452 ■ 'V Transacti07is. 



liealthy productiveness of tlie forest, &c. It is not the power of the rahui 

 alone that is invoked in order to bring about the desired change, but also 

 that of the mauri of the land, of persons, of the waters — in fact, of all things. 

 Then the taitai rite is performed, that food products may flourish — birds, 

 fish, fruits, and other things. 



" The aki taitai is a sacred fire, and is exceedingly dangerous to man, for 

 man can be destroyed by means of rites performed thereat. It is only for 

 tapu purposes that it can be used. Other fires are kindled whereat to cook 

 food for the ^apw-lifting ceremony. The ahi taitai was for the gods only. 

 The different fires (and ovens) kindled for the freeing-from-fa^sw rite were, — 



" (1.) The ahi tuakaha — for cooking food for the priest only. 

 " (2.) The ahi marae — for the ati a toa. 



" (3.) The ahi ruahine — for priestesses and first-born females of high- 

 caste families. 

 " (4.) The ahi tukupara — for cooking food for the bulk of the people. 

 " Understand that no one could cook or eat a bird until the above rite 

 had been performed in order to placate Tane and other gods. Travellers 

 and others would endeavour to avoid any village at such a time if the tapu 

 was not yet dispelled." 



The Ahi Matini. 



" The ahi matini,'' continues Tutaka, " was also an ahi taitai — another 

 form of it. The matim fire was a rite performed by fowlers and hunters 

 at their temporary camps in the forest, while engaged in trapping, &c. 

 The ahi matini is an ancient fire {i.e., an ancient rite), practised from 

 remote times. It was a sacred fire at which were roasted tapu birds. The 

 taumaha would be repeated over the bird, and it would be eaten by the 

 priest, in order to take the tapu from the place. When the (first) birds 

 were killed they were taken to the camp, and one of them was roasted at the 

 fire. The priest, I say, ate that bird and took the tapu off the place— off 

 the forest, the birds, and the work. This had to be done because of the 

 slaying of the birds (a placation of the forest-gods). After this another 

 bird (or birds) was cooked at a separate fire, and was eaten by the workmen, 

 the fowlers. This rite was performed at the forest camp." 



Here ends Tutaka's account of the ahi taitai and its rites. He was a 

 man who possessed a vast amount of very curious knowledge. His mind 

 was a storehouse of primitive lore. He knew the old Native names of every 

 tree, shrub, plant, or fern in the forests of Tuhoeland. His fund of quaint 

 folk-lore was immense. Above all, he was thoroughly conversant with the 

 modes of thought of the ancient Maori. He could explain the strange 

 metaphorical expressions of the men of yore, and the still stranger behef in 

 the life-principle of inanimate objects. For his was the knowledge of the 

 strange workings of the primordial mind — the mind that sees more than we 

 wot of — and a knowledge that shall not be acquired by the pakeha, strive 

 he never so hard. 



On the occasion of my last interview with the old man he gave me some 

 curious and archaic invocations of the men of yore, as to how the priests 

 made sacred the ritual fires and located therein the dread presence and 

 powers of the gods. After which he said, *' E tamaJ Ko au anake o Tuhoe 

 e mohio ana ki enei mea. Katahi ano au ka korero i end mea, kore rawa nei 

 au i korero i mua. Ko koe anake e mohio ana. Ka waiho ko koe hai tohunga 

 mo te iwi. (0 son ! I alone among Tuhoe know of these things, and now for 



