Tregeab. — Polynesian Folk-lore. 495 



fish returned to his islet-dwelHng to discover who was beating 

 his great drum. Ina saw him approaching, and in fear ran to 

 hide herself behind a curtain. Tinirau entered, and found the 

 drum and sticks all right, but for a time could not discover the 

 fair drummer. He left the house, and was on his way back to 

 ' No-laud-at-all,' when the coy girl, unwilling to lose so noble a 

 husband, again beat the wonderful drum. Tinirau came back 

 and found the blushing girl, who became his cherished wife. 

 Lia now discovered that it was the might of Tinirau that 

 inspired her with a manu, or strange spirit, and then provided 

 for her safety in voyaging to his home in the Sacred Isle. In 

 the course of time Ina gave birth to the famous Koromauariki, 

 commonly called Koro. Besides this boy, she had a girl named 

 Ature. Her j^ounger brother Eupe wished much to see his sister 

 Ina, who had long ago disappeared. Eupe asked a pretty 

 karaurau (a bird of the linnet species) kindly to convey him 

 where Ina lived. The bird consented, and Eupe, entering the 

 linnet, fled over the deep blue ocean in search of the Sacred Isle 

 where his beloved sister had her home. It happened one 

 morning that Ina noticed on a bush near her dwelling a pretty 

 linnet, just such a one as she used to see in her old home. As 

 she complacently gazed upon it, the bird changed into a human 

 form. It was Eupe himself! Great was Ina's delight; but, 

 after a brief stay, Eupe insisted on going back to tell his parents 

 of the welfare of Ina. They were rejoiced to hear of their 

 daughter, for whom they had long grieved. A feast was made, 

 and the finest cloth prepared for Ina and her children. Mother 

 and son now entered the obliging linnets, and, laden with all 

 these good things, flew off over the ocean in search for Ina. 

 Arrived safely at the Sacred Isle, mother and daughter embraced 

 each other tenderly ; the past was forgiven. Three whole days 

 were spent in festivities on account of Koro and Ature, the 

 children of Ina. The visitors returned to their home over the 

 sea, and Ina was left happy with Tinirau, the king of all fish," 

 The coincidences in these two stories are very remarkable, 

 and are as instructive to students of comparative Mythology as 

 the difi'erences in the two accounts are. First, most of the 

 names agree. In the Cook and Hervey Islands the h is not pro- 

 nounced. For this reason those islanders have been called *' the 

 cockneys of the Pacific;" Hina becomes Ina, by the regular 

 phonetic loss. Tinirau is the name of the demi-god to whom 

 she flies ; Motu-tapu, " the Sacred Isle," is the name of the island 

 where she finds refuge ; and Eupe the name of the afl'ectionate 

 brother who flies to her in the form of a bird. These points are 

 quite sufficient to establish a common origin for the two stories. 

 The main differences are as follows : — Hina is, in the New Zea- 

 land story, the sister of Maui-mua and of Maui the Great, the 

 last being known both as Maui-potiki (Maui, the baby) and 



