Charley Pomare. Native tribes. 



NEW ZEALAND. 



Town of Wangarara. 



169 



better known by the name of Charley, then quite 

 a boy, led the forces of Otuiha, while those of 

 Kororarika were marshalled by Pi, a great chief 

 of Hokianga ; and the fight was terminated by 

 Charley first shooting Pi, and then the second 

 chief, who was endeavouring to save the body, 

 with his double-barrelled gun. The heads of the 

 warriors were cut off, and preserved as trophies, 

 while their bodies were left on the ground. They 

 were not eaten, though the Hokianga people are 

 said to be cannibals. This latter imputation, how- 

 ever, should be received with caution, as the in- 

 formation was derived from their enemies. 



From all I could learn, Pomare is not deemed 

 very courageous, and was not himself engaged in 

 the fight. He is looked upon as quite avaricious, 

 and as a great coward: he is much addicted to 

 liquor. It will, perhaps, excite surprise to learn 

 how he came to exercise the influence he does over 

 his countrymen; it is entirely owing to his elo- 

 quence, by which he is enabled to lead them any 

 where. When Charley was asked the cause of his 

 uncle's influence, he said that Pomare could -lead 

 the people wherever he chose; and to the question 

 as to why he himself was not king, he answered, 

 " Oh, that is maori" (country fashion). 



Some of the gentlemen visited the pa of Pomare, 

 for the purpose of witnessing his return from a 

 visit to one of his allies. The canoe was seen 

 coming up the bay, paddled by forty-five natives, 

 and on the side of the hill all the people of the pa 

 were collected, shouting, waving their garments, 

 and firing muskets, to welcome their friends. 

 When the chief touched the shore, a curious scene 

 ensued. All the boatmen seized their paddles, and 

 ran some distance along the beach, where they 

 halted, and formed themselves into a compact 

 body, in martial array. Those of the pa did the 

 same, and were stationed in front of the canoe; the 

 former party then returned, and when near, the 

 latter made simultaneously ten or twelve leaps 

 directly upward, waving their paddles over their 

 heads, and giving at each jump a hard guttural 

 sound, like hooh. The two parties then changed 

 positions, when the boatmen went through the 

 same motions, after which the whole mingled to- 

 gether. This ceremony was supposed to repre- 

 sent that used on the return of a war-party. 

 Pomare was found shortly afterwards seated in 

 front of his house, surrounded by his people, who 

 were busily engaged in preparing a great feast, for 

 which he was giving directions, and which shortly 

 took place, accompanied by much merry-making. 



The chief, Pomare, on one occasion paid a visit to 

 the gentlemen of the squadron at Mr. Tibbey's, with 

 some fish for sale, and for which he had been 

 fishing several hours. He first asked a shilling for 

 them, which was handed to him, when he immedi- 

 ately raised his price to two shillings, and when 

 this was refused, he went away in high dudgeon, 

 and complained to me on my arrival, that he had 

 not been treated well. Many instances of the 

 same kind occurred. 



Mr. Hale induced Hoia, Pomare's brother, to 

 give him a list of the various clans of the great 

 Yopaki tribe, which under Shougi had formerly 

 been the terror of all New Zealand. From this 

 and other authorities, the number of the tribes 

 were given at one hundred and five, in which were 

 comprised upwards of sixty thousand fighting men. 



Those who are more acquainted, and have the best 

 opportunities of knowing, state the population at less 

 than three hundred thousand; there are others 

 who rate the population from thirty to forty thou- 

 sand. A mean between the two estimates would 

 be nearer the truth. From the information I re- 

 ceived, I am satisfied that it cannot be great. The 

 population of both islands is said to amount to from 

 one hundred and forty to one hundred and eighty 

 thousand, and the whole of this number are on the 

 north island, with the exception of three or four 

 thousand who are on the southern island. It is 

 remarkable that every tribe has a name peculiar 

 to itself, and distinct from the district which it 

 inhabits: thus the natives of Kororarika are called 

 Yaitawake; those of Hauaki (the river Thames), 

 Ngaitawake; and with few exceptions these names 

 begin with the syllable of Nga or Ngati most com- 

 monly the latter. These names are thought to 

 have reference to clanship. The members of each 

 tribe appear to be all connected by the ties of con- 

 sanguinity. 



Some of our naturalists made a visit to a town 

 called Wangarara, situated near the coast, about 

 thirty miles to the southward of Cape Brett. They 

 passed up the Waicaddie river eleven miles to 

 Waicaddie Pa. Here they found a missionary 

 station occupied by a Mr. Baker; but none of the 

 family were at home. The old chief of Waicaddie 

 was very indignant, and treated them quite un- 

 civilly, because they were going to Wangarara. 

 After procuring a guide, they set out on foot for 

 that place. The distance is twelve miles, which 

 they accomplished by sunset. The road lay over 

 mountains. The village of Wangarara consists 

 of four or five miserable huts, or what would more 

 properly be designated kennels, made in the rudest 

 manner, and thatched with fern-leaves. In order 

 to enter these, they were obliged to crawl on their 

 hands and knees. The furniture of the chief's 

 house consisted of a few mats, two or three fishing- 

 nets, and an old chest. A fire was smoking in the 

 centre to keep out the musquitoes, and the resem- 

 blance to a smoke-house was striking; or, perhaps, 

 the latter would have suffered by the comparison. 

 The accommodations in this hut were rather con- 

 fined and crowded ; for besides themselves, there 

 were three runaway sailors as guests. They, there- 

 fore, gladly accepted the invitation of the chief 

 Ko-towatowa, who was on a visit here, to accom- 

 pany him to his hut, at the mouth of the bay. 

 They went with him in his fine large canoe, and 

 reached his residence late in the evening, where 

 they found themselves much more comfortably 

 accommodated, having clean mats and a good 

 supper of pigeons and potatoes. This was Ko- 

 towatowa's principal farm. His pa is situated a 

 few miles up the bay, on a rocky point, and con- 

 tains one hundred and fifty houses. It was, at the 

 time of their visit, nearly deserted, in consequence 

 of the attention demanded by their crops; and this 

 is the case with nearly all the other pas at this 

 season. 



This part of the country is flat, and has a good 

 soil; and here Ko-towatowa raises most of his 

 potatoes and kumaras, which are larger and better 

 than those raised at the Bay of Islands. They 

 also raise a good supply of Indian corn, and are at 

 no loss for food, which was evident from the quan- 

 tities of dried as well as fresh fish which was seen. 



