Pukekohe No. 1 Pa

This is one of three small fortified places situated on a low ridge on the coast between Urenui and Te Mimi, northern Taranaki. Two sides of this small pa are marked by sheer cliffs, their bases washed by the ocean. To the east the ridge slope descends to a swampy hollow, and, outside the northern earthwork defences, the ground falls to a hollow except on the west, where the land rises gradually to No. 2 Pa. It is evident that much of the ridge has been lost by a process of erosion; the whole of this coast line is fretting away at no slow rate, a process described by the Maori of old as "Tie ngaunga a Hine-moana" i.e., the gnawing of Hine-moana (personified form of the ocean). The Lady Ocean is eternally nibbling away the broad breast of Papa, the Earth Mother.

The summit of this small fort, area A, is 33 yds. in length and from 18 yds. to 26 yds. wide. See Fig. 93, p. 342. B is a small razor back point jutting out into the sea, and is 30 ft. below A area. Terrace C is 24 ft. wide and connects with the northern fosse at D, the bottom of which is on the same level as the terrace, though only 6 ft. wide. The eastern scarp of A area is 20 ft. deep at its southern end and 10 ft. at the north end, caused by a downward slope of the terrace toward the seacliff. The northern defences consist of a steep scarp, the fosse D, and an earthen rampart outside it, outside of which is another fosse with an inner scarp of 16 ft.; counter scarp 6 ft.

Of the Omaha pa at Tonga-porutu, Mr. Percy Smith writes that "Omaha was originally a projection of the coast, but which has since been severed from the mainland by a huge trench 40 ft. deep and 60 ft. wide at the top, by which it was converted into an island at high water. The other sides are sheer cliffs one hundred feet high."

Of Te Kawau pa, south of Mokau, the same writer says:—"The main pa was situated on an isolated rock, partly surrounded at high water; the extent of the top was about 75 yds. by 40 yds., and the only approach was from the landward side, by using ladders which were drawn up after the inhabitants had retired within the pa. On all other sides the cliffs rose sheer to a height of from eighty to one hundred feet. The other part of the pa was separated from this citadel by a deep rift or chasm 20 yds. wide and 35 yds. deep. … The narrow neck, about 12 ft. or 15 ft. wide, which connects this part of the pa with the mainland, is almost completely severed by a deep trench, and along the neck was the only approach to the pa, and on all other sides the cliffs rose perpendicularly from the sea and stream, forming an impassable rampart."

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