448 Transactions. 



a man used this cliarm it would be necessary for him, on his return from 

 the forest, to make an ofiering to the gods. {He tapu tenet Jcaha a Tuota. 

 Mehemea ka tuota, ka hoki mat te tangata i te ngaherehere, me whangai, am 

 me whangai i te atua.) This charm was a very efficacious one for taking 

 birds, rats, and fish. Another haha charm was called motumotu. This was 

 not a tapu charm, and was used to insure fowlers a good bag. 



First-fruits Kites. 

 The Taumaha, Ahi taitai, Ahi matini, d-c. — Astrolatry. 



The rite of first-fruits was one very generally performed in Maoriland 

 in former times. In this district it seems to have been known as amoamo- 

 hanga. This name may have originated in the fact of each little village or 

 family group bearing its own first-fruits to the place where the rite was 

 performed. 



The following is the only item pointing to anything like a system of 

 star- woi ship that I have obtained from the Tuhoe Tribe. It was given 

 by Tutakangahau. He says, — 



" In regard to invocations to the stars, there were such invocations in 

 former times, and here is one : — 



" Tupiitupxitu atua 

 Ka eke mai i te rangi e roa e 

 Whaugainga iho ki te mata o te tau 

 E roa e. 

 Atutahi atiia 



Ka eke mai i te raugi e roa e 

 Whangainga iho ki te mata o te tan 

 E roa e. 

 Takiirua atua 



Ka eke mai i te rangi e roa e 

 Whangainga iho ki te mata o te taxi 

 E roa e. 

 Whanui atua 



Ka eke mai i te rangi e roa e 

 Whangainga iho ki te mata o te tau 

 E roa e. 

 &c., &c. 



" There is much more of this invocation, because all the (principal) 

 stars were included. When the season for collecting food products and for 

 cultivation of foods (planting crops) begins, then the priest gathers some 

 young leaves of plants, &c., and offers these to the stars, and recites the 

 above invocation to the stars. All stars that cause fertility and abundance 

 of food products are thus mentioned. The leaves are taken to the sacred 

 place and offered to those gods. This invocation, with its attendant rite, 

 is to cause all food products to flourish, and to ward off any disaster from 

 such products. The wata o te tau means the young growth of the new year." 



The above is more than a charm or incantation — it is an invocation :: 

 it invokes the help of the stars, it calls upon them to cause the season's 

 crops of all kinds to be bountiful. It is the nearest approach to a prayer 

 of anything that I have collected from Tuhoean sources. It will be observed 

 that samples of the new young growth of the season are offered to the stars 

 named. Certain stars are supposed to possess an influence in regard to 

 fruitfulness and fecundity in nature. One of old Tutaka's remarks is 

 worthy of preservation in the original : " Ko nga otaota o te tau hou ka kohia 

 e te tohunga e ka timata nga mahi o te tau, a ka whangaia aua mea ki nga whetu. 

 Ko nga ivhefii heri kai mai ka whakahuatia katoatia. Ka heria nga otaota 



