Baldwin. — Early Native Records of Manatcatu Block. 5 



merit, backed — and only so long as it was backed — by the mana 

 of the tribe, formed the so-called Native ownership. Ownership 

 it was not. The power to prevent others from exercising rights, 

 and that this power was recognised by those others — this, in a 

 word, constituted the " mana." The actual exercise of the rights 

 was not necessary. Interference with the rights might occur 

 and not destroy them. So long as the recognised ability to per- 

 manently exercise the rights, and the correlative ability to stop 

 others, obtained, so long did the tribe having that ability have 

 the mana. But, co-existing with the mana of one tribe over the 

 whole land within settled tribal boundaries, portions of another 

 tribe might in one way or another have limited rights over cer- 

 tain defined parts. Such rights would be confined to the actual 

 usufruct enj oy ed, and would not give mana over the surrounding 

 country. It might be a settled and long-standing concession, 

 strictly limited. This in process of time became practically 

 irrevocable, and one method alone extinguished the limited 

 rights that the exercise of such privileges gave to any nomad 

 or wild tribe upon any specific territory : that method was death. 

 Death alone completely extinguished the rights and left no 

 flaws on the title. This it is that points the grim wit of Mr. 

 T. C. Williams's description of Te Rauparaha as " the ablest 

 conveyancer of the period." His title-deeds were without flaw. 

 And the old Maori urged this on his tribes, " Clear the weeds 

 from my garden." Unfortunately for them they did not. 



Now, as we have seen, the northern part of the territorial 

 conquest passed to the Raukawa. Extended as they were far 

 away from the influence of Rauparaha and his ruthless savagery, 

 as time passed along they dealt gently with the broken tribes. 

 " The rain from heaven might fall on these tribes," to use Wha- 

 tanui's descriptive phrase, *' but no man's hand should be on 

 them." So it was with the Muaupoko, and so it was with the 

 Rangitane, and the beggarly fragment of Ngatiapa that un- 

 obtrusively crept from their bush hiding-places. The Raukawa, 

 magnanimous in their victory, allowed these wretched people 

 a settlement, allowed them to occupy, allowed them to cultivate. 

 But the mana to the Wangaehu was with the conquerors. No 

 tribe would have dared occupy the country hostilely to them. 

 It was under the Raukawa mana that the Ngatiapa and 

 Rangitane rested alive and unharried. 



So it was when the Europeans commenced to push their way, 

 and abundant testimony proves it. 



But the coming of the white man spelt fresh trouble. Among 

 the older settlers Mr. F. Robinson took up a block of some 20,000 

 acres near Foxton, Mr. Thomas Cook a similar area in the same 

 district, Mr. Steven Hartley a small piece on the Manawatu 



