236 
TRADITIONS AND LEGENDS. 
but others of Hawaiki ; he was celebrated for his fine form 
and great vanity, and had several pools filled with beautiful 
transparent water, which were his looking glasses to ad- 
mire himself in, he also kept a stud — not of horses, for 
they were then unknown, but — of whales : these were his 
mokai, or pets, one of which was called Tutunui. The fame 
of this chief reached the ears of Hine-te-iwaiwa, a lady of 
a distant tribe, who was also remarkable for her great 
beauty, she fell in love with him, from the report of his 
noble form and qualities, and at last nothing would satisfy 
but she must go and see him. One day when she was out 
with the women of the pa, gathering mussels, assuming 
the form of a mermaid, she suddenly jumped into the sea, 
and dived down, coming up near a rock a little distance 
from the shore, on which she rested for some time ; then 
diving again, she had a long submarine journey, meeting 
with many adventures, and holding conversations with the 
different fish she saw, especially the shark and the kahawai, 
at last she rose up near the abode of Tini-rau, resumed her 
usual shape, and sat down considering which would be the 
best way of introducing herself to the chief ; being aware of 
his admiration of himself, the plan she adopted to attract 
attention, was to spoil the looking glasses by jumping 
into them and rendering the water muddy. Now Tini- 
rau was so particular about them, that he kept an owl 
as their guardian, who, perched upon a lofty tree in the 
vicinity, always kept his eye upon his charge ; immedi- 
ately therefore he saw Hine-te-iwaiwa floundering about 
in them, he called to the chief, who was sitting on his 
elevated stage, incensed at the insult, he came down at once 
and went to the pools, where he soon discovered the cause, 
his anger immediately vanished, and was turned into love 
for the beautiful lady who had taken such liberty with his 
pools, and equally soon formed an attachment with her. 
Tini-rau's wives, however, did not admire their new com- 
panion, so much as their lord and master, he was therefore 
obliged to keep her apart from them. After some time, 
Hine-te-iwaiwa gave birth to a child ; this event caused her 
