MANNER OF HUNTING THE RAT. 
201 
Ki te autapu o Tangaroa te 
ika, 
Teretere te ika, 
He ika waka mou kaha hai, 
Tena te ika ka moe, 
Ko te ika o te rua, 
Ko te ika o te one, 
Te ika o te hohono, 
Tena te ika ka taki ki mua, 
Ka taki ki roto, 
Ka taki ki te tnranga, 
Ka taki ki te kainga, 
Ka taki ki te au tapu nui no 
Tane, 
Ki te au tapu nui o Tangaroa. 
To the sacred current of Tanga- 
roa. 
The fish swim, 
The first fish is caught, 
Behold the fish killed, 
The fish of the deep hole, 
The fish of the bank, 
The fish of the deep. 
Behold the fish is drawn before, 
Is drawn to the side, 
Is drawn to the landing, 
Is drawn to the village, 
Is drawn to the sacred current 
of Tane,* 
To the abode of Tangaroa. 
In former days, the hunting of the rat was an under- 
taking of some importance, and required a large number of 
persons to assist in it, as not only were a great many traps 
required, but also roads had to be cut, which were made 
with much care, as the slightest' obstruction was sufficient 
to ruin the undertaking, 
assembled, this karakia was 
Taumaha ki runga, 
Taumaha ki raro, 
Ki taku matua wahine, 
I ti ai taku kiore, 
Ma te reke taumaha taumaha, 
E taka te po, 
E taka ki tuhua, 
E taka te ao, 
E taka ki Karewa, 
I tutu ai, he kiore, 
When the hunting party had 
sung : — 
Give thanks above, 
Give thanks below, 
To my mother, 
My rat squeaks (it is caught) 
For thy coming thanks, thanks, 
Night suitable falls, 
Inland it falls, 
Bay falls, 
At Karewa it falls, 
What is that standing up ? it is 
a rat. 
The hunting party then cut a line through the forest, 
carrying it up hill and down, however great the declivity; 
this was often many miles long. There were generally two 
roads made, one parallel to the other ; along them were 
* See Note on preceding page. 
