lenged—a battalion would rise to its feet and take its position; all the battalions were challenged, and took their positions in their thousands. In front of them was Tuwhakairiora, watching the manoeuvres of each battalion. He pointed with the butt of his taiaha: ‘I will have that battalion, and this, and that yonder: let all the rest of the battalion stay. But all braves and the warriors of those battalions must gather round me as a battalion for me’. Then the chiefs stood up and called out, ‘Let the divisions of the army be very great to form a suitable bodyguard; for the tribe yonder is Ngati-Ruanuku, with its powerful clans—Hore, Mana, Te Pananehu, Te Koreke, Te Moko-whakahoihoi, and Te Pohoumauma.’ Such also was the opinion of Te Aotaki: ‘Let the divisions of the army be great to form a suitable bodyguard: their multitudes yonder are like the hair plucked from a rat, or like ants’. Then Tuwhakairiora gave his opinion: ‘Stay, stay, till I have given my opinion. With a multitude counsels are confused; we wish the discussion to be heard. Let the braves of the battalions yonder gather round me as a battalion for me; though the enemy may come in his many thousands, he is but food for the weapon. Well do I know the omens’. He turned the blade of his taiaha upwards, and shook its tuft of dog's hair so that it opened out; he explained the omen—fallen raupo leaves were his omen, and the long sea wave. They would scatter and become food for the weapon; he himself would bear them down, trample on them, smite them. Then he turned the butt of his taiaha upwards, the tuft of hair dropped over the neck of the taiaha, where the left hand should grasp it; he shouted to the battalions, ‘It is a good omen: the enemy cannot break it. When Te Aotaki performed incantations over me he neither displaced a word nor faltered; and the war songs of the thunders of Haruru-ki-terangi, Whetuku-ki-te-rangi, and Ueue-ki-te-rangi are omens of valour, omens of success; to-morrow, at break of day, you will hear of it. There is no question but that they will be destroyed; there will be the pa overthrown, the army slaughtered in the one day’. He was gesticulating before the battalions as if the taiaha would break in pieces in his hands. The battalions kept saying, ‘How could the fame of his bravery be great and the signs of that bravery be small?’ That ended, he greeted the tribe, and the tribe him, and the tribe expresed its satisfaction that Ruataupare had married him. Then came the news that all the enemy pas on this side of Whareponga were assembling in their chief pa at Tokoanu. The tribes on the south side of Whareponga River gathered at Kokai and Tokatea. When the army of Tuwhakairiora was ready, and the provisions for the expedition, they started. To look at them a single glance took them all in, but they went in high spirits under the good omens of Tuwhakairiora. The plan of the pa had already been carefully explained to him. When they reached the beach at Tirau they were sighted by the scouts of the enemy, and the report was being spread among their many thousands, ‘We shall not each get a share to taste, some will have to be content with earth to-morrow’. When the army reached Paepaenui it was evening, they were still saying, ‘A single glance covers them all; there will not even be a taste for the mouth’. In the morning, while it was still dark, the battalions of Tuwhakairiora took up their positions in three divisions; there was the main battalion, the Whare; the Puarere, the battalion which was to effect an entrance into the pa to burn it; and the Patari, or battalion of warriors and braves. The battalions of the enemy were already descending, taking up their positions, battalion by battalion, an immense multitude. There were visible the garments of the chiefs and braves, various patterns of dogs'-skin capes, black and white, cloaks of kiwi and pigeon-feathers, and handsome flax cloaks, and the adornments of the battalions in their positions—the plumes on their heads resembled terns upon a sand-bank. Then Tuwhakairiora gave his orders to his orders to his army, to the three battalions. ‘This is good fortune: if they had remained in the pa we would have had a long business; but now they have come forth they will soon succumb, your hand will ache with the slaughter.’ Then he said to one of the battalions, the Puarere, ‘The object of your attack is the pa; as for the battalions in position facing, you trample them under; when you have gained the position, give a shout and advance in column. When you get in the pa, set it on fire. When I call you, jump to your feet.’ He then gave orders to the main battalion, the Whare-o-te-riri, and some of the braves whom he had chosen to accompany him. He turned the butt of his taiaha upwards, and shouted out, ‘Gather round me; when I call for you to stand up, let your uprising be like the sun rising from the depth. When I rush to the front with my corps, raise a shout, and let the column charge the centre of the battalion; it is the Whare of their battalion which we must reach. When I raise the red crest of my taiaha aloft, then the battalion will break: give vent to your fury, when the battalions of the enemy break’. He called to the battalion of braves, that is Patari, ‘Up! attack this battalion and that to hasten the rout’. When his instructions were ended, he sat down, and called to his feeder, ‘Bring the remains of Continued on page 43