TEANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 373 



human affairs, and able to see and hear from the highest of the 

 heavens what took place on earth — is indicated by the story of 

 Maui's elder brother going in search of his favourite sister 

 Hinauri. In the course of his search he ascended the heavens, 

 to consult Eehua and get the clue to her whereabouts. On 

 reaching the first heaven he asked the dwellers there, "Are 

 the heavens above this inhabited?" They answered, "They 

 are." He again forced his way upwards, and found an inhabited 

 place, and he asked those he met whether the heavens above 

 them were inhabited. They said, "Yes." He continued his 

 ascent, asking the same question and receiving the same answer, 

 till he reached the Tenth Heaven, the abode of the God Eehua. 

 " Rupe feared the Man of Ancient Days, and at length ven- 

 tm'ed to say, ' O Eehua ! has a confused murmur of voices from 

 the world below reached you upon any subject regarding wdiich 

 I am interested? ' The god answered, ' Yes, such a murmur- 

 ing of distant voices has reached me from the Sacred Isle 

 Motutapu in the world below.' " When Eupe heard this he im- 

 mediately changed himself into a pigeon, and took flight down- 

 wards towards the island of Motutapu, where he found his 

 beloved sister. 



Sometimes the inhabitants of the upper world, who were 

 superior in beauty and acquirements to those wdio dwelt on 

 earth, fell in love with men ; and some very charming stories 

 are told of these attachments, reminding the reader of the 

 Eastern legends of the loves of the angels, so beautifully told 

 by the poet Thomas Moore. The fame of the hero Tawhaki's 

 courage and manly beauty chanced to reach the ears of a 

 young maiden of the heavenly race who lived above in the 

 skies. One niglit she descended to judge for herself. She 

 found him lying asleep. After gazing at him she stole to his 

 side, but before dawn she went back to the heavens. She 

 repeated her visits night after night till love forced her to dis- 

 close herself fully, and for her lover's sake she forsook her 

 friends and her home in the sky. After a time a daughter was 

 born to them. Tawhaki, shortly after its birth, made some 

 disparaging remark about the child, which pained the mother 

 so deeply that she seized the babe, and took flight upwards. 

 Tawhaki tried to seize her, and prevent her going, crying out, 

 " Mother of my child, oh ! return once more to me." But as 

 she soared upwards she replied, "No, no, I shall never return 

 to you again." " At least, then, leave me some parting token 

 of remembrance," he cried. " My parting words," she said, 

 " are, Lay fast hold on that creeper which, hanging down from 

 on high, has again struck its fibres into the earth." Tawhaki 

 was plunged in grief, liis heart torn by regrets for his wife and 

 little girl. Unable to endure their loss, he went in search of 

 them, accompanied by his younger brother. They journeyed 



