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The Pa Maori

Oblique Stockades and Elevated Screens

Oblique Stockades and Elevated Screens

We have seen that Cook describes the defences of a fort at Mercury Bay in which the outer defence was a stockade that leaned inwards over an interior fosse, the latter being 14 ft. deep and having a rampart 8 ft. high on its inner scarp brow, with another stockade on the rampart. We have also some notes, given below, on a raised outer screen that sloped inwards, as constructed among the folk of the East Coast. On the other hand we give some notes on a different form, in which the outer stockade leaned outwards; thus both forms must have been employed.

In Maoria by J. C. Johnstone is given a description of a native fort in which the following occurs:—"The outer defence was a ditch, a few feet in depth and width, at the inner edge of which stood a chevaux de frise of split trunks, succeeded by another ditch, upon the brink of which was built the real defence of the pa, a stockade of from 14 ft. to 16 ft. in height, etc." He also mentions a third and inner stockade. If, by chevaux de frise the writer means an outward leaning series of palisades, he is wrong in assuming that it was a common feature in native fortifications. He mentions no ramparts or scarps, and makes the trenches much too small for a pre-European page 84fort. His description is that of a pa tuwatawata, which is but one of several types of the pa maori, and an inferior one. This writer also mentions the terraced hill forts. "Frequently seven and eight tiers of palisades rose, one above the other, upon the hills, which the natives with indomitable energy terraced and scarped with their wooden spades." His description of the tall carved posts is good—"… the tops carved into the most hideous and grotesque likenesses of men ever conceived by sculptor. The heads of the images were as large as their bodies, and their tongues, which were invariably thrust out of their mouths, were about the size of their forearms."

Hurae Puketapu, of the Wairoa district, Hawke's Bay, informed the writer that the pekerangi was the outermost stockade, an elevated one of which the posts only were set in the ground, the palisades being suspended as it were on the rails, as described elsewhere. He also states that this defensive work inclined inwards, and that it was employed in pre-European times. (Ko to waho he pekerangi, he mea whakatarewa ki runga te tuwatawata; ko nga himu anake i poua ki te whenua. Ko tena ingoa ko te pekerangi no mua iho ano, he mea whakahinga ki roto.) The word rangi enters into several names for elevated objects, such as scaffolds, platforms and elevated storage places.

An East Coast native account of a sloping stockade occasionally employed in former times is as follows:—The stockade was erected on the inner side of a trench so that the upper part of the stockade timbers just overhung the inner edge of the fosse. The base of the stockade might be 10 ft. or 12 ft. from the fosse, the posts sunk about 6 ft. in the ground and standing perhaps 20 ft. above ground. Cross pieces of timber, termed pae whenua, might be placed in order to increase the bearing, one near the foot of the post, on the inner side, and one on the outer side (i.e., on the fosse side) near the top of the post hole. These posts would be about 18 inches in diameter.

In some cases small stages or platforms, termed paerangi were attached to each post, each platform accommodating one or two men. In case of attack men armed with long spears occupied these coigns of vantage, and were well placed to prevent persons ascending the inner scarp of the fosse. The small platforms were placed about fifteen feet above the ground and about five feet below the summit of the post. In forming them two beams, each about 6 ft. in length, were secured to the post, one on either side in a horizontal position. Timbers were laid transversely across these beams and lashed thereto. These cross timbers were about three feet long, thus the platform was about 6 ft. by 3 ft. in size.

A pa with such a stockade and series of paerangi was known as page 85 Fig. 27—The Aparua Style of stockade defence. Model of a Stockaded Village at the Christchurch Exhibition of 1906. Represents a modern form with light fences, and a wide spaced aparua containing a trench in which musketeers would be stationed. (See p. 86.) J. McDonald, Photo page 86 a koau maro, in contradistinction to a rahoraho, or fort with vertical stockades. This description has not been corroborated and sounds somewhat doubtful.

We have already noted a remark by the Rev. W. Colenso, who came to New Zealand in the 'thirties' of last century, that 'sometimes the wooden fences were made to overhang a cliff or side of a hill as a chevaux de frise, presenting a low angle with the horizon.'

A common feature in native defences was a double fence or stockade, consisting of an outer screen or light stockade supplemented by a stronger stockade on the inner side, and near it. See Figs. 27, 28, 30, pp. 85, 90, 92. The raised screen-like fence was, I believe, usually vertical, but in some cases, or among some tribes, it was inclined inwards at the top. This elevated screen does not appear to have been employed unaccompanied by the inner fence close to it, for the defenders would station themselves, not between the two, but behind the second fence. They thrust their long spears between the palisades of the inner stockade and under the outer raised fence, to lunge at the attackers. The bottom of the palisades of the outer screen were one foot to 18 inches from the ground. The space between the screen and the inner fence was about two to three feet. This double fence or stockade arrangement is sometimes referred to as an aparua.

Many natives have stated that this double stockade was a pre-European form of defence. The earlier writers do not seem to have noted it, it was probably an old usage, but not, perhaps, universal. When the outer and elevated palisading inclined inwards at the top, then it was secured at such an angle as to allow defenders stationed on an elevated platform inside the second stockade to lunge downward with their long spears on the outer side of the sloping barrier, and so to discourage assailants. At the same time other defenders might be stationed below and just inside the second stockade, who would thrust their long spears through the inner stockade and under the elevated outer one. Thus an assaulting force would have two series of spears to encounter when it attempted to destroy or scale the outer barrier. Fig. 27, p. 85, illustrates the aparua mode of stockade defence, though the palisading is but light, as it formed part of a model of a stockaded village erected at the Christchurch Exhibition of 1906.

The following interesting notes were forwarded by Mr. Arthur Ormsby. They were contributed by Hari Hemara, of Maniapoto, and written out by W. B. who also contributed a sketch plan of the Arapae pa, near Te Kuiti. To these helpers I am much indebted. These notes apply to fortified places of the Waikato district:— page 87 "It should be premised that no two pa were alike, but following a general plan of defensive outworks, each was fortified according to the site and its shape. Before work thereon was begun, the chiefs and experts viewed the site from every possible point of access and assault, noting its weak points, for which defences were so planned and contrived as to baffle an attacking force. The accompanying sketch shows the plan of Arapae pa, occupied in 1821, situated about eleven miles from Te Kuiti. It was successfully defended against Te Atiawa and Ngapuhi.

"The term ngutu was here applied to a narrow entrance passage formed by an overlap of the defensive stockade, the pekerangi, and such entrance would be staged with an overhead platform, on which stones were stored to cast on an attacking force. Otherwise waharoa was the name generally applied to the main entrance passage.

"The taller posts, with a tekoteko or whakapakoko (image of human form) carved on their upper parts were known as po "The palisades were called wawa, and the spaces between them tiwatawata. Through these spaces the long spears (tao) of the defenders were thrust. There was no standing room on the parapet to enable the attacking force to use such spears.

"The palisades of the outer stockade were so lashed to the rails that their lower ends were about eighteen inches above the surface of the ground. This was not only to tempt ingress there, in which case the defenders would have a great advantage, as an enemy endeavoured to crawl under, but it also often enabled the former to reach and drag inside the body of a slain or wounded enemy.

"The wita was simply a duplication of the outer palisading, but of lighter materials, about sixteen inches from the latter. Its palisades were so placed as to break or cover the spaces between the palisades of the stockade inside it. Such a double stockade defence is termed aparua. Palisades of an inner stockade were always inserted in the earth. Posts of stockades were of the most durable timbers, as puriri, totara, maire, etc., and to these were lashed the rails (kaho or pae).

"The first class pa had two moats, the awamate outside the stockades, and the awarua between the two main stockades.

"The mianga or latrine of a pa was, if possible, situated at some steep place or cliff brow. In many cases the stockade at such a place was so erected as to form a recess in which the latrine was con-page 88structed. It consisted merely of a beam attached horizontally to two posts, on which beam persons squatted with their backs to the stockade. At this place only would the palisades of this stockade be suspended instead of inserted in the earth."

The sketch shows a fortified area 20 chains long by 8 chains in width, protected by two moats and two stockades, one on either side of the inner moat, but with no stockade outside the outer fosse or moat. One end of the fortified area, whereat the main entrance is shown, has two aparua or double stockades marked, also the fighting stage over the entrance passage. A large whare whakairo, or carved house, is situated at the other end of the fort, while two rows of dwelling houses occupy the two sides of the enclosed area, the central part being open, the marae or plaza of the village. Two latrines are shown in two small extensions of the outer stockade.

The second stockade (wita), mentioned above as being of lighter material than the outer one, was, in many districts, constructed of stronger timbers.

Natives of the Wairarapa district state that, in their region, the raised outer screen was called a karewa, and that it was inclined outward at the top. The term matahao also seems to have been applied to it. Both are descriptive names, the first implying elevation, while the second seems to denote something repelling yet enclosing, the palisades leaning over an attacking force. The second stockade was vertical and within that came the main stockade. This innermost stockade is variously known in other parts as kiri-tangata, para-kiri, and kiri-kaiahi. Long and thick stems of aka tokai were used as rails for the karewa, and the palisades were lashed on with small stems of the same climber in a crossed method termed tamanga, a name that has a generic sound and is probably allied to tamau, to fasten or secure. This lashing was reeved or cinched at each palisade to prevent a release or loosening of other palisades in the event of it being cut. It is said that, in this district, stockades were not erected on ramparts, nor was any stockade situated outside the outer fosse. The posts of the karewa leaned outwards and were deep sunk; the rails were lashed on the inner side of the posts, and the palisades on the inner side of the rails. The bottom ends of these palisades were raised about one foot above the surface of the ground, hence they were sometimes referred to as pairi, a word implying elevation or suspension. An upright raised screen was, in like manner, alluded to as a tokotu. Only the superior type of fortified places possessed this kind of defence, places permanently occupied, such as were styled pa ukiuki, while inferior places, such as were constructed near cultivations and at fishing camps, were classed as pa kai hau.

page 89

In Figs. 28 and 29, p. 90 are seen the aparua or double stockade with elevated outer screen, and the matahao or oblique stockade inclined outwards. The latter form was employed on hill sides, sloping ground. The remains of such a stockade were seen by the writer on Somes Island in Wellington Harbour.

There was no defensive work outside the karewa. There might or might not be a secondary stockade between it and the main stockade, but if no raised screen was erected then a wita would certainly be constructed outside the main fence. Occasionally, according to an East Coast native the pekerangi was attached to the inner and main stockade by means of braces (hokai) placed in a slanting position with one end lashed to the upper part of the outer stockade and the lower end to the base of the main fence. This as a preventive in case of attempts to pull down the outer stockade or to undermine it and so cause it to fall. To cut the timbers of a stockade was usually deemed impracticable, the process being too lengthy a one with energetic defenders at hand.

Our late enthusiastic contributor, Tuta Nihoniho of Ngati-Porou, applied the term wita to the leaning outer screen, and stated that, in his district, it was so constructed as to incline inwards at the top so as to be connected with the inner fence. See Figs. 29A-30, pp. 90-92. It is not assured that this was a pre-European usage, though Tuta considered it to have been so. And here it may be stated that no living man has seen the old style of pa maori with its many defences and devices, for the style of those defences underwent considerable change a century ago. Of their remains no person now living has seen more than the earthworks and a few stockade posts and palisades of the more durable timbers. Hence the difficulty in obtaining precise information as to old methods of defence and their names.

The wita, says Tuta, was not an upright stockade, but a sloping barrier, or screen outside the main fence. It could scarcely be termed an abattis, for it was inclined inwards at the top to the main stockade. Long, stout timbers, about six inches thick, had their lower ends sunk in the earth about four feet out from the main fence. These beams were about eighteen inches apart, and inclined inwards so that their tops rested on the upper rail of the main fence, a notch being cut in them so that they would fit over the rail, to which they were firmly lashed with the durable aka already mentioned. Horizontally across these beams were lashed two rails, the lower within, perhaps, two feet of the ground line. Palisades were then lashed on the rails, about three inches apart parallel to the slanting frame beams, i.e., up and down, but these did not extend down to the ground line, they stopped short at the lower rail, thus page 90 Fig. 28—The Aparua system of stockade defence having a vertical Pekerangi or elevated outer screen. (See pp. 86-89.) Drawing by Ethel Richardson Fig. 29—The Matahao form of oblique stockade. This outward leaning outer stockade was employed in the defence of hill villages. Note that rails and palisades are, in Fig. 29, shown on the wrong side of posts. (See pp. 88-89.) Drawing by Ethel Richardson Fig. 29a—The Wita Barrier. (See pp. 89-92.) page 91 leaving plenty of space to thrust spears through, indeed space was left between the palisades of all three fences for the passage of spears which found a support on the rails of the stockades, much as a long pliable bird spear is manipulated.

Tuta also states that the Puke-kiore pa at Waiapu had a wide and deep trench outside the wita, into which the long spears of defenders could be thrust. A rude drawbridge spanned this trench at the entrance to the fort, and this could be raised so as to serve as a gate barrier in times of danger. The defences included two ramparts or earthen walls and twokoruarua or trenches. It does not appear certain, however, that the above method of blocking a gateway was employed in pre-European times. The means of crossing a fosse usually consisted of one or two beams or stout poles.

This form of outer screen would act as a stay or strut to the inner stockade in case of an attempt being made to destroy the latter defence by means of using the rou, or hook and rope.

Again, Tuta remarked that in cases where the outer raised screen was vertical, it was termed an aparua. The timbers employed for such defences were totara, black hinau, heart of pukatea and taiki kowhai, the latter term denoting hard seasoned heart wood of kowhai from which all sapwood has decayed and sloughed off. The innermost stockade, according to the same authority, was sometimes erected within a few feet of the main fence, but this looks like a modern method. It was much lower than the main fence and in some cases the upper ends of its palisades were pointed, so that an enemy scaling the main fence and attempting to jump therefrom, stood a goodly chance of being impaled upon these elongated caltrops. This peculiar arrangement may have been adopted in some modern cases, but does not appeal to us as an old usage.

No specific term for the spaces between stockades has been collected, though the term wa patiki is sometimes so applied. This appears to carry the generic sense of 'space' or 'interval,' and is applied to the spaces between the thwarts of a canoe, between cultivated plants in a garden, etc.

We have on record the statement of a native contributor to the effect that the raised outer screen is a modern usage, and that it was not employed in pre-European days; others say that it was an old form. Certainly the earlier writers do not mention it, though we know that it was much employed in later times, when firearms were commonly used. In late times defenders were almost concealed in a trench and fired under the screen.

page 92

Fig. 30—The Aparua form of outer defence, showing the wita or oblique elevated screen. (See pp. 43, 86-89.) Drawing by Ethel Richardson

Nor was the elevated screen an universal usage in the modern pa, for in some cases its palisades were inserted in the earth and forms of loopholes were used. Such apertures were termed whakarua-kotare.

Later notes from the Waiapu district show us that the upper part of the sloping wita barrier met the vertical stockade near the top. The suspended palisades of the outer screen were often not continuous, some continued down to the ground line, as shown in Fig. 29A, p. 90. Spears were thrust through the open spaces. Such page 93an outer defence resembles somewhat that of a pa at Mercury Bay described by Banks. Owing to the inward slope of the outer screen, defenders stationed on a stage inside the vertical stockade could thrust their spears downward outside the wita.

The following account of the construction of a pa at Miramar, Wellington, some 28 generations ago, has been preserved in Maori tradition. It was situated on the ridge above the spring in Worser Bay, and tradition states clearly that Miramar was at that time an island, its native name being Motu-kairangi. This is the best account of the construction of a fortified village met with in Maori tradition, hence it is included here. The name of this pa was Te Whetu-kairangi. The full story of the settlement has been published in vol. XXVI. of the Journal of the Polynesian Society.

The settlers came down from Te Mahia district under the leadership of an old chief named Whatonga, and his two sons Tara and Tautoki, the former intending to return northward when his sons and their followers were settled here. The migrants first settled on Somes Island (Matiu), where they built huts and then began to explore the district. Here we may take up the story as given in the translation:—

" … Then they went to examine the entrances of the ocean and the large island between those two channels, after which they returned to Matiu. When the month Ihonui [February] came, Whatonga addressed his sons and their respective followers:— "After I have returned, this island [Somes Island] will not be a suitable place as a permanent residence for you. Let this be a home for the women and children, and let the men proceed to the forest on the mainland to split timbers and obtain aka [stems of climbing plants] wherewith to construct houses and defensive stockades. Erect a stockade and houses at the place where I thrust in my staff; let all that part be enclosed within the stockade. When the fortified village is completed, then render the water spring accessible in times of stress by means of erecting a stockade on either side of the path leading to it, adding an elevated outer stockade, lest it be cut off by a besieging force.

"Erect the stockades on the lines we marked with pegs, so that ample space may be enclosed. Let there be but one entrance to the main way into the fort, and see that that main way is stockaded on both sides. Construct two elevated platforms for defenders at the entrance to such way, also two where the passage enters the plaza of the village. There should indeed by three such stages on either page 94side of the passage way. All posts of the stockade should be bulky ones, with but two palisades between them, so that an attacking force may be baffled.

"All parts of the island overgrown with manuka, fern and brush should be burned off each year that such growth is abundant, lest it be used by an enemy wherewith to burn the stockades when piled up against them, that is why you should keep the land clear of scrub.

"There should be three lines of stockades, one oblique line leaning outwards, one elevated screen stockade, and the main stockade, which is the innermost of such defences.

"Now bear in mind that this will be your exposed and accessible position, whereat the want of food will be sorely felt, for such will be the weapon for an enemy to use; they will invest the place in order to starve you, and so cause it to fall. Construct many storage places at the rear of your dwelling houses, as places wherein to store fish, dried kumara and korau, also shellfish, such as dried cockles, mussels and paua [Haliotis] to serve as reserve food supplies. Then, when enemies appear, you will possess goodly stores of food, including fern roots and dried berry kernels, the sustenance of your forbear Toi, and on account of which he was called 'the consumer of forest products.' [Toi Kai-rakau.]

"Your cultivation grounds situated near your village will cause no anxiety, for those working thereat will return to the village at night. But in regard to cultivations situated at a distance, you must erect secondary defensive works to protect them. There are two objects in constructing such outworks, the protection of the cultivations, and also the warning of the principal village when an enemy force is approaching.

"The stockaded village of one of you [brothers] should be constructed on the right [eastern] side of the eastern entrance, but the principal cultivations should be on the big island. The storehouses should be similar to those already described, and in similar situations, so that when an investing enemy sees no store houses, he will believe that a short siege will produce misery and suffering through lack of food. Even so the enemy will continue to invest the place, and you know that a long continuance of the siege will cause hunger to hustle him away. And if, at such a time, you are able to deliver an attack on your enemy at some part of his lines where it is not expected, then ere long that enemy will fall, enfeebled as he will be by lack of food. … I have spoken to you two in this manner so that each of your fortified positions may ever act as succourer of the others; when enemies attack one let the others come to its aid.

page 95

"Another task for you two is the seeking of a suitable place, unseen by travellers and difficult for a person to find, whereat to construct a refuge hamlet, in which to store such food supplies as keep well. Such a hamlet is called a kainga punanga and is intended to be unseen. At night only are food preparing fires kindled at such places, never in the day time, lest the smoke be seen curling upward. This punanga is for occupation when a fortified place falls, then survivors meet and dwell there. Or, when a hostile force is reported to be approaching, then the women, old folks and children retire at once to that place and remain there, so that the fort be left clear for the fighting men, that they may not be hampered by non-combatants. Follow my advice and no enemy will defeat you."

"Here Tautoki, one of the sons of Whatonga, interposed:—"The isles [Somes and Ward] would be suitable places to serve as refuges for the old folk, women and children." Whatonga replied:—"Not so; the weakness of that plan is that an enemy would see that the non-combatants were living there, whereupon they would leave the bulk of their forces to invest the fortified village and others would go and capture the islands."

Here end the instructions of Whatonga as to the construction of the fortified village, the secondary forts or outworks, and the refuge. Here follow such parts of the tradition as deal with the fort building:—

"Let my discourse return to Tara and his brother, as also to their people. They busied themselves in procuring material, some in rafting timbers, some in felling trees, others in cutting the logs into certain lengths, others in splitting, others in hewing, others in conveying the timbers to the bank of the river called Heretaunga [the Hutt river], whence they were rafted across to the other side of the Whanga nui a Tara.

"The difficult part of their labours was the preparing of the timbers. The length of the secondary [or intermediate] posts of Te Whetu-kairangi was three fathoms, while the palisades were two fathoms in length. The secondary posts, also the palisades, were sunk one hau [half fathom] in the ground. There were four rails lashed to the uprights with aka [stems of climbing plants]. The main posts of the stockade were five fathoms in length and one fathom in circumference, the secondary posts being half a fathom in girth. The palisades inserted between the posts were similar to those of present day stockades. Now you can perceive the magnitude of the task [as performed with stone age appliances], and the weight of those timbers, as also the labour of floating them from the place at which they were prepared to the opposite side of the page 96Great Harbour of Tara. The refuge hamlet prepared as a dwelling place for women, old men, and children, when seeking refuge from a stricken field or captured village, was located at Takapau-rangi, at the head of Wainui-o-mata.

"Well, the main fortified place built, and, when finished, houses were erected within it. There were two well fitted and framed houses among them, one of which was named Rau-kawa, after the sea that separates the two islands [Cook Straits]; this house belonged to Tau-toki. The other superior house was named Wharerangi, in remembrance of the place where the sacred Wharekura was situated in the old time fatherland. The fortified village was named Whetu-kai-rangi."

With regard to the expression punanga, denoting a refuge, the late Major Large informed me that, in the Cook Islands, the name denotes a stronghold.

The mention of the pekerangi or elevated outer screen as an extra defence for the passage to the water supply, points to such defence as being a pre-European usage. The positions of the three stockades are unfortunately not explained. If the outer stockade was a matahao, that is to say oblique, leaning outward, it is not clear as to how the elevated pekerangi stood in relation to it. Possibly the second defence was the outward leaning stockade, in which case its upper part would overhang the pekerangi.