General Remarks on Stockades

In the illustrations given of the Motu-o-Puhi pa in Figs. 31 and 32, pp. 97-98, we see a somewhat inferior pa tuwatawata or stockade, showing no earthworks. This place is a point projecting out into Roto-aira (lake), Taupo district. It is connected with the mainland by a strip of low wet land, hence no trench is seen. It was visited and sketched by G. F. Angas in the fifth decade of last century, at a time when the place was being re-stockaded to serve as a refuge, on account of warlike rumours, hence the few huts seen. Three stockades are shown in Fig. 32, p. 98, the outermost extending across the neck of low lying land connecting the small hill with the mainland. This is a single line and extends round the edge of the lake as far as a steep bluff, being braced at that end by struts on its outer side. No stockade shows any of the superior, tall carved posts. Secondary posts are numerous and close together in the outer stockade. All rails are depicted as being outside the posts. This may have been so, but it is against the verdict of some of our best native authorities. Possibly the procedure was changed by the gun fighters of modern times. The carrying of rails across the entrance passage would be page 97 page 98 page 99 with a view to barring them more effectively and quickly. There is no sign of a ngutu or fenced lane-like entrance passage, and presumably the work of defence was not completed when the sketches were made. In Fig. 31, p. 97, the main entrance is seen.

Missionary Wade gives some account of stockades in his little work of 1842;—"The defence of the fort is formed by two and even three stout stockades of irregularly sized poles and posts, varying from eight to thirty feet in height from the ground, in which they are thrust from three to seven feet. The large poles [posts] are placed about a dozen feet apart, on which are often carved representations of men and animals. The spaces between the poles are filled in with stakes close together, and bound firmly to horizontal pieces by a creeper called torotoro which is tough and serviceable for a long period. … Few instances have perhaps occurred of a pa being taken by a brisk siege. … The stockades that enclose the fort are within a few feet of each other, the outer gate or entrance being much less than the inner opening, which in time of war is entered by stepping stones or small wooden posts like a turnstile. The width is so contracted as scarcely to admit a large sized man, and between the fences a fosse is often cut about four feet in depth, sheltering the besieged when defending the place. … Mounds have often been erected during the night by an enemy to overlook the interior of the fort, but they are of rare occurrence. The rush huts near the stockade are covered with earth and clay."

It is somewhat confusing to note that the mounds often erected are of rare occurrence. This place was evidently built to be defended with guns, hence the shallowness of the trench. The carved representations of animals is quite an unknown feature, such things were unknown in the old pa maori, nor have we heard of any other such case in respect to a modern fort. The only quadrupeds known to the Maori in pre-European times were the dog and rat. The remarks on the entrance to a pa are worthy of note. The covering of hut roofs with earth was done to prevent them being burned by an attacking force.

The following extract from the Rev. R. Taylor's work Te Ika a Maui refers to a well known native custom:—"When a great chief entered a pa, if the people wished to treat him with distinction, they would not suffer him to enter by the gate, but pulled down a portion of the fortifications for him to pass through."

In describing an old time village site that had been exposed by the agency of wind in removing a sand hill by which it had been covered for many generations apparently, Capt. G. Mair writes^*:—

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"Not the least interesting of my discoveries was finding the tiny model of an ancient pa tiwatawata, or palisaded fort, which had evidently been a plaything of the village children. It had been made by sticking three rows of totara splinters into the ground, forming the three lines of defence known as the pekerangi, kaikirikiri and kiri tangata. There were two gateways approached by long alleyways. The model was of this shape (See Fig. 33, p. 100) and about six feet by four feet."

G. F. Angas, travelling in the Mokau district in 1844, wrote as follows:—"Near the path I observed a miniature pa, constructed by the boys, who amuse themselves by building tiny fortifications, and emulate the courage and skill of their sires in the sport of besieging and defending them. The mounds [ramparts] were made by heaps of earth and the fencework constructed of upright sticks, displaying the characteristic ingenuity of the Maori children."

Of a pa at Te One-poto, Wai-kare Moana, seen by him in 1841, Mr. Colenso writes:—"Passing on, we soon arrived at the village of Te One-poto, situated on a high headland jutting into the north side of the lake. The gateway was, as is often the case, embellished with a pair of huge and boldly carved human figures, besmeared with shining red pigment, armed with spears, and grinning defiance to all comers. These were not only seen to advantage through being elevated above the horizon, but their eyes, or rather sockets, instead of being set with glittering Haliotis shell, according to the usual national custom, were left open, so that the light of the sky streamed through them, and this was yet more particularly manifested owing to the proper inclination given to the figures, looking down, as it were, on all toiling up the narrow, steep ascent into the well fenced village."

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Te One-poto is not on the north side of the lake, but the Matu-ahu pa was on that side.

Of the Pukawa pa at Taupo, in 1859, Hochstetter says:—"It is situated upon a peninsular projection into the lake, with an enclosure of strong palisades, through which two sliding gates gave admittance." This writer also speaks of the Motu-tere pa at Taupo as being 'situated upon a low neck of land jutting far out into the lake, and surrounded by a row of palisades of stout posts bearing carved figures.'

The following account of a fortified native village by the Rev. Mr. Yate in An Account of New Zealand, 1835, gives a good idea of the pa maori in its transition stage, after the acquisition of firearms had wrought some changes therein, but prior to the more modern type constructed when fighting Europeans in the 'sixties' of last century:—

"A pa, or native fortification, is a place in which the natives of single tribes, or of various tribes, when living near each other and on friendly terms, assemble in times of war, and secure themselves, their wives, their children, and their slaves, from the attacks of the enemy. The site is generally chosen by the side of a river, or on the top of a high table hill; from whence water may be obtained without much difficulty, or without danger of annoyance from without. Some of these fortifications have cost immense labour, and are remarkably strong; having a double fence on each assailable side, of such dimensions, and put together with so much care, as to render them impregnable to an enemy armed only with muskets, provided the besieged have a sufficient supply of the same instruments of warfare. The inner fence is from twenty to thirty feet in height, formed of large poles and stakes tightly knotted or woven together with totototo, the fibrous roots of a plant which abounds in the woods; or rather a creeper, climbing to the tops of the highest trees. … About every six feet, an image of the most frightful description, and carved with much art, is placed, with a patu, a native weapon, in his hand, in a threatening posture, grinning at the enemy, to scare him away. At a distance of about sixty feet are little square projections, with port holes, for resting the muskets in; from whence a sweeping fire may be kept up, to the great annoyance and destruction of the besiegers. The outer fence is much more fragile in its materials, but firmly tied; and is intended to keep the enemy in play, and from making a hasty breach in the inner wall; besides, which, it materially breaks the force of the fire, and shields the besieged whilst taking aim from within. Should the outer bulwarks be taken, which could only be accomplished by means of hatchets, there would still remain page 102the inner and more secure one to be mastered; which, as it could not be accomplished without much labour, would expose the besiegers to the fury of the party within. I have known them keep up a siege for five or six months, and return without having accomplished any thing, and with the loss of many of their people; either for want of supplies, or from the bravery of the pa.

"The interior of these fortifications may be denominated a city; the houses in them are generally arranged in squares, in which reside the chiefs, their slaves, their wives, and their families. The only egress, in time of war, is through small loopholes, which a full grown man has great difficulty in creeping through, and which are confined to the outer fence, the inner one having sliding doors, formed out of a solid piece of wood, secured with bolts and bars, and opened one at a time, and only in cases of necessity. It is evident that, should the enemy attempt to creep through the loopholes of the outer fence, in order to assail the inner barrier, he would present his forehead to the fire from within, and would ensure his own destruction. He would, moreover, find a number of the besieged lying in ambush, and ready to receive him in the ditch which separates the two fences one from the other, and which has been dug for the purpose of squatting down in, to fire from, without being exposed to the balls directed at the pa. So long as the people of the pa agree among themselves, are vigilant, and are not cowed (which frequently is the case by the name of some great conqueror), they may consider themselves secure; and, should their supplies hold out, they would be able, for any length of time, to resist, or keep at bay, a force much superior to their own. This is especially the case when the ground on which the pa stands is elevated, a situation always chosen if circumstances permit of it.

"Some pa, that is those which are naturally strong and have excellent means of defence within themselves, have only one enclosure; and that of a very slight character; but, slender as it is, it appears abundantly sufficient to answer every purpose of keeping off an enemy, on account of the disadvantageous post which they, being on so much lower or on such slanting or precipitous ground, or in the water, must necessarily occupy. I have seen one pa, that of Mawe, which of itself is almost impregnable. It is a promontory, jutting out nearly a quarter of a mile into the lake; and is only approachable by canoes, except through a narrow defile, cut through a neck of land which joins it to the main, and which alone prevents it from being an island… This forted eminence was chosen and prepared by Hongi, when he expected to be attacked by some hostile tribes. The arrangement of the portholes in the page 103embankments, and the general way in which it is fortified, shows the genius and, in the opinion of military men, the military skill of this renowned chief.

"Some of the native pa are fortified with earth: the hill is levelled perpendicularly from the summit, to about the depth of ten yards, and precludes the possibility of any person's climbing up without great difficulty. To preserve the inhabitants from the missile weapons of the besiegers, walls of turf and clay are built up about three feet above the surface; behind which they lie secure, till the place is taken. These fortifications are mostly found in the northern parts of the island, have a very imposing appearance, and are doubtless much more desirable as a defence than any which can be erected of wood; that is to say with the means which the New Zealanders now possess. The walls are of such a thickness that no musket ball can penetrate."

In this account we note that the outer stockade was a light screen, but there is no hint as to its being a raised one. The description of the small entrance holes through the stockades, as used in war time, is excellent. The final paragraph refers to the terrace hill forts of the north, a very different defensive system. The low earthen walls mentioned were, presumably, parapets along the brows of the terraces, probably constructed after the acquisition of firearms. In terrace hill forts one very seldom sees any remains of earthworks on the terraces.

In connection with the fact that forest dwelling clans relied on fortified positions to a much less extent that those dwelling in open country, the following remark was made to the writer by Tama-i-koha, a savage old gentleman of the Tuhoe bushmen: He said:—"I did not relish sitting in a pa, I preferred to go out and fight in the forest. The ravines and canyons were my trenches, the boulders of the mountain streams my palisades."