£4 
ered ask him, ‘No hea koe?’ (whence have 
you come?) He replies, ‘No te Wajioterata’ 
(from the Waitoterata). But once past the 
stream there 1s no return from the dreary 
region beyond. The opposite is, with them, 
the bourne from which no traveller returns. 
From the Wairatane the spirits of the 
deceased glide along the rocks till they come 
to a perforated rock, where, passing through 
a small hole, they then ascend to the peaks 
of those projecting rocks to which more 
properly belongs the name of Reinga—wild 
rocks running’ out to sea. From peak to 
peak the spirits again descend—where none 
but spirits could—till they arrive at the pro- 
jecting branch of a pohutukawa tree (Metro- 
sideros tomentosa). Why this is called the 
Aka of Reinga 1 could not ascertain. In 
this branch the spirits hang for a while, tak- 
ing their final earthly rest. The branch is 
bent downwards in consequence, it is said, 
of the number killed in Hongi’s wars. whose 
Spirits crowded together upon it. Thence 
they drop on to the flat rocks below and 
pass out to the extreme point—wnhich might 
fairly be called ‘the land’s end’—there plung: 
ing into the deep. A hole beneath the mass 
of floating seaweed, the entrance to the 
unseen world, finally receives them.’’ 
Mounting our horses we climbed the steep 
slope we had descended, and after the 
horses had scrambled down a precipitous 
bluff, we emerged on a sandy beach leading 
to Cape Maria van Diemen. Opposite the 
Cape, on an island half a-mile from the 
shore, stands the lighthouse, whose inter- 
mittent gleam warns passing ships to keep 
well out to sea if they wish to avoid disas- 
ter on the treacherous sandbank on which 
the waves were breaking for miles at the 
time of our visit. 
As the afternoon wag rapidly passing, and 
as our cadet guide had not been on this part 
of the run before, we decided not te spend 
time in reaching the end of the cape, and 
we turned our horses inland to the south- 
east to make for the homestead. At this 
point the track was missed. Many hours 
passed, and night had fallen before we 
extricated ourselves from the mazes of the 
Te sare swamp, and reached the home- 
stead. 
