MYTHOLOGY. 
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presented himself before him for more fire ; the reason of 
his continually repeating the request was that all the fire in 
Mauika's fingers and toes might be exhausted, lest he should 
burn him with it. This he kept constantly doing : he got 
successively the mapere, or middle finger, the horoa, or 
fore finger, and the rongo matua , or thumb : having finished 
the fingers, he then tried to obtain the toes, and got all but 
the great toe. Maui cried, give me the remaining toe. 
Mauika said, No, you have some bad design towards me. 
Maui then tossed the fire from his hand, and burned 
Mauika with it, as well as the land and the trees. Maui 
himself was all but consumed ; he fled in one direction, and 
the fire pursuing him there, he fled in another, but the 
devouring flames still followed him ; and finding no refuge 
on earth, he flew up into the air, and called for the small 
rain ; still encircled with fire for the greater rain, and that 
not sufficing, for the heavy rain, which came pouring down 
in torrents, and soon extinguished the flames, and flooded 
the land. When the waters reached the tiki tiki , or top 
knot of Mauika's head, the seeds of fire which had taken 
refuge there, fled to the Rata, Hinau, Kaikatea, Rimu, 
Matai, and Miro ; but these trees would not admit them, 
they then went to the Patete, Kaikomako, Mahohe, Totara, 
and Puketea, which received them. These are the trees 
from which fire is still obtained by friction. 
Emboldened by his success in thus destroying Mauika, he 
next tried to put out the sun and moon ; he set snares to catch 
them, and kept repeating his work, but in vain ; for as often 
as he placed his traps, the powerful rays of the sun bit them 
in two. Another tradition states that his object was not to 
kill, but to lengthen the sun's stay on earth, and hinder his 
travelling so rapidly, by rendering him lame ; that he was 
successful and snared the sun, whom he beat so unmerci- 
fully that he has been lame ever since, and so travels 
slowly, which gives longer days than formerly.* The sun 
when beaten, cried out and revealed his second great name, 
Tama-nui-te-ra. After all this hot work, Maui naturally 
* This seems to corroborate their coming from tropical regions. 
IC 2 
