CoLENSo. — On a better Knowledge of the Maori Race, 67 



laud-slip near the south end of the lake Taupo in 1846. (A portion only, 

 less than half.) 



Behold ! there is the red streak of early morning dawn ! appearing on the far-off 

 horizon, over the craggy peaks of the mountain Tauhara. That, perhaps, is my dear 

 friend returning hither ? Alas ! no ; alone am I, uttering vain laments among the 

 dwellings of men. 



Thou art, indeed, gone for ever ! precious treasure ! Go on, then (in thy way, thou) 

 great one ; go on, (thou) who wast feared (by the foe) ; go on (thou who wast as) the fine 

 big raataa trees, protecting those smaller trees behind them from the stormy winds. Let 

 me ask, who was the demon who so evilly overwhelmed you all with sudden death ? 



Sleep on (with thy face turned) towards us, (our) father, within the cold miserable 

 house. The string of the prized ear-drop (by which it once hung) is now firmly knotted ; 

 that ancient prized heh-loom of greenstone ; left behind, among us, to become a loved 



memento for ever of thee. 



♦ * * « 



In vain the stars of the heavens plan (their) schemes : the great star Atutahi is gone, 

 carried off a prey for the cannibal star Eehua. But the fine star shining by the side of the 



Milky Way, is verily thou thyself ! Alas ! Alas ! 



« * * » 



(End.) Thou hast fallen ! thou art lying dead within the bowels of the earth ! Alas ! 

 Alas ! StiU thy fame shall resound (as thunder) far off to the other side of the heavens.* 

 " Tauhara ;" — a conspicuous craggy isolated mountain, 3,000 feet high, 

 about 30 miles north-east from the place where the calamity occm'red. 



" Fine big ?-aato.a-trees " ( Metrosideros robusta) : — among the monarchs 

 of the forests. 



" The prized ear-drop : " — lit. " Kaukau-te-ika-a-Ngahae.'" This was the 

 name of a famous prized ancient ear-pendant ; fabulously reported to have 

 been brou.ght from " Hawaiki." [Of this " ika-a-Ngahue," more anon.] 

 " The string " by which it was suspended to the chief's ear, when alive and 

 worn, being now " knotted," indicates that it never would be worn again. 



" Atutahi " and ^'Rehua,'" two noted stars ; see " Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. 

 XIL, pp. 145, 146. 



(3.) 

 The Spell, or Invocation, used by the Hero Whakatau, on his going forth 

 to fight. 



•'Then the brave warrior, Whakatau, arose, and seized his fighting-belt, 

 and, while girding it on, uttered the following charm, that he and his com- 

 panions in arms might become bold in battle." (MS., ined.) 

 If Tangaroa should enquire, 

 " Who is that young warrior 

 So daringly girding-on my war-belt ? " 

 (I reply) Nobody at all ; nothing, only me, 

 Whakatau ! 



* Grey's " Poetry of the New Zealanders," p. 28, 



