TRAVELLING IN MAORILAND.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8768, 2 May 1890, Page 2

TRAVELLING IN MAORILAND.

FROM MOKAU TO AWAKINO.

My return party were two days behind time, so I determined to start alone. For some distance the road was easy to trace, notwithstanding the numerous by-tracks, and I arrived at Hainara's place on the Mokau in good time. From Hamera's to Totoro was more difficult, the track being indistinct in places. • The different appearance of the landscape in travelling in the opposite direction was very deceptive, so that I had to stop and look back in several places to make sure. At length I came to two tracks equally well beaten, and took tho left. I did not ride far before suspecting that I was in nevr country, but the track was so good that it must lead to some settlement. At length all doubts were set at rest by the sound of a great rush of water. I followed the track down a gully, and came in sight of a beautiful waterfall on the Mokau river. The river rushed over a limestone cliff of considerable height in one leap into the pool below. The track was good right down to the water a few yards below the fall, and seemed equally good on the other side, so I determined to cross. The bed was solid rock, worn into curious holes and slits, with bad footing for a horse. At length 1 arrived at a narrow ledge between two deep pools. I got well across where the water was running over broken ground, causing it to bubble and foam. The horse did not like the look of it, and tried to turn back. The ledge being too narrow, his hind quarters went down into the hole until the water reached myiarmpits. The horse held on by his fore feet, the girths gave way, and I floated away in the eddy caused by the waterfall, still sitting comfortably in the saddle. The situation was very perplexing for a moment. I felt secure in the saddle, but the horse was half a chain from me. At last the horse looked in my direction, let go his hold, and made straight for me. He is a light swimmer, and sends his feet well out in front, so the prospect of getting underneath four shod feet, going at about fifty revolutions a minute, was anything but pleasant. I managed, however, to reach out and get hold of the bridle and turn his head in the proper direction, and with a tight hold of the mane we sailed across the Mokau, until we got a footing again on the rocks. I kept my seat on tiie saddle, and brought it to land, thoroughly sofked. It was a beautiful day, with a hot sun shining overhead, which made the dark limestone rocks very hot. I soon had the horse tethered on a good bit of clover, and my belongings spread over the rocks — blanket, tent, clothing, biscuit, matches, &c, all

exposed to the scoiching rays of the sun, self included. It took two hours to get everything dry, so I packed up and retraced my steps to the fork in the road where I took the wrong turning. My party of natives, finding that I had started without them, hurried on and met me as I returned. After congratulations on my escape we rode on, and arrived at Totoro without any further adventure-.

THE LEGEND OF THE DEEP POOL.

I The next day being wet, the time waa occupied by the natives in telling stories of times gone by, the incident in the river being always the text to start from. Numerous incidents, both ludicrous and tragic were related. The taniwha that resides in the deep pool, excavated by the falling waters of untold centuries, was credited with numerous devices to lure men and women to their destruction. In the heroic days a young couple, who were madly in lave with each other, determined to elope, owing to the fierce opposition of the young ladies' parents, who were arristocrats of a very exclusive order. Their kaingas were on opposite sides of the river, and the young man had many a cold bath in crossing the ford to see his beloved. It was before the time of horses, when Shankes's pony was the only means of locomotion. The time fixed on for the great event had arrive ii — a beautiful moonlight night. The young man was at the rendezvous, waiting anxiously for his bride, who was guarded so jealously by her parents and numerous relations that she could find no pretext for escape. At last she complained of the heat in the whare, went outside, wrapped herself up as if going to bed, and soon appeared to be in a profound sleep. The watch was relaxed for a moment, and she crept out of the pah and ran swiftly to her lover. She was soon missed, and a search party was instantly organised. When Bhe arrived at the large rock standing up by itself like a huge sentinel guarding the approach to the ford, her anxious lover could not restrain his feelings, and commenced improvising a love song in honor of the event. The scouts heard his voice and gave chase. The lovers ran hard for the ford and dashed in regardless of danger. As they advanced over the jagged rocks the young lady began to show signs of fear, and was immediately seized by her lover and borne to the narrow ledge, whe.-e strength of nerve and limb is so necessary to success. Unfortunately, contrary to all the rules of romance, the young lady was robust^ and fat, and the young gentleman was of the lean and puny order. The consequence was that the strength of his body was not equal to the weight of flesh in his arms, so the pair plunged headlong into the pool, the abode of the dreaded taniwha. The cold bach, together with the fear of the terrible taniwha, drove all thoughts of love out of the young lady's head, and she struck out manfully for her own side o5 the river, leaving her Jovor wot and discanw'UQ on the other bank, TMelove sLUi/ is PmU bahjHi witha ypr§9 or for?

added at the end composed by his enemies, describing the evaporation of the lady's love in her cold bath, which makes it extremely ludicrous. Many stories of fatal accidents were also related which gives the ford a bad name.

A MAORI SERMON.

After what I may term family prayers, when the chanting was concluded pipes were lit and everybody reclined in the most comfortable position, a venerable old warrior commenced his sermon. A good deal had been said about the imprisonment of Te Whiti, so the old man's discourse was based on the question of imprisonment generally. He commenced with an incident that took place in his own family, illustrating the great horror the Maori had in former days of being made prisoner. He said his tepuna, who was a great toa, was on one occasion pressed so hard when out with a small scouting party that they had to stand at bay in a narrow place formed by two large rocks. The reputation of the great warrior kept the enemy at bay, but a well-directed spear hurled by one of the foe penetrated his body. He instantly pulled it out of the wound, and threw it with such force and precision that two of the enemy were transfixed to the ground. This feat depressed the spirits of the re- j inainder for a time, which gave the warrior an o pportunity of addressing his party. "My friends," he said, " I am wounded past all hope of escape, so you must cut off my head and take it back to the tribe, and after the time of mourning you must bury it in the sacred burial-ground of the tribe, so that the enemy cannot rejoice over the downfall of a great toa." The party demurred to this, and said, " We will die with you." He answered: " Not so, my brothers. Would you have the head of Rangi, the great warrior of the tribe, to be set up in the enemy's pa on a stick for the women to jeer and grin at ? Would you degrade j the tribe to that extent, and Jive after ? No !" He called to his nearest relative, and, after rubbing noses, his relative cut off his head and carried it back to the tribe, and we boast of it to this day. Now, that was all wrong, because God loved him. Joseph was a just man, and God loved him. David was v good man, but he had to imprison himself in a cave, but God loved him. Solomon was a wise man, and a terror for women, and God loved him. Christ was a good man, and they put him in prison and hung him like a thief, but God loved him. Xow, my friends, what does it matter ? God loves the good man, and he loves the bad man ; now, what does it matter ? I say Kapai the hern hem ! This sermon was received well by the people, who seemed to thoroughly believe in the doctrine promulgated.

OVEB THE RAZORBACKS.

The next morning we started for our encounter with the razorback ridges in the bush on the Awakino. It rained the greater part of the day, making the journey exceedingly disagreeable ; what with rain above and mud and water below, and the numerous crossings of the river, made it about as dreary a journey as one could experience. One of the party, in riding up out of the river on a narrow ledge, experienced a heavy fall on account of the bank giving away, precipitating horse and rider about 10 feet on to the bank below. Fortunately the ground "was comparatively soft, or the result might have been serious. The horse was fixed firmly on his back, with all his legs in the air and it took the united strength of the party to get him on his legs again. We slept on the sand bank in the river that ■we used before, and made an early start the next morning to encounter the terrible tomata maire. The rain of the day before made the slides very bad, but I managed much better this time on account of my horse being more accustomed to the work. I started him on in front following his footsteps, be dug his toBS into the stiff clay leaving a small step in which I stuck my toes and fingers ; wherever there was a landing my horse was sure to be found resting, so we mounted up and up until the mountain was scaled. The top of the ridge is dangerous only in places, so we got along fairly well until we arrived at the last ford, where we found the tide in and the river too deep for fording. There was a little grass for the horses so we camped for the night and started at 6 o'clock next morning at low water. The sun poured down into the litrie open space, driving us into the bush for shade, but it thoroughly dried our blankets and clothing which were saturated the day before. The Maori has one characteristic that enables him to bear delays of this sort with the greatest fortitude, if not enjoyment — he can coil himse l^: up and go to sleep on the smallest provocation. My companions did so, and slept steadily for about four hours. I was not equal to the occasion, so I pitched my tent, gathered firewood, and put in my time in a restless sort of way peculiar to pakehas but very distasteful t» our Maori brothers. The next morning we had to tackle the worst crossing on the road. I prepared accordingly. My preparat ; ons took some little time, so the natives had the start and made the place mcc boggy still. I strapped my clothes on the top of the saddle and started. The water was nearly level with the horses back, and then came the tussle with soft sticky mud up a steep bank. My horse was soon up to his girths, I slipped off behind, he rolled over on one side and released two feet which he advanced a foot, rolling back again repeating the process, while I shoved my level best behind up to my waist in soft mud. We struggled on in this way until we got above the water line when a few vigorous plunges brought him to the top of the bank. The operation of dressing was performed in the simplest manner, water there was none, so I took a hardful of bush fern, rubbed myself c" w_i and finished my toilet. The next raze .back is the most dangerous on the road, but we managed to surmount it, and felt thankful when we arrived at the Mokau river.

CIVILISATION AT LAST.

I rode at once to the Awakino flaxmill and received a hearty welcome from Mr Bluck, who was in charge The sight of a well cooked dinner on a table, with a chair to sit on and a knife and fork to eat it with, was a luxury to remember after our two days' jpurney through the bush with only a few biscuits. The next day I started for home ; the tide was suitable, and I arrived at Waitara at 4 p.m. So ended my journey in Maoriland.