Ngatiapa and Tumata-kokiri of D'Urville Island, and it was therefore decided to wreak vengeance in that quarter before moving on to Kaikoura. The invaders moved swiftly, and with terrifying effect, until the whole of the Northern portion of the Marlborough Province had been thoroughly invested and the inhabitants either killed and eaten or finally forced into subjection. When the “Tory” visited Pelorus in 1839 E. J. Wakefield observed that the Ngatitoa had been so thorough in their task of eradicating the Ngatikuia that “only a few poor natives were seen, and these were engaged in dressing flax for their conqueror, Rauparaha, to enable him to purchase more muskets to continue his devastating raids.” Ngatitoa were assisted in this invasion by other tribes. Arapawa and Queen Charlotte Sounds had apparently been singled out for the Puketapu and Ngatirahiri hapus of Atiawa, while the conquest of Tasman Bay was undertaken mainly by Ngatirarua and Ngatitama. It was during the height of these attacks that Rauparaha was rejoined by his relative, Te Pehi Kupe, who had journeyed to England in 1824 solely for the purpose of asking King George for muskets. Although unsuccessful in his request for firearms he received from the King many valuable presents which he traded for muskets at Sydney on his way home. With these additional arms, and the assistance of Te Pehi's able leadership, Te Rauparaha turned his canoes towards Kaikoura. Here the defenders were taken completely by surprise, hundreds were killed and many more taken into captivity, including the boastful Rerewaka, who some time later suffered at Kapiti the fate he had insolently predicted for his captor. Flushed by the success of these Southern conquests, Te Rauparaha began formulating plans for an assault on Kaiapohia, one of the most formidable strongholds in the South Island. But before putting these plans into effect he decided to accede to a request from Ngatiraukawa that a war party should be sent up to Whanganui in order to avenge the death of Te Ruemaioro who had been killed on the heke southward. The following is a brief reference to the Whanganui expedition as reported by Rauparaha's son Tamihana:— “After some time Rauparaha consented to this request. A war party left for Whanganui, including some of the Ngatiawa Tribe, to attack the pa at Putikiwharanui which was held by one thousand warriors twice told; for in those days the Whanganui were a numerous people. This pa was invested for two months before it was taken, and some of the defenders escaped up the Whanganui river. The chief Turoa was not taken, nor Hori Kingi Te Anaua who escaped by dint of his power to run. Thus the Ngatiraukawa obtained revenge for their dead.” It may be of interest at this stage to trace from an earlier period some of the events which led up to the attempt on Kaiapohia. When Ngatimutunga attacked the Ngatiira of Port Nicholson at about 1823 they succeeded in defeating that tribe whose remnants were forced on to the small island at Wellington called Taputeranga. The area is known today as Island Bay. Amongst those who managed to escape from the island in canoes were Tamairangi, a chieftainess of great fame. With her little group of Ngatiira she fled by way of Cape Terimurapa (Sinclair Head), and Cape Terrawhiti to Ohariu Bay on Cook Strait situated due west of Wellington. Here she was held prisoner by a hostile band of Ngatiawa who were in company with Te Rangihaeta and some of his people. S. Percy Smith's account of the incident is as follows: — “Dreading, however, that the usual rate would meet her, she asked her captors to be allowed to sing a farewell to her people and her lands. This lament was of so pathetic a nature that it appealed to Te Rangihaeta of Ngatitoa, who begged Atiawa that she might be given to him, and, on their compliance, she and her children were taken to Kapiti Island where they lived for some time.” One of Tamairangi's sons was a handsome young chief named Te Kekerangu, and during his stay on Kapiti gossip was rife that he had been guilty of an affair with one of Te Rangihaeta's wives. Fearing the wrath of his overlord, Kekerangu consulted his mother who decided that they should flee to the South Island for in Rangihaeta's jealous eyes the penalty for such a crime would be nothing less than death. Little time was lost in preparing for their escape, and having secured a canoe with suitable provisions they slipped quietly away under cover of darkness. Kekerangu's flight to the South Island coincided with Rauparaha's plans to attack Kaiapohia. As the Ngaitahu were believed to be sheltering him the wily Te Rauparaha suggested this as a sufficient excuse for launching a further attack on that tribe. Late in the year 1829 a large Ngatitoa war party headed by the chiefs Te Rauparaha, Te Pehi and Te Ranghaeta landed at Kaikoura where they found that the fugitives had fled further south with most of the Ngaitahu of that district. They were overtaken at Omihi where a battle ensued in which most of the Ngaitahu were killed, the rest having escaped to Kaiapohia. Te Kekerangu is believed to have escaped from Omihi with his relatives to a place twenty-two miles from Cape Campbell. Nothing certain is known of his fate but the story is told that Ngaitahu in their eagerness to gain revenge for their defeat at Omihi regarded Te Kekerangu as the main cause of their trouble and forthwith sent out a war party who killed him at a river which still commemorates his name to this day. Some of the Ngatitoa war party remained at Omihi in charge of prisoners while the remainder journeyed to Kaiapohia. On his arrival at this pa Te Rauparaha deceitfully assumed a peaceful attitude towards the occupants, pretending that he had come only for the purpose of bartering firearms for greenstone. His treacherous intent was immediately suspected by Ngaitahu, who although they began trading with some of the Northern chiefs, were anxious to strike the first blow. They