Best. — Maori Forest Lore. 211 



The namu, or sandfly, is a relative, of the mosquito, according to Maori 

 fable. They are descendants of Haumia and Te Hekapona, and children 

 of Te Monehu (monehu, syn. mokehu, young shoots of the common fern, 

 rarauhe). Other such descendants are the ro and puwerewere and other 

 such insects. Namu-iria, a son of the namu, stole the hau, or vital essence, 

 of Tu (god of war and origin of man), for which he was slain by Tu. Hence 

 the sandfly people declared war against Tu — that is, against man. They 

 still assail man in this world. They are exceedingly strenuous in their 

 attacks upon man. The moscjuito fears but two things — wind and smoke. 

 The mosquito said to the sandfly, " Let us wait until evening before we 

 attack man, lest we be slain. Then we will attack him, and I will buzz in 

 his ears." But the sandfly would not consent to this. He said, " Though 

 myriads of us be slain, yet will we give battle in the light of day. Though 

 we perish, what matters it so long as we shed the blood of man ? " Even 

 so they went forth, and were slain in their thousands. The mosquito ob- 

 served this, and said, " I told you to wait until nightfall. Now see how 

 you have suffered." 



E ki ana ahau, e taku tainaina 



VVaiho kia ahiahi ka haere ai taua 



Ki te riri i to tuakana 



Ki rawa atu au : Waiho kia mam ahiahi 



Hei wheowheo i ona taringa. 



Such was the song of the mosquito to the sandfly, and to which the latter 



replied, — 



He ahakoa, e taku tuakana 



Te mate ai au 



I ana toto ka pakaru kei waho — e. 



(And you, mosquito, when you assail man at night, will be smoked to 

 death.) 



Xoke and take are generic terms for earthworms, of which a good many 

 kinds have special names. 



The papaka appears to be a kind of beetle. 



The toronu is a kind of caterpillar which formerly infested the kumara 

 plants, and gave considerable trouble to the neolithic agriculturalist. A 

 day was set apart by the sorcerer priests for the destruction of this pest. 

 It was brought about by means of a rite known as ahi patu toronu. You 

 might like to know how it was that the crops of man came to be assailed 

 by these pests. When the kumara was first obtained by mankind it was 

 stolen by one Kongo-maui from Whanui (the star Vega), who seems to have 

 been the custodian of that prized tuber. In a spirit of revenge, Whanui 

 sent Nuhe (anuhe), Moka, and Toronu down to earth to destroy the kumara 

 cultivated by man. These are the three species of caterpillar that prey 

 on the kumara plants. 



The tutaeruru is some form of winged insect, perhaps a beetle, which 

 flies around in the evening with a booming sound. This species and the 

 kekerewai were sometimes called the manu a Rehua. They were both eaten 

 in former times. 



In some districts tapapa is a lizard-name, but which species it applies 

 to I cannot say. 



MOLLUSCAN Fauna. 



I have collected a good many forms of land-shells in the Tuhoe district, 

 the specimens being examined and named by Messrs. H. Suter and C. Cooper. 

 They are of small size, with the exception of one, known as pipiko to the 



