Te Kooti's Successor.

When Te Kooti died at Wainui, on the shore of Ohiwa Harbour, in 1893, a certain prophecy that he had uttered shortly before his end was circulated throughout the Ringatu or Wairua Tapu communities. I heard it from a Maori of his flock five years afterwards. The dying leader announced that in twice seven years a man would arise in the mountains of the Urewera country who would succeed him as the spiritual head of the people. “We shall await his coming,” said my travelling mate, as we rode along the mountain track from Ruatahuna to Te Whaiti. He was a man of the Urewera, and he had implicit faith that the prophecy would be fulfilled. And it so befell that in 1907 we heard that a new prophet had come to light at Maungapohatu, and Rua Kenana was his name. Thus was Te Kooti's forecast verified—just twice seven years had passed.