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The Pa Maori

Te Namu Pa, Near Opunake, Taranaki

Te Namu Pa, Near Opunake, Taranaki

The following is a description of Te Namu, a famous pa situated on the coast about one mile north of Opunake, Taranaki district, wherein a body of the Taranaki tribe, in number about eighty, held their own against a large force of Wai-kato, which was finally compelled to retire from Te Namu and its resolute defenders; as given by Dr. Marshall, who was with the force of soldiers and sailors landed in 1834 from H.M.S. Alligator, in order to rescue Jack Guard's wife and child, captured by the savages when they murdered many of Guard's companions at the wreck of the Harriett, in April, 1834:—"There were only two entrances to the Namu pa, and they might have been defended by a dozen resolute individuals against a company of soldiers. One of these entrances being hardly perceptible from the outside; while the ascent to the other was facilitated by a notched stake of wood, which rested upon a perpendicular cliff, facing the stream, whereby the triangular rock on which this pa was built is separated from the mainland to the southward. The sea face to this rock is more precipitous than either of those overlooking the land, the escarpment being continued to the beach. The remaining face is towards the inland country (See Fig. 98, p. 351), with which it is connected at its base by a narrow isthmus of sand, where the natives had excavated a small harbour for their canoes. On this and the river side of the pa, the height of the cliff is lessoned from about twenty to thirty feet by a broad band of rich earth, over one half of which were seen traces of a recent conflagration, the effects of an attack on the inhabitants of Te Namu by a hostile body of the Waikato tribes, when the latter succeeded in destroying all the huts at the base of the rock, leaving only the burnt ends of the stakes to tell of its having been occupied at all. … Entering the pa by an opening in the stockade which runs along the edge of the rock on both sides overlooking the land, whence alone either invaders or assailants were to be expected, we found ourselves in an oblong area, fenced in on all sides. Within this enclosure were two whare mahana, warm or dwelling houses, and two kauta, cook-houses or kitchens, with several whata or stages, supporting baskets of seed potatoes, carefully sewed up with dried grass and covered in with fern leaf; and, smoking over the fires in the kitchens, long strings of dried shell-fish hung in festoons. Another opening, to the right of that by which we had entered, led to an irregular shaped yard, containing a sort of guardhouse, open in front, and rft once commanding the entrance to pa and the approach to this yard, from which direct communication could be held with all the principal divisions of the place.

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"The interior of a New Zealand pa is too intricate to admit of a description at once particular and intelligible; and upon the one at Te Namu I shall only further observe that, while necessarily compact from the narrow limits within which it needed to be confined, the most had been made of the space allotted for building that could be made, so as to combine the advantages of a fortified town, security and defence; with the comforts of a country village, detached residence and separate garden grounds.

"The entire space inclosed was divided into fourteen lesser inclosures, each the dominion of a subordinate chief, while all were subject to the command of one superior. And in all the inhabited inclosures, patches of ground were hedged or fenced in … as culinary gardens. Over the only two sides by which it was practicable to escalade the fortress, the inmates had raised projecting stages, from the front of which an inclined plane had been formed, serving as a breastwork for the defenders, and helping materially to repel their assailants."

In The Maori History of the Taranaki Coast, at p. 501 may be found a good description of the attack made by the Waikato natives on Te Namu in 1833.

Of the class of pa built on high, steep sided rocks or buttes, that known as Pohatu-roa, at Atiamuri, is a good specimen. See Fig. 99, p. 355. Such a place would be exceedingly difficult to take, if not actually impregnable in pre-gun days, except by a long siege, as lack of water was the weak point in many such places. They were sometimes taken by means of some act of treachery, a not unusual thing in Maori warfare. There is another pa named Pohatu-roa, or Lofty Rock, near Te Reinga, inland of Te Wai-roa, H.B., that was taken by a force of Nga-puhi, Tuhoe, and other tribes, in 1826, after much strenuous effort. This pa was the top of an isolated rock difficult of access, the edges of the summit being surrounded by a wall of earth and stones bound with layers of fern. Of this fight, Mr. Smith writes:—"In one place there was a cave some distance below the summit, access to which was only obtainable by a very narrow ledge on the cliff… Some of Nga-puhi managed, by great exertions, to secure a footing above this cave, and there constructed a kind of large basket of supplejack and the tough leaves of toi (Cordyline indivisa), which they lowered down in front of the cave with some men in it, thinking to be able to shoot the inmates of the cave, but, before they could use their firearms, the cave dwellers, by the use of huata spears, killed several of them, thus causing Nga-puhi to abandon their scheme."

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Fig. 99—The Stronghold of Pohatu-roa at Atiamurl. (See p. 354.) Photo by T. Pringle

Presumably one of the most inaccessible of old pa was that of Maunga-raho, at Northern Wai-roa, an illustration of which appears in vol. 20 of the Polynesian Journal. See Fig. 100, p. 356.

A famous old fort on the top of a high hill named Taratara, inland of Whangaroa, is said to have been practically inaccessible to enemies, for access to it could only be gained by means of ladders. Such places possessed but little in the way of artificial defences, they were natural strongholds. Of such a pa or refuge at Whangaroa Captain Cruise wrote in 1820:— "Its site is an insulated rock 300 ft. high, excessively steep and in some places perpendicular." See Fig. 101, p. 357.

In the account of the cutting off of the brig Hawes or Haweis at Whakatane in 1829, is a brief passage referring to one of the cliff forts at that place. It is as follows:—"This pah, like all the others I have seen in New Zealand, is situated on a steep lofty and conical page 356hill of great natural strength, fortified by an embankment of earth, approached by a narrow and circular pathway, so difficult that an European climbs it with much danger, while the barefooted New Zealander ascends without inconvenience, running over the sharpest rocks and most rugged ways with great facility."

Fig. 100—Maunga-raho. A remarkable place of refuge at Northern Wairoa. North Auckland. (See p. 355.) From Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol. 20, p. 84

A cliff pa was seen and described by Mr. A. Hamilton in 1879. It was situated near one of the old Armed Constabulary redoubts at Tarawera, on the Napier-Taupo road. He describes the pa as being situated on "a level piece of ground in the form of a peninsula, the sides of which are almost inaccessible precipices. Across the narrowest part is a deep ditch and two high banks, a double vallum and fosse, beyond which were holes and fragments of timber showing that round the whole of the enclosed and defended area had been a high and strong stockade, many of the posts of which still remain. The area of the stockaded part is probably two acres."

He also remarks that hut sites were seen within the pa, as also a great many store pits of the rua kopiha type, circular, well like pits with dome shaped roofs, and about ten feet in diameter. These pits were small at the top, just large enough to admit a person, and surrounded by slabs of totara, with pieces for covers. Coffins and human bones were found in some of these pits, showing that the pa had been used as a burial place since it was abandoned.

In Fig. 102, p. 358, is seen the site of an old time cliff fort on the western shore of Lake Taupo. Many of these strongholds must have been very picturesque places when occupied, with stockades page 357 Fig. 101—A Cliff Stronghold of olden times at Whangaroa. (See p. 355.) From a painting by Coloml Boscawen page 358along all weak points, and the rude huts of barbaric man in evidence.

A good specimen of a hill top pa with a vertical cliff serving as a defence on one side is the old Rangatira hill fort, on the left bank of the Waipaoa river, about 20 miles inland from Gisborne. See Fig. 103, p. 359. The fortified summit is almost level and in area is about 75 yds. by 25 yds. The side facing the river is a perpendicular cliff, and the other sides are protected by scarp, rampart and fosse. On these latter sides a lower terrace has been formed that is now from 5 yds. to 8 yds. wide, part of which is provided with an earthwork rampart along its outer edge. The upper area shows hut sites and apparently pits for the storage of food supplies. The view from this stronghold is a fine one, embracing the Waipaoa and Waikohu valleys. An outer area, lacking any earthworks, has been used apparently as a residential area. The scarp at one end of the pa has a fosse at its base, and on the outer side of the fosse are the eroded remains of an earthen rampart, now about 4 ft. in height at its highest point.

Fig. 102—Site of a Cliff Fort of olden days on the western shore of Lake Taupo. (See p. 356.) J McDonald, Photo

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Fig. 103—The Rangatira Pa, Waipaoa River, Gisborne district. (See p. 358.) Miss E. Richardson