1856 - Shortland, Edward. Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders - CHAPTER VII

[Image of page 130]

CHAPTER VII.

EVERY nation, at some period of its history, appears to have had faith in charms or spells; by means of which the assistance of spiritual beings, or demons, was thought to be obtained, when it was desired to accomplish an object unattainable by natural means. This superstitious belief was formerly prevalent to a remarkable extent among the people now the subject of our consideration; and in every tribe there were several persons supposed to possess charms of more or less power, and adapted to every variety of necessity. Latterly, however, these charms have very generally lost their repute, from repeated failures.

The older chiefs affirm that this deterioration has taken place since the introduction of Christianity, and that, though there are not so many

[Image of page 131]

charms now-a-days that have power, there were formerly charms that could make a man brave, or make a man a coward, that could raise a tempest, or still the wind -- in fact, that could do every thing. I have frequently heard it related, how, when dragging their canoes overland, if they came to a difficult place, the priest would repeat a charm to make the canoe light, and immediately it could be drawn onwards with the greatest ease, although it had the additional weight of the priest seated on it. Whenever a child sneezed it was customary for the mother to repeat a charm 1 to prevent any evil following, just as in some parts of this country we hear the expression, "God bless you," used on the same occasion.

A few specimens of charms have been selected, on account of their being more intelligible than most of the same sort of composition.

HE KARAKIA MO TE NIHO-TUNA.
He tuna, he tara,
Pu-ano-ano, pu-are-are.
Mau e kai i te upoko
0 taua tara-tu.

A CHARM FOR THE TOOTH-ACHE.
An eel, a spiny back,
True indeed, indeed: true in sooth, in sooth.
You must eat the head
Of said spiny back.

[Image of page 132]

TA NGATOROIRANGI KARAKIA I ORA AI 'TE ARAWA.' 2

Unuhia te pou tapu
Na te Rongo-mai-mua,
Na te Rongo-mai-hiti.
Te whakarangona atu?
Ngatoro ka hika
Ki te pou-mua,
Ki te pou-roto,
Ki te pou-waho,
Ki te pou-te-wharaua.
He aturangi mamao.
Ngatoro hapainga.
Tukua te whanaunga.
Houhia te aitu,
Ko Rongo.
Ko te rongo na wai?
Ko te rongo na Rua-rangi-mua.
Turuturu mai
Ko Oho-te-tai, na Kauaka,
Me ko Ihu-mara-kau.
Te tukua atu ki te ara no Rua.
Heke, Heke iho i o'ara.
Takeke whano te ara a Ngatoro.
He ara whano ki te po:
Te po nui, te po roa,
Te po matire whatu,
Mate whai ariki.
Ko te ara a wai?
Ko te ara o nga niho totohu a Te Parata.
Eke, eke, eke, Tangaroa.
Eke, Penu.
Hui, e! Taiki, e!

[Image of page 133]

NGATOROIRANGI'S CHARM BY WHICH THE 'ARAWA' WAS SAVED.

Pull out the post made sacred
By Rongo-mai-mua,
By Rongo-mai-hiti.
Why don't you attend?
Ngatoro * *
To the first post,
To the inner post,
To the outer post,
To the * * post.
A distant day.
Lift, Ngatoro.
Let your kin escape.
Make peace.
The peace of whom?
The peace of Rua-rangi-mua.
Quickly hither, Oho-te-tai,
And also Ihu-mara-kau.
Let us go by Rua's path.
Change quickly the path of Ngatoro.
A path leading to the night:
The vast night, the long night,
The night of death.
The path of whom?
The path of the sunken teeth of 'Te Parata.'
Mount on board, mount on board,
Mount on board, Tangaroa.
Mount on board, Penu.
* * * * *

[Image of page 134]

HE WHAI MO TE WERA.

I wera i te aha?
I wera i te ahi.
Ahi a wai?
Ahi a Mahu-ika. 3
Tikina mai, wakaorahia
Hei mahi-kai ma taua. 4 Wera iti, wera rahi, Wera kia raupapa. Maku e whakaihi, Maku e whakamana.

CHARM FOR A BURN.

What caused the burn?
Fire caused the burn.
Fire kindled by whom?
Fire kindled by Mahu-ika.
Come and fetch some (fire), spread it out,
To be a slave to dress food for both of us.
Small burn, large burn,
Burn be crusted over with skin.
I will make it sacred,
I will make it effective.

HE KARAKIA MO TE HAU KIA NUI.

Hau nui, hau roa,
Hau titiparerarera,
Keria te tupairangi.
Moi, 5 moi.

[Image of page 135]

CHARM TO RAISE THE WIND.

Great wind, lasting wind,
Wind exceeding violent,
Dig up the rocks of the deep.
Come, come.

HE KARAKIA MO TE UA.

Tuarangi nui, Rangi roa,
Rangi pouri, Rangi potango,
Rangi whekeri rau-te-tieke,
Ko tapu-ihi, ko tapu-mana.

A CHARM FOR RAIN. 6

Great Tuarangi, long Rangi,
Dark Rangi, night-dark Rangi,
Rangi black as the plumage of the tieke.
* * * * * *

HE KARAKIA MO TE MATENGA O TE PAREKURA.

Haeremai i hea te terenui no Tu?
I haeremai i uta. I haeremai i tai.
I haeremai i te kimihanga.
Tere, tere, tere-nui no Tu.

CHARM WHEN A BATTLE IS LOST.

Whence came the great company of Tu?
It came from the land. It came from the sea.
It came from the place of searching.
The company, great company of Tu.

WHANGA1-HAU. 7

Hikitia mai taua kai,
Ki runga te rangi taua kai.

[Image of page 136]

Kia kai mai Ihu-ngaro.
Rongo mai.
Heke iho i te rangi.
Taua kai.

A CHARM CALLED "FEED-WIND." Raise up (or dance in the arms as an infant) that food,
Raise up to the sky that food.
Come and eat, Invisible-nose, 8
Come and hearken.
Descend from the sky,
That food.

HE KARAKIA-PAKAU.

Piki mai, piki mai,
Kake mai, kake mai,
Ki tetehi taha o te hau nunui.
Ka tu te Ruperupe:
Ka tu te Kawakawa,
Ko te Kawa. Inumia e koe
Ki Kawa tu-tahi,
Ki te watu-a-rua.
Ka whakakiki, ka whakakaka.
Ahu mai, ahu mai.

CHARM FOR A KITE.

Climb hither, climb hither,
Mount hither, mount hither,
To one side of the mighty wind.
Now Ruperupe is hit:
Now is hit Kawakawa,
And Kawa. Drink you
At Kawa standing alone:
Drink at the double (cloud).
It tightens: it * *
Incline hitherward, incline hitherward.

[Image of page 137]

DREAMS AND OMENS are also duly valued in this country. If a person sneezes while eating, it is a sign that a visitor or some news will soon arrive. If the right arm starts or jumps in one's sleep, it is a favourable omen: if the left arm, it is unfavourable. To hear at night a sound, said to be made by an earth-worm, called toke, is a bad omen, generally prognosticating death. This sound is just like what is familiar to most of us as the tick of the death-watch. I frequently heard it at night in my house at Maketu, shortly before I left New Zealand: but the interpretation then given was that it foretold a whare mahue (a deserted house).

Two remarkable proofs of the faith accorded to omens by the New Zealanders occurred shortly before the taking of the Pa or stoccade at Te Ruapekapeka. The force commanded by Colonel Despard, with about two hundred and fifty native allies, under Nini, Mohi Tawai, and other chiefs, encamped one day just without the forest in which the enemy had their stronghold. It was arranged between the Colonel and Nini, that a combined movement should be made at day-break the next morning by the troops and native allies, who were to advance on the Pa till they gained a position suitable for a battery. Long before break of day, however, Nini was awoke by a sudden twitching of the nose. As the nose twitched in the right

[Image of page 138]

direction, the other chiefs of his party were immediately aroused; and, after a short consultation, it was unanimously agreed that so favourable an omen was not to be neglected. Therefore, quickly and silently awaking their men, they set off by themselves on the road to the Pa, and, before daylight, took possession of a post about three hundred yards from it without opposition. They then sent back messengers to inform Colonel Despard of their success.

Not many days after, the hostile natives proved to us that they, too, believed in omens. If the planet Venus happens to be seen very near the moon and above it in the heavens, at a time when a Pa is besieged by a foe, it is an omen that the foe will take the Pa. But if the planet is below the moon, it is a sign that the tangata-whenua, or men of the soil, will be able to defend themselves. The following reason is given for their interpretation of this sign in the heavens:-- The moon is considered to represent the Pa, and the wandering planet the aggressors. The one uppermost is supposed to represent the victor. Now it so happened, that one day the planet was seen just below the moon, and our allies acknowledged that the omen was unfavourable. The enemy, trusting probably in the same omen, made a sudden sortie from their fortress the next afternoon, but were valiantly met by our allies in the wood before they reached the

[Image of page 139]

positions of the troops. Either party protected themselves as well as they could behind the trunks of trees, whence they fired incessantly at each other for more than half-an-hour. The enemy were then forced to yield, having probably expended most of their ammunition; leaving, in evidence of their defeat, a gun and an old blanket, and several significant pools of blood on the ground occupied by them.

Before a war-party go to battle they sometimes try to discover by omens what will be their success. One of the modes employed by them is the following:---The tohunga selects two small sticks, of equal size, and repeats over them a charm called niu--

Moko-torotoro, moko-torotoro,
Murare, 9 murare,
Kei hara mai koe,
Kei whakawareware
I taku niu.
Kia toa.

On coming to the words kia toa, be valiant, he spits on the sticks, and lets them fall to the ground together; saying, at the same time, moku tenei, this is for me; mo te taua tenei, this represents the foe. If his stick falls uppermost, the omen is good for him; if undermost, the omen is bad, and he and his friends return home. In case the two

[Image of page 140]

sticks fall apart from each other, the same process must be repeated, and he addresses the sticks, or rather the invisible spirit supposed to guide them, in the above words, kei whakawareware, take care what you are about. If, after this, they again fall apart, the omen is bad, and he and his party go back.

SECOND SIGHT.--It is always ominous to see the figure of an absent person. If the figure is very shadowy, and its face is not seen, death, although he may ere long be expected, has not yet seized his prey. If the face of the absent person is seen, the omen forewarns the beholder that he is already dead.

The following statement is from the mouth of an eye-witness:--A party of natives left their village, with the intention of being absent some time, on a pig-hunting expedition. One night while they were seated in the open air around a blazing fire, talking over the events of the day, the figure of a relative who had been left ill at home was seen to approach. The apparition appeared to two of the party only, and vanished immediately on their making an exclamation of surprise. When they returned to the village they inquired for the sick man, and then learnt that he had died about the time he was said to have been seen.

REGARDING MARRIAGE.-- The brothers of a female are the persons whose consent to her marriage it is most necessary to obtain. The parents

[Image of page 141]

have comparatively little to say on the occasion. When the marriage is agreed on, the bride has a house prepared for her by her relations, and the bridegroom, being conducted to it at night, finds her there alone ready to receive him. There is no other ceremony than this, which is called whakamoe, causing to sleep together.

Men of distinguished and rich families have several wives, some of whom bring good dowers with them in the shape of lands and slaves. Such wives, being selected from motives of self-interest or policy, often continue to reside on their own estates, and superintend their management, while the husband spends his time sometimes with one, sometimes with the other. The same person has, probably, several other wives, or rather concubines, taken from families of inferior rank, or from slaves, to gratify his fancy. They are also useful to their husbands in performing menial offices in the family.

Marriage in New Zealand is not an indissoluble tie. I have known a woman to have three husbands alive at the same time. The first husband was a young chief of her own tribe, who, after a while got tired of her and discarded her, notwithstanding that she had borne him a son. Her relations then gave her to a chief of another tribe, between which and her own tribe war broke out soon after; and as she, at the time, was staying with her own friends, they would not give her up

[Image of page 142]

to her husband, but married her a third time to another of her own tribe. I became aware of these facts from her son by the first husband, who was in my service some time.

Marriages between near relatives are not unfrequent, yet I never knew of more than one instance of a brother and sister living together as man and wife. They were children of different mothers, however, though of the same father. Probably, in former times, when there was no male offspring of a wife who had lands of her own, the desire to keep the lands in possession of her husband's male issue, by another wife, may have sometimes caused similar alliances. It is, however, not uncommon for a man to have two sisters as wives at the same time. On the death of the elder brother, it is the established custom for the next in succession to take his wife and slaves. Before marriage the greatest license is permitted to young females. The more admirers they can attract, and the greater the reputation for intrigue, the fairer is their chance of making an advantageous match: but the moment they are married they are required to become prudent and chaste, or to suffer the consequences, which are always severe.

CEREMONIES ATTENDING THE BIRTH OF A CHILD.-- It has been already mentioned that the New Zealander relies much on omens derived from dreams. If a newly-married man, while sleeping soundly at

[Image of page 143]

night, beholds lying on the ground human skulls ornamented with feathers, he awakes with the assurance that his wife will soon conceive. If the feathers are those of the bird called huia, it is a sign the child will be a girl; if those of the kotuku (a white crane), the dream prognosticates a male child. Females during pregnancy have longings for all sorts of food; sometimes for eels, sometimes for wild turnips, or shell-fish, or what not; but no idea prevails, similar to the popular European prejudice, that the non-gratification of these longings is attended with bad consequences to the child, in the shape of marks to disfigure its body.

Shortly before the birth of the child is expected to take place, a hut is built for the mother. This hut is placed at a distance from the dwellings of her family, and is held so very sacred that slaves and persons of low rank dare not come near it. Immediately after the child is born, some curious ceremonies are performed. In the first place, the tohunga repeats a charm over the child at the instant of cutting the navel-string. If it be a male, the charm is as follows:--

Tangaengae 10 ki te riri mau,
Tangaengae ki te mau taiaha mau,
Tangaengae ki te toa mou,
Tangaengae ki te mahi-kai mau,
&c. &c.

[Image of page 144]

Cutting to inspire you with courage to fight,
Cutting to give strength to wield your weapon,
Cutting to fill you with courage,
Cutting to make you till food to eat,
&c. &c.

And so on, enumerating the various duties and qualities befitting a male. If, however, it be a female, the charm is varied as follows:--

Tangaengae ki te watu weruweru mou,
Tangaengae ki te mahi kai mau,
Tangaengae ki te haro muka mau,
&c. &c.

Cutting to make you weave the robe to keep you warm,
Cutting to make you till food to eat,
Cutting to make you hackle flax to weave with,
&c. &c.

And so on, enumerating the various duties and qualities befitting females.

The infant comes into the world an exceedingly sacred object, and must be touched by none but the sacred few present till the tapu or restriction, has been removed.

The ceremony attending the removal of tapu, from the child is as follows:--A small sacred fire being kindled by itself, the father takes some fern-root and roasts it thereon. The food so prepared is called horohoronga. He then places the child in his arms, and after touching the head, back, and

[Image of page 145]

different parts of its body with the horohoronga, he eats it. This act is termed kai-katoa i te tamaiti, eating the child all over, and is the conclusion of the ceremony performed by the father. The sacred restriction, however, is not yet completely removed from the infant; but nothing more can be done till the following morning, when, at daylight, the child's eldest relative in the direct female line, cooks fern-root over a sacred fire, precisely in the manner the father had done, and having similarly touched the head and various parts of the body of the infant with this dressed food, afterwards swallows it.

The part of the ceremony performed by the female is called ruahine (old woman), and when it is ended the infant is quite noa, or free from restriction, and may be handed about among the persons standing by to be danced in their arms. The ceremony performed by the father is called tautane or tamatane; and, at its conclusion, the child receives its name. This is generally selected from names of male ancestors, but sometimes from a female ancestor; for many names are indifferently given either to males or females. This circumstance is one, among others, which may cause confusion in making genealogical inquiries, if one is not forewarned of it.

BURIAL CEREMONIES.--After a person dies his body is buried temporarily, till the flesh, sinews, etc.

[Image of page 146]

are decayed. The body is doubled up together, the legs being flexed, and the thighs brought close to the belly. The skeleton is afterwards disinterred, and the bones, being cleaned, are exposed to the public gaze for a short time. They are then deposited in secret places, such as natural caves, which are, in fact, the family vaults. Very few are intrusted with the secret of these vaults; lest, by becoming known to an enemy, the bones might perchance fall into their hands, and be treated with indignity.

I once saw one of these depositories of the dead; but, unfortunately, not before the state in which it had been originally left was somewhat disturbed by the curiosity and carelessness of those who were the first to enter it after its discovery.

It happened that a company of the 80th regiment were stationed for a short time at Tauranga, on the confines of two hostile tribes. The ground occupied by our troops was at the base of a small spherical hill, which, with two neighbours of a similar shape, but smaller, rose above the level of the plain, at a short distance from a lofty conical mountain, named Maunganui. All this ground had once been thickly inhabited; but the last owners of the soil having been conquered by a war-party of Nga-Puhi, under the chief Hongi, it had never since been re-occupied. One day in clearing away rubbish at the base of the hill for the better accommodation of the

[Image of page 147]

contractor's pigs, some large stones were found, placed apparently in their position, not by nature, but by art; and, on further search, an opening was made into a cave, which contained a great number of human skulls and bones. When discovered, these skulls were arranged in rows on shelves cut in the walls of the cavern. I give the description of those who saw them, for I was at the time absent at Maketu, and when I returned a few days after, some of the skulls had been carried away, and the rest displaced from their former sites. Fearing the desecration of this spot would give offence to the natives of the neighbourhood, I recommended the entrance of the cave to be re-closed; but I soon found that the natives were already aware of the discovery, and appeared quite indifferent as to the fate of the bones. They did not belong to any of their tribe, nor had they even known of the existence of the place. The vault, no doubt, belonged to the more ancient denizens of the soil; viz., to some of the ancestors of the present inhabitants of Maketu and Rotorua, who were its first settlers, but were dispossessed of it nine 11 generations ago.

A very curious ceremony, called hahunga, takes place when the skulls of the dead are exhibited to their living relations before being finally deposited in the secret family vault. While residing at Maketu, I was invited one morning to witness this su-

[Image of page 148]

perstitious rite. The skulls of three celebrated chiefs, of the generation just past away, were to be seen once more by those still on earth. There was to be a great feast on the occasion, and a large number of persons expected to do honour to it. When I arrived at the place appointed, which was an enclosed space or courtyard within the Pa of Maketu, I found it thronged with spectators, and the very posts and rails surrounding it swarmed with dark faces. My guide, however, soon found a good place for me, .whence I could look down on those within the enclosure. At one extremity of it was a sort of stage, on which were three figures in a sitting posture, clothed with the mantles of the country of the handsomest description. Where their heads should have been, however, there were to be seen only the fleshless skulls, their eye-sockets stuffed with red cloth for eyes, and feathers of the huia and kotuku, in place of hair. In front of the platform, and at a short distance from it, stood three elderly women. Their bared arms and breasts bore the marks of recent wounds, inflicted with shells or sharp stones, in honour of the dead, to whom they were then addressing praises in the form of a wailing extemporary recitative, each actor using such words as she felt most appropriate, but preserving the same melancholy strain.

This extemporary performance, called tangi, a word meaning wailing, is used on all occasions of

[Image of page 149]

meeting after an absence. In measure and tone it resembles the chanting of our cathedral service, and the accompanying action and gestures of the performers produce altogether one of the most moving scenes imaginable.

The tangi, however, did not last long. In the rear of the three elderly ladies were seated in rows, eight or ten in a row, and five or six ranks deep, the best born young belles of the town; and when the old ladies and the audience were tired of tangi, the scene changed, and the young ladies, still remaining seated on the ground, struck up a more lively strain, called haka. The haka is not a modest exhibition, but the reverse; and, on this occasion, two of the old ladies who stood in front--for the other went on with her monotonous chant, as if she really felt it, and perhaps she did--accompanied the music by movements of the arms and body, their postures being often disgustingly lascivious. However, they suited the taste of the audience, who rewarded the performers at such times with the applause they desired. It was altogether as ungodly a scene as can well be imagined. The three skulls on one side more hideous in their strange garb. On the other side, a savage crowd of demons in the flesh, their faces strangely disguised with black, white, or red colours, and their hair grotesquely ornamented with feathers.

These rites were in former days the pastimes of

[Image of page 150]

the New Zealanders. They are now preserved only by those who have not yet embraced Christianity. Ere long such sights will, probably, be no more seen. They may have given place to a more refined description of theatrical representations.

THE PLACE OF ABODE FOR SPIRITS.--The New Zealanders believe that the souls of the dead go to a place beneath the earth, called by them Reinga. The gate-way and path leading to this lower region is a precipice or chasm close to the sea shore, at no great distance from the North Cape; and it is confidently asserted, that the natives who live near that place can hear at night sounds caused by spirits passing through the air on their way thither. After a great battle, where many have fallen, they are thus warned of the event long before the intelligence arrives by natural means.

Often, indeed, it has happened, at least, so it is affirmed, that persons who have died, and actually descended this precipice, have returned again to earth to relate what they had seen below, and lived for many years afterwards. A circumstantial tale of such an event was narrated to me by a young man, named Te Wharewera, while living in my service.

Only a few years before, an aunt, I forget her name, had died in a solitary hut near the banks of the lake Rotorua. Being a lady of rank, she was left in the house where she died, and, the door and

[Image of page 151]

window being made fast, the spot was abandoned, her death having rendered it tapu. Early in the morning, a day or two after, as the young man Te Wharewera was with some others passing in a canoe near the place, they saw a figure seated on the shore. The figure appeared to beckon to them; so pulling toward it cautiously, for they were rather alarmed at seeing any one there, they soon discovered it to be no other than Te Wharewera's aunt come to life again. She was, however, in a very weak condition, and, had it not been for their timely succour, must soon have perished outright of cold and hunger. When sufficiently revived, she gave the following account of what had befallen her in the land of spirits.

On leaving her body her spirit took flight towards the North Cape, and in due time arrived at the gateway of the Reinga. Her path was then down the steep precipice, called Rerenga-wairua, along which she descended with tolerable ease, holding by the stem of a creeping plant, called akeake, which, growing from its base, formed a natural ladder. Descending thus, she at last found herself on the sandy beach of a river, and looking around, espied in the distance an enormous bird, taller than a man, coming towards her with rapid strides. This terrible object so frightened her, that her first thought was to try and return up the steep cliff; but seeing an old man paddling a small canoe towards her she ran to meet him, and so escaped the bird.

[Image of page 152]

After being ferried safely across the river by this Charon of the Polynesians, she enquired where the spirits of her kindred dwelt, mentioning the name of her family, and then hastened along the path pointed out by the old man. She was much surprised to find it just such a path as she had been accustomed to see on earth. The aspect of the country too, the trees, the shrubs, and the plants, were all of them familiar to her.

At last she reached the village, and found a crowd of persons assembled, among whom she at once recognized her father and many near relations formerly known alive. They welcomed her with the usual form of salutation, and then commenced a tangi, the wailing extemporary chant always addressed to persons when met after a long absence. This ended, her father began to make enquiries about his living relations, and particularly about her child. After a little while he said to her, "You must go back to the earth, for there is no one now left to take care of my grandchild. But remember, if you once eat food in this place you can never more return to life; so beware not to taste anything offered you."

Presently a basket of food was placed before her, which had the appearance of being baked kumara roots. On looking more closely, however, she discovered it to be something else, and turned away in disgust. Some of those who sat near her, observing that she did not eat, pressed her very urgently to

[Image of page 153]

taste of the dish; and would probably have prevailed on her to yield to their persuasions, had not her father interposed. He, seeing her hesitation, jumped up quickly, and bidding her follow him, hurried her away by the path leading to the river.

They had not gone far on their road before a young man, one of the party they had just left, overtook them, and began to upbraid her father for his design of sending her away. The latter paid no attention to what he said, and having reached the waterside, proceeded at once to launch the same canoe in which she had before crossed the river, and which was lying hauled up on the beach. Then the young man made a more vigorous attempt to detain her, seizing her by the arm, and it was only by her father's help that she was released. So finding all his efforts fail, he turned back in a rage, and left them to cross the river unmolested.

As soon as the canoe touched the opposite shore, the old man took out from beneath his robe two roots of kumara, of a very enormous size, and bid her plant them when she returned to Rotorura for his grandchild's especial eating. He then bade her farewell, and advised her to make all the speed she could. So taking the kumara roots, she hastened away. Ere she had gone many steps, however, two infant spirits overtook her, and tried to detain her by pulling her backwards by the cloak. She struggled on to the base of the cliff in spite of them,

[Image of page 154]

and began to climb the ascent. But she no sooner climbed a few steps upwards, than the united efforts of her two persecutors pulled her down again.

At last, in a fit of despair, scarcely knowing what she did, she threw a kumara root at them. One of the urchins ran immediately to pick it up, and, beginning to eat it, thought no more of troubling her. The other still held fast by her cloak. So, seeing no other way of escaping, she flung the remaining root at his head, and the moment he left her to seize the prize, climbed up the rock by help of the stem of akeake as quickly as she could, and reaching the earth without being overtaken, flew back to the place where she had left her body. Such was her account of what had befallen her during the time she had been supposed to be dead.

On returning to life she found herself in darkness, and all that had passed meanwhile seemed to her as a dream. She with some difficulty crept to the door of the house, but it was fastened, and she was too weak to force it open. She then began to recollect the circumstances of her illness, and finding herself left alone, deserted by every one, concluded that she had really died, and had returned to life again. As morning dawned a faint light entered through several crevices, and she saw on the floor near her a calabash partly full of kokowai, a mixture of red-ochre and water. This she eagerly drained to the dregs, and afterwards, feeling her strength

[Image of page 155]

somewhat increased, made another attempt to open the door, and succeeded. She then crawled towards the beach, where she was discovered soon after as already related.

Those who listened to her tale believed firmly the truth of her adventures. But it was a general source of regret that she had not brought back with her at least one of the immense kumara roots, in evidence of the fact of her having visited the land of spirits.