Page:Tales-of-Banks-Peninsula Jacobson 2ed 1893 cropped.pdf/51

the question by the peremptory command, “Turn back!” a command which none dared to disobey but those favored persons who possessed the gift of spirit speech, which enabled them to hold intercourse with supernatural beings. Unfortunately for all in these days whose curiosity to hear a spirit’s voice might tempt them to violate the privacy of its abode, the articulate utterances of the Spirit of the Wind have long ceased. It has been mute ever since the report of a musket was first heard at Onawe, and the Maoris conclude that the loud and unaccustomed noise scared the atua away.

When the inhabitants of Akaroa became alarmed for their safety on account of Rauparaha’s evident intention to extend his conquests to the south of Kaikoura, they resolved to erect a fortified pa, capable of containing all who might require to take refuge in it. They fixed upon Onawe as the most suitable site, though subsequent events proved their want of judgment in selecting a position so easily assailed.

The remains of the defensive works which still exist attest the size and strength of the pa, and awaken a suspicion in the observer’s mind that the Maoris received the assistance of Europeans in their construction. But this they most positively deny. They assert that the fortifications were entirely designed and executed by themselves, and that any departures from the ancient lines of construction that may be observable, were caused by the alterations necessary to meet the introduction of firearms. A deep trench surrounded the pa, the earth taken from it forming the walls, along the top of which a strong fence was erected. All round the inside of the fence was a covered way for the protection of the defenders. The approach to a spring on the south side of the promontory was by a covered trench, protected by walls running parallel to each other; but