Corzxso.—On d better Knowledge of the Maori Race. 187 
151. I paia koia te reinga ? 
Is the entrance to the lower world barred (or elosed) ?* 
Said to one desirous of war 
152. He iti tangata e tupu ; he iti toli, e iti tonu iho. 
A little human-being will grow; a little stone-axe always continues 
little. 
N.B.—An axe (though only of stone) was formerly among the most 
valuable of their goods. Cook says,t he could not get the New Zealanders 
to sell him any of their stone axes, not for anything he had in his ship. 
Meaning: A man is of more value than any property. 
XII. CONCERNING CONDUCT IN TIME OF War, ETC. 
158. I nga ra o te pai, hei pai ; i nga ra o te kino, hei kino. 
In times of peace dwell peacefully ; in times of war be brave. 
Or, In the good days be good ; in the evil days be evil. : 
Here, again, is a double play on words which possess much meaning. 
** In peace he was the gale of spring, 
In war the mountain storm." 
154. Ruia taitea, kia tu ko taikaka anake. 
Shake off the sap-wood, and let the hard heart-wood only stand. 
In a totara tree (Podocarpus totara) the taitea is the outer, white or sap- 
wood, which soon decays, and near the centre is the taikaka or hardest 
wood. 
Meaning: Let the common people and children stay at home, and the 
warriors only go to fight. 
155. Hangitihi upoko i takaia ki te akatea. 
Rangitihi’s head was bound up with the white-flowering creeper 
(Metrosideros albiflora). 
This hero of old, when his skull was split with his enemy’s club, had it 
bound up with this creeping shrub, and, although his men had retreated, 
led them on again to battle, and gained the day. 
Meaning: The truly brave man never despairs. 
156. Ko te upoko i takaia ki te akatea. 
The head which was bound with the white-flowering creeper. 
Used for a brave warrior :—He binds up his head, or wounds, and fights 
away. 
A proverb similar to the last, and from the same incident. 
* So Virgil : 
—— “facilis descensus Averno ; 
Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis.” —Æn., lib. vi. 
+ First Voyage, Vol. III., p. 464. 
