1 2 Transactions, — Miscellaneous. 



round the field, and then perched upon a low tree near the men at work. 

 ** There is a pigeon for up," called one of the men, and then took a snare, 

 fastened on a rod, to slip it over its head. But the pigeon flew away to 

 another tree when he came near, and so on, till, by the voice and appearance, 

 he had recognised his father and then flew and perched upon the pole-like tool 

 {ko) with which his father was turning up the ground, and cooed to him. 

 Then his father said, "Thou art not a real bird; thou art a man from the 

 world above." The pigeon nodded its head (backward, as was the custom of 

 the Maori formerly), and flew down to the ground, changing at the same time 

 into his natural shape of man. Then they had a cry together. The father 

 cried without meaning, but the son cried in verses (I do not undei'stand them), 

 and thereby made himself known to his father as his castaway son. After this 

 they went to a house together in that region. 



In the neighbourhood of that place there dwelt a grandmother of Maui, of 

 his mother's side, called Mahuika, who was the keeper of the fire. Now it 

 happened one day that the fire had gone out; and as the servants were lazy and 

 did not move when told to go to Mahuika to fetch tire, Maui ofiered to go. 

 When he came to the place, the old woman said, '• What has brought you, a 

 stranger, here? Was it the wind, that blows against my skin?" But when 

 Maui told her that he was her grandson she became very friendly, and willingly 

 gave him a stick of fire — namely, one of her fingers. Maui went away with 

 it, but extinguished it, when out of sight, in the nearest water. Then he went 

 back and asked her for another stick of fire, saying the first was gone out. So 

 she gave him another of her fingers, which he likewise extinguished, and so on, 

 till he had carried away all her fingers and her toes, up to the last little toe. 

 Then the old woman perceived that he was mocking her, and became very 

 angry, by which she raised a great blast to burn him. But Maui quickly 

 transformed himself into an eagle and swung himself up to the clouds. From 

 thence he sent down rain upon the fire to quench it. JMahuika stirred up her 

 fire to make it burn. Maui poured down large drops of rain upon it to quench 

 it. Mahuika raked together her fire to keep it alive. Maui showered down 

 thick snow uj)on it to extinguish it. At last, when the old woman saw that 

 she could not keep her fire alive, she cast the rest into trees; in some it stayed, 

 in others not, out of which former it can still be got by rubbing. 



After this, when Maui had put himself again into his natural human 

 shape, he went back to the place of his mother and brothers. In that 

 neighbourhood there lived a grandfather of his, to whom his brother's carried 

 the food when the mother had cooked it. The brothers had got tired of that 

 work, so Maui offered to carry the food. But ho only carried it behind the 

 house, and there left it, and so let the old man die. After some time he went 



