MAUNGAWHAU.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19608, 9 April 1927, Page 1 (Supplement)

MAUNGAWHAU.

MOUNT EDEN'S HISTORY,

BY GEORGE GRAHAM. No 11. As the Maruiwi had disappeared by conquest or amalgamation with the more domineering Tini-o-Toi, so likewise did these latter people in their turn become subjugated by the Tainui immigrants. The same causes were at work, and this fresh intrusion of peoplo was not accomplished pcacably. For much war and turmoil generally went on, and this lasted practically up to European times, a period of some five centuries. In this warfare, Mt. Eden comes again into prominent mention, as the sequel shows.

it appears that the people of llauraki were the proud possessors of a tame seaanimal, probably a seal, called Uraia. He was a favourite masfot, regarded with respect and awe by his owners. E requent mention is made in Maori history to such pet animals, and this particular one verily " made history." Now, the Nga-Oho people of Tamaki also possessed a similar pet, Haumia by name, who lived in the Manukau. Huamia had visited Ureia at Hauraki, and Ureia came in due course on a return visit in response to an invitation to do so. While at Manukau, Ureia was trapped and slain near Puponga Point by the people of Maungawhau. This was regarded by the people of Hauraki as a grave offence, a Kohuru or murder which must be avenged. x Closely following on the death of Ureia was that of a Hauraki chief called Kahurautao. Ho was a man of supreme rank, a grandson of the famous Marutuahu, of Tainui lineal descent. Marutuahu had migrated from Kawhia and founded the great Maratuahu tribes of the Hauraki district.

Kahu had been on a visit to Waikato, going and returning by canoe, via the itahuhu portage. On his return journey he responded to an invitation of the Tamaki chiefs to visit them. The peipie of Mt. Eden especially joined in this hospitality, inviting Kahu to come there and receive as a present the famous greenstone mere named Whakarewa. Accompanied by his son Kiwi and many others of his people of high rank, Kahu spent some time at the festivities given in his honour at Mt. Eden. While there a plot was formed to murder these visitors. The commission of this act was, however, disapproved within the precincts of the*pa itself. But on their return journey to their canoes at Tamaki this party of Kahu were waylaid and murdered on the ridge near St. John's Kahu's body and those of his 'companions were degraded and, the remains were brought to the Mt. Eden pa. Hence the people of Hauraki had two great causes for vengeance against the Nga-Oho of Tamaki in general, and the inhabitants of Mt. Eden in particular.

The Mere Whakarewa.

The widow of Kiwi, Kahu's son, instigated her people to avenge these murders. A large war-party was therefore formed, which came hither by land and sea. As the result, the people of Tamaki suffered severely, for many local forts were captured and the inmates massacred. Mt. Eden, after a tedious seige, likewise mot this fate. In fact it is recorded that Maungawhau was then completely destroyed and never again occupied. The deeds of murder and blood were there originated and had caused these terrible wars. Therefore the hill became a " tapu " area, for it then disappeared from history.

The legend is that somewhere is concealed within a cavern on the mountain slopes, the fatal mere Whakarewa which had tempted Kahurautao to his ill-starred visit. It was hidden there by its ancient custodian, when he saw the pa was doomed to be captured by the people of Hauraki. There the historic mere still probably reposes —for there is no record of its discovery.

This tuahu, or ceremonial place, was situated near one of the former entrances to the Mt- Eden pa. It is a large stone which is still in position, having so far escaped the operations of quarrymen and other improvers. Every important Maori village had such a place where ceremonies connected with the many phases of Maori life were performed. Here the ghastly trophies of war were placed. Here also visitors to the villarge performed the entrance ceremonials, depositing a sprig or karamu on the stone with appropriate talismanac words. The local seers who sought the omens of war, hunting etc., resorted there for the performance of their rites, as aisp for tne dread ritual of black magic in its many forms

Hua, whose name is there perpetuated, was the head-chief of the Nga-Oho people of Maungawhau at the time Ureia was slain and Kahurautao murdered. These are said to have been misled hitherward to their deaths as the result of the magical spells performed at this tuahu, and there, portions of their bodies were placed as offerings to ■ the deities concerned in such affairs of blood. A Mute Memento. Subsequent to tlie destruction of Maungawhau, this tuahu was long resorted to by the olden people, for it was still the only appropriate place for many of the religious observances of those times. It is to be hoped that this ancient stone, now encrusted with lichen and moss, and hoar with age, will be long preserved, a mute memento of a forgotten past. From the time of the destruction of Mt. Eden as a pa there is necessarily but little more to record. The hill became a deserted and highly " tapu" locality—a place reminiscent of blood and murderonly its tuahu was furtively visited for the purposes above narrated. After the recovery, and vanquishing of the Nga-Oho—their overlord Kiwi Tamaki, vvhos<S citadel was One Tree Hill, being overcome by the Knipara people—the Ngati-Whatua entered into possession of the district. Their leader Tuperiri , also maintained his headquarters at One Tree Hill—where he died in the late decades of the 18th Century. This brings us to the opening of the" 19th Century. Then comes the era of the Ngapuhi raids, and Ngati-Whatua left these parts for securer refifge in the forest regions of Waikato. Kaipara and Tamaki were then, deserted lands; because of the fear of guns—the dread weapon then first introduced. The Pax Brittanica, 1840. Thus it was in 1827 when D'Urville, the French explorer viewed Maungawhau from the heights of Mt. Victoria (Takarunga). D'Urville and his companions attempted to scale the mountain, probably from the Newmarket (Te Titutahi) side. So dense, however, was the scrub that he gave up his task when well up the slopes, and the summit of Mt. Eden probably remained uuvisited for yet some years to come. In 1840 was signed the treaty of Waitangi, and the war-wearied tribes at last had peace. Missionary influences had worked their beneficial effects, and the refugee tribes gradually returned to their settlements. In this year the Governor fixed on Auckland as his capital, and then first acquired an area for the site of the future settlement. The summit of Mt. Eden appropriately was a boundary point in this important transaction. And here I close this history of Maungawhau. T,he hill, now happily set aside as a popular reserve, stands amid this ever-growing, greater Auckland, as a lasting memorial of the bye-gone days. From its summit the visitor can view the surrounding prospect, reflecting how here indeed" The old order changeth, ■ yielding place to new.'i J