Page:Tales-of-Banks-Peninsula Jacobson 2ed 1893 cropped.pdf/35

Ngatimamoe, but his family having removed to Otakou, Taiaroa had become identified with the people there. Possessing in an eminent degree the qualities requisite to constitute an efficient Maori ruler, he was chosen at an early age by the people amongst whom he lived to act in that capacity, and acquitted himself so well, that he completely superseded the local chiefs. His fame for courage, wisdom, and generosity, spread far and wide, and during the troublous times that followed the Kai-huanga feud, he was unanimously elected to fill the post of chief military ruler of the Ngai Tahu tribe. Though opposed to Hine haka’s mission, he joined those who rallied round her standard, hoping in the end to defeat her sanguinary purpose, and to put a stop to the fratricidal strife. On the first opportunity that presented, he carried his purpose into execution, and succeeded, as we have seen, in thwarting the attack on Wairewa. Foiled in their designs, the Taumutu forces returned home, but the Kaiapoi contingent, after proceeding some distance on their way, began to fear the jeers and taunts they were certain to encounter if they returned empty-handed, so they turned back as far as Kaitangata, where they met and killed Iritoro, son of Whare-take-take and Hinei Wharitia. They little imagined ths serious consequences that would ensue, or they might have selected another victim. This man’s mother was sister to Tau nunu, a chief who had some time before migrated from the neighborhood of Kaikoura to the Peninsula. He was attracted to these parts by the presence of numerous and influential relations, who were in possession of the land. Upon his arrival, several places were assigned to him, and he selected Ripapa, in Lyttelton Harbor, as the site of his fortified pa. The chief no sooner heard of the death of his nephew than he planned and carried out a scheme of ample vengeance. The Kaiapoi warriors had