MYTHOLOGY. 
161 
Whilst in the water, the party above kept repeating all their 
spells, to weaken the Taniwha and strengthen the divers ; 
the monster, immediately he saw them, elevated the spines 
on his back with delight, at the prospect of such a feast, but 
Pitaka and his friend, nothing daunted, at once passed a 
rope round him, and then gave a signal to be drawn up. 
The party above by a strong pull, brought both the men 
and Taniwa up together, a thing which would have been 
impossible for them to have done on account of the enormous 
weight of the monster, but for the power of the spells used ; 
they then killed and eat him; four hundred and fifty men 
were engaged in this exploit ; they found bodies, mats, &c., 
in his stomach, the same as in the others. His name was 
Pekehaua, when his ribs were bare of flesh they looked 
Ano te riu o Tane mahuta , like the hollow trunk of Tane 
mahuta. 
Another Taniwa, named Katorore , was also killed by the 
same party, and thus that district became freed from those 
fearful reptiles.* 
Such arO the supernatural beings who were thought by 
the natives to have existence. In every place there were 
objects which were viewed with reverence, as being the 
peculiar abode of certain spirits : rocks, stones, trees, rivers, 
fountains, even large eels were reverenced, prayed to, and 
had daily offerings made them : the sacred trees were known 
by their being daubed over with red ochre, and having rags 
tied round them, like the fetish trees of Africa, each visitor 
leaving one as he passed by. 
A solitary Turkey cock by some means or other found Lis 
way to a small isle in one of the lakes, adjoining Rotorua, 
most probably having escaped from the mission station at 
the Ngae. This bird managed to acquire a kind of sanctity 
amongst the remaining heathen of the district, who never 
paddled past poor gobbles isle, without leaving him a 
present, and thus, though doomed to a life of celibacy, he 
still grew fat on the offerings of his admirers. But now 
* Sir G. Grey’s Overland Expedition to Taupo. 
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