Best. — On Maori Games. 39 



groups. We stay time and roll back the years that you may 

 see the amusements of the Children of Toi, the arts of the 

 whare tapere — nga main a te rehla, a te harakoa — the arts of 

 pleasure and of joy. We produce the modern notebook. Ka 

 kaivea tatou e te rehia : — 



Haka : Postuee Dances. 



The haka was the most general and popular form of 

 amusement in the whare tapere of old, and it is one of the 

 few that have survived the advent of the white man. There 

 were, and still are, many different forms of haka, some of 

 which, as the haka koiri, are now obsolete, and many show 

 traces of European influence. They are interesting to on- 

 lookers inasmuch as the performers keep such remarkably 

 good time in the various movements. And such movements 

 are many; the limbs, head, hips, and body are all subjected 

 to various flourishing, swaying, or quivering motions, many of 

 a dadalian nature and none awkward or uncouth, but grace- 

 ful and pleasing to the eye. 



Haka are composed in honour of a distinguished guest or 

 important personage, to satirise or show approval of some 

 individual or tribal act, or to deride and belittle an enemy. 

 The latter, however, is probably more properly termed a 

 " ngeri." 



New haka are often composed, even in these degenerate 

 times, on the lines given above. 



The following fragment will explain the way of rendering 

 a haka :— 



The fugleman (solus) : " A-a-a-a-a-a ! He ringa pakia." 



[Here all players begin to strike their hands on their thighs, in 

 time.] 



Fugleman : " I ki mai nga iwi o te motu nei ma te rohe potae au ka 

 mate." 



Chorus : " Kaore ! " 



Fugleman : " I ki mai nga iwi o te motu nei ma te rohe potae au au 

 ka mate." 



Chorus : "Kaore! Kaore!" 



All continue : " Ma (mea tangata), he aha! Ma (mea tangata), he 

 aha ! Ma Timi Kara e whakawhahi," &c. 



The origin of the haka is, so say the Maori, the haka a 

 Baumati (the dancing of Raumati, the personification of sum- 

 mer). This term is applied to the quivering appearance of 

 heated air as seen on a hot day. Another name for it is te 

 haka a Tane-rore, the latter being the offspring of summer. In 

 the ancient Maori mythology Te Ra (the sun) married Rau- 

 mati (summer), their offspring being Tane-rore, the quivering 

 heat. When Ruaumoko (god or demon of the underworld 

 and originator of earthquakes) pulls the cords that move the 



