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PR 5834. wgels""'"'""*'' '-"'^0' /IMMlSliJ.nf,,^^^'^"' Maori. 3 1924 013 572 890 Cornell University Library The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013572890 EN A, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. E N A, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. GEORGE H. WILSON. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15, WATERLOO PLACE. 1874- {A II rights reserticd. ) K.en^sM-3 Printed by miliam Moon &= Co. PREFACE. The following pages were written among the hills, ravines, and forest wilds of a portion of the writer's adopted country. Years have passed since he first saw from the deck of the barque " Ann Wilson " the lovely scenery of Port Nicholson, during which he has observed the native New Zealanders under their own genial skies, and in daily intercourse with some few of the Maori race. The writer therefore hopes that this not altogether fictitious story will be acceptable to many who desire to know something of those distant islanders, many of whose lives present a con- tinuous tragedy from the cradle to the grave. He also desires to acknowledge his obligations to the pathetic story of a New Zealand Iphigenia, as VI PREFACE. narrated in the poem of " Ranolf and Amohia " by Mr. Alfred Domett — a work which is an enduring monument to the Maori of a bygone time. To the truthfulness and classic beauty of that noble gift to New Zealand the writer of the following pages begs to bear his humble testimony. Native Reserve, Te Aro pah, Wellington, New Zealand. Dec. 1872, CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Introductory i II. The Shipwreck 7 III. Ena 13 IV. Warriors in Conclave ... ... ... 21 V. Morning 27 VI. Mary 33 VII. Evil Omens 38 VIII. TheTohunga 44 IX. Designs Unveiled 49 X. Death of Te Kanohi 55 XL The Feast 62 XII. Bravery 68 XIII. Atapo's Expedition 76 XIV. Atapo's Defeat 83 XV. Treachery 9° XVI. The Forest 97 XVII. The Search "2 XVIII. The Return 121 vni CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE XIX. Arrival of Allies 126 XX. The Tana on the War-path 132 XXI. The Witches' Prophecy 139 XXII. The Night Sortie 144 XXIII. Ena and her Companions ... ... ... 154 XXIV. Hahaki in Danger 162 XXV. The Retreat 170 XXVI. Escape of the Islanders 178 XXVII. The Storm 185 XXVIII. Acquaintanceships renewed ... ... 189 XXIX. The Battle 200 XXX. Return to Kapiti 209 XXXI. Abandonment of Wairauki 216 XXXII. Misfortunes of the Mauopoko 225 XXXIII. Mahora and Pani 231 XXXIV. Journey to Taupo 244 XXXV. Flight from Taupo 254 XXXVI. Attempt on Kapiti 263 XXXVII. Mary, Mahora, and Ena 273 EN A, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. "A tale of the times of old." — Ossian. The axe of the bushman has swept the hills bare, the forest has disappeared, and where once the Maori roamed under the tenebrous branches of his ancestral trees the Pakeha now guides the plough : the aboriginal is giving place to the stranger ; the colon- izing and aggressively civilizing energies of the latter have quite supplanted the retrogressive customs of the former. Such may be the reflection of some who, like myself, may find themselves led by business or pleasure to explore the fine tracts of country that occasionally border the west coast of the North Island. B 2 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. A few dilapidated enclosures crowning the summit of a hill, a few midden-heaps on the sea-shore, are among the scant memorials by which we discover that, somewhere near, the Maori once had a "local habitation and a name " : those small enclosures mark the place where the native laid his dead in times when the presence of the stranger brought comparative security to his humble home, or later in accordance with a more civilized form of burial, imitated from his new preceptors ; the high westerly winds and the cattle of the colonist have broken down the rude woodwork of the tombs, and in a few years hence no relics will remain to preserve the sacredness of the place : the humble earth-cairns will be smoothed for ever. So it is with the war-pahs of the Maori ; what the hand of Time would have spared for years, the ruthlessness of enemies of their own race has de- stroyed : in our museums alone may now be seen a few memorials of an unusually interesting people. Ere oblivion slowly consigns to the past the poetic phases of the ancient Maori in his sorrow and in his joy, and ere the dim reminiscences of them are quite effaced by his unromantic descendant of to-day, I have attempted to depict, with such skill as I am master of, the defeat and exile of a portion of a once powerful tribe by the aggression of a more warlike people than themselves. INTRODUCTORY. 3 At a point on the western shores of the Bay of Porirua the yellow sands have been carried by the winds over many remains of the Maori ; the traveller at the head of the bay passes Ration-point, occupied by the British army during a late war ; he next passes a place called Motukaraka (or, the isolated Karaka-grove), though the trees are no longer to be seen, and here, on a slight eminence overlooking the bay, the trench of a small military fort is still discernible ; passing on under the shadow of a range of hills on the right hand, the classic ground of the ancient Maori is before the traveller. Paramatta Point (the yellow point of the hydro- grapher), which is at the inner entrance to the bay from Cook's Strait, is next passed ; and here stands the ruin of a stone building used as a military barrack in the war before mentioned. The tourist observes with increasing attention, not quite free from painful associations, that here was once an extensive graveyard : the memorabilia of mortality are strewn in profusion on the barren stretches of the sand- drifts ; the surgeon's saw has been busy on many of the crownless skulls, and the ends or sides of the rough wooden coffins that protrude from the ground bear melancholy witness that the faithless sand-dunes have betrayed their trust. If the song of a passing 4 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. native is heard, as he paddles his canoe whilst pro- ceeding to or returning from his fishing grounds, the dirge-like wail has a strange and mournful effect on the mind, especially if one chances at the time to be among the unsepulchred bones that are left to whiten in the blast. Leaving Paramatta behind, the tourist by a well- worn pathway passes upwards on the ridge of a series of richly-turfed hills, having on his left Cook's Strait, and on his right Taupo Swamp, the scene of stirring incidents during the rule of one of the country's ablest English governors. After passing this place the country spreads out before the traveller in the form of an amphitheatre of vast dimensions ; a tract of land of great value to the colonist for pastoral and agricultural purposes : mile after mile is passed under the over-arching branches of the forest trees, or along open glades of unrivalled beauty, where small streams of pure water cross every low- lying path. The trees in most places are young, evi- dently showing that formerly this entire locality was cultivated by its native owners ; and the crops now grown here are celebrated for their yield and quality. Ascending a gradually sloping champaign, the pedestrian finds himself after an hour's walk at the base of an abruptly terminal ridge, known as INTRODUCTORY. 5 Wairauki ; crossing a deep gully of easy passage, the ridge is ascended and the crest is gained, whereon a few years since stood the ruin of an extensive war-pah ; the principal timbers had been burnt down or removed, only the posts of black tree-fern re- mained which had formed part of the principal wharis in the enclosure : the double hnes of palisades with their ditches were not discernible, yet sufficient existed to prove to the inquirer that the position was one well chosen for a look-out, being of great strength and extremely difficult either to invest or surprise. The cattle of the settler are now folded on the site of the ancient war-pah, and only a few hazy tradi- tions linger among the farmers as to whom those lands originally belonged ; a stone flax-beater or a flint adze-head is perchance picked up by the solitary shepherd ; but the uses of the decaying posts that beacon the hills are almost unknown, and the terraced hill fronts are unnoticed, the practical pursuits of the colonist leaving him neither time nor inclination to indulge in romance. Several dismantled canoes were lying on the beaches below the foot of the steep, rocky precipices ; and, scattered under some remarkably fine gnaio trees (the only remains of the primeval forest), were a few elaborately-carved stern-posts of the most ancient 6 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. form of the war-canoe. The sea and the distant shores of the Middle Island were the same at the time of my visit as they were more than sixty years ago, when the actors in my story, in their final struggles for freedom, here lived and loved, suffered and passed away. ( 7 ) CHAPTER II. THE SHIPWRECK. " The sea darkly tumbled beneath the blast The roaring waves cUmbed against the rocks. The lightning came often and showed the blasted fern." — Ossian. The third morning of a storm long memorable had dawned with unaltered signs of its continuing for at least another day : the wind still blew a heavy gale, making a very plaything of the sea, ploughing the water into furrows of tremendous depth, and man- tling the summits of the dark green ridges with a crisp white foam : the thundering billows lashed each other with a magnificent action, which once seen is never forgotten. On the summit of steep piled crags and frowning precipices stood, many years ago, a Maori war-pah ; its site overlooked the sea, and toward the land its defences presented a series of earthworks and palisades constructed with skill, and evincing military tactics of 8 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. a high order : on either hand, deep ravines cut off from the adjacent ridge all communication with the pah ; thus isolated, the inmates felt no common degree of security and safety from surprise, or attack, by their hostile neighbours. Primitive forest clothed the landscape toward every point, and on the morning on which our tale opens many of the trees crashed and broke beneath the might of the gale : no signs of forest life were visible; occasional glimpses of an island lying to the north-west of the pah could be seen as the sunbeams struggled through fissures in the dark brown clouds : below, upon the white beach, the war-canoes of the pah were dragged above high- water line, so as to secure them from the fury of the waves. As the morning wore on, eager and observant glances were cast on the awful scene from the low- built whari doors of the pah. From a commanding position above the sea, a wide sweep of the horizon came under the ken of the sentinel who, posted on a stage which was above the palisades, there kept his constant watch : the varying phases of the seascape engrossed his attention : — well he knew that seaward no danger threatened from mortal foe ; but super- stitions vague and terrifying were ever presenting complex disasters to his fancy : at times he thought THE SHIPWRECK. 9 he saw a war-canoe far out at sea, riding on the billows ; but it would disappear. Closely and patiently he watched; again he thought that he saw it more clearly than before, but, owing to the tumultuous state of the elements, long intervals of time elapsed ere he could identify the strange appearance with the form of any vessel with which he was acquainted. After a considerable length of time, the object hove in sight; immediately the sentinel gave warning to the inhabit- ants of the pah that a strange vessel was approaching. Terrified at the intelligence, dusky warriors, spear in hand and clad in mats, swarmed to the palisades that overhung the sea; women, whose glossy black hair fell in folds on their shoulders, ran up to the front to look out for the much dreaded invaders, followed by strings of clamorous children : the unexpected alarm caused the warriors to omit all order, so carefully attended to on other and similar occasions. As the sun approached the meridian the gale in- creased in strength, thunder pealed along the sky and re-echoed among the guUeys around ; the lightning flashed with awe-inspiring rapidity, momentarily de- priving the warriors of the power of sight, and in- creasing their terror of the supernatural : the pah palisades were lined with human faces all intent on the spectacle that was spread below. A long, narrow 10 ENA; OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. reef of black rock ran out seaward for a mile and a half at right angles with the pah's sea-front, and at a like distance from the reef could be seen what once was a large and stately full-rigged ship, helplessly driven before the unpitying gale : she was dismasted and under no control ; thus she drifted and plunged in a direct line for the outer edge of the reef; en- veloped in spray, or, buried for an instant in the trough of, the sea, the hull would occasionally be lost to view : over the black reef the surging waves crashed terribly, white foam in an unbroken wall thundered along its whole length ; the fated ship was seen for a few moments carried with electric speed on the crest of a wave toward the stubborn rock ; a dense bank of cloud and scud drove over the space between the pah and the reef, the spectators losing sight of the vessel ; in a few moments the obstruction passed, but no ship was to be seen — an involuntary shriek of mingled joy and terror rang out from the people ; none moved from the point of observation, while in painful suspense every breast throbbed, every eye was strained towards the reef, all fearing that the great canoe would emerge from the water between the reef and the shore, and again imperil their fancied security; but no ship appeared. The gale had now abated a little, the wind blew with pauses between its flight : THE SHIPWRECK. II these increased in duration as the gale moderated ; still the eager on-lookers from the hill-fort kept their position. An object was now distinctly seen on the water, borne towards the beach by the partly favour- able wind ; waiting till the exact nature of the visitant was clearly discernible from the pah, a party hastily descended the cliff to the sea-shore : arrived there, with astonishment they saw the bodies of two human beings, a man and a woman, lashed to a beam of timber, which floated towards the place whereon they stood ; to wade out a short distance, seize the boom and guide it to shore, to undo the lashing which con- fined the bodies to the buoyant timber, and to carry them up to the pah, was the humane task of the Maori warriors : to the native women was confided the task of resuscitation, and for this purpose the bodies were taken into a hut, where, laying them on mats before the fire, the women chafed the cold limbs of the un- fortunates ; wood smoke was also tried with the in- tention of inflating the lungs, or of titillating the nose in order to cause the apparently drowned to sneeze : with the woman their efforts were successful, she slowly regained consciousness ; but her com- panion's spirit had fled for ever. Eighteen summers had passed over the once joyous maiden, Mary Morven, who now, sheltered in a native 12 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. war-pah in New Zealand and surrounded by gentle native girls and aged women, came to a sad compre- hension of her present state and her late disasters. Kindly hands offered her food, the best their simple stores contained; and she, to please her benefactors, tasted the various viands with a cheerfulness that at once won her the sympathy of her newly-found friends. One by one the elder women left the hut ; these were followed by the young, until three girls only remained with Mary, who was allowed to rest in undisturbed silence : as she reclined on the matting that covered the floor of the hut, her recent escape and consequent exhaustion weighed down her spirits, and she sank into a deep and quiet sleep. One of the three girls that remained in the whare was a half-caste named Hinema, daughter to a whaler by a native woman : this girl was of the same age with Mary, and as she possessed some knowledge of English, she was on that account selected for the office of attending on Mary, and to interpret between her and the natives. By this time the gale had died away, and a drizzling rain began to fall; while from the opposite point of the compass a light wind sprang up, which, blowing off the land, carried out to sea whatever portions of the wreck might have been floating toward the shore. ( 13 ) CHAPTER III. ENA. " She came in all her beauty, Like the moon from tlie cloud of the east. Loveliness was round her as light, Her steps were the music of songs. " — Fingal, The dusk of evening was spreading over the forest ; the sea-birds were wheeling above the rocks in grace- ful gyrations ; the sentinel on his stage looked over the calmly heaving sea ; the natives in the pah were grouped in conversation preparatory to meeting in the rimanga, ere they separated for the night, when Mary awoke refreshed and composed from her slumber. Hinema, who had watched while her charge slept, immediately quitted her place, and proceeded toward the principal whare the hill-fort contained. The building was the residence of Te Rangitukaroa, chief of the hapa, or tribe; and here the old man, after a long and chequered career, lived with his two 14 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. children, Rankawa, a tall, brave youth, and Ena, a girl of rare beauty. The whare was of elegant appear- ance, and finished with careful attention to the elaborate detail of its several parts. Outside, the walls were four feet in height from the ground ; on the inside they were a little more than six feet : a door and two small windows fitted with sliding shutters were in the front wall : a low verandah, supported on posts grotesquely carved, ran along the front elevation, which measured fifteen feet in length. Both gable ends were ornamented with finials richly carved in arabesque figures ; the whole carefully painted in red, white, and black lines. The roof was thatched with the bark of the totara tree, and confined to the ridge and eaves by supplejack interlaced with the skill so characteristic of the native art-workman. At the verandah of the whare Hinema met Ena, who had been expecting and hurried out to meet her. The appearance of the latter betokened her station. Her person was tall, graceful, and fully developed ; her dress, a snow-white flax mantle bor- dered with black, and fastened on her breast with a curiously carved bone pin : the border was further adorned with diamond-shaped figures, in white and red colours, in correct and appropriate divisions. Her EN A. I 5 feet were bare, long and tapering toes uniting classic interest with faultless proportion and sym- metry. Her features were cast in the severest style of high Maori beauty : melancholy was the leading expression of her face, but it was quite unlike the European trait understood by the same name. Hers was the index to an implicit trusting of the ethereal part of human love to the care and keeping of a dearly prized object. Unalterable devotion reposed in the eyes of the queenly maiden, and over her finely cut lip curled the fragrant incense of her heroic soul. In the tresses of her raven hair she wore a feather of the huia; and from her neck, suspended by a narrow band, a large and exquisitely carved green- stone heitiki rested on her bosom. Hinema told her mistress that the strange maiden was awake. As they walked to the whare, the contrast between the girls was very great, but exceedingly interesting. Not so tall as her mistress, Hinema was a winsome beauty : her port was marred by an undulatory motion as she walked ; the expression of her countenance was simplicity, with a slight tinge of piquancy that relieved and gave point to the ready smile that lurked in playful moods in the cushioned plicature of her lips ; her eyes were soft brown, glowing with a lucid beaming that soothed whilst it ensnared. She was 1 6 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. much attached to Ena, and was always at her side ; and towards Ena's brother she cherished a sister's feelings. Year after year these assumed a more tender aspect, and they had now ripened into love. Yet she was careful to conceal the exact state of her mind from her mistress, and also from Rankawa, the object of these affections. From him she had always received a brotherly regard, but nothing more. Toward the young men of the tribe she assumed a cold demeanour — haughty, but not imperious : many would gladly have taken her to wife, but to their importunities on the subject she turned a deaf ear. Ena and her attendant now entered the whare, and Ena, embracing the rescued girl, saluted her after the manner of the Maori ; then, seating herself on the matting beside Mary, she requested her to relate the circumstances that led to her unfortunate arrival upon these shores. " Five months ago," said Mary, " I left my Ameri- can home, and accompanied my father in his own ship, leaving my mother and two sisters in my native city. The pain of parting was soon allayed by the in- teresting incidents of the voyage, and the new scenes we witnessed : the books my father took with him amused and instructed me, whilst the hope of soon returning to my friends and home banished all fear ENA. 17 from my mind, and I gave myself up to the full enjoyment of each passing hour. Four months glided by in undisturbed serenity, and when we sighted the northern point of these islands, coasting southwards, we engaged in the business of our voyage, namely, trading. My father's reverses of fortune compelled him to become a trader, yet they did not prevent him from exercise of a strict care in securing order and cheerfulness among the men under his command. In a few weeks of uninterrupted success we determined to proceed to Sydney : whilst on the passage, high and adverse winds beat us back, the winds grew stronger and more boisterous until they blew a gale, which continued for three days : to lighten the ship, much of her valuable cargo was tossed overboard, the masts were next cut away; the boats were rendered useless, as they were stove in by the waves as they swept over the decks. The crew were quite exhausted with the hardships which they underwent ; all hopes of life abandoned us on the third morning, as the ship sprung a leak : the men stood by the pumps, until, worn out with unceas- ing toil, the poor fellows fell on the deck, only to be washed overboard by the terrible sea that was then running ; to add to our distress the rudder broke, and so became useless. As the day advanced, we C 1 8 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. perceived that we were nearing land : mercy was asked from Heaven ; the interposition of Divine Providence was tearfully sought by the surviving seamen ; the sight of land was hailed with a joy, alas ! only momentary in duration, for a dark line of rugged rocks was seen amid the wild breakers that lay right in our helpless pathway : on these black- stone heaps we must soon enter a yawning grave ; the mountain billows that broke the ship's rudder swept my father overboard. One, whose memory I must ever cherish, then lashed himself and me to a spar in the hope that when the vessel drove upon the rocks we might chance to be driven ashore : such we trusted might be our good fortune, as the ship was carried in a straight line toward the lowest portion of the reef I can never forget, nor can it ever be obliterated from my mind, the extreme tenderness that beamed from the eyes of the man who stood by my side, dressed in scarlet ilannel blouse and blue trousers, one arm sup- porting me in my ill-concealed terror, whilst with the other he brushed away a tear that stole down his cheek ; nor can I ever forget the unwonted courage that braced up my heart, when the last moments came, in which the ship smashed on the rock, and when, with a swift bound, he shot off the parting timbers on the back of a foaming billow, and we were ENA. 19 carried clear of the stony ridge : then I heard his voice rise above the thunder of the elements, as the brave man shouted the well-known watchword, 'All's well ! ' I remember no more." "Tell me," said Ena, " who he was that was lashed with you on the boom." Mary answered, " He was mate of the ship, and my affianced husband. When we returned home, we were to have been married, but that day I shall never see." At the recital of the fate of her first and her only love, Mary's sorrows flowed afresh. She pressed her face on the bosom of Ena, whose soft dark eyes filled with tears that fell on the fair ringlets of the poor pale face. Mary wept bitterly, while the girls bent their heads on their breasts, and, with hands clasped on their knees, chaunted in a low and melodious voice a wail for the early dead. Although Mary did not understand the burden of the lament, yet she felt its soothing effect. When the wail was ended, she asked for an interpretation of the melody, which Hinema gave her as follows : — All thy sorrows, gentle maiden, All thy griefs so dark and drear, Claim our pity ; thou art laden With Death's cold and gloomy fear. Tears are falling, Sprites are calling. Calling us to smooth the bier. 20 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. Ever round thee, gentle stranger, May a charmed circle cling ; Ne'er may pain or envious danger Fix on thee their venomed sting. Tears are falling, Sprites are calling, Calling us Death's wail to sing. When the words had been communicated to Mary, and whilst her tears were still flowing, a knocking was heard at the window. One of the slaves arose, and opened the shutter, asking who knocked ; she received answer that Ena's brother wished to be allowed to enter the whare. But Ena would not grant him per- mission to do so, deferring until the morrow an interview with her brother. To this arrangement he expressed acquiescence ; the slaves then withdrew from the whare, leaving Mary, Ena, and Hinema together for the night. ( 21 ) CHAPTER IV. WARRIORS IN CONCLA"VE. ■ ' As rushes forth the blast on the bosom of whitening waves, So careless shall my course be through ocean, To the dwelling of foes. I have seen the dead." — Cathlin of Clutha. In the centre of the mountain-fort stood a large runanga, or meeting-house : in it was assembled, on the same night as that on which the events detailed in the foregoing chapter took place, the greater part of the hapu or tribe inhabiting the fortress. Door and win- dows were closed ; the remains of a large fire glowed on the earthen floor, and around it the attentive warriors squatted, sat, or reclined : the heat was intense, and the red glare of the embers lit up the features of the assembly with a bold and uniform tone of warm colour. The walls were low, and divided into com- partments : the minor spaces were filled with the 22 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. yellow reed of the toi-toi grass laid in perpendicular rows ; the major divisions were composed of boldly- carved pilasters, adorned with gigantically contorted representations of the human figure ; the features of the face were the particular care of the native wood- carver, and in every instance the representations of the mouth were hideous and barbarous in the ex- treme, the teeth being shown in shark-like dimension and proportion. These figures dimly shadowed a vague relationship to the carvings of the rude nations of antiquity, and bore many distinguishing traits with the work of the modern Hindoo artist. Hideous- ness was the leading characteristic of the collection. Circular pieces of the pawa shell were inlaid in the carvings to represent eyes, and these reflected the fire- light with sparkling brilliancy, adding ghastliness to the grotesque. Each of the carvings represented a departed chieftain, and was known to the hapu by separate and distinguishing names. Here, as the people met from time to time to deliberate on matters affect- ing their common welfare, the dead heroes of the tribe were supposed to be present, and to lend the lustre of their ancient glory to their hereditary repre- sentatives. In the midst of his assembled tribemen sat the chieftain's son Raukawa : the young man had been in WARRIORS IN CONCLAVE. 23 the mountains on a visit to Hahaki the tohimga, or priest, for the last few days, and returned that evening ; first seeking his sister Ena, and next apprising the war- riors of the pah with news of alarming import. All eyes were turned on the young warrior as he rose to his feet and stood in the open space allotted to the use of those who were to address the meeting : the firelight showed his fine form and muscular proportions to great advantage ; he was six feet in height, taller than the generality of his tribe ; he held in his hand a spear, ornamented with a carved top, from which hung a tassel of red and black feathers and white hair : round his loins he wore a flax mat, which reached half-way down his thighs ; his legs and feet were bare, and his face was tattoed with the appropriate markings of his tribe and his rank : in his hair, which was profuse and black, he wore a comb curiously carved, an heirloom in his family. The expression of his countenance varied with the emotions of the moment, but in general his features were calm and benignant. Hahaki, the old tohunga, had given Raukawa a charge to deliver to the warriors of the fort ; and now the youth, gracefully waving his spear as a signal to enforce silence, gave the message as follows : — " From the eastward Aurora spreads her fiery 24 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. plume ; her fingers reach the hills, and the restless ones there are crying to the blast. " Wariwari rolls up from the west, his canoe is broken by the winds of the sky ; a white Pepe flutters on the black rocks. " Wkike wails over the forest : her tears fall on the paths, her voice echoes from every tree." When Raukawa ended he sat down. A low mur- mur indicative of terror rose from the assembly, when an aged warrior stood up, and, leaning on his spear, tottered to the space preserved for the speakers; walking from end to end of the opening, he raised his head, and, straightening himself as well as he could, balanced his spear and grasped it as in the act of throwing, then exclaimed in the tremulous voice of old age : — " Wise are the words of Hahaki ; never yet has he given us wrong counsel. Let us give earnest heed to his dark divinations : soon will events make all clear, though disaster lie in wait for us on the hills, and the shadows of blood darken our thresholds." A warrior in the vigour of manhood next stood up ; his features were scarred with the cicatrices of wounds which divided the once clear and correct lines of the tattoo, and now gave him an expression of inexplicable facial confusion : he looked the demon of WARRIORS IN CONCLAVE. 25 the assemblage, the Tc-whiro of the Maori Hades. His name was Atapo. He was dreaded for his passion- ate and fiend-hke disposition : of a daring courage and a dauntless spirit, his rising to speak was almost regarded in the light of an evil omen, and the aged portion of the audience hung their heads on their breasts as Atapo spoke as follows : — " Give me your attention ; if the Ngatiraukawa from the rivers approach, shall their advent be peace- ful ? shall not the steam of our ovens ascend ? shall our terrors destroy our might ? shall not our tribe war-whoop be heard ? shall we welcome them to the feast, and give our women to their arms ? do we intend to lay down the spear and the meri at their feet ? No, no ! none are so craven as to abandon this temporary home of the people, to forsake the hill-fort of the warrior, to give our children into the hands of the enemy as slaves. Atapo heeds not the fiery skirts or the burning fingers of Aurora : on the elfin-blasted peak he will stand at midnight, when the black night wanders over the lichened crag ; when the sea-god bellows on the bleak stone of the deep, he will crush the stranger beneath his heel ; to the towering forest tree he will fix the fiercely-climbing tongue of fire, to lap up the feeble tears of the puerile Whiki. No longer shall her cries disturb the priest in his cavern, 26 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. the sentinel on his post, the warrior at the feast, or the fisher at anchor near the spectre-haunted shore." During the deHvery of this harangue, the gesticula- tions of the speaker aided his oratory. His gaunt and bony frame was muscular, and of gigantic dimen- sions. He had but one eye, the socket of the other being concealed beneath a lock of dun hair ; his breast was scarred and seamed with old wounds received in battle, or self-inflicted in seasons of lamentation for the dead. The muscles of his arms twined and overlapped each other as he brought them into action whilst wielding the greenstone meri, or poising the slender spear, which during his address he held up, one in either hand. His words imparted an air of composure and assurance to the warriors. Raukawa again rose and said, " Hahaki promises to meet us to-morrow night to assist in our delibera- tions and give us all the assistance in his power." This ended the business of the night, and as Rau- kawa waved his hand, the meeting dispersed, each warrior seeking his own whare within the silent mountain war-pah. ( 27 ) CHAPTER V. MORNING. " The blast of the morning came, and brightened the shaggy side of the hil\."—J^ing-al. Ena rose as the dawn softly flowed over the eastern forest lands ; and, leaving her companions asleep, she left the whare. The pah was still wrapped in sleep, even the wakeful dogs were silent ; but the birds, those silver-tongued minstrels of the wilds, were pouring from a thousand feathered bosoms the very magic of woodland melody. Ena stood to hear, and wept, she could not explain to herself why, as she listened to the birds' hymn to the morning. The heavens seemed to open above the bush, the mountain sierras, and the sleeping sea ; streaks of golden-tinted cloud were strewn on the wide, expansive vault, whose foundations are laid on the white wings of the youthful morning : upon these clouds Ena 28 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. fancied she saw the footprints of aerial spirits, and, as they flitted from vermeiled vapour into azure vista, she was fain to think that occasional glimpses of their flowing hair could be discerned as they melted pensively from - her view. The upper line of the sun's disc wheeled an arc of liquid gold over the distant horizon ; and, with the velocity of winged firCj all animate and inanimate nature thrilled to the kiss of the virgin day. Hot tears welled over the bronzed cheek of the girl as she caught to her soul the inde- scribable loveliness of the first blush of the rising sun : the thrill, like all moods of bliss, soon and swiftly passed away. From her father's whare she saw her brother emerge, and as he caught sight of her, he approached to where she stood; she came toward him, and they met at a mound of freshly turned earth which immediately attracted Raukawa's notice : he stood in silence, and, as he took Ena's hand in his, she observed the effect produced on his mind at sight of the mound, and related to him the events of the preceding day. " This,'' she said, " is the stranger's grave ; the body was wrapped in a mat and laid here in obedience to our father's order. You may remem- ber that it was here Hahaki cast the reeds of divination, on the occasion of his last visit to the pah ; and this mound renders the spot tapu." MORNING. 29 Turning away, they walked in silence up to the sea-front of the fortress, and looked out over the calm, broad sea beneath. The island of Kapiti was within view, being not more than five miles distant from the mainland. On the highest point of the island could be seen the fences, earthworks, and whares of a war-pah. Columns of blue smoke curled up toward the sky from the numerous fires that were burning, as the morning meal was in preparation. With a deep-drawn sigh, Ena contemplated the dis- tant island pah ; and, turning toward her brother, who had also been looking toward the island, she asked him what message had Hahaki sent to the tribe. Raukawa repeated the old man's sayings with scrupu- lous care; at the same time admitting his own utter incapacity to comprehend, much less to unravel, the meaning of the involved periods of the sacerdotal message. " That," he continued, " there is an impend- ing evil ready to fall upon us, I no longer entertain the slightest doubt. The conduct of the Ngatirauk- awa, our inveterate enemy, certainly warrants ils in assuming that blood and conquest are the objects of the raid begun by them since they drove us from our distant home beneath the shadow of snow-snooded Tarawaki." Ena listened to her brother with deep and fixed attention, and immediately explained to 30 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. him the meaning of the tohunga's parables. "The white /^^," she said, "evidently refers to the Pakeha maiden" (whom Raukawa had not yet seen), "and the other imagery refers to our hostile neighbours." Whilst the brother and sister stood upon the summit of the cliff, their attention was drawn to a figure which slowly toiled along the rugged path that led by a series of diagonal lines from the beach below up the front of the fortress. Nearer the figure came, and soon Ena could distinguish the bearing as that of old Mahora, wife to the tohiinga. She was bent with age and toil ; her clothing was a white mat of carefully dressed flax, bound round her waist, and reaching to the knee ; she carried a long staff in her hand to aid her in walking. When she came within hail of the pah, she uttered a low, moaning call, which reverberated from crag and cliff in an exceedingly musical succession of cadences. This call she re- peated at intervals, with much variation of tone, harmony, and time. Ena caught up the strain, and answered with a wailing that caused the old woman to halt, clasp her staff with both hands, bend her head toward the ground, and so remain until the moment arrived in the melody when a repetition of the words adds tenderness and sorrow to the music • then Mahora, rising from her melancholy posture. MORNING. 31 and, with her hands quivering above her head, beat time to the concerted music that she sang with Ena. The prolonged notes rang out over the sea and the bush ; from the whares of the pah the inmates came pouring in silence, and creeping noiselessly up to the front defences, where they assembled to wel- come their visitor. She came to tell the warriors that Hahaki had altered his previous intention of coming to the pah, and that they should come up to him as soon as the evening sun touched the horizon. This message formally delivered to her hearers outside of the pah, she then entered and saluted with a calm and dignified affection the beauteous Ena. Mahora was of tall and slender figure. In her hair she wore a single white tuft of albatross down : her hps were thin and firmly compressed : her eyes were of a dull, black hue, with a pupil of lustrous fire that literally sent a thin point of light through the beholder : her nose was of firm and bold outline, but age had reft it of harmony : her chin was of the orthognathous type ; and when youth balanced with its fulnesses the pro- portions of the once majestic Mahora, hers was a countenance rarely seen, rarely surpassed. Tears flowed from the eyes of the umbered warriors as they beheld the wreck of the once famous Ngatikagnugnu beauty, the object of their old and time-steeled 32 ENA, OR. THE ANCIENT MAORI." affections. Theirs were the memories that harden and brighten, with the flight of years, until the will and the action take colour and permanency from their silent sway. The women cowed before her as the slave bends to the lash of his driver; the children peered fretfully at the being who never knew an infant's helplessness, nor cared for the love of chil- dren. When her compliments were paid, she left the pah, not having entered a dwelling there, and betook herself to her homeward journey. ( 33 ) CHAPTER VI. MARY. " Fair on a rock, she stretched her white hand to the wind, To feel its course from the dwelling of her love. ' ' • — Temora. Resignation to her unavoidable fate, and a secret deep gnawing grief, took possession of the heart of Mary Morven, when awaking from the fitful sleep of the first night passed among those who delivered her from the perils of the sea. She mentally contem- plated the extremes of sorrow, bereavement, and danger through which she passed, and bowing her spirit in prayer to One who is ever near to those who call upon His mercy, she rose from the soft silken mats whereon she rested, and opening the small window of the whare, the level beams of the newly-risen sun entered and illumined the interior of the apartment with rays of amber light. In stature, Mary was below the middle height; her head was small, but of ex- D 34 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. quisite contour ; her hair was of a dark brown colour, and fell in profuse natural ringlets around her shoulders; her eyes were of a sweet cerulean blue, large, and calmly set in their orbits ; her mouth sensitive, her entire figure prepossessingly charming and lovable. She was quite recovered from the effects of her late immersion in the sea : her voyage had imparted tone and vigour to her constitution. Large tears rolled down her face as she proceeded with her incomplete toilet ; the novelty of her comparatively safe situation occasionally diverted the course of her thoughts from the terribly engrossing subject of the future. Whilst thus employed, her attention was arrested by hearing the sounds of voices, and looking out by the window she saw her friends Ena, the half-caste, and Raukawa. The latter engaged Mary's liveliest apprehensions of fear and timidity : he was the first native man she had seen. His tall person clad in a light flowing mantle of yellow-coloured, satin-textured flax, with a dark border of zigzag lines : his head uncovered, his hair black and curled, he appeared to great advan- tage. His regal bearing imparted to Mary's mind a quiet reassuring earnest of protection and confidence. He was attentively listening to his sister, who was engaged in the absorbing subject of the message by Mahora. MARY. 35 Ena and her attendant had risen and left the whare without disturbing Mary as she slumbered, and the visit of the old woman and her reception had passed without awaking her. Now, as she in- tently observed the group outside, she could plainly perceive that she was the topic of their conversation. Ena hastened alone to the whare, which she entered, and, seeing that Mary was dressed, she took her by the hand and led her to Raukawa, who received her with a quiet dignity, and extending his hand to her: she took it, and, slightly pressing it, relinquished her hold. He expressed much pleasure with her appear- ance, telling her, at the same time, that he would be her protector, and that no harm would befall her. Mary thanked him, through the half-caste, who began to entertain a slightly jealous feeling toward the stranger, particularly when she witnessed the warmth of Raukawa's manner and heard his language to Mary. Prompted by her innate perceptions of delicacy, Ena led Mary away from Raukawa, who said that he had business with his father. From the sea-front of the pah whereon the girls now stood, the view was intensely charming : to Mary it was suggestive of her far-off home and its thousand melancholy re- membrances. The small island lying near, the moun- tains, capes, valleys, and plateaux of the northern 36 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. shores of the south island lay before her gaze in all their solacing lovelinesses ; but, alas ! to that weary and bereaved young soul the blessings of Nature's smiling countenance were shrouded in the threefold gloom of irredeemable exile. Hinema rejoined them as they stood on the battlemented cliff, and at the request of her mistress she gave the names of the different leading features of the scene before them. This interested Mary not a little, as she learned how intimately conversant the people were with everyobject around. Ena and her charge were now joined by several men, women, and children, all eager to see the pakeha maiden ; but Ena restrained their curiosity within the bounds of discreetness. To the pressing solicitations of some to look at and feel her hands, Mary agreed with a sweet affability of manner that won the esteem and respect of her new friends. Ena led her towards her father, who sat in the verandah of his house enveloped in a large mat. The old man desired Mary to sit beside him, when, taking her hand in his, he welcomed her, and assured her that her safety and her comfort would be carefully attended to. At his request, Hinema gave Mary's story again from her recital. This interested the old man very much : he charged Ena to see that Mary was supplied with MARY. 37 everything they had in their power to bestow : at the same time he presented Mary with a small Heitciki of greenstone, placing it with his own hands around her neck : then dismissed with kindly and paren- tal language. She thus experienced a great relief in having her former apprehensions dispelled, and felt a warm liking spring up in her heart toward the aged warrior. Throughout the forenoon she was much alone, and remained in the solitude of the whare wherein she had spent the night, brooding over the future, and evincing little interest in the movements of those among whom she was cast. ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. CHAPTER VII. EVIL OMENS. " Receive the falling chief, Whether he comes from a distant land. Or rises from the rolling sea. Let his robe of mist be near, And his spear that is formed of a cloud." — Darthula. The sun was in the zenith when five war-canoes, each carrying fifty warriors, left Kapiti and steered straight for Wairauki. As the fleet approached the latter place, the songs of the rowers were heard commingling with splashing of the paddles, and pro- ducing a pleasing rhythmical, throbbing music. A cheery cry of welcome rose from the beach, whither the inmates of the pah had hastened when the fleet was descried in the offing : quickly the canoes shot up on the silvered sand, and the islanders, who were a near branch of the Mauopoko family, landed in the order of rank, their young chief, Te EVIL OMENS. 39 Koturu, taking the precedence in the disembarkation.. The youthful warrior was the only son of Te Kanohi, whose sub-section of the Mauopoko tribe lived on Kapiti island. Te Koturu was the intended husband of Ena : in their infancy they had been affianced by their parents, and as they passed from childhood to adolescence their attachments ripened into love. On the occasion of this visit, Te Koturu wore the insignia of his rank ; a handsome, bordered white flax mat hung gracefully from his shoulders, a kilt of the feathers of the wild pigeon and green parrot hung from his waist to the knees : a taiha, or spear, held in his hand, gave the chief a superiority over his fol- lowers, who were habited in mats with yellow and black tassels, that rattled as the wearer walked. The inhabitants of the hill-foot welcomed their friends with noisy demonstrations of joy, and the women hastened to garland their heads in honour of their guests. Seated on a green spot beneath the shadow of the sentinel's stage, Te Rangitukaroa awaited the arrival of his friends. On Te Koturu's approach, the old man immediately rose and warmly embraced him ; ex- pressions of welcome and greetings were exchanged, the absent inquired for, and the motive of the present visit explained : the latter as follows : — Te Kanohi of 40 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. Kapiti was ill, and supposed to be on his deathbed : the chief believing that his end was near, had dis- patched his son to acquaint his friends and allies with the message of his approaching dissolution, also with the intelligence of a meditated attack upon the hill- fort by the Ngatiraukawa, which latter fact he had learned from a runaway slave. These unwelcome tidings were delivered in the full assemblage of the hapu, as they sat in silence round the erect figure of the narrator. When he concluded, the pahu, or wooden gong, was struck, and this was the signal to a yell of fierce defiance that burst like a thunder- bolt from the infuriate assembly : when the uproar subsided, other and kindred passionate outbursts made the welkin ring ; then the terrible war-dance was performed by hundreds of warriors, whose motions were regulated and directed by an old crone, displaying a vigour and precision only at- tained after years of patient practice. As one man, the warriors leaped in the air, stamped, ejaculated, growled, twirled their left and their right arms alter- nately, and sank exhausted on the ground, that trembled as if moved by an earthquake beneath their feet. This paroxysm of fury having subsided, the islanders were duly honoured, and every attention was given to their wants. Te Kanohi's orders to his EVIL OMENS. 41 son were that he must return ere sundown : in vain did Te Rangitukaroa urge the youth to remain with him for the night, so as to accompany him to the priest's cell. After faithfully delivering his message, Te Koturu hastened to see Ena, whom he found in the whare with Mary : the meeting of the lovers was interest- ing, and their mutual tenderness seemed at strange variance with the uncouthness and primitive natures of the people ; so at least thought Mary, but she soon discovered that beneath the rough exterior and unsophisticated manners of the natives there lay the germs of true nobility, gentleness, honour, and fidelity, united with and inseparable from fierce passions hammered into steeled impulses that became brighter, harder, and colder as misfortune drove them through the bloody furnace of adversity. Regarding Mary with intense admiration and sympathy as he listened to Ena's account of her, the young chief advanced and took Mary's proffered hand in his ; and as he held it, he gazed with polite- ness and affection upon her. At the same instant Raukawa entered the whare, his face lit up with a sweet joyousness on seeing Mary looking composed and happy. Turning toward Te Koturu, his features assumed the warrior's glance : a few words to his friend 42 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. explained the current of his thoughts ; the impending danger from their hostile neighbours, confirmed by late tidings, froze all the better instincts of his heart. To the elevating and purifying influences of love, as to the debasing and corrupting pursuits of pleasure, the young warrior was, as yet, an entire stranger, Hahaki having early instilled into his mind the severest maxims of his own ascetic life and ex- perience. Revenge was the darling passion of his life : never to forget or forgive an injury, never to injure the weak, and to die, if such were possible, a hundred deaths sooner than exhibit fear or cowardice ; these were the ruling principles that guided and guarded his thoughts and his actions. From the moment in which he first saw Mary he knew that a change had crept over his mind : now, when he saw Te Koturu and his sister Ena so happy in each other's society, and surrounded as they all were by so many dangers from their foes, he clearly understood that it was love for each other that alone could confer such happiness, fleeting and precarious as its possession might be, on those so happy beings who could, and who really did, surrender themselves to the undescribable blessed- ness of a love pure and undivided. Hastily, and half in anger with himself for giving way to the softer EVIL OMliXS. 43 emotions, he brushed away a tear : then, as Te Ko- turu bade the girls farewell, he accompanied his friend down to his canoes on the beach, where already the people were assembled, awaiting the departure of the islanders. The sea was calm: the bright warm sun shone in the sky. The scene was one of grand proportions and wild sublimity : the farewells of the people rang out over the water ; the songs of those in the canoes responded with a melancholy harmony that accorded most agreeably with Nature in her softest and gentlest mood. 44 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. CHAPTER VIII. THE TOHUNGA. " He often raised his voice to the winds, When meteors marked their nightly wings, When the dark-robed moon was rolled behind her hill." ■ — Cathlin of Clutha. It was within two hours of sunset when the old chieftain, his son, and Atapo set out on their journey, leaving the fort by a subterranean way that had an outlet in a natural cave on the face of the cliff. The entrance to this passage was completely hidden by scrub and bush : emerging from the cave, they crept slowly down the rock, assisted in the descent by the branches of overhanging trees, and by the vines that hung from the trees like cordage from the masts of a vessel ; the path lay among boulders that seemed ready to topple over and crush everything that im- peded their fall. In safety the chieftain and his com- panions reached the bottom of the ravine, where THE TOHUNGA. 45 between dark green banks brawled a mountain stream- let : every tree and shrub that overhung the water was covered with a trailing green moss, hanging in feathery tresses over the moist breathings of the limpid current : for a moment the travellers stopped to drink and to cool their feet ; then, following the course of the stream, they struck up the bank, and away by a scarcely discernible path that wound among ferns breast-high, and of sweet, bright foliage; on they silently walked, until they gained a ridge which led them through upland glades of sylvan beauty, now made doubly so by the beams of the setting sun, as they tinged every spray, and blade, and leaf with a golden light, and caused the sea to appear as if it were on fire, when an occasional glimpse of its sur- face could be seen through openings among the forest trees. The sun had sunk as the party , in silence reached the summit of the mountain, where Hahaki and his wife lived apart from the tribe they loved so well, and for whose safety he had of late under- taken long and wearisome midnight journeys through the bush, to keep a secret watch on the move- ments of the Ngatiraukawa, whose pah was on the sea-shore, and protected on three of its sides by a wilderness of almost impassable and impenetrable swamp. 46 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. The cell or cave that afforded Hahaki a shelter and a home was on the eastern slopes of a mountain peak, one of the many eminences that belonged to the chain on which was the pah Wairauki : a low arch formed by nature in the face of the sandstone cliffs was the entrance to the tohunga's home ; around, the tors and beetling cliffs were picturesque in the ex- treme. The vegetation was scant, and in keeping with the wildness of the locality. The spear-grass shot up at sparse distances from between the hoary masses of rock ; a few ti, or 'cabbage-trees, stood like ghosts of a former forest at dreary distances apart from each other ; nor shade nor shelter might here be found : upon the stones the tantaras, large lizards with prickly backs, could be seen, perfectly harmless, en- joying an existence peculiarly their own — slow, ugly, and repulsive. Few would have thought that a human being could live in this wilderness, so bleak, so sterile, and so blasted it stood in its solitary wretchedness far above the sombre depths of the forest that surrounded it on every side. The travellers announced their arrival by uttering in a soft low voice a guttural call as they entered by the lichened lintel, and passed through the unbarred, unthresholded doorway : their call was answered by Mahora, who was squatting before a slow fire on the THE TOHUNGA. 47 hearth of the primitive apartment : the tohunga rose from his seat near the embers, and welcomed his visitors. Rarely did the priest allow any to enter his dwelling ; keeping aloof from the tribe, never visiting the pah excepting when his services were required, his name was a terror, and his reputed power overawed the most daring. The floor of the cave was covered with matting ; the rock walls were hung with flax garments of various shape and colour, head-dresses of feathers, necklaces of bones and shells, implements of the chase, arms of war, instruments for tattooing, tools for scraping the bones of the dead, reeds for wizard divination, genealogical staves, and a vast store of dried and preserved food of various kinds and savoury aroma. Seating themselves near the fire, and drawing their flax garments around them, the chief and his comrades waited in patient suspense for Hahaki to commence the business of the night : gravely withdrawing a little distance from the group, and extracting the bitumi- nous quid from his mouth, he spoke as follows : — " Hear the words, the message of our Atua to you, and to our people. " Many shall go down to the valley, few shall return to the hill. " The Kuri howls nigh the deserted whare. 48 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. " The meri of the stranger is in his hand : both are stained with the blood of the Mauopoko. " The pakeha maiden is a gift from the sea ; her coming a good omen. " Hasten to your fortress on Wairauki ; make secure the gates, post the sentinels, allow none to go forth. " Soon expect the stranger to wade up the hill in his own blood ; his children are fatherless, his women slaves, his bones will whiten on the lap of the mountain. " Rest till the morning dawns, Ucnuku is pro- pitious.'' ( 49 ) CHAPTER IX. DESIGNS UNVEILED. " Dost thou force me from my place ? replied the hollow voice. The people bend before me. I turn the battle in the field of the brave. I look on the nations and they vanish : My nostrils pour the blast of death. " — Carrie- Thura. A FEW atoms of silvery light slowly approached the eastern horizon, and, radiating in slender pencils of opalized scintilla on the far-off line of contact where space and matter seem to meet, the sparkling, gem- like raylets lingered for a conceivable moment. A low and distinct murmur was heard, becoming more distinct and more rapid in its throbbings as it travelled over the surface of the ground. This mys- terious moan was familiar to the ear of the tohunga, as he stood on the hill top, wrapped in his mantle, to watch the dawn. The moaning phantom brushed his E 50 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. lean cheek, and fluttered through his elfin locks, as it onward rolled on viewless wing down through the valleys, and away over the neighbouring mountain peaks and leafy wildernesses, announcing to all who listen the flight of the "wind that brings the day- light " : ribbon after ribbon of light now streamed over the morning meadows of the aerial cloudscape ; and as the dewy ring of the sun glittered on the crown of the distant eastern sierras, the priest was joined by his three guests. They were now returning to their homes, cheerfully reassured by the prophetic utter- ances of their soothsayer on the preceding night. The figure of the seer, as clearly defined against the golden dome of the sky, was impressively king- like : he was much taller than either of his three com- panions, and as he stood at a little distance from, and elevated himself above them by mounting a smooth, flat-topped boulder, his presence was regal to a degree. On his face the tattooed lines and curves were clear and symmetrical; his limbs lithe, their joints grace- fully compact ; his body full without rotundity ; his action determined without effort ; his hair bluish black, waved, not curled ; his eyes deep set, lustrously black and piercing; his look calm and penetrating; the expression of the mouth firmness of purpose and determination in execution : among his equals, easy DESIGNS UNVEILED. 5 1 without awkwardness, never familiar ; among his in- feriors, haughty without contemptuousness, never affa- ble. Such was Hahaki, a lineal descendant of the Hawaiikian chief, Houmatawhite. Extending his right "arm in the direction of the sea-coast that from this point of view lay beneath, trending away in a north- westerly direction far as eye could reach, Hahaki pointed to the cone of Taranaki, that, at the moment the seej: looked, received on her eastern ridges the light of the morning sun. The priest looked toward the queenly pile of rock, forest, and snow ; his aspect changed, the haughty lines of his brow fell back, the iron lips relaxed to softness, and the trembling tears of poor humanity rolled down his tattooed cheek, as with an adoration intensely absorbent, the kinglike man drew back his arm, muffled his face in his cloak, sank on the inhospitable bosom of the stone, and wept as an infant weeps. Te Rangitukaroa understood the reason of the tohunga's grief, and felt its influence ; turning aside from his followers, and squatting low on his haunches, still looking toward the snow-white cone, he sang, with tears and many stifled sobs, the following lament : — O ! that on thy snow-white breast I might weep. Might within thy valleys rest, And calmly sleep 52 EN A, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. My last long sleep ; my death is near — I feel it now ; It creeps cold o'er my vision drear, And scathes my brow. Home ! O ! home beloved by me, Shall I again Breathe thy air, so pure, so free, On hill and plain ? On the blue wave I shall ride. Safe, whilst death Brings the exile o'er the tide. Like crested wraith. Home to thee, dear mountain, mine ! And ne'er again Shall my worn spirit there repine At earthly pain. When the chief concluded his lament, the priest arose, and, pointing toward a hill among the yellow sand-dunes, said, " Yonder is the pah of our greatest foe ; two sunsets since, I went by night to his fortress. The hour was dark; only a few stars shed a pale, glow- ing light on the grey stones; the winds were hushed as I crossed the dunes. I travelled until midnight, when, with great difficulty, and in momentary danger of being discovered, I got up to within earshot of the palisades of the pah front, behind which I could discern at intervals the sentinel as he passed and repassed on his beat. I did not remain long in suspense, for, hearing the sound of voices, I crept slowly and noiselessly round toward the gate, where within the DESIGNS UNVEILED. 53 fortifications two whares stand, one on either side of the entrance : these were the houses for the guards, and as the night wore on the doors were open. The sound of the voices I before heard proceeded from one of the buildings. Listening attentively, I heard one of the guards say to his fellows, ' We will soon advance on the hill-fortress, immediately after the reinforcements arrive from Waikato, now so long ex- pected. A spy came in to-day; he has been recon- noitring the pah, and reports it as being exceedingly strong : a vigilant watch is kept night and day. He has discovered a path going up from a gully at the back of the pah, leading to a small gate in the out- works of the fortress : by that path it is intended to march the stronger portion of our attacking party under cover of the bush ; next, a feint will be put in practice in view of the pah, with the object of drawing the people out. We are to act with seeming in- decision and unwillingness to attack : this manoeuvre will likely have the desired effect, that of drawing out the garrison in pursuit; if so, our rear division will have easy work to get into the stronghold. If the stratagem does not succeed, its failure will be made known by a prearranged signal to those in the rear : on this, these will retire and meet their comrades in the gully by a waterfall at a safe distance from the 54 ENA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. fortress.' ' Yes,' said another ; ' and our chief desires, more than the capture of the pah, to secure the enemy's tohunga, as he is exercising all his powerful spells for the protection of the tribe.' As this infor- mation was all that I needed, I crept away from the pah by the way which I came. With a weary step and an aching heart I retraced the long dunes, and day had dawned ere I entered my cell. You now know the precise state of your own affairs, and the exact intentions of the enemy toward you ; let your future action be guided by this intelligence, and take measures accordingly. Prepare a party to intercept the arrival of their expected reinforcements ; establish a line of scouts to give you timely warning of their approach. Farewell ! " Thus saying, Hahaki waved his hand, and the chieftain and his followers hastened homeward with dark and gloomy forebodings of the future. Their enemies had driven them from their homes at Taranaki, and from resting-place to resting-place had they followed them, year after year, with an indefati- gable pertinacity, and with the seeming determination of exterminating the entire hapu, whose numbers were fast dwindling away. { 55 ) CHAPTER X. DEATH OF TE ICANOHI " The ghost of the lately dead was near, And swam on the gloomy clouds ; And far distant, in the dark silence, The feeble voices of death were faintly heard." — Fingal. The chief and his companions were no sooner returned to the fort than the sentinel gave notice of the approach of a canoe coming from Kapiti. Its crew brought the melancholy tidings that the old chieftain Te Kanohi was no more : they also were the bearers of a re- quest from their young chief, that Raukawa and his father were expected by him to come to the island, to assist at the last rites of grief and respect for the dead. Long and mournful were the dirges sung at Wai- rauki on the occasion ; then without further delay two canoes were launched, in which Te Rangitukaroa, his son, Mary, and the chief men of the tribe, attended by 56 KNA, OR THE ANCIENT MAORI. about fifty followers, embarked, and proceeded to the island, to assist at the solemnities and the lamentations for the dead. Hinema attended on Mary, and Raukawa sat by her side, attentive, but not obtrusively so. He pointed out to her, as they passed, the rocks, headlands, and ranges that marked the boundaries of the tribes. He showed to her the site of an old pah where the fair}' beings still linger during moonlight evenings, the beaches where the mottled tank(