Southern New Zealand Historical Romance

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume I, Issue 7, 1 April 1900, Page 516

Southern New Zealand Historical Romance

\\\ TAIERI-MOUTH TRAGEDY. If/ THE LOVER'S LEAP. W^\

f Cy^ By Ro. Carbick. \f(?)

§OVE'S sacrifice was not a marked feature in the Maori character. They were a polygamous race whose conjugal relations were based first on rank, and second on labour. The man of mark selected his wahine, or principal wife from the Rangatira-tanga, or privileged classes ; the Hoahoa, or subordinate wife, cm whom the drudgery devolved, came as a rule from the Awheawhe, being the workers. Offspring of the former excluded that of the latter in rights of succession, but where the former failed the other succeeded. More than that, the latter might in virtue of superior abilities supplant the other, and iv pakeha parlance the first became last, the last first. Under these circumstances devotion to the sex had no great chance of expanding into chivalry, nor even the gallantry attained under monogamic institutions. Love tragedies did occur within measureable distance of the marriage relations. A disconsolate' widow on the death of her husband would retire into the bush, and hang herself, and what was also common, the inconstant wife, rather than face revelations, took upon herself the happy despatch. I only know one real tragedy enacted outside these lines. It commenced on the banks of the Taieri, so nara^d, or rather misnamed, from a peculiarity in the flow of its tides at the eleventh day of the moon, and ended on a skerry, Green Isles, lying half a league off Parangiaio Point, Buapuke Island. It ocourred between 1820-25. It was

rather a peculiar period in Maori history. Hostilities between the two great Southern tribes — Ngatimamoe and Ngaitahu — had ceased, and the turbulent Ngaitahu had to find another outlet for its wariike propensities. In default of better, what is known as the Kai-huuga feud broke out. The word, cannibalistic in its origin, is rendered odious to even the man-eater in its application. It signifies devouring one's own relations. Ngaitahu sub-tribes, residing at Kaiapoi, Bank's Peninsula, and neighbourhood, got into complete disorganisation — one waging war on the other. According to our way of thinking, the origin of this hubbub was paltry and inadequate. An old lady named Muri-haka, with a vanity peculiar to the sex, bedecked herself in a dog-skin mat. The lady's name bears festive significance, and we may be sure she exhibited herself in the borrowed plumes at some jovial gathering or haka. The mat belonged to the Upoko-Ariki, who was heir to the ancestral honors of the noblest family of the Ngaitahu. I cannot better explain that character of nobility than by describing him as the Lord Spiritual and Temporal, besides whom there was none else. Fancy a mountebank, or glee-girl snatching the wig of a Lord Justice General, and using it in the mimics which delight a " vulgar burgher horde ! " That conveys only a partial idea of the enormity of the offence. The greatest consternation, we are told, prevailed throughout the pas. The thirst for blood became intense. Instead of appeasing

it at the expense of the original offender, a poor servant woman, belonging to a relation of hers, was seized and put to death. Utu, or satisfaction, on equally indiscriminate terms, was sought and obtained, and so reprisal followed reprisal until these subtribes found themselves plunged into the horrors of internecine warfare. Although not directly interested in the melee, the sport was too good for Otahou and Murihiku men to stand | aloof. An armed force under command of Taiaroa hied away north for the ostensible purpose of assisting the Taumutu. Taiaroa on the occasion appears to have acted a double part. Professing to assist his friends, he was mainly instrumental in warding off the blows aimed by them at their enemies. On the theory that the end justifies the means, this conduct may have been commendable. After a deal of hard fighting with varied success, Otakou and Murihiku warriors returned home to the south, carrying with them the entire population of Tau-mutu, fearing to leave them behind, exposed to the vengeance of the survivors of the pas that had suffered at their hands. A chief, or chief person of the refugee tribe, named Taki-anau, was amongst the number. He and a few immediate followers separated from the main body of the fugitives, who took up their' abode at Parakaunui, outside Blueskin Bay; Taki-anau and his followers going on to Waihora (now Waihola), on the south-eastern bank of which, not far from its confluence with the river, they built a pa. Taieri travellers, prior to the railway advent, recollect the pa well. It was within a few yards of the traffic road not far from the river crossing. Many a tired s wagger and heavy laden teamster en route to Gabriel's Gully and the woolshed used it as a halting place for the night. » Tradition describes Taki-auau as a mild tempered, reflective man, and we can understand, after the fierce battles he fought, his then comparatively quiet retreat at the Taieri would be doubly welcome. His eel weirs and cultivations must have been prolific. The alliance between his Ngaitahu friends and their old enemies the

Ngatimamoes, coupled with their remoteness from the bloody Kai-lmiiga and its strifes, rendered the situation comparatively safe. We may therefore conclude it was just what the soul of the mild reflective man would delight in, being in effect a scene of peace and plenty. Unfortunately the greeneyed monster was at hand. Tribal contest left him alone, but the tender passion whipped up a tumult which drove him into deeper exile, and eventually brought about his ruin. His son, on whom a name signifying the voice of the gods had been bestowed, was amongst his followers. Koroki-whiti was the name of this gifted youth. His dulcet tones seem to have been heard at the mouth of the Taieri, where a crusty old Ngatimamoo chief, Tu-wiri-roa, had long resided in a pa commanding the entrance to the river. He was a cantankerous old fellow, just the sort of man for heavy villain in a dark plot, or harsh parent of a love stricken maiden. As luck would have it, he had an only child — a daughter. Her name — Haki-te-kura — in some way imports red frills or flutters, but whether the allusion was to the colour of her hair or her complexion cannot now be ascertained. Be that as it may, our youth of the heavenly voico and this young lady established a good understanding, and all unknown to the lady's friends, had a trysting place on the sands, "whore the river tides run low." There thoy appear to have spent a good deal of timo in the society of each other. What a rousing romance this would have been for the ploughman poet, had his muses extended to the Taieri ! His "Banks and braes o' bonnie Doon " would not have bloomed more " fresh and fair " than Taieri river rippling with a tide on the eleventh moon. As for "Mary in Heaven," the chances are she was not more enraptured than our dusky Haki-te-kura, under the spell of Koroki-whiti's god-like intonations. The course of true love did not run smooth, It got in amongst snags, and a good many knocks ensued. The crusty old Ngatirnamoe sternly forbade the clandestine meetings on the river sands. They wore nevertheless persisted in. The stern parent looked tho

lady up in the pa. In doing so he muttered something to himself loud enough to be overheard. These mutterings duly found their way into the pa at the lake. Horokiwhiti and his father interpreted them as a purpose, on Tu-wiri-roa's part, to consign them to the wmu, or oven, and so dispose of them in accordance with ancient custom. Getting uneasy at the turn things had taken, Taki-auau communicated his alarm to his kinsman, Waka-ta-punga, uncle of the noted Tu-hai-waika, then residing at Ruapuke. Coming to the rescue, Makatapunga invited Tuki-auau and his liapv, to occupy Green Isles, a bird snaring station east from the Island of Ruapuke. The invitation was readily accepted. The mild tempered, reflective Tuki-auau, pursued by a varied, but still relentless fortune, was again on the wing — an exile in search of a home in the far south. They went by sea in four canoes. So great was the fear iuspired by Tu-wiri-roa's threat, it was deemed advisable to get away out to sea under cloud of night. Koroki-whiti was in charge of one of the canoes, and in sailing down the river dallied so that he approached the Ngatimamoe pa at daybreak. His imprisoned beauty had so managed that she was fully cognisant of her lover's movements, and at just the right time succeeded in regaining her freedom. The pa dogs getting suspicious, set up a howl, and the relentless father got out of bed to ascertain what was the matter. * He saw his daughter running towards the beach where the lover's canoe was in readiness to receive her. Divining the purpose, he followed her. Finding her flight cut off, she rushed towards the precipice, and next moment was dashing headlong over it. It was a descent of two hundred feet, with subjacent rocks, so that by the time the body reached the river, it was bartered out of all possible recognition. According to strict Maori obsei'vance, utu or satisfaction for a death could not be taken until the expiry of a year after the death qpourred. The theory was, grass should be allowed to. grow green over the' oven in which the bociies were cooked, or the grave in which they had been buried. Any violation

of that rule was esteemed mortal sin, the Aitu would sooner or later visit with condign punishment. Tu-wiri-roa was strict in his observance of the traditions of the fathers, but he was also prompt and decisive in his measures for punishment according to law. He was a man well stricken in years with the lofty bearing and punctilio of the Ngatimamoe chief. In the latter, at all events, he had hardened considerably since the death of his child. Never at any time communicative, he had become absolutely reticent and relentless, brooking no interference in the executions of his designs. His taua, or war team, was unexpectedly apprised of his determination to set out on a warlike expedition to the south. Approaching Green Isles, they were at a loss to make out the whereabouts of those they were in search of. Subsequently they caught sight of their canoes shooting out from the land for the fishing grounds. When they anchored, and their attention was engrossed by their lines, Tu-wiri-roa bore down on them, and cut off their chance of escape. Taken unawares, and being without weapons, they were easily overpowered and put to death. Being close to Parangiaio Heads, Rua-puke pa was soon alarmed and promptly brought into action. The cannon, whose presence on the Island has created so much surprise, sent belching forth some well directed shots, and being quite a new experience in Maori warfare, created the greatest sensation. Tu-wiri-roa's people did not know which way to turn for safety. In that dilemma the Islanders caught up to them, and they were driven ashore, the chief and all his principal men slain — the common people keptas prisoners. Consequent on this disaster, Taieri-mouth pa was deserted ; the territorial rights of its haughty chief becoming part of the NgatimamoeNgaitahu lands, embodied in the sale of Otakau Block to the European. Survivors of the Tua-mutu exiles returned to their pa at Waihola Lake, where they remained a broken tribe until within comparatively recent date. Their descendants are now scattered over the coast settlements, the largest number living about Akaroa.