Ohap. IY. DEiPARTTJRE FOR TAUPO. dS 
my old friends there. A chief of the Patutokoto tribe, 
named E Para, agreed to accompany me, with his 
attendants and family ; and E Kuru sent me word that 
his Taupo wife and his elder brother would also join 
me with their suite. After preparing all the a,rms, 
goods for barter, provisions, and other requisites, I 
started up the river in my light canoe, accompanied by 
JE Para in a large one of his own, on the 9th of 
November. We were bound to £/ Kurus country 
settlement at Tata, 100 miles up the river, in the first 
instance. I have already described the scenery as far 
as Pukihika, about 70 miles up. The only new feature 
was the sight of Te Kau Arapawa pa in ruins ; the 
houses, and fences, and trees, having been destroyed by 
the Taupo war-party on its return. The inhabitants 
were a branch of the Ngatiruanui tribe, and were there-- 
fore treated as enemies by the NgatipehL On the first 
approach of Heuheus army, they had removed to an 
isolated and almost inaccessible hill, about five milea 
lower down the river, called Tunuhaere, or " Cook as 
you go," on which they built a strong pa, which thft 
Taupo had not stopped to besiege. As they had early ac- 
quired the reputation of thieves and dishonest traders, 
no one regretted the disgrace which they had undergone 
in the abandonment and destruction of their original and 
favourite residence. Nine miles above Pukihika, after 
passing through some more delightful scenery, rather 
more wild and less inhabited in its character, we reached 
a large stockaded village called Pipiriki. Two for* 
tified hills constitute the defences in case of war ; but 
the inhabitants generally reside on the cultivated flat 
lietween the two. They were all mihanere ; but their 
former head chief, £J Kai, being the principal teacher 
and leader of religious exercises, I found them an exceed- 
ingly well-behaved and orderly community. The whole 
g2 
