50 Transactions. 



respects, supplanted by an inferior chief, unless the hereditary power of the 

 former happens to be accompanied by intellect and bravery ; and such an 

 occurrence took place in regard to the natural hereditary ariki of the 

 Ngatiraukawa at the death of Hape. Te Rauparaha himself, though by virtue 

 of common descent, and by marriage ties, entitled to be treated as a chief of 

 Ngatiraukawa, was not considered to be of high rank, on the grounds that, in 

 the first place, he was the oiFspring of a junior branch of the ariki family of 

 Tainui ; and, in the next place, that the influence primarily due to his birth 

 had been weakened by the intermarriage of his progenitors with minor chiefs 

 and with women of other tribes. But when Hape, on his death bed, the 

 whole tribe being assembled, asked " if his successor could tread in his steps 

 and lead his people on to victory, and so keep up the honour of his tribe," not 

 one of his sons, to whom, in succession, the question was put, gave any reply. 

 After a long period of silence, Te Rauparaha, who was amongst the minor 

 chiefs and people, sitting at a distance from the dying man and from the chiefs 

 of high rank by whom he was surrounded, got up and said, " I am able to 

 tread in your steps, and even do that which you could not do." Hape soon 

 after expired, and as Te Rauparaha had been the only speaker in answer 

 to his question, the whole tribe acknowledged him as their leader, a position 

 which he occupied to his dying day. But even in this position his authority 

 was limited, for though in his powers of mind, and as a leader of a war party, 

 he was admittedly unsurpassed, either by Te Waharoa or by the great 

 Ngapuhi chief, E Hongi, and therefore fully entitled to occupy a commanding 

 position in the tribe, the mana which he acquired on the occasion in question 

 extended only to the exercise of a species of protecting power and counsel 

 whenever these were required, whilst the general direction of the affairs of the 

 tribe still remained vested in their own hereditary chiefs. The influence he 

 had obtained, however, materially aided him in ultimately inducing a large 

 number of the tribe to join him in the conquest and settlement of the territory 

 of the Ngatiapa, Bangitane, and Muaupoko, as will be shown in the sequel. 

 It may seem strange that a people occupying the fertile slopes of the 

 Maungatautari and the beautiful tract of country stretching along the "Waikato 

 to Bangiaowhia and Otawhao, could have been induced to abandon such a 

 country in order to join in the conquest and settlement of a distant, and not 

 more fertile, territory ; but it must be remembered that, at the time in 

 question, the whole Maori people were engrossed by one absorbing desire — 

 that of acquiring fire-arms — and the inland position of the Ngatiraukawa, and 

 their known wealth in much that the natives then considered valuable, 

 invited attack, whilst the former circumstance prevented them acquiring to 

 any extent the much coveted European weapons. It is true, that through their 

 relatives at Rotorua they succeeded, from time to time, in obtaining some 



