VOYAGE OF "TE ARAWA" FROM HAWAIKI.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume I, Issue 12, 2 September 1861, Page 10

VOYAGE OF "TE ARAWA" FROM HAWAIKI.

There was one main stem to the tree, and there were ten branches. One of the branches was cut down and hollowed out for a canoe for Hou, for He, for Tia, for Te Tamaiekapua. These were the names of the Chiefs of the parly who embarked in the canoe. And the canoe was named "Te Avawa." Now it so happened, after they had put to sea from Hawaiki, as they sailed hither over the ocean, that the crew were much troubled because they had no priest to charm their canoe, to make it sail fast when the wind blew. So they advised together how to get a priest for their canoe, and they went and fetched Ngaloroirangi. The Waikatos say that this man was the priest of the canoe "J'ainui" and thai the crew of the Arawa Laving invited him to conic on board their canoe to aid them with his skill or charms in stopping a leak, afterwards would not let him return. Having taken on koiird Ngatoroirangi they sailed onwards on the open sea till they made

the land at Whangaparaoa, to the North of Auckland, At that place Taininiki threw away his kura: he threw it into tae sea as soon as he beheld the red (lowers of the Rata tree. That kura was picked up by Malum; and hence the proverb, " the kura cast on shore by the waves., seized by Maliina" (i.e., a waif or God send.) And from the flowering of the Rata we ascertain that the canoes reached land in the middle of summer, when the sea might be calm for their voyage. While the Arawa was at sea, Te Matekapua committed adultery with Ngatoroirangi's wile. Kearoa was her name. Therefore, ihe priest being very angry, caused the Arawa to run aground on a shoal, called Koro-koro-o-te-Parala. And the nose of the canoe was buried in the sand. Then the crew cried out, E Toro, e! Ita taka te wrung a o Kca I (0 Toro, oh! the pillow of Keo. will fall). So Ngatoroirangi had pity on them and saved he Arawa by a charm. NgutoroirangVs Charm. "Pull out the post made tapu by Te P«o------ngomaimua, and by Te Rongomaihiii. Why don't you obey ? Ngatoro the fasieaer to the first post, to the inner post, to the outer post. Run aground: run aground onac-l count of your sins. Pull out the sin of lhe{ Arawa, which caused the mud of Te Pa rata ( lo arise. Aground, aground, aground. Tangaroa, aground, move on, all's right, all's well." It is said that this charm saved the Araiva, after which it sailed on to Whangaparaoa. Next it touched at Aosea (the i>ig Barrier ■. afterwards at ilauraki, and Moehau (Cape Colviile). At a place called ilepanga, in Ahuahu (Mercury Island) Ngatoroirangi set free two tamo birds. o:ie of these birds was I called Takereto, and the other Muamhau, a male and a female. Kaiikati was the next place touched at, te Raugataikehu is the name of the spot. At Kaiikati they found some of the men oi' the canoe Taiaui, which also came from ilawaiki, and made the land at Whaugaparaoa, hence we know that Tauranga first belonged to the men oi Taiaui. There was also a third canoe called TeMalaatua, which arrived at Whakaiane. Ravmati was the Chief of Tainui. lie and his parly were left at Taurauga, and the Arawa sailed from Te llanga lo Mattngauui,

which was taken possession of by Tvtauaroa, j who remained there. The next night the crew rested at Wairake. In the morning they reached Maketu, where the Arawa was hauled on shore for the last lime, and its two stone anchors were cast into the river. Tokaparore (wry stone) was the name of the anchor belonging to the bow, Tuterangi-ha-rurti that of the anchor belonging to the' stern. From that time, "Ngatoroirangi dwelt on shore. And also Te Matekapua, He, and Tia, and Waitahantii, the son of He, andTapnikanui, the son of Tia. Now when Raumaii heard that the Arawa was hauled on shore at Maketu, he and his men went and set fire to it. But Hatupatu followed in pursuit of Raumati, and met him on the side of the entrance toTauranga, and there killed him, he stuck his head on a post l and set it up on the spet where he fell. Therefore the place was called Panipani (cheeks) which is still the name of the spot. Afterwards, part of the men of the Arawa continued to dwell at Maketu, while part went to Rotorua, and thence they spread to Taupo, and to Whanganiti. Mahahac, the son of Tapaikanui, was one of those who settled at Maketu; and he was the ancestor of Te Pukuatua. This was the sixteenth generation after the arrival of the Arawa from liawaiki. The Ngaileranyi of Turanga are descendants of the crew of Te Mataatua, which landed at Whakalane. They first went to the country about Opoiiki, now occupied by the Whakatohea tribe and Te Urewera, and afterwards they drove back the Arawas from the sea coast to Rotorua, to join their relations, and they kept possession of their lands until the Europeans arrived for the purchase of flax. Since then, the Rotorua tribes hate returned and re-established themselves at Makeiu, against the united efforts of Wailvaio and Ngailerangi. With a thousand men they look the Pa called the Tumu, and thus re-conquered a large portion of ihe lands their ancestors had lost. And they hold them at the present time. Some of the crew of the Tainvi visited different places in the gulf of Jlauraki; they tiien sailed up the Tamaki, drngged their canoe across the isthmus to Manukao, and U.ence voynged along ihe coast until they

reached Kawhia, where they pulled up their canoe,-and remained. The chief persons aboard the Tainui were Hoturoa, Hotuopi, and Hoiumatapu, with their two sisters, Whaka-o-lc-ravgi and Mamma. These women are said to have brought with them the kumara and Ihe taro to this Island. Hence also the tribe called Tainui, with its present Chief, Te Kanaica. From this canoe, Tainui, have sprung all the tribes of Waikato, together with those inhabiting the Hauraki, that is, the Ngatimaru, the Ngatipaoa, the Ngatitamatera. These last have descended from the three sons of Maruluahu, who migrated from Kawhia. The Ngatitoas and the Ngalirauhawa are also descended from the crew of Tainui. Here ends this Maori narrative. Canoe Song. Pull "Tainui," pull the " Arawa," To launch them on the ocean, Surely glanced the bolt of thunder, Falling hiiherward. On my sacred day.