244 Transactions. 



they began to steal the grandchildren (offspring) of Pani-tinaku — that is, 

 the kumara.'" And again, Pio says, " Tenei iwi te kiore, ko Hine-tnata-iti.'" 

 The Rev. R. Taylor, in " Te Ika a Maui," gives Hinamoki as the creative 

 parent, or origin, of the rat. We shall mention this term again. 

 We give below a list of Maori names for rats : — 

 Hinamoki. 

 Matapo. 



ir .■ . - These names are known to the Tuhoe Tribe. 



M unfa I. I 



Poti-o-hawaiki. 



Toknroa. 



Hamua. Given by John White. 



D ■ ■ '^ ' ■ ■ Given in Williams's Dictionary. 



Mir 01. ) •' 



Kiore. Generic term. 



The hinamoki is said by Paitini, of Tuhoe (who was born about the year 

 1843), to be the name of the old-time Maori black rat. He used the term 

 pango to describe its colour, but this term is used to -denote dark-brown, 

 dark-blue, &c., as well as black. He stated that the hinamoki is extinct, 

 but that a pango (black, or dark-coloured) foreign rat took its place. He 

 himself has never seen the old Maori rat ; it was extinct before his time 

 — i.e., before he can remember, not necessarily before his birth. Some years 

 after giving me the above notes he told me that the hinamoki was a dark- 

 coloured rat, a bluey-black. Williams's Dictionary simply says, " Hinamoki, 

 a kind of rat." This is terse, and, if not sufficient for our purpose, at least 

 shows the cautious mind of the lexicographer. But Mr. Taylor White 

 (Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxvii, page 259) is not bound by earthly rules, and 

 says, " Investigating the structure or composition of hinamoki, we find hina, 

 grey hair of the head — which would seem to mean white rather than our 

 standard of a grey colour, as of a rat or rabbit. If .so, it seems hardly 

 applicable in this case. But hina is a personification of the moon, and 

 supposing the original form to have been mokai, rather than moki, we 

 have ' Hina's pet' — the animal moving about at night." 



This is lovely ! But why not carry the matter out to the bitter end — 

 I mean, its logical conclusion ? Observe : If the original form of hina was 

 Paraone, and moki but a modern rendering of kau, then, on the lines of the 

 above reasoning we have "Brown's cows" — which, after all, may be but 

 an overgrown species of rat. There are endless possibilities in the hinamoki. 

 And, besides, I know to my bitter cost that cows do move about at night. 

 'Twas but Monday se'nnight that, as Parearau sagged down on Tokorangi 

 Hill, .they (those cows), with evil in their hearts, did make entry into my 

 truck-patch and work much havoc therein, strolling forth therefrom, as 

 the blushing sun rose, followed by divers potsherds, brickbats, and choice 

 profanity in three tongues. Kali! Enough! A truce to these idle jests. 

 Here endeth the hinamoki. 



* Matapo. — Old Tamarau Waiari, of Tuhoe, told me that there were two 

 kinds of native rat in former times — the matapo, a black or dark-coloured 

 {pango) species, and the tokoroa, a grey rat. Whether these were two dis- 

 tinct species, or the greyness of the one simply the result of age, it is now 

 impossible to ascertain. Tamati Ranapiri, of Ngatiraukawa, told me that 

 the matapo was an old-time native rat, but he did not know the name tokoroa 

 as that of a rat. 



Moke. — Paitini, of Tuhoe, said that the moke was a native rat, but 

 some years after said that it was the name of the light-coloured European 

 rat (Norway rat), so that his evidence is doubtful. 



