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intercourse with them, he took up his permanent residence at Takapuneke (Red House), in Akaroa Harbor. He married Te Whe, a descendant of Manaia, and the eldest sister of Mrs Tikao’s mother. By her he had three children, two sons, Te Wera and Tutehounuku, and a daughter, Ngaroimata. His eldest son died when a child. The next son, on attaining manhood, went off in a whaling ship, and was absent for many years, during which he was mourned for as dead, and did not return till after his father was carried off and put to death, at Kapiti, by Rauparaha. The peaceful course of Te Mai hara nui’s life at Takupuneke was interrupted by the outbreak of a terrible blood feud amongst his near relations, a feud distinguished, not by the incident that caused it, but by the fearful atrocities that were perpetrated during the course of it, deeds that shocked even the hardened hearts of those who committed them,
Kai-huanga (Eat Relation).
The Kai-huanga feud was the first serious outbreak amongst the Maoris of the Peninsula since their conquest of Ngatimamoe. For nearly one hundred and fifty years they had been increasing in numbers and wealth. Tu te kawa’s son had revealed to them the secret pass he had found to the West Coast, and expeditions were annually sent across the mountains to procure greenstone, which, when manufactured, attracted purchasers from North and South, who exchanged mats and potted mutton birds, and other things, for the coveted greenstone. The development of trade with Europeans promised a continuance of prosperity and peaceful enterprise. This promise was destined to be rudely broken by a feud that not only disorganised the entire social system of the various Maori communities here, but nearly annihilated the population of the district.