374 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



him, lie thought it a most wonderful thing! Then he went a 

 short distance off, and, when not very far from her, he put the 

 fire out, quite out ; and returning to her again, said : ' The 

 light you gave me has gone out ; give me another.' Then she 

 caught hold of another nail, and pulled it out as a light for 

 him ; and he left her, and went a little on one side, and put 

 that light out also ; then he went back to her again, and said : 

 ' Oh, lady, give me, I pray you, another light, for the last one 

 has also gone out.' And thus he went on and on, until she had 

 pulled out all the nails of the fingers of one of her hands ; and 

 then she began with the other hand, until she had pulled all the 

 finger-nails out of that hand too ; and then she commenced on 

 the nails of her feet, and pulled them also out in the same 

 manner, except the nail of one of her big toes. Then the 

 aged woman said to herself at last : ' This fellow is surely 

 playing tricks with me.' 



" Then out she pulled the one toe-nail that she had left, and 

 it, too, became tire, and as she dashed it down on the ground 

 the whole place caught fire. And she cried out to Maui, ' There, 

 you have it all now !' And Maui ran off, and made a rush to 

 escape ; but the fire followed hard after him, close behind him, 

 so he changed himself into a fleet-winged eagle, and flew with 

 rapid flight ; but the fire pursued, and almost caught him as he 

 flew. Then the eagle dashed down into a pool of water ; but 

 when he got into the water he found that almost boiling. The 

 forests just then also caught fire, so that he could not alight 

 anywhere ; and the earth and the sea both caught fire too, and 

 Maui was very near perishing in the flames. 



" Then he called on his ancestors, Tawhiri-matea and Wha- 

 tiri-matakataka, to send down an abundant supply of water ; 

 and he cried aloud, 'Oh! let water be given to me to quench 

 this fire which pursues after me;' and, lo ! then appeared 

 squalls and gales, and Tawhiri-matea sent heavy, lasting rain, 

 and the fire was quenched ; and before Mahuika could reach her 

 place of shelter she almost perished in the rain, and her shrieks 

 and screams became as loud as those of Maui had been when he 

 was scorched by the pursuing fire : thus Maui ended this pro- 

 ceeding. In this manner was extinguished the fire of Mahuika, 

 the goddess of fire ; but before it was all lost she saved a few 

 sparks which she threw, to protect them, into the kaikomako and 

 a few other trees, where they are still cherished ; hence men yet 

 use portions of the wood of these trees for fire when they 

 require a light." 



Many versions of this story are related in New Zealand ; but 

 they differ little, and in no essential particular. Taylor gives a 

 brief account of the legend," and enumerates the trees which 



* " Te Ika a Maui," llev. Eiclmrd Taylor, ed. 1870, p. 130. 



