i to waka, tukua mai au hoa wahine ki uta nei, kia ririri matou, a, naku ka mate, utaina atu ki to waka; nau ka mate ou hoa i a au, haere e hoki tangi atu ki to pa. E kore au e hoki ora atu i a koe.’ Ka marere nga kakahu o etahi o te tini wahine i te waka ra, tatua rawa, ka peke ki te wai, e kau ana, a, ka u ki uta. He taitamahine anake enei i kau atu nei ki uta, ko nga wahine takakau anake, hore he mea moe tane. Haere ake ano a ia, a ia, me tana patu ano i te ringa, te taiaha, te wahaika, te mere pounamu, te mere paraoa, te tao poto, te meremere, te aha, te aha. A no ka tae ki uta me te titiro puku iho te pa ra, he mea titiro mai e ratou i waenga o nga wawa o tana pa. Ka u nga wahine ra ki uta, ka haere, a, ka tata ki te akinga tai o te tai u, ka noho-a-kapa, ka heke iho a Puhihuia raua ko Ponga, a, ka tatu iho ki raro ki te one. Ka noho a Ponga, ka mea atu te kotiro ra, ‘Hoake taua kia kite koe i taku matenga.’ Haere atu ana a Puhihuia, a no ka tata atu ki te tira kapa wahine e noho mai ra, ka mahue ona ki te one; mau ake ko te maro karetu anake ki tana hope whitiki ai. Haere atu ra a ia, a no ka tata atu, ka tu a ia me tana taiaha, ka karanga tu a ia, ‘Tenei au, ko to tangata i haere mai ai koe.’ Ka tu mai tetahi o aua wahine ra, ko te patu paraoa i te ringa, ka hapainga mai tana patu ki a Puhihuia, a no ka tata, ka whiua te patu ra ki te upoko o te kotiro nei. Karohia ake, tera te haere ra, tahi ano te whiunga o te arero o te taiaha ra ki te poho o tera, koropeke ana, noho ana tera ki raro. Ka karanga atu ano a Puhi, ‘Tu mai hoki!’ Ka tu atu ano he wahine, ko te tao poto ki tana ringa, tata noa ano ki a Puhihuia, ka werohia ki te kotiro ra, tera te haere ra, tahi atu ano te whiu a Puhihuia i tana taiaha ki te pokowhiwhi o tera, maro ana te ringa o tera, ka noho tera ki raro. Ka tu mai ano he wahine me te wahaika, ka tata noa ano, ka whiua ki a Puhi, ka karohia, haere rawa ake te patu a Puhihuia, ka pa te patu o

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have told you before that you and I shall not meet in life, but in Paerau [the world of the spirits]. Do you persist? Why do you dare to blame Ngati-Kahukoka when I, the sole cause of your anger, am here? Keep in your canoe, but let the women with you come on shore that I may do battle with them, and if they kill me, then put my body aboard your canoe; but if I conquer your women, then you can go home weeping. I will not allow you to take me alive.’ Some of the women in the canoe took off their upper garments and tied their loin-cloths tightly around them, jumped into the water, and swam to the shore. They were all young women who swam to the shore, all single, none having yet married. Each went with her weapon in her hand, weapons such as taiaha, wahaika, greenstone mere, whaleboat mere, short spears, meremere, and others. They reached the shore, watched in silence by those in the pa who were looking at them from between the palisades. When the women had landed they went up to the foot of the cliff and sat in a line; and Puhihuia and Ponga came down to the beach. Ponga sat down, but Puhihuia said, ‘Let us both go on, so that you can see me die.’ Puhihuia went on, and when she was close to the line of women who were sitting there, she took off her outer garments and left them on the sand. She kept on only her loin-cloth made of the karetu grass. Then she went on, and when she was quite near them she stood there with her taiaha in her hand and called out, ‘Here I am, the person for whom you have come’. A young woman holding in her hand a whalebone patu rose and brandished her patu at Puhihuia, and when she came close, she made a blow with her weapon at Puhihuia's head. Puhihuia parried the blow, and moving forward, with the tongue-end of her taiaha she dealt a blow at her opponent in the pit of her stomach, making her double up and sit down. Puhihuia called out again, ‘Another of you come forward to meet me.’ Another young woman stood up with a short spear in her hand, and when she was quite close to Puhihuia she made a thrust at her. Puhihuia parried the thrust, and dealt a heavy blow to the girl's shoulder. This took the power from her arm, and she sat down. Another young woman with a wahaika stood up, and advancing close to Puhihuia, she aimed a blow at her. Puhihuia parried the blow, but while Puhihuia's weapon was still raised, the other's weapon hit the lower fringe of her loin-cloth, and the young women who were