Best. — On Maori Magic. 9t 



One of the earliest acts of magic (makutu) on record is the 

 act of Maui when he caused Irawaru to assume the form of a 

 dog. The cause of this act was that Whatu-nui, wife of 

 Maui, had received attentions from Maui's elder brother, 

 Maui-mua. 



Kaka, a chief of Kahungunu Tribe, derived his name from 

 the following circumstance : A leading chief of the tribe had 

 been slain by a priestly magician named Moeroa, who, in con- 

 junction with one Meke, of Te Wairoa, obtained some kaka 

 birds and performed over them their magic rites, and then 

 sent them to the above chief, who, eating of them, died the 

 death. It was then that Kawatiri took the name of Kaka, in 

 order to keep green the memory of that killing. 



Another good way in which to dispose of enemies is to 

 obtain one of the (cooking) stones from their ovens. You 

 then have certain spells recited over this by a magician and 

 return the stone to the oven. When next those people eat 

 food that has been cooked in that oven — lie parekura ! there 

 will be trouble. 



Sometimes bitter wars arose in consequence of acts of 

 makutu, or witchcraft. When Ngati-maru, of Hauraki, raided 

 the eastern shores of the Bay of Plenty they took back home 

 with them numbers of Ngai-tai and Ngati-ira. Some time 

 after this Te Whata, son of Tu-te-rangi-anini, of Ngati-maru, 

 died, and Ngai-tai were accused of having bewitched him and 

 so caused his death. Ngai-tai denied the truth of this, but 

 said that Te Aitanga-a-mahaki had done so. Whereupon an 

 expedition of Ngati-maru sailed from Hauraki, under the 

 chiefs Tu-te-rangi-anini, Te Popo, and Te Kohu, to square 

 matters up. After their departure Ngati-ira and Ngai-tai 

 evolved the idea that Hauraki was a good place to migrate 

 from. They therefore left, and returned home by an inland 

 route through Tuhoeland, eventually reaching Torere. The 

 Ngati-maru party attacked and defeated Ngai-tai at Pare- 

 paopao. One account says that they went on and attacked 

 Te Aitanga-a-mahaki, a Turanga tribe. Before returning 

 home Ngati-maru also defeated Te Whaka-tohea, the fight 

 being known as " Paenga-toitoi." 



We have seen that when a person is taken sick he is taken 

 to the waterside in order that the warlock may discover, by 

 magic arts, the cause of the illness. Possibly you would 

 like to know why a sick person is taken to the water. The 

 reason is this : Wainui (the personification and origin of 

 waters) is an ancestress of man, hence man is taken to her to 

 be saved. And whether is his ailment a house, or a bed, or 

 a sacred place, or a cacodemon, or a burial cave, there shall 

 it be made clear— i.e., violation of tapu places. 



There is another way in which the arts of makutu, or 



