TE PEHU CAVE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 97, 6 December 1939, Page 3

TE PEHU CAVE

tragic story of the tapuika

In the bush midway between the shore of Lake Rotorua and the Tauranga coast is a gorge, and over its rocky bed rush the waters of the Mangorewa River. In this ravine was the fort of Te Pehu. On the cliff-top is a massive earthwork and the outlines of an old parapeted pa. The great age of this deserted fort is indicated by the large size of the trees growing in the tren ches and the dug-in house sites. Overlooking the gorge, and sloping gently down for a few hundred , yards or so, there is a narrow tcrrace cut out of the hill side, just , about wide enough to give room for a row of the old-time nikau huts of the Maori. All vestiges of the whares have disappeared; but a series of singular little doorway openings are NjSrtit in the cliff, and they give i\cto ancient cave-dwellings. This is the story of Te Pehu pa and the trouble caused by a stone axe. * * * * Katu, a member of the Ngati- ' Ihenga hapu, decided on a visit to friends in the Waikato. There was nothing remarkable in this fact and ordinarilj r would have occasioned no concern because the tribes were peaceful and Katu's journey to the Waikato was without incident. But Katu could not foresee the fact that « Rakawhati and Whanganui, two of the chiefs from Te Pehu pa, Avould also chose that time to visit the Waikato, and the co-incidence wav unfortunate for him. Katu's Waikato hosts presented him with a told, or stone adze, and «. a very large shark's tooth ear-pend-f-' ant. These articles were valuable and the Te Pehu chiefs were envious It was a simple matter to obtain possession. Thej r left on the return ahead of Katu, and tying in wait on the trail over which he must pass to reach the Rotorua lake-side, secured the treasures by the simple expedient o f hitting the unsuspecting NgatiIhenga man over the head. They returned to Te Pehu rejoicing. Katu was not killed, but managed to struggle along to Puhirua, the large stockaded kainga which at tha>: time stood between Te Awahou and the place now known as Hamimina. There he stood in the middle of the village square and raised a loud lament for his lost treasures. The tribes related to Katu were exceedingly angry at this affront and an armed party was formed and marched to Te Pehu to demand com- > pensation. It was a noisy request and met with little response, Rakawhati declaring that the conceit of the narty cancelled any hearing thev might have had. So the men of the Ngati-Thenga returned to their pas. If they retired empty-handed, however, their hearts were full of anger and the memory of the Maori ■was long A They had their opportunity for revenge at a later date when Te Koata. the head chief of Te Pehu, visited Puhirua. They took the opportunity and left Te Ivoafa with very little. Instead of returning directly to his home in the bush, the chief journeyed to Kawaha, the headland to the north-west of Ohinemutu, where there stood a large pa of the NgatiWhakaue tribe, who at that time was the most powerful section of the Arawas. He told the people of that pa what had occurred, and cried for vengeance on the Ngati-Ilienga. There was a man of the NgatiWliakaue eager to carry the cans'* of Te Koata. Taking an old flax mat and rolling it up after setting it alight, he departed for Puhirua by night with the intention of setting fire to the great carved house of -which the Ngati-Thengas were proud. V The flax mat would smoulder for a time without being consumed by the fire. Arriving at Puhirua, Avhere the r»eople AA-ere aslee,p, he stole up to the carved house and thrust the smouldering mat into the dry raupo walls, left it there, and fled back to Tiis Adllage. The meeting-house was speedily ablaze. When the alarm was raised, the NgfitMhenga ran to the Mano and loudly lamen'ed the destruction of their whare-Avhnkairo. Their lament ■< however, did not blind their senses and. they guessed that the hand of Te Koata Avas behind the act. TheA* cast about for an immediate roA'enge. A party of men Avas swiftly despatched to the village that .stood near the Hamurana spring. AAdiere ]iA r ed a member of the Tapuikn, an old woman, Her they seized and carried back to the r>a. The meetinghouse AA r as still blazing and so were • their hearts. They cast thf old aa'oman to'the flames. The burning of

the house was avenged and so was the robbery of Katu.

But the tribe dicl not let the feud rest there. They carried the war into the Tapuika country by raising a strong war-party and marching through the bush to Te Pehu pa. They stormed it and carried the day after inflicting heavy losses on the defenders.

The survivors of Te Pehu fled doAA'n the gorge and across the MangorcAva to the Te Weta pa and there the Tapuika made a final stand. But the Ngati-Ilienga AA'cre again victorious; again they stormed and conquered. Those of the Te Weta garrison Avho could crawl at all crept back to the Te Peliu site. Among them were the three chiefs, Te Koata, RakaAvhati and Whanganui, Avho had escaped the slaughter. In fear they took refuge in the caA'es Avhieh had been cut in the side of the hill pa, and there they hid until the Ngati-Ihcnga passed. And long after that they continued to live in the cliff dwellings, existing on the wild foods of the forest and the birds they caught. alAvays keeping a AA r atchful eve for their foes. They did not venture to rebuild their homes in the pa. The fern and grasses grcAA r oA 7 er the sites and one by one the remaining members of the tribe died. It Avas the extinction of the Tapuika.

And in this manner was nvengea the theft of Kapu's stone axe by the

two chiefs