Page 1 Advertisements Column 6

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 349, 25 June 1863, Page 1

part of tribal history, and as neccessary thereto as the genealogical tree. In many cases the names although preserved in their purity have lost their original , meaning : in fact the words adopted in these names have become absolete and it jislto the natives as difficult to trace their origin as we find it to discover, the sense 'ofmany of our Surnames. Where the I meaning is discoverable we find many of these old native names poetical and expressive (especially those of mountains) p while not a few of them are as indelicate . as a barbarous people could make them. 3 The former we hope to see preserved long . after the! places they shall have yielded 1 to-Anglo-saxori hands; "We have no sympathy with the quasi, patriotism which insists on substituting for musical aboriginal names the' English 1 surname : of some rich old uncle or promising, patron.. ’jy7e were glad to see the Acts by which I the town of Petre was changed to- Wanganui and the Province of New Plymouth Jto Taranaki, and we trust that'the same rule will obtain' wherever the sound and meaning of .the; original native name unite to recommend it. Taranaki, as a district, has long been famous in Maori song and proverb -as j“ the land where taros grow large- and kumaras sweet.”.. The honor of having named all the places between Aotea 'and Patea on the West Coast, belongs; bycommon consent to the ancestor Turi, the progenitor ' of the Wanganui and Ngatiruanui tribes. He is said to have performed this journey in search of the .river Patea, of which the great navigator .Kupe had told him. He named the, hai--bour Aotea, after the canoe in which he landed there. Leaving his canoe he started southwards with a party of followers keeping the coast line. He named the ’j rivers, bays, and-'harbours along his 'line J of march till he came to Waitara. He named this from the Taranga or wide > steps he had to make in fording it. Mokau (a corruption of Moelcau) he named from the circumstance . of liis sleeping there;. At Mangati his|party spread out an enchanted garment,, named and as all the people stood admiring. it, Tiiri named the.placeMatakitaki (the exhibition). Further on, when he had arrived near the site of the’present town of New Plymouth, our discoverer tool: up a hand*ful of earth to smell it, ; to determine the.’ character of the soil, Lind hfe forthwith i named the : place Hongihonga (or the smelling spot). A few' miles furtherdown as he made footprints in the iron sands; and contemplated his “ footprints im 'the sands of time,” he immortalised his' name by calling the place Tapuwae (or the footsteps of Turi). : The river Oakura i j which is associated in our minds with the 1 horrible tragedy of the other day," was j also named by him. This; river takes Jits rise in the wooded hills at'the back of |Tataraimaka, and far up its sources is situated Parenga Kingi’s pa.- He named this river from the bright redness of the enchanted garment before mentioned. At JRaoa he was nearly choked when eating his food, and he named the place accordingly —it would have been a decided gain to the settlers if he had been choked “ entirely,” we could well have spared both the tribes of which he was the ancestor. A river about thirty four- miles to the north ‘ west of Patea lie named". Kaupokonui,. or the bead of Tiiri. Maraekura took its name from fhe fact of the red cloak aforesaid being spread out or shaken, and Kapuni marks the spot of Turi’s encampment. Another place he called Tangahoe, after his favourite paddle. Waingongoro was so named because Turi snored there in ‘his sleep, and the headland Whitikau was so called from the length. of time he was ; fording the water to turn it. On reaching the river Patea, Turi. built a pa;and called it Eangitaawhi. He commenced his farm with eight sweet potatoes. He cut these into small pieces and planted each piece apart. He protected his cultivation with many prayers'and incantations, and when harvest time came round hismen gathered in the crop—no Less than eight hundred baskets ! 1, 'This marvellous crop was ascribed to the religious observances that had attended the planting and the prayers that Turi had offered. When' his people were digging up the ground to put in. the seed they sang in chorus the following song— Break up our goddess mother ! Break up the ancient goddess Earth J We speak of you, 0 Earth !.. But pray do not disturb The plants that we have brought From great HaWaiki hither ! ; - ’Twas Maui-who scraped the Earth And heaped it up around y In Kuratau!! . . - , r f ; , Wellington Independent. The Falls -of Niagara Eclipsed.— “Well,” saida Yankee, proudly, to a travelling Scot, as he stood by the falls of ! Niagara, “is not that wonderful ? In your 'country you never saw anything like 'that'!-” “Like that,” quoth Sawney, “ there’s a far mair wonderful consarn ua twa miles frae whar I was born.” “ Indeed !” exclaimed Jonathan, with an air of scepticism ; “and pray what kind' of concern may it be 1 ?” “ Why, man,” exclaimed Sawney, “its a peacock \vi’ a wooden leg !”