TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 361 



ing through the other heavens until it reached Te-rangi-o-tane. 

 The uninhabited space containing stars, moon, and clouds, was 

 called by respective tribes Whiti-nuku, or Te-pu-taku-o-roko, 

 or Papa-tu-a-nuku, or Tau-arai-o-te-ao, and was crossed by each 

 soul to take its abode in the body of an infant of man, its 

 arrival being indicated at the time of " quickening." 



Below this would come Te-reinga, or Te-po (the world of 

 shades) ; it also was believed to comprise twenty regions, 

 counting from one downwards. These regions were re- 

 spectively named — 



Te-po-a-wawau-te-rangi, and Tu-mo-rahia-te-rau-o-te-aki. 



Uranga-o-te-ra, or Paerau. 



Karokaro, or Hine-a-te-ao. 



Te-ana-a-toko-meha. 



Tau-arai-o-te-ao, or Hine-a-te-po. 



Tawiti-o-wawao-te-rangi, or Hine-maki-moa. 



Tau-arai-o-te-po. 



Riringa-te-po. 



Nanao-te-po. 



Wha-iti-te-po, or Whare-o-tu-kai-nanapia. 



Kai-namu-te-po. 



Po-tahuri-atu. 



Po-tahuri-mai. 



Po-take. 



Ka-rea-te-po, or Te-po-a-hine-maki-moa, or Ka-tu-moa. 



Kou-awha-roropua. 



Toke. 



These were the abodes of the spirits which, for rebellion 

 against To or A, were hurled from the region of Eangi, never 

 to return. 



Into these shades some of the souls of men descended after 

 the death of the body on earth. Whether this came about 

 naturally, by accident, or in battle, it was believed the soul 

 set out at once to Muri-whenua, a point at the extreme north 

 of New Zealand. There, on the edge of a precipice, grew a 

 large pohutukawa tree. One of the roots of this tree hung 

 over the precipice and reached to the bottom. There was a 

 cave : at the opening of the cave was a large growth of sea- 

 weed, moved to and fro by every wave which broke against the 

 cliff. The assembly at the tree kept on chanting farewell 

 songs to the tribes, the spirits of dogs joining in chorus. 

 Then the spirits of the men danced a war-dance and made the 

 wildest noises and gesticulations, and then one by one they 

 descended the cliff by the overhanging root and glided into the 

 cave leading to Uranga-o-te-ra, or the first region of the 

 shades. The period of existence in each region of shades — 

 Te-po — was also supposed to be for the average period of man's 

 life on earth ; and as they descended the darkness deepened 



