28 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



sessin<j grievous powers. In this (Tuhoe) district a foetus was 

 Juried under the perch of a tame kaka bird, and the spirit 

 or cacodemon of the same entered the bird, and worked 

 much harm to man. And should a person dream that he 

 saw the bird with its feathers ruffled, or upstanding (e 

 whakakenakena ana), that was a good sign — the sick person 

 would recover. But should the bird be seen (in a dream) 

 to wriggle about (a kia mohimohi ranei nga huruhuru), that 

 was a bad omen for the invalid. Affections of the eye and 

 other ills are said to have been caused by that bird." 



Mere contact with jjaheke blood was sure to infect a 

 person and to result in the victim becoming possessed by 

 an atuakaJm.(?) Breaking the tapu also provoked the atua 

 of the family to anger, and led them to punish the offender 

 by sending infant sprites to feed on a part of his body, more 

 or less vital, according to the magnitude of his crime. In- 

 fant ghosts, it seems, are generally selected as the agents 

 of the vengeance of the family atua (i.e., deified ancestral 

 spirits), on account of their love of mischief, and because, 

 not having lived long enough on earth to acquire attach- 

 ments to their living relatives, they are most likely to attack 

 them without mercy. The atua or ancestral ghosts were the 

 only sort of divinities supposed to take an interest in human 

 affairs, and were very jealous of any neglect of the duties 

 enjoined by their religion. Their instruments of punishment, 

 the kahukaliu, were greatly dreaded, in proof of which the 

 following lines may be cited : — 



Ko te kabukahu piri-tara-whare. 

 Kei te vvhakaheke au 1 aku toto, 

 Wai tuhi-rae no nga tohunga. 

 Nana ka ngau kino, ka mate rawa. 



which may be translated thus : — 



It is the kahuhahu sticking fast in the wall of the house. 



1 am making my blood run down, 



Instead of water, to smear the brow of the sorcerer. 



Should he (the atuakahu) gnaw spitefully, it will be certain death. 



In the event of a person being afflicted by a kahukahu, he 

 may be cured by the first-born (ariki) of the family, who 

 accomplishes this by biting the part affected. Or, by means 

 of the In i ill in rite, the priest may ascertain that a certain 

 woman is the cause of the trouble. He then questions her : 

 " Is there nothing that you know of?" She will reply, " 1 had 

 a clot of blood, and threw it into the water." Enough ! The 

 priestly seer goes off to search for the plant or moss termed 

 keketuwai, to be used as an ara atua (a path for the god) 

 by which to expel the demon. He places the weed on the 

 afflicted one, and recites this karakia : — 



