fixed on twenty years, as the Maoris married early.
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 THE traditions may be divided into three 
 classes : — The Fabulous, the Uncertain, and 
 the Reliable. The Fabulous relate to pre- 
 historic times, and to supernatural beings ; the 
 Uncertain relate to those tribes which have 
 perished, and whose only memorial is contained 
 in the fragmentary notices which occur in the 
 history of those who superseded and survive 
 them ; the Reliable comprise the history of 
 Ngai Tahu during the last two hundred years. 
 
 The Fabulous traditions relate to the Kahui 
 TiPUA or band of ogres, a mythical race who 
 are said to have been the first occupants of this 
 island. They are described as giants who could 
 stride from mountain range to mountain range, 
 swallow rivers, and transform themselves into 
 anything animate or inanimate that tbey choose. 
 
 When RoNGO-i-TUA (Fame-from-afar) arrived 
 from Hawaiki, he found the country inhabited 
 by these ogres, who on seeing the stranger, 
 ordered food to be set before him ; their servants 
 brought specimens of all their choicest delicacies, 
 but Rongo hardly tasted anything, and presently 
 asked for a bowl of water to be brought. This
 
 w 
 o
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 1 7 
 
 he placed behind him, so as to conceal what he 
 did. Then unfastening his waist-belt, he took 
 from it some dried kumaras (sweet potatoes) 
 which he placed in the bowl, and having mashed 
 them into a pulp, he mixed them with water 
 and handed the bowl to his hosts. When the 
 Kahui Tipua tasted the sweetness of the 
 mixture, they wanted more of it, and asked 
 their afuest where he Qfot it from ; he told them 
 from across the sea. Soon after this, Tua-kaka- 
 riki, one of their number, found a large totara 
 tree on the beach, cast up by the sea. He 
 measured its lenQ^th, and found, after extending 
 his arms alono- it ten times, that he had not 
 reached the end of it. Delig^hted with his 
 discovery, he hastened back to the pa. In the 
 meantime, Rongo-i-tua reached the beach, and 
 seeing the tree, mounted upon it, and made a 
 mark near the butt end. When he, afterwards, 
 heard Tua-kakariki claiming the tree by right 
 of prior discovery, he told the people that it 
 could not be claimed by Tua-kakariki, as it 
 belonged to him long before in Hawaiki, from 
 which place it had followed him ; and that if 
 they went and examined it, they would find his 
 private mark upon it, made before leaving 
 home. The discovery of the mark settled the 
 (|uestion of ownership in favour of Rongo-i-tua. 
 The tree was subsequently split in two, and out 
 of each half a canoe was made ; one called 
 Manuka, the other Arai-te-Uru. Manuka was 
 first finished, and the Kahui Tipua, impatient 
 
 r,
 
 16 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 to possess the kumara, sailed away to Hawaiki 
 in search of it. They obtained a cargo, and 
 returned ; but, on planting them, they were 
 disappointed to find that none grew. In the 
 meantime, Rongo-i-tua sailed away on the same 
 errand in Arai-te-Uru. On reaching Whanga 
 ra (sunny cove), the place in Hawaiki where 
 the kumara grew, he ordered his men to 
 surround the chiefs house. They heard the 
 people inside repeating the kumara charms and 
 incantations. " Ah," said Rongo " those 
 karakias are what you need. Learn them." 
 After listening for a while, he and his men 
 acquired the knowledge they needed to ensure 
 the successful cultivation of the kumara. 
 RoNGO-i-TUA then sent his canoe back under 
 the command of Paki-hiwi-tahi and Hape-ki- 
 TAURAKi, as he intended to remain for some 
 time longer in Hawaiki. The voyage to New 
 Zealand was safely accomplished, and the cargo 
 partly discharged, when the canoe Arai-te-Uru 
 was caught in a storm and capsized off Moeraki, 
 the remains of the cargo being strewn along 
 the beach, where the petrified eel baskets and 
 calabashes and kumeras can still be seen at low 
 tide. When the time came for Rongo to return 
 he stepped in one day from Hawaiki to Ao-tea- 
 roa. The Kahui Tipua first saw a rainbow, 
 which suddenly assumed the form of a man, 
 and Rongo stood amongst them, hence he was 
 ever afterwards called Ronco tikei or Rongo 
 the " Strider."
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 1 9 
 
 Tama-tea-pokai-whenua (Fair-Son — the cir- 
 cum-navigator), enjoys the credit of being the 
 first to explore the coastline of this island, and 
 to give names to the various places which he 
 discovered. The promontory at the base of 
 the On- Lookers was named Kai-koura by him 
 because it was there he landed to cook crawfish. 
 The chief object for which the voyage was 
 undertaken by Tama was to discover the hiding 
 place of his three wives who had deserted him. 
 At the entrance of every inlet round the coast 
 he waited and listened for any sound which 
 might serve to indicate the whereabouts of the 
 runaways. But it was not till he arrived off 
 the mouth of the Arahura river that he heard 
 voices ; he immediately landed, but could not 
 discover his wives, being: unable to recognize 
 
 o 
 
 them in the enchanted stones which strewed 
 the bed of the river, and over which its waters 
 murmuringly Howed. He did not know that 
 the canoe, in which his wives escaped, had 
 capsized at this spot, and that they and the crew 
 had been changed into blocks of stone. 
 Accompanied by his servant, he proceeded 
 inland towards Mount Kaniere ; on the way 
 they stopped to cook some birds which they 
 had killed. While preparing the meal the slave 
 accidentally burnt his finger, which he thought- 
 lessly touched with the tip of his tongue; this act, 
 as he was tapu, was an awful act of impiety, for 
 which he was instantly punished by being trans- 
 formed into a mountain, ever since known by
 
 20 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 his name, Tumu-aki. Another consequence of 
 his awful crime was that Tamatea never found 
 his wives, whose enchanted bodies furnish the 
 Maori with the highly valued greenstone, the 
 best kind of which is often spoilt by a flaw 
 known as tutae koka, or the dung of the bird 
 the slave was cooking when he licked his burnt 
 finger. 
 
 The Ogre of the Molyneux (Matau) was 
 discovered and destroyed by Te Rapu-wai, who 
 were puzzled for a long time how to account for 
 the mysterious disappearance of small parties 
 of their people who went up into the hills 
 borderino; on the banks of the river to hunt for 
 wekas. The mystery was cleared up by a 
 woman, the sole survivor of one of these hunt- 
 ing parties, who succeeded in getting back to 
 her home after some strange adventures. She 
 told her friends that the party she was with 
 were met on the hills by an Ogre who was 
 accompanied by a pack of two headed-dogs. 
 The giant killed all her companions and carried 
 her off to his cave near the river where she 
 lived with him ; and in tinie became covered 
 all over with scales from the Ogre's body. She 
 was very miserable, and determined to escape ; 
 but the difficulty was how to accomplish her 
 purpose, as the Ogre took care to fasten her 
 by a cord which he kept jerking when ever 
 she was out of his sight. As the cave was 
 close; to the river she crept to the entrance 
 wliere raupo grew thickly, and having cut 
 a ([uantity, tied it in bundks. The next day
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 2 1 
 
 when the monster slept she crept out and 
 formed the raupo bundles into a raft and tied 
 the string by which she was held to some rushes 
 which being elastic would yield when the cord 
 was jerked and so prevent the immediate 
 discovery of her flight. Getting on to the raft 
 she dropped down the river, the swift current 
 bearing her rapidly towards its mouth where 
 her home was situated. 
 
 The Ogre did not wake for a long time, 
 when he did he called out, " Kaiamio. E ! 
 where are you ? " Not receiving an answer, he 
 went to the entrance of the cave and searched ; 
 but not finding any footprints there, he smelt 
 the water, and at once discovered how she had 
 escaped. Then in his rage he swallowed the 
 river, and dried it up from end to end, but not 
 before Kaiamio was safely housed in her native 
 village. After cleaning herself from the scales 
 which covered her body, the woman told her 
 people all she knew about the Ogre, and they 
 resolved to put him to death. " When does he 
 sleep ? " they asked. " When the north-west 
 wind blows," was her reply, " then he sleeps 
 long and heavily." So they waited for the 
 favourable wind, and then proceeded to the 
 cave. Having collected a quantity of fern they 
 piled it up at the entrance of the cave and then 
 set fire to it. When the heat awoke the 
 monster, he could think of no way of escape 
 except through a hole in the roof; and while 
 struggling to get through this, the people set 
 upon him with clubs and beat him to death.
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 FROM these fabulous legends we pass on to 
 the shadowy traditions relating to tribes 
 which have been utterly destroyed. Of these, 
 the Rapu-wai are said to have been the 
 immediate successors of the Kahui-tipua, 
 they have left traces of their occupation in the 
 shell-heaps found both along the coast and far 
 inland. It was in their time that the country 
 around Invercargill is said to have been 
 submerged, the forests of Canterbury and 
 Otago destroyed by fire, and the moa exter- 
 minated. I am inclined to think that Te 
 Rapuwai and Waitaha were portions of the 
 same tribe, Te Rapuwai forming the vanguard 
 when the migration from the North Island 
 took place. Several of my Maori authorities 
 incline to this opinion, while others maintain 
 that they were separate tribes, if so they were 
 probably contemporaries, and like Rangitane 
 and Ngai Tahu in subsequent times — one may 
 have come from the west, and the other from 
 the east coast of the North Island. 
 
 Of the Waitaha very little is known, their 
 traditions having almost entirely perished. But
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 23 
 
 there is sufficient evidence to warrant the 
 supposition that the few traditions which still 
 remain were preserved by the remnant of 
 Waitaha, who were spared by Ngatimamoe to 
 work their fisheries and kumara plantations till 
 they thought it necessary for their own safety 
 to exterminate them in order to prevent their 
 alliance with the invading Ngai Tahu. There is 
 no reason therefore to regard the traditions 
 relating to the Waitaha as mere fables, 
 
 It would appear that Waitaha — one of the 
 original immigrants from Hawaiki — was the 
 founder of the tribe. He came with Tama te 
 Kapua and Nga toro i rangi in the canoe Arawa, 
 and his taumata near Taupo is still pointed out, 
 P)Ut at a very early date he or his immediate 
 descendants must have left that locality, and 
 travelled south. Separated by the stormy straits 
 of Raukawa from their countrymen, Wa taha 
 were long left in the enjoyment of peace and 
 plenty, and as a consequence rapidly increased, 
 till as the natives say " they covered the land 
 like ants." The size of the pas, and the extent 
 of the kitchen middens along the coast attributed 
 to them, afford conclusive evidence as to their 
 numbers. At Mairangi and Kapukariki (Cust) 
 the remains of a walled pa extending for about 
 three miles along the clowns, existed till the 
 settlement of Europeans in that locality. 
 Many Maoris still living who used to go 
 there annually to gather the stems of the 
 cabbage-palm, — which grew luxuriantly on 
 " soil enriched by the fat of man " — for making
 
 2 4 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 kauru, a tavourite articlce of food — assert that 
 twenty years ago, the broad outer ditch of the pah 
 could be seen, and that from the bottom of it to 
 the top of the bank was about seven feet, and that 
 at regukir intervals along the wall there were 
 openings showing plainly where the gates had 
 been. They recollected old men sayingthatthese 
 pfates were known to have had names which 
 were now forgotten. Tkwai-Manongia and 
 his son Tauhanga ahu are said to have ruled 
 these pas at the time that they were destroyed 
 by Ngatimamoe. 
 
 Some time before the Ngatimamoe invasion, 
 about the year 1550 as near as we can guess, 
 there lived on the banks of the Rakaia 
 a chief named Tutewaimate, regarding whom 
 a storv worth recordin"; has reached us. 
 Moko, a robber chieftain, had fixed his 
 stronghold on the Waipara, the choice of the 
 spot being determined by the existence of a cave 
 in close proximity to the highway, along which 
 a regular trade was carried on up and down the 
 coast; the preserved mutton-birds, dried fish, 
 and kauru from the south being exchanged for 
 preserved forest-birds, mats, etc., from the north. 
 Moko was in the habit of robbincj and murdering- 
 any small parties of carriers who might venture 
 too near to him, and he might have continued 
 to do so without molestation, as the carriers 
 were for the; most part sla\(^s, whose death was 
 not worth avenging, had he not been so 
 unfortunate as to kill a near relation of the great 
 Tutewaimate. This chic-f, alreadx' smarting'
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 25 
 
 under previous losses of property, was exasper- 
 ated beyond all endurance by the murder of his 
 kinsman, and sumnioned his tribe to destroy 
 Moko and his band. The people responded in 
 such numbers to his call, that when they started 
 on their march, the dust they raised resembled 
 the smoke of a great fire on the plains, and their 
 spears darkened the sky. Leaving the bulk of 
 his forces at Kapukariki, Tutewaimate pushed 
 on early one morning with a few chosen warriors 
 to Moko's stronghold. He found the place 
 quite unprepared for an attack, all the men 
 except ]\Ioko being away. 
 
 Having ascertained from some women whom 
 he questioned that the robber chieftain was 
 asleep in a cave hard by, he quietly approached 
 the spot, where he found him lying asleep on 
 a mat all unconscious of danger. But like a 
 true knight he scorned to strike his sleeping 
 foe, and raising his voice he uttered the 
 followino; challenofe : 
 
 "Tutewaimate "I, Tutewaimate 
 
 Tutewaimate a Popotahi Tutewaimate, son of Popotahi, 
 Te hau tuku mai i roto Swift as the wind from the 
 
 Rakaia Rakaia Gorge 
 
 Te mahea te hauku o te Have forestalled the drying of 
 ata." the morning dew." 
 
 The startled robber, raisincr himself to a sittinof 
 posture, replied : 
 "Ho, Moko "Ho Moko, 
 
 Moko a Hautere Moko, son of Hautere, 
 
 Te hau tuku mai runga The wind rushing down from 
 
 raaunga tere Mt. Tere, 
 
 Te tangata i whangai- The man fed upon uncooked 
 
 nga ki te mango mata." shark."
 
 26 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 As he uttered the hist word the treacherous 
 Moko, by a sudden and unexpected thurst, 
 felled his generous foe to the ground, and soon 
 put an end to his existence. 
 
 It is from the Waitaha that the following 
 account of the destruction of a gigantic bird of 
 prey has been handed down. The ev^ent 
 occured in times preceding Tutewaimate and 
 the period referred to in the scraps of Waitaha 
 history which have survived. The story 
 possesses peculiar interest when considered in 
 connection with the discovery of the remains 
 of the eagle (Harpagornis nioorei) amongst the 
 moa bones at Glenmarkby Sir Julius Von Haast. 
 A Pouakai (Old Glutton) had built its nest on 
 a spur of Tawera (Mt. Torlesse) and darting 
 down from thence it seized and carried off men, 
 women, and, children, as food for itself and its 
 young. For though its wings made a loud 
 noise as it flew through the air, it rushed with 
 such rapidity upon its prey that none could 
 escape from its talons. At length a brave man 
 called Te Hau o Tawera came on a visit to the 
 neighbourhood, and finding that the people 
 were being destroyed, and that they were so 
 paralyzed with fear as to be incapable of 
 adopting any means for their own protection, 
 he volunteered to capture and kill this rapacious 
 bird, provided they would do what he told 
 them. This they willingly promised, and 
 having procured a quanity of manuka saplings 
 he went one night with fifty men to the foot of
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 27 
 
 the hill, where there was a shallow pool, sixty 
 feet in diameter. This he completely covered 
 overwitha network formed of saplings, and under 
 this he placed the fifty men armed with spears 
 and thrusting weapons, while he himself as soon 
 as it was light, went out to lure the Pouakai 
 from its nest. He did not go far before that 
 "destroyer" spied him, and swooped down upon 
 him. Hautere had now to run for his life, and 
 just succeeded in reaching the shelter of the 
 network when the bird pounced upon him, and 
 in its violent efforts to reach its prey, forced its 
 legs through the meshes, and becoming 
 entangled, the fifty men plunged their spears 
 into its body and after a desperate encounter 
 succeeded in killing it. 
 
 The Waitaha after a peaceful occupation of 
 what had then become known as the " food- 
 abounding island," were obliged to resign 
 possession of it into the hands of Ngatimamoe, 
 and were ultimately destroyed or absorbed by 
 them. 
 
 The origin of the Ngatimamoe is nearly as 
 obscure as that of their predecessors. Like 
 them they came from the North Island, being 
 probably driven down before a stronger tribe. 
 Their pitiless treatment of Waitaha was after- 
 wards repeated upon themselves by the stronger 
 and more warlike Ngai Tahu. Their 
 destruction of the Waitaha and their own 
 subsequent destruction, accounts for the absence 
 of all traditions relating to the visit of Abel
 
 2 8 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 Tasman in 1642. Just as the destruction of the 
 tribes inhabiting the shores of the straits by 
 Rauparaha in this century, explains why no 
 account of Captain Cook's visit in 1 769 has 
 been preserved amongst the natives now residing 
 in that neighbourhood. 
 
 A Qfenealoo^ical table (obtained from the natives 
 at the extreme south of the island, traces their 
 origin to the offspring of Awatopa. The fol- 
 lowing legend states the cause of their leaving 
 the other island : — 
 
 Awatopa and Rauru were brothers, sons of 
 Ruarangi and Manu tai hapu. They both 
 commenced to build houses for themselves at 
 the same time. Rauru was the first to finish ; 
 and having performed the ceremonies of 
 purification, he announced his intention of going 
 off on a voyage. His elder brother begged him 
 to wait till he had completed his house, but this 
 he refused to do, and, overcome with rage at his 
 refusal, he killed him. The tribe hearinQ^ of 
 what had taken place, avenged Rauru by killing 
 Awatopa. This led to the secession of three 
 families, children of the elder brother, namely — 
 the Puhi kai ariki, Puhi manawanawa, and 
 Matuku herekoti, who came south. The rest of 
 the tribe remained behind. Relationship is 
 claimed by the descendants of Ngatimamoe 
 with Waikato through a Puhi of the Awatopa 
 clan who settled there, and to Ngapuhi through 
 Muru nui, who was connected with Maru kore, 
 one of their ancestors.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 29 
 
 During the Ngatimamoe occupation, an event 
 occured which seems to throw some Hght upon 
 the origin of the Chatham Islanders. 
 
 Tradition says that a canoe, manned entirely 
 by chiefs whose names are forgotten, but who are 
 known now as " Nga toko ono," or l"he Six, 
 went out from Parakakariki to fish, and when a 
 long way off from the shore a violent nor' west 
 wind sprung up and drove them out to sea, and 
 they were never heard of again. It is not at all 
 improbable that this canoe reached the 
 Chathams, and that the crew became the pro- 
 genitors of one section of the present inhabitants. 
 To Koti, a Maori Wesleyan minister who was 
 stationed for some years on the principal island, 
 states that the Morioris have preserved the 
 names of many of the headlands around Akaroa, 
 and that they number Mamoa (probably a 
 corruption of Alamoe) amongst their ancestors. 
 It is an interesting tact that many of the words 
 in use by the Morioris are nearer akin to the 
 Rarotongan form than the Maori equivalent. 
 
 It is quite clear that the Ngatimamoe, like 
 the Ngai Tahu, CrUiie here from the east coast 
 of the North Island. How long it was before 
 their possession of this island was disputed, it is 
 hard to guess correctly, but judging from their 
 numbers, and the total subjugation of Waitaha 
 to their rule when the Ngai Tahu appear on the 
 scene, they could not haxe lield possession of it 
 tor less than a hundred \ears.
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 THE reliable history of the Maori occupation 
 of this island dates from a.d. 1650. About 
 that time Ngai Tahu were located at Hatai- 
 TAi near the entrance of VVhanga-nui-atara, 
 now called Wellington Harbour. The ancestors 
 of this tribe came from Hawaiki in the canoes, 
 Taki-timu, Kura-hau-po, Mata-iiorua, and 
 Fai-rea, and took possession of the Poverty 
 Bay district in the North Island. The elope- 
 ment of Tamatea's wives in the canoe, Tai-rka, 
 and their subsequent pursuit by him brought to 
 the knowledge of the Ngai Tahu, at a very 
 early stage of their history, the existence of the 
 island they called Tuaiuki, and it was probably 
 owing to the discovery of it that they began to 
 move southwards, and finally resolved to become 
 the possessors of it. 
 
 The Hataitai Pa was occupied by a band of 
 warriors renowned for courage and daring, 
 whose warlike propensities had made them 
 rather obnoxious to their kinsmen and neigh- 
 bours, the Ngatikahununu. Among this band 
 dwelt an old chief named Kahukura te paku, 
 who was connected with the Noaitara tribe, then
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 3 1 
 
 settled at Waimea, in the South Island. His 
 son, Tu maro, was married to Rakai te kura, 
 daughter of Tama ihu poro, the seventh from 
 Tahu, the founder of the tribe. Shortly after 
 the birth of their first child Tu Maro having 
 reason to doubt the sincerity of his wife's 
 attachment decided to separate from her. 
 Without telling her what his intention was, he 
 directed her to paint herself with red ochre, and 
 to adorn her head with feathers, and to put on 
 her best mats. When she had completed her 
 toilet, he led her into the courtyard of a relative 
 and left her there. On returning to his house 
 he summoned all his immediate friends and 
 relations, and informed them that it was his 
 intention to leave Hataitai immediately, as 
 he could not live on friendly terms with 
 those who had dishonoured him. His father 
 approved of the proposed step, and acting on 
 his advice their hapu, carrying with them 
 their families and all their movable goods, 
 crossed the straits and entered Blind Bay, 
 along the coast of which they sailed till they 
 reached the mouth of the Waimea River, where 
 they landed and built a pa. Here, for upwards 
 of twenty years the Ngaitara, Ngatiwhata, and 
 Ngatirua, sub-sections of the Ngai Tahu tribe, 
 separated from their main body at Hataitai, 
 grew into such importance through their 
 alliance with Ngatimamoe, that they came at 
 last to be regarded more in the light of inde- 
 pendent tribes than parts of one and the same ; 
 and this often com[)]icates the narrative.
 
 32 SOUTH ISLAND .MAORIS 
 
 But what serves to complicate still further the 
 history of this period was the existence of small 
 settlements in the sounds of natives from the 
 west coast of the North Island including 
 detachments of Rangitane, Ngatihauiv^a, Ngati- 
 hape. Ngai te he iwi, Ngai tawake, Ngati 
 whare puka, and Ngai tu rahui. The Rangitane 
 appear to have been the most important. Te 
 Hau was their chief, and his cultivations at 
 Te Karaka, known as Kapara te hau and O 
 kainga, are still pointed out, Kupe, the great 
 navigator is said to have poured salt-water upon 
 these cultivations for the purpose of destroying 
 them, and so formed pools which remain to this 
 day {?). These natives never seem to have 
 extended their settlements much beyond the 
 sounds, and little of their history worth recording 
 has been preserved by the remnant of their 
 descendants who escaped destruction at the 
 hands of Te Rauparaha. 
 
 Beyond Waimea, the Ngatiwairangi and 
 Ngatikopiha, who in common with Ngatimamoe 
 and Ngai Tahu were descended from Tura. 
 took up their abode and spread froni there all 
 down the west coast. 
 
 About twenty-five years after the secession 
 of Kahukm-a te paku and his followers, communi- 
 cation with Hataitai was re-opened under the 
 following circumstances. Tuahuriri, deserted 
 in infancy by Tu maro, had now attained to 
 man's estate, and had settled with his wives on 
 the south-east coast of the North Island. But
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 2,3 
 
 he could not rest till he had solved a question 
 which had troubled him all his life. Once 
 when a child he had been startled by hearing 
 the mother of one of his playmates, whom he 
 had struck, exclaim, "What a bullying fellow 
 this bastard is." Running up to his own mother, 
 he immediately asked if it was true that he was a 
 bastard. " No," she said. " Then where," he 
 asked, "is my father?" "Look where the 
 sun sets, that is where your father dwells." 
 He kept these words treasured up in his 
 memory ; and now, having attained to man's 
 estate, he determined to go in search of his 
 father. Leaving his wives behind him he 
 embarked with seventy men in a war canoe, 
 and crossed the straits to Waimea ; arrived 
 there, he landed and drew up the canoe in front 
 of the pa. The inhabitants came forth to 
 welcome him, and invited him to occupy the 
 residence of their chief. On entering the house 
 Tuahuriri laid himself down on his back near 
 the door, whilst his companions seated them- 
 selves round the sides of the house. As no 
 one in the place recognised any of them, the 
 usual preparations were made for their 
 destruction ; as it was always held by Maoris 
 that those who were not known friends must 
 be regarded as enemies, and treated accordingly. 
 Kahukura te paku stationed armed men all 
 round the house ; and while he was preparing 
 to attack the new comers, the w^omen and slaves 
 were busy heating the stones and preparing the 
 
 c
 
 34 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 ovens to c<!)ok their bodies in. While these 
 preparations were being made, and everyone 
 was longing for the time when the bodies 
 would be cooked and ready for them to feast 
 upon, the children of the village came flocking 
 round the entrance curious to see the stranQfers. 
 One more venturesome than the rest climbed 
 up to the window, and communicated to those 
 behind him what he saw ; while so occupied, 
 Tuahuriri, looking up at the roof, said, " Ah, 
 just like the red battens of my grandfather 
 Kahukura te paku's house which he left over 
 the other side at Kauwhakaarawaru." The 
 boy on hearing this ran and told the men 
 who were lying in wait. They made him 
 repeat the words several times, and then 
 Kahukura te paku said, I never left an\- house 
 or painted battens on the other side, only the 
 boy on whose account we came across. Go 
 and ask him his name." Then one arose and 
 approached, and called out, " Inside there. 
 Eh ! Sit up. Tell me who you are ! " Then 
 Tuahuriri sat up and said, " I am Te hiku 
 tawatawa o te raki " (the name given to him by 
 his father when he was born). The man went 
 back and told Kahukura te paku, who was 
 overwhelmed with shame when he discovered 
 that he had been cravino- after the flesh of his 
 own grandson. Approaching the house he told 
 him to come forth, not by the door, but the 
 window, so that they might take the tapu off 
 the wood and stones which they had got ready 
 o cook him and hisfriends with, as the intention
 
 SOUTH ISLAN1> MAORIS 35 
 
 had defiled them. Having clambered through 
 the window and embraced his PTandfather, 
 Tuahuriri felt that he was safe ; nevertheless 
 he did not forget the indignity to which he had 
 been subjected by his own relations, and he 
 determined to take the first opportunity of 
 punishing them for it. When returning to his 
 own home with Kahukura te paku a few weeks 
 afterwards, the people of Waimea begged 
 Tuahuriri to come back and visit them in the 
 autumn, when food would be plentiful, and they 
 could entertain him more hospitably. But 
 instead of doino- so, he waited till he knew that 
 they had planted their fields, and had nothing 
 in their storehouses, then, taking^ one hundred 
 men in addition to the seventy who went with 
 him before, he re-crossed the straits. When 
 he landed with all his followers the inhabitants 
 of Waimea welcomed hini very warmly, but 
 apologised for the smallness of the quantity of 
 food which they set before him, which, they 
 assured him, was owing, not to inhospitality, 
 but to the emptiness of their stores. When 
 every particle of food in the place was consumed 
 Tuahuriri returned home. Shortly after his 
 departure the house he occupied was accidentally 
 burnt down ; the site of it was soon covered 
 with a luxuriant crop of wild cabbage, which 
 the inhabitants of the pa were driven by hunger 
 to gather and eat, and in consequence of their 
 doing so they all died in great pain. The fatal 
 effects which followed their feastinof on ereens 
 were attributed by the Maoris to the agency of
 
 36 
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 the atuas of their chiefs, who resented the 
 indignity offered to them by those who dared to 
 eat what had grown on ground rendered "tapu" 
 by contact with their sacred persons. 
 
 Pita Te Hoki. 
 
 The taking of the pa Mata ki kai poika is 
 the next event of importance in the history of 
 Nga Tiahu.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 37 
 
 The chief, Tuahuriri had from some cause 
 incurred the ill-will of a powerful member of his 
 own tribe, the veteran warrior Hika oro roa, 
 who assembled his relations and dependents, 
 and led them to the attack of Tuahuriri's pa, 
 situated somewhere on the east coast of the 
 North Island. They reached the fortress 
 at dawn of day ; and as the leader was 
 preparing to take the foremost place in the 
 assault, a youth named Turuki, eager to dis- 
 tinguish himself, rushed past Hika oro roa, 
 who uttered an exclamation of surprise and 
 indignation, asking, in sneering tones, " Why 
 a nameless warrior should dare to try and 
 snatch the credit of a victory he had done 
 nothing to win ? " Turuki, burning with shame 
 at the taunt, rushed back to the rear and 
 addressed himself to Tutekawa, who was the 
 head of his family, and besought him to with- 
 draw his contingent and attack the pa himself 
 from the opposite side, and for ever prevent 
 such a reproach from being uttered again. 
 Tutekawa, who felt the insult as keenly as his 
 young relative, instantly adopted his suggestion ; 
 and so rapidly did he effect the movement, that 
 his absence was not discovered before he had 
 successfully assaulted the pa and his name was 
 being shouted forth as the victor. Tuahuriri 
 was surprised asleep in his whare, but succeeded 
 in escaping, leaving his two wives, Hine kai 
 taki and Tuara whati, to their fate. These 
 women were persons of great distinction, and 
 were related to all the principal families in that
 
 35 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 part of the countr\, and their hves ought to 
 have been quite safe in the hands of their 
 husband's relations. But 'Futekavva, who was 
 a man of cruel disposition, hnding the husband 
 had escaped, killed both the women. As the 
 war party were re-embarking a few hours after, 
 Tuahuriri came out to the edge of the forest, 
 which reached nearly to the shore, and calling 
 Tutekawa, asked him if he had got his waist- 
 cloth, belt, and weapons ; on being answered in 
 the affirmative, he beo-ored that thev mio^ht be 
 given back to him. Tutekawa then stepped 
 forward and tiuno- them towards him. After 
 picking them up, Tuahuriri threatened his 
 cousin with the vengeance of his atuas for the 
 injury he had done to him ; and retiring into 
 the depths of the forest, he invoked the help of 
 his familiar spirits, and by their agency raised 
 the furious gale known as Hau o Rongomai. 
 This tempest dispersed Hika oro roa's fleet, and 
 and many of his canoes were upset and the crews 
 drowned. Tutekawa with much difficulty 
 reached the South Island, where, to escape the 
 vengeance of Tuahuriri, he decided to remain. 
 He had nothing to fear from the Ngatimamoe, 
 to whom he was related on the mother's side, 
 and he knew that his presence would be 
 w^elcome to them, because he was willing to 
 turn his arms against the remnant of Waitaha 
 who still maintained their independence. We 
 now take leave of Tutekawa for some years, 
 and return to trace the fortunes of the warriors
 
 SOUTH ISI-AND MAORIS 39 
 
 at Hataitai, of whom we have heard nothinof 
 since Tu maro's secession. 
 
 Though constantly at war with their neigh- 
 bours or quarrelHng amongst themselves, they 
 had succeeded hitherto in maintainino- their 
 ground ; but certain events occurred after the 
 fall of Te mata ki kai poika and the defeat of 
 Tuahuriri, which ultimately led to their migration 
 to the South Island. 
 
 The first was the marriage of Tiotio's two 
 daughters to Te Hautaki, which was brought 
 about in the following manner : — Te Hautaki, 
 who was the chief of a hapu living at Kahu, 
 and allied to Ngatimamoe, was one day driven 
 out to sea from the fishing ground by a gale of 
 wind. Fearing that his canoe would be upset, 
 and being unable to get back to his own place, 
 he tried to reach the opposite shore of the 
 straits, and with much difficulty effected a landing 
 after dusk at Whanga nui a tara, just below 
 the Ngaitahu pa. " We are all dead men," he 
 said to his crew, " unless we can reach the 
 house of Tiotio unobserved." Tiotio was the 
 upoko ariki, or hereditary high priest of the 
 tribe, and probably Hautaki regarded him in 
 the light of a connection, since his son Tuteure- 
 tira was married to a Ngatimamoe woman and 
 living amongst that tribe. " Is there any one 
 of you," he asked, " who can point out this 
 chief's house } " Fortunately one of the crew 
 had been before to Hataitai and was able to 
 act as guide. Having drawn up their canoe, 
 they all marched noiselessly in single file till
 
 40 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 they reached the remotest of the chiefs houses, 
 which were distinguished from others around 
 them by their great height and size. Passing 
 by those of Maru, Manawa, and Rakai tauwheke, 
 they came to that of Tiotio. Entering the 
 house, they found his wife seated beside a fire 
 near the door, and the old man himself lying 
 down at the farthest end. Roused by the noise 
 of their footsteps, the old chief stood up and 
 asked who they were, Te Hautaki replied, " It 
 is I." No sooner were they aware who it 
 really was than the old wife set up a cry of 
 welcome ; but she was instantly checked by 
 her husband, who dreaded the consequence of 
 rousing the pa, and begged her not to attract 
 attention, as that would endancjer the liv^es of 
 the whole party. He then told her to set food 
 quickly before them, as they could not be 
 killed after having: been entertained as quests 
 by the chief tohunga of the tribe. In obedience 
 to his wishes, she placed a *poha of preserved 
 koko before them ; and when they had finished 
 their meal, she went over with a message from 
 her husband to Rakai tauwheke, who was 
 married to two of their daughters, Tahupare 
 and Rongopare. That chief, on hearing of Te 
 Hautaki s arrival, asked whether he had been 
 allowed to eat in his father-in-law's house ; on 
 being answered in the affirmative, "That is 
 enough," he said, " I will come and see him in 
 the mornino:." Before doino^ so however, he 
 sent to inform Manawa and Maru and others ; 
 
 * Vessel made of kelp filled with preserved birds.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 4I 
 
 and as soon as what had happened became 
 generally known throughout the pa, the warriors 
 assembled round Tiotio's house, and with yells 
 and frantic cries hurled their spears against the 
 roof and sides, and behaved as if they intended 
 to pull the house down. When old Tiotic 
 remonstrated with them, they ceased their 
 violence, and invited Te Hautaki to come out 
 to them, when there was much talking and 
 speech-making of a friendly kind, which finally 
 ended in a proposal that Tiotio's remaining 
 daughters — Rakai te kura and Mahanga taki — 
 should be given in marriage to Te Hautaki. 
 As all the parties concerned were agreeable to 
 this, the marriage took place without any delay. 
 The Ngai Tahu chiefs asked many questions 
 of their visitor about his surroundings in the 
 other island, and they were so favourably 
 impressed with his answers, that many responded 
 to his invitation to accompany him when he 
 returned. The final mio-ration, however, did 
 not take place till some time after Te Hautaki "s 
 return. 
 
 What caused the step to be taken was this : 
 Tapu a Kahununu chief heard those who had 
 seen Rakai tauwheke's house at Hataitai 
 praising the workmanship of it, and, being 
 jealous, said — " What is his house to my 
 *Kopapa, which will carry me along the back- 
 bone of Rongo rongo." These words coming r * 
 to Rakai tauwheke's ears, were interpreted by 
 him to mean a curse, and when Tapu afterwards 
 
 * " Kojiapa," little canoe. " Rongo rongo," renown.
 
 42 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 came on a visit with some friends to Hataitai, 
 Rakai tauweke fell upon him and killed him, 
 but spared all his companions, whom he allowed 
 to return safely home. But dreading the 
 vengeance of Tapu's tribe, the Ngai Tahu 
 abandoned Hataitai, and crossed over the 
 Straits in a body to Moioio, an island in one of 
 the Sounds close to Kai hinu, where there was 
 a mixed settlement of Ngaitara and Ngati- 
 mamoe. Here they lived peaceably with their 
 neighbours for some time till their anger was 
 aroused by the discovery that they had joined 
 in eating the body of a Ngai Tahu man which 
 they had found in the forest, where, unknown 
 to his friends he had died. This was considered 
 a very gross insult, and was avenged in the 
 following manner : — Someone was sent to fetch 
 the leg and thigh-bones of Ao Marere, a 
 Ngaitara chief, whose remains had been lately 
 discovered in a cave by some Ngai Tahu 
 women when gathering flax on the slopes of 
 Kaihinu. Out of these bones hooks were made, 
 and when Ngaitara went out to fish a Ngai 
 Tahu man, taking one of the hooks, went with 
 them ; and when the fish greedily attacked the 
 bait, and were drawn up to the surface in rapid 
 succession, he said, in a tone to be heard and 
 remarked, " Ha ! Ha ! How the old man 
 buried up there nips." The words were noted, 
 and it was agreed that they could only refer to 
 the desecration of their chiefs grave, and to set 
 the question at rest a person was sent to
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 43 
 
 examine it, when it was found that part of the 
 skeleton had been removed. As the Ngaitara 
 did not regard this as a justifiable act of 
 retaliation for their having eaten the body which 
 they found, they determined to avenge it. An 
 opportunity of doing so was afforded to them 
 shortly afterwards, when a party of Ngai Tahu 
 women came as usual to the neighbourhood of 
 Kai hinu to gather flax. While they were 
 busily employed at their work, the Ngaitara 
 attacked and killed the whole of them, amongst 
 whom was the daughter of Puraho. This chief 
 mourned sorely for his child and vowe^l to 
 avenge her ; but before he could do so, he was 
 himself killed by the same people, who, feeling 
 that they had incurred the vengeance of Ngai 
 Tahu, were resolved to follow up what they had 
 done and to be the first in the field. Observing 
 from the mainland, which was only a short way 
 off, that Puraho and Manawa went every 
 morning at dawn to a particular spot outside the 
 pa, it was arranged to plant an ambush there 
 for them. Accordingly, during the night, two 
 warriors were sent to secrete themselves in the 
 neio^hbourhood, who succeeded in killino- one of 
 the chiefs. 
 
 The death of Puraho convinced Ngai Tahu 
 of the insecurity of their position at Moioio, and 
 they determined to abandon it and to remove 
 to O te Kaue, at the mouth of the Wairau 
 river, where they built a strongly fortified pa. 
 As soon as they had provided for the safety of
 
 44 SOUTir ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 their families, they began to take measures for 
 avenging the death of Puraho, and the women 
 so mercilessly slaughtered by Ngaitara. 
 
 They first attacked a neighbouring pa, and 
 captured it. Amongst the prisoners was the 
 chief Rapa a te kuri, who was brought by 
 his captors to Maru, in order that he might 
 have the satisfaction of putting him to death as 
 utu for his father and sister. But. contrary to 
 their expectations, and to the annoyance and 
 disgust of everyone, Maru spared the prisoner's 
 life. Waitai was so exasperated by his culpable 
 leniency, that he immediately withdrew with 
 three hundred followers, and sailed away to the 
 south, settling for a time at Pukekura (Taiaroa 
 Head). On taking his departure he warned 
 those who remained against a leader who would 
 encouraofe them to attack his enemies and then 
 deprive them of their right to put their captives 
 to death. " I will never again join with Maru, " 
 he said, " but will fisfht mv enemies where 1 
 shall not be interfered with." Though con- 
 siderably weakened by the secession of Waitai, 
 Ngai Tahu wished to continue the war, but 
 were opposed by Maru, who, being related to 
 Ngaitara, did not like to see them crushed. 
 
 While the Ngai Tahu chiefs were disputing 
 about their future plans, Te Kaue and Tau 
 hiku went out one day to fish, in order to 
 silence the cries of their grandchildren for a 
 change of food. They had not gone far from 
 the shore when both canoes were enveloped in
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 45 
 
 a fog ; the crews could hear the splashing of 
 the paddles, but could not see each other ; they 
 succeeded, however, in reaching the fishing- 
 ground, and Tau hiku was the first to drop his 
 anchor, and just as Te Kaue was about to do 
 the same, he became aw'are that they were 
 being pursued, and that the sound of paddling 
 proceeded from canoes sent after them by 
 Ngatimamoe. Te Kaue turned at once and 
 pulled towards the shore, but Tau hiku was 
 surrounded and taken prisoner. A running 
 fight was then maintained between Te Kaue's 
 canoe and Ngatimamoe. The fog prevented 
 the position of affairs being seen from the shore, 
 where Ngai Tahu were in complete ignorance 
 of the danger their friends were in, though, as 
 the canoes approached the land, sounds of strife 
 reached their ears. 
 
 Te Kaue managed to keep the enemy from 
 coming to close quarters by the help of his 
 nephew, who, acting upon his instructions, 
 watched his opportunity whenever they came 
 close enough to seize the man nearest to him. 
 jerk him on board his own canoe, and kill him 
 ijy cleaving open his skull ; and as his blood 
 spirted out over his comrades, they drew back 
 w^ith horror, and gave Te Kaue a slight 
 advantage in the race. This was repeated again 
 and again till they got quite close to the shore, 
 when the fog rose and discovered the com- 
 batants to the people of the pa, who were 
 wondering what it could be that was causing
 
 46 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 such a din. Manawa and others ran down lo 
 the landing place, where they saw Tau hiku, 
 their tohunga, lying bound in the bottom of the 
 Ngatimamoe canoe, which had pursued Te 
 Kaue to within a few yards of the beach. The 
 Ngai Tahu were overwhelmed with grief and 
 alarm, and wailed forth their last farewell to the 
 old priest doomed to fill the enemy's ov^en ; in 
 acknowledgment of their parting cries, he held 
 up two fingers. 
 
 Ngai Tahu were paralyzed by the loss of their 
 wisest tohunga, for there was no one to take his 
 l^lace — no one who could read the omens and tell 
 the propitious time for attacking their enemies, 
 or forewarn them of approaching danger" The 
 chiefs assembled and continued long in anxious 
 consultation. " Have we no one," they asked, 
 " of the race of Tau hiku who can enlighten 
 us — one with whom he has left his knowledge?" 
 They called his daughter and questioned her. 
 She advised them to summon Tau hiku's son 
 Pohatu, but they ridiculed the idea ; he had 
 never displayed any talent, and had from boy- 
 hood consorted with slaves in preference to 
 persons of his own rank. "Can such a one as 
 Pohatu enlighten and direct us ? His place is 
 in the kitchen beside the cooking fire ; what can 
 the defiled know about sacred things ! " Still 
 his sister urged that he might be sent for and 
 (Questioned ; so at last they took Pohatu, and, 
 having stripped him of his clothes, they took 
 him to the water and cleansed him, and then
 
 
 w 
 o 
 
 < 
 U
 
 48 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 performed certain incantations over him to 
 consecrate him and make him " tapu." When 
 the ceremonies were completed they asked him 
 what Tau hiku meant by hokhng up two fingers. 
 " Two years," he repHed. " You must wait for 
 that time before you attempt to avenge his 
 death, in order that the grass may hide the 
 oven in which he was cooked." 
 
 During this period of forced inaction, the 
 Ngai Tahu were particularly anxious to know 
 what their enemies were doing, and in this they 
 were greatly assisted by a man named Kiti, who 
 was related to both tribes, and who by common 
 consent acted as spy for both. Kiti alarmed 
 the Ngai Tahu with the reports he brought to 
 them of the formidable preparations being made 
 by Ngatimamoe for the coming struggle. 
 Besides the ordinary weapons, they had pre- 
 pared spears pointed with the barbed and 
 poisonous sting of the ray — of which everyone 
 appeared to stand in great dread. As the time 
 approached for commencing hostilities, all hearts 
 were filled with alarm, and as this feeling of 
 dread increased the older chiefs felt that some- 
 thing must be done to counteract it, or their 
 defeat and destruction were certain. They 
 decided, therefore, to take the initiative, and to 
 commence hostilities at once. Then Maru rose 
 and called upon the veteran warriors, the heroes 
 of former battles, to recount the story of their 
 deeds so as to inspire the tribe with courage : — 
 " Rise up, Te Kaue, and tell the people what
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 49 
 
 thou achieved at Whanga nui a tara ! " But Te 
 Kaue kept his seat, and replied: — "Ah! that 
 was accomplished in the midst of thousands 
 supporting me, but here, single-handed, what 
 can I do ! " Turning to another, he said : — - 
 " Rise up, O Manawa, and tell the story of thy 
 brave deeds at Waihao ! " But Manawa only 
 repeated Te Kaue's words : — " They were done 
 amidst supporting thousands." One after 
 another the heroes were appealed to, but all in 
 vain ; till Maru turned to Rakai tauwheke : — 
 " Rise, O Wheke ! " " Yes," he said, " I will ; 
 since all these brave men decline, I will force 
 the way — I will charge the foe — I will lead the 
 people on to victory ! Rouse thyself, Pohatu ! 
 Rouse thyself, O seer ! Dig the wells, rear the 
 mounds that you may see how the tatare (dog- 
 fish) of Tane moehau (his mother) will burst 
 the nets ! " 
 
 The bold bearing of Rakai tauwheke revived 
 the drooping spirits of his tribe. His words 
 inspired them with courage ; and the omens 
 given by Pohatu decided Ngai Tahu to attack 
 the enemy at once. They swarmed up the hill- 
 side that separated them from the pa ; but 
 Ngatimaftioe, thanks to Kiti, were well informed 
 of their movements, and before they could reach 
 the top, came pouring over the ridge, filling the 
 air with their yells of defiance, and raining down 
 their dreaded spears upon the advancing ranks. 
 Rakai tauwheke kept well in front, and succeeded 
 in warding off every weapon aimed against him, 
 
 D
 
 50 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 and finally reached the top of the hill, where he 
 was soon joined by others, and there, by a 
 prodigious display of valour, he completely 
 routed the enemy, who broke and fled in every 
 direction. Tu te uretira pursued after Tu ma 
 taiao, a Ngatimamoe chief married to a sister of 
 Maru, and would have caught him but for an 
 accident to his foot, which obliged him to give 
 up the chase. As he did so he called out to his 
 flying foe: — "It is only this painful foot which 
 prevents my overtaking you." To which the 
 other sneeringly replied: — "Are you the one 
 who can catch by morning the moving feet, 
 swift as the raupo swaying in the wind ? " 
 "Ah!" said Tu te uretira, "Can you escape 
 by morning the cutting toetoe of Turau moa ? " 
 No vain boast, as he afterwards proved. 
 
 Among those who fell upon this occasion was 
 Kana te pu, who had sadly misread the omens. 
 In his island home at *Rakiura he dreamt that 
 he caught a white crane, which kicked him in 
 the chest while vainly struggling to get free. 
 Interpreting this dream to mean that he was 
 destined to overcome some famous Ngai Tahu 
 warrior, he went to a neighbouring stream to 
 bind the omen, and then eaofer to distino^uish 
 himself summoned his followers and took his 
 departure for the seat of war. In the crisis of 
 the battle when Rakai tauwheke was slaying 
 those to the right and left of him with his taiaha, 
 Kana te pu, watching his opportunity, sprang 
 
 * Stewarts Island.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 5 1 
 
 upon his shoulders, and held him so firmly that 
 he could not draw his arms back again. He 
 tried in vain to shake him off, but by a sudden 
 movement of his hands he jerked the point of 
 his weapon against the head of his opponent, 
 and then, by a violent contortion of the body, 
 succeeded in inflicting a mortal wound, and the 
 "white crane" fell dead at his feet. 
 
 After the defeat of Ngatimamoe at Tete 
 Whai, or battle of the ray-barbed spears, peace 
 was restored for some vears, and N8;ai Tahu 
 were permanently settled at Wairau. 
 
 But trouble was brewing for Ngatimamoe in 
 a quarter whence it was least expected. 
 
 For many years tw^o Ngai Tahu chiefs had 
 lived amongst them, and having married their 
 women were regarded as being thoroughly 
 identified with them. One appears to have 
 been of a moody sullen disposition whilst the 
 other was quite the reverse, and made himself 
 so popular that he was elected chief of the hapu 
 with whom he lived. Apoka lived a solitary 
 life with his two wives and a few slaves, while 
 Tu te uretira ruled a pa containing three 
 hundred Ngatimamoe. Apoka's ground was 
 too poor to cultivate and game rarely frequented 
 the woods in his neighbourhood. He was 
 forced to depend for subsistence on fern root. 
 He bore his privations cheerfully till his 
 suspicions were aroused that his wives partook 
 of better fare than they chose to set before him. 
 He daily noticed that their breath gave evidence
 
 52 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 of their having eaten some savoury food. He 
 remarked that although they paid frequent visits 
 to their relatives who resided at a place 
 celebrated for the variety and plenty of its 
 supplies, they never brought anything to vary 
 the sameness of his diet. He was convinced 
 these visits were made to replenish secret stores 
 concealed from him by his wives at the sug- 
 gestion of their own people, who perhaps 
 thought that if he once tasted the good things 
 of Waipapa he might advise his tribe to take 
 possession of it by force. His wives when 
 questioned indignantly denied that they ate 
 anything better than the food given to their 
 lord. Convinced, however, that they deceived 
 him, and broodinof over his wrong;, he resolved 
 to seek his cousin's advice. On drawing near 
 the settlement he found Tu te uretira in the 
 midst of a large kumera plantation urging on 
 the labours of a hundred men, who asked his 
 cousin whether he should cause the men to 
 desist from their work and adjourn to the pa 
 to listen to whatever he might have to say. 
 " No," replied Apoka, " my business is with 
 you alone, let the men continue their work." 
 The two then visited the *"tuahu," where they 
 performed certain rites, and then retired to the 
 verandah of the chief's house, where one of his 
 wives had arranged some food for the refresh- 
 ment of the visitor. Tu te uretira blessed the 
 
 * Small enclosure where offerings to the Atiias were placed, and 
 prayers oflered up.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 53 
 
 food, and then invited his cousin to partake of it, 
 begging him to refresh himself, and then tell 
 him his business before the people returned 
 from the field to prepare a feast in his honour, 
 Apoka bent his head a long time in silence, 
 and then said, " I am stupefied, I am amazed at 
 the variety of food;" then pointing to each basket 
 before him in succession he asked what they 
 contained. He then resumed his silent attitude, 
 and fixing his eyes on the ground remained in 
 that position for some hours. He was roused 
 from his reverie by the arrival of the tribe 
 bringing the feast they had prepared, and which 
 they set down in little piles before him. He 
 made the same answer to all their pressing 
 invitations to eat, " I am overcome, I am 
 astonished, I cannot eat." " But how is it," 
 enquired his cousin, " that you who married 
 Ngatimamoe women should express such 
 astonishment at the every-day fare of that 
 people, surely you enjoy the same advantages 
 as myself by your connection with them ?" In 
 reply Apoka told him his suspicions respecting 
 his wives, which had received confirmation by 
 what he had seen during this visit. Tu te 
 uretira advised him to refer the matter to the 
 elders of the tribe at Wairau who would be 
 only too glad to take up his quarrel in order that 
 they might dispossess Ngatimamoe of Waipapa. 
 Apoka, satisfied with the advice, rose and 
 returned fasting to his home, where his wives 
 brought him the usual meal, of which he partook, 
 and then retired to rest.
 
 54 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 To lull any suspicions that might arise 
 respecting the object of his visit to Wairau, he 
 set off for Waipapa early the next morning 
 accompanied bv a slave bearinof his fishino- 
 tackle. The canoes were already launched 
 when he arrived, and all the men were about 
 starting on a fishing expedition. On seeing 
 him, however, the principal chief of the place 
 gave immediate orders that the canoes should 
 be drawn up, and that everyone should return 
 to the pa out of respect to his son-in-law. But 
 when Apoka assured him that his only object in 
 coming was to go with them to fish, and that he 
 would be disappointed unless they went, the 
 canoes were manned and they all started for the 
 fishing ground. Only two fishes were caught, 
 and these by Te Apoka. The whole party were 
 much annoyed at their want of success, and 
 regarded it as an ill omen. On landino-, his 
 friends begged Apoka to remain and partake of 
 their hospitality, but he refused to stay and 
 ordered his servant to bring the fish and to 
 follow him. The first thing he did when he 
 got home was to hang the fish up on the "tuahu" 
 as an offering to his atua. He then ordered 
 his wives to prepare a quantity of fern-root as 
 he intended to take a long journey. 
 
 When his arrangement.'? were completed, he 
 took one fish, and fastening it to the end of a 
 rod, bore it on his shoukkn" to Wairau. His 
 tribe no soon<,'r saw him than they recoofiiised 
 th(; symbol which indicated a troubled mind.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 5 5 
 
 and immediately guessed his errand. They 
 gave him a hearty welcome, and crowded 
 eagerly round to hear the story of his wrongs. 
 As he detailed the various circumstances their 
 indignation rose hio^her and hio^her ; and when 
 he proposed to lead them against the Ngatima- 
 moe, young and old shouted with delight. It 
 was agreed that the close relationship existing 
 between himself and his wives shielded them 
 from punishment, but that the insult they had 
 offered must be wiped out by the blood of their 
 tribe. Fearing to go near Tu te uretira lest the 
 enemy should be warned, they took a very circui- 
 tous route and came uponthedoomed pa at dawn. 
 Apoka, knowing it was the custom of the place 
 to go early every day to fish, placed his men in 
 ambush round the pa : directing Uhikore, a 
 warrior famed for his braverv, to lie in wait 
 under the principal chiefs canoe. His arrange- 
 ments were scarcely completed before Paua 
 himself appeared. He was a very tall man, 
 and so powerful that, unaided, he could launch 
 a war canoe. He placed his shoulder against 
 the stern of his canoe to push it as usual into 
 the water, when Uhikore rose and felled him 
 to the ground. The cry that Paua was killed 
 struck terror into the hearts of the Ngatimamoe, 
 and ere they could recover themselves the place 
 was stormed and taken. A few only escaped ; 
 the rest were either eaten or reduced to slavery.* 
 
 * Fall of Waipapa is placed by some before the battle of Ika a 
 whaluroa.
 
 56 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 Apoka, whose hatred seemed implacable, 
 resolved to destroy that portion of Ngatimamoe 
 over whom Tu te uretira ruled. He sent 
 Uhikore clothed in the spoils of Paua to inform 
 him of his design. As he approached, the 
 garments which he wore were recognised by 
 Paua's relations, who bewailed his sad fate with 
 loud lamentations. Deserted by Tu te uretira, 
 who returned with Uhikore to the camp of his 
 victorious countrymen, and dreading an attack, 
 the Ngatimamoe abandoned their settlements, 
 and fled down the coast towards Kaikoura, 
 where they remained undisturbed for some 
 years. Having chosen a strong position at 
 Peketa, on the hill-side at the mouth of the 
 Kahutara, they built a fortified pa ; and being 
 joined by other sections of the tribe, they were 
 emboldened to attack a fishing party of the Ngai 
 Tahu. They succeeded in capturing all the 
 canoes but one, that of Te Kaue, which escaped 
 with the loss of the most of the crew. This led 
 to a renewal of hostilities between the two 
 tribes : a battle was fought at Opokihi, and 
 again on the banks of the Kahutara, in both 
 which engagements Ngatimamoe were defeated. 
 1 hey then retired within their fortifications, 
 and Ngai Tahu laid siege, but failed for many 
 months to effect an entrance. 
 
 A council of chiefs was then held, at which 
 Rakai tauwheke proposed to draw the enemy 
 out by stratagem. His plan v/as approved of, 
 and he proposed to carry it out on the following
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 5/ 
 
 morning. Putting on two feather mats, and 
 armed with a patu paraoa, he went before dawn 
 to the beach, and entering the surf threw 
 himself down and allowed the waves to carry 
 him backwards and forwards, occasionally 
 raising his arm a little that it might appear like 
 a fin. The sentinels soon took notice of the 
 dark object in the water, which they concluded 
 must be either a seal or a young whale. The 
 cry of "He ika moana! he ika moana!" brought 
 the whole pa to their doors, and a general rush 
 towards the beach followed, each striving to 
 secure the prize. The pa was so close to the 
 shore that the people did not hesitate to open 
 the gates, and the foremost man plunged into 
 the surf; but before he could discover his 
 mistake, the supposed fish rose and struck him 
 dead. The alarm was immediately given, and 
 the crowd fell back within the stockade and the 
 scheme failed. Weakened and wearied by the 
 war, the two tribes laid down their arms and 
 made peace, which continued till broken by 
 Manawa's raid on Omihi. 
 
 The Ngatimamoe at that place were partly 
 ruled by Tukiauau, a Kgai Tahu and nephew 
 of Te Rangi whakaputa, who was related to 
 the former tribe on the mother's side. For 
 some reason Manawa attacked these people. 
 Having approached the pa with six companions 
 for the purpose of reconnoitring, he caught 
 sight of the " tu ao kura," or head ornament of 
 Rakaimomona, father of Tukiauau, who was
 
 58 SOUTH ISLAND .MAORIS 
 
 sittiiiQf outside his house. Manawa hurled a 
 spear in that direction and pierced the old man 
 through the heart ; then without being aware 
 of what he had done, he returned to join the 
 main body of his followers, resolving to attack 
 tlie pa at dawn. Within the pa all was 
 confusion, the death of Rakaimomona produced 
 a panic, and it was decided to evacuate the 
 place during the night ; but in order to conceal 
 their intentions from the enemy, they left fires 
 burning in every house. Manawa, ignorant of 
 what had happened, cautiously approached at 
 dawn to invest the place ; but not seeing anyone 
 moving about, he sent scouts to the top of a 
 neighbouring hill from which the pa could be 
 o\erlooked, and they soon returned with the 
 intelligence that the place was deserted. 
 Manawa immediately returned to Waipapa and 
 reported what had happened to Maru, who 
 offered to follow the fugitives and to bring 
 them back ; his secret reason for doing tJiis 
 being that his Ngatinmnioe connections might 
 have an opportunity of avenging Rakainionwnd s 
 death at some future time. He found 'J^ikiauau 
 at Tutac; putaputa, where he was preserving his 
 father's head, which he intended to keep, 
 according to custom, at one end ot his house, 
 where, surrounded by mats, he and his children 
 could look upon it, and think the old man was 
 still amongst them. Maru urged Tukiauau not 
 to go any further, but to build his pa where he 
 was, at Pakihi. This he consented to do, and
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 59 
 
 Maru returned home. Not long afterwards a 
 circumstance occurred which indicates the 
 existence of such a curious state of things, that 
 it is hard to understand how any tribe could 
 exist when subject to such internal disorders, 
 and where its leadincj members were animated 
 by such opposite motives. 
 
 Maru's dauo-hter Rakai te kura was betrothed 
 in infancy to Te Rangi tauhunga, son of Te 
 Rangi whakaputa ; notwithstanding this, she 
 married with her father's consent Tu a keka ; 
 this so incensed Te Rangi whakaputa that, on 
 hearing of it, he went straio^ht to Maru's 
 enclosure and killed one of his servants, Tu 
 manawa rua, right before his face. So gross an 
 outrage could not be patiently borne, and Maru 
 sought the protection of Tukiauau with whom 
 he remained till Te Rangi whakaputa was 
 forced by the Ngai Tahu, who regretted the 
 absence of a favourite chief, to go and ask him 
 to come back. On his arrival at Pakihi Maru 
 presented him with a large poha or kelp-vessel 
 full of preserved birds, which was called Tohu 
 raumati. Te Rangi whakaputa, while accepting 
 it, refused to allow it to be opened, saying, "It 
 shall be for you Maru when you return to us." 
 As soon as Maru did reach W^aipapa he pro- 
 posed that the poha should be eaten on the 
 war path, as they had a death to avenge. Maru 
 could not kill the man who insulted him nor 
 any of his people, but he hoped that in fighting 
 the common enemv some of Te Ranpi whaka- 
 puta's kin would be killed, and so payment for
 
 6o SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 his murdered servant and injured honour would 
 be obtained. Ngai Tahu, always eager for war, 
 responded to his invitation and followed him to 
 the attack of Kura te au, a pa belonging to 
 Ngaitara. It was taken, and amongst the 
 prisoners was Hine Maka, a woman of rank, 
 who was brought to Maru in order that he 
 might put her to death ; but instead of doing 
 so he gave her in marriage to his son, and when 
 asked the reason for this strange act his reply 
 was, " When my descendants, the offspring of 
 this marriage, are taunted with being slaves on 
 the mother's side, the particulars will be 
 enquired into, and then it will be found that the 
 mother was taken prisoner when the death of 
 my father was being a\enged, so that the 
 memory of my father's death having been 
 avenged will be better preserved by sparing this 
 woman than by killing her." 
 
 It was about this time that Ngai Tahu had a 
 visit from a celebrated Ngatimamoe chief Te 
 Rangitauneke, who lived at Ohou neai" the 
 ( jpihi River. He came as the champion of his 
 tribe for the purpose of challenging Manawa to 
 single combat with spears. Hut Manawa's 
 friends would not allow him to accept the 
 challenge, fearing that he might be killed. 
 Maru, however, was allowed to take it up, and 
 at the appointed time, in the presence of the 
 assembled warriors, the two chiefs encountered 
 each other. Rangitauneke was the first to hurl 
 his spear, which Maru parried ; then Maru not
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 6 1 
 
 wishing to kill him, threw his spear in such a 
 manner as to pass between his legs and through 
 his apron. Te Rangitauneke acknowledged 
 himself beaten and returned home. Shortly 
 afterwards it was reported that he was killed at 
 Upokopipi, having been surprised by his 
 enemies while sleeping in the grass outside his 
 pa. His atua Matamata, however, came to his 
 rescue and licked up his blood, when he 
 recovered and re-entered the pa, which during 
 his temporary absence had fallen into his 
 enemies' hands ; havino- routed them he set fire 
 to the place, and retired with his friends towards 
 the south, where, after many encounters with 
 Ngai Tahu, he eventually died at Waihopai. 
 
 During the peace which followed the taking 
 of Kura te au, the most friendly intercourse 
 existed between the various Maori communities ; 
 to such an extent did this prevail that Manawa 
 even ventured to visit Tukiauau, whose father 
 he had killed a few years before. I'he object 
 of the visit was to see the far-famed beauty Te 
 ahua rangi, daughter of Tu whakapau, with a 
 view to making at some future time a proposal 
 of marriage on behalf of his son Te rua hikihiki. 
 He did not conceal from his own people that 
 he hoped, by means of this marriage, to secure 
 the Ngatimamoe hapu, to which the beauty 
 belonged, as his son's serfs. The idea tickled 
 the fancy of his followers, who, while employed 
 fastening the side-boards of his canoe pre- 
 paratory to his departure, could not refrain from
 
 62 SOUTH ISLAND .MAORIS 
 
 joking about the people who were so soon to 
 become their chiefs "pori." "Eh! this is a 
 grand idea," said one. " Ah ! " said another, 
 " wait till you have successfully snared the 
 thick-necked bird of Hika roroa." 
 
 The visit passed off pleasantly, and Manawa 
 was returning home ; the people were flocking 
 to the beach side of the pa to wish him good- 
 bye, when Te Rangi whakaputa hearing some 
 one sobbing, turned round and saw it was 
 Tukiauau. "Are you a woman that, you cry ?" 
 " No," said he, " I am only grieving at my 
 brother's departure. " "Beware!" was the reply. 
 " Do not use green flax, but scraped flax. 
 Do not take the foremost nor the hindermost, 
 but the one in the middle, Kopu para para, the 
 star of the year himself. Do not divulge this 
 hint of mine. " The suggestion, so treacherously 
 made by Manawa's friend and companion in 
 arms, was not forgotten, as the sequel will show. 
 Having waited an appropriate time, Manawa 
 returned to Pakihi to obtain the formal consent 
 of Tu whakapau to his daughter's marriage 
 with his son. Accompanied by one hundred 
 followers he approached the pa, being welcomed 
 with the customary greetings. Amongst his 
 party were Maru's brother and several other 
 relations of his ; these were led by Hine 
 umutahi to her house, while the rest were shown 
 into a large house set apart for their reception. 
 Manawa was the last to enter the pa, and as he 
 bent his head in passing through the low gate- 
 way, Tukiauau, who was standing just inside it,
 
 Maori Ladies.
 
 64 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 Struck him a violent blow with a stone axe. 
 Manawa staggered forward, but before he 
 reached his companions he received a still more 
 violent blow on the head. Immediately he got 
 into the house the door was closed, and the old 
 chief, after wiping the blood from his face, 
 addressed his men. He told them that their 
 case was hopeless. Caught in a trap and 
 surrounded by overpowering numbers they 
 must prepare to die ; all that he desired was 
 that an attempt should be made to convey to 
 the Ngai Tahu tidings of their cruel fate. 
 Many volunteered for the dangerous service. 
 One having been chosen from the number, 
 Manawa, after smearing his forehead with the 
 blood from his own wound, charged him to be 
 brave, and commiting him to the care of his 
 atuas sent him forth. Hundreds of spears were 
 aimed at the messenger, who fell transfixed 
 before he had advanced a pace. Again and 
 again the attempt to escape was repeated, but 
 in vain. The imprisoned band grew dispirited, 
 and Manawa failed to obtain a ready response 
 to his call for more volunteers. At length a 
 youth closely related to him offered to make a 
 last attempt. The moment was propitious ; the 
 enemy, certain of success, guarded the door 
 with less vigilance. Smeared with the dying 
 chiefs blood, and charged with his last message 
 to his family and tribe. Tahua sprang forth ; 
 warding off the spears hurled at him and 
 evading his pursuers among the houses and
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 65 
 
 enclosures he reached the outer fence, over 
 which he climbed in safety and turned to rush 
 down the hill. But the only path bristled with 
 spears : his enemies were pressing upon him : 
 one chance for life remained. The pa stood 
 on the edge of a cliff; by leaping down upon 
 the beach below he might escape : he made 
 the attempt ; and a shout of triumph rose from 
 his foes when they saw his body extended upon 
 the sands ; but their rage knew no bounds when 
 he sprang up, and in a loud voice defied them 
 to track the swift feet of the son of Tahu. To 
 allay the suspicions of those whom he met as he 
 fled along the coast, he gave out that he was 
 returning for something forgotten at the last 
 camping-place, and thus successfully passed on 
 to Waipapa. The Ngatimamoe now proceeded 
 to kill and eat the victims of their treachery. 
 
 The Ngai Tahu were quite unmanned by the 
 startling intelligence brought by Tahua. After 
 Manawa's friendly reception on a previous visit 
 to Pakihi, they were unprepared for this act of 
 revenge for the death of Tukiauau's father. 
 They determined to let a year pass before they 
 avenged the death of their chief, fearing lest a 
 panic might seize them should they fight at 
 once on ground where blood dear to them had 
 been so recently spilt. They preferred waiting 
 till the grass had overgrown the oven in w'hich 
 Manawa was cooked, and hidden all traces of 
 his sad fate. \\ hen that time arrived a war 
 party was summoned, and it w^as decided to 
 
 E
 
 66 SOUTH ISLAND jNIAORIS 
 
 proceed by sea. All the chiefs except Te 
 Kaue were ready on the appointed day, and he 
 was told to follow. Vexed at being left behind 
 he uro-ed his men to hasten the fittinors of his 
 canoe, and as soon as they were completed he 
 launched forth and sailed in quest of his friends. 
 On the second day he saw their fires, but 
 passing by them landed on a point which served 
 to conceal his canoe, but from which he could 
 watch the Ngatimamoe pa. Seeing the enemy 
 leaving the shore to fish in the morning he 
 waited till they anchored, and then, issuing from 
 his retreat, charged down upon them. He 
 succeeded in capturing one canoe, and having 
 killed all on board except the chief, he paddled 
 back to the place where he had last seen his 
 comrade's fires. They took him at first for an 
 enemy and were not a little surprised when they 
 recognised the very man whom they were 
 waiting for. Seeing he had a prisoner with him, 
 they asked who he was. " Tukaroua," replied 
 Kaue. " He is my brother-in-law," shouted 
 Maru, who came running; down to the edoe of 
 the water with a mat* to cover him. Kaue, 
 fearing the captive's life would be spared, stooped 
 down and bit off his right ear and ate it. "Oh! 
 oh!" cried the man. "Aha," said Kaue. "Did 
 Manawa cry out when he was struck ? " and 
 stooping down, he bit the other ear off Ihe 
 brother-in-law seeing Kaue's determination to 
 
 *If a chief wished to spare a particular prisoner he threw one of liis 
 garments over him.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 6/ 
 
 retaliate Manawa's death upon the prisoner, 
 reluctantly gave him up to be eaten. 
 
 The next day Ngai Tahu laid siege to Pakihi, 
 but its strong position baffled every effort made 
 to take it. Food failed besiegers and besieged. 
 The Ngai Tahu were about to retire, when Tu 
 te rangi apiapi who ivas ^'-elated to persons in the 
 pa, hit upon a plan for its destruction. Without 
 divulging his design he asked permission to 
 visit the Ngatimamoe for the ostensible purpose 
 of offering conditions of peace. He was well 
 received by the besieged and his visits became 
 frequent and long continued. The Ngai Tahu 
 grew impatient at the delay and wanted to know 
 how he was going to effect his object. " Wait," 
 he said, "till a nor' wester blows, and then seize 
 the opportunity afforded to you."' W^hen the 
 wind blew from the desired quarter Tu te rangi 
 apiapi went as usual and seated himself in the 
 doorway of a "kauta," near the lower end of the 
 pa and on the windward side. Having pro- 
 cured one of the long stones with which the 
 women prepared fern-root for food, he fastened 
 one end to a piece of green flax and put the other 
 into a fire ; when it was red hot he watched 
 his opportunity and slung it into the thatch of 
 an adjoining house. A cry of fire soon arose. 
 The unsuspected perpetrator of the deed rushed 
 out to assist the crowds who were trying to 
 extinguish the flames, but in his apparent haste 
 to pull off the burning thatch, he threw it in 
 such a manner that the wind miofht blow it on
 
 68 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 to the other houses, and in a few moments the 
 whole place was involved in the conflagration. 
 Under cover of the smoke, the Ngai Tahu 
 entered and a general massacre ensued. 
 Amongst those who fled was Tu mataiao. Tu 
 te uretira, mindful of this warrior's boast on 
 a former occasion when he succeeded in 
 escaping from him, pursued after him, and this 
 time caught him. " Let me live," he begged. 
 " Ah ! was it not you who said I could not 
 catch by morning the feet moving like the 
 swift quivering raupo ? Come with me to the 
 camp." Arrived there, Maru beckoned for Tu 
 mataiao to be brought to his side, where he 
 made room for him on his mat. The poor 
 wretch thought his life was now safe, when 
 to his dismay " Maru the merciful " rose up, 
 and, addressing the tribe, saici — " Here take 
 your food. Tu mataiao was then seized and 
 put to death. 
 
 Weakened by successive defeats, the Ngati- 
 mamoe gradually retired southwards ; and we 
 do not hear of their making any very determined 
 stand between the fall of Pakihi, or Pari 
 whakatau, and the battle on the banks of the 
 Aparima thirty years afterwards, when their 
 forces were completely annihilated ; although 
 constant petty encounters between the two 
 contending tribes continued up to the very last. 
 It was during this interval that the fugitives 
 from Pakihi are said to have lived in caves. 
 Traces of their occupation are found in the rude
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 69 
 
 drawings which cover the " rock shelters " at 
 the Weka Pass, Opihi Gorge and the Upper 
 Waitaki. The reason given for their choosing 
 such places of abode was that they thought they 
 were less likely to be attacked there, and if they 
 were they would be in a better position to 
 escape. Tukiauau, who escaped from Pakihi 
 with his son and a few followers, separated 
 from the main body of fugitives and went 
 down to the Waihora lake in Otago, where 
 he built a pa. While there his son Koroki 
 whiti made the acquaintance of Haki te 
 kura, the daughter of the chief whose pa stood 
 at the mouth of the Taiari. This maiden, 
 unknown to her friends, used to meet her lover 
 " on the sands when the tide was low," and 
 these clandestine meetings continued up to the 
 time of Tukiauau's departure further south ; for 
 that chief disturbed by the rumours that reached 
 him respecting the movements of Ngai Tahu 
 determined to place himself beyond pursuit. 
 Accordingly he abandoned his pa at Waihora, 
 and embarked with his followers in a largre war 
 canoe. As they were passing below her father's 
 pa, Haki te kura eager to join her lover, 
 jumped off the cliff into the water ; but in 
 doing so, either fell upon a rock or on the edge 
 of the canoe and was killed. Tu wiri roa, over- 
 whelmed with grief and rage at the loss of his 
 daughter swore to destroy the man who was 
 the cause of her death. Waiting for a little 
 while to lull suspicion, he followed in Tukiauau's
 
 JO SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 wake, but could not for a lono' time discover 
 his retreat, which was at length betrayed by 
 the smoke of a fire on the island of Rakiura 
 (Stewarts). Concealing himself behind some 
 islets, he waited till a canoe, manned by a large 
 number of persons, came out to fish ; when they 
 had anchored, and their attention was fixed 
 upon their lines, Tu wiri roa bore down upon 
 them and cut off their escape. Taken unawares 
 without their weapons, the crew were easily 
 overpowered and put to death, and all their 
 companions on shore soon afterwards shared 
 their fate. 
 
 It does not appear that the chief Wai-tai, 
 after separating himself from the main body of 
 Ngai Tahu and fixing his residence in the 
 south, was ever as successful in his encounters 
 with Neatimamoe as those whom he deserted 
 were ; for whilst they made a clean sweep of their 
 opponents, driving them steadily down the coast 
 before them. Waitai seems to have been content 
 to plant stations here and there amongst Ngati- 
 mamoe without attempting their subjugation. 
 We find him in alliance with Te Rangi tau 
 neke, and joining with him in expeditions 
 against Te Rapuwai or Waitaha who wcM'e still 
 numerous inland. Thirty years after the 
 conquest of the northern part of the island, 
 the Ntiatimamoe tribe was still so strong in the 
 south that they threatened the existence of the 
 Ngai Tahu settlements there. 
 
 Amongst the most noted chiefs who followed 
 in Waitai's wake was Te Wera, who for a
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 7 I 
 
 time occupied a strong position at the mouth of 
 the Waikouaiti river. He is more distino^uishecl 
 for his achievements against his own tribe in 
 the south than against the common enemy. 
 He finally settled at Rakiura, where he lived 
 principally on seal's flesh and grew very fat. 
 At the " Neck," a place called the " Fright of 
 Te Wera " is pointed out where his first 
 encounter with a seal took place ; when he 
 confessed that he, who never knew what fear 
 was when fighting with men, felt afraid when 
 fighting a "fish. On his death-bed he advised 
 his family to return to the mainland, "that they 
 might lie on a fragrant bed, and not on a fetid 
 one like his." An oven bein^ in his estimation 
 a more desirable resting place for the body of 
 man than a grave.
 
 Chapter V. 
 
 WE now enter on the second period of the 
 Ngai Tahu occupation, the first having 
 closed with the fall of Pakihi and the dispersion 
 of its inhabitants. The invaders now held 
 entire possession of the country from Wairau 
 southwards as far as Waihora, and occupied 
 fortified pas here and there throughout the 
 Ngatimamoe country as far south as Rakiura. 
 
 The second period opens with the arrival, 
 about the year 1727, of a party of young chiefs 
 at Kaiapoi, known as the Wharaunga puraho 
 nui, or colonisino- noblemen, consistino- of the 
 sons of the principal Ngai Tahu chiefs, some of 
 whom had been brought up in the other island 
 by their Kaiiu-nunu relations. Amongst them 
 were the sons of Turakautahi. This chief had 
 selected Kaiapoi as his residence, where he 
 established a reputation for hospitality — a virtue 
 which on his death-bed he enjoined his posterity 
 to continue the practice of for ever. 
 
 These young chiefs having ascertained from 
 persons familiar with the physical features of 
 the country the names of the various localities, 
 proceeded to divide the unallotted parts of the
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 73 
 
 country amongst themselves ; and their pro- 
 cedure on this occasion is of particular interest, 
 as it serves to illustrate one method by which 
 the Maoris acquired title to land. 
 
 Kakapo skins were at that time highly prized, 
 and everyone of the party was desirous to secure 
 a parrot preserve forhimself. As theyapproached 
 the mountain known as Whata arama, they each 
 claimed a peak of the range. " That is mine," 
 cried Moki, " that my daughter Te ao tukia 
 may possess a kilt of kakapo skins to make her 
 fragrant and beautiful." " Mine." cried Tane 
 tiki, " that the kakapo skins may form a kilt 
 for my daughter Hine mihi." " Mine," cried 
 Hikatutae, " that the kakapo skins may form a 
 girdle for my daughter Kaiata." Moki, one of 
 the party had his servant with him, who 
 whispered in his ear, " Wait, do not claim 
 anything yet ; " and then the man climbed up 
 into a tree. "What are you doing ?" said the 
 rest of the party. "Only breaking off the dry 
 branches to light our fire with ; " but he was in 
 reality looking out for the mountain which Tura- 
 kautahi had told his master was the place where 
 the kakapo were most abundant. Presently he 
 espied the far-famed peak. "My mountain 
 Kura tawhiti ! " he cried. " Ours ! " said Moki. 
 The claim was at once recognised by the other 
 members of the exploring expedition, and 
 Moki's descendants have ever since enjoyed 
 the exclusive right to catch kakapo on Kura 
 tawhiti.
 
 74 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 Hostilities against Ngfatimamoe were renewed 
 on the arrival of these young chiefs and the 
 infusion of new blood into the Ngai Tahu 
 war counsels. An expedition under the 
 command of Moki was sent in the canoe 
 Makawhiua against Parakakariki on the south- 
 eastern side of the peninsula. After destroying 
 that pa, Moki returned to Koukourarata, where 
 he landed and proceeded o^'e^ the hills to 
 Waikakahi, where Tu te kawa, who killed his 
 grandfather's wives, was still living, though now 
 a very old man. This chief, whose flight south 
 has already been mentioned, settled first at 
 Okohana because eels were plentiful there ; but 
 finding- those of Waihora were of a better 
 quality, he removed to the shores of that lake, 
 and built a pa at Waikakahi, while his son Te 
 Rangitamau built another at Faumutu. Sur- 
 rounded by his allies, and at such a great 
 distance from his enemies, Tu te kawa thought 
 himself quite safe ; but the avenger of blood 
 was already on his track, and he was doomed to 
 die a violent death. But the end came when least 
 expected by himself and his people, for the first 
 intimation they had of any immediate danger 
 was when they saw Moki and his nien inside 
 their pa. The old chief, infirm and helpless, 
 was found coiled up in his mats in a corner of 
 his house, and a natural impulse prompted 
 Moki and his brothers at the last moment to 
 shield their kinsman, but the avenger of blood 
 thrust his spear between them, and plunged it 
 into the old man's body.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 75 
 
 Having- ascertained that his son was awav 
 at Taumutu, and not knowing; what course 
 he might take, Moki gave orders that a watch 
 should be kept during the night round the 
 camp to guard against surprise, but his orders 
 were disreQ;arded. Te Rang^itamau, whose 
 suspicions were aroused by observing a more 
 than ordinary quantity of smoke arising from 
 the neighbourhood of his father's pa, set off at 
 once for the pkice, which he reached after dark. 
 Passing through the sleeping warriors, he 
 approached his father's house, and looking in 
 saw his own wife Puna hikoia sitting by the fire. 
 Stepping inside, he touched her gently on the 
 shoulder, and putting his finger to his lips as a 
 signal to keep silence, beckoned her to come 
 outside. There he questioned her about what 
 had happened ; and finding that she and his 
 children had been kindly treated, he told his 
 wife to wake Moki after he was gone, and to 
 give him this message, "Your life was in my 
 hands, but I gave it back to you," Then taking 
 off his dog-skin mat he placed it across Moki's 
 knees, and hurried away to his own stronghold 
 on the hill close by. When Puna hikoia thought 
 her husband safe from pursuit, she woke Moki 
 and gave him the message. Moki felt the mat, 
 and was convinced the woman spoke the truth. 
 He was greatly mortified at being caught 
 sleeping, as it was always injurious to a warrior's 
 reputation to be discovered off his guard. 
 Issuing from the whare he roused his sleeping
 
 76 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 followers with the words which have since 
 become proverbial, " Ngai tuwhaitara mata 
 horl." " Ngai tuwhaitara with eyes that 
 deceive : " in allusion to their having permitted 
 an enemy to pass unchallenged through their 
 lines. The next day negotiations were entered 
 into with Te Rangitamau and peace restored 
 between him and his kinsmen. 
 
 It is not till the Ngai Tahu conquests reached 
 Horowhenua that we hear anything of Ngati 
 Wairangi, the tribe occupying the west coast, 
 who, like Ngatimamoe and Ngai Tahu, were 
 descendants of Tura, and crossed over to this 
 island almost at the same time with them. 
 Hitherto they had been shut off from communi- 
 cation with the east coast by what were thought 
 to be impassable natural barriers, till a mad 
 woman, named Raureka, discovered a way 
 through them. Wanderino- from her home, 
 this woman went up the bed of the Hokitika 
 river, and then across what is known as Brown- 
 ing's Pass, and thence down to the east coast. 
 There in the neio^hbourhood of Horowhenua she 
 came upon some men engaged in shaping a 
 canoe, and taking notice of their tools remarked 
 how very blunt they were. The n^en asked if 
 she knew of any better. She replied by taking 
 a little packet from her bosom, which she care- 
 fully unfolded, and displayed a sharp fragment of 
 greenstone. This was the first specimen of that 
 stone which the natives there had ever seen, and 
 they were so delighted with the discovery that
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS '] "] 
 
 they sent a party immediately over the ranges to 
 fetch some ; and it subsequently came into 
 general use for edged tools and weapons, those 
 made of inferior materials beinof discarded. If 
 Raureka was a co-temporary of Moki she 
 arrived at Horowhenua about the year 1700. 
 
 It does not follow from this account of the 
 introduction of greenstone that it was quite 
 unknown at that period to the Maoris living in 
 other parts of the country : for the Hawaikians 
 knew of its existence in this island long before 
 they came to live here, having heard about it 
 from the celebrated navigator Ngahue, who was 
 the first to discover New Zealand. He made 
 the discovery when trying to escape from a 
 l)owerful and vindictive woman named Hine ' 
 tuao hoano^a, whose ill will he had incurred. 
 He escaped from her on the back of his Sea 
 God named Poutini. He first sig^hted Tuhua 
 (Mayor Island), and then Ao-te-aroa, but fearing 
 that those places were too close to his enemy 
 who was he knew in pursuit of him ; he 
 continued his voyage till he reached the mouth 
 of the River Arahura, where he settled and 
 found the greenstone. Ngahue was so con- 
 vinced of its value that he ventured to return to 
 Hawaiki with a carQ-o of the stone ; trustintr 
 that the service which he was rendering his 
 countrymen, by bringing such a useful material 
 to their knowledge, would ensure their favour 
 and protection. It is said that it was with 
 axes made of this greenstone that the canoes
 
 yS SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 were shaped which brought the first Maori 
 immigrants to this country. Although much 
 of this story must be rejected as fabulous it is 
 quite possible that Ngahue's Sea God may 
 have been a proa or junk, as European vessels 
 w^ien first seen, were called " atuas " by the 
 Maoris. The descendants of Maru tuahu at 
 Hauraki show a hei tiki, which they say he 
 wore when he arrived in New Zealand. It has 
 been handed down from generation to generation, 
 being alternately in possession of his Taranaki 
 and Hauraki descendants. It is quite possible, 
 too, that traffic in greenstone between Ngati 
 Wairangi and the North Island tribes bordering 
 on Cook Straits may have been in existence for 
 many years before it became known to Ngai 
 Tahu. 
 
 The discovery of greenstone brought Ngati 
 Wairangi into collision with Ngai Tahu, and 
 blood was shed. To avenue this, Turakautahi 
 asked Te Rangitamau to undertake the 
 command of an expedition, which he accepted. 
 The route chosen was up the Rakaia, with 
 which locality Te Rangitamau was familiar. 
 Somewhere between Kanieri and Kokatahi he 
 fell in with Te Uekanuka, a chief celebrated as 
 much for his enormous size as for his great 
 courage, whom he killed. Having accomplished 
 his object Te Rangitamau returned. The next 
 expedition was attended with very disastrous 
 results, being defeated by Ngati Wairangi at 
 Mahinapua, where Tane tiki, Tu te pirirangi,
 
 Greenstone Ornament.
 
 8o SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 and Tutae maro were slain ; the survivors with 
 difficulty effecting their retreat. 
 
 To avenge this loss a third expedition was 
 sent under the command of Moki and Maka, 
 who defeated Ngati Wairangi at Otuku 
 whakaoka. 
 
 The struggle between the two tribes con 
 tinued till within the last fifty years, when 
 Tuhuru and his brother Te Pare overcame 
 Ngati Wairangi at the battle of Paparoa, and, 
 assisted by Te ao whakamaru and Puku, 
 completed their destruction. The present 
 residents on the coast are Ngai Tahu. 
 
 The sons of Turakautahi, who were eager to 
 emulate the brave deeds of the Hataitai warriors, 
 determined to follow up their successes and 
 complete the conquest of the Ngatimamoe. 
 They planned a raid on the south, and Kaweriri 
 was placed in chief command. On crossing the 
 Waitaki the force divided into two parts, one 
 proceeded by an inland road, the other along 
 the coast ; by this manoeuvre they succeeded in 
 driving those of the Ngatimamoe who were not 
 in alliance with Ngai Tahu hapus before them, 
 till they reached Aparima, where, at Tara hau 
 kapiti, or Wai tara mea, they were brought to 
 bay. Both sides displayed the greatest courage, 
 and for a while the issue of the struggle was 
 uncertain. To the consternation of Ncrai Tahu, 
 their leader and foremost warrior, Kaweriri, was 
 mortally wounded by Tu te makohu, and for a 
 moment they wavered, but observing that they
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 51 
 
 rallied again, that chief dreading the con- 
 sequences of his deed retired from the field ; 
 but he was observed and pursued by a young 
 warrior, Te mai werohia, who thought to earn a 
 reputation by avenging the death of his leader. 
 Hearing the sound of footsteps Tu te makohu 
 turned and asked who it was that was following 
 him. On hearing the name and recognising it, 
 he asked whether his pursuer was the son of 
 Kiri teka teka (a relative of his own married to 
 a Ngai Tahu). When told that he was, he said 
 " Turn back, lest you fall by the hand of your 
 mother's kinsman." In the meantime Parakiore 
 having recovered from the shock produced by 
 his brother's death, was now in hot pursuit of 
 Tu te makohu, and this parley afforded the 
 opportunity of overtaking him. The fugitive 
 was making his way up a steep hill-side, and 
 already heard the hard quick breathing of his 
 pursuer when he invoked the aid of his atua, 
 who caused a friendly mist. to descend and hide 
 him from pursuit : reminding us of the scene on 
 the plains of Troy, when Menelaus with 
 
 "vindictive strides rushed again." 
 
 '* On Paris spear in liand, but him involved 
 
 In mist opaque, Venus with ease divine 
 
 Snatched thence." 
 
 Ngatimamoe being defeated retired some miles 
 up the river, where they took up a fortified 
 position, and being still superior to their 
 assailants in number hoped to make a successful 
 stand. But their hopes were doomed to 
 
 F
 
 82 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 disappointment, for in a few days they were 
 again attacked, and after a desperate resistance 
 defeated with great slaughter at Teihoka, where, 
 till quite recently, the bleaching bones witnessed 
 to the numbers of the slain. The few who 
 escaped Hed into the forests towards the west, 
 across the lake 1 e Anau. 
 
 Those portions of the tribe scattered along the 
 coast from Otakou to the southern sounds, were 
 in the course of a few years destroyed or absorbed 
 by the Ngai Tahu ; and the Ngatimamoe, as a 
 distinct and independent tribe, may be said to 
 have perished at Teihoka. Those who were in 
 alliance with Ngai Tahu were still numerous, 
 but their position was felt to be so insecure that, 
 on the return of Turakautahi's sons from their 
 successful raid, Te Rangi ihia, a noted Ngati- 
 mamoe chief residing at Matau, determined to 
 proceed to Kaiapoi, and make lasting terms of 
 peace with the conquerors. He was kindly 
 received ; and, to cement the treaty then made, 
 Hine hakiri, one of the ruling family of Ngai 
 Tahu, was given to him in marriage ; and his 
 own sister, Kohiwai, was married to Hone kai, 
 son of Te Hau. Rangi ihia resided with his 
 wife's relations till after the birth of his son Pari, 
 when they advised him to return, as it was their 
 wish to embody Rangi ihia's hapu with their 
 own, and to make the boy chief of both, Te 
 Hau and Turakautahi's sons escorted Ranoi 
 ihia to the south. 
 
 On reachinfy home he was shocked to see one 
 of his sisters cooking food like a common slave.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 8;^ 
 
 When leaving her behind, he had taken care to 
 provide such attendance as befitted her rank, 
 and he could not account for her being reduced 
 to such straits as to be obliged to cook her own 
 food. Suppressing his indignation till night-fall, 
 he took the opportunity when all was quiet of 
 asking her why she had so demeaned herself 
 She then told him that, after he left, her maids 
 married and deserted her. Seizing his weapons, 
 Rangi ihia, having ascertained where thev were 
 to be found, went to the house occupied by the 
 runaways and killed both the women. As he 
 turned his back to go out again, one of the 
 husbands drove a spear into his shoulder, the 
 point breaking off against the bone. On 
 reaching his own whare, Te Hau pulled this 
 out with his teeth, and applied a toetoe plaster 
 to the wound. While Rangi ihia was recovering, 
 he unfortunately sneered at the weakness of the 
 arm which had struck him : " Had it been my 
 own the thrust would have been fatal." This 
 coming to the ears of the injured men, they 
 scraped the end of the spear and got off the dry 
 blood adhering to it, and, by performing incanta- 
 tions over it, produced symptoms of madness in 
 Rangi ihia, who shortly afterwards died. 
 Before his death, he turned to his friend Te 
 Hau and said, " When I am gone do not let my 
 brothers live ; they are bitter men, and will slay 
 my children." It was at Otepoti where he was 
 being treated for his wound and died. His 
 brothers and their people were camped at a
 
 $4 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 short distance off at the other end of the bay. 
 On calHng out one morning to ask how the patient 
 was, their suspicions were roused by the way in 
 which the answer was given. The person 
 
 replying cried out, " He is ," and then 
 
 paused suddenly as if being remonstrated with, 
 finishing the sentence by saying— " gone with 
 his wife and children." Having no reasons to 
 distrust the professions of friendship made by 
 their chiefs connections a party of Ngatimamoe 
 entered the Ngai Tahu camp shortly afterwards 
 when Te Hau, mindful of the dying chief's 
 charge, fell upon his two brothers, Taihua and 
 Te Rangiamohia, and killed them, Te Rangi 
 ihia was buried in accordance with his own 
 desire on the summit of Te raka a runga te raki, 
 " that his spirit might see from thence his old 
 haunts to the southward," 
 
 His wife and children were sent back to their 
 friends in the north, while Te Hau took up his 
 quarters at Pukekura, where he was subsequently 
 attacked by a large force of Ngatimamoe. Dur- 
 ing the siege of his pa one of the most renowned 
 of his warriors, a man named Tare-wai, 
 was caught outside, while reconnoitring the 
 enemy's position. He was thrown upon his 
 back by his captors and held down by a number 
 of men while Whaka-taka-newha, the com- 
 mander of the Ngatimamoe, proceeded to cut 
 him open with a sharp stone knife. The 
 operation began by scoring the skin from the 
 throat down to the pit of the stomach, but
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 85 
 
 Tarewai never winced, as he did not wish 
 to make the men who were holding him tighten 
 their grasp, but as the knife was passing down 
 the groove the second time, and had just 
 penetrated the cavity below his ribs, he gave a 
 loud shout and sprang so suddenly to his feet 
 that, before his enemies could realise what had 
 happened, he was lost in the cover of the neigh- 
 bouring woods, and, though hotly pursued, was 
 never overtaken. Having found a suitable hiding 
 place, Tarewai proceeded to doctor his wounds, 
 to which he applied plasters of leaves, supporting 
 life during the process as best he could on fern 
 root and small birds. As soon as his wounds 
 were sufficiently healed he made his way back 
 to the neighbourhood of the Ngatimamoe 
 camp, which he entered without being detected 
 under the cover of darkness. He happened to 
 approach a group of chiefs who were examining 
 by the firelight the very weapon which they 
 had taken from him. He heard them mention 
 his own name, and, as they passed the weapon 
 of whalebone-ivory from hand to hand, they 
 praised the beauty of it. Edging close up to 
 the speakers, he said " Let me too look at the 
 weapon of this brave warrior." As soon as it 
 was handed to him he darted off into the bush 
 where he was soon lost siaht of in the darkness. 
 The next day Tarewai managed to get close 
 enough to the pa to be recognised by the 
 inmates, who were rejoiced to find that he was 
 still alive. Climbing up a tree at the rear of
 
 86 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 the Ngatimamoe Camp, he clapped his hands 
 and flourished his white weapon in such a way 
 as to indicate to his friends that he wanted 
 them to engage in a war dance. When they 
 had ranofed themselves for it, he waved his 
 hand toward the seaward side of the pa, 
 showing that that was where he wanted the 
 dance to take place. When it began the 
 Ngatimamoe flocked to that end of their camp 
 to watch it. This gave Takewai a chance of 
 reaching the sandy beach below Taiaroa Head 
 unobserved, and he was not slow to avail 
 himself of it, but just when he thought himself 
 safe from pursuit, he almost jumped into the 
 arms of two old men who were mendin^f a 
 canoe on the beach, who pursued him so hotly 
 that when he reached the rocks if it had not 
 been for an overhanging bush which he caught 
 hold of, and by which he swung himself clear 
 of his pursuers on to the cliff above, he would 
 have been taken prisoner a second time. His 
 marvellous escape so inspirited his friends that 
 they resolved to make an immediate attack 
 upon their besiegers, whom they defeated and 
 drove away. 
 
 Many years after Rangi ihia's death, his bones 
 were carried down by a landsli]) to the beach, 
 where they were picked up by a Ngai Tahu man 
 who made a fish-hook of one of them and when 
 usinof it made some insolent remark about the 
 old man on the hill holding the hapuku well. A 
 Ngatimamoe who was present reported the
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS Sy 
 
 words to his companions, who remarked, " The 
 two brothers died in open fight, but this man 
 has been dishonoured after death, and the insult 
 must be avenged." An opportunity occurred 
 shortly after for accomplishing their meditated 
 act of retailation. A party had been sent from 
 Pukekura to Rauone to collect fern-root. One 
 of them Tane toro tika, the son of Taoka and 
 grandson of Manawa, a young chief of very 
 high rank, was surprised and taken prisoner ; 
 on being carried to the presence of Te Maui, 
 that chief seeing him said, " This comb-fastening 
 is equal to that comb-fastening," meaning that 
 the captive's rank corresponded to that of the 
 chief whose remains had been desecrated, and 
 thereupon killed him. Tai kawa, a Ngai Tahu 
 warrior, immediately after the deed, came upon 
 the band of Ngatimamoe and asked them what 
 had become of their prisoner. When told that 
 they had killed him, he said, " You have done 
 foolishly, for not a soul of you will now be 
 spared ; you will be banished to the haunts of 
 the Moho Notornis Mantelli and in the depths 
 of the forest wull be your only place of safety." 
 
 This threat was soon after carried into effect 
 by Te Hau, who, after a series of engagements, 
 drove the remnants of Ngatimamoe into the 
 dense forests that cover the south-western coast, 
 where further pursuit was. useless. Traces of 
 these fugitives have been met with up to a very 
 recent date. 
 
 About seventy years ago Te Rimu rapa, 
 while on his way to plunder a sealing-station,
 
 88 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 discovered a woman who called herself Tu ai te 
 kura ; finding that she was a Ngatimamoe, he 
 cruelly killed and devoured her there and then. 
 About six years afterwards, Te wae wae 
 surprised two men while he was out eel-spearing 
 near Aparima, but they escaped before he could 
 catch them. In [842 a sealing party, while 
 pulling up one of the sounds, observed smoke 
 issuing from the face of a cliff Climbing to the 
 spot they found a cave evidently just deserted. 
 It was partitioned across the middle — the inner 
 part being used as a sleeping place, the outer 
 for cooking. They found a handsome feather- 
 mat, and a patu paraoa, some fish-hooks, and some 
 fiax-baskets in process of making. An attempt 
 was made to pursue the late inmates of the cave, 
 but it had to be abandoned, because the under- 
 growth in the forest was so dense, and the paths 
 so numerous, that the pursuers were afraid of 
 beincT lost in the maze or fallinof into an 
 ambuscade ; they, therefore, returned to the 
 l)oat, carrying with them the articles which they 
 found in the cave. These were exhibited at 
 Otakou, Banks Peninsula, and Kaiapoi. The 
 mat was sent to Otaki, and the patu paraoa was 
 eventually given to me by Muru, an old chief 
 of Port Levy. 
 
 Aperahama Hutoitoi of Nga whakaputaputa 
 affirms that twenty-four years ago, when sealing 
 in the sounds, he saw smoke in the distance, 
 and visiting the spot the next day observed the 
 footprints of several persons on the sands, 
 evidently Maoris from the shape of the feet.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 89 
 
 Having suffered so cruelly from Ngai Tahu, 
 the survivors of the persecuted tribe seem to 
 be always in a state of flight, imagining that 
 their ancient foes are still in pursuit. Though 
 the" country has of late years been well explored 
 by "prospecting" parties without any people 
 being found, it is just possible that a small 
 remnant may still remain secreted in the 
 recesses of that inaccessible region. 
 
 The Ngaitahu having triumphed over all 
 their enemies and obtained possession of the 
 whole of the South Island (with the exception of 
 a small strip bordering on Cook's Strait), their 
 historical traditions from this period till the 
 capture of Kaiapohia by Rauparaha in 1828, 
 contain nothing of special interest to the general 
 reader, and may very well be omitted from this 
 short sketch of their history.
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 THE historical traditions contain so little 
 information about the ordinary habits of 
 life and thought amongst the Maori people, 
 that unless that want is supplied from traditions 
 of another class, the reader is in dano^er of 
 forming a very erroneous opinion of Maori 
 acquirements and character. I purpose, there- 
 fore, to refer in this concluding chapter to some 
 of those traditions which seem best calculated 
 to illustrate the national characteristics of 
 thought and action. 
 
 I shall commence with a brief review of the 
 mvtholooical traditions, which, accordino- to no 
 less an authority than Professor Max Mliller. 
 "contain much that will deeply interest all those 
 who have learned to sympathise with the child- 
 hood of the world, and have not forgotten that 
 the child is the father of the man ; much that 
 will startle those who think that metaphysical 
 conceptions are incom])atil)le with downright 
 savagerv ; much also that will comfort those 
 who hold that God has not l(;ft Himself without 
 a witness even amongst thc^ lowest outcasts of 
 th(t human race." It is. indeed, surprising to
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 9 1 
 
 find a people, sunk in such barbarism as the 
 Maoris were at the time when they first came 
 into contact with Europeans, possessing such 
 elaborate theories about the origin of all things 
 — theories which contain traces of a philosophy 
 which evidently belonged to a period of higher 
 mental culture. They conceived of the lapse 
 of countless ages before the dawn of light upon 
 the earth. Commencing with Te Kore, or 
 Nothingness, to which they assign an unlimited 
 period, they approach the dawn of Life and 
 Consciousness on earth through eighteen 
 stages, each stage being a period of myriads of 
 years. " Then began the first Seeking and 
 Searching." Hence the saying of antiquity, — 
 
 Darkness, Darkness ; 
 Light, Light ; 
 
 The Seeking, tlie Searching, 
 In Chaos, in Chaos. 
 
 This was the seeking for a consciousness of 
 existence and freedom of action. 
 
 In the order of existence, the Maoris believed 
 that Thought came first, then Spirit, and last 
 of all Matter. 
 
 Living beings existed from an inconceivably 
 distant past, when everything was wrapped in 
 darkness. Heaven, or Sky, was the father, 
 and Earth the mother of all. In order to 
 deepen the impression in men's minds of the 
 vast length of the period preceding the dawn of 
 creation, instead of stating the fact in so many 
 words, the traditions enumerate the several
 
 92 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 periods, counting from the first to the tenth, 
 and from the tenth to the hundredth, and from 
 the hundredth to the thousandth, and froni the 
 thousandth to myriads. And this was repeated 
 eio-hteen times while describing^ the slow 
 progress from a past eternity to the dawn of 
 light, and the creation of animal and vegetable 
 life. 
 
 How light reached the Earth is thus told : 
 After countless ages, during which Pieaven and 
 Earth adhered to one another, their offspring, 
 weary of the darkness in which they were 
 enveloped, conspired to rend them asunder. 
 Five of the boldest undertook, each in turn, the 
 task ; Tane alone was successful. Planting his 
 head firmly on his mother's body, he raised his 
 feet upwards and pressed them against his 
 father, and by a mighty effort he rent his 
 parents apart, in spite of their shrieks and cries. 
 The legend concludes with a very beautiful 
 conception of the origin of mists and dewdrops. 
 " The vast Heaven has still ever remained 
 separated from his spouse the Earth. Yet 
 their mutual love still continues — the soft warm 
 sighs of her loving bosom still ever rise u]) to 
 him, ascending from the wooded mountains and 
 valleys, and men call these mists ; and the vast 
 Heaven, as he mourns through the long nights 
 his separation from his beloved, drops frequent 
 tears upon her bosom, and men, seeing these, 
 term them dewdrops." (Sir G. Grey, Poly. 
 Myth., p. 15.)
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 93 
 
 It is a noticeable fact that, with the exception 
 of Mother Earth, no female deities are spoken 
 of amongst the chief gods in connection with 
 the beginning of things, though they appear 
 later on in the history of the world. During 
 the period between the separation of earth and 
 sky and the appearance of man, this world was 
 occupied by the race of demi-gods, whose 
 existence was discovered at the time of the 
 separation. It is to this period that the exploits 
 of such heroes as Maui and Tawhaki relate. 
 It is from what is told about them we learn 
 that the Maoris conceived of an under and 
 upper world, earth lying between them. When 
 Maui souo;ht to discover who his fadier was 
 he resolved to follow his mother Taranoa, who 
 nightly visited her children on earth, but 
 vanished again before dawn. To discover the 
 path by which she went, Maui determined to 
 detain her till it was light enough to watch her 
 movements; so he carefully closed every crevice 
 through which light could enter the building 
 where his mother slept, and, on her waking and 
 wondering at the prolonged darkness, he quieted 
 her by the assurance that it was still night. 
 But when the sun rose high in the heavens a 
 sunbearh shot in through a chink, and Taranga 
 with a shriek sprang out of the house. Maui 
 watched her seize a tuft of grass, and descend an 
 opening beneath it. By magic he changed himself 
 into a j)igeon, and followed his mother. After a 
 long flight down a narrow cavern, he emerged
 
 94 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 into open space, and saw before him a partv of 
 people seated under a grove of trees, and 
 amongst them his mother, and beside her a 
 man who he at once surmised was his father. 
 Eventually he was recognised, and the mother 
 told how she had prematurely given birth to 
 him by the sea-shore, when she cut off her long 
 tresses, and, having bound him in them, cast 
 him into the foam of the sea, where he was 
 found by a sea-god, and reared up by him. 
 The father thereupon acknowledged him, and 
 proceeded to baptise him ; but, owing to the 
 omission of some part of the rite, Maui became 
 subject to the " Great Lady of Night" (Death). 
 
 Besides believing in an inhabited Under 
 world the Maoris believed in an inhabited 
 Upper world, consisting of ten planes, one 
 above the other. In the highest resided Rehua, 
 the Aofed One, with flowing' locks, and liorhtninqf 
 Hashing from his armpits. He was the eldest 
 son of Rangi, and supreme lord of the gods 
 who ruled the workl. He was the Lord of 
 Kindness, and dispersed gloom and sadness. 
 He was opposed to war and bloodshed. " The 
 darting lightning," says an ancient poem, 
 " gleams above and Rehua commands where 
 all that sacred is." (White, vol i., p. ;^j.) The 
 descriptions of Rehua continually recall to mind 
 the Olympian Jove, "Father of gods and men." 
 
 That the Maoris conceived of the gods as 
 something more than the embodiments of power 
 — as beings taking an interest in human affairs,
 
 Specimens ok Carved Boxes, Weapons. Etc.
 
 96 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 and able to see and hear from the hig-hest of 
 the heavens what took place on earth — is 
 indicated by the story of Maui's elder brother 
 going in search of his elder sister Hinauri, In 
 the course of his search he ascended the 
 heavens to consult Rehua and get the clue to 
 her whereabouts. On reaching the first heaven 
 he asked the dwellers there, "Are the heavens 
 above this inhabited ?" They answered, " They 
 are." He again forced his way upwards, and 
 found an inhabited place, and he asked those 
 he met whether the heavens above them were 
 inhabited. They said, " Yes." He continued 
 his ascent, asking the same question and 
 receiving the same answer, till he reached the 
 Tenth Heaven, the abode of the God Rehua. 
 " Rupe feared the Man of Ancient Days, and 
 at length ventured to say, 'O Rehua! has a 
 confused murmur of voices from the world 
 below reached you upon any subject regarding 
 which 1 am interested ? ' The god answered, 
 ' Yes, such a murmuring of distant voices has 
 reached me from the Sacred Isle Motutapu in 
 the world below.' " When Rupe heard this he 
 immediately changed himself into a pigeon, and 
 took flight downwards towards the island of 
 Motutapu, where he found his beloved sister. ~ 
 
 Sometimes the inhabitants of the upper world, 
 who were superior in beauty and acquirements 
 to those who dwelt on earth, fell in love with 
 men ; and some very charming stories are told 
 of these attachments, reminding the reader of
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 97 
 
 the Eastern legends of the loves of the angels, 
 so beautifully told by the poet Thomas Moore. 
 The fame of the hero Tawhaki's courage and 
 manly beauty chanced to reach the ears of a 
 young maiden of the heavenly race who lived 
 above in the skies. One night she descended 
 to judge for herself She found him lying 
 asleep. After gazing at him she stole to his 
 side, but before dawn she went back to the 
 heavens. She repeated her visits night after 
 night till love forced her to disclose herself 
 fully, and for her lover's sake she forsook her 
 friends and her home in the sky. After a time 
 a daughter was born to them. Tawhaki, shortly 
 after its birth, made some disparaging remark 
 about the child, which pained the mother so 
 deeply that she seized the babe, and took flight 
 upwards. Tawhaki tried to seize her, and 
 prevent her going, crying out, " Mother of my 
 child, oh ! return once more to me." But as 
 she soared upwards she replied, " No, no, I 
 shall never return to you again." "At least, 
 then, leave me some parting token of remem- 
 brance," he cried. " My parting words," she 
 said, "are lay fast hold on that creeper which, 
 hanging down from on high, has again struck 
 its fibres into the earth." Tawhaki was plunged 
 in grief, his heart torn by regrets for his wife 
 and little girl. Unable to endure their loss, he 
 went in search of them, accompanied by his 
 younger brother. They journeyed on till they 
 reached the spot where the ends of the tendrils,
 
 gS SOUTH island maoris 
 
 which hung down from heaven, reached the 
 earth, and there they found an old ancestress, 
 quite bhnd, named the Face of Night. She 
 was the keeper of the tendrils which hung from 
 above, and sat at the spot where they touched 
 the earth, and held the end of one of them in 
 her hands. The two brothers adopted a curious 
 device to obtain from the old lady the informa- 
 tion they wanted ; and, having succeeded, the 
 younger brother was the first to attempt the 
 ascent. He sprang into the air, but seized by 
 mistake a loose tendril, and away he swung to 
 the very edge of the horizon ; but a blast of 
 wind drove him in an opposite direction, and so 
 he swung backwards and forwards till, his feet 
 touching the earth again, he let go his hold and 
 gave up the attempt. Tawhaki then seized a 
 firmly-rooted tendril, and began to climb. By 
 direction of his old relative, the Face of Night, 
 he kept on repeating powerful incantations, and 
 so escaped the dangers of that difficult and 
 terrible road, and reached the sky. Then the 
 legend describes how he transformed himself 
 into an ugly old man, and joined a party of 
 people who were making canoes, who pressed 
 him into their service, and made him carry their 
 tools and firewood, and how he horrified them 
 all when they reached the village by seating 
 himself beside the sacred person of the chief 
 lady of the place, who was no other than his 
 celestial wife. After exciting the wonder and 
 curiosity of all the inhabitants of the place, he
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 99 
 
 made himself known to his wife, and resumed 
 his natural appearance. He never returned to 
 earth again, and was worshipped by the Maoris 
 as the God of Thunder and Lightning, 
 
 How mankind learnt to ignite fire is told in a 
 curious legend common to all Polynesians. 
 The Maori Prometheus, Maui, who was a great 
 practical joker, having extinguished all existing 
 fires, his mother directed the servants to go 
 and ask the goddess Mahuika to give them fire 
 to cook' with, but they were all too terrified to 
 obey her. Maui then offered to go himself. 
 His parents warned him not to play any tricks 
 on the old lady, and he promised to be careful. 
 But on reaching the abode of the Goddess of 
 Fire, and obtaining what he asked for, he went 
 aside and extinguished it, and presented himself 
 again. The fire was obtained by the goddess 
 from the root of her nails, which she tore out 
 to obtain it. Maui kept on extinguishing the 
 fire given, and asking for more, till he thoroughly 
 exasperated the Fire Goddess, who, when 
 reduced to her last toe-nail, pulled it out and 
 dashed it to the ground, when everything caught 
 fire. Maui changed himself into a hawk, and 
 flew with rapid flight ; but the earth and sea 
 caught fire, and Maui narrowly escaped 
 destruction. The fire was extinguished by the 
 aid of the God of storms. But before the fire 
 was all lost the P'ire Goddess saved some 
 sparks, which she threw into the kaikomako 
 and a few other trees, where thev are still
 
 lOO SOUTH ISLAMD MAORIS 
 
 cherished. Hence men rub portions of the 
 wood of these trees together when they wish to 
 ignite a fire. 
 
 The inhabitants of earth became subject to 
 death through Maui's failure to overcome the 
 Great Lady of Night. Maui, having overcome 
 every labour he undertook, asked his father 
 whether there was any undertaking beyond his 
 power. He replied, "It is impossible for you 
 to overcome your ancestress, the Great Lady of 
 Night." Maui replied, " Lay aside such idle 
 thoughts, and let us both fearlessly seek whether 
 men are to die or live for ever." Boasting of 
 the great feats he had accomplished, Maui went 
 forth, full of confidence, to attempt the conquest 
 of the devourer of all living. Accompanied by 
 a crowd of companions, disguised as little birds, 
 he reached the dwelling of the old lady in the 
 evening. She was asleep, with her mouth 
 wide open. Divesting himself of his clothing, 
 and armed with a weapon, he entered the old 
 woman's mouth. The little birds tried hard to 
 suppress their laughter at the ridiculous figure 
 he cut. At last the tiwakawaka (fantail) could 
 keep his merriment in no longer, and laughed 
 out loudly. This woke the old woman, who, 
 discovering her danger, closed her mouth on 
 Maui, who never returned to this world again. 
 And in consequence of his failure death prevailed 
 over all beings on earth. 
 
 The labours of Maui were — 
 
 I. The search for and discovery of his father 
 in the under-world.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS lOl 
 
 2. Obtaining his ancestress Muriranga- 
 
 whenua's jaw-bone. 
 
 3. Noosing and beating the sun, so that 
 
 mankind might have longer days. 
 
 4. Fishing up the land. 
 
 5. Fetching fire from the goddess Mahuika. 
 
 6. Changing his sister Hinauri's husband into 
 
 a dog. 
 
 7. His encounter with the Great Lady of 
 
 Nio-ht, in which he lost his life. 
 
 To quote Judge Fornander's remarks upon 
 similar myths in Hawaii, " They point to a 
 period of the human mind when the thoughts 
 of sages still lingered and laboured on the 
 borderland between material facts and meta- 
 physical abstractions ; when Atea was still half 
 the sun springing forth from and succeeding to 
 and dispelling the gloom and darkness of night, 
 and half the deified impersonation of creative 
 power ; when Atea was still the mere dawn in 
 the result of the apparent contest between 
 darkness and light encircling the neck of the 
 sun as well as his goddess- wife." 
 
 The historical traditions of the Maoris date 
 from a period antecedent to their arrival in this 
 country, and are full of very interesting 
 information. Many of them relate to voyages 
 undertaken by ancient navigators ; and the 
 description given by them of the seas through 
 which they sailed points to the early migrations 
 of the race in tropical latitudes.
 
 I02 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 It would occupy too much time to trace in 
 detail the history as told in these traditions, but 
 there are a few interesting facts contained in 
 them which may be mentioned because they 
 throw some light upon the origin of this 
 remarkable people. 
 
 When asked where they came from, the 
 Maoris of New Zealand always replied 
 " Hawaiki." For a long time it was thought 
 that the Hawaiki to which they referred was 
 one of the Sandwich Islands ; but when the 
 Pacific became better known it was discovered 
 that every group occupied by Polynesians 
 possessed an island of that name, and that 
 Savaii, in the Samoan group, Avaiki, in the 
 Hervey group, Habai, of Tonga, Hawaii, of 
 the Sandwich Islands, all bore the same name, 
 which meant Little Hawa. Judge Fornander 
 has taken great pains to find out the reason for 
 the constant recurrence of this name, and I 
 venture to think that his theory about it is 
 correct. Tracing the course by which the 
 Maori race reached its present home in the 
 Pacific, he discovered that at one time it 
 occupied the large island we call Java, a name 
 which he thinks the Maoris brought with them 
 from the cradle of their race in the Cushite 
 Empire of Saba or Zaba, and gave to their 
 island home, just as we have given Old-World 
 names to our new homes in these southern seas. 
 On being driven out of Java by a Malay 
 invasion, the Maoris migrated eastward in
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 1 03 
 
 search of new lands, and when settlina: in the 
 islands they found they invariably named one 
 Hawa, after their last home, but, to distinguish 
 it from the original, added the adjective " iti," 
 and called it Hawa-iti or -iki, Little Saba or 
 Java. 
 
 It adds to our interest in the Maori people to 
 think .that they come of a race which had 
 attained to a high state of civilisation a thousand 
 years before our era. Their long isolation from 
 other nations has helped them to preserve in 
 their myths and legends, and in their religious 
 rites and social customs, much that may assist 
 ethnologists to solve the questions raised by the 
 discovery of monuments and remains in the 
 countries once occupied by Cushite civilisation, 
 but about which the present inhabitants of those 
 countries know nothing at all. 
 
 Emerging from the region of myths and 
 legends, and approaching actual history, the 
 traditions contain narratives of several voyages 
 made by Maori explorers to New Zealand 
 before the final migration of the present 
 inhabitants took place. 
 
 Of these navigators the most celebrated were 
 Ngahue, the original discoverer of New Zealand, 
 Kupe, and Tamateapokaiwhenua. Ngahue is 
 said to have discovered greenstone on the west 
 coast of the South Island, and to have taken a 
 quantity of it back with him to Hawaiki. 
 Kupe afterwards circumnavigated the North 
 Island, and Tamatea the South. The principal
 
 104 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 migration to these shores took place about the 
 year A.D. 1400, or about the time when Henry 
 V. of England gained the Battle of Agincourt. 
 
 The causes which led to the present 
 inhabitants abandoning their former home and 
 coming here are variously related ; but the 
 most probable tale is that, a civil war having 
 broken out, the weaker party determined to 
 seek refuge in the new country about which 
 such favourable reports had been brought back 
 to them by Ngahue, Kupe, and others. The 
 chief body of emigrants embarked in a deet of 
 six or seven canoes, each capable of containing 
 14c men. One of these vessels, the " Arawa," 
 is described as being formed of two canoes 
 lashed together, a deckhouse occupying the 
 platform which joined them. They appear to 
 have been similar in all respects to the canoes 
 seen by Captain Cook in the Pacific, and said 
 to be very suitable for long voyages. 
 
 The traditions furnish internal evidence of 
 their general correctness. For one thing, we 
 learn from them the season of the year when 
 the canoes reached this country. The rata was 
 then in bloom, and one of the crew was so 
 struck with the brilliant colour of the flowers 
 that he threw his soiled red-feather head-dress 
 overboard, intendino- to o(^t a fresh one from the 
 woods on landinor. This tradition shows that 
 the migration took place at the only season of 
 the year when the prevailing winds were fair for 
 voyagers from the north-west to the south-east.
 
 TT^ „•-*■- ^?v
 
 I06 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 Many other details might in like manner be 
 cited to prove the correctness of the narrative. 
 
 Besides the first Beet, other canoes appear 
 from time to time to have arrived from Hawaiki, 
 bringing fresh settlers to the country. And 
 there are accounts of return-voyages being made 
 in search of sweet-potato seed, and the secret of 
 its successful culture and storage. 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the mass of 
 traditions which had accumulated in the course 
 of centuries (and the mental effort it must have 
 cost the people to hand down to our time even 
 such portions as we have been able to rescue 
 from oblivion) when we consider the voluminous 
 nature of one class alone — namely, those relating 
 to tribal history, and the biographical records of 
 notable men and women 
 
 On arriving in New Zealand, or Ao-tea-roa, 
 the crews of the colonising fleet dispersed 
 themselves over the length and breadth of these 
 Islands, and formed independent tribes or 
 nations, each of which was subdivided into 
 hapns, and the hapus into families. Each 
 family, hap2i, and iwi carefully preserved their 
 genealogies and the record of their doings. 
 Every free man amongst the Maoris was 
 required to know by what title the land claimed 
 by his tribe was held — whether by right of 
 original occupation, conquest, purchase, or gift 
 — and thus it happened that traditions relating 
 to the same transactions were preserved by 
 tribes whose interests were antagonistic.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS ID/ 
 
 Several opportunities have been afforded in 
 recent times through the Native Land Court of 
 comparing these accounts which have been 
 transmitted for several generations through 
 separate and independent channels, and they 
 have almost invariably been found to agree — a 
 fact which adds to our confidence in accepting 
 other traditions preserved in the same way, but 
 the accuracy of which cannot be proved in the 
 same manner. The laws by which the Maoris 
 regulated their social and civil relationships 
 were embodied in the historical traditions, which 
 served at the same time to show how these laws 
 originated, and to illustrate their application. 
 
 Although the greater part of the annals 
 handed down relate to intertribal wars, we must 
 not read them by the light of our knowledge of 
 the state of things which existed when firearms 
 were first introduced. Those weapons revolu- 
 tionised Maori warfare, and encouraged 
 ambitious men to prosecute devastating wars, 
 which produced a reign of terror throughout the 
 country. During the centuries which preceded 
 our occupation, the ordinary life of the people 
 in times of peace was pleasant and agreeable. 
 The people possessed abundance of food, and 
 agreeable and healthy occupation for mind and 
 body. Each season of the year and each part 
 of the day had its allotted work or amusement 
 both for men, women, and children. The 
 women, besides such household duties as the 
 preparation of food and cleansing their houses,
 
 I08 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 made the clothing and bedding required for 
 their famihes. They gathered the flax and 
 ti-[)ahn fibres used, and prepared and worked 
 them up into a variety of garments, some of 
 which took months to complete, and when 
 finished were beautiful specimens of handiwork. 
 The children played a variety of games with 
 tops, balls, kites, and swings. The youths 
 engaged in wrestling and running, leaping with 
 poles, skipping in squads of ten or a dozen 
 tooether, and foot- and canoe-races. The men 
 gathered the food and stored it in zvhatas or 
 storerooms, which were attached to every chief's 
 compound, and built on tall posts to protect the 
 contents from damp and rats. Besides such 
 natural products of the soil as fern-root, ti-palm 
 stems, convolvulus-roots, and the berries of the 
 karaka and hinau, the Maoris cultivated the 
 kumara, hue. and taro. Fish of various kinds 
 were caught during the proper season, and 
 CLired in vast quantities by drying in the sun, 
 just as the Caribs of the Mexican Gulf cured their 
 boucan. Wild pigeons, kakas, koko, tui. 
 Paradise clucks, wekas, and mutton-birds were 
 cooked and preserved in their own fat, in vessels 
 made out of large kelp-leaves. Netting, carving, 
 and the grinding and fitting of stone implements 
 and weapons occupied the old men, and much 
 of the leisure time of the young. They beguiled 
 the long winter evenings by reciting historical 
 traditions and tribal genealogies, by repeating 
 poetry and fairy tales, and by songs, dances, 
 flute-playing, and round games.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS IO9 
 
 " In their social and domestic relations, " to 
 quote Mr. Colenso, "much harmony and good 
 feeling prevailed. They were courteous in 
 their behaviour towards each other, and so 
 unwilling to hurt the feelings of others, that in 
 conveying bad and startling news they employed 
 a song or quoted a saying of well-known 
 meaning. They avoided wantonly hurting any- 
 one's feeling, and were scrupulously careful not 
 to cause offence to visitors by look, word, or 
 gesture. Anyone guilty of rude behaviour was 
 spoken of as one who had had no parents — one 
 hatched from a cuckoo's egg. If they met an 
 enemy in the company of one of their own 
 friends and allies, no matter how deadly the 
 feud between them might be, they would be 
 quite civil to the enemy, and do nothing to 
 harm him while with their friend, for fear of 
 giving him pain, though, once separated from 
 the friend's protection, they would not hesitate 
 to kill and eat him." 
 
 Their chivalrous conduct on some occasions 
 towards their foes was very remarkable — 
 perhaps unparalleled except in the age of 
 knighthood. Instances are recorded of a 
 besieging party, when informed that their 
 enemies were in want of food or weapons, 
 sending a supply. 
 
 The story of Tutewaimate's encounter with 
 the robber-chieftain Moko (found on page 25) 
 illustrates this pleasing trait in the Maori 
 character.
 
 no SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 The courage and endurance of Maori warriors 
 is abundantly illustrated ; and, though the 
 record of ferocity, cruelty, and treachery found 
 in the traditions is often appalling, it is some- 
 times relieved by deeds of generosity and 
 mercifulness. While one dying chief bequeaths 
 to his tribe the prosecution of a blood-feud, 
 another implores those he is leaving behind 
 him to forgive the wrongs they have suffered, 
 and to promote peace. Again and again we 
 hear the echo in succeeding generations of the 
 words uttered by a venerable father of the 
 people as they were leaving the shores of 
 Hawaiki : "O my children! hearken to these 
 my words. Depart in peace, and when you 
 reach the place you are going to, do not follow 
 after the deeds of Tu, the god of war, but 
 rather follow quiet and useful occupations, and 
 then you will die a tranquil and natural death. 
 Leave war and strife behind you ; dwell in peace ; 
 conduct yourselves like men ; let there be no 
 quarrelling amongst you, but build up a great 
 people." 
 
 It is in the biographical records of noted 
 individuals that we meet with the most pleasing 
 presentations of Maori character and customs. 
 There we find the mask of ferocity and heartless 
 cruelty which the tyranny of custom obliged 
 the Maori to wear in his public intercourse wi^h 
 his fellow-men, laid aside, and the real man, 
 with his human sympathies and feelings, revealed 
 to us. There we find the domestic life of the
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS i I I 
 
 people stripped of its repulsive features, and 
 presenting a picture which civilized men can 
 look upon with pleasure. One of the most 
 charming specimens of this kind of literature 
 is the story of Hinemoa, the maiden of Rotorua, 
 The story tells how the beautiful maiden, who 
 lived on the shores of Lake Rotorua, and the 
 young chief Tutanekai, who lived on an island 
 in the lake, fell in love with each other ; how 
 for a long time each suffered from the secret 
 fear that the other might not share .the affection 
 felt. It describes the joy which followed the 
 discovery that it was mutual, and the precautions 
 taken by the young lady's friends to prevent 
 her escape. It tells how the youth nightly 
 serenaded his lady-love from a tower on his 
 island -home, and how the sounds of his flute 
 borne over the water so affected her that she 
 could not endure separation from him ; and on 
 a dark night, guided by the sound of her lover's 
 flute, she swam across to Mokoia. At the spot 
 where Hinemoa landed was a hot spring She 
 got into it to warm herself, for she was 
 trembling all over, partly from the cold after 
 swimming across the lake, and partly from 
 modesty at the thought of meeting Tutanekai. 
 Whilst warming herself a slave came close to 
 her to draw water from the lake. The maiden, 
 who was very frightened, called out. -in an 
 assumed voice, " For whom is that water ? " 
 " Tutanekai," was the reply. This was a good 
 omen for her, and she bethought herself of a
 
 112 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 device to bring her lover to lier side. Calling 
 to the servant, she said, " Give me a drink." 
 When the calabash was handed to her she 
 purposely let it fall on a rock, and broke it. 
 The servant returned for another, but he had no 
 sooner filled it than she again asked for a drink, 
 and when the calabash was handed to her she 
 dropped it on the rock, and broke it. This 
 was repeated several times. The slave thought 
 it best to report the matter to his master, who 
 on hearing what had happened seized a weapon 
 and hurried clown to the bath, where he shouted, 
 " Where is that fellow who broke my cala- 
 bashes ? " 
 
 The charming simplicity and naturalness with 
 which the conflicting feelings of modesty and 
 love surging in the maiden's bosom are described 
 in this concluding part of the story invest it 
 with singular beauty. There is an entire 
 absence of anything indelicate, or calculated to 
 wound in the slightest degree the susceptibilities 
 of the most sensitive and refined. Hinemoa 
 (says the story) knew the voice ; the sound of 
 it was that of the beloved of her heart ; and she 
 hid herself under the overhanq-inq- rocks of the 
 hot spring. But her hiding was hardly a real 
 hiding, but rather a bashful concealing of herself 
 from Tutanekai. He went feeling about along 
 the banks of the hot spring, searching every- 
 where, while she coyly hid under the ledges of 
 the rock, peeping out, wondering when she 
 would be found. At last he caught hold of her
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS I I 3 
 
 hand, and cried out, " Ah ! who is this ? " And 
 Hinemoa answered, " It is I, Tutanekai," But 
 he said, " But who are you ? " It is I ; it is 
 Hinemoa." And he said, "Ho! ho! ho! Can 
 such, in very truth, be the case ! " And she 
 answered, "Yes." And 
 
 She rose up in the water 
 As beautiful as the wild white hawk, 
 And stepped on the edge of the bath 
 As graceful as the shy white crane. 
 
 " And he threw his garment over her, and they 
 proceeded to his home, and she became his wife." 
 
 *The chief who committed this tradition to 
 writing winds it up with the following words : 
 " Never yet have the lips of the offspring of 
 Hinemoa forgotten to repeat the tale of the 
 great beauty of their renowned ancestress, and 
 her brave deed in swimming over the lake to 
 Mokoia." And, we may add, nor will the race 
 that has succeeded to their inheritance at 
 Rotorua cease to cherish the memory of that 
 romantic story, which will for ever grace the 
 pages of this country's history. 
 
 Another charming story is that of Te Ponga's 
 love for Puhihuia : — 
 
 The tribes of Waikato were at war with the 
 tribes who occupied the country around 
 Auckland Harbour. Battle after battle was 
 fought without any advantage being secured by 
 either side. Wearied out at last, they mutually 
 agreed to make peace, and one of the fiercest of 
 
 *See Sir George Grey's letter in the Preface.
 
 114 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 the Waikato warriors undertook to arrange the 
 terms. Accompanied by a large force he 
 entered the enemy's fortress, which occupied the 
 summit and slopes of Mount Eden. He was 
 welcomed in the usual manner, and after the 
 complimentary speeches were over a great 
 feast was held. In the evening the residents 
 entertained their visitors by dancing and singing 
 before them. The young daughter of the chief 
 of the town, watching a good opportunity, 
 bounded forward to display her skill in dancing. 
 The strangers were overpowered by her beauty, 
 and Te Ponga, their leader, " felt his heart 
 grow wild with emotion when he saw so much 
 loveliness before him." The visitors, in their 
 turn, gave an exhibition of their skill, on which 
 occasion Te Ponga acquitted himself with such 
 grace as to win Puhihuia's admiration. A 
 passionate attachment sprang up between the 
 two. Te Ponga, unable to sleep for his great 
 love for the maiden, lay tossing all night from 
 side to side, devising scheme after scheme by 
 which he might secure a private interview with 
 the maiden and disclose to her his love. His 
 slave, noticing his restlessness, sought the 
 cause ; and, on being told, made the following 
 suggestion; "To-morrow, at nightfall, as you 
 sit in the courtyard of your host, feign to be 
 very thirsty, and call loudly for me to fetch you 
 some water. I will keep well away ; and do 
 you continue to shout angrily to mc, ' I want 
 water. P\itch me water.' Call so that the 
 father of the young girl may hear, and he will
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS I I 5 
 
 certainly tell her to fetch you some. Then, 
 rise and follow her as if in search of me." Te 
 Ponga carried out his servant's suggestion, 
 which resulted as he had anticipated. Pretend- 
 ing to search for his servant, that he might 
 administer a beating for his prolonged absence, 
 Te Ponga followed Puhihuia. He had no 
 knowledge of the path to the spring ; but, 
 directed by the voice of the maiden, who tripped 
 along singing merrily, he reached the fountain 
 just as she was dipping her calabash into it. 
 Hearing footsteps behind her, Puhihuia turned 
 quickly round, and there stood Te Ponga 
 himself She was too startled and astonished 
 to speak for some moments, and when she 
 recovered herself she asked, '' What can have 
 brought you here?" "I came," he said, "for 
 a draught of water." But the girl replied, 
 " Indeed ! did I not come here to draw water 
 for you ? Why, then, did you not stay at my 
 father's house until I brought the water to 
 you ? " Then Te Ponga answered, " O maiden ! 
 you^ — you are the water that I thirst for." 
 This confession led to a mutual exchange of 
 vows. But they felt that, in consequence of 
 late hostilities between their respective tribes, it 
 would be useless to make their intentions 
 publicly known. It was arranged between 
 them that Puhihuia should elope with Te Ponga 
 on his return. To prevent pursuit, Te Ponga 
 ordered his followers to secretly disable all the 
 war-canoes belonging to their hosts by cutting
 
 Il6 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 the lashings of the topsides. On the morning 
 the visitors took their departure, Puhihuia left 
 the pa with a number of her female companions, 
 and wandered along the path the visitors were 
 returning by ; and, as they came up, she began 
 joking and laughing with them. Her father, 
 seeing his daughter and her companions going 
 so far, called out, "Children, come back here." 
 All but the chiefs daughter at once turned 
 back ; but she had only one thought in her 
 heart — how to escape with her beloved. 
 Gliding behind some large scoria rocks, which 
 hid her movements from the fortress, she 
 redoubled her speed. Te Ponga, seeing her 
 running in this hurried manner, called aloud to 
 his men to follow. " Then begfan a swift HiQfl.t 
 indeed — of Te Ponga, and his warriors, and the 
 young girl. Rapidly they flew, like feathers 
 drifting before the gale, or as runs the weka 
 which has broken loose from the fowler's snare. 
 When the chief of Maungawhau saw that his 
 daughter would be lost, he called upon his 
 people to pursue her. There was a wild rushing 
 to and fro for weapons, which delayed the 
 pursuers, who reached the beach at Manukau 
 just as Te Ponga had embarked with the 
 maiden in his war-canoe. His men dashed 
 their paddles into the water, and shot away 
 swift as a dart from a sling ; " and, like Lord 
 Ullin, the father of Puhihuia was left on the 
 shore lamenting. 
 
 Besides these tales of love of which I have 
 just given specimens, there are many fairy tales,
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS I I 7 
 
 and tales of magic and sorcery — tales of 
 monsters that dwelt in deep pools, and in caves 
 and forests. 
 
 Sir George Grey has preserved two specimens 
 of Maori fairy tales which bear a strong family 
 likeness to similar stories found in Europe and 
 elsewhere. The first tells how the art of 
 netting was discovered by a certain chief, who 
 found the fairies one night drawing their fishing- 
 nets on the coast near the North Cape. He 
 joined them, and, by delaying their departure 
 till dawn, secured their nets, and so learnt the 
 stitch, and taught his descendants. The other 
 story relates how a hunting-party on the 
 Waikato were terrified by fairies, who swarmed 
 all round their camp-fire, climbing over the 
 roots of the trees to peep at Te Kanawa, who, 
 to propitiate their good-will, presented his 
 greenstone and other ornaments. " The fairies, 
 contenting themselves with the shadows of the 
 ornaments, retired before dawn." 
 
 The fairies are described as a numerous 
 people, merry, cheerful, and always singing, 
 diminutive in person, with fair hair and skin. 
 Upwards of forty years ago I used to hear the 
 Maoris continually talking about the doings of 
 the fairies, and often met persons who declared 
 they had seen them. One man described how 
 he saw the fairies building a pa on the summit 
 of a hill enveloped in mist. From the way he 
 told his story I felt sure he had actually seen 
 what he was describing, but probably what he
 
 Il8 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 took to be fairies were the shadows of men 
 baildino- a pa at some distance, thrown upon the 
 curtain of mist. 
 
 Some of the stories of sorcery and magic are 
 very curious. On Banks Peninsula, near 
 Gough's Bay, the trees were thought to be 
 enchanted men, and able at times to move 
 about. Sorcerers were said to have the power 
 of striking people dead by a look, and withering 
 up trees and shrubs. Persons of ignoble birth 
 or unskilled in maQ;ic were warned never to 
 look upon any enchanted object for fear of 
 losino: their sio-ht or their lives. 
 
 The legend of the magical wooden head 
 explains how sorcerers accomplished their ends. 
 The story throws some light upon the ideas 
 prevalent amongst the Maoris regarding the 
 manner in which supernatural aid was to be 
 obtained, to enable men to accomplish what was 
 beyond the ordinary power of mortals. A 
 celebrated sorcerer who lived in ancient times, 
 possessed a magical wooden head which caused 
 the death of all who came within a certain dis- 
 tance of it without the owner's permission. A 
 brave warrior renowned for skill in magic resolved 
 to rid the country of the pest. To gain his object, 
 he enlisted by the agency of powerful charms and 
 incantations the services of thousands of spirits 
 kindly disposed to mankind, to fight the malig- 
 nant spirits who guarded the head. A battle 
 ensued, the evil spirits were defeated, the fortress 
 was taken, and the cruel sorcerer and owner of 
 the magical head was put to death.
 
 Specimens of Stern-posts
 
 120 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 Maori fables (says Mr. Colenso, in his able 
 paper, Vol. I., Trans. N.Z. Inst.) are very 
 natural and correct, and mostly conversational, 
 between animals or natural objects, such as 
 between the larcje rock-lizarcl and the red Qfurnet, 
 the codfish and the fresh-water eel, the rat and 
 the green paroquet, the sweet potato and the 
 fern-root. Had they more and larger animals 
 they might have had a volume of fables rivalling 
 those of y^sop. 
 
 Their legends of ogres and monsters are very 
 like the stories that still linger in European 
 nurseries. They are said to have been the first 
 occupants of this country. They are described 
 as gaints who could stride from mountain-range 
 to mountain-ranee, swallow rivers, and trans- 
 form themselves into anything, animate or 
 inanimate, that they chose. 
 
 But there is a still more remarkable class of 
 legends, relating to the existence of huge 
 reptiles of the saurian order, which are said to 
 have infested various parts of this country, and 
 to have proved very destructive to the 
 inhabitants. The descriptions given of the 
 appearance of these huge reptiles, and their 
 habits, and the manner in which they were 
 cai)turecl, are so minute and exact that it is hard 
 to believe that the accounts relating to them are 
 of such great antiquity as the evidence we 
 possess proves them to be. For it appears that 
 these legends are common to all branches of the 
 Maori race. Judge Fornnnder, referring to
 
 SOUTH ISLxVND MAORIS 12 1 
 
 these taniwha stories, in the first volume of his 
 interesting work on "^ the Polynesian race, says, 
 "The Hawaiian legends frequently speak of 
 reptiles of extraordinary size, living in caverns, 
 amphibious in their nature, and being the terror 
 of the inhabitants Now, when it is taken into 
 consideration that throughout the Polynesian 
 groups no reptiles are found much larger than 
 the common lizard, it is evident that these tales 
 of monster reptiles must have been an heirloom 
 from the time when the people lived in other 
 habitats, where such large reptiles abounded." 
 
 For at least a thousand years these stories 
 have been handed down from generation to 
 generation, and are now told with such minute- 
 ness of detail that if we knew nothing about their 
 antiquity we should accept them as descriptions 
 of what happened a comparatively short time 
 ago. The fact of their preservation for so long 
 a period adds greatly to our assurance of the 
 value of such of the Maori traditions as the 
 people themselves assert to be of great antiquity. 
 
 The largest collection of Maori poetry is 
 contained in a work, extending over four 
 hundred pages, published in 1853 by Sir George 
 Grey. But this work contains only a portion 
 of the traditional native poetry stored, till 
 Europeans came, in the memories of the people ; 
 still, there is quite enough to show how much 
 poetical feeling may coexist with the most 
 revolting usages of a barbarous life. These 
 poems comprise specimens of the various
 
 122 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 compositions which may be classed under the 
 headings of incantations, visions, and charms ; 
 war songs or chants ; love songs ; canoe songs ; 
 historical ballads ; dirges, laments ; children's 
 songs, lullabies. 
 
 Mr. Colenso, remarking upon the poetry of 
 the New Zealander, says, " The people 
 frequently beguiled the monotonous drudgery of 
 some of their heavier work, performed together 
 in company, by songs with suitable choruses. 
 Such songs were sung when draggingor paddling 
 their canoes, or digging in their cultivations. 
 Their war songs and defiances contain horrible 
 curses, and breathe a spirit of ferocity ; while 
 their love songs are full of the tenderest feeling, 
 expressed sometimes in the most touching and 
 beautiful language. Their sentimental songs, 
 expressive of abandonment, loneliness, and 
 despair, contain much pathos, and, sung as they 
 always were in a minor key, were often very 
 affecting. The whole of their poetry, though 
 abounding in poetical images, is destitute of 
 rhyme and metre, a deficiency their poets got 
 over by lengthening and shortening vowels and 
 words ; proving that the Maoris, like ourselves, 
 conceive of poetry as something far higher than 
 niere versification." 
 
 Translators have found great difficulty in 
 getting at the real meaning of many of the 
 compositions, not only owing to the presence in 
 them of obsolete words of great antiquity, but 
 to the extraordinary license allowed to poets in
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS I 23 
 
 dealing with the words they used. Owing to 
 the pecuHar character of the language the 
 omission of a letter might entirely alter the 
 meaning of a word. Take the word '' hanga,'' 
 for instance, which means " to make ; " omit 
 the " h," and it means " turn," or " facing." 
 
 I may be excused for referring here to a note 
 by the Rev. Dr. Maunsell, one of the most 
 learned Maori scholars New Zealand has 
 possessed, on the peculiarities of Maori poetry. 
 Dr. Maunsell says, — 
 
 " The construction of Maori poetry was not 
 only abrupt and elliptical to an excess not 
 allowed in English poetry, but it also carries its 
 license so far as to disregard rules of grammar 
 that are strictly observed in prose ; alters words 
 so as to make them sound more poetically ; 
 deals more arbitrarily with the length of 
 syllables, and sometimes even inverts their order 
 or adds other syllables. It is true that these 
 irregularities help much to invest Maori poetry 
 with that deep shade which none can penetrate 
 without close study of each particular piece ; but 
 it must be remembered that by far the largest 
 measure of the difficulty arises from the 
 peculiarly local circumstances, and from the 
 remote and vague allusions so wrought into the 
 piece that even one tribe will often be unable to 
 understand the song of another, especially it it 
 be one of any antiquity. 
 
 " To follow the Maori poet through all the 
 wild irregularities of his tlioht would be far
 
 124 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 from the intention of these notes. . . . They 
 will be found for the most part to consist of 
 omissions of the nominative case, of the objective, 
 often of the verb and verbal particles, omissions 
 of the prepositions, changes of one preposition 
 into another, unusual words introduced, and 
 words sometimes inverted, exceedingly wild 
 and abrupt metaphors, and transitions unex- 
 pected and rapid." 
 
 After reading Dr. Maunsell's statement it 
 will not surprise any one to find that much of 
 the Maori poetry baffles all attempts made by 
 Europeans to translate it into intelligible 
 language. The poetry of any language suffers 
 by translation, and in no case is this so apparent 
 as with Maori poetry. Its excellence in the 
 original may be gathered from the fact that, 
 poor as our attempts at translation are, they 
 will be found to contain much that is beautiful 
 in sentiment and expression. 
 
 The following is a translation of part of an 
 ancient lament by the chief Ika-here-mutu for 
 his children, some of whom died in battle, 
 others of disease. (For original see Sir G. 
 Grey's "Poetry of the New Zealanders," page 9.) 
 
 Here I sit, while my throbbing heart 
 Mourns for my loved children. 
 Here, like Tane's offspring, 
 Drooping yonder in the inland forest, 
 I bend like the fronds of the tree-fern 
 
 Over my lost children. 
 Where art thou, O my son ! 
 'J'hou whom thy people were wont to greet
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS I 25 
 
 With the welcome cry, " Draw near ! Draw near ! " 
 
 Thou art gone, alas ! 
 
 Borne by the strong ebbing tide 
 
 [That bears all men away]. 
 
 my friends ! here I sit alone 
 
 Upon the plot where my flock gathered — 
 
 A slippery plot,* swept so clean 
 
 That nothing now remains to greet mine eyes. 
 
 1 cannot bear to gaze upon the sun 
 Now shining down on me. 
 
 [Its bright light mocks the darkness of my soul.] 
 
 I cannot bear to gaze on Taranaki's snowy peak. 
 
 Nor to feel the warm inland breeze blow upon my cheek, 
 
 For they only serve to wake the memory of my loss. 
 
 Trees were called the offspring of Tane, as 
 he was father of all vegetation. The shape 
 and appearance of the tree-fern affords a 
 beautiful and appropriate simile to describe the 
 attitude of the broken-hearted father, with 
 bowed head and extended arms, bending over 
 the remains of his children after Maori custom. 
 
 Hineivhe's Lament for her father, Te Rauparaha, when 
 carried off by a Man-of-war Crew.\ 
 
 [Te Rauparaha, the celebrated northern chief, who 
 was residing with his family on the shores Porirua Harbour, 
 was unexpectedly seized and carried off one night by a 
 man-of-war crew, as he was susjjected of treacherous 
 intentions towards the settlers at Wellington. His daughter 
 is very satirical in her allusions to those who preached 
 peace and practised treachery.] 
 
 Love no longer burns within the breasts 
 [Of your once-famed warrior tribe]. 
 
 *The slippery plot, literally— the sea swept rocks where the sea-birds 
 flock together. 
 
 tSee Sir G. Grey's " Poetry of the New Zealanders " page 12.
 
 126 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 Kapti's summit stands alone, 
 For thou, the famous of the land. 
 
 Art snatched away. 
 Sleep, warrior, sleep on shipboard. 
 
 And then you may be bound, spirit of the deep. 
 
 ■X- * * * * * 
 
 The rata-tree that grew beside me, 
 
 That sheltered me with its spreading boughs, 
 
 Is gone — torn from the midst of Toa's sons — 
 
 Of Toa the brave. 
 Why were you not snatched away 
 When the eyes were bloodshot in battle ? 
 From the mouth of the loaded gun 
 You might then have cried, 
 
 " Comrades, farewell. 
 
 Night's shadows close around." 
 But who can turn life's stream. 
 Or fetch its waters back ! 
 
 'Tis past, 'tis past. 
 Revenge alone remains. 
 Your grandsons, they shall seek it ; 
 For your own sons and followers lie 
 Like lazy kokopu in darkling pools asleep. 
 Farewell, my father. 
 
 Offering made by Tamihana and Matene to the god of peace. 
 Alas ! from realms below was brought this treacherous law. 
 The law they promised us was one of peace. 
 My faults alone have ruined you. 
 
 Kapiti was Te Rauparaha's stronghold. His 
 son Tamihana and his nei)hew Matene intro- 
 duced Christianity to the tribe called Toa, or 
 the " brave." Trusting to the peaceful pro- 
 fessions of the English, Te Rauparaha took no 
 precautions to protect himself, and was easily- 
 taken prisoner. The news of his capture roused 
 the indignation of his daughter, who is unsparing 
 in her ridicule of the cowardice of Toa's sons,
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 12/ 
 
 and the treachery of the English under the 
 guise of peace. 
 
 An ExiWs Lament for his Native Land. 
 Afar the tide of Kawhia laps the shore. 
 Alas 1 we are parted now. 
 Over the well-known hills 
 The clouds are creeping slowly up to me, 
 To pass over nie, and join me to thee. 
 
 Land of my childhood, 
 
 Here, from afar, I greet thee. 
 
 The La^nent of One forsaken in her Old Age by her Husband. 
 Sink, O sun ! Descend to thy cave, 
 And carry tidings there. 
 
 Alas ! Alas ! 
 Like the flood-tide returning ever. 
 The tears rise in my eyelids, 
 But thou repliest not. 
 
 Alas ! Alas ! 
 The smoke is just now rising from the south. 
 'Tis there Ngavvhare dwells, the man I love. 
 Why didst thou lead me thus far, 
 To fling me, like rejected food, aside ? 
 'Twas thou, with smooth, deceitful words, 
 Didst lure me from my home. 
 With lightsome step I followed thee. 
 * » * * 
 
 Oh ! why did I scorn Te W^heoro, 
 Betrothed in infancy to me } 
 
 % ^ % % 
 
 'Tis now the seventh moon, 
 
 The time when 
 
 The white flowers of the " toe " bloom [on me] : 
 
 The eighth month comes, and they are blown away. 
 
 Alas ! Alas ! 
 The rainbow stands above, the lightnings flash. 
 And I depart. 
 
 Alas ! Alas !
 
 125 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 A Lover's Lament. 
 
 The mists still hang on Pukehina. 
 
 Along its slopes my lover wends his way. 
 
 Turn, love, once more. 
 
 That I may pour forth my tears to thee. 
 
 I was not the first to speak of love. 
 
 You deceived me, your inferior ; 
 
 And now my foolish heart 
 
 Is beside itself 
 
 When my eyes rest, love, on thee. 
 
 The following translation is taken from Mr. 
 Colenso's paper in Vol. XI 1 1., Trans. N.Z. 
 Inst., p. 75 :— 
 
 A Love Chant. 
 
 Rain on, O thou rain ! Continue to rain down without 
 there. Here am I within the hut deploring my distress, and 
 comparing [this with that] ; for my eyes are as if supplied 
 with water from a flowing spring. It is the great love I 
 bear to the fond one of my affection that causes these fiery, 
 convulsive pains — the dear one, who is so greatly desired 
 and longed-for. Now, alas ! thou art separated far off to a 
 distance, who will return thee hither to me ? .... I 
 will go forth to look at the fleecy clouds sailing hither, 
 coming this way over the mountain. Alas ! the boundary 
 that parts us, dear young lady, is as a great ocean-depth to 
 thee. Notwithstanding in that one direction — towards 
 thee — my eyes are dim with steady gazing ; for thou alone 
 art the only one of my deepest affection 
 
 A Love Song by a Wido7ci for her Deceased Husband. 
 
 After the evening hours 
 I recline upon my bed. 
 Thy own spirit-like form 
 Comes towards me. 
 Creeping stealthily along.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS I 29 
 
 Alas ! I mistake, 
 
 Thinking thou art here with me, 
 
 Enjoying the light of day. 
 
 Then, the affectionate remembrances 
 
 Of the many days of old 
 
 Keep on rising within my heart. 
 
 This, however, loved one — 
 
 This thou must do : 
 
 Recite the potent call to Rakahua, 
 
 And the strong cry to Rikiriki, 
 
 That thou mayest return. 
 
 For thou wast ever more than a common husband — 
 
 Thou wast my best-beloved, my chosen, 
 
 My treasured possession. Alas 1 
 
 /- 
 
 A Love Song. 
 
 Rise up quickly, O thou moon ! 
 Make haste to get above me, 
 That I may give vent to my sighing 
 And utter my laments. 
 Now, indeed, for the first time 
 I feel the pangs of love. 
 It is as if a demon or a lizard 
 Were within me gnawing. 
 * * * * 
 
 O ye light, fleecy clouds flitting above 1 
 
 Fly on, fly away, and carry tidings, 
 
 That my beloved one may hear of me in her anxiety. 
 
 Alas ! alas ! my very eyesight 
 
 Is fast failing me : 
 
 When I look at the distant headlands 
 
 They quiver, and are dim. 
 
 The Proverbs were very numerotis, and 
 afford abundant evidence of the wit and shrewd- 
 ness of the people. Nothing pleased a Maori 
 audience better than to hear them aptly quoted. 
 
 I
 
 130 SOUTH ISLAND :\IAORIS 
 
 UnfortLinately, some of the best would be almost 
 unintelligible to English people ; but the 
 following specimens will be understood and 
 appreciated : — 
 
 How often does the weka escape the snare ! 
 (Equivalent to our proverb, "A burnt child 
 dreads the fire ") 
 
 The white crane, whose lli^^ht is seen but 
 once. (Equivalent to " Angels' visits, few and 
 far between.") 
 
 The road to Hawaiki is cut off. The tide 
 fills the Cave of Death of the Hundred Sea- 
 monsters. (Equivalent to " The Rubicon is 
 passed.") 
 
 Black and red united can do it, (The red- 
 ochred chief and charcoal-smeared slave united 
 can do anything.) 
 
 Food given by another person is only a 
 throat-tickler ; but food gained by the labour of 
 one's own hand is the food which satisfies. 
 
 A man fond of sleep and a man fond of idle- 
 ness will never obtain wealth. 
 
 The passing clouds can be seen ; but passing 
 thoughts cannot be seen. 
 
 Great is your going forth (to war) ; small 
 your return. (Equivalent to Ahab saying to 
 Benhadad — i Kings, xx,, 2 — " Let not him that 
 girdeth on his armour boast.") 
 
 Deep throat ; shallow muscle. (An idle 
 glutton.) 
 
 He who goes before gatliers treasures ; he 
 who lags behind looks for th(;m in vain.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND .MAORIS I3I 
 
 Sir, bale the water out of your mouth. 
 (Equivalent to vulgar colonialism, " Dry up.") 
 
 Dropping water wears away the soil ; so 
 frequent slander a good name. 
 
 Perhaps thou earnest hither from the village 
 of Mr. False ways. Perhaps thou and Take-up- 
 talk travelled hither together. 
 
 One day's beauty, a short-lived pleasure. 
 (Sometimes used of a girl's countenance.) 
 
 Show yourself a true man, never be 
 disobedient. 
 
 Food underdone is your own ; fully cooked 
 goes to others. (A warning to dawdlers.) 
 
 Totara forehead. (Equivalent to " Brazen- 
 face.") 
 
 The following specimen of epistolary com- 
 position, which came accidentally into my 
 possession, shows how naturally Maoris express 
 their thoughts in poetical language. The writer 
 is a very commonplace-looking old man, who 
 came from the North Island to reside at Kaiapoi 
 some years ago. He is the last person any 
 European would imagine capable of expressing 
 himself in the way he does here : — ■" Nau mai 
 haere atu ra e taku karere aroha i runoa i noa 
 huamo nunui o nn-a noraru nunui o te moana 
 tutuki atu ki nga Roma kino o Raukawa. Ma 
 ' Te Anau ' koe e mau atu ki Kihipone. Ma te 
 mera koe e hari atu ki te poutapeta i Tokomaru. 
 Ma tetahi tangata koe e mau atu kia Tamara 
 raua ko Heni, me nga tamariki hoki. E hika 
 ma, tena koutou." [Come hither, and go, my
 
 132 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 messenger of love, on the great rearing crests of 
 the mighty heaving billows of the ocean, that 
 meet the angry waves of the stormy Straits of 
 Raukawa (Cook Strait). The " Te Anau" will 
 convey you to Gisborne. The mail will carry 
 you to the post-office at Tokomaru, and some 
 person will carry you to Damaris and Jane, and 
 to their children. Ladies. I salute you and 
 your children !] 
 
 Even this brief and superficial survey of 
 Maori traditions furnishes sufficient evidence to 
 prove that they are something more than mere 
 literary curiosities, and that in proportion as 
 they become better known to ethnologists their 
 value will be more fully realised and understood. 
 
 The fact that they contain myths relating to 
 the origin of all things corresponding in details 
 and in chronological order with those of the 
 Homeric age, must tend to remove doubts as to 
 the })ossibility of knowledge being transmitted 
 for ages by oral tradition ; for in no other way 
 have the Maoris preserved those myths which 
 they possess in common with races from whom 
 they have been separated for probably not less 
 than two thousand years, and which were 
 evidently derived from a common source. 
 
 In the poetry and proverbs of this long- 
 isolated people we find the same ideas and the 
 same similies employed that the poets and sages 
 of the Old World used to describe human 
 passions and emotions, and to sum up the 
 thoughts of the wise ; and we find their orators
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 1 33 
 
 giving utterance in their public speeches to lofty 
 ideas, in strange contrast with their sordid 
 surroundings. But, as beseems an antipodean 
 literature, some of the ideas are found to be 
 topsy-turvy. In place of Aphrodite, it is the rfv 
 hero Maui who rises from the foani Of the sea ; 
 it is Hinemoa who swims the strait, and not 
 Leander ; and, instead of the ano^els fallinof in 
 love with female beauty, it is the manly beauty 
 of Tawhaki that attracts the celestial fair one 
 from her heavenly home. 
 
 So far from being ignorant savages, we find 
 that a large proportion of the people possessed 
 cultivated minds, and were well-instructed in 
 subjects which only highly-educated Europeans 
 think of acquiring any exact knowledge about. 
 They were familiar with the fiora and fauna of 
 their country, to every object of which they 
 gave distinctive names,* precise enough to 
 prove that they were keen and intelligent 
 observers of all natural objects. They scanned 
 the stars and named the various constellations, 
 and cook such note of their movements as to 
 mark the seasons by them. Their sense of 
 beauty was so correct that, simple as their 
 clothing, and utensils, and weapons were, 
 they designed the forms of them in such 
 a way as to render them objects of beauty. 
 With such inferior tools as sharp fragments of 
 stone and shells, their artists executed with 
 
 *See " Forest Flora," by Kirk ; and BuUer's " Birds ; " and Colenso's 
 papers in Trans. N.Z. Inst.
 
 134 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 finished workmanship carvings of compHcated 
 pattern and beautiful design. Possessing that 
 subtle facult)' which enables people to discern at 
 once the fitness of things, the Maoris preserved 
 in the formal intercourse with each other the 
 utmost propriety of conduct, and always behaved 
 with dignified self-possession in the presence of 
 civilised men, however exalted in station. 
 
 Those who only fix their eyes upon the 
 defective side of the Maori's character and 
 acquirements ; who think only of his cruel 
 behaviour towards his foes and inferiors, and 
 forget his courtesy and generosity to his friends 
 and equals ; who think only of the things in 
 which he comes behind the ordinary civilised 
 man, instead of the things in which he excelled 
 him, will find in these traditions a rebuke 
 administered to that spirit of race-pride which 
 leads the European to look with feelings akin 
 to contempt on all coloured men, as if they 
 were all alike infinitely beneath him ; and they 
 will also learn how it is that most of those 
 Europeans who have taken pains to acquire 
 accurate knowledcre of the first inhabitants of 
 
 o 
 
 this country have formed such a high opinion 
 of the Maori race.
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 OD 
 
 SITUATION OF PLACES MENTIOxNED. 
 
 ao-tea-roa - - 
 
 Apa'rima - - - 
 
 Ara'hura - - - 
 
 Ha'tai'tai - - - 
 
 Kani'ere - - - 
 
 Kapuka'riki - - 
 
 Kapara'te'rau - 
 
 Kai'hinu - - ■■ 
 Kura'te'au 
 Kai'apoh'ia 
 Kura-tawhiti 
 
 Kou'kou'rarata - 
 
 Maunga'tere - - 
 
 Moi'oio - - - - 
 
 Mai'rangi - - - 
 Mata'ki'kai'poika 
 
 Ma'tau - - - - 
 
 Nga'toko'ono - - 
 
 O'te'kaue - - - 
 
 O'mihi - - - - 
 
 Ohou - - - - 
 
 Okohana - - - 
 
 Ote'poti - - - 
 Para'kakariki 
 
 Pa'kihi - - - - 
 
 Peke'ta - - - - 
 
 Puke'kura - - - 
 
 Pio'pio'tahi - - 
 
 Raki'ura - - - 
 
 Rau'kawa - - - 
 
 TUMUKI . - - - 
 
 Ta'wera- - - - 
 
 Tete'whai - - - 
 
 Tutae'puta'pupa - 
 
 Tara'hau'kapiti - 
 
 North Island. 
 
 Name of Jacobs river. 
 
 A river on the West Coast. 
 
 Pa near entrance WelHngton Harbour. 
 
 Mountain near source of \Vaimakariri. 
 
 Cust. 
 
 Near Cape Campbell. 
 
 Mountain on shores of Tory Channel. 
 
 Tory Channel. 
 
 Part of Mt. Torlesse Range. 
 
 Port Levy. 
 
 Mt. Grey. 
 
 Island in Tory Channel. 
 
 Cust Downs. 
 
 Pa on S. East Coast North Island. 
 
 Molyneux. 
 
 Pa between Cough's and Long Bay, 
 
 Banks Peninsula. 
 Pa at mouth of Wairua. 
 Pa near Hau muri Bluff. 
 Near Opihi. 
 Church bush, Kaiapoi. 
 Port Chalmers. 
 
 Pa near Long Bay, Banks Peninsula. 
 Pa South of Hau muri. 
 Pa South of Hau muri. 
 Taiaroa Head, Otago. 
 Milford Sound. 
 Stewarts Island. 
 Cook's Strait. 
 
 South Island, afterwards Waipounamu. 
 Mt. Torlesse. 
 
 Battle ground near Waipapa. 
 River South of Hau muri. 
 Mountain near Jacobs river.
 
 136 
 
 SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS 
 
 Tau'mutu - - - 
 
 Tu'hua - - - - 
 
 Taiari - - - - 
 
 Upoko'pipi - - - 
 Whanga'nui'a'tara 
 
 Wai'para - - - 
 
 Wai'mea- - - - 
 
 Wai'hopai - - - 
 
 Wai'hora - - - 
 
 Wai'kou-aiti - - 
 Whata'a'rama 
 
 Wai'kakahi - - 
 
 Wai'tangi - - - 
 
 Wai'tara'mea - - 
 
 Mouth of Lake EUesmere. 
 
 Mayor Island. 
 
 River in Otago. 
 
 Pa near Arowhenua. 
 
 Wellington Harbour. 
 
 River in North Canterbury. 
 
 River near Nelson. 
 
 New River, Southland. 
 
 Lake EUesmere, Canterbury, and Wai- 
 
 hola in Otago. 
 River in Otago. 
 Part of Mt. Torlesse Range. 
 Wascoes, Banks Peninsula. 
 River in Canterbury. 
 Stream in Southland. 
 
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