Wilson and Tregeak. — On the Korotangi. 501 



Kel Ilea Korotangi 



Ka ngaro iiei ? 



Tena ka riro kei te katokato, 



I te rau powliata. 



Nga whakataine 



Tu mai ko te Po ko te Ao, 



Ka oho au, tirohia 



Iho e hine ma ; 



Nga parera e tare ake na ; 



Ehara anake 



He parera ^laori 



Waiho me titiro 



Ki te huruhuru, 



Whakairoiro inai. 



No tawhiti, o waiho 



Ana koc hei tiaki-hanga, 



Hei korero taua 



Ki tona taumata. 



I puea koe, 



I te huahua, 



Koewaewa wai 



Ki Rotorua 



E ai te ui ake 



Ki a Kawatepuarangi." 



Translation by the late C. 0. Davis. 



*' Keen is the sorrow, O my bird, for thee! 

 And, when the evening closes in, I look 

 Around in vain for thee, then turn 

 Into my dwelling. Oh ! the pang 

 Of lieart I feel when there ! I wait the live-long day 

 In restlessness ; I wait another day. 

 And morrow comes ! When, when wilt thou return 

 To me ? WJiere is Korotangi absent .' 

 Ah, how long he has gone to feast on leaves 

 Of kale ! — gone, gone to his amusements. 

 I wake when time divides in twain the day 

 And night. My daughters, look ye on the ducks 

 Down in the distance floating. Ah ! these are 

 Not like him ; that is the common bird. 

 Let us gaze upon the feathers carved 

 In lands remote. Ah! thou wert rudely thrust 

 From fish preserved in unrich fluid 

 Taken from Rotorua's lake. Thou wert 

 The guardian of our treasures, and the theme 

 Of many conversations on many heights 

 Of numerous village homes. Now what remains ? 

 We'll ask for thee of Kawatepuarangi." 



Kawatepuarangi was an ancestor of the Ngatipikiao Tribe — 

 most likely a notable tohnnga or priest. 



Te Ngakau has written, in the song, " Ehara tena he mauu 

 Maori waiho, me titiro ki te huruhuru whakairoiro mai, no 

 tawhiti ; " which we translate, " This not a Maori bird. Con- 

 sider — look at the carved feathers thereof. It (evidently) 

 comes from a distance — a foreign country, or over the 

 isea." 



