_Hai!_ Hi! _Kamu te ti_ Come to tea _Oro te mene_ All the men _Rauna_ Round _Te Niu_-- The _Niu_-- _Teihana!_ Attention!
_Hema_ Shem _Rurawini_ Rule the wind _Tu mate wini_ Too much wind _Kamu te ti_-- Come to tea-- _Teihana!_ Attention!
And so on, a marvellous farrago of Maorified English words and phrases. It was Te Ua's "gift of tongues," they imagined, that had descended upon them.
Night and morning, too, the sound of Hauhau prayers rose from the great camp. Here is one, the "Morning Song" ("_Waiata mo te Ata_"), in imitation of the English Prayer-book:
_Koti te Pata, mai mariré_; God the Father, have mercy on me; _Koti te Pata, mai mariré_; God the Father, have mercy on me; _Koti te Pata, mai mariré_; God the Father, have mercy on me; _To riré, riré!_ Have mercy, mercy (or peace, peace)!
_Koti te Tana, mai mariré_; God the Son, have mercy on me; _Koti te Tana, mai mariré_; God the Son, have mercy on me; _Koti te Tana, mai mariré_; God the Son, have mercy on me; _To riré, riré!_ Have mercy, mercy!
_Koti te Orikoti, mai mariré_; God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on me; _Koti te Orikoti, mai mariré_; God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on me; _Koti te Orikoti, mai mariré_; God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on me; _To riré, riré!_ Have mercy, mercy!
_To mai Niu Kororia, mai My glorious _Niu_, have mercy mariré_; on me; _To mai Niu Kororia, mai My glorious _Niu_, have mercy mariré_; on me; _To mai Niu Kororia, mai My glorious _Niu_, have mercy mariré_; on me; _To riré, riré!_ Have mercy, mercy!
The more warlike chants ended in a loudly barked "_Hau!_" the watchword and holy war-cry of the rebel bushmen. Very wild they were, these savage hymns, haunting in rhythm, and stirring the people to a frenzy of fanatic fire.
Kimble Bent joined in these Hauhau war-rites like any Maori, and marched, chanting with his wild comrades, round and round the _Niu_.
Several skirmishes between the whites and Maoris occurred in the winter and early spring of 1866, and one of these had some concern for the exile. About three miles away from Taiporohenui was a village called Pokaikai, to which "Ringiringi" was sent awhile by his chief. While he was there the prophet Te Ua arrived. He dreamed a dream, one of bad omen, and he straightway counselled "Ringiringi" to return at once to Taiporohenui. "Ringi" obeyed. Three days, or, rather, three nights afterwards, a force of colonial soldiers under Colonel McDonnell unexpectedly attacked Pokaikai and rushed the village, killing several Hauhaus. In some way the Forest Rangers under McDonnell had heard that the deserter Kimble Bent was in Pokaikai, and they were eager to capture or shoot him. Some of them surrounded one of the _wharés_ in which they imagined Bent was sleeping. A young volunteer named Spain had just previously, unnoticed by them, gone into the _wharé_ to bring out a dead Hauhau, and while he was there the Rangers--hearing some one say there was a white man within--fired a volley into the hut, which unfortunately mortally wounded Spain. This young soldier was the only _pakeha_ killed in the fight.