MAORI REMAINS

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 220, 17 October 1929, Page 5

MAORI REMAINS

RED0UBTS OF TtMES GONE BY. Altliougli the Iiills and valleys of the upper leac-hes of the Nawa river at Tolaga Bay are justlv famed for the marks they bear of a former population, Hawke's Bay lias scenes of Maori remains which niay be equalled, but searcely surpassed, by any otHer district. At Tolaga Bny every hilltop lias beeif cut off and almost every sloping hillside lias been terrnced to give ground for the hillside kaianga, of which the population descendecl to the riverside to cultivate their ground during the days of the light months. On oue bill on Mr J. Caldwell's land, 011 the pld Takapau es^ate, a long sevies of fortification s may be seen, with trenches and support trenclies -and the necessary water supply at hand. On the Patangata, road a trench, or rifle pit, or kumera pit, may be seen in the centre of tlie"surveyed road at the distance of' about twelve miles from Havelock, and furtlier towards Patangata a redoubt overlooking the river and conimanding all approaches is vet 111 good repair. Tbe ranges between Wellington and Patangata roads all bear evidence of warfare and bnsy scenes, for they liave niany places indicative of oontests and which are to be seen by the inquiring visitor. From the remains at Tolaga and Hawke's Bay it mav he readilv understood that tliis countrv, as Captain Cook stated, teemed with people, who were decimated by the incursions of Hongi Hika-. When looking at the earefullyplanned pa and its entreuchments as one sees it to-day, one is remiuded of Judge Manning, who stated that what a Maori toki hini of the .1111 of fortification nstonished him.