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 Anpori. 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 Ngatiawa on the one side, and of Ngatiraukawa on 

 the other. This fight is commonly known as the kirititonga, and was caused 

 by the renewal, at the funeral obsequies of Kauparaha'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 oflf 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 Wake 6 eld 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 6hip, 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 



