The two following chants were sung to us by Te Pareoterangi and other natives in chorus, and were taken down in Maori verbatim by Turner. I am indebted for their spirited translation to the able pen of Mr. C.O. Davis.
I stood alone awhile, then moving round I heard of Taranaki's doings. The rumours Reached me here, and then I raised My hand to Tamarura,[55] that deity Above. Ah me! 'twas on the third Of March that suffering came, For then, alas! Waerangahika[56] fell; And I was shipped on board a vessel, And borne along upon the ocean. We steer for Waikawa,[57] and then we bear Away to Ahuriri,[58] to thee, McLean.[59] Ah, now I'm seated on _St. Kilda's_[60] deck, And looking back to gaze upon the scene My tears like water freely flow; now Whanganui's[61] shore is seen, now Whangaroa,[62] Where mountain waves are raising up their crests Near Wharekauri.[63] O, my people, Rest ye at home; arise and look around, And northward look. The lightsome clouds Are lingering in the sky, and wafted hither Day by day, yes, from my distant home, Turanga, from which I now am separated, Separated now from those I love.
O, my people! respect the queen's authority, That we may prosper even to the end. Suffice the former things thrown in our path As obstacles. Uphold the governor's laws To mitigate the deeds of Rura, who brought Upon us all our troubles.
Let us arise, O people!--the whole of us arise. Lo, Tohu and Te Whiti now have reached The pits of darkness--the house of Tangaroa,[64] And gateway of the spirit-world of Miru,[65] Where men are bound all seasons of the year. The offspring, too, of David they would bind. The bright and morning star, Peace, at the end Will come, and in the times of David Feelings of vindictiveness will cease. 'Tis not from thee; it is from Moses And the Prophets--from Jesus Christ And His Apostles, that lines of demarcation Were set up to shield thee from man's wrath. The termination comes by thee, O Tohu! And while it wears a pleasing aspect, I am lighted into day.
[Footnote 53: _Haeremai_ is the usual cry of welcome with the Maoris.]
[Footnote 54: When afterwards we asked the natives how it was they appeared to be mistrustful of us when we first arrived, they replied that they had always been suspicious of half-castes and _pakehas_, especially since the capture of Winiata by Barlow. That Te Takaru, the murderer of Moffat, came there sometimes, and they thought we were after him. They then related to us the circumstances of Moffat's death. It would appear that the murdered man, on his last journey, came to Ruakaka, and induced several of the natives to accompany him to the Tuhua country. Moffat, who had been driven from that district by the natives, had been warned not to enter it again; but, notwithstanding this caution, he determined to revisit it, in order to prospect for gold. The party left by one of the bush tracks, and when it had nearly reached its destination, Moffat was fired upon by a native from behind a tree, and mortally wounded in the back. At the same moment he fell from his horse, when another native jumped forward, and split his skull open with a tomahawk.]