150 
MYTHOLOGY. 
of what is coming to pass ; she said, he bid me hold out my 
hand, and put a drop of blood in it, telling me to look 
attentively into it. I did so, and saw Te Heu-heu, Here- 
kiekie and several other chiefs on one side, and on the other 
the church, with you and the teachers standing before it ; 
he told me it was a taua , or war, against the church. I 
said, pray what form did the spirit appear in ? she an- 
swered, he came as a shadow. I was much struck with 
the remembrance of this, when some years afterwards I 
read almost a counterpart of it in Lane’s Egypt.- That 
an ignorant girl should hit upon so close a resemblance was 
remarkable. 
The Mata Kite or seers pretend to do many supernatural 
things, and cause their gods to appear at pleasure ; but 
from my personal knowledge of many, I am persuaded they 
are ventriloquists, and thus deceive the people, although, in 
some cases, they may deceive themselves with the idea that 
the god is in them ; generally, however, they are gross im- 
postors, who only seek gain or influence by their pretended 
powers. 
A gentleman who resided several years in New Zealand, 
and travelled a great deal amongst the natives, had once an 
opportunity of seeing this pretended powder exercised ; he 
was in company with two young natives, one a heathen 
chief of some rank, who expressed his firm belief, not only 
in the existence of their gods, but likewise in their willing- 
ness to appear to their own relatives when asked to do so ; 
he was told that he could not believe such to be possible, 
unless he actually saw one of their gods, then he should cease 
to doubt their existence ; the young chief immediately offered 
to give the proof demanded; and invited the unbelieving 
European to accompany him to an old lady, who formerly 
exercised this power ; it was in the evening when the 
conversation took place ; they went directly to her abode ; 
she was in a little mahinga or cultivation at some dis- 
tance from the village ; they found her sitting in a long 
shed by the side of a fire ; after some general conversa- 
tion, the young chief made her acquainted with the object 
