Wilson (dkI Tkegear. — On the Korotangi. oO/5 



has been correctly written. . . . Line 20, ' He e au,' lias 

 some error in it." Here, however. Dr. Maunsell misread our 

 writing. We wrote " He rau " (a hundred), not " He e au " 

 — a hundred tui-nings, or tossings (in the night), being the 

 correct reading. No wonder, then, the intelligent Maoi'i 

 " gave it up in despair." 



The allusion to Eotorua in the song first given is better 

 understood when the assertion of the natives, notably that of 

 Eewi and Te Ngakau, is considered, that the Korotangi was 

 ■stolen ages ago, and, presumably, carried to Eotorua. 



To our mind there is no doubt that the bird was hidden or 

 deposited where it was found ; placed there possibly for safe- 

 keeping much in the same way that the bodies of renowned 

 -chieftains were conveyed out of the ken of the vulgar, and 

 known only to the old tohungas appointed to the service. It 

 would have been considered a calamity if such a famous relic 

 as this should have fallen into the hands of aliens. Indeed, 

 the Korotangi was nearly being placed in the same position 

 as the bronze Bacchus recently rescued from the bed of the 

 Tiber, where it had lain for centuries. 



Mrs. Wilson, the owner of the stone bird, was strongly 

 urged by Te Ngakau to cast it into the depths of the Waikato 

 Eiver for fear she would suffer viakntu — or bewitchment — at 

 the instance of envious persons, who themselves wished to 

 become possessed of the treasure, the chief Eewi being par- 

 ticularly feared in this direction. Indeed, her death is, by 

 some, ascribed to makntii on this account. We can very 

 well, then, judge of the anxiety to have the Korotangi placed 

 where there would be little likelihood of its falling into 

 obnoxious hands, and can understand the rumour set afloat of 

 its having been stolen and spirited away to Eotorua or else- 

 where. Many famous tribal heirlooms are thus hidden and 

 lost to posterity. The Eev. Mr. Buller mentions a famous 

 taiaha, of great mana, as having been buried and lost in this 

 way lest it should fall into the power of opposing tribes and 

 cause disaster to the original owner. 



Mr. Colenso has a Tamil bell, discovered buried at Taupo, 

 which must have arrived in much the same circuitous manner 

 as our subject, clearly pointing to a similar eastern origin.* 



In the first migrations of the Maoris hither, they, like their 

 more civilized brethren, doubtless brought all they could with 

 them of their "household gods," of their mo'kai or pets. 

 Mr. C. O. Davis writes, " If tradition is to be relied on, 

 ■each vessel of the fleet brought to these shores some lasting 

 monuments of ancient art." We note in this direction the 

 two stone images, rudely enough formed, which w^ere brought 



* "Trans. N.Z. Inst.," vol. iv., p. 40, pi. iia. 



