Title: Revenge: A Love Tale of the Mount Eden Tribe

Author: John White

Editor: Alexander Wyclif Reed

Publication details: Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd, 1940, Wellington

Part of: Nineteenth-Century Novels Collection

License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand Licence

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Chapter Twelve: The Story Told by Maro's Mother

Popo was now under the treatment of Koma, who put him into steam baths and rubbed him each day with the oil obtained from the titoki ¹ berry. This had a good effect upon him, and he soon became convalescent, and regained his appetite, so that he wished to return to Mount Eden. One day Koma, Reko and his elderly relative went with Popo in a canoe and landed at Te To and proceeded up the ridge leading to Mount Eden. As soon as they were seen descending to the spring at which the people of Mount Eden obtained their water, the people in the pa waved their garments and loudly welcomed Popo. When he had gained the marae he sat down, and all the people assembled, and wept over him for joy that he had recovered from his illness, and a feast was made.

In the assembly were some of the Tipitai people who had come to learn why we had not been to fish for shark at Puponga. Rehia had sent a message to Popo to say that if he cared to go to Tipitai, there was a lot page 225 of dried shark for his tribe. We listened to the message, and at once the young men, and some of the young women, whispered to each other and said they would go if Popo wished to go.

One young man rose and said, "O Popo, do not think we are unable to take you to Awhitu if you like. You have been at a papaki kaka, and if you can go to that, surely a journey to Awhitu will not be a greater labour. That is all I wish to say."

An older chief said, "Why should our son go to the place where there is one who has already been given to a chief of Waikato? Why go there, if you cannot obtain the gift that is worth many sharks. Can our relatives say if Tiriwa has been to Awhitu of late? If he has, what was said, and what was done? When we hear this, then we shall know how to act."

An old man of the Tipitai party now rose. His face was only half tattooed from the fact that, as he was undergoing the process in order to please the girl who had consented to marry him, she died. He would not be tattooed any more, and had not, in all his life, made love to any other girl. He said, "You all know that I am descended from a younger branch of the family than the young men who accompanied me here. But on account of my age, I am the head or leader of our party. Yet I must allow my senior in rank to answer the questions we have been asked. I will sit down."

Now a fine young man stood up. He had some huia feathers in his hair, a dog-skin mat over his shoulders and a mere in his hand, and a large mako tooth in his right ear. He said, "Fathers, chiefs and people, young men do not speak in the presence of the old men. But in this instance, as we came to bring the message of Ata-Rehia to you, and our father and page 226 priest who is with your tribe has asked us to answer certain questions, and as I am known to you all, you will expect me to reply.

"We are asked if Tiriwa has been to Awhitu of late. He has not been there in person since a short time after Popo and his friends were there. At that time he came in answer to a message sent by Ata to him to come and fetch some dried shark which had been kept for him. He came and demanded Ata, but she refused to go with him to Waikato, and said she would never be his wife. Her father was very angry with her, but she defied him and would not accept: Tiriwa as her husband. Our great priest Ha Kawau agreed with what Ata-Rehia had said, and as Tiriwa was about to leave he threatened that he would come with a war-party and take her by force, as she had been betrothed to him years ago. Ha Kawau answered him in the same defiant spirit.

"Tiriwa went to his home, and one day just at dawn, many moons after he had left, a large party of women headed by the mother of Tiriwa rushed with their weapons into our settlement at Tipitai, and entered the house of Ata's father. But Ata was not there. The women stormed and danced and made threats of the evil that would come to our tribe if we did not give Ata up to them. As they were women, we all sat in silence, not daring to fight with women, especially as they were of very high rank. Tiriwa's mother became so enraged that she ordered her people to take away our best kanae net from the stage on which it was kept. This they did, and left our settlement and, as we supposed, went to their home. We did nothing to regain the net, nor did we say where Ata-Rehia was.

"Not many moons passed before a messenger page 227 came for the father of Ata-Rehia to go to Puketapu to see Ha Kawau. He left us, but did not ask anyone to accompany him. As we all know, there is a pit in which lives a taniwha on the road leading from the beach on the Manuka to the Puketapu pa. As soon as Hau had left the pa and was out of sight, a number of our young chiefs, of whom I was one, followed him. We went on till we could see the top of the dividing range and sat down to see the chief pass it. He went over it and we hastened on and saw him near Puketapu, when suddenly we heard a loud sound of weeping. We continued on and got near the pa and went round to the north and into the shade of a clump of trees. From the edge of this forest we could see the foot of the pa, and in particular that part which is gained by inyone coming from the west coast. At some distance towards the sea a number of men were sitting, amongst whom we could detect Tiriwa. They were crouching down and waving their hands to and fro and weeping in chorus. In front of them and nearer to the pa were the bodies of men who appeared to be dead. They were right in front of the gateway to the pa.

"This gateway was in the form of a large, tattooed or carved figure of a man, and to enter the pa, it was necessary to pass between the legs of this great puhi ² figure. The bodies were lying with their heads towards the puhi as if they had fallen forward and died. Hau had passed through the legs of the puhi and was in the pa.

"Tiriwa and his companions wept loud and long, but at last Tiriwa looked up, wiped the tears from his eyes, and stood up and said, 'Cease to weep and let me speak. Death is near to us, but Ha Kawau may not be so fierce as we suppose. I will call to him.' He page 228 then called in a loud voice, 'Ha Kawau, O Ha Kawau, let me see your body.' Ha Kawau came and stood between the legs of his puhi god. Then he bowed down, put his hand up over his eyes and looked towards the dead and then towards Tiriwa. The wooden puhi god gave a loud moan. Tiriwa said, 'How may I get back to my home? I have chanted all the sacred incantations, but I have no power to walk. Let me go home and you can bury the dead. They are your relatives as well as mine.'

"Ha Kawau rose and stood erect, and said, 'The gods know best. You came here by the power of your gods, and now you ask me to let you return. I am an old man, but I have heard the threats of younger men, and I have seen them cry in terror. You can go home. I will not keep you. I will chant my spells till you arrive at the seashore. But listen to my word. When vou get home, tell those women who came to take Rehia from Awhitu to come here at once. Come with them that you may take your dead to the cave where chiefs are laid, or bury them in the sandhills. Do as I tell you and let these women come here. They were bold and daring enough to attempt to take my daughter. Now let them show their bravery in handling the dead who have been killed by the gods.'

"Tiriwa and his followers rose and went southward, descending the sandy valley to the coast. As it was low tide they were able to pass along the sea-coast to the Waikato heads, where they embarked in their canoes and went up the river with flood tide to their home at Tuakau.

"Some days before the women had gone to Awhitu to take Rehia, our old priest Ha Kawau had come down from Puketapu and had taken Rehia to that pa. There she lived in his charge. She had become like a skeleton, page 229 and Ha Kawau was attending to her. She has lived there ever since.

"Soon after the women had left Awhitu, one of the Wai-uku people came to our pa at Tipitai and told us of some women who had been seen at Te Maioro, but as they had not visited Wai-uku, the tribe could not imagine where they had gone to, or what they were seeking, or to what pa they were going. He had been sent to us to ask about them. We related what those women had done, and the object of their visit, and of the manner in which they had been defeated. 'Yes,' said the messenger, 'we had spies out in all directions, and they were seen passing the foot of Titi and going on towards Waikato. We have also seen a war party of men in our district who suddenly disappeared. It was not till yesterday that we saw some men push off in canoes from the north side of the Waikato river and paddle in a hurry up the river with flood tide.'

" 'Yes,' our people replied, 'they are the people of whom Tiriwa is leader. You will see a party of women pass your home in a day or two. Do not speak to them. They are coming to bury their dead at Puketapu. Tiriwa made a taua ³ on Ha Kawau's pa and his god killed some of the men, and Tiriwa and his people had to go home weeping. Rehia is at Puketapu and is to stay there until Tiriwa has ended his stupid acts against Ha Kawau.'

"Two days passed, and at dawn the voice of a woman was heard outside Puketapu. She cried, 'O Ha Kawau, O Ha Kawau, we are here. Let us hear your voice and tell us what we are to do.'

"Ha Kawau went to the gate of his pa and looked out between the extended legs of the statue. He saw ten women and Tiriwa standing, robed in old, tattered page 230 mats. He called to them, 'Come and take your dead from my sight. They came here of their own accord, and you and your relatives must take them out of my presence. How many of your people are lying there now?' The women said, 'Four.' 'Then,' said Ha Kawau, 'you can take away two corpses at a time. Where are you going to bury them?'

" 'In the sand-hill before your pa,' Tiriwa replied.

" 'Do so,' said old Ha Kawau, 'but when the time comes for the hahunga ⁴ you must come and carry the bones to your own caves. I will not allow anyone to be buried on my land lest their descendants claim the land. Bury your dead and go home.'

"Tiriwa and the ten women dug four holes in the sand with their hands. Four of the women took hold of the dead bodies while Tiriwa raised their heads, and in silence laid them in the pits and covered them over and went home. Tiriwa and his female companions had got as far as Pehiakura when they were met by a young chief from Puketapu, who stood on the beach between the high and low water mark. As they came up to him he waved his hand to make them sit down, and said, 'I come from Ha Kawau and his tribe to say that if you are seen in our district again we shall think you want to make war on us. We are one tribe, but Tiriwa has acted like a coward in sending women to our pa to take the girl who was once betrothed to him. We do not fight with women. If he and his warriors had come as those women came, Tiriwa could have demanded some payment—maybe a greenstone mere —for not getting Rehia. But as he treated us as if we were all old women, you must not come to Awhitu again unless we invite you, nor is Tiriwa to look on Rehia as page 231 his future wife. She is to be the wife of another chief. We will send for you when you can come and take the bones of your people home. That is all I have to say. Go home to your place.'

"Now, O people of this Mount Eden pa, that is all the news I have to tell you. It is some moons since Tiriwa was in our district, and yet we have not seen any of you on the fishing grounds."

Koma the priest said, "O young men, welcome to you, our children at Awhitu. Your words are good. We have heard the news, but my son Popo is not yet a strong man—he cannot travel any distance. I will repeat my incantations over him, and after we have been to kill the kuaka at Te Whau this year, we will come to see you and stay some days with you. Now I want to know where Rehia lives. Is she at Puketapu or at Tipitai? I knew of the power of Ha Kawau's statue. It holds the power of life and death. The young people are not so acquainted with its power as we old men. When we come to see you this summer, after the foggy days are passed, we will come to Awhitu. But that Rehia may see that Popo is still alive, our young men will carry some of the kaka we have taken at Ngutu-wera to your canoe and you can take them home to her. That is all I have to say."

The young man who had spoken before said to his companions, "We will go. There is just sufficient time for us to get home before the night falls. Stay, O people, at our pa."

As they rose to depart, all our people gathered round and cried and waved their garments, saying, "Go to your home." Then they, and the young women who carried the gift of kaka for Rehia, went towards Onehunga.

Some time later, on a fine moonlight night, all the page 232 Mount Eden people were out on the marae, some talking, some telling tales of olden time, while the older people sat in groups singing the songs of ancient days. As some song was sung, an old man or woman would ask, "Do you know a song beginning with the words . . ." and would repeat the first few of the song. If it were known to the rest, the one who knew it would sing it and then explain the history of the song and its origin. In other parts of the pa the voices of the young people could be heard as they exclaimed at tales of ghosts or fairies which were being related by their older companions. Popo sat near Koma in perfect silence till Tipa, the young chief from Ngutu-wera, came up and said, "You two sit as if you were old men. How is it, O Popo, that you do not join some of the groups and listen to songs and the tales of ancient days ?"

Popo replied, "I have been thinking of the red kaka."

"You might have sent it to Rehia," Koma said reflectively.

"But I did not speak to the messengers. It was you old men who spoke all the words in reply to her message."

"But you can send the kaka kura by some of the young men, and I can say that the bird is called 'Ko Koe anake.'⁵ The Rehia will feed it and keep it till we see her."

"Yes, we can do as you say," Popo said.

As the people began to move to their houses, Koma went to a spot in the marae where two poles were placed firmly in the ground. There was a thick; cross bar at the top of the poles, and from this was suspended a large slab of greenstone. The slab, which was as long as two men could span with page 233 their arms, was used to let the people know that a meeting of all the tribe was to take place on the day following. Koma took a piece of matai about the same length as the gong, and struck the greenstone a few blows, the sound of which was heard at some distance. Then he returned to his house.

At dawn all those who had to prepare the morning meal were up and actively setting about their duties. The food was eaten, and everyone sat on the marae eagerly waiting for the news that was to be brought to them. Koma said, "I struck the gong which we call Whakarewa-tahuna last night and I have two words to say to you, O young men and women. My first word is that six of you young men go to Awhitu to-day and take the kaka kura that belongs to Popo and give it to Rehia and say that Popo has sent it to her and that its name is Ko Koe anake, and that she is to keep it until Popo and I go to see her. We shall be at her pa soon after the kuaka has left our land and gone to its home over the sea.

"And this is the second of my words to you. All the young men and women must this day go and collect the leaves of the whanake. ⁶ Where you collect them in the swampy ground to the west of the pa, you are to light a fire and singe the leaves. Then bring them here and split them into large threads and make a noose out of each leaf, with which to snare the kuaka. Then let some of the most able young men go to the forest at the Titirangi ranges and cut straight young saplings of about one fathom and a half in length and bring them to the mouth of the Whau creek. Let there be a great many poles taken to that place. I will see when the propitious days are to be here, and then I will tell you what else you are to do."