History and traditions of the Maoris of the west coast, North Island of New Zealand prior to 1840 . mselveswith hakas, dances, etc., within the house. Ngati-Pahiri had gatheredround the door of the house all armed with short weapons concealedunder their mats, ostensibly to witness the hakas, but in reality to fallon any of the guests who should attempt to escape when the time being ready, Korehe gave the signal, and the house was set fire toin dozens of different places. The walls were so densely packed withmanuka that there was no forcing a way through, and those whoattempted to esca
History and traditions of the Maoris of the west coast, North Island of New Zealand prior to 1840 . mselveswith hakas, dances, etc., within the house. Ngati-Pahiri had gatheredround the door of the house all armed with short weapons concealedunder their mats, ostensibly to witness the hakas, but in reality to fallon any of the guests who should attempt to escape when the time being ready, Korehe gave the signal, and the house was set fire toin dozens of different places. The walls were so densely packed withmanuka that there was no forcing a way through, and those whoattempted to escape by the door were knocked on the head at once bythe men who guarded it. Thus—says my informant—the whole of thelarge party of Nga-Potiki-taua were destroyed and the death ofKopiri-taunoa avenged. It is said that the foundations of this house—Te Paro-o-tuwhera—may be seen to this day, and that it would hold a thousand people. Some years after this event Pakau-moumoua, who had originatedthe above massacre, paid a visit to his wifes relatives who were living *It is shown in Plate No. Plate No. Kumara god, Kongo. ¥ HISTORY AND TRADITIONS OF THB TARANAKI COAST. 237 at Eaoa, on the Taranaki coast, and lie there occupied a house with afew other people. The Taranaki people, on hearing of this, thoughtit a good opportunity to wipe out the loss of their relatives, theNga-Potiki-taua, who had been burnt, and made preparations to thatend by attempting to surprise Pakau in his house at night. As theycame up to the attack Pakau shouted out : Kaua ahau e taia potia,tuhu atu tama a Kura-poupou hi luaho .— I dont want to be killed inthe dark ; let the son of Kura-poupou (see Table 47) go forth ! Theattacking party, hearing this, thought Pakau had a party of his ownpeople with him, so withdrew, and thus allowed Pakau to escape inthe darkness.^ TAKING OF WAI-MANU, (1770.)We have no certain information as to the length of time that)sed after the defeat of Taranaki (or Nga-
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmaorine, bookyear1910
