Best. — Maori Marriage Customs. 33 



The term whaiaipo, meaning sweetheart or lover, is ap- 

 plied to both male and female persons, single or married. It 

 is not, however, applied to any one as a married person, but 

 only to those who have a lover other than the husband or 

 wife, and to that lover himself or herself. Hence it may 

 describe the sweetheart of an unmarried person or the lover 

 of an adulterous wife or husband. Another term having a 

 similar meaning, and said to be a more ancient expression, is 

 ivhakaaiveatve, while a kai-ivhakaaweaive is a go-between, a 

 person who acts as a messenger between two lovers. The 

 etymology of the term ivhaiaipo is significant. 



There was no cult among the Maori that required the 

 prostitution of girls before marriage, as those of Aphrodite and 

 Mylitta. Neither was there any prostitute class among them. 

 The young people, when gathered together at night in the 

 whare tapere, or "play-houses," in which many games, 

 dances, &c.. were indulged in to pass away the time, would 

 make advances to each other and afterwards meet at some 

 place agreed upon. Such places were often in the forest, and 

 were termed ta7ipu)iipu7ii. These advances spoken of were 

 often made by the girls, the recognised sign being a pinch, or 

 the scratching of the finger-tip on the hand of the desired 

 person. 



PUHI. 



The ptchi custom among the natives was a singular one, 

 and deserves mention here. Williams's Dictionary gives the 

 following meanings of piihi : (1) A betrothed woman ; (2) a 

 much-courted unbetrothed young woman. Neither of these 

 definitions appears to describe the puhi among the Tuhoe 

 Tribe. A betrothal here is termed taicmou* of which more 

 anon. A puhi among Tuhoe was a girl of good family, first- 

 born daughter of a chief, who was rendered tajm — i.e., she 

 was not allowed to have sexual connection with any man, nor 

 to perform any work except such as the weaving of the 

 better-class garments, as korowai, aronui, kahu-kura, maro 

 kopua, &c., which work was equivalent to the "fancy work " 

 of ladies among us, a hght and genteel employment. She 

 would have some attendant to cook for her, and was under 

 restriction in many ways. These puhi were not allowed to 

 marry, or, at least, such was often the expressed intention, 

 though they might fall from grace in after-years when tired 

 of single life. The idea was to make her an important person 

 — " Ka whakapuhitia hai wahine rangatira "—in the tribe, a 

 lady of rank, to be treated with respect and looked up to. If 

 a puhi were detected in illicit intercourse with any man she 



* Taiwiou was the name of the function or custom ; the girl was not 

 termed a taumou. 



3— Trans. 



