280 
TRADITIONS AND LEGENDS. 
down from one side of tlie Wanganui to the other, then a 
loud umere , shout of joy, was raised for the good omen of 
that canoe, for if it had cracked it would not have answered ; 
this being done it was dragged on shore, and the side boards 
put on ; when this and the other canoe were finished they 
went to slay Turere ao, as in payment for the death of 
Aukehu, they killed him, took his head and stuck it on 
the post of the Pae pae at Manga watu, this was the food for 
the voyage of Pohea and Tamangakau (ko te o tenei) * when 
they went to slay the cuttle fish ; on arriving at the lips of 
the Wanganui, they sent for Tireo o te Rangi, a very sacred 
person, (hei po ike mo te waka), to sit at the bow of the 
canoe and render it sacred : he was brought from Tura- 
kina, from the top of Tauranga manga, and taken on 
board to make the canoe very sacred, they then sailed and 
arrived at Rangitikei. One hundred men of the party, hehe } 
went on shore, the men of Rangitikei saw them and came to 
kill them, they seized their paddles and fought with them, 
and killed the men of Rangitikei, thence Tawiri hoe became 
the name of the battle. Now when this battle was finished 
by Pohea and Tamangakau, they went thence to the other 
side of the Mana watu, the men of that place stood up to 
fight, that battle over, they left as a name for the place 
Harakeke tau toro, from the flax leaves with which their 
top-knots and loins were tied, afterwards they went and 
reached the Ika a maru and slept there; in the morning 
they sailed for Ara pawa ; when they reached the middle 
of Raukawa ko nga watu kai ponu,f the abode of the Weke, 
the water was of a different color, rereke, it was red, before 
long the Weke appeared and laid hold of the canoe with his 
feelers, the men cried out, alas ! and were afraid ; they 
had made pointed poles to spear the fish : the men cried 
out, let us hasten to kill the Weke, but Pohea said, wait 
till we see his body, then he emptied the taha, calabash of 
* O means food for a journey, this seems to be a play upon the name of the 
person they killed, Turere a o. 
f Titapua maunga and Nga tata o te waka o Kupe, were close to the abode 
of the Weke. _ 
