426 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



the Dinornis. But I think that those who have considered 

 the arguments adduced will agree with me that we have 

 cleared away a good deal of what has been supposed to be 

 evidence to that effect. We have seen that it is in the highest 

 degree doubtful whether the allusions in place-names, songs, 

 proverbs, or legends to the moa refer to the Dinornis in any 

 way, so that in the future we may discuss the relation of the 

 Dinornis to the Maori without knowing the Maori name of 

 the Dinornis, any more than we know the Maori name of the 

 extinct swan whose bones were found together with those of 

 the Dinornis in the cave at Sumner. 



Art. LVIII. — On a Maori Waiata. 

 By E. C. Bruce, M.H.E. 



{Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 5th October, 1892.'] 



The following Maori icaiata, or song, has a somewhat in- 

 teresting history, and is worthy of preservation. It alludes 

 to districts on the West Coast which, antecedent to the 

 advent of Europeans, have been, amongst the natives, the 

 theatre of great events. And as the years roll on such 

 legendary lore will become more valued. It is calculated to 

 fling a halo of interest and romance over a country which will 

 in the future have no other history of the ages prior to the 

 arrival of the Anglo-Saxon race. The story of the song is 

 briefly as follows : The territory of the Ngatiapa Tribe ex- 

 tended from the Manawatu River on the south to the Wa- 

 ngaehu on the north ; that of the Muaupoko, from Manawatu 

 southwards to Pukerua, and also embracing the Island of 

 Kapiti. The Ngatiapa Tribe were attacked by the celebrated 

 warrior-chief Te Rauparaha, aided by allies of the Ngatiawa 

 and Ngatiraukawa Tribes from Kawhia, Taranaki, and Wai- 

 kato. The Ngatiapa had, fortunately, as their chief, one who 

 in war and diplomacy was even more than a match for 

 Te Rauparaha, and who, by the exercise of those qualities, 

 succeeded in preserving his tribe from extinction. This was 

 Te Hakeke, of whose prowess many traditions still linger 

 amongst the tribes of the West Coast. His wife, Kaewa, 

 was a woman of high rank in the Muaupoko Tribe, which, 

 in spite of her husband's exertions, was almost annihilated 

 by Te Rauparaha and his allies. On the birth of their 

 child, Te Rara-o-te-rangi (rib of the sky), Te Hakeke took 



