When the Spaniards Came.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21118, 27 February 1932, Page 4 (Supplement)

When the Spaniards Came.

Dy N. F. IIOGGAKD. 2SO, Oriental Parade, "Wellington

A NEW ZEALAND StORY.

Akina, bon of Tenakoc, the tolmnga chieftain of tlio Waiprtunamu tribe, lay flat on his chest in the long, waving grass on the edge of a hillock overlooking a wido stretch of seashore. lie rubbed his eyes and parted the grasses again to tal<e another look. Men strangely garbed, some of them wearing queer glittering objects on their heads, were walking about the sands, coining to and fro from what Akina took to be strangely shapod canoes which went backwards and forwards laden with things taken from a big, brown canoe with flapping wigs. Akina was filled with awe and not a little fear also. Who were these mortals with black hair on their .faces and glistening mats about their chests? Were they gods or enemies' Long Akina watched and pondered, then wriggling back in the grass until he was out of sight from the strange beings below, ho set off swiftly to carry the news to Tenakoe, his father. Panting and breathless, he at length reached the head village, where he rushed instantly to Tenakoe's oresonce. Thr tohunga listened in silence until all was told, then he said: "Ae! My son, you did well in bringing this news swiftly. It may be that these strangers are gods, in which case our warrior strength and my spells are of little avail; on the other hand, if they bo but men as ourselves, though of a different race, we will conquer them . . . crush them as we have crushed others who have pitted thoir puny strength against, that of the Waipounamu warriors.

" Listen, send forth our scouts immediately; tell them to watch every movement of these strangers. To-morrow at dawn wo shall attack. . ."

Akina nodded and left the pa. Three of his own scouts ho selected. Silent, lean, powerful-framed natives adept at creeping and -crawling in bush and scrub, worming close to council fires, and following long trails in forest and mountain. Ere the setting sun had flung its crfm son rays athwart the meeting-house in the centre of the tribal marae, the scouts padded silently, with impassive features, into the forest.

the. moist sand. Soundlessly they disgorged tlieir contents, who crawled along tlio beach toward tho dark blob ahead. Some, dying embers from one of the fires blazed up and several helmets glittered above t he stockade.

Now, unbeknown to Akina lie had been observed upon the cliff-top by the commander of tlio ill-fated Spanish galleon which had been blown so far out of its course and damaged, with the result that a landing had been made in this unknown country. Knowing the danger that was likeiy to bo expected from hostile natives, the commander instantly gave instructions for a strong stockade to be built. Precautions were taken to build the enclosure some distance from the overhanging cliffs, behind which an attacking party could rain down boulders and spears with dreadful results.

And watching those preparations, crouched in the faintly stirring grasses, Alalia's scouts watched, dark eyes ngleam. every movement of the ftrangers, as they toiled in the gathering dusk. Soon great firas were lit arid the lurid flames glanced off steel breast-plates and helmets, sending little streaks of brilliance into the surrounding gloom.

Rawft, one of the scouts, leaned over and whispered into his companion's ear. " I will return to Tenakoe and tell him of this—" He jerked his mere, toward the camp below. " You will stay." He glided back and the grasses swallowed him up. Tho village was a scenp of crcat activity when he reached it. Close to a huge fir* in the rnarae were grouped dark and sullen-looking warriors preparing their weapons for the coming foray. Tenakoe and his son were told how the strangers were preparing for an attack, and the tohuriga's face grew angry as he listened. " Kati!" (enough) ho said. "We will devise some way of cheating them. Were they allowed to remain here they would grow to great strength and overwhelm us. There is a prophecy that -Ao-tea-Hoa v. ill in tl:e ata (dawn) of time, be peopled by an alien race." Long into the nighf the tohunga hatched plans with his son. then at length ho addressed bis warriors. " Listen, O warriors, of the Waipounainn tribe, barken carefully to mv words. Just before dawn we. will strike, from the sea. In canoes we will land unobserved on tho shore, .then creep silent as the mokomoko (lizard) along the wet sand." In tho lTiurkinciSs preceding the dawn, a number of large, carved canoes filled with armed savages, glided along Ihe coastline some distance, I lien, shooting through tlio boiling sin f, dug their figureheads into

Tenakoo gave a low cry and the shadows leapt to life as the tohunga and his warriors rushed pell-mell forward. _ Aue! that. he and his warriors underestimated the watchfulness of the strangers entrenched in the security of their strong barricade. Aue! that tho sea-breezes wafted away the concealing mists, leaving the tohunga and his men exposed to the death-dealing magic of (he strangers. Too late, Tenakoo realised that these beings from Te Moananuia-Kiwa (the Pacific) must be gods, and that they were powerless against such (.erribic agencies of denlh I hat sprang toward thorn with lotigues of flame, cracking as a giant rata cracks, ero it topples (o (lie moist earth, hacked mercilessly through bv the high tohunga's axes. His moko'd features worked convulsively. Tenakoe blew a shrill blast on the bamboo whistle dangling from his neck, Shame welled up i" the heart of every warrior present—that harsh screech like the cry of the kaliu (hawk) meant one thingretreat ! And now the blue waters of the bay lapped on. yellow sands bespattered with blood. . . blood of Waipounamu warriors whose ancestors had been mighty fighters and navigators—who had in their veins tho blood of the first explorers from 11a* waikii, who had landed in Ao-tea-Roa 111 tho first canoe across the bosom of the restless waters of Kiwa. And mad with grief and rage, they carried the dread news of their defeat to the village. There was a great tangi among the womenfolk for tho warriors whoso spirits had taken the last path of the setting sun to Cape Reinga, upon whose rocky fastnesses they turn and gazo sadly upon the world, ere they leave it forever. Akina sought his father alone the following day. " Tenakoe, my father," ho said. "Such defeat as we have suffered cannot bo left to pass. A strange dream came to me last night. It was a good omen. In my dream I visited the verdure slopes of Maungatapu (sacred mountain) and from Taumarunui (place of great shadow) came forth a god and the words be spoke were these:— " ' 0, Akina, son of Tenakoe, tho high tohunga of the Waipounamu, whose ancestors came in the first canoe to -' tho land of the long, lingering mist,' the Strangers lately borne to your shores, those whom, aue! you have taken as gods, they are no gods but mortals from an alien land driven thither by wind and sen. The gods command you to drive forth these men!' " " lva pai! my son," the tohunga's hands trembled as he unhooked a beautifully carved club fiom the ridge-pole of the who re. " You are of warrior age to bear my club. Know you that none but tohungas of high rank have handled the ' Patu of Urekehu.' Jlv son, you are to be a groat tohunga! It is you the gods have chosen to drive forth these strangers from Ao-tea-Roa." A wonderful feeling possessed Akina as he grasped the age-worn haft of the rlub. The power of many generations of tohungas llowcd from the weapon into Ins veins. Three days passed. On the fourth, Akina and his picked warriors left the village, making a detour which would bring them unseen close to the stockade of the strangers. Akina had but recently learnt of a narrow dangerous track leading down the cliff-face. A scout had stumbled upon it by accident and Tenakoe'R son resolved that the whole party should reach tho beach by this perilous descent. In the heat of mid day, the war party halted in a grassy valley, wooded here and there in straggly bush in the depths of which the party thankfully rested. The march was continued. Half a mile from the cliffs, spears and meres were examined with care. Suddenly, from beneath a flax-bush bordering their path, a large lizard ran across in front of them, directly in the track of the oncoming warriors. Akina halted abruptly. The mnkomoko (li/.ard) running across their path meant that ill-fortune would dog the whole party if they continued. 111-fortune, evil—perhaps death ! A frown gathered on his features. His face grew stern and forbidding as a wari ior pointed with his spoar through a narrow gap overlooking the open bay. Moving swiftly m the strong hreezo was the large canoe of the .strangers, growing smaller and smaller, returning across the Sea of Kiwa whence she had come.