Goldie. — Maori Medical Lore. 15 



nei " are inserted, and after the words " loro hei " the karakia 



-continues — 



Tu tawake mai te atua i te rangi 



Ka ripiiipia 



Ka toetoea 



Ka haparangitia. 



In such cases the tapu person whose sleeping-place has been 

 contaminated can save the offender from the effects of his 

 .act by performing the above rite over him. 



In times of epidemic sickness cwo gods in particular were 

 called upon to stay the pestilence : these deities were named 

 Mihimihitea and Tapatapa. The incantation to Tapatapa 

 followed that to Mihimihitea. 



In the following karakia the great national gods Kangi and 

 Tu are invoked to cure the invalid : — 



Breathe thou, breathe thou, Rangi, 



And thou Tu, give thy living spirit 



To create life, that tlie body and soul may live in this world. 



Beat with life thou heart. 



The tree falleth, the tree of Atutahi ; 



Here the blow was given, the wind blew there ; 



There is the tree of enchantment. 



The rainbow god, who is a disease-producing god accord- 

 ing to the Zulus and the Karens of Burmah, is regarded by 

 the Maoris as a beneficent deity. There is an old Maori 

 proverb which runs thus : " Haere, e what i te waewae o 

 Uenuku, kia ora ai te tangata" (By going to the feet of Uenuku 

 a man's life may be saved). Uenuku, also called Kahukura, 

 Atuatoro, Tohaereroa, and Uenuku-Kopako, is one of the 

 great or national gods — the god of life, death, and disease. 

 Karakia were repeated to him by people who were ill. 



Invalids also offered prayers to Kahui-tahi-o-rangi (Flock 

 ■of warm ones of Bangi), who, though unable to heal sickness, 

 exercised a mysterious power over man. Offerings of sea- 

 weed and grass were presented to them, so that they might 

 be pleased and act kindly towards man. 



In addition to the great gods above mentioned there are 

 hosts of minor divinities, demons, animal gods, malignant 

 atua, infant sprites, and wandering ghosts of the dead, who, 

 from a spirit of mere mischief, or as agents of some higher 

 divinity, or as familiar spirits of hostile sorcerers, enter the 

 bodies of their victims, causing disease and death. 



Disease Demons. 

 The Maoris very rarely attributed disease to demons. By 

 " demon " I mean any supernatural being which is neither a 

 god nor a disetnbodied human spirit. Tne New-Zealanders 

 peopled their forests with numerous fairies and elves ; but, 

 unlike the Australians, they feared no fabulous disease-deal- 



