THE MAORI COLUMBUS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13762, 29 May 1908, Page 6

THE MAORI COLUMBUS.

CLAIMED BY WAIKAKAPA. The name of the earliest Maori navigator* Kupe, was mentioned a few days ago in' connection with an old stone anchor—said to be Kupe'ii— recently removed for preservation from Paromola to the Wellington Museum. The Wairanipa Daily New*, after re-, hearting the. tradition that. Ko|)e, after visiting New Zealand, returned to the mysterious Hawaiki, gays:- "The natives of thil district know that Kupe fame to the W*>' rarapa. and also that he did riot return to Hawaiki. but remained in the land of hi* discovery. On arriving off f'aliiser Hay he decided to come ashore and enjoy life for a time. He. had three canoe?-a large one and two smaller one*. To guard .again*! losiujc them ho had them hauled out of lh« water and far inland— in fact, lo what is now. known as the Tableland*, not far from Mar--tinbdrotigli. The canoe- were turned npfio* down to preserve them from the weather* and left high and dry while Kupe vtettt travelling over the land. He never Mm* back to his canoe-, which remain there to thi.l day. At least three hill*, looking lite inverted canoe.-, can plainly !"• -pen by any, passengers on the Wairarapa trains who look over toward'- the southeast. That these throe hills »re Kupe'i- canoes, rtivfird by tJnr; sands of time, i-, amply proved by the •>;'»«« the locality bears to thin day. which i-< >-g*--\ Waka-a-Ktipe—the canoe* .of Kupe. IN ~*• name appear.-* on aVI the official maps of th« , country, which, of course, is good documentary evidence that Knpc set tied in the Wat* v rarapa and never took hi' canoe- out «_■;% Aotea-roa. While 'ea wiping in the Low*' :■< Wairarapa, Kupe used to go out to a rock r near Caoe Palli»i.-r. v 4 hit-!: he named Mata-kitaki-a that is, KupeV Lookout-;and. fraze across the Muter as if expecting to we other canoes coiitiup. They tame latertae Tatriui and other* of pilgrim fame. Ther* >■ is, near this lookout, a pretty pool among the rooks in which Kupe n,ed to bathe when he went, fishing. It is tapU. To this day. if anyone else bathes in it before going out r to. fish, he or the will not catch anything. A : That is what the Maori.- say, and we know a man who tried the experiment, in spue of warning::, and he caught no fob; but then he was not much of a fii-herman.it any time. The stone, anchor which tie museum has obtained from IWinata may » ... a very- good anchor, of great maiu; but--/ we do not believe it was Kupe's anchor, because he must have had his anchor with bin. when he came to Pulliser Bay. ami left - it somewhere on the .-bore when he hauled his canoes lip to their last restinsr-ohtf*- • At any rate, even if Kupe's anchor re-Li at Wellington Museum, we have his csan.t-w - safely moored without any necessity for : '" anchor, and without any fear that they "ill be stolen, or even annexed by the enterprise,, ing museum authorities."