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CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE MAORI. 771 
as ahi taitaa. My notes concerning the latter tell me that it was 
a sacred fire kindled by a priest, and at which certain ceremonies 
were performed and karakia repeated. It seems to have given 
force to the invocation of the priest. It was the haw or mauri 
(essence, spirit, protecting power) of the village home. In some 
cases sacred food, such as kumara (sweet potatoes) or a bird was 
cooked at the ahi taitat. A portion of the bird would be suspended 
over the sacred fire, and afterwards buried in the ground, where 
it would act as an tha purapura or manea—that is, as the essence 
or protecting genius of the people, the land, and the homes. By 
its subtle power witchcraft would be warded off and prosperity 
retained ; the life of man was preserved by such means. J/anea 
is truly the haw or essence of a man as well as of land or a 
village. Te Whatu, of the Urewera tribe, thus described it to 
me: “It is the essence or unseen spirit of man, and his footsteps 
are impregnated with it. Should you walk across yon plain, and 
should I chance to come upon your trail and extract your manea 
from your footsteps, and take that manea to my place and suspend 
it on the whata puaroa.? And then when the sacred mara 
tautane* is being cultivated I take the manea to that place and 
bury it in the earth, together with some of the seed kwmara. 
It is then, O Son! you will pass from the world of life and know 
death.” 
When a party of natives chanced to be travelling by the coast- 
line through an enemy’s country they would be careful to walk 
in the water, thus leaving no footprints, and rendering it impos- 
sible for any evil-disposed person to capture their manea. 
The remaining portion of the bird, cooked at the sacred fire, 
was eaten by the priest. Should there chance to be no priest of 
sufficiently high rank present to eat that portion, then would it 
be placed upon a tree to be eaten by Tane—that is, as an offering 
to Tane, god of forests and birds. 
Of a similar nature to the above is the wmw tamoe or wmu 
taoroa. Such a fire was kindled by a priest of the Tuhoe tribe 
after they had defeated the Ngati-awa tribe at Te Kaunga. 
The priest recited sundry karakia to “harden” himself, and then 
walked into the fire, where he stood and repeated invocation to 
his tribal gods to render the enemy powerless to obtain revenge. 
The ahi taitat was in great requisition during the important 
ceremonies pertaining to the first fruits, offerings of birds and 
fish. The raw huka (leaves of various species of cordyline of 
which snares are made) were gathered, and some of them placed 
upon the sacred fire, while appropriate karakia were repeated 
to ensure many birds being taken. The karakia, known as 
tawmaha, were then repeated in order to bring many birds to the 
tribal forests, and the first bird taken was spitted and roasted 
before the sacred fire. When cooked, the priest pulled the bird 
