away, but they decided not to leave their homes. I have been unable to obtain the date of Tom Bowline's departure, but he eventually left the island, and took up his residence in a little bay to the west of the North Cape, which still bears on our charts the name of Tom Bowline's Bay. Since his time, I believe that no one has lived on the islands, and casual visitors have been very few indeed.
A short time ago the title to the Three Kings became the subject of an investigation by the Native Lands Court. Judge Monro, who presided when the case was heard, has very kindly furnished me with notes of the evidence that was taken. According to Wiremu Kurukuru, who claimed the islands as the representative of Tame Porena (Tom Bowline), the Three Kings were originally inhabited by a race of people differing in some respects from the Maoris. The tribe numbered about a hundred, and its principal chief was called Toumaramara. A chief of the Aopuri called Taiakiaki invaded the islands, and a battle was fought, which resulted in the death of Toumaramara and all his people, with the exception of one woman called Te Poinga. Taiakiaki did not remain on the islands but one of his sons called Tongahake very frequently crossed over from the mainland. He died on the Great King, and was buried there. His daughter, called Turangakahu, married Tom Bowline, and accompanied him when he crossed over to reside on the islands. She had four daughters born there, and they were all adults when Tom Bowline returned to the mainland. Another witness, called Herepeti Kingi, who claimed to be a lineal descendant of Toumaramara, denied that that chief and his people were destroyed by Taiakiaki, but the balance of the evidence appears against him. Rewiri Kaiwaka, a Ngapuhi native, that his father conveyed Tom Bowline to the islands. He did not remain with him, but returned, after obtaining some birds and some goat-skins. The goats had been placed there a little while before by some Europeans. He used the skins to make sails for his canoes.
Mr. Percy Smith informs me that some Aopuri natives state that the original owner of the Three Kings was a chief called Rauru. This Rauru, in ages long past, swam across to the islands from the mainland, and, being much exhausted and out of breath when he landed, called the place "Manawa-tawhi," which, being translated, means "panting breath." This name it has retained up to the present time. It seems very desirable that the Maori traditions respecting the islands should be collected by some qualified person before they disappear.
The Three Kings may some day be occupied as a fishing-station, but it is difficult to imagine what other use could be made of them. They are quite unsuited for cultivation, very difficult of access, and landing is more often dangerous than
