90 Tr ansae tions . — Miscellaneous . 



mediums, to a certain extent, of the gods whom they served. 

 Theirs was a position much sought after, inasmuch as their 

 peculiar duties afforded them opportunities to acquire the 

 invocations and other knowledge of the priests. So largely 

 did these sacred ovens enter into the life of the people that 

 the term umu (with its variant form imu) seems to have been 

 used as equivalent to "rite" or "incantation," as umu hiki, 

 umu pongipongi, imu kirihau, umu pararahi, &c. 



The expressions tdivhanarua and tamahana mean to cook 

 a second time — i.e., if when an oven is opened the food is- 

 found not to be quite done and so is recooked. In the cook- 

 ing of birds, however, this was not allowable. If an oven of 

 birds on being opened was found to be underdone the birds 

 would be eaten in that state. To cook them a second time 

 would have the effect of depopulating the tribal forests — 

 the birds would forsake them. You must be careful how you 

 treat the offspring of Tane. 



Eegarding the Maori oven, as described above, compare a 

 passage in Ossian : " It was on Cromla's shaggy side that 

 Douglas had placed the deer. ... A hundred youths col- 

 lect the heath, ten warriors wake the fire, three hundred 

 choose the polish' d stones." A foot-note by the translator 

 states, " The ancient manner of preparing feasts after hunt- 

 ing is handed down by tradition. A pit lined with smooth 

 stones was made, and near it stood a heap of smooth, flat 

 stones of the flint kind. The stones, as well as the pit, were 

 properly heated with heath. Then they laid some venison 

 in the bottom and a stratum of the stones above it, and 

 thus they did alternately till the pit was full. The whole was 

 covered over with heath to confine the steam. Whether this 

 is probable I cannot say, but some pits are shown which the 

 vulgar say were used in that manner." (From " The Battle " 

 scene.) 



The terms tamoe and tawhakamoe mean long in the process, 

 of cooking in a hapi, as in the cooking of tawa berries (p>okere) 

 and the roots of Gordyline (see above). A rite known as umu 

 tamoe was performed for the purpose of weakening, unnerving 

 an enemy to render him harmless. 



The term tupuku is applied to food, such as potatoes, being 

 cooked in baskets, and not placed loose in the oven. 



The expression niho-wera is applied to a woman who keeps 

 cooking and eating small pieces of food while she works. 

 Kapekape is a stick used to rake out embers or food from a 

 fire. Borerore is a stick used as a poker to stir a fire with. 

 Pinohi, a bent stick, used as tongs in order to carry hot stones, 

 as in stone-boiling. Tdngutu is applied to a big fire or large 

 pieces of firewood — " Tikina atu he tangutu mo to tatou ahi." 

 Pepeke is also applied to large pieces of firewood. 



