War to the Knife or Tangata Maori

ing meal, and were only awaiting his arrival to commence the first day's sight-seeing. After a council of war, it

. The same sorts of pools are on view; you have also the feeling of being on the lid of a boiling cauldron, and can

my New Zealand career in such a strictly Maori fashion. What is o

2] This is the champagne pool. For the champagne, watch this effect." Here a couple of handfuls of earth were thrown in. Thereupon the strange water commenced to effervesce angrily, the circles spreading until the outermost edges of the pool were reached. "The outlet, yo

y applause until the last act. I have been in strange places abroad, but never saw so many differen

n contrast, the colour of the surrounding earth varies from pale yellow to Indian red and crimson. Some of the crystals you see arou

will evolve is as yet unknown to us. Let

ith villages, the soil being very productive; that the inhabitants displeased the local Atua, upon [Pg 143] which he ordered a volcano in the neighbourhood t

of this sulphur-laden Valley of the Sha

shower. Let us hope he will not do it in our time. In the mean time, look at this Boiling Lake. Is not the water b

mbled from one spot to ano

ept a naphtha lake, could one find such an inflammable rest for the sole of one's foot? I believe the place is one-half sulphur, and the other imprisoned fire, which will some day break forth and light up such

ing lunched at a bungalow specially erect

k, as they approached a curious soot-coloured cone, from which, of course, steam

can but believe and tremble!" ejaculated

ered Warwick. "Let us clim

illed with a boiling, opaque mass of seething, bubbling mud. Ever and anon were thrown up fountain-like spurts, which turne

it might have been my face. A

nger, as he gazed at the steaming, impure liquid. "I

with bound hands, after battle. It was a choice way of disposing of a favourit

cannot bear to think of such horrors. I supp

. The Druids, with their wicker cages filled with roasting [Pg 145] victims, were as w

o," said Massin

orward musingly on the track which

pears to have been mu

en anything of Heke's war in '45. It was the first real protest against the pakeha. The natives were beginning to be afraid, very reasonably, that the white ma

they not make

his brother, saw that they must be beaten in the long run. They allied themselves with the British. They had embraced Christiani

Massinger, "on which side y

madness [Pg 146] to contend. I should never think of joining the natives in case of war. A war which is coming, from all I hear. At the same time, I cannot help feeling for them. Amid these woods, l

an alternati

s, I am afraid I must call them. As for justice and mercy in dealing with conquered races, these are mere words. Force is the only law, as it has ever been. What mercy did the Maoris show to their conquere

ich you take of the question. But is there no way of reconcilin

ient to law, when they properly understand it. They are naturally litigious, and enjoy a good long-winded lawsuit. If they were convinced that they were getting fair play in an arbitration, which I should reco

lands, disputed titles,

uld weaken in time; and if they do not get it from England, I do not know, speaking from experience and reading,

, and war b

trage; all things which lead to unpardonable crimes on

do you not come forward, when inferior people of my own n

r matters to think of. When we get back to Auckland there wi

ing Titan, with volcanic cone, encircled by his stupendous mountain range. As they gazed, the ceaseless steam-clouds, now envel

ight thousand nine hundred feet), cloud-crowned, lava-built, but girdled with ice-fields at a lower altitude; and

eful rural, seem mingled together in the wildest profusion; fire and water conflicting furiously in the

Surely you cannot expect an ordinary population amid scenes like these. I fear that we rese

en?" qu

remorseless. So beware of us! We make bad enemies, I confe

I not?" he continued, as he gazed at the girl's face,

Jephthah; so, scorning fate and the dark death,

g

hanged; a wistful, half-plea

y. "You know that you are

pumice-strewn levels, lo! Taupo the

eye wandered until the darksome shadows of Kaimanawa and Tankaru dimmed its azure surface-the vast mountain range,

The day was wonderfully fine, having the softened atmospheric tone peculiar to the later summer months of the northern island. Then gradually a delicate haze crept

all its component parts! Then, as columns of steam rose in the far distance, completing the wei

g

osed Warwick. "We must send forward a herald and pay our respects, or our visit may not be so succes

peared to have fallen. "This is his kingdom, and we must do tika. We can rest for to-night, however, and give Te Heu Heu

at was his spec

rom here, among the hills you see yonder. But life in these regions has always been uncertain. One fine night-or perhaps it was a stormy one, for there had been a deluge of rain-the soil about here in the valley, even the rocks, they say, became loosened and came down in a k

g

for Te

wakes. Perchance my friend Returns to me clad in that lightsome

ng tree to shelter Thy people, when evil hovered round. Ah! what

at canoe, Arawa, Float on the wave. And women from the West look on and weep. Why hast thou lef

lmost despair-as, indeed, do most of the Maori love-songs and laments. The grief was by no means simulated in the case

agination, in the native poems and orations," said Massin

ay, the complete embodiment of the Maori chief of old days-terrible in peace or war; and, arrayed in his cloak of ceremony, [Pg 152] w

ign the Treaty of Wait

erior. 'You may choose to be slaves to the pakeha,' he said scornf

s, the only entrance being by heavy sliding gates. This historic keep possessed all the natural advantages of the sites selected for the purpose, with the important addition of unlimited water-supply. Scarcity of the indispensable requisite, rarely possible to secure on the summit of a hill, often led to the surrender of the castle when besieged for sufficient time to exhaust the water-store. One of

g

troops. Besides these were lines of pits, lightly covered over and thus used to entrap enemies. Also, another series used for storing provisions. When understood that these well-planned and scientifi

the sea-like expanse; the dread mountain kings crowned with eternal snow, girt with fire, ringed with ice-fields, based on primeval

!" How poor, how narrow the life which contented his compatriots!-which contented him before the Great Disaster, when his flight to this Ultim

ch of danger, [Pg 154] seemed to have changed not only his habits of thought, but his very nature. As he reflected upon the exhaustles

of Taupo Moano. He had enlarged upon the rank and wealth of Massinger until a cloud was cleared from the mind of th

to pay a visit of ceremony to the great chief Te Heu Heu, he became mollified, and expressed his desire to converse with the

a wharepuni of unusual size, with elaborate carvings upon its massive doorposts, received him with perfect dignity and self-possession. The r

she answered with quiet composure. He then turned to Warwick, who appeared anxious [Pg 155] to explain their pos

e. "It is a far journey to see the boiling

hese strange things. I have seen pictures of them. We

trange people. You do not want to buy the land?

t would grow corn. The land around Taupo was good to look at,

by bad men. He is paying Teira for land which is not his to sell. If the Mata Kawana takes it by force, the

wishes to live on land near the Maoris.

much like him to live here. Let him ask Erena in m

f Erena would accept him. His heart [Pg 156] is in his own l

s dance the war-dance, on account of this trouble about the Waitara, what w

afar off. He will go back to Waitemata or

t the Waikato will not regard it. It may be tha

iment the audie

of pumice-stone. To the north-west they gazed at the wooded ridges of Rangitoto and Tuhua, and, three thousand feet above the sea, the bare turreted pyramids of Titerau, towering in pride, as might, on the castled Rhine, the ruined fortress of a forgotten r

the newest land of [Pg 157] enchantment. I feel like a lotus-eater, removed from the world of everyday life. I could almost be tempted to cast in my lot with this careless-liv

yet to do in the world-a name to make, a family to remember. But"-as he smiled at her vehemence-"you are only joking; you are laughing at the poo

their rambles all the day, she became silent and reserved till they reached the camp. There she retired at once to where the

on, but the constellations, to his excited fancy, seemed strangely lustrous and of intense, almost unreal, brilliancy. Warwick and he stood near their camp fire, only occasionally speaking, when all suddenly [Pg 158] there arose a wild shout, t

the low calls and whispering notes of the water-fowl which sailed in flocks amid its sedges and reeds.

s aloud, 'Behold the sacred fire on Tongariro! T

anoe will no longer be paddled on the broad bosom of the Waikato, on lakes which have been our fathers since they came from Hawaiki. The steamboat will drive away the Maori canoe; the sheep and cattle of

r shall we unite and ma

he echoes by the lake shore rang

akore,

[Pg 159] the Waikato and the Ngatiawa, join together

hout of assent resounded t

rwick, turning as he spoke. "Look yond

h seemed to encircle the upper portion of the cinder-cone which formed so remarkable an addition to the summit. A fresh volume of

a disturbance? It is surely not an unusual occurrence in this l

n ordinary occurrence. It is now many years since such a thing has ta

at may

ich they invariably did. Occasions were not far to seek, as there was always a weaker tribe to attack or a str

ould it mea

g

break-out at any moment. They look upon this fire on Tongariro as a call to arms against the whites; and i

th what

some years past, these Waikato and Ngatihaua have invested in firearms. They have the advantage of knowing every foot of the country, and your troops w

sion. Her usually bright and mirthful manner had given way to

om Heaven? What possible connection can it have with the war, whi

tives talk to me freely. But something tells me, in a manner that I cannot describe, that there

come from the other colonies-from [Pg 161] England, even-if war is

omen of old, for my country, for my people, all would be easy. But I see worse things in the future-burning houses, women and children lying dead, the young and old; the settlers driven from their farms, after all

I would not ridicule your ideas for a moment, but, as we can hear and do nothing till we get to Rotorua, suppose we agree to

oud it more than we can help. We are now close to Tarawera, in some respects the most wonderful place of the whole collection. Isn't there a peculiar grandeur about it? The name means 'burnt cliffs.' Lo

to travel before we reach Rotomahana. The pa

iling water on either shore issues from the soil. Pools of hot mud were frequent in the marshes; gas-bubbles in the open lake indicated a higher temperature near certain parts. There it was dangerous to bathe (according to Warwick), though at no great distance the water was merely lukewarm. Springs of various characters abounded, totally different from each other-alkaline, saline, arsenic

ntil the missing cycle of centuries had rolled by, some high and glorious development of the Almighty Hand had been delayed; [Pg 1

er held his breath in wonder and admiration while the glories of this unequalled pageantry of the elements broke upon hi

translucent water, which, in that snow-white incrustated basin, was of an intense turquoise blue. Cloud-masses of steam, reflecting the lovely colour and confining the view, while enhancing the effect, were pierced with the ceaseless sounds, which are almost cries, of the tormen

halcedon, Its showering snow cascades appear. Long ranges bright of stalactite, And spar

g

purest white imaginable, such as no Parian marble could surpass-delicate, pure, polished as of glass,

races, from three to six feet high, are formed by a number of semicircular stages varying in height. Each has a raised margin, from which the slender stalactites hang down upon the lower stage, encircling one or more basins, filled wit

ed at an extensive platform, upon which wer

the virgin white, the turquoise blue, the vivid green of the surrounding vegetation, the crude red of the bare walls of the crater, with the whirling clouds of steam,

g

?" said Erena, as they stood side by

ll recall it to my dying day. It is a privilege to have lived through such an experience. O

ather has a poetic soul and much scientific knowledge; he carefully explained to me its various beauties. But

s, however, that these imprisoned fire-spirits, whatever they are, must have very little of the Maori

fairylike wayfaring is too pleasant to last. We ma

r breaks out it is hard to say what one may have

is yet to be seen, and we may never have a

nder and admiration, but we dare not [Pg 166] leave an

ces and basins. The fountain sprang from a platform sixty feet above the lake and a hundred yards long. The flooring on the terraces was of a delicate pink hue; hence their name. In the background was the grea

dings were foreign to the idea of early repose. The sounds of the fire-breathing agencies, above and below, grew more distinct i

es by night," said Massinger, "but it

w a poor dog scalded to death in a moment. I think you will find Rotorua and the Valley of Geysers sufficiently interes

g

What did she do to acquire immortality?-for I have hear

int Wai-rere-wai on the mainland, from which she started; besides the hot spring which she reached, close to her love

ed the tangled forests over the Waipa plain, and ascended the bare hills of the range which looks on Rotorua. The lake, gleaming