52 Transactions. — M.isceUaneo7is. 



them and ate them all up that same night, and so, havmg fully satiated 

 his appetite, he went to his house to sleep. In the morning the man to 

 whom belonged the taro plantation went thither, and lo ! he saw what had 

 been done by a thief, so he said to his friend, " My good fellow, our taro is 

 being stolen by some thief and will soon be all consumed, I must go to-night 

 and keep watch." So when it w^as evening he went thither, and sat down 

 concealed. It was not very long after when the same thief returned, and 

 was busy uprooting the taro ; on this the man in ambush let fly his spear, 

 which struck the thief in his side breast ; he feeling the pain from the 

 wound ran off and escaped to his own house. On reaching it he bound his 

 girdle tightly around the wound and lay down to sleep, the pain being ex- 

 cessive and the blood though confined flowing inwardly. By-and-by the 

 man who had thrown the spear went to the house of the wounded man. 

 Arriving there he found the fire had gone out, so he called out, " Oh dear ! 

 kindle the fire, make it to blaze, that it may be light." So the fire was 

 kindled and it soon burnt well ; and Hotungakau was awaked out of his 

 sleep and sat up. Then the man who had thrown the spear related his 

 story, ending with saying to Hotungakau, "It seems to me that thou art 

 the very man who was wounded by me with my spear ? " On which Ho- 

 tungakau replied, " It was not me, for here have I been sleeping ever since 

 the settiug-in of the evening." (Although at this very time he was suffering 

 dreadful internal pain.) The spear-thrower rejoined, "The appearance of 

 that man was exactly similar to thine." Hotungakau retorted, " I tell thee 

 it was not me : thou art indeed beginning an evil altercation with me." 

 On hearing this the visitor returned to his own place ; but Hotungakau died 

 just at daylight. His sudden and violent and shameful death was greatly 

 lamented by the people of the village. His father, Eongomaikohina, being 

 completely overwhelmed with shame at the doings of his son, came quietly, 

 and wrapping the body in a garment, put it into his canoe and paddled off. 

 Before, however, he went away, he laid a heavy and deadly spell upon the 

 place. He paddled far away, even unto Waikawa, here he was pursued 

 overland by some of the people he had left behind, because so many had 

 died through his powerful spell, by which also the death of his son was 

 fully avenged. At last a herald came to him, to Eongomaikohina, saying, 

 " There are scarcely any people left alive owing to thy deadly spell, what- 

 ever shall we do that the remainder may be spared ? " To w^hich Eongo- 

 maikohina replied, " Kindle ceremonially a fi-esh fire by fi-iction with the 

 rubbing- sticks, letting a woman tread on the lowermost stick (to keep it 

 steady), through that the power of my man-destroying spell shall be dis- 

 solved." Eongomaikohina never afterwards returned to his former place of 

 residence, 



