Chapman. — On the Working of Greenstone. 485 



the block of greenstone brought back by Ngahue to Hawaiki, 

 which was called " the fish of Ngahue." 



The earlier part of this story is probably a myth. A con- 

 tention arises between two precious stones. The Lady of the 

 Stone-rubber harries the owner of Poutini, the pi-ecious green- 

 stone, who, however, ends by establishing a new nation. It 

 is, in effect, the same as Cain (the agriculturist) turning upon 

 Abel (the pastoralist) and forming a stronger nation — a process 

 which goes on actively in these colonies to this day. His 

 name, " The Swarm," does not appear to connect itself with 

 the subject. Flying from Hawaiki, the land of shades or night, 

 he first comes to Tuhua. This means " obsidian," and is the 

 name of an island in the Bay of Plenty— Mayor Island — where 

 quantities of that stone are found. Disturbed there, he comes 

 to Aotea, the Land of Bright Day. At Arahura, where he at 

 last lands, he plants his stone, and so the story accounts for 

 our now finding it there. He returns and tells of the new 

 land of the moa and the jade-stone. The place "Wairere," 

 wherever it was, frequently occurs in Maori story in connec- 

 tion with the extremely vague traditions of the moa. The 

 story may be a mythical version of the discovery by a real 

 personage of the distant land; and it is possible that the 

 bringing home of this rare stone may have occurred. The 

 rest of the story is the well-known tradition of the migration 

 to New Zealand, the true historical value of which has yet to 

 be determined. The names of the canoes and their builders 

 are good Maori names. 



The foregoing is abbreviated from Sir Geoi-ge Grey's 

 " Polynesian Mythology " and Maori legends. Another 

 version discards the mythical cause of contention, but gives 

 the story of the contention, and tells how Ngahue, taking up 

 his abode at Arahura, found during his residence there a block 

 of greenstone " in a lifeless state " — i.e., unworked — which he 

 took back with him to Hawaiki, from which were made the 

 axes used in building the Tainui and Arawa. An eai'ring {tara 

 pounamu) called Kaitaugata (man-eater), also made from this 

 block, was in the possession of the Ngatitoa for ages, and was 

 by the famous chief Eangihaeata presented to Sir G. Grey 

 in 1853. There are several versions of the story, generally 

 agreeing, most of which refer to the eardrop as Kaukaumatua."'- 



* The various references to " Kaitangata" and " Kaukaumatua " in 

 books are somewhat bewildering, and leave me uneerta.in as to whether they 

 are the same ornament ; if not, which of them was given to Sir G. Grey. 

 Kaukaumatua frequently crops up in history and poetry. It was brought 

 from New Zealand to Hawaiki ; it became the property of Tamatekapua, 

 who was a son or kinsman of Ngahue, and navigated the Arawa to New 

 Zealand; it was buried by his son Tuporo, and recovered [Tregear] ; it 

 passed through the hands of many other celebrities, and is an important 

 muniment of title. 



