PONGA AND PUHIHUIA Continued from page 24 nei moe ana maua ko Ponga i te heihei o te wahapu o te moana nei. E kore au e tae atu ki uta; nou a uta, naku te moana.’ Katahi ra ano nga tini wahine ra ka pa, ka tangi ki a Puhihuia, ka aue nga wahine ra, ka hamama te waha ki te tangi, me te tu atu ano te kotiro ra i te wai; roa noa e tangi ana nga wahine ra me te manu mai ano te waka ra i waho tata ake ano o Puhihuia. I hoe mai hoki te waka ra i muri i te kotiro ra i te wa ona i rere ra ki te wai. Hore kau he kupu a te hunga i te waka, hore kau ano hoki he kupu o era i uta, ko te tangi aurere anake o nga wahine ra, ko te pihipihi o te ngaru e aki ana ki te one i Awhitu, ara i Tipitai. Noho tonu mai te tini tangata ra i uta, ko te uhi anake o a ratou upoko ki o ratou kakahu. Ka oho ano te kupu a te tangata i a ia ra te patu pounamu nei, a Kahotea, te tangata e urungi ra i te waka ra, he mea korero noho tana korero. Ka karanga atu a ia ki era i uta, ka mea, ‘He kai e roa te tau ka hauhakea: he whakaaro, ngaki iho ano, hauhake tonu ake. E noho ana koe ki te aha? Taria koe e oho kia kitea mai nga waka o to hoariri ka ungutu nga ihu ki te take o te pa. Tena rawa Nga-iwi te whai (aru) mai nei i ta ratou kotiro i tahaetia mai nei e Ponga, a, ka noho tena koe? He aio tonu koia te tau? Hua atu he raumati, a, he hotoke; he ra e whiti ana, he whatitiri e rarapa ana? He moho koe ki te uira o te rangi, a, he kuare koe ki te karu whete me te pukana o Nga-iwi?’ Tu tonu a Puhihuia i te wai, hore he kupu, hore he korikori, hore he aha. Ko Ponga, i noho hangu tonu mai ano hoki a ia i te wa ano i pahure mai ai te waka ra i Onehunga, a, tae noa mai ano ki a ia e noho atu nei i te waka. Te tino whakatikanga o Ponga, ka tae ki nga kakahu a te kotiro ra i waiho ai ki a ia, ka mau hoki ki ona, takaia iho ki tana mahunga, ko te kakahu ona i takaia ki mua ona hei maro, katahi ra ano a ia ka tae ki te niao o te waka whakahoro marere i a ia ki te wai, ka kau a ia ki uta, ata kau marere kei maku nga kakahu e putoi ra i runga i tana mahunga. Ka u atu a ia ki uta, haere tonu atu, a, ka tae ki a Puhihuia e tu mai ra, tu atu ana a ia i roto ano hoki i te wai, i te tuara o te kotiro ra; tae atu a ia, ka tahuri atu te kotiro ra, ka titiro atu ki a ia, kahore kau he kupu a raua ki a raua. she left the canoe and jumped into the water, and swam toward the shore. First one woman in the sitting crowd rose, then another and another, until all the women who had been sitting there had rushed into the water towards her to welcome her on shore; but those in the canoe sat like people bereft of their senses, and not one of them uttered a word. Puhihuia swam till she could feel the ground with her feet, and stood in the water, which came up to her knees; but the women who swam out to meet her went back on shore and sat together in a group, apart from the group of men. Then Puhihuia called out again, ‘I, Puhihuia, stand in your presence. What I have found is mine. I am not, and will not be, amenable to the order of any one who may say, “Do this”, or “Do that”; and, if you persist in saying that I must return to Mount Eden, by the time the midnight comes to this day I and Ponga will sleep in the foam that the sea-surge makes on the bar of this harbour. I will not come on to the dry land. The dry land is yours; the ocean is my home.’ Thereupon the crowd of women burst into a loud lament, and with streaming tears they wept aloud; but Puhihuia still stood in the water. Loud and long the women wept, while the canoe floated a short distance away from the place where Puhihuia was standing. When Puhihuia had cast herself into the sea those in the canoe had paddled in and followed her; but no one in the canoe uttered a word, and no voice was heard from those on shore save the deep loud wail of the sorrowing women, nor any sound save the surging of the waves breaking on the shore at Tipitai. All the crowd sat on shore in silence with their heads covered with their cloaks. Again the young chief who had the green-stone mere Kahotea and who was steersman of the canoe spoke, while still seated, to those on shore and said, ‘It is a year before a food-crop is ripe for harvesting; but when the thoughts and plans of man are planted, the crop is ripe at once. Why, O chief and people, do you sit, and do nothing? Will you wait, and when the canoes of the enemy are seen approaching, when their prows are close to your pa, only then will you rouse yourselves to action? Even now, the warriors of Mount Eden must be pursuing their young woman of supreme rank, who has been stolen by Ponga; do you intend to sit silent and motionless? Does the year ever remain calm through al