Baldwin. — Early Native Records of Manaivatu Block. 3 



to come into conflict. However, be that as it may, the north- 

 ern war-party returned home after dealing some shrewd blows 

 to the Manawatu tribes, and Rauparaha in the following years 

 made preparations for his great heke or exodus from Kawhia 

 to this district, in which he was accompanied by the Raukawa 

 and a section of the Ngatiawa. The history of his return spelt 

 ruin to the Manawatu Natives. Having fought his way south to 

 Kapiti, he established there his headquarters, having at his call 

 the three tribes who composed the migration — viz., the Ngatitoa, 

 the Ngatiraukawa, and a portion of the Ngatiawa. The power of 

 his war-parties, his rifles, his own ability and ruthlessness, and the 

 weakness of the original inhabitants, all tended in one direction — 

 the complete subjugation of the old residents, and the establish- 

 ing of the new tribes' mana as far north as the Wangaehu River, 

 as far south as Wellington. Moreover, a treacherous murder of 

 Rauparaha' s children by the enemy lent the war from his side a 

 ruthlessness exceeding the ordinary tribal conflicts. Slaughter- 

 ing, harrying, massacring wherever occasion allowed, Rauparaha 

 decimated the district, and drove into hiding the shattered tribes 

 from the Wangaehu to Port Nicholson. 



The scene of this murder, so fatal to the tribes concerned, 

 was Papaitonga, situated in the beautiful lake where Sir Walter 

 Buller now lives. The place is one of the masterpieces of nature. 

 A small island rises in the lake, bush-clad to the water's edge ; 

 the ferns, nikau, kowhai, and other native trees are reflected 

 in the perfect mirror of the lake. Here was the pa of Toheriri, 

 a leader of the Muaupoko, and here Rauparaha was invited to a 

 friendly visit, the bait held out being the promise of some war- 

 canoes. Rauparaha went with his wives, his children, and a 

 handful of followers, and in the darkness the entire party except 

 Rauparaha and a little girl were murdered. The great chief 

 escaped, and swore a signal revenge. He swore to kill Muau- 

 poko and Ngatiapa from early morn till dewy eve ; and well he 

 kept his word. He hunted them on land, he hunted them in 

 the mountains, he followed them to their lake fortresses. To 

 take Waiputa, a fortification in the Horo lake, his men swam 

 off ; to take the great Papaitonga Pa of Waikiekie they dragged 

 their canoes overland. In each case the same fate befell the 

 defenders. They were cut down to a man, woman, or child, and 

 the lovely little island at Papaitonga still hides legions of dead 

 men's bones. This was the fate of Muaupoko. Nor did Rangi- 

 tane and Ngatiapa fare much better. Rauparaha harried them 

 with his Ngatitoa, and the war-parties of Ngatiwaewae, Ngati- 

 pikiaha, and Ngatimaniapoto — hapus of the Raukawa — spread 

 over their lands from the Oroua to Rangitikei as far north as 

 Kakariki. At Kakariki, Awahuri, Tuwhakahepua, Puketotara — 



