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The Pa Maori

Methods of Fortification

Methods of Fortification

In studying the fortified positions constructed by the old time Maori, regularity of design must not be expected. The Maori engineer was no disciple of Vauban, he followed no hard and fast system of fortification, he did not mark out his lines of defence from prepared plans. He knew nothing of bastion and gorge, of casemate and embrasure, these things lay in the womb of time, his descendants page 21were to know them in the days that lay before. Nor did he ponder as to where to lay off his curtains and demilune, or how to work in orthodox terreplein and barbette. He simply selected a suitable site, then studied its contour lines and surroundings, until, with no help of pen or paper, he had grasped the solution of the problem, and worked out his plan. He then proceeded to mark the lines of scarp and fosse, of rampart and stockade, after which he set his men to work and superintended their labours. At certain weak places he threw in an extra stockade or fosse, or erected an elevated platform to command it. The entrance passage he laid off by narrow and tortuous ways flanked by strong defences. According to the contour of the ground, and relative levels, he devised a defence of scarp and stockade, or of fosse and parapet. He cunningly carved a hill into terraces of unequal sizes and levels, each of which became a defensive area in itself. The easiest approach to that fort possessed the strongest defences, and for an enemy to reach the summit area meant most strenuous fighting to reduce the various fortified sub-divisions.

Maori methods of fortifying may be numbered as five, three of which are distinct types, one is a composite method, and one is quite modern, having come into use since the acquisition of firearms by the natives. The pre-European methods are the most interesting. The various types will be illustrated by plans and description, but the following brief explanation will acquaint readers with the methods:—

Pre-European:

1.Positions defended by stockades only.
2.Positions defended by fosse, rampart and stockade.
3.Terraced hill forts, the defences of which were composed of scarps and stockades only.
4.Positions defended by a combination of methods 1, 2 and 3. Modern:
5.The modified gun fighters pa, showing the decay of certain old methods and introduction of the bastion or flanking angle, casemate, rifle-pit, etc.; ramparts reduced in size, and trenches much shallower.

Method No. 1 will be explained when we deal with stockades, and by illustrations taken from early works on New Zealand.

No. 2 is well illustrated in the case of the Manu-korihi pa at Waitara.

No. 3 includes the great northern forts of Pouerua, Mt. Eden, One Tree Hill, etc.

No. 4 is also illustrated by some good specimens, such as Urenui, Okoki, Te Koru, etc.

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The descriptions and illustrations of the No. 5 class will tend to explain the various changes in native defences wrought by the introduction of firearms, as also the use of cannon by Europeans when attacking native forts.

Any position defended by stockades only was looked upon as an inferior place. In some cases they were for temporary use only, such as during the fishing or planting seasons, or the inmates could, in time of danger, retire to a strongly fortified position in the vicinity.

The No. 2 method is seen in forts on flat ground and sometimes in hill positions. No. 3 is usually employed on isolated hills, or peaks of ranges, while No. 4 includes most ridge and spur forts, and many of those on isolated hills and hillocks. Many of the hill forts showing no important terracings are covered with slight excavations, small flattened areas to contain one or two huts, such are Heipipi and Otatara, as also others in such districts as Wellington, where rock prevented extensive excavation. Such positions were often defended by stockades only. The remains of such places are most unimposing, while the heavily excavated terraced hills are the most striking of the pa maori as now seen.

Many of the fortified positions on level ground were naturally of much more regular form than those situated on hills, though the Moe-ariki pa at Urenui, situated on a level ridge summit is one of the most rectangular forts ever seen by the writer.

The neolithic engineers of Maoriland relied much on earthworks, such entered largely into the construction of their high-class forts, the pa maioro. The high scarps, deep wide fosses, and massive ramparts are striking features of many of the old fortified positions. A perusal of the descriptions of these places given herein will acquaint the reader with their present aspect, and also give him a fair idea of how they appeared in the days of Cook and Crozet, of Banks and Nicholas, and long before.

The majority of fortified places were sub-divided into sub-areas, though some small places were not. The lines of sub-division might be scarps, as in a terraced hill fort, palisading or earthen ramparts. In many cases each area was occupied by a particular sub-clan, or family group. In cases where the sub-divisions were divided by earthworks the lines are, of course, still traceable; markedly so in hill forts. Otenuku, a small flat land pa at Ruatoki, is divided into two parts by a deep fosse and heavy parapet as strong as the outer defences. A study of the plans of such fortified villages as Mt. Eden, Tapa-huarau, Taka-poruruku, etc., will show the reader how each gens of a clan might occupy its own area.

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Proceeding from such a fort as Otenuku, with its somewhat precise lines and almost rectangular form, to a hill fort, we note a great difference in appearance. This difference manifests itself in two ways-first by destroying preciseness or regularity of form; second, the fortifying of different coigns of vantage provided the desired subdivisions and really converted the circumvallate area into a series of forts. Inasmuch as the lines of defence followed the natural contour of the hill, taking advantage of natural scarps, bluffs, points, etc., it follows that such hill forts were of all imaginable forms and everything but regular in outline. Thus a hill fort might possess defences consisting of three or four lines of fosse, parapet and stockade on one or more faces whereat the ground held but an easy slope, while another face might require but a single line, or, in the case of a vertical cliff, no artificial defences whatever. Repeated inquiries of old natives has convinced the writer that the Maori of yore was extremely careful in his selection of a site for a permanent fortified village, while examination of many old forts has served to uphold the belief. The narrator brings to mind many pleasant hours spent in exploring the remains of old pa maori, some of which have existed for many generations and are now covered with a dense forest growth. The tracing of fosse and vallum, of devious entrance passages and excavated terraces, holds the interest of the amateur archeologist. More especially is this the case when one is accompanied by some grey old tattooed warrior who knows of the fighting that has taken place at such forts, who talks of:—

  • "…old unhappy far off things
  • And fights fought long ago"

who re-peoples the forest shrouded fort with fierce warriors, and relates how the attack was beaten off, or how the fort fell, and of the cannibal feast that followed.

Though the earthworks of many pre-European forts are yet well preserved, there is probably no one on which the carved posts of the stockade are yet standing. The last one seen by the writer was the Okarea pa, situated on the Wai-a-tiu tributary of the Whirinaki river, a remote spot surrounded by dense forest. Some of the tall carved posts of this Ngati-Manawa fort were still standing in 1898, while others had decayed. That place had been fortified, or renovated, early in the century.

The following remarks tend to prove that the Maori was not always at war, and that he did not reside permanently in fortified places:—

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In his account of the Maori people, as observed by him in 1772, Crozet remarks: "The savages of New Zealand live in a continual state of warfare; their palisaded villages, surrounded by ditches and situated on very high cliffs prove that they fear their enemies and are always on the defensive."

It is not the case that a Maori tribe lived in a continual state of warfare, though peace was an uncertain thing and the people had to hold themselves in readiness to meet trouble at any time.

Basil Thomson gives a curious account of the mode of life among the natives of the D'Entrecasteaux Isles, a people who live in small separate communities, each confined to its own territory, always hostile to each other, fear being mutual, hence there is but little fighting, though occasional murders of single individuals are committed. Here we see that each clan was in fear of its neighbours, and, as there was no co-operation, that widespread fear was really their protection. Now, it is by no means improbable that a similar feeling often obtained among the Maori, and confined their hostilities to predatory raids and the cutting off of stragglers. When endeavouring to ascertain the history of the many old pa about Rua-toki, that had been occupied for generations, I found that at many of them no fights had ever occurred, or at least no serious ones, so far as was known.

Nor must it be supposed that the Maori village community lived permanently in the fortified village. When no attacks were feared from enemies the people often lived outside the fort, and even moved away from it to live for a while on the sea coast, or in the forest, when engaged in fishing or bird taking operations, etc., or at their cultivation grounds when planting, tending, or lifting crops. In many cases the community lived in a village protected merely by a fence or stockade, but had a strongly fortified pa in the vicinity to retreat to when danger threatened.

In speaking of Mokoia, near Auckland, as seen by him in 1820, Captain R. A. Cruise remarks:—"This village was about a mile long and half a mile broad, and the houses were larger and more ornamented with carving than those we had generally observed. Each family occupied an allotment, which in shape was oblong, and enclosed with a high strong paling. These allotments contained many houses, and the intermediate passages or streets were as clean as the season would permit. The adjacent country was flat, with the exception of a high round hill, which formed the pa…. The ground was good and under cultivation, interspersed with detached houses and hamlets."

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Note also the following remark by Nicholas, who visited the North in 1815:—"This village was situated, like most others, at the foot of a hill, and on the summit was built the pa, which, from its appearance was very strongly fortified."

Again, the same writer says:—"Upon an insulated rock not far from the village was built the pa, to which they never resorted but when attacked by their enemies, and, in such cases, from its strength and situation, they might safely retire to it as a place of security."

The following remarks on the old time pa are culled from Maning's Old New Zealand, an old work now, though no later production can equal it. They throw some light on the numbers of such places yet seen, and the great size of some of them:—"The natives are unanimous in affirming that they were much more numerous in former times than they are now, and I am convinced that such was the case, for the following reasons. The old hill forts are many of them so large that an amount of labour must have been expended in trenching, terracing, and fencing them, and all without iron tools, which increased the difficulty a hundred fold, which must have required a vastly greater population to accomplish than can be found now in the surrounding districts. These forts were also of such an extent that, taking into consideration the system of attack and defence used necessarily in those times, they would have been utterly untenable unless held by at least ten times the number of men the whole surrounding districts, for two or three days journey, can produce; and yet, when we remember that in those times of constant war, being the two centuries preceding the arrival of the Europeans, the natives always, as a rule, slept in these hill forts with closed gates, bridges over trenches removed, and ladders of terraces drawn up, we must come to the conclusion that the inhabitants of the fort, though so numerous, were merely the population of the country in the close vicinity. Now from the top of one of these pointed, trenched, and terraced hills, I have counted twenty others, all of equally large dimensions, and all within a distance, in every direction of fifteen to twenty miles; and native tradition affirms that each of these hills was the stronghold of a separate clan, bearing its distinctive name. There is also the most unmistakeable evidence that vast tracts of country, which have lain wild time out of mind, were once fully cultivated. The ditches for draining the land are still traceable, and large pits are to be seen in hundreds, on the tops of the dry hills, all over the northern part of the North Island, in which the kumara were once stored…. These pits, being dug generally in the stiff clay on the hill tops, have, in most cases, retained their shape perfectly, and many seem as fresh and new as if they had page 26been dug but a few years. They are oblong in shape, with the sides regularly sloped. Many collections of these provision stores have outlived Maori tradition, and the natives can only conjecture who they belonged to. Out of the centre of one of them which I have seen, there is now growing a kauri tree, one hundred and twenty feet high, and out of another a large totara. The outline of these pits is as perfect as the day they were dug….

"Another evidence of a very large number of people having once inhabited these hill forts is the number of houses they contained…. Now in two of the largest hill forts I have examined … the houses had been arranged in streets, or double rows, with a path between them, except in places where there had been only room on a terrace for a single row. The distance between the fire places proved that the houses in the rows must have been as close together as it was possible to build them, and every spot, from the fort to the hill top, not required and specially planned for defensive purposes, had been built on in this regular manner. Even the small flat top, sixty yards long by forty wide, the citadel, had been as full of houses as it could hold, leaving a small space all round the precipitous bank for the defenders to stand on….

"We may easily imagine that a hill of this kind, covered from bottom to top with houses thatched and built of reeds, rushes, and raupo, would be a mere mass of combustible matter, and such indeed was the case. When an enemy attacked one of these places, a common practice was to shower red hot stones from slings into the place, which, sinking into the dry thatch of the houses, would cause a general conflagration. Should this once occur the place was sure to be taken, and this mode of attack was much feared; all hands not engaged at the outer defences, and all women and non-combatants, were employed in guarding against this danger, and pouring water out of calabashes on every smoke that appeared. The natives also practised both mining and escalade in attacking a hill fort."

It must not, however, be imagined, that all the fortified places, the remains of which we now see, were occupied at one and the same time, in which connection the following remarks by Shortland are of interest:—

"In former times, when one tribe was at war with its neighbour, those families who were more nearly connected with each other, associated together for mutual protection, and built a pa, or fortification. These, being intended merely as places of defence, were readily abandoned, when the exhausted state of their cultivation grounds, or other circumstances, rendered another locality more convenient. Often what would appear to us trivial reasons, were to them sufficient page 27for a removal…. Besides such voluntary removals, when a pa was taken by an enemy, as frequently happened, it was very seldom reoccupied … the soil, stained by the blood of their relations, was tapu."

"Their villages contain only five or six huts, but their towns which I shall call their strongholds and citadels are composed of a larger number. They have their towns on the steepest point of access that they can find. The huts are arranged in terraces, and it is there they take refuge against the aggressions of their enemies and their attacks. On these occasions all the huts scattered in the country are abandoned, and everybody falls back on the citadel."

The above remarks are from L'Horne's Journal of Surville's Voyage, published in McNab's Historical Records of New Zealand, vol. 2. Further remarks on Maori forts are so misleading as not to be worth quoting.

Much interesting matter might have been put on record by missionaries and early settlers concerning the old native pa, but no one took the trouble to do so, indeed it is probable that they took no interest in such things. Even in the 'forties' of last century there were some very interesting survivals and remains to be seen, as witness the following passage from Angas:—"About four miles from Otawhao are the ruins of Rarowera, formerly one of the finest pa in this part of New Zealand. Much good carving, and many elaborately ornamented houses, still remain. These, however, are gradually rotting away and falling to the ground."

There is great diversity in the size and form of old earthwork fortified places. The latter peculiarity may be explained by noting that such form depended upon the formation of the ground, and the first was often due to the same cause. A certain hill or headland, or mesa, lent itself to the art of the pa builder, and in many cases the area within easily defended lines was but small. Some are of great size, the lines of defence enclosing many acres, as will be seen by a perusal of the following notes:—

The late Mr. S. Locke stated that the old Otatara pa (Redcliffe, near Taradale), extended over an estimated area of at least eighty acres.

Of a pa seen by him in 1839 Wakefield writes:—"This was the largest pa we had yet seen. The outer stockades were at least a mile in circumference; and the various passages between the different courts and divisions formed a perfect labyrinth."

When the Rev. Mr. Williams visited Waiapu in 1834, the pa at Rangitukia contained 560 fighting men, and that of Whakawhitira held 2,000.

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Mr. Colenso wrote as follows of the Whakawhitira pa:—"From Rangitukia we went further up the Waiapu Valley to Whakawhitira, a very large pa, the largest by far that I had ever seen. Its fence [stockades] was also threefold, the massy and combined outer one being twenty-five to thirty feet high; its main posts consisting of entire and straight trees denuded of their bark, with large carved full length human figures painted red on their tops; of these figures there were above a hundred. During our stay there we measured, by stepping, one of the sides of this pa, and found it to be more than a mile in length, and the huge carved figures we ascertained to be more than six feet high, with their heads fully and deeply tattooed; this we proved from one that had been broken off and fallen, and placed upright below its big post. I took a sketch of this pa, which I still have."

In speaking of the occupation of the South Island by the Waitaha tribe, whose progenitors came to this land from Polynesia and settled at Waiau, Canon Stack says, "The size of the pa; and of the kitchen middens along the coast attributed to them; afforded conclusive evidence as to their numbers. At Mairangi and Kapuka-riki (Cust) the remains of a walled pa extending for about three miles along the downs, existed till the settlement of Europeans in that locality. Many Maoris still living … assert that, twenty years ago, the broad outer ditch of the pa could be seen, and that from the bottom of it to the top of the bank was about seven feet, and that, at regular intervals along the wall, there were openings showing where the gates had been. They recollected old men saying that these gates were known to have had names which were now forgotten."

Of the old pa on the Auckland Isthmus, Mr. S. Percy Smith says:—"In point of size the fortifications around this city exceed any others I know in this country." One writer remarks that the Maunga-kiekie pa on One Tree Hill covered 100 acres.

In the Sydney Herald of Thursday, August 14, 1834, appeared an account of a voyage to New Zealand written by R.W.S., in which he describes a pa seen on the banks of the Waipaoa River at Poverty Bay:—"About four or five miles up the southernmost river, the pa's are situated, one of which is deservedly worth notice. It is above a mile in length, and formed of immense spars, erected at about one and a half by two feet apart, the intermediate space being filled by pallisadoes of manuka (a remarkably tough wood) of equal length, which, when viewed from a distance, has the appearance of a high brick wall; behind this outer work is an inner fence similarly constructed, but of less height, which forms a passage or communication from one part to another. The whole is flanked by a ditch page 29having a high embankment of clay thrown up behind it, to prevent the balls from entering the houses, etc. At the distance of every three hundred yards there are regular Sally Ports, in the form of square towers projecting from the regular line of fence, these have all strong doors and are ball proof. The river, along which one side of the pa extends, is fresh here, and there is sufficient space within the walls to grow food for a long siege. The only fault to be found with the fortification is its size, which from the amazing extent of ground it covers, would require from two to three thousand men to protect it. There is a smaller pa on the opposite bank."

In The Maori History of the Taranaki Coast, by S. Percy Smith, we read that the pa known as Te Putake, situated between the Tanga-hoe and Manga-rata streams, four and a half miles northeast by east from Hawera, was a celebrated place, and was over half a mile long.

In speaking of a pa seen by him at Waikanae in 1839, Dieffenbach says:—"The principal and most fortified pa was very large; it stood on a sand hill and was well fenced in, and the houses were neatly constructed. Everything was kept clean and in good order, and in this respect it surpassed many villages in Europe. The population seemed to be numerous, and I estimated it, together with that of the first mentioned village, and a third, about a mile higher up, to amount, on the whole to 700 souls."

Dieffenbach also visited one of the other stockaded villages mentioned, whereat a gun fight had occurred two days before. "Many traces of the strife were visible; trenches were dug in the sand of the beach, the fences of the villages had been thrown down, and the houses were devastated."

The following items treat of the sites of old native forts. Jameson writes:—"At three different points of Waihou, I observed the remains of old native fortresses. The number of these strongholds, even in parts of the country which are now uninhabited, denote that in former times the New Zealanders were much more nnmerous and warlike than at the present day. In the choice of their positions for defence, these people displayed as much sagacity as our semi-barbarian ancestors. Bold promontories, projecting into the water, and connected with the mainland by narrow necks, were the localities usually selected … across the necks of their fortified peninsulas they dug ditches of great depth which are now choked up with rubbish and tangled brushwood."

In speaking of the pa maori, Polack, an early sojourner in the north, remarks that such places are usually situated by the side of rivers, creeks, and on islands, or on the top of hills. "These scarped hill tops may be seen in every district throughout the country. The pa is formed of two fences of similar make. These defences are page 30formed of large posts sometimes thirty feet in length, thrust five feet in the ground, at a distance of fourteen feet apart, the spaces between them being filled up with lesser poles and stakes, with there long rails placed horizontally at separate distances and bound with a liane called torotoro, which is very tough and serviceable. These palisades are proof against a superior native force if the defenders possess any stamina within themselves…. These pa are seldom taken by assault…. The entrances in time of war are by stepping stones or blocks of wood, through a small opening, that can scarce admit a large made man; between the two fences a fosse about four feet deep is cut, which shelters the besieged while discharging their firearms at the invaders."

In describing the Katikati-aka pa, near the White Cliffs, North Taranaki, Mr. S. P. Smith writes:—"Here was situated Katikati-aka pa, at three and a half miles from Pukearuhe, and which was an important fortress in former days. It was built on a crag which jutted out into the sea, and on three sides was protected by perpendicular cliffs about two hundred feet high, and on the fourth, or inland side, by a steep ravine; the narrow neck between the edge of the cliff and slope of the ravine being only from thirty to forty feet wide. This was cut off by a deep double artificial ditch twenty-five to thirty feet deep, and served to make this pa one of considerable strength."

Of Te Arawi pa, at Kawhia, Mr. Smith writes:—"It is situated on a point projecting into the sea, and is connected to the mainland by a narrow razorback neck, and has cliffs all around it. On the north eastern side was an entrance to the pa by means of a rope and steps cut in the rock, but it is so steep my informant thinks no one with boots on could make the ascent. The cliffs are all rock, in which pits have been cut out (to serve as storage places), but there is no water on the point."

Marsden, who visited the Okuratope pa at Waimate, says that it contained about 200 houses [most of these might be described as huts], and was situated on the top of an almost inaccessible hill, surrounded by three deep trenches and three rows of palisades.

The following description of Te Kawau pa, four and a half miles south of Mokau, is by Mr. W. H. Skinner:—"Te Kawau pa was, in former times, the key to the whole of the West Coast, the buttress which, for generations, stemmed the tide of invasion from the north. The main pa was situated on an isolated rock partly surrounded at high water; the extent of the top was about seventy-five yards by forty yards, and the only approach was from the landward side, by using ladders which were drawn up after the inhabitants page 31had retired within the pa. On all other sides the cliffs rose sheer to a height of from eighty to one hundred feet. The other part of the pa was separated from this citadel by a deep rift or chasm twenty yards wide and thirty-five yards deep. The landward portion of Te Kawau is one of those ready made strongholds which the ingenuity of man has converted into an impregnable retreat. The narrow neck, about twelve or fifteen feet wide, which connects this part of the pa with the mainland, is almost completely severed by a deep trench, and along the neck was the only approach to the pa, and on all other sides the cliffs rose perpendicularly from the sea, and from the Kiratahi stream, and sea level, forming an impassable rampart."

As an illustration of the way in which local conditions affected the form and style of fortifications, we may cite the case of the district north of Opunake, as about Cape Egmont. Here we have particularly level land with here and there small isolated hills or buttes, and these hillocks have been utilised by the pa builders of yore.

Regarding these hillock pa of the lowlands west of Mount Egmont, Mr. Percy Smith writes as follows in The History of the Taranaki Coast:—"There are a large number of fortified pa, some of great strength, and many with an interesting history. Many of these are built on isolated hills that rise above the general level, and which are due directly to volcanic action, though not craters in the ordinary acceptation of the term. The lava streams from Mount Egmont appear, at any rate in the neighbourhood of Cape Egmont to have extended right down to the sea in former times, and, as the outside cooled, the surface cracked and allowed of the molten lava of the interior forcing its way upward, thus forming the many isolated hillocks to be found in that part. The lava streams themselves have since been covered with ash ejected from the mountain, and hence but rarely show. Most of these hillocks are found to be solid stone within."

Taranaki was one of the great fort building districts of pre-European days, others being the Bay of Plenty, Hauraki, and the northern peninsula. In Mr. S. P. Smith's History of the Taranaki Coast over one hundred fort names are given as pertaining to Taranaki; the full number we shall never know.

Angas, writing in the 'forties' of last century makes the following remarks:—"The New Zealander has a fixed and settled habitation: he resides either in his pa, which is a fortified stockade; or in a kainga maori, or native settlement, which is not enclosed, where the houses are scattered about as in a village. In times of warfare, page 32the whole tribe seeks a refuge within the pa, which is often erected on the summit of a steep hill, or on an island, or along the bank of a river. The pa is surrounded by a strong high fence, or stockade; and the interior is divided by lower fencings into numerous court yards, which communicate with each other by means of stiles; in each court stands the house and the cookhouse of one or more families, and also the pataka, or storehouse for food…. Within the enclosure of the pa also stands the wahi tapu, or burial place of the chiefs, which being coloured red and ornamented with rich carving and a profusion of feathers, are attractive objects to a stranger…. Some of the pa are very extensive and contain a population of 1000 to 2000 people; others are much smaller, and are inhabited merely by one chief, with his family and dependants. Since the introduction of Christianity amongst the New Zealanders, the use of these fortifications has become less constant, and in whole districts the natives may be seen dwelling at peace in their scattered houses, without either wall or fence to protect them from an enemy."

Cruise, who visited New Zealand in 1820, and who saw many of the old type of pa, wrote as follows:—"The pa are situated on high, steep and generally conical hills ascended by a narrow winding pathway, so rugged that the European climbs it with personal danger; while the New Zealander, from custom and being barefooted, seems to experience neither inconvenience nor difficulty. As near the top of the pa as possible is the public storehouse; the huts of the people are scattered on the declivity; and to augment the natural strength of the place, it is fortified by one or more ditches and lines of palisades firmly fixed in the ground … though in times of peace the people generally prefer scattering themselves over the low grounds and close to the sea side, at the moment of alarm they retire to the pa, as the place of safety and concentration."

Earle, who visited New Zealand in the 'twenties' of last century, writes:—"Opposite a small island, or rather sandbank, the vessel grounded…. It was a curious and interesting spot, being a native pa and depot, and was entirely covered with store houses for provisions and ammunition. The centre was so contrived that all assailants might be cut off before they could effect a landing, and we were all much gratified by the judgment and forethought displayed in this little military work."

It must be thoroughly understood that, in olden times, the Maori always preferred a hill site for his forts, in preference to flat land. page 33An elevated situation was desired because such places were more defensible than a position on level ground, more easily defended with the old rakau maori or native weapons.

When such a situation as the above was not available, then a koinga wai, or river bend, was often selected as a pa site, some place where a stream, or river, by making a more or less sharp bend, made it possible to construct a pa, by erecting defences, such as earthworks, stockades, and ditches, across the neck of the point. Such a site was all the more desirable in cases where the banks of the stream or river were high, or both high and precipitous. In some such cases active defence of the pa was practically confined to one face thereof, a marked advantage to the inmates. When such a place was attacked, but few persons were left to watch the other faces, so well protected, or, in some cases, inaccessible, were they.

The leading man of a clan, or gens, would decide on the site for a new pa, and there was usually one or more persons who possessed some skill in the selection of such a site, and in planning its defences. Such adepts would carefully examine the site and, by means of rods stuck in the ground, mark out the positions, form, and extent of the various earthworks, escarpments, ditches, stockades, entrances, fighting stages, etc. Not until such planning and marking off was completed did the labour of construction commence. A hamlet defended by earthen walls as well as stockades was termed a pa maioro, one defended by timber stockades only was called a pa tuwatawata. The form of a pa depended upon the formation of the ground, and about the only place on which a symmetrical square shaped pa could be seen was a level piece of land on a river bank, such as Te Kupenga, an old pa at Te Teko, and Te Takatakanga at Galatea. But in all cases wherein the site was on a hill, advantage was taken of the formation in laying off the defences, hence such fortified positions are of all imaginable shapes.

Some of the old pa maori were very strong natural positions, practically impregnable in neolithic times. Such was the Hamama pa, on the Wai-tahaia (East Coast district), where the stream doubles round and forms a pear shaped promontory with high unscalable cliffs. A lower cliff crosses the narrow neck at the stem end of the pear, and here the entrance to the pa was by a ladder that was drawn up at night by the occupants. The area was sufficient to allow of food cultivation within the defences, and it is said that this place has never been taken. These were the strongholds to which the people retired when threatened by enemies. Those living in the vicinity, either in open hamlets, single huts, or positions of inferior strength page 34would, upon an alarm being given by messenger, smoke signals or trumpets, at once retire to the stronghold, taking with them their chattels and food supplies.

A perusal of the accounts given by early voyagers and travellers will show that the defences of forts in former times differed to some extent as to order, position, etc., and that such defences almost invariably conformed to the contour of the ground.