MAUNGAPOHATU AN EPOCH IN HISTORY WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN H. ALEXANDER High in the mountain fastnesses, in the centre of a vast area of rugged ranges, peaks and deep valleys lies Maungapohatu, former strong-hold of the ancient Tuhoe tribes. Isolated by the formidable bush covered country, which is broken in every direction by countless tumbling streams, the Maoris' old mode of living survived here until quite recent times. In this wild realm of the kiwi and kaka, the Maori deity Tane Mahuta reigned supreme presiding over all the forests and everything that dwelt in his trees, and so the birds came to be known as the children of Tane. Back in the dim ages, according to Maori legend when men held strange powers and god-like beings dwelt on earth there lived one, Hine-puko-hu-rangi, the Maiden of the Mists. She lured Te Maunga (the Mountain) to earth and from their son Potiki descended the tribe known as Nga Potiki. This tribe is also called Tuhoe from their ancestor Tuhoe-potiki who was partly of Mataatua and partly of Nga Potiki descent. The third name by which these people are known, Urewera, derives from an unfortunate accident that occurred many years ago when an old fighting chief Murakareke rolled over in his sleep into the fire and had his private parts scorched in the flames. Eventually the name “Urewera” came to describe the whole of the mountain area. The Urewera country is a series of rugged, broken mountain ranges varying from 1,500 to 4,500 feet covered with a dense blanket of bush and even today this formidable area is only partly mapped and surveyed. The valleys are full of pigs, deer and wild cattle, and in some places whole hill faces appear to have received a barrage of 25 pounder shells, where pigs have been rooting. Rainbow trout are gradually appearing in the upper reaches of the tributaries of the various rivers close to Maungapohatu although the big winter floods often wash them down stream again. A few miles past Ruatahuna, and near the summit on the Rotorua-Wairoa road stands a lone sign post which says Rua stronghold, Maungapo-hatu 9 miles (the distance is believed to be nearer to 12). Starting in a clearing, called Papa totara, below the main road, a trail winds down through the bush to the first of the many creek-beds which it alternately crosses and recrossed countless times until Maungapohatu valley is reached. Many a war party of fierce tattooed warriors has trodden this ancient track and often the old war trail is worn down chest high with the passage of the fighting Tuhoes and their enemies for full twenty five generations. Frequently the track follows cold clear stream beds, where the banks are a dense mass of ferns, surmounted by tawa, tawhero, tawai, rimu and beech bush. Everywhere in the muddy verges of the creeks are pig and deer prints, but few birds are to be heard. Finally after weary climbing up and down the ranges, a surprising view appears, the valley of Maungapohatu. A long narrow sloping area at the bottom of the valley has been cleared of bush, and amongst the remains of Mr Hoani Temera of Ruatahuna visits Maungapohatu occasionally. Deerskins are in the background.