WITCHCRAFT. 
203 
Te huia mai, 
Te katoa mai, 
Ko taumaha atu ki tau, 
Maha a Bongo, 
Ka ma tama kiri, 
Ka ma te ware rakau, 
Te rangi akinga, 
A Ware Bakan, 
The assembling, 
The numbering, 
The thanskgiving, 
To Bongo, 
For the rats living in the bark 
of trees, 
For that is their house, 
Heaven brings them 
From their homes in the trees. 
A second oven was made, in which two rats were cooked ; 
this was sacred to the priest ; a third oven had about ten in 
it ; this also was for the priest ; a fourth had a large number 
in proportion to those employed in the hunt, for whom it 
was sacred; the fifth oven had a still larger number in it, 
for all in common ; but no one touched the food until the 
offering and karakia to the atua had been made. 
The general size of the Maori rat is about one-third that 
of the Norway ; it was formerly very abundant ; but now, 
from one cause or other, is nearly extinct ; its two grand 
enemies are the cat and imported rat ; this little animal is 
said to run only in a straight line, if the roads made for it 
were at all crooked, it turned off where they diverged, and 
ran into the forest. The rat was formerly prized for food, 
and said to have been very fat and delicate eating ; much 
oil was extracted from it. 
Nearly allied to these supposed charms or spells was 
makutu , or witchcraft. 
When a native had, or fancied he had, received an injury 
from another, he sought the destruction of his enemy by 
witchcraft, if he could not obtain it by other means ; if he 
had a pig stolen, he would say, go away, my pig, with- 
out a payment; he then took a branch of tree, and went 
to a spring of water, used incantations to his atua, until 
the person who had injured him appeared before him, when 
this was the case, the bewitched person was sure to die, but 
then it also endangered the other’s life as well. The person 
