Cotmnso.—On a better Knowledge of the Maori Race. 35 
unfrequently done in their language ; and not only so in Maori, but such a 
conversion of these two letters obtains more or less in the Polynesian 
dialects generally. This conjecture seems also to be borne out, or further 
supported, by one of the similar figurative names given to the fern-root,— 
infra, 
In bringing before you some of the legends and tales concerning this 
valuable root, I shall relate them in the following order :—1. Some of their 
earliest traditions concerning it;—2. Some of the beliefs of the Maoris 
respecting it; and—8. One, or more, of their quasi-religious prayers, or 
spells, anciently used by them in their planting it; all of which, especially 
the last, are of great interest. 
I. 
Of their earliest Traditions concerning the Kumara. 
First, it has a place in their primitive cosmogony, wherein it is stated, 
that it descended from the- first elements, (or first male and female pair, 
whence all beings and things came), Rangi and Papa—Sky and Earth, 
being one of their numerous progeny, equally so with the fern-root.* This, 
however, is denied by some tohwngas (priests and skilled men), but mainly 
through the kumara being a tapu (tabooed, or sacred) plant, while thé fern- 
root is not so; or, as I take it, the one is a plant only propagated through 
careful and particular cultivation and preserving, aided by charms ; while 
the other is indigenous, common, grows wild, and is never cultivated ; 
notwithstanding, the fern-root also carried a great and high figurative 
name, viz.— Arikinoanoa = little first-born lord, or lord of lesser rank, or lord 
of common things. 
Another curious old legend has the following :—‘* This is the reason 
why the kumara was never joined together with the fern-root. The 
Kumara is Rongomaraeroa,} and the Aruhe (fern-root) is Arikinoanoa ; they 
are both children of Sky and Earth. Rongomaraeroa, or the kumara, was 
placed as an atua (superior being).to Tumatauenga, or the man ; so that, in 
case the foe should come against him, the kumara should be ceremonially 
carried forth and laid in the road the war-party was to come, and there 
spells were also uttered, through which the war-party, in coming on over 
the sacred and charmed kumara, would be sure to be defeated, and caused 
to retreat, through their sacrilegiously trampling on the sacred kumara 
and spot,} etc 
* See ‘ Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” Vol. XIIL., p. 23. 
+ See, below (p. 37) for meaning of this, etc. 
} Hence, war-parties by land were careful not to travel over the old roads or common 
tracks, if there were any. See my paper “ Historical Incidents and Traditions,” Part IL, 
Uenuku, and the note there, (p. 14 supra). 
