184 Transactions. 



The expression " pakipaki mahunga " means " to preserve 

 heads by drying." They were dried after the steaming process 

 by means of placing them in the smoke of a wood-fire. The hair 

 was retained, and was dressed and decorated with plumes when 

 brought out to be wept over. 



A description of this head-drying, with many notes, may 

 be found at page 610 of the " Transactions of the New Zealand 

 Institute," vol. xxvii, though the statement there made that 

 in preserving the head of an enemy " no dishonour whatever 

 was intended to the owner of the head " must be taken cum 

 grano salts, for that is exactly what was intended. The quota- 

 tion given from Marsden — " It is gratifying to the vanquished 

 to know that the heads of their chiefs are preserved bv the 

 enemy " — is also very extraordinary, and absolutely incorrect. 

 In the same article (p. 611) is seen the statement that "those 

 [heads] of the enemy were usually placed on the tops of the 

 houses, or on poles by the wayside, where they were exposed 

 to the contemptuous taunts of the passers-by." This is certainly 

 more correct, though how it could be "gratifying to the van- 

 quished " is a somewhat obscure point. 



The last case of head-preserving known to myself as having 

 occurred in this district was in 1865, when Ngati-Manawa and 

 some of Te Arawa were defeated at Te Tapiri, driven out of their 

 fort at that place and forced to fly, leaving their dead behind 

 them. The heads of two of these, Eru and Enoka, of Ngati- 

 Manawa, were cut off and preserved, Kereopa swallowing the 

 eyes. These heads were taken by Te Whakatohea to their 

 home on the coast. 



When, on a war-expedition in an enemy's country, the in- 

 vaders lost some killed, the bodies were usually cremated, so 

 that they should not be eaten by enemies. Sometimes the head 

 would be cut off, preserved, and carried back home. When 

 Ngapuhi returned from their famous raid to the Wellington 

 District they brought back many heads of those who had 

 fallen. 



When Makawe, of Te Whakatohea, was slain at Te Papuni 

 (see ante) his head was thus preserved by his people and carried 

 with them on their raid to the Wairoa, where they fought at 

 Tara-mahiti, after which they returned home to O-potiki. still 

 bearing the head of their chief. 



When Te Ika-poto's daughter died at Heipipi her body was 

 buried there, but her head was preserved and taken to Maunga- 

 pohatu, her permanent home. 



The preserved heads of many former chiefs of the Tuhoe 

 Tribe, aifi lying in a cave at Te Tahora, among them being those 

 of Te Arohana and of Te Mai-taranui. 



