A WONDER TALE OF COOK STRAIT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 153, 29 June 1940, Page 7 (Supplement)

A WONDER TALE OF COOK STRAIT

THE- MARVELLOUS SWIM OF HINE-POUPOU

! By James Cowan

THE shore* of Cook Strait abound with the historical, traditional and legendary, much of which is oil record; many dramatic and poetic stories of this region hare been told iii "Enzed Junior." Thi* is one of the many traditions which I heard from Maoris of the past generation, living oh the northern and the southern coasts of this famous strait Of adventure. The great satisfaction in Retelling such stories' ia the fact that I heard them from the people who either took part in some of the events described, or to whom ttoey were passed on as. memories of the past by their elders and wise men and women. THere WHS one Word-of-mottth historian and folk-lorist in particular who proved to me a kind of sold mine, rich in the tinwritten literature of his tribe, the all but vanished Ngati-Kuia, of the Kelson Country and the coast about the mouth of Pelorus Sound. Kipa Whir© was a true tefeunga, schooled by his wise elders and by his mother, Haromi (Salome, missionary named), an old, old woman, remarkable for her witchlike glittering eyes. She Was So old that she was bent until she was almost a hunchback. Kipa, too, Was deformed; he was club' footed and could only hobble along. Such men, physically disabled, often were tohungas; they were the keener of brain for their deformities, it Would seem. • • • • This tale from the last tohunga of Ngati-Kuia is the story of the chief tainess, Hine-poupou, which may be translated as "Porpoise Woman," probably a new name given to her after her great swimming exploit. Hine-poupou lived on RangitOto, called D*Urville Island to-day. She was the wife of a man named Manini-pounamu. It came to pass that her husband set eyes on a young yoman who seemed more desirable than his faithful wife, and he plotted to rid himself of Bine. This was his diabolical way of accomplishing his ends. He arranged a canoe expedition to Kapiti bland, the native bird sanctuary, 50 miles away, planning to leave his wahine there. In a large canoe he and a crew of hi* clan set off, taking the unsus-

pecting Hine* with them. They camped at Whar«kohu y at the 1 south end of the island. Th* pet' fidious husband induced hi* Wife to walk up into the busk-covered hills out of sight of the canoe landing place, by telling her -of the fragrant moss called Kopuru, which grew there; it Was a plant much prized by the women because of its sweetness When strewn on the mat-covered floors of the houses. The Deserted Wife. Hine wandered on and on, accompanied only by her two dogs. She filled her baskets in the course of her travels, then she returned leisurely to the camp. It was deserted. To her dismay and anger she realised that she was left alone on the strange island. ' Far away at sea there was a black speck on the bine waters, the homeward-bound canoe of Manini-pounamu. Hine-poupoU, on the hostile shore, pondered how she should cross the sea to her friends, in the South Island and Eangitoto. Her treacherous husband had taken the canoe and she could see ho other, and she feared to go to the north end of Kapiti, lest she should meet enemies there. At last she resolved in her desperation to swim the Strait to AraTaniwha, a chieftaiftess of sea monsters, and - could she not Summon the sea gods to her help? The Magic-aided. Swim. First of all, she resorted to divination, after the ancient manpawa Island. That was the nearest part of the southern coast where she might obtain a canoe to return to her home. It was a swim far beyond human endurance, but was she not an Ariki- , ner of the Maoris, in order to dis- , cover what her fate would be. . Going to a flax bush, she carefully > pulled up the rito-harakeke, the . heart stalk at the root of the i plant. If it broke off short, it , Would be a bad omen. But it did ' not break; it came out whole, In- ' dicatin? that her pith lay clear and safe before her* i So with confidence in the gods, I the deserted Hine-poupou took to ■ the sea. She Walked out to the . extreme southern point of Kapiti, i and gazing Over the ocean at the - distent blue hills of he* homeland,

eh© recited art ancient chant, an invocation to the gods, for aid to cross til# sea and for strength to sustain her in the ewim. Old Kipa recited the words of this magic poem, which begin ' with an inquiry as if from a sea ' S o6 '. "Who M that person yonder, , drifting on the faoe of the ocean?" , and proceeded to invoke. She apl .pealed to the eea ruler Tangaroa, , and to the embodiment of storms < Tawhiri-matea. Then, confident , that the gods were on her side, ; she dived into the sea from the , rock on which she Stood, and i began her great swim to the ( southern side of Cook Strait, the Sea of Rauk&wa of the Maoris. Then she mentally appealed to her tribal Sea guardian, the porpoise- . like fish that lived, in a cave near . the entrance to Pelorue Sound; . it wtf the famous "Kaikai-a i. waro," the famous grey dolphin j which the pakehas in later times I

came to call "Pelorus Jack." As t ageless creature; .no on* cM My exactly how long toch Strang© _ j wild rover* of the sea lives. I Across the Strait. 1 Hing-poupou swam along easily, : strong in her faith, una lifting trp and over the waves like ft s porpoise, Which goes bounding ' through the water* like a ® creature at play. She murmured chants of the canoe men and the sea; she had L ho fear. And before long the Mi- [. god came to her aid; he fotmd ; her and buoyed her up, and like {he mermaid on a dolphin's back, of which j"ml may read in "Mid' j Summer Night's l>ream," the came - safely across the Strait of Baa- - kawa. t One of the ahort karakia or ' charms that ehe murmured or & mentally recited was a "maro," - an incantation, which smoothed - the surf as ehe and her dolphin - rescuer approached the rocky '• chore at Ngawhatu, the steep T islets called- The Brothers. She e tested there for a time On a half--3 tide rock, after the friendly dolt phin had seen her safely across i the sea. This rock, bear the - mouth of Pelorus Sottlid, is to be f seen to-day. As the surf rolls in, long tendrils of sea kelp swirl and i, toes and spread out on the waves o like a woman's hair. Kip* Whiro e said that that smooth rock is i, likened to Hine-poupou'# head; e and the swaying seaweed it her 1, hair.

Froth there she easily reached the land, and ftttfld her way to a village of her people. She told her story, and presently ehe was taken in a canoe home to Rangitot© Island. The Wife's Revenge. Then the old man of the NgatiKuia told the story of Hine'a revenge upon hef cruel and deceitful husband and hi» men. It is a fitting sequel to the narrative of the marooned searcher for the scented moss on KapitL When' she reached Rangitoto she did not confront the villainous Manini-Pounamu; but sheltered in the homo of friends Until the hour for utu or "payment" came. The husband and many of his tribe went oat ill their canoes Ashing for bapuku. This was the opportunity for Hine, the sea queen. She again invoked her gods, as she stood on » cliff overlooking the sea; aha poured forth her soul in vengeful appeals to the deities of the ocean and the wind*. She appealed to .the rulers of the deep and the sky to send a mighty storm and overwhelm the treacneron* ManinL And the curse felL A gale of wind and A furious Sea arose; and the fishing canoes were overturned before they could reach a bay of safety and every man was lost. • • • • This tale of Hine-potspou is ao fairy story, Kipa Whir© said. Why, there are proofs of He troth to be seed yonder to-day, on the southern extremity of KapSS. Near the sea there ere two rocks, > which somewhat resemble largo dogs. There they are, "Nga Knri a Hinepoupott," the chief tautens* . two dogs turned to stone. That is where they were left, howling for their owner, when she cast herself into the sea. The distance from that Sooth Cape of the bird sanctuary island > and the South Island shore where > the brave Ariki-Taniwha rose out of the kindly waters and trod dry land again is about 30 miles. i Truly, a marvellous swim, even i with the assistance of the gods ( and the wonderful dolphin of , Pslorus -mouth. But Kipa Whiro, I Who stoutly believed in them, has i passed on to his tohunga ances- > tors; and the modern Maori spoils ! all the marvellous element in the ; story by declaring that Hine : crossed the strait in a small esfioe she found on KapitL