Chapter I: Preface

In this little book I have endeavoured to interweave with descriptions of the most picturesque parts of the Canterbury Port Hills some of the Maori poetic legends and historical traditions which belong to the Range, and which have not previously been recorded. These stories, I hope, will invest with a new interest for many Canterbury _pakehas_ the scenic beauties of the Port Hills now opened up from end to end by the Summit Road. Here I desire to record also, with feelings of gratitude, the name of the principal narrator of the legends, Mr. Hone Taare Tikao, of Rapaki, a Ngai-Tahu gentleman whose uncommonly retentive memory is a storehouse of information on local history and who blends in himself the gifts of the folk-lorist and the genealogist. Some of the place-names were supplied by the late Mr. T. E. Green (Tame Kirini), of Tuahiwi, Kaiapoi, one of the last good native authorities on the ancient history of the plains.

For the priceless gift of free access to these grand tops of the Port Range the people are indebted to the efforts and the gifts of a few public spirited residents, but most of all to the exertions of Mr. H. G. Ell, whose enthusiasm, prescience of vision, and singleness of purpose in developing the Summit Road along this mountain park have properly earned him the admiration and the thanks of thousands of his fellow-citizens who daily lift up their eyes to the Hills and who find on those hills their pleasure and their solace for town-tired body and brain. And maybe if Mr. Ell’s name were bestowed, like Tamatea’s of old, upon one of these monumental crags still unchristened, it would but fittingly preserve the memory of a man whose title to such local honour and fame is certainly greater than that of some of his forerunners whose names the landscape bears.

J.C.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

The Story of the Rocks.

The Port Hills and their geological history--The Dead Fire-Cones--“The Fire of Tamatea”--Bold Cliff and Mountain Scenery--Beauties of the Port Range 1

CHAPTER II.

The Port Hills and Their Names.

Maori Nomenclature of the Port Range--Hills of the Rainbow God--“The Pinnacle of Kahukura”--Crags of the Sounding Footsteps--Ancient Lyttelton: “The Basket of Heads”--Ambuscades in the Bush 7

CHAPTER III.

Round the Sugarloaf.

The Flanks of Te Heru-o-Kahukura--Tracks on the Mountain Side--At Dyer’s Pass--Maori Name of Marley’s Hill--Exploring the Kahukura Bush--Needles of the _Ongaonga_--The Valleys and the Small Timber--“Crest of the Rainbow” 24

CHAPTER IV.

Rapaki: A Village by the Sea.

The Bell on the Ribbonwood Tree--Tikao and his Traditions--The Days of the Ngati-Mamoe--Te Rangiwhakaputa’s Conquests--The Crags of Tamatea--A Sturdy Pagan--Evening Picture at Rapaki 39

CHAPTER V.

The “Ahi-a-Tamatea”: How the Sacred Fire Came to Witch Hill.

The Giant’s Causeway--A Volcanic Dyke--Tamatea the Polynesian Explorer--A Great March--The Camp at Witch Hill--Tamatea’s Call for Fire--The _Tipua_ Flames from Ngauruhoe--“The Ashes of Tamatea’s Camp Fire” 52