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The Pa Maori

Covered Way to Water Supply

Covered Way to Water Supply

In the work quoted above we note the following remarks on the pa known as Te Ruaki:—"This old pa is situated on the Whare-roa Native Reserve, three miles E.N.E. of the town of Hawera. It is still in good preservation, and excepting here and there where the cattle have trodden paths up the terraces, the ramparts are intact. It is a large pa, capable of holding several hundred people. On the north side, and leading from the ramparts down to the Tangahoe stream, is a deep fosse with high embankments on either side, which in former times have evidently been palisaded. This was the covered way down to the water supply of the pa, and it is noticeable because of the rarity of such provision generally in Maori fortifications. Another pecularity of this pa is the sloping ground to the west, which is fortified, and was evidently a modern addition to the main and older part, due to the fear that this part should be occupied by an enemy possessed of muskets, who could from there command the main position."

Angas, a traveller in New Zealand in the 'forties' of last century, writes of a pa at Taupo:—"Waitaha-nui pa stands on a neck of low swampy land jutting into the lake; and a broad deep river, forming a delta, called the Tonga-riro, and by some the Wai-kato, empties itself near the pa. The long facade of the pa presents an imposing appearance when viewed from the lake; a line of fortifications, composed of upright poles and stakes, extending for at least half a mile in a direction parallel to the water. On the top of many of the posts are carved figures, much larger than life, of men in the act of defiance, in the most savage and indecent postures, having enormous protruding tongues; and, like all the Maori carvings, these images are coloured with kokowai or red ochre … a strong palisade and a deep moat afford protection against any sudden attack. Water is conveyed into the pa through a sluice or canal, for the supply of the besieged in times of war." See Fig. 41, p. 134 which, however, does not show any of the carved figures on the posts.

A curious form of large vessel for containing water was occasionally made out of a large block of wood of the matai tree (Podocarpus spica-tus) by splitting the block through the middle, hollowing out the two halves, save a piece left for the bottom, and then putting the two pieces together again and lashing them tightly. In the join of the two pieces was placed some moss, as also pia houhou, a gum that exudes from panax arboreum, which served to prevent leakage. These vessels were known as koehe wai and puoto wai in olden times, these being apparently specific names, while the more general names page 134 Fig. 41—Stockade of the Waitaha-nui pa at Lake Taupo. From a sketch by Angas. It does not quite agree with his description of it. (See p. 133.) page 135 Fig. 42—Water Storage Pit as occasionally used by pa dwellers. (See p. 136.) Drawing by J. McDonald page 136 of koki wai (both vowels long) and poha wai were also applied to them. These large vessels were buried in the earthen floor of the cooking sheds until only about six inches projected above the surface. They were then filled with water and covered over; the water keeping cool in such a situation. They were very useful in war time when a pa was besieged. Paora Tuhaere, of Ngati-Whatua, called these vessels kuta wai.

In the case of a siege it has been stated that the conserved supplies of water within a fort were sometimes controlled by the chiefs and rationed out to the people, but it is doubtful if this was ever a general custom. Isolated cases of such a procedure may have occurred, but the Maori was lacking in certain phases of forethought and discipline.

There is some evidence to the effect that water was occasionally conserved within a fort in cisterns excavated in soft rock, as at Otumatua (another reported at Turakina) or some form of earth that would retain water. The latter type may be seen at the Tunu-haere pa, opposite Kaiwhaiki on the Whanganui river. For some notes on these latter we are indebted to Mr. T. W. Downes, of Whanganui, who also supplies a sketch of one of the pits.

These water storing pits are semi-circular in shape, with an opening on top to allow a person to enter them, as shown in the illustration. See Fig. 42, p. 135. In some cases the raised central part was composed of earth, and the upper part was covered with wooden slabs, in others it was wholly constructed of timber. A person descended through the mouth of the pit and stood on the raised central part in order to fill vessels when procuring water, and the slabs of wood prevented the mound of earth crumbling away. This central mound or step was left when the pit was excavated. The illustration shows the exact form of the pit examined by us, the central step being of earth, left when the pit was excavated. The wooden facing slabs have long since decayed.

These water pits at the Tunu-haere pa are situated at the base of a mound. This mound was formed by leaving a part of the original summit of the ridge on which the pa is situated when the house sites were formed by excavation. Thus the top of the ridge has been flattened except the mound so left. The pits were formed at the base of the mound, and rain water falling on the mound was conducted into them, and so stored, the mouth of a pit being covered so as to prevent waste and contamination. In some cases, according to native evidence, these pits were filled by hand.

page 137

These water pits must have been a great boon to the denizens of Tunu-haere, which is situated on the summit of a high spur, the nearest water supply being at the bottom of a gully with extremely steep sides. The Tunu-haere pa was still occupied in the middle 'forties' of last century. Water cisterns have been reported from several other districts; some of these reports appear elsewhere in this paper.

Water was not only stored in gourds and other small vessels, but also sometimes in large wooden troughs and dugout canoes. The following notes on the subject of water storage were contributed by the late Tuta Nihoniho, of the East Coast:—

Water was often stored in forts in large wooden troughs. These were filled with water and then covered over with pieces of totara bark. Calabashes were used as vessels to carry water in. Sometimes rainwater was caught in troughs placed under the eaves of cooking huts. Such a supply would not be used unless the place was invested by an enemy, and, during rain, such troughs were sometimes emptied and allowed to refill. No rain water was so caught from the roof of a dwelling hut, for to drink such water would be disastrous to man. Water was also kept in calabashes, and the curious bark vessels called patua were sometimes used as water vessels. Vessels made of the rimurapa seaweed (bull kelp) were also so employed, and any vessel that would contain liquid might be used in conserving water in apa. paepae wai is a generic term for vessels used to contain water.

In some cases a water spring was enclosed within the defences of a fortified place, occasionally by extending a portion of the defences to so include it. No instance is known on the East Coast of water being conducted into a pa in pre-European days, but, in modern times, water was conducted by a ditch into Whakawhiti-ra, a post-European gun fighters pa at Waiapu, situated on level land.

Tuta Nihoniho remarks that he has seen pa where a way to the water supply has been protected by earthworks and stockades on either side, but thinks that they were modern pa. We have, however, seen such protected ways at pa that were most certainly pre-European, and abandoned before the introduction of firearms.

In some cases, when a besieged fort stood on the summit of a cliff or steep bank, beneath which was deep water, a curious contrivance was rigged up whereby to obtain water. A tall post was set up at the brink of the cliff, not in a vertical position, but leaning outwards so that a line suspended from the top thereof would strike the water. This post would be a sapling having a crotch at the top over which ran a long rope, to the end of which was secured a wooden vessel enclosed in a toi (Cf. toiki), a sort of wickerwork creel or envelope page 138made of supplejack. It was to this envelope that the rope was attached. This vessel was lowered down into the water by means of the rope, and, when full of water, hauled up to a level with the top of the cliff, or bank, where the rope was pulled inwards by means of a hooked pole, or a supplementary cord attached to it, or to the vessel, until the vessel was within reach of the operators on the cliff head. If possible the investing enemy would endeavour to prevent the acquisition of water in this manner, and then the besieged folk would line the cliff head armed with stones, and persuade the enemy to leave that water vessel alone.

Water is said to have been obtained in this way at the pakau-rangi pa, on the East Coast. If this was so, it is curious how the famous Pueru-maku episode occurred at that historic fort. This incident happened when Ngati-Ira were besieged in that fort by Ngati-Porou, for having insulted one of their women named Tawhiu-pari, whose slave attendant they killed and ate, as an additional annoyance. After this investment had been maintained for some time, the besieged suffered much through want of water, and, at last, when the women and children were suffering greatly, a party of men arrayed themselves in thick, coarse pueru (capes), marched out of the fort, fought their way to the creek, where, one by one, they dipped their garments in the water, and then fought their way back to the fort, or some of them did, where the women and children sucked the water from their soaked garments. Hence this siege has ever been known as the Pueru-maku, or Wetted Garments incident. It occurred many generations ago.

An old pa at Mauku Falls, Franklin County, is situated on the top of the bluff near the Falls. In order to obtain water two different paths have been cut out of the steep face of the bluff at an angle of about 25 deg°. These paths lead from the defences of the pa down to the falls, which are seventy feet in height, one reaches the top of the falls, the other a point about half way down. It is possible that these paths were protected by stockades when the place was occupied.

Some distance away from the pa a wall of stones has been formed along the top of the bluff, the stones to form which seem to have been carried up from the face of the bluff, for none are encountered in the fields above. The object of such a wall is a puzzle.