MAORI PLACE NAMES.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXV, Issue 2125, 26 January 1909, Page 2

MAORI PLACE NAMES.

From one of & series of articles in the Qtago Daily Times, written by Mr W, H. 8. Boberts, of Oamaru and formerly of Fopotuooa, on Maori nomenclature, we extraot the following : Waihola Lake, south of Waipouri, ought to be spelt Wai-hora, as there is no "1" in the Maori alphabet. It means " water spread out," and it is an extensive lake considering bow shallow the water is. A short tidal river, joined by the water from Waipouri, oonnects the lakes with the Taieri River, bo that small oraft or steamers can reach Clarendon, at the south end of Lake Waihola. This was a great boon to the coaches and carters in 1862, when there was heavy traffio to the Tuapeka goldfield, before the roads were made. A glaring instance of confusion exists here- Waihola is the name of the lake, a survey district, and a [.small Government township opened for sale on January 8, 1862. The township of Waihola is in the survey district of Clarendon. The township oi Clarendon, first offered fori sale on December 1, 1857, is in the survey district of Waihola I Tne country to«(the west of Waihola and Horseshoe Bush was Te Kohao Taka-wera (the parting . instructions of Takawora). The Horseshoe Bush was named, from the shape of the only bush in the diatriot, by Mr W. H. Valpy, who bought the property in the early fifties. The name ot the hill on the oast of Waihola Gorge is Owiti, or rather O-whiti, which means '• to b« jealous" or " suspicious." A small Government township in Waihola Gorge,£32 miles from Dunedin, on the Main South road, was offered for sale on July 2, 1869, with the name Kapiti (accent on first syllable), meaning a gorge or narrow pass. Tokomairiro is a large plain and a river south of Waihola Gorge. It may mean " a pole brought hither." Mrs W. Cameron spells the name Toko* mat - raro, and translates it "to walk with a stick to feel one's •vay." But it may also mean "to polo oneself up the stream " which is shallow, i»toad of using paddles in a canoe. It is a mistake to spell the name Tokomairo, which is the way it is often pronounced. To the east of Tokomairiro, over the seaward range of hills, is the district and River Aka-tore. Aka is a tree, the metrosidoros scandens; tore means " heated," or "to burn." A little further south is a boat harbor, with a brook running into it called Wangaloa, which should be Whanga (a bay or harbor), androa (long). The beach at the mouth of the Tokomairiro River was Tera-nui (that big). There are four small rocky islets between ihe mouth ot the Taeiri and Tokomairiro Rivers mentioned in the deed of sale, i Paparoa (long flat rock) is about iour miles south of Moturata Island; then Ma-toketoke (many toke fish), or, according to some Maoris, Matone-tuki, or Matu-katu (tat full-grown bird), All these names may, at different times, have been given by the various owners, but evidontly Mataketoko was tbo name when purchased, A little further south the islands Ha-kiuikini (what! to pinch), or Haka-nini (a little dance), and Aonui (the god of storm clouds), now Cook's Rock, a tall basaltic rock off the beach, near the mouth of the Tokomaiiiroßivor, surrounded by water at high tide; sometimes misspelt, Anui. Probably the second names in all three islands are errors in ortnograpby. A place on the mainland, about three miles north of the mouth of the Tokomairiro Bivor, n To Kahui (the herd, or flock, or oompany of people.) A short distance north of Coal Point, Molyneux, is Wai»Karo (mussel water), now known as Measly Beach. At tne time of the Ngati-Awa raid, about 1833. a couple of war oanoes, filled with a war party (taua), landed there suffering from kara-waka (measles), a new disease im« ported by Europeans. They drew up their oanoes above high-water mark with great difficulty, and camped, making for themselves temporary shelter wharas. It is reported that every one of them did, and the remains of their bones and the canoes were seen by some of the early European settlers and by others as late as 1850. A place on the coast south of Wai-karo is Te (the channel dug out). A little further soutb, Te Akeroa (the long Dodonea viscosa, a tree). Then Mimi-waie. A little nearer Coal Point is Te-Karehu (the spade). The coal mine near the Tokomairiro River, known as Waronui, was named by the company that opened the pit about the year 1906 (big coal or big pit).

A stream on the Bouth-west corner of Tokoiuairiro Plain, a tributary of that river, is Manuka Creek, so called from tho quantity of the tree Leptospermum scopariurn that formerly grew along its banks and up the hill sides, along which the railway climbs its tortuous course. About 17 miles inland from Milton the railway crosses the Wai-tahuna Eiver. The accent on " ta," not on " hu " as generally pronouneed, it means " water on sand shoals," or " sand banks in the water," If the aeoent was on " hu," it would mean "sparkling water," They say it does sparkle in the moonlight— Minnehaha, as the American Indians call it in their poetical language. The railway station here is Waitahuna, but the town is Havelock, named after the great general, Sir Henry Havelock, who relieved Lueknow in 1857, only to be besieged himself by the rebel army till he was in l urn relieved by Sir Colin Campbell. The town of Havelock was offered for sale on November 7,1862, but it still is only a village. A hill east of Waitahuna is Te Poutahi (the one post). Posts were often put up to mark a boundary, or a spot where something happened they wished to commemorate, yet very few marks of Maori occupation have been found in this neighborhood. Tuapeka, where gold was discovered by Gabriol Eeid in June. 1861, is the Maori name for the common fern (Pteris aquilina), It was known that gold existed at Tuapeka before 1861, but it had not been found in payable quantity. Mr Alexander Garvie, surveyor, found the color in several plaoes near Tuapeka in Maroh, 1858, and Edward Peters, better known as Black Peter, a native of Bengal, found gold there in 1859. The town af Tuapeka is Lawrence, and is 60 miles from Dunedin. The first sale of town sections was held November 5, 1862, It was constituted a municipality on June IS, 1866, being the ninth borough under the Ot*go ordinance. Bonga-here is on the south-West side ofjthe Molyneux, and was formerly Known is tiankleburn. It is 10 mileß from Tuapeka. I think this should be Bongohere (Bongo's spear), Beaumont (beauti* ful mountain), a township on thrMoly-

neux, over whloh there is a bridge, was named after a small town on the north-, east of the county o! Essex. The eastern slopes of the Bine Mountain here were clothed with a forest ot biroh (beeob), fl>okcd wiih manuka. Fa low deer are plentiful on the hill side. Two lakes appear between Toko* mairiro and the Molyneux, at suob a low elevation that they appear to have been inlets from the sea at some distant period. The northern one is Tu-aki-toto (blood Irom.tbe disembowelled fish or bird), formerly and more corrcotly, known as BangitotO, or in the southern dialect, Rakbtoto (a day of blood), a murderous battle having ocoured on its banks. It is very shallow, with an area of 2094 aores, which appear to be slowly filling with debris from the adjoining hills. The other lake, close below it, with which a water-way oonneots it, is Kai-tan Rata (eat -men), pronounced by the southern Maori, Kaitakate, wbere the victims of the battle were oooked and eaten. It is a little deeper than Tuakitoto, but covers only 870 aores. Formerly these lakes swarmed with wild ducks and the black pukeko, or swamp hen, with its long red legs, which was imported from Hawaiki by Turi in the Aotea canoe, one of the first migration, about 1350. Now imported swans are added to the aviary, A hill and a native buab on the east of the Tuakitoto Lake is Tara-tu (anger aroused), where a coal mine has been opened- A township was laid out at the junction ot Kaitangata Creek with the Matiiu River, and named Kaitangata. The first 'sections were sold on February 28th, 1862. It was proclaimed a borough in November, 1857, containing 1158 acres. The principal population, which in 1906 numbered 1682 souls, are coal miners, employed in digging black dia» monds out of the hill. In the fifties there was a Maori kainga there, and a fair extent of native bush. An extensive Maori head swamp (Tutae Kuri—Carox virgata) formerly existed between the lake and the terraoes on the north-west of the lakes, which is being drained and cultivated now.