Best. — Maori Voyagers and their Vessels. 463 



and performs strange rites to introduce his gods, and to preserve his physical 

 and spiritual welfare ; he forgets not those who have protected, guided, 

 and succoured him. For the Maori was ever in sympathy with his sur- 

 roundings, and ever he vivified them. He endowed them, for weal or 

 woe, with strange powers ; he loved to personify the elements, the forces 

 of nature, and inanimate objects ; to feel that he was in unison v/ith them, 

 that all possessed life in common, that all were the offspring of the first 

 all-embracing parents — the Sky Father and the Earth Mother. 



Impelled by Tawhiri-matea, and borne by Tane across the broad, heav- 

 ing breast of Hine-moana ; guided by Hine-korako, and urged forward 

 by Huru-moana ; succoured in time of stress by Te Ihorangi and Tangaroa, 

 our voyager eludes iron-ribbed Rakahore, and is received by Hine-tua- 

 kirikiri. Fair to his sea-weary eyes, Hine-rau-wharangi greets him ; while, 

 sheltering within Tane-mahuta, Punaweko cries him welcome. Rolling 

 down the rugged flanks of Hine-tu-maunga comes Para-whenua-mea to 

 restore his waning energies, while Hine-pukohu-rangi casts her white mantle 

 over him. 



Even so does our Maori voyager return to the Primal Parent ; the 

 Parent who brought man forth to the World of Life, and who takes him 

 again to her sheltering breast, when, weary and wayworn, he returns from 

 his journey ; the Parent to whom all voyagers and all men return at last 

 — the first Mother Parent, Papa-tuanuku, Papa-ma tua-te-kore, the Parent 

 and the Parentless — the old, old Earth Mother ! 



EXPLANATION OF SOME MAORI TERMS USED. 



Aotearoa. Maori name of the North Island. 



Ara moana. Sea roads ; sea paths. 



Haumi. Piece fastened to the hull of a canoe to lengthen it. 



He ihu waka, he ihu ivhemm. A canoe-nose (prow), a land nose. (Implies that the 



two shall meet, as noses do in the Jiongi salute.) 

 Hine-korako. Personified form of some celestial glow. 

 Hine-moana. Personified form of the ocean. 

 Hine-pukohu-rangi. Personified form of mist. 

 Hine-rau-wharangi. Personified form of vegetable growth. 

 Hine-tuakirikiri. Personified form of sand and gravel. 

 Hine-tu-maunga. Personified form of ranges. 

 Huru-moana. Personified form of sea-birds. 

 Kiiva. Presiding genius or guardian of the ocea.n. 

 Papa-matua-te-kore. Papa the Parentless. (Papa and Rangi had no parents, but were 



themselves the first parents.) 

 Papa-tuanuku. The Earth Mother. 

 Pdrd-iveranui. Personified form of south wind. 

 Para-whenua-mea. Personified form of waters of earth. 

 Punaweko. Personified form of land-birds. 

 Rakahore. Personified form of rock. 

 Rarohenga. The spirit v/orld. 

 Tama-nui-te-ra. Honorific name for the sun. 

 Tane. Personified form of forests and trees. 

 Tangaroa. Personified form of fish. 

 Tawhiri-matea. Personified form of winds. 

 Te Ihorangi. Personified form of rain. 

 Te Moana 7iui a Kiiva. The Great Ocean of Kiwa. 



