White. — About the Native Navies for Places. 349 



termed kai-katoa i te tama-iti ('eating the child all over'), 

 and is the conclusion of the ceremony performed by the 

 father. The sacred restriction, however, is not yet com- 

 pletely removed from the infant, but nothing more can be 

 done till the following morning, when, at dayhght, 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 swal- 

 lows it." 



The part of the ceremony performed by the female is 

 called rua-hine ("old woman"), and when it is ended the 

 infant is quite 7ioa, 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. 



One of our volcanic mountains is named Rua-pehu, or 

 " the blow-hole," a most appropriate name. A scream which 

 takes its rise on this mountain is named Wanga-ehu, or " the 

 bay, or canoe-landing, having muddy waters." This latter 

 name is similar to the one on the East Coast, which I hinted 

 might be corrupted from the original Whangaihau. A stream 

 may be known by the same name as the bay where it flows 

 into the sea, and the West Coast Wanga-ehu is evidently cor- 

 rectly named, as the following extract from the Haiokes Bay 

 Herald will show : — 



" With reference to our articles on the outbreak of Rua- 

 pehu, a Moa-whango " ("hoarse-voiced moa") "resident 

 writes : ' There was also another outburst some years after 

 Tara-wera ' " ("hot peak"), "'when an overflow from the 

 hot lake took place, and, by melting the snow, caused a big 

 fresh m the Wanga-ehu. ... I sent down a bottle of 

 the Wanga-ehji water a few days afterwards, showing how 

 largely it was charged with minerals. The Wanga-ehu is 

 always affected by any extra volcanic energy on the part of 

 Ruapehu. On Sunday, the 10th March last [1895] , when a 

 great outburst of steam occurred, which was noticed from 

 different parts of the Island, a shepherd whom I know well 

 was close by the mountain, and simultaneously with a tremor 

 of the earth and the rising of a column of steam from the 

 summit there were several small vent-holes which threw out 

 earth, rock, and steam, accompanied by a loud whistling 

 sound. These vents are on the eastern side of the mountain, 

 about parallel with the course of the Wanga-ehu. ' " Pro- 

 bably these vent-holes give the name Rua-pehu, or "the 

 blow-hole," to the mountain. 



To compare with Wanga-ehu we have Wanga-nui (" big 



