DowNES, — Early History of Rangitikei. 99 



The Prophecy by which Tui excited the Taua to go on. 



Tei'M ia te ata taua Takiri ana mai, 



Kai Tongariro e, ko te mamani, 



E whakakaka ra i ona rau, 



Kia riro mai ko Tu-kapua 



Kai riro mai amx ko Huni-tara 



Kia whakatauria iho te kohu ka kikimai 



Ka titiro he ure ngorengore no Pakihi 



No muri ka whati te piki 



No tnra kai te awatea, 



Kiia moea e an ki te po 



E tu ana Kai-whara-whara 



Ka nTiniimi kai Ota-aue 



Kia tangi mai te karoro, aue ! 



Takii kai he piro tangata 



E he wai ka kato te wai o Whanga-nui 



Kai u kei uta ka hiiri Taikoria 



Ka huri ki Waiwiri 



Hara-mai ai ona rau 



E nil, ki au kakari ai e 



Bum e, Ruru e, kai taraha e i. 



[Translation. ] 



Lo ! tlie morn of MTath is dawning. 



At Tongariro the hundred are being 



Incited to defeat Tu-kapua and Huru-tara.* 



Enveloped by the mist they will assemble 



For the fight. They will look on lis with disdainj 



Unworthy to fight against ; but they will be 



Defeated at daylight. 



At night I dreamt — I beheld 



Another victory at Kai-whara-whara. f 



They were also overwhelmed at Ota-aue. J 



Causing the sea-gull to scream, "Aue ! alas ! 



Oh ! my meat is the stench of human corpses." 



Held back is the wave of Whanga-niii 



Lest it should overflow Taikoria 



And also flood Waiwiri. § 



The hundred attacked me in vain. 



Two to one against me, I defeated them, 



And glorious was my ^^ctory. 



So they started off that night, taking the road by the sea-beach, and 

 just as day was breaking they ran right into the Whanga-nui war-party 

 at Kai-whara-whara (the South Spit, Whanga-nui River). Still under the 

 excitement of the recent haka, the invaders made short work of the sur- 

 prised Whanga-nui-ites, and before very long the pair of kakas with great 

 beaks were counting the spoil. They made a pile of the dead men four high, 

 laying them crossways as children cross and recross their hands in play. 

 " How long the row was," said my informant, " I don't know — perhaps a 

 mile, perhaps less — but, at any rate, as soon as the wall was built, Whata- 

 horo and his companion said to Te Ahuru, ' Here is payment for you. Is it 

 enough ? ' and so they gave the whole pile to Ngati Apa as a hakari for 

 them. While the feast was going on, Tui, the tohunga, got up and sang 

 another song, in which he described other places that would be taken, and 

 told the names of the chiefs to be killed. So the party, taking his good 



* Tu-kapua e Huru-tara — Men of the Wai-rarapa taua. 

 t Kai-whara-whara — South S]>it, Whanganui River, 

 t Ota-aue — A pa on the Awarua Creek below Putiki. 

 § Waiwiri — The lake usually known as Pa-pai-tonga. 

 4*— Trans. 



