CorzNso.—On a better Knowledge of the Maori Race. 131 
111. Hoki atu i kona, ko te manu i motu i te mahanga ekore e taea te whai. 
Go back from where you are, it is useless pursuing the bird escaped 
from the snare. 
Meaning : It is useless to attempt to take me in again. Said to have 
been used in ancient times by a lady who ran away from her husband; he 
pursued her to bring her back, and she got round a headland at low-water: ; 
on his reaching the place, the tide was breaking against the base of the 
cliffs, when she called to him from the top using those words, which have 
since passed into a proverb. 
112. He pureirei whakamatuatanga. 
A faithful fatherly tuft of rushes. 
This is said of a good solid tuft of rushes in a swamp, which, in crossing 
the swamp, you stand on to rest awhile, and to look around before you 
take the next step. A word of caution for many things. ‘Look before 
you leap." : 
118. Ka tuwhaina te hwware ki te whenua, e hoki atu ranei ki tou waha ? 
When the spittle is spit out on the ene will it return to thy 
mouth again ? 
Meaning : (much as the last), ** Look before you leap." 
114. Kia mau koe ki te kupu a tou matua. 
Hold fast to the advice of thy father (or guardian). 
A word of caution often given to the young,—as the dying advice, or 
teachings of the departed, were always strongly inculeated. 
115. Kia whakatupu tangata, kaua hei tutu. 
Show yourself (lit.; be growing up) a true man; never be dis- 
obedient. 
Often said to the young. (I. Cor. xvi., 18). 
116. Kapo atu koe i te kai i nga ringaringa o nga pakeke, a e taea ranei e koe te 
whai i nga turanga o tupuna ? 
Thou snatchest food roughly from the hands of the elders, and dost 
thou think thou wilt be able to follow in the steps of thy 
ancestors ? 
Applied to a chief’s child, on his snatching food, or anything, from the 
hands of aged persons. 
117. Ata! ina te kakii ka taretare noa ; ka maaro tonu nga uaua o te kakii ! 
How disgusting! to see the neck turning from side to side; and the 
sinews of the neck strained to the utmost! 
Said of a person looking over the other baskets of cooked food set before 
a party, and eoveting what is placed before his neighbours or companions. 
The peculiar terms used are those which refer to a bird on the look-out 
up in a tree, 
