The Legend of Rata.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10501, 23 November 1901, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Legend of Rat a.

HIS ADVENTUBES WITH THE ENCHANTED TREE AND BEVENQE OF HIS PATHEB'S MUBDEB. Before Tawhaki ascended up into the heavens a son named Wahieroa had been born to him by his first wife. A.3 soon as Wahieroa grew to man's estate he took Kura for a wife, and she bore him a son whom' they called Bata. AVahieroa waa slain treacherously by a chief named Matukutakotako, but his son Bata was born some time before his death. It therefore became his duty to revenge the death of his father Waihicroa, and Bata, having grown up, at last devised a plan for doing this. He therefore gave the necessary orders to his dependants, at the same time saying 'to them, "I am about to go in search of the man who slew my father." He then started upon a journey for this purpose, and at length" arrived at the entrance to the place of Matukutakotako. He found there a man who was left in charge of it sitting at the entrance to the court-yard, and he asked him, saying, "Where i& the man who killed my father?" The man who was left in charge of tho place an-

swere'd him, "He lives beneath in the earth there; and I am left here by him to call to him and warn, him when the new moon appears. Ai that season he rises and comes forth upon the earth, and devours men. as his food." 'Kata then said (o him, "AU that you say is true, but how can he know when the proper time comes for him to rise up from the earth?" The man replied, "I call aloud to him." Then said Bata, "When will there bo a new moon?" And the man who was * "left "to take care of the place answered him, "In two nights hence. Do you now return to your own village, but on the morning of the second day from this time come here again to me." Bata, in compliance with these directions, returned to his own dwelling, and waited there until the time that had been appointed him, and on the morning of that day he again journeyed along the road he had previously travelled, and found the man sitting in the same place, and he asked him, saying, "Do you know any spot where I can conceal myself, and lie hid from theenemy with whom I am about to fight, from Matukutakotako?" The man replied, "Come with me until I show you the two fountains of clear water." Then they went together until they came to the fountains. The man then Said to Bata, "The spot that we stand on is the place where Matuku riseß up from the earth, and younder fountain is one in which he combs and washes his dishevelled hair, but this fountain is the one he uses to reflect his face in whilst he dresses it. You cannot kill him whilst ho is at the fountain he uses to reflect his face in, because your shadow would be also reflected in it, and he would see it; but at the fountain in which he washes his hair you may smite and slay him." Eata then, asked the man, "Will he make his appearance from the earth this evening?" And the man answered "Yes." They had not waited long there when evening arrived and tho moon became visible, and the man said to Bata, "Do you now go and hide yourself near the brink of the fountain in which he washes his hair"; and Bata went and hid himself near the edge of the fountain, and the man who had been left to watch for the purpose shouted aloud, "Ho, ho ! the new moon is visible — a moon two days old." And Matukutakotako heard him, and seizing his twohanded wooden sword, ho rose up from the earth, and went straight to his two fountains. Then he laid his twohanded sword on the ground, at tho edge of the fountain where he dressed his hair, and, kneeling down on both knees beside it, he loosened tho strings which bound up his long locks, and shook out hiß dishevelled hair, and plunged his head into the cool waters of the fountain. So Bata, creeping out from where he lay hid, rapidly moved \ip and stood behind him, and as Matukutakotako raised - his head from the water, Eata with one hand seized him by the hair, while with the other ho smote and slew him. Thus he avenged the death of his father Wahioroa. Bata then asked the man whom he had found in charge of the place, "Where shall I find the bones of Waliieroa my father?" And the keeper of the place answered him, "They are not here ; a strange people who live at a distance came and carried them off." Upon hearing this, Eata returned to Ilia own village, and there reflected over many designs by which he might recover the bones of his father. At length lie thought of an excellent plan for this purpose, so he went into the forest and having found a very tall tree, quite straight throughout its entire length, he felled it, and cut off its noble branching top, intending to fashion the trunk into a canoe* and all the insects which inhabit trees, and the spirits of the forests, were very angry at this, and as soon as JRata had returned to the village at evening, when his day's work waß ended, they all came and took the tree, and raised it up again, and the innumerable multitude of insects, birds, and spirits, who are called "the offspring of Hakuturi," worked away at replacing each little chip and shaving in its proper place, and sang aloud their incantations as they worked; this was what they sang with a confused noise of various voices : "Fly together, chips and shavings, Stick ye fast together, Hold ye fast together; Stand upright again, O tree ! Early tho next morning back came Bata, intending to work at hewing the trunk of tho tree into a canoe. When he got to the place where- he had left the trunk lying on the ground, at first he could not find it, and if that fine . tall straight tree, which ho saw stand- t ing whole and sound in the forest, was the same he thought he had cut down, - there it wbb now erect again. llowcver, he stepped up to it, and manfully ] hewing away at it again, he felled it ■ ( to the ground onco more, and off he cut i ' its fine branching top again, and began ; to hollow out the hold of the canoe, ; and to slope off its prow and the stern i into their proper gracefully curved i forms; and in tho evening, when it be- 1 came too dark to work, he returned to lub village. As soon as he was gone, back came 7 tho innumerable multitudes of insects, 3 birds, and spirits, who aro called the ' offspring of Hakuturi, and they raised ' up the tree on its stump once more, 1 and with a confused noise of various f voices, they sang incantations as they ' worked, and when they had ended these , tho tree again stood sound as ever in r its former place in tbe forest. j The morning dawned, and Bata returned once more to work at his canoe, j When he reached the place, was not he amized to see the tree standing up £ in. the forest, untouched, just as he had , at first found it? But he, nothing j daunted, hews away at it again, and , down it topples crashing to the earth. v As soon as ho saw tho tree upon the c ground, Bata went off as if going i home, and then, turned back ana hid himself in the underwood, in a spot B whence he could peep ont and see what B took place. He had not been hidden -^ long when he heard the innumerable •• multitude of the children of Tane ap- a proaching tho spot, singing their in- y cantations as they came along; at last j they arrived close to the place where- - the tree was lying upon the ground. £ Lo, a rush upon them is made by Bata. ~ Ha, lie haß seized some of them; he B shouts out to them, saying, "Ha, ha, it j, is you, is it, then, who have been ex- <• ercising your magical nrts upon my \ tree"" Then the children of Taiie all t cried nloud in reply, "Who gave you j authority to foil the forest god <o Iho a ground? You had no right to do so.' a When Bata heard them say this, he k was quite overcome with shame at what ]i he had done. • h The offspring of Tane again all call- _ ed out aloud to him, "Beturn, O Bata,

to thy village, we will make a canoe for you. - Bata, without delay, o^.^yed their orders, and as soon as he had gone they all fell to work. They were so numerous, and understood each what to do so well, that they no sooner began to adze out a canoe than it was completed. When they had done this, Bata and his tribe lost no time in hauling it from the forest to the water, and the name they gave to that canoe was Biwaru. When_the canoe was afloat upon the sea, 140 warriors embarked on board it, and without delay they paddled off to seek their foes. One night, jußt at nightfall, they reached the fortress of their enemies, who were named Ponaturi. When they arrived there, Bata alone landed, leaving the canoe afloat and all his warriors on board. As he stole along the shore he saw that a firo was burning on the sacred place where the Ponaturi consulted their gods and offered sacrifices to them. Bata, without stopping, crept directly towards the fire, and hid himself behind some thick bushes of the Harakeke.* He then saw that there were some priests upon the other side of the same bushes, serving at the sacred place, and, to assist themselves in their magical arts, they were making use of tho bones of Wahieroa, knocking them together to beat time while they were repeating a powerful incantation known only to themselves, tho name of which was Titikura. Bata listened attentively to this incantation until he learnt it by heart, and when, he was quite sure that he knew it, he rushed suddenly upon the priests; they, surprised and -"gnorant of the numbers of their enemy, or whence they came, made little resistance, and were in a moment smitten and slain. The bones of his father Wahieroa were then _ eagerly snatched up by him; he hastened with them back to the canoe, embarked on board it, and his warriors at once paddled away, striving to reach his fortified village. In tho morning some of the Ponoturi repaired to their sacred place, and found their priests lying dead there, just as they were slain by Bata. So, withont delay, they pursued him. A thousand warriors of their tribe followed after Bata. At length this army reached the fortress of- Bata, and an ongagement at once took place, in which the tribe of Bata was worsted, and sixty of its warriors slain. At this moment Bata bethought him of the spell he had learnt from the priests, and, immediately repeating the potent »ncant.ition Titikura, his slain warriors were by its power onco more restored to life; thpn they rushed again to the combat, and the Ponaturi were slaughtered by Bati and his tribe, a thousaud of them — tho whole of them were slain. Te Bata's task of avenging his father's death being thus ended, his tribe hauled up his large canoe on the shore, and roofed it over with thatch to protect it from the sun and weather. Bata now took Tongarautawhiri as one of his wives, and she bore him a son whom he named Tuwhakararo. When this son came to man's estate, he took Apak'ira as one of his wives and from her sprang a son named Whakatau. He was not born in the manner that mortals are, but came into being in this way: One day Apakura went down upon the sea-coast, and took off a little apron which she wore in front as a co\ering, and threw it into the ocean, and a "od named Bongotokawiu took it and shaped it, and gave it form and being, and Whakatau sprang into life, and his ancestor Bongotakawiu taught him magic and the use of enchantments of every kind. When Whakatan was a little lad, his favourite amusement was flying kites. Mortals then often observed kites flying in the air, and could see nothing else, for Whakatau waß running about at tho bottom of the waters, still holding the end of tho string of the kite in his hands. One day he stole up out of the water by degrees, and nt length caniq upon the shore, where the wholo of his body was quite plainly seen by some people who were near, and they ran as fast as they could to catch him. When Whakatau observed them all running to seize him, he slipped back again into the water, and continued flying his kite as before ; but the people who had seen him were surprised at this strange sight, and being determined to catch him the next time he came out, they sat down upon the bank to wait for him. At last Whakatau came up again, and stepped on shore once more ; then the people who were watching for him all ran at full speed again, he cried out, "You had better go and bring Apakura hero, she is the only person who can catch me and hold me fast." When they heard this, one of them ran to fetoh Apakura, and she came with him ,\t once, and as soon as die saw little Whakatau, she called out to him, "Here I am; I am Apakurn." Whakntau ithen stopped running, and Apakiira caught held of him with her hands, and she questioned him, sayiuc "Whom do you belong to?" And Whakatau answered her, "I am your child; you one day threw the little apron which covered you on the sands of the sea, and the god Bougotakawiu, my ancestor, formed me from it, and 1 grew up a human being, and he named me Whakatau." Prom that time Whakatau left tho water and continued to live on shore. His principal amusement, as long as he was .v lad, was still flying kites: but he understood magic well, and nothing was concealed from him, and when ho grew up to be a man he became a ronowned hero. This second legend of the destruction by Whakatau-potiki of the house called Te Tihi-o-Manono, or Te Uro-oManono, is added, because it differs considerably from the other, and is often alluded to in ancient poems. Tiuirau determined to attempt to avenge tho death of his descendant Tuwhakararo, and he thought that tho best person to do this was Whakatau, whom ho knew to be very skilful in war, and in enchantments, so he directed his wife Hine-i-te-iwaiwa to find Whakatau, and she went in search. When she reached a village near whero sho expected to find him, she. asked somo people whom she saw, whero Whakatau was, and they answered her, "He is on the top of yonder hill flying a kite.' She at onco proceeded on her way until sho came to the hill, and seeing a. man there, sho, asked him, "Cm you tell me where I can find Whakatau'" and he replied, "You must have passed him as you came here." Then she returned to tho village where she had seen tho people, and said to them, "Why, the man upon tho hill says that Whakatau is here;" but they told her that the man who had spoken to her must have been Whakatau himself, and that she had better return to him, aud told her marks by which sho might know him. She therefore returned, aud he, after some time, when she showed him that die knew certain marks about •New Zealand flax.

his person, admitted that he was Whakatau; and he then asked her what had made her come to him? and she replied, "Tinirau sent me to you to ask you to come and assist in avenging the death of .our near relative; the warriors are all collecting at the village of Tinirau, but they fear to go to attack these enemies, for they are the bravest of all the 1 .enemies of; Tinrian." Whakatau then asked her, "Have you yet given a feast to the warriors?" and she said, "Not yet." He then spoke to her, say--ing, "Beturn at once and when you reach your village, give a great feast to the warriors; give them abundance of potted birds from the forests, but let all the oil in which the birds were preserved be kept for me; as for yourself, do not go to the feast, but decking your head with a mourning dress ot feathers, remain < seated close in the house of mourning." Then Hine-i-te-nwaiwa at once returned to Tinirau, to do as she had been directed. Shortly after his visitor had left him, Whakatau called aloud to his people, saying, "Let the sideboards bo at once fresh lashed on to our canoe, to the canoe of our anchestor of I'ata." His men were so anxious to fulfil their chief's orders, that almost as soon as he had spoken they were at work, and had finished the canoe that very day, and dragged it down to the sea; when night fell, six of his warriors embarked in it, and Whakatau made the seventh; chey then paddled 05, following a direct course, until thoy reached tho village of Tinirau; where they found Hine-i-te-iwaiwa seated in her house of mourning. Whakatau then aflced her, "Have the warriors all left yet?" and she replied, "They will not do it, they are afraid." Whakatau then said to her, "Farewell, then; do you remain here until you hear further from me." Whakatau and his men having reembarked in their canoe, made a straight course for the place where was situated the great house called the Tihi-o-Maioio, and they let their anchor drop and floated theme.' When the next morning broke, and some of tho people of the village coming out, "A war party ! a war yarty '" dofences, saw the canoe floating at the anchorage, they gave the alarm, orying out, "A war party ! a war jarty !" Then the warriors came_rushing forth to tho fray in crowds, and arranged themselves in bands. Then stood forth one of their champions whose name was Mango-huritapena, and he defied Whakatau, who was standing up in his canoe, calling out, "Were you fool enough, then, to come here on your own accord?" and Whakatau answered him, by shouting out, "Which of the arts of war do you consider yourself famous for?" and Mango-huritaena shouted out in answer, "I am a most skilful diver." "Dive here, then, if you dare," shouted out Whakatau in reply. Then the champion of the enemy gave a plunge into the water, and dived under it. Just as he got right under the canoe, one of Whakatau's men poured the oil which Hine-i-teiwaiwa had given them into the sea, and its waters immediately became quite transparent, so that they saw the warrior come floating up under the canoe, and Whakatau transfixed him with a wooden spear; so that champion perished. Then forward stepped another champion named Pitakataka, and he defied Whakatau, shouting out, "Ah, you only killed Mango-huritapena because he chanced to put himself in a wrong position." Whakatau shouted out in reply, "Which of the arts of war are you skilled in then?" and he answered, "Oh ! I leap so skilfully that I seem to fly in tho air." "Then leap here, if yo dare," answered Whakatau; and the champion of his enemies took a run and made a spring high into the air; but Whakatau laid a noose on the canoe, and as the warrior alighted in it, he drew it tight and caught him as a bird in a snare, and thus flew that warrior also. And thus, one after the other, lie slew ten of the most famous warriors of his enemies; one whom he had seized, he saved alive, but he cut out his tongue, and then said to him, "Now, off with you to the shore again, and tell them there how I have overcome you all;" having done this, Whakatau retired a little di&tance back from the place, so that his canoe could not be seen by his enemies. In the afternoon Whakatau landed on the coast, and before eating anything offered tho prescribed sacrifice of the hair and a part of the skin of the head of one of hie victims to the gods; and when tho religious rites were finished, he ate food; and having doen this, he directed the people he had with him to return, spying, "Beturn at once, and when you reach the residence of Hine-i-te-iwaiwa, speak to her, saying, •Whakatau told us to come, and tell you, that he could not return with us;' and he further said, 'If heavy rain falls in large drops, it is a sign that I have been killed; bnt if a light, misty rain falls, and the whole horizon is lighted up with flames, then you may know that I have conquered, and that I have burnt tho Tihi-o-Manono;* he also said that ho wished you to sit upon the roof of your house watching until you saw - tho Tihi-o-Manono burnt." Whakatan's , people at once roturned to Hine-i-te-lwaiwa to deliver the message he hud given them. Just before nightfall, Whakatau drew . near tho great .house, called the Tihi-o-Manono, and as the people of Whitipa- ' konako, a great chief, were collecting firewood at the edge of a forest, he , stealthily dropped in amongst them, pretending to' be collecting firewood too ; and as they were going home with ; their loads of firewood upon their backs i ho managed to push on in front of , them, and got into the house first with a long rope in his hand. One end of t this he pushed between one of the side posts which supported tho roof, and the plank walls of the house, and did i the same with every post of the house, until the rope bad gone quite round it, and then he made one end of it fast to ' the last post, and held the other end ' in his hand. ] this time the people who 'ived in -\ the house all came crowding on to pans the night in it, and soon filled it up; ' tho house was no large, and there were ] so many of them, that they had to ] light ten fires in it. ( When their fires had burnt up , brightly some of thm called out to Mango-Pare, the man whem Whakatau ] had hayed alive, and whose tongue he < had cut out, "Well now, tell us what c kind of looking fellow that was who j cut your tongue out;" and MangoPare answered, "There is no one I can * compare him to, he was not like a man 1 ii tho proportion of his frame.' One of v them called out, "Was he at all like me'" But Mango-Pare answered, "There is nobody I can compare him to." Then c another called out, "Was he at all liko li me?" and another, "Was he like mo?" c until, at length, Mango-Pare called c out, "Have I not already told you, , that there is not one of you whom I can compare to him?" c'e '

Whakatan himself then exclaimed, "Was he at all like mo?" And MangoPare, who had not before seen him in the crowd, looked attentively at him for a minute, and then cried out,- "I say, look here all of you at this fellow, he is not unlike the man, he looks very like him, perhaps it is he himself." But Whakatau coolly asked him again, "Was the man really something like me?" And Mango-Pare replied, 'Tea, he was like you; I really think it was you;" and Whakatau shouted aloud, "You are right, it was I." As soon as they heard this, all of them in a moment sprang to their feet. But, at the same instant, Whakatau laid hold of the end of the rope which he had passed round the posts of the house, and, rushing out, pnlled it with all. his strength, and straightway^ the house fell down, crushing all within it, so that the whole tribe perished, and Whakatau, who had escaped to the outside of the house, set it on fire, and Hine-i-te-iwaiwa, who was sitting upon the roof of her own house watching for the event, saw the whole of one part of the heavens red with its flames, and nhe knew that her enemies were destroyed. Whakatau, having thus avenged the death of Tuwhakararo, returned to his own village.