354 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Certain authorities on Maori tradition maintain that we 

 find no mention of the occurrence of human sacrifice, but this 

 position is not tenable. We are told by the late Rev. W. 

 Wyatt Gill, in "Jottings from the Pacific," that by the kin- 

 dred people of Rarotonga human sacrifice was made to the 

 atua (deified ancestor) Kongo. Under the heading " Bible 

 Truths illustrated " (by native teachers) is the account of 

 the manner in which Itieve was enticed by a message from 

 his relative Kekeia (thief) to ineet him on the summit of the 

 mountain Maungarua : "Whilst on the way thither Itieve 

 was warned by the cry of the bird kaua (kingfisher) — a 

 bird considered sacred to Tane — that there w'as a hidden 

 foe in the vicinity, but Itieve replied, ' Ao, Tane ; koe e 

 karanga nei ' {' Aye, Tane ; it is thou who art warning 

 me'). The bird again gave its warning cry of 'kaua' 

 (from which it is named), to which Itieve replied as pre- 

 viously, and recklessly went forward to the place of meeting. 

 By this time his concealed foes had crept round through 

 the fern and bush, enclosing him on every side. Kekeia, see- 

 ing that his prey was secure, arose and shouted, ' Taumoa, 

 e Bongo, toou ika' (' Eongo, seize thy prey'). At this pre- 

 concerted signal the armed men rose as if by magic out 

 of the earth, and clave the skull of Itieve. A long spear 

 was thrust through his body, and he who had despised the 

 three-fold warning of the gods was carried off with shouts 

 of triumph between two men to the gloomy cave of Ivirua, 

 and there cooked and eaten." 



Mr. Gill also tells us that it was customary after a 

 battle, and'to secure a lasting peace, for the victors to search 

 about for a particular one of the vanquished party as a 

 sacrifice to Eongo, as, for instance: "To secure peace 

 two special sacrifices were made to the insatiable Eongo, 

 as the supreme ruler of human destinies and the god of 

 war [Tu is the god of war in New Zealand, Eongo of 

 agriculture, especially of the kumara, or sweet potato — T.W.] . 

 Both were young women. The first was Kete-ta-kiri, who 

 was contemptuously designated ' ei ika aua na Papa' — i.e., 

 ' fish refuse thrown to Papa,' the mythical mother of dread 

 Eongo ; the second (Taike) was to be 'ei ika akatangi pau ' — 

 i.e., ' a fish in order that the drum of peace might sound.' " f 



Usually one sacrifice was deemed sufficient, but Makai- 

 taka decreed two : " The weeping aunt of Taike, seeing she 

 could not save her, with the instinctive love and pride of 

 native women, got her best petticoat and wrapt it round her. 

 The unhappy girl was then dragged by one hand outside the 

 oven-house (cooking-place). Her loud cries and bitter tears 

 at her hard fate did not move Vaere's compassion. The 

 armed men in ambush now left their post and rushed for- 



