Smith. — On Maori Nomenclature. 405 



easily found. No doubt the name was given to a place where 

 some one had had a feast of raw " huhu " grubs. Unfortu- 

 nately, however, for our theory, the accent in the name " Ota- 

 huhu," as pronounced by the Maori, was on the second syl- 

 lable, " ta," which would not be the case with the words 

 " Ota" and " huhu" (raw-Tm/m-eating), 



In the name " Onehunga," also, the accent is on the second 

 syllable. Moreover, when we come to think of it, there are 

 hosts of names beginning with " " and with the accent on 

 the syllable following it. A new light dawns, and we see that 

 O-wehunga and O-tohuhu is the more likely to be the correct 

 analysis, "nehunga" being the present participle of the verb 

 " nehu," to bury, and " tahuhu," meaning the ridge-pole of a 

 house. 



Again, the name " Kotorua" was supposed to signify Two 

 lakes, and in support of this theory the fact that the two 

 lakes, Kotorua and Te Kotoiti, are connected by a stream was 

 adduced. A more careful inquiry among the natives them- 

 selves elicited their opinion that the name, signified the " rua "- 

 shaped lake, " rua " meaning a hole or hollow scooped out of 

 the ground, generally circular, which is the shape of the Roto- 

 rua Lake ; " Te Rotoiti " meaning the Narrow lake. 



Once more : the name of the lake " Wai-ata-rua " — called 

 St. John's College Lake — has been the subject of ingenious 

 speculation, some making of it " Waiata-rua," double song ; 

 others " Wai-atarua," water of double shadow, or double- 

 imaged water. 



These instances may suffice to show that very great un- 

 certainty must attend attempts to fix the real significance of 

 Maori names. 



Eeverting to the names "Otahuhu" and "Onehunga," 

 which I would render as " Tahuhu's place," " Nehunga's 

 place," I would draw attention to the fact that a very large 

 percentage of Maori names begin with " " followed by an 

 accented syllable. In our own neighbourhood, besides the 

 two just named, we have Okahu, Orakei, Owairaka, Orewa, 

 Omaha, Ohinemuri, Ohaupo. In the North, Oruawharo, 

 Otamatea, Okaihau, Omapere, Opua. In the Bay of Plenty, 

 Ohinemutu, Otumoetai, Ohiwa, Otamarakau, Opotiki ; and on 

 the West Coast, Ohau (Hau's River), Otaki. We have also 

 names where " te " follows the " " — Otepopo, for instance. 

 Looking at these names a presumption arises, which in my 

 mind amounts almost to a certainty, that the part in these 

 names which comes after the " O " is a proper name, the 

 name of a person ; that such names are similar to those we 

 give to localities known principally as the dwelling-places of 

 persons who are well known as residents in such localities. 

 One instance among many may be quoted — " Bulls," at Rangi- 



