At early dawn the people were astir and about their daily duties. After the morning meal, the cultivators went forth to the plantations, the fishers to the sea, and the hunters to the forest. Other men were engaged in the building of houses or canoes, in which the art of the carver was utilised, or in the making of stone implements or weapons, whilst the women of rank directed and actively took part in the domestic arts--garment weaving, mat and kit plaiting, etc. No individual was idle; to be so was a reproach, and a failing not tolerated. The whole idea pervading the community was the public weal, and each individual did his or her "bit," not for individual profit, but _pro bono publico_. At sundown the people withdrew to their villages for the night. The gateways were closed, and sentries were posted on the parapets. By their watch-songs and calls throughout the night, the sentries answered one another from village to village. Within doors the communities, by night, amused themselves and their visitors with dancing, songs and folk-tales of ancestral doings. Such relaxation is, indeed, the feature of Maori village life at the present day. The burial-places of the people were the caverns of the Isthmus, each sub-tribe and family having its own place of sepulchre. In some cases these were in remote places of the forests of Waitakerei, or other secluded localities. Of the many other aspects of ancient Maori social economy, religious rites, etc., and, above all, of the customs connected with war, I must refer those interested to the many excellent books dealing with the subject. The above sketch will, however, give an idea of the social status of the people in those ancient times, when the events hereinafter described were enacted. IX _The Wars of Tamaki_ It is hard to ascertain the actual causes and the chronological sequence of the wars which followed the arrival of the fleet, and only an outline is attempted here. MAKI'S INVASION FROM WAIKATO This chief, Maki, came from Ngati-Awa of Taranaki. Coming northward with his people he seemed to have gradually worked his way _via_ Kawhia and Waikato to Tamaki, capturing the Rarotonga (Mount Smart) pa, where for a time he dwelt. Here he was visited by the chiefs of Kaipara, descendants of Titahi. They requested his assistance in warfare against the Kawerau, an ancient aboriginal people, who had become intermixed with the Tini-o-Toi. Responding to this invitation, and reinforced by a large section of Tamaki people, he invaded Kaipara with great success, attacking ultimately, like Strongbow of old, the people whom he had come to assist. He then turned his attention to the Waitakerei and Mahurangi districts, with like results, and extended his doings to the outlying islands--Tiritiri, Kawau and Waiheke, finishing up at Maraetai. Afterwards he departed as he came, returning, it is said, to the southern districts of Taranaki. KAWHARU'S INVASION FROM KAIPARA