White. — On a Maori Earthwork Fortification. 399 



It is quite a novelty, I believe, to find that the Maori has 

 defended a position by earthworks the present height of 

 v^hich would seem to indicate that they could never have 

 been surmounted by a palisade of woodwork. As it now 

 stands there is a double wall of earth, having an interval 

 of about 12 ft. between the two walls, and also a broad dry 

 ditch. The outer wall is almost or entirely perpendicular on 

 both faces ; it stands 5 ft. in height, and shows signs of a 

 ditch along its outer face. It is now 45 yards in length. The 

 inner and parallel wall is similar, but is 6 ft. in height and 

 39 yards in length. Neither wall shows much sign of decay, 

 although they leave a considerable space (some 18 ft.) unpro- 

 tected — from the ends of the walls to the encircling streams. 

 It is possible the walls may have been here eroded in times of 

 great floods, but it is difficult to understand how this could 

 leave the ends of the walls so perfect in condition. 



Parallel with the inner wall is a dry ditch, and beyond, but 

 parallel to the ditch, are signs of small square holes, mostly at 

 equal distances one from the other, the object of which I am 

 unable to determine, although they are evidently a particular 

 part of the plan of defence. Is it possible that they repre- 

 sented small pitfalls, by means of which the assaulting party, 

 after negotiating the two walls, might lose their equilibrium ? 

 In the event of a warrior, say, landing with one foot on the 

 level surface, the other foot would find no resting-place, and 

 he would fall prone to the earth, and one of the besieged party 

 would then without danger be in a position to crack his skull 

 with a mere. 



Within the enclosed space are no visible signs of habita- 

 tion, but there are three small ill-defined pits, which may have 

 been excavated to supply material wherewith to build a por- 

 tion of the walls. At present the walls have a passage cut 

 through their centre some 2^ ft. in width. I asked an old 

 resident as to this, and he was confident that when first he 

 saw the walls, years ago, there was no such passage. How- 

 ever, I doubt if this be not the original entrance left by the 

 builders, so as to enable cattle to pass, as they could not climb 

 over a 6 ft. wall. At present men and animals can pass at 

 either end of the walls, so. that we may suppose this was a 

 wicket-gate for entrance or exit, as the case might be. I 

 w'as also told that this, and all round, was grown over by 

 ngaio and karaka trees, some of which were 2 ft. in diameter ; 

 but nothing of any size can have grown on the walls or they 

 would have been spoilt or broken down. 



