OPE-RIKI PA

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 6, 1 March 1900, Page 25

OPE-RIKI PA

A short distance abovo the village of Koriniti, and on the left bank of the river, is situated the old lighting pa of Ope-riki. It is on the cliff overlooking the river, which cliff, being perpendicular, formed one defence of the fort, the other three sides being guarded by earthworks and ditches, with the ever present palisades. After being abandoned for generations, the walls are now fully twelve feet in height. iiJach side of the pa is about one hundred and twenty yards in length. This was the fighting^ of the Pa-moana, sub-tribe of To Ati-Hau. Tradition states that once only did an enemy succeed in entering this historic fort — and he never came oat again. One dark, cold night, when rain squalls were drifting down from the forest heights above, a war party succeeded

in entering the defences. But as they crouched by a deserted fire, they were heard whispering among themselves by a woman of the pa, and the garrison was alarmed. That was the end of that war party.

When, many years ago, a strong band of Waikato warriors attacked Ope-riki, they came down the river in canoes, and invested the pa. The siege lasted many months, but the Pa-moana people had an abundance of - •:■- •r 1 food in the fort, and easily drew from the river the water required by the garrison.

The enemy constructed a huge ranqi large enough to contain forty men. It was a singular structure, composed of a wooden frame so closely wattled or interlaced with the tough Jcareao creeper, as to prevent a spear being thrust through. When this strange object was finished, forty daring men, armed only with wooden spades, entered therein, and lifting the light but strong shield, advanced on the pa. On reaching the earthen walls, they set the rangi firmly against it, and commenced to undermine the walls by digging, supported by their comrades. The besieged, however, produced long poles, which they placed in a slanting position against the palisades of the defences, so that the ends pr ojected outside and over the rangi. Securing these poles,

they formed a kind of rough stage outside the palisades, and from which they proceeded to crush the upper part of the rangi by means of casting down great stones and heavy pieces of timber, so that they were then able to slay the men in the cage by means of long spears. The enemy retired discounted, and took up a position on the flope above the fort, while the garrison, crowding on to the puwhara or fighting platforms inside the defences, chanted the following )u/cri or jeering song, amid the frantic yells of the whole hapii : '•Te rongo mai koia koe Ko te wiiro hunanga kui tenei Ko to waro hunanga tuugata tenei Ko nga tuatara o Kawakawa. Kei ngenge kau o turi I to hapainga i te kakau o te hoe A. kia riro atu te toka i Matai E tv ake nei te whakawehi o to riri." # # # # # '• Hast thou never indeed heard This is the chasm where all things disappear. The deep chasm where man is lost, The famed tuatara of Kawakawa. Let not thy knees tire in vain In uplifting the handles of the weapons. When the rock of Matai is carried awuy, Then shall we feel the fear of angry strife." The rock of Matai here alluded to is a rock which stands in the river near tho pa. Near Karatia (Galatea) we see the remains of the " Tuhua," a baby steamboat of days gone by, which was here wrecked. On these reaches the scenery is most picturesque, the wild gorges and bush-clad cliffs are especially attractive to the camera fiend, as also are the native villages, many of which form most pleasing pictures. At Rua-pirau, just below Galatea, are two more old Maori forts, but the most famous is the Puke-ika pa at Ranana. Rua-pirau was also the ' abode of the dread taniwha (water demon) O-tara-huru, of famous memory. Ranana and Hiruharama are most charming little settlements, and the scenes of native

life are interesting. Fruit is'iibnmltint all along the line — in season. The gentle autochthones, however, are not energetic in turning benefits to account. They are camped by the Fire of Pawhora for all time. Just abovo lianann wo negotiate an awkward rapid, though the little " Ohura" and her crew treat it lightly. The little one struggles bravely against the swift waters, and throws out her stilts, two on either side, which help her somewhat. Tho whole vast mass of surging waters is here con lined to a narrow channel, down which it rushes in foaming swirls. The "Ohura" butts her nose into the tail of the race, and the light begins — Ciyde trrmm Whanga-nui. The heaving waters lash her as she struggles to conquer them. By lining objects ashore, one can see that she is just gaining at about tho rate of a yard per hour. Men gropo hurriedly for the friendly wire which lies hidden below that foaming mass of waters. They lift it not, it must have been shifted somewhat by the current. The lever is jerked over to half speed ahead, a bell sounds below, another jerk of the lever, the bell rings again, the swirling waters lift and cast the dauntless " Ohura " from their troubled surface. Hut even as she begins to drift rapidly down stream, the rope is secured, hauled on board, passed rapidly round the winch spool, and trails away over the quarter. Steam is turned on to the winch gear, it pull's out across the waters in laboured white jets. The bells are jangling again below, as her nose sags round until the whole Whanga-nui River strikes her. The wheel spins round and the wire coils over the spool to crawl back into the deep waters astern. Then, steadied by the friendly wire, she swings round to her murks, and no longer attempts to hold back the river's volume, but fights her way up through the raging waters. We have, however, passed the historic battlefield of Moutoa, a shingle islet in the river, and where the natives of the lower river defeated those of Tuhua and tho headwaters, in pitched battle. This was during the troublous times of the sixties, when war raged over the land, Tho Hauhan fanatics

of the interior started down the river in canoes to attack the settlement of Whanganui, and wipe out the obnoxious pakeha. The lower river tribes rose to the occasion, and marshalled their forces in order to resist the invasion of their district. For this raid was a tahahi mana, a disregard of tribal prestige, which is not well. So the long line of war canoes, laden with armed warriors, swung away up the river to meet the wild bushmen who sprang to arms at the sign of the severed head. And here on this strong islet they met, and landing, fought the good fight of Moutoa. A truly Homeric combat was this, fought out amid the swirling waters of Whanga-nui. The defenders of the outlands are driven back by the charge of the Hauhau force, but rallying at the water edge, they charge the enemy, and succeed in defeating them. So they who sought to revel in the sack of Whanga-nui, retreat sullenly to their forest homes, and the town of Whanga-nui is saved. And on the plaza at that town you may see the monument erected by the New Zealand Government to the memory of the friendly natives who fell at Moutoa. Most picturesque are these reaches of the river, the great bush-crowned cliffs, the grassy slopes and terraces, the native settlements with their neat houses, their fruit trees, their canoes lying at the landing place. Below Pipiriki the river runs through a box canyon, as it would be termed in New Mexico, that is between high perpendicular cliffs, imposing in their massiveness, the sullen waters, deep and dark, flow sluggishly between them. The suu has sunk down over the western ranges, the last golden beams are glorifying the bush-clad hills to the right, the purple shadows on the ranges darken to the sounding waters, as we reach the settlement of Pipiriki. It is here that we pass the night, and as we roll out on the Taupo coach next morning, en route for the drear plains and snow-clad mountains that surround the Sea of Tia, we

look down upon the vale of Whanga-nui below. A white mist, the earthly form of Hine-pukohu-rangi, the Mist Goddess, fills the unseen valley, fleecy fragments drift up the wooded gulches and scarred cliffs to break and melt on the crest thereof, while far below the unseen Waters of Rua murmur through the rock-bound channel, and hurry onward to the sea. * * * * * Genealogy No. I. Hine-Kawau — Tupari (a descendant | of Tu-te-ao) Tumata-kokiri Waiwera Patiki Karana Te Rou-kakahi Te Kete-kiri Tikei Kura-whanga-kai Te Awhe Te Akau-rangi Te Whakahoro Huhana Wikitoria HareKingi (a child, 1898) Genealogy No. 11. ! Matawai / Aokehu m Tapuaki Okehu Puku-taonga Tio Ringa Rapia Ha-marama Tauwheke-iti Keo Marewa Kakaraia Korako