Best. — Maori Forest Lore. 193 



by mists or fog, a. person of knowledge among them would pluck 

 up a stalk of fern, strip off the fronds thereof, and stick it in the 

 ground, base uppermost. Splitting the upper part of the stalk 

 as it so stood, he would place therein a clod of earth, reciting a 

 brief charm, which would dispel the fog. Te Kapa a Hine-whati, 

 a tawai tree near the Wai-horoi-hika Stream at Wai-kare Moana, 

 is an uruuru whenua, as also is Takuahi-tee-ka, a rock in the 

 Whakatane River, at the mouth of the Manga-o-hou Stream. 

 Old Natives tell me that in their youthful days, when this cus- 

 tom was in force, a clear space was always seen round such 

 trees or stones, the vegetation having been plucked by passers- 

 by. 



Te Whanautanga o Tuhourangi, a stone near Mount Edge- 

 cumbe, is another of these mediums of the land spirits, as also 

 was a stone named Tu-ki-te-wa, situated near the Rua-tahuna 

 Stream. 



Another form of the charm repeated is, — 



Uruuru o tauhou 



Mau e kai te nianawa o tauhou. 



While in " Nga Moteatea " we find the following : — 



Ka u ki mata nuku 



Ka u ki mata rangi 



Ka u ki tenei whenua 



Hei whenua 



He kai man te ate o te tauhou. 



The author of " Te Ika a Maui " translates the first two lines 

 of this last effusion in this wise : — 



Arrived at slippery point, 

 Arrived at break of day. 



The slipperiness of that point must certainly have been excessive 

 — far too much so for a denizen of the Tuhoean wilderness to 

 attempt to pass. 



It is said that a person who had performed the uruuru whenua 

 rite would be careful not to look behind him as he continued his 

 way. 



In vol. iv. of the " Journal of the Polynesian Society," at 

 page 55, may be found some notes on this same custom as per- 

 formed in Samoa and far-away Corea. In New Zealand it 

 seems to have been performed at most of the tipua objects. 

 Any stranger neglecting this precaution might die or be afflicted 

 by illness, if a storm did not arise, or rain ensue, as a consequence 

 of his neglect. These tipua were possessed of wairua (spirit, 

 soul), according to some of my Native friends. 



When the Land Commission was sitting at Wai-mako, near 

 Wai-kare Moana, two Natives visited the tipua rock known as 

 Haumapuhia and pulled off some of the water-weeds growing 

 7— Trans. 



