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once heard a story of an Irish sailor, who fancied he had 
been bewitched by a native ; poor Paddy became alarmed, 
and anxiously demanded what he should do to get free ; he 
was recommended to go to the tohunga, who had bewitched 
him, with a handsome present in his hands ; the advice was 
adopted, Paddy was graciously received, and gravely ordered 
to open his mouth, when the other spit into it, and then told 
him he might rest satisfied, no evil would befall him, for he 
had made him noa , or removed the spell. 
One of our countrymen living at Mokau, a swearing, 
blaspheming fellow, was thought to possess this power, from 
some individual who had been cursed and sworn at by him, 
suddenly dying ; the natives afterwards had the greatest 
fear of him, and even Poutama, the head chief, who was in 
general an overbearing man, was quite afraid of the fellow ; 
he had sold some pigs to him, but did not dare to ask him 
for payment, and he, being a rogue, never gave any. 
The natives had a way of divination by means of sticks ; 
this was called Niu. Herodotus relates that the Scythians 
had a similar mode. Ezekiel speaks of divination by a rod 
or wand, and probably Hosea alludes to the same, c< My 
people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth 
unto them.” (Hosea iv. 12.) The pur alluded to in Esther 
may have resembled it. (Esth. iii. 7.) Each chief had a 
particular name for his own stick ; thus, that of one chief 
was called Te at a mounu ; of another Te. manu i te ra ; and 
a third Tongo hiti. The person consulting the Niu went out 
in the morning before it was light, so that no one should 
have been before him, which would destroy the power of the 
consultation ; taking his stick, a short thin one made of the 
mahoe, in his right hand, and another representing the 
enemy in the left, he went and stuck a third in the ground 
for the tapu ; and placing the two sticks together, one 
across the other, he uttered a karakia, then threw them 
his death, and demanded whether I had not also cursed him, and thus been 
the cause of his being killed, thinking my curse had proved the most powerful. 
I replied, Ministers never curse even their enemies, as Scripture bids them bless 
and curse not. They went away quite satisfied. 
