40 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



This done, and the grave finished, they put a twig of the sacred 

 karamu (Coprosma robusta) on each side, and seat themselves 

 on its brink, and take a shell of a fresh- water mussel with which 

 to scrape into the pit the souls of those who bewitched the patient, 

 which have already been brought to the pit's edge. While doing 

 this, again the priest begins : — 



Let the revenge of Tu consume these sons, 



Their priests, their gods, their power and incantations. 



May the power of their sorcerers be confounded ; 



Let their wizard god be made dumb. 

 A narrow ridge is then made along the side of the grave, upon 

 which the tohunga places stones named after those who used the 

 curse, one for each, and says : — 



To sweep in, to cover up, kill and bury them ; 



For thy power in war, thy strength and anger, &c. 



Thou art struck clown to the depths of Nuku, 



Even to the roo*: of the world thou art sent. 



As food for the hosts there ; thy powerless incantations also, 



Thy ancestors and their power is gone with thee ; 



They are now weak and cannot kill. 



We sweep them and thee into this pit, 



And hide you altogether with this shell, 



The shell of these sons and emblems. 



This is repeated over every stone, and each time he comes to 

 the name " Nuku " he strikes into the pit the stone to which 

 it is addressed. The twigs are now thrown likewise into the 

 grave ; then he fills the hole, and pats down the mound with 

 his hands. They have thus, by symbolic magic, consigned the 

 opposing sorcerers to the grave, the next day they come there 

 again, and, weaving a basket which is of very small size, and 

 called the demon's basket (paw taniwha), the priest again 

 repeats : — ■ 



Weave my basket for my sons to sleep in : 



.My basket is for my dead sons and enemies. 



To whom does the basket belong ? 



To the gods and priests and ancestors, 



To the sacred powers and female ancestors. 



To the gods of theft. Fill up, fill up my basket ! 



Ii is to put you, your priests, gods, and incantations, 



your power in incantations. 



To whom does the basket belong ? 



To the female ancestors and you all. 



Even to the stay of all power, the gods of theft, 



The bodies of their enemies were buried in the twigs, the stones 

 representing their hearts, cold and dead as they. Now their 

 spirits [wairua) are imprisoned in the basket, and. being hung 

 up on a stick above the grave, and squeezed by the hands of the 

 priest, are thus offered to the gods. By thus squeezing the ghosts 

 of the hostile sorcerers, their bodies, being in sympathy with t In- 

 spirit, were contorted with internal pains, and death soon ensued. 



