Art. XI.—Early History of Rangitikei, and Notes on the Ngati Apa Tribe.
[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 6th October, 1909.]
Summary of Contents.
Chapter I.—Introduction—Ngati Apa district—Kura-haupo canoe—Table 1—Former inhabitants—Taniwha Tutae-poroporo—Hau's journey—Tamatea's travels—Custom known as uruuru-whenua—Tama-kopiri's wars and death—Table 2, showing Tamatea, Tama-kopiri, &c.—Journeyings of Ma-tangi—Table 3, showing the ancestor Ma-tangi, &c.
Chapter II.—Apa-hapai-taketake's theft—Resulting troubles—Table 4, showing the time of Awa-tope—Residence at Roto-a-ira—Various fights around Roto-a-ira—Ngati Apa extending south—Hau-iti—Fighting relating to Hau-iti—Table 5, showing Hau-iti's position.
Chapter III.—Whare-pu-rakau's time—Defeat of Ngati Wahine Tribe—Punaki-ao—Invasion of Awa-rua by Ngati Tama-wahine—Defeat of invaders—Dispute between Tahuna and Whare-pu-rakau—Tahuna's defeat—Whare-pu-rakau's death—Whanganui's invasion and defeat at Moa-whango—Tini-o-te-kotiri fight at the Potaka Pa—Resulting troubles—Dispute between Rangi-pa-whai-tiri and wives—Tukai-ora's capture—Table No. 6—Death of Te Kiore and Hoko-o-te-rangi—Capture of Kiriweka—Series of engagements between Ngati Apa and Ngati Hau-iti—Tu-whare—Te Rau-paraha expedition—Te Mawai's visit to Awa-rua—The Kai-inanga fight—The bewitching of Ngati Hau-iti by Ngati Apa.
Chapter IV.—The Ngati Rau-kawa migration known as Heke Karihi-tahi—Death of Ika-whaka-ariki—The bewitching by Rangi-te-muri—Defeat of Rangi-tane at Turaki-awatea—Rangi-tane's stratagem—Murder of Rangi-hau-tu—Defeat of Rangitane at Harakeke Pa—The Tuke-a-maui fight at Pari-kino—Te Hina, of the Kauae Subtribe, causes trouble—Custom called tunutunu ki te ahi—Civil fighting at Awa-mate—The murder of Kakaho.
Chapter V.—Te Hakeke revenges the death of Rangi-hau-tu—Table 7, showing the ancestor Kauae—Capture of Kaewa and Ngoki—Skirmish with Mua-upoko—More civil troubles—Te Rau-paraha settles on Kapiti—Capture of Te Hakeke—Defeat of Ngati Apa by Rangi-tane—Murder of Hatoa by Rangi-tane—Ngati Apa's revenge.
Chapter VI.—Battle of Manga-toetoe—Battle of Taku-te-rangi—The third Rau-kawa heke (Heke Mai-raro)—Hao-whenua fight—Birth of Kawana Hunia—Oriori or lullaby—Te Hakeke a peacemaker—Kohuru-po battle—Table 8, showing Taka-rangi's descent—Death of Te Ao-kehu—Rau-kawa heke (Houhou rongo ki Hao-whenua)—Final skirmishes.
Plate IX.—Sketch-map illustrating history, and showing most of the places named.
Plate X.—Sketch-map from very old Maori sketches, showing early occupation of lower Whanga-ehu and Turakina Valleys by Ngati Apa people.
Plate XI.—A photograph of an old plan of Kai-kokopu Lake. The chief pa stood on the narrow neck between the lagoons, and is interesting as being the last place in the district where remnants of ancient palisading can be seen; the lines of stumps running into the lake still being in good preservation.
It has been my good fortune to have the curtain of obscurity of the longago past slightly drawn aside for me, and so to gain a glance into the dim and fast-fading history of our Island at a time when it was to us an enchanted, dreamlike land.
Few people have had so much written about them, in so comparatively few years, too, as the Natives of New Zealand; but there is something fascinating in the old Maori who sits half-dreaming, conjuring up those other days when fighting and feasting were almost all that was worth living for, and telling us of them in stories handed down by his forefathers.
The history of the old-time Maori wars—i.e., of Maori with Maori—is a subject comparatively unknown, for, apart from the “Journal of the Polynesian Society,” little has been published regarding it, and of this particular tribe we have no printed records at all. This paper is little more than a collection of scattered fragments, gathered with much labour and patience. Everything pertaining to the olden days—“the good old Maori days”—has become most difficult to learn, and soon all opportunity will be lost, for the old men with their stores of knowledge are almost gone, and in a few more years at most will have passed through Reinga's gate.
I had hoped that the task of delving into the old history of this district might be undertaken by others who, I am confident, have a deeper knowledge of Maori lore, and are therefore better qualified to handle a difficult subject. However, I trust the following notes will prove interesting to some at least who, like the author, have lived all their days in Maoriland, this “sea-girt Eldorado of the south.”
The district inhabited in former times, and to some extent even yet, by the Ngati Apa tribes was roughly all the country drained by the Whanga-ehu, Turakina, and Rangi-tikei Rivers, extending as far south as Manawa-tu, and bounded on the north-east by the Ruahine Mountains. A large tract of open and broken forest country about the Moa-whango district called Mokai-Patea was their chief inland home, and Parewa-nui, near the Rangi-tikei River, some eight miles from the sea, was their largest pa. They claim to be descended chiefly from Ruatea, who came to New Zealand in the Kura-haupo canoe about 1350; but all inquiries concerning this ancestor and his great canoe have yielded but little information.
“Look yonder,” said one old man, “behold those distant hills” (pointing to the Ruahine Range). “On those mountains are growing the totara and rimu, the maire and miro tree; but who can tell from this distance what they are? Our forefathers could have told you of these things; we cannot: the haze and mist of time and distance obscure all detail, and our vision cannot pierce the fog. Say, friend, can you tell me of your great navigator Cook, all who were with him, and what they did?” Collapse of questioner, and subject changed.
They were at one time a very strong and numerous people, but they suffered severely at the hands of Te Rau-paraha of the Ngati Toa; and the Ngati Rau-kawa incursion in the early days of the nineteenthe century also greatly lessened their power and influence, so that to-day they are but a shadow of their former greatness: but of this later on.
The district mentioned, as well as other parts of New Zealand, seems to have been people with a numerous population long before the advent of the fleet in 1350; for when Tamatea visited the district—and to him is credited the honour of being the first to travel inland—he found a numerous people (the descendants of a former and forgotten migration) wherever he went, and if the story of the taniwha Tutae-poroporo is to be believed (and who would doubt it!) the Whanga-nui Valley and lower Rangi-tikei districts were thickly populated even in those early times; while the additional evidence of the Ngati Hotu, an aboriginal tribe liveing round Lake Taupo, helps to prove the presence of people here long before the great migration of 1350 from Hawaiki.
As a full account of the doings of the taniwha Tutae-poroporo has already appeared in the Jour. Polynesian Soc., a very brief outline of the legend will be sufficient for the present purpose: Tutae-poroporo was originally a young shark that was cautht by a man of the Ngati Apa Trible named Tu-ariki, who lived at Rangi-tikei.
(Although Tu-ariki is here shoen as a Ngati Apa man, the Ngati Apa did not arrive in the rangi-tikei district till several generations later.) He caught the fish when on a visit to Nelson (Whakatu), and, seeing something special in it, he kept it alive, made a pet of it, and bgrought it backwith him to Rangi-tikei, where he prepared a place for it in the Rangitikei River just where the Tutae-nui Stream joins the river, and here he recited karakias over it, and turned it into a taniwha. After a time a warparty from Whanga-nui came along, and Tu-ariki was killed, and the taniwha, missing his master, started out to look for him. He eventually took up his abode under Taumaba-aute (Shakespeare's cliff), on the Whanga-hui River, and here he devoured the canoes and their crews as they travelled up and down the river. Soon the Whanga-nui people became afraid of the creature, and sought help to be rid of him. They send to Ao-kehu, of Wai-totara, a celebrated taniwha-slayer of eighteen generations back, who devised means of killing the monster by hollowing out a sort of box canoe with a close-fitting lid. He got inside this affair, and floated
down-stream past Tutae-poroporo's lair, ans as soon as the taniwha saw him he rushed out and swallowed both box and Ao-kehu. Thereupon Aokehu got out of his box, slashed about with his weapons, cut a way out for himself, and so obtained glory and renown for ever.
To Hau, one of the immigrants in the Aotea canoe. (1350), is credited the honour of giving names to the various places along this coast, as embodied in a very old song, a translation of part of which is as follows:—
Then Hau, taking soil of the land in one hand, Together with the staff of Turo (Went forth on his journey giving names) First he crossed the river, and from its size called it Whanga-nui (great harbour); Then next he dipped up water, and called it Whanga-ehu (harbour of spray); Again, he felled a tree to cross, and named it Turakina (throw it down); Beyond, with long stride, he reached, and named Rangi-tikei (walking with long strides); The next, with doubts as to his power of crossing, he called Manawa-tu (standing heart); Then a whistling wind in his ears gave rise to Hokio, And the ancient Awa-iti he named after himself, Ohau. Speechmaking to his followers took place at Otaki. Eto., etc.—Translation by S. Percy Smith
Then Hau, taking soil of the land in one hand,
Together with the staff of Turo
(Went forth on his journey giving names)
First he crossed the river, and from its size called it Whanga-nui (great harbour);
Then next he dipped up water, and called it Whanga-ehu (harbour of spray);
Again, he felled a tree to cross, and named it Turakina (throw it down);
Beyond, with long stride, he reached, and named Rangi-tikei (walking with long strides);
The next, with doubts as to his power of crossing, he called Manawa-tu (standing heart);
Then a whistling wind in his ears gave rise to Hokio,
And the ancient Awa-iti he named after himself, Ohau.
Speechmaking to his followers took place at Otaki.
Eto., etc.—Translation by S. Percy Smith
Tamatea is said to have been the captain of the Takitumu canoe; and his journey (according to Utiku Potaka) was somewhat as follows:—
Tamatea was the first person to travel inland from this district. He came from Here-taunga (Hastings), and went first of all to Te Papa-a-Tari-nukum his son Kahu-ngunu (from whom sprang the Ngati Kahu-ngunu (from whom sprang the Ngati Kahu-ngunu Tribe) accompanying him. Here Tari-nuku gave Tamatea a gift of food, at which his son was very angry, seeing a gift for his father but none for himself, so he left Tamatea and went back to Here-taunga alone. When Tamatea arrived at Puke-o-kahu (a hill north-east of Taihape, about fifteen miles distant) he put a lizard there, and then went on till he came to the waterfall Te Pounga, on the Moa-whango. Here he put some brands from his fire into the waterfull, and it is still called “The Firebrands of Tamatea.” Then he journeyed on to Tiki-rere, which drops as a waterfall into the Moa-whango, and there he placed a crayfish. Next he came to Whakatara, at Motu-kawa (a hill midway between Tu-ranga-rere and Taihape, about two miles to the east of the road), and there he placed another lizard. Then on he went ot Te Whaka-ua, on the south-west portion of the Awa-rua Block, where there is a ridge which he called, after himself, “The Jawbone of Tamatea.” Another place he called Harakeke-a-Tamatea (Tamatea's flax). Formerly when strangers went to that place (Whakaua) it would rain, but now these things have changed, and the stranger may come or may go without being so heralded.
There was a stone here that had some connection or understanding with the heavens above, for whenever the Native journeyed past that place, it was their custom (called uruuru-whenua) to break a small branch from the forest and throw it on the stone as an offering to secure them from hail and rain on their journey. The writer has been told of a similar place on the Kau-ara-paoa (Whanga-nui River); but at this place the Native gods still hold power, for on the two occasions when curiosity has led to the spot, a thunderstrom has quickly driven the curious to a place of refuge and shelter.
From that place he went on to Whaka-tara (about eight miles from Turakina up the river), at Turakina, where there is a taniwha, and then
on to Putiki, from which place he travelled up the Whanga-nui River. A few miles above the Tanga-rakau tributary there is a fine reach, which he called after himself. Then on he journeyed to Taupo, gathering on his way from the river pas a crew of expert canoemen, with whom he wished to descend the Wai-kato. At Taupo a discussion arose as to which was the most difficult river to navigate, the Whanga-nui or the Wai-kato. The Whanga-nui men naturally supported the claims of their own river, so in the end the Taupo people dared the others to descend the rapids of the Waikato soon after it leaves Lake Taupo. A canoe was provided, and the Whanga-nui crew, with Rua-wharu (who was steersman on the Takitumu) at the steering-paddle, started down the river. A Taupo man accompained them as far as a little islet just above the Huka rapid and falls, where he jumped ashore, telling the others to proceed. They did so, and were soon flying down the channel just above the falls, not knowing what was before them. They soon discovered, to their cost; and it is said that Tamatea's canoe can still be seen under the falls, held tight by the force of the falls in front of it. (We have looked hard for that canoe, but so far have failed to discover it.)
So perished Tamatea and his crew. As canoemen, their skill and bravery counted for nought amidst the thundering waters of the Huka. It was doubtless a pleasing incident to the men of Taupo, and proof positive that Whanga-nui had much to learn from Wai-kato.
[Note.—The above story originates at Taupo. Old chiefs of the Ngati Kahu-ngunu Tribe allow that Tamatea lost his canoe at the falls, but they affirm that he himself was saved. In proof of this the writer was told the story of Tamatea's after-life, and the narator also affirmed that he and other direct descendants from this old ancestor knew the cave where he was buried, and had seen the place.]
One of Tamatea's sons migrated to inland Patea about eighteen generations ago. His name was Tama-kopiri. He was the founder of the Ngati Tama Tribe. He came from Tu-ranga, but the present-day Natives at that place do not recognise him as one of Tamatea's sons. If not a son of the captain of the Takitumu, he was certainly descended from one of the Tamateas of that period—probably Tamatea Kopiri.
I have obtained a few notes relating to his wars, also an account of his death, which is worth placing on record, and is as follows:—
Tama-kopiri came to Patea with a taua, and made war on the Ngati Hotu there (the Ngati Hotu were an aboriginal tribe formerly owning Taupo). He was victorious, and so went on to Kaki-kino, where he again found the Ngati Hotu gathered, and a second time he attacked and conquered. He also found them at O-tama-kura, on the edge of the Opakaru bush, also at Ngapukara-nui and Pae-tutu, and in all these various engagements Tama-kopiri and his party were victorious. After all this fighting, the Ngati Tama, under the chief Tama-kopiri, attacked Te Kumete, which was the name of a settlement near Kauanga-roa belonging to Hai-rangi, who was the father of Kahu-kaka. At this place the daughter of Matapou, and granddaughter of Hai-rangi, was killed by Tama-kopiri. Her name was Tu-kai-rongo-reupea.
One evening Hai-rangi and his granddaughter went down from Aromango on a visit, and slept at Te Kumete. On their return the next day, they got as far as Houhou, on the banks of the Rangi-tikei River, near Rata, when they found the pa was surrounded by the war-party. They endeavoured to return unseen, but it was too late; they were perceived
by the enemy, and Tama-kopiri started off in pursuit. Some of his people wished to go with him to assist; but he would not allow them, and said “You stay here: I am a chief, and can look after myself.” On hearing this remark, Hai-rangi knew that he was being pursued by a rangatira, and so made all haste to get awary; but, being on old man, and encumbered with the girl, he was unable to gain on his pursuer. He therefore hid his granddaughter in a flax-bush, and covered her with his own garment, thinking that, as his pursuer was a chief, if he happened to find her he would spare her life. After he had hidden her away he crossed over a stream and went up on a hill where there was hawk-snare set, from which place he could look down and see where his grandchild was hidden, without being discovered himself. After a time Tama-kopiri came along searching, and when he found the girl he speared her, and went on looking for her companion. Hai-rangi, looking down, saw all that happened, and with great anger he seized the hawk-snaring stick, rushed down the hill, attacked and killed Tama-kopiri with it; and this hill on which he was slain was afterwards known as Puke-o-kahu (the hill of the hawk) After killing Tama-kopiri, Hai-rangi scalped him, hung the scalp on his belt, and went cautiously back to see how it fared with the people in the pa. He climbed up an eminence overlooking the place, and when he found they were still all right, he called out to them, telling them what had happened, and sang about the death of his grandchild. When the war-party heard him they looked up, and saw Tama-kopiri's scalp hanging to the chief's girdle. This frightened them, and so, instead of further fighting, they proceeded to make peace, which was agreed upon by the people of the pa, although they still sought an opportunity of destroying that war-party and so it happened that one day, when the people of that party were just below the pa, digging fern-root, Hai-rangi and his people rushed down upon them, and before they had time to protect themselves many were killed; but the only person of note killed was Tama-kopiri, previously cut down and scalped by Hai-rangi. The chief Tama-tapui was in the Aro-mango Pa on this occasion.
On the next page is a genealogical table showing Tama-kopiri as a descendant from Tamatea, also some of the descendants of Kahu-ngunu; but, as previously stated, it is a disputed question whether these two were brothers. Indeed, many of these tables are rather conflicting, and although the utmost endeavours have been used to glean the truth, chiefly by comparing one man's statement with another's, yet it is difficult to eliminate all error. For the most part, I have written the narratives as I have received them, only making such alterations as were necessary.
For further lines of descent from Kahu-ngunu see Jour. Polynesian Soc., vol. v, p. 7.
Another whakapapa in my possession shows Tama-kopiri twenty generations back.
Another visitor who arrived and journeyed through the district, eventually settling here, was Ma-tangi, who came from Wai-rarapa about eighteen generations ago. He came hither, having heard that the place swarmed with flocks of birds (whirikoko= a flock of birds in flight). When he reached the summits of the Tara-rua Mountains he saw the first flight, so he called the place Tiro-hanga. The flock alighted at Tahuna-a-rua (near Palmerston North), so he followed them; but when he drew near they arose and flew very high—hence the name of Te Ao-rangi (near Feilding). They next alighted at Purakau, below Whaka-ari (trig. station between
Sandon and Awa-huri usually called Mount Stewart), in the bush; but again he disturbed them, and they flew on to Taumata-patiti. Next they alighted in the bush called Te Rakau-hou, near Mount Stewart. Matangi went into the bush, but found that the birds did not stay; and, as the trees were young, he gave the name above mentioned. Again they alighted in the bush, where he slept with his face to the ground; therefore he called that place Te Whaka-moe-takapu (near Kaka-riki), (railway-bridge near Greatford). Still following the birds, he arrived at a new country, and, taking a pole, he took a leap with it, calling the place Toko-rangi (a hill between Halcombe and the river on the cliffs above the Onepuhi Pa). Still following them, he reached a stream where he recited karakias; therefore he called the stream Wai-tapu (near Rata, one of the boundaries of the Manawa-tu Block). Again he followed the birds, and caught the sound of them, and so called the place Paroro-rangi. There are two ranges meeting at an angle—one is Paroro-rangi; on the other he stood and blew his horn, calling it Puto-rino (between Hunterville and the Rangi-tikei River). Still following the birds, he reached the upper Rangitikei, and, seeing that they had taken flight inland, he called the sopt Tiro-hanga; but the place is now called Te Papa-o-Hauiti (Rata). He followed them to the top of the ridge, where he halted and stamped on the ground, and so called the place Tapuae (a trig. shown on most maps). Again he went on, and, seeing them high up in the air above him, he called the place O-tama-kapua. Then he went along the river and again blew a blast on his horn, and there he called the place Puta-tara. Still on up the river he went till he came to a place where he grounded his staff, and called it Te Tokotoko-o-Matangi. Then he climbed the range and reached the top, calling it Whaka-ara-waru. From this place he watched the birds cross the river, and saw them alight; therefore he called the place Rangi-tauria. He was now almost exhausted, and gave up the chase; but the birds were also tired, and could not fly any further: so he and his children (for his children had followed him all the way) caught and killed them, and there they stayed and settled, and his children are still living at Rangi-tauria to this day.
“If you ask me,” continued the old man who gave the narrative, “whether I have been there and seen them, I answer Yes. I have seen the place, and have seen his children. They have been changed into 'spirits of the brook'—i.e., taniwhas—because they disobeyed the voice of their father when he told them to bring some water. I have myself seen the posts of his house, for they are still standing (450 years since that house was built). I have seen his children with my own eyes. If we all went up to them it would make no difference. Many attempts have been made to secure them with ropes, but in vain—they can release themselves at once by their magic powers. Their names are Hine-te-iwaiwa and Horoputa, her brother, and they are still at that place, for there Ma-tangi left them.” The lake which Ma-tangi's children still inhabit is near O-kaha-rau, and is called O-toea. His house was built at Whiti-anga, near the lake, and it was there that our friend saw the totara posts. It was Matangi who brought to this land the atua Kahu-kura, which came from Hawaiki in the Takitumu canoe. This atua was first taken to Te Awarua, but in the time of Te Ngahoa it was removed to Owhioi. All inquiries regarding the shape and power of this atua have yielded but little information beyond the fact that it was very large, and shone like fire, something after the shape of a comet, and had power of flight or movement. (other
accounts affirm that Kahu-kura was lost at the Huka Falls when Tamatea's canoe went over.) After Ma-tangi's children left him he was returning to his old home, accompanied by his dog. He travelled down the Rangi-tikei River, but had the misfortune to lose his dog; and, as its name was Ranga-tira, he went about calling “Ranga-tira, Ranga-tira”; so that place was ever afterwards known as Ranga-tira (a well-known block between the Pou-rewa and Rangi-tikei Rivers). Many of Ma-tangi's descendants intermarried with Ngati Hau-iti.
[Note.—One of Utiku Potaka's grandchildren is named after one of the taniwhas—namely, Hine-te-iwaiwa.]
The history of the next period is almost a blank. The early history of the Ngati Apa proper, as far as their traditions give us any enlightenment, extends back some twelve generations, when the founders of the tribe came into the district under the following circumstances:—
Apa-hapai-taketake, a son of Ruatea, who came in the Kura-haupo canoe, was an ancestor of the Ngati Apa, and to him this somewhat ill-fated tribe can trace the beginning of their misfortunes, as they trace their names. He seems to have coveted a pet moa (he mokai) belonging to Ngati Tu-whare-toa, and, not being able to restrain his desires, he stole the bird and made off with it; but, unfortunately for him, in this adventure he fell over a cliff and received an injury that resulted in permanent lameness;
hence his companions, with fine humour, ever after denominated him Apakoki (Hop-and-go-one). Being a man of energy, he managed to get off with the bird in spite of his accident; and, if tradition speaks truly, he and his friends obtained a fine meal. When Ngati Tu-whare-toa discovered the theft, they naturally felt aggrieved, and soon started out seeking utu for the stolen moa. They returned home well satisfied, bringing with them Hine-moatu, the wife of Apa-koki. this roused the ire of Apa-koki, and in great wrath he seized the kumaras of Kawerau; whereupon Ngati Tu-whare-toa, in equal wrath, came down on Ngati Apa under the chief Awatope, and drove them from their home at Puta-uaki, near the Awa-o-teatua (Mount Edgecumbe, in the Bay of Plenty); and so they fled, and came to Manga-nui, on the upper Rangi-ta-iki; but Awa-tope still pursued, and forced them south till they came to Roto-a-ira, where they settled.
The following table shows Awa-tope as a descendant from Kahu-ngunu:—
Seventeen generations more to the people living in the Bay of Plenty at the present time.
They had not been established at Roto-a-ira very long before trouble arose owing to a dog being killed. The animal's name was Te Rangi-a-kopu-takere, and it belonged to a man named Ripo-a-rangi, of Ngati Tu-whare-toa. The man who brought this trouble on the Ngati Apa people not only killed the dog, but he roasted and ate it when in the bush by himself. As he was suspected, a woman smelt his breath while he was asleep, and, detecting the dog-smell, quickly reported her discovery to the owner. In revenge for the death of his favourite, Ripo-a-rangi gathered his family and came down upon the Ngati Apa, taking the pas Tauwhare-papa-auma and Motu-roa. After these pas were taken, peace was made, which lasted till a man named Ma-tangi killed his wife Hine-mihi in a fit of jealousy because of Miromiro, who had been paying attention to her. As her relatives belonged to Ngati Tu-whare-toa, the latter besieged a pa belonging to Ngati Apa called Rangi-te-taia. Tu-te-tawhoa, the leader of the Ngati Tu-whare-toa, and his party approached the pa on one side, while he sent another party to the opposite side; but when Wai-keri and Rakei-poho, of the besieging forces, entered the pa they found it empty, the Ngati Apa having evacuated during the night. The pursuit was followed up, and the chief Ma-tangi killed, as well as a great number of his people, while many were taken prisoners. Those of the latter who were
spared were taken to Inland Patea, where they were kindly treated. One of the prisoners taken on that occasion was Te Rehu, Ma-tangi's son. Afterwards when he grew up he escaped and went to seek help from the Ngati Tama to avenge his father's death. They responded, and the warparty so raised went to Tauranga Taupo (about twelve miles from Toka-anu, on the Toka-anu - Taupo Road), and there attacked the Ngati Tu-whare-toa at the Horo-tanuku Pa. They seem to have been repulsed, one of their chief men, Te Iwi-kinakia, being killed and eaten. The attackers now became the attacked, for as they returned home they were followed up by Ngati Tu-whare-toa, who killed Tuma-kau-rangi, of the Ngati Tama Tribe, and Haere-te-kura (Hau-iti's son), of Ngati Hau-iti, at Rangi-po. Such a defeat required to be wiped out with blood, so another party was organized to avenge those deaths. Tama-kai-tangi and his brother Hika-kainga, also Hau-iti, accompanied that war-party, and they obtained what they sought, for they captured the pa Hawera-roa, and then went on to Kapo-a-rangi, where they killed Rakei-atu, but they spared Ripo-rangi, who was captured by Hika-kainga. The war-party then went on to Taupo, where they were attacked by the Ngati Tu-whare-toa; but peace was made when it was known that Ripo-rangi had been spared in the previous fight; so that war-party then returned to their homes.
In the meantime the Ngati Apa people had rapidly been extending themselves throughout this new country. From the time they arrived at Roto-a-ira they had been sending companies south, so that when the main body migrated they had settled pas and extensive cultivation in many of the inland districts, as well as right down the Rangi-tikei River to its mouth.
It was soon after Ngati Apa were settled in this new country that Hau-iti (the ancestor of the Ngati Hau-iti Tribe) left his fighting-pa, Ara-o-tawhaki, and started for Taupo to avenge the death of his son Haere-te-kura, who had been killed in battle by the Ngati Tu-whare-toa people, as related. He left his pas O-tau-eru and Rongo-motumotu at Ranga-tira in charge of his younger brother Ka-ama; but Ngati Apa took advantage of Hau-iti's absence, killed and ate Ka-ama, seized Rongo-motumotu (on the Rangi-tikei River, near Rata), as well as several other pas in the vicinity. A messenger was hurriedly sent to Hau-iti, who returned with all pa belonging to Hau-iti. Driven out of this place, they fled to Te Ara-o-tawhaki, evacuated by Hau-iti when he left for Taupo. After the fall of this pa they retreated to Puapua-tanaki, one of the pas which they had taken from Hau-iti, and here they found a secure retreat. After this Hau-iti was killed by Pukeko, a Ngati Apa man, at a place which still bears his name, Te Papa-o-Hau-iti (Rata); and his descendants sought to avenge his death by attacking a pa called Oti-haupu, on the south-east of the Rangi-tikei River. They were successful in this venture, for a great number of the Ngati Apa people were killed, but a few, among whom were Hatea and Rangi-whiowhio, were spared. When the Ngati Hau-iti had taken this pa, they assaulted the Wharewhare-riki and Po-takataka pas (on the O-tama-kapua Block), both of which were taken. The Ngati Hau-iti were then satisfied, and returned home. The large force that attacked these pas was gathered from Inland Patea, O-tara, O-tau-eru, and the upper Rangi-tikei, and the flghting took place in the time of Whare-pu-rakau, contemporary with Tama-te-raka and Iro-kino, and was in revenge for the death of Hau-iti.
Another dispute took place in the upper Rangi-tikei district about the time of Whare-pu-rakau (see Table 2), when the Ngati Wahine Tribe came from Here-taunga (Hastings). They came, a great army, with boasting and pride, but they left with defeat and disaster, for they were opposed by Tamapo and the sons of Tu-ka-roua at Whiri-nga-otau, and there they left their pride as food for their adversaries. Those who escaped the battle hid in a cave called Ana-roa at Atu-pae, where they also were cut off by hunger and exposure. As soon as their friends became aware of the fate of the taua, they determined on revenge, and raised a second party to send over to conquer the victors; but again their intentions were brought to nought.
It seems that a lady named Punaki-ao (see Table 2), from the upper Rangi-tikei, was taken as a wife by Taraia (her own husband being away at Whanga-nui at the time), and the two fled away to Here-taunga, and dwelt there at Puke-hamoamoa. After a time Tutu-mohuta, who was Puna-ki-ao's father, left his home at Awa-rua and went to visit Taraia and his daughter. As soon as he arrived, Taraia asked him if he had met a warparty on his journey, and, as he replied in the negative, Taraia advised him to return immediately, telling him of the intention of the Ngati Tama-wahine to take Patea. Without loss of time Tutu-mohuta returned to Te Awa-rua, but found he was just too late, for the fires were still burning where the war-party had cooked the father of Whiti-kaupeka, who belonged to Ngati Hau-iti; but the enemy themselves had gone. The chiefs of the Here-taunga party were Rua-te-kuri, Tawhao, and Rangi-tau-ira; and the manner of their attack was as follows: Coming upon Whiti-kaupeka's party suddenly, they feigned hunger, and asked Whiti for his dog as food, and when this was denied them they killed the dog. After it was cooked they offered some to Whiti, who, wishing to prevent trouble, took it; but while he was eating they suddenly set upon him and killed him. As soon as Tutu-mohuta found out which direction the war-party had taken, he and his wife followed them up, and came upon them at Manga-weka. The war-party tried to detain them until the morning, intending to kill them during the night; but they escaped unobserved, and reached O-hinga-iti, where Tumehau and Tumore, with a large party, had gathered to resist the invaders. Immediately on their arrival a meeting was held to decide on the best course of action, and while they were gathered the war-party came upon them unexpectedly, being in the pursuit of Tutu-mohuta. They fought there at O-hinga-iti, the inland tribes combining to resist the invaders; with the result that Ngati Wahine were defeated, and their leaders Rua-te-kuri and Tawhao slain; but Rangi-tau-ira and Tu-purupuru escaped. But again misfortune dogged their steps, for, having reached Manga-o-hunu on their way back to Here-taunga, they were over-taken by a severe snowstorm, so they took shelter in the cave O-huake (on the Rangi-po Plains); but, as the cold continued, they, and their followers also, perished through hunger, cold, and exposure. In this fight the invaders killed Tamapo, who had previously resisted them; but otherwise they had but little success, while their own party was practically exterminated.
After this fight Ngati Tama, Ngati Whiti, and Ngati Hau-iti lived together as neighbours on the west side of Moa-whango.
Soon after this affair Tahuna, a Ngati Apa chief, and his party travelled from Whanga-nui to Rangi-tikei to visit Whare-pu-rakau. All went well
till one day Whare-pu-rakau returned from a hunting expedition in the bush and found his son Rangi-pa-whatiri covered with blood, and upon inquiry he learnt that Tahuna's child had beaten his son. He therefore killed Tahuna's child, and the father, in fear for his own life, fled back to Whanga-nui, where he collected a war-party about eight hundred strong and travelled back to Tawhiti, on the Rangi-tikei River, where Whare-purakau had gathered Ngati Tama, Ngati Whiti, and Ngati Ohuao to resist the inevitable attack. For a time Tahuna and his party camped on the river-bed, subsisting on Whare-pu-rakau's kumaras, which they stole at night; but, as soon as Whare-pu-rakau's people discovered the position Tabuna had taken up, they resorted to stratagem, and threw a great quantity of wood and rubbish in the river to make Tahuna think a flood was coming, and that they (Whare-pu-rakau's party) would not be able to cross over to the attack. Tahuna's party saw the rubbish, and hurriedly left the river-bed and went inland; but while so engaged Whare-pu-rakau attacked them. In the fight that followed (known as Waha-kaka-roa) it is related that Whare-pu-rakau had a certain taiaha, but he was struck and disabled by the enemy, consequently was unable to use it. He afterwards made a proverb to the effect that if his weapon had only been long enough he would not have been wounded; hence his uncle took the name of Tu-whaka-uru. When wounded, Whare-pu-rakau discarded his taiaha and took a long spear, and, although wounded, succeeded in killing Tahuna, whose party, seeing their leader fall, gave way and fled. They were pursued night and day, and it is said their bones may still be seen along that path (excepting perhaps Tahuna's ribs, which were made into a bird-snare, which snare is still in a matai-tree somewhere at Moa-whango).
This may be so, but we pakehas doubt if a snare would last for two hundred years exposed to all weathers; yet it is asserted that some of Whare-pu-rakau's spears are still to be seen on Mr. Batley's farm at Moa-whango. They are imbedded in a large and hollow cabbage-tree, where they were hidden, the tree eventually growing round them and gripping them as part of the tree itself. It is also related that Whare-pu-rakau was a very athletic man, and, near his place on the upper Rangi-tikei, he on several occasions saved himself from pursuit by clearing at a jump a narrow part of the river where the cliffs nearly meet. No other man would venture this hazardous feat; so he could defy his enemies, and often did so. He lost his life by drowning in the Rangi-tikei River. As his party were crossing a dangerous ford, his wife got into difficulties, and in going back to assist he himself lost his life, though his wife was saved.
Again Whanga-nui started on the war-path against Ngati Tama, whom they found living on the land between Moa-whango and Hau-tapu. A battle was fought in which Whanga-nui was defeated, Nuko and Tuahungia being slain. The invaders fled, and were pursued by Ngati Tama as far as Wai-paruparu. After this invasion the inhabitants of the Potaka Pa (just above the Awa-ua Pa) heard that they were about to be attacked by the Ngati Apa and other tribes. At this time there were no Ngati Tama in the pa—they were all away at Taupo; while most of the Ngati Whiti and Ngati Upoko-iri were away at Here-taunga. Before they could obtain assistance the taua came down on them. Te Kahu-o-te-rangi, of the Ngati Apa, and Nga-makako, of the Tu-heke-rangi, were the principal chiefs, and their followers numbered eight hundred men, gathered from Whanga-nui, Whanga-ehu, and Turakina. When the taua reached Potaka, they found that the people of this pa (mostly Ngati Hine-manu), although warned of
their coming, were quite unprepared, for a number of men, among whom was the chief Whanau, were surprised and killed while gathering mataiberries. Then the pa was surrounded and the siege commenced, but after four days Te Kata managed to slip out of the pa unseen, and escaped through the enemies' ranks to seek assistance. he fled to Here-taunga to bring over the people of the Ngati Hine-manu Tribe, who were living there. He was successful, and the chiefs Tao-rangi, Maka, Toia-iho, and Tu-te-rangi, with their men, hastened back with Te Kata to help their kinsmen. Under cover of darkness they obtained entrance to the pa by ropes being thrown to them; and next morning, being so strengthened, a sortie was made on the besiegers, who quickly discovered, during the fight that ensued, how the garrison had been strengthened. So many of the enemy were killed by this sudden onslaught that they thought discretion the better part of valour, and so decided to sue for peace.
Te Kahu-o-te-rangi called out his desire to Tao-rangi, who agreed to the request, so Te Kahu-o-te-rangi was taken into the pa, where presents of food were made and hakas sung, and so the peace was confirmed.
In this fight, which was called Tini-o-te-kotiri (on account of the large number taking part in it), the Ngati Apa party killed Tama-kahuri-rangi, of the pa, and his death was afterwards avenged by a party from Te Awa-rua Pa, who travelled as far as Manga-whero taking prisoners, who were killed and eaten. They also journeyed to Turakina, where the Ngati Tu-heke-rangi and the Ngati Wai-riki were severely defeated. But though defeated in this fight they were by no means conquered: the spirit of battle only burned with a fiercer flame, and the shame and ignominy which tarnished their proud name had to be wiped out at all cost. On reaching Whanga-nui they at once reconstructed, more determined than ever to wipe out their defeats, and this time cautiously divided their forces, one half going to attack Ngati Hine-manu and Ngati Hau-iti on the east side of the Rangi-tikei River, and the other half going to attack Ngati Tama and Ngati Whiti on the western side. This time the fortune of war was with them—Ngati Tama were defeated, and their chief Te Hainga and many others slain. And so the gentle game of “tit for tat” went on. Ngati Tama now sought utu for those deaths, and started from Motu-kawa with vengeance quivering in every nerve of their bodies. Again they were successful at Turakina, where the chief Taputu and several of his men met their death and “chief's burial.” After this victory Ngati Tama returned to the western side of the Rangi-tikei, and when they arrived they found new troubles had commenced, and fresh work was in store for them; for their kinsman Rangi-pa-whitiri (Whare-pu-rakau's son) had just been despatched to the happy hunting-grounds. This chief had two wives, one belonging to the Ngati Kahu-ngunu, and the other, whose name was Hine-iro, was related to the Ngati Tama and the Ngati Whiti tribes. Rangi-pa-whitiri collected food for a feast, and took the food so gathered to the first-mentioned wife as a present to her. Hine-iro was very angry about this, for she considered the food had been gathered on her land, consequently it should not have been given to a stranger; so she gathered together a war-party of the Rua-kopiri and killed her husband Rangi-pa-whitiri. When the enraged lady's taua had completed this mission they returned to Whanga-nui.
Then Ngati Tama and ngati Whiti started off to avenge his death under the chiefs Hoko-o-te-rangi and his uncle Te Kiore; and at Pakaka (Karioi) they killed Tu-rere, and captured his son Tukai-ora. When Tukai-ora was taken prisoner he was loaded with calabashes, which were to hold the flesh
of the slain after it had been rendered down. But he, watching for an opportunity, threw them off, killed four of his captors, and escaped. From this great warrior descended Pehi Turoa of Whanga-nui, thus:—
As Hoko-o-te-rangi and his party were returning after their victory they were followed by a Nga Rangi taua from Whanga-nui, who came upon them at Wai-tangi. During the fight that took place Te Kiore saw that his party was likely to be worsted, so he called out to Hoko-o-te-rangi, “Escape while you can; go and live as a chief at Mokai Patea; I will carry on the struggle without you.” Hoko-o-te-rangi replied, “I will carry it through and fight the enemy.” So they continued the fight, and soon both Te Kiore and Hoko-o-te-rangi were killed, and their party utterly routed. The survivors fled to Mokai Patea. It may be mentioned that Hine-iro and Te Kiore were brother and sister.
After Tukai-ora escaped and reached Whanga-nui, word came through the Ngati Whiti and Ngati Tama had killed Tuhongia and Miki on the west side of the Moa-whango. Whanga-nui went out, fought, and gained a battle, in retaliation; but, not satisfied, took out another war-party, and captured a pa called Kiri-weka, where Rangi-wha-rawarawa, Horua, and Kai-toha were taken prisoners.
After this, Ngati Apa murdered Te-ihui-tu at the O-tau-eru Pa (Taupo), which was occupied by Ngati Hau-iti; and so Ngati Hau-iti came down in full force on the Ngati Apa, whom they met in open field, and, after a severe struggle, defeated. Then they attacked the pa at Kaka-riki, which they took, killing a great number, and making several prisoners, among whom was Puao. In revenge for this Ngati Apa killed the chief Tu-tohu at Pourewa, at a place called Pukiore (Pukiore is west of Makohine Viaduct, near the Pou-rewa), and his death was avenged at the Pa-kihi-roa battle, fought at Tara-ketu (Manawa-tu). This battle was fought at the pa called by this name, and Ngati Apa were defeated. Again they were defeated in a fight where both sides met in open country at upper Tutae-nui. Ngati Hau-iti, not yet satisfied, assaulted the pa of Taumata-maire, in the district of Whaka-tara, which they took, and then returned home. Ngati Apa now sought reprisals at Mokai Patea, where they met Ngati Hau-iti and killed Repa-rangi and Te Pu-o-te-rangi, the former chief belonging to Ngati Whiti and also Ngati Tu-whare-toa. On hearing of this, Ngati Hau-iti started in pursuit of the Ngati Apa forces, and overtook them the next day, and in the action that ensued the entire Ngati Apa party was cut off, as they were few in number, while Ngati Hau-iti were strong, having obtained help form the Ngati Whiti, the Ngati Tu-whare-toa, and the Ngati Tu-mokai
tribes. Flushed with victory, they still pushed on in hope of further success, when they were met and defeated by another taua of Ngati Apa at the battle of Te Taku-o-te-rangi, at a place called Korero-mai-waho (now Great-ford). This defeat was avenged at the battle of One-puhi, where the combined forces of Ngati Hau-iti and Ngati Whiti overthrew Ngati Apa, who were not strong enough to resist them at that place, but who followed Ngati Hau-iti on their return journey, and overtook them at Pari-roa, on the O-roua; but the Ngati Apa force, under the chief Takiao, was defeated, and their leader slain. Some time after this fight at Pari-roa there was another great engagement, at Kai-inanga (a pa near the junction of the Hau-tapu and Rangi-tikei rivers), in which Ngati Apa were victorious, although fighting against the combined tribes; but before this, and during the interval between the two battles, there came from the north the Tu-whare-Te Rau-paraha expedition under the leadership of Waka Nene, Patu-one, Te Rau-paraha, Tu-whare, and others. They had a few guns in the party, and, as this was the first time these weapons were seen on this coast, the havoc they wrought was tremendous. This taua came down somewhere about 1819 or 1820, and it was this journey that gave Te Rau-paraha the idea of migrating to Kapiti, to be near the centre of European trade, which idea he put into practice about 1822, when his whole tribe (the Ngati Toa) removed thither. In order to strengthen his position, he induced the Ngati Rau-kawa to make hekes (some of which we are able to describe) to his newly acquired land. From this time up to about 1825 the great Ngati Toa chief was actively combining business with pleasure in endeavouring to exterminate the whole of the Mua-upoko Tribe. Then the Ngati Rau-kawa chief Te Whata-nui, who had previously accompanied two or three of the hekes, intervened, and stayed his hand by taking up his residence at Horo-whenua, where eventually he died. Here he was looked up to as an ally and protector by the Mua-upoko, which indeed he was, for it was certainly he who saved these people from annihilation. Full accounts of these affairs have been published in “The Life and Times of Rau-paraha,” and also in the Jour. Polynesian Soc. in a fine paper by Mr. S. Percy Smith, entitled “Wars of the Northern against the Southern Tribes”;* therefore little more need be said.
Before adding a few brief notes of these wars, some further details of fighting that occurred prior to these events can be given. “After the capture of Kiri-weka,” said Major Kemp, in evidence given before the Land Court at Whanga-nui, “my grandparent went with a war-party to a place called Opetaka, on the Rangi-tikei River, and there killed Taka-rere and Rau-awa, and made prisoners of Ro-onga, Te Maka-taha-hapa, Pu-ronga, and others of the Ngati Whiti, Ngati Tama, and Ngati Hau-iti tribes. Afterwards took place the expedition of Te Mawai, the ancestor of Mohi Matene. He and his people went to Awa-rua, and, as visitors, stayed a short time with the people there, until one day Tara-mai-nuku said to Te Mawai ‘Get out your weapons.’ By these words Te Mawai interpreted trouble, so he got up with his spear in one hand and a pouwhenua in the other, warned his company, and then advanced to the assault-at-arms. In the fray that followed, Te Mawai killed Tara-mai-nuku, and then killed all the people of the pa; and no payment was ever exacted from the Whanga-nui tribes for their victory.
[Footnote] * I am greatly indebted to Mr. Smith for the use of his notes, also for his many corrections and suggestions.
“At Otairi, close to Ohingaiti, on the river-flats, some of Hakaraia's people were killed—namely, Rangi-kau, Kahu-aki, and others. Payment was obtained at Whaka-rau-wai, on the other side of the Rangi-tikei River, where the chiefs Ko-pare, Te Marama, and others were killed. The war-party then crossed the river to the west side of Rangi-tikei, and there Moeroa called out, ‘Who can reach up to heaven? Te Ope answered, ‘I can’; and he straightway put in a post as a sign to stop all quarrels (probably meaning that nothing could be gained by incessant fighting, and a better way to reach the desired goal would be to make peace). As a result of this fighting Ngati Tama fled from the district, and some settled at Kai-inanga, outside of the Rangi-tikei borders; but before doing so some of them went to Oroua and there killed Pourau.
“When they had settled at Kai-inanga, Moe-roa, who belonged half to Ngati Apa, and was there before they came, became alarmed, and thought, ‘Perhaps these people will become strong and take my land’; so he gathered his people, and fell on the Ngati Tama at Kia-inanga, and killed Rere-mai, Pokai-kaka, and Te Oti, as well as a great number of the people Tahataha made a prisoner of Hine-iti, whom he saved alive.”
So ends Kemp's version of the Kai-inanga fight; but the real cause seems to have been infringement of the sacred law of tapu. A chief named Poto died (Poto's wife Koipoa was Hori Kingi's sister), and, in order to have his head properly preserved, a man named Hia-kai cut it off and commenced operations upon it. While so engaged he was strictly tapu, and before this was removed by the tohungas he was accused of having fed himself with his own hands. Being unable to clear himself from the charge, both he and a man named Te Hopu were killed at Otawiri by Ngati Hau-iti. Te Hopu was not under the tapu at the time, but, as he warned Hia-kai, he was in some way mixed up in the quarrel, and had to pay the penalty with his life. As both men were connected with Ngati Apa, this tribe sent Te Ahuru to the pa where the Ngati Hau-iti and Ngati Tama were camped, on the pretext that he was the bearer of huia-feathers for the chief Pou-kaka. But his visit was a mere blind—he went to spy out the weak places of the pa; and when he returned with his report to the Ngati Apa they attacked in full force, and the battle of Kai-inanga ensued, in which the combined tribes were badly beaten with great slaughter. A fuller and better account of Te Ahuru's visit to the pa was related to me by Whatahoro, who said,—
“Te Ahuru's wife was in the pa before the attack, and, as he had previously arranged a call with her, he arrived at the place in advance of the Ngati Apa force, and when night fell he whistled across the gully for her to go to him. As he continued whistling the people of the pa said, ‘Listen to the wekas—surely bad weather is approaching’; and they thought no more, but turned over and went to sleep. When they were all asleep, Hine-rua, Te Ahuru's wife, quietly went out to meet her husband, and when they met he said to her, ‘Tell me which is the weakest part of the pa, and what do the people intend doing to-morrow.’ She replied, ‘The only unprotected part is by way of te paepae (i.e., place of public convenience), which is quite unguarded. And to-morrow the people divide into three parts, one party of men going to dig fern-root, another goint to the river to catch eels, and another, of women, going to the bush to gather hinau-berries.’
“Then Te Ahuru returned to his people, and showed them all these things; and on the morrow the Ngati Apa taua went round—first to the party who were down at the river engaged at their eel-spearing, whom they surprised and killed; then on to the place where the fern-root-digging
was occupying the attention of the men, who also fell a prey to the taua; then they attacked the women who were gathering the hinau-berries: and so, when the Ngati Apa entered the pa by way of te paepae, there was no one there but the old and young to defend the place. Consequently Kai-manga fell, and great was the fall thereof.”
This greatly weakened them, for just before this fight Ngati Hau-iti had lost a great number of their people owing to a great makutu, the bewitching of the Ngati Hau-iti by the Ngati Apa. It seems the latter had fled for protection to Otara after Tu-whare's fight. The Otara (Ngati Hau-iti) were annoyed with them for staying, and consequently consuming their provisions, and spoke angrily to them about it; whereupon the Ngati Apa, in great wrath, bewitched them by their sorcerers Tu-mata-whiti and Moko, and then immediately left the district. My informant, Warena Hunia, of Parewa-nui, assures me that this man, Tu-mata-whiti, had an atua which had the wonderful power of shining like fire when consulted if the intended venture was likely to prove successful, otherwise it remained dull and motionless. The result was that many of the Ngati Hau-iti died of the spells laid upon them.
So far in this narrative an endeavour has been made to keep the various events in their proper chronological order, but dates have been avoided, for, although the dates have been assigned by Mr. S. Percy Smith and others to the principal raids and migrations from the north, when reference is made to these raids by Natives there is always a difficulty in knowing which one is meant; and, as events crowd together between the years 1820 and 1840, there is less chance of giving each its proper place in history; consequently it may be necessary to give a continuation of these notes as supplied by informants in narrative form, rather than cut them up endeavouring to obtain reliable order.
The fight at Kai-inanga, and also another at Pare-kaoa, took place after Whata-nui's raid. Kai-inanga was first, then came Pare-kaoa's death at Pou-kawa (near Napier), and Te Ao was killed some time after.
After the battle of Kai-inanga, the Ngati Apa returned to the outward part of Rangi-tikei—that is, the lower valley—but soon removed to Wairarapa for fear of an attack by the Ngati Tu-whare-toa; but from there they were quickly driven back by the Ngati Kahu-ngunu. They returned to Rangi-tikei, but on their arrival were met by the Ngati Hau-iti, who had returned to avenge their defeat at Kai-inanga. The Ngati Hauiti people mustered at Mokai Patea, where they were met by a Ngati Rau-kawa heke (migration) of four hundred men, besides women and children, under the chiefs Te Heuheu-nui, Te Rangi-mone-hurehu, and Te Whaka-rau. This was the second great heke from Taupo, but no particulars are available regarding the first (called Rua-mai-oro). At Patea the following tribes sent men to swell the numbers: Ngati Whiti, Ngati te Upoko-iri, Ngati Tama, and Ngati Tu-whare-toa. Then this great body journeyed down the river together till they came to Kai-inanga, where they spent some time making canoes to convey their provisions down the Rangitikei River.
On leaving Kai-inanga some of the party went by land, and others with the canoes. Following the course of the canoes, the first day they came to Pounga, where they camped, next day reaching Otara. “Here,” said
the old man who gave the narrative, “we found no persons living, for the place had been abandoned for fear of witchcraft, by which many had died. We found bodies hung up in trees three and four together, and the survivors had scattered. We instituted a search for them, and on the Rangatira we captured thirty-one prisoners. We found O-tama-kapua, Te Weio, and Te Tai-nui, and the principal men caught at these places were Potaka and Te Rangi-tahua. This latter afterwards died by witchcraft, just as the others had done before him.
“Starting down the river from Otara, we reached Whaka-poka, and camped there, Ngati Hau-iti accompanying us. There we found a small pa, where some of Ngati Hau-iti were dwelling, and cultivating the land. Thence we reached Ma-karaka, and camped there for a time, finding people of the same tribe. Next we reached Te Mahoe, and then Te Pohue, where we camped at the mouth of the Pou-rewa Stream. There we divided, sending scouting parties to Oroua on our one side, and also in the opposite direction. One party came back the same day, bringing four people that they had captured, and next day our two reconnoitring parties returned bringing two more.”
According to another account, the day after these two prisoners were taken, a strong division of the heke struck the main body of Ngati Apa between the Rangi-tikei and Turakina Rivers. Here a battle was fought, in which the Ngati Rau-kawa were victorious, many of the Ngati Apa being killed, and their chief leader Ta-whiro captured. Then, at the feast in honour of the victory, all the dead bodies were brought into the camp and piled in a heap. On top of this ghastly pile the unfortunate Ta-whiro was bound, stretched, and then flayed alive by a lady named Pekenga, eventually being killed by Tanguru, who was of the Ngati Hau-iti, Ngati Whiti, and Hine-manu tribes. Then the combined tribes set to work, the ovens were kept at glowing heat, and the Ngati Apa required no further burial.
Continuing this narrative the old man said, “After Ta-whiro was killed we left Pou-rewa, passed Parewa-nui, and pushed on to the mouth of the Rangi-tikei River. As a gale was blowing, we hauled up our canoes and marched down the beach, only one canoe venturing out, and reaching Manawa-tu. When we reached this place we camped for the night, and, as the gale was increasing, we hauled up the one canoe that had reached us, and left it on the beach. Then we continued our march along the beach to Kapiti, where we saw Te Rau-paraha and Te Pehi. We stayed there about two months, while our leading men went on to Poneke to bring up Taiaha, of the Ngati Ira, and his people; and while they were away we captured several prisoners at Horo-whenua, among whom were Te Kowhai, Hunia's mother's brother, and a woman named Whaka-haunga, of the Mua-upoko. After some time we commenced our return journey to Taupo, by way of the Rangi-tikei. We came to Parewa-nui on that river, and there baked karaka-berries. Next day we commenced to eat the berries, and made ourselves very ill, like drunken men. We found no inhabitants there: if there had been any at the pa we should have killed them.
“Leaving Pàrewa-nui, we reached the mouth of the Ranga-taua, and camped there. There died that night the daughter of Te Heuheu and a Tu-whare-toa chief named Te Poka. We believe that they were bewitched by the Ngati Apa.” [As a matter of fact, they both died of wounds inflicted during a skirmish with a stray band of Ngati Apa. Huru-hia was
the lady's name, and she was famed for her extreme beauty. A great tangi was held over her remains, at which Te Heuheu caused her head to be preserved, he himself calcining her brains, and strewing the ashes over the land, which he declared to be for ever tapu.]*
“Leaving the Ranga-taua we marched to Wai-tuna, and halted there while the heads of our dead were properly preserved.” [Wai-tuna was a pa about two miles above the Onepuhi Bridge over the Rangi-tikei River.] “Some of our party who were going overland captured prisoners at Oroua. We were travelling in such a manner as to catch anybody in the neighbourhood. Here at Wai-tuna our party from Manawa-tu joined us, bringing in one prisoner. Here we again divided into parties, some going up the Turakina Valley and the others remaining near the Rangi-tikei. The first-mentioned party took several prisoners, but we took none.
“From Wai-tuna we went on to Ma-karaka (at Kaka-riki), and from thence to Whaka-poka; from there on to Te Kiekie (Makohine), and from there to Otara. At this place we found Te Waha and Te Rangitahua, who had returned and resumed residence there, for the priest had exorcised the spot. Then we went on to Kawatau (a river on the east side of the Rangi-tikei, above Manga-weka), where we stayed for some time, as we buried the bodies of Te Poka and Heuheu's daughter there. From thence we proceeded to Kai-inanga, where we left our canoes, and continued on our way to Taupo.”
This journey, as described by our Maori friend, was called by him the “Heke Kariri Tahi” (Migration of one cartridge), from the circumstance of their having very little ammunition. According to Travers, Whata-nui accompanied this heke for the purpose of conferring with Te Rau-paraha; but, finding that chief absent, he returned to Taupo almost immediately to bring down his people. From the manner in which these strong armed bodies of men roamed over the Turakina, Rangi-tikei, and Manawa-tu districts, killing and making slaves of all the unfortunate Ngati Apa they met, one can form an idea of the state of the country at that time.
We have notes of two later Ngati Rau-kawa hekes, one of which came down before the fight known as Hao-whenua, and the other immediately after; but, as the first of these mentions the death of Taka-rangi at Kohuru-po, that event had better be related first, as well as civil and other troubles related by the Ngati Apa themselves.
Now, there was a battle fought at Tara-kite (near Rata), called Tawapara, and after this Rangi-whaka-pou was murdered by Ika-whaka-ariki, both of Ngati Apa. To revenge that murder, the Kauae, in conjunction with Ngati kahu-ngunu people, destroyed the whole hapu of Ika-whaka-ariki who were living at Huaki-tae-ore, across the Rangi-tikei, and at Rua-puta-uaki and O-weta-ra, down by the river (near Bull's).
When that war-party of the Ngati Kahu-ngunu came down to smite Ika-whaka-ariki, that chief fled to Whanga-nui, where he remained for some years, and when he thought he could return in safety he did so, and again took up his residence in his pa (below Bull's); but members of the Ngati Kahu-ngunu Tribe were still on the scene, and the Kauae people soon
[Footnote] * In Traver's “Life of Te Rau-paraha” this lady's name is given as Reremai, but his informant was apparently in error, for Reremai was one of the victims of the Kai-inanga fight.
learned where Ika-whaka-ariki was hiding, and also his friend Orehu. So a raid was organized, and Ika-whaka-ariki captured without much trouble. When brought face to face with his captors he sang a song, and otherwise showed his bravery; but this availed him but little, for very soon he had to go the way of all flesh, and trod the dim and distant road to Hawaiki.
It was about this time that Rangi-iki-iki, after the death of his wife Kara, went away to Oroua, and Rangi-tuhaha went to reside at Te Whaau-rongo (near Halcombe).
The next affair that happened was the bewitching by Rangi-te-muri, which caused the death of a great number of Rangi-whaka-po's people, also many of the Ika-whaka-ariki and Kauae. They were all living at Paewa, and very often went to the mouth of the Rangi-tikei River fishing, when they would send large supplies of food to their own places, and also to Rangi-iki-iki (at Oroua). Rangi-te-muri noticed this, and set about bewitching the track which they had to pass over.
“It happened this way,” said my informant, when telling of the event: “This man Rangi-te-muri lived on the flat in front of the present Parewanui Schoolhouse, and the old track lay between the two swamps, where the road runs at present. Now, Rangi-te-muri looked out daily and saw the people passing and repassing with their loads of eels and fish, and, although they passed his door, they never gave him a present or left any of the fish hanging at his place. Then said Rangi-te-muri to himself, “I'll fix them.” And fix them he did, for he bewitched the track, and next time the fishermen passed that way (and they had to go that track, for there was no other) they travelled over it for the last time, and they received the punishment which was always meted out to those who touched bewitched things, and went to join their great ancestress, Hine-nui-te-po.
When Te Kai-whaka-taha saw so many of his people falling under this potent spell, in fear of his life he fled across the river, where he fell into the hands of a party of Ngati Kahu-ngunu who were on their way to make war with Ngati Apa. They quickly captured him, and, as he was a man of great avoirdupois, they made game by exhibiting him round, on account of his immense size and fatness. He was then duly killed and eaten, and the spot where the feast took place was named, in honour of the event, Tapu-iko-koneke—meaning “the fat thighs of the quail.”
After this, Rangi-tane came into the Rangi-tikei district, accompanied by Ngati Tauira. They went to Wai - tata - pia (now the homestead paddocks on Mr. Dalrymple's run at Parewa-nui), a pa to the west of Rae-tihi (a sand-ridge on the same farm), and there they fought with Ngariki and Tupa-taua. They were victorious, and, after having slain the chief Te Umu-o-te-hau, they went on to Te Awa-mate Pa seeking further quarrels. Nga-riki, after the loss of their chief, fled up the river. Then Hori Kingi sent two chiefs across the river, with full instructions to fetch some poha tuna (extra fine eels—i.e., the chiefs) home with them from Puke-puke Pa (a fortified pa on one of the lakes lying between the mouth of the Rangi-tikei River and Foxton, known to local residents as Humpy's Lake), held by Ngati Apa; but warning was sent, and the two chiefs Rangi-hau-tu and Ao-kehu went out with a party and waylaid Rangi-tane, who were one hundred strong, and cut off almost the whole party, as out of that strong taua Te Weta was the only man who escaped. This
battle was known by the name of Tu-raki-awatea, and was fought on the site of the Turakina Railway-station. The Tu-raki-awatea Pa stood on the other side of the main road, near the Turakina Bridge. The old pa on the opposite side of the river was known as Kopiro. Flushed with victory, the Ngati Apa followed up another party of Rangi-tane to Papa-rata (Oroua Downs), and annihilated them there. These losses naturally aroused the riri of the Rangi-tane, who obtained aid from the Ngati Kahu-ngunu, Nga Pakapaka, and Nga Mutu-ahi, from Dannevirke, and came against Pukepuke, but were again repulsed. Then they resorted to stratagem, and made it appear as though they had retired; but not so—they were simply hiding. Then some of the Ngati Apa women and children went in a canoe over the river on to the flat to suck flax-blossoms, and before they discovered their perilous position they were captured. In this way Oko-rewa, Te Hakeke's mother, was taken, as well as others; but before Rangi-tane got away with their prisoners, one of the women managed to call out to Rangi-hau-tu to follow, as his wife was a captive. He did so, but did not come up to the retreating taua till they came to the Manawa-tu, where, instead of fighting, a peace was patched up, and Rangi-hau-tu was returning home in full confidence with the women, when he was set upon by his escort of Rangi-tane men, and cruelly murdered by Taka-wai. His body was left on a ridge called Te Ruahine (a sandridge lying between the fertile and waste lands on the southern side of the Rangi-tikei River), but the women and children got back to the Puke-puke Pa in safety.
A Waiata Composed on the Occasion of Rangi-Hau-Tu's Death, Sung by a Rangitane Woman of the Pakapaka Hapu (mo te Matenga o te Rangi-hau-tu i patua e Taka-wai me ona taina ki te Ruahine Manuka).
Me whakawai hoki e puanga akohu te patu tonu ai,
Ka rau-ai to ringa mo nga ringa kino
Kai te Ruahine mo Tanitia* tena kei roto mo te rangi Whititua,*
Tena kei roto mo te Rangi-tapu-ihi,*
Tena kei roto mo taku roraruhu kai Pukepuke,
Mo te rorotuna ki Kai-kokopu,
I me kata atu au e hika l konei i.
—I waiatangia mai mo te Hakeke i le
whawhai ki kahutara,
“So died the great chief Rangi-hau-tu (storm-wind standing in the heavens) by treachery foul and dark. The proud canoe was broken up, and his people were left stranded, with the raging sea all around them, but they were not engulfed”—for Ao-kehu quickly sent messengers to Whanga-nui and Manga-whero, telling them what had happened, and seeking aid, which was readily given; and the combined forces travelled to Manawa-tu, where they defeated Rangi-tane at the Hara-keke Pa with great slaughter. (The site of the Harakeke Pa was the place now known as the Sugarloaf Hill, below the Manawa-tu Railway-bridge.)
When this pa was first surrounded, word was hurriedly sent to Te Ahuru-o-te-rangi, who was then on a visit to the South Island. As soon as he received the message, he crossed over the Rau-kawa Strait with his war-party in canoes; but by the time he arrived the pa had been captured, and many of its people killed and eaten. Te Ahuru-o-te-rangi then
[Footnote] * Three Ngati Apa men killed previously.
[Footnote] * Three Ngati Apa men killed previously.
[Footnote] * Three Ngati Apa men killed previously.
gathered all his people and attacked the Waipu Pa (on the Turakina Lake, the Maori name of which was Otiti: it lies on Mr. Lethbridge's property, about three hundred yards from the railway-station), where the Ngati Apa were expecting and awaiting the inevitable attack; but the pa was a strong one and its people many, consequently it withstood the siege for a long time, and eventually Te Kahu-te-rangi, who was related to Te Ahuru-o-te-rangi, came to Waipu and made peace, after which the various hapus in the pa returned to their own homes. So ended the trouble in this quarter for a time; but only for a very short time, for Ngati Apa next joined forces with Nga Rauru (Wai-totara Tribe), and, for some real or fancied injury in connection with Rangi-hau-tu's murder, they successfully attacked Pihaia, a pa on the sandhills between Putiki and the sea, on the Whanga-nui River. In payment, Whanga-nui travelled to Whanga-ehu, where they captured a large pa named O-hake-to, near the beach at that place, and here they killed O-take-hoke and others. Smarting under the defeat, a woman of the Ngati Wairiki went to Hawke's Bay to get help to revenge her people. When she reached Wai-rarapa she collected forces and returned, and her reinforcements joined with the men of Rangi-tikei, Turakina, and Whanga-ehu, and came on to the pa Tuke-a-maui, at Pari-kino, on the Whanga-nui River, which they besieged. The top end of the pa was defended by Manumanu's descendants, and the middle by Ma-ruru. The pa was surrounded and eventually taken, but the part which the Manumanu people were defending was not attacked.
Sam Woon, a well-known Whanga-ehu Native, has in his possession a mere pounamu taken by Ngati Apa at the fall of this pa.
Seeking further details regarding this fight at Tuke-a-maui, the writer was told the following interesting story by the grandson of one of the chiefs who took part in the attack:—
“Some of the Ngati Apa people were badly beaten by Rangi-tane at Pohangina, and among those who were taken was a Ngati Apa chief named Te Ahuru.” [Te Ahuru was the man who, with his wife, arranged the attack on the Kai-inanga Pa, as related some few pages back. He was afterwards killed at Kapiti, when the combined tribes made their unsuccessful atack on Te Rau-paraha at that place. (An account of this attack has been published in the Jour. Polynesian Soc., so will not be further referred to here.) Details relating to the death of Te Ahuru's daughter will be related later on.] “However, in their eagerness to make this man a prisoner, they allowed some of his men to escape, who immediately fled away to Rangi-tikei, where they raised a party to seek revenge.
“Now, Rangi-tane, having captured Te Ahuru and others, kept them for a few days, and then set them to work to carry stones for the umus in which they were to be cooked. After enough stones had been gathered, they made the unfortunate men gather firewood for the ovens, then the leaves, and last of all, they forced them to dig out the umus, and when all was ready the conquerors lined up for the haka which was to celebrate the victory; but, in the middle of the song, down came Ngati Apa—the party that the recent escapees had brought along. They smote left and right, and before many minutes were over the ovens were steaming, but they contained Rangi-tane instead of Ngati Apa.
“Te Ahuru was doubtless well pleased at his release, but he desired still further revenge. So he sent messengers to Wai-totara and Patea
asking the Nga Rauru to bring kai and send men. The northern Natives heartily responded, sending two hundred fighting-men, besides many slaves bearing great quantities of the indispensable kai. When they came to the Whanga-nui River, Taka-rangi, the great Whanga-nui chief, who was after-wards killed at Kohuru-po, heard that the Nga Rauru people were in his territory, and he said ‘What are these people here? I will not allow them to carry food over me.’ So he sent out his men, and after a short skirmish Nga Rauru retire minus their kai. When Ngati Apa heard that Taka-rangi had intercepted those who were coming to give them assistance, they immediately started out, and took a large pa situated on the Kai-toke Lake” [about two miles from Whanga-nui No. 1 Line]. “Whanga-nui, not to be outdone, travelled to Rangi-tikei, where they besieged the pa at Pou-rewa, killed Te Haha-o-te-rangi, and then retired.
“Then up arose Te Ahuru and said to his people, ‘I hear there is a brave man called Te O-raunga of the Mua-upoko. I will go to him and see if he will lend a hand to help punish Whanga-nui and Rangi-tane.’ So he went to Wai-were, a pa at the south end of Lake Horo-whenua, and laid his views and intentions before Te O-raunga; but that careful chief said, ‘No, I am afraid I cannot help you, for this taniwha you wish to destroy has two heads—i.e., Whanga-nui and Rangi-tane. If it had only one I would willingly go. But go on to Pori-rua. Te Huke-o-tungia is there, and he will assist.’ So Te Ahuru went to Pori-rua as directed, but Huke-o-tungia said, ‘No, I cannot help; but let us go to Nga-kaka-waha-nui (the loquacious parrots), at Wai-rarapa.’ So they went on, and came to the pa” [near Mr. Bidwell's], “and there they found the two kakas famed for their great beaks, Te Whata-horo and Te Kaka-hou, and explained what they came for. After hearing all Te Ahuru and his friend had to say, the two great chiefs replied, ‘Yes, we will help you. Go home as fast as you can, gather all your people, and plenty of kai. We will follow in a few days.’ So Te Ahuru returned to Rangi-tikei; but as soon as he had gone; Whata-horo said to his friend, ‘Had we not better follow at once, before Whanga-nui hears of our approach and has time to gather?’ So they started off from Wai-rarapa with a great army of over three hundred men of the Rakai-whaka-iri, the Ngati Kahukura-a-whitia, the Hamua, and the Ngati-moe tribes, all branches of the Ngati Kahu-ngunu.
“When Te Ahuru left Wai-rarapa he arranged with his own people to have supplies of food ready, and with this purpose in view he came on to Whanga-ehu; but no sooner had he called his people together than a great war-party was seen approaching from the south. The people were much afraid, and said to Te Ahuru, ‘What is the meaning of this?’ Te Ahuru, although he felt considerable apprehension, replied, ‘Perhaps it is our friends from Wai-rarapa and Pori-rua. Let us go forward to meet them.’ (The Pori-rua people had also joined, although they had at first refused.) So the two parties met, and the apprehensions of the Ngati Apa were quickly set at rest by the joyful discovery that the taua was led by their Wairarapa friends. After the customary feast had been disposed of, a war-dance was executed, during the excitement of which some of the brave fellows advised going on to Whanga-nui that night. Te Ahuru opposed this, for he wished to have time to gather all his available Ngati Apa force. But Tui, the tohunga travelling with the taua, settled the dispute by saying, ‘We will go now, for even at this moment the Whanga-nui people are preparing to resist us, and to-morrow we will meet their party and be victorious.’”
The Prophecy by Which Tui Excited the Taua to go On.
Tera ia te ata taua Takiri ana mai,
Kai Tongariro e, ko te mamaru,
E whakakaka ra i ona rau,
Kia riro mai ko Tu-kapua
Kai riro mai ana ko Huru-tara
Kia whakatauria iho te kohu ka kikimai
Ka titiro he ure ngorengore no Pakihi
No muri ka whati te piki
No tura kai te awatea,
Kua moea e au ki te po
E tu ana Kai-whara-whara
Ka nunumi kai Ota-aue
Kia tangi mai te karoro, aue!
Taku kai he piro tangata
E he wai ka kato te wai o Whanga-nui
Kai u kei uta ka huri Taikoria
Ka huri ki Waiwiri
Hara-mai ai ona rau
E rua, ki au kakari ai e
Ruru e. Ruru e, kai taraha e i.
Lo ! the morn of wrath is dawning.
At Tongariro the hundred are being Incited to defeat Tu-kapua and Huru-tara.*
Enveloped by the mist they will assemble
For the fight. They will look on us with disdain,
Unworthy to fight against; but they will be
Defeated at daylight.
At night I dreamt—I beheld Another victory at Kai-whara-whara.††
They were also overwhelmed at Ota-aue,‡‡
Causing the sea-gull to scream, “Aue ! alas!
Oh! my meat is the stench of human corpses.”
Held back is the wave of Whanga-nui
Lest it should overflow Taikoria
And also flood Waiwiri.§
The hundred attacked me in vain.
Two to one against me, I defeated them.
And glorious was my victory.
So they started off that night, taking the road by the sea-beach, and just as day was breaking they ran right into the Whanga-nui war-party at Kai-whara-whara (the South Spit, Whanga-nui River). Still under the excitement of the recent haka, the invaders made short work of the surprised Whanga-nui-ites, and before very long the pair of kakas with great beaks were counting the spoil. They made a pile of the dead men four high, laying them crossways as children cross and recross their hands in play. “How long the row was,” said my informant, “I don't know—perhaps a mile, perhaps less—but, at any rate, as soon as the wall was built, Whatahoro and his companion said to Te Ahuru, ‘Here is payment for you. Is it enough?’ and so they gave the whole pile to Ngati Apa as a hakari for them. While the feast was going on, Tui, the tohunga, got up and sang another song, in which he described other places that would be taken, and told the names of the chiefs to be killed. So the party, taking his good
[Footnote] * Tu-kapua e Huru-tara-Men of the Wai-rarapa taua.
[Footnote] Kai-whara-whara-South Spit, Whanganui River.
[Footnote] Ota-aue—A pa on the Awarua Creek below Putiki
[Footnote] § Waiwiri—The lake usually known as Pa-pai-tonga.
advice, advanced, bent on mischief. They attacked the pa Ota-aue” [on the Awa-rua Creek, about half a mile below Putiki], “where they captured all the inhabitants, and sent them as slaves under escort to Rangitikei. Then on again they went, determined to take the large pa at Parikino named Tuke-a-maui, which was known to be full of people. It took the war-party several days to effect an entrance, but they eventually dragged down parts of the palisading by tying flax ropes to the middle of short pieces of wood, throwing them over, and then pulling. After this victory the war-party retired, carrying with them many slaves, and satisfied that at least one of the taniwha's heads had been considerably damaged. The old pa Tuke-a-maui stood on the rising ground above Kai-tangata, the old name of the pa now known as Pari-kino. Pari-kino was a pa on the cliff side of the river, opposite Kai-tangata.
“Now for the other head: Flushed with their recent conquests, Te Ahuru now decided to give his friends a skirmish with Rangi-tane; so he again gathered his Ngati Apa force, and, joining with Wai-rarapa, they marched away, having previously sent out spies, two by two, who were to hunt the district, and let the main body know where the most people had congregated. Soon the scouts returned with their report to Orini (near Tahora-iti), which the taua had now reached, and informed the leaders that all the people in the district had vacated the small pas and fled to Rai-kapua, a strongly fortified pa on the Upper Manawa-tu River, having a high inaccessible cliff immediately behind it. So the war-party laid siege to this pa, and carried on the operations with such fury that in a very short space an entrance was gained, and the slaughter of the defenders commenced. Alto-gether two hundred poor wretches were killed, and one hundred taken as slaves; and again the dead were piled up in a row four deep, with the captives on top. Then said Whata-horo to Ahuru, ‘There is your second payment. Divide this pile into two equal parts, and bind the dead on the shoulders of the living.’ So he gave half of the captives to the Ngati Apa party and kept half himself, and the two tribes separated, each forcing their slaves to carry home their dead comrades, who were no doubt destined to grace the board at the first feast. Thus was the taniwha's second head destroyed. The descendants of the slaves captured on that occasion are still to be found at Pori-rua and Wai-rarapa.”
Ko Te Mata Tenei A Tui, Matenga I Tahuri Ai Rai-Kapua.
[Tui's Song before the Capture of Rai-kapua.]
Takoto paranga he matuku
Takoto paranga he matuku
Ka whaterotero mai te arero huare ki waho
Hora ana te huruhuru o tona ure
Te hokinga mai o te Parekura i te koru ra,
Aha ha he pane whiti, aha ha he pane taonga,
He niho tete mai i runga o te turuturu,
A taina a he aha ka nene ka tangi koe e.
This waiata is a vision and a prophecy as to what the result of the assault on Rai-kapua would be.
After this, a woman of rank belonging to Ngati Wairiki was killed near Turakina by Ngaiti Whiti, so Tama-te-kura collected people from Whanganui and Manga-whero to avenge her death. The party travelled to Rangitikei and took a pa called Toko-rangi (Whanga-ehu), where they killed the chief Poa-tawa and a great number of people, and after the usual celebrations returned home. After this Tawhero-haki was killed in retaliation;
consequently Pehi Turoa, the great Whanga-nui chief, went to Manumanu's relatives and said, “We must have payment for this man's death.” So they gathered a force, and went to seek revenge at Muri-motu, where they killed Tama-te-kura, Te Kahu, Toetoe, and others belonging to Ngati Tu-whare-toa. They afterwards had another fight at Tiki-rere, where more people of this same tribe were killed. And so the quarrel went on; but, as the complicated law of utu entailed fighting among various tribes outside the Rangi-tikei district, these quarrels need not be followed further.
After this, more civil trouble arose owing to one of the Kauae people named Te Hina beating and otherwise ill-treating his wife. She objected to this, and fled across the river to her people to complain. They were angry with Te Hina for this, and to square matters they took from the woman a famous tiki belonging to her husband; and when she afterward returned without the tiki, he bethought him of ancient grievances (although up to this time Kauae and Maero had lived together as neighbours), and remembered the annihilation of his people by Rangi-te-muri; so he gathered some of his people, made a raid, and captured Maero, Tau-iri, Te Hanea, Mokomoko, and Pauhu, as well as many others. He also recovered his tiki and other property, and, to properly punish these people for taking his wife's part, or else taking his tiki, he made a great fire and scorched his prisoners over it, in much the same manner as eels are treated for fattening. (It was an old-time custom with the Maoris on this coast, when on an eel-fishing expedition, to gather together all the small and skinny eels caught, and then light a fire of fern down by the water's edge. Then the contents of the hinaki were emptied into the middle of the fire, and it was supposed that by this persuasive treatment the unfortunate eels that managed to crawl through and reach the water would eventually grow large and fat; and who would doubt it? This custom was called Tunutunu ki te ahi).
After the burning, Te Hina had his prisoners liberated and sent them away, and, as they were his wife's relatives, he acted kindly, and did not kill any of them except Pauhu; but they resented his kind treatment, and immediately commenced to make plans for avenging their insult. First they commenced going to Oroua, but eventually decided to go to Awa-mate. Soon after settling there they received a visit from a chief named Tama-whi-rangi, of Ngariki, who was connected with Maero, but who was also related to Te Hina. Him they took and killed as a first blow in revenge for their burning. When Te Hina heard how his relative had been received at Awa-mate, he left his pa at Tu-nuku, above Kara-riki, and hastened with a war-party to revenge that death; but he was himself killed, and his party driven home. When Wai-tene heard that Te Hina had been killed, he sought assistance to punish Maero, and was aided by the Muaupoko, Ngati Kahu-ngunu, Nga-wai-riki, and other hapus of Ngati Apa. This large force attacked Te Awa-mate, which was an island in a lake, but did not take it, not having canoes.
(The Awa-mate Lake is a long, narrow body of water, curved round something after the shape of a horse-shoe, lying on Mr. Dalrymple's property at Parewa-nui. When the writer first saw it, many years ago, the island referred to had a peculiar appearance, owing to a number of trees standing with their roots upwards—the remnats of ancient fortifications, called puwhara, upon which platforms were built. The same thing was noticed at other places when we were children, but not to the same extent; but these, like many other object of which we then took but little notice, have long since disappeared.)
Finding they were unable to take the island, the war-party retreated, but almost immediately returned to the attack, and on this occasion they killed Kakaho, the daughter of Te Ahuru, and others; but again they were unsuccessful in taking the pa, and so again they retired.
“The murder of this poor girl,” said my informant, “was a very discreditable act”; and while he gave the following details, the old man's eyes filled with tears.
Before Te Ahuru went to fight Te Rau-paraha at Kapiti he had a presentiment that he would be killed at that battle, for in a vision (dream) he had seen his own head fixed on the top of a pole; so he gave to his daughter his mere pounamu called Te Rito-harakeke (young blade of the flax), with the instructions that she was never to part with it, and also that she was to wear it night and day, but in such a manner that the cord which held it round her neck was to be kept concealed beneath her mat.
When the poor girl was captured at Awa-mate, her captors formed a ring round her, and she was ordered to sit down in the enclosed space; but she refused, and said, “Why should I sit down to be killed? Allow me to stand and sing my death-song, after which I will be ready.” Then she asked Te Kahawai to give her his mat so that her body might be covered after she was dead, and Te Kahawai without a moment's thought complied with her request and laid down his mahiti (dog-skin mat) on the ground before her.
While she was singing Te Kahawai noticed the tears trickling down her cheeks, and when the tangi was finished he said to her, “Why were you crying just now?” Kakaho replied, “Do you ask me why I was crying? If you were a woman, as I am, you would know very well why I was crying.” Continuing, she said, “I, like you, am going to be a fish of the sea, for I am a woman of much blood; and may this thought carry you to death, for you are not a man of your word.” (Some reference to the fact that the kahawai fish, when caught, bleeds more freely than any other fish known to the Maori.)
Then one of the party took a tokotoko, and, giving it to another chief, he said, “Kill her with this.” Kakaho overheard the order, and immediately cried out, “Let me not die by such a mean weapon. If die I must, kill me with this.” And as she spoke she drew from her bosom the mere Te Rito-harakeke, and held it aloft. The man who had the tokotoko seized the mere, calling out, “Yes, it is a good weapon, and a good girl,” at the same time striking her a blow that laid her low for ever.
Then it was noticed that her body was tapu, being protected by the mahiti, which by this time was wet with blood welling from the death-wound; consequently she was not eaten, but buried as befitted a chief's daughter.
As soon as it was discovered that the girl was dead, Te Kahawai turned to Paihure, the man who had killed her, and said, “Why did you kill her in defiance of my protection?” and, receiving no satisfactory answer, he took the mere, and Paihure also fell to the ground, a dead man.
After the siege, Maero and Tau-iri were so worried by the appearance of the Ngati Apa almost daily, and also by the shortage of their food-supply, that they determined to evacuate the pa and go to Ao-rangi. So they quietly left Te Awa-mate and went to Oroua; but the Ngati Apa people followed them up and killed several, but the chief person killed was a woman named Hiango, and she was killed by Wai-tene. After this the Maero people resolved to scatter; so Hura, Rihi-mona, and Rene-hura went to Horo-whenua for safety, the others all going to different places.
Now, when Te Hakeke grew up he desired to obtain further revenge for the death of his father Rangi-hau-tu; so he went up the Rangi-tikei River and conferred with some of the chiefs there, with the result that a war-party of the Tupa-taua and Nga-riki hapus journeyed to Manawa-tu, where they surrounded the Pahutu Pa (near the bridge at Palmerston North), at which place Rangi-hau-tu's murderers were living. The invaders were fairly successful in this little tribute to the dead chief's memory, for two of the chief culprits (brothers to Taka-wai, the real murderer) suffered for their relationship, and their spirits fled to the Rerenga Wairua (spirits' leaping-place), and Te Hakeke himself had the satisfaction of killing the man who had held his father down while he was being murdered. However, justice was not always meted out to the ill-doers in those days, as now, for the real cause of all the trouble, Taka-wai, escaped, and so the party had to return to their pas with the lust for blood in their throats only partially satisfied.
It will be remembered that after Te Hiango was killed, Rihi-mona, Hura, and others went to Horo-whenua for safety, and after a time the Mua-upoko people, with whom they dwelt, thought that Hura's wrongs should be more fully avenged, so they came with Rihi-mona back to Lower Rangi-tikei to make war on Ngati Apa. They arrived, and halted just
below Parewa-nui, and sent out scouts to reconnoitre. The only person the scouts discovered was Kaewa (Te Hakeke's wife), whom they found with a companion gathering tutu-berries. She was uncertain whether she would be killed or not, but the scouts contented themselves by stating their object and asking for Hakeke, who was away at Turakina mustering a war-party to fight Rangi-tane. Leaving Kaewa unhurt, the scouts continued their search, and soon after found Ngoki, Kaewa's sister, who was surprised and killed at O-taka-po, close to where the township of Bull's now stands. As soon as Hakeke returned from Turakina, he discovered what had taken place, and made all haste to follow up the retreating war-party, and fell in with them accidentally at Wha-rangi (Manawa-tu), where they were busy in the swamps catching eels. Although thus engaged, they were working “with one eye open,” for they judged by the flight of some seagulls that they might be surprised by a pursuing party; so Tu-ranga-pito was ready with a long-handled tomahawk, and Hakaraia was also near to bear the brunt of the attack, and these two sought to engage the enemy while the rest of the Mua-upoko drew together. Then Hakeke rememberd that these people whom he had come out against were his own connections,*. so he sought a truce, and to do so ran up and threw his dog-skin mat over Rihi-mona. Tu-ranga-pito was angry at thus being baulked of the excitement of a fight, so he tried to make trouble, and cried out, “Who is that tupapaku (dead body) you have there?” apparently endeavouring to excite them by reference to the late murder. But Hakeke seems to have been a man of peace, for, although Ngoki was Hakeke's sister-in-law, she was also a connection (whaea) of Tu-ranga-pito's. Notwithstanding Hakeke's command, Waitene (Ngoki's brother) still endeavoured to kill Hura and Rihi-mona, but was checked by the others. Eventually the Mua-upoko people crossed the Mikihi Stream, but while they were crossing some one called out “Ko Ngoki tonu”; but it was too late to cause further trouble, for by that time Mua-upoko were on the other side of the Manawa-tu. Hura and Rihi-mona never returned to Rangi-tikei.
After these things Pouhu was killed by some of the Nga Riki and Tupataua people. Pouhu, it will be remembered, was one of those who suffered scorching at the hands of Te Hina, but who recovered from his wounds. He was one of the Maero hapu, and he was killed by Tahataha and Maru-maru in revenge for the death of Te Hina, who was killed in assaulting Te Awa-mate pa, and also in revenge for Tama-whi-rangi, the visitor who was killed at the same place. It may be mentioned that this tribe, the Nga Riki, was a hapu toa, Hakeke and all the other leading chiefs of Ngati Apa being connected with it. As utu for Pouhu's death, Hori-te-hania and his companions killed one of the Rangaranga-tu people at Oroua. He thought first of all that he would kill Te Haena, who was an old man of Nga Riki living at Totara-tai-apa (Sandon), but he did not carry out that idea, as he was afraid of Te Hakeke; so he went on to Oroua, where he killed Pokana, of the Rangaranga-tu hapu, but spared his sister, who was connected with him by marriage. This murder was, even according to Maori ethics, a very discreditable transaction (he kanohi i pania ki te toto). The next item was that the Ngati Apa sought revenge for this, and went to Hakupu-rua (Oroua), where they killed, of the Ngati Tauira and Ngati Maero, the following persons: Mokomoko, Rereopa, Te Rangi-ta-koru, and Tara-wehi, who was a daughter of Hura, and also her brother Tahu-potiki;
[Footnote] * Kaewa, Te Hakeke's wife, was a Mua-upoko woman
besides, there were a number of women taken prisoners, but none of them of any great name. Te Waitene wanted to kill Hura's two children in revenge for his sister Ngoki; but Rangi-te-ika, of the Nga Wairiki, would not consent to this; so they were spared, and sparing their lives saved further trouble on that occasion. But rest was not yet. Ngati Maero, Ngati Tauira, and Rangi-tane combined to attack Ngati Apa, so they came to Te Puru, near Kaka-riki, on the Rangi-tikei River, where they met their foe; but they also met defeat and disaster, for at that siege two of their leaders—namely, Umupo and Rongo-mai-tai—were killed; but Kakapa, of Tauira, and Ropiha Piriha, who were both captured, were spared. The leaders of the victorious Ngati Apa were Hura and Rihi-mona, who had come up from Horo-whenua on a visit, but who afterwards returned to their Mua-upoko.
It was about this time that Te Rau-paraha settled for the second time on Kapiti (Te Rau-paraha actually settled on Kapiti in 1824, but he came down the second time from Kawhia in 1821), and when he was established there he fought against Rangi-tane and afterwards against Ngati Apa. Then other of the Taranaki, Ngati Awa, and Ngati Toa tribes shifted down to Kapiti, so as to get out of the road of the Wai-kato and Ngati Mania-poto tauas. Some of these hekes went by the sea-shore, others travelled inland searching for food, so all the hapus along the coast stayed in their various places, but for a short time endeavouring to evade these migrating parties.
Rangi-tane and Ngati Kahu-ngunu now sought revenge for the death of Rongo-mai-tai; so, when Te Hakeke found that they were on the way to Turakina, he decided to gather all the available Ngati Apa together and meet the enemy there. With this purpose in view he hurried to Turakina; but before he reached that place he fell in with a taua from Whanga-nui, who were travelling by canoe to Kapiti, but who had landed on account of bad weather. They caught him, and carried him on to one of their canoes, where they held him down, endeavouring to kill him by cutting his throat with a shark's-tooth knife; but he strove with his great strength, made a gigantic effort, and threw them aside as little children, and so broke clean away from them; and then, when at some little distance, he called back to his pursuers, “I am Hakeke, the great Hakeke. You cannot capture me.” They could not, although they tried; and Te Hakeke ran back to Rangi-tikei.
The Rangi-tane party went on to Turakina without knowing anything of this, and, as the Ngati Apa there had not received Te Hakeke's warning, they were quite unprepared. When the taua consisting of the Ngati Kahu-ngunu, Rangi-tane, and Mua-upoko hapus, under the chiefs Te Wheta, Te Aweawe, and Hori Kingi, in all 340 persons, were travelling down the coast to the attack, they were discovered by Te Wai-tene, who immediately warned his people. Only a small party of defenders could be raised at a moment's notice, but these few were angry and desperate men, and so, nothing daunted, Te Wai-tene the brave and his six companions of the Nga Riki attacked that great combined army; but, although brave and strong, these seven were but as a few grains of sand before the whirlwind, and soon Wai-tene and his brother Te Hokinga were speeding to meet their ancestors on the dim shores of the spirit-land. But Hori-te-mohi and his elder brother escaped—all the aries of the world were not strong enough to take them.* This affair is known to the Maori as the Turaki-awatea
[Footnote] * The sper with which Wai-tene was killed is now in the hands of Wirihana Hunia, of Otaki.
fight, and it took place at Te Kopiri, near the railway-station, Turakina. After this, peace was made. Te Rangi-te-ika conferred with Mua-upoko and Rangi-tane, and they returned home; but on their way, when near Te Ara-tau-mahi (Bull's), their good resolutions melted away. The opportunity to kill some one could not be resisted. Was not the excitement of the fight the very spice and essence of expectance? So they killed Hatoa, of the Ngati Apa, at that place. The hue and cry was quickly raised, Ngati Apa follwed them up, and at the Manawa-tu River they came upon them. There a skirmish took place, with the result that Pa-anga, of the Rangi-tane, and others were killed, though Te Weta, whom they were anxious to take, escaped up the river, though badly wounded by a spear-thrust in the thigh. (This as the same man who escaped on a previous occasion when attacked by Rangi-hau-tu and Ao-kehu.) Ngati Apa then returned home satisfied, having avenged both their late defeat at Turakina and the murder at Te Ara-tau-mahi (Bull's).
It seems to have been about this time that the battle of Manga-toetoe took place, in Hawke's Bay, between the Manumanu people and Ngati Kahu-ngunu, at Manga-toetoe, where Rewharewha and other chiefs of Ngati Kahu-ngunu fell, some thirty in all; and again they were defeated at Pou-taka, where the Ngati Apa and Koiri people killed Tua-whitu. For payment Ngati Kahu-ngunu obtained help from the Ngati Apa and Ngati Maru tribes, who assembled at Here-taunga under the command of Tangi-te-rur, Roro, Rangi-nui-kap, and Te Rei.
The combined forces then travelled to Mokai Patea, where they found Pokai-tara, of Ngati Whiti, living at Whiringa-o-tau; so they killed him, and then crossed the Rangi-tikei River, where they killed Te Rahui, who belonged to the people living on that side of the river. When Pehi Turoa heard that the Ngati Kahu-ngunu were in the Rangi-tikei district, he wished to assist them, so he and Kaeaea (usually known as Taringa Kuri), of Ngati Tama, raised a party andwent to help. As soon as Ngati Wai-riki heard of this great army advancing, they sent messengers to Rangi-tikei, Whangaehu, Turakina, Manga-whero, and O-takapo, and raised a force to check the advance of the combined tribes, who had now joined. They met the enemy at the place where the town of Marton now stands, and, after a challenge to single combat had been given the chiefs Kapia, of Ngati Wai-riki, and Rangi-nui, of Ngati Kahu-ngunu, met, and after a hand-to-hand conflict Rangi-nui was killed. Upon seeing the fall of their chief leader, the Ngati Kahu-nugnu lost heart and fled. In this battle, which was called Taku-te-rangi, the Ngati Kahu-ngunu numbered 1,600 men (probably greatly exaggereated, for our friend is speaking à la Maori), while their victorious opponnents mustered only about 340.
After this the taua reconstructed, and went on the Here-taunga, whence they had come, still determined on mischief. When they arrived at Makaroro (head-waters of Wai-pawa River) they found the Ngati Upoko-iri and and ngati Hine-manu living there. so they attacked the pa and defeated its inmates, killing twenty-two of them. Some of the survivors from Pona-pona fled across the Wai-pawa River where they rallied, and in turn defeated their enemy at Wai-pohue, Pou-kawa, near Wai-pawa (Jour. Polynesian Soc., vol. ix, p. 74), and killed Rangi-maona-ariki, one of the chiefs of Tangi-te-ruru's war-party. After this defeat Tangi-te-ruru hastily returned home.
The next item in the chain of events was another heke, which the narrator affirms took place before the battle known as Hao-whenua, which was fought at Pakakutu, near Otaki, in 1833. The description of the journey was obtained from one of those who took part in it, as also was the previous one recorded. So the story may be given for the most part in our friend's own words.
“Wai-kato came down, a great migration of eight hundred strong. We came by way of Taupo, and joined the Turakina River at its head-waters, and were two days travelling down-stream. Then we stuck over to the Rangi-tikei, and at Wai-tuna, on the farther side of the river, we caught Makere-rua, Moekau, and others of the Ngati Apa. Before this, when travelling from the Turakina Valley to Pou-rewa, at the mouth of the Mangaraupi, we found other people of the same tribe, whom we caught, and carried along with us to kapiti. They were Tai-hapara and Mohi. Further on, at the Whaka-moe-takapau bush, we captured Tumata-whiti and others. They were busy preserving birds when we surprised and captured them. This man Tumata-whiti ws a sorcerer. His own wife said he was an ahi-taraiti” [probably this word means “firelight”; ahi=fire, taraiti = Maori mode of pronouncing “light”]. “So we killed him, and took the woman along with us. At Kiwitea we took Te Kiore prisoner; but Kaka-raia, Pouri, and other escaped. Afterwards, when we reached Kapiti, we released Kiore, and sent him back to assemble the hapu for the purpose of making an alliance with them. At Kai-kokopu” [one of the numerous lagoons lying on the sand between the lower Rangi-tikei and Foxton districts, about a mile from the sea, now known to sportsmen as Hunia's Lake] “Te Kiore found Te Hakeke, who acquiesced in the proposal. Te Kiore then came down the Rangi-tikei to Parewa-nui and other places. The tribes first met at Kai-kokopu, where the Ngati Rau-kawa chiefs met Te Hakeke, and the alliance was made.
“Soon after we comenced our journey down the Turakina Valley we came upon a hunting-party capturing and preserving birds. Of these we took ten prisoners, one of the principal captives being Amiria, the wife of Hirea. Also, at Manga-raupi, by the Pourewa Stream—that is, between the Tutae-nui and Pou-rewa streams—we took six more of the Ngati Apa, who were also preserving birds when we came upon them.
“We came out on to the river-beach Kokako-tahi, and travelled along the seaside to Otaki, from whichplace we sent a messenger back to Hakeke, who came and joined us, and after that came the fight at Hao-whenua. Immediately after that fight we returned to Wai-kawa, fifteen miles from Otaki, and we stayed there for some time. While we wer living there we heard that Hakeke had concentrated the Ngati Apa at Parewa-nui, so we went along to that place and found a pa built, where a great number of the Ngati Apa were residing with hakeke. We were then for hundred strong. Nepia's pa was on the other side of the Rangi-tikei, opposite to Parewa-nui. The Ngati Rau-kawa went into it and occupied it by force. This would be about the year 1830” .
“We went straight on from Parewa-nui to Tu-rangi-wai-kani, on the other side of the Manuka bush inland” [an old pa on the flat below the Bull's racecourse]. “We went there for food, as the plantations of the Ngati Apa were very extensive. Tu-rangi-wai-kani was then very large settlement, about the same size as Putiki of the present day (1875). We stayed there for fully a month, the prisoners we had taken staying with us. Some of them we had returned to their tribes previous to Hao-whenua.
“Coming up the river form there, we came to Te Ana and Te Karaka, at both of which places the Ngati Apa were living in force. From there we went up to Te Pohue, and stayed there for two years and a half. There were three settlemnts between these places, full of Ngati Apa, for they were a very numerous people in those days. The reason why we stayed so long at Te Pohue was that we had taken a great liking to the land in consequence of the abundance of kakas. A whakatauki arose from this—namely, ‘Noku tenei whenua ko rangatira’; meaning, ‘This my land is the chief of lands.’ After we left Te Pohue we proceeded home.”
This may have been the migration known as the Heke Mai-raro, or “migration from below,” the north point being always referred to as down-ward. Another war is known as the Heke Whiri-nui, called by this name owing to the fact that the whiri or plaited collars of thier mats were made very large for journey. This is the name given by Travers, in the ‘Life of Te Rau-paraha,’ to the heke previously described, but called by the Maori narrator the heke Kariri-tahi; and the Kariri-tahi migration is described by him (Travers) as having come down later, under Tara-toa; but we are inclined to think the account given by our dark friend is the correct one, though it is difficult at this date to be certain, for after Te Rau-paraha was firmly established in his newly acquired land these hekes were constantly occurring, both to help him and also to participate in his newly acquired wealth.
Regarding the battle of Hao-whenua, to which some reference has been made, it appears that one of Te Rau-paraha's sons, named Tupoa, was killed by Ngati Parere, a hapu of Mua-upoko. He was discovered lighting a fire (probably figurative languag) at Kereru, so was waylaid and slain.
Knowing full well the storm that this action would bring about their ears, Mua-upoko prepared for battle. Invitations were sent out to Rangi-tane, Ngati Apa, Whanga-nui, and Nga Rauru, all of whom responded and sent their contingents; and all the old people women, and children of the Mua-upoko were sent to the pa at Papai-tonga for safety.
The battle was fought at Otaki, at the rear of the present hotel, about half a mile from the mouth of the river; Ngati Toa, in combination with Ngati Awa, Ngati Rau-kawa, and Ngati Tama, being victorious. It is said that seven hundred men were killed in this fight, and after it was over Te Rau-paraha attacked Papai-tonga, where he killed a hundred more.
When Te Rau-paraha reached Waikanae he noticed a black cloud hanging over Kapiti, and, seeing in this sign an omen of further success, he again attacked the combined tribes at Horo-whenua, where he seems to have had but indifferent success, for he was driven to Kapiti by Mua-upoko, Ngati Apa, Rangi-tana, and Pehi Turoa, of Whanga-nui, with his three hundred men. Between Hao-whenua and the next heke, which we are able to describe, occurred the death of Taka-rangi at Kohur-po. An account to has appeared in the Jour. Polynesian Soc.; but, as we have additional notes, we will proceed to describe the events that led up to that battle and other afairs; so we will retrace our steps to the time of Kawana Hunia's birth.
Kawana Hunia, Hakeke's son, was born at Wai-tapu, a pa far up the Rangi-tikei River, and when he had grown out of childhood his father took him to Oroua, and placed him in the care of Hamiora, who arranged to look after him. He did this with the idea of creating a friendship, and to prevent his people of the Ngati Apa molesting Ngati Tauira and Maero, who had ceased to reside at Te Awa-mate and that neighbourhood, and had taken up their abode at Oroua, on account of the strained relationship which had for a long time existed between these hapus.
There was a song, a sort of lullaby, composed by two old men named Te Kowa-kura and Taku-te-rangi about the event, a translation of which we have endeavoured to render into rhyme:—
Kaati e tama te noho i to whare,
E puta ki waho ra ka haere taua,
Nga parae ka tokoto ki waho o Whaka-aii*
He uia mai koe kowai to ingoa,
Mau e ki atu, ko te Raro-o-te-rangi,
Kai ki mai te wareware,
Ka pau te whakánoa e te tini e te mano,
Naku ia nei na te Kahu-pepe,† te Roa-wai-rerewa‡
Kai whea o Tupuna hei whakawehi mai i muri ano Whaka-tau-potiki,§
Nana tokotoko te rangi runga nei,
Ka puta koe ki te whaiao ki te whaiao ki te aomarama
Hikaka te haere ki runga Taikoria,∥
Pukana o karu, ki roto Manawa-tu,
Kei o matua e tu mai ra i te one o te riri ka ngaro te tangata,
Aronui te haere ki roto o Horo-whenua,
Kia Powhiri mai koia e whaea,
E rau a te waka kia paua to rangi,
Te rau o te huia e noa te tinana tera to piki te hokio runga,
Nga manu hunahuna, kaore i kitea,
E te tini e te mano
Kia takaro koe nga takutai e takato i waho Wai-wiri,¶
I roto o Wai-kawa**
Ka eke koe ki runga o Puke-hou,**
Ka whakamau e tama ki waho Rau-kawa††
Ko nga moana ra e whakawhana noa ra o Tipuna i te kakau o te hoe
Ngaro rawa tu ki Hawaiki.
Arise, my son, and leave thy home;
O'er Whaka-ari's plains let's roam.
If common folk inquire of thee
Regarding name and ancestry,
Then proudly thou shalt make reply,
“The Rib of Heaven above am I,
Sprung from line of warriors bold,
Descended from ancestor old,
Name known in mythology,
He upraised to the sky
Up from earth the heaven high;
Thereby making all things bright,
For thee creating world of light.
Hasten, hasten, let us wend,
And Mount Taikoria ascend;
There wrathful gaze on Manawa-tu
Where thy sires with courage true
Bravely fought; and, sad to tell,
Upon its sands there many fell:
Ah! for their fall to payment gain
Let not their spirits call in vain.
To Horo-whenua, far away,
Let us go without delay.
[Footnote] * whaka-ari—The Sandon district.
[Footnote] † Kahui-pepe—The family of the Pepe (pepe-mua, Pepe-roto, &c.), who were actors in the drams of Apa-kura in far Hawaiki
[Footnote] Roa-wai-rerewa—All tall men, like the offspring of Wai-rerewa, also connected with Apa-kura.
[Footnote] § Whaka-tau-potiki—Apa-kura's son.
[Footnote] ∥ Taikoria—A hill at Carnarvon, overlooking Manawa-tu.
[Footnote] ¶ Wai-wiri—The lake usually known as Pa-pai-tonga. Pa-pai-tonga is the island in the lake.
[Footnote] ** Wai-kawa and Puke-hou—Both at Otaki.
[Footnote] ** Wai-kawa and Puke-hou—Both at Otaki.
[Footnote] †† Rau-kawa—Cook strait.
There grand the greeting it will be
Of thy female ancestry
When their chief again they see.
All the tribe, with joy elate,
The war-canoe will decorate.
The hokio feather thou must wear
Because it is extermely reare;
The huia's common everywhere.
On the joyful meeting-day
You must you dignity display
In fitting action, fitting speech,
On Wai-wiri's adjacent beach,
Near Wai-kawa. Ascend thou Puke-hou,
Beyond Rau-kawa gaze o'er depths below.
On it thy ancestors, in days gone by,
Their paddles grasped and made their wakas fly;
But they departed, to return no more,
Unto Hawaiki's dim and distant shore.
After making this arrangement, Te Hakeke did what he could to carry it out, so he abandoned his place up the Rangi-tikei River, and buit two pas at Oroua. Then, determined on peace, he went to Manawa-tu, and sought an interview with his old enemies; and so successful was he that a two great tribes, the Ngati Apa and Rangi-tane, had now met together for the first time in peace. The song commences,—
Kaua te Hakeke e ra konei mai, titaha tonu atu ma te hori
Ki waho ra i, kai peka mai ki konei kai kamua
Hoki koe e taku hokowhitu e taku rua te rau e i.
Let not Te Hakeke come near;
Let him keep away, lest he be destroyed
By my hokowhitu (140) and my two hundred. O!
(This was probably the conference of chiefs referred to in the heke lately narrated.)
After leaving his pa at Oroua, Te Hakeke went to Kai-kokopu, near the sea, while Maero, Rangi-waho, and Nga-potiki hapus took up thier adode at Pukepuke. The chief did not stay long at Kai-kokopu, but returned to Oroua; but soon again he left that place, on hearing that Nepia Tara-toa and Nga Maunga, of Ngati Rau-kawa, were occupying Pae-roa, and under-scrubbing bush there with a view to settlement, and that they were also using the Awa-mate eel-weirs. So he abandoned Oroua, and gathered together some of the scattered hapus of Ngati Apa, and again camt to Parewa-nui, accompanied by the Kauae, Ngati Apa, and Ngati Tau-ira people, where they took up the clearings made by Ngati Rau-kawa, who had moved across the river to Piri-rau and Tara-toa as soon as they heard that Te Hakeke was on his way thither. As soon as Ngati Apa were once more settled at Parewa-nui, Ta-whito, the father of Paipai, of Whanga-nui (and grandfather of Hori Kerei, now living), came to Hakeke asking for aid. Hakeke responded, and sent messengers to Ngati Kauwhata and Ngati Upoko-iri, both of which tribes sent their men to aid in avenging Ta-whito's people, the Rangi Waho Tribe, some of whose men had been cut off by the Nga Raurus. So this tribe was duly attacked and defeated; but not downcast, for they came round inland seeking utu, and travelled to Poko-wharo, where thy found it in the person of Wai-ina, the wife of Rawiri-te-mana-o-Tawhaki.
In the meantime Pehi Turoa came down to Whanga-ehu to cultivate Ngati Apa's land there, and Te Hakeke asked assistance from Ngati Raukawa to drive him of. They consented, and the combined war-party went to Whanga-ehu by way of a road called Pehipehi, which went along close below the Poko-wharo Block, and so they arrived at Mata-tero, where they set fire to the house of Pehi Turoa, destroyed all his seed, and then retired to Kay-anga-roa, expecting an attack; but, as they were unmolested, they returned to Rangi-tikei. As Pehi Turoa had gone back to Whanga-nui after leaving his seed-kumaras at Whanga-ehu, he did not return immediately, although he had received word as to his loss by the hands of the Ngati Apa. But, while the other party killed Wai-ina, the Ngati Apa people naturally thought that Pehi Turoa had done this; so they built a pa, called Kohuru-po, a little below Mata-tero, on the Whanga-nui side of the Whanga-ehu River, and there they waited for the expected attack with a strong garrison of Ngati Apa, Nga-riki, and Tupa-taua, under the command of Tu-ranga-pito. They had not long to wait. A large party of Ngati Rongomai-tawhiri, Nga Pae-rangi, and other Whanga-nui tribes, under the leader-ship of Taka-rangi and Tauria, travelled to Whanga-ehu, where they commenced a night attack. They fought all night, and in the early morning Whanga-nui's great chief Taka-rangi was killed. When the Whanga-nui people saw their leader had fallen they lost heart and fled, theough up to this time they had been getting the best of it. Other chiefs of the Ngati Apa taking part in the fight were Aperahama Tipae, Hakaraia, and Rangipouri. After the victory Tu-ranga-pito climbed on the palisading of the pa, and sang the following song:—
Kahei koutou i haere mai ki te riri
I haere mai koutou ke te patiti ahi
Hei whakahoki riri, ta turikutia i
Ngati Rongo-mai-tawhiri e
Whai roroa i te riri e,
Whaka rongo ma ra,
Tenei te hanga kiro kei a au anake
Hua noa i a wai, he mea purotu koe,
No maua nei hoki tahi hiki ra
Nana ra i waiwaha,
He waka pakaru kino ki te akau raia ra, i.
You came not hither to battle—
You came to enjoy the fire;
But, being weary,
You could not stem the battle's tide.
You should not follow up warfare,
For you are only fit
To sit around a fire
And feel its glowing heat.
Hearken unto me
And look upon my face,
For I am grieved at this man's death
I thought within myself
He would remain with me
As my beloved fried;
He taught me all my ways;
He is but as a proud canoe
Tossed ashore by restless waves.
This translation gives but a feeble idea of the grim satir of the original, which was yelled and shouted at the top of the voice as a defiant battle-cry.
After this victory Te Hakeke expected that, with the death of such a proninent man, there would be a strong combination against Ngati Apa, so he assembled all the brances of the tribe at Paewa, and all the rest of the country was deserted. Whanga-nui expected from these preparations that there would be a great war-party from Ngati Rau-kawa, who were by this time firm friends with Ngati Apa, and were living at Poutu, just across the river from Paewa. So Hori Kingi Te Ana-ua sent his brother Te Mawai to Hakeke to make peace—or, rather, to prevent a war; for the influence of Europeans was now being felt, and the Natives saw how their constant internal troubles were thinning their ranks. So peace was made at Paewa, and the Whanga-nui messengers returned home.
After the victory at Kohuru-po the death of Ao-kehu occurred. Once more the war-cloud gathered, when Rangi-tana came to Whanga-ehu and Turakina to kill the people of those places, and when they thought they had killed all the people they went away. Tawai-whea, a great chief of Ngati Kahu-ngunu, was the chief man of that party.
Now, when Te Ao-kehu heard that all the people of Whanga-ehu and Turakina had been killed, he pursued Rangi-tane, and overtook and killed them all on the sea-beach. Koko-pirangi also met that war-party at O-takapo (a well-known station between Bull's and Turakina), and again defeated them. (Here an effort was made to impress upon the narrator the fact that it must have been the ghosts of that war-party that Koko-priangi met, as they were kua mate; but he failed to see it.) These war-parties came straight to Turakina and Whanga-ehu from Here-taunga.
Then Rangi-haeata, or Mokau, as he was sometimes called, of Ngati Toa, Te Ratu, and others came down on the Rangi-waho and Maero people who were living at the Awa-mate Pa, and defeated them there, and then came on to Waipu. Here Te Ao-kehu, who was Hakeke's grand-uncle, fell in with them as he was travelling from Rangi-tikei to Whanga-nui. When the Wai-riki people heard the guns of the invaders they rushed to Rangi-tikei, leaving Te Ao-kehu and a few others to fight, and so by evening Te Ao-kehu and all his people had been killed.
When word was brought in that Te Ao-kehu had been killed, the whole of the hapus went to Oroua and to different places of the Rangi-tikei River, with the exception of one party who went up the Turakina to their pa Puke-ahua, where they lived with the Ngati Tupa-taua. Ngati Toa followed the fugitives, and some of the old men were caught at Oroua. Whare-peta and Hira were both caught there, as well as others whose names are forgotten.
After this a war-party from Wai-kato came down under Te Horita, of Ngati Wha-naunga,* but in the meantime the Ngati Apa who had scattered before the Ngati Toa guns had come back to their own places. They fought wai-kato at the Te Ara Pa, where for a time Ngati Apa had some measure of success, but in the end they were worsted.
After Hao-whenua and Kohuru-po, came another heke from Taupo, the last of which we have any details. The journey was described by the same native that narrated the “Kariri-tahi” journey, and is as follows: “After we returned from Kapiti we remained a long time at taupo, and then came down again after Hao-whenua. We came down by the Mokai Patea road, mustering five hundred strong. At Mokai Patea a few of the Ngati Tama met us, and came on with us to Kawa-tau. We travelled overland this time, and did not canoe down the river, but travelled the track by the river, calling at Te Pounga, Otara and Mako-hine, Te Pohue, and Te Ana. Near here we found the whole of the Ngati Apa living in two separate fightingpas, put up in defence of Whanga-nui. We had heard of the death of Taka-rangi at Whanga-ehu, and found they had thrown these pas up in consequence of an expected attack. Their principal chiefs with them were Marumaru, Tahataha, Tu-ranga-pito, and Aperahama Tipae. All the Ngati Apa chiefs were there with the exception of Hakeke. Leaving Te Ana, we pushed on to the mouth of the Rangi-tikei. Here we found Ngati Mania-poto returning from Hao-whenua. Ngati Tu-whare-toa and Whanga-nui had been with them, but they parted at the mouth of the Rangi-tikei, the latter travelling along the coast on their way home, while Ngati Mania-poto returned by way of the Rangi-tikei River, with the intention of attacking Ngati Hau-iti and Ngati Hine-manu on their way, because the latter tribes had neglected the Maori custom of sending presents of birds and food to Te Heuheu when he had passed through them on a former occasion” [apparently as a king of tribute to his supreme position]. “These people had in consequence fled into the bush, and Ngati Mani-poto searched the neighbourhood for them, but in vain. From the Rangi-tikei River we pushed on, passed the Manawa-tu, and reached Otaki. The main body did not remain there long, and the rest stayed for about a year and a half, when they also returned by way of Manawa-tu, struck the river at Te Ana, and so returned home. This journey was called ‘Hou hou rongo ki Hao-whenua’—thatis, ‘The peacemaking of Hao-whenua,’ and took place about five years before Te Kuiti-tanga.” (Kuiti-tanga, 1839, took place the day before the arrival of the “Tory,” and is described in Wakefield's “Adventures in New Zealand.”)
“And now, after all this fighting and feasting, there came yet another army, few in number but mighty in power, armed not with guns, but books; and soon the last fight was fought, the last banquet finished, our captives were liberated and returned to their homes at Parewa-nui and Rangi-tikei, and we also sent those home whom we had captured.” (There is a song existing that refers to the returning captives. Hura is mentioned in it, and he is connected with Pukepuke: “Katahi te huhure ka tiketike.”) Parewa-nui became the assembling-place of all the people, and Te Hakeke was the first teacher appointed there. But with the desire for knowledge came also the desire for guns. So Ngati Apa went on a visit to their distant relatives the Kiki-rongo, to try to obtain these coveted weapons; and while
[Footnote] * Te Horita-te-Taniwha, of Ngati Wha-naunga, came from Coromandel, which was his home.
there some of the Ngati Apa people plundered food from the Ngati Kahungunu, who resented it, and retaliated by firing on the Ngati Apa. There upon a fight ensued, but neither side gained ground, so peace was made. But troubles were not yet quite over on all sides. There was a skirmish at Kiwitea known as Oiroa, where a young chieftainess of this name was taken prisoner, two persons being killed on the Ngati Hau-iti side. Then Ngati Hine-manu and Ngati Upoko-iri came from Ka-iri-take, on the Oroua. As soon as Ngati Apa heard of this, they defied them and threatened them with death; but, through the mediation of many chiefs present at a meeting held to arrange the expedition, no fighting took place, and peace was made—this time a lasting peace. Only one other murder took place to mar the union that has since existed, and this was the killing of a chief named Te Ngangi; but this was not revenged, and the chieftainess Ruta was given as a pledge of peace to Kawana Hunia of Ngati Apa (Hakeke's son).
And now the gospel of peace and goodwill to man was proclaimed, accepted, and carried out—yes, lived for many a year with far more interest and zeal than in many a so-called Christian country.
List of Hapus (Sub-Tribes) of the Ngati Apa Tribe Between the Whanga-Ehu and Rangi-Tikei Rivers.
(Kindly supplied by A. McDonell, Esq., of Lower Rangitikei.)