JOURNAL

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 4, Issue 65, 19 June 1851, Page 3

JOURNAL

Of an Expelition Overland from Auckland to Taranaki, by way of Rotorua, Taupe, and the West Coast, undertaken, in the Summer of 1819, by His Excellency the Gover-Nor-In-Chief of New Zealand. (C.mtmiiiil ff.m our last J Old IV lieu lieu was the first person to land from the canoe, he immediately ran to the point, broke olf two small branches from a tree growing oil the sacred ground, and then squalling down at the edge of the water, under the brandies of an overhanging kolwi, repeated some prayers, evidently a kaiakia of thanksgiving for his safe return to his home. This done he came luck and conducted us to the pa, through some very neatly kept cultivations in the iittle bay. On entering by the strongly fortified gale, we found ourselves inside a large si{ime enclosure in the centre of the pa. At the upper end is the house of Te Hen lieu, a moderately sized building, hut without any carving or other ornaments, by 110 means so good a lodging as might he expected for a' chief of so much importance. This house is situated close to the back fence of the pa, which runs along the top of the rocky precipice overhanging' the lake On cither side of the large yard or "marae" is another of c<p-ial size, that between the centre and the wahi-tapu being tenanted by the chiefs and members, male and female, of the lieu Ilea's family; beyond this, is .1 smaller yard containing one house, and within a small fence a putaka or stage 011 which are deposited the mortal remains of the late chief and his wife, who were killed at the downfall of Te llapa. On the other side of the rentie Vard are—iliy habitations of the im'efyVr people of the with the exception of sijch of the slaves as are attached to the households of the chiefs, these live in small wretched huts adjoining the respective cooking) houses at the opposite end of the enclosures ill which their lords and ladies resided. On entering the pa we found all the chiefs and principal men seated 011 the ground (which had been previously covered "villi fresh cut fern fof the purpose) in front of Te lieu Ileu's lioufe, and beside it, ipiite npai\ from any one ejse, sat an old woman of ah; i>t lifiy, a sister of Te lieu lieu, who was u'jfc<- x strict tapu, hiing the only person permitted to touch the ( uodies of the dead chief and his wife ; thisj poor old creature was obliged to keep miite apart from all her species, not being al|owed lo touch any article of food, even to feed herself, that oliiee being performed by a slave who put the food into her mouth, and when she was thirsty poured the water from a calabash doiviijher throat, her lipi not beiuJ permitted to touch the vessel. -She is a ii/ie tall woman, rather thin and with grizzly fliair, but was covered all over at the time i/e saw her l>edaubed with a disgusting paint Jf red ochre and shark oil, which was plentiliilly her witheied skin and ancient locking blanket. As soon ai we hail all found sea's, and the old llag had lit'.-n hauled down and replaccjil by that of the (Joveruor, to

the great pride and delight oi'the old chief,— then began the usual dismal ceremony of the tangi, which was kept up with a will for half an hour. This ended, the speeches of welcome began, each speech being addressed to some particular person or party, beginning with To lieu lieu, their liege lord anil master, who in due course relumed thanks in the usual form ; then the Governor, for whom I'irikawau returned thanks; they then went through the whole of the ICuropcan party, not forgetting the cook, and afterward* each different Maori tribe which had a representative or representatives in our train, had its share of welcome. This over, we proceeded to dinner, which had been prepaied in the meantime, our tents were now pitched on the place allotted for strangers, opposite to the lesidencc of the chief. We then took a stroll round the pa, and returned just in time to see j a sumptuous feast served out to our followers which was divided out for each Kuropean visitor and for each tribe amongst our followers, in proportion to the number of representatives of each. Of course the dividing out of kils of pork, knmeras, potatoes and taros, calabashes of pigeons, kakas and tuis preserved in oil, and piles of dried lish, for the pakehas, was merely a French compliment, which we graciously acknowledged and then handed over the dainties to our not unwilling Maori friends, who at a given signal fell to (notwithstanding the damper they had previously had in the shape of a slight lunch at Motutere) with such good will, that in half an hour not a vestige, save the empty kits and calabashes, was left of the enormous provision. Tlicy then proceeded to dessert, which consisted of fern root ro;isted and beaten, and was taken after this fashion: a number of female slaves were seated near the fires ill which the root, was roast ng, each of whom had a large smooth stone on the ground before her nnJ a wooden mallet in her hand. The guests sat in a semi-circle iu front of the slaves, and as fast as the latter could beat the root and throw it to the former, so fast did they demolish it, apparently with great gout, liy the time this was over it was dark, and we retired for the night after prayers, which were attended by a very small minority of the people iu the pa. I'riday, January 'lth, IKsD.—Whilst we were waiting for breakfast, our attention was attracted by a most abominable howling, in the direction of the point, and on proceeding through the next enclosure we found that the noise emanated from the smaller yard beyond, in which were collected some thirty or forty people, ill front of the fence containing the pataku before-mentioned, and which I must here endeavour to describe:—Raised 011 four legs, about two and a half feet from the ground, was a sort of box, about seven feet long by three-and-a-half wide, covered with a blanket stretched in the shape of the roof of a house, so as to throw off the rain, and the whole painted with red ochre mixed with oil, blanket and all. The front, or side facing the pa, was lilted with hinges at the bottom and a faUening at the top, which, when unfastened, allowed the board to fall down like a flap, exposing the interior of the box. In it were the bodies of the late Te lieu lieu and his wife,carefully wiapped iu a handsome ICaitaka mat, having hi en iu this position for neatly two years and a half, but » : ie pataka never having been opened until now, when it was done for the express purpose of having a laugi preparatory to their removal to their final resting-place at the top of Tongariro. The old tapttcd woman, mentioned yesterday, was seated inside the fence (being the only one allowed to enter tho-e sacred bounds), and had just opened the pMaL'a, but was now engaged ill leading the chorus, and cutting her body, face, anus, neck, and legs ill a most frightful manner with a piece of obsidian, which caused the blood to (low copiously from prirh | I'flsli. The choir outside consi.-ted of the principal duels ami relations of the deceased (with the exceptou of his brother and successor to the chieftainship, who forbore to join the tangi for some reason which I did 1101 hear), who were disposed in three rows, iu a semicircular form, the inner row consisting chiefly of women all standing, leaning forwards, nearly bent double, and the two outer rows squatted 011 the ground in the usual manner, the whole set howling as loudly as possible, iu most dismal and unmusical chorus. Alter bleak fist we strolled out to choose a spot 011 which to pitch our tents. Ti:c visitations of native children and dogs, the nocturnal noises, the unpleasant odours, and olher concomitant grievances 100 numerous 10 mention, to which one is subjected by sleeping inside a large pa, having rendered a move indiipensable to 0111 comfort. We soon found a beautiful spot, close to the margin of the lake tronl which it was removed by a sleep bank of about thirty feel iu height, with hi;li land behind, and completely iiiivotindi'd by trees, except on the side nearest the of which it commanded a very pivtly view ; it was, in tact, a small pii'ce oj table land, formed by au old land dip, and was a v»'iy ci.nvenienl p-.isitioii for us, being ' "it lum or three hundied yaids

from tin: pa. possessing tlic advantage of sufficient proximity, and out of Hie reach of all tl.e dira^iees, save tlie usual number of visitors at meal and toilette hours, to which, however, we had by this time become preitv well accustomed. This duty bei ui r accompli,lied, we started in canoes to visit the ruined i>:i of Te llapa, passing hy a very prcfty waterfall, on the way, called \\ aihi ; tliis fall is about one hundred feet in height and the precipice dmvn which the water fulls is thickly clothed with numerous evergreen shrulis, which in one place quite hide the waters of (he fall, when it reappears below, presenting, on the whole, a very pleasing and picturesque effect. Tc liapa is situated on the ui..rgin of the lake, about three miles distant from Pukawa, in a southerly direction, and has, ever since its fall, in May, 181(1, been held very sacred hy the natives, so much so, that the guides who accompanied our parly, 011 reaching tl.e boundary of the tapvi, stripped themselves completely naked before they would venture to pass the mystic line. They then sho.ved us where the chief's house Jiad stood, a part of which, indeed, was laid bare by the excavation for his remains, and various otker pluce3 worthy of notice j l>ut the ruins, 011 the whole, present nothing greatly to interest a visitor. All that is to he seen at present being a mass of dry yellow mud which had come down from the bank of a gully about .1 mile-and-a-half behind and above the pa, having been loosened gradually by a number of small boiling springs, which had slowly detached the immense mass from the side of the ravine, till at length its own weight had brought it down, witii the force of atl avalanche, carr\iii" trees, ioi-1:-, and everything before it, (ill it overwhelmed the pa swajlowing up the poor old chief, with about sixty of his people. The only living things that escaped having been a horse and a nephew of Ta lieu lieu—a youth of about seventeen, who accompanied our paity as guide, and who gave us a very graphic description of the terror and confusion in the pa at the time of the accident. The shore of the lake, between Te ltapa and the fall of Waihi, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile, abounds in warm springs, which issue from the earth just at the lirir.k of the lake, and where the natives have formed several baths, by enclosing a small space around the hot spring with large stones or logs of wood. Here I are to be found, at all tinie3 immense numbers of wild ducks, of three or four different kinds, which delight in paddling about in the warm water along the beach. They arc of course very tame, as, 011 account of the proximity to the fallen pa, they ore held strictly tapu, at least from the natives, though we obtained full permission to shoot as many as we liked. (.lose to the waterfall, 011 a very pretty spot beyond the limits of the tapu. are two or three small liuls inhabited by some of the Pukawa natives, who have a few patches of cultivation. Having satisfied our curiosity, and the wateifall having been sketched by our indefatigable artist, we returned to camp to dinner. 1 lie reports of the intended opposition of Tuhaha (Te Ilerekiekic) to the design of our friends to deposit the remain* of their lale chief in the crater of Tongariro having been renewed, and the subject much talked of this afternoon, it was determined to visit his settlement to-morrow, in order to ascertain, if possible, whether he meant to use force, or, in lact, what he really meant to do, as it woul.i have been manifestly improper, not to say culpably foolish, for our party ei'.her.to have attempted to use foice for the accomplishment of our design of ascending the mountain, or to have accompanied a party of natives who weie determined to carry out their intention vi cl uttiii.y, and had resolved, as it appealed they had, to fight to the last in defence of what they looked upon as (heir right.