Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

444 AUSTEALASIA.two tribes in 1884. During the revolt of 18G4 many renounced Christianity, andfounded a new religion in which Christian mythology and ancestral worship werestrangely blended. The Hau-hau sect, as it was called from the cries of grief orecstasy uttered at the public praj'er-meetings, has not yet entirely disappeared,and a few of its adherents are still found in scattered groups in the King'sCountr}^This region, some 10,000 square miles in extent, comprises a large part ofNorth Island, west of Lake Taupo. The two lofty mounts, Ruapehu and Tongariro,were till recently included within its Hmits, together with the seaboard betweenPort Aotea and the north foot of Mount Taranaki. Alarmed by the incessant190.—liiNo's CotraTET.Srale 1 : 2,0(Xi,ono.-I*Ea.t.fGreenwch'K P-^./ , vOv./yV^ ^:encroachments of the white squatters, the natives assembled in congress in 1854,and resolved thenceforth to sell no land at any price, and even prevent the Europeansfrom penetrating into their domain. Since that time conflicts have takenplace, British troops have crossed the frontier, and sundry tracts have beendetached from the territory. Nevertheless this Native Reserve still constitutes awell defined region, till recently almost inaccessible to explorers unprovided with