Bkst. — M'lori Forest Lore. 441 



" Ehara i te niea kei tamaoatia te mauri, te ngahereliere ranei, i puta 

 ai ki walio o te ngalierehere tuiiu ai i nga manu, kaore, inahoki e tunu ana 

 alio ratou i te manu hei kai ma ratou i roto ano i te ngalierehere i a ratou 

 e nialii manu ana. Eliara lioki i te mea ki waho tata o te ngalierehere, 

 engari ki te kainga, ki te wahi kei reira nga raweke maha mo te tahunga 

 (tunungo). 



" Na, mo te hau o te ngalierehere. Taua mea te hau, ehara i te mea 

 ko te hau e pupuhi iiei. Kaore. Maku e ata whakamarama ki a koe. 

 Na, he taonga tou ka homai e koe moku. Kaore a taua whakaritenga utu 

 mo to taonga. Na. ka hoatu hoki e ahau mo tetehi atu tangata, a ka roa 

 pea te \va, a ka mahara taua tangata kei a ia ra taua taonga kia homai he 

 utu ki a au, a ka homai e ia. Na, ko taua taonga i homai nei ki a au, ko 

 te hau tena o te taonga i homai ra ki a au i mua. Ko taua taonga me hoatu 

 e ahau ki a koe. E kore rawa e tika kia kaiponutia e ahau moku ; ahakoa 

 taonga pai rawa, taonga kino ranei, me tae rawa taua taonga i a au ki a 

 koe. Notemea he hau no te taonga tena taonga na. Ki te mea ka kai- 

 ponutia e ahau taua taonga moku, ka mate ahau. Koina taua mea te 

 hau, hau taonga, hau ngahereliere. Kati ena. 



" Whangainga o te hau ngaherehere. Ka whakamarama ahau ki a 

 koe mo te hau ngaherehere. Ko te mauri, na te tohunga i hoatu (whaka- 

 noho) ki te ngaherehere. Na te mauri te manu i whakahua ki te ngahere- 

 here, ka tikina atu e te tangata, ka patua, ka riro mai i te tangata. Ko 

 enei manu he taonga no te mauri raua ko te tohunga, me te ngaherehere, 

 ara he utu mai no te taonga o te ngaherehere, ara o te mauri. Koia i kiia 

 ai kia whangaia te hau o te ngaherehere. Ma nga tohunga e kai, na ratou 

 hoki te mauri. Koia i wehea ai etehi o nga manu i tunua ai ki te ahi tapu 

 ma nga tohunga anake e kai, keia tera, kia hoki te hau o te taonga o te 

 ngaherehere me te mauri ki te ngaherehere ano, ara ki te mauri. Kati 

 ena. 



" He pena ano te ahi tapairu. E tika ana tau, ma nga wahine matamua 

 e kai tuatahi, hei reira ka kai ai te katoa o te wahine." 



We have seen that the right wing of a kaha is sometimes used as a mauri. 

 Another item so used is the rau huka. a term applied to strips of the leaf 

 of Vordyline australis, the common cabbage-tree, when prepared for making 

 bird-snares. 



Bear in mind that if the hau of a person be taken, as by the art of black 

 magic, then that person will surely die. His physical body cannot exist 

 without the hau. Now, if you apply this principle to the forest, to land, 

 to the village homes, you will see why the hau of those places has to be 

 carefully cherished and protected. 



When hunters and trappers enter the forest to ply their ancient arts, 

 they may not carry any cooked food with them, or the mauri of the forest 

 would become tamaoatia, or polluted, and so lose its powers and virtue. 

 The trappers may, however, carry uncooked food, because it has not the 

 above disastrous effects. As a rule some raw fern-root was earned. When 

 desirous of eating, the fowlers would camp for a while, kindle a fire, roast 

 some fern-root and a few birds, and make a meal off these. Should such 

 food be not consumed by the person or persons, they may not carry away 

 the balance of the cooked food to be eaten at another time : it must be 

 left where cooked . In like manner, it would be unwise to eat as they walked, 

 or even in a standing position. It is much safer to sit down, and to remain 

 in that position until satisfied. There is no kind of sense in risking the 

 sanctity of your mauri and the productiveness of your forest lands. 



