War Party of Nga-ti-maniapoto
Attack and Try To Take Mount Eden
(Nga-ti-whatua)

The Nga-ti-maniapoto sent a war party to attack the Pa of Maunga-whau (Mount Eden) and the tribe Nga-iwi was occupying the forts Maunga-rei (Mount Wellington), Maunga-whau (Mount Eden), Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill), Raro-tonga (Mount Smart) and other forts of those days.

The descendant of Hua was called Ika-mau-poho (fish caught by the stomach (d)) who had Kiwi (apteryx). Kiwi occupied the Maunga-whau (Mount Eden) fort, with the tribe Wai-o-hua, and the son of Kiwi called Rangi-ka-maturu (the distilling sky, or gentle rain) lived at Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill) and Kiwi also lived at the pa called O-wai-raka (Mount Albert) and the Pa Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill) was left unoccupied or deserted in the days of Rangi-ka-maturu and the reason it was deserted, and left unoccupied, was that some other parts of the Tamaki district should be occupied, but Te-wai-o-hua family tribe still occupied Maunga-whau (Mount Eden) and it was in those days that the name Nga-iwi was lost (or not used) but instead the name Te-wai-o-hua was used for that tribe, but the Wai-o-hua still occupied Maunga-whau (Mount Eden), Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill), O-wai-raka (entangled feet) (Mount Albert) page (57)and in the days of Rangi-maturu (day of rain) a woman, a war party attacked these Pa's (forts). The war party came from Wai-kato, but not any of them were taken by that war party, and the host went back to Wai-kato crestfallen.

Hua (fruit) had Huatau (fierce north wind) who had Te-ata-i-rehia (dawn at Rehia) and she lived at Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill).

Pou-ate (liver all gone) had Horeta (red ochre) and Kiri-ngaraha (skin of charcoal, or pigment for tattooing) who was a female.

Tama-ure was the last chief who ruled in the Maunga-whau (Mount Eden) (or he was the last chief of charge of a tribe when a tribe occupied that Pa) up to the time it was last occupied by man.

It was in the autumn that we left Wai-te-mata on our way to Wai-kato, we passed on up the Wai-kato in canoes, and we then went to Roto-rua (two lakes) and we went on to Tara-wera (burnt penis), Ahu-riri (dam in a creek) (Napier), Wai-ru (water of trembling, earthquake), Moko-kai (eat lizard), Te-mahia (sound of a voice or noise, echo, Table Cape), Te-matau-a-maui (Mau's fishing hook) (Cape Kidnappers), Te-whanga-nui-a-tara (the harbour of Tara) (Port Nicholson), Tara-naki (frond of a certain fern) and back to Wai-kato, and while we were away on this journey Hongi-hika of Nga-puhi had assaulted the Pa's Mokoia and Mau-inaina, and had taken them, we came on to Wai-te-mata, and on to Mahurangi where we built a Pa (fort) and we were attacked there by the tribe of Te-tira-rau (party by moonlight) called Te-para-whau (gum of the entelea arborescens) and we were beaten, and we fled to the Motu-tapu island, where we were attacked by Rori (stagger) of Nga-puhi, and we voyaged back to Mahurangi, to obtain page (58)revenge for our defeat, so we pulled our canoes up on shore into the cemeteries of the dead, and then attacked the settlements of the Para-whau tribe, and we killed the man and took forty women prisoners, soon after this we were defeated in the battle of Te-ika-ranga-nui (great shoal of fish) that is at the Wai-makomako (waters of the aristotelia racemosa).

Tu-hawaiki was killed at Mahurangi, and Tomo-a-ure was killed at O-rohe (the boundary) on one side of the Tamaki river. Te Hehewa died and was buried in the sacred place at Piha (last of crop of kumara) at Puke-more (bald hill) on the west coast south of Wai-takere, and north of the Manukau heads.

History of the Acts of Tara-kumikumi, and the Deeds of Those of Older Times, Down to Our Days
(Nga-ti-whatua)

In the days of long past, that is in ancient times which is many generations ago, and even to the time of the birth of Tara-kumikumi (rough prickly beard) it is a long time from that to these days, Tara-kumikumi was born a member of the Wai-o-hua, as was also his brother, and his younger brother was father of Kape-taua (push or cast aside a war party) and Tara-kumikumi took the sister of Kape-taua as his wife, and Kape-taua and Tara-kumikumi went out to fish a little outside of Kohi-marama (pine away month by month) on the rocks but in that part of the sea, when they had arrived there Tara-kumikumi left the lad there on these rocks, and it was then low water, but so soon as the tide began to flow it rose to the boy's knees, and then to his waist, which compelled him to call on help for someone to go to his rescue, his sister the wife of Tara-kumikumi heard him, and she paddled in a little canoe from Kohi-marama to him, and found him with the tide risen to his neck, and he was a little from being drowned, and she saved him. Kape-taua kept this in his mind as a point to be revenged when he got to manhood, when he had become a man, he collected a band of young men of the Nga-ti-paoa, and attacked the Pa at Orakei, this they took, and then attacked the Pa at Kohi-marama, which they took with great slaughter, but Tara-kumikumi escaped and fled to Wai-heke (ebb tide) to which place Kape-taua and his war party pursued him, and overtook him and his wife and children, and killed them all, and Kape-taua attacked and killed all he could find on the island, and he took possession of the land there, and he took up his abode at Putiki (bundle) where he lived and did not go back to Orakei in the days of Kiwi when Kiwi was beaten page (60)of the Wai-o-hua, because Kape-taua had killed some of Kiwi's people at Orakei and Kohi-marama, where Kape-taua first attacked Tara-kumikumi, and he was also aware of the great tribes of Kiwi who occupied the forts at Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill), Maunga-whau (Mount Eden), O-wai-raka (Mount Albert), Remu-wera (Mount St John) and all the great forts of those days in the district, when the Pahu (gong) and Pu-tara (war trumpet) of Kiwi and his great chiefs of the people resided at Maunga-whau (Mount Eden) to call the tribe together to war against any enemy who might appear to attack those forts.

Kape-taua became old as did Kiwi, and they each died, Kiwi was killed by Nga-ti-whatua at Paru-roa (long muddy creek) and then the Umu-ponga (oven to cook ponga, cyathea dealbata) fort was built at Orakei, and my ancestors took the Pa at the time my ancestors went in a canoe from Kahu-topuni (garment of dog skin mat)..

Now let me tell of the days of old, of the time that Kiwi was supreme chief at Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill), Maunga-rei (Mount Wellington), Mangere, Ihu-matao, Remu-wera (Mount St John), Omahu near Remu-wera, Te-umu-ponga at Orakei, Kohi-marama, Taurarua, Te-to, Raro-tonga (Mount Smart), Te-tatua (Three Kings), O-wai-raka (Mount Albert) and in those days Kiwi visited each of these forts and stayed there as each season for collecting different sorts of food came round, according to the food cultivated or collected, and when fish were caught, or sea fowl eggs were collected from the islands of the sea, or when the kaka (nestor productus) were taken, and when the kuaka (snipe) was killed or snared, and in the time of planting Kiwi lived at Maunga-whau (Mount Eden) that he might be near the plots of ground where the kumara was planted, and in the time of shark fishing he lived in the fort at Mangere, and then at times the shark was page (61)caught at Ngutu-wera (Kauri Point) he stayed in Te-to fort and when the people killed Kaka at Ngutu-wera, Kiwi stayed at the Pahi island, and when the tribe killed or snared the kuaka (snipe) he stayed at O-wai-raka (Mount Albert) and at times he would stay at Te-tatua (Three Kings) with those who killed kuaka, and when the people collected bird eggs or the plants of the sea Kiwi stayed in the Taka-renga (Mount Victoria) (a flag staff hill) and as he was the supreme head of the people he visited and stayed a while in each fort, and he was guarded by all the people, as he commanded from the Tamaki river to Te-whau and to Manuka, and Wai-te-mata and Kiwi attacked the settlement of Te-wai-tuoro (water of the tuoro - an eel said to bark like a dog, and was very fierce would attack anyone, and the only way to escape from it was by going on to any newly burnt part of fern country, the ash of the burnt ferns would stick to the eel, and it could not travel fast) at the time that the Tao-u held a haka (kind of dance) in honour of Kiwi there, and he there murdered many of the Tao-u at that place, about thirty in number, but Te-rangi-kake-tu (day of standing up erect) helped Kiwi in that murder, and it was at the same time that he murdered Tahataha (one side of) at Mimiha-nui (great whale) at Kai-para, who was sister of Tupe-riri (repeat the charm for battle) and of the Tao-u people. Kiwi also murdered Kahu-rau-tao (garment of the leaves used to cook in an oven (umu)) at O-tahuhu (ridge pole) who was a member of the Nga-ti-maru tribe of the Thames, and Kiwi also murdered Te-huru (the dog skin mat) and Te-kaura (the chopping in a rough way) of the Nga-ti-whatua tribe of Kai-para, these aroused the ire of the Nga-ti-whatua, and they collected a war party under the leadership of Te-waha-akiaki (the mouth that commands) and he led his war party by the west coast to the heads of Manuka, where they made moki (rafts made of flax page (62)stalks or driftwood), and in the night crossed over to the south side of the heads and attacked the Tara-taua (bravery of a war party) and took it and killed the occupants, who were of the Wai-o-hua people, and Nga-iwi who were there, and they also attacked the Awhitu (regret) fort, also occupied by the Wai-o-hua people, took it and killed the people, they then attacked Puke-horo-katoa (hill of the all falling) on the north of Awhitu, but this fort they could not take, and they came back across the Manuka to the Rau-o-te-huia (plume of the huia, neomorphe gouldii feathers) and on to Kai-para (eat the paraa, marattia salicina, fern bulb) and stayed for a time, but a feeling again angered them to action to kill the men of Kiwi, in payment for the murders committed by Kiwi on the Nga-ti-whatua, so the Tao-u collected a war party of the Nga-ti-whatua of Kai-para, and they went in the direction of Titi-rangi (day of going astray) so that they might catch men of the Wai-o-hua tribe in that district, now the news of the death of those of the Kiwi people who had been killed on the south head of the Manuka by the Kai-para people had been heard by the great tribe the Wai-o-hua, and the Pahu (gong) of Kiwi had been beaten to command the people to war, from his Pa (fort) Maunga-whau (Mount Eden) and the voice of the Pu-tara (war trumpet) had spoken with a deep boy's voice, to call the tribe to assemble for war, and all the warriors of the forts Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill), Mangere, Ihu-matao, Moe-rangi, O-tahuhu, Raro-tonga, Mau-inaina, Manu-rewa, and Matuku-rua, and all the forts occupied by the Wai-o-hua tribe, and all left by way of Titi-rangi and arrived at Paru-roa (big muddy creek) by which time the Tao-u of Kai-para had arrived there, so that they might capture and kill any of the Wai-o-hua they might catch at that place, and as soon as Kiwi and his host page (63)saw the Kai-para people there, they charged on them, the Kai-para people fled up the hill towards the ridge of the whau, when the friends of Tupe-riri prepared to wait for and attack the party of Kiwi, but Tupe-riri said "Wait, do not turn and charge yet, lead on till we can see the water of Wai-te-mata, then we can turn and charge Kiwi and his host. Let us flee as though we were afraid of them to entice them till we like to turn and charge on them." The party of Kai-para fled till they got to the top of the ridge of the hill where they stood, and Kiwi and his people came on at full charge, and when they had got near to the Kai-para people Tupe-riri made a blow with his weapon, and killed his man, and called "Stand and slay," so the people stood and gave battle to the Wai-o-hua, and Tupe-riri killed Kiwi, and the Wai-o-hua fled and went back towards the beach of Manuka, and the Tao-u pursued them, and killed them as they fled, and so killed them till they got to the canoes of Kiwi on the beach, one canoe was in the act of departing full of people, but a swift runner of the Tao-u people followed the canoe and threw his paraoa (whale bone weapon about five feet long) at the canoe and dragged her back to the shore, and as his companions had got down to the beach they killed all in the canoe, and the Tao-u went in the canoes towards One-hunga, and attacked the forts of Te-wai-o-hua, and Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill) the Pa of Kiwi and took it, some of the Pa escaped and fled towards Wai-kato, as did others of the other forts, and the Tao-u took possession of the district, and eat the fish of the haka (killed) but the body of Kiwi was hung up on a kauere (puriri, vitex littoratis) at Kopiro-nui (great ducking) which was done in accordance with the word of Waha-akiaki said to Kiwi. The Wai-o-hua fled, but some came back and lived in the Pa at Mangere, but so soon as Te-tao-u saw this, they page (64)attacked the Pa, but as the people in the Pa, thought they could not hear an enemy approaching the Pa at night, they had put cockle shells on the paths all around the fort, so that an enemy treading on these in approaching the fort, the cockle shell would crunch and make a noise, thus the enemy would be discovered, but Tupe-riri charged on the fort at night, and as the attacking party came to the paths covered with cockle shells, they put their dog skin mats, with other mats on the shells, and thus the crunching of the shells could not be heard when trod on by the attacking party. The Pa was taken, and some of the people of the Pa fled to a scoria cave on the beach, and the Tao-u put brush wood to the mouth of the cave, and driftwood with it, and fired it, this killed all in the cave, these were dragged out cooked and eaten, but some of the Wai-o-hua were taken prisoner, and kept to till the land, and do all that might be required of them at the homes of the Tao-u.

The Tao-u did not stay long at the fort at Mangere before they felt a wish to be at their home in Kai-para, so they went back by the road over Te-whau to Kai-para, and when they had been there some time some of Te-wai-o-hua had come back to their old home, and had occupied some of their old forts, but so soon as this news had been heard in Kai-para, the Kai-para people collected a war party, and came towards Wai-te-mata to avenge the death of Te-hura (uncover) and Te-kaura (break twigs in a rough manner) for whose death vengeance had not been taken. A war party from Kai-para came from the district by way of Kahu-topuri where they embarked in a canoe, and came on to the island Te-pahi (guests) in the Wai-te-mata river opposite the entrance to the Te-tauhinu creek, where they put the leaves of nikau (arica sapida) on board of the canoe page (65)then they came on, and when opposite to Ngutu-wera, where the seventy men of the crew laid down in the hold of the canoe and were covered over with the nikau leaves, and two of the party, one at the head and one at the stern paddled the canoe, carried by the ebb tide the canoe went down the river towards Orakei, all these warriors lay in the hold of the canoe, with these were of the Nga-ti-whatua braves called Takai (bundle), Te-pahi (the guest) and Te-raorao-whaia (follow on the plain), the two paddled the canoe till they landed on the beach below Kohi-marama, and the people of the Pa came down onto the beach to look at the canoe, and the two men who had paddled her to the place from the head of the river, when a crowd had come down from the Pa (fort) the warriors in the hold of the canoe rose and attacked them, as they had come down to look, they were not armed, and the seventy killed them without opposition, the people of the Pa fled to the fort and were pursued by the Nga-ti-whatua, and the seventy warriors entered the Pa with those who fled before them, and they took the fort, and killed the people, and then attacked the Pa at Taurarua (witchcraft) and also the fort at Rangi-toto, all these forts were taken, and were owned by the Wai-o-hua and the head chiefs of which were Hu-pipi (little swell on the coast) and Hu-mataitai (little brackish swell) who were twins, and were captured and taken to the island Te-pahi killed and eaten them, and all the people of these forts were killed, and the Nga-ti-whatua went back to Kai-para, but the sub-tribe of Te-tao-u stayed in the Wai-te-mata district and Tupe-riri went and occupied the fort at Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill) and took possession of all the district of Wai-te-mata (water of the obsidian) called Tamaki (start involuntarily).

Kiwi of ancient days was the ancestor Kiwi, page (66)but the Kiwi killed by the tribe of Kai-para was not the Kiwi of old but another chief of that name, and the ancestors of Pae-rimu (seaweed, heaped up) was one of those who was murdered by this Kiwi at Mimiha-nui (great whale). The wives of Te-hehewa (mistaken) were Huia-tara (pride of the huia bird) of the sub-tribe of Nga-ti-kahu, of the Wai-o-hua, and Teke of the Wai-o-hua also, Te-hehewa died at Te-rau-o-te-huia (plume of the huia bird) and was buried at the sacred place at Horohoro (remove the sacredness from a house) at Wharenga (overhanging) at the entrance of the Manuka harbour on the south side, but his bones were taken up and conveyed by his relatives to the sacred place at Piha (refuse of the crop) in the Wai-takere (bed or lowest part of a river, the channel) and these bones were taken by the Kawe-rau tribe to the sacred place at Puke-more (bald hill) a little above Karekare (ripple) creek.

Te-tao-u now occupied the land of Tamaki, and some of the Wai-o-hua people came back to the district, and became one with Te-tao-u, and these who were thus amalgamated with the Tao-u were called Nga-oho (the startled) and some of the Wai-o-hua people were called Te-uri-ngutu (the young people of the mouth) and the Pa at Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill) was occupied by these people as the principal fort for these tribes, and the forts which they occupied in the season of planting were O-rewa (a weapon of war like a mere, but made of dark hard stone), Ngutu-wera (burnt mouth) which was occupied by Tara-hawaiki (bravery of the rat) and Te-waha-akiaki (the mouth that commands) and the Tao-u lived at Te-to, and was commanded by Wai-taheke (descending water) that is he was the commander there, and the Pa called Mango-nui (great shark) further up the river there. Ngutu-wera was page (67)commanded by Rere-tua-rau (plant the leaves on vines) and he and his descendants and people of Te-tao-u also held the fort a little further up the river than Tauhinu (the pomaderris phylicaefolia) and he was the sole commander of these two forts and by these forts we held possession of the river of Wai-te-mata and the adjoining sea, and Horeta (red ochre) and Awarua (ditch) occupied the forts at Mangere (a certain star) and Ihu-matao (cold nose) to hold possession of the Manuka sea, and the occupiers of the Mangere and Ihu-matao forts entertained the Wai-kato tribes as guests, and the Kai-para people of these Pa's visited the Wai-kato people in their homes, and these tribes intermarried, thus becoming related to each other, and hence the origin of the relationship of Te-kawau (the shag) to the Wai-kato chiefs, and the relationship existing between some of the Kai-para sub-tribes and the Wai-kato tribes.

Te-horeta was of the Nga-oho who had Te-tahuri (the turned) who was a female, and a younger relative of Te-tahuri called Te-kehu (the red haired) who was the wife of a Nga-ti-paoa man called Te-putu (the heap) and Te-putu wished to live on the banks of the Tamaki river so that Te-tahuri asked Kehu for some land on the west bank of Tamaki to be given to her, Kehu agreed to the request of her younger relative, and she marked out the boundaries of a piece of land for her at Mokoia (tattoo him) and on to Whakamuhu (push through scrub) and to the lake at Wai-ata-rua (water of double shadow) and Te-putu, his wife and relatives lived there, the land thus given was good land, and there was much tupakihi (grow on the plain, or coriaria ruscifolia) growing there, when the Wai-kato people heard of the gift of this land by Te-tahuri to Te-putu and relatives, and they thought that evil and war would ensure to those of an alien tribe page (68)who might occupy the land of the original owners of that district, and the old chiefs of Wai-kato said "It will not be long before those women will become drunk with the gull of the tu-pa-kihi." Now the boundaries of this plot of land was laid off by Te-tahuri, for Te-kehu and it was not land belonging to the Nga-ti-paoa from time unknown, of which tribe the husband of Te-kehu was a member, but it was given to a descendant of Te-wai-o-hua (to Te-kehu) who had taken a man of Nga-ti-paoa as her husband, and her husband lived on the land thus given to her. Soon after Te-putu and his wife had located themselves on this land, a part of the Nga-oho tribe paddled to Mahurangi to fish for shark, where they met a portion of the Nga-ti-paoa people also fishing for sharks. The Nga-ti-paoa attacked the Nga-oho and killed Tara-hawaiki, who was son of Tupe-riri (perform ceremonies in war) who was ancestor of Te-kawau, but soon after this the Nga-oho and the Nga-ti-paoa again met in battle, at Rangi-mata-rutu (day of shaking the face) at Te-whau, and the Nga-ti-paoa were defeated there, and many of the tribe were killed in that engagement, these were cooked and eaten then by the Nga-oho, the ovens in which these were cooked are to be seen there to this day. This battle was on account of the attack of the Nga-ti-paoa on the Nga-oho at Mahurangi (day cleared up from a storm) when fishing for shark, but the Nga-ti-paoa went with a war party to Te-whau to attack the Nga-oho at Rangi-mata-rutu, but the attacking party of Nga-ti-paoa were defeated.

Not long after this Te-tao-u thought they had not obtained sufficient satisfaction for their defeat at the shark fishing at Mahurangi, so they sent a ngakau (a gift to obtain the assistance of people to join page (69)revenge) this (d) they sent to the Wai-kato people who were located on the shores of Manuka, to invite them to come and assist the Tao-u to war with the Nga-ti-paoa, these people joined the Tao-u, and they all went on a voyage across from the main land to the island of Wai-heke, but did not find the Nga-ti-paoa there, so these tribes came back, and were on their way home, and landed in the Tamaki side of the water, where they were attacked by the Nga-ti-paoa, and a battle ensued at Orohe (the boundary) on the west bank of the Tamaki river, and the Tao-u and Wai-kato were defeated, and Te-tahuri was killed, she who had gifted the land to Te-kahu, and her husband also called Tomo-a-ure (enter like a stone axe) was also killed, and the son of Kiwi the younger was also killed in this battle, whose name was Rangi-matoru (day of a crowd) and was now found living with the people by whom his father had been killed, these were Nga-oho and Te-tao-u tribes, and this was the last of the evil battles of the days of old, which were conducted according to ancient revenges where the killed were cooked and eaten by the conquerors, but not either party had obtained satisfaction for their old defeats, so that the slain of Te-tao-u, and the defeats they had sustained had not been avenged, nor had those of Nga-oho, or Nga-ti-paoa been avenged by this battle, but have remained unavenged to this day.

At the time that this battle took place, the Tao-u and Nga-oho were living secreted in the fort on the west coast inlet of the Piha Pa in the Wai-takere district, and Tupe-riri and his host were occupying the Maunga-kiekie (One Tree Hill) Pa, and the Tau-oma (the run away beloved) was forsaken by man and it had become overgrown by scrub and weeds, and the Kai-para people were living in the Titi-rangi (day of shining) district and the warriors of these tribes were kept as spies on the enemy page (70)so that the enemy might not occupy the Whau district in the Wai-te-mata or on Pu-ponga (trumpet of Ponga) in the Manuka district, even at this day there are places in the forest of the Piha district where the sub-tribes of Kai-para lived in secret in the Titi-rangi districts also.