OBITUARY NOTICE OF TAHANA TUROA.

Waka Maori, Volume 10, Issue 20, 6 October 1874, Page 250

OBITUARY NOTICE OF TAHANA TUROA.

We have been requested by the Natives of Whanganui to give insertion to the following notice of Tahana Turoa, a noted chief of Whanganui, who died on the 16th of August last; — Wellington, 17th August, 1874. On the Bth of August instant, a number of chiefs of the following tribes came to "Wellington, viz.,— Ngatiruanui, Ngarauru, "Whanganui, Ngatiapa, Eangitane, Muaupoko, Ngatiraukawa, Ngatitoa, and JSgatiawa. Their object in coming was to hear what was being done in Parliament, and to present to -Parliament a petition praying for an increased Maori representation in the House. Chiefs from Ngaitahu (Middle Island) and from the East Coast, and Paora Tuhaere and others from Auckland, were also here. On the 17th of August a telegram came from Hori Mutumutu and Hichard Woon, Esq., R.M., both of Whanganui, with the intelligence that Tahana Turoa had died on the 16th of August, at Waipakura, in the district of "Whanganui. "We were stricken with as keen and deep a grief on receipt of this intelligence as if some merciless epidemic had swept away a number of the people. The sorrow of his people who were in "Wellington was exceedingly great on account of the death of this their great and noted chief of Whanganui. These are our words of farewell to our friend and chief, Tahana Turoa, who has been taken from us, his people in this world, to the world of spirits:— Gro hence ! O thou the pride of Whanganui and of the Arawa! Go forth! O Aotea ! Depart! O thou

power and authority of the people and of the land ! Disappear! O thou rainbow of the heavens! Parewell ! thou firm totara, thou valued pounamu! (greenstone.) Ply hence from this world to the world beyond! He s gone lie's gone ! and, as a broken reed, Which harsh rough winds hare rudely tossed and torn, Lies prone among the grass and humble weeds : So lies the chief of all life's honors shorn.' The stars of heaven may rise and shine so sweet; May, as their wont, apprize us here below That the young year doth come on fragrant, feet, But of that joy he ne'er again shall know. And his dear face, which we have fondly loved, Is hidden in the darkness of the shroud; And dreary is the place in which he moved, Fill'd only with our mourning, sad and loud. May softest winds on downy pinions bear Tahana onward in his heavenward flight Above Okarc in the realms of air, And up, and up tall Rangitauwhi height. And when at length, his spirit-journey done, And all his troubles, sorrows, wanderings o'er, He'll reach Poho-o-te-rangi's kindly sun, And on its bosom rest for ever more. If he had died upon the path of war, When on the hoary Rimutahi's height, His fame would aye resound both near and far, Its lustre would remain unchanged and bright. As a white crane upon the uprising rock Is sweet to look at, beautiful and rare, Like would Tahana be if in the shock Of battle he had met the death-stroke there. Yet never will he be forgotten quite On Whanganui's winding dark-brown wave, Although the steersman's hand is hid in night, And broken lies within Tahana's grave. And Ngatihau, thy pride is in the dust, Thy ornament hath fallen by death's blow ; For he it was who led thy warrior host At Paparoa against the wily foe. And Hurutara led the battle's wing, And Rangiirihau, companions bold, With Pairora, as our legends sing,— Tahana's sires were those in days of old. The flashing teeth of death they bravely dared, And led their warriors through the reeking storm ; Tahana all their courage nobly shared, And all their prowess nerved his warlike-arm. Ngatituwharetoa may bemoan Their loss and join ISTgatikowhera's tears : They lost their chieftain, he whoso word alone Was safest guide through few yet stirring years. Ngati-te-Rangiita also knows Their loss, and Ngati-Waipare may deplore The doom from which cold sorrow's streamlet flows — Who'll snatch from Death his prey ? None, evermore. Tahana! thou'lt be questioned soon, By spirits in that land of whispering shade—- " Whence com'st thou ? " answer, where Taroa's moon, And sun, and watching stars, rise, shine, and fade. (Versification by George H. Wilson, author of " Ena, or the Ancient Maori.") "We now give the genealogies of Tahana Turoa, that all the tribes of the island may see the connection of Tahana Turoa with, and direct descent from, (the chiefs of) the four canoes of the island (i.e. canoes which brought from Hawaiki the progenitors of the Maori race in New Zealand), namely,— From Tuki, the chief of the canoe named Aotea, — Turi, Turanga-i-mua, Tamatea Kopiri, Hine "Whiro, TJru Maio, Tuai Ngaru, Tihi Pokaka, Hine te Ata, Eere Pounamu, Te Era Mate, Ahuta, "Waiaria, Tinanga, Peehi Turoa, and lastly, Tahana Turoa.

From Tamatekapua, the chief of the canoe named the Aeawa, — Tamatekapua, Kahu, Tawake Himoa, Uenuku, Kangitihi, Tuhourangi, Uenuku Kopako, Waitapu, Tuwhakairikawa, Hinerehua, Te Kahu Reremoa, "Waitapu (second), Te Piungatai, Te Waka Totopipi, Weka, Hitaua, Peehi Turoa, and lastly, Tahana Turoa. From Tamatea, the chief of the canoe named Takitimtj,— Tamatea, Kahungunu, Kahukuranui, Rakaihikuroa, Tupurupuru, Te Rangituehu, Rangituwhaka, Mahinarangi, Raukawa, Whakatere, Poutu, Te Ata Inutai, Te Piungatai, Te Waka Totopipi, Weka, Hitaua, Peehi Turoa, and lastly, Tahana Turoa. Prom Hotukoa, the chief of the canoe named Taintji,— Hoturoa, Hotu Matapu, Motai, Ue, Raka, Rakati, Tawhao, Turongo, Raukauwa, Whakatere, TJpokoiti, Te Ata Inutai, Waitapu, Te Piungatai, Te Waka Totopipi, Weka, Hitaua, Peehi Turoa, and lastly, Tahana Turoa. •Now those are the genealogies, by virtue of which we declare Tahana Turoa to have been a chief. He had many sources of descent, and was connected with many canoes and very many tribes. And, moreover, he was a man possessing power and influence with his tribes ; he was liberal, kind, and loving to his people. The following were sayings, or proverbs, of his ancestors: — "If the two of TTru-Maio disappear on that day, Kokako will be swallowed up by the taniwha." " When Koparu-a-Hue dies, the tide will have free passage into Tunui-a-Taika." " There is only one man of Motai who dare traverse the Hakerekere beach." Whanganui, September. On the 9th of this month (September) the body of Tahana Turoa was conveyed up the Whanganui River, to be interred at a place about seventy miles distant from the mouth of the river. The number of mourners who attended the funeral, exclusive of women and children, was quite a thousand men, being from the tribes of the Atihau, Xgatiapa, ISTgatimaniapoto, Ngatiraukawa, IsTgarauru,' and Ngatiruanui. The crying and wailing commenced on the day of his death, and was kept up continuously to the day of his burial. The foregoing is from all the tribes above mentioned, including Topine te Mamaku, Meiha Keepa te Rangihiwinui, Mete Kingi, &c. (Here follow 51 signatures.)

Note.—" If the two of Uru-Maio, &c." Tuitui and Tawaingaru, two brave ancestors of Tahana Turoa, were about to remove from their place of residence; but, hearing that a war party, led by Tunuiamo, was advancing from Taranaki, they exclaimed, "If the two of Uru-Maio (their father) disappear (depart) on that day, Kokako will be swallowed up by the taniwha"—that is, Kokako, or their home, and people, would be destroyed by the. taniwha Tunuiamo. These words have ever since been used proverbially, by their descendants, in cases of danger or loss of a powerful protector. (A taniwha is a fabulous voracious reptile.) "When Koparu-a-Hue, &c." The following story is told by the Natives in explanation of this proverb : —Tamarikohea was a son-in-law of Koparu-a-Hue, residing in the South Island near Cook's Strait. One day Koparu-a-Hue went out fishing. On his return he refused to give Tamarikohea any of the fish which he had caught; and on several subsequent occasions he exhibited the same want of liberality towards him. Tamarikohea, feeling deeply this ungenerous conduct of his father-in-law, forthwith scraped some flax for a fishing-line, and manufactured some fish-hooks out of human bones ; then, during the night immediately preceding the next fishing excursion, he secreted himself in the canoe under the " kahupapa " (a kind of stage, usually placed in large canoes for the more convenient seating

of the occupants). In due time the people launched the canoe and proceeded to the fishing-ground, where they anchored, io the great surprise of the people Tamarikohea then arose and demanded some bait for his hooks, which, however, they refused to give him. He then wound about the hooks some wild turnip tops, bedaubed with his own blood, which he produced by striking his nose with his fist. Casting then his line into the sea, he immediately drew up a shark. Having cut this up for bait, he attached five hooks to his line, and drew up fish rapidly, until the canoe was deeply laden. The others on board were not so fortunate, some securing only two fish, some three, and some none at all. When they returned to the shore Tamarikohea gave his fish to his brother-in-law, retaining only, one, which he took home for himself and wife. During the night, his wife being asleep, he arose and proceeded to the beach, where he embarked in a canoe, and set sail for the North Island. By the morning light lie was off Cook's Strait. Meanwhile his wife, awaking and finding he had disappeared, proceeded to search for him. She ascended a cliff, from whence she carefully scanned the ocean, and at length discovered his rapidly receding cauoe off Cook's Strait. Being overwhelmed with grief at his desertion of her, she cast herself headlong from the cliff and was destroyed. Tamarikohea landed safely on this island, and forthwith proceeded to collect a war party from amongst the tribes related to him. Returning with this party, he, in the night, surrounded the pa occupied by Koparu-a-Hue and his people. When morning dawned, behold the pa was beleaguered ! Then Koparu-a-Hue uttered the words, " When Koparu-a-Hue dies, the tide will have free passage into Tunui-a-Taika (the bay in which the pa stood) —that is to say, when lie was slain, his people would be at the mercy of the enemy. so these words became a proverb. How the affair ended our informant sayetli not. Probably the upshot was a general jollification, at which all parties glutted their desire of vengeance by feasting on the apple of discord—fish. The third proverb, as applied to Tahana Turoa, simply means that none could vie with or emulate him.