NIECES OF RAUPARAHA

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PLATE IX.

E WAI AND KAHOKI, NIECES of RAUPARAHA.

THE sitting figure is a portrait of E Wai, the young wife of Tuarau, son of Na Horua, or "Tom Street," who is the elder brother of the crafty Rauparaha. She resides with her husband at Taupo Pah, on the northern shores of Cooks Straits, near Porirua Harbour, and close to the strongly fortified stockade lately erected by Rangihaeata, as a place of refuge, should he be attacked by the Europeans for his atrocious deeds at the Wirau Valley. Her husband, who was my guide amongst the Nga-ti-toa tribe, is an intelligent and good natured lad, and appears extremely fond of his dark-eyed bride. E Wai is modest, bashful, and retiring, and it was only at her husband's earnest solicitation that she could be persuaded to sit for her portrait--the red handkerchief twisted about her head is a sign of mourning, and denotes that she is lamenting the decease of one of her friends.

Kahoki presents a character in striking contrast with that of her cousin E Wai. She is a woman of strong mind, with a proud and queenly bearing, and by her powerful talents, combined with her high birth, possesses an almost unlimited influence amongst her people. I met her on a visit to her friends at Te Aro Pah, near Wellington, in company with Kutia, the wife of Rauparaha, and a large party of her attendants from the Roturua Lakes, whither she offered to accompany me for the purpose of sketching and obtaining portraits of the principal chiefs, adding that her introduction would be an immediate passport throughout the entire district.