'l'Iic l'ülk- Talcs o/ Ihc Ki'h'ai /'d/y/idiis. 265 



cnuld not kill it, tnr the sliell «f the monster was as liard as a stone, and neither arrow nor 

 club could do it any harm. (Nàtai, Ipisi'a). 



THE FEROCIOUS SNAKE WITH TWO TAILS. 



187. An eniply canoë was once carried away by a high tide and eventually .stranded on a 

 small Island. On this i.sland there lived a large snake which on finding the canoë made its lair in it. The 

 owner of the canoë, Miiubere by name, came in search of his lost property and fînally found it. 

 At the sight of the snake inside the canoë he became \ery frightened and went home quickly. 

 He summoned the people to corne and fight the snake, and a number of men joined him with 

 their weapons. On seeing the snake some men ran away, but others attacked it, and from 

 whichever side the men tried to clo.se in, the snake's head Struck out fiercely against them. The 

 reptile bail two tails, each provided with a fang, but at length Mâubere managed to shoot it from 

 a distance. Wiien the snake was dead, the people eut it in pièces and burnt it. They stayed the 

 night on the Island. 



During the night two huge waves camo sweeping o\'er the island from opposite sides, 

 destroying the houses and washing away ail the ground. The people were ail drowned, and the 

 water tossed their bodies to and fro. 



The waves had been cau.sed by the snake. For in the night it returned to life, and coil- 

 Ing itself round the island sent in the one wave with its tail and the other with Its head. The 

 friands of the dead people came to search for them, but no sign remained of them or the island. 

 (Manu, Ipisi'a). 



THE THREE-HEADED SNAKE. 



188. A bushman of Dji'bu once caught a three-headed snake in liis pig trap. When he 

 and his wife went to open the trap, thinking that there was a pig inside, the monster snapped 

 their heads into two of its mouths and bit them off. Then the snake foUowed their tracks to 

 the village and killed a number of people there. No t)rdinary arrow or spear did the beast any 

 harm, for its body was like a stone. A certain boy had an arrow made of a wood called /uixi- 

 A'o/c, which was prepared with „medicine". He shot the snake behind the car f)f one of its heads, 

 and the bea.st died. (tku, Mawàta). 



THE SNAKE WHICH OWNED CERTAIN SAGO TREES. 



189. A snake was once attracted by the smell of a Ki'wai man and woman who were 

 making sago in the bush, and lay in wait for them, but they escaped. In the night the reptile 

 scented its way into their house, bit the man in the back of his neck, and coiled itself round him 

 and his wife together. Alarm was given, and the people came to fight the snake. The man 

 and woman were dead, and the snake was killed, eut to pièces („eut him shoil") and burnt. The 

 two dead people were buried. The name of the snake was Migidu; it had become enraged because 

 it was the owner of the sago palms which the man and woman had eut down for making sago. 

 (Manu, Ipisia). 



N:o 1. -i-ir 



