Whakatane and the Maoris.

Whakatane, another place of a hundred war stories and Maori traditions, is the next stop; on the way, soon after leaving Opotiki, the motor road along the coast at one place passes through an avenue of great pohutukawa trees, which at this season will be in flower, grand old trees of a history that will in part be symbolised by their blood-red blossoms, for it was a place where in the Hauhau War days Government despatch-carriers were ambushed by Tamaikowha and his tomahawk-men. Just beyond it, the Waiotahi River, and then the road skirts the inner waters of Ohiwa, a famous fishing place for the Maoris.

Whakatane is an unusual place, with the tidal river on its front and a parapet of straight cliffs in its rear, crowned with the earthworks of ancient forts. All this country through which the motor road goes is a greatly fruitful land, lying well to the sun, warm and fertile, a land where great crops of maize are produced. Something of Maori life will be seen here; the Ngati-Awa and Ngati-Pukeko tribes have villages on the coast and along the Whakatane levels, and the headquarters farming settlements of the Urewera tribe are in the upper part of the plain, at Ruatoki