BY THE WATERS OF RUATAHUNA.

Hot Lakes Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 216, 23 January 1897, Page 3

BY THE WATERS OF RUATAHUNA.

I By Tuiioe. As the smoke of the camp fire drifted low to the rising strength of ilakamamao the old guide shouldered Lis heavy pikau and grasping his staff. commenced the long descent of Tarapouuama followed by his faithful " cayuse." And as we went downwarl through the ancient forest beneath the the great rata, rimu .and tawai with the beautiful neinei and horopito lining the trail side, the hill slopes covered with beautiful ferns of many species and white clusters of clematis and tapairu on bush ;and trunk—it was then that we listened to the tale of old, tho tale of Rakautawhi of the Multitude of TOl and ip-audsire to Wharepakau of immor~ tal fame—who went forth with his long spear to procure him a meal of the witless wood pigeon. Aud here cm this loue peak he clamberered up into a great tree, a ' .kaihua ' of old and seating himself among the branches thereof proceeded to slay the offspring of Taue. Now tho makoi ortura (barbed head) of his spear was formed of pouuamu or greenstone, aud having speared a pigeon '.hat ungrateful bird struggled so liercely as to detach the tar a from its shaft aud so ilew away with the barb imbedded iu its body, doubtless rejoicing after tho maimer of his kind at .-'.' having escaped the wiles of the fowler. And that was how this hill peak obtained the name of Tarapounamu. If the story ended there it would be well but the chronicler goeth on to say thac the bereaved Eakau pursued i' that stricken birdlet event unto the |p base of Putauki which lies far away iu tho lowlands of Awa. There he I captured the erring one and recovered his prized mokoi. The unbelieving Aitanga-a-Tiki, fearful of straining : -. their systems by recklessly accepting this statement move onward down tho shadow-laden trail in solemn silence Past To Haka-a-TJenuku-kopako, a little clearing in the forest where (Uenuku of To Aruwa halted his marching warriors in days of yore and trained them to proficiency in tho ke.ka that his ' ope ' might make a fitting entry into the marae of Kuatahuna. So downward through dense forest to the Maugokakaho stream, up the steep slope of Tahuaroa to the summit whero cftsoon we emerge into u little open space, the contraction of an old time cultivation, whence we look down upon the classic vale of Ru-stahuna-?i:i-ku-kore. The mysterious valley" of theTuboe tribe, mentioned in many a saga and wild legend of old, the vale of refuge for many a broken tribe of the trans-mountaiu-world lies far be- ;.! low us as calmly primitive aud untouched of pakcha hands as when tho : multitude of l'otiki and Kotoro held I sway therein. And Tane-atua came from afar, from beyond tho dark ecean and traversed tho rushing : waters of Tamahine-mataroa by 1 which name the men of Awa knew tho Whakalane River before the days of Wairaka and the advent of Malaatua. Travelled with strange powers i- at his command and performed won. ';\ drous deeds as he pierced the new ; world even to tho sombre gorges of Ohaua-te-rangi. As for tho tokens of that ancestor the} r are as the sands of tho seashore. For on the bush range above Ohaua stands the sacred, lifo giving hinau known as To Iho-o-ivntaka which brings joy to the heart of childless women. And in a still 3 more sacred spot which we will not meution lest the go 1 * be offended, lies the aria of Jlataatua, while below Matairangi is a stono called Takuahiteka before which every descendant of Taneatua must cast a twig or brauchlet as he passes while repeating : " Uru ur,u whenua. rcau e kai to manawa ou tauhou." With many another strange token of old and quaint old talcs of ancient folk lore. Wo see the roof of To Whai-a-te-motu, the groat Council Chamber of 'J'uhoe-Land—in the village of Mata-atua-and on every side are tho signs •of the men of yore and the entrenched camps where Tuhoo mouniou kai made history in pre-pakeha days when those grim warriors held their own against all-comers and looked not upon the world of life. There on the banks of the Manga-o-Rongo are the crumbling ruins of To Kauae, an old-time fortress where the men of Wharepakau, of Manawa and of Tuwharetoa attacked the dwellers in the vale of Awa, slaying Potae nnd Tukahara. with divers others of that ilk. But it was not well for man to march unbidden nnd bearing anr.s into these lands and so the men of tho north sank in death at Arikirau as they strove to return to the outer world where man lives in the light of day. And if you would know more of that combat do you go to the Great Canon of Toi nnd ask the men of that land what of " Te knkft aTe Raiti." For is it not Ruatahuna, the abyss of death, where all men are lost. And yet a sheltering haven, a very " ao mamma''' to the afllic'.ed of Mar, to those who fell in the fierce struggles for tribal existence For here came Ngati-Manowa after Ihc defeat of Oknrea, nnd the Children of Awa fleeing from the savage Ngnpubi, vVnrnhoe and Ngati-ITnmua from '.he awful carnage of Kohikete on the shores of tho Sea of Toupo. Also Ngali-Jra from Opotiki nnd the f-oiis of Wharepakau from many a forest gulch and lone hill camp. (To be continued. J