The Taranaki Tribe.

The nothern boundary of this tribe has been described as marching with that of Ati-awa. From Nuku-tai-pari along the coast past Cape Egmont to the southern boundary at Raoa stream, two miles south-east of Oeo, is a distance of about fifty miles. From Raoa, where the territories of the Ngati-Rua-nui tribe commence, the Taranaki boundary ran generally in a north north-east direction to the east side of Mount Egmont where it joined the Ati-Awa boundary again. The Taranaki territory thus formed the segment of a circle dominated by the mountain from which the tribe takes its name. It is more mountainous than any other part of the Taranaki coast, for within it are Mount Egmont, 8,260 feet, the Pouakai Ranges, 4,590 feet, and the Patuha Ranges, 2,240 feet. But the country on the slopes of these mountains is fertile, and as the coast is approached there is a wide stretch of nearly level land, formerly nearly all covered with dense forest. It is watered with innumerable clear, stony streams, that rising in the mountains traverse the slopes and plains on their way to the sea; but none arc of any size, Hangatahua, or Stony river, being the largest. Like the districts already described, there are a large number of old fortified pas, 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 moulten lava of the interior to force its way upwards, thus building up 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.

The Taranaki territory has always been celebrated for the immense quantities of the native flax (harakeke, Phormium tenax) which in former times covered the surface, and also for possessing the finest varieties of that plant. So much was this the case, that Taranaki was famed all over New Zealand for the quality of the flax mats made there, and for the obtaining of which more than one warlike expedition has been made in old times by the northern tribes.

The following are the hapus of Taranaki:—

Very little more need be said here as to the origin of the Taranaki tribe, so much having been written on the subject under the head of "The Canoes of the Fleet," Chapter VI. The tribe is very largely derived from the crews of the "Aotea" and "Kura-hau-po" canoes that arrived here about 1350, and the further element of tangata-whenua blood, known as Kahui-maunga. The Titahi hapn (No. 11 above) are the remains of those who migrated from Hokianga many generations ago, who will be referred to in their proper period. There are some traditions also of other vessels which came to the Taranaki coast from Hawaiki, but very little is known of them. For instance, "Arikimaitai," said to have arrived before the "Aotea," and her crew settled on this coast, and were found there by Turi of the "Aotca" on his arrival. It is said he killed all the men and made the women slaves. Again, tradition reports that some time after the arrival of "Arikimaitai," two other canoes, the names of which have net been preserved, visited the coast from Hawaiki, having been driven out of their course by stress of weather. One of these canoes was owned by a great chieftainess, the other was the tender in which food was carried. On the return of these vessels to Hawaiki, the father of the lady asked how he could return the kindness that had been shown to his daughter by the Taranaki people. He was told that the Taranaki coast was very rock} and that what the people most wanted was sandy beaches from which to launch their canoes. The father—says the tradition—sent some canoe loads of sand, which form the few beaches still to be found in the district. Possibly there is some foundation for the story of the arrival of these two canoes, to which in later days the people added that part about the sand. This may be, however, a corrupted version of the story of Tama-ahua, to be referred to later on. The absence of any names is rather a suspicious circumstance.