CHAP. III.] FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 105 



certed with the Nga-te-raukaua to make the attack, 

 promising them his aid. On their return to Otaki 

 they passed Waikanahi : the Nga-te-awa expected 

 an attack ; however, they passed quietly, but re- 

 turned shortly afterwards. Early before daybreak 

 they surrounded the village, and one of their num- 

 ber, entering a hut, asked a boy for a light. No 

 New Zealander travels so early in the morning with 

 friendly intentions, and the boy, knowing him to be 

 one of their enemies, fired at him, and roused the 

 tribe. The women escaped to the other village, to 

 obtain aid, and the conflict began. The aggressors 

 were defeated, and lost sixty men, amongst whom 

 were several chiefs. 



The Nga-te-awa buried their own dead ; and the 

 improved state of this tribe was shown by the fact 

 that, instead of feasting on the dead bodies of their 

 enemies, they buried them, depositing them in one 

 common grave, together with their muskets, powder, 

 mats, &c., a generosity and good feeling as unusual 

 as it was honourable to their character. The grave 

 of their enemies they enclosed, and made it " tapu." 



I saw in Kapiti some people of the Nga-te-rau- 

 kaua tribe, who had intermarried with the Nga-te- 

 awa, and lived there ; for it is a general custom that 

 the husband resides with his wife among her own 

 people. The country of the former tribe abounds 

 with excellent flax, and they use it chiefly in the 

 manufacture of the fine mats, called Kaitaka mats, 

 which form the principal presents amongst them- 



