TRAILS ROUND TUTIRA LAKE 73 



Notwithstanding the fact of Ti Waewae's death at the hands 

 of Te Kahu-o-te-rangi, the defenders of the pa continued to present 

 a bold front. The siege, however, endured until the Ngai-Tatara, 

 hard pressed, decided to consult the sacred oracle te tuaahu 

 to discover what lay in the future. Te Whitiki and Tunui-o-te-ika 

 were the tribal deities of the Ngai-Tatara. It was the latter who was 

 now, through the medium of the tohungas, consulted. He was the 

 god of revenge, of evil passions. If any man had given offence to the 

 tribe, if it was desired that punishment should be meted out to any 

 individual, the assistance of Tunui-o-te-ika was invoked. It was, how- 

 ever, necessary before response or, to use a modern phrase which 

 perfectly expresses the meaning, before contact could be obtained 

 to lay before the god something that had belonged to the offending 

 party a personal ornament, lock of hair, fragment of clothing, the 

 imprint of a footmark, spittle collected from the ground. The abode 

 of Tunui-o-te-ika was a miniature waka or canoe, which was moved, as 

 occasion called, from place to place. The avatar of the god was shown 

 as a trail of fire, visible not only to the priests but to all members of 

 the tribe ; Pera was emphatic in the use of the words " All, the whole 

 world." 



In this dilemma of the tribe, the proper rites and incantations 

 having been performed, Tunui-o-te-ika, taking the direction of the 

 rocks, Te Puku, manifested himself in a trail of fire " like a comet," 

 and here sped to earth. The interpretation of the fiery flight was 

 plain towards that spot the Ngai-Tatara were bidden to withdraw. 

 Their canoes, which had been hidden in the pa, were accordingly prepared, 

 though it was realised by the elders of the tribe that there was not 

 room for all. The difficulty was surmounted by the decision that 

 only the male members of the tribe should make their escape, 

 and that the womenfolk should be left to the mercy of the enemy. 

 Even the infant males were taken. Ma ratau e ngaki te mate " give 

 us all the boys, because they will be needed to seek revenge for 

 this disaster." 



During the darkness of the night, therefore, the Ngai-Tatara 

 dragged their canoes noiselessly and stealthily into the lake, the 



scorn porangi! porangif mad! mad! and perhaps from the business point of view it 

 might have been wiser, as they explained, to live and slay rather than be slain. From the 

 tribal point of view Paia had just wasted himself. 



