Heviea of Revieicf, }<:/ll%. 



In the Heart of Maoriland. 



in their victim with long, funnel-shaped tongues : 

 others represented the mythical creatures known as 

 the maiiaia and whckti, with bird-like beaks, and 

 snaky tails all coiled in endless spirals. Even the 

 wide rafters are decorated with handsome black and 

 red scroll-work and rude paintings of trees and 

 birds and bird-spearing. 



When darkness fell, and fires twinkK-d through the 

 village, the melancholy tooting of a Triton conch- 

 shell (one of the olden pu-tatara or war trumpets) 

 echoed amongst the encompassing hills. This was 

 the signal for evening prayers. 

 The Urewera still hold to the 

 faith promulgated by Te Kooti, the 

 ritual known as the " Ringa-tu," 

 the " Uplifted Hand " — a medley 

 of the Psalms of David, the 

 Church of England Prayer-book, 

 and Hauhau incantations. The 

 great meeting-house, '' Te W'hai-a- 

 te-Motu" ("The Chase of the 

 Island" — ^so named in allusion to 

 the long pursuit of Te Kooti by 

 the Government soldiers) — was 

 soon packed with people. The 

 scene was passing weird. The 

 only light was a fire of glowing 

 charcoal, on the earth floor just 

 at the foot of the central house- 

 pillar, the sacred fouioko-manawa, 

 where the carven wooden statue 

 of Toroa, a semi-deified kingly 

 ancestor of the tribe, stared forth 

 with majestic scornful \isage, 

 beautifully scrolled with blue lines 

 of tattoo. Strange shadows came 

 and went with the flickering of 

 the fire, and the carved effigies of 

 ancestral heroes grouped round 

 the walls seemed alive, ready to 

 start forth on the war-path. On 

 the latticed walls hung weapons of 

 war and implements of the chase 

 — a Terry carbine, trophy of the 

 war, rifles and shot-guns, glisten- 

 ing greenstone clubs and bone- 

 handled tomahawks, and a bundle 

 of long limber smoke-blackened 

 bird-spears, tipped with sharp 

 bone and iron barbs. 



Hekerangi, a grey old man in 

 a long blanket, worn toga-wise, 

 rose and led the " Ringa-tu " ser- 

 vice. There were no books of 

 ritual, but the people knew the 

 long chants and prayers by heart, 

 and there was a wild beauty in 

 the droning cadence of the 

 Psalms sung by manv earnest 

 vo:ces to the air of ancient 



pagan waiaias, and, rising into something of the 

 olden fanatic fervour in the frequent refrain, 

 '■ Matua-pai Marire ! (" Father Good and Gracious ") 

 'Rire, 'rire-hau !" To this chant the Hauhaus were 

 wont to march into battle, with uplifted right hands 

 making mystic passes, and the incantation ending in 

 the loudly-barked '' Hau 1" was accounted a powerful 

 spell, for it was believed to ward off the white man's 

 bullets — and any luckless Maori who fell had but 

 his own want of faith to blame. So said the Hauhau 

 prophets ! And to this day, night and morning iu 



A Mimic Encounter with the "Taiaha' at iVIataatua, Pp, Urewera Country.' B^. , 



