The crossing of Raukawa

Tu Tangata, Issue 27, 1 December 1985, Page 41

The crossing of Raukawa

The crossing of Cook Strait from the western extremity of the North Island to Cape Koamaru the northern tip of Arapawa Island is well recorded in this artist's impression of the armarda of February 1828 which consisted of an alliance of Waikato and Taranaki tribes. Ahead lies the Brothers which were rightly regarded as the father of all navigational hazards. The Brothers Ngawhatu were in legend the eyeballs of the octopus which

Kupe had cast into the sea after his tustle with it in the Strait. The fierce currents that swirl around the Brothers showed that the marine dinizen was not quite dead and in order to guard against mishap those engaged in their first crossing of Raukawa were obliged to shield their eyes with karaka leaves when approaching the tapu area. The exception to the rule being the steersman. That the waters around the Brothers could not be taken lightly

was proven to Cook when his command the Endeavour was nearly wrecked on Ngawhatu. It was only by launching the ship’s boats that Cook was able to save his command in these then unchartered waters.

Parkinson the artist recorded the entry into the tapu sea, by writing in his journal "it made a great rippling, especially near the islands, where the water running in heaps, bears and whirpools made a great noise in its passage". The recorded speed of the current was 5 knots and though the anchors were dropped in 75 fathoms this extra safeguard barely held the "Endeavour".

The high hill in the background is Pukeatua on Arapawa Island. It was from this vantage point that the tohungas judged whether conditions were favourable for the crossing of the strait to the North Island. Like its counterpart on the Omere ridge across the water Pukeatua gave an uninterrupted view of Cook Strait well into the South Taranaki Bight when looking northwards and far to the south of Cape Campbell when viewing the opposite quarter. Considering the historical associations of this ancient place-name of Pukeatua one can well ask what is the reason for having a geographic board when on Land and Survey maps they condone its substitution for "Ref. Coast 429"?

In recreating the crossing of Cook Strait in olden times the artist is not guilty of a piece of licence by including a school of dolphins. For in the tribal lore of the Ngati Kuia whose connection with Pelorus Sound goes back into the distant past, tribal legend holds that their forebears were in fact guided across the strait by these intriguing mammals.