GRUESOME RELICS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 522, 1 June 1909, Page 7

GRUESOME RELICS.

" , ADDED tO TMte MUSEUM. savage fights"recalled. Somo gruesome relios of- onciont Maori strife havo been acquired for the Dominion Museum ite director, Mr. A.: Hamilton.Thoy comprise a mimbor of Native weapons, to ail of which cling special historical associations, whiolr wt?ro reserved by Captain Gilbert Mair when ho disnoeed of the greater part of his collection to" tho Auoldand Mu« Bourn. The blood of anoiont foomen is not actually visible on these lethal arms, but It has dyed thorn all, ami if theso tomahawks and spears could speak they would "a talo unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy Mid." Their Btories may ho briefly told as follow:—' .

A well-carvcd patiti, ■or short-handled tomahawk, was presented to Oiptain Mftir by Haeraliuka, chief of tho 'Ngautiwhakane, Arawa tribe; in-186$; ' Oft Christinas Day, 1835, this worthy murdered ..To Hunga,' a, chief of. Ngo.tiha.ua, Waikato, cousin to thd famous chief To Wiliaroa. This unprovoked mttrdor caused the Mingumtvvy war doseribod "} tho mte Jud|i(S Wilson's book, "llio Story of To waliAtoa.' 1 . A t-ftlo of fjuilo and outrage is attached to A remarkably tmo tewhatowha, or pain Ira, oiurol told adornod witti a,plumo of hawk fotitliere, which wjoicea in, a namo of its orns in sis aylfeblfts. In 1832 tho prineipslohiof of Ngatiawa a»d Tuhoc, named To Mftutaranui, was invited by his fathoNiii-law, Tuftkiaki, chief of N(jntikoiiatu, him at To Iwmga' Falls. Mnutaftiut was warned against trcaonery, but disregarded tl« warning, saying "My nover-turn back. I am a fully-fledged hawk, who lias left tho sheltering n<«t," To Mnutaranui,"??cll<ld To R«»nsa with a small following, and whilo food'ams being ostentatiously prepared, ho was attacked and slain by his father-in-law,' with this identical pamkit. As ho fell lie upbraided his father-in-law for his shanidl<!ss treachery, exclaiming, "Alas, 0 Tuakiaki, I, have not tasted tho sweets of your hospitality." A terrible retribution fell upon the murderer, and tho surrounding tribes, for scvon clans joined in, oxccutina vengeance an . the Hawke's Bay and lwcrty Bay Natives, who w»re more or Jess implicated before fthd after the murder. The weapon was given to Captain Mair, in 1866, by Wapita Apanui, grandson of 'i'o'Mautaranui, V V

• .Another ' ,acquisition is a fully-mounted talaha, or liaui< with which Tc Poihga killed To Araki, a Hauraki warrior, who led a ' hostilo war party to Taupo in 1827. The weapon was presented to Captain Mair bythe late Te Houheu Tukino,- at WaihL • Taupo, in 1873. OF special interest also is a fullymounted taiahh,, or towhatowha, taken by Tt> ToWitila, chiof of the Ngatiwliakano, fiom a Ngatipaoa chief, named 'fekopara, who, while on a vißit'to Rotprun, in 1827, • .murdered a man of the Ngatipikiao,, Arawa tribe, at Rotoiti. He, was immediately alt . taoked by tho avengers, at Tumoaita, Lake llotoiti, and most of. his people slain. In ISdO, the tainlm was restored to Ngatijiaoa, as a peace oll'ering from,the .Arawa people.' "Th 6. ovil of other days" (to kino onamata) is tho naino of a lino oiicwa, or okewa patu, which once belonged to To Kooti's butcher, the' late 'Mlpo chief, Te Rangi : Tahau, It is said that Tahau murdered several European and Maori prisoners with this ■ weapon, in 1868, at.Mohaka. It was . presented to Captain Mair ill 1877. A fltio long-handled tomahawk, taken ffom tho famous lighting .chief, Te Man-' paraoaV tit' Aotca, Great Barrier-Island, m 1830, is also among tho oshibits. This chief, on returning south, from visiting Nga> „puhi, landed at tho Barrier Island with a war party, and was attacked by Ngatlmaxu, of Hauraki. A large number fell- on botn sides. In 1894, tho weapon now _in tho museum was given to Captain Mair by a Hauraki chief. , < • . , . A handsome spear, taken by Oaptain Mair from tho bodv of W1 Herotaunga, who fell in tho light 'between To Kooti's force and Nos. 1 and 2 flying columns, on. August 19. - at \Vaipaoa,' near Walkaremoaiia, has had a tragic history. Its former owner was a noted murderer, and 1 it is stated that, being jealous of his wife, at Ta\vhana ; settlement, m 1869,' ho ran her through tho body, and left her to die miserably. The spear is black 1 with age. -