Teegeab. — Polynesian Folk-lore. 491 



snare him. His young sister now suspected something ; so she 

 said to the people who were trying to kill or snare the bird : 

 ' Leave the bird quiet for a minute until I look at it.' And 

 when she had looked well at it she knew it was her brother ; so 

 she asked him, saying : ' What is the cause which has made you 

 thus come here ?' And the pigeon immediately began to open 

 and shut its little bill, as if it was trying to speak. His young 

 sister now called out to Tinirau : 'Oh, husband; here is your 

 brother-in-law.' And her husband said in reply : ' What is his 

 name ?' and she answered, ' It is my brother Kupe.' It hap- 

 pened that upon this very day Hiuauri's little child was born ; 

 then Eupe repeated this form of greeting to his sister, the name 

 of which is ' Toetoetu ' : — 



' Hinauri, 



Hinauri is the sister, 

 And Eupe is her brother, 

 But how came he here ? 

 Came he by traveUing on the earth. 

 Or came he through the air ? 

 Let your path be through the air.' 



" As soon as Kupe had ceased his lamentation of welcome to 

 his sister, she commenced hers, and answered him, saying : — 



' Eupe is the brother, 

 And Hina is his young sister. 

 But how came he here ? 

 Came he by travelHng on the earth, 

 Or came he through the air ? 

 Let your path be now upwards through the air 

 To Eehua.' 



" Hardly had his young sister finished repeating this poem 

 before Eupe had caught her up with her new-born baby : in a 

 moment they were gone." 



Thus far the New Zealand story. We will now turn 

 to the sister legend, as told at Mangaia by the Eev. Mr. 

 Gill.* The first reference we find is in the version related at 

 that island concerning the myth of Maui catching the sun in 

 ropes for the purpose of making him go slower, a story which is 

 identical with the New Zealand tale. Here we find it mentioned 

 that when Maui tried cocoanut fibre ropes for his snares they 

 would not hold. He then cut ofl' the hair of his lovely sister 

 Ina-ika, and plaited it into a rope, which had the necessary 

 strength. Here it will be noticed that Maui is called Hina's 

 brother, as in the Maori story. The name "ika' \&s]i) is ex- 

 plained by her further adventures. The Mangaian tradition is 

 as follows : — 



" The only daughter of Vaitoorunga and Ngaetua is Ina, 

 whose brothers were Tangi-kuku and Eupe. The parents of 



* " Myths and yongs." 



