MAUNGANUI.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5474, 18 February 1910, Page 3

MAUNGANUI.

(By C. A. Young.) j^a-ttiiui is to Tauranga whai JZtrtoi is to New Plymouth, wh a i Xuniakeikei and Mount Wellingtur „ to Auckland. Each are beautiiu * their degree, «inrt are wreathet 'round «itb ancient Song an* «W «**« New Zealamlcrs have tim< ♦ Ireathc Horn breaking in land; to" tbcre exists a leisured ami edu- *"£ class, when intelligent recrea tiT becomes more interesting Him tkTworsbip oH-he cow ami the purlVStSe modern gplOen fleece; 'indeed, New Zealaiwl produces Vs* painters, sculptors, ami r<>P^hfets what a neglected field ?S found by our future Walter Stuwirf Macaula.y,out Fcwrtmore lErtrasd-.Mapne Reid, in the aniXhisfcity of Aotearoa. • >C V with these ideas-, how ' ;i!S^enipHfledis the old adage VwS^rf'Coineth out of evil, in the ?? £f to the labyrinth of the JS-the Native Land Office will KS-tke ** eat€r Part ° f thCma " # Alfa which the poets, tromanc- *•** 2d historians of the future Irifl steep their itoa R lnations. V and out !TwS tbey will weave a litecajSe of tort and fancy to delight. time have the slopes of. • *^Tir been the scenes of too-ttte, Her and sudden death. Along th© JS5 'of peninsula have ilSdered the youag, the Wous.ftnd JJw, living agaro the idyll oi «wth Rongoraai has stolen softly J#k ft£.Er people and found Tar.niDi waitiw? in the -gloaming, wher r *L P uT™ may be seen with Wills-. ™*JS sands by the ZSwUSg'**"* ''same, pM rtX£'"_l love you, 1 love, you. Ftom the pah <w*jbe top of Mtunga. JriJlate has sat .looking seaward Stebißg Rewi fishing m his cam» tor the ev-eniD* meal, where Oessie Swifts looking, with love-glisten-eyes for Jack to come Ir«in Tau : %£ !*» eajoy ti»e week-end bolH -SSSS? was once « waTriofs «trom*oW*as now become a faoli-sun-parched peoP iJi.Jto present two pictures, one of tte' P«rt tfie other of the present. THE CAPTURE OF MAUNGANIU. Ahoot "**<> hundred • and ■ : flor.ty rears ago,- Maunganui was occupied n7Wai^l»i an* Ngatirangmuii'tntes l*eir lottrfieations were so strong and the &ite<V * numerous, tta.t tfcßiaawned- impregnable to Maori : N^ttrangi, then occupying *aketu, determined upon «ts 3rttt»**.Uto was required- (or an ffi totta'trJ./.-m fao« tottv tribes bad picked up waaidersng members of the .other tribe, and had eaten them j the last offence , being that N«atiraaginui artd Wai'taba had cauehwTuwbiwbia «end his >soti Tautltrtwo chiefs of Ngaittcangi, while •collecting toe-toe at Otaipana at le Tumu. The lather they killed, and puttrng hia heaiHess body into nis canoe? sent it adrift to float down the Ki«wa Htßaam to Make!tu. The sob they took to Tauranga and killed at their leisure by torture and mutilation* In 'his agony Twmu said to 'tit persecutors : "My pam is shallow compared to the ocean of pain to come," meaning what their pain would .be. More long. The race of.Ngaiwsaugt, was and at all risks tt was determined to capture Mauß^mui.., The pah of JJaunguiui, situated on the hill of that aame» covered aboutt 100 acres. The, fortifications crossed the top Of i*e hilt and ran down each side. tii«n circling round the base towawte I'M south, they jmned. WartaJia'fiSS the side, and Jteatiraflgfatfi the west side of -the k* WW enibyed a beautiful view Ju»d' spJpdki positnon on the shore of the harbour. . Kotowrua was at the time chief oi Ngaiterangji. He was -a .brother of the murdered Tenaiti, and the plan lie conceived to enable his people to obtain' possession iof Maunganui was as daring as it was able, and, perbaps/the only one -by which the object couM have been effected. On the ; top o! the hill on -the, north tide of the pah, there was a point of 850 ft above the sea, which under certain circumstances would be vulnerable. That point once secured, the pah must fall, for it was the key to the position. A handful of defenders,' howler, .ocfciid bold it against any number from without. But by steatagam^nd extreme daring we shall see Kotorerua attained success. A dark awl. stormy tiiefab was chosen to carry hi* plan into execution, when Kotorerua with one hundred tuid 'torty ; f oWoiwets pwswvt^ €d themselves: late, in the evejribg^efore the fortifications, bearittg with them a valuable of -one hundred baskets of fcokowai (red cchre). They protect Uriondahip. and were admitted. Th«i kokowai was a fraud. •^t.Mjhe, touf TJfa^ late, it was put aufetin, the garters assigned oo the ijiUfis.'.ußtU 'a more corivenierit time far 'presentation. Kotorttifa and a few followers were taken to , ttie larpe maetinft-l toose in the pah? wte re they wero eatertained by Kuionui and the distmpjished men of the place. This itenoraWe meeting) "took place on the little plateau soove. the spot now called Stoney Point. Deadly hatred raged in the hearts oH/o* host and visitor.- Kmnntii waited but for daylißht to destroy bis unwelcome visitors, while Kotorenu waited anxiously fpr the development o( his plan olattpick. It had been arranged that, while be souf^t admiss-ion io "the pah as an honoured visitor, Ngaiterangi were To jodrney up the coast Irom iMabetu in their canoes, and im%ler t»ver of tbt, darkness, and in the .stress of the stormy night, steer their war canoes through the breakers into a Mrrxk; .channel between tht rocks ealW' fe. Awaiti, on the north side of tfaMgiiroi. They were there to land iad storm their way up the Mowdlnßly steep lace of the cliff to the narrow pa»?. flanked >y walls of K*,V»ii | he prilnti provionsiyaHttdod to. Through this gap at the top of tho WH the whole force of Ngatera»(?i were to hurl themselves down upon the pah. Meanwhile, the bearers of the present of bogus kokowai were to slip out oftbepah in the darkn«.<s amd «it the fastenings of tl«j topsides of all the canoes on the -beach and rocks io front of the pah. " This was a Komcwbat complicated pUn o? attack, and. the. risk or failure hi one or other of its details Was extreme, yet the leader sat through tftc nlghl calmlr discussirvp, with his tost the trivial topics of tbe time. If the reader will consider Mm *H. the dari&p a^d the risk evident in this plan of attack, he will «on <*ive some admiration for the spkiv •lid courage amount mir ito utter fear kssness of the Maoris of that day. All went well with Ko,torerua'i se heme, and at k>i>ut'h one of bi! <*W« casually strolled jinto «* wha repuni where the korero was goini °n amd made t-he preconcerted sip "*al- lirmediatelr Kotorerua storx "P. and passing swiftly out of th meetinit-house, closed and fasteno the doct behiwi him. Taking i lirtiied Wch from one of his at teo *U>ts he applied it <nuicVlv t raapo waH. and immediately t*» n >eet?t!«r-hri. 9< . Waß vrr6».i.h«d i •anies. ana Kiaonui with his assocj >w« ft* immolated at the ceremot>] of *heir own funeral pyre. Then, by the illumination cas' atoiMHl. Nfiaiterattißij Hke un aya »whe o( wat, weje seen desjceodhir

{rom the mountain>top, sweeps lh«ir course rij»ht down to the sea, ovirvvhelming aijil, ueslrojrittg Kirroiiui> people as tlrey went. Such ai, j escaped tbe dread invasion fled to t thoir canoes, aan)! thf;.«-t oft rnto t tiie liarbbut, but the canoes, 1 already wrecked, filled with water, I and the occupants w*re drowned in 1 trying to swim to the opposite and • distant shore. i Thus was the powt-r of the Ngati- , ranginui and Waitaha tribes broken, ■ and the subsequent eonqvesi; of the - rest of the uiytrlei of Tauranga 1 speedily lollov/ea. The Waitaha remnant fled to Tc Kotoiti, the remnants of Ngat:r a ngniui escaped into the ft r.»st at the back of Te Puna, and there they becan>e known as Te I'irirahau, which- is their njfine still.' THEi VIEW FROM MAUNGANUI. From the tpp of 'Maunganui a splemlW view is obtained over sea and land. The sea is calm, with a little haze ha the -atmosphere, tut tbe sun shines bright and clear. It is a warm summer «&sy, and I sq3k shelter while the sea-breeze cools me after my heating climb up the steep and rocky way scaled toy Ngaiterai*gi in storming this stronghold " so many years ago. I select the site of Kinonui's wharepuni looking north. Called 'The Mount" by the prosaic pakeha, Maunganui (fcig hill) is a circular rock of freestone formation, and, judging from the conglonv crate *amt other volcanic doitfilj wraoh is strewn at its base, it is a section of what in oMen time has been the Wall of a volcanic mountain, which numerous! irruptions have blown to pieces, and which lie scattered along the surrounding eea bottom near. In altitude about 900 ft, its summit consisting of nearly an acre of flat reck, oblong in shape, was the usual lastf stand of Maori defence-, where attack was possitlPi ami here were the whares of fche people. Now . a few Maori -horses graze here, and the cicada is making the air musical with its characteristic buzzing in the manuka. Clumps of | pohutukawa and karaka trees relieve the eye, and the silence is -I token by the pakeha's song |r.itJs, and only the flitting piwiwaka is faithful to the traditions of the past. Away to the north, seaward in the distance is Mayor Island, and, nearer, the Karewa ;< landward the view extends northward along the Coromanuel coast to Mercury Bay, with; the fine SEttlemtnt of .Katfka-ti in the near view. Circling the view to the west and southwrii\l, nuimr | ous indents in the shore form tidal estuaries of mud-fla.*s, aK>d dried flats, and the shores of these are made beautiful by the ■groves- of trees and green cultivations of the numerous settlers. Inland, in the distance, are the ranges,, the watershed of the district. In the near view here is the long and fertile island of Matakana,' stretching; ncrth parallel with the coast near to Katlfcati, and affiouml the f^" l^; 1 - 1 ) of Mjaungjiiiui pasa thel ships into the harbour of Tauranga, which township is seen as a gem in itsi green setting of trees and grass further southwards. Away south and east the long inland range exteirds, leaving-/consider-able slopes of foothills and fertile flat lands ootwecu .t/hemi and tho sea. These icrtile flat lands sir-etching past Te Puke and Paengaroa inland of Maietu and Matata to Wh-aßataao are fast being setvied, and {."win ' crops of maize ar? grown, 'but" here, as elsewhere, fat stock and butter are what the sutlers-, 'ar-b directing their attention to. It was absolutely necessary that this fat country should have outlet 'for its produce, and Government has recently sanctioned a scheme for tapping this -distrjoti i.y railway, which is *o run through these flatlaiKts, 'and 'ul!ai>n tho extensive peninsula of which Maunganui is the promontory, to its terminus, win re there is <k«p water on the Tauranga harbour side, mear tihe foot ofr the Mount. At pre,s^nti tihis lnntj peninsula, which forms one shore of Tatira'ngjn harbour is Macri land, and their cultiva'Uons of, maize,, oats, -and potatoes, and theiB < commodious, wood frame 'houses do them credit, and equal many of the pakeha settlements. Maunganui itself is reserved for the recreation ©I the people of thel district, and! where the peninsula narrows to a neck -near the foot taf the MoUnt, land has been.acaufred ironi the Maoris, on which several of the inhabliftants of Tauranga 'have hfiilt marine residences. Hero is a delightful holiday resort for old and young, where the sea ireezes arc ever cooling and -purifying the heated summoi air, and where surf bathing *• may tf enjoyed in salcty. On tlte seaward shore of th?. peninsula ■the breakers; of the Pacifc Ocean incessantly thunder, and here at the "too* of Mawngap^. «n the neck of land where the little township, of marine residences are, I look upon my second picture. On the west side is a little bay lin«d with wnite shell sand, where the water is shallow and the children wade about and sail their- toy boats near, the shore. Into this little bay puff the ail launches tearing passengers from and to TacraOn the east, side the Pacific Ocean breaks in roHing Jwavi* on tih« Shore. The sun is westering fast, and its raya strike through the curling breakers, and are refracted from the white sand or rocky sea bottom in scmtillatimgf glints of -green and, blue, while the white feathery loam of the curHnfl rollers lend a contrast of colour and Jifewhich is delightful: It i<? a lowly, scene, enhanced by the life affd animation of numerous bathers on tbe beach. , Here were seen the coy and siender maiden, the plump and pertly matron with married men and manly lads, all forming a glad throng of bilariou* people, joyous with laughter and 'delight,- as the foaming rollers break" over them. Above the , roar of trie breakers are heard the shrill screams and gay voices of the chil<*;n, tor tboy also. are. of the cay throne. • Refreshed aft«r their bath, ptoucs of laughing pirte and matrons* retire from the beach to their dwellings, like veritable sea nynrol* rising from Bie wave, .wringing the «* w t- a- , er from their tresses as they I A painter or sculptor would have been delighted to study the perfection and beauty of the femaic iorm, developed by 'the tlrippiug 'and chng- [ ing bathing dresses. „f ^., . The writer, from a distance, stood j entranced, gazing on this fair scene convinoad that here iodeed wa« ArI cadia. an* rejrrettinp that be, a [ stranger stood, like tho Pen at the eat« o» Paradise, without the gate. P ♦Seethe storr ofTe Wabaroa, by t J. A. Wilson, late Judge of the Nar tive land Court, New Zealand. 1- M^—'^^^^?