MYTHOLOGY. 
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verifies them, appear prophetic, and indicative of super- 
natural power. 
Even the spirits of children are said frequently to return 
as gods, and heal the sick who come to them. Some years 
ago, a child named Mati was said to have thus reappeared ; 
numbers went and carried their sick to him ; he always told 
them he knew what was the matter with them — they had a 
lizard in them, which was the cause of the disease ; or, if 
the person was very bad, he would say he had two or more 
of these reptiles in him ; and if extremely ill, that he had a 
great ruatara, or guana, in him ; this, of course, was very 
alarming to the friends of the sick, who would immediately 
entreat the god to cast it out, which he readily engaged 
to do, although sometimes it was stipulated beforehand 
what remuneration he was to receive : he then imitated the 
squeaking of the lizard, and told the parties he had expelled 
the reptile, and that the patient would now speedily recover. 
The general way adopted by the gods of communicating with 
men was by a whistle, which was heard on the roof of the 
house; this used to excite great fear amongst the inmates. 
Ventriloquism is by no means uncommon; some exercise 
this power to enjoy the fears it excites. A Catechist allowed 
the people to see that he believed their gods did actually 
manifest themselves to men, and the natural consequence 
was, that they rewarded him with several displays of their 
presence even during service. The common term for these 
spiritual manifestations is, Atua-kikokiko. The account given 
of the witch of Endor agrees most remarkably with those 
of New Zealand. 
Besides gods, the natives believed in the existence of other 
beings, who lived in communities, built pas, and were occu- 
pied with similar pursuits to those of men ; these were 
called Patu-jpaearehe , their chief residences were on the tops 
of lofty hills, and they are said to have been the spiritual 
occupants of the country prior to the arrival of the Maori, 
and to have retired as they advanced. The Wanganui na- 
tives state, that when they first came to reside on the banks 
of the river, almost all the chief heights were occupied by‘ r 
