This Hauhau praying-house and council-hall, constructed of hewn timber with _raupo_-reed walls and _nikau_-thatch roof, is described by Bent as the largest building of native construction that he had seen. It was about one hundred and twenty feet in length, and was of such exceptional size that the ridge-pole was supported by four _poutoko-manawa_, or pillars, instead of one or two, as in the ordinary Maori meeting-house; there were five fires burning in it at night, in the stone fireplaces down its long central aisle; on either side were the mat-covered resting-places of the people. The timbers of the house were of the durable _totara_ pine. The inside was lined with beautiful _tukutuku_ work, of _kakaho_ reeds and thin wooden lathes artfully fastened with _kiekie_ fibre, arranged in many handsome geometrical patterns. Beneath the first large _poutoko-manawa_ in the house was buried a large piece of greenstone in the rough, the _whatu_, or "luck-stone," of the sacred house. It was the Maori custom when the centre-pole of a large meeting-house or the first big palisade-post of a fort was set in position, to place a piece of greenstone, often in the form of an ornament, such as an ear-drop or a carved _tiki_, at its foot.[3] In front of the great house on the _marae_, or village square, stood the sacred _Niu_-pole, a _totara_ pine flagstaff, nearly fifty feet in height, with a yard about fourteen feet long; the staff was stayed like the mast of a ship. The war-flags of the Hauhaus were flown from the _Niu_, and the people daily marched around its foot in their "_Pai-mariré_" procession, intoning the chants their prophet had taught them. This _Niu_ was one of the first worship-poles planted in Taranaki by the Hauhau prophet's command, and it was the centre of many a wild fanatic gathering. At its foot there was planted a large piece of unworked greenstone--as was done when the first house-pillar was set up--as the _whatu_ of the sacred pole; this block of _pounamu_ is still there, says Bent. Round this staff of worship, where the bright war-flags hung, the people marched daily in their strange procession, chanting their wild psalms. Tito te Hanataua was one of the priests of the _Niu_, and he led his tribe in the services after the Hauhau religion. Some of the chants were amazing mixtures of English and Maori; some were all pidgin-English, softened by the melodious Maori tongue. Here is a specimen of the daily chants, intoned by all the people as they marched round and round the holy pole. The priest shouted, "_Porini, hoia!_" ("Fall in, soldiers!"); then "_Teihana!_" ("Attention!"), and they stood waiting. Then they chanted, as they got the order to march: _Translation._ _Kira_ Kill _Wana_ One _Tu_ Two _Tiri_ Three _Wha_-- Four-- _Teihana!_ Attention!