Thy people are left behind, leaderless and unrestrained. The stars in the heavens have acquired a new grace Atutahi and Hehua are eclipsed. Spurning the common host in all the Milky Way Thou shinest alone. O son of Rangi, awaken from thy sleep Arise once more, take thy weapon in hand Tell us of thy glorious deeds, of thy prowess in the fight How in the midst of serried ranks thou stood'st Like a rock against the angry waves, despite the storms around thee. Thou hast fallen; thou liest beneath the ground But thy fame resounds throughout the land And reaches up to heaven. Pahoe was swept away in a flood and his body was washed ashore at the mouth of the Waiapu River. As he was a chief of note, the tribe was stirred by his death. We can imagine how they made a hurried search amongst the drift wood on each side of the river, examining the shingle bars and waiting till the body rose at the mouth of the river. There he was found by Marumarupo:— E takoto ana me he kumukumu Te tahutitanga i roto i te taita Ko he aruhe tawatawa Ka tere te koheri, ka tere te kahawai Lying like a shining fish Fleeting amongst the driftwood His tattooed face showing like a speckled caterpillar Or mottled like the mackerel or the gleaming kahawai. The child of Hinekaukia was burned to death and the mother pours forth her grief in a very fine lament, one of the most beautiful in the Maori language:— Whakaangi mai ra, e tama, me he manu Mairatea iho te waha, kai rongorongo, e Hei whakaara po i ahau ki te whare. Float hither, my child, like a birds, Changing with your beautiful voice, That I may hear it once again To keep me awake at night in our desolate house. The lament of Te Wharepouri for Nukupewapewa is one full of devotion. They were closely knit in friendship. Te Wharepouri was a chief of Te Atiawa. When Wellington was established in 1840 he lived at Ngahauranga and he was a well known figure in the young community. Nukupewapewa was a chief and great warrior of Wairarapa. He is said to have been commanding in stature and handsome in person. In the times of Te Rauparaha, the Wairarapa people were attacked by Te Atiawa and in one of the battles Te Wharepouri's wife and daughter were taken captive. Out of his chivalrous instinct, however, Nuku restored the two women safely to Te Wharepouri. Hence Te Wharepouri formed the idea of going to visit Nukutaurua, at Te Mahia to which place Nuku with the survivors of his people had retired. Te Wharepouri and his folk were making the journey by sea when Nuku was drowned off Napier. Upon his arrival at Nukutaurua, Te Wharepouri poured out his sorrow in this lament:— Wairua i tahakura nou, nei, e Nuku Kia whakaoho koe i taku nei moe Kia tohu ake au ko to tinana tonu. Spirit of my dreams are you, o Nuku Come to awaken me in my sleep That I may think it is really you again in the flesh. Some very fine expressions occur in the lament for Te Kotuku who was drowned in the river Mokau:— He aha te roimata te wa mutu te haramai? Why have those tears no space in their coming? Then cries the singer: My name is bruited about on everybody's lips, as if my thoughts had been like the western wind driving the fleecy clouds to grace the land breeze from the south. I am like a canoe broken to fragments by the rushing waters of kohau seeking in vain to reach those that have returned safely to land. The tangi of Te Heuheu Tukino for his father Te Heuheu Herea and that for his younger brother killed in battle near Te Horo are other examples of the tohunga diction. These three laments are made so excellent by the grandeur of the words which; indeed, are like the words of prayer to the goods before the sacred altar. Whoever has mastered thoroughly the words of these laments has reached the pinnacle of the Maori tongue, and can boast of his knowledge of Maori. The laments of the tohungas are not, however, always expressed in the awe inspiring language or the priestly terms of the tohunga. Take for example Rangiuia's lament for his