A Legend of Otago.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 12, 1 September 1900, Page 895

A Legend of Otago.

Down 'mid the Mils on the Southern sky, Where the black sou- wester is bending low, There lingers a tale of the long ago When the land was young and hopes ivere high. They were two of the first by the Philip Lainq, They left the infant town ; And struck for the north through the bushclad hills Till they came to an open down. There were Maori men that dwelt therein, And they spoke the strangers well. They gave them maids of the tribe to wife, And whares wherein to dwell. They granted gifts of chase and land, And flaxen mats full store, But still whatever the Maoris gave, The pakehas took more.

The chief of the tribo had a daughter tall — Slender and fair to see : From Kaiapoi to Taicri Beach No maid as fair as she. The white men saw her loveliness, And they wrought the maiden harm. And the call was sent among the tribes For the Maori men to arm. The night was dark as Wickedness, The sky was rent with flarao, When swift and sure and terrible The Maoris' vengeance oame. ***** There's a glen that the Maori people fear, There's a glen where the sheep won't feed, No foot but the musterer's passes there — It is cursed by that dreadful deed. Awakimo.