T. H. Smith. — On Maori hnplements and Wca2)ons. 441 



as large as a teacup. This corresponds with what I have 

 been told — that barbed spears were sometimes used. 



In a battle fought between the Ngaicahu and the Ngati- 

 mamoe, in the Middle Island, an account of which, furnished 

 by the Rev. Mr. Stack, appears in White's " History," vol. iii., 

 p. 237, the spears used by the Ngatimamoe were pointed with 

 the tarawhaiapu (barbed sting of the ray, or stingaree). This 

 is noted as an unusual practice, and in allusion to the circum- 

 stance the battle was spoken of as Te Whai. 



The teivhateioha, or paiaka, was used in somewhat similar 

 fashion to the taiaha. The warrior armed with it sought to 

 fell his antagonist by striking him on the head with the back 

 of the blade which forms the upper part of the weapon ; if 

 successful, he struck the pointed end into the body of the 

 fallen man. The hawks' feathers attached to the blade were 

 supposed to baffle, distract the attention, or dazzle the eyes of 

 the opponent, and so give the opportunity for delivering the 

 blow. This weapon, however, was less used for offence and 

 defence than as an instruixient by which the chief or leader 

 directed the movements of his followers, the blade and feathers 

 causing it to be easily seen. 



An anecdote, related by my friend Major Mair, illustrates 

 this: it is as follows: "On the morning of the last day of 

 the fight at Orakau, owing to a temporary panic among the 

 besieged, there arose the ominous cry of ' Kim Jioro te pa I ' 

 ('The fort is taken'). The Waikato at the southern end 

 rushed out, and, to the number of eighty or a hundred, 

 appeared as if by magic in the open space. The bugles 

 sounded the alarm, and, just as suddenly, the soldiers sprang 

 to their feet, and opened a half circle of fire on the Maoris. 

 Then a tall chief stood up, waved his plumed tewhateivJia three 

 times, and lo ! the Maoris had vanished." 



This use of the paiaha caused it to be called the " rakau 

 rangatira," or chief's weapon, it being so often seen in the 

 hand of a chief when directing movements of his men, not 

 only in war, but on other occasions. It was often used by 

 the hautu, in the canoe, to mark time for the stroke of the 

 paddles. 



In Sir G. Grey's "Polynesian Mythology" there is a 

 description of the killing of a monster named Hotupuku. 

 After the creature was despatched it was opened, and in the 

 stomach was found — besides the bodies of men, women, and 

 children, which had been swallowed whole — what the narrator 

 of the story calls a perfect armoury of weapons — mere-pounamu, 

 kotiate, patuparaoa, onaipi, teivJiateiuha, pomvhenua, tokotoko 

 (tao), paraoa-roa ; also a fine collection of ornaments, the 

 enumeration of all which forms a tolerably complete list of 

 such articles. The instruments used in the autopsy also are 



