Best. — Clothing of the Ancient Maori. 629 



of the priestly invocations. She has entered the tohare pora. 

 She is a daughter of Rua and Hine-ngaroa. 



The next item is the ceven-iony oi ^vhakanoa,. which is to 

 take the tajnc off the pupil, her work, and surroundings. This 

 is known as the hurihanga takapaii (the turning of the taha- 

 pau, or floor-mat) ; but this is purely a figurative expression ; 

 it means the lifting of the tap2i, the tapii itself is the takapaii. 

 This important invocation having been repeated by the priest 

 or elder, the pupil takes up the 'puwha and eats it, or merely 

 places it to her lips and hands it to the tohunga to eat. 



Some authorities state that the puwha is placed upon the 

 garment which the pupil proposes to copy in her work, from 

 which she takes it at the time when it is to be eaten, that the 

 desired pattern may be clear to her, and thoroughly under- 

 stood. 



Another karakia used in the above rite was known as a 

 *' pou." It was to force home the newly acquired knowledge, 

 and render it firm and lasting. In all such initiations, whether 

 of the whare pora, the ivhare maire, or ivharc mata, the first 

 task of the priest was to recite an invocation to render the 

 pupil clear-headed and quick to grasp the new knowledge, to 

 endow him or her with a receptive mind and retentive memory. 

 A similar ceremony was performed over warriors about to 

 engage in a fight, to make them observant, clear-minded, and 

 brave — in a word, to ward off the horrors of the pahiimc, the 

 hinapo, and the jyarahuMc, which ever appear in the train of 

 Tu-mata-rehurehu, of dread memory. 



We will now give another description of the above cere- 

 mony, with additional karakia, as supplied by that fine old 

 patriarch, Tu-takanga-hau, of Maungapohatu, for to him and 

 Paitini, of Ngati-tawhaki, am I indebted for my being initiated 

 into the mysteries of the ivhare pora : — 



Ki te puta te whakaaro a tetehi tangata ki tana tamaiti, ki tana 

 mokopuna ranei, hai pupuru i nga korero, i nga whakairo rakau ranei, 

 wbakairo tangata ranei, whakairo kakahu ranei, katahi ka mahia e ia 

 tetehi mea hai whakamaunga mana mo taua mahi, ki tana tamaiti, ki 

 tana mokopuna ranei. Ko te kupu tuatahi : — 



Ka ma Rua, ka ma Rua-kite-hihiri 



Ka ma Rua-i-te-rarama * 



Ka ma taku hau tu, ka ma taku hau korero 



Ka ma taku hau i taea e te ata hapara. 



Ka mutu enei, ma Rua ena e kai. Ko Rua tona aria he rakau 

 Katahi ka tangohia ko te puwha. Ko nga kupu enei : — 



Te umu tirama nuku, tirama rangi 

 Ko koe, koi wetekia noatia e koe 

 Whiwhi ou ngakau, ou tangata 

 Kia puta ki te wai ao 

 Ki te ao marama. 



