Best. — Food Products of Ttihoeland. 67 



stream, feeling under the banks with his hand for the wily 

 tuna (eel, generic term), and groping under stones in the river- 

 bed with his feet. Should he feel the water somewhat warm 

 to his foot he knows that there is an eel near the spot, and 

 proceeds to spear or hook it. 



In eel-catching by torchlight (rama tuna) the fishers start 

 when the koko birds have ceased singing in the evening (ki a 

 viutu te ko a te koko i te ahiahi), not the short song given b 

 that bird towards midnight. The spear was generally use^ 

 formerly, though some fishers used hand-nets, like those use , 

 for taking kokopu, but larger. The eels are seen lying on th 

 bottom in pools and calm reaches, and can be approached i e 

 the fisher is careful not to disturb the water, or "shake it," as 

 the natives put it. 



If moths are seen to be numerous round fire, that is a sign 

 of a good night for eel-fishing. In rainy weather also is a good 

 time — that is, the maraugai, which is an " eel rain " — and the 

 Maori proceeds to set his eel-pots. When day dawns then 

 Tangaroa will perish. A cloudy night (jpo tuahuru) is good 

 for eel -fishers. 



Tuna-kapakapa is a small tributary of the Whirinaki 

 Eiver, near Te Whaiti. In olden days the natives cut a ditch 

 from some distance up this stream to the Whirinaki River, 

 and used to turn the creek into it. When eels were 

 travelling the water would be turned off into the old bed, 

 which left the eels writhing in a dry channel, and thus easily 

 secured. Hence the name of the stream — Tuna-kapakapa 

 (writhing eels). 



When a young man went eel-fishing for the first time he 



had to be most careful in regard to his catch. On returning 



to the village a fire was kindled and the eels cooked. This 



fire is termed an ahi parapara. On no account might women 



be allowed to partake of this catch ; only males might do 



so. This is in order to insure good luck for the fisher in 



the future, that he may be a successful eel-fisher. Afterwards 



his catch may be distributed among the people. As the 



Maori of old put it, "When Tangaroa perishes in the hinaki 



(eel-pot) then the ahi parapara is kindled." This rite comes 



under the generic term of ivhakaepa (conciliation), concerning 



which there are many customs and invocations, all for the 



purpose of procuring good fortune for the invokers. Eels 



are sometimes cooked by the tapora process — i.e., put in a 



small basket woven of mauri or kohaha leaves (ivha), and then 



covered over with puwha or mauku leaves, and so cooked 



in the steam-oven, the said leaves being eaten as greens. 



If these greens be not obtainable, then leaves of the pa- 



raharaha and rereti ferns are used. Or they are sometimes 



cooked by the kopaki process — i.e., wrapped up in the leaves 



