shed back towards Marahemo to summon
Hongi. Now Hongi was brave as man could be, but, like all Maoris then,
he was intensely superstitious, and held all the Maori gods and devils
in the very highest respect.

"Hongi and his principal warriors were led across the field of battle by
the lucky slayer of the Ngatewhatua chief, in order that they might
insult and taunt Tuwhare's head, as was their custom. When they were all
assembled round the tree, with the bodies of the dead lying about where
they had fallen--'There! that's the place, to the left yonder, where the
koraka trees are thickest!'--the branches were drawn aside to expose the
grim trophy of the conquered chief. There it was, sure enough, just
where the victor had put it, fresh and gory, with its white locks and
richly tattooed features. But, oh, horror of horrors! right above the
head, with all its hideous fluttering adornments of feathers and
tassels, was the horrible, grotesque, and grinning idol!

"Chance had led the slayer of Tuwhare to put his head into the self-same
tree where the dead ariki had, a short time previously, disposed the
tiki. There it now appeared, stuck in a fork, just where he had put it
for safety. None of the Ngapuhi knew how it had got there, and to their
superstitious minds it seemed to have come by supernatural means. And
this thing was tapu in the most deadly degree.

"The mighty and terrible Hongi trembled and shrieked when he saw the
unlooked-for wonder. He and his men turned and ran out of the
amphitheatre of the bay as fast as they could, shouting, 'Te tapu! te
tapu! The gods have taken to themselves the bodies of the slain!'

"So they left this part of the battle-field, not daring to carry off the
bodies as usual for a cannibal orgy. A long time afterwards, Tama, and
certain priests of the almost exterminated Ngatewhatua tribe, ventured
to return here. With much solemn karakia and propitiatory sacrifice,
they tremblingly crept into the precincts of the bay. They placed the
remains of their kindred in the forks of the trees, and hid the sacred
tiki for ever from mortal eyes. Then they departed, and the aegis of a
holy place invests for posterity Te Puke Tapu.

"It is a charnel-house if you like, under those trees there, but a very
beautiful one as is evident. We ought to keep alive the memories that
make the place romantic. It would be a pity if utilitarian axe and fire
were to spoil the beauty of Te Puke Tapu. There is plenty