Title: Revenge: A Love Tale of the Mount Eden Tribe

Author: John White

Editor: Alexander Wyclif Reed

Publication details: Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd, 1940, Wellington

Part of: Nineteenth-Century Novels Collection

License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand Licence

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Chapter Fourteen: Maro's Story

When the weeping had ceased, we all sat down save one of the bird killers, who related the loss, and how it occurred, of Popo, and where they thought he might be. As this was taking place, a canoe with people from Wairaka pa, who were going up the creek on an eel catching expedition to Te Tatua, came near. The paddlers stopped to listen to the conversation. One of those in the canoe asked the bird killing party if they were going to Mount Eden, and offered to put them across the creek. This offer was accepted at once, and the whole party crossed in the canoe, and proceeded at once with their birds, and in company with our party from the west coast, to Mount Eden.

As there was only one man who had come from Mount Eden with me when I left, silence was main- page 256 tained until we reached the marae. As we went up the road on the west side of the pa, a messenger was sent ahead to give the news of Ata's arrival, of the success of the snipe killing expedition, and of my arrival with the people from the west coast. The people of the pa were therefore prepared. When we came in sight of them they were standing on the parapets waving their garments and calling to us.

Ata, with her red kaka, was the last in the line of march, and as all her fellow-travellers had sat down before she entered the pa, she went straight on to the marae and stuck the perch of the kaka in the ground. As she did this, the women and girls stood up and wept, and swayed their bodies, and cleft the air with their hands, and chanted this song in mournful tones:

O daughters, hearken now
To the slander spoken
In their midst and in
Their council house.
They cease not, no,
They never cease to
Slander, or let the
Base, untruthful charge
Die out or be forgot
They beat to fragments
All that sacred was
In days of ancient past,
And speak of him
As one whose origin
Was from the misty ocean spray.
O evil lips, to make
The false report, and
Charge on him the servile
Act of cowardice,
As though he were
Of birth less noble.

The chant ceased, and everyone sat down save Kapu, who remained standing with her mere in her page 257 hand and a mat bound round her waist "Welcome, O Ata," she said. "You see us as we are. Our loved one is not here. We call you; we give you the welcome which the grief-stricken alone can give. Welcome, O people of Nga-puhi, who have come to our pa with Maro, welcome! But, alas! we are covered with wornout mats to-day. Our supreme chief has been taken from us. You heard the chant we sang for him just now. Yes, there is no doubt that jealousy was the cause of slander, and, because of slander, he was the object of witchcraft. He was of noble birth, but those who hated him because he was noble, great and good, treated him as if he were the descendant of a wave of the sea.¹ Welcome, O Nga-puhi. Come to the home of grief."

Ata took her place as she ceased. "I am here, O people of Mount Eden. I came at your wish. I have come to fill the place of him who is not here. I have brought the red kaka he gave me for you to look at, so that you may see what his hands have handled. I have had dreams of him. The dreams were not evil. I have seen him in life again, but his hair was long, he had big eyes that looked at me as though he had never seen me before. I know that this is a good omen. Yes, I am with you. Because he loved me and I loved him, I am here." She sat down and wept.

It was my turn to speak. I got to my feet and said, "Welcome me and my Nga-puhi friends. Welcome them. They have not come to the pa as spies. This party of Nga-puhi has come from Tai-a-mai to bring the weapons of war to obtain satisfaction for the pain of mind they have felt on account of the deeds that some page 258 Nga-puhi wrought on other Nga-puhi. We came by way of Kaipara. We have seen the people at Hoteo, Wai-takere, at Piha, and Kare Kare. We have been there for some time. We are here now. But the main body are still at Wai-takere. It will be for you to ask them to come here. I have said all that I have to say."

Kapu said, "I will speak for our people, but I will first say this. If I send for your tribe of Nga-puhi, you will have to come over a land that is sacred on account of my lord having been lost there. He left us because he was deranged, we think through witchcraft, and if he is alive, he is sacred in the state he is in. If he is dead, still the land is sacred where his body lies buried. I will send a welcome to these people to come and see my people at our pa here."

A Nga-puhi chief rose and said, "Welcome, O woman of correct language, welcome with your words of kindness and nobility. We come from your people of the west coast. We come to bring some of our people who felt grieved at the loss of one of their children, a girl, who had been given to a man of lower rank. We come to bring her relatives to a distant land to express their grief. Then we will go back. Maro has a word which he has not yet spoken. Welcome, O tribe."

I rose again and said, "Yes, I have one word which I kept back because, as Kapu said, it is sacred on account of him who is sacred to you since he left this pa. He is not dead. He can walk. But he does not speak much. The priests are feeding him and are chanting all the sacred incantations over him. He is now at Wai-takere. That is all I have to say."

Kapu stood up again, her eyes shining. "O people, I told you Popo would not die. I sent for the red kaka he gave to Ata, and now it is here. Rise at once, some page 259 of you young men, and take the kaka kura with you and go to Wai-takere. Give the red bird to Popo, and say that Ata is here. Tell the Nga-puhi to conduct my child back to me, to his own pa. Rise and depart."

She waved her hands to and fro and began to weep, and all the women, taking up the words of the song that Kapu had begun to chant, wept in chorus as they sang. At the same time all the young chiefs of high rank rose to their feet and passed out of the pa, clad in the garments they were wearing, and went in a line down the path that led to the west and along the road which the bird catchers had traversed that morning.

The young men swam the creek at the Whau with their mats tied on their heads and went by way of Puke-Whakatanetane, and down to the Wai-takere river, and at the point on the south bank where the sand begins, they entered a pa of the west coast people unperceived. It was twilight when they arrived, and the evening meal was being eaten. They saw Popo sitting at one end of the pa eating out of a paro of fish, kumara, pohue and eel.

After they had been welcomed by the people, one of them walked on to the marae and said, "Hearken! This is the word sent by Kapu from all the people of Tainui in the Mount Eden and all the surrounding pa. We were sent here, O Popo, to welcome your face in life, and also to say that all the Nga-puhi people who are here are asked to come and see our people in Waitemata. You, O people of the west coast, are also to accompany the Nga-puhi overland to our pa at Mount Eden with Popo. There you will meet the female ariki of the Kahu-Koka, Ata-Rehia, at our pa. There you will hear words from Popo and from Ata, if they wish to speak. Welcome, O peoples, to our feast."

As soon as the messengers had left, Kapu said, page 260 "O people of Maunga-whau, hearken. Go in a canoe, O you young people, to Awhitu, and tell the news that Maro has brought from Wai-takere. Ask the tribe to come at once to welcome Popo from death, and the Nga-puhi to our pa."

At dawn the tide in the Manuka was full in, and canoes were landing at Onehunga and people were trooping along from the landing place towards the Mount Eden pa. As signal fires had been lit on the marae the night before, all the inhabitants of the surrounding pa were converging upon Mount Eden. As they arrived, they were welcomed by the inhabitants of the fort. Smoke was rising from the hangi, which had been lit early in the morning. Sheds were being put up against the palisading of the fort for the guests to sleep in.

The tribe from Awhitu had arrived, together with those from Taka-runga and Takapuna, and from all the forts on the isthmus. They had been welcomed in the usual manner, and were now looking over the low land at the Whau to see the Nga-puhi coming with Popo from the west coast. Canoes had been sent to the crossing place there, and now a moving mass could be seen coming down the road from Kopu-paka. The people were greatly excited. Popo was coming back after having been lost in the Titirangi ranges! Kapu was weeping, laughing, and scarcely able to contain herself.

A loud shout was heard from the Wairaka pa, and all its people rushed out and joined the crowd which was coming towards Mount Eden. They then came on in silence until they began the ascent on the western side of the mountain. All the people on the hill gave a tremendous shout, like warriors who have been victorious in battle, and their cry was echoed by the page 261 oncoming tribes. On their arrival within the palisades, the combined tribes gave another prodigious yell and sat down, after which there was a prolonged silence.

Ha Kawau of Awhitu at last stood up and waved his hands towards Popo, and wept, the tears streaming down his face. He did not utter a word, nor did he move his body, but stood with his head bowed upon his breast and sobbed as though he were half-suffocated. As he stood, others rose in different parts of the marae, from every tribe and from every pa, and wept aloud, waving their hands, till at last all the people had risen to their feet and sobbed and wept bitterly, the women chanting songs as they wept The sobbing at last died away, and the people sat down again. No word was spoken, nor had Popo been seen save by those who sat near him.

All was now quiet; every head was covered with the mat of its wearer, and everyone's eyes closed as at midnight. Even the children and infants crouched down, not daring to utter a sound, nor even to open their eyes. At last a voice so feeble and mild, commanding yet not harsh, was heard to say, "Welcome, welcome to our pa!' It was Popo who had spoken, and was standing. All eyes were opened at once, and as they saw him, the people greeted him with a sob, which was the only way they could give utterance to their feelings. "Welcome back into daylight, O people! O mothers! O fathers! O children!" he continued. "Welcome back to correct thoughts! Welcome back to that which is man-like! I love you all. I have not one evil thought against any human being. If I have been less than a man, the gods are responsible for that. Enough for me. I live, I see, I love as I did in the days of my youth. O my people, my fathers, my brothers, I love you as I did long ago. That is all I page 262 wish to live for. It is for Ata I command you, O my tribe. She shall speak."

Ata was sitting at some distance from Popo. She came towards him, and when about ten paces from him, she lifted the red kaka which she carried on its perch. Looking at the bird, she said, "Listen, O people, all of you listen. You, O Nga-puhi, too, hearken to what I have to say. I do not speak as I have been taught by others. I speak on my own account. The gods have done as they have seen right. I have not murmured. I was smitten before I had time to strike a blow. I did not ask the gods for a gift, yet what I did possess they took away from me. I had a beautiful bird and I called it mine. It fled I know not where. I knew the place where it had last been seen, but I could not hear its voice. Yet I had a red bird, the bird so prized by the priests, and I kept it for the sake of the giver. I loved it for his sake. I fed it with the best food and watched its every movement so that I might divine if my loved one were still alive. Oh, how often have I seen my beautiful red bird open and flap its wings and look from our pa at Awhitu towards the hills of Titirangi, where I longed to go alone in the forest and be one of the owls of the gloaming, if I could but catch a glimpse of him I ever loved. Yes, O people, I have a word for you all. I was with the men of this tribe at Mount Eden at the Whau, and we caught fifty baskets of snipe, and my red kaka told me by signs that we should see a day of joy. As we chanted the incantation to ensure that a goodly number of birds would be killed, it gave a cry of victory—it was the scream of an exultant warrior as he smites his foe and death passes him by. I knew from that shout that I should soon see Popo again. The birds we caught, the fish and shark my people have collected this summer, page 263 and the eatables you people of the surrounding pa have collected this year, shall be given as a feast to the Nga-puhi people at the time that our people eat the pakuha when I take Popo as my husband. I have spoken the word. We sleep tonight, but tomorrow we shall hold our feast"

By midnight most of the occupants of the pa had laid down to sleep on beds made of fern collected from the open land of the plain. Others, who were older, had the leaves of the raupo ² laid down, and others the leaves and young twigs of trees. Thus they all slept, but in the whare kura the old people gathered together to discuss the programme for the feast to be given at the pakuha of Popo and Ata. As the tribe had long thought that Popo might be brought back to them, the old women had been making mats. Those who were of a roving disposition had been out to the distant forests of the Waikato collecting the mosses and grass and shrubs to add scent to the oil which was kept in the small calabashes. Others had been out to sea and had taken the mako.

All that the old people had discussed had been arranged, and at the time of night when the toutouwai ³ heralds the dawn of day, an old warrior came from the whare kura and went on to the tnarae and called aloud to all the people. "Listen, then, O people! Our old men say that we are to be guided by the customs of old. These, then, shall be the actions you are to perform.

"As soon as the light is seen in the east, those who cook food for the tribe shall rise and prepare it. As soon as we have partaken of it, those who have gifts to make to Popo shall bring them to the south side, and page 264 those for Ata to the north side of the marae. You will lay them as you think fit. Then our own chiefs may speak as they like, and at midday we shall hold the feast of pakuha, at which any of our young people may speak.

"As soon as we heard that Popo was alive, a messenger was sent to the Thames people of the Tainui tribe to come to our feast. To these people Maro may speak, after which he can claim Rehu-tai of the Thames as his wife. These are the words of our old chiefs."

When the morning repast had been eaten, and the kono thrown on the refuse heaps by the cooks, all the tribes assembled in a ring round the marae. After a little silence a young woman rose with a pleasant smile on her face and walked to the north side of the marae and laid a new mat down on the ground, and retired. She was one of the Kahu Koka people from the tribe of Ata, and from Awhitu pa. An old woman from the same tribe took a bunch of albatross down and laid it on the mat. Then an old chief of the same tribe took a papa huia ⁴ filled with the tail feathers of the huia and laid it on the mat.

A young man from the Taka-runga pa took a dogskin mat and laid it on the south side of the marae, and was followed by a young woman of the same pa who laid a kurukuru on the mat. Then followed an old man of the same tribe with a mako which had been an heirloom for many years. When he had laid it down he turned to Popo and said, "O my child, this mako, which we call Toi-ora,⁵ must be for you. We see you in life again, O child; live to be the life of your people."

He was followed by an old woman who walked to the mat and laid a heitiki on it. She said, "O Popo, page 265 you are the heir to this tiki. It was of the family of which you are now the head. We call it Whaiao.⁶ Keep it, O my child, and give it to your heir."

An old chief of the Mangere pa next laid a mat on the north side of the marae, and was followed by a young girl of the same tribe who laid a calabash of scented oil on the mat. Then a young man put down a female maro on the opposite heap, and said, "I do not make this maro my gift. I put it here as a gift of my sister Taitua. She is tapu now, having cooked food for Popo, so I give it in her stead."

A chief from Otahuhu put a mere on the heap on the south side, and was followed by an old woman with a kaitaka. A chief of the Rarotonga pa laid a taiaha kura ⁷ on the heap at the south and said, "I do not know of anyone who can hold this taiaha with more mana than our son."

He was followed by a young girl who said, "I do not know if I am right, but a mako is a gift that is liked by chiefs. I give this mako. You all know it was my mother's gift to me, and as we are of the same family as Popo, he is the next heir to it."

An old woman of the Wairaka pa laid a kahu-kiwi ⁸ on the heap at the south of the marae and said, "This mat has been worn by all our supreme chiefs, and as I am a woman and it was the gift of my husband to me on his death, I will now give it to our supreme chief Popo."

A young girl of the same pa laid a toha ⁹ of scented oil on the northern heap and said, "This oil was scented page 266 by herbs and moss taken in the Titirangi range by those of old."

A young man of the Totara-i-ahua pa now rose and took a black and white dogskin mat to the south side of the marae. He was followed by a young woman with a greenstone heitiki, a mere pounamu and a wahaika. ¹⁰ The woman said, " I do not know why I should be looked at by the people because I speak and my husband does not. As I am by birth senior to my husband, I say to Popo:—Come, O bird of beautiful plumage, and adorn our home once more."

A young man of the Remu-wera pa laid a striped black and white dogskin mat on the south side, and he was followed by a number of young boys and girls who each carried a pohoi, ¹¹ plume or calabash of scented oil. They walked in a line, following each other, and as they laid down their gifts they turned to the right and came back in a line to the place where they had been sitting.

Next came a chief of Papanga-te-uira who carried a mere in his right hand. When he had placed it on the rapidly growing pile on the south, he said, "Mine is an heirloom of old. Every chief who has lived in this pa has carried this in his hand. As you, O son, are the head chief, you must carry it now."

A young girl laid on the mat a carved flute and said, "O Popo, this is the flute of your ancestor who played on it so well. By its voice it has gained many a wife; but as you can play well on the flute, and Ata is your wife, you must keep this for your people. When those who are afraid to declare their love ask for it, let them have it."

A number of chiefs and priests now rose, and page 267 taking up a slab of greenstone called Whakarewa-tohuru, they laid it down on the south side of the marae. The oldest of them said, "O people, as the south side is the upper part of the world, and as the north is the lower part, so it is with men and women. Man is the warrior to fight, he is the upper part of manly life. A woman is the preparer of food, she is the lower part. This is the reason for the gifts for Popo being placed in the south, as he is our chief. Those for Ata are in the north, as she is our tapairu, ¹² the one to order feasts and entertain guests.

When the gifts had all been laid down, Kapu rose and went to the heap of presents intended for Ata. Looking round at the people, she waved her mere pounamu and said, "Why do I speak? It is my place to speak and give these presents of our people to my daughter, Ata. Our customs demand that I act, even though Tahau the father, and Reko the mother, of Popo are here. Look, then, O Ata, at these things. Our people give them to you. We are one people and you are our child. Take this property which our tribes have given to you on the day that you take Popo as your husband." So saying, she went and sat down near Ata.

Ha Kawau rose and said, "I am of the tribe of Ata, and it is for me to act. O Popo, look at this heap of property. Accept these from our tribe as a gift of love to you on the day that our daughter is taken by you as your wife." As he ceased to speak, a number of females came on to the marae from the west, following each other in line with kits of kao ¹³ on their backs. They piled them up in a heap and sat down near the palisades. They were followed by a body of page 268 men with bundles of dried shark, which they laid on top of the baskets of kao, and sat down near the girls. Then came a body of women with baskets of dried cockles, mussels, haliotis, toheroa and inanga. ¹⁴ These they placed on the heap of kao and shark and sat down. Next came a number of young men carrying a number of baskets of the best fern root. These they put in front of the other heap. Then followed men with baskets of dried convolvulus roots.

Thus were the different kinds of food brought in for the feast and laid in heaps until each tribe had added its quota to the stock of food. Kapu then rose with a number of fern stalks in her hand and went to the stacks of food, and after looking at them for some time, she called some of the young men, and by their aid divided the provisions into lots, and placed a fern-stalk upright in each division. The people were sitting together in tribes, and they watched her closely. When her preparations were complete, she waved her mere and said, "Listen, O people. This is the word of our old men." She touched the first lot of food with her mere and cried, "This is for our guests, the Nga-puhi." She touched the next lot. "For the Kahu-koka," and so she continued to call out the names of the tribes of the family in Waikato and other parts of the country. When all the food had been allotted, Kapu sat down, while the people of each tribe went and took the viands allotted to them, and the cooks began to prepare for the feast.

When the food had all been taken away, a chief of the Kahu-koka rose and said, as he walked to and fro on the marae, "Yes, yes, we are here to look on the face of our child. Yes, yes, go, O Ata, and live with Popo.

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Never say anything that may cause anger to rise between you. That is all I have to say."

A priest of the Taka-runga pa said, "I see that our son Popo is still alive. We feel love for him and for Ata. I will not say more."

A chief from Mangere said, "Who thinks we are a tribe of little power, or of few people? Look at us now. We are of noble origin. We are of the Tainui.

O  Popo, live and be our leader, and be the mana of our chiefs. We are glad that you are here with us now. Ata will keep you from evil and from the hate of the gods. That is all I have to say."

An old chief from the Otahuhu pa said, "I do not know that any of our people have a greater right to take Ata as wife than Popo. O people, do I speak the truth?" With one voice came the reply, "True, true."

As the old chief sat down, another of the Rarotonga pa rose and said, "I have seen battles, fishing parties and murders, hut this is the most notable meeting I have ever seen. O Popo, love your wife, and O Ata, love Popo. Let our people see how the great ones can behave. That is all my speech."

The chief of the Wairaka pa said, "We are a people of many tribes, yet we are one people. We all feel that it is good that you, O Popo, have taken Ata.

I  say no more."

The chief of Totara-i-ahua said. "I will not tell of the great feasts of my days. This feast is great, not of food, but rather of good deeds and great acts. You, O Popo, have done right to take Ata. All our disputes will now end. for there will be no more quarrels about our rights to the fishing banks of the Manuka. Good, O Popo, good, and right, O Ata, right. Those are my words, O people." page 270 A decrepit old chief of the Remu-wera pa said, "Come, O days of delight. I have seen days of evil. I have seen days of hunger and cold, but this is the beginning of days of good and kindness. Yes, O Popo and Ata, let love rule all your actions, and let your people live in peace. These are my words."

The chief of Tikopuke rose and looked round. He walked on to the marae and coughed and shook his mat and said, "Do you speak of war? Do you praise peace? What do we live for? Does cultivating food and fishing and catching birds and having a wife make up all that a man lives for? Man lives to make men happy, but our people do not act in this way. You, O Popo and Ata, show us how to live. My grey hairs say these words."

The chief of the pa Papanga-te-uira rose and went on to the marae and bowed his head and looked at the people, and said, "Who were good when they were young? Who did as they were told in the days when they were children? Who were kind to the old and who now feed the sick? The good do not cause evil, but as the crop is tended, so will the harvest be. Look at Popo. Who caused him to wander? No, it was not the act of some evil person. But good has prevailed, and he is here again. We love you, O Popo, and we are glad you and Ata are to be man and wife. Yes, yes, yes!"

An old woman who was greatest in rank of the people of Orakei rose and said, "We all know what evil is, and we all know the delight of good. Who has done the most evil? Let those who will be leaders of the people say if they like us more than they like themselves. Our old proverb says, 'The tribe makes the chief/ And another proverb says, 'A chief is of no repute without a people'—and this, I say, is true.

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"Then, O Popo and Ata, as you are descended from the great, let all your actions be for the good of your people. That is all I say."

"O people," said another old man, "we have the words of most of our old chiefs. They say that we are people of evil repute. But if we are a quarrelsome people, we have the opportunity now to change our character, and Popo will teach us how to act to gain a good name. I am old. I have seen good and evil men, and I say that to act with kindness is good for my tribe. Listen, O people, to the words of Popo, because I know from his past life that he will lead you in the path of peace. I say no more."

An old woman of the Tatua pa said, "True, true, O people. Love is the greatest power to guide our people. We all love Popo. We all know what he has done, and we all love him. It is right that Ata is to be your wife, O Popo. Teach our chiefs to act with kindness. I was a girl once and I know what the women say of you, O men. Act as you wish, but remember that we are not all girls, and that not only will we speak. We will act if you men do that which is not right. I will now sit down."

The chief of the Ngutu-wera pa said, "We also are here. We do not stay at our home when our eyes may look once more on our boy. Welcome back, O son, to your own people. We are glad that Ata has come to this portion of our people, and we shall call her our tapairu ariki. Live with us, O Popo, and we will provide all that you require in this life. I now sit down."

The chief, who was the leader of the people in the Manurewa pa, said, "We are of the Waikato part of our people, but we feel great joy in seeing Popo to-day. As we are on the road to Wai-uku, we will live in the page 272 protection of Ata and Popo. Most of our people are old, and we shall not see you two for many summers more, so we will say we are yours, and love you now as our fathers did your father. That is all we have to say."

A chief of the Matuku-rua pa said, "We all see you, O Popo and Ata, and our eyes feed our souls, a we see in you the leaders of our people. We are glad that you are man and wife. We are all your people, and we are the power you are to use for the good or evil of the land. We know that yours is a good soul, and that we shall see the clear light of the sun while you live, and not clouds and tempest. That is what our people have to say."

As the old man finished, a crowd of men and women and children entered the pa and came on to the marae chanting the feast song. The food carriers placed their burdens on a different part of the marae The members of each family then went and sat down before the paro containing the cooked food, and there, four or five in front of each basket, they sat and partook of the food.

Everyone enjoyed the feast. When it was over and the marae had been cleaned of all that might pollute the sacred ones, a Nga-puhi chief rose. He was clothed in a mat made of the red kaka feathers. He was an ariki of the Nga-puhi who occupied the Kai-kohe district. With a mere in his hand he paced over the marae from the east to the west, and back again with out speaking a word. The Tainui people watched his every gesture and step. At last he stopped and looked at Popo and Ata. "We, the children of those who were driven from the Hauraki district, have come back' to look at you, the children of those who drove our parents from this part of the country. We were page 273 grieved that one of our daughters should have taken a common man as her husband, and as we did not wish to take our revenge on our own people, we came to the west coast and attacked the thievish sons of Maki. What we have done is known to you. We received your messenger, and we heard of your pain on account of your child Popo. As we have obtained revenge for the act of our daughter by the attack we made on the west coast people, and as you were giving a pakuha feast, we determined to join you. Now we take this opportunity to make peace with you and those whose tribes we attacked. There is no evil in our act, though we are the offspring of a younger son. We were daring enough to come and attack our fathers and elder brothers, but now we make peace with you. O Popo, accept this mere and keep it. If ever ypu need assistance in war, send it back to me and I will come with it and aid you, and my people with me."

Old Mihi Rangi rose and said, "Your words, O Nga-puhi, are good, but you are not of the Nga-puhi. You are of the Tainui. You are an interloper in the Nga-puhi district. You will not gain any power in coming to kill and eat your relatives, you will die of consumption. But you know this, and you have dared the gods, so let evil come on you of your own seeking. You know what you like best. You are of the migration that left Hauraki at the time that Hotu-roa¹⁵ conquered the people of the district, and you are of the same people who now occupy the Tauranga district. Go back to your new home and do as you like. If the Nga-puhi treat you as your acts deserve, you may send to me and I will come to your aid. We make peace with you. Take this ear ornament I have worn." She page 274 took a kurukuru from her ear and threw it to the Nga-puhi chief and said, "That is for you to send to me when you want my assistance in war.

"I will speak now of another matter, O Nga-puhi. You have been kind to my son Maro, who has been at your home, and I see him here with us. As he has not been killed, you must have been kind to him. That is why I now make peace with you, as our proverb is, 'Eat each with each other, and things are agreeable.' As you have been kind to him, we will be kind to you and make peace. I am not a girl. I speak of knowledge I have received from my years. Go home, O Nga-puhi, and I will not follow in your path."

When all the speakers had finished, I rose and gave a loud cough and looked round. Then I pulled a mako of great size out of a small basket and walked up to where Popo sat and laid it down at his feet. "I do not need to tell you all that I have done, nor where I have been," I said, turning to the people. "But to make things clear, I must begin at the time I left you and tell you what I have seen and done. As some of our people—the descendants of those who were driven out of the Thames—were about to visit their relatives, and as I could not get the girl from the Thames whom I wanted as my wife, I was in a pet, and went with those people to the Nga-puhi.

"On our way to the Bay of Islands I caught a mako, O Popo. I have given you one of the teeth I obtained from it. The other I still have, for there is someone else for whom I am saving it. I went on with this party and landed in the Bay at the pa of the Haruru people, and stayed there for some time. Then we went on to the pa at Puke-tona, and one to the south of Te Wai-mate and stayed there until a party of the Nga-puhi of Hokianga came to the Kai-kohe pa. We were page 275 all invited to go there to a meeting of chiefs and people of all the pa in the district. We went and had a great feast of kumara and shark. For some time the speakers at that meeting spoke of the deeds of the past, and what our great men did in the days of old, till at last one of the Hokianga chiefs said, 'I am not a boy. I must speak of that for which I came. Are we to allow one of our young women to be the wife of a Tamaki slave? That is all I wish to talk about.'

"An old chief of Kaipara said, 'I do not know that we shall be able to say what we shall do, but if I were to act, I would go at once to the Tai-nui tribe on the west coast and attack them, and so rid my heart of the anger I feel, on account of the Tamaki slave being the husband of our young chieftainess. She is of the supreme rank and a descendant of the gods, and so she is her own law. To do as I say is the only way you can rid your hearts of anger.'

"I rose and said, 'O people of the descendants of those who were driven out of Hauraki, do not act in a thoughtless way. The Tainui are a great people, and if you attack them you may not come back. The tribes who live on the west coast at Wai-takere are of the Tainui, as also are those of Waikato and Thames. If these are attacked you may rue the day. Think well before you make the attack which your old chief suggests.'

"A Hokianga chief said, 'We have had many meetings and have discussed the subject in every way. Our old priests have thrown the niu, ¹⁶ and it has been said that we shall obtain revenge and come back unharmed. Why do we halt? Why do we waver when our priests will go with us, and have charge of the gods page 276 to assist us in all our actions? Rise, O people, and let us go to rid ourselves of the insult put on us by this slave of Tamaki.'

"For long the discussion raged, and many were the speakers. Those who were young wished to go to war, and those who were old were cautious. At last a very old chief of the Nga-puhi rose and said, 'You have spoken, O people. As the young people wish to see what you have seen in war, and enjoy what you have enjoyed, I say you may go to the south if you like, to obtain what you can. If you are beaten—so let it be; and if you come back, you will see us here. That is the end of our words.'

"This old priest went and threw the niu and told us that the omens were propitious, and that we should have an expedition that would succeed. So the descendants of those who were driven out of Hauraki collected from all the different pa in which they were living and had a war-dance, in which, once again, the omens were propitious. Not one of the people in the kapa of the dances were out of line,¹⁷ and all danced in time, and at the challenge they turned simultaneously to the right. As they were going to my home, I joined the war-party, and we came from Kai-kohe to Whanga-rei, and by Maunga-tu-roto and on by Manga-whai and Wai-pu, where we were on friendly terms with the tribes we met. We went by way of the We-iti and over to Kau-kapakapa, where we killed an old man, who was taken in a creek where he had been catching eels. His body was offered to the gods.¹⁸ We went on to Te Muri-wai, where we surprised some people collecting karaka berries in a clump of trees at the south end of the page 277 Rangatura beach. Some of these we cooked and ate, and others we hung up in the trees as gifts to the gods. We then went on to the Wai-takere river, but as some of the Muri-wai had escaped from us and had warned the Wai-takere people of our expedition, they closed the gates of their pa.

"The pa was situated in a bog of raupo, and had been built on totara posts. The fence had been built on a stage made of pieces of split wood tied with torotoro and was very strong. The fencing was continued all round the stage and down into the water as far as the ground so that no enemy could dive under the pa and set fire to it.

"The first day of our arrival in the district we took a good look at this pa, but what really occupied our thoughts was a little pa on a small mound on the north side of the sand at the spot where the Wai-takere river washes out into the sea. The north head of this river was a bold headland, from which we could look down into this pa. The island or mound had a spring of water on it. though it was like a big ball standing on the sand, and. at high water, entirely surrounded by breakers. The inhabitants could not be starved out, so we attacked the stage pa in the bog, but could not gain an entrance. Some of our people swam out to it at midnight and tried to scale the fence, but they were speared by the defenders.

"Then we attacked the pa on the island by throwing firesticks tied to stones from the headland. We could not throw them far enough, so we made a stage and tried to scale the pa, but several of our men were speared.

"Then we went on to the Ara-whata caves, which we found empty, the inhabitants having fled to a pa at Kare Kare. This pa was on a round hill of rough page 278 stones, which seemed to be piled up in a heap. We attacked, and took it, but some of the inhabitants lowered themselves down the cliff into the sea and escaped by swimming round the coast, and landed on the shore a little north of the Manuka heads, and escaped to the forest country at the back.

"We stayed here some time and lived on the crop which had been collected in the pa and allowed the friends of this vanquished people from Hoteo to bury their dead. Afterwards we came back to Ara-whata, where we had heard that a priest of superior knowledge was living.

"There was much food at this place, so we stayed for some time and learned that a man of daring lived up in the forest at the head of the Ara-whata creek. As we were in enemy country, and as our young men liked adventure, a party of us went to see this strange man in the forest. I accompanied them, for in some strange fashion I thought he might be Popo.

"We took our tao with us, and our bird spears and went up the bed of the stream. The water was not deep, so we killed all the eels. We came to a high precipice, at the bottom of which was a cave, and in this we saw the bed and clothing of some human being. A fire was still burning in the cave, and the feathers of kiwi, pigeons and kaka were scattered about.

"When we ventured into the inner part of the cave we saw there a man who had in his time been good-looking. Now he was a most forlorn-looking being. His hair had grown down his shoulders, his eyes were sunk in his head as if he had been starved, and his limbs were mere bones covered with skin. When he saw us he got up and said, 'Welcome to my home/ I knew the voice, and cried, 'O Popo, is it you? We came to ask you to go with us to the seashore to page 279 see your younger relatives, the people of Tai-a-mai, who are waiting to attend you to Mount Eden.'

"He said, 'You must take my property and then I will go.' He collected his mats and fishing lines and sinkers and spears, and we returned by the same path.

"When we arrived near the entrance of the Ara-whata creek, we came to a cave on the bank. Popo said, 'Wait till I come back.' He left us, but soon returned with a lot of dried mussels and cured birds. These we took and carried for him. We went by the road that leads up south from the creek to the pa at the north end of the Piha beach, and there we met all our people, and Popo was welcomed by them all. He did not say anything to us, nor has he spoken to any of us since. Perhaps when I have finished he will tell you his tale. He stayed at that pa for some time, and then came on to the Wai-takere river, where we met the people of the stage pa and made peace with them. Then your messengers came and we accepted your invitation to come here. Welcome, O our fathers, we are here again with Popo."

The old priest of Kahu-Koka rose and said, "I do not wish that all the people should speak, but Popo may tell us what he knows of the life he led in the Titi-rangi ranges, what he saw in the forest and whom he met, and how he got food to live."

Popo stood up. He was very feeble, and his voice was weak. He stood still as he spoke, and at his feet sat Ata looking up into his face. His hair was still long and fell over his shoulders like tangled flax, but there was a kindly smile on his face, and his eyes shone. "Welcome, O our tribe," he said. "I see daylight once more. I am quite feeble. I do not know how I left you. I do remember going with you to catch kuaka at the Whau, but it was night then, and as we page 280 came back a darker night fell on me and I fled to seek for daylight. But I did not know what I pursued. I did not want to see or hear anyone of my own kind. I do not know how I lived. I did not fear anything— the only dread I had was of the night or darkness that pressed on me all the time. Wherever I went that darkness surrounded me. At times I woke from a sleep, and for a moment I saw the trees and the birds. Then the gloom came on me again and I was in the night.

"I lived, but how I lived I do not know. I do not remember having fled from my home, but I do know the feeling of dread I felt when I saw the cloud of blackness that hung over me, and I ran away from it in a frenzy. How long I have been away from you I do not know.

"Not many days ago I awoke in a cave at the Ara-whata and saw that I had been living on birds. I saw that I had made bird-spears, and out of the birds' feathers I had attempted to make mats."

" 'Yes,' I said, 'here is one,' and I held it up for the people to see." A low wail came from Ata.

"Yes,' said Popo, "I had made mats for myself and had collected food and had lived as I could. I hated the sight of my fellow men so much that no one else but myself could have made or collected these things for me. Then I awoke and the cloud had gone. It was daylight and I saw the cave in which I had lived. That day I rested as would one who was weary after a long journey. I cooked some birds and roi which I found in the cave, and was lying on my bed when Maro and his friends came. I could see clearly then, and when Maro spoke, I knew him.

"I am still feeble, and must have been starving for many moons. Now, O people, I accept your love-gift page 281 to us. Now that Ata and I are to be man and wife, let the young people of our tribe take the goods you have given to the house we are to occupy. I accept them as your mana to me."

Old Manu or, as she was called, Mihi Rangi, rose and said, "It is my right to say the last words at this feast of pakuha. I am the oldest one here, I know more than you all, and it is for me to welcome our boy back into daylight Come then, O child, and with the mana of your ancestors lead us as a people. Look to our power as a tribe and teach us to be brave in the face of our enemies and do as those of the past have done. Go to war only in defence, not to attack or oppress those that are at peace with us. Come, O our child, and sit on the mat of your father."

When she had finished the young women rose in a body and collected all the gifts and took them to the house which had been prepared for Popo and Ata.

The marae was again filled with those who brought baskets of cooked food for the people. Before the baskets from which the food had been eaten had been collected, a cry arose, "The Thames people are coming!" Food was hastily prepared for them, and by the time the food was cooked, the Thames people had landed at Wai-ariki and had come up the ridge.

After they had eaten, one of them rose and said, "We came to see you, O Maro, because you have been to see the children of those who fled from the Thames. Welcome back to your home, O Maro. We have brought Rehu-tai with us. She has been weeping for you ever since you went away."

I rose and said, "Yes, I have seen those who fled before the son of Manu-tuahu, but they are a noble people, and some of them are here in this pa. They are now looking at you." page 282 A Nga-puhi chief said, "We accept your words of kindness, O people of the Thames. We are the children of those who were driven out by you. We came here to act so that the sorrows of our hearts on account of our daughter Miro taking a Tamaki slave should be assuaged."

"Cease to speak," the Thames chief replied, "and come back with us to see the home of your fathers, and so let us make peace."

"Yes," interjected a chief of Mount Eden, "and some of us will go with you. Rehu-tai and Maro can stay here with Popo and Ata. What do you say, O people ?"

The people cried "Yes," together in a loud voice. And so the speech-making was over, and the people dispersed to sleep.

On the following day at dawn, food was cooked and canoes were manned by their people and went on their way to the Thames. Popo and Ata sat on the marae looking at each other tenderly. As Rehu-tai and I sat together looking over the palisades towards the Waitemata, Rehu-tai said, "I did not like to see you go off as you did. I loved you then, but I was ashamed to own it. When you had gone I was jealous lest one of the girls of the Ngatipou should take you as her husband."

I looked at her and said, "I loved you so much that no one else should ever have had me. If I could not have had you, I would have lived and died an unmarried man."

* * * *

The old man's eyes were fixed on the distant horizon. The clouds floated like islands of light in the golden glow of the setting sun and the sea came up to page 283 meet them, so that sky and water were blended in radiant glory. But the glow on Maro's wrinkled, deeply-carved face did not only come from the rays of the setting sun.

He sighed, and rose slowly from his mat A chill breeze had sprung up from the west, and he looked old and tired and the glow faded from his face. He lifted his mat and walked away to his whare in the shadows, leaving the two girls sitting in the afterglow, which lingered upon the hill-top.