194 Transactions. 



thereon. The demon responded b}' causing a heavy shower 

 of rain, with high wind. Had the storm not come, then the 

 twain would probably have been attacked by illness — so said the 

 people. 



A row of stones known as Hine-porete, situated on a hill 

 near Te Tiringa. was formerly an uruuru whenua. 



All these objects, it must be remembered, were viewed as 

 representing the spirits of the land, hence they may be termed 

 sacred trees or stones ; but the Maori quite recognised 

 the fact that the tree or stone possessed no mana, or super- 

 natural power, per se. Such powers emanated from the guardian 

 spirits of the forest or land adjacent thereto. The offerings 

 deposited at such places, or at a tree or rock made tapu through 

 the severed umbilical cord of a new-born child having been 

 deposited thereon, or because a dying chief had lain hard by — 

 these offerings, we say, whether a simple branchlet or a stone, or 

 a piece of prized greenstone, or a handsome piece of cloth. &c, 

 were intended as propitiatory offerings to placate the gods or 

 demons of those parts. It cannot be said with truth that the 

 Maori worshipped such trees, or anything else, for that matter. 

 The bright-coloured handkerchiefs and pieces of cloth placed on 

 sacred trees by these Natives carries one's mind to many a far- 

 off land — to the sacred date-palm at Nejran " hung with fine 

 clothes and women's ornaments " ; to the story of Phryxus 

 hanging the Golden Fleece on the boughs of a sacred beech-tree : 

 and to many another tale of days of old. The ancient lore 

 pertaining to the sacred tree has been compiled in a most in- 

 teresting form bv Mrs. I. H. Philpot in her work on " The Sacred 

 Tree." 



It may be observed that none of these sacred or tipua trees 

 in the Tuhoe district are haraka trees, as the karaka does not 

 grow in this district. Many such sacred trees have been pointed 

 out to me in the Bay of Plenty district, but in no case were 

 they karaka. This will dispose of the theory put forward in 

 vol. xxxvi. (page 12) of the " Transactions of the New Zealand 

 Institute." 



In this our discourse on Tane and his realm it may be well 

 to state that Tane represents the male element in nature : hence 

 it was that it was he who sought the female element, and so 

 produced trees, plants, birds, insects, &c, and eventually man. 

 Tnc word tane is also employed in the Maori tongue to denote 

 "male" and "husband/" Tiie god Tane was essentially a 

 creator. 



Trees of a peculiar form of growth, albeit not in any way 

 sacred, are often given names by the Maori. A clump of totara 

 trees near Nga-put ihi is known as Te Whanau a Mihi (the 



