86 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



4. Kua ngaro i te ngaro o te Mo a ! 

 All have wholly disappeared, perished, just as the Moas perished ; none 

 left ! (A saying similar to the foregoing, and used under similar circum- 

 stances). 



5. Na te Moa i takahi te raataa. 

 The Eaataa tree ( M etrosideros robustaj was trampled down, when young, 

 by the Moa — hence its irregular growth. (The meaning being, early evil 

 habits are not to be afterwards overcome. " Just as the twig is bent, the 

 tree's inclined.") 



6. Ko te Moa kai hau ! 



Even as the Moa feeding on air ! 



This saying, which is also very ancient, arose from the belief of the 

 myth that the Moa (the one that had escaped from the universal fiery 

 destruction) resided in a cave on the top of the mountain Whakapunake, 

 with its mouth wide open ; hence it is said to feed on the wind, or air. 

 7. He Moa oti koe, ina ka kore koe e kai ? 

 Art thou, indeed, a Moa, that thou dost not eat ? 

 8. He Moa kai hau ! 



A Moa living on air ! 



9. He jmku Moa ! 



A Moa's stomach, or appetite ! 



Those last foiu- proverbial sayings, nearly alike in meaning, are used — (1) 

 in banter of a man in health who has no appetite for food; and (2) of a woman 

 who at meal times cares not to eat, through being very deeply in love — her 

 lover being absent, or his person not agreeable to her tribe and family, and 

 so her affections are crossed, etc., etc. 



Of this latter we have a notable instance in Hinemoa, the woman whose 

 name is handed down in a tradition of the olden time, as having swum in 

 the night from the mainland at Eotorua to Mokoia, the island in the large 

 lake there, to meet her lover, Tutanekai, the object of her desire. Hence, 

 too, as her people suspected her, seeing she did not care to eat, etc., she 

 got the provisional name of Hinemoa, which subsequently stuck to her ; like 

 many other names of very frequent occurrence among the Maoris, through 

 derision, accident, fault, war, etc. Hine=jonng lady, daughter of rank ; 

 and Moa=zth.e mythical animal — i.e., the young lady who left her food, or 

 lived on air (just as the Moa), on account of her love for her sweetheart. 

 Her name has been given to the Colonial Government steamer ' Hinemoa.' 



There is still, however, another meaning belonging to the words " He 

 kai hau;" namely, that it is the name of an ancient malediction or curse 

 used by sorcerers ; in which death is invoked on him who makes a practice 

 of receiving gifts without giving any in return, so that he pines away and 

 dies. This, in connection with the mythical creature the Moa, might some- 



