RACES BIBLIOGRAPHY COMMITTEE. 341 
worshipped on the national or tribal maraes were termed 
“ karakia ;” those on minor occasions to the lesser gods were 
named ‘“fure.”* All these prayers were metrical,j and were 
handed down from generation to generation with the utmost 
care. There were “prayers” for every phase of savage life; for 
success in battle; for a change of wind (to overwhelm an 
adversary fishing solitarily in his canoe, or that an intended 
voyage of his own may be propitious); that cocoanuts, yams, 
&c., &c., may grow; that a thieving or murder expedition may be 
successful; that his hook or net may catch plenty of fish; that 
his kite may fly higher than all others; that his “teka” (reed) 
may outstrip the rest; that strong teeth may take the place of 
his child’s first tooth when extracted, &c., kc. A great secret 
was the prayer at the excision of the /funis umbilicus, that the 
boy might be brave, or that the girl might in after-life be fruitful. 
Few men of middle age were without a number of these 
“prayers” or charms. ‘They were usually uttered in too low a 
key to be heard by a stranger, lest he, too, should thus be armed 
with a dangerous weapon of offence. If a plantation were to be 
robbed, the appropriate “prayer” or charm must be uttered near 
to it, so that it might have its full effect. If a man were to be 
clubbed in his sleep, the “prayer” must not be used until the 
hut is in sight. Important charms or “prayers” such as these 
were to grown-up sons part of the equipment of life. In most 
cases, one or two would never be divulged until there was a 
premonition of death in sickness or battle. A man felt that if 
his last bit of “wisdom” were “reeled off” (to use a native 
parable), die he must. 
Payment to the sorcerer consisted in a couple of pieces of native 
cloth, or fish and “taro,” &e. 
The succession was from father to son, or from uncle to nephew. 
So, too, of sorceresses ; it would be from mother to daughter, or 
from aunt to niece. Sorcerers and sorceresses were often slain by 
the relatives of their supposed victims. 
A singular enchantment was employed to kill off the husband 
of a pretty woman desired by someone else. The expanded 
flower of a Gardenia was stuck upright—a very difficult perform- 
ance—in a cup (ze., half a large cocoanut shell) of water. <A 
“prayer” was then offered for the husband’s speedy death, the 
sorcerer earnestly watching the flower. Should it fall, the 
incantation was regarded as successful. But if the flower still 
remained upright, he will live. The sorcerer would in that case 
try his skill another day, with perhaps better success. Old 
natives assert that these enchantments, if persevered in, never 
failed ; but that since the prevalence of Christianity they have 
> In New Zealand “‘ karakia.” 
+ Hence appropriately termed by us incantations. 
