350 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



bay"), the name of a landing-place and also of the river 

 emptying therein. Whanga-ra, on the east coast of the 

 North Island, is said by one writer to be so named because 

 the Maoris on arriving there v^ere reminded of a similar place 

 in the land from which they had migrated. But its position 

 gives proof of the origin of the name " east bay," or " bay 

 facing the rising sun " {ra, " the sun," also " the east "), and 

 there is no more necessity to assume it was so named from 

 any fancied resemblance to any other place than to suppose 

 East Cape was for a similar reason so named by Captain 

 Cook. 



Whanga-paraoa is by tradition said to be so named be- 

 cause the voyagers in the " Arawa " canoe found a certain 

 kind of whale stranded on the beach when they arrived, and 

 a quarrel occurred with the crew of the " Tainui " as to which 

 were the rightful owners of this waif from the sea. 



Whanga is often written as Wanga, and is accepted as 

 correct in either form, according to the spelling originally used 

 to denote any particular place ; and I believe the Maoris of 

 certain districts are in the habit of omitting to sound the h in 

 several other words also. 



In the names of places and streams we often find the 

 compound word ivai, "water," as in Wai-nui, "big water," 

 a very common name (the Wainui of Hawke's Bay is now 

 known as Herbertville, named after the first pakeha who 

 built a house and lived there) ; Wai-paoa and Wai-pawa, 

 " smoky water," some say in allusion to the misty vapour 

 arising from the water of the river during certain conditions 

 of the atmosphere; Wai-pukurau," "the water near which 

 grows the edible fungus or mushroom"; Wai-tangi, "the 

 water where the crying or w^ake was held " (this, you will 

 remember, is the place where the celebrated treaty or com- 

 pact was signed between the early settlers and the Maori, 

 and the name Waitangi has become historical thereby) ; 

 Wairarapa, "rippling water"; Wai-makariri, "the cold 

 water." 



Awa, "a river," is also used in place-names, as Awa-nui, 

 " large river " ; Awa-tapu, "river made sacred"; Awa-kino, 

 "the river of misfortune or evil"; Awa-huri, "the rolling- 

 over river" (perhaps of whirlpools). 



Ara, "a road or track," as Ara-tapu, "the forbidden road": 

 At times a renowned chief, when desirous of protecting the 

 people of a neighbouring pa or fortified village from the 



* In the Otago Wittiess a sale of sheep is mentioned, by Mr. D. 

 Murray, of Puke-rau (no doubt a mistake for Puku-rau), literally 

 " the mound-leaf," or " swelling leaf," a mushroom, or fuzz-ball (Lyco- 

 Tperdon fontanesci). 



