Stories in Place-names.

In last month's number of the Magazine I recorded a number of examples of Maori place nomenclature of interest alike for their musical quality and for their meaning and the memories of the past that they embodied. I continue here the Wellington section; limiting it to a few names in and about the city and harbour, names which are not well known but which should be on record. Some of them recall the era when forest covered much of Wellington's shores and hills.

There were many names of places on the Thorndon flat and slopes at the north end of Wellington town. One of these, Pae-kaka, is a reminder, like Wai-koko, of the abundance of native birds and the snaring craft of the olden Maori. Paekaka means a tree-perch used in the catching of the parrots, whose screams once made lively the dense bush here. Rangi te Puni told me the tree of this particular perch was at or near Murphy Street. Another name is Rau-rimu (“Red-pine Leaves,” or “Abundant Redpines”), that part of Thorndon around Fitzherbert Terrace; there were Ngatitama tribal cultivations here in a clearing.