PICNIC ON HIKURANGI.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 96, 24 April 1926, Page 34

PICNIC ON HIKURANGI.

A TALE OF KATIKATI.

f -'•: (By j.c.) -:- Just where the main road from Pa«roa and Waihi'to Tauranga goes down to the long crooked shore of Katikati Harbour, it makes a half : circle curve ,ro\rn& the .base..of a beautiful mountain, facing the entrance to the estuary. This height is Hikurangij a name famous along this part of the coa9t. (By the way, how many Hikurangis are there inNNcrw r Zealand? I know of at least a dozen; the name signifies "Skyline.") That is the modern motor -way> but the ancient Maori trail goes right over the top of the"peak; tho wary old-timers liked to keep tb the tops of the ridges. " \- f 77 '7. My. story, as told hy7tbe;-l*fgai-te-Rangi: people of bacic eighty odd years, to the-era :when New Zealand, newly placed under flag, was only just emerging from the cannibal era, despite the fact that missionaries had. been toiling away.for two decades at the tough task of taming Tanguta Maori. The most conservative pagan of them all—"conservative" is an extremely mild adjective in thiap case— was Taraia Ngakuti, the head chief of the Ngati-Tamatera tribe, of Ohinemuri. Taraia wasjord of the high,-low and middle justice in the "Upper ■, Thames country; to his last day (an 1870) he was the very perfect and : complete savage. "No •hym'u3>ook ■a"nd > ' : "alla same, missionary" speeches for*Taraia. • A Close Season for Sharks.

It so happened at this period, ; the year 1842, thatTaraiU'B nearest neighbour on the Tauranga side, of the range,- the "Whanake, of. the Ngai-te-Rangi," set about establishing' a close season for sharks.7 It-must be explained" that the shark fishery of' Katikati Harbour was greatly prized by the Maoris. The "mango" of these waters was- a specially desirable kind, ■ and provided a, ,'great part of the tribe's food supply.""' Whanake had a feud vAbh Taraia over the rights to land near Nga-Kuri-a-Whare, on the Katikati shore, and. the sharkcatching privileges*were involved in the quarrel.

Whanake proclaimed • a "rahui," forbidding the catching of sharks on the debatable shores. Taraia was soon informed of thiSj and. : he. determined to assert his claim to. the .sea-harvest.. He grimly dispatched a herald to his rival ■with an ultimatum .' in 'the symbolic faßhion of the Maori. It- consisted of ; a7"rourou," or round flax basket ; of- ; eels and a musket: cartridge j"" and with it .the bearer delivered* thia" message 7 *'Xt te whawbai. mai koe. Id: te ngea- . ngea-he ra kai tua; ki ,t'e whawhai mai te tapnga a, ka tangi te ■ whatatiri, ka bikonga te\Hir;a Id runga o Hikurangi." , \Sz . i'- - y ''Should you choo.seCtoimftke- war. with. 7eeU OTly (i.e., to accept the basket of jthen the day : of.*pUr qx>inbat is far *t>ffi;; ; but should you, chos* to wage bat- " tie-with, the weapons orTur*tbe war god. • ; thenfaresently shalttiie ibuaOier crash' and >;,thfe;l|gKtning flash*oni,itl^ *siunmit .of ■Hikurangi mountain;*' : ;,

On the War-path. Whanake, in no way loath to defy bis hereditary enemy, accepted the cartridge and rejected the basket of eels, which symbolised the food treasures of the Ohinemuri and Waihou..- rivers. The speedy result was a fighting expedition launched by Taraia against the Ngair. te-Kangi chief. - Whanake and his sub-tribe occupied" a 4 strongly 'fortified village on the islandlike peninsula of Onare (or, Ongare*), that shapely, mound jutting- out into! Katikati harbour. The war party cautiously approached the . place under' cover of night, and silently.;surrounded -the--pa.-Whanake expected an attack, the ineyiteblo sequel .of his .acceptance of .the emblematic "cartridge, and istrengthenedhia palisades and saw to his arms and ammunition.

While the taua from Ohinemuri was stealthily working up to the pa in the midnight hours, Whanake's .wife awoke her husband and said: "E haruru ana te waewae a te tangata." ("I hear the resounding tread of men's feet.") listened a .while, then said, "Ehara,..e kui; ko te.tai c akiaki ana kite naenae." ("Not so, wife; it is but the tide lapping on the shells of the beach below.") So satisfied, the "chief went to sleep. It was the sleep of. death. 7A" little while before .dawn, the war party burst into 'the pa,'swept all before 'them with musket-shot and tomahawk, and slaughtered the too-confident Whanake and eleven of his tribe. * 13!

"Long Pig."

The cannibal victors hurried backnto their own country across the ranges, taking with them a number of bodies- of the fallen, cut up, and packed in which were borne ■* by their new-ifpuie slaves, a. number of Xgai-te-Rangi captives. They climbed the'-lofty heights of Hikurangi, and when a little vjfcay over the top of the peak they halteflTat a grove of trees where there was a gbdd spring of water. At this sylvan Spot, a favourite resting-place of Maori travellers, they cooked some of the man-meat., and enjoyed their'feast.. Then they were off on the march again, carrying .with them the rest of the! bodies for the hdm'estayers. These; 'theyV'took downf-the Waihou by canoe from Ohinemuriv-io Taraia's great' seaside pa near fSfcHe Thames. There the tribe feasted onS&he "fish of Tv," and then Taraia fortified his pa against an expected expedition from Tauranga, for he knew that ijgai-te-Rangi would not readily forego revenge

It was at- this juncture that ' .tiie Government intervened, with the result that dt was bluntly told by old Tan(ia to mind its own business and refrain from interfering with matters of purely Maori inter-tribal politics. It was'even proposed that a constable sbould fer've Taraia with a summons in his fortress. They didn't knowTthe Maori then. That experience was to come. i -7*-