LAKE LORE.

Observer, Volume 6, Issue 150, 28 July 1883, Page 11

LAKE LORE.

jq- 0# 2.— THE LEGEND OF HINBMOA. (Concluded.) Hixemoa, the celebrated Maori beauty, famed in song and story, resided on the mainland, at Ohinemutu. Tutanekai, a young chief, the hero of this romantic legend, lived on the picturesque island of Mokoia, four or five miles distant from Ohinemutu. Hinemoa is said to have been a JPuhi, or sacred virgin, and belonged to a different hapu, or family, from that of Tutanekai. It was suspected- by the relatives of the lady that she had conceived a passion for the young chief, and s she was closely watched by her attendant maids. In the dusk of the evening, when the aun had sunk- to rest, and the hush of night was falling upon the Lake, and surrounding scenery,;Tutanekai played on- his flute, while his .friend, Tiki, blew on a trumpet, the strains of music being wafted by the soft breezes over the.- placid waters of Rotorua to Ohinemutu,, the dwelling-place of Hinemoa. Her ear, sharpened by tjhe instincts of love, caught, the strains, and she exclaimed : "Ah! those' soft airs come from Putbrino,, the flute of Tutanekai." Eluding the vigilance of her maid 3, she stole away in the shadows of eve; and travelled along the shores of the Lake until she reached Owhata, the nearest point to the Island of Sipkoia, and about.two and a T half miles distant from it. Another version^ of . the legend 'is, that lUy female atten.dants ,' connived at . her escape, andjissiste^hfer : in tuat romantic project ' which \vas deoMne s d to make -her' name famous ,in ; succeet(ing { £enera£ ioifo to] .tlie.' poetic en-, th'tisiaa s Of '.Ijfeptt b 'is# d itra^iiipnis^, aud, to 'ft 'ttiimUr^ tae'hollow !

vessels or pal&baslies.made from 'vie t outer;rtadno£z ( / the d-riecl .gourds. * The interior 6? this '^g&&bT#- > was a favourite dish among the natives in fo^<n?-/ timfs. They cooked '*it as Europeans' dp* vegetable, marrow, preserving t.he seeds for tilrtnf-;,' ing. , It is <v said. that. the progenitors off. thejMobrif . race — the daring navigators -who. first. vpraig^i»sf;' to these Island^— brought the, seeds of the,s>lahfc .-, with them from their mother/pountrj. j . f..,i, s-'.-^'i " Tying a,numberpf tjie s .calab"a'aheß togejt^r^'^nd; .. arranging them about '.her „po,dy, i p».t h,e, form^of .'- ' floats, Hinemoa boldly plunged into tlie waters o£ the Lake, and struck- out for the 'distant' island „ ' of Mokoia, whence inc. squads' 'of cee£ed. Eifche and' strong of limb, ;wjtli. muscles; A developed by' the pastimes of a' "'harcfy raSce7*fea& , : swam with ; swift and > • piowerf ul • strokes, '.^bccasion&lly resting on the.' calabashes'- wbeneyjea^she . felt fatigued, and* ultimately; shes'suoeeeded^ii . gaining the Island. Benumbed with ictfld front her long immersion, she , sought . to .reinvigpratfr her system, by a.piungeiiv the hot-spring o,p,|lie " margin of Mokoia, now known aß,Hipemoa!s,B l ath.' . . As she thus reclined .in the refreshing .warmth: , of the spring, one of Tutanekai's slaves approached? r. with a calabash to procure, water, passing cktse to> ■ the spot where the {id venturous , girl ■ lay cealed. ( .!"■' " Give me to drink," she called put to him, as-, he was returning, : , " ' ; '„'.- ; There was nothing unusual in meeting the women of the tribe under such circutostanc.es, as , they were, in. those days, in the habit of refreshing themselves by a warm bath after the fatigues, , of the clay. The slave handed her the calabash. She drank part of its contents, and then sniaahed it against the rocks which formed the sides of' the • bath. The slave went back, 'and told the people ' what had happened, procured another calabash, and filled it with cold water as before. Again Hinemoa said : . . , »i , ; . "■ Give me to drink." . , Slave as he was, and accustomed to obey on. penalty of death, he gave her this second cala- . bash, which she broke in the same, manner as;tha first. The slave ran to his master, Tutanekai,, and reported what had happened. , .- „ : :• <./ " Who is this fellow in the bath that dares, to destroy my calabashes in this way ?,".. said the chief, as, filled with indignation, he strode, down. . to the bath to wreak vengeance on the offender. As Hinomoa heard the approaching footsteps of her lover, Tutanekai, * she hid herself, ampng the foliage fringing the margin .of the ,push r partly from an instinct of modesty, says -the legend, and partly because she was cold ; but the keen searching eyes of the young chief detected ! her hiding-place,- and he asked : ." Who .are you ?" There was no response, but the shrinking ! form crouched closer within the friendly shelter: of the bushes. Tutanekai approached nearer, I scanned the features of the maiden, and disj covering that the fugitive was none other than: • his beloved Hiiaemoa, sent for the costliest j garments in his house, and retired to a distance in order that she might clothe herself. 'Her simple toilet having been completed, he conducted. | her to the height on which his house stood. ' It was not until the following morning that his father and brothers wei'e apprised of ■ the-' arrival jof the beauteous stranger. \ She then avowed'her - j love for the young chief, and the pair "were ; wedded with all phe rites and ceremonies befitfcjng I their rank and the occasion. His elder brothers, however, manifested great envy, because Tutanekai was— so the legend ; runs— an illegitimate son, and, therefore, the least esteemed in ibis father's■house, but the beauty and sweetness of the 'lady won all hearts, and the family becaine,.reconciled« The descendants of , the pair are now residing, at Ohinernuri, Mokoia Island^ and, elsewhere; Sir George Grrey was one of the. first to .draw attention to the wonderful curative, prop^rtijes of the Rotorud Hot Springs, especially. Eotoniahana, a short time after he became Glpyernpr of New Zealand^' and he assisted the Mapri owp.er.s.pf-thet district in arranging a scale of fees fcq,', project European visitors from extortion. Every tourisfc was to select two natives as padcllers, at ss.^each» and this scale held good in case of a party. Thus, if there were say ten persons, there wo^ld be twenty nafires at 5s a head, in addition to 5s for the use of tlie canoe. This simple arrangement continued in 'force for years, with complete satisfaction to both races. Since that scale, has been abrogated^ however,. a good deal of extortion. ' has been practiced, and the charges have continually increased. , *]' 'J Few Maori traditions have been rnore/,)sis~ represented by European writers th^n ' 'iliat relating to the offerings laid ,by tourists on the rock in Lake Tarawera. Even siich ' etaihenfe authorities as Sir William i Fox -and Mr <F. LTravel's have ludicrously erred on this subject, in their otherwise picturesque descriptions of this y beautiful locality, and later writers, jilagiarising from them,, have exaggerated the blunder, i lt. has been said that pieces of. fern '■. or znoney deposited on the rock ar.e. an offering, ;ta, the Taniwha, or monster, mentioned in. a iprevioua chapter. The. fact is, „ however* - that .,: 'such, offerings are not peculiar, to, this locality; butara common to the whole of .New Zealand.:*) Accord-, ing to ancient Maori mytho,lpgyr every .district had its presiding, deity, or;, q.jttw— Vithespifiteof: the land "— as, the natiyjes turned itj^&nd. ever they .visited, an. upinhabite4- placet it :^bs their, ciistpm tp a offer a. pray ej?. or ineantatibn sto this spirit, and deposit a sprig of Tcoroniijat. as a propitiatory offering befPre the"y' passed "|Krpuah the eoiintryi V Whenever' they' tbok 'pWelsio^of new territory the/ priests 1 ' greeted; an'altdrrtP the presiding deity, 5 forming it' of inovild', accof Sin^ta some traditions, or :of st6We.s, ' ( as ' : o,4her|'','^TClaims to -ownership" of la«d-^have Qften* ''beea based on 1 the fact^ of l tne claimants, havjiri^'e^ecfed, one of these altars thel'eon'j 'arid'^disptites.'liive arisen between'! rival elaimari^s whicli^ the first to;estabiish its' riglifc'in this 'wiif'J'' ' Ti hS The above ;;was originally 'written for, ' i*icfyresque New Zealand, bat^ov^infe to wh'icli need . not' be stateja; here, 1 it l has ' iJe'ea reserved i6r publication in" the OißEWiij'. : if .

off ;e6,airi!t it ?", renM, to^a hfi«tiib^edvfebfe powder off his coatdSißre. • 4» -ff^-