32 SPORTS OF CHILDREN. [PART I. 



of peace when it is seen flying near a village, a 

 " tohu tangl manu" A top, called kaihora, nicely 

 formed and managed as it is by us, supplies another 

 of their amusements. In the game of Maiti they 

 are great proficients. This is a game like that 

 called cat's-cradle in Europe, and consists of very 

 complicated and perplexing puzzles with a cord tied 

 together at the ends. It seems to he intimately 

 connected with their ancient traditions, and, in the 

 different figures which the cord is made to assume 

 whilst held on both hands, the outlines of their 

 different varieties of houses, canoes, or figures of 

 men and women are imagined to be represented. 

 Maid, the Adam of New Zealand, left this amuse- 

 ment to them as an inheritance. Another game 

 is called tutukai, and is played with a number of 

 pebbles. A very common sport amongst children 

 consists in opening and shutting the fingers, and 

 bending the arm in a certain manner, when the fol- 

 lowing words are said, the whole of which must be 

 completed in a single breath : 



Katahi ti karna ti ka hara mai tapati tapat.o re ka rau ua ka ran 

 ua ka noho te kiwi ka pohe wa tautau to pi to pa ka huia mai ka 

 toko te rangi kai ana te wetu kai ana te marama o te Tiu e rere ra 

 runga o tepe ra peka o hua kau^re turakina te arero wiwi wawa 

 ke ke ke te manu ki taupiri. 



They have the following tale of a girl, whose 

 face they fancy they can discover on the orb of the 

 moon. Rona, a native maid, went with a calabash 

 to fetch water. The moon hid her pale face behind 

 dark and sweeping clouds. The maid, vexed at this 



