Manga-Toa.

Mr. Downes also supplies the following from the same source as last quoted: In the neighbourhood of Whanganui, "at Mangawere (or Upoko-poito, some twenty miles below Mangatoa) the taua, under Tu-korehu and To Wiwi, came upon and killed some brothers of To Anaua (later known as Hori-Kingi), and captured a woman named Korako, mother of Hakaraia. The latter was a small child at the time and thus escaped. In revenge for this, Hori-Kingi gathered his tribesmen together and followed one portion of the taua, which had gone up the Whanganui river and came upon and defeated them at Mangatoa, a place about two to three miles seaward of the modorn village of Koroniti (Corinth), on the east side of the river. Hakaraia's mother, when captured, pleaded for her own life and that of her child, promising that if allowed to live she would lead the party to a place where her brothers and other people were, and that she would give them a large quantity of greenstone, which was hidden away. This was agreed to; so she guided the party up the river till they reached Te Punga (another name for Te Arero-o-te-uru, at Mangatoa), where they all landed and left the canoes. She led them on into a deep gorge on the Mangatoa, hemmed in by perpendicular cliffs, and out of which there is no escape except up or down the stream, but which widened out at one spot in the middle, where the taua was advised to camp, as it was just about night. Korako managed, as soon as it was dark, to creep away unseen, and then made all speed to her own people, some of whom were living not far from the cliffs above, whilst others had been following up the party from behind. Thus the invaders were in a trap, and when the time came, though those of Whanganui in the rear of the taua were only few in number, they were strong enough to hold the pass, whilst the other local people held the upper end. After a great battle only six people managed to escape out of the six hundred men of the taua."I think this number is probably much exaggerated by the local people—for the taua was still a large one when it reached Taranaki. Te Wiwi is said to have been killed, whilst Tu-korohu escaped. Who the former was I have no knowledge. This party was, probably, only a branch of the main taua.

The following xoaiata, or song, relating to this event, was given to page 356Mr. Downos by an old Ngati-Pa-moana woman named Tauira, but it seems to me that though stated to have been composed at the date of tho Amio-whenua expedition, it is more modern:—

Pakipaki tu au i te rau o Mangatoa,
I mahue au i te tikawe haero i a Nga-Rau,
Tu ana ahau i te kei o to waka o To Hekoua, ¹
Hei hoatu i ahau ki Paparoa. ²
Tukutuku i te ia ki Ope-riki³
Ka kite au i te kopua kanapanapa ki Wai-hakura.
E ngari moti ana te haere,
Nga one roa kei Mata-hiwi, ⁴
Takoto ai te marino—
To reti na, ko te waka o Tainui, ⁵
Hei whakawhiti ki Kai-koura.⁶

I hahae kau aku mata
Ki te wai-rama na Te Pohi. ⁷
E Tia ma! me whakahoki mai
Te mkau ki ahau;
Ka eke nci ki Tongariro,
Me whirinaki ki Koinaki,⁸ ki a To Matoha, ⁹
Ki te mea ra i hoki mai i te kaipuke,
Ko Rangi-ahua te wahine,
I rangona ki te hapai pu,
Ka tataki nei, ka whero.
Ko taohi te manu o te tan
He Pipi-wharau-roa,¹⁰
"Kui, kui, whitiwhiti-ora!"

What wild delight I feel for the defeat at Mangatoa.
I was left behind when Nga-Rau went forth.
Would that I stood in the stern of Te Hekeua's¹ canoe,
To carry me along to the Paparoa² rapids,
And float away with the currents of Operiki.
³ And there behold the gleaming depths at Wai-hakura.
But instead were they beaten
At the long roaches at Mata-hiwi,
⁴ Where smooth waters ever prevail,
The conveyance was the canoe Tainui,
⁵ With which to cross (the Straits) to Kai-koura.⁶

In vain I score my face in mourning,
At Te P[gap — reason: illegible]hi's⁷ toreh-light march up stream,
O Tia! thou must return.
The loved one now departed,
Who has ascended Tongariro mountain,
And rests on Koinaki⁸ with Te Matoha—
With him who by a ship came back.
page 357 Rangi-ahua was the famed woman,
Who was skilled in the use of the musket.
There is but one famed bird of the year,
The Pipi-wharau-roa, ¹⁰ who cries,
Kui! Kui! whitiwhiti-ora!

After these events the taua passed through the thickly-inhabited districts of Patea and Taranaki, but what success they had against the people of those parts is unknown—the probability is that many of them fled to the fastnesses of the forest to escape a repetition of their sufferings from previous northern war-parties, though Watono Taungatara says they first fought the northern taua in a battle, which was long undecided as to the victory—and that many pas were taken.

We next hear of the expedition at Waitara, where the Ati-Awa successfully opposed their further progress towards their homes. In what follows, Mr. W. H. Skinner will be quoted, for no ono has obtained so much information about this period, which he has carefully checked from the statements of some of the old men of Ati-Awa, to wit: Te Watene Taungatara, Rona, Whati-tiri, Rameka Te Ami, Tommy Watson, late tohunga of Kairau, and others.

Amongst the numerous raids that were organised by the northern tribes against the people of Taranaki and Cook's Stra its districts was one led by Tu-korehu, or Pehi-korehu, of the Ngati-Mania-poto tribe. This great fighting chief left Mangatoatoa pa, on the Waipa river, about the middle of the year 1820 with a force of one hundred and forty warriors"(in addition to the others mentioned above, making in all about six hundred men)…. "They eventually reached the pa of Rewarewa, at the mouth of the Wai-whakaiho river, north bank, where they remained for a while. Tautara, the ariki and principal chief of the Ati-Awa, was at this time living at Rewarewa, though his home was at Puketapu pa, a few miles further north."The intercourse with Ati-Awa seems to have been friendly, but it is clear from what follows that Tautara was not much enamoured of his guests and was glad to avail himself of any means for their destruction. Watene Taungatara says:"There was a great division in Ati-Awa; those to the north of Waitara determining to fight, whilst those to the south page 358decided to help them—i.e, Nga-Motu, Puke-tapu, and Puke-rangiora." To this end, "he sent messengers to the hapus of Ati-Awa living further north with directions to the effect that Tu-korehu and his companions were to be attacked after they had crossed the Waitara river. But Huri-whenua, of Ngati-Rahiri" (whom we have seen as the defender of Te Taniwha pa in 1818) "would not agree to this, but desired to attack the enemy at once. So he went with his people, numbering eight hundred, to Te Rohutu, at the mouth of the Waitara, north bank, and there awaited the approach of Tu-korehu's party.

"But why this sudden change on the part of Ati-Awa? Several other expeditions of the same northern people had passed through this country and had been well received, while numbers of Ati-Awa had joined them and gone forth to murder and plunder—in fact, they had been as one people. But the reason is not far to seek. We find it in the presence in the district of that great chief Te Rau-paraha, leader of Ngati-Toa—now just starting on that path of conquest which made his name in after years a terror to both Europeans and Maoris alike—who was just removing his people from Kawhia and was then at Ure-nui…. Ngati-Toa were waiting in that district to harvest the crops they had planted on their arrival, so as to provide food for the next stage of their journey towards Otaki and Kapiti, Te Rau-paraha wished to be revenged on Ngati-Mania-poto"(of whom Tu-korehu was one of the principal chiefs), but did not care just then to run the risk unaided. If he could incite the Ati-Awa to attack Tu-korehu and his party, they would thus be drawn into the quarrel and lend their aid to attain his ends. By means of plotting and deceit he succeeded in rousing Te Ati-Awa—or the greater part of them—to take up his quarrel.

"As stated previously, an ambuscade of eight hundred men of Ati-Awa, awaited on the north bank of the Waitara the crossing of the returning war-party. The plan arranged was to allow part of the force under Tu-korehu to cross the river and then to rush in and divide them, and subsequently to fall on the parts separately. But this plan was frustrated by the watchfulness of the scouts. A small number of men crossed the Waitara in advance of the main body to spy out the land, for they expected trouble, and had been, warned by certain of the Ati-Awa as to what they might expect. It was early dawn, and when within a few yards of the northern bank of the river the most advanced scout saw the shadow of a man moving on the surface of the water. He paused; then seeing other shadows, or reflections, he turned and gave the alarm to those behind. Seeing their ambuscade had been page 359discovered, Pokai-tara, the possessor of the only gun^* amongst the Ati-Awa, fired his piece and killed one of Tu-korehu's men. The frustrated taua now gave up the idea of crossing the Waitara, and retreated inland for about a mile along the west bank of the river and took up a position on Puke-kohe, an old pa overlooking and to the north-west of the present Railway Station. This was subsequently the headquarters of the Imperial troops at Waitara during the war with the Maoris in 1860-61. One account says that Ati-Awa attacked the taua here, which, getting the worse of it, retreated further inland. Another account says that the Ati-Awa, seeing the position Tu-korehu had taken up, decided to cross the river and give them battle. Accordingly, Tau-tara brought their forces over; but Tu-korehu did not wait to meet them. He retreated to Nga-puke-turua—the old pas on the hillocks close to Mahoe-tahi and half a milo north-east from Sentry Hill Railway Station; the inland side of the main road.^†