78 Transactions. 



on to Putiki, from which place he travelled up the Whanga-uui Kiver, A 

 few miles above the Tanga-rakau tributary there is a fine reach, which he 

 called after himself. Then on he journeyed to Taupo, gathering on his 

 way from the river pas a crew of expert canoemen, with whom he wished 

 to descend the Wai-kato. At Taupo a discussion arose as to which was 

 the most difficult river to navigate, the Whanga-nui or the Wai-kato. The 

 Whanga-nui men naturally supported the claims of their own river, so in 

 the end the Taupo people dared the others to descend the rapids of the 

 Waikato soon after it leaves Lake Taupo. A canoe was provided, and 

 the Whanga-nui crew, with Rua-wharu (who was steersman on the Taki- 

 tumu) at the steering - paddle, started down the river. A Taupo man 

 accompanied them as far as a little islet just above the Huka rapid and 

 falls, where he jumped ashore, telling the others to proceed. They did 

 so, and were soon flying down the channel just above the falls, not know- 

 ing what was before them. They soon discovered, to their cost ; and it is 

 said that Tamatea's canoe can still be seen under the falls, held tight by 

 the force of the falls in front of it. (We have looked hard for that canoe, 

 but so far have failed to discover it.) 



So perished Tamatea and his crew. As canoemen, their skill and 

 bravery counted for nought amidst the thundering waters of the Huka. 

 It was doubtless a pleasing incident to the men of Taupo, and proof posi- 

 tive that Whanga-nui had much to learn from Wai-kato. 



[Note. — The above story originates at Taupo. Old chiefs of the Ngati 

 Kahu-ngunu Tribe allow that Tamatea lost his canoe at the falls, but they 

 affirm that he himself was saved. In proof of this the writer was told the 

 story of Tamatea's after-life, and the narrator also affirmed that he and 

 other direct descendants from this old ancestor knew the cave where he 

 was buried, and had seen the place.] 



One of Tamatea's sons migrated to inland Patea about eighteen gene- 

 rations ago. His name was Tama-kopiri. He was the founder of the 

 Ngati Tama Tribe. He came from Tu-ranga, but the present-day Natives 

 at that place do not recognise him as one of Tamatea's sons. If not a son 

 of the captain of the Takitumu, he was certainly descended from one of 

 the Tamateas of that period — probably Tamatea Kopiri. 



I have obtained a few notes relating to his wars, also an account of his 

 death, which is worth placing on record, and is as follows : — 



Tama-kopiri came to Patea with a taua, and made war on the Ngati Hotu 

 there (the Ngati Hotu were an aboriginal tribe formerly owning Taupo). He 

 was victorious, and so went on to Kaki-kino, where he again found the Ngati 

 Hotu gathered, and a second time he attacked and conquered. He also 

 found them at 0-tama-kura, on the edge of the Opakaru bush, also at Nga- 

 pukara-nui and Pae-tutu, and in all these various engagements Tama-kopiri 

 and his party were victorious. After all this fighting, the Ngati Tama, under 

 the chief Tama-kopiri, attacked Te Kumete, which was the name of a settle- 

 ment near Katxanga-roa belonging to Hai-rangi, who was the father of 

 Kahu-kaka. At this place the daughter of Matapou, and granddaughter of 

 Hai-rangi, was killed by Tama-kopiri. Her name was Tu-kai-rongo-reupea. 



One evening Hai-rangi and his granddaughter went down from Aro- 

 mango on a visit, and slept at Te Kumete. On their return the next day, 

 they got as far as Houhou, on the banks of the Rangi-tikei River, near 

 Rata, when they found the pa was surrounded by the war-party. They 

 endeavoured to return unseen, but it was too late ; they were perceived 



