Former Kumara Cultivations in the Taiamai District

A large area in the Taiamai district, inland of the Bay of Islands, has been used in former times for the purpose of cultivating the kumara. From Ahuahu to Ohaeawai and on to Pakaraka are seen signs of this former industry. Much of the undulating and level land of this large basin is composed of a good volcanic soil, which, however, contains an enormous quantity of scoria in the form of stones and boulders. On the old lava flow west of the volcanic cone of Pouerua cultivation was evidently restricted to patches of soil among the masses of rock and boulders. The extent of the cultivated area from the Tapa-huarau pa southwards and eastwards to Maunga-turoto, Tupetupe, Te Rua-hoanga, Pouerua, etc., has been great. These lands were cultivated by the folk who dwelt in the old hill forts of Maunga-kawakawa, Maunga-turoto, Nga Puke-pango, Tapa-huarau, Taka-poruruku, Te Ruahoanga, Pouerua, Pikoi, Patiko-tiko and a number of others of which the names were not collected. This district must have supported, at some time in the past, a very numerous population whose principal food products were the kumara and taro.

In order to prepare the ground for cultivation it was, in most places, necessary to first remove the immense numbers of stones lying on the surface, as also those immediately under the surface page 125that would interfere with the working of the soil. This was done by collecting all the more portable stones and piling them in heaps and rows, while the large unwieldy boulders were left severely alone. There are many hundreds of these stone heaps, some of which contain a considerable quantity of soil, probably produced by the deposit on such heaps of weeds and rubbish removed from the cultivated ground. In some parts where stones have been very numerous the piled heaps are within a few yards of each other, the intermediate spaces of irregular form having been utilised as cropping ground. In these old fields one sees depressions that may have been pathways worn by much traffic. The clearing of surfaces that originally must have been covered with stones, seems to imply that every available bit of suitable soil was utilised. Some of the heaps are but 6 ft. to 10 ft. apart. The stone heaps differ in size; some are 25 yards in circumference at the base, and 5 ft. in height. It would be interesting to ascertain what sinkage has taken place in heaps that have probably existed for several centuries, as induced by dead weight and the operations of earthworms.

Another form in which the stones were piled in some cases was that of a wall, though it does not appear that any enclosure was so formed, indeed there was no need for strong fences or enclosures in pre-European times. These old Maori stone walls or fences are seldom over 3 ft. in height and have been constructed by laying two parallel rows of stones 1½ ft. to 2½ ft. across, filling the intermediate space with smaller stones, and piling more on the top of the first course. As a rule these walls are short and disposed in a very erratic manner, hence they cannot be confused with the stone wall fences built by the late coming European settlers, which are much higher and better constructed, as also in long lengths and only built as enclosive fences. In some cases the Maori walls enclose two sides, while the longest continuous wall is about 200 feet. Occasionally is seen a heap never completed, where the base line has been formed by means of arranging large stones side by side, and some stones have been heaped in the centre, but the heap has never attained the proposed dimensions. In such stony soil undoubtedly stones would be turned up each year in tilling the land, even after many years of cultivation. Some very erratic looking walls are seen near an old pa about a mile S.E. of Tupetupe, the homestead of Mr. Ludbrooke.

On a low flat topped ridge near a small hill fort, about half a mile S.E. of Maunga-turoto, are two parallel stone walls about page 1263 ft. high and 6 ft. apart. One of these walls is 54 yards in length, while the other continues for double that distance. Near by are a few stone wall enclosures, one 20 ft. by 10 ft., another smaller. These seem to contain hut sites. One such site has a single row of stones round it, and the takuahi (or stone fireplace) remains. There are also some short erratic looking stone walls in this vicinity; all are evidently post-European.

Another fact in connection with these old cultivation grounds is that we find still extant certain stone-lined pathways that, in former times, were the means by which persons crossed the area when it was under crop and also marked the boundaries between the plots of different families. Thus, at a place a little way east of Tupetupe, is one of these stone-lined paths. Stones up to 2 ft. in diameter have been arranged in two parallel rows, leaving between them a pathway 28 inches wide. This double row of stones extends for 60 yards, then a single row extends for 16 yards, after which the stones are lost, but a raised path extends for some distance. The slope to the eastward shows parallel depressions like very shallow trenches such as are seen on land that has been ploughed, which this slope certainly has not been, so numerous are the rock boulders in situ. All of it has, however, been cultivated by the natives, as shown by the numerous heaps of gathered stones.

Another such stone-bordered path 60 yards long was seen near Tapahuarau. It curves down a gentle slope to the flat. Its hollow aspect was probably caused by much traffic.

Between the township of Ohaeawai and the rock named Taia-mai are several rows of stones arranged by the sides of depressed paths; such paths being about 8 inches below the level of the surrounding land. These stone rows were probably paenga mara kumara showing the bounds of cultivated plots. Other shallow depressions have no such rows of stones, and many of them are curved, not straight.

At another place S.E. of Ohaeawai was noted a straight row of stones set close together and extending down a gentle slope. It is about 150 yards in length.

Looking down from the summit of Pouerua on the fields towards Pa-karaka, they appear to be almost covered with stone heaps, so numerous are they.

Nicholas saw natives making a new cultivation near Omapere lake in 1815, and states:—"We had to pass through another wood, part of which the natives had cut down and were burning page 127off for the purpose of cultivation. They applied themselves to their work with sedulous industry; collecting the stones together in heaps, to be carried off, and cultivating with much care every spot as they cleared it."

The following is extracted from Earle's account of his sojourn in New Zealand in 1827:—"At midday we arrived at what in New Zealand is considered a town of great size and importance, called Ty-a-my (Taiamai). It is situated on the sides of a beautiful hill, the top surmounted by a pa, in the midst of a lonely and extensive plain, covered with plantations of Indian corn, cumera (kumara) and potatoes. This is the principal inland settlement, and, in point of quiet beauty and fertility, it equalled any place I had ever seen in the various countries I have visited.

We found the village totally deserted, all the inhabitants being employed in their various plantations; they shouted to us as we passed, thus bidding us welcome, but did not leave their occupations to receive us. To view the cultivated parts from an eminence, a person might easily imagine himself in a civilised land; for miles around the village of Ty-a-my nothing but beautiful green fields present themselves to the eye. The exact rows in which they plant their Indian corn would do credit to a first-rate English farmer, and the way in which they prepare the soil is admirable."

Time did not allow of a further exploration of this district, but its old forts and cultivation grounds would well repay careful examination, and it is curious to note how many of us can live in districts containing most interesting remains of a neolithic folk, and yet take no interest therein. We look upon the endless earthworks of great hill forts with lack lustre eye, or casually allude to them as 'Maori blockhouses,' as did a worthy settler of Taranaki's fair plains.

Dr. Marshall, in giving some account of the Bay of Islands district in 1834, remarks:—"The path on which we were now cut through a field of Indian corn, and to prevent either men or cattle from turning aside and treading down the corn, it is well beaten, sufficiently wide to serve for a bridle as well as a foot path, and is bounded on both sides by a dwarf wall made of cinders and lava collected from a neighbouring plain."

Taylor tells us that 'their kumara and taro grounds are generally contiguous and divided into lands: these are also carefully marked by stones over which incantations have been uttered which render them so sacred that to move one was supposed to be sufficient to cause death.' Such a death would be the result of the magic spells repeated over the stones.

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In his History of the Taranaki Coast Mr. S. Percy Smith makes the following remark:—"I may remark here, for the sake of recording the fact, that on an excursion to Warea about 1853, I noticed a vast number of paenga, or boundaries of individual lands, which crossed the native track, and ran inland from the coast. These were all marked by flat boulders set on edge, and running in straight lines. Though then quite overgrown by high flax, they denoted a former dense population."

These pou paenga or boundary marks were sometimes rendered dangerous to those who essayed to tamper with them by means of magic rites; when they would become as dangerous to meddle with as is a 'live' wire.