468 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII. 
and charred at the lower end. They now push against 
the bed of the river in perfect unison, the poles plung- 
ing and lifting, while the canoe foams ahead, as though 
by clock-work. The helmsman also steers with a 
pole, balancing himself in the high peaked stern, and 
guiding the canoe by poling under or away from it. 
The silence is only interrupted by the grating of the 
poles against the sides of the canoe and the foaming of 
the water, or by an occasional brief word of direction 
from the man in the bow, — ki uta ! *' towards shore ! " 
or ki waJio ! " outwards ! " The canoes follow each 
other in single file, with scarcely two feet between the 
stern of one and the bow of the next ; and though a 
collision would in most cases render the capsizing of 
both inevitable, such is the skill of the natives, that 
an accident rarely occurs in going up the rapids. The 
natives of TVanganvi have a known reputation for this 
peculiar exercise ; and men of other tribes poling on 
this river are much laughed at for their awkwardness 
and the numerous duckings they get in consequence. 
A crew of experienced TVanganui natives poling up a 
strong rapid is a very pretty sight. As it is hard 
work, they generally strip, leaving only a shirt or mat 
round the waist, and the exercise throws them into 
the most graceful attitudes and develops their mus- 
cular energy. A byword, much used all over the 
islands, alludes to the known practice in poling, while 
it mimics the uncouth dialect of this tribe. After I 
became as it were identified with them, it was often 
shouted after me by the Kapiti or Nfraiiuwa natives, 
— Ira ! ira ! e weke, e toko kituhua ! " Hallo ! hallo ! 
*• old man, pole away inland !" 
We stopped for the night at a settlement called 
Oawitu ; where we overtook many of Turoas followers, 
who own extensive cultivations hereabouts. Towards 
