It is on these that stress is laid in asserting title. To the Native an easy and comfortable supply of food was of the utmost moment, and old-time difficulties in obtaining it moulded deep into his character another trait—jealousy of other tribes, especially in matters pertaining to the occupation of lands. The Maori brooked—so far as he could sustain his possession—no interference with his feeding-places. Defined landmarks were always set, and were considered true boundaries between the lands of adjoining tribes.

Similarly the hapus had their well-marked spheres of influence, and, in the vast majority of cases, special defined areas of the land under the ægis of their particular Native tribe. But both the boundaries and the area had relation to feeding-facilities, and heavy bush country for that reason did not lend itself to marked dispute except incidentally. So it was with the greater extent of the Manawatu Block.

But, passing to a consideration of the large block forming the countryside around, the prospect clears, and we get more definite detail.

Dealing generally with the land between the Rangitikei and the Manawatu Rivers, we find, when history dawns, early in the last century, that the whole of the country was occupied by branches of the Rangitane Tribe, which had fought its way from the East Cape, and by their allied tribes, the Ngatiapa and Muaupoko. As between themselves the Muaupoko held the southern portions, the Ngatiapa the northern, while in the centre were the Rangitane. The main habitations in the Manawatu district were those of this latter tribe along the banks of the Oroua and Manawatu Rivers, where food was plentiful. Here they had populous settlements and large pas. The tribes were numbered in hundreds—in one expedition twelve hundred took part—and they lived then secure and prosperous in the open and fertile country.

The bush and mountain pas came later, and formed, as is usual with Natives, the brand of troublous times. Early in the century, at a date placed variously from 1818 to 1827, the Ngatiapa were first disturbed in their possession by the Ngatitoa war expedition of Rauparaha and Waka Nene, which is so well remembered. This war-party fought its way down the coast, defeating and grievously crushing the Ngatiapa, the Muaupoko, and, in part at least, the Rangitane; for although the Rangitane have in latter days expressed ignorance of the raid except in so far as Rauparaha came into conflict with them at Hotuiti, the contention savours of absurdity. If the Rangitane did firmly hold the land then, the two parties—on the one hand the intruders and on the other the occupants—could not have failed

to come into conflict. However, be that as it may, the northern war-party returned home after dealing some shrewd blows to the Manawatu tribes, and Rauparaha in the following years made preparations for his great heke or exodus from Kawhia to this district, in which he has accompanied by the Raukawa and a section of the Ngatiawa. The history of his return spelt ruin to the Manawatu Natives. Having fought his way south to Kapiti, he established there his headquarters, having at his call the three tribes who composed the migration—viz., the Ngatitoa, the Ngatiraukawa, and a portion of the Ngatiawa. The power of his war-parties, his rifles, his own ability and ruthlessness, and the weakness of the original inhabitants, all tended in one direction— the complete subjugation of the old residents, and the establishing of the new tribes' mana as far north as the Wangaehu River, as far south as Wellington. Moreover, a treacherous murder of Rauparaha's children by the enemy lent the war from his side a ruthlessness exceeding the ordinary tribal conflicts. Slaughtering, harrying, massacring wherever occasion allowed, Rauparaha decimated the district, and drove into hiding the shattered tribes from the Wangaehu to Port Nicholson.

The scene of this murder, so fatal to the tribes concerned, was Papaitonga, situated in the beautiful lake where Sir Walter Buller now lives. The place is one of the masterpieces of nature. A small island rises in the lake, bush-clad to the water's edge; the ferns, nikau, kowhai, and other native trees are reflected in the perfect mirror of the lake. Here was the pa of Toheriri, a leader of the Muaupoko, and here Rauparaha was invited to a friendly visit, the bait held out being the promise of some warcanoes. Rauparaha went with his wives, his children, and a handful of followers, and in the darkness the entire party except Rauparaha and a little girl were murdered. The great chief escaped, and swore a signal revenge. He swore to kill Muaupoko and Ngatiapa from early morn till dewy eve; and well he kept his word. He hunted them on land, he hunted them in the mountains, he followed them to their lake fortresses. To take Waiputa, a fortification in the Horo lake, his men swam off; to take the great Papaitonga Pa of Waikiekie they dragged their canoes overland. In each case the same fate befell the defenders. They were cut down to a man, woman, or child, and the lovely little island at Papaitonga still hides legions of dead men's bones. This was the fate of Muaupoko. Nor did Rangitane and Ngatiapa fare much better. Rauparaha harried them with his Ngatitoa, and the war-parties of Ngatiwaewae, Ngatipikiaha, and Ngatimaniapoto—hapus of the Raukawa—spread over their lands from the Oroua to Rangitikei as far north as Kakariki. At Kakariki, Awahuri, Tuwhakahepua, Puketotara—