92 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



while they all knew them well by description and oft-told tale, there was 

 nothing whatever known or rehearsed of the habitats of the colossal Moa, 

 save the mythical dwelHng of the only one on the top of the high mountain 

 Whakapunake ! 



7. Further still, I think some notice, however slight, should be taken of 

 the great predilection of the ancient Maori towards making pets of wild 

 animals, even including those of the most extraordinary and bizarre kinds, 

 as we may see in then- ancient legends of " Kae and the Pet Whale of 

 Tinirau,* and of " The Killing of Kataore," the monstrous Saurian pet of 

 the chief Tangaroamihi.f Those stories, however, are both very old and 

 almost prehistorical. Then we have the account of the tame hzard pet of 

 the chief Kahungunu, named Pohokura, which was carried by him from 

 Taputeranga, in Hawke's Bay, to Te Awarua, on the western flank of the 

 Euahine mountain-range, near the head of the Eangitikei river (about 

 twenty-one generations back), and got loose there, and was not recovered. 

 This lizard pet is still believed by the old Maoris to be dwelling in those 

 lonely mountain forests ! Captain Cook and other early visitors tell us how 

 very much the New Zealanders were addicted to pet animals ; and, in my 

 own time, I have known of their pet indigenous birds — parrots, paradise 

 ducks, tuiis, ngoiros and karoros (two gulls), huias, and kautukus (those two 

 last being kept solely for then- long tail and wing-feathers). They also 

 formerly petted extremely, and made great fuss over, the then newly- 

 introduced animals, as pigs, dogs, cats, and goats, | The tuii (or parson- 

 bird), which was a great imitator and dearly prized by the ancient Maoris, 

 was even taught a song, § which it spoke tolerably well ; of such first-rate 

 talking specimens, however, I have only seen two, and those more than 

 forty years ago. Here again, reviewing the past relative to pet animals, 



* " Polynesian Mythology," p. 90. t " Trans. N.Z. Inst.," Vol. XI., p. 100. 



J It was in 1841 that I first visited the Urewera tribes in the interior, at Euatahuna 

 and Te Whaiiti, near the head of the Whakatane river ; and it was on this visit that I saw 

 there (at Mangatepa) the most monstrous goat that I ever beheld ! in bulk it was more like 

 a young steer with prodigious flat horns, and was very mischievous. I saw it knock down 

 sprawling big strong Maoris ! who, however, generally gave it a wide berth, and so kept 

 aloof. Inside of the fenced ^a, or village, it was a perfect pest; for being tapu (i.e., 

 bearing the name of some one of their deceased chiefs), it must not be touched ! This 

 ancient custom of the old Maoris of naming then- pets after some deceased relation, 

 always insured both its safety (with the tribe) and its being tolerably well eared for ; and 

 if the said pet were at all viciously inclined it was sure to become worse through over- 

 indulgence ! I confess I was afraid of that quadruped, and for a long while could not 

 believe it to be a goat ! The Maoris, some years before, had obtained it fi-om a ship on 

 the East Coast. 



§ The song which was taught this bird is in Prof. Lee's " New Zealand Grammar," 

 p. 109 ; in its present state it is very imperfect. 



