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Ngamihi; or The Maori Chief's Daughter

Chapter IX. Andrews' Adventure

page 40

Chapter IX. Andrews' Adventure.

By this time the storm had cleared off and I was enabled to walk without difficulty. As I drew near to the rock, the dark shadow of which I could distincty see looming up ahead of me, I was surprised to hear a hoarse shout, and running forward, I found Andrews struggling on the ground with a Maori. Both were in a desperate embrace, and Andrews was doing his best to strangle his antagonist. He cried out when I came up: "Hurry up, mate, and give us a hand! I have had a tussle with this coon. Just hold on to his legs while I tie him up."

After looking closely at his prisoner I said: "Let him go, Andrews. I don't think there is any occasion to tie him up, he appears to be half strangled! You have given him some ugly wounds and nearly choked him—see his tongue! The Captain I think would like you to bring him in a prisoner."

"But the tarnal critter gave me no chance," said Andrews, wiping some blood off his hands. "I was going quietly to the what-do-you-call-it rock, when this critter pounced on me from behind, like one of the crawling painters (pauthers) in my country, and tried to put this long knife into me. Snakes alive! but that was the closest bit of huggin' I ever did in my life. I got a pretty good dig of his ripper on the shoulder-blade, but as we page 41still kept huggin', he had no chance to repeat the dose. The cuss tried to get away after a while, but I guess he didn't know that he had got hold of a grizzly bar. When he begun to get tired of it, I got hold of the knife and I guess I used it before I let go. He tried to get away even then, so I had to do the chokin' business. But look! I think he is done for now."

A heavy groan had interrupted Andrews, and bending down we turned the Maori over, and found that he was quite dead.

I then got Andrews to strip and show me his wound—a nasty cut on the shoulder-blade, but not dangerous. After binding it up as well as I cou'd, we searched for his rifle, and found it about twenty yards away. We soon found out the direction of the Spirit Rock, and hastened forward as speedily as possible. When we arrived there, all our men turned up with the exception of John Shanklin, a private.

After Andrews' shoulder was properly washed and dressed, we found time to answer the questions of our comrades. They had nothing particular to report, except, that some of them were in great danger of losing their way during the storm.

When Hoani heard of the narrow escape I had had of falling over the precipice, he said that "plenty of men and horses had gone over there at night."

"Has anyone ever explored that chasm, Hoani?" I asked.

"Yes, one pakeha gentleman went down one day in a flax basket tied to a rope. He was very much frightened, as he saw plenty of skulls and bones like a wahi tapu (old burying ground.) The old people say that there is a great taniwha (monster) down there which kills everybody who comes within its reach. The gentleman did not stay down long and soon called on us to haul page 42up the rope. When he was near the top of torere (dark pit or chasm) two strands of the rope were cut against a sharp rock, and we thought he would be killed, and we would lose our utu. After some trouble we got him up, but said nothing to him of the danger he was in."

"How came the skulls and bones there, Hoani?" asked one of the men.

"One time long ago—long before the white man's ships found 'Te Ika o Maui,' a chief named Te Rauparaha was at war with some of his old enemies. He was the only son of a fighting chief who was a great warrior in his day, and who made all the other tribes kiss the ground and submit to his authority. Two chiefs jealous of Te Rauparaha's power, rose up against him, and blood flowed like water, the hatred between them being very bitter and deadly. After great fighting—such fighting as was never known before in the history of the island. Te Rauparaha defeated them with great slaughter, capturing many prisoners. The number of killed were as the stars. Some of Te Rauparaha's leading men wanted to kill the prisoners at once, but their leader would not allow it, as he loved one of the women captives—Ngapuni, the beautiful daughter of one of his deadliest enemies. But one night, without the knowledge of their chief, all the prisoners with the exception of Ngapuni, were gathered together on the edge of the deep chasm and pushed over, and their bones have la'n there ever since. Evil spirits haunt that dark abyss, and the long horns and glaring eyes of the taniwha are sometimes seen peering over its brink when everything is peaceful and quiet."

Hoani concluded with a slight shiver at the mention of this indefinable monster. All his old superstition seemed to be revived, page 43and he looked round him in evident apprehension as if one were about to confront him. To this day a Maori cannot satisfactorily explain what a taniwha really is. Sometimes it is human in form, at others it assumes the shape of a gigantic fish, but generally it is described as a wild beast of human shape possessing claws with pointed horns protuding from the forehead.

Some cold provisions and a couple of bottles of rum were produced by Hoani, and after refreshing ourselves we started on our return journey, Hoani taking the lead. None of us had been successful in finding traces of the enemy. Andrews being the only one of the party who had met a native, and he said that it was his "tarnal luck" to do so,

Next morning at daybreak a party was organised to search for John Shanklin, the missing man. After some time spent in rambling about we discovered the poor felllow half dead with cold and pain lying at the foot of a cliff among some bushes. He had fallen down a steep bank in the darkness of the storm, and sprained his ankle very badly. He was going to shout for assistance, but was afraid of attracting the attention of some prowling Maori. He tried to creep on his knees, but was soon exhausted, so he made up his mind to remain where he was until daylight, as he was sure we would spare no efforts to find him.

A couple of the men took turns in carrying Shanklin ambulance fashion—back to the camp, where his injuries were soon attended to.

The North Island of New Zealand called by the natives the "fish of Maui." Maori mythology states that Maui who was out one day fishing in his canoe hooked up New Zealand on his line.