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Waka Maori, Volume 10, Issue 24, 1 December 1874, Page 302

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European correspondents who have a knowledge of Maori are requested to be good enough to forward their communications in both languages. To the Editor of the Waka Maori. Ohaeawai, Waimate, October 28, 1874. My Ekiend, —Greeting. "Will you take on board of our canoe the accompanying narrative, so that our Maori arid Pakeha friends may hear of the death of these chiefs of Ngapuhi, who have been lost at sea. From your friends, . Himi Maetjpo, and Benata Paeaike Kawattjpxt. The Eawhiti, Bay of Islands. October 24th, 1874To Marupo and Eenata Paraire Kawatupu. ITuies-ds, —We greet you in. the midst of the death of our and your relations and. children who are lost to us; who are gone from this world to that world without end —the dwelling place of the spirits which have gone before them. Friends, we proceed to give you this account from the commencement of our whaling undertaking down to the time when we were overtaken by disaster and death ; and we desire you to send it to our friend the Editor of the Waka Maori, that he may take it on board our canoe (the Waka Maori), so that our friends may see this narrative, which is here commenced by me, Ihaka te Tai:— On the Bth of August, 1874, a whaling committee of the Ngaitawake (hapu) was appointed. The heads of the committee were Kemara Kaiteke, Hori Kerei Mangonui, Hare "Warana. and Eewiri Moka. Their supporters or seconders were Ihaka te Tai, Kerei Mangonui, Bewharewha Huri, and "Witeria Moka. It was decided by the committee that four boats should be appointed for whaling purposes, in two divisions ; mine and that of Kerei Mangonui forming one division, and the boats of Hare Warana and Eewiri Moka forming the other division. It was arranged that the proceeds of the fishery were to be kept separate —one division was not to share in whatever fish might be taken by the other division. On the 14th of September the party commenced operations. On the 16th of October two whales tTTAiacw

Ihaka hoisted _as a signal for us. We then pulled in that direction, and, after pulling some time, we saw the boat of Hare Warana approaching and towmg a. whale after it. When we met he said, " This is a calf. Eewiri has the large fish." So we proceeded on our way, having nothing to guide us but the boat of Ihaka te Tai, for we could not see the boat of Eewiri. And so we proceeded until we came up to the whale. Ihaka's boat was lancing it, and it was nearly dead. My boat-steerer then arose and fastened to it, and it was not long before it was killed. It was then four o'clock in the evening, and the land was out of sight. Ihaka then proposed to Eewiri that his (Eewiri's) boat should take the position next to the whale (for the purpose of towing), but Eewiri objected, lest his boat should be dragged down in the event of the whale sinking. Then Ihaka's boat took up that position, Eewirfs boat being next in order, and mine outside of all. We then commenced towing, and towed till the sun had sank below the horizon. We could now discern the summit of Eakaumangamanga, inland of Motukokako. The weather was then fine and the sea perfectly smooth. As the darkness came on the wind began to rise, and by eight o'clock it was blowing quite a gale. The boats were driven back upon the whale by the force of the wind, and we could hear the crackling sound of the ropes as they surged around the loggerheads. It was no slight matter —things were getting serious. Himi Tahiti then called out to Eewiri, " E Wiri, in two hours time there will be a heavy gale blowing." Eewiri then shouted to me, "What shall we do with the fish? Shall we cast it adrift?" I said, "It is for you two to decide ;" and he answered, " No, it is for all of us to decide." Witeria Moka then called to Ihaka, " Let the fish go ;" but Hori Kerei said, " No, don't let it go. We have not yet striven sufficiently." Witeria Moka answered, "What does it signify? Do you compare that fish to your parents ?° (that you are so anxious about it), tast it off." It was now ten o'clock, and I proposed that our boats should keep together, and be careful not to get separated. The wind had now increased to a furious gale; the rain came down in torrents; intense darkness descended upon the face of the deep; the lightning flashed, and the thunder cracked and rolled overhead; whilst the broken surface of the sea was white as calico. Ever and anon, as we laboured at the oars, we shouted to each other to keep close together—this being our only means of knowing each other's presence. And so we advanced till twelve o'clock. Witeria Moka now hailed us, informing us that the men in his boat were exhausted from over-exertion and the cold and rain. Ihaka te Tai then " What say you ? I propose that vou all come into.

that it came off the mainland on the previous evening ; therefore we pulled against it till 8 o'clock, then the sun shone out through the surrounding clouds. Tou, my friends, will no doubt remember that day, Saturday, the 17th of October. We now found that we were pulling in the right direction. We kept on tell 12 o'clock, when we saw the summit of Mataka, the large hill inland of the Tikitiki. We continued our course, observing meanwhile the wild, rolling waves, unfettered in their own domain. Three seas like the seas of Tapeka, which we so much dread, broke on the top of each mountain wave. At 2 o'clock we sighted Paanaki, off Matauri, and I proposed that we should direct our course thither, and this was agreed to. We had not proceeded far before Te Tahiti was washed overboard, but they succeeded in getting him into the boat again—he was their boat-steerer. After this I myself was washed overboard, but by my own exertions I succceeded in getting into theboat again. My young men proposed to lash me with a rope, lest I should fall overboard again. I thought, if we are to be lost there can be no harm in my being tied with a rope ; but, if we are to be saved, my young men may some day tell nie that I have been tied with a rope; therefore I said to them, " I will not consent to be tied." So we continued our course till we came unexpectedly upon the Taheke (rapids), or hapuku rock, which, it was said, was discovered by a woman in olden times. We found that it was cleft open in the centre, and the current was eddying and whirling round its sides. I shouted that we should be lost. The boat of lhaka was heading right into the opening in the rock; mine was on the upper side of it. We headed the boats off, and, in doing so, my boat was thrown against lhaka's. It appeared as if the boat was being cut in two in the centre near the midship oar. The upper plank was broken asunder : if it had been a lower one we should have been lost. We then pulled on our course, but we did not touch at Paanaki; we passed on to Motueka. At this time our boats had got separated far apart from each other. The Oahu (Native), lhaka te Tai, and Eawiri Waipaoro, were exhausted (in the other boat) and only three retained their strength, namely, Kemara Kaiteke, Mita lhaka, and Renata te Ngere Marupo. When we got near to Motueka we lost sight of the boat of lhaka altogether. I then addressed a mournful farewell to my elder brother, for I thought they were lost. We then landed, and kindled a fire to warm ourselves, after which we pulled to the Ngaere, the settlement of Kingi Hori Kira. He was not there, but a messenger was sent for him. This is all I have to say. It is I, Eenata te Ngere Marupo, who now write. After we lost sight of the boat of Kerei, and our three mates were exhausted, Ave hoisted our sail off Ririwha, and in two tacks we made the land ; for our boat, Tuarea, is a very smart boat, tacking againso the wind. There is no whale-boat in the Bay of Islands equal to her. We landed on the other side of Tauranga, near Whangaroa heads. We dragged our sick men on shore, and made a fire to warm them. Two of them, lhaka and Waipaoro. recovered, but Te Tahiti died. We slept there that night, and next morning came on (in a boat). This is all I have to say. It is I, Kingi Hori Kira, who now write. When the messenger came to me at night, I went straightway to Kerei and his mates, and we had a " tangi." Then Kerei said to me, " Probably your children are dead, for we lost sight of the boat of lhaka off Kiriwha." I then asked him to let me take his boat, to which he agreed. I then started off (i n the boat), and when Ave got off Motueka we saw the

other boat approaching. We met them and went on board and saluted them by touching noses. We then returned together to my settlement, where they and their friends of the other boat had a cry together for their friends who were gone. On Monday, the 19th of October, they buried their dead mate. We then came to the Rawhiti, and sent messengers to carry the news. Soon the numerous hapus of ISTgapuhi were collected together to see their relations, the survivors, and to bewail them who were dead. These are the names of the dead: Rewiri Moka Witeria Moka, Te Tane Rewiri Moka, Werahiko Maika, aud two others, all of the one boat. One belonging to the boat of Ihaka died, making seven in all. From Kingi Hoei Kiea.

A melancholy accident occured on the 26th of June last, at Chatham Islands, resulting in the death of a Maori named Makara. On that day four persons—Pomani and wife (Maoris) and Pikapouri and Makara (Maoris) —had been eeling on the lagoon, and having taken an unusual quantity of eels, loaded an old lumbering canoe, -which lay at Patiki, and, with their prize, paddled away for the Moriori settlement of Bangatira, distant some miles. On that morning, a day intensely cold, the wind at intervals blew fiercely in gusts from the southward. After progressing a few miles the lagoon became fearfully agitated; eventually the canoe capsized, and the occupants were of course immersed in the water, where they struggled long and desperately for life. After almost superhuman exertions they succeeding in righting the canoe and getting into it, and drifted slowly away to the nearest available land —Wairu—which they reached all thoroughly exhausted and benumbed with cold. Pikapouri, however, managed to start off for a recent camping spot to procure a firestick, but ere his return Makara was no more ; he died from cold. Albert Pisher, a publican of Ohinemutu, has had his license cancelled for serving drink to the native woman, named Arihia, who died from the effects of a scald, in September last, through slipping into a boiling spring. The New Zealand war medal has been given to Te Hapuku and Tareha te Moananui, two old and staunch chiefs of the East Coast, in recognition of their services. By the latest journals to hand from the City of Hobarton it appears that prime samples of potatoes have risen to £7 10s. and £8 per ton.