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Tales of Banks Peninsula

The Legend of Gough's Bay

page 391

The Legend of Gough's Bay.

Where thy dark surge, Okeruru,*rolls to its deafening ending,
Smiting the rolling sand and the base of the cliffs of obsidian—
There stood the fated few, the last ot the pride of Ngai Tahu
News had been brought iu the evening that mad Ngatiawas' dread warriors,
Full of revenge and hate, had found the pass through Waimomo,
And waited the coming of eve to sweep them to utter oblivion,
Then spake Paihora, the chieftain, last of Arikis'|| relations,
Spoke to the trembling forty—all that were left of the Hapu—
"Take our remaining treasures; take our pounamou meres2;
"Take the tikis,3that symbol the Atuas that once were protectors;
"Take the reeth of the shark, the mats of flax and of feathers;
"Take our choicest treasures, the wealth of our tottering hapu;
"Place in the wakas**of Hiwi, the wakas that ply the wai Maori.††
"And you, oh, mothers of chieftains, Ohine, Raupau-te, Aroha!
"Take the treasures, and hide, from the spoilers of fell Ngatiawa.
"Say the sacred spells that will hide from the sight of Ngatoi;
"Burn the sacred lire that will make the tapu so mighty,
"That Atuas of earth and of caverns, Atuas of air and of ocean—
"All of those that are left of the fallen Gods of Ngai Tahu—
"Shall watch with their terrible eyes the treasures bequeathed to their keeping."
When the Ariki had spoken, forth went the mothers of chieftains,
Gathered the treasurers, and placed them, into the wakas of Hiwi;

* Okeruru is the Maori name of Gough's Bay.

The Ngai Tahu were the dominant tribe on the Peninsula.

The Ngatiawas were Northern Natives, who, uuder Rauparaha, drove the Ngai Tahu, first to the remote Bays, like Okeruru, and then almost annihilated them.

|| The Ariki was the supreme chief.

** Canoes.

†† Fresh water.

page 392 Fastened the two together with strong korari* most holy;
Took their paddles and started, up from the sea to the valley,
Singing the sacred songs, the songs of the mightiest Tohungas.
Then Paihora gathered the remnant of weeping Ngai Tahu;
Placed in the wai ti; wakas, the wakas that sail on the ocean;
Launched in the deadened surf, that moaned at the loss of the Hapu,
Gaining the open sea, in search of a haven of safety.
Vain the fugitives' hopes! for the taniwhas dread of Ngatoi,
Taniwhas mighty, and dread, rangitieras||of monsters misshapen,
That loved Ngatiawa and hated the children of fated Ngai Tahu,
Stopped the beat of their paddles, held their blades in the water.
Vain the strain of their muscles! Vain their pride and their courage!
Ngatiawa is coming! Ngatiawa has conquered!
Nothing left them but death, or slavery bitter and hopeless!
But the treasures were saved from the foe, for the mighty spells had been spoken
To hide for ever from men, till a fair-haired chiid of Ngai Tahu
Should come in the far off times, and claim the wealth of her people.
Well the Atuas2 have guarded thy hidden treasures, Ngai Tahu!
Mighty the tapu3 that covers the place where the wakas are lying.
Oft has the pakeha searched in the stream, in the cave, in the forest;
But safe as the holy grail from the eyes of the base and the guilty,
Lie the buried wakas of Hiwi, the treasures of fallen Ngai Tahu.

* A kind of flax.

Salt water.

Sea monsters. Certain chiefs were supposed to have the power of calling them to their assistance.

|| Mighty ones—Chiefs.