W. T. L. Travers. — The Life and Times of Te Eauparaha. 63 



treacherous act on his part, committed for the express purpose of involving 

 Te Pehi, and a number of other members of the tribe, in destruction ; but it 

 is difficult to suppose that Rauparaha could have maintained his high position 

 if this charge, and others of a similar nature, were in any degree well 

 founded. My own impression is that the whole affair was planned for the 

 express purpose of throwing the defenders of Kapiti off their guard, and so of 

 securing a conquest which had already been several times attempted in vain, 

 but which he felt to be absolutely necessary for the success of his ultimate 

 designs. It appears that one day he started with a large force of Ngatitoa 

 and Ngatiawa for Horowhenua, for the avowed purpose of harrassing the 

 remnant of Muaupoko and Rangitane who still wandered about that district, 

 and that before dawn of the morning after his departure (which had been 

 made known on the previous day to the people on the Island through their 

 own spies), Te Pehi, and his own immediate followers, crossed the Strait and 

 attacked them. Thrown off their guard by the knowledge of Kauparaha's 

 absence with the bulk of the warriors, they had neglected their ordinary 

 precautions against surprise, and were easily defeated, many being slain, 

 although the greater number escaped in their canoes to the main land, and 

 found refuge in the forests and swamps of the Manawatu. On the return of 

 Rauparaha's war party, he at once passed over to Kapiti, where he usually 

 resided from that time until his death. Shortly after the taking of Kapiti, 

 Wi Kingi and the great body of the Ngatiawa returned to the Waitara, only 

 twenty warriors remaining with the Ngatitoa. Thus weakened, they were 

 ultimately compelled, by events which I am about to relate, to abandon their 

 settlements on the main land, and to remove to Kapiti, where they formed 

 and occupied three large pas, one named Wharekohu, at the southern end of 

 the Island ; another named Rangatira, near the northern end ; and one named 

 Taepiro, between the other two, Te Rauparaha and Rangihaieta, with the main 

 body of the people, residing in the latter. Before relating the events which 

 took place after the departure of the Ngatiawa, it is necessary that I should 

 call attention to many affairs of importance which occurred between that 

 event and the first settlement of the Ngatitoa at Ohau. It will be remembered 

 that at the close of the last chapter I mentioned the attempt made by the 

 Muaupoko to murder Rauparaha, near Lake Papaitanga, and the determina- 

 tion of himself and his tribe to lose no opportunity of taking vengeance for 

 the slaughter which had taken place on that occasion. At the time of this 

 occurrence, the Muaupoko were still numerous and comparatively powerful, 

 having suffered much less during the previous incursions of the Ngapuhi and 

 Waikatos, than the neighbouring tribes ; but they were, nevertheless, no 

 match for the better armed and more warlike Ngatitoa, and therefore rarely 

 met them in the open field, relying for security rather upon the inaccessibility 



