228 Transactions. 



tion as practised in the Caroline Islands, where the bones were 

 cleaned, painted, and preserved, as among the Maori. 



A singular rite, the invoking of the dead, the spirits of dead- 

 and-gone ancestors, that they may aid their living descendants 

 in battle. See a description in the " Journal of the Polvnesian 

 Society." vol. viii, p. 217. 



In regard to the popoa, or sacred food, above mentioned, 

 we see in Mr. Percy Smith's account of Niue and its people 

 that the word " poa " there means "an offering to the gods." 

 This is evidently the original meaning of " popoa." 



In the " Journal of the Polynesian Society," vol. vii. p. 50, 

 is a note from Mr. E. E. M. Campbell, in which he mentions 

 the grave near Kihikihi, Waikato, wherein " the bodies were 

 buried in a circle, the feet toward the centre." In the same 

 Journal, vol. xii, p. 209. Mr. Percy Smith has a note on the 

 custom of sacrificing slaves at the building of a fort {pa). " In 

 the case of a pa, slaves were often buried in a sitting posture, 

 embracing the base of the main posts of the palisading. Not 

 many years since six skeletons were discovered in such position 

 at the base of the posts of a large pa near O-potiki." 



We have seen that the spirits of the dead sometimes afflict 

 the living. Such complaints are termed " mate Tcikokiko" and 

 are said to frequently result in death. An old man explained to 

 me, " The spirits of dead persons are afflicting such sufferers. 

 These keh.ua control them. If the afflicted person survives, he 

 will be the medium of that [evil] spirit. Some people become 

 demented when so affected." Natives say that these spirits 

 of the dead are sometimes seen as a flying luminous object at 

 night. They move swiftly, but never far above the earth. 

 The name " tirama-roa " is applied to this phenomena. " Tira- 

 ma-roa is a (spirit, a ghost) kehua, a whakahaehae, a turehu. It 

 is not a star-name. It looks like a moving torch, and is seen 

 moving along the tops of high ranges. It is a spirit of the dead. 

 I have seen such at Maunga-pohatu, flitting along the range-top. 

 Tunui-a-te-ika is a kehua. It has a big head, and flies through 

 space. It is a sign of death." 



When the Okarea pa (fort) at Wai-a-tiu fell to Ngati-Awa 

 and Tuhoe, the chiefs Te Hauwai and Taha-wai were slain, their 

 bodies falling over the cliff into the Wai-a-tiu Stream, a tributary 

 of the Whirinaki River. Hence this river was long under tapu. 

 In after-years it was Puritia who lifted the ta/pu and sacrificed 

 a slave named Tamure in order to give force to the rite. 



The old custom of muru is rapidly passing away, but in 

 former times it was strictly carried out. It was applied in many 

 ways. For example, should a person meet with some accident 

 or other trouble, a party of the tribe would proceed to despoil 



