The Maori - Volume I

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THE MAORI

Contents

List of Illustrations ix Preface xi Introduction xiii I Physical and Mental Characteristics of the Maori 1 II The Maori as a Seafarer and Coloniser—the Peopling of New Zealand 20 III Traditional History and its Teaching—the Whare wananga, or School of Learning 57 IV Cosmogony and Anthropogeny 85 V Myth and Folk Lore 124 VI Religious Beliefs and Practices of the Maori—Maori Magic 232 VII Social Customs 338 VIII Social Customs continued—Marriage Customs 442 List of Authorities 481 Index 485

List Of Illustrations

A Maori woman showing Melanesian features 2 A Maori woman, Polynesian type 4 Te Rangi-haeata, of Ngati-Toa 6 Harata Te Rangi-haeata, Polynesian type 8–9 Te Araki Te Pohu, Polynesian type 11 A Maori woman, Polynesian type 13–14 Maori children 16 Stone implement of unknown use 19 Model of outrigger canoe 23 Chart showing voyages of Polynesians 25 Model of double canoe 27 Maori war canoe 29 Small river canoe 32 Prow of a war canoe 35 Stern piece of a war canoe Paddles Canoe baler Woman carrying child 45 The hongi salute 47 View of a native village 53 The moa 62 Mauri. Talismanic stones 68 Old canoe 83 The blending of two races 98 Phallic and talismanic stones 117 A primitive cradle 122 Double canoe of Samoa: the alia type 123 Prow of a fishing canoe 137 Carved bowl 150 Carved house timbers 166 Shark tooth knife 178 Genealogical record staves 187 Stump of tree felled with stone tools 197 Stone adze used as weapon and baton 209 Old carved coffins 218 War canoe in Auckland Museum 230 A carved box 231 A Maori dwelling 239 Interior of Putiki pa 249 Carved pataka, or elevated storehouse 259 Group of natives in pre-European garments 269 Carved figure of a lizard on a coffin lid 277 Carved staves used as temporary abiding places for spirit gods 282 A tuahu or sacred place 289 Carved door frame of a superior house 292 Collection of eight tiki pendants 295 A stone mauri 305 Four carved lintel pieces 318 A carved box 335 Rude stone image used as a symbol of, or abiding place for, gods of agriculture 337 A carved lintel piece 346 A native hamlet 356 A quiet meal 367 Hakari stages 380–382 A stone mortar 387 Gourd water vessels 396 Mode of carrying burdens 403 Pack straps 405 Maori boy showing Mclanesian strain 410 Small boys practising a posture dance 412 The native method of cooking 414–415–416 Maori girl with food basket 418 A wooden bowl 420 Taha huahua 421 Poha titi; a kelp vessel 422 A curious bark vessel 423 Wooden pounders 428 Basket strainer 431 The Maori dog 433 A dog skin garment 435 Maori canoe sail 441 A toki pou tangata 444 Portrait. Kahotea Te Heuheu 452 Portrait. Rameka Te Amai 459 Diagrams illustrating a native proposal 461 Portrait. A descendant of the sea kings 466 Portrait. Tuta Nihoniho 473 A tattooed head 478 A carved pare or lintel piece 480

Preface

The data contained in this sketch of Maori life and its activities in pre-European times is the result of an almost life-long interest in our native folk on the part of the writer. In the distant “seventies” of last century, when camped in the dark places of the land, I began to take an interest in the Maori, our predecessor in the isles of Aotearoa. As time rolled on that interest deepened, until the thought grew that it would be well to note down any matter of interest contributed by native friends. That resolve has brought to me the keenest pleasures of a long life, and the shabby old field notebooks now serve as a mine in which I weary not of delving.

In order to produce a volume of this size, and yet make a comprehensive survey of Maori life, it was necessary to omit a great quantity of detail matter, but it is hoped that the following pages contain a fairly well-balanced and explanatory account of the neolithic Maori, his customs, institutions, and beliefs. The writer makes no pretence of presenting a scientific work, but merely sends this sketch forth as the jottings of a bush collector. The endeavour has been to make the picture of old-time Maori life as true and faithful a one as possible. It is no easy task to collect and record correctly such data pertaining to a scriptless people. The matter of differing tribal versions alone is very confusing. With regard to some subjects only a long-continued patience and persistence has brought the light so long sought.

It is hoped that a comprehensive account of native life will be useful to many, and of some interest to those who do not make any searching enquiry into the life of barbaric man.

In many bush camps have these notes been collected, in the depths of the Forest of Tane, in native huts, and in military encampments, in lone places where now is heard the rushing locomotive and the whiring motor car. the comforts of life surround one here by city streets, but the graceless Bohemian mind wheels regretfully back to the 6 x 8 tent, the far-spread forest, the brown-skinned friends, and the life that men live. E! Aku ra ki tua!

The men who provided the material for this story of Stone Age man I would thank for their assistance, though the majority of them have trodden the Broad Path of Tane that leads to the spirit world. To those who survive, and to future generations, I would say—for errors made I cry your mercy, and, as for omissions, I would quote an old saying of your fathers—He taonga nui te wareware.

Remains but to lay down the skidway and launch the Maori canoe on the darkling waters of Mahora-nui-atea. Adorned with strange devices carved by cunning hands, decked with plumes and fluttering pennant, with her mat sails hoisted and long steer oars swung outboard, she will lift the sea roads laid down by old Polynesian sea kings in the mist-enveloped past. Though launched by a member of an alien race, yet is she laden with the sympathy that recognises and greets the qualities and concepts that render the Maori folk so interesting a study. Haply, in days that lie before, the descendants of the old Polynesian Vikings will greet her as bringing to them the semblance of their courageous ancestors.

ELSDON BEST. Matai-moana, Barnard Street, Highland Park, Wellington, N.Z., 1923.

Introduction

The science of anthropology is one that has made great strides within the past thirty years, and increasing numbers of people continue to take up the study of man. This has naturally led to a demand for works describing the customs, arts and institutions of savage and barbaric man. Data on these subjects, if collected by responsible persons, are always welcomed by ethnographers. This quickening interest in the subject has led to the collection of much additional matter pertaining to races and tribes concerning whom many works had already been published. A marked feature in many of the later anthropological works is the attention given to detail, combined with a more methodical and scientific manner of compilation.

The Polynesian race, though not important so far as numbers are concerned, is one that deeply interests anthropologists. Although it was found occupying a very large area of the Pacific Ocean, yet its many island communities have been isolated for centuries. Such isolation was with regard to other races; there has been much intercourse at various periods between different islands and groups. The Melanesian folk of the western Pacific area is the only foreign race that the Polynesian has come into contact with for many centuries. The fair-skinned Polynesian would acquire few arts from such a people, and he despised them on account of their colour. Maori tradition shows that their ancestors have encountered the dark-skinned western islanders, and such traditions always refer to the inferior culture or appearance of the black race. Some Melanesian tribes, as those of parts of the New Hebrides, might well have given rise to such a pronouncement, while others had, in certain ways, advanced further than the Polynesian. As an example one may mention the pottery making of Fiji.

Perhaps the most interesting subject connected with the Polynesian is his mentality, and it is one that will be illustrated by the matter contained in the following chapters. For the mythopoetic mentality of the people of the Many Isled Sea has led them to evolve a very remarkable mythology, and a singularly pure concept of the Supreme Being.

The Maori of New Zealand is a member of the far-spread Polynesian race, speaking a dialect of the common tongue that is spoken from the Chatham Isles to the Sandwich or Hawaiian Group, and from Easter Island to the eastern bounds of Melanesia, and beyond. For Polynesian colonies are found far within Melanesia, at Futuna, at Tikopia, at Taumako, at Rennel Island, at Ontong-java, and elsewhere. At Nukuoro, or Monteverde Island, in the far-off Caroline Group, we find a Polynesian community speaking a dialect closely akin to that of New Zealand.

The student of barbaric culture who makes a study of such a people as the Maori finds much to interest him in their lore and institutions. For here, among a people who have been isolated for long centuries, we encounter what may be termed fossilised arts, concepts, and customs that throw much light on that engrossing subject—the development of human culture.

The Polynesian ancestors of the Maori led the way in neolithic deep sea voyaging; no other race we wot of in that culture stage has equalled them as navigators, explorers and colonisers. The Maori genius for personification, and love of allegorical recitals, endow his myths and spiritual concepts with a very marked element of interest. For many years it was the aim of the writer of these rough notes to collect all possible data concerning Maori life in pre-European days, and more especially to endeavour to become acquainted with native mentality. This led to a desire to seek and explain the hidden meaning of their myths and religious beliefs, their personifications, ritual, and cryptic sayings. This matter of close enquiry into such subjects is a much-needed activity; we have, in the past, been far too prone to neglect detail and thoroughness, and the exercise of the critical faculty.

Certain arts, institutions, and artifacts of the Maori are not traceable to Polynesia, and it is possible that these were borrowed from the original settlers of these isles of New Zealand. It is hoped this review of old-time Maori life will be of some service to those who study the development of human institutions, and also not lacking in interest to the general reader.

The first Polynesian settlement of New Zealand probably occurred about thirty generations ago. A considerable number of voyages to and fro between Polynesia and these isles were made during the next ten generations, many immigrants from Eastern Polynesia settling here. Twenty generations ago a number of vessels arrived here from the Society Group, bringing a fresh influx of settlers. From that time, however, voyages to and from Polynesia appear to have rapidly decreased. The only such expeditions referred to in local tradition, as having taken place during the last sixteen generations, are a few isolated voyages made from these shores to seek the old island home of the race. The last of such took place ten generations ago, since which time the Maori of New Zealand has apparently been isolated in these isles, having no communication with his kinsmen of Polynesia. Such is the position of the Maori, and it will be recognised that, during such a lapse of time, changes in dialect, customs, and institutions may well have taken place.

I Physical and Mental Characteristics of the Maori

Polynesian characteristics—Morgan's misleading dictum as to Polynesian culture—Physical attributes of the Maori—Melanesian affinities—Maori craniology—Freedom from dental disease—The original inhabitants of New Zealand—Custom of flattening noses of infants; its probable origin—Tradition of Melanesian immigrants—Melanesian influence in New Zealand—A fair-skinned red-haired type—Albinism—Morphological data—Hair of Maori—Stamina—Bodily activity—Effect of superstition in illness—Diseases—Survival of the fit—Senses of the Maori—Disposition—Character—Treatment of the sick—Inferior form of religion an enemy to research—Maori mentality—The mythopoetic faculty—Effects of a ceaseless study of Nature—Powers of memory—Characteristics of children—Effects of communism—Remarkable neolithic navigators—Superstition—Artistic sense—Decorative art—Language—Gestures.

As members of the far-spread Polynesian race, the Maori folk of New Zealand are found on enquiry to have preserved the leading characteristics of that people. Leading features of such peculiarities are a stalwart physique and a high order of intelligence. To judge the Maori, or his brethren of northern isles, by the general state of backwardness in which they lived, by their somewhat primitive arts and artifacts, would assuredly be a misjudgment. It was here that Morgan erred when he placed the Polynesians in the lowest existing state of savagery, and indeed on the same culture plane as that of the natives of Australia. Evidence given in the following chapter will be sufficient to lift the Maori from such companionship.

A very marked feature in the physical attributes of the Maori is noted in the many Melanesian affinities in evidence, showing that the Maori must have intermarried with those dark-skinned folk, probably since he left the sunlit isles of Eastern Polynesia. In the frequent occurrence of the dark-

A Maori woman of so-called Melanesian type. Note the bridgeless nose and distended nostrils. skin colour, thick, protruding lips, flat nose, wide nostrils, and frizzy hair, we find proofs of a Melanesian admixture. This fact is also supported by an examination of the head form of our local natives. In a paper contributed to Vol. XXXVI. of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, Dr. J. H. Scott gives the results of an examination of a series of eighty-three Maori skulls. He remarks:—“We know the Maori to be a mixed race, the result of a mingling of a Polynesian and a Melanesian strain. The crania already examined leave no room for doubt on this point.” He also shows that the average or typical Maori skull occupies the lower limit of the mesaticephalic group. Of the skulls examined, forty-three per cent. were dolichocephalic. Further on he writes:—“If any further proof were needed of the mixed origin of the Maori race it is given in this paper. An examination of the cranial indices, and of the extent of their variation, shows this clearly. These demonstrate two distinct types and intermediate forms. At the one extreme we have skulls approaching the Melanesian, as met with in the Fiji group, long and narrow, high in proportion to their breadth, pragnathous, and with wide nasal openings. At the other skulls of the Polynesian type, such as are common in Tonga and Samoa, shorter and broader, with orthognathous faces. And it must be noted that these extreme forms do not belong to different tribes, or districts, but may both be found in one.” Now, in view of our latest information as to the original inhabitants of these islands, the above remarks, as also the following passage, are of much interest. “The Melanesian characteristics are therefore more accentuated in the North than amongst the natives of the South Island. The prevalence of the Papuan form among skulls from the Bay of Islands has also been observed by M. M. de Quatrefages and Hamy.” Dr. Scott also notes the fact that the teeth in the skulls examined by him had the whole crowns ground away, but that he never detected any sign of dental caries. The present writer has noticed the same peculiarity in many old native skulls seen in caves and hollow trees, where they had been deposited after the exhumation of the bones of the tribal dead.

It is quite possible that some of the statements made by Dr. Scott will have to be modified when the results of the

Young Maori Woman. Polynesian type. more extensive researches now being made by Dr. P. H. Buck are published.

The accounts preserved in oral tradition of the peculiarities of the original native folk of New Zealand, portray them as a dark-skinned folk of inferior culture. They had bushy heads of hair, flat faces, side glancing eyes, flat noses and spreading nostrils; “the nostrils seemed to be all the nose they had,” states one account. They were of spare build, and were an indolent, shiftless, chilly folk who complained of the coldness of the climate. They were found in occupation of the more northern parts of the North Island only, from Taranaki and the Bay of Plenty northward. None had settled in the South Island. If these were not a Melanesian folk, then they must have possessed strong Melanesian characteristics. A tradition among them explains that they were the descendants of the occupants of three drift canoes that had been carried from their home land by a westerly gale. All these particulars tend to support the conclusions of Dr. Scott. It may also be mentioned that a number of early voyagers and sojourners in this land mention the Melanesian element so strongly in evidence here. Another item of evidence, and withal a curious one, concerns an old native custom. Missionary Yates and other early writers have told us that the Maori mothers were in the habit of flattening the noses of their infants by means of pressure. This peculiar custom would not have originated among the purer, straight-nosed Polynesians; one can but think that it dates back to the flat-nosed aboriginal women who were taken to wife by the early Polynesian settlers on these shores.

It is quite possible that a certain amount of mixture with Melanesians has taken place here in later times. In the Bay of Plenty district a tradition has been preserved to the effect that, about four hundred years ago, a canoe made the land at Whakatane, having come from over sea. Probably it was a drift voyage, but the interesting part is that the newcomers are said to have been black men. They settled among the Awa folk at Meheu, or Omeheu, on the Rangitaiki River.

Yet another interesting subject on which much might be said is the fact that, among our Maori folk exist certain arts, customs, institutions and artifacts that are unknown in Poly-

Te Rangi-haeata. a chief of the Ngati-Toa tribe and a leader in the fighting against the Europeans in the Wellington district in 1846. Illustrates mode of wearing native garments. nesia, but which are known in Melanesia. Thus the well-known curvilinear decorative art of the Maori finds no counterpart in Polynesia, but something much resembling it exists in New Guinea. The fortified villages of New Zealand, with stockades, fighting stages, and massive earthworks, were unknown in Polynesia. At Tonga alone was something of the kind seen in that area, a result of intercourse with Fiji, where, on Viti-levu, such fortified villages were numerous. These are but examples of many such striking parallels.

Among the black-haired natives of New Zealand a fair-skinned type with reddish hair of a wavy nature is extremely persistent, though it may miss a generation in a family. Such folk are not, however, numerous, though the strain is said to have come from Eastern Polynesia many generations ago. True albinism was but rarely seen here.

In stature the Maori is, as a rule, above the average of our own folk, and has a bulkier body and bigger limbs. His legs are shorter in proportion to the body than those of Europeans, and possibly this renders his favourite cross-legged mode of sitting an easy one to him; it is most irksome to us. This difference in bodily form was most noticeable when a body of five hundred native troops marched through Wellington streets when en route to the far-off battlefields of Europe. Obesity is now common among natives, but seems to have been seldom noticed by early writers. It is attributed to a much less strenuous life than that of former times, and to the universal diet of potatoes. Yet there must presumably be something in the way of predisposition to such a condition. As a rule the limbs of a native are much rounder than those of Europeans.

The true Polynesian hair is black, and waved, not straight and lank. This is common among our Maori folk, but the occurrence of frizzy and bushy heads of hair betoken the Melanesian admixture.

Natives make excellent helpers for such work as is done by survey parties in rough country. Their initiative and ingenuity render them valuable in such rough work. In former times there agility was remarkable, as, for instance, in the hand to hand fighting they practised. This was the result of almost constant exercise of such powers, of a system of training that

Harata Te Rangi-haeata (Polynesian Type). A member of the family of the famous chief of Ngati-Toa. The contrast between the old fighter and his Europeanised relative of three generations later is interesting.

Profile view of Harata Te Rangi-haeata. commenced in boyhood. They can carry heavy packs; in olden days women were also proficient at such work. In the matter of bodily injuries they possess great powers of endurance, but when assailed by illness, superstition and fatalism were wont to exercise a harmful, and often a fatal effect. The lack of forms of discipline inculcated by the habits of civilised communities told against the Maori during certain crises.

One true Polynesian feature the Maori has preserved in his brown eyes. A fine, straight form of nose is seen in conjunction with comparatively thin lips, but often these features are coarse, and seem to show a Melanesian strain. As observed, his teeth are remarkable, being large, white and regular; an expert has stated that the Maori has the finest teeth of any existing race. Apparently these natives suffered from few diseases in pre-European times, but introduced epidemic complaints, such as measles, swept off many thousands of them in the early years of the 19th century. The simple life and fare, combined with highly necessary industry, would tend to keep them in robust health. The conditions of life, however, would scarcely tend to the survival of the unfit, which would assuredly be an excellent thing for the community. Apart from the toll exacted by intertribal wars the fit survivors might be termed a long-lived people; some remarkable cases of longevity have been recorded.

Owing to his mode of life the Maori possessed keen powers of sight and hearing; both of which he needed to exercise in connection with the task of gaining his daily food. Offensive odours do not appear to be so repulsive to them as they are to us, and their sense of taste is also different to ours. They ate certain foods that would repel us, on account of both smell and taste. The most revolting illustration of this was the practice of kai pirau, the eating of partially decomposed human flesh. This was by no means a common custom, but it certainly was occasionally done.

Our Maori folk are of a cheerful disposition, much given to merriment in youth, keen appreciators of quips and cranks, though a sense of dignity comes with advancing age. The higher class folk are distinguished in many cases by dignified behaviour (save when enraged) and by punctiliousness. They are extremely sensitive, and very susceptive to ridicule; this

Te Araki Te Pohu. An Arawa warrior chief.J McDonald, 1905. latter weakness has been the cause of many cases of suicide. Men of standing are often generous, and also possessed of other good qualities, but extremely “touchy,” and this peculiarity led to many quarrels and the fostering of a revengeful spirit. A sense of the ridiculous was much in evidence, but a higher sense of humour was also a characteristic of many. Many weaknesses of the native character are due to some form of irresponsibility. Deformed persons did not meet with overmuch sympathy, and indeed often received a name descriptive of their deformity. Treatment of the sick was deplorable indeed, for superstition prevented medical research. Religion was an enemy to this science in Maoriland, as it was elsewhere.

In dealing with Maori mentality we touch upon an extremely interesting subject. Its most interesting aspect is that of the mythopoetic faculty that is so much in evidence in his mythology and religion. His genius for personification, his love for allegorical myths and metaphysical abstractions, are among his most interesting characteristics. In these mental activities he was not excelled by the Greeks of antiquity, and was far before the peoples of northern Europe. The powers of reflection, of introspective thought and ideality, shown in many of his conceptions, are truly remarkable, and furnish most admirable evidences as to the advantages of a study of Cultural Anthropology. For in these concepts we see myth and religion in the making, while much light is thrown upon the origin of both. They show us that a long study of natural phenomena, a close contact with the old Earth Mother, combined with the mythopoetic faculty and power of abstract thought, led the Maori to the conception of a Supreme Being of remarkable attributes. In no case of barbaric culture have we better evidence of the effect of Nature upon human mentality.

It will now be clear that the Maori is mentally acute and possesses keen powers of comprehension. His intelligence is of a high order, his outlook on life and its activities is clear and is marked by common-sense—until his superstition is awakened, and then anything may happen. His powers of memory often appear marvellous to us; they are the result of the lack of any form of script, and a strong desire to preserve

Maori woman.—Polynesian Type. Shows design of tattoo on chin. Shark's teeth as ear pendants.

Profile view Maori woman.—Polynesian Type. tribal records, and racial myths, ritual and traditions. A somewhat bulky tome facing me as I write, contains 406 songs that were dictated to me by an old man of the Tuhoe tribe twenty-five years ago. Such was the memory of Paitini Wi Tapeka. Another grey-haired old man recited the genealogy of his hapu (sub-tribe) for many generations, bringing down each branch so as to include all living members. This feat necessitated the memorising and recital of over 1400 personal names, and much data concerning tribal history was also given by this man.

Quickness in learning is a marked native characteristic. Their initiative powers enable them to quickly learn the use of our tools, though a lack of continued application is often a prominent weakness. Native children are more amenable at school than are our own, a singular fact when we remember the lack of true home life and training of the young in native villages. Many of the weaknesses or backward phases of Maori character in civilised life are, of course, the result of the communistic life he has lived so long. On the other hand his universal hospitality is also a heritage from that mode of life, though therein it possessed not the spirit and meaning that it does to us.

Courageous daring, initiative, and self-confidence have been very prominent qualities of Polynesian sea rovers for many centuries. The local branch of the race owes its present home to those qualities, and inherited them from the hardy explorers and colonisers who settled innumerable isles from Easter Island to the far Caroline Group, from Hawaii to New Zealand.

As to courage in war, this quality cannot be viewed from the same point of view as among more highly civilised peoples. The reason of this is that superstition stepped in and claimed its own. Thus an individual, or a whole clan, might decline to take part in an engagement on account of some evil omen, and such action would be approved of. The Maori performed many acts of cruelty in war time, but magnanimous actions are also recorded in tradition. As a rule slaves taken in war were well treated, but might be slain by their owner if he wished to make a human sacrifice, or to add a much appreciated dish to a feast.

Maori girls. Whanganui Tribe. J. McDonald photo

As a rule a native community lived in harmony in the hamlet, but quarrels might cause a noisy and boisterous scene when some cause of dissension arose. Idlers were almost unknown, for all engaged in the industrial activities of the community.

The mentality of the Maori will receive illustration when we come to deal with his myths and religious beliefs. With regard to his artistic sense, we note that the decorative art of the Maori differs widely from that of his brethren in Polynesia. The former is essentially curvilinear, while that of Polynesia is emphatically rectilinear. The only way in which the writer can account for this startling contrast is to assume that the incoming Polynesians adopted the artistic designs of earlier inhabitants of Melanesian affinities. In seeking analogies in this line, we find them in Melanesia, e.g., in New Guinea, but not in Polynesia. This applies especially to painted designs. The graceful designs seen in certain painted house decorations of the Maori are extremely interesting as the work of an isolated barbaric folk. They show how he carried his appreciation of rhythm even into that art, and satisfied his desire for harmonious finish. Although his execution in wood carving was purposely grotesque when representing the human figure, yet the fine work on small boxes, and on implements, was remarkably neat and precise. Some of the fine work executed with stone tools is a marvellous illustration of neat workmanship. The love of decoration was highly developed, and this led to the carving of ornamental designs on many implements, notably weapons, and even on rude agricultural tools.

The language of the Maori of New Zealand is a dialect of the far-spread Polynesian tongue that is spoken over so great an area of the Pacific. Nor is that language confined to Polynesia proper, inasmuch as it is retained by many Polynesian colonies in Melanesia and Micronesia. Owing to long isolation of many of these units a number of differing dialects have come into existence, some of which have been affected by foreign tongues, such as Melanesian and Micronesian.

We have in Maori fifteen sounds to deal with, the consonants being h, k, m, n, p, r, t, w, with the nasal sound represented by ng, and the aspirated w written wh. Of these the t is a dental sound differing from the English t, the r is sounded softly, and the sound of n differs somewhat from that of ours. No two consonants ever come together, the ng and wh being, of course, improvised symbols. As to vowel sounds, a is always sounded as the a in “father,” though it may be long or short. E is pronounced as is the initial e in “enter,” never as a in late, mate, etc. I has the sound of double e, as in “asleep”; it is the i in agitate. O is pronounced as in English, and u as double o in spoon. All vowels have both long and short sounds, and a recognition of vowel quantities is extremely important when conversing with natives. The following illustration will serve to make this point clear. The word kaka has four different aspects, each having its own meaning, or meanings:— Kākā. Name of a bird; the brown parrot. Kăkă. Garment. 2 Fibre. 3 Ridge, etc. Kākă. A bird, the bittern. 2 Affected by tutu poison. Kăkā. Red hot.

It is here plainly seen that an error made in enunciating vowel lengths might have a serious effect on the meaning of a passage. Careless or dull-eared Europeans confuse the vowels e and i, thus the writer has heard a Maori-speaking English-man tell a native audience that he did not desire to see native deafness abolished, when he realy meant native usages and social rules, the two words being turi and ture.

Europeans have some difficulty in correctly pronouncing the nasal sound; it resembles the ng in ringer. The difficulty is principally apparent when the ng occurs at the beginning of a word. Inasmuch as all syllables are open, the impression gained of the tongue is one of softness. It is euphonious and possesses a copious vocabulary, when we remember that the Maori occupied the barbaric culture plane. Although terms denoting abstractions are not numerous, yet the language lends itself to the mythopoetic imagery that is so marked a characteristic of Maori mentality. It abounds in metaphorical expressions, and old narratives teem with aphorisms, similes, personifications and allegories. The Maori is a very fluent speaker, his mode of diction is easy, eloquent and pleasing. Gesture may be said to have formed an important part of his language, and assisted to no mean extent in illustration of a narrative.

Stone artifact of unknown use.

II The Maori as a Seafarer, and Coloniser—the Peopling of New Zealand

Entry of Polynesians into the Pacific—Question of prior inhabitants in Polynesian area—Drift voyages—Homeland of Polynesians—Migration therefrom—Polynesian communities in Melanesia—Exploration and settlement of Polynesia—Courageous neolithic voyagers—Vessels of the voyagers—Canoe 83 feet in length—Tongan voyagers—Double canoes—Sails—Long voyages—Rate of sailing—Navigation by stars, etc.—Voyagers carried symbols of gods—Sea stores—Ocean currents—Lack of compass or other aid to navigation—Starting places—Polynesian voyagers encounter ice—Quiros at fault—The peopling of New Zealand—Voyage of Kupe and Ngahue—An unknown folk settle the North Island—The Mouriuri settlers and their culture—Polynesians reach New Zealand—Voyage of Toi—Voyage of Whatonga—Manaia and Nuku reach New Zealand—Voyages to and from New Zealand.

In discussing the feats of the Maori as a deep-sea voyager in past centuries we are dealing with one of the most interesting subjects connected with the far-spread Polynesian race. When the ancestors of our native folk were making such voyages, they were not dwellers in these isles, but in those of Polynesia. Those who settled in New Zealand seldom returned to the ara moana, or sea roads, and eventually all communication with Polynesia ceased.

The Polynesians are comparatively late arrivals in the Pacific area. Several authorities have stated their belief that they entered this region early in the Christian era, though the evidence brought forward is not, perhaps, convincing. The question of such arrival will probably remain unsettled. With regard to former inhabitants of the Polynesian region it seems to be generally believed that the isles of that area were uninhabited by man prior to their occupation by the fair-skinned Polynesian folk. It seems improbable, however, that the many isles of that region were without human inhabitants at so late a period. When we consider how the Polynesian island system is flanked on the west by innumerable lands that must have been occupied by man for thousands of years; how Indonesia appears to have been a home of primitive man, then the non-occupation by man of what is but an eastward extension of that island system seems highly improbable. Moreover, we have many instances on record of drift vessels, canoes, junks, and prau having made many voyages of considerable length across the Pacific. These records extend backward to the 17th century. We know of Japanese vessels having been swept by the Black Current right across the Pacific to the coast of North America.

Tradition tells us that New Zealand was first settled by castaways who had been swept away from their homeland by a westerly storm. A great number of such traditions are extant throughout Polynesia, and in a number of cases these records are supported by other evidence. How is it possible that the isles of Polynesia can have remained uninhabited down to so late a period as the commencement of the Christian era, or a few centuries later, as some writers place it.

The Maori of New Zealand tells us that his ancestors, when settling here, found a prior people in occupation, a non-Polynesian folk, to judge by the description of them preserved in tradition. In far Easter Island we are told that the great stone images and strange, unknown script incised on tablets of wood, were the work of a former people, a strange “long-eared” folk. In other isles we hear of the Manahune, a people of whom little but the name has been preserved. Professor G. Elliott Smith makes the Phenicians the first settlers in Polynesia, about the 7th century, B.C. Altogether, it may be said, that the theory that Polynesia was uninhabited by man as late as the early centuries of the Christian era is certainly a tentative one, to state the case mildly.

Maori traditions tell us that their ancestors, in remote times, dwelt in a land away to the westward, a land named Uru. From this land they migrated eastward to a hot climate country named Irihia, to which the name of Hawaiki is sometimes applied. Now an old Sanscrit name for India was Vrihia, which a Maori could pronounce only as Irihia or Wirihia. Was it the shores of India that the old sea rovers saw sink behind them when they sailed out on the Great Ocean of Kiwa in search of the rising sun and new homes?

In that land of Irihia the forbears of the Polynesians seem to have suffered many tribulations. They appear to have had many enemies, unpleasing black-skinned folk of various degrees of culture, some of them leading a rude, primitive mode of life. Fierce and continued wars led the future Polynesians to leave the land of Irihia and seek a new home across the ocean. We are told that they steered to the eastward, ever making for the rising sun, and that a voyage of eleven days brought them to a land called (in Maori tradition) Tawhiti-roa. The length of their sojourn here is not known, but eventually they again took to the ocean, and sailed eastward to the land of Tawhiti-nui. On their arrival on the shores of that land they went up a river, the mouth of which faced the south-west, and settled on its banks, where they lived in artificial caves hewn out of the face of a cliff. They feared the inhabitants of that place, and evidently were not themselves numerically strong. When they increased in numbers they occupied fortified villages above ground. We are told that Tawhiti-nui was an extensive land possessing a hot climate.

Again the length of the sojourn in this land is unknown. We are simply told that, in the time of Ira-panga, these folk, or some of them, once more followed the sea roads, and that six vessels reached the isle of Ahu. Such, we are told, was the origin of the Polynesian inhabitants of the isles Ahu, Maui, and Hawaiki. These are thought to be the islands Ahu (erroneously written Oahu), Maui and Hawaii of the Hawaiian or Sandwich Group. That division of the race has dropped the letter k from its dialect, though, curiously enough, it has replaced the t by k.

In the account of the voyages here briefly described, tradition has it that sea anchors and a kind of awning for the longboats were used during stormy weather. Also that they were steered by means of relying on the heavenly bodies, on wind and wave. The use of the outrigger is also mentioned, and one account seems to denote that the double outrigger was in use.

Model of Outrigger Canoe, with balance platform.

This eastward movement of ancestors of the Polynesians into the Pacific area was probably one of several such sea migrations. The natives of the Cook Group have preserved highly interesting traditions concerning the homeland of the race, and of many long voyages in the Pacific made by their ancestors. The Marquesas natives have also preserved similar records. The Polynesian colonies still existing far within Melanesia and Micronesia may have been formed during the eastward movement of long past times. We also know of drift voyages to Melanesia as late occurrences, also that Tongan raiders have sailed as far westward as New Caledonia and the Solomon Isles.

Having reached what we now term the Polynesian area, the ancestors of our Maori folk probably led a comparatively quiet life for some time, so far as sea voyages were concerned. But as they increased in numbers they would take once more to the restless sea life of their forbears. It is clear that, for a lengthy period, the Polynesians were the most daring and successful neolithic voyagers of whom we have any record. There were three distinct causes that led to these sea rovings, and the settling and re-settling of many isles of the Pacific. These movements were: 1. Voyages of exploration; 2. Voyages of necessity; and 3. Drift voyages. The voyages of necessity were caused by over-population, intertribal wars, or banishment for crimes committed. There is much proof to show that the courageous ocean wanderers of yore undertook long voyages out of pure love of adventure. There is also plentiful evidence that innumerable drift voyages have taken place, and indeed still occur. As an illustraion of this last fact I may quote from United Empire, the Royal Colonial Institute Journal of September, 1918, the following data:—Two native boys, 17 or 18 years of age, drifted in a boat from Tarawa, in the Gilbert Group, for 90 days some 1300 miles, ere they made a landing on one of the Caroline Isles. These data are corroborated by officials. During that time they caught water in a bucket, but their only food consisted of six birds that they contrived to catch. They also caught a small shark but could not swallow its flesh. Japanese officials of the Carolines assisted them to return to Tarawa.

Some Recorded Voyages of Polynesians

The field of operations of the Polynesian navigators, the Maori voyagers, was a vast area of some 4,500 miles in extent. Over this great expanse the brown-skinned sea kings followed the rolling sea roads; the ara moana laid down by their bold forbears when they broke into the realm of Tahora-nui-atea in days of yore. With no knowledge of metals, ignorant of the compass, and of the shipbuilding art, they manned their rude top-straked dugouts and carvel built long boats, lashed together with sinnet. They hoisted their lateen sails, or the weird-looking ra kautu, and sailed out on far-spread sears in search of adventure, or a new home. They placated their gods and the monsters of the deep; they feared not the wrath of Hine-moana

Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid. Personified form of the Ocean in Maori myth.

; they rode down the endless leagues of surging water roads with a confidence born of courageous hearts, of superstition, and the blind faith that makes and mars mankind.

The rude vessels employed by the Polynesians in their ocean wanderings were óf two types, the outrigger and the double canoe. The single canoe, lacking an outrigger, used by the Maori of New Zealand, seems to have been a local production; it could scarcely have been employed in deep-sea voyages. Its origin probably lies in the fact that these isles furnished larger trees for canoe making than did the isles of Polynesia. Thus the hull of a vessel could be made much wider in New Zealand than in other isles. The so-called canoes were here made with greater beam, and in time the outrigger was abandoned in most cases. Tasman appears to have seen only double canoes here in 1642, but in 1769–70 Cook found the single canoe, minus the outrigger, the common vessel on the shores of the North Island. Outriggers and double canoes seem, however, to have been more numerous in the South Island in his time. A few double canoes were seen in South Island waters by early whalers and others in the first three decades of last century.

The big double canoes used by the Tongans and Fijians carried big lateen sails, and some of these vessels were over a hundred feet in length. A similar vessel was used in the Society, Paumotu, and Cook Groups, as also elsewhere-

Model of Double Canoe with lateen sail, Polynesian craft were carvel built, a series of strakes attached to a shallow, dugout hull, and secured to each other by means of lashings. The large size of trees in New Zealand permitted the hewing out of a wide, deep hull that needed but a single side plank as a topstrake. These were attached to the hull by means of cord lashings that passed right through strake and hull and enclosed battens that covered the join. All seams were caulked, and the thwarts lashed across on the topstrakes served to stiffen the vessel. The system of passing lashings through a cant or rim on the edges of the inner sides of the timbers was a western Pacific usage that was unknown to the Maori. During bad weather encountered in deep-sea voyages an awning was rigged over these vessels, and a series of splashboards was attached. During storms the vessel rode to a sea anchor, with a heavier one out at the stern to keep her bow up.

The work of constructing these rude vessels was effected by the use of stone tools, and yet we are told by observers that remarkably neat work was done. In some isles but ill provided with timber, canoes were built up on small hulls by lashing together short planks but a few feet in length, the joints of which were marvels of precision and neatness.

The vessels that reached New Zealand from Polynesia were of both types, single canoes fitted with an outrigger, and double canoes, in which the second hull served the purpose of an outrigger. Probably the outrigger type was most frequently used in these voyages, as they are most manageable at sea during stormy weather. The traditional account of the voyage of Nuku from eastern Polynesia in New Zealand and back, tells us that he crossed the ocean to these shores with two double canoes and one outrigger vessel. On his return to Polynesia he dismantled his double canoes and converted them into outrigger craft to enable him to make a quicker passage. Traditionary and other evidence shows that those neolithic voyagers who sailed over the 2,000 miles of ocean from the Society Group to New Zealand not infrequently recrossed it and returned to their far-off homes.

In the Auckland Museum is a fine specimen of the old-time Maori canoe. It is 83 feet in length, and has a width of seven feet. The hull is of one piece, with a topstrake at-

Maori War Canoe. From a Plate in “Cook's Voyages.” tached. If provided with an outrigger, and rigged with either the lateen or triangular upright sail she would sail with surprising swiftness. Shallow draught meant little hold on the water and the greater necessity for an outrigger. When necessary paddles were employed. Cruise mentions seeing a fleet of Maori canoes in 1820, many of which were 70 to 80 feet long, and few less than 60. One of a length of 84 feet was 6 feet wide and 5 deep, hewn from a single log. With ninety paddles and three fuglemen she moved with astonishing rapidity, causing the water to foam on either side.

The double canoe had a wide range in the Pacific region, and this type of vessel was employed by Polynesian voyagers of former times. Those of the Paumotu, Tongan, and Samoan groups were sometimes of remarkable size; we hear of some at the latter group being 150 feet in length. The big double canoes of the Fiji Isles were also of great size, and from that people the Tongans obtained many of their deep-sea vessels. The Melanesian folk of Fiji were not deep ocean voyagers, however, they had not the confident, daring disposition of the Polynesian. When European peoples became acquainted with the South Seas, the Tongans were the most active deep sea voyagers of Polynesia. They were in the habit of making expeditions to the New Hebrides, and also reached Tikopia, New Caledonia and other isles far within the bounds of Melanesia.

Double canoes of New Zealand seem to have been of two types, the waka hourua, consisting of two canoes close together, and the mahanga, in which the two vessels were about thirty inches apart. In both cases crossbeams and strong lashings were employed to keep them in position. When two single canoes were temporarily converted into a double canoe, it was termed a taurua. Such craft were used when an unusually large net was employed in sea fishing.

Not only were deep sea vessels furnished with masts and sails, two masts in many cases, but also coastwise craft were provided with a mast and sail. These were seen by early visitors to New Zealand. The only Maori canoe sail that has been preserved is one in the British Museum. It is of the ordinary triangular form, and was hoisted with its wide end, the base of the triangle, uppermost. This is the ra kautu. Native tradition tells us that the lateen sail (ra kaupaparu) was also used here in former times.

Some of the voyages undertaken by old-time Polynesian voyagers were of surprising length. That from the Society Isles to New Zealand, over 2,000 miles, was made many times, and a number of sea rovers who reached these shores made the return voyage to Polynesia. These voyages were no haphazard rovings, these neolithic seafarers knew the ara moana, or sea roads, and knew how to reach their objective. On the run down from Tahiti to New Zealand, they had one resting place, Rarotonga, in the Cook Group, and occasionally a vessel sighted and sojourned a while at Rangitahua, Sunday Island, of the Kermadecs. The run from Rarotonga to New Zealand, of about 1,600 miles, would probably be made in about a fortnight, and this voyage was made many times by a people ignorant alike of the compass and of charts.

So accustomed did the old Polynesian voyagers become to their well-trodden sea roads that they knew the best time for starting on any particular voyage, so as to have favourable winds. Thus the trip down to New Zealand from Rarotonga was made in December, and the return voyage in July. J. A. Wilson, in one of his works on the Maori, tells us that they would probably average about 100 miles a day during the run down from Rarotonga. This, he remarks, would be a fair progress, all circumstances considered, for a canoe sailing half the time on a wind in the trades, and the other half with variable winds and perhaps calms, the wind in that region of the ocean at that season being, however, generally fair from the northward and the eastward. A number of writers gave the sailing rate of Polynesian canoes at from six to ten miles an hour. Seamen have assured us that they have seen Fiji canoes sailing ten to fifteen miles an hour. We are also told that the old Polynesian pahi, or deep sea vessels, could beat to windward nearly as well as a modern schooner. All these Polynesian craft possessed also the advantages of a secondary mode of propulsion in the paddle. Against a contrary wind, or in a calm, the paddle was a great help, and the Polynesians are past masters in its use. The big-bladed steering oars used did much to prevent side drift, and from two to eight of such oars were employed. These acted as lee boards.

In long voyages star-reading experts were carried, and these men were on duty during the watches of the night. Not only did Polynesian navigators steer by the stars, they also studied them closely in connection with weather conditions. You cannot convince a Maori that the stars do not foretell weather conditions and the aspect of seasons. Only experts were taken on such voyages, men who knew exactly what to do in all emergencies, the kaumoana or amotawa (sefaring experts) of the rolling water roads of Hine-moana. Moreover, men were told off to various duties, though all were hardened wielders of the paddle when required for such services. Thus we are told that men were told off to attend to steering, others to tend the sails, yet others to baling the vessel, and so on. When foul weather was encountered, and the cry of “Runaia te waka” (secure the vessel) rang out, then the trained neolithic sea masters leaped to the footboards and made all snug for the coming crisis. Were it a squall to be met, they attended to the splashboards, erected the side stanchions and crosspieces, drew taut and lashed down the awning, swung out extra steer oars, turned the vessel head on to the coming squall, lowered the stone anchors at stem and stern to steady her, and then, trusting to their gods, they awaited the wrath of the Ocean Maid—the storm at sea.

The Polynesians assuredly relied much on the regular trade winds in their wanderings, and when the sky was obscured they still had the regular roll of the waves before such winds to guide them. The one great danger was a change of wind while the sky was obscured, for then the compassless sea rover was helpless. He might persist in following the run of the waves, possibly believing he was still on his course. Could the story of drift voyages in the Pacific be written, of a verity it would be of surpassing interest, as can be judged from a number that have been recorded.

A peculiarity of Polynesian voyagers was that they often carried their gods with them, that is, the symbols of such gods. These would be in charge of a priestly expert, and were believed to have a very important influence in regard to the success of the voyage. Any vessel carrying such symbols would be extremely tapu, and this would mean that great care had to be taken not to pollute such tapu. Such a misde- meanour would mean that the favour and protection of the gods would be withdrawn, in which case anything might happen. So it was that cooked food, held to be a highly unclean substance, could not be carried on such a vessel. In such cases sea stores consisted of dried products, as fish, shell fish, etc., and fish were often caught during such voyages. On short voyages fruit was much relied on. Water was carried in bamboo and seaweed vessels, as also in gourds, and coconuts were invaluable. The sleeping accommodation must have been uncomfortable, but a system of watches would no doubt prevent undue crowding. Taro, prepared breadfruit and sun-dried kumara (sweet potatoes) are also mentioned as sea stores.

We must bear in mind that ocean currents were studied by the Polynesians, who employed a kind of stone sea anchor, styled a mahe, in order to detect such currents. These “rivers of the ocean” have played a very important part in the peopling and ceaseless re-peopling of the isles of Polynesia. Ocean currents and drift voyages are closely allied to such movements of peoples. We know that the famous Black River has been responsible for many drift voyages made by Japanese vessels across the Pacific to the western shores of North America. This sort of thing must have been going on for many centuries. Such influences as Humboldt's Current, Mentor's Drift, the South Equatorial Current, Rossell's Drift, etc., with their back swirls and branch streams, must have been important factors in the distribution and re-distribution of the Polynesian race.

It must be remembered that the pahi, or deep ocean vessels of the Polynesians, were superior to any craft seen in that region at the present times. The big double canoes were fitted for the making of long voyages. Maori tradition speaks of vessels with three masts as having been employed in deep sea voyages. Some writers have declined to believe that the ancestors of the Maori ever reached New Zealand by water, or that the Polynesians were capable of making long voyages. They apparently ignore well-known facts, those of a common language throughout the Polynesian area, of common traditions, names of gods, implements, and many other things. Wild theories of a sunken continent are aired, but if such

Carved prow of War Canoe (Tauihu). continent ever did sink it was certainly before the Polynesian reached the eastern Pacific. The proof of the voyaging powers of the race are overwhelming, and cannot be set aside. The most remarkable feature concerning Polynesian voyagers is that they made long voyages out of sight of land without the aid of chart or compass. We have been told by Colenso and others that Polynesians could never have reached New Zealand in their “frail canoes.” But those pahi were by no means frail vessels; they traversed great stretches of open sea, and withstood the buffetings of fate from Easter Island westward to New Caledonia, from the Sandwich Islands southward to New Zealand. The 18ft. ship's boat in which Bligh made his voyage of about 4,000 miles from Tonga to Timor in forty days was assuredly not superior to the pahi of Polynesia.

An interesting feature of the methods followed by the old Polynesian sea rovers was that of starting points. In commencing a voyage they always started from a certain place, and laid the vessel on her marks, just as the Maori fisherman located his fishing grounds at sea by lining objects on shore. Thus it was learned many years ago that voyagers leaving these isles for Polynesia started from Whanga-te-au, Mangawhai, or Au-kanapanapa, all of which are places on the east coast of the North Auckland district. An old native of the Nga Rauru tribe made the following statement:—“The men of old possessed much knowledge of ocean navigation. They were well acquainted with the prevailing winds of different seasons of the year, and also with the stars visible in each month. When sailing from New Zealand for Hawaiki (the isles of Polynesia), they always started from certain places in the north. One such starting point was Whanga-te-au, while another was Whangarei.” On one of the Sandwich Islands is a place named “the route to Tahiti,” from which place the voyagers of long past centuries started on their voyage of 2,380 miles to Tahiti, of the Society Group. Kamakau, a learned native of the Sandwich Isles, wrote as follows:—“If you sail for Kahiki (Tahiti) you will discover new constellations and strange stars over the deep ocean. When you arrive at the Piko o Wakea (Pito o Watea—the Navel of Space—the Equator) you will lose sight of Hokupaa (the North Star), and then Newe will be the southern

A Stern-piece of a Maori canoe (Taurapa). guiding star, and the constellation of Humu will stand as a guide above you.”

John Williams, of Polynesian fame, tells us, concerning these starting places: “At these places they have certain land marks by which they steer until the stars become visible, and they generally contrive to set sail so as to get sight of their heavenly guides by the time their land marks disappear.” A former British Resident at Rarotonga, Colonel Gudgeon, furnishes similar evidence, and in Beechey's Voyage appears yet another clear statement on the subject.

Many of the old-time voyages made by Polynesians were by no means over such wide stretches of open sea as had to be crossed between Tahiti and New Zealand, and Tahiti and the Sandwich or Hawaiian Isles. Yet voyages made from isle to isle, calling at many refreshment places, might be much longer than either of the above. Thus, in one voyage made by one Uenga, a famous sea rover of about the 12th century, that neolithic seaman started from Savaii, in the Samoan Group, and sailed to Tonga (480 miles S.S.E.), thence to Vavau (150 miles N.N.E.). On leaving the latter place he was carried away by stormy weather to some isle not named, whence he sailed to Tongareva (900 miles N.E. of Savaii), then to Rimatara (780 miles S.S.E.), thence to Rurutu (70 miles E.N.E.), thence to Tubuai (120 miles S.E.), thence to Fakaau or Greig Island, in the Paumotu Group (480 miles N.N.E.). After voyaging about this far-spread archipelago he went to Tahiti, from which place he found his way back again to Savaii. And this was one of the men who possessed but “frail canoes” and could not possibly make a deep sea voyage.

Another famed old Polynesian voyager, who flourished about the seventh century, was one Hui-te-rangi-ora. He seems to have roamed over the Pacific as though it were a lake, his most remarkable voyage being one to the far south, where he encountered ice. This was evidently a new experience for the Polynesian voyager, and tradition tells us how it astonished him.

The Polynesian ancestors of our Maori folk of New Zealand colonised a great number of isles in the Pacific region. The Fiji group is the easternmost outpost of the dark-skinned Melanesian race; all isles east of that archipelago are peopled by Polynesians. In many cases such movements, settlings and re-settlings have been preserved in oral tradition, as in the

Maori Canoe Paddles. case of New Zealand. Thus tradition tells us of voyages made by natives of the Marquesas to the Hawaiian or Sandwich Isles, also to the westward. Also of voyages made by the Hawaiians to and from the Society Group. Long voyages of the Samoans and the Rarotongans are recorded, and the Tongans, in their big canoes one hundred feet in length, and furnished with lateen sails, have been the most daring of deep ocean sailors in modern times; they penetrated far into Melanesia.

Quiros maintained the existence of a great motherland in the South Pacific: “As otherwise the islands could not have been populated without a miracle.” But Quiros knew not the powers of the Polynesian voyager, and indeed but very few modern writers have any true appreciation of those powers.

In the oral traditions of the Maori we find, as might be expected, a mixture of fact and fable, historical traditions encrusted with myth. Thus we are told of wondrous adventures met with by old-time voyagers, of strange lands and strange people seen by them. How some reached lands where fire was unknown, and the people ate their food raw. Of communities where natural birth was unknown, and where all children were brought into the world by means of the Cæsarian operation. Of strange folk who dwelt in trees, and of terrible monsters encountered in far lands.

Among our local Maori folk a curious tale is told to account for the Aurora australis. We are gravely informed that some of the old voyagers who came to New Zealand continued their voyage and sailed far southward. Some of them remained there in a very cold region, and, ever and anon, their descendants kindle huge fires in order to acquaint the Maori of New Zealand with the fact that they are still there, and are in want of assistance.

The story of the discovery and settlement of these isles by members of the Polynesian race is a story of much interest. That of the North Island by drift voyagers from the western Pacific also contains a lesson. Both of the settlements were the outcome of drift voyages, one directly so, the other indirectly. A westerly wind that swept through Melanesia brought hither the first settlers of our North Island. A wind that swept westward from the region of South America was the indirect cause of the coming of the first Polynesian settlers to these shores.

Forty generations ago, that is to say about the year 900 A.D., two Polynesian deep sea navigators, named Kupe and Ngahue, sailed from the far-off Society Group and discovered New Zealand. Old traditions of our South Island seem to show that certain ancestors of the natives of those parts preceeded Kupe in their coming to these isles. These traditions are, however, but brief fragments, and hence unsatisfactory. It is now too late to obtain fuller information on the subject. If the ancestors of the South Island natives were the first inhabitants of these isles, then they would assuredly have settled in the North Island, only compulsion would drive a warmth-loving Polynesian to the colder climate of the south. They may have been expelled from the North Island by later comers. The traditions concerning Kupe, Ngahue, and Toi are the ones best supported by evidence.

The vessels of Kupe and his companion voyager Ngahue (also known as Ngake) were named Matahorua and Tawirirangi. They would be either double canoes or outrigger craft. These intrepid sea rovers made their landfall near the North Cape of New Zealand. The first sign of land is said to have been a white cloud that overhung it. This was first noted by one Hine-to-aparangi, wife of Kupe, who cried out: “He ao! He ao!” (A cloud! A cloud!), and so New Zealand gained its first name of Aotea (White Cloud), afterwards lengthened to Aotea-roa, presumably on account of its size. Coming from the small islands of Polynesia the explorers would be impressed by the size of these isles.

Having sojourned a while in the far north, our neolithic explorers ran down the east coast of the North Island, landing at various places, until they reached what is now known as Wellington Harbour. We credit Captain James Cook with the discovery of this harbour on November 2nd., 1773, but Kupe and his companions camped on these shores nearly 900 years before that date.

The seafarers remained some time in this harbour and its vicinity, and then continued their exploration. They examined Cook Straits, entered Porirua Harbour, and then sailed down the west coast of the South Island. At Arahura they are said to have discovered float pieces of greenstone (nephrite) in the river bed, a discovery that was of great importance to the Maori of later generations. They are also said to have slain a moa (Dinornis) at that place, for that huge bird was not then extinct. Thus, after further exploration, these bold navigators sailed northward, and again crossed 2,000 miles of ocean to their far distant home in eastern Polynesia. They are said to have sojourned at Rarotonga on their way. We are also told in native tradition that the particulars of the voyage, as also sailing directions to enable vessels to reach New Zealand, were carefully preserved in the unwritten archives of Hawaiki, as the island of Tahiti was called at that period. The most noteworthy statement in the tradition of this remarkable voyage is one to the effect that Kupe and Ngahue found these isles uninhabited by man. It is the coming of the first settlers that we have now to consider.

At some time subsequent to the departure of the above-mentioned voyagers, a strange, unknown people formed the first permanent settlement in New Zealand. Their origin is unknown, and Maori tradition tells us that they were a people of inferior culture, which means inferior to Polynesian culture. Their own account of their origin, as related to the later coming Maori, is that their ancestors arrived here in three canoes, named Kahutara, Taikoria and Okoki. These vessels had been swept away from their homeland by a westerly storm during a fishing excursion, and, after drifting far across the ocean, had made their landfall on the north Taranaki coast, on the west coast of the North Island. They called their homeland Horanui-a-tau and Haupapa-nui-a-tau, both of which names are unknown to us. It is almost certain that there must have been a southerly as well as an easterly drift. The natives of Tasmania and Australia constructed no vessels that would stand the passage of the Tasman Sea, and the description of these early settlers seems to point to the New Hebrides as a probable homeland. That land was described as possessing a hot climate, much warmer than that of New Zealand.

Maori tradition tells us that these original settlers did not preserve accurate knowledge of their descent as do Polynesians, and that they were an idle and shiftless folk. They constructed no good houses, but merely shed-like structures, though they were a very chilly people, fond of hugging the fireside. In winter they wore capes made from the fibrous leaves of Phormium, Cordyline and Freycinetia (harakeke,

Maori canoe Baler. In Whanganui Museum.T.W. Downes photo toi, and kiekie), but in summer merely some leaves as a form of girdle or apron. The later-coming Polynesian Maori called these people Pakiwhara, a name that appears to denote folk of a low culture stage, a rude people of a primitive mode of life. In the legend of Rata, an old-time Polynesian voyager, it is applied to people who were probably Melanesians. They are often alluded to by the Maori as Maruiwi, which, however, seems to have been merely the name of one of their prominent chiefs at the time of the arrival of the first Polynesian settlers. In later days Maruiwi came into use as the name of a tribe, and the Tini-o-Maruiwi was, apparently, one of the last tribes of that folk to disappear as a tribal unit, an occurrence that took place about eleven generations ago. One native authority tells us that they were known as Mouriuri, but it is doubtful if they had a racial name for themselves when the Polynesian immigrants arrived here. In like manner the latter folk do not seem to have applied any racial name to themselves. The term Maori, so employed, appears to be a modern usage; it is not mentioned by any of the earlier writers on New Zealand. As a word of vernacular speech it means “native, indigenous, ordinary, common.”

The Maori tells us that these Mouriuri were tall, spare, thin-shanked folk, with flat noses and widespread nostrils, flat faces and overhanging or prominent eyebrows. Some had bushy, fuzzy hair, some had straight hair; they were big-boned and had very restless eyes, also were they an indolent and treacherous folk. According to Maori tradition these Mouriuri people were of a low culture stage, but these accounts may possibly be exaggerated. Inasmuch as they must have possessed the art of constructing vessels capable of a long deep sea voyage, and are said to have lived in fortified villages at Taranaki, they can scarcely have occupied the low plane assigned to them in Maori tradition. They are said to have lived in fortified places named Okoki, Pohokura, etc., at Urenui. These are fortified hills showing terraced slopes and scarps, formerly surmounted by defensive stockades; a few ramparts and fosses are also in evidence. As these places were occupied by the later-coming Polynesian Maori down to the time of the arrival of Europeans in the country, we do not know what the original

Mode of carrying children. Mouriuri defensive works were. These pa, or fortified villages, were not a Polynesian institution, but they were well known to the Melanesian folk of Fiji, certain tribes of whom lived in similar hill forts. This evidence is in favour of a Fijian origin of the Mouriuri. They appear to have spoken a tongue closely resembling Maori, to judge from certain proper names preserved in tradition, though the evidence is not, perhaps, very satisfactory. The dialect spoken by the Moriori or Maioriori natives of the Catham Isles, who are believed to be descendants of Mouriuri refugees from New Zealand, is said to resemble eastern Polynesian speech more closely than the Maori of New Zealand. There are a number of usages, arts, implements, etc., noted among the Maori of New Zealand that cannot be traced to Polynesia, and it seems probable that these were acquired from the earliest inhabitants of these isles. For instance, take the case of decorative art, painted designs, wood carving, tattooing, etc. We know that such art in Polynesia is essentially rectilinear, while in New Zealand it is curvilinear. The only exceptions to this rule are processes wherein the Maori was unable to produce the curved line, as in weaving and the plaiting of mats and baskets. This looks as though the incoming Polynesians had borrowed certain arts, etc., from another people, presumably the Mouriuri aborigines. Again, such curvilinear designs are found in New Guinea, and many non-Polynesian usages, etc., encountered in New Zealand can be traced to the western Pacific. It looks as though the Mouriuir folk were immigrants from that region, a surmise which is supported by the tradition of the easterly drift voyage.

The early inhabitants of New Zealand gradually increased in numbers until they occupied a large area of the North Island. On the west coast their settlements are said to have extended as far south as the Wai-ngongoro river, and on the eastern side of the island they dwelt as far south as Whangaparaca. They are said to have been numerous in the Tamaki district, the Auckland isthmus, but we are not told as to whether or not they lived in fortified villages there. It is possible that they did do so, but inasmuch as they are said to have possessed no cultivated food products, they could not have formed a dense population at any place. The extensive and numerous terraced hills of the Auckland district cannot have been occupied by a non-agricultural people, for the surrounding lands and sea inlets could not have supported them.

The hongi or nose pressing salute. To occupy all the residential terraces of One Tree Hill alone would call for a population of not less than four or five thousand, and probably more.

Having seen the gradual spread of the Mouriuri people in the North Island, we will now pass on to the coming of the first Polynesian settlers. The period during which the Mouriuri were the sole occupiers of New Zealand can scarcely have been less than two hundred years, and it may have been more.

Some twenty-eight or nine generations ago a gale of wind from somewhere off the west coast of South America swept westward through Polynesia as far as the Samoan Group. That gale it was that brought about the occupation of New Zealand by Polynesians, and here is the story thereof:—

A canoe race was being held on the placid waters of the lagoon of Pikopiko-i-whiti, off the island of Hawaiki, and we may identify that isle as Tahiti of the Society Group, of which it was an ancient name. It was resolved that one race be held out on the open sea, hence the competing vessels passed out through the opening in the reef. While the contest was being conducted an easterly gale, an offshore wind, struck the fleet and rendered return to land impossible. Thus a number of vessels were driven far across the ocean and became seperated during the drift. Such occurrences have been very numerous in Polynesian history.

As time passed away much anxiety was felt as to the fate of the ocean waifs, and thus it was that Toi, the grandfather of Whatonga, one of the lost ones, resolved to sail in search of them. He manned his vessel, named Te Paepae-ki-Rarotonga, and sailed across the Sea of Marama in quest of his grandson. On his reaching Pangopango, in the Samoan Group, he found some of the castaways at that place, but not his young relative. Toi then continued his search and visited a number of isles, but still his quest was a fruitless one so far as his grandson was concerned. At length he reached Rarotonga, in the Cook Group, and, finding there no trace or word of Whatonga or his vessel, he resolved to visit the far land of Aotearoa, discovered by Kupe and Ngahue long before. He said to Toa-rangitahi, a chief of Rarotonga: “I go to seek my young relative in the green land in the far expanse of ocean. Should any come in search of me, say that I have gone to that far land, that is if I ever reach it; should I not do so, then will I be lying in the depths of Hine-moana.” Now Hine-moana is the Ocean Maid, the personified form of the ocean. Even so the gallant old sea rover swung the prow of his carvel-built craft south of Canopus and the red sun, and rode down five hundred leagues of empty, rolling sea roads to the lone land of Aotearoa.

The voyage of Toi was a remarkable one, inasmuch as he missed his objective, keeping too far to the eastward, but he discovered the Chatham Isles, which lie about 400 miles to the east of New Zealand. The sturdy old voyager did not, however, abandon his quest, and eventually he made his land-fall on the eastern side of the northern part of the North Island. He landed at Tamaki, where the town of Auckland now is, where he sojourned some time among the Mouriuri folk. His long search for Whatonga had been fruitless, and the sea-weary old Viking eventually settled at Whakatane. Here local natives point out the earthern ramparts of an oldtime fort named Ka-pu-te-rangi, and maintain that it was the abiding place of Toi, surnamed Kai-rakau, he who had sailed wide seas in search of his grandson. Situated on the summit of a high cliff above the modern township, and the spot where Matatua ended her long voyage from eastern Polynesia in later times, the old rover's last home was a picturesque one. One can imagine the sea-worn old wanderer gazing eastward from the bluff across the vast, empty ocean, thinking of his lost grandson, and of his old home two thousand miles away. Doubtless he did not feel equal to making another arduous voyage across the great southern ocean, and so resigned himself to exile among a strange, unpleasing people.

Meanwhile events were occuring in eastern Polynesia that were to bring further immigrant settlers to Aotearoa. The vessel of Whatonga had drifted to the island of Rangiatea, presumably the isle of Ra'iatea of the Society Group, for the dialect of that group has, we know, lost the k and nasal ng since the ancestors of our Maori folk left those parts. If Whatonga had reached that island, however, it is strange that Toi should have missed him during his search, for Ra'iatea and Tahiti are not far apart. There is something unexplained at this point of the tradition.

When Whatonga and his companions were cast away on this isle, they narrowly escaped being slain, but were afterwards well treated, and lived for some time among their hosts. Eventually, however, they made their way home again, when Whatonga learned that Toi was still absent in search of him. Hence he resolved to go forth to seek Toi, a task of no light nature among the many isles of Polynesia. This incident serves to illustrate the familiarity of the Polynesians of that period with sea-faring, and the confidence with which they traversed the sea roads to distant objectives. This story of Toi and Whatonga is here much abbreviated; in its entirety it forms an extremely interesting narrative. One incident in the homeward voyage of Whatonga and his companions from Rangiatea shows us that Polynesians of that era employed the quipu or knotted cord system of mnemonics. Indeed, they were something more than an aid to memory, inasmuch as it is distinctly stated that messages were sent to a distance by that medium. Certain arrangements of knots represented words or phrases, hence the method was a symbolic one, and the medium employed resembled ideograms to some extent.

Whatonga now sought a vessel suitable for a long deep sea voyage, and obtained one named Te Hawai from a man named Turangi. This was a vessel of three haumi, that is to say, the dug-out hull was composed of four pieces; it had twenty-six thwarts, two baling wells, and two anchors. This vessel was renamed Kurahaupo, and the origin of this name illustrates the growth of mythical accretions around the historical traditions of barbaric man. When the vessel that brought Whatonga and his crew home from Rangiatea left that isle the chief thereof called out: “O Tonga! When the prow of your vessel meets the homeland, send me, I urge you, two tokens by which I shall know that you have safely arrived, and let those tokens be the kura hau awatea and the kura hau po.” Whatonga made no verbal reply from his place in the stern of his vessel, but signified his assent by means of a gesture termed kapo. He raised his right arm and closed the hand as though clutching something; no words were necessary. Now the expression kura hau awatea denotes a solar halo, and that of kura hau po a lunar halo, or some such phenomenon. Our Maori folk firmly believe that their high-grade priests of yore possessed the power of producing these phenomena at will, by means of their priestly or occult arts, and that they utilised them for the purpose of signalling over great distances. Such was the origin of the new name of Whatonga's vessel.

Kurahaupo was now carefully prepared for sea. Her washboards were lashed on; all her timbers were treated with vegetable gum, shark oil and ochre. Then a crew of hardy, trained deep-sea sailors was selected, men accustomed to the rolling ara moana (sea roads), inured to all dangers of the great ocean. Of paddlers were selected fifty and two, of ship's husbands four, of anchor tenders two, of sail tenders four, of steersmen two, of fire tenders two; evidently the crew was divided into watches. Thus the crew consisted of sixty-six persons, and there were several women also on board.

When all was ready the priests performed appropriate ceremonies, and chaunted over the vessel a long invocation to the gods, in order to place her under their protection. In order to render this function thoroughly effective Kurahaupo was hauled ashore and inland to a particularly tapu spot, and there, resting on that spot, she was placed in the hands of the gods. By this means a successful voyage was ensured, so long as not offence was given to those gods. And now, all being ready, Kurahaupo was hauled down to the beach and launched at grey dawn, the crew took their places on the thwarts assigned to them, Whatonga and his younger brother, Mahutonga, the priestly expert, stepped into the stern. Then, amid loud cries of farewell, and tears, and many greetings, Kurahaupo glided out upon the gleaming waters and picked up her two thousand mile course, while her brown-skinned sea kings looked upon their island home for the last time.

Our neolithic voyagers reached Rarotonga safely, and, on enquiring for Toi, were told by one Tatao that he had searched many lands and had finally sailed for Aotearoa, the land situated in far ocean spaces. Whatonga now resolved to sail for Aotearoa (New Zealand), and laid in sea stores for the long run. One of his companions, Ruatea, decided to remain at Rarotonga, and his place in the vessel was taken by a Rarotongan named Te Awe. Thus it was that, in the month Tatau-urutahi, Kurahaupo sailed from Rarotonga for the far distant isles we call New Zealand.

Again we must abbreviate our story and bring the Seeker of the Searcher swiftly to these shores. Kurahaupo made her landfall near the North Cape, where her crew sojourned a while and laid in sea stores. She then ran down the west coast of the North Island and came to land again at Tongaporutu, in the northern part of the Taranaki district. Here the voyagers learned that Toi had safely reached the land of Aotearoa, and had settled at Whakatane. Whatonga now resolved to seek his old relative without delay, but some of his followers decided to remain at Tonga-porutu and dwell among the Mouriuri folk of that district. If the new-comers were able to converse with the aborigines and so to gain a knowledge of Toi, then the two peoples must have spoken tongues closely allied.

Kurahaupo now took the sea roads once more, sailed northward, rounded the North Cape, and ran down the eastern side of the island. A short stay was made at Otuako, a place that was named after a member of the crew who died there. During this sojourn at Otuako news came to hand of the arrival of Manaia, another Polynesian voyager, at Tongaporutu.

Sailing from Otuako, Whatonga reached Maketu, in the Bay of Plenty, where he made another stay, after which he went on to Whakatane, where he at length met his old relative Toi. The long double quest that had called for so much ocean roving was over at last, so Toi and Whatonga, with their companions, dwelt in the new land, never again to roam wide seas, or to look again on their old homes in eastern Polynesia.

It is of interest to note a statement in this tradition that, at the time of the arrival of Kurahaupo, the Mouriuri folk occupied the coastal lands from the North Cape southward to Whangaparaoa, on the east coast, and Oakura on the west coast of the North Island. In later times some of them settled at Te Wairoa, on the east coast, and as far south as

Native village of Hiruharama, (Jerusalem), on the Whanganui River. Old native huts replaced by cottages of sawn timber.Dominion Museum photo Wai-ngongoro, on the west coast. Probably they did not dwell far inland until driven in during bitter war with Polynesian settlers in later generations.

Whatonga did not settle permanenetly at Whakatane, but moved to the Mahia district with his followers, and there dwelt. In his old age his two sons, Tara and Tautoki, settled at what is now known as Wellington Harbour, which was named Te Whanga nui a Tara (The Great Harbour of Tara). From these two brothers sprang the Ngai-Tara and Rangitane tribes that occupied the Wellington and Wai-rarapa districts for many generations.

We have seen that another Polynesian voyager named Manaia came to New Zealand about the same time that Kurahaupo arrived. The story of Manaia is as follows:—Afar off in the isles of eastern Polynesia dwelt two chiefs, named Manaia and Nuku. A long story, handed down by oral tradition, tells of Manaia being insulted by Nuku, of a bitter feud and much fighting that followed. In this fighting Manaia seems to have had the weaker party, hence he resolved to leave his homeland, and, with some of his followers, migrate to Aotearoa, the far distant southern land discovered by Kupe. He may, or may not have heard of the departure of Toi for these isles. He therefore fitted up a vessel named Tokomaru for the venture, and, having selected a crew of trained experts, he quietely left home and sailed away in search of a more peaceful land.

Nuku had no intention of allowing his enemy to escape, for he had the death of a brother to avenge. He therefore resolved to man three vessels with “sea paddling braves” and pursue the elusive Manaia. The names of his three vessels were Te Houama, Waimate, and Tangi-apakura, of which the first-named was a single canoe (waka marohi), and the other two double canoes (waka unua). The first-mentioned would doubtless be furnished with an outrigger.

Both parties touched at Rarotonga, in the Cook Group, which has ever been the point of departure for New Zealand with Polynesian voyagers. Manaia had the advantage of his enemy, but apparently was not far in advance of him when he reached this land. He came south to Cook Straits, and landed on the island of Rangitoto, or D'Urville Island. Nuku must have heard of the movements of Manaia, for he followed him into Cook Straits, and, landing on Rangitoto, found the smouldering embers of his fire yet alive. Putting to sea again he sighted Tokomaru off Pukerua, on the northern coast of the Straits, and at once gave chase. On the waters of Raukawa, we are told, a fierce sea fight was fought, and, as evening fell, the enemies agreed to land and renew the fight in the morning. They went ashore at Pae-kakariki, where they camped for the night. That night a terrific storm came on, caused, says tradition, by the magic powers of Manaia. So fierce was the gale that by its agency were formed the long lines of sand dunes and mounds that mark the coast line from Pae-kakariki northward towards Otaki. That strip of coast line has since been known as the One ahuahu a Manaia, to record the fact that it was so formed by Manaia.

When morning arrived it was found that exposure to the night storm had seriously impaired the fighting powers of the sea-farers, and a consultation ended in peace being made between the two parties. Manaia announced that he was resolved to settle in this land of Aotearoa, while Nuku determined to return to his far-distant island home. Ere doing so, Nuku dismantled his two double canoes, and sailed them back as single vessels. The cause of this change was that he concluded that it would expedite his passage. Manaia, after a coasting voyage to the east coast of the island, returned to the west coast and there settled. The tribes of the Taranaki district claim descent from him.

Nuku was by no means the only voyager to make the return voyage to Polynesia, and from this time onward for probably about two hundred years, many voyagers crossed and re-crossed the southern ocean. A number remained here, but others certainly returned to their far northern homes. Tama-ahua, who came with Whatonga, returned to eastern Polynesia, sailing from Taranaki, where he had dwelt at Oakura. Tumoana sailed from the northern peninsula, and Tuwhiri-rau from the east coast. Rongokako, father of Tamatea of Takitumu, returned to the Society Group. The last vessels mentioned in tradition as having left these isles for Polynesia, were those of Pahiko and Mou-te-rangi, that sailed from the east coast ten generations ago. Yet another interesting feature of these old traditions is the fact that we learn of two drift vessels from our North Island having reached isles of the Pacific and finally made their way back here. A vessel named Te Ara-tawhao is said to have been constructed at Whakatane in order to proceed to the isles of Polynesia to obtain seed tubers of the kumara, or sweet potato. The original settlers here, the Mouriuri folk, possessed no cultivated food products, nor did Toi introduce any, thus it was that Toi received the surname of Kairakau (wood eater), because he and his people subsisted largely on forest products. In later centuries he has been known as Toi Kai-rakau.

We have records of a considerable number of vessels that reached New Zealand from the isles of the Pacific subsequent to the time of Toi. One vessel, commanded by Whiro, made the coast of the North Island near Oakura. Another that arrived at Whakatane about 500 years ago was manned by very dark-skinned folk, presumably Melanesians. Others, named Te Ara-tauwhaiti, Rangi-matoru, Nukutere and Oturereao, came to land in the Bay of Plenty. One, named Te Paepae ki Rarotonga, commanded by Waitaha, is said to have come to land near Matata, but another tradition gives the name as that of the vessel of Toi. A number of other such vessels are named in native tradition, such as Arai-te-uru, Mahuhu, Mamari, Te Ririno, etc., but few particulars are known concerning them. Twenty generations ago, however, a fleet of vessels arrived here from the Society Group, bringing hither a band of hardy sea-farers and warriors, whose advent had an important effect on tribal conditions in this land. The best-known vessels of this migration were named Te Arawa, Aotea, Horouta, Matatau, Tainui and Takitumu. The next chapter will give some account of the effect of the influx of Polynesian migrants, from the arrival of Toi to the coming of the fleet, the mingling of the two peoples, and the formation of the more modern Maori tribes.

III Traditional History and its Teaching—the Whare Wananga, or School of Learning.

Tribal history of minor interest—The two peoples that settled New Zealand—Intermarriage of these two elements—Quarrels between Mouriuri and Polynesians—Mixed progeny sides with Polynesians—Aborigines exterminated—The Toi tribes occupy New Zealand—Mouriuri refugees colonise the Chatham Islands—Polynesian settlers witness the extinction of the moa (Dinornis)—Vessels from Polynesia—Maori raid on the Chatham Isles—Superior mana of Polynesians—Origin of Maori tribes.

The School of Learning; its Objects, Methods and Ritual—The Whare wananga a tapu institution—Origin of such tapu—Lack of a script renders oral tradition imperative—Objects of the School of Learning—Conservatism of teachers—Origin of School of Learning—Taiwhetuki, the House of Death—Famous Schools—Names of such Schools—Sacred stones—Sessions held in winter—Magic believed in but termed evil—Different Schools of Learning—The mauri or talisman—The ahurewa or altar—Tapu stones employed in teaching—Methods of teaching—Titles of scholars—Precision aimed at in conserving lore—Stone seats for ceremonial use—Opening chaunt at sunrise—Archaic invocations—The three baskets of knowledge—Teaching in form of lectures—Examination of Scholars—Singular rites—Concluding ceremony performed in water—Invocation to the Supreme Being—Material and immaterial mauri (talisman and sacred life principle)—Additional notes on tapu stones—Procedure differed as among different tribes—Removal of tapu—The final ceremony—The oho rangi rite—South Island schools—Last session of the Whare wananga—The dangers of tapu—The basket of evil and its teaching—Ordeals and trials—The takuahi—The Ra-wheoro—Intense respect for tapu knowledge—The Universal Soul in Nature—Maori mentality—Maori characteristics and achievements—Origin of evil—The Maori and the Earth Mother.

The tribal history of such a people as the Maori of New Zealand is not a subject that appeals to the ethnographer, inasmuch as such oral traditions are composed almost entirely of somewhat monotonous accounts of inter-tribal warfare. It is when we come to deal with the cosmogony, mythology, religion, sociology, etc., of such barbaric races that the anthropologist becomes interested, and finds data for his comparative work. Bearing in mind this truth, I do not propose to give, in this sketch, any of the tribal histories that have been collected and recorded. There are, however, several matters to be explained ere the reader can understand the result of the meetings of the two peoples, Mouriuri and Polynesian, in these isles, and what effect the first settlers had on the later coming intrusive element from the eastern Pacific. The mixture of the two peoples and the development of tribal communities must receive some attention. It is also proposed to give some account of the method adopted in handing down oral traditions from one generation to another, an art in which the Maori unquestionably excelled.

The first question that claims our attention is that of the result of the influx of Polynesians into New Zealand that began with the arrival of Toi and his companions, and continued for probably two centuries.

Two facts are made clear in Maori tradition. The first of these is that the earlier Polynesian voyagers who settled on these shores brought but few women with them, and the second is that bickerings and quarrels between the two peoples began soon after their first intercourse with each other. We are told that the companions of Toi and Whatonga were given wives by the original settlers, and that the Mouriuri women were very partial to the stalwart Polynesian immigrants. This preference was owing to the fact that the newcomers were men of a much finer appearance, and, moreover, were more industrious than their predecessors. Whatonga himself seems to have had two Mouriuri wives, and succeeding immigrants followed the example of the first-comers. One tribal tradition puts matters in this way. The first-comers were given wives by the local natives; in after days such women were asked for, or demanded, and, still later, they were taken by force. This latter method would unquestionably lead to trouble, nor was that trouble long in coming. The Maori tells us that the pilfering habits of the Mouriuri led to quarrels and fighting, and the domineering procedure of the Polynesians must have been an important factor in such ruptures.

It is evident that, for a considerable period, the new-comers must have been weak in numbers, and hence they would be compelled to assume a peaceful demeanour, no light task for the Polynesian of that period. But, as time rolled on, the intruders’ position would be considerably strengthened each generation, in two ways. They were, ever and anon, receiving new recruits from overseas, and also the half-breed population, the progeny of Polynesian fathers and Mouriuri mothers, sided with the fathers’ clan and increased its strength. There could be only one result from the growth of such conditions. When we consider the character, the attributes, of such men as the Polynesian sea rovers, virile, proud, aggressive and forceful fighting men, we know that when they met with a people differing from them in many ways, then, sooner or later, a struggle to the death must result. That struggle came. The story of the contest, as handed down in tradition, is one of many and increasing quarrels, of increasing numbers of the mixed Polynesian-Mouriuri people, and finally of open warfare. The mixed population, often alluded to as the Toi tribes (Te Tini o Toi), though these people in some parts were also descended from other Polynesian immigrants, eventually determined to attack and destroy the unmixed Mouriuri folk, for whom they seem to have entertained both hatred and contempt. Tradition tells us that they were attacked at many places from the Bay of Plenty to the far north, and on both coasts. Many of the original people fled into the interior, and Maunga-pohatu is mentioned as one of the remote forest solitudes the refugees fled to. It is quite possible that the Nga Potiki, folk, the former occupants of the wild forest region of Tuhoe, were descendants of those refugees. For Nga Potiki do not know their own origin, hence they claim descent from mythical beings. Another fact that has puzzled us is that Potiki, their eponymic ancestor, was not, apparently, descended from Toi.

We now find the position to be as follows:—Owing to inter-marriage with the original settlers, the mixed race had become strong enough in numbers to attack the Mouriuri people, drive the survivors back into the interior, and seize their lands. The Toi folk became resolved into tribes, each occupying a definite area, and it was about this time that the sweet potato, and also probably the taro and gourd, were introduced from Polynesia.

Some time after the arrival of the Polynesian immigrants, the disturbed conditions in the North Island area led to the settlement of the Chatham Islands by some of the Mouriuri. One party of these harassed folk, under a chief named Kahu, left the Bay of Plenty district, marched across the island by way of Taupo, and camped on the northern shore of Cook Straits, at the mouth of the Rangitikei river. Under the supervision of a man named Te Aka-roroa, who was apparently a Polynesian, they constructed a vessel capable of conveying the party to the Chatham Isles, which lie about 400 miles eastward of the South Island of New Zealand. They had heard of the discovery of these isles by Toi, and resolved to seek them, and so attain a home in which they might dwell in peace. Now we know that the expedition did reach and settle in those isolated isles, for the Maioriori, or Moriori, folk found in occupation there by Lieut. Broughton late in the 18th century had preserved a tradition of the coming of Kahu, Te Aka-roroa, and their companions. The Maori folk of New Zealand also knew of the arrival of Kahu at the Chathams, and this knowledge was brought hither by one Hau-te-horo, a descendant of Te Aka-roroa of the fourth generation, who found his way back to this island and settled at Whanganui, a place that had been the home of his great-great-grandfather.

Tradition tells us of another party of Mouriuri folk that was expelled from Taranaki and came down the coast to Cook Straits. Here the refugees sojourned a while, and then sailed in several vessels for the Chathams. The natives of that group, who are now practically extinct, had traditions of the arrival there of several different lots of immigrants in the past.

As time rolled on the Toi tribes, the mixed folk, pushed their way further south into districts which the warmth-loving Mouriuri had never occupied. They settled the southern part of the North Island, and then crossed the sea of Raukawa (Cook Straits) and occupied the South Island. Some fragments of traditions collected in that area seem to show that it might have been settled prior to the time of Toi, but there is nothing satisfactory about such dim, fragmentary stories. A North Island tradition to the effect that the Takitumu immigrants of twenty generations ago were the first people to occupy the South Island is, however, probably incorrect.

Ere passing on to the later coming vessels from Polynesia, reference may be made to an interesting legend of the time of Toi. All students of Maori lore are acquainted with a peculiar title applied to the moa (Dinornis), that huge flightless bird that once roamed over these isles, and of which so many remains have been found. That title or saying is Te Manu nui a Ruakapanga—the Great Bird of Ruakapanga. This name puzzled us for a long time, until the following legend, collected in the “forties” of last century, was made known. It appears that this Ruakapanga was a relative of Toi. He chanced to go a-roving inland of Maketu with some companions, whose names have also been preserved. While on this expedition the party encountered a number of moa, and the legend contains an account of the manner in which the creatures fed. Having overcome a certain superstitious fear of the great birds, Ruakapanga attempted to trap one of them, and was successful on several occasions, but the captured birds always succeeded in escaping. At length so stout a trap was constructed that no moa could free itself from it, and so it was that one was eventually secured. Thus it was that the moa became known as the Great Bird of Ruakapanga, a name that is also known to the Rarotongans. We thus see that both Maori and Mouriuri have known the moa, and both must have utilised it as a food supply. This is shown by the bones and fragments of moa egg shells found in middens and around old umu or cooking pits. It must have been ruthless hunting that led to the extermination of the bird in the North Island, so much of which was covered with dense forest in which some species certainly abode.

It has been noted that a number of vessels arrived on these shores from Polynesia twenty generations ago. These

vessels came from the Society Group, and the immigrants who came in them exercised an important influence on tribal affairs in these isles. The newcomers were evidently a more virile, energetic and masterful people than the folk of the Toi tribes then in possession of the country. Presumably the characteristics of the earlier Polynesian settlers here had been affected by intermarriage with the Mouriuri people, and some traditions assert that the Toi tribes were an unwarlike, peace-loving folk, a statement that it is somewhat difficult to believe. We do know that the population of the Chatham Islands discontinued fighting, a fact that rendered them an easy prey to a force of fierce fighting men of the Atiawa tribe that attacked and slaughtered many of them in 1835. These buccaneers seized a vessel lying in Wellington harbour and compelled the captain thereof to convey them to the Chathams. It seems probable that the cessation of fighting among the natives of that group had been forced upon the people by the extremely limited area of the isles.

The superiority of the last Polynesian immigrants was shown by the way in which they acquired influence over the Toi people. All the Maori folk of New Zealand trace their descent, by preference, from those immigrants, and indeed they have withheld information concerning previous inhabitants, this to so marked an extent that it is only of late years that we have gained detailed accounts of the Toi and Mouriuri peoples.

A tribal aphorism of the Tuhoe natives explains the Maori attitude:—We inherited our land from Toi and Potiki, but our mana from Tuhoe-potiki. The latter name is that of the eponymic ancestor of the tribe. It was the mana, the attribute of a forceful and energetic people, that brought the Polynesians to the front.

Mana—power, prestige, influence, psychic force.

The immigrants by the different vessels of this last band of intrusive Polynesians settled in different districts, and adopted the same plan as that of the Toi migrants, they inter-married with the people in possession. They are said to have founded tribes in such districts, but it must be remembered that such tribes have a considerable strain of the Toi folk in their composition. To put the matter in another way, the Maori of to-day is descended from Polynesian and Mouriuri ancestors by the inter-marriage of peoples of Polynesian, aboriginal, and Toi or Mixed stock.

The descendants of the Arawa and Matatua immigrants settled in different areas of the Bay of Plenty, where their mixed descendants still abide. The Tainui immigrants are represented by the tribes of Waikato and adjacent districts, and those of Aotea by the natives of Taranaki. The blood of the crews of Horouta and Takitumu runs in the veins of the native occupants of the East Cape and east coast districts. Natives of the northern pensinsula claim descent from the crews of the vessels Mamari and Mahuhu, and so on. Thus the North Island may be said to have been divided primarily into canoe districts, each of which, as a rule, is composed of several tribal districts.

As time passed by, and suitable lands for native occupation became all taken up, a world-old trouble arose, the pressure of one people upon another, and its accompanying jealousies, quarrels and wars. This was the beginning of the long period of such pressure, conquests, absorptions and expulsions that continued down to the arrival of Europeans, or rather when the power of the intrusive white folk became dominant in these isles. To give even a brief sketch of such barbaric disturbances would mean the publication of much matter containing little to interest either the ethnographer or the general reader. It is only by recording data concerning the origin, customs, institutions, myths and religion of a neolithic people that we can claim the attention of either. I will, therefore, proceed to view the Maori method of teaching and handing down oral traditions and sacred tribal lore to succeeding generations.

We have now to deal with one of the most interesting institutions of Maoriland, one that illustrates the reverence felt by the Maori for ancient lore, and casts much light on his mentality.

The tapu School of Learning, under different names, was held to be a highly important institution, and it assuredly occupied a high status in both islands. A study of this school and its activities impresses one with the conviction that the Maori held what we may call learning in high estimation, and ever looked upon high-class teachers and repositories of such learning as important members of the community. Inasmuch as all esoteric knowledge was closely connected with the gods, it follows as a natural sequence that occult knowledge and its human mediums were endowed with the condition of tapu. In no sphere of Maori activities was that restrictive institution more in evidence than in the higher form of the School of Learning. The more intensely tapu matter was that pertaining to the Supreme Being, and the higher versions of cosmogonic myths, the origin of man, and the superior phases of religion. A people like ourselves, devoid of tapu, who hold our sacred teachings so cheaply as to make our Bible as common as the daily newspaper, simply cannot conceive the feeling the old-time Maori had for knowledge of the above kind.

We are aware that the Maori folk possessed no graphic system, no form of script by which accumulations of knowledge might be recorded and handed down. It was this fact that rendered the Whare wananga such an important institution in native eyes, inasmuch as it conserved all oral traditions, all sacred lore, and transmitted them verbally to posterity. Even when the Maori acquired the art of writing in the schools instituted by the early missionaries, the conservative repositories of ancient and tapu lore looked askance at the art, and showed no desire to make use of it as a vehicle for preserving their knowledge. Had the Maori retained his old-time lordship of these isles, he might have proceeded on similar lines to those adopted of old in India, and continued to conserve his revered knowledge by memory alone, side by side, as it were, with a written tongue.

The objects of the Whare wananga were to preserve all desirable knowledge, and to hand it down without any change by interpolation, omission, or deterioration. The ideal was a highly pitched one for a scriptless folk; it called for ceaseless care and vigilance on the part of the higher grade of tohunga.

Tohunga—expert, adept.

Any form of change in olden teachings met with strong disapproval; any questioning of ancient teachings was held to be a grievous insult to Tane, the origin and patron of knowledge. In connection with this aspect of Tane he is known as Tane i te hiringa and Tane i te wananga. The ordinary personified form of knowledge is one Rua, who appears under many names, as indicating different forms of knowledge, its acquirement and diffusion.

The original Whare wananga, assuredly the most renowned of all, was that known as Rangiatea, which was situated in the uppermost of the twelve heavens. This belonged to Io, the Supreme Being, and it was under the care of the Whatukura and Mareikura, the male and female denizens of the Toi o nga rangi, the uppermost of the twelve heavens, who are the attendants of Io. After this original House of Learning was named the island of Rangiatea (now known as Ra'iatea) in the Society Group, whereat was situated one of the most tapu places of all Polynesia. The Maori church at Otaki, built when Christianity was introduced into that part of New Zealand, was given the same name.

The first Whare wananga built on earth was named Whare-kura, and it was situated at a thrice tapu place named Te Hono-i-wairua, in the far-off homeland of Irihia. It is said to have been constructed by Rua-te-pupuke, who is the personified form of knowledge. In it was conserved all tapu knowledge pertaining to the Supreme Being, the twelve heavens and their denizens, and other revered lore.

Another House of Knowledge was that known as Taiwhetuki, which belonged to Whiro, the enemy of Tane, and personified form of darkness and evil. In this place was preserved the knowledge of evil, and evil arts, such as black magic. It was the origin of the pernicious Whare maire of this world, wherein magic arts are taught. Tai-whetuki was the abode of the dread Maiki brethren, a grisly company, who are the personified forms of sickness and disease, of all maladies that attack men. Ever they wage war against the descendants of Tane, who succumb in their thousands. In Tai-whetuki, the House of Death, they ever dwell. So say the Maori folk of the world of life.

The names of other famous Whare wananga have been preserved, some of which were situated in the hidden land of Irihia, some in eastern Polynesia, and some in New Zealand. The most famous ones on the eastern coast of the North Island seem to have been Te Ra-wheoro, at Uawa, and Rangi-te-auria at Maunga-wharau. That of the Wai-rarapa district was named Te Poho-o-Hinepae. Names of such places seem to have passed down the centuries.

The name applied to these Schools of Learning differed in different districts. In some parts it is called the Whare maire, but among the Takitumu people that name is applied only to an inferior school in which was imparted knowledge of black magic. Among the Tuhoe tribe the high-class school was known as the Whare takiura; such was Kahuponia at Maunga-pohatu. In some cases evidently no special house was built, in which case the name seems to pertain to what may be termed the curriculum. In some districts the name of Wharekura denoted the School of Learning, as at Taranaki.

At the isle of Rarotonga, in the Cook Group, this institution was known as the Are vananga. The word wananga denotes occult knowledge, while whare is a house, a term that is often employed in a figurative manner, as in whare potae and whare taua, the house of mourning. We shall see anon that three classes or grades of knowledge were introduced into the world by Tane.

The two sacred stones obtained by Tane from the Supreme Being were employed as empowering agents to impart mana, force, efficiency, to ritual utterances. A singular act was performed in those remote times whereby to obtain sacred, mana possessing stones for use in the ritual of the Whare wananga. Certain small stones of a suitable size were obtained and deposited on or against the tapu stones (whatu kura) obtained from Io. By this contact the small stones became impregnated as it were with the tapu and mana (sacredness and innate powers) of the larger ones, and so were rendered fit for use in the School of Learning. This belief in the effect of contact seems to illustrate a phase of mentality akin to that which places faith in mediums in sympathetic magic. Of such peculiar mental phenomena we may note survivals in civilised communities.

The Whare wananga seems to have been opened during winter months only. In the Kahungunu district the session was from the lunar month called Tikaka-muturangi to that of Taperewai, that is from April to September. This institu-

Tapu stones employed as Manea or Mauri (talismanic symbols). These stones are natural forms. tion differed in its methods in different areas as it did in its name. In the district just referred to teachings were divided into three classes of matter, and each was spoken of as though it was a separate house, but no tribe ever had three different houses in which the three classes of matter were taught. In some cases, apparently, low-class black magic was not taught in any building wherein high-class matters were dealt with, because tohunga of the superior grade objected to it. In many cases such magic was taught out of doors, in some retired spot, and indeed tribal traditions and ritual were sometimes taught in similar places. This would be when no suitable building existed in which to conduct the teachings.

The following description is that of the methods of imparting knowledge employed among the Takitumu folk of the each coast of the North Island, the Kahungunu tribe referred to above. In this district such knowledge was divided into two main classes, known as the kauwae runga (upper jaw), and the kauwae raro (lower jaw), or celestial and terrestrial subjects. The former expression denotes the heavens above us, the latter the earth. The celestial lore is that pertaining to the Supreme Being, the racial cosmogonic and anthropogenic myths, the primal parents and their offspring, all matters concerning the upper world of the heavens. The terrestrial lore is that treating of the homeland of the race, the migration therefrom, historical traditions, tribal history, etc.; all matters pertaining to this world.

The following are the three “houses,” so-called, of learning of the above-mentioned district:— The expression “Whare wananga” denoted all high-class knowledge, esoteric lore, the higher forms of religious teachings, such matter as comes under the term of kauwae runga, and the more important matter pertaining to the kauwae raro. All ceremonial connected with the enlightenment of the human mind, with the preservation of the physical, intellectual and spiritual welfare of man, was here taught. All of such matter represents the contents of the kete aronui, the most important of the three “baskets” of knowledge. There was much highly tapu ritual pertaining to the methods and conduct of these teachings. The teaching commenced at sunrise and continued until the sun reached the zenith, when it ceased. It could not be continued longer, because the sinking sun is connected with decay and death. Such, then, was the Whare wananga.

The expression “Whare kaupo” denotes second-class matter, such as tribal history, accounts of old wars, and other subjects of somewhat inferior status. This “house” was open from noon until sunset, when the teaching ceased for the day.

The term “Whare maire” denoted low-class matter connected with evil deeds, such as black magic, the slaying of man by means of destroying his wairua (soul). In some other districts, as we have seen, the whare maire represented higher-class teachings. In the Kahungunu district it was the home of wizardry and shamanism. These teachings were conducted at night, commencing at sunset. Now such was the division of the day as regards teaching tribal lore, or so we are told by natives. But it was an ideal that apparently was not attained, and I am certain that such a strict limitation of hours was not adhered to in all cases. In some districts we are told that all subjects were taught at night only.

In the building of a house to be used for a special purpose, as a School of Learning, for example, there would be buried at the base of the rearmost post supporting the ridgepole some object, generally a stone, that was known as a whatu. This served as a mauri or talisman for the house. It acted as an abiding place, a kind of shrine, for the gods under whose protection the house had been placed; it preserved the welfare of all connected with it, and of all proceedings connected with it. In at least some cases a few hairs, plucked from the heads of the priests conducting the ritual connected with the building of the house, were buried with the stone. In other cases a lizard was so buried.

At the base of the rearmost post alluded to was the most tapu spot of the Whare wananga: it was known as the ahurewa. At this place was performed any ceremony performed over the scholars, and here were kept a number of small stones used in the rites pertaining to the establishment. These small stones were used for a very singular purpose, for we are told that one was given to each pupil, who placed it in his mouth and retained it there while listening to the lectures of the adepts whom we may term the professors of the School of Learning. In some cases a small stone was handed to each scholar who had passed the examination test, and he had to swallow it during the performance of a religious function.

When entering the Whare wananga scholars were compelled to disrobe and leave their garments at some distance from the school; this was on account of the intense tapu of the place. They entered the building in a state of nudity and clad themselves with garments kept therein. When leaving the place a reverse process had to be gone through, for such is the exigency of the rules of tapu. For the same reason no food and no women were allowed to enter the house.

Prior to youths being permitted to enter our School of Learning they were tested as to their powers of memory. Certain popular legendary tales, korero purakau, were repeated to them, and they were required to repeat such matter from memory before examiners. Those who possessed retentive memories were selected as scholars, allowed to enter the Whare wananga. For the acquisition of high-class matter, the lore of the kauwae runga, it was necessary that the scholars should be young men of good family, of the rangatira class.

The ordinary term for a scholar is akonga, but other terms are employed to denote those who enter the School of Learning. Thus a beginner, a neophyte, is called a pia, one further advanced a taura, and he who has fully acquired the wananga is termed a tauira. A person possessed of much knowledge of occult lore and tribal traditions is known as a pu (receptacle or repository) or pu korero, or a putea rauroha. The tauira automatically becomes a tohunga, because the latter term simply denotes an expert, an adept, not necessarily a priest.

The great aim of the Whare wananga was to pass on old-time lore unchanged to succeeding generations. Any deviation from olden teachings was black treason. To deny the truth of any of its teachings would be a highly pernicious act. A worthy old sage remarked to one he had taught: “O son! Carefully retain the tapu lore I have imparted to you. Your ancestors ever conserved it within the Whare wananga. Should any person condemn these teachings, then may the sun wither him, may the moon consign him to the pit of darkness. He is not condemning me, but Tane the Parent, from whom this sacred lore was derived.”

In our School of Learning of the east coast stone seats were provided for use in certain ceremonial performances. This was a most unusual thing, for the Maori did not use seats other than that provided by the earth. These stones used as seats were eleven in number. Eight of them were placed at the rearmost main post of the house, and the other three further forward, near the takuahi, or fireplace. The eight seats were for the use of scholars, and the three for the accommodation of the teachers.

When the scholars had entered the house, and clothed themselves, then the door was closed and a priest teacher intoned an invocation to Ruatau, Rehua and Paoa, supernatural beings of the heavens. The chaunt was commenced just as the first rays of the rising sun fell upon the house, which invariably faced the east. Bear in mind that Tane represents knowledge, he introduced superior forms of knowledge into the world, and Tane is the personified form of the sun. The scholars were assembled, the priest teacher was standing by the rear post facing the east and awaiting the flash of the rising sun. He was about to hail great Tane.

This act of waiting for the rays of the rising sun carries the mind back to Persian armies on the march in days of old. When the first rays struck the crystal globe enclosing a golden image of the sun fixed on the king's pavilion, the daily march began. First went the chariot with the altar and the sacred fire, even as, with our Maori folk, the amorangi, or emblem of a god, was carried by a priest in the van of a marching force, as exemplified in the old saying: “Ko te amorangi ki mua, ko te hapai o ki muri.” (The emblem of the god in the van, the food bearers in the rear.)

The principal officiating priestly teacher raised his voice at the appearance of the sun in an invocation to Io the Supreme Being. It was a beseeching that the scholars might be enabled to acquire and retain the sacred teachings, the thrice tapu racial lore of the Maori. The language in which these invocations are couched is extremely archaic, and they contain many obsolete and sacerdotal expressions. The construction of the effusions is fine and pitched upon a high plane of thought. As an illustration, the concluding part of the invocation just alluded to is here given:— “Enter deeply, enter to the very foundationsInto the very origins of all knowledgeO Io of the Hidden Face!Gather into the very base of the ears of thy neophytes,Thy sons, the desired knowledge.Descend on them thy knowledge, thy thoughts,To the very foundations of the mindO Io the Wise! O Io of all holy knowledge!O Io the Parentless!”

During his recital the priest struck the post near him with his hand. This recital placed the house, its inmates, and the proceedings under intense tapu, so much so that, until it was lifted, the high gods of the Maori might be said to be present. It was an invoking of the gods and the God to come to the aid of the scholars. Any error committed by a priest in the recital of these intoned chaunts was an extremely serious matter, and would probably result in the death of the priest. Such was the Maori belief.

Prior to the commencement of the lectures, each scholar was required to state which of the three “baskets” of knowledge he desired to acquire, and classes were arranged accordingly. The three kete o te wananga (baskets or receptacles of occult knowledge) are as follows:— The kete aronui—All desirable, beneficient, useful knowledge designed to benefit mankind.The kete tuauri—The knowledge of all ritual, or ceremonial matters, invocations and the conduct of all rites.The kete tuatea—The knowledge of evil, of black magic and all things harmful to man. Each of these so-called baskets may be described as a syllabus, and it is of interest to note here that Hindoos speak of their three baskets of knowledge, which represent their sacerdotal lore.

The kete aronui was the first one opened in the School of Learning, and this contained the lore of the kauwae runga, teachings concerning the Supreme Being, cosmogonic and anthropogenic myths, etc. All matter was taught in the form of lectures, and had to be very carefully memorised. A single error in such matters as karakia (invocations, etc.) and genealogies was fatal to success. A scholar might wish to acquire but one, or two, of the three baskets, and high-class priests seem to have been opposed to a person acquainted with the cult of Io having anything to do with black magic.

When the lectures connected with the kauwae runga, or celestial matters, came to an end, then a peculiar ceremonial function was performed in order to abolish the intense tapu pertaining to those subjects, for tapu is a condition that imposes many hampering restrictions. Then lectures dealing with the kauwae raro were commenced, historical traditions, matters of this world. When three teachers took part in the proceedings, two would act as kaituruki, or prompters to the one speaking.

When the course of lectures was ended, then the examination of the scholars was proceeded with. As observed, the procedure appears to have differed somewhat in different places, but one account collected is as follows:—Each scholar who was to be examined with regard to the lore of the kete aronui took his seat on one of the three stone seats near the fireplace of the house. Those who were to be examined in the other “basket” of knowledge seated themselves on the stones at the base of the rear supporting post of the ridgepole. The small stones kept at that place were produced by one of the teachers, who placed one in the mouth of each pupil. These stones seem to have been endowed with mana by having been placed in contact with one of the tapu stones (whatu) of the house. Each scholar was called upon to repeat the matter of the lectures he had listened to. Those who showed themselves efficient, who had memorised such teachings in a satisfactory manner, were subjected to a final ceremony as they sat on the stone seats.

A peculiar act was performed at this juncture by one of the priestly teachers. He plucked a hair from the head of each pupil who had passed with honour, obtained a fragment of dust from their bare feet, a portion of their saliva, and buried them near the rear post of the house. The object of this procedure was to render the scholars invulnerable to the shafts of black magic, and to enable them to retain the acquired knowledge, to prevent it being filched from them by charlatans.

Certain ritual formulæ were intoned by the priests over the scholars as they sat on the stone seats, such extremely tapu invocations had to be delivered without pause or break in the continuity of the recital, hence a tohunga turuki, or assistant priest, took part in the proceedings. The chief examiner commenced, and continued the chaunt so long as his breath held out. The very instant he stopped, his assistant took up the recital without any perceptible break in the delivery. These adepts were extremely expert in this procedure. To each scholar was given a small fragment of stone over which a charm had been repeated. This stone was called the whatu whakahoro, and it had to be swallowed at a certain stage of an intoned invocation. The swallowing of the fragment of stone, we are told, had the effect of stabilising the acquired knowledge.

The function was a remarkable one. The stone was placed on the tongue of a scholar, and he retained it there until the time came for him to swallow it. Another small stone, termed a whatu kairangi, was given to each scholar in the final rite, and this seems to have equalled our diploma or parchment certificate. This stone was retained by the scholar, and an old native friend of the writer always carries his in his vest pocket. The stone that, in at least some districts, scholars kept in their mouths while listening to the lectures, was called a whatu whangai.

In some cases the final ceremony over the scholars who had passed the examination was held, not in the Whare wananga, but at the wai tapu, or sacred water of that institution. This would be a stream somewhere in the vicinity. Into this stream each scholar was conducted by a priest teacher, and so they stood, spiritually insulated from all contaminating influences, facing the rising sun. The scholar stood at the priest's left hand, the latter placed his left hand on the pupils' head, and with his right hand pointed towards the sun, who is Tane nui a Rangi, Great Tane, offspring of Rangi, and the parent of all high-class knowledge. As they stood in this position, the priest intoned the following invocation:— Tenei to aro, tenei to piaHe aro matua, he pia nau, e Rangi!He aro nou, e Ruatau!He pia nau, e Tane te wananga a Ruatau . . e!Te wananga a Rangi . . eHeuea te uruuru whenua.Heuea te uruuru makinokinoHuru manu ki tenei tauraHuru marire ki tenei pia nau, e Pawa . . e!Rukutia, rukutia i te putake o nga koreroRukutia i te wananga kia heke i to araHe ara te ihonga, he ara te whiroaHe ara to ngakengakenga ki te puKia tamaua ki te hiringa i rotoKia tawhia ki te hiringa matuaKia whanake i te pu te hiringa tawhito uru rangiKia whanake i roto i te koronga te hiringa tipuaKia whanake i te iho to hiringa, e Ruatau! . . e!Te hiringa i te maharaTe hiringa i te wananga nauE Tane te wananga a Rangi tikitiki . . e . . i!Puritia i te ioio nui, i te ioio o te pukengaI te ioio o te hiringa wananga tipuaI te wananga ariki, i te wananga atuaNo runga i nga rangi tuhaha;No te uruuru tahito, no te uruuru tipuaNo te uruuru matua ki a koe, e Io matua . . e!E Ruatau! E Tane te waiora . . e . . i!”

Na, ka horomia te kowhatu i roto i te waha o te taura ra i tenei tonu. Na, ka mea ano te tohunga.

(Now at this precise moment the stone within the mouth of the scholar was swallowed, and the priest proceeded.) “Oi whiwhia, oi raweaOi tamaua te ueue tipua, te ueue rangiTe ueue kaha, te ueue atua, te take i rotoE tipu to aro, e tipu o maharaE tipu, e rea ki te whai ao, ki te ao marama . . e,He pukenga tipua, te koronga atuaWhiroa i roto te pukengaWhiwhia i roto te hiringa atua nou, e Tane ki toaro . . e . . i!”

The above invocation is a good specimen of the highest type of invocation employed in old-time Maori ritual. The wording is archaic and highly sacerdotal. Such ritual was intoned in an impressive manner, and would that my readers could hear a Maori expert rolling forth with rhythmic diction this ancient appeal to the gods. It appeals to divers gods and personifications, to Rangi the Sky Parent, to Ruatau, Tane, Pawa, and to Great Io, the Supreme Being. It appeals to them, on behalf of the scholars, to endow them with desirable qualities, a high order of mentality, and power to retain the tapu knowledge they have acquired.

The School of Learning of the Whanganui district seem to have had different names for the sacred stones, and each scholar seems to have had three such stones assigned to him. In the year 1876, one Topia Turoa, a chief of that district, gave the following brief description of them:—“The whatu puororangi will enable you to retain acquired knowledge, also it will prevent you disseminating such matter in an unwise manner. The whatu kai manawa you should ever carry with you, especially when joining an assembly of strangers. (Evidently this stone was supposed to possess protective powers, though such a fact is rot actually stated.) As to the whatu whakatara, always place this beneath your pillow at night; it may beneficially affect your mauri (sacred life principle). As you do so repeat over it the following formula:— “Here is my mauri, thy mauri, O Io the Parent!Here is my mauri, the mauri of TupaiHere is my mauri, the mauri of TaneHere is my mauri, the mauri of Tu-matauengaHere is my mauri, the mauri of the tipuaHere is my mauri, the mauri of the gods.”

Here we note that this stone was employed as a material mauri, or talisman, to protect the immaterial mauri of man, that is to protect his life principle. We shall, in another that is to protect his life principle. We shall, in another place, enquire further into this extremely interesting double application of the term mauri when dealing with the spiritual and mental concepts of the Maori. It will be observed that, in the above formula, the mauri is spoken of as emanating from, or originating with, the gods.

It has been my privilege to examine a collection of sacred stones formerly used in the famous old Whare wananga of Maunga-wharau, in the Hawke's Bay district. They are flat, smooth, apparently water-worn stones, circular or somewhat ovoid in form, and about one inch across. One is of a jet black, but the others of a reddish colour. If I am not much mistaken they represent a stone commonly termed carnelian, such as is found about Cabbage Bay, Hauraki Peninsula.

All tohunga ahurewa, priestly experts of the Whare wanaga, were extremely tapu personages, more particularly the chief priest, sometimes termed the whatu of the School of Learning. Te Matorohanga of Wai-rarapa was such a high expert, hence his tapu prevented him entering stores, or dwelling houses of Europeans. He could not even partake of food without assistance, the tapu prevented his handling food, hence his sister used to feed him, actually placing the food in his mouth, for such was the tapu of the Maori in the days of yore.

As previously observed, the methods differed as in different districts. In some schools no stone was swallowed by pupils, and in some the stone given to one who had passed in the examination test was known as a whatu tamaua take, of which each one had its own specific name. In the year 1914 there were four old men, holders of this stone “certificate” still living in the Whanganui district. In some schools a small tapu stone was retained by each scholar in his mouth, on the left side thereof, when repeating the acquired matter of the lectures to the examiners. In this case those who had been successful underwent a final ceremony while seated on the stone seats at the rear end of the house. The scholar seated himself on one of these stones, when an examiner handed him a stone about two and a-half inches in diameter, termed a whatu turuki. This stone the scholar retained between his open hands by means of pressure, his hands being help up before him as he sat on the stone. Then certain ritual formulæ were recited over him. He was then told to rise, and another such stone was placed on the seat, on which he again seated himself. Then two priests took their stand, one on either side of him, and each placed a hand on his head, so as just to touch it. A third priest then intoned certain ritual that enabled the pupil to retain the sacred lore. Then the pupil was handed his stone diploma, which he retained. Each scholar who successfully underwent the examination took his seat on the right side of the house; those who failed had to go to the left side. The latter might be granted another opportunity to memorise the lectures. Some of the sacred stones used in these schools are said to have been brought to New Zealand in past centuries by immigrants from Polynesia. One adept who taught several young men in the “sixties” of last century possessed two of the sacred stones from the Whare wananga of old. When his teaching commenced early each morning, he would place one of the stones in the palm of the hand of one of the pupils. The other pupils then placed their hands over the stone, one above another. As they stood in that position the teacher intoned certain karakia. Then each scholar in turn held the stone in his mouth as another invocation was chaunted. The teaching or lecture then commenced, and was continued until the sun reached the zenith, when it ceased for the day.

Prior to the dispersal of the scholars of the Whare wananga it was highly necessary that the tapu of the proceedings should be lifted from them. This rite was performed outside the house, often at the turuma or latrine, which place for some reason, was often selected as the spot where religious ceremonies were performed. At this place the scholars were subjected to the extraordinary rite known as ngau paepae, in which the subject has to bite (ngau) the horizontal beam of the latrine, the while certain invocations or chaunts were intoned by the priest. After this performance the scholars immersed their bodies in the waters of a stream.

The next scene was enacted at the Whare wananga, to which all returned, and grouped themselves within the porch, standing in a rank just within the outer threshold, and facing outwards. The head teacher, standing on the marae or clear space in front of the house, then addressed the youths, congratulating them upon their success, their behaviour while under tuition, and also giving them much advice on many points. He warned them to be careful in their demeanour, to comport themselves with dignity, to prize highly and cherish carefully the treasures of learning acquired within the sacred precincts of the Whare wananga.

Teachers and scholars then left the building in procession, the former leading. On arriving at the bounds of the marae, or plaza, before the house, the procession halted, and all turned to face the Whare wananga. A priest now arranged a kauahi (piece of wood used in making fire by friction) and proceeded to hika ahi, or generate fire. For this ceremonial fire was, like fire employed in all ritual functions, exceedingly tapu, hence new fire was essential; it could not be kindled with live embers from any other fire. While this adept was busy with the fire plough apparatus, another priest was intoning a tapu chaunt appropriate to the occasion. The most prominent feature of this final rite was the singular performance known as oho rangi, which was an awakening of the heavens. A tohunga of high standing would, by means of his mana, cause thunder to sound in the heavens. This was the culminating act of the session, and it not only imparted mana to the proceedings, but also emphasised the powers of the priest. The powers that enabled him to so control a natural phenomenon would be a combination of mana tangata and mana atua, human and supernatural powers. This implied power over the forces of nature, as possessed by the tohunga maori, was a matter of firm faith in the native mind. Different phases of thunder possess specific names in Maoriland; in fact they are personified, and the two forms controlled in connection with the above rite are known as Puoro-rangi and Te Rangi-whakarara. The former of these is marked by a rumbling sound, and the latter by sharp detonations.

At the conclusion of the above rite the scholars divested themselves of their tapu garments and resumed their ordinary clothing. They were then free to return to their homes, to mingle with the people. Their period of tuition was over, they had passed through the three grades of scholarship, the pia, taura and tauira. Henceforward they would be viewed as tohunga (adepts) and pu korero (repositories of learning).

In the South Island these schools of learning were called Whare kura and Whare purakau. Kura is a term employed to denote anything highly prized, the reference being to highclass knowledge in this case. Whare purakau simply means Legend House. The Whare kura seems to have been of higher standing than the other, its teachings being confined to such matters as historical traditions and the ritual pertaining to agriculture, etc., while the other house, or curriculum, included such matters as the practice of the art of war. Mr H. Beattie tells us that a third name, that of Whare tohunga was applied to the teaching of the arts of wizardry in the South Island. The last session of a Whare kura in the South Island was that held at Moeraki in 1868.

The final sessions of at least some of the Schools of Learning of the east coast of the North Island were marked by the utilisation of written language, the scholars recording the teachings in M.S. books. This innovation was looked at askance by the conservative, dour old tohunga, who viewed the procedure with dislike and contempt. I have an account of these sessions, and the means taken to lift the tapu from such books at the conclusion of the teachings. This was done by means of what was known as the umu whakahoro rite. The teacher made a small hole in the earthern floor of the house in which the school had been conducted. He then heated some small stones in a fire kindled outside the house, and placed them in the umu or diminutive earth oven. He then placed a little watercress on the hot stones, and on that a dozen very small potatoes. More herbage was put on top of the potatoes, and a little water sprinkled over it; this water, percolating down to the hot stones, produced the steam that is the cooking agent. The little steam oven was then covered closely with earth so as to prevent escape of the steam.

When the potatoes were deemed to be cooked, the priest demanded the M.S. books of the scholars, and piled them up at his right side. He then opened the steam oven, took the uppermost book, belonging to one Henare Matua, and told the owner to approach him. The priest held the book in his right hand, and took one of the small cooked potatoes in his left hand. He placed the potatoe in the left hand of Henare, and the book in his right hand. He then acted in like manner with the other pupils and their books, after which he told all to whakaha their books, a curious sacerdotal expression which denotes the placing of an object to the mouth, an act accompanied by an intaking of the breath. Four times was this act performed. At the first inspiration the priest said “He toi nui,” at the second “He toi roa,” at the third “He toi whakaputa,” and at the fourth “Nau, e lo o Tikitiki o rangi, e!”

The priest then commanded all to eat the potatoes they held in their hands. Then this old survivor of the ancient and tapu School of Learning stood forth with upraised hands, gazing upward apparently at the ridgepole of the house, as he intoned the final formula of the last session of the Whare wananga of his ancestors:— “Tenei o pia, tenei o tauraHe iho nui, he iho roa, he iho taketake ki a koe, e Io, e!Pokia he tamaua take, rokia he tamaua takeKi enei pia, ki enei tama,He toi nui, he toi roa, he toi whakaputa nau, e Io matua e!Ki taiao, ki te ao marama ki a koe, e Io, e!”

In the particular case of tapu removing ceremonies here described, one pupil, an adult, declined to have the tapu removed from his book, the intense tapu that is so dangerous to human life. He took it to his home, erected a special building in which to keep the book, and placed it in a small box, which he hoisted up to the ridgepole by means of a cord. One day, during his absence, some children entered the building, lowered the box to the floor, sat on it, and partook of food while doing so. This was a vile pollution of the stringent tapu, and, in a brief space, the owner became insane, and so died. The fateful book passed into the possession of a relative, who also lost his reason, and, while in that condition, he destroyed the book. Truly the gods who live for ever, the hidden power behind the institution of tapu, are not to be insulted with impunity. So sayeth the Maori.

The nefarious arts of the “basket of evil” constituted a teaching kept apart from high-class lore, and such matter was sometimes taught out of doors, at some secluded spot. The teaching was marked by some unpleasant ordeals and trials. In some cases a learner was compelled to swallow repulsive substances, and to steel himself to slay a relative by means of his newly-acquired magic powers. This was the price that he paid for the acquisition of such powers. We are told that, in some cases, a pupil was commanded to bewitch his teacher, or one of his own parents. Any person so bewitched would assuredly die. Other trials of his skill were demanded. He was told to slay a bird, to blast a living tree, and to shatter a stone, all by means of the magic vril-like power he had acquired. Should he successfully perform these acts, then he was told to slay a person by the same means, after which he became a tohunga makutu, a wizard, a warlock of acknowledged mana, a being dreaded by all.

In some districts, apparently, no special house was employed as a Whare wananga, and youths would be taught by their fathers or grandfathers. The procedure in such cases

Old canoe at Koriniti, Whanganui River. The topstrakes and fittings have long disappeared.Dominion Museum photo collection was not elaborate, and not imposing, as was that of the School of Learning. Dieffenbach tells us how, on one occasion, he saw an old man teaching a youth. They were seated under a tree, and the lad “listened attentively to the repetition of certain words, which seemed to have no meaning, but which it must have required a good memory to retain in their due order. At the old man's side was part of a man's skull filled with water; into this from time to time he dipped a green branch, which he moved over the boys head.”

An attendant, called the takuahi, was employed during sessions of the School of Learning to perform any necessary duties connected with the house, such as tending fires. We are told that, in some cases, these men acquired a considerable amount of knowledge of tribal lore by means of listening to the lectures of the teachers.

The Ra-wheoro School at Uawa was opened, perhaps for the last time, in 1836, just after the fight at Toka-a-kuku. Rangi-uia, Toki-puanga and Mohi Ruatapu were the teachers, and Te Matorohanga of Wai-rarapa was present. The last teaching of tribal lore on the lines of the Whare wananga in the Wai-rapapa district was, I believe, that of 1865. The procedure was a modified form of ancient methods.

Among the older generation of natives there is much of sentimental regard for old racial and tribal institutions. I have heard them regret the abandonment of the School of Learning, and the attitude of the younger generation towards the formerly-prized tribal lore. One of these survivors of a lost past remarked: “I mourn over the bequest of our ancestors and our elders”—in allusion to the Whare wananga that has closed its doors for ever.

IV Cosmogony and Anthropogeny

Cosmogonic myths—Two versions of myths—A conservative priesthood—Creation chaunt—Io a demiurgic Supreme Being—The Sky Parent and Earth Mother—Cosmogonic concepts of Maori point to a distant fatherland—Attitude of Maori toward Supreme Being—The twelve names of Io—The twelve heavens—The twelve series of celestial beings—Io a moral deity—The abode of Io—Io the Parentless stands alone—Io known at Rarotonga and Tahiti—Io and Jehovah—All things are one—The universal soul in nature—Cosmogonic genealogies—Departmental deities—The universe evolved from chaos—The Primal Parents—The Po—Primeval darkness—Light enters the world—Separation of Sky and Earth—The offspring of Rangi and Papa—Tane—Ascent of Tane to the twelfth heaven—Whiro attacks Tane—Tane and Io—Tane obtains the three “baskets” of knowledge—The Wind Children attack Whiro—The Poutiriao or Guardians—Contest between Light and Darkness—The Maiki brethren—The House of Death—The overturning of the Earth Mother—Origin of the heavenly bodies—Sun myths—The Children of Light—The Cloud Children and Wind Children—Anthropogenic myths—The ira atua and ira tangata—The search for the female element—The origin of trees—The creation of woman—Origin of man—Origin of birds—The mysterious Tiki—Birth of the Dawn Maid—The Dawn Maid descends to the underworld—Poetic description of the Dawn Maid—Popular version of origin of man.

The cosmogonic myths of the Maori folk of New Zealand contain elements of much interest to anthropologists, and the same may be said with regard to the origin of man as explained in the mythology of the race. One of the most remarkable features connected with these subjects is the fact that there are two versions of both, and this peculiarity is, at first, somewhat disconcerting to the student. A close study of the matter, however, shows clearly that these differing versions are quite in accord with Maori procedure, and the result of the intense spirit of conservatism displayed by highclass experts in ancient lore, combined with the high degree of tapu pertaining to such teachings.

An explanation of these versions and their origin must be preceded by drawing further attention to the conservative attitude ever adopted by the trained repositories of racial and tribal lore, more particularly that of the Kauwae runga, or esoteric lore. The ordinary people of a community were never made acquainted with such matter. The inner or sacerdotal version of the origin of the universe pertained to the cult of Io. This could not be vulgarised by placing it in the hands of the people. Thus it was that a secondary version was evolved and taught by second-grade adepts to the people. In the superior version we are told that the world was brought into being by Io, the Supreme Being; the popular or exoteric version is that it was evolved from preceding conditions, the process being given in genealogical form. In brief, then, the one origin is demiurgic, the other genealogical or evolutionary.

A remarkably fine Creation chaunt, or hymn, collected by the late Colonel Gudgeon, presents the superior version of our cosmogonic myth. It opens with the statement that Io dwelt within the vast expanse of space, that nothing else existed save darkness and water. There was no day, no heavenly bodies, no light. Io expressed his intention to dwell without habitation, that is, to pervade all space. He then brought light into existence, a great light prevailed. Io looked upon the vast expanse of waters that surrounded him, and he bade the waters be separated, and the sky be formed, and the earth born. Thus the suspended heavens came into existence, and beneath them lay Papa the Earth. So came the primal parents, Rangi the Sky Father and Papa the Earth Mother, into being. From these originated all else around, above and below us.

This chaunt of the great demiurge, the Creator Io, is couched in fine, stately language of archaic form, containing singular cryptic sayings and terse idioms beloved by the Maori. This exalted concept of creation was the fruit of the mind of barbaric man, of neolithic cannibals, of people we deem savages. It bears the aspect of antiquity and of an Oriental origin. No such concept was evolved by the farscattered Polynesian folk while dwelling in innumerable communities on the many isles of the eastern Pacific. This and other conceptions of a superior type must have been the creation of leisured minds, of a priestly caste of a people dwelling as a cohesive, self-contained nation in some far land. Such, at least, is the belief of the present writer. However barbaric the forefathers of the Maori may have been in remote times, they assuredly included men capable of prolonged introspective and critical thought. However closely the bulk of the people clung to crude beliefs and low-class deities, it is clear that superior minds strove to pierce the darkness of ages and envisage a Supreme Being of nobler attributes. Amid the hampering maze of gross superstitions and shamanistic ritual they took the first steps on the long road that leads to monotheism.

In writing for people who have no compunction about mentioning the name of the Supreme Being, who publish it abroad, and even employ it to add weight to vituperation, it is impossible to convey any idea of the attitude of the Maori towards Io. So intensely sacred was the cult of Io that the bulk of the people were not allowed to become acquainted with it. It is doubtful if they knew the name of that being; they certainly never heard the more important invocations addressed to Io of the Hidden Face. Such formulæ were employed only in regard to what were deemed subjects of importance. Io was never invoked in connection with minor matters, or anything held to be evil, such as magic.

The Supreme Being was possessed of twelve names, though such names differed somewhat, apparently, in different schools of learning. The following list was given by a member of the Kahungunu tribe:— Io nui—Great Io.Io roa These names signify that Io is the eternal, unchanging, permanent deity.Io taketake These names signify that Io is the eternal, unchanging, permanent deity.Io te wananga—Signifies that Io is the source of all sacred and occult knowledge.Io matua—Io the Parent. He is viewed as the parent or origin of all things, albeit he begat no being.Io matua te kore—Io the Parentless. Signifies that he was not born of parents.Io mata ngaro—Io of the Hidden Face. He cannot be looked upon; no eye may behold him.Io mataaho—Signifies that he can only be seen as the radiations of light are seen. No being may look upon him directly.Io te waiora—Signifies that Io is the source of all welfare, all life.Io tikitiki o rangi—He is the supreme one of the heavens, and above all.Io matakana—He is Io the Vigilant. A righteous cause must be theirs who would gain his ear.Io te kore te whiwhia—He is Io the Withholder, and so prevents man gaining all his desires.

According to the teaching of the Maori there are twelve heavens, and Io dwells in the uppermost one, known as Tiki-tiki-o-rangi, and also as Te Toi o nga rangi. The following are the names of the twelve heavens, commencing with the uppermost one:— Te Toi o nga rangi.Tiritiri o matangi.Rangi naonao ariki.Rangi te wawana.Rangi nui ka tika.Rangi mataura.Rangi tauru nui.Rangi matawai.Rangi maire kura.Rangi parauri.Rangi tamaku.Rangi nui a tamaku.

The last of the list is the sky we see above us, in which the heavenly bodies are situated. The word rangi, in vernacular speech, signifies the sky, and also represents its personified form. Collectively the twelve heavens are termed nga rangi tuhaha, the bespaced or separated heavens. The Whatukura and Mareikura are two companies of denizens of the uppermost heaven. The first mentioned are male beings, the latter female, and all are supernatural beings. The duties of these constitute them the attendants of Io; they act as messengers and supervisors, and have the power to visit all the lower heavens, the earth, the spirit world, and all other realms. They convey to Io reports on the condition of things in all realms. The other eleven heavens also possess such companies of celestial beings, male and female, the names of which companies have been preserved. The denizens of the lower heavens, however, cannot enter the uppermost one. Each company of such denizens numbers twelve beings.

It was explained that Io had no connection with evil, and so could be invoked only with regard to the welfare of the people. Yet we shall see that the knowledge of evil came originally from the Toi o nga rangi. So far as we know the Maori priesthood made no attempt to reconcile these two facts. It must, at the same time, be admitted that our knowledge of native beliefs, etc., is very far from being complete. It seems that evil entered the world when the offspring of Rangi and Papa rebelled against their parents, and Tane and Whiro commenced their eternal feud, which still continues, but of which more anon.

The abode of Io is at Rangiatea, a place situated at that part of the uppermost heaven known as Te Rauroha. This name of Rangiatea is a famed and a revered one in Polynesian estimation. It is not only the abode of Io, but was also famous for other reasons. At that place the highly tapu and mana possessing stones, termed whatu kura were kept, and which were in charge of the attendants of Io. They were deposited on the ahurewa, or altar, of that place. A singular statement once made to me by a learned old native was to the effect that, at the abode of Io, and situated before him where he can plainly see it, is a large stone that possesses the attributes of a magic mirror. This stone in some way reflects all occurrences that take place in all realms. Thus, should one of his messenger attendants report that certain things are occurring, say in the realm of Kiwa, the ocean, then Io has but to look into the stone in order to become acquainted with all particulars. The practical mind marvels why messengers should be employed by a deity possessing such a singularly useful stone, but such discrepancies do not in any way perturb the mind of barbaric man.

There seem to have been no teachings as to the origin of Io. He is Io the Parentless, Io the eternal; he had no parents, he took no female being to wife, he begat no offspring. He created the earth and the heavens, and caused all realms, all things to exist, hence is he known as Io the Parent. He was the cause of the birth of offspring to the primal parents Rangi and Papa, from whom all things are descended, hence was Io the true origin of all life and all entities. We shall see anon that the soul of man, the vivifying spirit, and the breath of life, also emanated from Io.

The cult of Io is a very singular one to be evolved by a barbaric folk, for this beneficent deity represents a truly remarkable concept. There is nothing of terrorism in it. No image of Io could be fashioned, no offerings made to him. Of a verity this cultus is of a much more refined nature than the blood-stained worship of Jehovah as depicted in the Old Testament.

In an account of some old Polynesian traditions related by a Rarotonga native (Cook Group), and published in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, occurs the following passage:—“I may say the god Io was an atua mekameka (beneficent deity), and the ancient priests, my ancestors, always ended the special karakia (ritual) with the chaunt: ‘Io, te atua nui ki te rangi tuatini’ (‘Io, the great god of the vast heavens’).” Again, a native of Tahiti informed me that, in olden times, the most important god was Io-i-te-vahi-naro, or, in the New Zealand dialect, Io-i-te-wahi-ngaro (Io of the hidden place). Compare one of our Maori names for this deity, Io-mata-nagro (Io of the hidden face).

Let us stray a little further afield. Among certain Asiatic folk the name of Jehovah assumed many forms, as Jahweh, or Iahweh, Yahweh, Iahoue. Now Renan, in his History of the People of Israel, writes: “The holy name became contracted into Iahou or Io.” This suggests a startling theory. Has the name of Jehovah been carried westward, and that of Io eastward, from a common centre, to meet here at the bounds of the earth? This is but one of many striking Asiatic-Polynesian parallels that provide much pabulum for thinking minds. This, however, is not the time or place to discuss this attractive subject. One old Maori tradition gives the names of two primal gods, Io and Ha. Oriental scholars tell us that Ea, or Ia, or Aa, was identified with Ya, Yau, or Au, the Jah of the Hebrew.

The teachings of the Whare wananga were to the effect that Io is the head of the universe. The various attendants, Whatu-kura, Marei-kura, and Poutiriao, are all emissaries of Io, and under his sway, and, as they are the welfare of all beings and all things, then it follows that all beings, all things, all eyes, all ears, are turned to Io-matua, Io the Parent. He is truly the life, the welfare, the acme, the head of all things in all realms. There is nothing to be controlled by any other being, save as a subordinate of Io.

All things possess a wairua (soul or spirit), each after the manner of its kind. There is but one parent of all things, one god of all things, one lord of all things, one soul of all things—Na reira ka kotahi nga mea katoa—therefore all things are one, and all emanated from Io the Eternal.

Such were the teachings of the Whare wananga as to the attributes of the Supreme Being, such was the cult of Io. We see here the evidence of a superior phase of mentality, of a high plane of introspective thought, as possessed by the ancestors of the Maori in times long passed away. We can see how the superior minds of a barbaric people endeavoured to trace the origin of matter and of life, how they evolved a belief in the Universal Soul, and how, groping their way forth from the darkness of ages, they conceived a Supreme Being of beneficent aspect. They had weakened the bonds of enslaving superstition, and set their feet on the long, long path that leads to monotheism.

What may be termed the inferior cosmogonic concept is given in genealogical form, and there are several different versions of this myth. One of these will recall the cosmogonic tree of the old world:— Te Pu—The root or origin.Te More—The taproot.Te Weu—The rootlet.Te Aka—The vine or ærial root, or long root.Te Rea—The growth.Te Wao nui—The great forest.Te Kune—The development.Te Whe—Sound.Te Kore—Chaos. Nothingness. The Void.Te Pomdash;Night, or the unknown.

In one version of this cosmogonic genealogy, which was collected in the Whakatane district, each of the above names includes ten generations, or periods. Thus it gives “The first Pu” to “The tenth Pu,” and so on. The above names assuredly carry the mind back to old-world concepts of the sacred tree, the cosmogonic tree, or universe tree. From the Po (Darkness, or the Unknown) sprang the Sky Parent and the Earth Mother, alluded to as the primal parents from whom all things sprang.

There are a number of different versions of these theogonic and cosmogonic myths, as taught in different districts. One commences with Atea (Syn. Watea=Space), and includes ten names, the last two of which, Te Po and Te Kore, are the only ones that are included in the list given above. This second list includes names meaning Mind, Thought, Desire, Welfare, Seeking, Energy, etc. These are given as follows:—From development (as in the womb) sprang Growth; from Growth sprang Energy; from Energy sprang Thought; from Thought sprang Mind; from Mind sprang Desire; and so on down to Rangi and Papa. The sky was spread out above the earth. A South Island version is to the effect that from the unknown came the universe, then the world of light and life, then the enduring world, then the unattainable void, the unstable void, and so on to moisture, which, combined with limitless thought, produced Rangi, the sky.

An interesting version of the origin of the primal parents was given by a Waikato chieftain. This cosmogonic scheme is of a novel form, inasmuch as it commences with the name of Io and is brought down in two lines, showing the male and female lines of descent. It commences as follows:—

In this version Io, the Supreme Being, is credited with having brought the stars into existence. The stars produced the moon and sun, a novel feature in Maori myth, wherein the stars are usually described as the younger relatives (taina) of the moon and sun. The moon heads the female line of descent, and the sun the male line. Each line of descent consists of nineteen names, commencing with Te Po, to which are added qualifying expressions, in the female line, and with Te Ao in the male line. The same qualifying terms are employed in both lines, as Te Po-nui (the great darkness, or great night) and Te Ao-nui (the great light, or great day). The twentieth name from Te Marama is that of Papa-tu-a-nuku, the Earth; the twentieth from Te Ra is Rangi-nui-e-tu-nei, the Sky. These two latter personified forms mate and produce the seven great departmental deities—Rongo, Tane, Tangaroa, Tawhirimatea, Haumia, Ruaimoko, and Tu-matauenga, some of whom are known far and wide across Polynesia. Six of the seven are not credited with descendants, but from the last member, Tu-matauenga, the descent of man is traced. The first twenty-four names from that of Tu are apparently those of mythical beings, then comes the name of the old Polynesian voyager Toi, the first of that race to settle in New Zealand, according to Takitumu (east coast) tradition. Inasmuch as Toi flourished thirty generations ago, it is apparent that the human race is not quite so old as we thought it was. Several tribes thus trace the descent of man from Tu, though Tane is more generally credited with having been the forbear of man, and apparently has the better claim, as we shall see anon.

The first name given after that of Tu is Aitua, a word that, in vernacular speech, means “misfortune.” Then come four names commencing with Aitu, a word meaning “demon,” also “calamity, sickness.” Then come seven names beginning with Kore (chaos, nothingness); then five Ngana names, then comes Tiki under four names, of whom we shall hear again.

The crediting of light to the male line, and of darkness to the female line, is quite in accordance with Maori views, for ever in native myth and belief the female sex is given an inferior position. Woman is allied with misfortune and inferiority, as among other barbaric races. The word Po is explained below; while ao denotes day, to dawn, and, as an adjective, bright.

In mist-laden days of the remote past the sky and earth were not parted as we now see them, for Rangi the Sky Father closely embraced Papa the Earth Mother. Hence all was darkness between them, no light existed, nothing could mature, nothing could bear fruit, all things merely existed, or moved aimlessly about in a realm of darkness. When the children of these primal parents were born they found themselves dwelling in darkness, and clung to the body of the Earth Mother, sheltering within her armpits. Darkness prevailed; no glimmer of light reached the children. This period of darkness is known as the Po (Cf. po= night; pouri=dark, darkness). The offspring numbered seventy, once told; all were males, and all were supernatural beings (atua).

The period known as the Po calls for some explanation here. This expression is used with a wide meaning, and, from our point of view, in a somewhat loose manner. It was only after many years’ study that the present writer was enabled to grasp its application. It is employed to denote— 1. The pre-natal period.2. The period after death.3. The spirit world.4. The æons of time prior to the existence of Rangi and Papa. sky and earth.

In vernacular speech po denotes “night,” and the broad meaning of the term when employed as noted in the above four usages is “the unknown.”

The period prior to the birth of the primal offspring was divided by some Schools of Learning into twelve Po periods, two series of six each. The first series is as follows:— Te Po—The Night, or Period of Darkness.Te Po nui—The great Po.Te Po roa—The long Po.Te Po uriuri—The dark Po.Te Po kerekere—The intensely dark Po.Te Po tiwha—The gloom-laden Po.

During this period occurred the conception of the Earth Mother, Papa-tuanuku.

The second series comprises the following names:— Te Po te kitea—Signifies the unseen Po.Te Po tangotango—Signifies the changing Po.Te Po whawha—Signifies feeling or groping.Te Po namunamu ki taiao—Refers to the narrow passage by which man enters the world.Te Po tahuri atu—Signifies turning, movement.Te Po tahuri mai ki taiao—Signifies turning to this world.

These six periods represent the period of labour of the Earth Mother. The last two denote the efforts made by her offspring to enter this world (taiao) by way of the narrow passage termed the ara namunamu ki taiao. There are two aspects of the account of the primal offspring dwelling in darkness. One of these describes those children as living on the body of the Earth Mother, whom the Sky Parent was closely embracing, hence no light existed between the bodies of those parents. The other rendering is that when the children were abiding in darkness they were not yet born; it was the pre-natal darkness they abode in. When born they entered the realm of light, the ao marama.

It was Ue-poto, one of the seventy children who first ventured out into the world, and who first beheld Light. That light was but a feeble glimmer, the light of phosphorescence (hinatore), such as is emitted by Moko-huruhuru (personified form of the glow worm). Ue-poto called his brethren to come forth to the outer world, a most desirable place, where pleasing breezes brought delight. They did so come forth, though Whiro and Uru-te-ngangana, and others were averse to entering the world of light, and never ceased to upbraid Tane for his act in leading them from the sheltered haven. On emerging from that haven the children encountered the tribulations of this world, for they were assailed by Wero-i-te-ninihi, by Kunawiri, by Maeke, and others (personified forms of Cold). These were the enemies of the offspring, and hence they clung closely to the sides of Papa, the Mother, that they might retain warmth.

The bright light known to mankind dwelling in this world was a slow development; it was an evolutionary process. The following is a list of terms describing the different phases of light arranged in the order in which they appeared:— 1. The maramatanga tuaiti—Represented by the dim light of the glow-worm.2. The maramatanga taruaitu—The feeble light existing between Rangi and Papa prior to their separation.3. The maramatanga kakarauri—The light that existed in space after the parents were separated.4. The marmatanga atarau—The form of light that existed after Papa was turned over.5. The maramatanga aoao nui—The light that prevails in winter.6. The maramatanga tuarea—Cloudless light.7. The maramatanga taiahoaho—The bright light of summer: the light that came when the heavenly bodies were placed on high.

We are, however, anticipating the higher phases of light, and must return to relate the adventures of Tane and his numerous brethren.

The offspring soon became discontented with their lot in the world. The conditions of life were irksome and unpleasing, so cramped were they for space. This lack of space was the result of the close contact of their parents at that remote period, for Rangi still embraced Papa; sky and earth were close together. It was Tane who proposed to separate them, saying:—“Let us part our parents; let us force Rangi upward, suspend him on high, and let Papa lie in space.” Most of the children agreed to this course, but Whiro and some others objected, and would have nought to do with it. This forcible separation of sky and earth is spoken of as an act of rebellion on the part of the children towards their parents, as the first act of disobedence, the first wrong committed. Already a breach had occurred between Tane and Whiro, and this was inevitable. In order to make matters clear to the reader it will be well to explain at this stage that Tane is the personified form of light, while Whiro personifies darkness and evil.

Tane, Tu, Tangaroa and Tawhiri-matea were the leaders in the task of separating heaven and earth. That task proved to be a difficult one, so closely did the parents cling together in their great affection for each other. It was found to be necessary to sever the arms of Rangi ere he could be forced upward. The blood from his grievous wounds flowed over, and was absorbed by the body of Papa, hence the horu or red ochre found within her body even unto this day. At length Rangi was forced upward, and there supported by four toko (poles used as props). These toko are said, in one version of the myth, to be the four winds, but another version explains that they were rays of the sun, and the word toko bears the double meaning of “pole” and “ray of the sun.”

Deep grief now assailed Rangi and Papa, torn apart by their unfeeling offspring. Now was heard the wailing of the Earth Mother for her lost love, and ever, even unto this day, the first of all parents mourn their separation, and exchange tokens of affection for each other. For when you see rain and dew descending upon the body of Papa the Parentless, know that they represent the tears of the Sky Parent, shed for his companion of long past time. When, moreover, as the Mist Maid glides up the green clad form of Hine-maunga, the Mountain Maid, to join the Cloud Maid in realms celestial, you behold her white, fleecy apparel floating upward, you then know that you look upon the love token of the Earth Mother to the mate of her long-lost youth.

The full name of the Sky Parent is Rangi nui e tu nei, as denoting the great heavens standing above. The Earth Mother is Papa tu a nuku, which may be rendered as Papa extending afar. The earth is sometimes termed Tahuaroa, and also Papa-tiraharaha. The qualifying term of the latter name means “facing upward,” and so denotes her position, which was that of reclining on her back and so facing the Sky Parent, until she was turned over by command of Io. The word papa, in vernacular speech, carries the sense of flatness.

The seventy children of the primal parents were all of the male sex, and are probably all personifications, many assuredly are so. Uru-te-ngangana is connected with light; he is said to have had two wives, Moe-ahuru and Hine-turama, the first of whom gave birth to the sun and moon, while the latter produced the stars. One version makes Uru the son of Whiro, who personifies darkness and evil, so that here light emanated from darkness. Roiho and Roake, two other children of the primal parents, are attendants of Io in the uppermost heaven. Tawhirimatea personifies wind, and Tangaroa all fish. The latter is also known as Tangaroa-whakamau-tai, the Tide Controller, and he is assisted in that duty by Rona the Tide Controller, the woman in the moon of Maori myth. Kiwa controls the ocean, which is known as the Great Ocean of Kiwa, though it is personified in Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid. Te Iho-rangi is the personified form of rain, and Tu-matauenga represents war. Te Ikaroa personifies the Milky Way; Raka-maomao the wind, while Rongo is the patron of agriculture and peaceful arts, including peace binding in time of war. There is a considerable amount of evidence to show that Rongo is a personification of the moon. Tawhiri-rangi is connected with Tawhiri-matea of the winds; Punaweko was the origin of land birds; Hurumanu of sea birds, and Te Kuwatawata was appointed guardian of the entrance to the underworld.

The blending of the two races. Rangahua represents stones; Tukapua stands for clouds; Tama-te-uira personifies lightning; Te Pu-whakahara is connected with trees, and Parauri with birds. Uenuku is represented by the rainbow, and Ruaumoko is the cause of earthquakes. Tane is the Fertiliser of Maori myth. He produced trees and he has a dozen names, each of which indicates some phase of his activities. As the parent of trees he is called Tane-mahuta; as the origin and patron of high-class knowledge, occult lore, he is known as Tane-i-te-wananga; as the parent of man, etc., he is Tane-matua; as the Light Bringer he is Tane-te-waiora; as the Fertiliser he is Tane-torokaha (virile Tane); as lord of the forest he is Tane-i-te-waotu; as the patron of birds he is Tane-mataahi; as the power that elevated and propped up the sky he is Tane-toko-rangi, and so on. Another myth has it that it was Watea (personified form of space) who separated earth and sky. As to Tane, he is assuredly the personified form of the sun, as shown in evidence from Maori and Hawaiian sources. Such are the meanings and activities of some of the primal offspring. Some lists include the name of Haumia, who personfies aruhe, the edible rhizome of the common bracken (Pteris aquilina, var. esculenta), the most universal vegetable food of the Maori in former times.

Two important members of the Whatukura, or male attendants of Io in the uppermost heaven, are Rehua and Ruatau. They were employed by Io as messengers, and so visited the earth and other realms on their errands. We also hear of one Rehua who seems to have personified forests; at the Hawaiian Isles lehua was an old name for forest, while Rehua is also a star name, the summer star Antares.

Our task is now to scan an old-world myth as preserved by the far-spread Polynesian race; that version of it taught by the Maori conservers of unwritten lore. The old, old concept of a long-continued struggle between the forces of Light and Darkness, the well-known myth of Persia and many other lands, reappears here in the land of the Maori. In local story these forces were led by Tane and Whiro, personified forms of Light and Darkness, both being offspring of Rangi and Papa. In very early times these brothers disagreed. While Tane wished all the children to come forth from the close embrace of the Earth Mother into the open spaces of the world, Whiro wished to remain in darkness. Hence dissension arose among the children. Some sided with Whiro, while many followed Tane. Uru-te-ngangana, the ruddy one, at first sided with Whiro, but, in later times, joined Tane. Ruaumoko, the youngest child of Papa, was not born at the time of the exodus, hence he was left with the Earth Mother to comfort her. He yet abides within the body of Papa the Mother, where he represents subterranean fire, volcanic action, and earthquakes. He is the cause of all earthquakes. When a shock is felt in spring time it is caused by Ruaumoko turning over; he is turning the cold down and the warmth uppermost. In the autumn he reverses the process.

Whiro also was angered at having to endure the cold and discomfort of the outer world, the open spaces. He objected to the separation of Rangi and Papa, to their limbs being severed, to the superior attitude of Tane, to his ascent to the heavens to obtain the three “baskets” of knowledge. Yet another cause did Whiro have for his opposition to Tane. Ruatau and Rehua, the two messengers of Io, came down to Maunga-nui (great mountain) and bade Tane and Tupai ascend it. They did so, whereupon they were conducted to the Wai o Rongo (waters of Rongo), where the sacred tohi rite was performed over them, as also the pure. In this baptismal ceremony they received the names of Tane-nui-a-Rangi (great Tane, offspring of Rangi) and Tupai-a-tau. The twain then returned earthward, while Rehua and Ruatau returned to the realm of Io.

The above incident increased the ill-feeling of Whiro towards his younger brother Tane, and so the rivalry between them continued. In this struggle between the personified forms of natural phenomena we shall see a parallel to the old Egyptian myth wherein the contest between the forces of Nature was controlled by the sun.

At a certain time Io the Permanent one sent Ruatau and Aitupawa, two of his attendants, down to this world in order to ascertain which member of the primal offspring would be selected to ascend to the realm of Io in order to obtain the wananga. This term, as we have seen, denotes occult knowledge and arts, high-class esoteric lore. These celestial messengers visited Tu-te-aniwaniwa, the abode of Whiro and Uru; Wharekura, the domain of Rongo, and others, also Huaki-pouri, the home of Tane, Paia, and others of the brethren. Whiro declared that he would ascend to the uppermost heaven to obtain the prized wananga, that he would ascend thereto by scaling the sides of the heavens. But Aitu-pawa said: “Not so. It cannot be accomplished in that way.” Tane declared that he would make the ascent, that he would ascend by way of the Ara-tiatia, the Toi-huarewa of the offspring of his brother Tawhiri-matea. These two terms are sacerdotal or honorific names for the whirlwind. Many of the brethren were in favour of Tane being selected to carry out the important task at the behest of Io. Whiro was again angered by this selection of Tane.

Tane now decided that a fit place must be prepared in which to preserve the sacred wananga, when obtained from Io. He proposed to proceed to Rangi-tamaku (the second of the twelve heavens) in order to procure the semblance of the Whare kura of that realm, which house had been erected by one Nuku-te-aio, father of Rua-i-te-pukenga (one of the personified forms of knowledge). It was a house of elaborate structure, and provided with two windows, one on either side of the doorway. Thus it was that the first Whare wananga was constructed in this world. It was named Wharekura. Other important houses were also here erected during that period, such as Hui-te-ana-nui, which was a mata-wha (four-eyed), that is to say a house of four windows, two at each end. Another was Haowhenua, the house of Rongo, in which was conserved knowledge pertaining to the art of agriculture, and all food supplies. The house of Tu was Roroku-o-te-rangi, an extremely tapu place, in which the knowledge of all gods, ritual, and implements connected with war, was preserved.

Tane was now prepared to commence his ascent, but meanwhile Whiro had already begun to scale the side of the heavens, as he wished to obtain the prize himself, and so confuse Tane. Tane now began his ascent, accompanied by Tawhiri-matea (personified form of wind), by Tamakaka and Tupai. They ascended by way of the Ara-tiatia (whirlwind); they were borne upward by the Whanau puhi (the Wind Children). Other brethren now joined the company, including Tukapua (personified form of clouds). Whiro reached Rangi- tamaku (the second heaven, counting upward), when he heard that Tane had attained the third heaven. So exasperated was Whiro that he despatched the horde of the Whanau akaaka, the repulsive ones, to assail Tane. These emissaries were insects, reptiles, and certain carrion-eating birds. They furiously attacked Tane, and endeavoured to obtain a portion of his blood to be used as a medium for magic spells that destroy life. But now the Wind Children came swiftly to the rescue; from the outer regions, from the vast realm of Watea (Space) they rushed to the fray. Fiercely they attacked the repulsive ones, banished them, drove them afar off.

On reaching the tenth heaven Tane underwent the pure rite, a purificatory, and, in this form, a tapu endowing ceremony, to prepare him for entrance to the supernal realm. All but two of his attendants now returned to Papa, the Earth Mother, the remaining two accompanied him to the eleventh heaven. Tane now proceeded to the Pumotomoto, the entrance to the uppermost heaven, where he was met by Rehua and other members of the Whatukura, attendants of Io. His two companions now retired to the eleventh heaven to await his return. Meanwhile Whiro the Dark One, dour and sullen, was compelled to desist in his attempt to scale the bespaced heavens; he awaited the return of Tane in order to again assail him.

Tane was now conducted by Ruatau, Puhao-rangi, Oho-mai-rangi, and others, to the Toi o nga rangi, the uppermost of the twelve heavens, and to the place called the Wai o Rongo, or Wai o Rongomai. Here another pure rite was performed over him that rendered him even more intensely tapu than before. This name of Wai-o-Rongo appears to have been applied to certain waters connected with Rongo, that is to say with the moon, which orb is closely connected with water in both Polynesian and Asiatic myths. Here, in this ceremony, Tane received several new names, as follows:— 1. Tane-matua.2. Tane te wananga a Rangi.3. Tane te waiora.4. Tane torokaha.5. Tane tahurangi.6. Tane maiki roa. The first of these names entitled him the Parent; the second connects him with occult knowledge; the third with welfare and sunlight; the fourth with virility; the fifth with the lighting of the heavens; and the sixth with disease and sickness apparently. This coupling of Tane with Maikiroa, the personified form of sickness, etc., I am unable to explain.

Tane was then conducted to Matangi-reia, where Great Io awaited him. Io now accosted Tane, employing a peculiar phrase employed in punctilious intercourse: “Na wai taua?” (From whom are we?—“descended” understood), by means of which phrase a native of rank politely enquired the name and status of a person. Tane then informed Io that he was the offspring of Rangi and Papa, and that he had come to crave a boon, namely, the three “baskets” of sacred and occult knowledge. Io then conducted Tane to the sacred place known as the Rauroha, the special domain of the Supreme Being, where the male and female attendants, styled the Whatukura and Mareikura, were assembled. Here, for the third time, Tane was subjected to the pure ceremony, after which he was given the three “baskets” of knowledge, and two highly sacred whatu atua, or supernatural stones. These stones were endowed with marvellous virtues. They gratified the desires of man, and were employed in a ceremony performed over scholars who had passed through the Whare wananga. Such scholars were seated on them during the rite, and applied their lips to the stones when the ceremonial chaunts concluded. Through later times these stones have been known as the Whatu kura a Tane and Whatu kura a Tangaroa. The three kete o te Wananga, or “baskets” of knowledge, have already been described.

Aitupawa, Rehua and others of the attendants of Io, then escorted Tane and his acquired treasures downward to the eleventh heaven. There his companions awaited him, and there the multitude of the Wind Children rejoined him, they who dwelt in the Wind House Mairiiri-kapua at Tihi o Manono, under the care of their elders, and whose playground is Tahuaroa, or Marae-nui, the vast ocean expanses.

On reaching the ninth heaven in their descent, Tane and his companions were again assailed by the emissaries of Whiro, by insects and birds. Again the swift Wind Children came to the rescue and dispersed the hordes of Whiro. They took many captives and brought them down to this world, hence we have with us to this day the mosquitoe, sandfly, mantis, and other creatures, also the hawk, bittern, bat, owl, night parrot, kea, and some other birds.

It was now that the face of the heavens was marked by reddened clouds, a token to the brethren in this world that Tane had succeeded in his great quest. Whiro alone was angered by that success. Two of the brethren now seized two famous shell trumpets and sounded a ringing blast that carried to all creatures in the world of light and life the knowledge that Tane was returning to earth with his great prize.

All now assembled at Wharekura, and in that edifice the three “baskets” and two stones were deposited at the rear end of the house. Whiro demanded that they should be handed over to him, but this course was objected to, and the darkness of disappointment and anger descended upon Whiro the Tipua.

We must now describe an important institution by means of which order is preserved throughout the universe, according to Maori myth. This was the appointment of certain supernormal beings as guardians of the different realms of the universe, and who, as acting in that capacity, were known as Poutiriao. Their duties were to regulate all things, forces, activities, realms and beings.

Ere the Whatukura returned to the realm of Io, Ruatau said to Tupai, one of the brethren: “Preserve the treasure within Wharekura, and let twelve guardians be appointed to care for it. Bear in mind that there are twelve heavens, twelve divisions of the year, twelve companies of male denizens, and twelve of female denizens of the twelve heavens. Therefore do you and Tane i te wananga select ten others to act with you.” Having made this arrangement Ruatau and the other attendants returned to the realm of Io the Eternal.

Te Kuwatawata and two others were appointed as guardians of Hawaiki-nui, otherwise known as Hawaiki-rangi. This is the name of a wondrous edifice with four entrances, wherein the spirits of the dead assemble, and from which they pass to one of the two spirit worlds. It is situated on the summit of a mountain in the old homeland of the race, far away beneath the setting sun.

Uru-te-ngangana, Roiho and Roake were appointed guardians of realms celestial, of the heavenly bodies.

Kiwa, Tangaroa and Kaukau were appointed guardians of the realm of Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid.

The Poutiriao, or guardians and regulators of the elements, of winds, rain, clouds, mist, lightning, thunder, frost, etc., were Tukapua, Te Ihorangi and Tama-te-uira. (These are the personified forms of clouds, rain and lightning.)

Maiki-roa, Tu, and others were appointed as controllers of all forms of disease. The numerous Maiki brethren are all included in this dread company.

Te Ikaroa (personified form of the Milky Way) and two others were appointed as regulators of the seasons.

Rongomai-tu-waho and others were appointed guardians and controllers of all denizens of the ocean and of the fresh waters of the earth.

Kekerewai and two others were appointed as guardians of the earth and spirit world, and of all the offspring of the primal parents and their issue, which includes all living creatures on earth.

Tane and two others were appointed supervisors of all realms, and all the Poutiriao, or guardians, to preserve peace and harmony among them and among all other things in all realms. (Thus was harmony preserved, not only among all living creatures, but also among all things deemed inanimate by us, as the heavenly bodies, trees, stones, etc.) Also these supervisors reported periodically on the condition of all things in all realms to the Whatukura, who made such reports known to Io the Parent.

Rongo and two others were appointed as guardians and preservers of fertility in all things. The powers and faculties of germination and reproduction were their care.

Tupai and two others were appointed as guardians and preservers of the institutions of mana and tapu, of gods and sacred places, and the ritual pertaining to such.

Such were the duties of the Poutiriao appointed by command from Io of the Hidden Face. They reported to the Whatukura the condition of all things.

In the legend of the war between Tane and Whiro, the great contest between Light and Darkness, we have a world-old concept as preserved in mythologies of many lands. It is the old Persian myth transferred to the sunlit isles of Polynesia. The contest between Tane and Whiro was long and bitter, for the latter had no less than twelve grievances against his brother. Many fierce struggles ensued between these two beings, the personified forms of Light and Darkness, and this series of combats is known as the Paerangi. War, bitter and unrelenting, waged on earth, in the heavens, and in the vast realm of Watea (personified form of space). The end of this great contest was that Whiro was defeated by Tane and compelled to descend to the underworld, where he still abides. His full name is Whiro-te-tipua, or Whiro the demon, and he it is who is responsible for all evil that is manifested in the human mind and human acts. Hence a malignant demon is styled an atua whiro, and the latter word also denotes a person of evil character.

In New Zealand, as in Polynesia, the doings of Whiro the demon have become confused with those of one Whiro, an old-time Polynesian voyager who came to New Zealand and here settled. It requires great care to separate the incidents related, and to credit them to their proper sources.

The final defeat of Whiro led to his seeking refuge in the Po, the gloomy underworld, yet the old contest between him and Tane is still continued. For Whiro leagued with Ruaumoko, who still abides within the body of the Earth Mother, and together they assail mankind, the offspring of Tane, man who dwells in the world of light and life. Ruaumoko is the author of earthquakes and all volcanic action, and it is by means of those violent activities that he assails and endeavours to destroy mankind. But the most relentless and effective emissaries of Whiro are the dread Maiki brethren. These are Maiki-nui, Maiki-roa, Maiki-kunawhea, and others, all of whom are the personified forms of sickness and disease. This dread and grisly company ever assails mankind, ever wages ceaseless warfare against the descendants of Tane in the world of life. The Maiki clan are denizens of the subterranean world, where they dwell within Tai-whetuki, the House of Death. Before their ceaseless attacks men perish in countless numbers; they flow like water down the current of death to Rarohenga, the underworld. Such is the cause of death in the upper world, hence it is that all things know death. All evil in this world emanated from Whiro the demon. We now see why Whiro is styled the Thief, why he is the patron deity of thieves, for ever he lurks in this world to steal the life of man. A dread being is he, hence offerings were made to him in order to placate him. When man acquired food supplies, as in fishing, bird snaring, etc., a portion would be cast aside with the remark: “Ki a koe, e Whiro!” (To thee, O Whiro!).

It was in Tai-whetuki, the House of Death, that the dread art of black magic originated. For when the Pure rite was about to be performed over Hine-ahu-one, the first woman, Tu said: “Let it be so performed that man may possess courage.” But here Rongo interposed: “Let man be endowed with the qualities of ihi and maru.” By these terms are meant ability, industry, also benevolence and hospitality. Said Whiro: “Be it so; then for me to uphold the poautinitini.” This expression denotes affliction, disease, death, the grievous troubles that assail mankind. All phases of thought and action, all human activities, come under one of the three expressions, ihi, maru and poau tinitini. It will now be understood that the abiding word of the Maori is ever: “Ko Whiro te putake o te kino o te ao.” (Whiro is the origin of evil in the world.)

Now the representative of Whiro in this world is the lizard; the lizard represents death. This explains the great dread that the Maori folk entertain for the lizard, and why seeing a lizard is deemed a very serious omen. It is the emissary of Whiro and the harbinger of death. When the gods decide to destroy man they do so by introducing a lizard into his body, and that creature devours his vitals and so causes death.

Such is the Maori version of the very ancient myth concerning the contest between Light and Darkness, a myth that obtained in Asia at a very early period. In Celtic mythology Light and Life were arrayed against Darkness and Death as in Maori lore; the so-called gods of each side strove against each other. We shall have a similar contest to describe when we come to deal with Maui and the ex-Dawn Maid of Maori story, for there are two different tales connected with this subject.

In Egyptian myth the struggle between the forces of Nature was controlled by the sun. The power of darkness was personified in the great snake Apopis, who was defeated and cut in pieces, always, however, to recover and renew the strife. We find an analogous myth in Maori lore, wherein Maui, who personifies Light (Cf. Moui of Egyptian myth) slays the great eel Tuna, who had meddled with Hina (female personification of the moon), and cuts him into pieces as he crawls over the nine skid way. From his tail and head, however, sprang the eels we find in the sea and rivers.

A time came when the grief of Papa, the Earth Mother, on account of her separation from Rangi, her old-time love, came to be known to Io in the uppermost heaven. The sound of her wailing was borne upward, hence Io sent Ruatau down to seek the cause of the ceaseless lamentation. Io now commanded that the Earth Mother be turned over, so that she might no longer gaze upon her lost love Rangi. This overturning is known as the Hurihanga a Mataaho, the overturning of (by) Mataaho. It has long puzzled students of Maori lore as to who Mataaho might be, but a native adept has told us that the name is in full Io-mataaho, which is one of the names of the Supreme Being. Other versions, however, make it clear that some experts believed Mataaho to be a different being to Io-mataaho. Even so was the Earth Mother turned over, so that she lay face down to Rarohenga, the underworld, hence man now dwells on her back instead of on her breast, as of yore. When she was so turned over, her youngest child, Ruaumoko, was still at her breast, or, as another version has it, yet unborn. This child she was allowed to retain in her solitude. The brothers of Ruaumoko resolved to grant him some comfort in his dark realm, hence they gave him the boon of fire. This fire was obtained for the purpose from Raka-hore, who is the personified form of rock. Thus we see that the Maori was aware of the fact that fire can be obtained from stone. This subterranean fire is known as ahi tipua (supernatural fire) and ahi komau, or buried fire. It is seen in volcanic action, and its effects are observed in the thermal district of Rotorua. Ruaumoko is responsible for all volcanic outbursts and earthquakes. The first syllable of his name is the common term for an earthquake; it means “to shake.”

The primal offspring now found themselves in a more desirable realm in which to abide. Previous to the overturning of the great Mother, the space between sky and earth was never clear. Clouds, rain, mist, sleet, dew, hail and snow were incessant: all these were produced by the ceaseless mourning of the stricken parents; they were emanations caused by grief, the tears of grief produced them. But now Rangi and Papa could no longer look upon each other, and so, since that time, their grief is evident at intervals only. The universe now became known as Tahora-nui-atea (vast open and clear expanse). The world is known as the Ao-turoa, the abiding realm.

The primal offspring had been dwelling in this world during the occurrences already described, but dwelling in a realm of gloom. Dim indeed was the light that existed in the world, and now the desire grew to increase that light and so render life more pleasant.

Tane was responsible for the clothing of the body of the Sky Parent with clouds. Previous to that time the body of Rangi had been naked. Tane despatched Tawhirimatea (wind) to procure the Cloud Children, who sprang from the warmth and perspiration of the body of the Earth Mother. And so the Wind Children were sent to fetch them. They brought Ao-nui and Ao-roa (Great Cloud, Long Cloud) and all the numerous Cloud Children to serve as a garment to cover the body of the Sky Parent. Such are the clouds above us.

The body of the Earth Mother was also covered, and the garment bestowed upon her was composed of vegetation, which protected and warmed her.

The origin of the heavenly bodies is another myth that has several versions. We have seen that Tane and Tama-nui-te-ra are both names for the sun, while Rongo and Hina represent the moon. In like manner Te Ikaroa represents the Milky Way. All these are personifications, and three of them were offspring of the primal parents, but the origin of the heavenly bodies themselves is quite another story. The version taught among the Takitumu tribes is as follows:—

Here we have Uru-te-ngangana, the Gleaming One, son of Rangi and Papa, and evidently a personification, who took to himself two wives, Moe-ahuru and Hine-turama. By the first he begat “The Red Sun” and “The Waxing Moon,” and by the second the stars. Hine-turama evidently represents some form of light; rama signifies a torch, turama “to give light to,” also “illuminated.” Moreover, she is said to have been a daughter of Tane, the great Light Giver. In another version we have:—

This looks like a case of different parentage, but native experts tell us that Tongatonga and Turangi (the Sky Stander) are two other names of Uru-te ngangana, and that Hine-te-ahuru is the same as Moe-ahuru. In this version, however, Uru, alias Tongatonga, appears, not as a son of Rangi, but as a grandson, his immediate progenitor being Whiro, who personifies darkness, hence Light emanated from Darkness. Rona is said by some authorities to have been the child of the above couple; she is the conductor of the moon and a controller of tides. In popular myth she devours, or maltreats, the moon, and so causes the waning of that orb.

The stars are often termed the ra ririki, the little suns, and they are alluded to as the younger relatives of the sun and moon, who, in conjunction with Te Ikaroa, the Milky Way, are their guardians. The heavenly bodies are termed the Whanau-marama, the Shining Ones, or givers of light; they are the Children of Light. Their guardians preserve order among them, but occasionally they jostle each other, and one may be seen to fall from his place; such is the native explanation of meteors.

The sun is said to have had two wives, Hine-raumati (Summer Maid) and Hine-takurua (Winter Maid); he lives half the year with each. The realm of the Winter Maid is the ocean, her task is to conserve fish; the Summer Maid is concerned with the cultivation of food products, and the fruits of the forest. At the time called the takanga o te ra (changing of the sun, that is to say the winter solstice) the sun abandons his winter wife on the ocean, and returns to the Summer Maid on land. The offspring of the latter was Tane-rore, and the shimmering appearance of heated air in midsummer is called “The Dancing of Tane-rore.” It is personified in one Pare-arohi, a female. In Moriori (Chatham Isles) myth the sun has three daughters—Hine-ata, the Morning Maid; Hine-aotea, the Day Maid; and Hine-ahiahi, the Evening Maid.

In remote times all the Children of Light dwelt with their parents at Maunga-nui (Great Mountain). There the ruddy sun, Pale Hina, the little suns and Rona, all roamed about the Strand at Oroku. The Shining Ones are sometimes termed the adornments of the house of Tane-te-waiora. This name of Tane is the one that betokens him as the origin of light, while the heavens above are alluded to as the “house of Tane.”

The gloom of primal light was trying to the children of Rangi and Papa; in a murky realm they ever abode. Hence it was resolved to seek more light, to enlighten the body of the Earth Mother and the breast of the Sky Parent. The thought came to Tane that he would procure the Whanau-marama, the Shining Ones, and so bring light into the world. Even so Tane proceeded to Maunga-nui and obtained the light-giving offspring of his brother Uru. All the Children of Light were placed in a “basket” (i.e., receptacle) and that receptacle, we are told, was the Milky Way. One of the children was left hanging outside the basket; this was the one called Autahi (Canopus). The Star Children and their elders were placed in a canoe named Uruao, generally known as Te Waka o Tama-rereti (The Canoe of Tama-rereti). This canoe is now seen in the heavens; it is the Tail of the Scorpion. On this vessel the Shining Ones were conveyed to the heavens and there arranged on the body of the Sky Parent. The red sun was placed on the breast of Rangi, the moon on his stomach, the little suns were scattered over his body, head and limbs Tane then bade Te Ikaroa (the Milky Way) take a position amid the Whanau-marama in order to guard and control them. Were it not for Te Ikaroa and Tama-rereti there would be much dissension among the Star Children.

Tane and his brethren now saw that the body of Rangi was well lighted, and his face could be plainly seen. His grandchildren could be seen roaming athwart his body, and Rangi commanded the Star Children to keep close to the Milky Way for protection, also that that guardian should act as a harbinger of the coming day. Thus it is that the Maori folk ever look to Te Ikaroa that spans the breast of Rangi in order to note by its position the approach of dawn.

It was then found that, when the ruddy sun moved abroad, the heat was intense. The body of the Earth Mother became dried up, the dust arose so that the face of man could not be seen. The body of Papa, the Earth Mother, was not sufficiently covered to enable her to endure the intense heat. Then Tane commanded the Shining Ones to rearrange their movements:—“Let the red sun take the lead and move in front; let the waxing moon follow behind him; let the little suns be separated, all following the leading of the sun, even that we may obtain sleep.” This command was obeyed, and so were day and night divided. The day was assigned to the red sun, and the night to the moon, the Milky Way, and their young relatives, the little suns. At this time also was Rona appointed guardian of the waxing moon, and all these lesser ones followed behind the shadow of their elder, the red sun.

It was soon found that the heat of the sun was still too great for comfort, and the offspring of the Earth Mother moaned in their anguish. Tane then arranged that the red sun should be moved to the back of Rangi, leaving the lesser ones on his breast. But when the sun moved towards the head of Rangi, the Sky Parent cried aloud, so fierce was the heat, for this was the season of summer. So the course of the red sun was again altered, and then all was well. When the sun moves towards the legs of Rangi, then the winter is with us; when it moves towards his head, then summer has come.

Then Tane spake to Tawhirimatea and to Tukapua (personifications of winds and clouds), and arrangements were made to accommodate the Wind Children and the Cloud Children. The former were located at the Tihi o Manono; the latter were placed in the Cloud House, wherein abide Hine-kapua, the Cloud Maid, and the whole of the Cloud Children. At times these folk leave their abodes, and so we see the Whanau-puhi, the Wind Children, pursuing and harrying the Cloud Maid and the Whanau-kapua, the Cloud Children, in the vast realm of Watea (Space), and across the breast of the Sky Parent.

It was now seen that the world was a desirable place in which to dwell, that grateful conditions obtained on the far-spread body of the Earth Mother. Hence Uru the Gleaming One said to his brothers: “How are we to generate offspring to occupy the World of Light? Let us seek the female element that we may beget a race of beings to assume our forms, and so people the enduring world of light around us.” Thus it was proposed that the female element should be obtained from among the female denizens of the heavens, but Uru objected, and explained that all those females were supernatural beings, and, by mating with similar beings, they could not possibly produce the ira tangata (human life, mortal life, life as possessed by man). The result of such unions would but perpetuate the ira atua (supernatural life, such life as is possessed by gods). It was desired that man, a mortal race, should be produced to inhabit the fair earth. It has already been explained that all the offspring of Rangi and Papa were of the male sex, and that all were supernatural beings. It was clear that all the denizens of the heavens were of a similar nature, and therefore the ira tangata must be sought in the lower world. The female element, of a nature lower than that of the gods, must be sought in the realm of the Earth Mother.

We have now to speak of Tane in his important character as the Fertiliser, the personification of procreative power, as the progenitor of vegetation and of man. We are told that the pagan Semites identified the active force in Nature with the sun, and the passive force with the earth. This is precisely the Maori concept, but ever he deemed the female sex somewhat inferior to the male. The male sex originated with the gods, is of supernatural origin, but the first female of the ira tangata was fashioned from a portion of the Earth Mother; ever does woman bear the brand of her inferior origin.

Tane and his brothers now commenced their long search for the uha, the female element that was destined to produce man the mortal. The brothers separated and went their various ways of diligent search. To far regions they went, and many realms they traversed, far and wide they roamed athwart the body of the Earth Mother. They explored the vast expense of Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid, but no sign came to them; the female element was unseen. No being was found who might produce man; hence the sententious saying of yore: “Unseen, Unsuitable, Unacquired.”

It was Tane who sought out certain female beings by whom he strove to become the progenitor of man. It was found that reptiles produced eggs, which was considered to be an unsuitable mode of reproduction for them; hence it was decided that reptiles should be viviparous, and that the production of eggs should be confined to birds. An exception was made in the case of the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatum). The first egg was formed by Peketua, who took it to Tane and asked him what he should do with it. Tane replied, “Give it life,” and that egg produced the reptile called tuatara, which is thus allied to birds. Punaweko formed another egg that produced land birds, while Hurumanu fashioned another that produced sea birds. But the female of the ira tangata was not found. Tane then mated with one Parauri, a female, who produced the koko and other forest birds. These were fed on the parasites of the heads of Rehua and Tunuku, but they did not flourish. They were then fed on those of the heads of the younger folk, of Maire, and Miro, and Kahika, and Tutu, and Toro, and Mako (all names of trees the berries of which are eaten by birds). All these folk dwell within the Great Forest of Tane.

Tane mated with many female beings in his great desire to beget man. He took Apunga, who produced small plants. He took Mumuhanga, who produced the totara tree. He took Te Pu-whakahara, who produced the maire and puriri trees. He took Rerenoa, who produced epiphytic plants. He took Tutoro-whenua, who produced Haumia (personified form of the edible rhizome of the bracken, Pteris aquilina var. esculenta). He took Hine-tu-pari-maunga, the Mountain Maid, and begat Para-whenua-mea (personified form of water). He took Tauwhare-kiokio, who produced the different species of tree ferns. He took Tu-kapua, who produced the tawai tree. He took Haere-awaawa, who produced the weka (a bird), and so on. Such were the acts of Tane the Fertiliser; he impregnated all female forces and natures, but the issue in all cases did not accord with desire; the goal of the long search was not reached; the ira tangata was not discovered.

The brothers returned from their fruitless search, and assembled at Wharekura in order to discuss new lines of search. It was now that Roiho called down to Tane, and enquired: “What is it ye seek, O Tane?” Tane replied, saying: “We seek the way to the female element, such is our task.” Then Roiho and Roake and Haepuru, denizens of the heavens, said to Tane: “Proceed to the Strand at Kurawaka, for at that place exists the female element in its virginity; that element is in a state of tapu, for it is the very seed of man. Fashion the female at the puke (Mons Veneris) of Papa the Earth Mother.”

Now Tane and his companions proceeded to the place indicated, and there Tane took a portion of the body of the Earth Mother and moulded it into the form of a female, an image fashioned in the form of himself, but formed of earth and void of life. It now remained for Tane to endow that figure with life, to implant the manawa ora (breath of life) in its nostrils, mouth and ears. Then the vital human breath came forth, the eyelids opened, the eyes looked, the damp, mist-like breath issued from the mouth, a sneeze broke from the nostrils—sneeze thou living soul in the world of life; progeny to the gods is secured, the female element is found, the ira tangata exists. The long quest for the female element was now closed: Woman had entered the world.

The newly-formed Woman was conducted to the sacred place of rites, where certain ceremonies were performed over her to dissipate the intense tapu resulting from the act of the demiurge Tane. It is explained that the organs, the blood, the breath of life, and the wairua (soul, spirit) implanted in the lifeless form were procured from Io the Supreme Being. Io and Rehua provided the mind, while Punaweko furnished the hair. It was now that this maid, the first woman, was given the name of Hine-ahu-one, the Earth-formed Maid. She possessed the nature, the organs, to enable her to bring man into the world; the welfare of mankind in the enduring world emanated from this Maid and from Tane the Parent.

It was now decided that Tane should beget man, and Tiki-ahua was called upon to assist in the great task of bringing mortal man into the world. As he did so Tupai intoned the necessary invocatory formula by virtue of which Tane and Hine-ahu-one became man and wife. Then Haepuru recited another form of karakia that called upon Tiki to perform his task, and which had the effect of causing Hine to conceive. Then Roiho and Roake repeated another to endow Tane with the necessary powers to enable him to beget man, the ira tangata. The end of this act was the condition known as Te Matenga o Tiki—the Death of Tiki. Since the days of Tane these ritual formulæ have been employed as what we would term a marriage service, and as a charm to cause women to conceive. They are exceedingly tapu recitations.

On the completion of the above act the Pure rite was performed over Tane and Hine, and they also underwent ceremonial immersion. They then proceeded to Wharekura, where the tapu was lifted from them, and they performed the Ngau paepae, a peculiar rite to be described anon. The Earth Formed Maid was then conducted to the house named Hui-te-ana-nui, that had been constructed for her use. It was a house elaborately decorated with carved designs.

In course of time Hine gave birth to a child, who was named Hine-titama. Other children were born to her in after days, all being females, the most remarkable of whom were Hine-te-uira (The Lightning Maid, personified form of lightning) and Hine-kapua (The Cloud Maid, personification of clouds). Tane-matua then took Hine-titama, his eldest daughter, to wife, by whom he had several female children, of whom the most renowned was Hine-rau-wharangi, the personified form of growth in the vegetable world.

It is said that Hine-rau-wharangi was born in the Aonui month of the Orongonui season, about our June. When the iho (umbilical cord) of the child came away mother and child were conducted to the porch of the house Hui-te-ananui. The people collected on the plaza, and Tupai, taking the infant in his arms, recited a tapu formula over it. Then came the Maioha ceremony; all the people stood up to greet mother and child. The next performance was that of the rite termed Tohi ururangi, which was carried out by a priest standing in the running waters of a stream.

At a certain time Hine-titama enquired of Tane as to who her father was. When she was told to ask the posts of the house Hui-te-ananui she knew the truth, and so overcome

Tapu Stones employed as talismanic symbols. Taranaki district, was she that her mind was at once made up to desert this world and retire to the underworld. She said to Tane-matua: “O sir! It is now clear to me. It is you who have brought me to shame. I go to seek refuge with my grandmother Papa-tuanuku, to dwell within her. The path of Tahekeroa to the underworld shall be laid down for all time. From the Muriwai-hou will I look upward at you and our offspring moving far above me in the upper world.” As a result of these words the path of death was established for all time. Since that time has mankind ceaselessly trodden that path and flowed like water down to Rarohenga. This is the subterranean spirit world whither the souls of our dead go. Tahekeroa and the Muriwai-hou are names representing the path down to the final abode.

Hine-titama, by means of potent charms, caused her children to sleep soundly, and also weakened the powers of Tane should he pursue her. She went by way of Whiti-a-naunau to Poutere-rangi, where the entrance to the lower world is. At the entrance she found one Kuwatawata, the guardian of the Tatau o te Po (The Gates of the Underworld). He enquired: “Whither go you?” Hine replied: “Let me pass; I go to the underworld.” The guardian endeavoured to dissuade her: “Turn back ere it is too late. The world of life and welfare is behind you, the spirit world before you. Return to the ao marama (world of light).” But Hine said: “Not so. I go to the lower world, the realm of the unknown, there to protect the welfare of my children of the Ao-turoa (the upper world).”

Now here we have the cause of the welfare of the human spirit after the death of the body. The wairua (soul, spirit) does not perish. It is protected by Hine-titama in the underworld She it is who protects our spiritual welfare. The mother of our race is the saviour of the human soul.

Ere she descended to Rarohenga, Hine-titama turned toward the world of life she was leaving for ever, and saw Tane following her, weeping as he came. Then Hine looked her last upon Tane and said to him: “Return, O Tane! to our offspring. I have abandoned the upper world as a realm for you, my realm shall be the Po beneath us. Turn back; for you to bring our children up to the light of day, for me to guard their spiritual welfare in the spirit world.” She then, by means of the power termed hoa, caused the Pomum Adami to appear in the throat of Tane as a token of their relations to each other, a token that is seen in all men, but no women, even to the present day. Then Hine-titama turned to the portals of the lower world, and, passing through the Tatau o te Po, descended to the spirit world to take up her endless task.

The name of this first-born daughter of Tane the Parent and the Earth Formed Maid had been Hine-titama in the upper world. When she took up her abode in Rarohenga, the subterranean spirit world, she discarded that name and adopted that of Hine-nui-te-Po. She was now the Great Dame of the Po, or spirit world, the important being of that realm. She had constituted herself guardian of the souls of men, protector and champion of the spirits of the dead as against dread Whiro and his henchmen. Tane cares for his descendants in the upper world, but when decay and dissolution come to them, they then pass to the spirit world of Rarohenga, there to be guarded ever by great Hine.

Now to place Hine-titama in her true position in our records of Maori lore. Who was this fair Maid whose beauty is described by the Maori in such glowing terms, who sprang from the loins of Tane the Great One, to be wooed by him and pursued across the vast realm of Papa even unto the bounds of night? She is the Maid of whom we have all heard, whose beauty has caused, throughout all time, the eye of man to kindle, the heart of man to rejoice. For, even as Tane represents the red sun that gleams in fair skies, so does his daughter represent the soul-filling beauty that Tane casts athwart the form of the Sky Parent. These glorious hues are reflected by other offspring of Tane, by Hine-kapua, the Cloud Maid, by Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid, Hine-makohu, the Mist Maid, and by the great form of Hine-maunga, the Mountain Maid. The vast realm of Watea is lightened by her beauty, the old Earth Mother responds to her gracious presence, the very denizens of the twelve heavens welcome her fair form. Hine-titama is the Dawn Maid.

When our fair one fled westward, Tane followed her, as he must follow all dawns. Hine retired before him, as all dawns must retire before the rising sun. Ever westward she retires, until, at the edge of the world, she finds but one retreat open to her, the underworld. The shades of evening had fallen across the body of the Earth Mother, the ruddy form of Tane was suspended over the realm of Night, as the first of all Dawn Maids looked her last upon the upper world and passed down the long descent to the underworld of Night and Darkness.

Here I feel impelled to quote a description of the Maori personified form of dawn, as given by an old native some fifty-five years ago. It illustrates an interesting phase of Maori mentality, and his remarkable genius for personification.

“This is Hine-titama, she who was known as Hine-nuite-Po when she retired to the underworld. Truly was she a woman of surpassing charm. Her eyes were like unto the flame of a glowing fire, and her form was of great beauty. Her body gleamed with a ruddy hue, her skin was smooth as the karengo seaweed, her face was like unto a summer day, calm and beautiful, and her breast resembled the placid ocean that glows at sunset in the eighth moon. When she came forth from her abode bright beyond compare was the light of her eyes. When she disrobed and went forth to bathe, verily her skin resembled the breast of the beautiful koroirangi bird. and the shimmering beauty of Parearohi

Parearohi is the personification of the quivering appearance of heated air, as seen in summer.

Her limbs were as shapely as though carefully fashioned by the hand of man, and her lovely hair charmed the observer. Thus it was that, when the men of yore beheld a woman of great beauty, they quoted an old-time saying of the Maori folk: ‘Ko Hine-titama koe, matawai ana te whatu i te tirohanga’ (You are like Hinetitama, the eye glistens when gazing upon you).”

Such was the description of the Dawn Maid given by the neolithic Maori, such the concept of a cannibal folk, such the mentality of barbaric man. The sages have told us that the whole of the seventy offspring of the primal parents had issue. The offspring of some were supernatural beings, those of others were stones of different kinds, or insects and reptiles.

There is another myth concerning the origin of man to be considered. In a version that occupies a secondary position the origin of man, the ira tangata, is traced to Tu-matauenga, a brother of Tane, who is one of the most important of the secondary gods, inasmuch as he is the tutelary being connected with the art of war. I am inclined to believe that Tu personifies the setting sun, and hence is connected with bloodshed. The version to be described seems to be a second-class myth as it were, a popular authropogenic myth; apparently it was not taught by the superior school of learning. It will be explained that those who taught that Tiki was the first man were assuredly not conversant with the inner meaning of Maori authropogenic myths.

The following account of the popular version of the origin of man was recorded by the late Colonel Gudgeon in Vol. XIV. of the Journal of the Polynesian Society. Tu-matau-enga decided that supernatural beings were not fitted to populate this world, and so he set about introducing the ira tangata, or mortal life. In doing so he did not actually beget man as Tane begat Hine-titama. He created the first man and that man was the progenitor of the human race. He fashioned an image after his own form from earth, and deposited it at a tuahu, a mound formed of earth, in which had been inserted two small green branchlets that represented life and death. By means of certain rites and his own marvellous powers he endowed that image with life. This living person of the male sex was named Tiki; it was he who became the father of the human race. The name of the being he took to wife is not generally known, but is said by some to have been Io-wahine (female Io). At the time when Colonel Gudgeon published his paper we had not the evidence concerning the identity of Tiki that we now possess. The Colonel was evidently not satisfied with explanations furnished by the natives, and stated that he had formed the opinion that Tiki was the personified form of the life principle. This was a remarkably shrewd guess, for we now possess clear evidence that Tiki is the personified form of the male organ of reproduction. In popular myth he is described either as the first man, or as the maker of the first man.

We have now seen how man, mortal man, the ira tangata, was brought into the world. The fashioning of the first man or woman from earth was an old world concept; such myths

A form of cradle for infants not yet able to walk, termed a Pakokori or Korowhitiwhiti. The mother engaged in weaving(Original by A.H. Messenger were taught in Babylonia, Egypt and Greece. We find nothing in Polynesian lore resembling the Celtic myth of Flower Face, the fairest and most graceful maiden ever seen, and who was formed of flowers.

The cosmogonic genealogies of New Zealand and Polynesia are interesting productions, inasmuch as they show us how these barbaric folk strove to understand Nature and sought to learn the origin of the universe and of man. In the superior versions of such conceptions we observe evidence of mental powers of no mean order.

In Indian myth, the sun marries Ushas, the Dawn, which recalls Tane's search for the uha, or female element, and his taking Hine-titama to wife.

Double canoe of Samoa. By permission of Tatersall's Studio, Apia, Samoa.

V Myth and Folk Lore

Myth and religion inseparable—Superior myths and folk tales—Explanatory myths numerous—History and myth intermingle—Widespread myths-Evolution of myths—Examples—Symbolical myths—Confusion in Polynesian myths—Nature myths—Animatism—Rehua and inanga—The Maori and abstract thought—The primal offspring—Rongo-ma-Tane—Tane and the sun—Sun and moon personifications—Rongo and moon—Moon and agriculture—Rongomai—Rongo-nui-a-tau—Rongo-maui—Moon and water—Moon and fertility—Rona and the moon—Hina and moon—Hine-te-iwaiwa—The tiki pendant—The Waiora a Tane—Crescent symbol—Hine-korako—Maui and Tuna the eel—Ira the eel god of India—Puhi—The feats of Maui—Maui and the sun—Maui the fisher of lands—Maui and Mahuika—Maui slays the Fire Children—Maui and the Queen of Death—The Mokoroa-i-ata—Maui and Rohe—Deluge myths—Fire myths—Wind myths—The Wind Children—The Snow Children—The Cloud Children—Ocean myths—The Ocean Maid and her offspring—The Tide Controllers—The Plaza of Hine-moana—Rainbow myths—Uenuku and the Mist Maid—Origin of Rainbow—Celestial visitors to earth—The Rainbow Maid dwells on the plaza of Hine-moana—Lighthing myths—The rua koha—Controllers of the elements—The Cloud Maid—The Cloud House—Origin of stones—The Sand Maid protects the Earth Mother—The Greenstone Folk—Myths pertaining to greenstone—The Sandstone Maid assails the Greenstone Folk—Rata and the enchanted tree—Mataora visits the underworld—The Maori genius for personification—Personified forms of natural phenomena; of natural products; of qualities—Folk tales—Battle of the birds The Fish Tribes attack Man—The struggle between dogs and lizards—Taniwha or monsters—Folk tales introduced—The tuoro Sea monsters subservient to man—Ocean demons—Marakihau Tipua—The uruuru whenua rite—Tribal banshee—Tutaua, the singing tree—Mountain lore—Folk tales—Hinepoupou—Cæsarian operation—Rua-kapanga—River myths—Mythical forest denizens—Fables—Fairy folk—Superstitions—Omens—Dreams—The lizard—Right and left sides—Wairua protects man—Fear of spirits—Cause of degeneration—A watch viewed as a demon—Maori and European superstitions.

We have now to deal with one of the more interesting phases of Maori lore. It is true that we have, in scanning his cosmogony and anthropogeny, surveyed some of his most interesting myths, but then no true Maori will admit that they are myths. He looks upon them as being relations of actual occurrences, even as we still place faith in old Babylonian or Sumerian concepts of the origin of man and of sin. It is the mixture of myth and religion that forces the writer to treat these two subjects as being inseparable, when dealing with such a people as the Maori. Max Muller has well expressed this aspect in his preface to the Rev. W. Gill's “Myths and Songs from the South Pacific”: “Parts of mythology are religious, parts of mythology are historical, parts of mythology are metaphysical, parts of mythology are poetical; but mythology as a whole is neither religion, nor history, nor philosophy, nor poetry.” In describing the performances of Tane and his brethren we are dealing with myths, but this cannot be done without an explanation of the concept of the Supreme Being, his attributes, and the attitude of the Maori toward that deity. We must also bear in mind that Tane, Rongo and others who appear in these superior myths are themselves viewed as atua, or gods. They are the secondary or departmental gods of the Polynesian pantheon. It is when we come to deal with the folk tales of a people, that a line can be drawn between myth and religion.

The higher class myths of the Maori, such as those described in the previous chapter, illustrate a type not found among races of low culture. They bear the mark of a comparatively high plane of thought, and are the result of universal personification of natural phenomena, the higher phases of animism. Many explanatory myths are evolved by such folk as the Polynesians, and undoubtedly the religious spirit has entered into the higher conceptions of the mythmakers’ minds. We recognise, however, wide differences in native myths, for they range from superior cosmogonic concepts and interesting mythopoetic allegories, down to puerile folk and demon lore. The relation of secondary myths and folk tales found quite an important place in the social enjoy- ments of the people. Such stories are termed korero purakau, and korero tara. Some of them are tales or myths heard in far lands, others are of local origin. Many contain a moral in some form, such as the perils of transgressing the laws of tapu. An old sage has told us that the story of Hine-poupou swimming across Cook Straits is simply a tale related to children in order to render them fearless in the water.

We notice another attribute of some of these oft-told tales, namely, that genuine accounts of actual events, such as voyages, have become encrusted with myth. I deem it highly probable that the strory of the voyage of Rata is that of a genuine expedition from the eastern Pacific into Melanesia, possibly the Fiji group. Into this story the marvellous has entered, and so we have such impossible occurrences as the re-erection of the tree felled by Rata. In the accounts of the voyages of Whiro, Tura, and others, we note the introduction of weird folk who dwelt in trees and knew not the use of fire, of strange peoples among whom natural birth was unknown, but all infants entered the world through the medium of the Cæsarian operation.

The superior myths of the Maori have evidently been introduced from Polynesia, if not from still further afield. This may also be said of some of the folk tales which are encountered in northern isles. Attention will be drawn to instances of such transferences. Certain myths, such as that of the Sky Parents and Earth Mother, are of world-wide occurrence, and were probably evolved in different lands. On the other hand myths may have been carried long distances even in remote times by seafaring peoples. Indirect contact has effected much in past times. At a time when our forefathers dared not sail out of sight of land the Polynesian voyagers were carrying their language and unwritten literature thousands of miles across the Pacific area.

The evolution of myths has had a considerable effect on human mentality, and hence on such institutions as religion. We even see its effects in social laws and customs. Thus the attributing of life and personality to what we term inanimate objects has deeply affected the religious concepts and mode of thought of the Polynesian mind. Myths are, in many cases, attempts to explain phenomena, and the personifications of such phenomena were the gods of the Polynesian. Tylor's dictum that “What is poetry to us was philosophy to early man,” is assuredly a truth that demands attention from those who would understand the mentality of barbaric man.

Myths may come into existence by means of a love of the marvellous, and during a long residence among natives I have observed the genesis of weird tales on several occasions. When my very worthy friend, Rua Kenana, proclaimed himself as the true Messiah, many natives had faith in him and believed that he would, as promised, be the means of banishing all Europeans from these isles. Thus I was gravely informed that he was going to a place called Parae-roa, up the Whakatane River, in order to unearth an enormous diamond concealed at that place. This was to be utilised in abolishing the “mortgage” on New Zealand, after which all Europeans were to be deported. During a meeting of natives called together to discuss the matter, Rua is said to have performed the miracle of feeding some hundreds of hungry followers on two “fifties” of flour, a miracle that evidently hinges upon Christian teachings. Some of these miracles, or prophecies, seemed to hang fire. I observed some natives who lived a few miles from my camp, making a broad track through scrub and bracken up a hill adjacent to their village. This, I was informed, was as a means of escape for the local natives, whose hamlet was to be destroyed by a huge tidal wave that was ere long to sweep up the valley. That tidal wave, I may observe, has not yet arrived. A number of absurd acts, beliefs, superstitions and prophecies were the fruit of that strange craze. The end was not well, for much adulation so affected the “New Messiah” that he thought himself above all law, a state of things that led to a brief fight at Maunga-pohatu, in which his own son was killed.

Polynesian myths are often symbolical and allegorical. They often resemble those of Aryan peoples more than those of Semitic folk, especially with regard to such conceptions as supernormal beings, gods, personifications. We find a number of Asiatic-Polynesian parallels, cases in which similar myths have been evolved in the two regions, or have, in remote days, been carried from one area to the other by migrating peoples. Of such a nature are the myths connected with the primal parents, the origin or man and of fire, the waters of life, and the Mist Maid. It is unquestionably a fact that similar conditions produce similar institutions and concepts, and hence our parallels may not betoken borrowing or transference in past times. At the same time the resemblances in some cases are very striking. We are aware that, in New Zealand, are encountered a number of arts, artifacts and customs, that are not met with in Polynesia, and that were apparently introduced from Melanesia. It seems probable that the first settlers of these isles, the Mouriuri folk, were responsible for these introductions. In the case of myths and folk tales of the Maori that reappear in Melanesia and Indonesia, it is within the realm of possibility that such were carried eastward by migrating peoples of former times. There is a certain amount of confusion in Maori myths, as also in some other departments of knowledge, and this confusion extends to Polynesia to some extent. This may be due to racial admixture, or to the fact that the Polynesians are descendants of several bodies of migrants that reached the eastern Pacific area at different periods.

Many Maori myths are based on observation, hence the profusion of Native myths and personified forms. The Maori had ever an intimate fellowship with Nature, and this fact sprang from several causes. In the first place he lived in close contact with Nature; he was compelled to observe closely natural products and forces, in order to retain life. Thus he observed the habits of birds, of fish, of plant life, their functions and peculiarities. He also believed that all things possessed a life principle (mauri), an indwelling vital spirit, though not an apparitional spirit in the case of what we term inanimate objects. Above all, he held the belief that all things, animate and inanimate, are descended from a common source, the primal parents, Rangi and Papa. This belief had a considerable effect on the native mind, for, when the Maori walked abroad, he was among his own kindred. The trees around him were, like himself, the offspring of Tane; the birds, insects, fish, stones, the very elements, were all kin of his, members of a different branch of the one great family. Many a time, when engaged in felling a tree in the forest, have I been accosted by passing natives with such a remark as: “Kei te raweke koe i to tipuna i a Tane.” (You are meddling with your ancestor Tane). As a tree fell they would remark: “Kua hinga a Tane.” (Tane has fallen.) When old Pio, of the Awa tribe, was explaining to me the habits of the inanga, a small freshwater fish, he remarked: “When the star Takero is seen in the heavens, then the third migration of the inanga commences. They proceed to their ancestress Wainui (personified form of the ocean), and there produce their young. Inanga are descendants of Rehua (the star Antares, also apparently an old term for a forest). On the Turu and Rakaunui nights (16th and 17th) of the ninth moon they begin their first migration to Wainui. For, in the night of time, the inanga folk had enquired of Rehua: ‘What are we to do?’ and he had replied: ‘When you observe a red gleam in the heavens, that is a sign for you to hasten to your relative Wainui.”

As to explanatory myths it would appear that reflection, introspective thought, must be the mental condition that produces them, whereas in the matter of religion emotion enters largely into causes. As Tylor puts it: “Nature myths are the most beautiful of poetic fictions,” and the mythopoetic Maori has given full play to his imagination in that direction.

The Maori tongue is undoubtedly lacking in words denoting abstract ideas, but it would be a serious error to believe the Maori mind to be deficient in the faculty of abstraction. That mistake was made by Shortland, who wrote as follows: “The Maori has a very limited notion of the abstract. All his ideas take naturally a concrete form…Hence the powers of Nature were regarded by him as concrete objects, and were consequently designated as persons.”

“Maori Religion and Mythology,” by Edward Shortland, M.A., M.R.C.P., London. 1882.

Here I cannot agree with that writer. The power of abstract thought was developed to a very remarkable extent by the Maori, as witness his concept of Io, the Supreme Being, also those of the spiritual potentiæ of man and all matter. The Maori personified all things, he believed all things to be related to each other, to be offspring of the same parents. He did not speak of a thing inanimate as a person because he believed that it possessed the attributes and qualities of man. Many a time have I heard native speakers refer to “Tenei tangata nui, a Aitua” (this important personage Misfortune), also to “Tenei tangata kino, a Rama” (this evil person Rum), but these speakers were not confusing affliction and rum with volitional beings in their own minds, whatever European hearers might think.

Such occurrences as have given rise to myths in the past are still taking place in our midst, but our altered mentality does not make use of such opportunities. We have emerged from the myth-making plane of thought, and any newly-evolved myth that attempts to raise its head is met by many scoffers. The Vision of Mons is an example of this attitude. We passed through the Mythopoetic Age long centuries ago, while the Maori trod that path to the end. Even as Tane banished the Dawn Maid from the Ao Marama down the long descent of Tahekeroa to the under world, so has our changing mentality driven mythopoetic concepts into the realm of oblivion.

We have already scanned a number of myths pertaining to the primal offspring in dealing with Maori cosmogony and anthropogeny. There are, however, other concepts connected with the progeny of Rangi and Papa, or Sky and Earth, that must be dealt with in order to gain a comprehensive view of Maori myths. Those connected with Tane, Tu, Rongo and Tangaroa are especially prominent, not only in New Zealand, but also in the Polynesian area. In confining ourselves to local versions, we shall find that Tane and Rongo are the most interesting of these departmental deities. We have already seen that Tane is a personification of the sun, while Rongo represents the moon. Not only do we frequently encounter these names in native myths, as pertaining to two separate and distinct beings, but we also meet with a combination of the two names, in the form of Rongo-ma-Tane (Rongo and Tane). This title is known to the natives of the Society Group, where it appears as Ro'o-ma-Tane. The Maori folk make use of this name as though it denoted a single being, as in speaking of agricultural ritual, but it was evidently a case of combining two important names. This twain, moon and sun, were held to possess great influence over Nature, and they were appealed to in connection with many things.

It is of interest to note that, in Maori myth, there are two distinct personified forms of the moon, male and female, and that, in like manner, there are several names of the sun. The ordinary name for the sun in vernacular speech is ra, a widespread term throughout the Pacific area. Ra kura, the red sun, is a kind of honorific name for the sun among our Maori folk, while Tama-nui-te-ra is a title of its personified form. The name of Tane is, however, its most important title; Tane is assuredly the personified form of the sun, though he appears as one of the offspring of the Sky Father and Earth Mother. We find also, in native myth, that the sun itself, as distinct from its personified form, is said to be the offspring of Uru-te-ngangana, a brother of Tane, and a female being named Moe-ahuru. With regard to the moon, the ordinary name for the orb of night is marama; in mythologic recitals it is often alluded to as the marama-i-whanake, or waxing moon. The moon goddess is Hina; she is the female personification of the moon, and, as Hina, Ina and Sina she is known far and wide throughout Polynesia. One of her titles is Hina-keha (Pale Hina), though during the dark phase of the moon she is called Hina-uri (Dark Hina). Yet another of her names is Hina-te-iwaiwa; as the patron or tutelary being of women she is so termed. Inasmuch as iwa is the numeral nine, it is quite possible that we have, in this secondary name, an allusion to the period of gestation in women.

In Rongo we have the male personification of the moon. This name appears as Ro'o, Longo, Lono, Ono and Rongo throughout Polynesia, in sympathy with well-known letter changes. Among the Hawaiians Hina, when translated to the heavens, adopted the name of Lono, the Hawaiian form of the name Rongo. Rongo is the patron deity of the art of agriculture in New Zealand, and the moon was connected with that art in many old-world lands. In old mythologies the moon often appears as being older than the sun, and of more importance. In Maori myth Rongo is the elder brother of Tane. Thus we can understand why the name of the former comes first in Rongo-ma-Tane. In the Paumotu Group Tane appears as the husband of Hina, so that in this case the sun took the moon to wife. In the Chatham Isles, near New Zealand, Tama-nui-te-ra (the sun) has three daughters, Hine-ata (Morning Maid), Hine-aotea (Day Maid), and Hine-ahiahi (Evening Maid).

Tane was not only the personified form of the sun, but also represented all fructifying power; he was essentially the fertiliser, the origion of life, animal and vegetable; the active male element in Nature. The passive force in Nature is represented by the Earth Mother and by the female sex generally. The myths pertaining to Tane are of a superior type, as pertaining to a demiurgic being, while those connected with the name of Tama-nui-te-ra are of a lower class. The latter name appears as Tami-te-ra at the Chatham Isles, where it was also applied to a charm repeated over a dying person. It was recited by an attendant while holding the head of the dying one in the hollow of the arm, the reciter pointing to the sun with his other arm.

The Ngati-Awa tribe gives a different form of some of these old myths, and makes Hina-te-iwaiwa a daughter of Tane, which is not generally accepted. At Samoa Rongo appears as a son of Sina (Hina) and Tangaroa. At Mangaia Island, Rongo and Tangaroa are the twin children of Vatea (Maori Watea), Space, and of Papa. In Hawaiian myth the home of Rongo is said to be on the waters; and this probably accounts for his secondary name in New Zealand, where he is often called Rongo-marae-roa, Rongo of the far-spread expanse. Marae-roa, or Vast Expanse, is an expression employed to denote the ocean. It is also termed Marae-nui-atea (Vast Open Expanse). Moon worship was often connected with water worship in olden times, as in Babylonia. In that far land the moon was regarded as the parent of the sun and stars, and there, as in some other lands, moon worship was older than sun worship. It was the moon that caused crops to grow in Babylonian belief, and this also was the Maori belief. In both lands seeds were sown during a certain phase of the moon, while the moon was the measurer of time and controlled the seasons. The double stone image set up by the Maori in his cultivation grounds seems to have been called Rongo, but probably represented Rongo-ma-Tane. One of these images is in the New Plymouth Museum. This double name was specially prominent at Tahiti, Rarotonga and New Zealand. Another dual form is Rongo-ma-Uenga, but this I cannot explain; it occurs as the name of a god in Rarotongan lore.

Rongo seems to have been also known as Rongo-nui (Great Rongo), and the twenty-eighth night of the moon was called Orongo and Orongonui (O-Rongonui=pertaining to Rongonui), as the twenty-seventh night was termed Otane (O-Tane). The Maori planted his sweet potato crops during these two phases of the moon, a most suggestive fact. The Rev. W. Gill tells us that Rarotongan myth places the home of Rongo in the shades, even as the Maori alludes to the underworld as the “hidden home of Tane.”

The name of Rongomai appears frequently in native myth and story. In the first place it is the name of an atua, which god is apparently the personified form of meteors, and this being was appealed to in war time, and in connection with other matters. But, like the name of Rehua, it seems to have another application. Thus Rongomai is spoken of as a being of very early times who was translated to the moon. Certain markings on the surface of the moon are called Nga Umu o Rongomai, the ovens of Rongomai. Rongomai is mentioned in a formula recited when the kumara crop was being planted, as also were Kahukura and Uenuku, both personified forms of the rainbow. One version makes Rongomai the father of Kahukura. It is possible that there is a connection between Rongomai and Rongo-marae-roa.

Another name met with in Maori myth is that of Rongotau, or Rongo-a-tau, or Rongo-nui-a-tau. This being is said to abide in the heavens with Tane and Rehua (the sun and the star Antares). Apparently these are variant forms of the name of Rongo-marae-roa, for Rongo-tau is shown to be connected with the sweet potato and with Pani, who is spoken of as the mother of that prized tuber. In Vol. I. of White's “Ancient History of the Maori,” p. 163, appears a sentence stating that Kahukura (the rainbow) and Rongo-nui-a-tau were seen standing in the heavens. Again, Rongo-maui, the husband of Pani, is apparently the same being as Rongotau. He is said to have been a brother of Whanui (the star Vega), from whom he obtained the kumara tuber. The heliacal rising of that star was awaited by the Maori as a sign of the crop-lifting season. It would be of interest to learn that, in some other land, there is a connection between the star Vega and agriculture. There is a considerable amount of con- fusion among the numerous moon names, or of names of the personified form of that orb. It is noticed, however, that the connections between the moon and agriculture, the moon and women, the moon and water, are most consistent, and these connections are very ancient Asiatic concepts.

The Maori has some quaint ideas concerning the moon. Natives have told me that, in olden days, the rising moon was at times greeted with the remark: “The husband of all women in the world has appeared.” An old native once remarked to me: “According to the knowledge of our ancestors, the marriage of man and woman is a matter of little moment; the moon is the true husband of woman.” It will be observed that in these various myths and beliefs the sex of the moon changes. In one version the moon appears as a male with two wives, Rona and Tangaroa. In popular myth Rona is the woman in the moon, translated thereto from earth in punishment for having insulted that useful orb by applying an offensive expression to it. She was going to procure water at night, when the moon was obscured by a cloud, which fact led to the unfortunate incident. When seized by the moon she grasped a ngaio tree, which was torn from the earth, and to which she still clung. Rona is still seen in the moon with her calabash, and the tree. In the South Island Rona appears in myth as a man, and the father of the Echoe Children. He fled to the moon to escape from his wife.

In dealing with Hina, the female personification of the moon, we have again to deal with a number of names, and a certain amount of confusion. In local myth Hina usually appears as a sister of Maui, but in a South Island version she is given as the mother of Maui, and the daughter of Mahuika (personified form of fire). In an ancient and mythical genealogy she is called Hina-i-te-po, in allusion to her appearance at night. One story makes Hina a daughter of Tangaroa. She also appears as the wife of Maui. The names of Hina-kai-tangata and Hina-whakapau-tangata are said to pertain to her, thus connecting her with death, the destroying of man. The moon is certainly connected with death in one way, as denoted in the expression mate a marama, which implies temporary death, the death that comes periodically to the moon, but from which she always recovers.

In the Paumotu Group Hina appears as the wife of Tane, that is, the sun takes the moon to wife. At Samoa Sina is “the woman in the moon.” At Manihiki Isle she is sister of the Maui brothers, at Mangaia she occupied the same position, and became the wife of Tane, though in another version she is taken by Marama, the moon. In yet another she appears as the daughter of Rongo. At Niue (Savage Island) the heavens are “the bright land of Sina,” and in the Marquesas Group she was the wife of Tiki, the first man. This latter position connects her with reproduction. The moon is concerned not only with the growth of crops, the fertile earth, but also with fertility in women. At Tahiti Hina appears as the first woman and the wife of Tiki. At the Hawaiian Isles her husband was “Man Eater”; he broke one of her legs when she ascended to the heavens, where she took the name of Lono-moku (Rongo-motu, or Crippled Rongo), thus connecting her with Rongo of New Zealand and other isles. In Maori myth she became the wife of Tinirau, who is the origin and tutelary being of all fish, and the son of Tangaroa.

At Mangaia isle Rongo was said to be black-haired, and so we hear of “the dark haired children of Rongo,” as all dark-haired folk are termed. The few fair-haired people among them are called “the fair-haired children of Tangaroa.” At Tahiti this Tangaroa was the most important of secondary gods, and he it was who created the first man, Tiki, whose wife was Hina, who, we are told, had two faces. Tangaroa and Tiki sought to destroy man and all the waters of the earth, but Hina saved man and brought the waters back. It is this Great Hina, the Watcher, who is invoked by the natives of Tahiti when performing the famous fire-walking ceremony. She is the being who causes high tides. Always Hina has some connection with water, even as Isis of old was a water goddess.

The myth of Hina and Maui, two personifications of light, is known in New Zealand and some isles of Polynesia; in others the two names are not apparently connected. Our local version makes Hina the sister of the five Maui brethren. She was taken to wife by one Irawaru, who was transformed by Maui the mischievous into a dog, and who has since been looked upon as the parent or tutelary being of dogs. When Hina went in search of her husband, and called to him, a dog came running to her, wagging its tail. So grieved was Hina that she resolved to abandon her home, and so called upon the monsters of the ocean to bear her away. So it was that Hina drifted across the great ocean until she came to the Sacred Isle of Tinirau. Here she was found on the beach and taken before the chief Tinirau, the Lord of Fish, who took her to wife. She was sought by Maui-mua, her eldest brother, who visited her in the form of a bird, the rupe or pigeon, hence he acquired the name of Rupe. He carried Hina and her newly-born child away from Tinirau. In this myth Hina is spoken of as Hina-uri, or Dark Hina, and evidently the story accounts for the absence of the moon for three nights during the hinapouri or dark phase of the orb. When Rupe was in search of Hina he ascended the heavens in order to enquire of Rehua as to her whereabouts. Rehua arranged that food should be provided for the adventurous visitor, and, when the oven was heated, he loosed his bound hair, from which flew forth a flock of koko (parson birds) that were to be utilised as food. This is one of the stories that connect Rehua with the forest.

Under the names of Hina-te-iwaiwa and Hine-te-iwaiwa, the moon was viewed as the patroness of women. Hina presided over childbirth and the art of weaving, even as the moon goddess of Egypt did. The first tiki known was one made for Hine-te-iwaiwa by her father. This tiki is the grotesque image, usually fashioned from intensely hard nephrite (green-stone), worn by Maori women as a fructifying symbol.

Inasmuch as Hina-te-iwaiwa is shewn, in one version of the myth, to be the daughter of Tane, then the making of Tiki, and of the tiki by him, is a matter that can be explained, and that explanation is given in the account of Tiki as a personification. In another version, however, Hina-te-iwaiwa is said to have been a daughter or descendant of Uru-tengangana.

The most interesting of moon myths met with in Maori lore, however, is that concerning the Waiora a Tane. This phrase is usually rendered as “The Living Water of Tane,” or “The Life-giving Waters of Tane.” In popular myth, in New Zealand and across the Pacific, this name illustrates a

Prow of a fishing canoe. belief in magical waters that possessed the great virtue of restoring the dead to life. Our local version is that, when Hina-keha (Pale Hina) becomes Hina-uri (Dark Hina), that is to say, when the moon sickens, wanes and comes nigh to death, she goes afar off across the ocean to seek the waters of life, or fountain of youth, the Wai-ora a Tane. In a far region she bathes her wasted form in the healing waters of Tane, and so returns to this world as Hina-keha, once more young and beautiful.

The above is, of course, an old, old myth in many lands. From Tane of Polynesia to the fountain of healing of Babylonian myth; from the waters of life of Alexander to Ponce de Leon of Florida, we note the persistence of this concept of healing or rejuvenating waters. Hewitt remarks in his “Primitive Traditional History,” that the Fountain of Youth myth probably originated in India, and that of the Waters of Life is said to be of Semitic origin, it having been traced to Assyria. At the Hawaiian Isles this myth was very prominent, as shown in Fornander's writings. At Tonga the water of life is represented by a lake called Vaiola, and we meet with the same name at Samoa. At the Chatham Isles the name was Wai-oro nui a Tane, according to Mr. Shand. At Rarotonga the life-giving waters are spoken of as a pool, and this version mentions that Hina dived into it to regain youth. She is here spoken of as the mother of Tiki, a curious and suggestive position. The Hawaiian tells us that the life-giving waters have three outlets, one each for Tane, Tu and Rongo, so that both sun and moon seem to gain renewed life thereat. Our Maori myth of the moon and the waters of life is clearly paralleled by that of Babylonia, wherein Istar is washed in the water of life, and so restored to glory.

Such is the widespread myth concerning the Waiora a Tane, but the inner meaning thereof has yet to be given. The word vai (Maori wai) of eastern Polynesia, means “to be, to exist,” and vaiora means “to survive.” The Maori word waiora has a general meaning of “welfare,” and is allied to ora and toiora. The waiora of Tane is light, sunlight, which is the welfare of all things. Tane-te-waiora is Tane as dispenser of life-giving sunlight. The dying moon bathes, not in water, but in this life-bringing light, and in this esoteric version we see that the Maori of yore hit upon a scientific truth. With this knowledge waiora must be written as one word, and not as wai (water) ora (life, living).

The crescent symbol is by no means common in Polynesia. It is seen cut in rocks at Hawaii, and in the rei miro of Easter Island, a breast ornament worn by women, a wooden crescent with a face carved on each cusp thereof. This crescent form is also seen carved on the rocks at Orongo (O-Rongo) at that island, and we have seen that Rongo represented the moon. In New Zealand we find a crescent carved on the upper end of the shaft of the old wooden spade (ko) formerly used by the natives. This is suggestive, when we remember that Rongo was the patron of the art of agriculture. That crescent-shaped apex is called the whaka-marama, wherein we have marama=the moon, and whaka, a causative prefix. This old symbol of the moon and fertility was thus employed by the Maori husbandman. Where did he bring it from?

In Hine-Korako, the Fair Maid, we have a personified form of the lunar bow, or halo. She occupied quite an important position, and was looked upon as a kind of guardian spirit. One Tu-korako is, however, a rainbow personification, and has nothing to do with the moon. We also hear of one Hine-Korako of popular folk lore. She is a supernatural being who is said to dwell under the falls of Te Reinga at Te Wairoa; she was looked upon as a guardian spirit and even as an ancestress of the local natives. It is not improbable that she personifies the iridescent display of colours occasionally seen at the falls. In the far-off Hawaiian Isles we are told that Hina's home was in a large cave under the Rainbow Falls near Hilo.

In Hina or Hine-te-iwaiwa, and Rongo, we have mild and benevolent beings; the moon spirit is viewed as a mild-natured power, as the source of fertility, and as a protective being, a guardian of woman.

In dealing with the stories of Maui, Hina and Tuna, we encounter sun, moon and phallic myths, for Maui certainly represents some form of light. In the myths of barbaric folk we note that light and life are practically synonymous terms, and, knowing the common Polynesian a to o vowel change, it is not surprising to find that moui means “life, alive, to live” at Tonga and Niue. Parallel forms are mauri and mouri, which bear the meaning of “life, to live, life principle” in many Polynesian dialects, and are encountered far westward in Melanesia. In Egypt Moui was a personification representing the splendour and light of the sun. The contest between Maui and the Queen of the Underworld was one of light, or life, against darkness or death.

The story of the encounter between Maui and Tuna, commonly termed by us the eel god, is a singular and interesting myth. Hine, or Hina, the wife of Maui, was meddled with by Tuna, who dwelt in the water. Maui then resolved to slay Tuna, and so he laid down nine skids

As Hina was patroness of women, and connected with fertility and reproduction, can these nine skids refer to the period of gestation?

and enticed Tuna ashore. The troublesome eel crawled up the skidway and was slain by Maui at the last skid. As the eel advanced over the skids Maui kept repeating his charm, which consisted of one verse for each skid. It runs:— “Mata Tuna ki te rango tuatahiKo Ira i! Ko Ira i! Ko Ira i! to ro wai.” This second line is repeated in each couplet, and one is tempted to connect this Ira with Ira the eel god of India. The line may be rendered: “It is Ira, it is Ira, it is Ira of the waters.” This concept of an eel assaulting a woman is a very peculiar one, but it appears again in the myth of Tiki, the so-called first man. It seems to hinge upon the Asiatic concept of the phallic eel, which is connected with the phallic serpent known of Mother Eve. The symbol of the eel god of India is a linga with a lunar crescent on its head, which points to the symbolising of fertility. But the eel god of Ira of India is one and the same being, we are told, as Indra, who, in Persian myth, is the fell serpent. Here the phallic eel and serpent coalesce, as it were, and the old myth of Eve and the serpent reappears in the Polynesian myth of Tiki and the first woman, and that of Tuna and Hina. The eel appears as a generator in Celtic (Irish) myth, and it was a sacred creature in Egypt. Several forms of this Tuna myth appear in Polynesia, as in the Cook, Samoan and Paumotu Groups. In the Rarotongan story of Hina she is said to have led about an eel with her. In many lands we note this connection between the moon, fertility, water, and fish, in which the eel is most prominent. A widespread Polynesian myth explains how the coconut originated from one that grew from the head of Tuna. An interesting item is that, in the far-away Mortlock Isles, in the Caroline Group, the natives call the eel tiki-tol, and use it for the equivalent of the serpent in the garden of Eden. For tiki is the old Maori sacerdotal or esoteric term for the phallus. Tol is probably a contracted form of tolo (Maori toro), “to generate, to thrust endwise, etc.” The death of Tuna, the phallic eel, on the ninth skid, is connected with the death of Tiki (the personification of the phallus) on the paepae or “threshold” of Hine-ahu-one. The story of Tiki and the first woman, with her adventure with the phallic eel, is given elsewhere (see Marriage). Evidently it is connected with the myth given above.

It seems probable that the Maori atua or god called Puhi is a personified form of the eel. Near Tauranga is a place named Te Rua o Puhi (The Pit of Puhi) whereat, in a hole, lived a huge eel that was looked upon as a supernatural being. It seems to have been viewed as an ancestor, or as representing one, and a local saying was “The descendants of Puhi do not eat eels.”

The position of Maui is not an easy one to define. He is not treated as an atua, or god, by the Maori, but rather as one of the heroes of antiquity. He is described as performing all kinds of marvellous tricks, and rejoiced in the name of Deceitful Maui, Maui the Trickster. Yet he apparently personifies light, or day, and is credited in many places as having drawn up lands from the depths of the ocean. It is thought by some that the attributes and feats of two different individuals of the name have become mixed, that the more modern Maui was a voyager in Pacific waters who discovered a number of islands, and so gained the reputation of having drawn them up to the light of day.

In Hochstetter's work on New Zealand a statement is made that Maui was the creator of the world, but no Maori myth exists that makes any such claim. A further remark by the same writer to the effect that Maui, “as god of the atmosphere and lord of the deep, as god of the creation in heaven and on earth, is identical with the cosmogonic supreme deities of other Polynesian islands,” is utterly incorrect in all particulars.

Analogues of the Maui myths, or some of them, have been noted in the ancient lore of India, Babylonia and Egypt. It is stated in Maori tradition that Maui pertained to the original homeland of the Maori. The Maui of whom so many stories are told was one of five brothers, whose names were Maui-mua, Maui-pae, Maui-taha, Maui-roto, and Maui-potiki. The latter was also known as Maui-tikitiki-a-Taranga, and this, the youngest of the brothers, is the one around whom so many marvellous stories cluster. We hear but little concerning the other brothers. Some curious statements occur with regard to Maui; one such is to the effect that one of his eyes was like an eel, and the other was like greenstone. One of his names is Maui-matawaru, which may be rendered as Eight-eyed Maui, but then the Western Pacific word matavaru means “wise,” or “wisdom,” and this is probably the meaning in the above case. But a Rarotongan account of Maui states that he had eight heads, which should endow him with a fair number of eyes. Yet another Polynesian story is that Maui came by way of the rising sun to the Marquesas Group, which, in conjunction with other evidence, seems to support the view that he personifies day, or light.

The name of Maui's mother is usually given as Taranga by the Maori, his father's name appears in many forms throughout Polynesia. Maui-potiki was an immature birth and was wrapped by his mother in her girdle (tikitiki) and cast into the sea. But Maui did not perish in the waters, for the sea denizens befriended and nurtured him. The Wave Children of Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid, succoured him. Their names are Ngaru-nui, Ngaru-roa, Ngaru-tiketike, with many another. The Cloud Children, Ao-nui, Ao-roa, Ao-pouri, and others, bore him on their backs. The Whanau puhi, the Wind Children, came from the rolling plaza of the Ocean Maid to gambol with him. Tangaroa, the Tide Controller, and Rongomai-tahanui of the vast expanses, were as parents to him. Hine-moana sent the seaweed to clothe him as with a garment. When Maui had developed into a fair and stalwart youth, then the Wind Children brought him to land, where he made his way to his mother's home. Taranga declined to recognise him as her son, until reminded of the circumstances connected with his birth. Maui soon began to show his daring disposition and capacity for marvellous adventures. He soon discovered that his mother never remained at home during the day, but always descended to the underworld ere the dawn came.

Maui resolved to seek the realm wherein his mother spent the day, and so, by a stratagem, he prevented the dawning light being seen inside the house, and so detained his mother until it was broad daylight. He then assumed the form of a bird, the pigeon, and followed his mother down to the underworld. The passage thereto was disclosed by pulling up a bunch of rushes. Maui found both his parents in the underworld, and there met with a number of adventures. Doubtless there is some hidden meaning in this story. Maui is in some versions said to have been the son of Hina, who represents the moon, and we are told that the home of the moon is in the underworld. These stories are assuredly of an allegorical nature.

Maui acquired the powers of magic and was able to destroy life by that means, and in present-day speech the word maui denotes witchcraft. One of his most notable feats was his great task of lengthening the day. At that period the days were so short that man could not find time in which to perform his daily duties, hence Maui resolved to capture the sun and cause it to move more slowly. He and his brothers proceeded to the edge of the world, to the rua or pit from which the sun appears when it emerges each morn from the underworld. There they laid in wait, some concealed on either side of the aperture, around which the nooses to catch the sun were arranged. Ere long the sun, like a fierce, flaming fire, appeared, its head and limbs were ensnared in loops of stout rope, the Maui brothers ran to control the captured sun. Maui-potiki then attacked the sun, wielding a strange weapon, the jawbone of his grand-parent, and beat it so severely that it cried for mercy. He then compelled the sun to move more slowly in its daily journey, that the day might be lengthened for the tasks of man. This feat of Maui's is told by natives from New Zealand northward to the Hawaiian Group. At Mangaia, Maui is said to have plaited his snare from the hair of his sister Hina.

Another of Maui's feats was that of drawing up the land from the depths of the ocean. The North Island of New Zealand is said to have been so pulled up by him, hence its name of Te Ika a Maui (The Fish of Maui). In this task he used the jawbone of his grandparent as a hook, and, having no bait therefor, he smeared some of his own blood on it. That hook is now represented by the curved coast line of Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island, its point being the cape known as Te Matau a Maui (The Fishhook of Maui). When the island appeared above water it was seen to be occupied; houses were seen upon it, and fires were burning; people were engaged in their daily avocations. Again it is related that, when drawn up, the island was in a very soft condition, and the brothers of Maui, by walking over it, caused its present rough surface, the valleys, ranges and mountains. The island groups of Tonga, Cook, Hawaii, also Manihiki, Mangareva, etc., are said to have been so fished up by Maui, a truly wide-spread myth. It has apparently been carried as far as the New Hebrides; if indeed it was not brought eastward. In some of the isles of Polynesia Maui is said to have lifted the heavens up to where they are now, a task credited to Tane in New Zealand.

The procuring of fire is another far-carried myth in which Maui appears as the principal figure. In the New Zealand version we are told that Maui carefully extinguished all fires, apparently in a mischievous mood, he wished to play pranks on the custodian of fire, one Mahuika, a female being who is the personified form of fire. So, as fire was needed wherewith to cook food, Maui set forth on his quest, and came to where Mahuika dwelt, she whose offspring were the five Fire Children. Now the names of the Fire Children are Konui, Koroa, Mapere, Manawa and Koiti. These are also the names of the five fingers of the human hand. The fingers of Mahuika were the Fire Children, and Maui the Deceitful sought to destroy them. He applied to Mahuika for the gift of fire, one of the Fire Children, and she gave him Koiti; that is, she pulled off her little finger and gave it to him. This he took away with him, but he did not carry it home; he extinguished the fire; that is to say, he destroyed Koiti, and, returning to the fire conserver, he begged for more fire, saying that the first had gone out. On receiving another Fire Child, he also took that away and destroyed it, and so continued to act until all but one of the Fire Children had been destroyed. Mahuika was now so enraged by the loss of her children that she plucked off the remaining finger and cast it at Maui. Then ensued a terrible conflagration. Fire attacked everything—plants, trees, stones, the earth, all waters, everything took fire and burned with great fierceness. The fire attacked Maui, who fled, pursued by raging flames. Maui narrowly escaped death, but, as he fled, he called upon Te Ihorangi, Ua-nui, and Ua-roa to come to his assistance. All these are personified forms of rain. Swiftly came hail, and sleet, and heavy rain to succour Maui; the countless legions of Te Ihorangi assailed Mahuika, a terrible conflict ensued. In the end water gained the victory, and Mahuika fled, her wailing and distress equalled that of Maui when hard pressed by her. Mahuika now faced death; fire was in danger of extinction. Mahuika fled to one Hine-kaikomako, to Hinahina, to the child of Momuhanga for protection. They gave her fair refuge, within them fire found a sheltered haven. These names represent forest trees in which the seeds of fire took refuge, and which still preserve it for mankind. The first-mentioned is the personified form of the kaikomako tree (Pennantia corymbosa), the most highly prized wood for the purpose of generating fire. The Kaikomako Maid is the Fire Conserver. When man desires fire he applies to this Fire Maid for it; that is to say, he takes a piece of her body wherewith to generate it. This Maid was taken to wife by one Irawhaki, the Fire Revealer, whom we hear of in Maori myth. He is referred to in an old song— “E Ira E! Whakina mai te ahi.”(O Ira! Reveal to us the fire.) The other two trees referred to are the mahoe and totara (Melicytus ramiflorus and Podocarpus totara respectively). These also were utilised in fire generation.

In one version of this myth Maui is said to have transformed himself into a hawk in order to escape from the pursuing fire, but even so he got scorched by the heat, hence the colour of the hawk's plumage even unto this day. It is a curious fact that, in Egyptian myth, the hawk was connected with fire. In Mangaian myth Maui is said to have cured Hina of blindness, that is to have restored light to the moon, which certainly seems to connect Maui with the sun. Mauike (Mahuika) is there said to be a denizen of the underworld, where Maui's mother also dwelt. Maui descended to the underworld to procure fire, and met with a similar experience to that related in the New Zealand version. In the Samoan version Mahuika becomes Mafuie, the “k” being dropped, and Maui is called by his second name of Tikitiki, which there becomes Ti'iti'i. At Niue the name of Maui appears. At the Hawaiian Isles Maui is assisted by Hina, his mother, in his quest for fire; she also assists him in the Tahitian version. With a few differences and transposition of names we find this far-spread myth preserved in many lands, and, in a number of cases, birds are connected with the desired fire, or with the procuring of it.

Maui is credited with many feats, great courage, and superior cunning, also with cleverness in many ways. Thus we are told that he was the first to make and use barbed fish hooks and bird spears, and the first to construct an eel pot fitted with a retracted entrance that prevented the escape of the eels. He was an expert dart thrower and kite flier; he invented the game of whai, or cat's cradle, and was renowned in many ways. He was not, however, deemed an atua, or god.

The final and most remarkable of the adventures of Maui was his contest with Hine-nui-te-Po, the female janitor of the underworld. In this adventure he strove to disable Hine and gain eternal life for man. Evidently this is a myth concerning a contest between light and life on the one side, and darkness and death on the other. It is, in fact, another such myth as that of Tane and Whiro, already explained. It is not clear as to why the Maori should possess two distinct myths pertaining to this subject. The Maui versus Hine-nui-te-Po story is based on the popular native belief that this Hine, the ex-Dawn Maid, is actively engaged in destroying man; she stands for death, and drags man down to the underworld of death and darkness. The higher teaching concerning her is of quite a different nature.

The enmity between Maui and Hine originated in the death of the Fire Children at the hands of Maui. For Mahuika (personified form of fire) was, we are told, a sister Hine-titama, though other versions do not agree with this. Hine resolved to punish Maui for having destroyed the Fire Children; Maui was to be slain by magic arts. It was necessary to procure a medium through which such spells might affect their objective, and so Hine despatched Kahukura (the butterfly) to procure a drop of Maui's blood to serve as an ohonga, or medium. But the messenger failed in his errand through feebleness and his conspicuous appearance; he was slain by Maui. Hine then despatched Waeroa, the mosquito, but he was too noisy; Maui heard him approach, humming as he came, and destroyed him. Hine then chose Namu, the silent sandfly, as a messenger. Namu succeeded, and bore back to Hine a drop of the blood of Maui. The end was now assured, through Maui knew it not. The hero who had conquered the sun and performed mighty deeds, the fame of which had struck against the heavens, was doomed to meet death at the hands of Hine of the Dark Underworld.

Maui was distressed by the presence of death in the world. He wished men to die as does the moon, that is, for a brief period only, and then return to life. But Dark Hine of Rarohenga said: “Not so. Let man die for all time, and return to the Earth Mother, even that he may be mourned and wept for.” Thus it was that death became permanent in the ao marama, this world of life. Then the thought grew with Maui—why should he not slay or disable the Goddess of Death, thereby destroying her influence, and so bring about the condition of temporary death.

Thus it was that Maui set off to seek Hine-nui-te-Po and overcome her. As companions he took with him several birds. When they arrived at Kautere-rangi they came upon Hine lying asleep at the house called Potaka-rongorongo, on the door frame of which had been smeared the blood of Maui obtained by Namu. Maui proposed to enter the body of Hine, destroy her vitals, and so abolish death by destroying the author of death. He assumed the form of a rat in which to essay his desperate venture, but Tatahore (a bird, the whitehead) told him that he would not succeed in that form. Maui then took the form of an earth-worm, but Tiwaiwaka (a bird, the fantail) condemned his appearance, so Maui transformed himself into a moko-huruhuru, and wriggled about in a manner that vastly pleased his companions, so much so that that form was decided upon as the best. The moko-huruhuru was explained to the writer as being a species of caterpillar, or grub, possessing phosphorescent qualities, though it is said in “The Whare Wananga” to be a hairy lizard. This latter definition is probably a literal rendering of the two words composing the name; presumably a hairy lizard would be somewhat of a rara avis.

Maui now warned his companions to remain silent, and above all not to laugh at his actions. His aim was to extract or destroy the heart of Hine, and to pass through her body, whereupon eternal death would be vanquished, and man would live for ever. So Maui entered the body of Hine by way of the Paepae o Tiki, and passed into the puapua. The sight quite overcame the companions of Maui; Tatahore laughed outright, while Tiwaiwaka fled to the plaza and danced about with delight. But Maui of the many lands was doomed. Hine was startled and awoke; she felt Moko-huruhuru and slew him. Thus died Maui the hero, and so near was man to grasping immortality here on earth.

Maui is said to have had an encounter with a huge monster named Mokoroa-i-ata or Mangoroa-i-ata, an encounter credited to Tangaroa at Rarotonga. This monster is now represented by the Milky Way, usually called the Mangoroa. It is alluded to as an eel in Vol. 24 of the Polynesian Journal.

At the Chatham Isles Maui is said to have taken to wife one Rohe, a sister of the sun. She remarked upon his ugly face, and so he forced her to change faces with him, and finally he killed her. Her spirit attacked and destroyed Maui, and so death entered the world. Here Rohe takes the place of Hine-nui-te-Po of the Maori version; she became queen of the underworld, and personified form of darkness and evil, as is Whiro in Maori myth. The Maori knows little of Rohe, so far as we are aware, but both Maori and Rarotongans have preserved the name.

Such are the Maui myths that are known across so vast an area of the Pacific Ocean. The various stories are here much abbreviated, but serve as an illustration of the popular myths that were so much appreciated by the Maori.

It seems to be a recognised thing that no land is complete without a deluge myth, and many such have been placed on record in anthropological and other works. We do not find anything of peculiar interest among our Maori folk, however, concerning a past cataclysm of this nature. There is a lack of detail and precision in native references to a former deluge. Some refer to the Hurihanga a Mataaho as a deluge, but that name merely denoted the overturning of the Earth Mother by command of Io. Another so-called deluge mentioned is that known as the Tai-o-Ruatapu. This was quite a modern affair, having occurred but about twenty generations ago, according to a popular story. Possibly the tale is based on such an occurrence as the tidal wave that swept across the Pacific in 1868 (if my memory serves me). The persons mentioned in the story lived in the isles of Polynesia, about the time that the Arawa and other vessels sailed for New Zealand, or a little before that time. One Ruatapu, wishing to bring trouble on his friends because his father Uenuku had belittled him, resolved to drown certain male members of leading families. He induced them to go afishing with him, and, when well out at sea, he secretly pulled the plug out of the hole in the bottom of the vessel, and so allowed it to fill with water. There are several versions of this popular story. One has it that Ruatapu and his brother Paikea (alias Kahutia) were the sole survivors of this tragedy. As Paikea made for the shore Ruatapu called out to him: “When you reach land prepare for the future. Assemble all the people at Hikurangi, for when the long nights of winter arrive, I will be with you.” When the time came Ruatapu returned to his home in the form of a deluge of waters, and only those who had ascended the mount of Hikurangi escaped perishing in the flood.

A story of a deluge has appeared in Chapter XII. of White's “Ancient History of the Maori,” Vol. I., that was obtained from a South Island source. This account I can but view with deep suspicion, for it seems to be based upon missionary teachings. A number of expressions used, such as

Carved wooden bowl.Dominion Museum collection whakapono, are employed in such a way as to show that the relater was conversant with the Maori edition of the Bible. Many of these usages are not met with in genuine old relations of Maori lore. Evidently some enthusiastic Christianised native has introduced a number of names of mythical beings of Maori lore into a garbled description of the old Babylonian myth beloved of our own teachers. The statement that a great flood was sent to punish men because they refused to heed the admirable teachings of Tane is certainly Biblical, but is utterly opposed to the trend of Maori lore.

We have seen that one Mahuika is the personified form of fire in Maori myth, and that Maui obtained fire from her when he destroyed the Fire Children. This, in popular story, was the ultimate origin of fire, but a less widely known myth takes the origin of fire back to the sun. In this wise:—

The sun on high wished to confer a boon upon mankind in days when the world was young. Even so Ra pondered as to what that boon should be, and at last resolved to send them fire, that man might possess the blessing of fire for all time. He therefore commanded his son Auahi-tu-roa (personified form of comets) to come down to earth bringing with him the seed of fire as a gift to mankind. This command was carried out, and, on arriving in this lower world, Auahi took Mahuika to wife, their offspring being the five Fire Children, whose names are those of the five fingers of the human hand. Their sad fate at the hands of Maui has already been related. Another name for the personified form of comets is Upokoroa, or Long Head, as seen in the saying: “ Me oioi ki te ringa ka puta te tama a Upoko-roa,” an allusion to the method of kindling fire by friction. The ignited dust was placed in some dry fibrous material which was waved to and fro, when the fire blazed up, or, as the Maori puts it, the child of Upoko-roa appears.

A Matatua version of the Manuika myth has it that one Hine-i-tapeka, a sister of Mahuika, represents subterranean fire, and is responsible for all the charred timber seen in volcanic deposits. Subterranean fire is called the Ahi o Tapeka (Fire of Tapeka).

At Mangaia Island we find that Mauike, the conserver of fire, dwells in the underworld, whither Maui went to procure it. At Samoa Mafui'e also abides in the underworld, and at both places the sex changes. At the Tokelau Group we have the form Mafuike, and the sex becomes female again. In many other isles the name is met with, carrying certain letter changes, according to the dialect.

In Maori myth the winds in general are personified in Tawhiri-matea and Tawhiri-rangi, two members of the offspring of the primal parents. Each wind has, however, its own personified form. The winds are said to have come from Rangi-tamaku and Rangi-parauri, the second and third of the twelve heavens. All phases and forms of wind, snow, ice, etc., are the offspring of one Huru-te-arangi, a supernormal being, and of Tawhirimatea. This Huru was taken to wife by two beings, and produced all the Wind Children, the Snow Children, and Frost Children.

Here we have the origin of these phenomena in clear tabular form. Huru was taken to wife by Te Ihorangi, the personified form of rain, and brought forth twelve children, who personify different forms of snow, ice, frost and hail. She was also taken by Tonganui-kaea (Tonga=south) and had Parawera-nui, the cold south wind, who mated with Tawhirimatea and gave birth to the Wind Children. A recital of the names of all these young folk would be tedious and unprofitable.

One Raka-maomao is also connected with winds, and the south wind is called the Child of Raka-maomao. At Raro- tonga this being appears as representing all winds, but at Samoa La'a-maomao represents the rainbow. At Hawaii one Hema personifies the south wind.

We are told that the four toko (poles, props) by means of which Tane supported the heavens are the four winds, though another version states that they were rays (also termed toko) of the sun. The personified forms of the four winds are Parawera-nui (south), Tahu-makaka-nui (west), Tahu-mawake-nui (east), and Hurunuku-atea (north). From these winds all things acquire the breath of life. The Wind Children it was who bore Tane to the heavens, and defeated the hordes of Whiro. They dwell in the Wind House, but emerge therefrom to gambol on Mahora-nui-atea, the vast plaza of the Ocean Maid, and to assail the Cloud Children in the vast region of Watea (space personified). They are known collectively as the Whanau puhi (Wind family) and as the Tini o Matangi-nui (Multitude of Great Winds).

The wise men of yore were believed to possess the powers of raising and laying winds. Hence wind charms were an important part of the equipment of seafarers. A simple method of laying a violent wind is to procure a piece of dead ember, proceed to a stream, and stand therein while you pass the ember under your left thigh with your left hand, repeating at the same time an appropriate charm.

The wind calabash of Polynesian myth is a quaint fancy, a symbolical conception employed in a practical manner. Holes formed in the lower part of a calabash represented the wind apertures on the horizon, whence come the various winds. When ceremonially demanding a certain wind the operator left open the aperture pertaining to that wind, and closed the others.

The superior creation myth shows that sea and land were brought into being by Io-matua, the Supreme Being, but popular myths tell a different story. Thus we are told that waters collected and so formed an ocean, out of which the earth appeared, developed, gained maturity, and was taken to wife by Rangi. Another story is that Rangi took to wife one Wainui-atea (Great Open Space of Waters, or Great Expanse of Water), and to these was born Moana-nui (Great Ocean). Among the Matatua folk of the Bay of Plenty the ocean is personified in one Wainui, but the best-known personification of it is Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid. These personifications sometimes appear in genealogies as the progenitors or forerunners of man, but this was condemned by experts. The Ocean Maid is spoken of as constantly assailing the Earth Mother, ever she attacks her; all bays, gulfs, inlets we see are “te nganunga a Hine-moana,” the result of the gnawing of Hine-moana into the great body of Tuanuku, our universal mother. This aggression was noted by the Whanau a Rangi (Offspring of Rangi), who appointed Rakahore, Hine-tu-a-kirikiri, and Hine-one (personified forms of rock, gravel and sand) to protect the flanks of the Earth Mother from being swallowed by Hine-moana. When the serried battalions of the Ocean Maid roll in, rank behind rank, to assault the Earth Mother, gaunt Rakahore faces them fearlessly, and they break in fury around him. Still they rush on, in wavering array, to hurl themselves in vain against the rattling armour of the Gravel Maid, or upon the smooth but immovable form of the Sand Maid. They budge not, but ever stand between Papa the Parentless and the fury of Hine-moana.

This table shows the origin of the three personifications mentioned. They sprang from the line of Tane and the Mountain Maid.

Hine-moana was taken to wife by Kiwa, the guardian of the ocean. The first wife of Kiwa was Parawhenuamea, who produced the waters of the earth. The ocean is known as Te Moana nui a Kiwa, the Great Ocean of Kiwa.

The Ocean Maid is a descendant of Tane, as shown below:—

The offspring of Hine-moana consisted of shellfish and seaweed of many species. These young folk were conveyed by their parents to Rakahore and Tuamatua (personified forms of rock and stones), and placed under their charge to be fed and reared. Tuamatua and two others were appointed by Tane to assemble and keep in order these offspring of Rakahore, Hine-moana and Parawhenuamea. The offspring of Kaukau and Te Arawaru (cockles, etc.) were placed with Hine-one, the Sand Maid, to be cared for by her.

Kiwa, Kaukau and Takaaho, the guardians of the ocean, dwell in the “house” Tahora-nui-atea, and ever guard the bounds of Hine-moana. The name Tahuaroa is occasionally applied to the great expanse of ocean. The words tahua and marae both denote a plaza, and both are applied to the ocean (Marae-nui-atea) which is compared to a vast plaza. Used in this sense we also encounter the word marae in the full title of Rongo (Rongo-marae-roa), for, like all lunar deities, he is connected with water. Another name for the expanse of ocean is the Raorao nui a Watea, The Great Plain of Watea (personified form of space). The Chatham Islands natives call it Te Hiku Watea.

All shellfish are termed Te Whanau a Te Arawaru (The Offspring of Te Arawaru), and they are divided into many families. The two clans of Pipi and Kuku (cockle and mussel) were at war at one time, and the former folk were driven to dwell at the one tahua (sandy or sand and mud beach between high and low water).

Tangaroa is the personified form of all fish, and his son Tinirau is also connected with fish. He it was who took Hina (personified form of the moon) to wife when she went across the ocean to the Sacred Isle, Motu-tapu. He is connected with Te Puna i Rangiriri, a mythical spring or place in the ocean where fish are said to originate, or come from. The frost fish, river eel, and conger eel have, however, a different origin, as they are said to have sprung from Te Ihorangi (per- sonified form of rain). These came down from the heavens to earth. The inanga also is said to have sprung from Rehua, and the shark from Takaaho, another member of the offspring of Rangi. Whales originated with Tinirau.

All seabirds are personified in Hurumanu, one of the primal offspring, and some species have a special personification of their own.

Tane it was who arranged that the waxing moon should control the tides of Hine-moana. Rona and Tangaroa assist in this task, hence their secondary names of Whakamau-tai. At the same time the Tuahiwi nui a Hine-moana (The Ridge, or Backbone of the Ocean Maid) was located in the ocean and assists in the regulation of tides. The popular story concerning the origin or cause of tides is that they are produced by the inhalations and exhalations of a huge monster named Te Parata, who dwells in the depths of the ocean.

There are a number of personified forms of the rainbow in Maori myth. Such are Kahukura, Uenuku, Haere, and some others. The ordinary vernacular term for a rainbow is aniwaniwa; it is sometimes called atua piko, or “curved atua,” the latter word denoting something supernormal. The most interesting myth connected with the rainbow is that concerning the adventure of Uenuku with the Mist Maid. In this story Uenuku is introduced as an ordinary mortal living with his relatives the ordinary village life of the Maori people. In his walks abroad one day he encountered two women of surpassing beauty. These were Hine-pukohurangi and Hine-wai, two sisters who abode in realms celestial. The former is the Heavenly Mist Maid, to render her name literally; she is the personified form of mist and fog, to be hereinafter referred to as the Mist Maid. Her sister, Hine-wai, is the personified form of light, misty rain, such as is often connected with mist. In one version we are told that these two maids came down to earth in order to bathe in the waters of this world. Whatever their object may have been it is clear that Uenuku was deeply enamoured of the charms of the beauteous Mist Maid. He succeeded in inducing her to look on him with favour, and so was the Mist Maid taken to wife by Uenuku of the world of light. There was, however, one harassing restriction imposed upon his intercourse with his bride, for she would not remain in this world during the day. Every night she descended from the sky and proceeded to the abode of Uenuku, but always left him at early dawn, and returned to her home in the heavens. Ever she was accompanied by her sister Hine-wai, the Rain Maid, who remained outside the abode of Uenuku in order to give warning of the coming of dawn. When the Long Fish of the heavens, the Milky Way, swung round, and the first sign of dawn appeared, Hine-wai would call to her sister: “O Hine! The day cometh.” Then the Mist Maid would emerge from the dwelling of Uenuku, and the sisters would together ascend to their celestial home. The Mist Maid is often so seen ascending in early morn. Her aria (form of incarnation of a deity, visible form) is the white mist seen rising from the body of the Earth Mother when Hine-ata, the Morning Maid, comes to us.

Now Uenuku was extremely proud of his fair bride, so lovely was the celestial Mist Maid, but she would not allow him to show her to his people, or even to speak of her to them. She said: “When our child is born, then you may take me before your people; until then I must not be made known. Should you disobey me, then I will forsake you, never to return.” As time passed Uenuku became so eager to exhibit his bride to the village folk that the desire was too strong to resist. For the Mist Maid possessed a loveliness never seen in the women of this world. Thus was it that he told his people of his mysterious love who nightly came down from the heavens to visit him. Then it was resolved to deceive and detain the Mist Maid, so that all might see her. All crevices in the walls, doorway, and other parts of the house of Uenuku were carefully filled, so that no ray of light might enter the interior when day dawned. Then the coming of the Mist Maid was awaited. She came as usual, and, when dawn approached, her sister, the Rain Maid, called to her: “O Hine! The day cometh.” The Mist Maid was about to depart when Uenuku detained her, saying that dawn was yet distant, as shown by the lack of any ray of light in the house. The Mist bride thought that her sister had been mistaken, and so did not depart. Again the gentle Rain Maid called her, but again Uenuku deceived and detained her. Then the light became so strong that the rain sister was compelled to return to the sky, and the broad, clear light of day flashed across the body of the Earth Mother.

The time had now come when Uenuku could exhibit his marvellous bride to the people. The open space before his abode was now occupied by all the village folk, who eagerly awaited the appearance of the Mist Maid. Uenuku opened the door of his house, the light of clear day entered therein, while without Tama-nui-te-ra, the rising sun, banished the gloom of Whiro and greeted the advent of Hine-aotea, the Day Maid.

The betrayed Mist Maid rose. She looked at Uenuku, she saw the gleaming sunlight, the people assenbled on the plaza, and knew that she had been deceived by man, that her sojourn on earth was over. She came forth from the house into the porch; her long hair covered her as a cloak covers the form of the wearer; the assembled people marvelled at the superlative loveliness of the fair Mist Maid. She ascended to the roof of the house, to the ridge thereof, and took her stand on the apex of the gable at the front. All eyes were turned on her as she stood there gazing upward, with upraised arms, her form enveloped in such hair as no mortal had even seen. Silence reigned as she raised her voice and sang a song of farewell to Uenuku, upbraiding him for his deception, and announcing that nevermore would she return to him.

Then a strange thing happened. For the people saw, descending slowly from the heavens, a column of fleecy mist. As the Mist Maid sang her farewell song, so the mist pillar descended, until, just as she concluded her song, the mist enveloped her and concealed her from the view of the people. Then the mist column slowly ascended again, and finally disappeared in the boundless realm of Watea; but there was no sign of the lovely Mist Maid. Gone was she, never to return.

Now the penalty of disobedience was felt by Uenuku, and deeply he mourned for his lost bride. Impelled by grief and desire he set off in search of the Mist Maid. Over far lands and through many regions he wandered long, but never again did he look upon the face of the lost one. But, ever seeking, ever hoping, he fared on, until, in a far land, old age, decay and death came to Uenuku the Seeker. Then the gods who live for ever translated Uenuku to the heavens, and when you see the rainbow spanning the sky, you know that it is Uenuku, he who sought his loved bride in far lands.

Never again did the Mist Maid come down to earth in human form, only her aria comes to greet the wise old Earth Mother, and so, when brave Tane springs above the eastern horizon, we often see the white mist rising from vale, and plain, and mountain range, to return to the abode of Hine-pukohu, the Mist Maid.

Uenuku, as personified form of the rainbow, is one of the more important of the third-class Maori deities. He was especially favoured as a war god, and offerings were made to him, placatory gifts. Many omens were drawn from the appearance of rainbows. Uenuku-rangi (rangi=the heavens) is a name often applied to this personification. At one time he visited this world and begat a female child, daughter of one Ihu-parapara, wife of Tamatea-ariki-nui of famous memory. This was a case of immature birth, and the child was supposed to be lifeless, hence its body was taken, away and deposited at the tuahu. Uenuku simulated the form of Tamatea when he visited this world, and so Ihu-parapara was deceived. When he left her, however, she noticed that his feet left the earth as he walked, and so he rose from earth and gradually disappeared in space.

In after days, when the tua rite was about to be performed over Kahu-ngunu, another of the children of Tamatea, a strange visitor reached the village. This unknown visitor was a young maid of fair presence. She walked into the village, approached the house of Tamatea, entered it by way of the window space, and seated herself upon the tapu sleeping place of Tamatea. This bold and unusual act caused astonishment and resentment to be expressed. Ihu-parapara demanded to know who she was. The maid replied: “I am thine. I was abandoned by you at the tuahu. Uenuku came and took me far away across the ocean, to the far region where the tides divide, where I was tended and cherished by the folk who dwell in vast open spaces, they who occupy the great plaza of Hine-moana [the Ocean Maid].” On hearing this strange tale Tamatea conducted the sea maid to the sacred tuahu, and there the pure and tohi rites were performed over her, while she was given the name of Uenuku-titi. As these rites were being performed the people saw a vivid rainbow standing over the tuahu, and knew that Uenuku was present. Then the special foods that had been prepared for the ritual feast connected with Kahungunu were utilised for that held in honour of Uenuku-titi, his half-sister of celestial origin.

We are told that the maid Uenuku-titi remained with her mother's people, but that ever and anon she would leave her home on land and sojourn a space with the strange folk who dwell in the vast ocean spaces known as Mahora-nui-atea. Her descendants for some generations showed these strange ways, and would disappear at times, but gradually they grew reconciled to the land-world, and so became entirely land-dwelling creatures. The importance of this line of descent from Uenuku-titi lies in the fact that it is one of the links that connect man with the gods. The lines of descent from Tane, Uru, and Roiho are other such links.

Kahukura is another famous personification of the rainbow, and two names are included in this case. The upper and darker band of the rainbow known by that name is called Kahukura-pango, and the lower one Pou-te-aniwaniwa; the former is viewed as a male, the latter as a female. Weather signs are derived from the appearance of these bows. Kahukura is said to have been a son of Rongomai, a being already alluded to in these pages, and to have come to New Zealand with Rongo-i-amo, when the latter introduced the sweet potato into these isles. Kahukura adopted a novel method of reaching New Zealand. He utilised his mother, Hine-te-wai, as a bridge, placing her in the form of an arch, with her feet planted in Hawaiki and her arms supporting her in New Zealand. Apparently she also represents the rainbow, though Rongomai seems to personify meteors. Rongomai was then placed on Hine-te-wai, presumably to strengthen the arch, when Kahukura and his companion were enabled to cross dry shod to New Zealand over a resplendant bridge some two thousand miles in length.

The appearance of Kahukura was held to denote the nearness of rain. If such rain were not wanted the Maori would address Kahukura in most insulting terms, which would, naturally, deeply offend him, and cause him to withhold the rain.

In the Cook Group the rainbow is spoken of as being the girdle of Tangaroa. By this path he came down to earth when charmed by the beauty of Hina (personified form of the moon). Fair people are said to be the descendants of Tangaroa, because he married fair Hina-Keha, Pale Hina, and their offspring were fair, light-haired folk, the “whanau kehu a Tangaroa.”

There are a number of personified forms of lightning. Two of the principal ones are Tama-te-uira and Hine-te-uira, the Lightning Man and the Lightning Maid. The former is said to represent forked lightning, and the latter sheet lightning. Mataaho personifies distant lightning.

Tama-te-uira, Tu-matakaka and others were appointed guardians and regulators of the Lightning Children, a body of wayward young folk whose names denote various phases of lightning. Such control is most necessary, otherwise serious injury might be inflicted by them on inoffensive beings and things in this world. Tupai is another personified form of lightning, and the Matatua tribes attribute to Tupai any injury or destruction caused by lightning. Lightning is sometimes called the ahi tupua a Hine-te-uira—the supernatural fire of the Lightning Maid. Tawhaki, a name frequently encountered in Maori traditions, and even in genealogies, seems to represent lightning, and a passage in Mr. White's notes reads: “Tawhaki is the atua of thunder and lightning,” and the Moriori folk direct their invoctions to him when a thunderstorm appears.

Many portents were derived by the Maori from lightning, and the rua koha or rua kanapu was a widespread institution. These names mean a place of flashing, and are applied to places where summer lightning is wont to play, usually high hill peaks, but not always so. In some cases coast dwelling observers see this phenomenon out at sea, as in the Bay of Plenty, where are two rua koha known as the Awanui and Awaiti. Omens are derived according to the direction in which the lightning flashes. As a rule the vertical flash is viewed as ominous of evil for the local people. Should it flash in the direction of the lands of another tribe, it is a good omen for the local people, thought trouble is in store for that other tribe. It may be remembered that the three columns or fire seen to blaze upward from the summit of the Alps foretokened the destruction of the Roman Legions under Varus.

With reference to the origin of clouds, mist and rain, three supernormal beings, Te Mamaru, Mawake-nui, and Te Ihorangi were appointed as guardians of the bounds of the heavens. All three were children of the primal parents; the last-mentioned being the personified form of rain. The first two probably represent dark clouds and wind. Their task was to control the clouds of the heavens, that they might act as a screen between Rangi and Papa, and so shade the body of the Earth Mother. The controllers called upon Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid, and Hine-wai (personified form of misty rain) to despatch Hine-Makohu, the Mist Maid,

A variant form of the name Hine-pukohu.

to act as a covering for the Sky Parent, and to shelter the Earth Mother. Hence the clouds we see above us. Mist, clouds and rain are all born of the warmth or perspiration of Tuanuku (the earth), Hine-moana (the ocean), and Hine-wai.

The principal personified forms of clouds are Hine-kapua (the Cloud Maid), who was a daughter of Tane, Tu-kapua, Te Ao-tu, Te Ao-hore, etc. The Cloud Children are a numerous folk; they dwell within their house known as the Ahoaho o Tukapua, which is the realm of Watea (personified form of space). They often venture forth to roam athwart the vast breast of Rangi, the Sky Parent, where they are frequently attacked and harried by the Wind Children, a turbulent crew that ever careers around Watea and disturbs the serenity of the Cloud Maid and her young relatives.

To explain the origin of rock, stones and sand, we cannot do better than to present it in Maori form:—

Here we see that Tane the Fertiliser, Tane the Parent, took to wife the personified form of mountains and ranges, who had issue one Putoto, as also the personified form of water. The latter is seen in the streams one sees issuing from hills and ranges. From the three offspring of Putoto sprang all taniwha (water monsters and mythical dragons), insects, reptiles, as also the beings who produced all forms of rock, stones, gravel and sand. The three female children of Rangahua are the personified forms of sandstone, sand and gravel, viz., the Sandstone Maid, the Sand Maid, and the Gravel Maid. The two last-mentioned, together with Rakahore, are, as we have seen, the protectors of the Earth Mother from the ravages of Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid. Rakahore is a sturdy defender, he takes his stand amid the surging battalions of Hine-moana, and never wearies of withstanding their ceaseless assaults. His name appears in a quaint old-time aphorism: “E kore a Para-whenua e haere ki te kore a Rakahore” (Para-whenua will not move abroad in the absence of Rakahore). The explanation of this cryptic saying is that water would not emerge from the earth, as it does in the form of rivulets and springs, were it not for the rock that lies beneath the surface.

Greenstone (pounamu) is said to have had a different origin, in some of these relations. Thus one story relates that Tangaroa took to wife one Anu-matao, who represents cold apparently, who produced Pounamu and Poutini. The latter appears to have been a guardian of the ever-prized greenstone, which is often called the Stone of Poutini. There is a long story about the migration of greenstone, the Pounamu Folk, to New Zealand in mist-laden days of the remote past. It may be mentioned that the native term pounamu, and our name of greenstone, are applied, not only to true nephrite, but also to bowenite, jadeite, serpentine, and malachite. In some far-off region across the ocean is a place or sea named Moana-kura, concerning which a quarrel arose between Poutini and Tutunui. The latter wished to use this sea as an abiding place for his charges and offspring, fish and shellfish. Poutini objected, and so the contest commenced. Tutunui assembled all the Sandstone Folk, represented by Hine-tu-a-hoanga, who attacked the Greenstone People and defeated them. This myth is based on the fact that sandstone was utilised for the purpose of working nephrite, which is of too tough a nature to lend itself to flaking or chipping; thus sandstone is, as it were, the natural enemy of nephrite.

Poutini now resolved to migrate with the Greenstone People, and so brought them across the ocean to these isles. Another version has it that one Ngahue brought them hither, or that he followed them to these isles. Anyhow they came, fleeing from the wrath of the Sandstone Maid. But they were at once pursued, and so found great difficulty in finding a resting place here. On reaching Mayor Island, in the Bay of Plenty, they proposed to land and settle thereon, but encountered Mata and Tuhua (flint or quartz, and obsidian). So the fleeing Greenstone People fled southward. Near East Cape they strove to settle, but saw Waiapu (a form of flint) and Tu-a-hoanga already in occupation; so they fled again, unable to face the rending flint and sandstone. At many other places they sought to land, but ever found the Sandstone Folk, or flint, or quartzite, in possession, and so were forced to move on. At length they found a refuge at Arahura, on the west coast of the South Island, and there they abode. But still the Sandstone Folk and Ngahue pursued them and delivered an attack. Then was slain the wife of Poutini, one Pungapunga (the name of a light variety of greenstone). Many chiefs of the Greenstone People were slain and carried off, others fled to a cascade in the Arahura river and there concealed themselves. The guardian of that cascade was a moa,

The huge Dinornis, long extinct.

which was slain by Ngahue.

This singular myth is a decided puzzle. Possibly it is a confused mixture of several stories, of the discovery of greenstone at Arahura by Ngahue and his companions, and an expedition for the purpose of obtaining the prized stone, which was found only in the Westland district. The expedition led by one Tama-ahua, from Taranaki to Arahura, in order to secure greenstone, has become much encrusted with myth. The peculiar aspect of tangiwai (bowenite) is said to be the result of the weeping of Hine-ahua, wife of Tama-ahua, for her far-distant home in Polynesia. Her tears permeated the stone, hence the peculiar markings in it as seen to-day, also its name. When Ngahue returned to Hawaiki (Polynesia) he informed the people that greenstone and the huge moa bird were the most remarkable products of the land of Aotea.

Hine-tu-a-hoanga, the personified form of sandstone, is said in one version of these quaint stories to have been the mother of Rata of tree-felling fame, a story known in many regions of Polynesia. Hine is spoken of as representing all hoanga or grinding stones employed in sharpening tools and in fashioning objects. Rata applied to her to sharpen his stone adze, and the word rata, in vernacular speech, carries the meaning of “sharp.” Rata wished to hew out a canoe in order that he might sail to a distant land and punish a people who had slain his father. Hence he entered the forest and felled a suitable tree. On returning to the spot next day he found to his amazement that the tree was again standing upright, and as vigorous as ever; apparently it had never been felled. However, he felled it again, and returned home. The next morning saw the tree once more upright and flourishing. This was so mysterious and vexatious that Rata decided to consult his mother, who sent him to an old relative, a wise man of many years. He explained to that wise man that unseen hands kept re-erecting the tree he had felled, and, moreover, the forest seemed to be full of mysterious creatures. The old man said: “Those strange folk are your own ancestors. Fear not. They haunt the forest shades; they dwell

Carved house timbers (poupou). at the bounds of Hine-moana, on the summits of far mountains, in strange tapu places, in the lower world they ever roam by day and night. Go; fell your tree once more, then cover the stump with paretao [a plant, a small fern]. When evening falls, take the paretao to the tuahu [sacred place of a village], and await my arrival.” Rata obeyed his elder, and, when the latter received the herbage, he waved it toward the heavens, and recited a long formula, such as is repeated when a superior tree is about to be felled for an important purpose. This rite had the desired effect and the forest elves interfered no more with Rata. In another version of the story Rata is told to sharpen his axe on the back of Hine-tu-a-hoanga ere he fells the tree. The story is a long one, and apparently describes an expedition from some isle of Polynesia to a Western Pacific land, but it has become encrusted with myth.

In times long past away, times exceedingly remote, there dwelt in this world of life a man named Mataora, a man of fair presence and goodly standing. As Mataora lay asleep one day, a party of young women came upon him, and paused to look at him, and to marvel as to who and what he might be. These young folk were not people of this world, the upper world, but were denizens of Rarohenga, the subterranean spirit world. Thus they were not ordinary folk, mortals, as are people of this world, but of a supernatural nature, and hence they are alluded to as Turehu. The leader of the party was a maid of wondrous charms named Niwareka, and she is said to have been a descendant of Ruaumoko and Hine-nui-te-po. The former represents earthquakes, all volcanic phenomena, and he took to wife Hine, the erst Dawn Maid, who dwells in the underworld.

The Turehu folk gazed upon Mataora, and wondered as to who he was. Some thought that he was a supernatural being. When he awoke he looked upon the Turehu folk, and enquired: “Are you females?” while they enquired: “Are you a male?” Then Mataora asked the spirit folk to enter his house, but they declined either to enter the house or to eat of the cooked food he offered them. They exclaimed that the food was putrid, for those strange folk were quite ignorant of the art of cooking food. So Mataora was compelled to provide raw food for their entertainment.

When his Turehu guests had partaken of their raw food Mataora rose, grasped his maipi (a staff-like weapon) and entertained them with an exhibition of tuone, in which the performer shows his agility and command of his weapon. When he had concluded his performance, then the Turehu folk rose and performed a posture dance before Mataora. As they danced, one came forward to the front and acted as leader, while all kept calling out “Niwareka! Niwareka!” which was the name of the leader of the party. A maid of many charms was she. The dance was a singular one, for the performers held each other's hands, and skipped about; sometimes they trooped after each other and passed between two, who held each other's hands. A very fair-skinned folk were these Turehu, having light-coloured hair, also slender but well-formed bodies. So abundant was their hair, that it covered them to the waist, below which they wore aprons made of seaweed.

Now Mataora became deeply enamoured of the leader of the Turehu folk, the one named Niwareka, for truly was she a beautiful and charming creature. She was the daughter of one Uetonga, who dwelt in Rarohenga, the underworld. So it came about that Mataora took to wife Niwareka, a being of the spirit world. For some time they dwelt happily together, until some strange fancy affected the mind of Mataora; he became jealous and angry with his wife, and finally he struck her. This treatment was a dread shock to Niwareka, for, as we shall see anon, such actions are unknown to Rarohenga. Thus she at once fled from Mataora to return to her own home, and so passed away from his ken.

Mataora became disconsolate after the flight of his wife; grief and dejection afflicted him. At last he resolved to go forth in search of her. He went to Tahuaroa, at far Irihia, where great Hikurangi looks down on the old homeland of the Maori. He came to Poutere-rangi, where Te Kuwatawata, the Guardian, holds the entrance to the underworld of spirits, and enquired of him: “Have you not seen a woman passing this way?” The Guardian enquired: “What is the token?” Replied Mataora: “Her fair hair.” Said the Guardian: “She has passed here weeping as she went.” He then allowed Mataora to pass down to the underworld in search of his lost bride. As he fared on he came to one Tiwaiwaka, and enquired as to the doings of the folk of the underworld. The answer was: “They are busy in attending to the kumara crops; some are building houses, some are fishing, some are tattooing, some are kite-flying, some are top-spinning. Mataora enquired for his wife, and the answer was: “She has passed on with swollen eyes and hanging lips.”

Mataora went on his way until he came to the home of Uetonga, father of Niwareka, where Uetonga was engaged in exercising the art of tattooing. Mataora noticed that the blood of the person being tattooed was flowing freely, which surprised him, because, at that period, tattooing by punctuation was unknown in the upper world, where designs were merely painted on the human body. Hence he said to Uetonga: “Your mode of tattooing is wrong; it is not done so in the upper world.” But Uetonga, the tohunga ta moko (tattooing expert) of Rarohenga replied: “Not so. It is your method that is wrong; this is true tattooing; your mode of decoration is merely for the adornment of houses, and is known as hopara makaurangi, but when applied to persons it is styled tuhi.” Then Uetonga stretched forth his hand and rubbed the face of Mataora, thus effacing the designs that had been painted thereon. Now all the people laughed to see the designs so easily destroyed, while Uetonga remarked: “O the upper world! Ever is its adornment a farce. Behold how easily it is effaced; it is merely a marking. Know then, ye of the upper world, that there are several kinds of adornment [whakairo]. There is the woman's art of adorning cloaks, and the men's art of wood carving, while that on your face is merely a painted pattern.” Thus Mataora learned of the art of true tattooing by punctuation. He said to Uetonga: “You have spoilt my adornment and now you must tattoo me properly.” Even so Uetonga called upon those who traced the designs for tattooing to prepare Mataora for the ordeal, and, when this was done, he took his tattooing implement and began to operate on him. As Mataora lay there suffering the pain of being tattooed with the lacerating chisel of the artist, he sang the following song:— “O Niwareka, the lost one, where art thou?Come thou to me, O Niwareka! Niwareka!’Twas thou who lured me here belowO Niwareka! Niwareka!And my love consumes me, O Niwareka! Niwareka!

Now the younger sister of Niwareka chanced to hear Mataora singing this song, hence she ran off to Taranaki, where Niwareka was engaged in weaving a cloak. She reported: “A certain person yonder, a handsome man, is being tattooed, and he sings a song in which your name is mentioned.” So all those present went off to see this man, and Niwareka told them to conduct him to her. As the women led him to the house, Niwareka said: “He walks as Mataora did, and his cloak looks like one of my own weaving.” Then she and her companions welcomed Mataora, for they pitied him on account of his suffering the pain of being tattooed. He was for the time quite blind, so swollen was his lacerated face. As he sat down, Niwareka enquired: “Are you Mataora?” He nodded his head, and his hands clutched at her. Then she knew that it was truly Mataora, and that he had come to seek her; even so she greeted him with tears.

When the scarred face of Mataora was healed then the tattooed devices thereon looked very fine. He then proposed that they should return together to the upper world, but Niwareka said: “The ways of the upper world are ways of evil; both realms have heard of our trouble; I must consult my people.” Came Uetonga to Mataora, saying: “Maybe you think of returning to the upper world; if so, return, but let Niwareka remain here. Is it a custom of the upper world to beat women?” And Mataora was overcome with shame.

Said Tauwehe, brother of Niwareka: “Mataora! Abandon the ao turoa [upper world], the home of evil. Observe how all denizens of the upper world are ever compelled by violence and other evils to descend to the under world. Let us all dwell here below, in the realm of harmony. Abandon the upper world and its evil deeds; leave it as a realm apart from the lower world with its peace and harmony.” Then Uetonga added: “Mataora! Let us not hear tidings of a second evil act of thine in the upper world. For mark you, the upper world and its deeds of darkness is widely sundered from the underworld, which is a realm of light and peace.”

Now observe well and study the words of Uetonga. Here in the upper world alone are evil deeds known; this is truly the realm of darkness. As to the underworld of Rarohenga, no evil is there known, neither does darkness obtain; it is a realm of light and righteousness. This is the reason why, of all spirits of the dead from the time of Hine-ahu-one even unto ourselves, not a single one of those spirits has ever returned hither to dwell in the upper world.

When at last Mataora was allowed to take Niwareka back to the upper world, Uetonga said to him: “Mataora! Farewell! Return to Taiao [this world, the upper world], but have a care lest we are again afflicted by the evil works of that realm.” Mataora replied: “Not so. By the token of the punctured tattoo you have embellished me with, the ways of the underworld shall be my ways.” So the reconciled twain turned to ascend to the upper world.

As a parting gift Uetonga gave to Mataora the famous cloak called the Rangi-haupapa, which was the original after which were fashioned all the cloaks of this world. The belt that was intended to confine it was the originating pattern of all belts of this world. On their way to the ascent to this world the twain were stopped by Tiwaiwaka, the guardian of the base of that ascent, who detained them, refusing to allow them to ascend until the month of Tatau-uruora (November). At the proper time Tiwaiwaka (a bird name, the fantail) sent his young folk, Popoia (owl), and Peka (the bat); also Patatai (land rail) sent his, all to act as guides for Mataora. The latter feared that they would be slain, but Patatai told him to locate them in darkling haunts and gloomy places, hence the owl and bat are never seen in daytime, but move abroad only in the darkness. To see these birds at the haunts of man is a sign of bad luck to come. It is a token of ill-luck if a fantail enters a house. The patatai also brings misfortune in its train. These two birds, as also the whitehead were the birds that accompanied Maui when he assailed Hine of Rarohenga in order to gain eternal life for man.

When our wayfarers from Rarohenga arrived at the exit from the underworld, Te Kuwatawata, the guardian of that gateway, asked them what they were bearing away from the lower world. Mataora replied that they were taking only the birds and the art of tattooing. The guardian said to Niwareka: “What is the bundle on your back?” She replied that it merely contained some old garments. Said the Guardian: “Mataora! Never again shall the entrance to the underworld be free to living beings of the upper world; these shall pass downwards only as spirits; spiritual beings alone shall traverse both realms.” Mataora enquired: “For what reason?”

The guardian replied: “You have the Rangi-haupapa (cloak) with you. Why were you evasive?”

So it is that never again has living man passed those barriers; only spirits can do so.

After the return of Mataora to the upper world the art of tattooing by puncture became known, and the fame thereof spread to Awarau, to Tonga-nui, to Rangiatea, and to Hui-te-rangiora, these being islands in the region of Tawhiti. A messenger from Irihia arrived asking Mataora to go to that land, the home of Nuku-wahi-rangi.

The patterns of tattoo acquired by Mataora were the poniania, pihere, ngu and tiwhana. (The first and third are designs marked on the nose, the second at the side of the mouth, the fourth over the eyebrows). The tattooing of Niwareka was confined to a cross on each cheek, and one on the forehead, and the poniania. The pukauae and ngutu (tattooing on chin and lips) patterns are modern. Prior to the visit of Mataora to the underworld people marked devices on their faces with red ochre, white clay, and blue earth.

Such is the myth of Mataora and his fair Turehu bride Niwareka, given here in an abbreviated form. It is a story of considerable interest, and it is possible that it represents a remembrance of a genuine event that has, in the course of centuries, become embellished with myths and quaint fancies. The acquisition of the arts of tattooing by puncture, and of weaving, together with the account of a mode of dancing quite unknown to the Maori, seem to point to a voyage or journey during which was encountered a people practising such arts. Apart from such basic facts we have many contradictory, and even puerile, statements, or embellishments. The Turehu folk are generally described as forest dwelling elves of this upper world, but in the above story the name is applied to spiritual or supernatural beings of the underworld, the denizens of which are supposed to be spirits of the dead. The forest dwelling Turehu are said to have been a fairskinned, light-haired folk, and these peculiarities are transferred to maids from Rarohenga who visited the upper world and encountered Mataora. The custom assigned to them of eating only raw food is one referred to in many old Maori stories of voyagers who encountered, in far lands, people who were ignorant of the use of fire and ate their food raw.

These mixtures of popular myths and fancies with the spiritual and other concepts of the Maori people, contain many confusing and even absurd statements. The Maori tells us that the souls of the dead descend to the spirit world, that these wairua (soul, spirit) can be seen by seers only, not by ordinary persons. They dwell in the underworld under the care of Hine, the ex-Dawn Maid. Yet the maids who visited this world are spoken of as creatures of flesh and blood, and their relatives of the underworld were found by Mataora building houses, cultivating food products, weaving garments, tattooing, and so on. These are scarcely occupations for spirits, one would suppose. The Maori seems to calmly accept all these inconsistencies, and makes no effort to explain them. There are two views that may be taken of this peculiar condition. In the first place we find, in studying Maori lore, that the subterranean spirit world has become confused with the old homeland of the race in the far west. This was probably the result of the belief that spirits of the dead accompanied the setting sun in its descent to the underworld. Any far distant land is, in Maori story, liable to be so confused with the spirit world. Here is another point: Niwareka, daughter of Uetonga, of Rarohenga, is said to have been a descendant of Hine-titama, erst the Dawn Maid, and Ruaumoko, the youngest child of the Earth Mother. So it appears that, in the underworld, there dwells a folk who are not spirits of the dead, but descendants of the Sky Father and Earth Mother through Tane, Hine-titama, and Ruaumoko. Truly he who seeks to unravel the mythopoetic concepts of the Polynesian undertakes a puzzling task.

In the story Mataora is asked to visit Irihia, the old homeland, in order to exhibit his tattooing, apparently going from eastern Polynesia. But the Maori tells us that the entrance to the spirit world is at Irihia, so that Mataora must have just come from there. Evidently these additions have been made to some old-time story without any attempt at explanation.

An interesting feature of the myth is the stress laid on the statement that the underworld is a realm wherein peace and harmony prevail, where the evils of the upper world are unknown. There is nothing to show that it is a region of darkness or gloom; certainly it is not one of suffering. However, on the arrival of our Christian missionaries, that lack was very soon attended to, and the dreadful horrors of a priestinvented hell were fully disclosed to the astonished Maori.

There is another version of this myth concerning the acquisition of the art of tattooing in the underworld. It was collected from natives of the South Island of New Zealand by the Rev. J. Wohlers (see Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, Vol. 8, p. 112). It appears as a part of the legend of Rukutia and Tu-te-koropanga, a story known also to the natives of the Hawaiian Isles, over four thousand miles distant from our South Island.

Perhaps no aspect of Maori lore is more attractive than that illustrating his poetic mentality in connection with natural phenomena and origin myths. This is a subject well worthy of study, and of being recorded. In order to present some proof of the Maori genius for personification the following list of personified forms is given, a list that might be much extended. It extends into many departments of Nature, and includes in a few cases personified forms of abstractions, a somewhat rare occurrence in the myths of neolithic man.

The sun is personified in Tane, Tama-nui-te-ra, and Tama-uawhiti, the moon in Rongo and Hina. Hine-korako seems to personify a lunar bow or halo. The sky is personified in Rangi, and the earth in Papa. The latter is also sometimes alluded to as Tuanuku and Nuku. Watea personifies space, and Raro seems to represent the underworld. The ocean is personified in Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid, and in Wainui, water in Para-whenuamea, and rain in Te Ihorangi and Hine-wai. Mahuika personifies fire, while cold is represented by Maeke, Kunawiri, Wero, etc., and ice, snow and hail by Tioroa and Tonga-nui-kaea. Whiro personifies darkness and evil, Hine-titama the dawn; Hine-ata is the Morning Maid, Hine-awatea the Day or Daylight Maid, Hine-ahiahi the Evening Maid. Hine-raumati, the Summer Maid, personifies summer; Hine-takurua, the Winter Maid, represents winter. Whakaahu and Pipiri also represent summer and winter, while Mahuru personifies spring. Thunder appears as Hine-whaitiri, the Thunder Maid, whose abode is Raparapa-te-uira (an allusion to the flashing of lightning), and whose advance courier is one Makere-whatu (heavy rain). Each kind of thunder has also its personified form, thus Whaitiri-papa, whose abode is Ao-kapua-rangi, that is in the clouds of heaven, represents explosive thunder. Tane-matau personifies thunder unaccompanied by rain, Aputahi-a-Pawa a single peal, whilst Whaitiri-pakapaka, Rautupu, Ku and Ea represent other forms. Lightning is personified in Hine-te-uira, the Lightning Maid, Tama-te-uira, Mataaho and others; there are many Lightning Children, who are under the care of their elder Tama-te-uira and others, who control them, lest they abuse their powers of destruction. Clouds are personified in Hine-kapua, the Cloud Maid, in Tu-kapua, Aoao-nui, Uhirangi, and others. The winds are represented by Tawhiri-matea, Tawhiri-rangi, Raka-maomao, Parawera-nui, and a host of others. These are the Whanau puhi, the Wind Children, a numerous folk who roam throughout the realm of Watea and harry the Cloud Children, and troop forth to gambol on the far-spread Maraeroa, the plaza of Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid. Uenuku, Kahukura, and the three Haere brothers personify the rainbow; Tamarau and Rongomai represent meteors, while comets are personified in Upoko-roa, Auahituroa, Wahie-roa, Meto, and Taketake-hikuroa. Earthquakes and volcanic phenomena are represented by Ruaumoko, Hine-i-tapeka, Hine-tuoi, Ioio-whenua, Te Kuku, Te Wawau, and Tawaro-nui.

Pare-arohi personifies the quivering appearance of heated air as seen in summer. Mountains and ranges are personified in Hine-maunga, the Mountain Maid, she who was taken to wife by Tane and brought forth Para-whenuamea (personified form of water). From this twain also sprang the personified forms Rakahore (of rock), Hine-one (of sand), Hine-tu-a-hoanga (of sandstone), Hine-tu-a-kirikiri (of gravel), and many others, truly a numerous progeny. The different kinds of greenstone, as nephrite, bowenite, serpentie, etc., are personified in Hine-kahurangi, Hine-tangiwai, Hine-kawakawa, and many others, a bevy of female personifications.

Land birds are personified in one Punaweko, sea birds in Hurumanu, though Tane, under his name of Tane-mataahi, represents birds generally. Then, again, many species have distinct personified forms; thus Tu-mataika personifies the brown parrot, Rupe the pigeon, Parauri the parson bird, Koururu the owl, Hine-karoro the seagull, Hine-tara the tern, Noho-tumutumu the cormorant, Moe-tahuna the duck, and so on.

Tane represents the forest, also all trees and birds. Forests are alluded to as Te Wao tapu nui a Tane, the very sacred forest of Tane. Rehua is also connected with forests, and when Tane visited Rehua, the latter is said to have regaled him with a repast of birds caught in his own hair, that hair being really the branches of trees. As in the case of birds we find that certain species of trees have special personified forms. Thus Hine-waoriki personifies the white pine, Momuhanga the totara, Hine-kaikomako the fire tree (Pennantia corymbosa), Tauwhare-kiokio all tree ferns, and so on. Te Rara-taunga-rere represents the fruitfulness of trees, and Hine-rau-wharangi personifies growth. Then we have Te Pu-whakahara as representing the maire (Olea) and puriri (Vitex), Ruru-tangi-akau the ake (Dodonaea), Rerenoa the rata (Metrosideros), Mangonui the hinau (Eloecarpus), Puahou the parapara (Nothopanax), Poananga the clematis, Toro-i-waho all climbing and creeping plants; and so on, a brave array of the Children of Tane.

All food supplies of man are personified in one Tahu, as illustrated in an old saying quoted when one declines a proffered meal: “Kei takahia a Tahu,” which is equivalent to saying: “Do not slight Tahu.”

Tangaroa represents all fish, but certain species have special personifications. The eel is thus personified in Puhi and Tuna, sharks in Takaaho, whales in Tutara-kauika, etc. Rakaiora personifies the lizard, Hine-huruhuru some form of glow worm, or luminous caterpillar. Even swamps are personified in Hine-i-te-huhi and Hine-i-te-repo.

Knowledge is personified in Rua, who has many names, as representing different departments, etc., of knowledge. Thus Rua-i-te-whaihanga represents the knowledge of the artisan, the craftsman, as of a housebuilder or canoe hewer; Rua-i-te-parakore seems to represent the knowledge of carving, while Rua-i-te-horahora personifies the diffusion of knowledge. All these Rua, of whom there are many, are said by some to be children of Tangaroa.

In Aitua we have a personified form of misfortune, who, in one version of Maori cosmogonic mythology, is said to have been a child of the primal parents Rangi and Papa. Sickness and disease are personified in Maiki-nui, Maiki-roa, and others of similar names. The above list of personifications is by no means a complete one, but it will serve to show how widespread was the personification system of the Maori. In order to understand the speech of the Native folk, more especially of those of the superior class, it was necessary that one should be acquainted with a great number of names of personified forms, and also many mythopoetic expressions, idioms, aphorisms, etc., that were frequently used. So common were these usages among the rangatira class that youths and young men of that class were compelled to devote a good deal of attention to the acquisition of such knowledge in order to acquire a facile and pleasing address in debate.

One would naturally expect to find a considerable amount of folk lore preserved by such a people as the Maori. An intelligent, quick-witted folk, who have been dauntless deep-sea voyagers in the past, who have wandered to many lands and over wide seas; who have, moreover, dwelt for long centuries in this rugged forest-clad land, must assuredly possess a wide range of folk tales. Nor are such tales lacking, for many have been collected and recorded, while many others, still unrecorded by us, may be heard among the natives as the result of enquiry. The recital of these tales was a favourite pastime in olden days, as during long winter evenings, and in stormy weather, when the people of a hamlet would assemble in one or more of the larger huts, and therein pass the time pleasantly enough. The expressions korero tara, korero paki, and korero purakau denote what we term folk lore. A large proportion of the folk tales of the Maori consists of stories concerning the doings and powers of taniwha, tipua and turehu, or monsters, demons and fairies. It is not proposed to insert in this chapter all available

Maripi or shark-tooth knife. An implement used in cutting up human bodies, dogs etc. but not as a weapon. stories, or illustrations of native folk tales, but merely to include sample specmiens of such productions. Many of these stories assuredly possess a moral, the commonest lesson taught by them being the danger of disregarding the laws of tapu. Some of these folk tales have been brought hither from the isles of Polynesia, of which fact some proof will be given, and apparently some have been carried hither from yet more remote sources.

As a specimen of the less common form of folk tales the following is given. It is a translation of a version collected by the late Mr. John White many years ago, and is entitled “The Battle of the Birds”:— In days of old, in very remote times, a contest arose between the land birds and those of the ocean. The sea- birds made an attempt to seize the realm of the land birds in order to gain possession of its rich food supplies, hence the land birds assembled to repulse the great army of sea birds.

The trouble came about in this wise: The sea cormorant, in its flight, reached Whangape, and there encountered the river cormorant. The former was not offered any food by the river shag, and so remarked: “Friend! Let us go to my home by the salt sea, where food is plentiful.” So off they set and flew to the seaside, where the sea cormorant dived, caught a fish, and gave it to the river shag. The latter swallowed the fish, but had its throat sorely hurt by its spines, and so remarked: “Your food is no good; that of my place is much better.”

“What is the food of your place,” asked the sea bird.

“Eels, which, when swallowed, are smooth and slippery, and do not cause pain or injury. I say to you, let us go to my place.” The two birds flew inland to a river haunt of the land birds, where the river shag dived and caught an eel, and gave it to the sea bird, who swallowed it and brought it up again with ease. Quoth the sea bird: “O friend! Yours is indeed an excellent place, and your food supply a most desirable one. Now, friend, do you make over to me a part of your domain, and I will give you a part of mine in return.” “Not so,” replied the river cormorant; “I do not like your place.” Said the sea bird: “Very well, but ere long I will return and take your place from you.” So the sea bird returned to the ocean, there to raise an army to proceed inland and seize the fine realm of the river cormorants, whose food supplies were so desirable.

Now the river cormorant received news of the great invasion by the sea birds, and he set about assembling a force of land birds in order to resist the attack. Many tribes rose to the call. There came Kuku the Pigeon, and Kaka the Parrot, and Tui the Parson-bird, and Honge the Crow, and Ruru the Owl, and Pirakaraka the Fantail, and Pitoitoi the Robin, with many, many others. When all the bird folk had assembled the gloom of night had fallen across the world of light.

When Hine-ata (the Morning Maid—personified form of morning) arrived, then arose Pitoitoi the Robin, who aroused the party with his cry of “Pi-toi-toi-toi!” So all awoke from sleep. Then said Kawau, the Cormorant: “Who will go forth as a scout to observe the advancing enemy?” Rose Koekoea the long-tailed Cuckoo: “I will go forth as scout. When you hear me call, you may know that the enemy is located.” So forth went Koekoea, and soon spied the army of sea birds approaching, with Karoro the Gull in the lead. Then the wild cry of Koekoea struck upon the ear: “Ko-o-o—e!” and Karoro the Gull shrieked “A-ha!” Then Koekoea returned and reported.

Kawau the Cormorant enquired: “Who will advance and challenge the enemy?” Said Pirakaraka the Fantail: “I will challenge the enemy.” Even so Pirakaraka went forth with his taiaha (a two-handed wooden weapon) to challenge the enemy, before whom he capered, glared, and grimaced after the manner of challengers, crying his defiance thus: “Tei! Tei! Tei!” Then to the column he returned, and sank to earth.

Again Kawau enquired: “Who will recite the war ritual over us?” Quoth Tui the Parson-bird: “I will conduct it; and let Honge the Crow commence the air of the chaunt, let Tiraueke the Saddleback intone the words, and Wharauroa the Short-tailed Cuckoo conclude the ritual, and Kuku the Pigeon make the final response.” And so Tui conducted the rite, and Honge gave the rhythmic air for intonation, and Tiraueke the words, and Wharau-roa concluded with his cry of “Kui! Kui! Kui! Whitiwhiti ora!” All these folk performed their parts, and then sat down, whereupon Kuku the Pigeon responded with his cry of “Ku.”

Once more Kawau enquired: “Who will commence the attack” Ruru the Owl rose, and said: “I will.” Uplifting his weapon Ruru advanced, his eyes glaring at the advancing multitude of sea birds, as he called to them: “You are brave. O, how brave you are; truly are you a gallant throng!” Such were the jeering words of Ruru.

Sprang forward Kaka the Parrot, glaring defiance as he advanced with his weapon, the o kaka stone, and screeching out: “Taka rere! Taka rere! Kia iro! Kia iro!” So met and closed in battle the hordes of sea and land birds. Long and fierce was the contest, and loud the ringing clamour of the fray, as cormorant strove with cormorant, and the Gull tribe fiercely assailed the wood-rending parrots. Then, when many had fallen, fear seized the sea birds, even that they turned, broke and fled. Never so swiftly flew the Children of Hurumanu as when fleeing from the doughty offspring of Punaweko. Yet, even as they fled, the laugh of Parera, the Grey Duck, was heard: “Ke-ke-ke-ke!”

Fled the sea birds to their own domain, while ever the land birds dwell in peace, losing no part of their estate to the sea folk. Indeed, it was the laughter of Parera that caused such a tumultuous flight, and never since have the sea birds returned.

We will now turn to another story of a similar nature, a story of some importance, for it deals with the peculiarities of the denizens of the realm of Kiwa, the folk of Tangaroa and Tinirau, that is to say with fish, and shows how, in the battle between the fish tribes and man, fish acquired their peculiar forms.

There was once a man who was much troubled owing to the indolence of his wife. Whenever he returned from a day's fishing she would carry home but a portion of his catch, throwing the balance away, lest she be too heavily laden, or have to make two trips to the beach. This sort of thing continued until the exasperated husband determined to seek a new home and a new wife. He therefore set off one fine day to escape from his troubles.

When the decamping husband entered the forest he repeated a charm in order to influence the forest deities, and the denizens of the forest. He said to the trees of the great forest of Tane: “Should my wife follow me into the forest, and ask questions of you, do not tell her aught of me, for she is a bad, indolent woman, one who wastes the food I procure.” To this the trees consented.

Our traveller fared on until he came to a stream, where he repeated another charm in order to influence the water spirits. He then said to the stream: “I am escaping from my wife, who is a deceitful and tiresome person. I go to seek an industrious wife and a new home. Should my wife follow me you will know her by her loud voice; do not betray me.” And the stream consented.

So the man trudged on over far lands until he came to an inland region where he was unknown, and to the folk of that place he related his story. They asked him to settle among them, which he did.

Now when his wife found that her husband did not return home as usual, she set forth in search of him. When she entered the forest of Tane she sought to gain news of him from the trees around her, asking: “O Trees! Has my husband passed along this path?” But no murmur came from the trees around her; all remained dumb. The woman then returned home and enquired of the fire as to the movements of her husband: “O, Fire! Tell me where is my husband?” But no word uttered the fire. She saw the gourd water vessel, and said to it: “O Gourd! I see that part of you so often touched by the lips of my husband; tell me by which way he went when he left me?” But no answer came from the gourd. She turned to the garments left by her husband, and said: “O Garments! Ye that have touched the body of my husband, thus becoming tapu, reveal to me the path by which he departed.” But silent remained those garments, no word was heard. She then addressed his fishing line: “O Line! You who have oft been grasped by the hands of my husband, and have heard him repeat his fish charms, tell me of him.” Silent remained that line. She turned and placed her hands on the lintel of the doorway, saying: “Door! Here is the space through which my husband passed in his goings and comings, here the parts his hands touched; tell me, I charge you, of his movements.” But the door stood dumb, saying no word.

Now the deserted wife sat her down and mourned for her husband, weeping and lamenting the night through until dawn arrived. Then, being athirst, she took the gourd water vessel, and drank therefrom. Then to that gourd there came a feeling of sympathy, of compassion for the lone woman, for, of all things in the hut, the gourd had been closest to her husband, his lips having touched it so many times. Even so the gourd said to her: “If you will break me I will conduct you to your husband; I will take you by the path he travelled; I will convey you over the stream he crossed.” The lone woman gladly accepted the offer; she broke the gourd, and off they set together, talking as they went. She enquired: “At what time of day did my husband depart?” The gourd replied: “He departed after the arrival of Hine-ata” [the Morning Maid—personified form of morning].

On arriving at the river the gourd conveyed the woman across it, but, on reaching the further bank all became confused. The gourd had lost its voice, it could no longer speak or act in an intelligent manner; its faculties had been seriously affected by the charmed waters it had crossed, charmed by the fleeing husband. So it was that the woman's pursuit of her husband came to nought, and she was compelled to return home.

The lone woman now despaired of ever being able to find her husband. She went to great Tangaroa, the King of all Fish, and told him of her troubles. Then Tangaroa called upon all the fish folk of Rangiriri to assemble, and they came in their multitudes, all the different tribes of fish hastened to obey the call of the great fish lord. The matter of the deserted wife was explained and discussed, and at length it was decided to attack the Man tribe, and so avenge the deserted wife. Great preparations were made for the coming battle. Previous to that time many unimportant frays had occured between fish and man, but no important battle had come off.

Tangaroa now called all the fish folk around him, and marshalled them in tribal companies, appointing a chief as leader of each company. These chiefs were named Kumu-kumu (gurnard), Parore (black perch), Haku (kingfish), Tamure (schnapper), Whai (stingray), Takeke (garfish), Patiki (flounder), and so on, a vast number of them. Each company adopted the name of its chief, while Tohora (whale) was appointed supreme commander over all the tribal companies. It is as well to explain here that, in those far back times, all fish were alike in form, all resembled the whale in shape, but differed much in size. You must remember that the whale is the oldest of all fish, it was the first to appear.

During his training of the fish folk Tohora always kept his own people in the rear. His object in doing so was the prevention of panics; so bulky are the forms of whales that they are useful in stopping a panic rush of small folk. Having trained his fish tribes, Tangaroa ordered them to march inland and attack the Man tribe that had sheltered the errant husband. For, in those times fish possessed the power to move about on land as well as in the waters. It is because fish are descended from reptiles that they possessed this power.

When Tohora the Whale commanded the great Fish Army to advance and attack the Man tribe, the company of Kumu-kumu (gurnard) was the first to close in battle. Desperate indeed was the fighting that ensued, and many were slain. So fierce was the fray that those of the gurnard folk who survived were covered with blood, hence the red colour of that fish even unto this day. Also they moaned in anguish over the slaughter of their kin, hence the moaning of the gurnard when caught by man.

Parore, the Black Perch, now led his tribe into battle, where, in the fierce combat, his followers became besmirched with the dried blood of the gurnard folk, hence the colour of the perch as now seen by man.

Now waged furiously the battle, as the fish tribes strove valiantly to destroy the Man tribe, and many were slain on both sides. Then it was seen that the companies of Haku (kingfish), of Tamure (schnapper), and yet others were pressed, driven back, and so retired. Whereupon Tohora, the Whale Commander, brought up his reserve of Leviathans, when before those huge creatures, and their massive strength, the Man tribe gave way, broke and fled. Thus victory passed to the sea-folk, and so ended the great contest between the Fish tribes and the Man tribe.

Then Tangaroa assembled his victorious army and praised the sea folk for the valour they had displayed, commending them for their persistent gallantry. In token thereof he resolved to grant a boon to the sea folk, to each of the tribes that had fought in the great battle. Likewise the spoils of the battlefield were to be theirs. Now the Fish tribes set about collecting the spoils, and making known their requests to great Tangaroa. Whai found a spear having two rows of barbs along its point; he asked that he might have a tail like that spear; hence you see the stingray provided with such a tail. Tamure, the Schnapper; found a wahaika club and asked that one of his bones should be of similar form. That guerdon was granted to him. Patiki, the Flounder, saw a fly flap, and desired to be like it in form, and we now see him in that flatwise form. Takeke, the Garfish, saw a long spear, and asked for such a spear on his nose; he is now seen with his spear nose. Araara, the Trevally, saw the bloodstained cape of the truant husband, red spots on a white ground, and asked that he be granted a similar appearance; he yet has that appearance.

Thus each chief gained the boon he craved, and all his followers assumed the form and appearance of their chief; hence we now see fish of many forms and many hues. It is now quite clear as to how the different kinds of fish became possessed of their particular forms and colours.

The moral of the above tale is not quite evident to the present writer, and it is quite possible that we have in the above narrative a combinaton of two different tales. Apparently the refugee husband was either slain or grievously wounded, which seems a somewhat severe punishment for wife desertion; neither was the wife above reproach.

In the following folk tale, “The Battle Between Dogs and Lizards,” we have a sample of many quaint stories formerly related by the Maori folk:— It is well known that in the old, old days of our ancestors lizards became exceedingly numerous, because they multiplied apace after the escape of the tail of the great reptile called Te Whakaruaki. Also dogs were very much more numerous in those times; they roamed in packs over the country, and had never been tamed by man.

One day a dog and a lizard chanced to meet on a certain path, and, ere long, they fell a-quarrelling. At last both retired and told their friends how grievously they had been insulted. So all the dogs assembled in order to discuss the matter, and all the lizards did the same. It was resolved that the two tribes should fight the matter out. In the strenuous fighting that ensued the dogs were victorious, and, having conquered and slain a great many lizards, they set to work and ate them. It was this eating of lizards that so affected the fertility of dogs, and is the true cause of dogs being so much less numerous in these days.

In Maori folk lore we meet with many stories concerning taniwha, huge monsters of man-killing tendencies that are said to have existed in these isles in past times. Our acquaintance with these myths dates from the days of Captain Cook, and some early writers deem it possible that these tales contained an element of truth. They are certainly remarkable illustrations of versimilitude, so marked are they by precise and detailed accounts of the location and doings of these monsters, and of encounters between them and men. Most of them are described as being water-dwelling creatures of saurian form, while a few are said to have inhabited caves; few were harmless, and most of them were man slayers and man eaters. Some of these wild tales appear to have been introduced from Polynesia and localised here; probably many were evolved here by a folk who had been conceiving similar myths for many centuries in other lands. Some writers see in the huge, man-eating saurians of Maori folk lore a remembrance of the crocodile of the western Pacific or of Asia, and this may be so. The man-destroying taniwha of native myth are often described as resembling great lizards, and indeed are often called by the same name, moko. This word moko is a name for the crocodile in one part of the western Pacific. The word taniwha is also the name of a species of shark.

The circumstantial aspect of these folk tales is remarkable. Captain Cook gives us the following passage concerning information gained from a South Island native: “We had another piece of intelligence from him … though not confirmed by our own observations, that there are snakes and lizards there of an enormous size. He described the latter as being eight feet in length, and as big round as a man's body. He said they sometimes seize and devour men; that they burrow in the ground, and that they are killed by making fires at the mouths of the holes. We could not be mistaken as to the animal, for, with his own hand, he drew a very good representation of a lizard on a piece of paper, as also of a snake, in order to show what he meant.”

Now this feckless tale of snakes and of lizards eight feet in length in New Zealand was simply the result of imagination. Doubtless that native could depict a lizard, for New Zealand possesses several species of those creatures, and Sphenodon punctuatum attains a length of about sixteen inches, but no Maori of Cook's time knew of the existence of land snakes.

Monsters of the taniwha type have been believed in the world over. Water monsters and dragons appear in Babylonian myths. In Borneo are found genuine taniwha, crocodiles that attain a length of fifteen to twenty-five feet in some cases. The Sarawak natives destroy man-eating crocodiles on all possible occasions, often catching them with a wooden hook, or a gorge. When such a man-eater is caught it is ripped open in search for human remains, and is then cut in

Rakau whakapapa. Genealogical staves, mnemonic aid to the reciter of long genealogies. pieces. In many of our local taniwha stories we are told that the beast's stomach was opened, and human remains found therein, as also garments and weapons that belonged to those consumed ones.

Nicholas, who was in New Zealand in 1814-15, remarks that the native description of the taniwha described closely the alligator.

The Maori tells us that these taniwha and all mokopeke (lizards) originated with one Tu-te-hurutea, offspring of Tane and Hine-maunga, the Mountain Maid. We occasionally hear of cases of transmigration wherein a person has, after death, reappeared in the world of life in the form of a taniwha, or marakihau, the latter being a mythical sea denizen.

We will now discourse a while on the peculiarities of the genus taniwha, and relate a few of the many tales concerning them, as preserved by the Maori. The following is a northern story, “The Taniwha of Kaipara”:— It was in days long past away, in times truly remote, that three women of a hamlet situated south of Kaipara went into the adjacent forest for the purpose of collecting tawa berries. Having wandered afar in their search for berries, they were surprised to come across a smooth, wide path evidently much used. They followed this path for some distance until they came to what seemed to be the end of it, where a fence or barrier existed, overgrown with a dense growth of climbing plants. They now resolved to return homeward, when all at once a taniwha appeared and pursued them. The women fled in dismay, but the creature soon caught one of them. Seeing, however, that she was but ill looking, the taniwha released her, and pursued her companions. He succeeded in capturing another, but she, too, was ugly, and so he let her escape and gave chase to the third. On his catching her he found her to be young and good looking, and so he took her away to the cave which served him as a home. Her companions found their way back to their home.

The captive woman was unable to escape, and so was compelled to live with the taniwha as his wife. She bore six children to him, three of whom were monsters like their father, while the other three were of human form. She taught her taniwha children the arts of weaving and cooking, but her human offspring she trained in the arts of war, to bear arms, to thrust, strike and parry with spear and club, hence they became expert in such exercises.

One day during the absence of her taniwha husband, the captive wife said to her children: “Let us all go to the forest streams and catch eels.” So off they went, and, when far within the forest solitudes, she proposed that her human sons should exhibit their skill in the use of their weapons. While they were so exhibiting their skill, she prompted them to attack and slay the three monster children, which they did. The mother then proposed that they should return home and seek an opportunity to attack and slay the taniwha, so that they might all escape from so odious a creature. On arriving at the cave home they found the taniwha fast asleep therein, whereupon the three youths at once attacked and slew him; they cut off all his limbs and left the remains lying in the cave.

The mother now set off to return to her old home, taking her three sons with her. After walking a long way she began to recognise the outlines of some of the distant hills, and at length they arrived at her home village. Now was the hapless woman welcomed by the survivors of her old-time friends, welcomed with tears, and song, and many speeches.

It was now decided that the villages should make a journey to the cave in order to cook and eat the body of the taniwha. On arriving at the cave they prepared a huge steam oven and placed therein for cooking the severed pieces of the monster's body. The oven was carefully covered, and preparations made for the coming feast. When, however, the oven was opened up, the people were amazed to see the severed portions of the monster's body join together, the limbs attach themselves to the body, and the taniwha regain life. The monster at once attacked the assembled people, killing many. The survivors fled in many directions, some to the sea coast; these were pursued by the monster, who caught one woman and threw her into the sea. At length he became wearied, whereupon the terrified fugitives mustered up courage to attack him, and so he was slain a second time. Now his body was cut into many pieces and each piece was separately burned, while from his bones were fashioned fish hooks and spear points. Thus was that odious monster slain for all time.

The woman who had been cast into the sea by the monster was saved and nurtured by the gods. They enveloped her in a mass of sponge which, after long drifting about in the ocean, was cast up on the beach at Waiarohia. It was there seen and opened by some fishermen, who found the woman inside it still alive, and so she was returned to her friends and home.

Such is the marvellous story of the Taniwha of Kaipara, as related by old Whakaue in the year 1847.

A well-known taniwha name is Te Whakaruaki, or Kaiwhakaruaki, and variant forms of the story of this creature have been recorded from a number of places in both islands. The following is a North Island version of the story of Te Whakaruaki, and how lizards came to lose their tails:— This monster resembled a lizard in form, but was of a huge size, and repulsive appearance. He dwelt in a cave in the forest, to which cave he took a woman whom he had captured in the forest, and whom he compelled to live with him. He feared that she might escape from him, and so, whenever he or she left the cave alone, he plaited one end of a long rope into her hair. This rope he occasionally pulled in order to ascertain if it was still connected with the woman.

As time rolled on the captive woman gave birth to a child that was half lizard and half human in form, a truly disagreeable creature to look upon. Now one day the woman went to the stream, taking with her a vessel in which to obtain a supply of water; as usual the rope was attached to her hair. On entering the forest she severed the cord by cutting it with a shell knife, and then tied the end of the cord to a slight, pliant sapling, so that, when the monster pulled the cord, he would believe that it was still attached to her hair. The woman now fled through the forest and made her way home to her people. Here, after many plans had been discussed for the destruction of the monster, it was resolved that he be asked to visit them and that a special house be constructed for his accommodation. On the arrival of the monster he was welcomed by the people, his captive wife rejoined him, and they abode together in the new house.

After the monster and the woman had lived together for some time, the people took advantage of his absence one day, and made preparations for his destruction. They procured a block of wood, wrapped the woman's garments around it, and laid it on her sleeping place. On the return of the monster he entered the house, whereupon the people secured the door and window and set fire to the house. On hearing the roaring of the fire Te Whakaruaki called out to ask the meaning of the sound, and was told that it was the wind roaring in the trees. At last the whole house was in flames, and the monster attempted to escape. Not so; there was no escape; in vain he strove to pass through the burning walls. So perished the monster Te Whakaruaki in the raging flames. But not the whole of him, for, strange to relate, his tail escaped; it became separated from his body, wriggled out through the wall of fire, and sought refuge in the forest.

Now the tail of Te Whakaruaki was the origin of the species of lizard known as moko papa (the tree lizard, Dactylocnemus pacificus), and ever since the remarkable occurence described above lizards have possessed the power of shedding their tails.

These folk tales concerning women being carried off by ogres of lizard form were also current at Tahiti. (See Walpole's “Four Years in the Pacific,” Vol. 2.)

In another such story contributed by one Te Whetu, of the Atiawa tribe, the taniwha bears the name of Te Kaiwhakaruaki. This monster dwelt in the Nelson district, and became the terror of the place by destroying travellers proceeding to Takaka and Motueka, well-known places in that region. The story appearel in Vol. 3 of the Journal of the Polynesian Society. It was over twenty years after collecting that myth from Te Whetu that I met a certain native of Tahaa Isle, of the Society Group of eastern Polynesia. He gave me some interesting notes concerning that isle, and told that a man-destroying monster named ” Aifa'arua'i lived on a small islet called Motue'a, at Tahaa (Taha'a) in ancient times. In these names I at once recognised the Maori names of Kai-whakaruaki and Motueka, remembering, as I did, the dropped k of the Taha'a dialect, and the f as used instead of the Maori wh. Near the islet of Motue'a is, said my informant, another islet named Ta'a'a,' and here is our Takaka of New Zealand. This story of the man-slaying monster must have been introduced here by the ancestors of our Maori folk, as also the place names connected with it, when they moved down from eastern Polynesia to New Zealand.

Another taniwha name met with in both islands of New Zealand is that of Ngarara-huarau. In one of these stories the monster is said to have been slain at Tupurupuru, Wairarapa district. The method employed in ridding the district of this pest was emphatically a novel one. A number of trees in the forest were “scarfed” so as to be near falling. A dog was then sent to lure the monster in among the trees, whereupon his huge body coming into contact with the scarfed trees caused them to fall, and the falling of many trees caused his death.

In some cases the taniwha stories unquestionably contain a moral, and so we may assume that they were invented, or at least approved of, by the priesthood. The following, “Parekawa and the Taniwha, or the danger of breaking the laws of tapu,” is a specimen of such stories:— In olden times a certain young woman named Parekawa was employed by her father to cut his hair. As he was a tapu person the hair-cutter became tapu, a condition that continued for some days. While she was in this condition a number of visitors arrived at the hamlet, and Parekawa, with culpable thoughtlessness, assisted in the task of preparing food for the guests. By thus coming into contact with crooked food, she of course violated one of the principal laws of tapu, and so not only was the protection of the gods withdrawn in her case, but she also became exposed to many dangers.

Soon after the above occurrence it was noticed that Parekawa had changed much in appearance and in manner. Ere long she became as one demented, and finally she fled to the forest, where she lived no one knew how. On being pursued by her friends one day she leaped into a river and disappeared. Her friends thought that she had been drowned, but not so; she had been carried off by Peketahi the taniwha. This being dwelt with his kindred apparently in some subterranean region, for he conducted Parekawa through the water and through the earth until they emerged in the region where dwelt the strange taniwha folk. These seem to have been a peculiar breed of taniwha, for the story tells us that they lived in houses and cultivated food products. These strange beings offered food to Parekawa, but Peketahi, who was the chief of the taniwha folk, warned her not to partake of it, or never more would she look upon the world of light.

It was now apparent to Parekawa that Peketahi was by no means a vindictive enemy, and, ere long, he allowed her to return to the upper world, guided by one of the taniwha folk. She was given very careful instructions as to how to proceed, and was told to pass through the water to her old home, and there gain the tuahu or sacred place of the village without being seen by her people. Now while dwelling with the strange underground folk Parekawa had lost some of her human attributes, but had acquired some strange ones from them, and so she was enabled to pass under water up the Puniu river until she arrived at her old home. Here, how- ever, she was unfortunate enough to be seen by the people ere she could reach the tapu place of the village. Owing to this misadventure her guide took her back to the subterranean demon world.

Parekawa was now much cast down, and despaired of ever again seeing home and friends, for she had lost her human aspect, and had acquired the appearance of the demon folk of the underworld. Here again Peketahi stood her friend, however, and he himself conducted her back to her home. This time she was successful in gaining the tapu place without being observed. Now came her father to her, who, by performing a certain rite over her, restored to her human form, appearance, and attributes.

Ever, in after times, the story of Parekawa was repeated as a warning to persons not to disregard the laws of tapu, lest they be carried off by demons to dismal regions of the nether world.

The name mokonui was applied to taniwha of former times, the two words meaning big or huge reptile. Thus we hear of one Mokonui who in olden days infested the Patea river, and of Mokonui who was slain by the Wai-rarapa folk in days of yore.

The story of the slaying of Tutae-poroporo, the great taniwha scourge of the Whanganui river, by the gallant hero Aokehu, is a moving one, as showing the desperate situations in which a dragon slayer may find himself. This Aokehu had himself enclosed in a stout wooden vessel which was then cast into the river and allowed to float down it. It was seized and swallowed by the monster as easily as it had swallowed canoes laden with people. Now Aokehu emerged from the great chest into the stomach of the monster, drew his cutting implement of sharks teeth, and cut his way out to the world of light through the body of the hapless taniwha, who died from the effects of this rude treatment.

In some cases these taniwha lived in caves, in others they were water dwellers, and yet others dwelt underground. One known as Te Kuri nui a Meko (the Great Beast of Meko) resided in a cave near Waikare-moana. This monster was a man slayer, and was eventually killed by a number of men who constructed a large and very strong taiki, a kind of cage made of wicker work and timbers lashed securely together. The men enclosed themselves in this structure, where they were attacked by the monster. They succeeded in cutting off a number of his legs and arms, and so eventually overcame him, thus freeing the district from a dread scourge.

My genial old friend, Hurae Puketapu, of the Waimako, near the above-mentioned cave, tells me that the proper name of the Beast of Meko was Hau-taruke. Meko flourished fifteen generations ago. He was a being of supernormal characteristics, but had a human brother named Kura-tawhiti, whose descendants are still dwelling in the district. One of his descendants, named Tuwhai, who lived nine generations ago, was the leader of the party of braves who slew Hau-taruke. Meko and his brother were of the fourteenth generation in descent from Mahutonga. The precise spot where the above monster was slain is known as Whakamarino.

The Tuhoe folk apply the names tuoro and hore to huge mythical monsters believed to live underground, where they seem to move about somewhat freely. They are said to form great chambers and tunnels in so moving about, and sometimes uproot great trees during their progress. A cave in the bank of the Whirinaki river at Te Whaiti is known as Te Ana tuoro (the Tuoro Cave). One of these monsters is said to have lived in the pond or lakelet named Otara, on the summit of Maunga-pohatu. This creature is said to have formed, in olden days, the deep gorge through which the Waikare stream now runs, on its way to join the Whakatane river. Another creature spoken of in some parts is the tuna tuoro, described as resembling a large eel. It is heard of in both islands. A Waikato native stated that its touch paralysed a person, and that it pursued persons on land as well as in the water. The names of puku tuoro and kumi are heard occasionally, as applied to some species of taniwha.

In both islands we have places named Te Rua o te Moko, which may be rendered as “The Den of the Moko.” Presumably they were held to have been occupied by taniwha in former times.

In Hine-korako we have a taniwha of the female sex who lives, or formerly lived, in the deep pool under the falls of Te Reinga, in the Wairoa district. This creature is said to have become enamoured of one Tanekino, a member of the genus homo some fifteen generations ago, and to have lived with him as his wife. Owing, however, to unpleasant personal remarks made by the women of the village, Hine eventually retired to her former home beneath the dark waters of Te Reinga. Prior to her retirement, however, she bore a son to Tanekino, who was named Tuarenga, and from this man many natives claim descent.

South Island natives report that the pouakai was a huge bird of prey that formerly existed in those parts, and carried off persons from the native villages. One of Mr. Beattie's native contributors, however, stated that pouakai was the old native name of the huge extinct moa (Dinornis).

The small lakelet known as Waingaro, on the summit of Maunga-pohatu, was formerly occupied by a taniwha named Rongo-te-mauriuri. We are told by the Tama-kai-moana folk, who dwell under the Enchanted Mountain, that a certain ancestor of theirs was once pursued by the fearsome Rongo, and narrowly escaped destruction. He had, however, the presence of mind to pluck a hair from his head, cast it into the agitated red waters of Waingaro, and repeat the Whakaeo charm, when, behold, instantly the taniwha retired, the rolling waters became calm, and the world of life was regained!

In days gone by I had an opportunity to peruse a manuscript collection of Maori lore made by one of the most famous of early collectors. It contained an account of the slaying of what the collector described as a “large guano,” in past times. The description of the attack of the “guano” on the hero and his dog was a thrilling one, but need not be described here. Eventually that “guano” was overcome by the enraged populace, and so perished miserably.

Lest our readers weary of taniwha we will not discuss more of these numerous dragon myths of the Maori, but there are other strange creatures to be mentioned. Amongst these are certain denizens of the ocean, sometimes described as taniwha. Such is the famous Ruamano, who is said to have been the offspring of Tutara-kauika. This latter name seems to be a proper name for the right whale, and both these creatures were appealed to for assistance by the Maori when in danger at sea. Thus if a canoe were capsized, or in danger, a leading man would call for assistance thus:— “Tutara-kauika E! Kawea au ki uta ra Ruamano E! Kawea au ki uta ra.” (O Tutara-kauika! Convey me to land. O Ruamano! Convey me to land.) Whereupon, we are told, the monsters of the deep would come to the rescue and bear the supplicants to land. This Ruamano was one of the sea monsters that acted as convoy to the Takitumu canoe on its long voyage from eastern Polynesia to New Zealand. A taniwha bearing the same name is said to have occupied the Papuni lake in former times.

Paikea is the name of another species of whale that was appealed to by mariners in distress, and the names of these creatures are encountered in old religious formulæ. The Maori also possessed a vague, ill-defined belief in certain beings of supernormal nature who dwelt far out in the ocean wastes, and who have been known to succour human beings. This is made evident in the story of Maui, and also in the curious myth of Uenuku-rangi and Uenuku-titi. In this tale the sea folk are termed Tini o Te Petipeti and they succoured and reared the immature offspring of Uenuku, as they did in the case of Maui.

Yet another peculiar sea folk are the weird beings called marakihau. These are described as being of human form and as possessing long tubular tongues termed ngongo. They are a kind of sub-species of taniwha and are credited with swallowing through their ngongo appendages not only men but also canoes. This myth may be based on observation, on the strange appearance of such creatures as the sea elephant, for example. In Maori carved work we sometimes see representations of marakihau, which are depicted as having heads and bodies of human form, with the tail of a fish in lieu of legs. The ngongo is also shown in a most prominent manner, projecting far from the mouth, and having a large bell-mouthed orifice.

Several stories are on record in which the Maori claims that certain ancestors of his were, after death, transformed into marakihau. In the tribal meeting house of the Tuhoe folk of Ruatahuna, known as Te Whai a te motu, are carved

Stump of a tree felled with stone tools. Dredged from bed of Ohinemuri River at Paeroa in 1917.Dominion Museum Collection wooden images representing many tribal ancestors. Among them is one carved in the form of a marakihau, and this represents Te Tahi o te rangi, an ancestor who lived at Whakatane, and who became a marakihau after his death. This man was once marooned on Whakaari (White Island) by enemies, and escaped from that weird isle by calling upon the monsters of the deep to carry him to Whakatane on the mainland. His people wished him to raise an armed force and attack those who had served him so ill a turn, but his answer, which has passed into a proverbial utterance, was: “Waiho ma te whakama e patu.” (Leave them to be punished by shame.)

In some cases one hears of weird creatures of yore whom it is difficult to classify; they may be supernormal man-like beings, or monsters of the taniwha type possessing the power to assume different forms. The natives of the Whanganui valley told me of a strange being that dwelt in that river in days of old. A woman dwelling in a village on the river bank was visited nightly by a strange creature who appeared from the river, and whose skin was unpleasantly cold and clammy. It was discovered that he was a water denizen, and that he left the river each night in order to visit the woman. The village folk determined to destroy this creature, and so surrounded the woman's house early one morning, and slew the intruder as he was returning to his haunts in the river. The body of the river man was cut to pieces, and then the people heard, to their great amazement, the severed and scattered parts of the body actually singing a song. That song has been preserved by the natives of those parts.

We have now to deal with another class of supernormal creatures, and supernormal objects. The latter serve as illustrations of animatism, which, says the Handbook of Folk Lore, is the attribution of life and personality to things, but not a separate or apparitional soul. The word tipua, of which tupua is a variant form, is applied to anything of a supernatural or supernormal nature, hence it may be applied to a person, an animal, or to an inanimate object, or rather to objects deemed inanimate by us. It equals our terms demon and goblin, and is sometimes applied to taniwha. In our own folk tales the word “enchanted” would often be rendered as tipua by a Maori, thus such an abnormal object as an enchanted tree would be termed a rakau tipua. The first European visitors to New Zealand were called tipua. In parts of the western Pacific the word tipua means spirit, and it must very frequently have that meaning assigned to it here.

Although a tipua log, tree, or rock would probably possess supernatural powers, yet it is not well to classify them as atua; in many cases such a tipua may be styled a genius loci. In most cases natives cannot explain how a certain object came to be viewed as a tipua.

At Samoa deified spirits of chiefs are termed tupua, and the word denotes wizardry and wizards in several regions of Polynesia. In the Paumotu group tupua means a ghost. In some dialects, as that of Mangareva, the word equals to hunga, as denoting a wise man, an adept. At Niue the word carries much the same meaning as in New Zealand, and in the latter land it includes anything that we would describe as uncanny.

It is doubtful if any Maori could give a lucid explanation of a tipua. Take, for instance, a rakau tipua. The Maori believes that tree to be possessed of certain supernormal powers, and, in fact, to be what we must term a sentient being. The spirit or abnormal qualities that it possesses emanated in many cases from some defunct tribesman. The wairua or soul of that person passed to the spirit world at his death; such is the common belief, yet a native will tell you that the wairua of the deceased is enshrined in the tipua object, tree or stone. Such contradictory statements and discrepancies are often encountered by those who sojourn among barbaric folk. Tylor has given us some highly interesting matter concerning this belief in what he calls Embodiment in his chapters on animism.

This question of tipua objects is so closely allied with the subject of uruuru whenua that the two cannot be separated. This phrase denotes a remarkable custom that seems to have been known in all parts of the world, namely the depositing of simple offerings at certain places. In many lands the offerings consisted of stones cast at the base of a so-called sacred tree, or rock, and the object was to avert some misfortune or ensure good fortune of some nature. With the Maori it was a placation of the local gods or spirits of the land, and the offerings he made consisted of a branchlet, or handful of vegetation. Why stones were not more used by him in a similar way I cannot say; at no such place I have seen have I ever noted any collection of stones that may have been used as offerings. In a few cases I have heard of them being so used. For instance, a native of the Bay of Plenty informed me that, in olden days, whenever a person passed a spot where a curative rite had been performed over a person suffering from ngerengere (syn. mumutu, a form of leprosy), he would cast a stone on the spot, lest he be afflicted by the malady.

In most, if not all cases, the objects at which the simple uruuru whenua ceremony was performed, were viewed as tipua, and such places were treated with respect. As to the origin of a tipua rock or tree, should an important person chance to die while on a journey, or should bearers of a corpse stop at a place to rest, then any prominent stone, rock or tree at on near such spot might be viewed henceforth as representing the defunct one, and as a tipua. Natives have told me that it absorbed the wairua or soul of the deceased, which endowed the tipua object with mana or force, inherent powers. Travellers would deposit their simple offering at such an object, not only to secure good luck, such as fine weather for their journey, but also to uphold the mana of the tipua, that is the innate powers of the talismanic object. The offering, and the brief utterance accompanying it, showed that the observers still kept green the memory of their ancestor and still upheld his mana. A stream in which a dead body has been washed has been treated as a tipua, and in this case the offering consisted in some cases of a stone cast into it. Should any witless person pollute a tipua object by taking near it any cooked article of food, it was believed that the powers of the wairua vivifying the tipua would destroy such person. Natives tell us that, occasionally, when a seer was a member of a party travelling across unknown lands, he would be able to detect any tipua object passed on the way because his spiritual vision enabled him to see the wairua that animated the object. Here it would appear that the wairua or spirit was not enshrined in the object but hovering about it. Branchlets or leaves of the kawakawa and karamu (Piper excelsum and Coprosma sp.) were favoured offerings to an uruuru whenua, those two trees being much employed in ritual performances.

The following are specimen charms as repeated when making an offering to a tipua:— “Tawhia kia itaKia ita i roto, kia ita i wahoTamaua take ki a koe.Hurenga a nui, hurenga a roaTamaua take ki a koeHe kopinga a nuku, he kopinga a rangiKi a koe, E koro!”

This address calls upon the spirit of the tipua to retain its mana, its force and powers, for all time. Should a traveller not be acquainted with one of these longer utterances, he would repeat a short sentence, such as: “ Ina au, taku aitu, taku arangi,” Which acknowledges the tapu of the place.

The above ceremony is known as tuputupu the Whanganui district. If the offering was neglected by a passer-by, then that traveller would be assailed by bad weather. Some of the tipua stones would, if moved by any person, return to their original resting places of their own accord. So sayeth the Maori.

In his work on the natives of northern India, Mr. W. Crooke writes: “No Tharu will venture along a jungle path without casting a leaf, branch or twig on the pile of rude stones which forms the shrine of Bansapti Ma, the dread mother-goddess of the forest.”

Many of the natural objects viewed tipua were also objects of the uruuru whenua ceremonial. A number of tipua rocks at Waikare-moana possess the power to cause a rain or wind storm, and exercise their powers if touched in an unwarrantable manner. Or rather they did so, for they no longer possess such powers in these days of the intrusive pale-skinned Pakeha.

The two sacred stones obtained by Tane the uppermost of the twelve heavens are sometimes termed tipua i.e., kowhatu tipua, or supernatural stones.

Some of our tipua of these isles have visted for long periods. When, some five hundred years ago, Tamatea was sojourning in the South Island, he was annoyed by his wife's continued lament for their old home in eastern tern Polynesia. In order to quieten the homesick one he subjected her to a potent spell known as matapou, whereby he transformed her into a block of stone, thus procuring her silence for all time. On continuing his journey he left his slave Kopuwai and his two dogs at the place as guardians over his wife Turihuka. As he went on his way he heard the dogs howling, and he knew that Kopuwai had abandoned them. He therefore again had recourse to the matapou, which he “projected” with such force as to turn Kopuwai into a mokopeke (lizard) and the two dogs into stones. Those stone dogs existed as tipua until the arrival of Europeans destroyed the mana of old-time Maori institutions.

One occasionally hears of tipua birds (or bird tipua), and one of the most remarkable of these is Hine-ruarangi, who is said to haunt the gorge of the Whirinaki river at Te Whaiti. This creature was originally a woman, who lived long centuries ago, and who, when she died, was transformed into a bird, a cormorant. As for the reason of this peculiar transformation, legend appears to be silent. Here the tipua bird has lived for something like seven centuries, and it has, for ten generations past, acted as the tribal banshee of the Ngati-Whare folk dwelling in that region. Prior to the death of a chief of those people, or to a defeat at the hands of tribal enemies, this bird of ill omen has ever appeared, hovering over the village home.

In a number of places I have been told by natives of tipua logs that float about on lakes for generations. These tipua logs, trees, stones, etc., always had special names assigned to them, and are, in some cases, the centre of some curious myth. Rakai-ruru was the name of a log that drifted to and fro on the waters of Lake Wai-rarapa for many years. Should any one touch it, then next day it would have disappeared. Tutaua was the name of a log that drifted for generations across Lake Waikare-Moana. It was said to sing plaintive songs as it so drifted about, and one grizzled old mountaineer assured me that, in his younger days, when living on the lake shore, he had heard, in the dead of night, the enchanted log singing its weird song. At such a time the Maori folk would say, one to another: “Ko Tutaua e waiata haere ana” (It is Tutaua singing as it goes). Perhaps an even more famous log was that known as Waiwaia, which is said to have drifted up and down the Waipa and Waikato rivers, also on the ocean, for a long period. It was seen stranded at so many different places that the saying “Ngapaenga rau to Waiwaia” (the many stranding places of Waiwaia), became a well-known local apothegm. Thus it is often heard in conversation as an apt quotation.

On this subject of tipua one might discourse for hours, but let the above illustrations suffice. These are the folk tales one so often hears when travelling with, or sojourning among, our natives, more especially when they know that one is interested in such stores. Much evidence of an interesting nature connected with animatism may be collected among such a people as the Polynesians.

Mountains are ever impressive objects to man, be he savage, barbaric or civilised. Down through the changing centuries has the Maori preserved names of mountains in the old homeland of the Polynesian race. For these he has had a sentimental regard, and, in some cases, he has bestowed such names on mountains and hills in his wanderings, as he ever carried old-place names with him from isle to isle. Such old mountain names as Aorangi, Hikurangi, Tipua-o-te-rangi, Rehia, Maunganui, and Tawhito-o-te-rangi. Hakurangi is a hill name at Tahiti, Rarotonga, and in many parts of New Zealand. Aorangi occurs at Tahiti and in New Zealand.

The Maori also was wont to honour some prominent hill or mount on his tribal lands, which hill might be tapu, and would certainly often be referred to in many ways. Much of myth pertains to mountains and high forest ranges in Maoriland. They were often believed to be frequented by fairies, or other weird creatures.

The following is one of the most extraordinary uses to put hills to that has come to my knowledge. When the long-drawn-out bush warfare between the Tuhoe and Kahu-ngunu tribes came to an end, the daughter of a leading chief of the latter people was given in marriage to a Tuhoe chief, in order to cement the peace making. In addition to this a tatau pounamu (jade door) was erected, to employ the native metaphor. Two hills named Kuha-tarewa and Tuhi-o-kahu, situated near Waikare-Moana, were “married” to each other. The first-named was called the female, the latter the male, and the mating of these two prominent hills, one representing each tribe, has resulted in an enduring peace that has lasted even unto this day, the day of the white man.

The Maori folk tell of weird happenings in the mist-laden days of long ago, when mountains were endowed with powers of speech and locomotion. Thus we hear of the great company of mountains that formerly stood in the Taupo district, and of the dissensions that arose among them, whereby they became separated, some moving to other parts. Sexual jealousy seems to have been the cause of the quarrel, which resulted in a dispersal of the mountain folk, some of whom, as Tongariro, Ruapehu, and Ngauruhoe, remained at the old home. Taranaki (Mt. Egmont) went westward, and, in his passage towards the coast, formed the deep valley of the Whanganui river. His former site is now occupied by the lake Roto-a-ira. He had quarrelled with Tongariro over the latter's wife, one Pihanga, a high bush-clad hill near Roto-a-ira, for whom he had a great admiration. This is how it came about that Taranaki left Taupo somewhat hurriedly. He wandered up the coast and rested a while at Te Ngaere, causing by his huge weight a depression of considerable area, which was filled by what we call the Ngaere swamp. Proceeding on his journey Taranaki reached his present position when day broke, and the advent of daylight put an end to his journeying. The guide of this straying mountain was Te Toka a Rauhotu (the Rock of Rauhotu), a block of rock now seen near Cape Egmont. Now when you see the summit of Taranaki shrouded in mist, rain, or cloud, know that he is weeping for his old love Pihanga. When Tongariro fumes and smokes, it is evidence of his undying anger toward the banished Taranaki. The Rock of Rauhotu, it may be said, has some designs incised on it, and it was formerly viewed as a tipua. An old song tells us that Pihanga was given by Rangi the Sky Parent as a wife to Tongariro, and so she brought forth rain, winds and storms.

“……Na Rangi mai ano Nana i whakamoe ko Pihanga te wahine “Hai ua, hai hau, hai marangai ki te muri.”

At the time of the dispersal referred to above three other important members migrated northwards. These were Kakaramea (Rainbow Mountain), Putauaki (Mt. Edgecumbe), and Maunga-pohatu. The last-named is a female, and was the wife of Rainbow Mountain, but the twain could not agree as to what direction they should move in, hence they separated, and are now far apart. The wife said: “Let us go eastward to the red sun.” Said the husband: “Not so. My desire is toward the north.” Replied the Rocky Mountain: “Be it so. Then I shall here cook a meal for myself and our children, and proceed with them to the east, there to seek a new home.” Even so they separated, and, when the coming of day caused them to halt, Rainbow Mountain became fixed at Wai-o-tapu, Mt. Edgecumbe near Te Teko, but Maunga-pohatu got further afield, and stands afar off looking down on two seas. The young mountain folk, being light-footed, strayed yet further, for Tapanaua (a large rock in the Tauranga river) reached Te Wai-iti; Te Toka a Houmea (a mass of rock near Whakatane), Toka-tapu and Hingarae (rocks at the entrance to the Whakatane river) almost reached the ocean, while Moutohora (Whale Island) got right out to sea. Whakaari (White Island) and Paepae-aotea (a rocky islet near by) are the furthest outposts of the young mountain folk.

Now Putauaki (Mt. Edgecumbe) had two wives, Whatiura and Pohatu-roa, from whom he got separated, hence we see the last-named now standing at Atiamuri. It is the conspicuous rock mesa at that place, formerly occupied as a native stronghold. So was it that Edgecumbe waxed lonely standing out there on the great plain, and his desire was towards Maunga-pohatu, and so it came about that he sang a song to express his feelings, a song still treasured by the brown-skinned folk of the Land of Awa.

The last of these peripatetic mountain folk is Rua-wahia, who, in his journey northward, encountered a famed magician called Te Mahoihoi, an ogre of marvellous powers. The two quarrelled and came to blows, when the ogre struck so fierce a blow that he cleaved in twain the head of Rua-wahia, which act was the origin of the name of the mountain (wahi=to break, split).

The tribal mountains referred to are often spoken of as being closely associated with the people. Thus Maungapohatu is spoken of by the local natives as being their mother. Cloud, mist, rain and lightning effects seen on such a height all convey some meaning to the superstitious and credulous Maori. Again there is a general personified form of all mountains in the form of one Hine-maunga, the Mountain Maid, referred to elsewhere in this neolithic chronicle.

In Maori folk lore we encounted a number of tales in which reference is made to strange beings encountered by voyagers in far lands, such beings as the Nuku-maitore, who dwelt in trees, and folk who knew not the use of fire. Some of these creatures are mentioned in the tale of Hine-poupou, a woman who is credited with having swum across Cook Straits in the days when wondrous things happened in the world of light. An old native has explained to us that such tales as this were related to children so as to cause them to look upon swimming as a necessary accomplishment, and to abolish any tendency to fear the water.

Hine-poupou was abandoned by her husband on the island of Kapiti, and is said to have swum back to her father's home on the southern side of the Straits. She gained endurance by repeating some potent charm, that is, by appealing to the gods, and so was enabled to reach home. The story is a long one in its entirety, containing much detail. Having reached home and told her friends of the base act of her husband, it was resolved to punish him. It was arranged that the husband should perish at sea, and so, when he and his brother were out at sea in a canoe, fishing, a great storm was induced by means of magic arts. The canoe was swept by the storm far across the ocean, and at length was cast ashore in a strange land. Here the brothers encountered a strange people who knew not fire, and so ate their food raw. They found that these folk were being slain in numbers by a dread taniwha, and the harassed people implored the castaways to endeavour to destroy the beast. This they managed to do, after which peace abode in the land. One of the brothers was given a young woman as a wife, and so it came to their knowledge that natural birth was unknown in that land; all children were brought into the world of life by means of the Cæsarian operation. Hence but few elderly women were seen; all mothers perished at the birth of their first-born. The end of this story is by no means a satisfactory one, for we are not told how the castaway brothers managed to return to these shores, or if they ever did so return. Another rendering of this story shows plainly that the monster that destroyed the people was a huge bird.

Several old folk tales mentioned great birds that formerly existed, such as the pouakai, which myths may have originated in a remembrance of the huge moa (Dinornis) that formerly existed in these isles. An old North Island tale is that concerning Te Manu nui a Rua-kapanga (the Great Bird of Ruakapanga). The genuine version of this story is that of the first meeting of the Maori with the moa. This was when one Rua-kapanga, an immigrant from Polynesia, encountered several of the huge birds inland of Maketu, some thirty generations ago, hence the moa came to be known by the above name, also as kuranui. It was sometimes alluded to as the manu whakatau, which sounds like a descriptive name. Now around this name of the moa as pertaining to old Rua-kapanga have grown up strange conceits and absurd beliefs, such as the story of the great bird of Rua-kapanga, and how it carried one Pou-rangahua hither from far Hawaiki, which is as follows:— In olden times a man of goodly fame was Pou-rangahua, he who took to wife Kanioro, the guardian of greenstone. He was a person of amazing powers, as the following story shows. In days of old the two hills known as Orakai-whaia and Taunga-a-tara, at Te Papuni, stood some distance apart. The former is of the male sex, and the latter a female. Orakai-whaia felt sorely his lonely condition, and so called across the waste to Taunga-a-tara to come near and be a wife to him. Nothing loth, she agreed, and came to him, so that they stood side by side. This caused a blocking of the valley, so that the river became obstructed, hence a lake was formed. It was Pou-rangahua who, by means of his control of magic, caused those hills to separate again, and so the lake disappeared.

Pou-rangahua dwelt in the land of Turanga, where Waipaoa rolls seaward to Muriwai-o-Whata. At a certain time he noted that his child, an infant, kept putting its tongue out in a certain direction, and so he concluded that in that direction was some article of food desired by the child. This meant that such food lay beyond the dark ocean, and that a long voyage must be undertaken in order to procure it. So it was that Pou went forth upon the ocean to seek the new food product that beckoned from afar. He rode out on the unmarked ara moana, the sea roads of Kupe and of Toi; he invaded the realm of Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid, and heard the weird call of Hurumanu in the vast spaces of Tahora-nui-atea. Men say that the sea demon Ruamano guided him over the Great Ocean of Kiwa; some maintain that the strong wind known as the Hau-o-Pohokura drove his craft swiftly to the shores of Hawaiki. Howbeit he made the land at Pari-nui-te-ra, wherever that may be, where he found a prized food plant, the kumara, then unknown in the land of Aotea (New Zealand). With a supply of this prized tuber he decided to return home, and cast about for some means of conveyance. Why he did not return hither in his own craft is not explained.

Now in that far land there existed a huge bird named Tawhaitari, and the chief Tane advised Pou to employ this creature in order to convey him across the ocean to Aotea. He did so; he placed his baskets of seed tubers on the bird's great back, and then mounted himself, but so weighty was the burthen that the bird was unable to rise. Tane then advised Pou to procure another great bird, the Great Bird of Rua-kapanga, to bear him home. This was done, and all was well, so powerful a creature was it. Then Tane spake farewell to Pou, and gave him words of counsel: “Be gentle with your ancestor who bears you so bravely. Do not illuse him; do not compel him to alight in your homeland. When, on nearing the land, he shakes himself, do you descend at once from his back and allow him to return hither.” The time had now come for Pou to commence his long flight, and the great bird rose in the air and stretched forth to fly across the great ocean to Turanga at Aotea. Now there was one great danger to be encountered on the way, and that was when passing the mountain called Hikurangi. On that mountain abode a dread tipua, a man-slaying ogre in the form of Tama-i-waho. This Tama was an evil being, an atua possessing great powers of

Toki hohoupu. Stone adze blade halfted on a handle adorned with carving, also with dog's hair etc. This form of adze was used as a weapon also as a baton used by a man when delivering a speech. sorcery; no living creature was safe in that region: all were destroyed by Tama-i-waho. At one time only could the mountain be passed safely, and that was when the sun had declined so far as to cast its bright beams into the eyes of the ogre. At that time his eyes were dazzled so that he could not see.

When Pou, bestriding the great bird of Rua-kapanga, came within sight of Hikurangi, he resolved to wait until the sun had declined so far as to dazzle the eyes of Tama of Hikurangi. When that time came, the great bird flew swiftly past, but even as it did so there came the cry of the ogre of Hikurangi: “Who is this invading the mountain of Tamanui-a-Rangi?” By the time the ogre's sight had returned to him, Pou and the great bird had safely passed.

As they approached the land at Turanga the great bird shook itself as a sign for Pou to dismount, and so allow it to return. But Pou obstinately refused to alight, and forced the bird to convey him to his very home. He also plucked the fine plumes of the bird, and thus he did it two grievous injuries. By detaining the great bird it was delayed in its return to Hawaiki, and so it was caught and destroyed by Tama, the ogre of Hikurangi. In a far land one Tane awaited the return of the great bird, but never more was it to return to him. Then came the knowledge of the tragedy at Hikurangi, and Taukata was sent to capture the ogre. His powers of magic enabled him to cause Tama to fall into a deep sleep, and in that condition he was conveyed to far Hawaiki, where he was killed, even as he had slain and consumed the Great Bird of Rua-kapanga.

As for Pou, he cultivated his treasured tubers at Manawa-ru, in the Turanga district, and that valued food product became the most important of cultivated foods in this land of Aotea. It is interesting to note that the name of Te Manu nui a Rua-kapanga is known to the natives of Rarotonga, in the Cook Group. This looks as if the name has been carried thither from these isles at some time in the past.

Rivers enter into Maori myth principally in connection with their supernormal denizens, such as taniwha and tipua. There are, however, some cases in which they enter directly into folk tales. One such is the tale of how the two rivers, Waikato and Rangi-taiki, raced each other in order to see which would first reach their common ancestress Wainui. This latter name represents one of the female personified forms of the ocean.

In the first place Whangaehu, a river that has its source near that of the Waikato, and flows into Cook Straits, on the western side of the North Island, wished to persuade Waikato to march with it to the western sea. The latter objected to the proposal, and, after much argument, the two parted. So Waikato determined to go to the sea at the Bay of Plenty, whereupon Rangi-taiki challenged him to a race, as he himself was making for those parts. Now the great race to the sea started, Waikato starting from Tongariro, and Rangitaiki from Kai-manawa. The two remained many miles apart as they raced onward, and each kept sending out messengers in order to ascertain the progress of his rival. Thus Waikato sent out Tore-patutahi and two other messengers. These messengers were the present tributary streams of that river. Rangi-taiki sent out the five messengers named Wai-irohia, Nga Tamawahine, Pokai-roa, Pahekeheke, and Wai-kowhewhe. All these are the names of tributaries of Rangi-taiki that flow into that stream on its left bank. When Waikato was approaching Paeroa he heard the roaring sound caused by Rangitaiki flowing into the Bay of plenty, which so disgusted him that he turned aside and made his way to the western sea.

We find among the natives a few stories of persons who possessed the power of flight. In the story of Tamarau we are told that he flew from the hill Arorangi, at Wai-o-hau, to the coast. But here again we are confused by a similar tale collected at Rarotonga by Colonel Gudgeon in which it is shown that Tamarau flew from a place called Arorangi, at the isle of Rarotonga, five hundred leagues distant from New Zealand. Truly has the Maori so traversed and retraversed, settled and resettled the isles of the ocean that we cannot say to what place a story does belong.

In some of the popular tales one notes all kinds of illogical and contradictory statements. In the story of the woman who was taken up to heaven by spiders we are told of a child who grew up to manhood in that region. Also that his father, when he died, entered the spirit world as an old grey-headed man. This is the tale of a woman whose husband was unkind to her, hence she appealed to the gods for relief. That appeal was heard, for Ruruhi-kerepo (blind old woman) came to her aid, and called two spiders, who came down from the heavens and constructed a web basket. Into this basket the woman and her infant son were placed and taken up to the sky. After many years her husband died, and passed on to the spirit world. Here he saw an assembly of people, and was told that a young man was about to have the Tohi rite performed over him and receive his second name. He was much astonished to find that this young man was his own son, and, moreover, ere long he found his wife, who at once recognised him, albeit he was now old and greyhaired. The reunited couple now, after many years’ separation, lived together again, and so dwelt in harmony at last, for, as is well known, there is no quarrelling in the spirit world.

Maori folk lore contains many such simple tales as the above. The name of the old woman, Ruruhi-kerepo, appears in a number of tales, in several variant forms, all of which denote a blind old woman. In some cases she appears as a veritable ogress, as in the following tale:— Now this is a tale of olden times. Many generations ago it was that five girls went a-roaming in the forest, where they met a strange-looking old woman, whose name was Ruruhikerepo. One of the girls cried: “Oh! Here is an old dame (ruruhi).” Ruruhi-kerepo said: “You must not call me ruruhi, but kuia (old woman).” Said a girl: “Oh! she is a kuia.” Again the old dame objected: “You must not call me kuia,but matua keke (aunt).” Whereupon a girl called out; “I greet you, aunt.” Then Ruruhi-kerepo made all the girls clamber up among the branches of a tree. When they had done so, she called out: “Oh! My nieces, how nice you look up there; I could eat you all; I could eat each of you at a mounthful.” Then she violently shook the tree, crying out: “Drop off! Drop off!” As each girl fell from the tree, the Ruruhi seized her, bit off her head, and ate her body. Now when the girls were missed, and a party of men went in search of them, the heads alone of those girls were found. The men sought to discover the creature who had slain the hapless girls, and, ere long, they met the ogress. One man strove to kill her, but she struck him down, seized him, bit off his head, and proceeded to eat his body. Here she was attacked by his companions, who speared her to death. They could not strike her with other weapons, because the bones of those she had eaten stuck out all over her body like the spines of the koputotara (porcupine fish).

How many times has the writer, over a space of five decades, listened to these puerile folk tales, as told by merry children and grey-haired old bushmen, told in rough huts, in the darkling solitudes of old, old forests, by the rushing waters of many streams. Under the kindly ægis of Tane and of Rehua, in the sympathetic company of Parawhenua, of Hine-pukohu, and the Whanau Marama, slowly the mythopoetic mentality of the Maori was disclosed to the dull eyes and dull mind of modern man. Fancy a dour, tattooed old bush fighter, who fought against my people on every possible occasion, and took part in the massacre of women and children at Turanga and Mohaka, relating the myth of Uenuku the Rainbow God and the Mist Maid, or such puerile folk tales as that of the Woman who ate her Child's Heart. This latter is one of the tales told in order to account for strange sounds heard in the forest. You may hear the puwawau or punawaru, a sound made by running water that sounds like human voices singing, these be the babbling brooks. Or the takiari, a sharp, sudden report; or the parangeki, strange spirit voices, called also irirangi and irewaru. But when you hear a sound as of a questing call, you know that the phantom woman seeks her child.

It came about in this wise. A certain woman of olden days was very fond of the heart of the bush pigeon as a food. As the heart of that bird is but small, it followed that her husband had to spend much of his time in the forest snaring pigeons. In course of time those birds became quite scarce, and one day he returned without a single pigeon. His wife railed at him bitterly, and accused him of laziness. On the next day he again set off for the forest, taking with him their only child, a small boy. He took the child far into the forest and there killed him. He took out the child's heart and carried it home to his wife, but, as he passed through the forest, he invoked the powers of the gods to endow the trees of the forest with the powers of speech. On arriving at his home he had the child's heart cooked for his wife, who remarked on its size, and said that it was the best she had ever eaten. She asked her husband where the child was, and he told her that he had strayed away and got lost. So the woman set off to search for her child in the forest. As she entered the forest she called the child by name, and a tree some distance away answered her. She proceeded in that direction, and again called, whereupon a tree still further off answered her. Thus she went on, ever following the lure of the voices of the trees, only to be led deeper into the forest, until at last she became lost, and could by no means find her child, or her way back home. Never again was that woman seen of man, but never has death come to her; ever she wanders in the great forest, ever is she calling to her lost child, ever she follows the lure of the demon voice. When persons of the world of life traverse the forest solitudes, they sometimes hear, afar off, a strange voice calling, calling. It is the questing cry of the Woman who ate her Child's heart.

The light class of folk tales and fables all come under the heading of korero tara, or pakiwaitara, and such stories were remarkably popular among the Maori folk. The following story was related to the writer by Hamiora Pio, of Te Teko:— Upon a certain day Namu the Sandfly and Naeroa the Mosquito foregathered, whereupon the former said—“Friend! Let us go forth and assail Man, and consume his blood.” But Naeroa said: “Let us await the shades of night lest Man should see and slay us.” Quoth Namu—“Let us attack him in numbers, so that, when he turns to smite us, he will perish before our myriads.” Said Naeroa—“Not so. Night is the favourable time, for then we will be unseen, and, as we approach Man, we will all raise our voices so that he will believe that we have settled on him, so will he strive to slay us, but merely smite himself.” But Namu heeded not the advice of Naeroa, and said—“Since you fear to go, then will I go alone.”

Now all the Sandfly Folk set off to attack Man, assailing him in great numbers, and biting deeply. But Man was alert, he smote Namu and his hordes; behold, in one slap of his hand a multitude went down to death. Thronged the Sandfly Folk about the face of Man, but what availed their desperate courage? The swift hand again smote them; truly a myriad perished. Sadly returned the survivors, and reported to Naeroa, the Mosquito: “We are no more. Nor numbers, nor courage availed. Nought remains save the drifting waters and the moaning winds of space.” Then Naeroa, the Mosquito, rose and sang his lament for the slain Sandfly Folk:— “I said! I said!Remain! Remain!Lest slain ye beBy slapping hand of Man!Alas! Alas! Behold your fate.”

Then sorely wept Namu, the Sandfly, lamenting his stricken kinsmen:— “What matters deathWhat matters deathNow that his bloodNow that his bloodIs welling forth!”

Thus we see that the Sandfly Folk reck not of death so long as they draw blood from Man.

When Whiro the Dark One drew the cloak of night across the white world, the Mosquito Folk set forth in countless array to attack Man, and so avenge the defeat of the Sandfly clan. As Naeroa approched, Man heard his droning voice, and, thinking he had settled, sought to smite him, but lo! he merely struck his own ear. Then Naeroa assailed him from the other side, and Man again sought to slay him—only to strike his other ear. Then did the Mosquito horde assail Man, and Man waxed desperate, striking many blows, only to buffet himself until his ears tingled again. When the Dawn Maid banished dark Whiro from the fair expanse of the Earth Mother—Behold! the face of Man was a dread sight, so swollen was it under the ceaseless attacks of the Mosquito Folk. Even so was the stricken field of Namu avenged, and ever do Namu and Naeroa assail Man, the one in the light of day, the other when darkness comes.

Another old-time fable is that of Kahu and Hokioi. The former is the New Zealand hawk or harrier, and the latter, sometimes called hakuwai, is the name of a large mythical bird, said to abide in the heavens. It is never seen by man, and approaches the earth only at night, when the sound of its flight is sometimes heard. In days gone by the Hawk and the Hokioi had a dispute as to which could ascend the highest in flight. Quoth the Hawk to Hokioi: “You can fly no higher than does the fern bird.” So angered was Hokioi that he challenged Kahu the Hawk to a trial in flight, to see which could fly the highest. Then both left the earth and flew upwards. The Hawk, as he flew, kept continually watching the earth, as is the habit of Hawk Folk. Pretty soon he saw a fern plain on fire, and at once swooped down to prey on the creatures fleeing from the fire. Then Hokioi cried out to Kahu the Hawk: “He pakiwaha koe” (“You are a boaster”). Then Hokioi continued his flight; he went so high that he lost sight of the earth. Never again was he seen by man, yet sometimes, in the dead of night, he is heard calling out his own name in derision of Kahu the Hawk: “Hokioi! Hokioi! Hu!”

The last word represents the rushing sound of his flight, as heard by the Maori folk of this world.

When a person has a tiresome habit of boasting of his own abilities, one will remark. “Hokioi is the person who is always calling out his own name.”

The fable of the Parrot and Parroquet is as follows:—When you walk abroad about the edge of a forest you will encounter Kakariki, the parroquet, who loves to flit about in such places. Moreover, you will hear this child of Punaweko singing this song:— “O Kaka, flying yonder, give me back my gay plumage.I gained my brilliant feathers at the sacred Isle of Tinirau.Torete! Kaureke! Torete! Kaureke!”

Now the parroquet had obtained its handsome plumage at Motu-tapu, the Sacred Isle of Tinirau, son of the great Tangaroa. When Kaka the Parrot saw that the Parroquet's brilliant feathers called forth great admiration, he sought to cajole him into an exchange. So he began to jeer at the Parroquet and ridicule his appearance, so that he came to be quite confused, and began to doubt his own fine appearance. Then Kaka took the Parroquet's fine feathers and gave his own in exchange. He put all the finest of those feathers under his wings, where you will still find them. When the Parroquet saw that the Parrot had taken many of his admired feathers, and was flying about with them, exulting in his ill-gotten finery, then did Kakariki the Parroquet lament aloud in song, the song that is heard even to this day.

In the fable of Popokorua, the Ant, and Kikihi, the Cicada, we note the advantages won by forethought, industry and diligence. When the eighth month (of the Maori year) comes, it is then that Kikihi, the Cicada, appears and clings to his ancestor Tane (trees). In numbers countless they come, and are seen basking in the sun, while the clamour of their song is like unto the crackling of a reed fire. The song of the Cicada is as follows:—“What truly is my delight? It is idling and basking in the sun on a tree branch, and just clapping my wings.”

This song of the Kikihi Folk is a strident one, and heard afar off, but somewhere down at tree base there is a very quiet, soft song being sung by Popokorua, the Ant. He is very busy, is Popokorua, and cannot sing loudly; many, many folk never hear his song at all. That song runs: “Hasten, O Friend! Do not delay. The labours of the Ant have commenced, urged on to form holes to serve as shelter from the rains of heaven, from cold that pierces nightly. To gather seeds as sustenance for the inner man, even that life may be retained.”

Now, in the beginning, the Ant had spoken to the Cicada in this wise: “O Friend! Let us be diligent and collect much food during the warm season, even that we may retain life when the cold of Takurua comes.” But Kikihi, the Cicada, replied: “Nay, let us rather bask on the sun-warmed bark of trees, and sing a merry lilt.” So it came about that the Ant toiled at gathering food throughout the kindly summer season, collecting and storing supplies in snug hidden places. Meanwhile the Cicada said: “What a fine thing is a life of basking in the warm sun. How pleasant is life, and how foolish is the Ant, who ever toils.” When, in after days, the warmth went out of the sun, when Hine-takurua, the Winter Maid, abode

The so-called Maori coffins. Illustrating an un-Maori like style of carving.Auckland Museum with the Earth Mother, when Tioroa hardened the waters, and Maeke chilled the earth, then it was that Kikihi, the Cicada, perished of cold and hunger. But the Ant, how snug is he in his sheltered home, well stocked with much food!

We will discourse a while on the subject of fairies, forest elves, the fair folk termed turehu, patupaiarehe, korakorako, heketoro, tahurangi, and pakehakeha. The Maori firmly believed in the existence of these creatures, and often speaks of them as though they were human beings, for we have tales describing them as capturing and carrying off native women. The most interesting particular concerning these forest folk is that they are described as being a fair-skinned people having light or reddish coloured hair. If this was a belief of pre-European times, then it may have been a dim memory of a light-skinned people encountered by the ancestors of the race in far lands. This is a somewhat bold theory, for it must have been many centuries since the Maori folk were located in any region where they might have met such a people. It is probably a matter of comparison, as it was with the Spanish voyagers who termed the Polynesians caras blancas.

The collector of data concerning the myths of barbaric man has, of a verity, much to endure, and is often puzzled by the contradictory nature of such data. He listens to most realistic tales of the Turehu abducting native women, and dwelling in communities on forest-clad ranges. Others, however, inform him that these forest folk are nought but wairua tangata (human spirits, or souls). Some assert that they are spirits of the dead; others that they are the spirits (souls) of living persons, and so statements differ. Evidently all believed in the existence of these forest dwellers, but people had vague ideas as to their nature, which, after all, is no doubt quite natural.

A peculiar feature of all accounts of the Turehu folk is that they were often heard talking, singing and playing flutes up on the wooded hills and ranges, and especially so on dull, misty days. They are said to have been a very tapu folk, and if one of their hamlets was visited by man, they would surely desert it and settle elsewhere. One tale tells how the Maori acquired the knowledge of the art of making fishing nets from the Turehu. A party of Turehu was hauling a net at Rangiawhia one night (for these folk never do so during daylight), when one Kahukura managed to join them. He assisted in hauling the net without being detected as a man. He wished to secure the net so that he might learn how to make them, hence he delayed the departure of the Turehu by purposely bungling the work of tying the fish in bundles. He refrained from securing the kaui or cord to the first fish strung, hence the fish slipped off the cord as fast as he strung them. By this means Kahukura delayed the departure of the fisher folk until dawn appeared, and the appearance of day so startled them that they fled homewards, abandoning their net on the beach. Another version has it that the Turehu folk discovered that a man was among them, and so fled in dismay. This is how the Maori acquired the art of netting, and when one of to-day sees slipshod, careless work, he remarks: “Ko te tui whakapahuhu a Kahukura,” in memory of the trickery of Kahukura.

Natives sometimes state that the Turehu folk were the first occupants of these isles. This remark, together with that anent their fair skin and hair, has served some writers as a basis for a theory, or belief, that New Zealand was once inhabited by a fair race. Such a claim is quite hopeless; no such a people ever dwelt here. The light-haired, light-skinned individuals occasionally seen among the Maori, and by them termed urukehu, represent an old strain of unknown origin. It was brought hither by the Maori from Polynesia, but no man may say whence it was derived. On account of the idea that the Turehu were the original inhabitants of Aotea, the natives sometimes say that the land and its products really belong to them. We are told that, in olden days, when persons were engaged in digging fern root (the edible rhizome of the bracken), they sometimes heard a voice say: “E koa koe aianei, a maku hoki te ra apopo” (“You rejoice to-day, but my turn will come to-morrow”). Then the root diggers would know that the original owners of the land, the Turehu folk, were speaking, and so each man would hasten to put aside the first three roots he dug up as a placatory offering to the Turehu.

The late Hoani Nahe, of Hauraki, provided some interesting notes on our present subject. He remarked that the Turehu, Kura, and Korakorako folk are clans or divisions of the tribe Patupaearehe (Syn. Parehe and Patuparehe). They are not the same as human beings, but are sometimes indistinctly seen by man.

One Ruarangi was the eponymic ancestor of the Ngati-Ruarangi clan of the Haua tribe, of Waikato; his wife was Tawhaitu. In those days the denizens of the forests were a numerous people called Tahurangi. They lived on the bushclad hills and forest ranges of Pirongia, Taupiri, and elsewhere. In those old times, long before the white-skinned tipua (Europeans) broke through the hanging sky and landed on the shores of Aotearoa, Ruarangi and his wife dwelt in those parts. Now it came about that, during the absence of the husband on a certain day, when his wife was alone, one of the Tahurangi Folk, by name Te Rangipouri, came to the hamlet and carried her off to his abode on wooded Pirongia. Here they lived together for some time, sometimes going to other such bush hills, where they would sojourn a space, and then return to Pirongia.

When Ruarangi found that his wife had disappeared, he sought her far and near, but all in vain, no trace he found. One day, however, he was ranging the forest at the base of the hill abode of the weird Tahurangi, and saw his lost wife with her Tahurangi husband. He called to her but she fled from him. For the strange influence of those forest folk had caused her to forget her old life, and home, and friends, so she knew not her true husband, and fled from him in great fear. Ruarangi then bethought him that she was under the potent tapu of the forest folk, hence if he could but break the power of that tapu, his estranged wife would recognise him and return to him. Fortunately he chanced at the time to be carrying a small portion of cooked food, the very best of agents whereby to pollute or destroy tapu. He now pursued the pair until he got near enough to them to throw the food so as to strike his wife in the back. This contact at once broke the power of the tapu, and his wife recognised him, and joyfully came to him. It was, however, some time ere she quite recovered her former condition. She then told her husband that the Tahurangi would certainly make an attempt to carry her off again and that they must be very cautious in all their goings and comings.

One fair day the Tahurangi suddenly appeared, and strove to re-capture the woman. She and her husband at once ran to their house, and entered it, but the Tahurangi followed them in. Then the woman bethought her of a very strong prejudice of the forest folk, their terror of kokowai (red ochre). She told her husband to mark her with ochre, and, as soon as he did so, the Tahurangi recoiled from her; he had no longer the power to touch her. Ruarangi then marked himself with the ochre, which rendered him safe from any attack; he marked the doorway, whereupon the Tahurangi escaped through the window, which was then also marked. He approached the Tahurangi and marked the spot of earth he was standing on; the forest man fled, but Ruarangi followed him, and kept marking each place that he rested on. Pretty soon most of the plaza was so marked, and the Tahurangi was compelled to jump from one ochre free spot to another. Ere long these free spots became widely separated, and the Tahurangi became aweary with his ceaseless jumping. At last that nanakia, that troublesome being, had no place left whereon he might set his foot. He then leaped to the roof of the house. He stood on the apex thereof and sang a song of farewell to his lost human wife. Then the unhappy forest man fled back to the bush-clad hills and his home among the Tahurangi folk.

The farewell song sung by the Tahurangi has been preserved by the natives of Waikato, who will tell you of Ruarangi and his strange adventure, and of how, if you mark your door with red ocre, no troublesome forest folk will enter it.

Tutaka-ngahau, the old Tuhoe chief, told me in 1895 that the Heketoro are, or were, a fair-skinned, light-haired folk who dwelt on the high, forest-clad ranges, as at Turi-o-Haua, Mapouriki, and Putaihinu. One hears the same description of these forest folk, under different names, in all districts. It is strange that the Maori should describe them as being so unlike themselves in appearance. The Rev. R. Taylor, in “Te Ika a Maui,” tells us that these Patupaiarehe were seen only early in the morning, that they wore white garments, and carried infants as Europeans do. There is always a suspicion that these descriptions may have been influenced by the advent of Europeans, and that point cannot now be settled. We need more evidence from Polynesia.

One persistent statement made by natives is easily explained. It is to the effect that the Patupaiarehe folk used to enter native huts at night occasionally and grievously afflict the sleepers, smiting them down with deadly sickness. This affliction was undoubtedly the effect of the charcoal fires kindled by the natives in their unventilated huts on winter nights.

A Whanganui native, Heremia of Koriniti, related the following tale to me in 1921:—Once upon a time a number of women set forth to the forest in order to collect berries of the hinau (Elœocarpus, from which a dark-coloured, heavy, coarse meal bread was made). On entering the forest the women separated in pairs and set about their task, each couple taking a different direction. As time passed, one woman became separated from her companion, and so called to her. She heard a reply from afar off and proceeded in the direction of the voice, calling out ever and anon, and still hearing answering calls. She believed that her companion was answering her, but not so; it was a Parehe, a strange denizen of the forest, who was calling to her.

Ere long the woman was caught and carried off by the Parehe far into the depths of the forest. When the women returned home it was found that one was missing, and a search for the absent one was instituted. After a long search the seekers came across the woman and the Parehe, not walking on earth as we do, but moving about among the tree tops, walking on the branches. The searchers suceeded in catching the woman, but found her strangely altered. One half of her body still retained its human aspect and condition, but the other half seemed to have turned into wood. Her friends were much puzzled as to how to restore her to her former state, she had altered so much; she seemed to have become half Parehe. At last they formed and heated a large steam oven and placed her in it. This steaming process had the desired effect, the woman was restored to her former human condition, and regained her normal faculties.

After the woman had been returned to her home, and had recovered from her experiences of Parehe life, she would, during the silence of the night, hear the Parehe, afar off in the forest, singing a song of lament for his lost companion. So, in course of time, it came about that she learned the words of that song, which is yet sung by the brown-skinned folk who dwell by the rushing waters of Whanganui.

The weird beings known as Porotai are described as having bodies one-half of which is composed of stone, and the other half is human. This double aspect extends to their faces. They are said to be accomplished singers, but they may possibly have ceased to exist, for none have been seen for many years.

In former times, say the Awa folk of the Bay of Plenty, companies of spirits, termed tira maka, which are human spirits, were seen moving about in space, but only gifted seers could descry them. Such a vision was held to be unlucky, and so, when such a company was observed, a ceremony would be performed in order to avert any threatened misfortune.

The Tutumaiao are weird, indistinct creatures seen on long, sandy ocean beaches by travellers, but as one approaches them they disappear.

Te Tini o te Hakuturi (the Multitude of the Hakuturi) is a name applied to bands of forest elves inhabiting other lands, the former home of the Maori folk. They acted as guardians of the forest, and theirs was the task of avenging any desecration of the tapu of the forest. These were the fairy folk who caused the fronds of our tree ferns to assume a drooping aspect. Originally they were quite rigid.

Giants do not frequently appear in Maori myth. We have brief references to the existence of such folk in the South Island, and also on the island of Rangitoto in the Hauraki gulf. The Turehu folk of the forest are sometimes alluded to as Nanakia because they were a troublesome breed.

In both islands we find stories about the Maero, or Maeroero, wild men believed to dwell in the great forests that formerly covered the land. Quite possibly this belief rests on a basis of fact, and that decimated clans of other days sought refuge in forest wilds when unable to hold their own in more favoured regions. We know that such a procedure was followed in former times.

Inasmuch as myth enters largely into the superstitious beliefs and omens of the Maori folk, it may be as well to include here some of their innumerable puerile beliefs of former days. Absurd as many of these are in our eyes, it is ever well to remember that those of our own ancestors were equally so, and, moreover, we have by no means shaken off superstition ourselves.

The omens (aitua), signs (tohu) and superstitious fancies of the Maori are a legion; numerous are they as leaves in the vale of Vallombrosa, or, as the Maori puts it, they are as uncountable as a company of the Sand Maid. Another fact upon which special stress must be laid is that such signs, omens, etc., had a very marked effect on Maori life. All activities, all pursuits, were much affected by them. This was a natural sequence, the faith of the natives in such fancies being so strong.

The pseudo-science of oneiromancy was keenly followed by the Maori, who placed great faith in dreams, which were allowed to influence the most important undertakings. When a party of fugitive folk under Kahu was seeking a new home, the leader proposed to settle in an unoccupied district inland of Rangitikei. These migrants set to work and prepared the timbers necessary for the building of a village. When the task of erection was about to be commmenced, the son of the chief chanced to dream that he saw the prepared timbers drift out to sea, where they were cast up on an island on which he beheld all his friends. This was enough for the Maori, and the proposed settlement was abandoned, the party marched to the coast, constructed a vessel at the mouth of the Rangitikei river and put to sea. They left Cook Straits and put to sea to seek the land discovered by Toi when he missed New Zealand by keeping too far to the eastward. They reached, and settled at, the Chatham Islands. Now here we have a case of a serious deep sea expedition being undertaken on account of a chance dream.

It is shown elsewhere in this chronicle that the Maori is extremely superstitious in regard to the lizard, he connects it with death; it is extremely unlucky to even see a lizard. Fenton sees, in this fear of a harmless little creature, a survival of the terror in which the crocodile has been held by the ancestors of the Maori in some far land. This seems some-what far-fetched to the present writer, who is more inclined to trace the man-destroying taniwha of Maori myth to that source. Superstitions cluster round the lizard in many lands the world over. In King's work on the Gnostics we are told that “the lizard, which was believed to conceive through the ear, and to bring forth through the mouth, is the type of the generation of the Word, that is the Logos or Divine Wisdom.” This belief seems to explain the appearance of a lizard upon the breast of certain figures of Minerva.

The belief that the lizard brings death is by no means confined to the Maori; it is also an Asiatic and African belief. About the middle of last century the natives of the Whanganui district were led to believe that lizards were working them grievous harm and must be destroyed. One of their first acts was to destroy the fine groves of karaka trees that adorned the banks of the rivers, because those trees were said to afford shelter to lizards.

Should you unfortunately encounter a lizard in your path, it is best to kill it, and then get a woman to step over it, so that the evil omen may be nullified, or averted. Such an act is termed a ripa. The lizard was sometimes selected as an aria, or medium of an atua, its form of incarnation, in fact.

The ignorance and superstition of the Maori effectually kept him at the very bottom of the ladder in regard to knowledge of disease, and medical research. His fear of darkness was very real, and, from our point of view, childish, but his firm faith in the existence and ceaseless presence and activity of evil spirits, was assuredly a sufficient cause for his fears.

The curious old-world belief in the curative powers of human saliva was also held by the Maori. The connection between sneezing and life and welfare seems to hinge upon the fact that the first sign of life manifested by Hine-ahu-one, the first woman, created by Tane, was a sneeze.

The Maori belief in the unlucky and lucky, the tapu and common, the effective and non-effective, sides of man, etc., are also, apparently, world wide. Far spread also was his reluctance to mention the name of an animal he wished to trap or snare, a plant he wished to find, lest they should learn his intention, and elude him. Thus, if going forth in search of the perei, an orchid of which the roots were eaten, he would allude to it as maikaika, lest he should fail to find it. The life of the Maori was riddled with lucky and unlucky acts and omens, though unlucky signs seem to have been far more numerous than lucky ones. All unlucky acts, etc., in connection with trapping, snaring and fishing are called puhore. There are many omens derived from involuntary movements of the body and limbs, each having its distinctive name; such as io, hui, maka, kauwhera, tamaki, etc. The generic term for such manifestations is takiri.

Omens were drawn from the appearance and position of the rainbow. No fighting force would advance if a rainbow were seen bestriding its line of advance. A puzzling thing in connection with native omens is that luck seems to change sides; in some cases the right side is the lucky side, and in other cases it changes to the left side. Thus to hear the cry of a robin to your right is a lucky sign; if it is to your left it is unlucky. But if your right nostril tingles or twitches, it is a token of bad luck, while the same affection of the left nostril is a token of good luck.

My very worthy old friend, Tuta Nihoniho, who was a descendant of enthusiastic man-killers, had firm faith in omens, and never wearied of impressing upon me the wisdom of heeding them. He was keenly anxious that young natives should be trained in the use of modern arms, so that, when war's alarms came, they would be ready to step into the ranks alongside their white comrades. The old man little thought how soon those lads would be in training, and also fighting under strange skies in far distant lands. In a long screed composed by him he included much advice to young men of his race as to methods of fighting, and urged them to be very careful to note all omens and signs. He continued: “These signs are not haphazard occurrences; they are manifestations of the gods. However, my lads, in your first campaign you will find out all about such tokens; by experience shall you learn the meanings of these things, as they affect you, in the days that lie before. With some persons the left side is the lucky side, with others it is the right side that is lucky.”

It was deemed unlucky to see certain rare kinds of stone, such as the tahakura, hine-a-tauira, and pungapunga, the latter being a light-coloured kind of greenstone.

A long list of unlucky signs, good omens (waimarie), and other superstitious beliefs would scarcely be entertaining to readers, hence but few will here be given; these will serve as illustrations.

If, during sleep, your hand closes in a convulsive manner, it is a sign that ere long you will receive a present; indeed, it is already on its way to you.

It is unlucky to dream that you are having your hair cut, and unlucky to kindle a fire on the path, when travelling. If, when sleeping beside another person, that person chances to nudge you, that act is a bad omen for you, but still you can avert the trouble by pinching the nudger, which seems comforting.

When a native dreams of going anywhere, or of doing anything, he believes that his wairua (soul, or astral body) actually goes forth from his body and so sees and acts. Any warning sign he dreams of is seriously viewed, hence he believes that an important office of the wairua is the protection of its physical basis, the human body. Again, the belief that the soul leaves the body during sleep renders the Maori extremely cautious about waking a sleeping body. No native would waken a sleeper by shaking him, or calling loudly to him, because his wairua may be absent, and he must give it time to return to its basis.

Long years ago an old woman at the village of Uruhau, near Wellington, dreamed that she saw a fire on the ridge known as Te Wharau. This dream was gravely discussed, and was held to be a warning of some danger threatening the hamlet. Two men were despatched to Te Wharau to endeavour to obtain an explanation of the warning, and they encountered on that ridge a party of raiders advancing to attack Uruhau. Such chance occurrences as this caused the Maori to place great faith in dreams. The old woman's wairua had, during a jaunt abroad, seen this danger threatening its basis, and had returned to warn that basis. Such is the reasoning of the Maori.

When travelling at night, which the Maori ever disliked, natives often make a considerable noise by singing. This is to scare away any spirits, as wairua of the dead, that may be prowling about. Otherwise singing out of doors at night is looked upon as being somewhat unlucky, though the Turehu folk sometimes practice it. When, in travelling at night, one encounters a current of warm air, it indicates the presence of kehua (ghosts, spirits of dead).

The cry of the owl at night has often caused a village to be deserted, the whole of the people betaking themselves to the forest to escape an expected attack from enemies.

Odd numbers are unlucky in a number of connections. It is unlucky to decline an invitation to partake of food, though it is sufficient if you eat but a fragment thereof. If a woman steps over the body of a male child its growth will be injuriously affected. For her to step over the body of a man would be simply an act of impertinence.

A landslip is viewed as ominous of the death of some member of the local clan. Omens were derived from clouds, wind, thunder, lightning, rainbow, stars, the moon, and other things too numerous to mention.

The older generation of natives believes that the decrease in their numbers, and their impoverished constitution, have been brought about by the forsaking of their old religion and the institution of tapu. By abandoning these, and adopting unsuitable European customs, habits, practices and beliefs, their vitality and general welfare have become seriously impaired. The mauri ora, the sacred life principle of man, has become polluted, and hence the Maori cannot flourish. The gods have abandoned him because he is no longer tapu, and how can man survive and flourish when the gods hold aloof?

The late Mr. R. McNab has recorded a story that illustrates native superstition, and shows how an ignorant people may be caused by superstition to make an unprovoked attack on Europeans. A certain ship captain sojourned at the Bay of Islands early in last century. He was the possessor of a watch, which the natives held to be an atua, a sentient and supernormal being. This watch someone happened to drop overboard, and, later, after the departure of the vessel, a serious epidemic broke out among the natives, many of whom perished. This affliction was connected with the demon watch, and the natives vowed vengeance against the white-skinned sea rovers. In such cases it is the next visitor who suffers.

Auckland Museum. N.A. Canoe prow (caneo in 83 feet long and made from a single tree trunk, with topatrake attached). Two cuved storehouse (Pataha) in the background.

Whenever the Maori suffers from such visitations as an epidemic, or a failure of crops, he looks to himself for the cause thereof. He must have committed the offence for which he is being punished. It is impossible to shake their faith in this view, and indeed we ourselves have retained similar beliefs; our Church teachings for centuries have been deeply affected by such superstitions. I well remember hearing a priest preaching to his native followers at Whakatane. Like most of such gentry, he was bitterly anti-British, but not above appreciating the benefits of living in a British country; a curiously contradictory quality met with in many Milesians and Dutchmen. Said this worthy priest: “My friends, you have perhaps heard of the fate of the great Napoleon. Now it was not the bravery of the English that caused his downfall. No, he fell because he had sinned.” Here, now, we have a thoroughly Maori superstition, typically Maori, but then it is also Pakeha (European), and so we leave it.

In a very remarkable cosmogonic myth collected by the late Colonel Gudgeon we note that misfortune generally is personified in one Aitua, who was one of the offspring of the primal parents.

A great deal might be written concerning Maori superstitions, signs, and omens, but as many examples of such appear in other chapters, we may well draw this one to a close.

Carved wooden box (waka), to keep plumes in.

VI Religious Beliefs and Practices of the Maori-Maori Magic

No organised system of worship generally practised—Interesting features of Maori religious beliefs—Classification of Maori gods—Definition of the term atua—Io, the Supreme Being—The Cult of Io a restricted one—Rongo and Tane—Tu, the War God—Tutelary beings—The rainbow deity—Tribal gods—The matakite or seer—Te Awanui, the cacodœmon—Maraea, the female medium—Herbal concoction as a wound preventer—Te Rehu-o-Tainui—The life story of a war god—Maori priests classified—Tohunga—The Ngau taringa and Whakaha rites—Priests paid for services—Hypnotic powers of priests—The bishop and the tohunga—The kura hau awatea—Neolithic wireless—Priests faced the sun when performing rites—Abolition of tapu and its farreaching effects—Missionaries versus tohunga Maori study of stars—Preservation of racial lore—Priesthood often hereditary—Communications of gods—Divine possession—The “mango trick” practised in Polynesia—Multifarious duties of priests—The institution of tapu Its vivifying force emanates from gods—Tapu is prohibition—Offences against gods punished in this world—Offences against tapu—Tapu of death—Marion du Fresne desecrated a tapu place, and so perished—Tapu objects painted red—Tapu of forests—Tapu words—Tapu articles destroyed—Pollution of tapu—Tapu of houses; of nets; of paths; of betrothed girl—The Whakanoa rite—Cooked food pollutes tapu—Women employed in tapu removing rites—Purificatory ceremonial—Ritual performances—Karakia, or ritual formulæ—True invocation rare—Incantations—Vivifying power behind rites and charms, etc.—Fasting—Ceremonial purification in rites—Rites performed in water—Sacred fires The Tuapa wairua rite—Fire walking—Ceremonial umu or steam ovens—Human hair used in rites—Tapu of hair-cutting—Hair cutting as a ceremonial performance—Human saliva used in rites—Its inherent powers—Sun worship—Sun cult connected with its personified form—Nelson's sun festival notes—Moon worship—Star worship—Offerings to gods—Bird released in rites—Symbolism—Images of atua—Genealogical table included in ritual—Ceremonial dancing—Initiatory rite over a seer—Moral impurity a bar to ritual privileges—Tuahu—Takuahi—Marae of Polynesia—Ahurewa—Phallic symbolism The tiki pendant—Protective and destructive powers of certain organs—Ngau paepae—Phallic trees and stones—Phallic flutes—Spiritual concepts—The wairua, or ata—Ghosts—The mauri or life principle—Protective principle and material talisman—The hau—The breath of life—Ahua and aria Mental concepts—The ngakau, puku and hinengaro—Two distinct spirit worlds—The Reinga—How the soul attains the underworld—Myths of the setting sun—The Ara whanui or Golden Path—The Hono-i-wairua—Hawaiki-nui—The Four-way Path—The celestial spirit world—Miru—Hine-nui-te-Po—Ameto—The practice of magic—Belief in magic has fatal effect—Is both advantageous and pernicious—Magic and religion inter-mixed—Use of mediums in black and white magic—How wizards were identified—Origin of black magic—Reputed powers of wizards—How the shafts of magic were averted—The Ngau paepae rite—Magic spells—The Rua iti—Destructive powers of material medium—Thieves punished by magic arts.

In describing the religious concepts of the natives of these isles it is well to bear in mind that they had not evolved any such a well-defined theological system as we are accustomed to. It may then be said that the heading of this chapter is an appropriate one, and that it is more correct to speak of Maori religious beliefs and practices than to dignify such by the name of religion. Had the cult of Io been known to, and practised by, the whole of the people, then assuredly the term religion might have been employed. But it was not so known, it was confined to the few, and the bulk of the people knew of no cultus superior to that of the departmental deities. This secondary phase was in the hands of the priesthood, whose duty it was to placate such beings and to perform the rites pertaining to the cultus. The ordinary man had direct interest only with inferior beings of the third and fourth classes. Thus the religious practices of the average person of a community were but little removed from shamanism.

The leading features of Maori religion, those of the greatest interest to the ethnographer, are the concept of the Supreme Being, that of the spirit world, with those of the spiritual potentiæ of man, and the institution of tapu. The first three present some novel and little-known phases and peculiarities; it is doubtful if we have acquired such a close insight into those of any other barbaric folk. These details are of much interest to students of comparative religion, and tend to prove that the ancestors of the Maori must have devoted much thought to the subjects of the whence and whither of man, and of his spiritual nature.

In order to give the reader an insight into the Maori pantheon and Maori theogony, it will be well to review his numerous gods, and to make an attempt to classify them. Unless this be done, any attempt to explain their attributes and manifestations may well confuse the reader. I would divide our atua maori, or native gods, into four classes, as follows:— 1. The Supreme Being.2. The departmental deities, or tutelary beings.3. Tribal gods, so called for want of a better term.4. Family gods; familiar spirits, as the souls of defunct forbears. One may well take exception to the term god as applied to some atua, but it is not easy in many cases to find a suitable substitute. The term atua is employed to denote, not only such beings as we term gods, but also anything believed to possess supernormal power. It is often applied to anything mysterious, or that is believed to exercise a malign influence. Thus a serious epidemic may be termed an atua. It has been applied to living persons; in many cases it may be rendered as “demon.” Inasmuch as it was, and is, applied to any malignant being, it does not seem to have been a happy choice to employ it to designate a benignant deity. Like the word tohunga, supposed by most of us to denote a priest, the word atua is used in a very loose manner.

With regard to the first class division of our gods, there is but one being to mention, for here Io stands alone, as a Supreme Being necessarily must. Some account of this deity has already been given in a former chapter, to which description, however, a few notes may be here added.

We have been told by divers writers that the Maori had formed no conception of a Supreme Being, and that all his gods were of a malignant nature. Both of these statements are erroneous. The Maori conception of the Supreme Deity is a very remarkable achievement for a neolithic and barbaric people. It occupies and illustrates a high plane of thought, and, moreover, it was never permitted to detericrate, but was preserved in its original purity. This result was achieved by means of the only possible way in which it could have been effected, namely, by the preservation of the cult of Io in the hands of the few. Hence it never became degraded. Io was viewed as a beneficent being who had no dealings with evil, to whom no offerings were made, of whom no image might be fashioned. He was invoked only in regard to matters of high importance, and the invocations addressed to him were known only to the superior class of priests. These invocations were somewhat numerous, and a number of them have been preserved. They are couched in exceedingly archaic language, contain many cryptic, metaphorical and sacerdotal expressions, while their general tone is of a high order. Here we meet with instances of true invocation, and a wide difference exists between these effusions and the lower class formulæ pertaining to inferior deities and shamanistic ritual.

Ritual performances connected with the Supreme Being were not performed in public. If any excessively tapu ritual formula was repeated at any place where ordinary people might hear it, then certain parts were omitted, more especially any lines containing the name of Io. As a rule such ceremonies were performed out of doors, but some were held at the ahurewa, a particularly tapu place in the sacred lore house of a village community, if such a house existed, for they were few and far between. Io was invoked only in connection with matters of importance, in no case was he appealed to in connection with minor affairs, or black magic.

Here then, among a barbaric and cannibal folk living at the ends of the earth, we encounter a remarkable concept of the Supreme Being. He is called Io the Parentless because he was never born of parents. He was Io the Parent because all things originated from him, or through his agency, albeit he begat no being. He was known as Io the Permanent because he is eternal and unchangeable, and as Io-te-waiora because he is the welfare of all beings and all things in all realms.

We have been told by one of our leading anthropologists that, when a people possess a number of departmental deities, then, sooner or later, the institution leads to the conception of a Supreme Being to stand above them. Presumably this was the process with the Maori, but the cult of the Supreme One was closely retained by the higher grade priests and the leading families.

The departmental gods were provided by the primal parents, they are members of the offspring of Rangi and Papa. Thus we see that Rongo presided over the art of agriculture and all peaceful arts and institutions, including the making of peace in time of war. In vernacular speech the word rongo denotes peace. This deity is known far and wide throughout the island system, being one of the great Polynesian trinity of Tane, Tu and Rongo. We have seen that the name of Rongo was coupled with that of Tane in a peculiar manner, as Rongo-ma-Tane (Rongo and Tane). This title was used as though pertaining to a single deity. Certainly this double-barreled deity should have been useful to an agricultural people such as the Maori, for it meant a combination of the two beings representing fertility and reproduction.

Tane has been shown to represent the sun, light and the male fructifying power; he is essentially Tane the Parent and Tane the Fertiliser. It was he who begat trees and plants, who fertilised the Earth Mother and caused her to produce the first woman, he who placed the Children of Light on high and so brought Light into the murky world. Tane is the tutelary being of forests and birds, hence he was placated by fowlers, and by craftsmen who sought material for canoe making, house building, etc. Thus many offerings were made to Tane in connection with divers activities.

In Tu we have the tutelary deity of the war department of Maoriland. Tu represents war, bloodshed, and the present writer is inclined to hold the view that Tu personifies the setting sun, which is ever associated with death. If Fenton's statement that one Tu held the same position in Babylonia be correct, then it is a very remarkable coincidence, especially when viewed in conjunction with the parallels pertaining to Ra and Sin. Inasmuch as Tu was the chief war god of the Maori, it was his tapu that lay heavy on fighting men when on active service. His mana was over the warrior, and any who infringed the many restrictions imposed by his tapu were indeed in parlous plight. Offerings of the hearts of slain enemies were made to him. He was the presiding genius of war, but, at the same time, any fighting force was also under the sway, mana, and guidance of one at least of the many beings who may be