AN HISTORIC SPOT

Southland Times, Issue 19357, 24 September 1924, Page 14

AN HISTORIC SPOT

NEW PLYMOUTH’S EARLY DAYS. WHERE THE CENOTAPH STANDS. SITE OF THE OLD FIGHTING PA. The gound on which the cenotaph forming the New Plymouth war memorial stands is a very historical spot. It was known formerly as Mount Eliot, and in the early surf-boat days of New Plymouth it wife the signal station. In later years the hill was removed to provide level ground for the extension of the town and the building of the railway. Previous to the days of settlement in New Plymouth there was a large Maori palisaded fighting pa on the top of this hill, it was known as Puke-Ariki. Large numbers of natives lived here, and all the lands around the hill were used for cultivating kumaras, taro and such crops. In about the year 1832 Puke-Ariki pa was finally abandoned by the natives when they removed to Otaka or Nga Motu pa, now occupied by the freezing works near the breakwater. The Taranaki natives abandoned this ancient pa when one of the big raids by the Waikato natives was threatened. In the bygone days the Maoris believed that the excellent crops of kumaras obtained were due to the mana of their god Rongo, with whom the priests of old interceded for a bounteous season. Stone representations of the god Rongo were fairly common in Taranaki, and at planting time these were often buried in the plot to assure speeedy growth and a heavy crop. One of the most noted of these carved kumara gods was found while excavations were being carried out by Europeans at Puke-Ariki pa. It has been claimed that this stone was brought to New Zealand by the Maoris in one of their canoes of the migration in the year 1350 or thereabouts. The stone was sent to the Nelson Museum, and from it a cast has been secured. The cast is in the museum in New Plymouth.