Heke-Maru.
(Nga-Ti-Mahuta.)

Heke-Maru(declining power) came [to Wai-kato] from the south. He was a chief of great influence and power.

Whenever he went on a journey and was seen going towards a pa, and the people of the pa called and welcomed him to their pa and asked him to stay whilst they provided food for himself and his people, and to take rest that he might be enabled to proceed on his journey, he would stay at such pa; but if he had passed a pa the people of which had not seen him going towards their pa, and they called to welcome him and asked him to stay page 171 while they cooked food for himself and his people, he would not turn aside to such pa. The welcome had been given to the back of his head. He thought, if he were to accept such an invitation and partake of the food at such place, the food eaten there would kill his followers, as the invitation had been given to the sacred back part of his head: such food given would be sacred also, and those who partook of it would die by visitation of the gods, having eaten of sacred food, which was for the gods only. And hence the reference to such food in the old songs, where it is said,—

Food will not follow
Heke-maru's back;
Of whom ‘tis said,
“Motai of little home.”

This portion of that old song has become a proverb. When a party of travellers are on a journey, when passing a pa, if they are called and asked to stay while food is provided for them, if some of such party stay and some proceed on their journey and savoury food is given to those who stay, and if some of these propose to take a portion of such to those of their party who have gone on, they will be answered by some of the party,—

Food will not
Follow at the back
Of Heke-maru.

Heke-maru was one of the ancestors from whom the Wai-kato tribes claim their origin. Heke-maru was father of Mahuta (jump as a fish out of the water), and from him the tribe Nga-ti-mahuta were called. This tribe is the senior of all the Wai-kato tribes. When the name is repeated it includes all the members of the whole sub-tribes and the leading chiefs in the Wai-kato country.

Tama-Inu-Po.
(Nga-Ti-Mahuta.)

Kokako (Collas cinerea) was father of Tama-inu-po (son of the drinking water at night), and his mother was of the Nga-ti-tau-piri Tribe. Kokako was on a journey in company with page 172 some of his tribe, and met a woman of Nga-ti-tau-piri; and Tama-inu-po was born.

Mai-kao (dried mussels), the sister of Tama-inu-po, was taken to wife by a Nga-iwi chief called Tana-nga-whanga (his were the harbours), who, after they had lived together for many years, uttered evil words against Kokako, which were these:—

Perhaps the korau (Cyathea medullaris)
Of great stem, which grow
On Puke-o-tahinga, are
Growing in silent loneliness?

He repeated these words again and again on various days till Mai-kao, his wife, took notice of them, and at last knew their import, and went to her brother and repeated the words.

Tama-inu-po said, “The words of my brother-in-law are curses on me.” And Kokako also was grieved. Tama-inu-po said to his sister, “Go back to your husband, and I will pay a visit to your home.” But before she left Kokako asked, “In what part of your house do you and your husband sleep ?” She answered, “Near the window of the house.”

Mai-kao returned from her visit to her brother, Tama-inu-po. All the tribes of Tama-inu-po assembled, and in the night went northward along the coast to the entrance of the Wai-kato River, which they crossed; and Tama-inu-po went to see his younger brother, to whom he repeated the words which had been spoken by Tana-nga-whanga, which the younger brother concluded were of a very evil nature.

Tama-inu-po and his brother determined to build a pa. When he and his people had built this, they called it Tarata-piko (crooked Pittosporum eugenioides); and, being observed by Tana-nga-whanga, he said, “The two poor fellows have built a pa.” When night was come Tama-inu-po crossed the river with his brother to the pa of their brother-in-law, which was situated near Pu-tataka (the falling flute).

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Kokako went up to the window of the house near to which Tana-nga-whanga and his wife were sleeping. The husband was asleep, but the wife was awake. Tama-inu-po put his hand in through the window, and took hold of the hair of the head of Tana-nga-whanga and pulled it on to the windowsill and cut his head off.

They attacked the pa, and the people fled towards the north and were pursued by Tama-inu-po and his party.

Whare-takahia (robbed house), Whakamoe (put to sleep), Tuki-wai (strike the water), Iro-nui (great maggot), Te-aria (the open space), Te-pungapunga (the pumice-stone), and Wai-tata (water near) were taken prisoners, who were all principal chiefs of the pa.

The nephews of Tama-inu-po, the sons of Mai-kao, also fled: but one, having been taken prisoner, asked his capturer, “What evil have I done ?” Just then Tama-inu-po came up to the boy and heard his question, and answered by quoting an old song which says,—

You must not live,
As you, a nephew,
In the days of evil
Stand on the river's opposite brink,
And give not help
To those of kindred blood.

Tama-inu-po bowed his face down to that of the boy rubbed his nose against that of his nephew, rose and slew him with his weapon.

The elder brother of the boy now killed had fled to some distance, and was pursued. Not far from where his brother was killed, and down in a valley, he was caught, and, after Tama-inu-po had rubbed his nose to that of this boy, he slew him also.

The two brothers thus killed by Tama-inu-po were called “The two of Puaki (confess),” and were the children of Mai-kao, sons of Tana-nga-whanga.

Tama-Inu-Po.(Nga-Ti-Awa.)

Tama-inu-po was a bastard son of Kokako. Kokako went on a journey from Wai-kato to Kawhia. He left his home at Karoro- page 174 uma-nui (seagull of large breast), on the south side of the heads of the Waikato River. He observed how comely-looking the women of the Kawhia people were. One evening he said to some of his companions, “Ask that female [pointing to a woman] to go and fetch some water for me.” The name of the woman spoken of was Whaea-tapoko (the mother who comes in).

At this time Kokako was a bitter enemy of Mahanga (twins). It was said that Whaea-tapoko was expecting to be a mother: and in due course she had a son. The child, according to the request of Kokako, was called Tama-inu-po (son that drinks at night). The mother nursed and tended her son till he was a great lad, and could join in the games of his companions—of whipping-top, throwing fern-stalks (niti), and playing at pirori (hoops). The whipping-tops used by the boy were made for him by his uncles. Now, when Tama-inu-po was whipping his top, he challenged his playfellows to try and whip their tops to a certain place. He succeeded. His companions were jealous of his victory, and said, “Yes, the whipping-top of this bastard has really gone far.” He heard the sneer, and went to his mother and told her what he had heard. She said, “It is true; those children speak the truth.”

He returned to his playmates, and joined in a Game of niti (throwing fern-stalks), and his was the one which flew the longest distance, which called forth the remark from some of the boys, “This bastard's niti flies to a greater distance than ours.” He went to his mother, and repeated to her what he had heard, and asked, “O mother, where is my father ?”

She answered, “Look at the peak of yon distant mountain which is nearly hidden by the clouds; it is beyond it where he is.”

He asked, “Who is my father?”

His mother said, “He is called Kokako.”

Tama-inu-po kept in his memory the taunts of his companions, and the words of his mother, and when he became a man he left Kawhia and went in the direction of the mountain page 175 pointed out to him by his mother. He travelled over the country and came out on the Wai-kato River, on the Wai-pa (water dammed up) branch of that river, and met a party of people who were spearing pigeons and preserving them in their own fat for Mahanga. Tama-inu-po at that time wore a dogskin mat; and one of the daughters of Mahanga, called Tu-kotuku (the white crane), was with the bird-preserving party, and the day on which Tama-inu-po met them was that on which the party were to return to Mahanga with the preserved birds.

Tu-kotuku went on in front of those who were carrying the preserved birds, and, having arrived at home, she said to her father, “A most noble-looking man is coming here.”

Mahanga asked, “Where is he?”

The daughter replied, “He is coming with the party who are bringing the preserved birds for you; and I will have him as my husband.”

The party arrived at the pa, and Tama-inu-po with them, but his name or his parentage was not known. He kept the name of Kokako a secret, as he was in dread of Mahanga knowing that he was a son of Kokako, lest Mahanga should kill him, as at this time Mahanga was collecting provisions for a war-party to attack Kokako.

When Tama-inu-po arrived at the settlement, another of the daughters of Mahanga called Wai-tawake (water to mend a rent) saw him, and at once said, “I will have that man for my husband;” but Tu-kotuku said, “No, he is to be my husband—I saw him first.” As the elder sister Wai-tawake, persisted in her determination to have Tama-inu-po as her husband, Tu-kotuku wept, but Mahanga spoke and said, “O my elder daughter! let your younger sister have the young chief as her husband; she saw him first.” The elder daughter turned away in contempt for the words of her father, and left her home, and departed from her tribe and went and lived with the Nga-ti-mania-poto Tribe, of whom she took a husband, and remained with them.

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Tama-inu-po took Tu-kotuku as his wife, and Mahanga collected food for his war-party to attack Kokako.

The time came when the warriors of Mahanga were to proceed to war. Mahanga addressed them, and encouraged them to be brave. The address was heard by Tama-inu-po; but Mahanga, addressing him, said, “Do you go with me to this war ?” Tama-inu-po said, “Yes, it is right.”

The war-party embarked in their canoe and paddled down the Waikato River to Pu-tataka, where Mahanga again addressed his braves, and encouraged them to battle with determination against Kokako.

Tama-inu-po now asked the men of Mahanga's tribe, “How will Kokako be distinguished from other chiefs?”

The warriors answered, “He wears a red mat. He cannot be hidden.”

The warriors of Mahanga attacked the pa of Kokako, and the besieged came out on to the open ground before the pa. Mahanga went in front of his warriors with a long spear (tao) in his hand, and confronted the warriors of Kokako, and ran his spear through one of them: then he called to his warriors, and said,—

My spear has pierced one:
Rush and take him.

But not one of his braves dared to go and take the wounded warrior from the midst of his friends. How could they do it, being in great fear?

Mahanga drew his spear out of the wounded man, and battled with and speared another, and called, saying,—

My spear has pierced another:
Rush and take him.

But not one of all the warriors of Mahanga went to capture the wounded warrior. As the warriors of Kokako pressed on them, the braves of Mahanga gave way; but again Mahanga did battle with another of the warriors of Kokako, and pierced him with his spear, and again called to his warriors and said,—

My spear has pierced him:
Rush and take him.

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Tama-inu-po had heard Mahanga give his order three times, but, as the command had not been obeyed, he leaped on to [over] the shoulders of Mahanga, and with a paraoa (long whalebone weapon) struck one of Kokako's warriors (not the one Mahanga had pierced) and killed him. He pressed on, he killed another, and another, and the warriors of Kokako fled and were pursued. Tama-inu-po killed many of them in their flight. When near the entrance of the pa of Kokako, Tama-inu-po overtook his father Kokako, who was in full flight, and took hold of the skirt of his father's red mat; and Tama-inu-po gave a smart jerk to the mat, which broke the hold of the au-rei (breastpin made of a whale's tooth), and the mat fell into the hands of Tama-inu-po; but, as Kokako was his father, he would not pursue or attempt to kill him. And Tama-inu-po went back to Mahanga.

When the war was over Mahanga made a speech to his warriors in order that he might discover the warrior who in the heat of the battle had jumped over his shoulder.

The warriors all stood in line as in war-array, and Mahanga performed all his actions as when he was battling with his foes and spearing the warriors of Kokako; and again and again he repeated his orders to rush and take the warrior he had speared. And now, at each command to rush for the enemy, one of his braves would start up before Mahanga, and, say, “I have the first slain,” and so for the second and third slain; but Mahanga did not recognise in any of them the warrior who had jumped over his shoulder.

Tama-inu-po put his war-belt on, and held his paraoa (whalebone weapon) in his hand when Mahanga again called,—

My spear has pierced one:
Rush and take him.

Tama-inu-po sprang over the shoulder of Mahanga, and made a blow at a supposed enemy. Mahanga at once said, “That is the man I saw perform such feats in the battle.”

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The warriors each now made a speech, and each said, “I took Kokako.”

Tama-inu-po rose and said, “I procured the heads of men,” and from beneath his garment he threw down the scalps of his slain enemies, and said, “I took Kokako,” and, throwing the red garment before them, said, “There is his red mat.” Mahanga recognised it as the red mat of Kokako. The warriors were ashamed and cast down by the bravery of Tama-inu-po.

Mahanga asked Tama-inu-po, “Who is your father?” Tama-inu-po answered, “I am by Kokako;” but now that he had to say who he was, as he had done the deeds of a brave man, and had also a child by Tu-kotuku, who was called Wai-rere (waterfall), he was not killed by Ma-hanga.

Tama-inu-po had a great desire to see his father Kokako. He went towards the pa; and when seen by the people they exclaimed, “A man is coming towards our pa.” They did not know who he was, as they had not before seen him. Kokako was not in the pa, nor had he ever heard that Whaea-tapoko had given birth to a son, nor had he heard of this son by the name of Tama-inu-po.

The people of the pa welcomed Tama-inu-po, and each one asked him to stay at his place in the pa; but Tama-inu-po went on, and asked, “Which is the house of Kokako?” They said, “That is his house in front of you: but come and stay here.” He went on, entered the house, and sat down on the seat and mats of Kokako, for which the tribe wished to kill him.

A messenger ran to Kokako and said, “A, man has come to our place, and has gone into your house, and is now sitting on your mats; and for this act the people wish to kill him.”

Kokako thought within himself, “Who can the man be? What impertinence to go and sit on my seat and mats!” Kokako came to the pa; but on the way he said to himself, “Not any one of less than supreme rank would dare to sit on my seat, or my mats. Who can the man be?”

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When Kokako had entered his house the people clamoured, and said, “Send him out here, that we may kill him;” but Tama-inu-po sat still; and Kokako asked, “Who are you?”

Tama said, “I am of you.”

Kokako said, “What is your name?”

Tama said, “Tama-inu-po.”

Then Kokako thought of the words he had spoken to Whaea-tapoko, and the name he had given for the child she might bear.

Kokako wept over his son; and all the people were driven out of the house, as it had now become sacred on account of the presence of Tama-inu-po. All the pa was now sacred, because Tama-inu-po had not yet been baptized by his father.

The tribe now heard that the son of Kokako had arrived. Kokako took his son to the water and baptized him. Tama-inu-po had become so old that a beard had grown on his chin, and from this fact came the name of a daughter of some of his descendants— “Tohi-kumikumi” (baptised after a beard had grown).

Tama-inu-po was baptised; and after the days of being sacred for such act had been fulfilled, and the sanctity had been taken from him, he returned to his wife, the daughter of Mahanga, and his children.

The descendants of Tama-inu-po are now a tribe, and are called Nga-ti-tama-inu-po, whose head chief at the present day is the Rev. William Barton, minister of the Wesleyan Church in Wai-kato.

Whare And Tapa-Ue.(Nga-Ti -Mahuta.)

Whare (house) and Tapa-ue (trembling rim) lived in their pa at Te-ua-pata (drops of rain), and had not any land on which to cultivate the kumara for themselves and their people, as that on which they lived was mostly swamp, being situated on a branch creek of the Manga-wara (branch of the indistinct murmur), at Komako-rau (hundred of Anthornis melanura), opposite Tau-piri (the constant beloved one), where they lived page 180 on the Kowharawhara (Astelia banksii); and hence the following sayings, which are repeated by the Wai-kato people when they quarrel with the descendants of Whare and Tapa-ue:—

Go to Te-ua-pata,
And eat that of which
Your ancestors partook,
The kowharawhara (Astelia banksii)

Also the following ditty was composed by members of the tribe Nga-ti-te-wewehi, when they heard a dispute between the descendants of Whare and Tapa-ue and Nga-ti-mahuta about land:—

O Mahuta! O Mahuta!
Return to Te-ua-pata
Where the kowharawhara
Is the only food
To sustain the inner man.

Whare and Tapa-ue lived at their home, but, as kowharawhara was their only food, they felt a constant lack of nourishment to sustain them in the full vigour of life. They thought they would go and offer to assist the people of Kai-to-tehe (eat the shrivelled-up) to plant their crop of kumara. They sent a messenger to Ira-nui (great wart) to say, “Whare and Tapa-ue say they will with their body of workmen set your crop of kumara.” Ira-nui answered, “Yes; you shall plant one half of the ground, and we will plant the other.”

The messenger returned, and reported that Ira-nui and his tribe had assented to their proposal. Whare and Tapa-ue called their people together, and ordered them to make a lot of koo (an implement for digging and planting) (d) to use in planting the grounds of Ira-nui; but they instructed their people to make each end of the implement sharp.

People to the number of one hundred and seventy [three hundred and forty] made each a koo, and each koo was made sharp at both ends. They were made thus that the koo might be used as a weapon to kill the people whose grounds they page 181 were to assist in planting, and take possession of the lands of Ira-nui.

The people of Whare and Tapa-ue went to the home of Ira-nui, and joined in the work of cultivating the ground called Hoe-po (paddle in the night). When the day dawned all the people began their work. Whare and Tapa-ue and their people commenced at one side of the plot of ground, and Ira-nui and his tribe began at the other: each party worked towards the other. When they had nearly planted all the ground and each company were near to the other, the men of one company hustled those of the other. They amused themselves thus in jest, as was the custom of a tribe who were planting the kumara crop. The men of Whare and Tapa-ue, at a given signal from their leaders, stabbed the people of Ira-nui with the sharp point of the upper end of their koos. The attacked fled, and were pursued and killed by the enemy. Some were taken prisoners, others escaped, and Whare and Tapa-ue took possession of the land called Hoe-po.

Those of Ira-nui who escaped obtained the assistance of the tribes of Wai-kato, and in a body came and attacked Whare and Tapa-ue, but were repulsed, beaten, and pursed by Whare and Tapa-ue.

The land at Hoe-po was now divided between the people of Whare and Tapa-ue, and each spot where a warrior of Whare and Tapa-ue had killed his enemy such warrior claimed, and called the spot by the name of the killed man.

Whare and Tapa-ue had thus proved the prowess of their people; and now they attacked the other tribes of Wai-kato, some of whom they took prisoners, and kept them as vassals, by which they could prove their right to the lands held by them, and also that they could make use of them to cultivate their crops and catch eels. Thus have the descend ants of these conquered tribes remained vassals to their conquerors to this day.

But the time came, when Whare and Tapa-ue were attacked by a great body of warriors, who found Whare at his settlement page 182 with his people; but Tapa-ue was at Te-ua-pata, and only one hundred men [two hundred] were with Whare. Now, in the days when Whare and Tapa-ue had attacked the tribes of Wai-kato (soon after they had taken the land Hoe-po), Whare and Tapa-ue had attacked and beaten all the tribes even to Manuka (regret), and all the occupants of the pas around Auckland had been conquered by them at that time, and Mount Eden and all the other pas taken.

One thousand [two thousand] warriors attacked Whare and his one hundred [two hundred] men. This attacking party consisted of those who had escaped of the tribes which had been driven from the pas around Auckland, aided by those who had escaped of the people of Ira-nui in the battle of Hoe-po. This attack on Whare was in retaliation for the defeat of the Wai-kato and Manuka tribes. Whare gave battle to the thousand warriors. Each party fought bravely till the dusk of evening, and Whare had received eight spear-wounds, but in the excitement of the battle did not feel the pain of his wounds. Night closed in, and each party occupied the possessions they held when the battle ceased to rage. A message was sent to Tapa-ue, who was at Te-ua-pata, with his seventy [one hundred and forty]. When they heard Whare had been attacked they at once started to his succour. They found him laid before a fire, scorching his wounds to cure them. Tapa-ue gave Whare a kick, and repeated the proverb of their mother,—

Why did you greedily devour
The battle of the twins of Puaki?

Whare answered by saying:—

The deed is not yet complete:
Your elders still wait for you.

Tapa-ue at once gave battle to the thousand warriors, and his elder brother Whare again went into the fray. The thousand gave way and fell back to a reserve which had kept in the rear. One of the warriors of this reserve called Ka-wheke (will creak) came out and challenged Tapa-ue. He had a deformity, which page 183 was of such length that it was an inconvenient appendage, and he was obliged to carry a mat tied in front of him to hide his person. Tapa-ue made a blow at him with his weapon; he parried it, and with a blow felled Tapa-ue to the earth, and held him down. Tapa-ue struggled, and the mat tied in front of Ka-wheke became unloosed, and Tapa-ue took hold of his deformity, and eventually threw him on the ground and killed him. The battle raged all that day, and before the sun had set Whare died of his wounds. When the dawn again appeared Tapa-ue renewed the battle, and the enemy fled and were pursued to another reserve which they had kept in the rear. This reserve charged, and Tapa-ue had to retreat; but Tapa-ue was slain. Tapa-ue had left sons to take his place: these lived till they were of age.

Tapa-ue had four wives, and the last-taken wife was of the tribe with whom Whare and Tapa-ue had been at war in the last-recited battles. The name of his last wife was Te-ata-i-rehia (the dawn at Rehia), who was of the people who occupied the Wai-uku (clay used as soap) district.

The children of this wife lived with their mother and her tribe, who occupied the land between the heads of Wai-kato and Manuka, and inland to Te-whakaupoko (the head). But their home was at Te-pae-o-kai-waka (the ridge cut by the keel of canoes, or where canoes are dragged together) [the creek over which canoes were dragged from the Wai-uku Creek, in the Manuka waters, to the Awa-roa Creek, in the Wai-kato River]. The youngest-born of these children was a boy, and lived with his mother, and was still a child.

After Whare and Tapa-ue were killed the body of Tapa-ue was taken by the tribe of his wife Te-ata-i-rehia, and his bones made into fishing-hooks. This tribe did not respect the fact that a female of rank and of their tribe had been the wife of Tapa-ue, and his bones ought to have been sacred. Though he was a brother-in-law to their chiefs of supreme rank, his bones were used in this degrading and insulting manner.

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The tribe of Te-ata-i-rehia, after the shark-fishing season had passed, had again gone back to reside in the old district at Wai-uku, and she and all her children, with the bones of her husband, had been brought by the tribe to Wai-uku, with the intention to make use of the bones in the Manuka district.

When the fishing season came again, the people of Te-ata-i-rehia went out into the Manuka waters to fish for shark. The youngest-born of Te-ata-i-rehia, whose name was Papaka (crab), accompanied them. The fishermen did not at once catch fish. One of them threw his hook into the water, having fastened to the hook a piece of Tapa-ue's bone as a barb. He waited long and did not catch a shark. Tired of waiting, he called aloud and said,—

O son of Ue!
When shall we
Obtain ours?

A shark took the bait and was caught. Whenever the fish were slow in taking the hook the same words were repeated. Papaka, the boy, heard the words used. Though he knew that Ue-rata (power of the Metrosideros robusta tree) was the father of Tapa-ue and Whare, he was not old enough to guess the allusion to Ue, but kept the words in his memory. When they went on shore he went to his mother and said, “O mother! what is the meaning of the words of the fishermen who, when the shark is long in taking their bait, speak aloud?” She asked, “What are the words they repeat?” The boy said, “When they have been waiting long for a shark to take the hook they say,—

“O son of Ue!
When shall we
Obtain ours?

Then a shark at once takes the hook.”

The mother said to her last-born, “O son! it is your father, it is Tapa-ue, whose bones have been made into fishing-hooks.”

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When he heard the words of his mother he wept. He knew that those who had used his father's bones in this insulting way were his own uncles, the brothers of his own mother. He now remembered the many acts of unkindness his uncles had been guilty of to him.

When the time came each season to take fish in the nets, and skates were caught, and the livers of the skates were roasted, and Papaka had gone up to the fire where the livers were cooked to receive a portion of them, he was pushed away by his uncles, and at such times the little fellow wept in sorrow for their unkindness to him.

The half-brothers of Papaka were living in Wai-kato with the tribes of their mothers.

At last Papaka was spoken to by his mother, who said “Come, my child, go to your elder half-brothers in Wai-kato, and think of some act you can accomplish.” He consented, and said to her, “If after I have left you a party of people arrive here you must get on to the roof of a house.”

Papaka went to Wai-kato, and told his elder half-brothers what had taken place. They called a meeting of the people, and sent messengers over all the country to get the tribes to assist them. When all the sons of Whare and Tapa-ue had assembled, with the assisting tribes they embarked in canoes and paddled down the Wai-kato to the Awa-roa, and went on to Wai-uku and attacked the people of Te-ata-i-rehia. She fled to the roof of a house with her children, and all her people were at the mercy of the attacking war-party. The elder brother of Te-ata-i-rehia saw Papaka, and called to him, saying, “O Papaka! save me;” but he slew him with his weapon, and in the act of striking him Papaka said, “There is the liver of your skate.” And as he slew each of his uncles he repeated the same saying, and killed them all. This he did in remembrance of the livers of the skates from which he had been so unceremoniously pushed aside.

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The following proverb is in respect to the offspring of those who had been slain and conquered by Whare and Tapa-ue in the Manuka district:—

The attendants of Papaka,
Who were slain in forgetfulness.

Papaka had killed the brothers of his mother: hence the proverb so used, meaning that he purposely forgot they were his own kindred.