White. — On the Ceremony of Eahui. 55 



over it. At Puketitiri, Piko (a man) was the rahui; at 

 Oingo (Hauhau) was Kauhourangi, another man. The whole 

 of the land was thus made sacred, even the eel -weirs." In 

 the evidence of another witness, referring to a different por- 

 tion of the land, some chiefs " impaled a woman there." 

 These points were specially dwelt on by Sir Eobert Stout in 

 his summary of the evidence. But no explanation was given 

 as to what this ceremony consisted of, neither was it shown 

 in what manner the above-named men were ultiiised as rahui. 



Of myself, I see no reason to doubt that these unfortunate 

 men were buried at the foot of posts erected at certain places, 

 perhaps even when still alive, or were lashed to the posts by 

 the sacred cord ; this being done to increase the tajou of those 

 places, and to prevent by this tapu the removal of such posts 

 at any future date. 



In Ti-egear's Maori-Polynesian Dictionary is given, "Bahui 

 — To protect by a rahui — i.e., by a mark set up; to prohibit 

 persons from taking birds, fruit, &c., or to prevent them from 

 trespassing on lands, &c., made tapu." For good instances 

 of tribal rahtii, see "Maori Customs and Traditions," by John 

 White, bound up with "History and Traditions of the Maori," 

 by T. W\ Gudgeon. 



We find the following definitions in a Paumotuan dictionary 

 by E. Tregear : "Rahui — A defence, forbidden; Maori, rahui, 

 to prohibit ; Hawaiian, lahui, to forbid." 



In " Traditions and Superstitions of the New-Zealanders," 

 Dr. Shortland, at page 316, gives ivhaha-ihi, lie tapu, he rahui, 

 as of the one meaning. At page 265 : " Having matured his 

 plans, Heke came suddenly, cut down the obnoxious flagstaff 

 without opposition, and then went home again. Afterwards, - 

 when Governor Fitzroy set up a new one, Heke appealed to this 

 act as a further argument in support of his cause. ' See,' said 

 he, * the flagstaff does mean a taking-possession, or why else 

 should they persist in re-erecting it ? ' This remark referred 

 to a common practice in New Zealand — -namely, that of 

 setting up a post on a spot of land which any one desires to 

 claim as his own. V/hen two tribes contest the right to any 

 place, one of them -will set up their post, their antagonists 

 will soon after come and cut it down ; but, probably, either 

 party will take care not to meet the other on the disputed 

 ground till the post has been cut down and re-erected several 

 times ; when, if neither party will yield, the dispute at last 

 ends in a tight." 



Nothing is said here as to utilising a man as a rahui; and 

 this remarkable evidence of Noa Huke remains unaccounted 

 for. W^ill none of our members of the Hawke's Bay Institute 

 search this matter out before those who might explain are 

 alike " gathered to their fathers " ? 



