Lament.

Lament for Te Whenua-riri, a chief of the Ngati-Kahu-ngunu Tribe, killed by the Ngapuhi Tribe at the fall of Titirangi Pa, near Waikare-moana, about the year 1824 :—

I tawhiti ano te rongo o te pu,
I ki ano koutou. Ma wai ra e homai?"
Ki te kainga o Maahu-tapoa-nui,
Ki a Tu-ma-tere ra,
Ki te oke ki te pae.

E koro! ki nui, ki patu, ki tata-e!
I te rangi maori
He mea ra kia kapi te waha;
Ka kitea a rikiriki,
Ka peke mai Tini-o-Irawaru,
Hai poke mo koutou.

Takoto mai ra E koro E!
Koutou ko whakahina;
I te hara kohuru
Nau era ngohi,
E ware koutou ki Te Toroa ma?
Tera te Poturu nana i kai atu.

Takoto mai ra E koro E!
I roto o Tauri
I hea koia koe ka aho ai i to tapuwae
Ata tu mai! ata tu hihiko mai,
He hihiko bei hiki mai i a koe
Ki te rangi i runga ra
Ko ana wai ano to mata nei whakataha.

Whilst distant was the fame of the guns,
All said, "Who will dare to bring them here?"
To the home of Maahu-tapoa-nui,
To Tu the swift, indeed,
To strive within our bounds.
O Sir! of great, of warlike words and blows,
Heard in this ordinary world,
'Twas so said that mouths should be closed.
Now, indeed, is seen inconsolable grief;
Spring forth the descendants of Irawaru^*
To worry and tease you all.
Rest thee there, O Sir!
Thee and thy grandchildren,
Through the evils of murderous war.
Thine are the slain.
Have all forgotten Te Toroa's death?
Still lives Poturu, who consumed them.
Prone thou liest, O Sir!
In the vale of Tauri
Where wast thou that thou charmed not thy steps?
Stand forth! arise with vigorous strides,
Strides that will bear thee on
To the heavens above us;
To those other waters turn thy face aside.

page 30

Now, here we have the full name of friend Maahu given, and Maahu-tapos nui is known to genealogists as an ancestor of the Ngati-Awa Tribe, of the Bay of Plenty district, on the aboriginal side—that is, he was of the people found dwelling here when the ancestors of the present Maori [unclear: grated] to New Zealand. Different lines give from eighteen to twenty-one generations from Maahu-tapoa-nui down to the present time. It is therefore probable that he flourished in Tuhoe land about five hundred years ago. His position is shown in the genealogical table printed in the margin.

But the great work performed in the time of Maahu was the formation of the Waikare-moana Lake by his son Hau-mapuhia, and we will now give the generally-received version of that most ancient and wondrous legend.