Bruce. — On a Maori Waiata. 427 



the infant in his arms, and, carrying hirn along, composed 

 his song, dedicating the boy to the recovery of the tribal 

 lands of his maternal ancestors. The hokioi alluded to in 

 the song is a bird which finds a place in Maori legendary lore, 

 and is said to have been a gigantic bird of prey of the eagle 

 species, but of much larger size. "Its resting-place was on the 

 top of the mountains ; it did not rest on the plains. On the 

 days on which it was on the wing our ancestors saw it ; it 

 was not seen every day, as its abiding-place was on the moun- 

 tains. Its colour was red and black and white. It was a 

 bird of (black) feathers, tinged with yellow and green ; it had 

 a bunch of red feathers on the top of its head. It was a large 

 bird, as large as the moa." This tradition, of which the fore- 

 going is a translation, was given to Sir George Grey by a 

 Maori chief of the Ngatiapa Tribe. 



It receives in some degree confirmation from the discovery 

 in the Middle Island of the bones of a gigantic bird of prey, 

 which probably fed upon the moa, and disappeared when the 

 birds which constituted its food ceased to exist. 



The Song. 



Kate, e tama, te noho ki to whare ; 



E puta ki waho ka haere taua 



Ngaparae i waho o Whakaari^ 1 ) 



E uia mai koe kowai te ingoa, 



Mau e ki atu, Ko te Rara o te Rangi. 



Kei ki mai te wareware, 



Ka pau te whakanoa e te tini, e te mano. 



Naku ia nei na te kahui pepe te roa wai rewa. 



Kei hea te Tupuna hei whakawehi mai i muri ano Whakataupotiki, 



Nana i tautoko te rangi i runga. 



Ka puta koe ki te whaiao 



Ki te ao marama. 



Hikaka te haere ki runga Taikoria,( 2 ) 



Pukana o karu ki roto Manawatu ; 



Kei o matua e tu mai ra i te one o te riri, ka kore he tangata. 



Aro nui te kaere ki roto Horowhenua, 



Kia pohiri mai koe ia o whaia 



E rau a te Waka ki paoa te rangi ; 



Te rau o te Huia e noa te tinana tera to piki te Hokioi i runga, 



Nga manu liunahuna, kaore i kitea. 



E te tini e te mano 



Kia takaro koe nga taku tae i waho o Waiwiri( 3 ) i roto o Waikawa ;( 3 ) 



Ka eke koe ki runga o Pukehou,( 4 ) 



Ka whakamau e tama ki waho o Raukawa,( 5 ) 



Ko nga moana ra e whakahana noa ra o Tupuna i te kakau o te hoe, 



Ngaro rawa ki Hawaiki.( 6 ) 



(1.) Whakaari, now Sandon. Kawana Hunia was born near Keureu, so 

 that the direct road thence to Horowhenua crosses Sandon. 



(2.) A high sandhill in Carnarvon, overlooking the delta of the Manawatu. 



(3.) Streams between Horowhenua and Otaki. 



(4.) A hich bluff hill, overlooking Otaki and Cook Strait. 



(5.) Cook Strait. 



(6.) From which the Maoris say they came to New Zealand. 



