W. T. L. Travers.—The Life and Times of Te Rauparaha. 89 
proceeded down the coast as far as the Hokitika River, killing and taking 
prisoners nearly all the existing inhabitants. Amongst the prisoners was 
Tuhuru, who was afterwards ransomed by the Ngaitahu for a celebrated 
mere called Kai Kanohi, now in the possession of the descendants of Matenga 
Te Aupori. Niho and Takerei settled at the mouth of the Grey, whilst 
detached parties occupied various points along the coast, both to the north and 
south of that river. I do not think it necessary to refer in any detail to the 
events which took place between the Horowhenua war and the arrival of the 
“Tory ” with Colonel Wakefield in 1839. On the 16th November in that 
year the ship reached Kapiti, and Colonel Wakefield was informed that a 
sanguinary battle had just been fought near Waikanae on that morning 
between large forces of the N gatiawa on the one side, and of Ngatiraukawa on 
the other. This fight is commonly known as the hirititonga, and was caused 
by the renewal, at the funeral obsequies of Rauparaha’s sister Waitohi, of 
the land feuds between the two tribes. The forces engaged were large, and 
the killed on both sides numbered nearly eighty, whilst considerable numbers 
were wounded. Rauparaha himself took no part in the battle, reaching the 
scene of action after the repulse of the Ngatiraukawa, and narrowly escaping 
death by swimming off to his canoe, his retreat being covered by a vigorous 
rally on the part of his allies. This was the last contest which occurred 
between the natives along the coast in question, the arrival of the European 
settlers having entirely changed the aspect of affairs. 
I need not here detail the arrangements made by Colonel Wakefield for the 
purchase of the country in the neighbourhood of Wellington, and along the 
coast to the northward, but it is worth while to extract from Mr. E. J. Wake- 
field’s “ Adventures in New Zealand” the account he gives of the colonel’s first 
meeting with Rauparaha, of the appearance of the latter, and of the impression 
which he made upon his European visitors. “ We had just made up a boat’s 
crew,” he says, “from the cabin party, to go over and see the field of battle, the 
surgeons taking their instruments with them, when a message arrived from 
Rauparaha. He was on Evans Island, the nearest to the ship of the three 
islets, and expressed a desire to see Colonel Wakefield. We therefore pulled 
round and went to see him. He had just returned from the scene of blood- 
shed, whither he asserted that he had gone to restore peace ; and seeing the 
arrival of our ship, which was taken for a man-of-war by many even of the 
Europeans, he had betaken himself, with all his goods, to the residence of an 
English whaler, named Thomas Evans, on whom he relied for protection from 
some imaginary danger. We had heard, while in Cloudy Bay, that Rauparaha 
had expressed himself in somewhat violent terms towards us for purchasing 
Port Nicholson without his sanction ; and he was described by the whalers as 
giving way to great alarm when told what the ship was, and as having 
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