1 6'2 Transactions^ — Miscellaneous > 



kumaras aud fern-root. Ah, he exclaimed, it is from her inside that our 

 food comes, so the old waiata says : 



" Descended from the back, the great root of Rongi, 



Descend from behind, the fern-root, 



Descend from the front, the kumara, 



By Hiiniki and Pani, 



Then it was nourished in the mound, 



The great momid of Whatapu, 



Great mound of Pajja, 



Great mound of Tauranga ; 



There was seen the contemptuous behaviom' of Tu, 



There they were hungered after," etc., etc. 

 Alarmed for the safety of their childi-en, Huruki and Pani bid them hide 

 themselves ; and so Papaka-ievn went to the mountains, Kohurnhnru -fern 

 went to the forests to listen to the songs of the birds, Ta?-oa-fern went to 

 the sea-shore to listen to the trampling of the surf, and Papaivai-ievn went 

 to the river-bank to listen to the eels flopping at night in the water. 



From the ancient icaiatas we learn, that Toi taught people to eat fern-root 

 and the stem of the ti palm; hence the proverb, " Te kai rakau a Toi": — 

 That Rongo-i-tua introduced the kumara : — and that Tukete in his canoe, 

 ITiiruhuru-m anit, (bird- feather) achieved the reputation of being, like Kupe 

 and Tamatea, a great navigator. 



The Legend of Tama-tea, Pokai Whenua. 

 (Fair Son, the Cu'cumnavigator) 

 Tama-tea, being deserted by his three wives, Hine ran-kaica-kawa, Hine 

 ran-haraki, and Te-kolii-ivai, sailed all round the island in search of them. 

 And he shares with Kiipe the credit of giving names to the various places 

 along the coast ; the promontory at the base of the On-Lookers, for instance, 

 is known as the Koura fire of Tama, he having landed there to cook craw- 

 fish. On reaching the southern extremity of the island, he continued his 

 voyage up the west coast. At the entrance to every inlet he waited and 

 listened for any sound which might serve to uidicate the whereabouts of 

 the runaways. But it was not till he arrived ofl' the mouth of the Arahura 

 river that he heard voices ; he immediately landed, but could not discover 

 his wives, being unable to recognize them in the enchanted stones which 

 strewed the bed of the river, and over which its waters murmuringly flowed. 

 He did not know that the canoe, in which his wives escaped, had capsized 

 at this spot, and that they and the crew had been changed into blocks of stone. 

 Accompanied by his servant, Tamatea proceeded inland towards Mount 

 Kaniere ; on the way they stopped to cook some bu'ds which they had killed. 

 While preparing the meal the slave accidentally burnt his fhiger, wliich he 



