A TIAMURI'S NEOLITHIC STONES

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 136, 10 June 1922, Page 17

A TIAMURI'S NEOLITHIC STONES

THEIR TRUE HISTORY. i liy (. APTAIN GILBERT IIAIK.) So many plausible theories lave been, propounded and are still being advanced concerning the curious row of stones at Atiamuri that I should like to tell your readers their real history. When I first saw these monuments fti the past, in September, 1866, they were exactly 140 in number, and all had been procured from the flaky stone deposits in the immediate neighbourhood. An old chief, Manihcra Is'ihotahi, then living near the noble Horohoro Mountain, Save mc the following account, which bad never before been committed to writing. About twelve generations Te Manihera's great ancestor, Ruamano, was living on the eastern foot of Horohoro with his numerous people, the 'Xgatiwaihakari. Ruamano's wife, Waiarohi, was remarkable for her beauty, and it happened that a Xgatiraukawa chief of note, Whaita by name, came on a friendly visit to Horohoro from 'his home at Kakepuka, that striking conical hill which forms one of the portals of the King Country. His guest having expressed a wish for "mataitai" (sea food), Ruamano set out for Hauraki to procure fish. During his absence Whaita and Waiarohi became much enamoured of each other, and Ruamano learned on his return how shamefully his hospitality had been abused. He therefore told Whaita that only the laws of hospitality protected him from punishment; that he had better go immediately. However, some of Ruamaao's enraged Kinsmen gave ; chase, and Whaita only escaped death by springing acroes a gorge on the Rahopaka stream, •which is still called "Te Rerenga a Whaita" (Whaita's leap). Waiarohi became mad through losing her lover, and her demented wanderings through the district are perpetuated by the names of certain places. For example, where Ruamano once lived is called "Te Parekarangianga a Waiarohi" (the mad adorning of Waiarohi) because she used to adorn her hair with flowers, like mad Ophelia, in Hamlet, and sit on a liill awaiting her lover's return. A precipice near by is called "Te Herehenga," where her maidens bound her up hand and foot just as she was about to throw herself into the abyss, the name meaning the binding place. That remarkable hill opposite Horohoro is known as "Haparangi" (crying to heaven), 'because Waiarohi was wont to climb the heights to bewail her lost lover. A red stone on the Rotorua-Taupo Road, called "Te Tangiihanga a Waiarohi" (the weeping place lof Waiarohi) marks the spot where the grief-stricken woman was discovered by Whaita, who had ventured to return, and who then took her to Teewe, a place near Whakamaru Mountain, where a numerous people called Ngatikahupungapunjra, subjects of Whaita's, resided. Here they lived very happily till occasion arose for Whaita to return to Kapepuku to superintend the kumara planting, so he entrusted WaiaroM to his people's care and set forth. lie had just finished an unusually large plantation when a messenger brought tidings that Waiarohi, who was about to bear him a child, had suddenly disappeared. Suspecting treachery, Whaita ordered his people to hurriedly dig up the newlyplanted crops and convert the tuber* into "kao," a form of food much used ■by war parties. On reaching Teewe, Whaita was guided to the buTnt remains of Waiarohi's house. Throwing himself in an agony of grief among the ashes, his face struck a hard object, which he recognised by the "kanae," the harp-shaped tattooing on. the chin, to be Waiarohi's lower jaw. She hud evidently fallen face downward in a pool of her own blood, which had preserved that portion while the rest of her body was consumed. Mastering his grief, Whaita soon learned that his slaves had become weary of procuring birds and other delicacies for their so •beat her to death, at the same time sending a message to their overlord, that she had returned to Rimmano. Wiaita immediately attacked the treacherous Ngatikahupu'ngapunga, slaughtering great numbers and pursuing the remnant to Atiamuri, wiiere they were hemmed in among the rocks on the west bank of the Waikato River. Here 140 were slain, and the much-discussed row of stones was set up to mark Whaita's terrible revenge. A few Ngatikahupunga.pungas found a final refuge in Hawke'3 Bay, where I met the last lineal descendant, a one-eyed man named Pene, who died about 30 years ago. When I first saw the row of stone*, 56 years aso, they formed an unbroken line, with here and there one standing up several feet higher than the others, to mark t/he fallen chiefs. In 1873 my native contingent was stationed at Nihotekiore, and duTing my absence on eick leave a. number of the memorial stones wero carried away to make a baker's oven or kitchen middens at the camp. lam sorry to disturb Professor Brown* megalithic theories, but the above is Liiu true history of the Atiamuri stones. \ext week: "A Story of Whafc.itane."