446 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
mythical; besides numerous other contributors tending in the same direc- 
tion, and bearing on the subject of ‘Polynesian Folk-lore,” and the 
comparative philology and comparative mythology of the Polynesian Pacific 
and Central American races. 
‘I am quite aware that to approach even approximately the period that 
these islands may have been inhabited by man we must investigate through 
a different channel than the evidence given in these obscure oral traditions. 
But let us record them all while the opportunity offers, more particularly 
for their great value on other branches of the subject of ** Whence the 
Maori,” remembering what Mr. Colenso has well said, « That while the 
details of a legend are always false, the legend itself always contains a 
kernel of truth ;" for it is almost invariably the case that when a legend or 
tradition refers to an event even of a comparatively recent period it is 
clouded in mystery and fable often of a most puerile nature. 
If we give credit to the accounts given of the voyages, ete., of the canoes, 
we must also allow the accuracy of the traditions of the subsequent 
wondrous doings of Ngatoro-i-rangi and his sisters starting the volcanic 
system of this island and the sinking of the Taupo Lake; the removal of 
Taranaki Mountain from between Tongariro and Ruapehu to where it now 
stands at New Plymouth; also the race between the Waikato and Ranga- 
taiki Rivers to reach the sea; that Manukau Harbour was once a lake; that 
an island called ** Motukeikei" once existed off the mouth of Manukau 
Harbour; the severing of the North from the South Island by Kupe ; the 
legends connected with the Waikare-moana Lake ; that the Mahia Peninsula 
was an island ; and that the sandy beach which now connects-it with the 
main land was brought from Hawaiki: and later again, the killing of the 
Taniwhas ; the travels of Tara and his dog, when Tara dug out the Roto- 
a-Tara and other lakes about Te Aute ; the wonders performed by Rongo 
Kako, Pawa, Paikea, Ruatapu, and Kupe; the shattering of the moun- 
tains around Hikurangi (East Cape) by the two first-named ; the removal of 
Mata-rua-hou (Scinde Island) from the Raukawa Ranges to where it now 
stands; the removal of the Ariel Rocks off Poverty Bay from Makauri, etc., 
ete. I would suggest: are not these mythieal traditions of great geogra- 
phical changes that have taken place in this country since it was inhabited 
by man, thus, indeed, taking us back to the remote past? The genuine- 
ness of one aceount is about on a par with the others. 
I will attach some genealogies to this paper, one purporting to show at 
what period and in what manner the later migrations became amalgamated 
with the older inhabitants. The other is derived from Papa and Rangi, viz., 
the commencement of heaven and earth as it now appears. This genealogy 
takes in Maui, the Maori Hercules, and Tawhaki, who ascended alive 
Eu NUM 
