132 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



When the strangers had finished their prayers, Te Kura- 

 whakaata asked, " From whence do you come ? " They re- 

 plied, " We come from Hawaiki, from Mataora." " So came 

 these voyagers to Kakaho-roa, which was the ancient name of 

 Whakatane, the name our ancestors gave it in times long passed 

 away, long before the canoes arrived which brought hither the 

 new people, the Maori who now dwell in Aotearoa." 



Even so, the worn-out voyagers were conducted by Te Kura 

 to Ka-pu-te-rangi, the fortress home of her father, Tama-ki- 

 hikurangi, and his people. As Te Kura entered the ancient 

 fort of Toi, she cried, " He manuhiri kei ahau, Te Hapu-oneone, 

 EI" And the people were disturbed in their minds at this 

 announcement, not knowing what this visit of strangers from a 

 far land might portend. But they turned to prepare food for 

 their guests, the foods of the men of old — fern-root, mamaku, 

 and ti (Cordyline), and roots of the raupo, and earthworms. 

 Then was heard the resounding blows of many mallets as the 

 women crushed the fern-root. Taukata asked, " What is the 

 loud sound we hear I ' And Tama replied, "It is Haumia- 

 roa." (Haumia-roa is a sort of emblematical term for fern- 

 root.) When the prepared food was placed before the voyagers 

 they showed no great appreciation of it. Taukata said, " The 

 prized food of Hawaiki has arrived in Aotearoa." He demanded 

 that a bowl of water be brought, and he then took from his 

 belt (tatua pupara, the pocket of the old-time Maori) some 

 dried kumara, which lie pulverised and stirred into the gourd 

 of water, the result being a sort of mush, which he offered to liis 

 hosts, who were delighted with the new article of food. They 

 inquired, "How may this food be obtained?' Taukata re- 

 plied, " By means of a canoe. You must construct a canoe 

 and visit Hawaiki, where you will obtain the kumara." Now, 

 the original people of New Zealand at that time seem to have 

 given up the making of large sea-going canoes; anyhow, they 

 put the matter into the hands of their visitors, who were asked 

 to build a canoe for the purpose. This would seem to mean 

 that the vessel by which Hoaki and his brother had come to 

 Aotearoa had either been rendered unscaworthy or was loo 

 small for the required purpose. Anyhow, the visitors found a 

 fine totara-tvee stranded on the river-bank at Opihi, just across 

 the river, and opposite the present Township of Whakatane. 

 Of this they made a large canoe which was named " Te Ara- 

 tawhao," so called because it was made from drift timber (la- 

 whaowhao). The vessel was hewn out with stone tools named 

 Te Manokuha, Te Waiheke, Te Whao-tapu-nui-a-tane, and \Ya- 

 rawara-tai-o-tane. Taukata said, "You must go far across the 

 seas to obtain the kumara. You must go to Pari-nui-te-ra 



