130 
MYTHOLOGY. 
with all the irregularities of the islands’ surface. A similar 
tradition prevails in the Tonga isles ; but there Tangaloa 
is the fisherman ; with some variations, this myth is known 
from one end of the island to the other. It appears only to 
apply to the north island, which indeed resembles a fish in 
shape ; and the perfect knowledge which the natives had of 
its form, is an evident proof that they had formerly circum- 
navigated it, and, in fact, once lived more peaceably and had 
more friendly intercourse with each other than in later times. 
It is not improbable that the name Maui is nothing more than 
a title given to the person who first sighted land. Ma-u-i 
literally signifies as much. Maui also means to bewitch or 
enchant ; in both of which arts he was a great adept.* 
The next great work of Maui was his contention with 
Mauika. Some traditions make him to be the grandfather 
Maui ; others deny it ; he appears to have been a kind of 
Maori Pluto, his body filled with fire; the name Mauika 
seems to imply that he was a member of the Maui family 
and distinguished by his being fire ; at any rate, it is generally 
supposed that it first proceeded from him. Some traditions 
represent Mauika as a woman. 
Behold Mauika had fire in his fingers and toes; when 
Maui knew this he went to kill him by his cunning : on his 
ancestor enquiring the object of his visit, Maui replied, to 
obtain fire, he immediately gave him one of his fingers, 
the koiti, or little one. Maui left him, and went straight to 
the water and extinguished it. Then he returned again and 
said his fire had gone out : Mauika inquired, how is it that 
the fire is extinguished ; he replied, he had fallen into the 
water ; he then cut off the manaiva , or ring finger.fi Maui 
went, and extinguished it also, and then wetted his hand, 
that Mauika might think what he said was true ; again he 
* Maui is the name of a game closely resembling “cats cradles,” which 
represents the different scenes of the Maori creation, such as Hine-nui-te-po, 
Maui’s fish, &c. 
f This tradition seems to allude to the custom of cutting off fingers, practised 
in most of the Polynesian isles as a token of grief for the dead, which is a proof 
of their origin, as the practice is thus preserved in a legend of ancient times, 
although the custom no longer exists amongst the Maori. 
