﻿CoLEXSO. 
  — 
  On 
  a 
  better 
  Knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Maori 
  Jhee, 
  85 
  

  

  Thirty-five 
  years 
  ago, 
  when 
  journeying 
  along 
  the 
  East 
  Coast, 
  between 
  

   Cape 
  Kidnappers 
  and 
  Castle 
  Point, 
  on 
  reaching 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  high 
  hiU 
  or 
  

   range 
  situated 
  between 
  Waimarama 
  and 
  Te 
  Apiti, 
  named 
  Marokotia, 
  my 
  

   attention 
  was 
  called 
  to 
  a 
  remarkable 
  rift 
  or 
  chasm 
  at 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  glen 
  

   just 
  below 
  me, 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  or 
  sea 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  Maori 
  track 
  or 
  pathway. 
  

   This, 
  I 
  was 
  told 
  by 
  the 
  old 
  chiefs 
  of 
  the 
  coast 
  who 
  were 
  with 
  me, 
  was 
  in 
  

   ancient 
  times 
  the 
  dwelling 
  of 
  a 
  monster 
  Saurian, 
  named 
  Hinehuarau 
  ; 
  that 
  

   it 
  burst 
  away 
  fi'om 
  this 
  place, 
  tearing 
  and 
  rending 
  all 
  before 
  it, 
  and 
  so 
  

   went 
  on 
  south 
  until 
  it 
  reached 
  Wairarapa, 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  subsequently 
  killed 
  

   by 
  a 
  chief 
  of 
  note 
  of 
  ancient 
  days, 
  named 
  Tara, 
  whose 
  name 
  he 
  gave 
  to 
  the 
  

   lake 
  near 
  Te 
  Ante, 
  " 
  Te 
  Eoto-a-tara." 
  

  

  Some 
  time 
  after 
  I 
  was 
  again 
  in 
  the 
  Wairarapa 
  Valley, 
  and 
  hearing 
  so 
  

   much 
  of 
  the 
  "bones," 
  or, 
  as 
  some 
  said, 
  " 
  the 
  head," 
  of 
  this 
  raonster 
  being 
  

   yet 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  place 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  slain, 
  away 
  among 
  the 
  hills, 
  I 
  

   purposely 
  walked 
  thither 
  from 
  a 
  village 
  called 
  Hurunuiorangi 
  to 
  see 
  them. 
  

   It 
  was 
  rather 
  a 
  long 
  and 
  rough 
  walk 
  to 
  the 
  place 
  among 
  the 
  hills 
  on 
  the 
  

   other 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Euamahanga 
  river. 
  Arriving 
  there, 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  said 
  

   "bones" 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  heap 
  or 
  knob 
  of 
  yellowish, 
  friable, 
  ghttering, 
  quartz-like 
  

   stone 
  (calcite), 
  which 
  cropped 
  out 
  from 
  the 
  hill-side 
  and 
  lay 
  in 
  large 
  lumps, 
  

   I 
  remember 
  well 
  how 
  angry 
  one 
  old 
  Maori 
  became, 
  who 
  was 
  of 
  the 
  party 
  

   with 
  me, 
  on 
  my 
  asserting 
  that 
  the 
  pile 
  before 
  us 
  was 
  not 
  bone 
  at 
  all 
  but 
  

   stone. 
  Very 
  likely 
  those 
  natives 
  had 
  never 
  seen 
  any 
  other 
  stone 
  like 
  it 
  (up 
  

   to 
  that 
  time 
  I 
  had 
  not). 
  It 
  bore, 
  at 
  first 
  sight, 
  a 
  resemblance 
  to 
  the 
  yellow 
  

   decaying 
  bones 
  of 
  a 
  whale. 
  I 
  think 
  the 
  spot 
  was 
  called 
  Tupuruxouru, 
  and 
  

   that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  very 
  far 
  from 
  the 
  head 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  Taueru. 
  

  

  Such 
  places, 
  however 
  — 
  caves, 
  rifts, 
  chasms, 
  and 
  strange-looking 
  stones 
  

   ■ 
  — 
  are 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  uufrequently 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  travelling 
  in 
  New 
  Zealand, 
  

   especially 
  when 
  journeying 
  (as 
  I 
  was 
  obliged 
  to 
  do) 
  along 
  the 
  old 
  foot-paths, 
  

   which 
  mostly 
  led 
  over 
  ridges 
  of 
  hills 
  ; 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  plenty 
  of 
  such 
  stories 
  

   concerning 
  them, 
  each 
  spot 
  having 
  its 
  own 
  peculiar 
  myth 
  or 
  legend, 
  which 
  

   was 
  once 
  most 
  certainly 
  believed. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  also 
  more 
  than 
  once 
  seen 
  another 
  curious 
  spot 
  in 
  this 
  neighbour- 
  

   hood 
  (Hawke 
  Bay), 
  which 
  deserves 
  recording, 
  the 
  more 
  so, 
  perhaps, 
  from 
  

   the 
  fact 
  of 
  its 
  being 
  no 
  longer 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  as 
  I 
  saw 
  it. 
  It 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  low 
  

   undrdating 
  grassy 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  Waitio. 
  There, 
  at 
  that 
  time, 
  was 
  a 
  

   huge 
  earthwork 
  representation 
  of 
  a 
  ngarara, 
  or 
  ika, 
  i.e., 
  a 
  lizard, 
  or 
  

   crocodile, 
  which, 
  several 
  generations 
  back, 
  had 
  been 
  cut 
  and 
  dug 
  and 
  

   formed 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  by 
  a 
  chief 
  of 
  that 
  time 
  named 
  Eangitauira, 
  wh^, 
  in 
  

   doing 
  so, 
  had 
  also 
  dexterously 
  availed 
  himself 
  of 
  the 
  natural 
  formation 
  of 
  

   the 
  low 
  alluvial 
  undulations 
  in 
  the 
  earth. 
  It 
  had 
  the 
  rude 
  appearance 
  of 
  a 
  

   huge 
  Saurian 
  extended, 
  with 
  its 
  four 
  legs 
  and 
  claws 
  and 
  tail, 
  but 
  crooked, 
  

  

  