TENURE OF LAND. 
355 
the taua , war party, being expected, food and various gar- 
ments were placed in order as presents, so when the rush 
took place, they were taken as plunder, and all terminated 
amicably. The head chief or ariki claimed power over 
widows, and placed a price upon them ; Pehi Turoa 
demanded two cows of a youth named Ihakara, for his 
permission to marry a handsome young widow, he com- 
plained afterwards that he had paid too much for the lady, 
as she did not prove worthy of so high a price. 
As soon as spring commenced preparations were made for 
some raid which had been discussed and decided upon during 
the winter months, in fact it was to be the summer's amuse- 
ment, just as a pleasure excursion is planned ; and when the 
proper season arrived, when kings go forth to fight," they 
set out with alacrity. When the camp was formed, a large 
shed was erected for the taua , war party, this was called he 
funi , in imitation of the whare puni, hot-house, to keep 
them hot for the fight. 
Tenure of Land. 
The tenure of land in all countries, during what may be 
called their patriarchal age, has been much the same, each 
tribe or section of one, has had its own particular district, 
which belongs to the community over which the chief exer- 
cises his rnana , or manorial rights, each member can cultivate 
any portion of it he thinks fit, if unoccupied, or if it has not 
been previously cultivated by another ; in that case the 
family of the first cultivator retains certain rights over it ; 
when it has laid in fallow sufficiently long to become re- 
newed or fit for occupation, that person or his children can 
again use it, in fact, it is, to a certain extent, his freehold, 
but he cannot dispose of it out of the tribe or Hapu to 
strangers without the consent of the entire community, and 
the head chief, who is the organ of any such change. 
In a similar way rights over certain fisheries are acquired ; 
when families unite in erecting, Pa tuna, or eel weirs, 
which are laborious works, they have an exclusive right over 
A A 2 
