HISTORICAL KAPITI

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 146, 21 June 1916, Page 14

HISTORICAL KAPITI

TE RAUPARAHA'S STRONGHOLD

THE OLD WHALING DAYS.

A PLACE OF GREAT INTEREST.

It is not- the purpose of any of these articles to delve deeply into the history with which the district abounds, but the review would be incomplete without some account of the early days on Kapiti. The big island which is situated so close to the shore is full of romance. It ha,s been the scene of many wild orgies—revelries by night and day—but, like an old man, it has settled down to a. quiet life as a. sanctuary for native flora- and fauna. If it succeeds in its purposes—and there is no reason why it should not if vandal? are kept strictly in check—it will some day regain the notability which it enjoyed in the early 'forties. Kapiti was a Maori stronghold of that blood-thirsty, deceitful, though talented, chief, Te Rauparaha, who defeated the famous Te Pehi and became the the solo Ariki, or ruler, of Cook Strait. Rauparaha's treachery was, to all accounts, unbounded. Kapiti was the base from which he set out on numerous marauding excursions, which frequently extended across ths Strait. Rangihaeata was his friend, and by dint of cringing and fawning upon those,, inclined to resist his constant extortions. be obtained a large revenue from the white population and used it to extend his power among the Native*. , A WELCOME TO STEANGEBS. A stranger visiting a whaling settlement was always assured of a thorough welcome. The best to eat and the best to drink were placed before him, and he was given the best bunk in which to sleep. The whaler's house was generally built by the Natives, and was composed of reeds and rushes over a wooden frame, or else walls of supplejack covered inside and out with clay. The roof wae a thatched : one. Everything was always neat and clean. The men had to work very hard sometimes, and they dared the elements \on almost, all occasions. , While the men were away Native "wives"—usually specially engaged for the season only—were deputed to attend to travellers. It is related that these "wives" exerted a- powerful restraining influence on their "husbands." They quickly learned how to keep the wharcs tidy; how to cook, and how to mend: the clothes, and, as they acquired a knowledge of the language of the half-civilised whakrs, they became, invaluable in communication between the whalers and the Native chiefs. ■ The tw.o peoples carried on systematic bartering, and during the off season the former would lay in a. stock of potatoes and firewood. Pigs were also bought, killed and salted down, and every preparation made for a busy winter season. These rough men, it is recorded, had 6ome generous and noble qualities which redeemed their general inclination to vice and lawlessness. The settlement on Kapiti probably started .about 1827,- and it shared honour with Cloudy Bay a-s a great rendezvous for whaling ships. MAORIS GO WHALING. Gradually, by watching the white sailors at work, the Maoris, becanio familiar with the methods.of. whale catching,; and often went out to try; their hand at the .work. .Wakefield.'.says that they Were successful too, but;; of course, only to; a limited extent;." The "commen men" on the-'whaling- boats were, in. many cases, Natives, and therefore the "Maoris had ■every '.opportunity of acquiring the necessary'knowledge. But the most remarkable ";story in this connection is told by Mr. James Cowan, of _Hakopa Te Ata-o-Tv,. a', slave on Kapiti, though, of high birth. Sperm whales -were very numerous iii those .'days, and..frequently passed between Kapiti- and. the mainland, and: sometimes came very close in shore. One day a small whale, v pb,doubt a calf which had strayed from its. school, /came into one of the bays, and Te Ata-o-Tu and several other Maoris manned their canoes and sef out.after it. : Te Ata-o-Tu,.who was a daring man in a canoe, 'was foremost in the whale-hunting!, workj- He harpooned'that'"tehora,':'.'but. in the re~ ■siiltant.. excitement • he. fell overboard 'from,-the. bows,, with- the harpoon line' in .(ns hands, , The-, whale made' off, with. Te Ata-o-Tu flying m; its -wake,, holding on , tenaciously to 'the' rope; ■' He could easily have.; regained ; his ", canpe. had .he let go, but he stubbornly'stuck to,the Ilititle 'whale.. Round and round the creature went, apparently bewildered, and at last, aftfir dashing abo^t the bay for some minutes,. it made straight, for the shore, and. was stranded almost-at the place where the whalers had set out. So'Te Ata-o-Tu, half-drowned but" wholelimbed, killed his whale, "and there were great rejoicings." , .- ■ • .■EVIDENCES OF THE PAST. There still remain on Kapiti evidences of the past—evidences of the Maori occupation and their bloody wars, and the remains oE the whaling stations. Te Rauparaha and his famous Ngatitoas captured the island about 1820, after their migration from Kawhia, and continued in defiant occupation for two decades. There were many violent battles fought here, a,nd 'the place a/bounds with relics of the ancient Maori wars and the early European whalers. There are regular rows and long walls of stones which, from time to time, wore cleared from hundreds of plots in which kumaras were grown by the Maoris. The old burial-grounds are also to be seen, and at Okupe Lake human bones are often unearthed. There was a greatbattle in 1822, when the Rangitane and other tribes were repulsed. There are yet to be seen the remains of several ancient pas, some of which are said to date back to the days before Te Rau-pa-raha secured a footing. The sides of the whalers' houses can be picked out eaeity, and a large try-pot, 4ft, in diameter, is still to be seen at Waiorua Bay. Parts of tho big island are ex-, eeedingly pretty, and from tho wooded heights some of the best seascape views in New Zealand can be obtained. It is not a difficult matter to arrange for a passage to Kapiti in one of the many boats to be found on the beach between Paekakariki and Waikanae.

THE LAST INTER-TRIBAL BATTLES.' Two interesting facts may be stated in connection with the Maori tribal wars in New Zealand. It was at Waiorua, on the northern side of ICapiti, that the last sea battle took place between Maori and Maori, and it was on the mainland immediately opposite, just at the mouth of the WaLkanae River, that the last inter-tribal land battk' was fought. This battle is known as Te Kuititanga. The battle of Waiorua was fought about 1820, and of Te Kuititanga in September, 1839. T« bai.h. cases the i^gaUfcoas, who were attacked, drove off their enemies.

[Published by aeeaxgbmext.]