Te tino whakatikanga o te kotiro ra, o Puhihuia ki runga, ka powhiri ki ana ringaringa, a, roa rawa e powhiri ana ki era i uta, ka mau ki ona, ka unuhia, ka mau ki te kakahu o waho, ka whiua e ia ki te aroaro o Ponga, kei to roto atu, ka peratia ano. Ka tae ki te roto rawa, ki te kakahu muanga ki tana kiri, ka mau a ia ki tana whitiki karetu, whatuia iho a runga o te kakahu kotahi e mau ra i a ia, ka tatuatia ki tana hope, ka tu kiri kau ana ringa me tana uma. Katahi ra ano ka toro tana ringa matau ki era i uta, ka karanga a ia, ‘E te iwi e, titiro mai ki a au’. I te wa ano i tu ai te kotiro ra ki runga, kua titiro mai te iwi ra ki a ia, me te mihi a ratou ki te tu rangatira o taua kotiro ra. He wahine pai taua kotiro nei, he roa a ia, he mawhatu te makawe, he kiritea; ko te tinana, koia ano kei tetahi koare nei te pai me te ngohe noa. Ka karanga atu ano a Puhihuia, ‘E tika ana to riri, e he ana to riri. To tika, ko te mate mou i a au te ngaki; to he, ko to whakapae teka ki a Ponga. Naku ano taku haere mai; nou tenei he, te titiro koe ki te pai o te tamaiti, o Ponga, ka pupuri kia noho i konei i to kainga, kaua e tukua ake ki taku pa. Mei tukua ake ko ana hoa anake, penei e noho mai ana ano au i taku marae; nei koe, nou te kohuru i a au, tukua ake ana e koe te whakangaoko i taku ngakau, a, rere kino ai au ki te pai o to tamaiti. Ehara i a au te he; nou tena kohuru i a au.’ Mutu kau ano te kupu a te kotiro ra, tahi ano te pekenga o Puhihuia, tau rawa atu i roto i te moana, e kau ana, a, u noa ki uta. Ko te iwi ra tena e noho mai ra i uta, ka rere he wahine, ka rere he wahine, poto katoa nga wahine e noho mai ra i uta ki te wai, ki te whai (aru) mai i te kotiro ra. Ko te hunga ra tena i te waka parau kau, noho hu noa iho, kihai i oho, i aha. Ka kau te kotiro ra, a, u noa ki uta, u kau atu ano ki uta, tu ana ano a ia i roto i te wai, to nga turi te wai ki a ia, ka tu atu a ia, ko te tini wahine ra haere tonu atu ki uta noho noa mai ai ko ratou, ropu ano, i ko mai o te ope tane. Ka karanga atu ano a Puhihuia, ‘Ko au tenei, ko Puhihuia. Naku taku i kite, e kore au e taea e te tangata te ki e, “Penetia, peratia”; mau ka pono i a koe to kupu kia hoki au ki Maungawhau, penei rawa ake, a te po by tomorrow your enemy will stand on the sandy beach of Tipitai; and if you are brave, well and good, but if you are weak you will be lost, even as the moa.’ All the time he was speaking the crowd who were listening on shore were sitting down, but as soon as he had ended his speech, the head chief of Awhitu rose, but not one of the crowd followed his example. All sat in silent dread, each covering his head with his cloak. The old chief said, ‘Welcome, welcome! but you must leave! Take the girl back to her home. Yes, you are right; it is because of the years of peace that the lashings of the canoes of our Mount Eden relatives have become roten, so that you escaped. I will not allow the girl to break the bonds of peace between us. Come, welcome, but you must now go back to Mount Eden, and, if you are killed on the way there, that will be Ponga's fault, not mine.’ Straight away Puhihuia rose and beckoned with her hands towards the crowd on the shore. After beckoning for a long time, she took off the outer garment she had on and put it down beside Ponga, and so with the next. Readjusting the inner garment which she wore next to her skin, she doubled the part which covered her shoulders down in a fold around her waist, bound it round her with a karetu belt, and stood there with her arms and breasts uncovered. Then she stretched out her right arm towards those on shore, and said, ‘O people! look at me.’ All the time she was standing there the people had been gazing at her and expressing their admiration of her noble figure and attitude. She was a fine-looking woman, tall, with curling hair, light skin, and supple as a sapling of the forest. Again she called, ‘Your anger against me is right, yet it is not just. You are right in blaming me, as I may be the cause of the evil which may fall on you; but you are not just in falsely accusing Ponga. I came here of my own accord, but I blame you for this: why did you not see how handsome this young man Ponga was, and keep him here at your home, and not let him come to my pa? If you had allowed his companions to come to my pa without him, I should have still been there; but you dealt treacherously with me, so that I could not restrain my feelings: because of his beauty I rushed recklessly into love. I am not to blame. It is you who have behaved badly towards me.’ She stopped speaking, and with one bound Continued on page 38