88 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



rua-torino as being a mound of earth formed in human shape 

 by the priest. In this supposed human body he makes a hole, 

 and then recites his spells of magic, in order to cause the 

 spirit of the subject to descend into that hole, where it is 

 affected or destroyed by the spells of the priest. 



Tuhoe describe the rua-iti as follows : The priest makes a 

 hole in the ground. This is the rua-iti. He has already ob- 

 tained a piece of cord, the property of the subject, obtained by 

 theft. He holds one end of the cord in his hand and allows 

 the other end to trail down into the hole. He then repeats a 

 spell to cause the wairua, or spirit, of the subject to descend 

 the cord into the rua, or hole, where it is confined and de- 

 stroyed by an incantation known as " kopani-harua." 



If a man finds out that some one is trying to destroy him 

 by means of magic, his atua, or familiar demon (probably the 

 spirit of his father or of an ancestor) will warn him, or his 

 own wairua (spirit) will discover the fact that a magician is 

 "meddling" with its physical basis and so return and warn 

 the same (this refers to dreams : a person dreams that he is 

 being so treated ; to the Maori it is his spirit which has seen 

 it) ; and he, the subject, will despatch a person to obtain a 

 piece of any kind of cord belonging to the wizard. This cord 

 is the medium between the subject (who now becomes an 

 active agent) and the magician. The person makes an incision 

 on his shoulder and smears the blood therefrom on the cord, 

 which he then burns. I have not the special incantation here 

 used. This rite is to ward off the spells of the magician who 

 has bewitched him, and if it has sufficient mana it will destroy 

 him. The performer must then whakanoa or lift the tapu 

 from himself. To effect this he will obtain the services of a 

 ruahine, a woman who is employed to make common people, 

 houses, &c, under the influence of tapu. He cooks a single 

 kumara and hands it to the woman, who eats it, while more 

 invocations are repeated. Another way is to place the kumara 

 under the threshold of his house, which the ruahine then steps 



over. 



In war, when flying from an enemy, the pursued would 

 turn and score a line across the earth or water behind him, 

 at the same time repeating a karakia, which is said to destroy 

 the pursuer so soon as he crosses the aforesaid line. When 

 it was known or suspected that a war-party was approaching 

 in order to attack a fort or village, the priest of the latter 

 would go forth and bury a kumara (sweet potato) under the 

 trail by which the enemy was supposed to approach. When 

 such enemy crossed that spot they would be assailed by the 

 paliunu or mahunu, a loss of nerve, an indefinable fear, pro- 

 duced by the spells of the priest recited when burying the 

 kumara. Sometimes a spear would be laid across the track 



