W. T. L. Travers.— The Life and Times of Te Rauparaha. 71 
Ngatiraukawa, proceeded thither and attacked them, killing many and taking 
a number of others prisoners, amongst whom was Toheriri, their chief. 
Toheriri’s wife composed a lament on the occasion of the death of her husband, 
which is still recited amongst the Maoris. In this song she reflected on the 
broken promise of Tuauaine, who, though very sad at this slaughter, was 
entirely unable to prevent it. I merely mention this incident here, in order 
to show that lapse of time had in no degree weakened the revengeful feelings 
of Rauparaha, and that he considered the manes of his murdered children 
insufficiently appeased by the slaughter of the hundreds whom he had already 
sacrificed, 
In about a year after the visit of Whatanui with Te Heuheu the former 
returned to Kapiti with the main body of his tribe, this migration being 
known as the heke mairaro, or “heke from below,” the north point being 
always treated by the Maoris as downward. From that time forth for some 
years parties of the same tribe constantly recruited their countrymen in their 
settlements on the Manawatu, gradually extending their occupation over the 
whole country between Otaki and Rangitikei, although their chief stations 
were in the Horowhenua and Ohau districts ; whilst the N gatiapa, under the 
protection of Rangihaeata and Taratoa, occupied some country on the north 
of the Rangitikei, yielding tribute to both of these chiefs as a condition of 
their being left in peace. 
Not long after the arrival of Whatanui with the heke mairaro, Rauparaha 
put in execution his long meditated project of invading and permanently 
occupying the northern coasts of the Middle Island. It appears that his 
fame as a warrior had reached the ears of Rerewhaka, a great chief of the 
Ngaitahu, whose principal settlement was at the Kaikoura Peninsula. This 
chief had been excessively indignant at the defeat of the allies at Waiorua, 
and on hearing of the song of triumph, chanted by Rauparaba on that 
occasion, in which the latter indicated his intention of attacking and subduing 
the Ngaitahu, he had declared “that if Rauparaha dared to set a foot in his 
country he would rip his belly with a ntho-manga, or shark’s tooth,” a curse 
_ which was reported to Rauparaha by a run-away slave, and which—his 
memory for small matters being remarkably tenacious—would afford him, at 
any distance of time, ample pretext and indeed justification for attacking 
Rerewhaka and his people. In 1828, having accumulated a considerable 
quantity of firearms and ammunition, he started with 340 picked warriors, 
comprising Ngatitoa, Ngatiawa, Ngatitama, and Ngatiraukawa, under N iho, 
the son of Te Pehi, Takerei, Te Kanae, Te Koihua, Te Puoho, and other chiefs 
of note, and first made for D’Urville Island, at the north-east head of Blind 
Bay. At this time D’Urville Island, the Pelorus and Queen Charlotte 
Sounds, the Wairau and the Awatere, were all occupied by a numerous section 
