The Continuing Story Of Te Kahureremoa's Search For A Husband

We left Te Kahureremoa refusing the advances of the chief of the Waitaha village, while on her journey in the hope of marrying Takakopiri.

This left the chief overwhelmed with shame and confusion, at the manner on which she had departed.

However, away she went, without any fearful thought, on the road to Tauranga, and by daybreak, they had reached the Wairoa.

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When the people of the village saw her coming along in the dawn, they raised joyful cries of “Here is Te Kahureremoa” and some of Takaopiri’s people who were there, would detain the young girl for a while, so she rested, and ate, and was refreshed.

Thence she proceeded along the base of the mountains of Otawa, and at night, slept at its foot, and when the morning broke, she and her slave continued their journey.

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[also known as Papamoa Hills today]

There, just at the same time, was Takaopiri coming along the path, to sport in his forests at Otawa,

His sport was spearing birds, and right in the pathway there stood a tall forest tree, covered with berries, upon which large pigeons had settled in flocks to feed.

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The two girls came toiling along, with their upper cloaks thrown around their shoulders like plaids, for the convenience of travelling, the slave girl carrying a basket of food on her back for her mistress.

As the girls drew near the forest they heard the loud flapping of the wings of a pigeon, for the young chief had struck one with his spear, so they stopped at once.

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Te Kahureremoa said to her slave, “Somebody is there, just listen how that bird flaps its wings”

Her slave replied, “Yes, I hear it”.

Te Kahureremoa said, “That was the flapping of the wings of a bird which someone has speared”.

Her slave said, “Yes, we had better go and see who it is”.

They had not gone far when they heard a louder flap, as the bird was thrown upon the ground, they at once approached the spot, and seeing a heap of pigeons which had been killed, lying on the ground at the root of a tree, they sat down by them.

Takakopiri had observed then coming along, and as he watched the girls from the tree, he said to himself, “These girls are travelling, and they come from a long distance, for their cloaks are rolled over their shoulders like plaids”,

“They are not from near here, had they come from the neighbourhood they would have worn their cloaks hanging down in the usual way”.

Then the young chief came down from the tree, leaving his spear swinging to a bough, as he was descending, the girls saw him, and the slave knew him at once at a distance, and she said, “Oh, my young mistress, it is Takakopiri”.

Her mistress replied, “No, no, it is not indeed”.

The slave insisted, “Yes, it is he, I saw him when he came to Hauraki”.

The young girl said, “You are right, it is Takakopiri”.

Her slave said, “Yes, yes, this is the young chief who has caused us to come all this distance”.

By this time he had reached the ground, and he and the girls cried out at the same time to each other, “Welcome, welcome”

The young man came up to them, and stooped down, and pressed his nose against the nose of each of them.

Te Kahureremoa felt and knew whose face touched hers, but Takakopiri did not know whose nose he had pressed.

Then he said to them, “We had better go to my village, which is on the other side of the forest”

He pressed them to go, and the girls consented to go to the village with him.

As they went along the path, he kept urging them to make haste, and Te Kahureremoa thought that he might still not know who she was, or he would never speak so impatiently, and tell her to make haste.

She made an excuse to arrange her dress, and stopped behind on one side of the path, in order that the young chief might have the opportunity of asking her slave who she was.

As soon as he saw that she had left the path, he went on with her slave a little distance, until they were over a rising piece of ground, and then he asked her, “Who is your mistress?”

The slave answered, “Is it my young mistress that you are asking about?”

The young chief said, “Yes, it is one nobly born person asking after another”.

The young slave said, “ Well if it is my mistress you are asking about, the young lady’s name is Te Kahureremoa”.

He answered her, "What!, Is this Te Kahureremoa, the daughter of Paka?”

The slave replied, “Yes, do you think there are more Paka’s than one?, or more Te Kahureremoas than one? this is really she”.

The young chief said, “Well, who would have thought that this was she, or that a young girl from so distant a place could have reached this country”.

“Let us sit down here at once, and wait for her to come up”.

In a very little time, she appeared coming along to them, and the young chief called out to her, “You had better make haste, or you will suffer from want of food, for it is still a long distance from this place to my village”.

When she had reached them he said, “Do you follow me, and, pray do not lose time”.

Then away he ran, and as soon as he got in sight of his fortress he began to call out loudly to his people as he ran, “Te Kahureremoa has arrived, the daughter of Paka has come”.

“Why”, said some of the people, “Our master is in love with that girl, and has lost his senses, and thinks she is really here”.

But he kept calling out as he ran, “Here comes Te Kahureremoa, here comes the daughter of Paka”.

Then some of them said, “Why, after all, it must be true, or he would not continue calling out in that way”.

Others said, “But, who could ever believe that a young girl could have travelled to such a distance?, the place is strange to her, and we are strangers to her, perhaps, after all, it is only the wind wafting up from afar this name which we hear called in our ears”.

However, they all either climbed up on the defences, or went outside to see who was coming, and when they saw the young girl approaching, they began to wave their garments, and sing, in songs of welcome.

Welcome, welcome, thou who comes

From afar, from beyond the horizon.

Our dearest child hath brought thee thence,

Welcome, oh, welcome here.

Each of the many hundreds of persons who had come out to welcome her, as she passed his residence, prayed her to stop there, but Takakopiri continued to say to her,

“Press on, follow close, quite close, after me”.

So he led her through the throng of people, each of whom felt so moved towards the young girl, that, although they were in the presence of the young lord, they could not stop soliciting her to stop at each house as she came by.

At length, she arrived at Takakopiri’s dwelling, and there, for the first time she stopped and sat down.

The people came thronging in crowds to gaze upon her, and they spread before the two girls an abundance of food, including the birds the young chief had taken upon the mountain.

A feast was made for the crowd that surrounded them, thus they remained feasting and admiring that young girl, and when the sun sank below the horizon, they were still there, gazing upon her.

The youths of the village thought that they could never be weary of looking at her, but none dare to utter one word of love, for fear of Takakopiri.

Before a month had passed she was married to the young chief, and she bore him a daughter, named Tuparahaki, from whom in eleven generations, or about 275 years, have sprung all the principal chiefs of the Ngati-paoa tribe who were alive in 1853.

The first of the below posts has a list of the previous posts of Maori Myths and Legends

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/how-war-was-declared-between-tainui-and-arawa

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-curse-of-manaia-part-1

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-curse-of-manaia-part-2

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-legend-of-hatupatu-and-his-brothers

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/hatupatu-and-his-brothers-part-2

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-legend-of-the-emigration-of-turi-an-ancestor-of-wanganui

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-continuing-legend-of-turi

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/turi-seeks-patea

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-legend-of-manaia-and-why-he-emigrated-to-new-zealand

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-love-story-of-hine-moa-the-maiden-of-rotorua

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/how-te-kahureremoa-found-her-husband

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