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Revenge: A Love Tale of the Mount Eden Tribe

The Story Told to Maro by His Mother

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The Story Told to Maro by His Mother

I have told you what Tata said to Popo, and what Popo said of himself. I have told you how Tata spoke of the eggs which at the correct season were taken from the reef to the west of Rangitoto. Large parties went out to collect the eggs of the sea-gulls.

It was not many days after Popo and Tata had talked to each other that Popo asked me to go to the people of the pa Taka-runga and ask if it was time to look at the Rangitoto reef for eggs. I went, and some page 180Black and white fascimile page image of the young men of that pa came back with me. Popo and Tata met and talked with those young men, who returned that day to their own pa.

It was a clear, bright morning when we saw a cloud of smoke rise from the Takapuna point. Three times the smoke ascended like a ball. Popo, Tata and abort thirty of the young people, men and women, left this pa and went down the path that leads to Wai-ariki. We found three canoes which had come across from Takapuna waiting for us. We paddled across and went round the point and landed in the sandy bay beyond Takapuna.

As we landed we were greeted by a host of young and old people from the Taka-runga pa. Among them were Tihe and her husband. The canoes in which they were to embark were drawn up on the beach near ours. As soon as we landed, the people of the Taka-runga pa who had come across for us left our canoes and joined their own people. An old chief wearing a rough mat stood on the beach and said, "I will go across first, and when I have got half-way to the rocks where the gulls have their nest, let the canoes of Popo and his party follow me. Let our people follow them."

The old man was a priest, and he paddled off from the beach in a small kopapa. He had tied his ngeri round his waist as a maro, his head was besmeared with kokowai, and his body was glistening with shark oil. By the time our canoes pushed off from the shore, he had gained the centre of the channel, so our young people pulled briskly. As he landed on the rocks, a flock of gulls rose and flew hovering and screaming above his head. He did not take any notice of them, but took an egg out of the first nest he saw. He held it up in his left hand, and as our young people ceased paddling, he looked toward the east and repeated an incantation:

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Tane,2 O Tane, there is the offering,
The offering we left to thee,
The offering of these priests,
The offering of these tauira.3
There if the offering now given.
Tane, O Tone, make plentiful,
Give abundance to these thy sons,
Accept the gifts of these ancients.

Coming back to his kopapa he paddled to a little sandy beach on Rangitoto and waved his hand to us to follow. Then he landed and sat down. All the canoes landed and we of this pa sat apart from the Taka-runga people, higher up on the beach, and nearer to the high-water mark. The others sat neatf the water's edge. The old priest now came and sat between the two parties and said, "All face towards the east." We all turned. He lifted up the egg in his right hand and said:

Tane, O Tane,
Here is thy child.
Gently let us possess,
Let pleasure gently come,
Let us possess
The much longed for,
Let the hand possess,
Delight the hand of man
In giving that which
We strain our powers
To seek, Tane, O Tane.

We all sat still, and he rose and broke a branch of a pohutukawa growing on the beach, and taking it with him, he went to the water's edge and waded into the sea until he was up to his knees. He dipped the branch into the water and, looking at the rocks where the sea-fowl nests were, he waved the dripping branch of the pohutukawa towards the rocks, singing as he dashed the water off it:

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Tane, O Tane,
Untie, untie thy power
From these thy sons.
Let the omens be propitious,
Let the hosts above
And the hosts below
Be propitious,
Let the sun and stars
Be propitious,
Let the winds and dew
And Tawhiri-matea 4 be propitious,
Let thunder and lightning
And the pa be propitious
To these thy sans.
Tane, O Tawhiri-matea,
Take the tapu from
These sons.

Again he went into the water up to his knees, and dipping the branch into the sea, he lifted it up above his head with his left hand, and shook it so that a shower of drops fell on to his head and body. While he was shaking the branch and sprinkling himself, he said:

Accept the gift,
The gift of Tu.
The breath we breathe,
The breath of Tu.
The power we wield,
The power of Tu.
Let the sin of old,
The sins of Tu,
Tane and Tangaroa,
Come,
Tawhiri and Tawhiaki,
Come,
Rongo 5 and Haumia, 6
page 183Black and white fascimile page image Come,
Come to the mana
Of Tu.
The sun shines,
The sea is calm,
The winds now sleep.
Sleep, ye ancient powers.
Let Rongo rule
And meet Haumia,
That these thy sons
May abundance have.

He came on shore again, and as we all sat in the same place and in the same position, resting on our heels with our hands before our faces and our eyes shut, he walked along the line and at the end he turned and gave a loud cough. Then he went along the line again till he came to the person nearest the sea. He looked up the line and coughed again, and said, "The omens are propitious. You are all in a straight line. Rise!" At his word of command we all jumped up together and stood erect. Taking the branch of the pohutukawa, he walked up to the tree from which he had broken it, and throwing it near the exposed roots, he said:

Wait, O mana of the gods,
Stay thou here till I and
My children go yonder.

He then collected a lot of leaves and the dead branches which were strewn over the beach. Returning to his canoe, he took from a bundle of dry kiekie leaves his kauati and hika. Coming up some distance above high water mark, he sat down, and with one end of the kauati placed under a stone, he took the hika between his two hands, allowing the lower end of the hika to project a little distance beyond his little finger.

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Then he briskly rubbed the hika into a groove on the kauati. A dark dust accumulated near the end of the kauati as the hika was rubbed to and fro. A wisp of smoke arose. As soon as he began to rub the hika, he repeated this karakia:

I hika, I hika, a fire
For Tone and for me.
There is the fire, O Tane,
The fire of life.
Let us, O Tane,
Each be warm,
Let the sacred fire
Of Mahuika 7 burn.
All the tapu
From these thy sons,
I hika, our sacred
Fire, O Tane,
For thee and for me.

Taking the ball of dust from the kauati he placed it in the middle of the dry kiekie leaf and swung it round and round in his left hand till it burst into flame. This he laid on the beach and placed the brushwood on it and made a fire. When the fire had burned down to embers he took the egg, and holding it in his left hand he struck one end of it with a pebble so that the shell was broken. With the broken end of the shell uppermost, he placed it in the midst of the embers where it was soon cooked. Then with his left hand he took it out of the embers and walked up to the pohutukawa tree and placed it in a hollow among the roots. This was the tree to which all such offerings of eggs were taken, and had been so used for generations by the people in our page 185Black and white fascimile page image pa. He took the egg and placed it in the hollow, saying as he did so:

There is your food,
The food for the
Thousands above.
There is your food,
The food for the
Thousands below.
The food, the food
For your thousands
And for your myriads.

Stepping a few paces from the tree, he walked backwards with his hands outstretched before him and said:

Now is Tu great,
Now Tu can eat,
Tu has appeased the wananga,8
Tu can take his food now.
Steep weall sleep
In quiet.
Matarik 9 has risen,
The harbinger of the year;
And plenty accept,
And take thy food, O Tu.

The old priest went to his canoe and took a mat and tied it round his loins and came back. Standing before as all, he said:

The day is clear,
Evil is gone,
Man can work,
The gods are great.

Turning again to the pohutukawa tree, he held out his left hand and spitting10 into it, he slapped the hand and spittle on to the left side of his head, saying at the same time:

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The gods are sleeping now,
And man can work.
The mana of Tu is great,
His power is high.
The younger owns
The elder's power.

He walked down to the beach, stepped into his canoe and sat down. Then, taking his paddle in his hand, he called, "You can all come now."

We got into our canoes and paddled after the old chief, who had pulled towards the rocks, which are a little way out in the sea. When close to the rocks the old chief waited for us and told us to land so that the females might go first, then the boys, and then the men. As we landed we were to collect the eggs from the nests. We were to go in a line and were not to pass in front of each other. As each canoe landed, the people did as they were told by the priest. The women and girls collected the eggs and went on in front in a line. The boys and men followed with baskets made of the bark of the totara tree. These baskets were made of the bark so that the eggs would not be broken, as would inevitably have happened if they had been put in a common basket. As each basket was filled, it was brought and placed in one of the canoes. By the time it was high water and the sun was tikaka 11 we had obtained many thousands of eggs. We did not want to paddle through a rough sea, and soon the sea breeze would raise the waves as the tide went out against the wind. The canoes were all laden with eggs, so we paddled across at once and landed on the sandy beach whence we had departed. As the Taka-runga people carried their eggs on shore we noticed that Tihe was wearing the mat that had been makutu-ed by her priest page 187Black and white fascimile page image and had been hidden near the spring at the Raro-tonga pa. When Tata saw that Tihe had donned the mat, he was angry and at once exclaimed, "Give the mat to me, O woman. We came here to-day to obtain food, and you wear a half-rotten mat! Give it to me!" Tihe gave him the mat at once, and the Taka-runga people carried the eggs they had obtained up to their pa.

We waited till the tide had reached low water, and at flood tide left in our canoes, crossed the river and landed at Wai-ariki. Popo had not spoken once since he saw the mat on Tihe, till we landed at Wai-ariki. Then he said, "O Tata, as you have the mat, you must be the last one to come up to the pa. Let those who carry the eggs go before, and you and your mat come up last. Come by yourself, be the last of our party to enter the pa."

That evening our people had a feast. The eggs were cooked and eaten with the panahi12 root and the porotawa. 13 The next day Popo was not able to walk. He was hot and perspired greatly. He did not eat much food, but could talk and laugh as he was wont to do, but his legs were too weak to let him move about.

The kumara crops had been taken up and all the rua kumara were filled with food. It was spring again and the sun was becoming hot. The pipiwharauroa 14 page 188Black and white fascimile page image had been heard to sing, and the kaka had begun to pass over our pa in twos and threes, on their way to the colder part of these islands.

Popo had not been able to go with any of the parties who went to fish or kill rats. He was not well and he was not ill. His body was like that of a man who forever talked to himself but said nothing to those around him. He lived in his own heart; he talked to himself and answered himself; he never said one angry word; he never blamed anyone, but was kind to all. If he did speak it was to ask someone who was quarrelling to cease.

It was nearly time to set the kumara crop again, when the people were looking at their ko, and tying the teka tight, so that they could use it and the teka not pahuhu. 15

One fine morning an old man and several younger ones arrived from the Ngutu-wera pa. They had come to ask Popo and any others who could go to meet them at Ngutu-wera on the following day, when they would papaki 16 the kaka.

The old chief who came with the young men was a relative of Popo's and was much practised in the use of herbs to cure diseases. Seeing Popo so much like a half-dead man, he at once ordered the people to go with him near to the spring on the north side of the pa. They dug a hole about twice the length of Popo's body. This hole was partly filled with wood, covered with large stones. Then a fire was put to the wood, which soon blazed up and heated the stones.

Whilst the umu 17 was being heated, the old chief sent some of the young men to Puke-kawa to collect the page 189Black and white fascimile page image shrubs korokio, kawakawa 18 and karamu, while other young men collected the uruuruwhenua, 19 tutae-kuri 20 and grapes. When the umu was sufficiently heated, the smouldering embers were taken out and the kawakawa branches were laid in a thick layer on the hot Stones. On top of these were placed the branches of the korokio, and next the karamu, each in a thick layer. While this was being done, Popo was brought in a litter by four strong men. When all the shrubs had been placed in the umu, a calabash of water was poured on the heap to put out any embers that might still be alight. Rough mats were placed on this heap, and on these Popo was laid, with mats on top of him, except for his head, which was kept free. Now and then the old chief ordered some of the young men to pour water round the sides of the umu. This was done by lifting up the corners of the mats and pouring water on to the shrubs. A gentle steam rose beneath Popo, and in a little time he began to perspire. While this part of the chief's orders was being carried out, he ordered a fire to be kindled, and on it were placed the grapes collected by the young men. When the grapes had been burnt to powder, the ashes were collected and put into a calabash of oil extracted from the roe of the kanae. The calabash was then stirred by a young man holding a short stick in his hand, until he had made the oil and powder into an ointment. After Popo had been some time on the umu, and, with perspiring so much, had become rather weak, he was taken out. The ointment was rubbed all over his body, and he was taken in the kauhoa 21 to his own dwelling in the pa. When the sun had set, the ointment was wiped from his body, except page 190Black and white fascimile page image from his knees downwards, and he was made to perspire again by piling mats on top of him.

When the day dawned, he was able to sit up, and by the time the morning meal had been cooked, he was able to walk on to the marae without assistance.

Ten days after the old chief had come to the pa, he announced that Popo was strong enough to join his party, and that, on the morrow, they would start from the pa occupied by the fishermen at Te To. He proposed that some of the people should accompany Popo at once and sleep at the pa that night.

The evening meal had been eaten, but it was still daylight when Popo and many others left this pa and went down the road to Te To. The old chief walked behind Popo all the way, and talked to him as he went. "You will sleep with me to-night," he said, " so that I may see what hui 22 you have, that I may know if you will be a strong man again."

"I only want to live to see Ata again," Popo replied, "and to tell her why I have not been to her pa."

"Yes," said the old man, "all young men speak as you do. I did so when I was a young man, but now I find there is more to do in life than to love a wife. We have to attend to pakipaki kaka 23 now, so that you can think of that for a few days, and later of Ata. Love is good, but it is only the food of the eyes. There is another hunger—that of the stomach. To obtain that which will satisfy that craving is the great duty of man."

Popo slept in a wharau 24 outside the pa that night. At midnight he awoke with a gurgling in his throat. He slept again, and drew his right leg inwards, and at the same time, with a shout of triumph, he kicked out his page 191Black and white fascimile page image left leg. The old priest did not speak, but kept silent till day began to break. When he could see Popo's face he sat up and said, 'I have been thinking of what I saw last night, but I cannot tell what your hui means. First you slept, and I heard a gurgling in your throat. This is death! But then I heard you draw a long breath, and the gurgling ceased and you awoke. The long breath means life! I do not know why you should have the omen of half-death and half-life. But we shall watch the kaka birds you take. After you have, as you may think, killed them, and any of them fly away, that will be the meaning of your hui.

"But then, in your sleep, you drew your right leg up to your body. This is the sign of a coward. The right side of man is sacred to Tu. I know that you are a man of peace, and maybe it is that you will not allow war in your day. Then your left leg, after you had uttered a cry as do those who are victors on the field of battle, was kicked out with a strong jerk. This, truly, is an omen of much food. The left side of man is sacred to Pani,25 so we shall take flocks of kaka. But I do not know, O Popo, what your hui means. There is evil before you, but you will not die. If it is war, you will not be killed, but will obtain your wish. There is death in your path; you will be partly overcome by it, but the power of the god Pani will save you, and you will be a chief of your people. Evil will overcome you, and there will be great weeping for you. But the gurgling in your throat says that the weeping of the tribes will end in joy. Even as you shouted the shout of triumph, so will your evil roll from you, and you will not die in sorrow."

The next morning, they all took their places in the canoes. Popo and the old chief were in a small canoe.

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As they pushed off from the beach, the old chief said, "Let not anyone pass this canoe. Let each one follow the other. Popo and I will go first." As soon as they had passed from the shore, with Popo in the riu 26 of the canoe and the old chief paddling at the stern, he said, "Do you see the rocks which rise in the water like a fence? They extend from the shore across the river nearly to the Ngutu-wera point."

"Yes," said Popo.

"Did anyone ever tell you how they came here?"

"I have never asked, or no doubt I should have been told."

"The gods lived in these islands before men came," the old chief replied. "Some of them were travelling from the south, and they had come round by Papakura and over the portage at Te Whau. When they came to this part of the Waitemata they could not cross it as it was so deep, so they collected stones and tried to make a causeway. Day dawned before their work was finished, and as they could not work in the sunlight, but only in the darkness, the work was left unfinished. That is the origin of that fence of stones."

"Ah," Popo replied, "I have heard how the island of Rangitoto was made to stand in its present position. Maybe the gods of which you speak were the same as those who made Rangitoto."

"Say on," his friend answered, "say on and let me see if you have been informed correctly by your elders."

Popo settled himself more comfortably in the canoe. "Yes, the gods had to flee away at the coming of the sun. Perhaps they hid themselves in the Titirangi ranges, because I have been told that there were gods who once lived on the west coast near the Kare Kare stream. There was a peaked hill of rough stones on page 193Black and white fascimile page image the coast in that district, and as the gods were boasting one day of what they could do, one of them said, 'I will pull up that pointed hill by the roots and carry it away and place it as an island on the east coast.' He was laughed at by the other gods, so he rose, bent himself over the pointed hill, embraced the rough mountain and, clasping his arms tightly, he straightened himself, and up came the hill by the roots. He threw it on to his shoulder and carried it across the forest ranges of Titirangi. He was a giant of a god! He intended to wade out to sea half-way between Aotea and this river, but as he stepped out further and further, the water became so deep that he was up to his waist. He was not bold enough to go further, so he threw the load from his shoulder, and thus was Rangitoto formed."

The old chief grunted, "Was that all they told you of the history of our district?"

"No. Say on, and I will now look at the words you utter and see if you have been taught correctly by your teachers. You may perhaps allude to Tara-mai-nuku?"

"Yes, I do."

"Say on then, and I will listen. I was taught by old Mihi Rangi te Manu o te Ata."

"Yes," the old chief assented, "Mihi Rangi is an old woman who has spoken to the people of ancient times. She is our pukeroro and can tell the history correctly. What I know was taught by our old men in the whare matoro.

"Tara-mai-nuku was a priest of olden times. Soon after Te Arawa and her crew passed the islands near Moe-hau, he was a priest of Tangaroa, and could command the fish of the sea. We all know that if a whale is seen near Rangitoto, that whale will surely come on shore somewhere in Hauraki.

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"Tara-mai-nuku wished for a great many fish for a feast he was preparing for his people, so he ordered his men to make a net which was to reach from Whangarei heads to Moe-hau. The net was finished and was placed in the canoes which were to take it to the points I have named. He had placed the posts to which the ends of the net were to be fastened, and had put the Whangarei end of the net in the water. When he came to the Moe-hau end, he had some dispute with the chief in charge of the canoe in which that end of the net was contained. As this chief would not obey his orders, he was, for his disobedience, turned into a rock which can still be seen standing up in mid-channel between the Aotea island and the Moe-hau point. To this very day those gods who were with Tara-mai-nuku are the cause of evil to anyone who breaks their orders."

"What were the days of those deeds?" Popo inquired. "Were Manaia and his family the owners of the land at the Whangarei point of the net of Tara-mai-nuku ?"

"Yes, and Manaia also felt the power of the gods. Manaia had a wife called Maunga-kiekie—the same name as that of one of our pa. He had two daughters and a slave called Paeko, and they all lived on the south bank of the Whangarei river, close to the heads. We all like fish, and the water at the heads of that river is shallow on the south side, where they lived, so the eldest daughter got blocks of stone and built a wharf into deep water, from which she could matira. 27 She built the wharf during the day, but the gods of Tara-mai-nuku did not like their domain being used by a woman until a karakia had been repeated and an offering given to them. This was not done by the girl. She was a woman and did not know how to act with the gods.

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As the offering was not made, nor the karakia repeated, the work this girl did in the daytime was undone by the gods at night, until at last the girl gave up the work in despair.

"Soon after this, Manaia and all his family were on a journey from Whangarei to the Bay of Islands. They all went—Manaia, his wife, the two daughters and Paeko. The slave carried a calabash in each hand and was accompanied by his dog. Manaia quarrelled with his wife as they were starting. They crossed the river and had ascended the rugged mountain on the north bank, and at the summit of that mountain, had sat down to rest. Here the dispute between Manaia and his wife was resumed. Manaia was so angry that he kicked his wife. Paeko interceded for her, and Manaia kicked her down the hill. The gods of Tara-mai-nuku had witnessed Manaia's act. His wife was of equal rank with himself. To punish them all, the gods turned them into stones, and on the hill now called Manaia. on the south heads of Whangarei, these four people may be seen standing—Manaia, his wife, and their two daughters, while half-way down the hill you can see Paeko and two round stones which are her calabashes, and her dog. It was because of this evil that all these people were turned to stone."

The old chief ceased, and Popo, who had been listening intently to his tale, said, "To-night I will ask you some questions about Rona."

By this time they had reached a little sandy beach to the eastward of Ngutu-wera. Leaving the canoe, the two ascended the cliff by a road winding round its face, and entered the pa. It was occupied by a portion of the hapu which usually lived at Waireka, and who, at this season of the year, took the kaka as they migrated south. As they entered the pa the women and page 196Black and white fascimile page image girls waved their mats to welcome Popo. He went and sat down at once in the whare manuwhiri. 28

At dusk the old chief was heard to call from the marae of the pa, "let our people meet in the whare korero to-night. Let no one come with mats, but let each woman make for herself a maro of grass, and the men of ti leaves. Let no one who has been out to catch fish this year come to the meeting." Some of the boys made kapara, and had lit them in the whare korero. When all who had been invited assembled, the chief rose and said, "Popo has come to be one of us in the work of papaki kaka. Who are to be the tutai 29 to go to the mountains and light the signal fires to tell us when the flocks of kaka are seen to collect in the north?"

Presently a voice said, "I will go to Tamahua."

"And I," said another, "will go to Pitoitoi."

"I will go to Kau-kapakapa."

"And I will go to Mataia."

"And I to Maunga-whau."

"Enough," said the old chief, "enough, my children. Sleep here, and on the morrow proceed to these mountains. Take food for your journey, but do not tarry on the road to take birds, or to catch fish. Let your eyes be open, and when you see the kaka flocks coming south, light your signal fires that we may be ready. Enough. You can go to your houses and sleep."

The people dispersed, but Popo and the old chief and some of the other old men stayed in the house and slept there that night.

Popo now appeared to be much stronger than he was before he had been placed in the umu. He could walk and talk in his usual manner. As they were speakpage 197Black and white fascimile page imageing of the papaki kaka, he asked, "when is the time for the kaka to come?"

"Since I was a boy," one of the old chiefs replied, "I have noticed that about one moon after the pipi-wharauroa has sung its song on its return to this land, the kaka migrates south."

"But why should the kaka go south when there is so much food for it in the north? There is the miro 30 berry which is so full of oil for it to feed upon, and the hinau 31 berry so full of soft pith? These trees have plenty of fruit in summer. Then there are the poti kete 32 which they eat."

"Ah," said the old man, "the food you mention is good, but the hot summer weather makes the kaka lean, and then they are annoyed by lice. A lean bird always has lice, 'the kaka does not live on berries altogether. It eats flesh when it can get it. It lives on the tops of the young fern stalk as it comes up on the plains; it eats grubs which it finds in decayed trees. Better to be fat and live on these things in the south than to be lean and be annoyed by lice."

"When does it have its young?"

"In the fourth month of the year33 when the karaka and the hou 34 are in flower, then the kaka lays its eggs. Some of the kaka make nests in the holes in the rocks, and in holes in cliffs. These are the kaka of the common flock and are all alike. But some of them make nests in the puriri 35 in the hollows caused by the moko-roa. 36 They are not the colour of the usual kaka but are a little lighter, and are called the kaka korako.

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Some build in the hollows in the hinau. These are spotted light and dark; that is, they have dark feathers here and there on them, which are darker than the usual colour of the kaka, and these are the kaka pipi-wharauroa. Some have their nests in the hollows of the tanekaha. 37 These are the kaka kura so prized by us. Some build in the hollows of the pukatea. 38 Some of these are spotted with light feathers and are called the kaka kereru. These are matured enough to fly south with the old birds in the sixth month, the moon when the kohoperoa 39 is heard singing its spring notes. But," said the old man, "the kaka does not only live on seeds or the kernels of seeds and on insects, it also eats the sweet water of the blossom of the trees, and the children of Kupe 40 say there are such at the south."

It was now late in the night, but a woman's voice was heard at the door of the house saying, "Come, O our child, and eat with your fathers. The boys have made a fire on the marae."

The old men rose, followed by Popo, and went outside to where a plentiful feast of fish, birds, roi, kumara, panahi and toheroa were placed in kono. Two chiefs sat down before each kono, and Popo sat with his friend. When they had all eaten and returned to the house, Popo said, "When I was a child, old Mihi Rangi told me of Rona in the moon, and that there was some place in Kaipara where he used to live."

"Yes," said the old chief who had spoken about the kaka, "the words of Mihi are true. I have seen page 199Black and white fascimile page image the place. I have talked with some of the sons of Tama-tea-pokai-whenua who live in that land. I have also seen and spoken to the children of those who came in the canoe Mahuhu who landed on the Taporapora mainland,, where they built a whare kura." 41

"When will the messengers light their signal fires ? And when shall we papaki the kaka?" asked Popo.

"It may be in one day, and it may be in one moon."

"Then let us hear the talk of our father. Let us spend our days in talking of old times," Popo said, "so that I may lie here and listen to your teaching. So will I be able to gain strength to kill the birds."

"Yes," said the old chief, "I will tell you first the tale of Rona as I promised when we were coming across the river. In days long ago, there lived a man and wife and three children in the Kaipara. They lived on the flat opposite the landing place in the Awa-roa, a tittle way from the pa which stands on the first elevated point on the left hand as you go up the river. The man's name was Rona. They lived on the flat damp land near to a warm spring that bubbles up on the flat land some distance from the bank of the river. Rona and his wife had quarrelled, and she had left him. She had gone to live with some of her own people who lived near the lakes in the Pae-roa sand hills.

"Rona, being a man, did not know how to provide all that his family required for their use, and one night when it was very dark and the children were crying for water, there was none there. Rona had forgotten to provide it while it was daylight. The children kept on crying, 'O Rona, some water!' till the father became quite weary. He took a calabash in each hand, but like a stupid man he did not take a fire-brand to wave about page 200Black and white fascimile page image and shed light on the road. In the dark he struck his foot against the roots of the trees which grew in the path and hurt himself. A second time he struck his foot. He sat down to recover from the pain, and as he sat there he could still hear his children saying, 'O Rona, some water !' He looked up into the sky and saw some stars, but they did not shine brightly enough to show the road.

"He was now very angry with pain, and said, 'Cooked head moon! Where are you now, that I am left in the dark to go on this road and kill my feet with stumps and stones? Cooked head moon, for not showing light to me!'

"He rose and went on, but the moon had heard his curse,42 and came down and took hold of him. Rona was taken up into the sky, but just as he was lifted off the earth, he put the two calabashes in his left hand and with his right grasped the thick bough of a ngaio to hold him to the earth. But the moon was in a rage and dragged him on, and as Rona held fast, the ngaio was pulled up by the roots.

"The children still kept crying for water, and even at that great distance Rona could hear them. Parched with thirst, they came out of the house and called, 'O Rona, where are you? Where are you? You are long away for the water!'

"Rona called from the moon, 'Here I am up here, with the stars and with the moon. No water here! Here I am, up above.'

"The children were afraid to go and get water for themselves, and on the morrow they went to seek their mother, and told her how their father had cursed the moon and was now up in the sky where he would ever page 201Black and white fascimile page image remain, and not come to earth again. The mother came back with her children to the old home, and took another husband; but she never said one angry word to him, for fear that Rona and the moon would come some night and take her away also. When she lived with her new husband she would not go out of the house in the nights of the moon, especially at the time of rakaunui, as Rona and his calabashes and the ngaio could then be seen distinctly in the moon."

"Your words are correct," said another. "Those are the words I have heard from the old people when I was a boy."

"It is late now and I feel rather tired," said Popo. "I will sleep," and so saying, he laid down and pulled his mat over his head and slept. The old men talked for some time, and then one by one they, too, laid down and slept.

The next morning at breakfast, Popo asked, "Where shall we see the signal fire?"

"We must ascend to the peak of Ngutu-wera, and this we will do as soon as we have eaten our meal."

The chiefs accompanied Popo to the top of Ngutu-wera and sat down. It was a fine day and the river to the south of them lay calm and peaceful. The isthmus lay in front of them, dividing the sea on the west coast from that on the east. The distant hills of the Waikato were seen clearly in the distance over Waiuku, and the pa of Mount Eden, Mount Albert, Three Kings and Takapuna stood up from the flat country as though they claimed to be of more god-like origin than the surrounding country. The ridge of rocks which lay in a long, narrow line from Te Whau looked like a big rope stretched over the mud-flat.

After a long silence, one of the chiefs said, "I page 202Black and white fascimile page image hope it will not be long before our people see the pokai 43 kaka and light the signal fires; but, while we are waiting, let us go back to the kainga 44 and take a canoe and go out fishing. Our young people can watch for the signal fires."

They all returned and took a canoe and went out opposite to Ngutu-wera, on to the old fishing grounds where their fathers had for ages fished before them. Old Reko, one of the chiefs, had a hook on which was some human bone, and he was the first to catch a fish. "Ah," said he, "my hook is still the same lucky thing it ever was. Old Pupuha has not lost his witchery. He ever carries the sorcery to take fish."

Popo asked him, "Who was old Pupuha, and what was his history? What did he do? Did he die? Was he killed in battle, or was he murdered?"

"Ah, you may well ask about such a man. He was really a god of evil. As you have asked so many questions about him, I will give a history of his life till my father killed him.

"I must go back for years before you were born. As he still has relatives alive, you will not have learnt anything about him. Only we old men who are not with you have any knowledge of the man, and we do not speak of him to the people, because some of his relatives might try to obtain revenge for his death. I do not say in the presence of everyone what I have said today, but as I knew who were here, I could not refrain from expressing my feelings as I did. It was Pupuha who murdered my uncle.

"We, that is my father and mother and all our family, lived with the greater part of our Tainui tribe, page 203Black and white fascimile page image with all our leading chiefs, in the Mount Eden pa. With them lived a high chief called Kokiri, and his wife. This man was a noted warrior and of high birth and of considerable command in our tribe. As his wife had not given birth to a child, she went to Kawhia to utter incantations and present offerings to Ue-nuku,46 the block of stone in the Awa-roa creek. This block of stone was once a man who turned into stone and became the god to which childless women uttered incantations to give them fertility. She went and performed her ceremonies and chanted her incantations and came back, and some time after she returned it was said she expected a child. At that time we had (I say 'we' because I am now telling you what I heard from my father) a meeting of guests at Mount Eden pa from the surrounding pa, and many dogs were killed. Ahi, the wife of Kokiri, saw the blood of a dog and asked for it. She got it and drank it, and a few moons after this gave birth to a son. The old women of those days said it was not like any child they had ever seen. It was a boy and seldom or never opened its eyes. He was very fair and had light hair. When old enough, he was baptised Pupuha Kiekie from the fact that he kept his head covered with the mat he wore, and made puffing noises with his mouth, so that we sometimes called him 'Puff-in-the-dark.'

"When he was old enough to play with the children of the pa, he could not see as well as they, as his eyes were light coloured, and he had to keep his hand over his forehead to shade them. But when the shades page 204Black and white fascimile page image of evening came he could see better than all his companions, and we often called him a god when I was a boy, as he could see in the dark as if it were daylight.

"He never ate cooked food if he could obtain it raw, and blood was the greatest delicacy he could obtain. When he went with anyone to catch fish he invariably had a good feast of raw fish, so that when he came back to the pa, he went to sleep while the people cooked the fish.

"When he was old enough to take a wife, none of our young women would accept him as a husband, but spurned his love with loathing. This, my father said, made him sour in his conduct, and he eventually left Mount Eden and went to live in a cave at the Three Kings. As he was the son of a high chief, we did not object, though the bones of some of our dead had been deposited there. Of course, none of our people would enter the cave, and we did not know how he lived or how he procured food, nor what food his was. Our people looked on him as partially deranged, so that whenever he appeared at any of our pa he was welcome to any food that had been prepared for the people, but food was given to him in a separate basket as he was tapu, having lived in a cave with the bones of the dead.

"Our people were told that Pupuha had paid a visit to the people at Waiuku, and that a child had been lost about that time. Then news came that he had been seen at Wairoa near the Thames, and an old man had disappeared. Then news came that he had been to see some of our people who lived at Mahu-rangi, and had lived there for some moons, and a boy and a girl had been lost there.

"At this time he accompanied some of our people to obtain kanae on the west coast near Wai-takere. One day, one of the people there was reported missing.

page 205Black and white fascimile page image

Great enquiry was made over the lost one, and as our people had not obtained sufficient cured kanae, they went to the coast near Muri-wai. Once again a young woman was lost by the tribe there. Pupuha did not sleep with our people, but made night his day and slept at the time our. people were fishing.

"When our people had come home with the fish they had caught, Pupuha went to his cave home and stayed there. None of our people ever saw smoke rise from the cave, but this they did not notice, as he always ate his food raw.

"After a time some of our people intended to go to Manuka to fish for shark. My father and mother went, and my uncle, who was an invalid, said he would go with them to eat some of the freshly caught sharks' eggs, as he had a desire for them. He accompanied them to the beach at Onehunga, but being fatigued, he stayed there, intending to return to Mount Eden in the evening when the sun was not too hot. He became lost, and no one knew what had become of him. Our people did not know that he had been lost until the shark fishers had come back to Mount Eden, which was not for two moons. When the news of his disappearance was known, the tribe sought for him all over the district, and some went to the more distant places. It was then they heard of the loss of those I have told you of at Waiuku, Wairoa and Mahu-rangi.

"The head chiefs of the tribe called a meeting of all our people to be held at Te Whau, just opposite to us now on the left bank of the creek. The meeting was to be held in the season when the kumara crop was taken up. The night before the meeting took place, a slave from the pa at Mount Eden was going to Mount Albert, but as he did not come back next day, a search was made. Someone went to the cave page 206Black and white fascimile page image and saw some human bones there, but as he could not say if they were the bones of the dead deposited there or of those of someone killed, no notice was taken of it. Howbeit, the slave was never seen again.

"The meeting took place. As we had to wait some days for our guests to arrive, our people spent their time in wrestling, spearing and canoe-racing. Pupuha was there, and one of our young men received a wound in a spearing match, which Pupuha wished to suck. This so disgusted our people for his daring to suck the blood of our sacred men that some of them wished to kiU him. But as he was of such high rank, there were not many of our tribe who could be allowed to take his life, so instead he was made to leave the meeting.

"When the meeting was at last held, the head chief of Mount Eden said, 'This meeting has been called to hear what the people say regarding their friends who have been lost. It would not be right to allow some enemy to lie in our midst without our trying to discover who he is.'

"Those who had lost friends or relations told their tale of sorrow, and what they supposed had become of them. Our people, remembering the loss of those who were missed on the west coast at Wai-takere and Muri-wai, did not speak, but some of them went in a body to Three Kings cave. There they found the head of my uncle and the body of the lost slave, with bones which were known to be those of people recently killed, and not of the dead deposited there by our tribe. Those who had gone to the cave made Pupuha come to the meeting with them, and they brought also the head of my uncle. The brains had been taken out and the skin had dried, and thus preserved the head.

"The prisoner and the head were placed in the page 207Black and white fascimile page image midst of the meeting, and for some time perfect silence reigned Then the females began to cry in a low tone. One by one, each family who had lost relatives joined in the weeping. At last my father rose and said, 1 do not wish to say many words, but I am of equal rank with Pupuha. We have proof of the acts of this man who makes day night, and night day. If I am not to do what I shall do, you must speak at once, or you may be too late to stay my hand.'

"The head chiefs said, 'Do as you intend.'

"My father walked to where Pupuha was held by those who had led him from the cave of the Three Kings, and struck him on the temple with his mere pounamu and killed him. My father then turned to the father and mother of Pupuha and said, 'You must do as you wish with your son.'

"All the people were taken by surprise, and each looked at the other as if waiting for some fearful act to transpire. The weeping women ceased to wail, and for some time there was silence, nor did anyone in that great crowd move; even the girls and boys sat in awe-stricken silence.

"An old grey-headed priest who had come from Mahu-rangi with his tribe rose. All eyes were fixed on him. He had been a man of tall stature and strong in limb in his young days. He had in his time been a warrior of whom his enemies were afraid. He was now bowed with age, and held a staff in his right hand by which he helped to keep himself erect. His hair was grey and his large beard flowing, but it was now covered with red ochre and whale oil which had come from the crown of his head. His hair was tied in a knot on the top of his head, and in it were stuck the feathers of a huia's tail. From his right ear was page 208Black and white fascimile page image suspended a kurukuru, 46 and from the left ear a large shark's tooth. On his breast was a greenstone heitiki, and over his shoulders and down to his knees was a dogskin mat, the upper part of which was composed of a fringe of long dog-hair, and round his waist and reaching to his feet was a fine kaitaka. He rose in a calm, deliberate manner, and with a slow and deliberate tread, he walked to the centre of the crowd. His voice was not loud or shrill, but, as a chief's should be, of a low, deep tone. He looked round for some time, and then said, 'I am of the days of old, and my words shall be the last spoken at this meeting. I seldom speak, but when I do, mine are the concluding words. We all know that ours is a tribe of chiefs; but if anyone here can prove his rank to be higher than mine, let him speak when I am done. Hearken, O my people, to the words I shall utter. You all know the history of our tribe, and the origin of our gods. The gods eat each other. There was a god who could not be beaten by his brothers, and his brothers turned into fish, insects, fern root, kumara and other things. These were eaten by their brother gods, and so do we eat the bodies of our enemies when slain in battle. You also remember that our people had, for want of bread, to eat some of the crew of one of the canoes which came from Hawaiki to this land. But it was want and not revenge that made him do that evil. What evil have we seen in our midst to-day? Do I say that the one I now see dead has been murdered? Does man murder himself? Yes! Man does kill himself! His acts are so vile, and so against the ties of his blood, that for his evil he must be killed lest the people become distracted, and lest insanity take possession of the tribe and they become lost to bravery, honour or self-preservation and sink to page 209Black and white fascimile page image less than the dogs we take the kiwi with, and at last die out as a people. I say Pupuha has killed himself by the hand of a chief of equal rank, so that justice has been given to him for his deeds. I will stand here and see what the father and mother and relatives of Pupuha will do after you have all left.'

"The men and women rose to their feet and went to their own pa. The guests who had come from a distance went to their canoes, and as they left not a word was spoken, nor did anyone look back.

"When they had all gone the old chief stood till the parents and relatives of Pupuha went to the corpse and made a litter of stalks. They tied it together with flax, placed the body on it and carried it to the bank of the Whau creek. They took it across in a canoe and carried it towards Titirangi, and were at last lost to sight over the fern hills of Kopu-paka. The old chief then went to the shore of the Waitemata, and on the mud-flat you can see to the north of us got into the canoe of his people and left for Mahu-rangi.

"Years after that I was born, and when I was a young man, as I was out here fishing with my father, he told me the tale. Years later, after I had been tattooed, some of our people went over to the west coast to the Ara-whata to catch young seagulls. On our return we were ascending a boulder-filled gorge on the south side of the Ara-whata creek. We were thirsty, and seeing a fall of water coming over a steep boulder hill, two of us went in that direction. Having slaked our thirst, we saw a cave not more than a man's span to the south of us. My friend was afraid, and so was I, but I said, 'Stay where you are and I will go and see what I can see.' I found a lot of white hair—that is, not the hair of an old person, but flax-white hair. I at once thought of Pupuha, and in my hatred towards page 210Black and white fascimile page image the man, I sought for the bones and took those of one of his arms. These I hid in my clothing, and this is part of one of those bones with which I caught the first fish to-day. I use it to revenge my uncle who was murdered and eaten by Pupuha."

"That is a good tale," said Popo, "and it is true. But as I have not been on the west coast, I cannot think what sort of cave it was in which you found the bones of your enemy. Tell me what sort of place it is, so that I may know it if ever I am there and see it."

"I have been on the west coast many times," Reko replied. "Some of my relatives live there. They are the descendants of Maki, and are called Te Kawe-rau.47 Their ancestor Maki stole some kumara, and made a rope of the nikau 48 leaves to carry them, hence the name of the tribe. They are not over-scrupulous of the sanctity of their neighbour's property, nor will they hesitate to kill anyone who offends them. Still, they are of the Tainui people, and are from the same ancestors as we.

"They occupy the district between the Muri-wai and Manuka mouths. They have five pa. One is built on posts in the midst of the Wai-takere bog. This is the strongest of their homes, where they collect when evil news has been heard. Another pa is a small island on the sea-coast to the north of the Wai-takere river mouth. The island stands in the surf and is surrounded at high tide, but at low water the mainland side of the island is dry. It is not very large, but though surrounded by the salt sea and high above the water, there is a spring of clear fresh water at the top of the pa. There is only one path by which it can be entered, and one man could hold off a crowd of men if armed page 211Black and white fascimile page image with a spear, as an enemy would have to use both his hands in order to be able to climb up the cliff. This pa has withstood many a siege and has never been captured.

"Then on the beach at Piha there stands a high island. It towers up high in the air, and is very steep on all sides. This is also a pa, and has been attacked many times, but has never been taken. A creek of fresh water runs by the island on the south side. Though the attacking party could see those in the pa, the occupants would be safe even from stones, as the sides of the island are so high.

"Then they have another pa on the north side of the Kare Kare creek, which stands on the edge of the cavity, out of which Rangitoto was drawn. The western foot of this pa is washed by the surf.

"Still another pa they have about half-way between Piha and the little island pa. This is where their fishermen reside in summer when they are taking fish for the tribe. The land is good and grows much kumara, taro, hue, roi and pohue. The sea yields much fish, and the forest rats and birds, so that whenever you go into that district, you can have good food, amusement in fishing and hunting, and security by night from an enemy."

"I will go there in summer if I am strong," Popo said. "But some of you must go with me to take me to every place of importance."

"We will go on shore now," Reko declared, "as we have caught sufficient fish."

They landed and partook of the evening meal. Popo, being fatigued, lay down to rest while the old people sat round the fire and talked.

2 The god of nature.

3 Scholars.

4 The god of wind and rain.

5 The god of peace and agriculture.

6 The god or personification of the aruhe, the edible rhizome of the bracken. Haumia and Rongo are coupled together in the arts of peace.

7 The goddess of fire from whom Maui stole fire. Mahuika pursued him, but Maui called the rain to his aid, and in self-preservation Mahuika was forced to various trees for shelter. The wood of these trees is used in the generation of fire, and particularly the kaikomako, which is frequently utilised for the kauati.

8 Sacred lore

9 The Pleiades, the Little Eyes. The festival of the new year was held at the time of the rising of the Pleiades.

10 The use of saliva ill connection with ritual performance, and particularly in securing good fortune in hunting, fishing, etc., is well known.

11 At the zenith, noon. (Note: John White.)

13 A fungus which grows on rotten timber, especially on the tawa tree.

14 The shining cuckoo. Chalcococcyx lucidus. "The call of the shining cuckoo, harbinger of spring" is the wording, translated, of an old Maori proverbial saying. The clearness and peculiar quality of the call notes of this little migrant singled it out for his special notice. ... A number arrive in New Zealand from overseas in September. Such birds are sometimes found in the Auckland district in an exhausted state, as if after a long flight, but otherwise in good condition. . . . Being comparatively small they are more often heard than seen, but may sometimes be detected on account of a habit of flying from one tree to another after whistling. New Zealand Forest Inhabiting Birds.

15 Slip off.

16 Decoy.

17 Oven.

18 Veronica Salicifolia or Corokia Buddleoides.

19 A tree-fern. Dicksonia squarrosa.

20 A grass.

21 Litter.

22 Twitch. It was from the involuntary movements of the sleeper that omens were discerned.

23 Decoy hunt.

24 Temporary house or shed for travellers and others.

25 God of food, particularly of the kumara.

26 Bilge.

27 Fish with a rod.

28 Guest house.

29 Watcher.

30 Podocarpus ferrugineus.

31 Elaeocarpus dentatus.

32 Small crabs.

33 August

34 Panax arboreum.

35 Vitex lucens.

36 A large white grub.

37 Phyllocladus Trichomanoides.

38 Laurelia novae-zealandiae.

39 Long-tailed cuckoo. Urodynmnis taitetuis. "The call of the Long-tailed Cuckoo is easily distinguished from that of other birds. It is a loud shrill whistle or screech and is to be heard at all hours of the night as well as during the day." New Zealand Birds. W. R. B. Oliver, p. 426.

40 The famous voyager who discovered Ao-tea-Roa and visited Te Wai Pounamu (South Island).

41 The house where karakia and other knowledge of a similar kind was taught.

42 The head was especially tapu, and to use such a form of words was the deadliest insult a Maori could offer.

43 Flock.

44 Village, settlement An unfortified place, as distinct from a pa, which is a fortified village.

46 A greenstone ornament.

46 A greenstone ornament.

47 Kawe = carry; rau = leaves.

48 The New Zealand palm. Rhopalostylis sapida.