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The Ancient History of the Maori, His Mythology and Traditions: Tai-Nui. [Vol. V]

Chapter V

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Chapter V.

Wind of the north, thy touch doth
Wake me from my sleep.
One side alone is left. Though seen,
Yet all within me seems
Like clouds upon an airless sky.
I, mother, shall I still remain within my house,
And stay with mine, my best-beloved?
And if I come to thee, what shall
I gain of equal value for the lost?
If I should have an infant child,
It might, like setting sun, sink to the cave
At Haoe-mapu. Oh! let my restless spirit
Dream that thou, O Riki! still art in the world,
And I, with thee, can view the waves
That cover all the sea around the point,
Where life was joy at my own home.
But now, alone, I am alone and desolate.

The Exploits Of Te-Ngako.
(Nga-Ti-Maru.)

This is the account of the origin of Te-ngako, who was a son of Maru-tuahu.

Te-ngako had a son called Kahu-rau-tao (garment used to cover the food cooking in a hangi—oven), and the latter had sons called Kiwi (apteryx), Rau-tao (envelop food cooking in a hangi—oven—with leaves), and Whanga (wait for) —thus:—

A black and white diagram of the whakapapa from Ngako to the children of Kahu-rao-tao.

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Kiwi, the eldest son of Kahu-rau-tao, took to wife Nga-whakawanga (the investigations), daughter of Hape (bandy-leg), who was son of Koroki (utter), who was the ancestor of the Nga-ti-koroki Tribe, which resides at the Maunga-tautari (mountain of the small sticks used in a Maori house to support the battens to which the kakaho—reeds— are fastened). So that Kahu-rau-tao was by marriage related to the Wai-kato people.

Soon after the marriage of Kiwi, Kahu-rau-tao took a journey into Wai-kato to pay a visit to the people to whom his son was related, and also to fetch a pataka whakairo (carved storehouse) which was the property of the parents of his son's wife, Nga-whakawanga. His son Kiwi accompanied his father Kahu-rau-tao to Wai-kato to fetch the carved storehouse called by some Te-hunga-o-te-toroa (the down of the albatross), but by others it was called Hine-wai (spirit-daughter).

When the two had arrived in Wai-kato the carved storehouse was taken to pieces for them and put into a canoe, to be brought by way of the Awa-roa (long creek) and Manuka (regret), so that it might be brought through Tamaki (start involuntarily) on its way to Hau-raki (dry wind). But this was not the principal reason for bringing this house by way of Manuka. Kahu-rau-tao went by way of Tamaki so that he might visit the tribes there, who were of the Wai-o-hua (the calabash for water of Hua), and also to fetch the two pieces of pounamu (two greenstones) which that people had for him, because the chiefs of the Wai-o-hua had become related to Kahu-rau-tao. These were two hei-tiki (representing Tiki) (greenstone ornaments to wear on the chest) which Kahu was now on his journey to receive. One was called Tai-paroro (tide of bad weather), and Whakarewa (cause to float; or start on a war-expedition) was the name of the other.

When Kahu arrived at Tamaki he went to one of the pas of Te-wai-o-hua—that is, he went to that of his relatives—where the two hei-tikis were given to him. As soon as he had received page 69 them the Wai-o-hua people proposed amongst themselves to murder Kahu-rau-tao. To insure this some of them went to a distance on the road on which Kahu would have to travel, and waited for him— to insure Kahu being some distance from the home of the Wai-o-hua Tribe and of the place where their leading chief lived, so that they could murder him. When Kahu had gone some distance from the pa of the Wai-o-hua he was murdered by these men; but they also murdered Kiwi with his father, and hung the body of Kiwi up in a tree at O-rere (fleeing) Point: and hence the following words in the dirge composed by Tara-wai-kato (activity of the dagger of Wai-kato) on the death of these two:—

O son of Kahu! maybe you are
Now nipped by the cold wind's blast.

The wife of Kiwi was now a widow, and Rau-tao, the younger brother of Kiwi, took the widow of his elder brother to wife, by whom he had children, who were the ancestors of Nga-ti-maru.

Rau-tao and his younger brother Whanga lived in constant sorrow for the murder of their father and elder brother, for whose death satisfaction had not been obtained, when a chief called Ra-muri (day after), a grandson of Whanaunga (relative), the son of Maru-tu-ahu and his wife Pare-moehau, uttered this proverbial saying for the information of Rau-tao, who was the grandson of Te-ngako, and son of Maru-tu-ahu and his wife Hine-urunga:—

O son of Kahu! perhaps you
Are sleeping with your feet drawn up,
While I am here sleeping with my feet extended.

The meaning of these words was, the death of Kahu-rau-tao had not been avenged by his son Rau-tao. After these had been uttered Rau-tao felt himself constantly urged to avenge the death of his father. To attain this object he collected his warriors together and went on a war-expedition. Having gone to the Tamaki district, he saw the Wai-o-hua people come out of their forts, and a battle ensued. Rau-tao took the lead in the battle, page 70 and killed the Mataa-ngohi (first killed), and then the Tatao (second killed); then the Wai-o-hua fled, and were pursued up to their forts by Rau-tao and his warriors, who took one of the forts, and then charged on the others. They took all the forts the remains of which are now seen on the extinct volcanic hills in the Tamaki district. All these forts were taken by Rau-tao in revenge for the murder of his father by the Wai-o-hua, as these pas (forts) were owned and occupied by the Wai-o-hua tribes. The pas were called Maunga-whau (Mount Eden), Maunga-rei (Mount Wellington), Maunga-taketake, and Totara-i-a-hua (One-tree Hill). These were attacked and taken in one day.

The war-party of Rau-tao went back to Hau-raki, and there lived with quiet heart, as the death of his father had been avenged by Rau-tao and his people. But Rau-tao again thought of the words of Ra-muri, and imagined that there were two meanings to the words he had uttered—one was because of the death of his (Rau-tao's) father, which then had not been avenged, and the second, that he was “sleeping with his feet drawn up” on account of scarcity of food. Rau-tao therefore ordered great crops to be planted, and he set great crops, because he was the son of Maru-tu-ahu, the great cultivator. At the time when the crops should be taken into store, and when these were housed, a messenger was sent from Rau-tao to invite Ra-muri to a feast provided for him by Rau-tao. A large house was built by Rau-tao in which to entertain his guests, the tribe of Ra-muri; but a partition was put up in it which divided the house into two compartments, that one half could be occupied by the guests, while the other was for the use of the cooks, in which to cook the food for the feast.

When the fires had been lighted to heat the stones of the hangis (ovens) the guests were outside of this house, but so soon as the ovens had been covered up the guests came inside, but were not aware that food was cooking in ovens in one end page 71 of the house in which they were then entertained. When the ovens had been long covered up, and the food in them was cooked, Rau-tao ordered the partition which divided the house to be taken down. The ovens were uncovered, and the steam of the cooking kumara filled the whole house and hid the guests, who also swallowed much of the steam, and felt over-hot, and perspired. But Rau-tao had an object in thus treating his guest and the people of Ra-muri. Because of the words which had been uttered by Ra-muri, Rau-tao put his guests into a house where the steam of cooking food might make them warm. Now, for the steam of cooking food to come on a Maori is a very evil thing, and to be treated thus was to degrade those who might be the victims of such act. Ra-muri said to Rau-tao, “Your act, O my younger brother! was a murderous act against me.”

Rau-tao said in answer, “My work is different from your work. You cultivate food. You utter a proverbial saying to me; and in my thus acting you see the effects of cultivating food, and hence you utter words of pity on yourself.” Thus Rau-tao was avenged of all the evils that had befallen him on account of the murder of his father and the taunt contained in the proverbial saying which Ra-muri had uttered to him.

No further acts of war were taken against the Wai-o-hua, nor did the Wai-o-hua ever attempt to be avenged on Rau-tao for his attack on them, and for the pas he had taken in the Tamaki district. Nor was there ever after this any further war between these two tribes. So ends this part of the history.

The Supreme Or Head Chiefs Of the Pas In the Tamaki District. (Aki-Tai.)

The pa called the Totara-a-hua was so called from the totara-tree of Hua: and the tribe Wai-o-hua was so called from the calabash of Hua; hence the “water of Hua.” These are the chiefs of the Wai-o-hua Tribe: Hua (fruit) was lord of all the Tamaki page 72 district in his day.

Wawara (indistinct sound) was supreme chief of the Maunga-whau (Mount Eden). Mahi-tokotoko (action with a staff) was supreme chief of the Remu-wera (burnt skirt of a garment) Pa. Mahi-korero (the speaker) was supreme chief of Maunga-rahiri (hill of Rahiri—welcome). Pou-tu-keka (standing deranged with grief) was killed by eating some kanae (mullet) which had been bewitched, at the pa situated at Puke-tutu (hill of the Coriaria ruscifolia). Pou-tu-keka had come from Wai-kato to the Tamaki country in consequence of his brother having been drowned in that district. He was one of the progenitors of the Nga-ti-paoa Tribe.

Totara-i-ahua was another name for the same pa which is called Maunga-kiekie. This is the song to the words of which the people of those pas danced their war-dances. It is called a “Hau-taua” (the power or spirit of a war-party):—

One man was driven to Kawhia,
And was Tai-nui alone.
Feed Oho-nui (the cannibal)
With dog at Whiti (Fiji).
O Mata-parapara! awake—
Thou and Kai-tangata.
The blowfly murmurs now,
And, oh! the remnants are of
Mata-i-rangi-ka.
The blowfly murmurs now.

Maki (invalid) the son of Tai-hua (flood-tide), and Maki the elder, killed Whauwhau (Schefflera digitata) at the pa called Raro-tonga (lower south).

A black and white diagram of the whakapapa to Te-ata-i-rehia.

(See next page.)

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Three black and white diagrams of whakapapa.

(See next page.)

* Tara-peka was murdered at Apa-kai, and his flesh was eaten by Kiwi; hence the name of Kiwi.

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A black and white diagram of the whakapapa of Tihi.

This is how Hua and his descendants stand, and his offspring:—

A black and white diagram of the whakapapa from Hua.

Kahu-Rau-Tao. (Nga-Ti-Mahuta.)

Kahu-rau-tao (enveloped with leaves while cooking) was murdered, and for this the pas Mokoia (tattoo [him]) and Tau-rere (the absconding beloved) were attacked and taken.

Kahu-rau-tao was of the Nga-ti-maru Tribe, of Hau-raki (the Thames), who came on a visit from the Thames to O-tahuhu (ridge-pole), and there saw some of the people of Tai-nui, who murdered him; and hence the Nga-ti-maru attacked and took the following pas (forts) in revenge for this murder. These were the pas taken: Mau-inaina (mountain on which to sit and bask in the sun), Tau-rere (fleeing beloved), Mokoia (tattoo [him]). And these pas also were taken for the same evil act, but at various other times: Papa-o-tama-te-ra (the home of Tama-te-ra—child of the sun), Kohi-marama (wasting away each month), Taka-runga (fall upwards; the Flagstaff Hill at Auckland), Te-pupuke page 75 (spring up as water), O-rewa (float away), Mahurangi (pulp or heart of the kumara), Mau-tohora (the caught whale), Te-ti-raurau (the peg), Te-uru-tonga (grove in the south), Te-ngaere (tremble as a bog), and Pakiri (grin).

The Murder In Which Kahu-Rau-Tao Was Killed.
(Aki-Tai.)

The reason the people of the pas Mokoia and Tau-rerere were attacked and the pas taken was because of the murder of the Nga-ti-maru chief called Kahu-rau-tao by the people of Tai-nui. The Nga-ti-maru made war on the Tai-nui, and took these pas for the murder of this man. Kahu-rau-tao came from Hau-raki to pay a visit to his relations who were living with the Tai-nui people in their pas (forts), and the people of Tai-nui murdered him; and for this act the Nga-ti-maru attacked and stormed those pas called Mau-inaina, Tau-rerere, Mokoia, Papa-o-tama-te-ra, Kohi-marama, Taka-puna, Te-pupuke, O-rewa, Mahurangi, Mau-tohora, Ti-raurau, Uru-tonga, Ngaere, and Pakiri.

And for the same act—that of the murder of Kahu-rau-tao—these pas were also attacked by Te-taniwha (the goblin) and taken: O-rakei (the space measured by one step of the foot, one stride), Taurarua (witchcraft). In this war Kiwi, senior, was killed.

The reason for the attack on the pa called Maunga-whau (Mount Eden) by the Nga-ti-tama-te-ra was on account of the sea god or goblin called U-reia (rush for the breast), which was killed by the Tai-nui people at Pu-ponga (trumpet made of the ponga—Cyathea dealbata or medullara).

This goblin U-reia was thought to be a god, a strange being belonging to the Nga-ti-tama-te-ra Tribe; and when the Tai-nui people from Manuka went on a visit to those of the Thames, when the Tai-nui returned to their home their head chief invited U-reia to take a voyage from Hau-raki round the North Cape to the entrance of the Manuka Harbour, so that the Tai-nui page 76 chief might give the sweet-scented grasses called karetu (Hierochloe redolens), papau-rangi, or, as it is sometimes called, manehu (not known), tara-mea (Aciphylla squarrosa), and all the sweet-scented grasses with which the Maori used to scent oil, as there was an abundance of those grasses growing on the heads of the Manuka Harbour.

U-reia went from Hau-raki to the heads of the Manuka Harbour; but when this goblin got there the Tai-nui people had made a house in which the ancients caught monsters of the sea, and in this house U-reia was caught by the Tai-nui people, and killed and eaten. The monster was caught in the Manuka River opposite the Pu-ponga Point; and hence the Nga-ti-maru attacked and took the pa at Maunga-whau (Mount Eden), and killed, cooked, and ate the people, and Kiwi, junior, was taken and killed in this battle. And on account of this attack, and from the number of slain at that time this pa became sacred ever after, and has not again up to the present time been occupied as a fort; and even when the Europeans came they found this fort quite stripped of its defences and of all appearance of a pa (fort).

Also, the pa called the Totara-i-ahua (the totara-tree used as an altar) was so named because of the totara-tree used as an altar at the time of the baptism of Koro-kino (evil fifth day of the moon's age), the head chief of the Nga-ti-awa Tribe. The Tai-nui people occupied the Tamaki district. They were the first men who lived in that part of these Islands. But when the Nga-ti-awa Tribe migrated from Tara-naki, and went north to the land and district occupied by the Nga-puhi (the plume) Tribe, and to the district of the Nga-ti-whatua (the back of the driving sea), the Nga-ti-awa occupied the pas (forts) in the Tamaki district; and when the Nga-ti-awa migrated to the south again in the days of Kauri (Dammara australis) some of them went by way of Tauranga, and the rest again went back by the west coast to Tara-naki. Then the Tai-nui again occupied their old pas and took possession of their old domain at Tamaki; and page 77 it was in the days when Nga-ti-awa held possession of the Tamaki District that Koro-kino was born, and the pa Totara-i-ahua was named “Totara-i-ahua,” as the totara-tree then growing on that pa was used as an altar on which to place the offerings given to the gods at the baptism of a child. And this totara-tree was supposed to be the tree that had grown from the twig that had been tied round the child's waist when the umbilical cord was cut.

In the days of Toto-ka-rewa (blood become liquid), the supreme chief of Nga-ti-paoa, a battle took place at Taupo (rhyolite), a little south of Te-wai-roa (long water), east of Howick, inshore of the islands of Pakihi (dead low water) and Po-nui (great night). This was fought by the Kawe-rau (carry the leaf) (d) and the Nga-i-tahuhu, under the leadership of Maeaea (take up a crop), against Nga-ti-paoa. The latter were beaten by Maeaea; but Toto-ka-rewa was killed by the Kawe-rau Tribe, and his bones were made into hooks, and used off the Kawau (shag) Island to catch sharks. The Nga-ti-paoa attacked the pas (forts) at Mahurangi in retaliation for this act of using the bones of Toto-ka-rewa in such an insulting manner, and took all the land in the Mahurangi district as far south as Wai-te-mata (water of the obsidian) for the insult offered to the bones of Toto-ka-rewa.

Maunga-Whau (Entelea Arborescens) (Mount Eden).
(Te-Aki-Tai.)

The fort at Mount Eden was attacked and taken by the Nga-ti-maru Tribe (of the Thames) in revenge for the sea-goblin known by the name of U-reia (the breast rushed for), which was killed by the Tai-nui Tribe, the occupants of Mount Eden, off Pu-ponga (trumpet made of ponga wood).

U-reia was a sea-goblin owned by the Nga-ti-tama-te-ra, of Hau-raki (quiet wind); and a chief of Tai-nui, who was on a visit to the Thames, told that goblin to go to the entrance of the Manuka Harbour, as there, and on the banks of that river, there were growing plenty of those sweet-scented grasses called page 78 karetu (Hierochloe redolens), papau-rangi or manehu (not known), and tara-mea (Aciphylla squarrosa), with other kinds of sweet-scented grasses.

U-reia went, and when seen off Pu-ponga by the Tai-nui people they made a house in which sea-goblins are caught, and placed it in midstream of the river, where they caught U-reia and killed him; and for this the forts of Mount Eden and Totara-i-ahua (One Tree Hill) were attacked and taken, and the people slain, by the Nga-ti-tama-te-ra.

U-Reia And Haumia. (Nga-Ti-Maru.)

In the days of olden times the goblin U-reia lived at Hau-raki (the Thames). At the same time a goblin called Haumia (fern-root) lived at the heads of the Manuka River. Haumia swam by sea and went towards Hau-raki to pay a visit to U-reia, and invited him to go back to Manuka.

When U-reia saw Haumia, U-reia asked, “Why did you swim to this place? Is there nice food at your place?”

Haumia said, “Yes, the food of my place is exceedingly nice—it is plentiful and rich.”

U-reia asked, “What sort of food is there at your place?”

Haumia answered, “Food is plentiful there, and there is a vast amount of property at my place. There is the huia bird (Neomorpha gouldii), the kotuku bird (white crane), the shrub raukawa (an odoriferous plant), taramea (Aciphylla squarrosa), kopuru (sweet-scented moss), manehu (sweet-scented shrub), and tawiri (syn. kohuhu or kohukohu—Pittosporum tenuifolium).”

U-reia said, “Let us two swim to that place, that I may see the valuables there.”

Haumia said, “You go first, so that you may see the wealth of my place.”

U-reia came out of his cave and swam in the direction of the home of Haumia; but as soon as U-reia had come out of his cave Haumia shut the entrance. When U-reia saw what Haumia had done he began to doubt the truth of Haumia's protestations, and said, “Ha! then [you are] Haumia, who causes page 79 goblins to swim [invites them to go on a voyage].” They swam on, and arrived at Pu-ponga, where the people had made goblin-houses in which to catch U-reia. U-reia went right into one of these, and was caught and killed by the people there; and this was the origin of the war between the tribes of Hau-raki and the tribes of Manuka.

Goblin-House. (Nga-Ti-Te-Ata.)

This is an account of a house in which to catch and kill a goblin—that is, a house made by a company of people who weave the material for such, and not make it of part wood as other houses are made.

When the people have determined to go and catch (kill) a taniwha (goblin), a raft made of the raupo (Typha angustifolia) is formed, and on it is built a house woven by the people, in which not any wood is used, but only reeds, flax, and grass. In this is put some of the flesh of a seal, and the raft is taken out into midstream of a river and there anchored. When the goblin smells the seal's flesh it climbs on to the raft and enters the house; and when the people see it enter they all with one voice cry aloud and say, “O Rongo! let your belt be held fast, and be strong;” and go and kill the goblin.

When the people are making the raft, and also making the goblin-house on it, they make very small baskets in which to hold the food they are to eat whilst they are thus employed. The names of these small baskets are “goblin-baskets.” The reason these baskets are made so small is that the food contained in them may all be consumed before the goblin comes, and before he attempts to get on to the raft.

Totara-I-A-Hua. (Te-Aki-Tai.)

The tree which stood in the pa (fort) known by the name of the “Totara-i-a-hua” (the totara-tree of Hua) was a tree which grew from the twig which was used at the baptism of Koro-kino (evil person), the chief of Nga-ti-awa.

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Toto-Ka-Rewa. (Nga-Ti-Mahuta.)

Toto-ka-rewa (blood that becomes liquid) was killed at Taupo (bark as a dog at night), a little to the east of Te-wai-roa (long water), not far from the island called Pakihi (low water), in the Hau-raki (Thames), in the battle fought between the Kawe-rau and Nga-i-tahuhu. Maeaea (rise to sight again and again in the water) was the chief leader of the Nga-i-tahuhu, who were assisted in this battle by the Nga-ti-paoa Tribe. The bones of Te-karewa [Toto-ka-rewa] were made into fishing hooks, and used to fish for shark near the island Kawau (shag); and hence the attack made on, and the killing of, the people of Mahu-rangi (day when the storm abated) by the Nga-ti-paoa Tribe, by which the Nga-ti-paoa took the land of that district.

Toto-Ka-Rewa. (Te-Aki-Tai.)

Toto-ka-rewa was killed in a battle at Tau-po, near Hau-raki. The battle was fought by Maeaea and Nga-ti-paoa. The bones of Toto-ka-rewa were used as fishing-hooks by the Kawe-rau (carry the leaf) Tribe near to Tiritiri-matangi (blustering wind), and hence the killing of the Mahu-rangi people by the Nga-ti-paoa. Here also the Nga-ti-paoa took that land called Whanga-paraoa (whale harbour), and held it as their property.

The Ana-Parapara Cave At Manuka.
(Nga-Ti-Kahu-Koka.)

In the time of ancient days—that is, in the space when our ancestors lived in times long past—it is said the swell of the sea did not come near to the present mouth of the Manuka Harbour, and a great flat space of land occupied the place where the sea-coast now is. This flat was covered by a dense scrub, with lakes in which eels were plentiful; and our ancestors caught eels in those lakes by torchlight. Some of the very old men told our ancestors that they had caught eels by torchlight, and had collected sea-birds'eggs, on the level country spoken of.

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That space of flat land in which the kumara was cultivated was called Papa-kiekie (flat land of Freycinetia banksii). It extended from the Muri-wai (west coast) even to Kari-oi (loiter). In the days when this flat land was occupied with the cultivations of the kumara-crop, the bank known as Taporapora (baskets in which the fish inanga—Elacotris basalis—is collected before it is cooked), in the Kai-para (eat the paraa—Marattia salicina) Harbour, was occupied by the descendants of Tama-te-kapua. It had formerly been occupied by a more ancient people; but it was now held by the descendants of those who arrived there in the canoe called Mahuhu (slip as a knot). The crew had remained here and built a whare-kura (temple) on Taporapora. And in those days the Wai-roa (long water) was separate from the Kai-para in its confluence with the sea, as the flat called Taporapora was situate between the mouths of these rivers; and it is only in the years since that time that Taporapora has been swept out to the sea, and the mouths of the Rivers Wai-roa and Kai-para have become one. The marae (courtyard) and the temple which were on Taporapora were very sacred, because all the sacred property was kept there for many generations from the days that the canoe Mahuhu arrived in that district.

The descendants of those who came in the Mahuhu lived in the caves on the west coast between Kai-para and Manuka, in the Ana-parapara (sacred place; the offering of the first fruits of the fishing season), at the entrance of the Manuka River; and the caves at the Ana-whata (cave bridged), at Wai-takere (the bed of the river), were occupied by those people. They lived on roi (fern-root), panahi (convolvulus), birds' eggs, and fish. Some of them were killed and others driven away from the district by the descendants of Tama-te-kapua (who had come from Cape Colville), and some became amalgamated with Tearawa descendants of Tama-te-kapua people, who at that time became their masters. It was the Nga-ti-whatua (the sacred power behind the sea-coast) and the descendants of Kahuunuunu (who pulls his garment off over his head) who drove page 82 the Arawa back to their country—to the lakes at Roto-rua—and left the land for the Nga-ti-whatua. Kauri (ancient offspring) was driven from the north end of the east coast of the North Island by the Nga-ti-whatua. Kauri was of the Arawa people, and was driven away, and took up his abode with his people at Tauranga; and that portion of the Nga-puhi (the seaplume), the descendants of Uri-o-pou (descendants of Pou-root, origin), took the land and occupied it, and their descendants occupy it to this day. This account will be continued, and all given at some future time.

The Origin Of the Name Rau-Kawa—that is, Of Nga-Ti-Rau-Kawa. (Nga-Ti-Te-Ata.)

In the days when Tu-rongo lived death came on some of the tribe, and Tu-rongo put on weeds of mourning for the dead. He put on the leaves of the kawakawa (Piper excelsum), and covered his head with them; so that when his wife had a child after this event the name given to that child was Rau-kawa (leaves of the Piper excelsum), and the child so called was the ancestor of the tribe known by the name of Nga-ti-rau-kawa (descendants of Rau-kawa).

The Nga-ti-rua-nui Tribe gave a wife to Tu-rongo, and she was called Rua-pu-te-hanga (pit of property); but after they had been married for some time a chief called Whati-hua (break the lever) took the wife from Tu-rongo, and had a son, whom they called Ue-nuku-tu-whatu (rainbow with hailstones), who turned himself into a taniwha (goblin), and became a block of stone. This block of stone stands on the bank of the Awa-roa (long-water creek), in the Kawhia district; and married women who have not any children perform ceremonies and chant incantations to this stone goblin, that they may become mothers, and have a child to nurse.

The Deeds Of Tu-Raunga-Tao. (Nga-Ti-Mahuta.)

Tu-raunga-tao (Tu the collector of spears) lived at his place at Horo-tiu (swift departure), and a war-party were on the road page 83 proceeding to his settlement to kill him; so Tu-raunga-tao collected his party, and waited for them on the marae (courtyard) of his settlement. The war-party rushed into the settlement, and Tu-raunga-tao and his party fled, and escaped death from the weapons of the attacking foe.

Tu-raunga-tao was a man who had a numerous family of children; but as he fled he did not attempt to save any of these from the hands of his enemies, but fled alone: to save his own life was the only object of his hurried escape. Even his own wife was not assisted by him. He fled, and left her and his children to the mercy of the enemy. But when his wife saw him fleeing, and not looking at her or his children, she called to him and said, “O father! I and our children are left.” He fled away, and as he escaped he called to her and said, “You and our children being left is nothing: there are many children to be obtained by us where those came from. The tide of the circumcision ever flows.” He fled, and left his wife and family to be killed by the foe.

He fled with his sub-tribe, and was pursued by the enemy on a road that led along the bank of the Horo-tiu River. He and his people wished to escape to the other side of the river; but the river was wide, and they had not any canoe by which to cross. They could not jump it, it was so wide, and in swimming across they would be overtaken by the enemy; so his people called to Tu-raunga-tao as they fled, and asked, “O Tu-raungatao! how shall we be able to get across [the river]?” He answered, “We shall see when we are weary.” That is, we shall cross at some narrow part of the river. And they all ran on towards the narrowest parts of the river, where they were able to cross, and the enemy could not follow them.

Tu-raunga-tao and his people went and took possession of a district, and lived there. At a certain time his people asked Tu-raunga-tao, “How can we be avenged for our defeat and expulsion from our home?” He answered them, “There is not any difficulty in the matter. Propagate the rengarenga page 84 (Arthropodium cirrhatum) by setting its seeds, and also bring into full ripeness the kawa-riki (a certain plant; or some may think it a shrub).”

The meaning of the words repeated by Tu-raunga-tao in regard to “children still being procurable from where they had been obtained,” and also in regard to “the tide of the circumcision still flowing,” was that he and his wife would be able to have children in future in the same way as they had had them in the past. And the meaning of this sentence, “We shall see when we are weary,” was that they would be able to cross the river at some narrow part. And the meaning of the words in regard to the seeds of the rengarenga and kawariki is this: Propagate men till there is a multitude; then with such take ample revenge for the defeat. These sentences of Tu-raunga-tao were repeated, and are now used as proverbs.