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TRADITIONS AND LEGENDS. 
that was their coast, it was covered with great stones, which 
hurt the feet, they had no sand ; Oh, said the Atua, I will 
will soon remedy that evil for them, he immediately sent 
a canoe filled with sand, which he caused to be spread over 
all the stones, and left sufficient to form sand hills as well, 
so that should the sea wash any away there might be sufficient 
to replace it. Another account states that some old priest 
in walking over the stones hurt his feet, and then in anger 
uttered a spell, which caused the sand immediately to be 
blown up and cover the coast. Some of the natives also ac- 
count for the coming of Mount Taranaki to its present place in 
the following way. Taranaki was the wife of Tongariro, an 
active volcano, but he behaved so ill to her, that she at last 
determined to run away from him ; so one morning very early, 
she set off. Tongariro soon missed his partner, and went in 
pursuit of her, being, however, heavy and bulky, he could not 
follow very fast, as she was far lighter and more nimble ; at 
last he got into a great swamp and stuck fast in it, unable 
to catch his wife, in great anger he spit fire at her, which 
accounts for fire being emitted from Tongariro ; his wife 
pursued her journey and to be as far as possible from her 
old companion, placed herself on the sea coast in her present 
position, where she has ever since remained. 
& 
Rupe. 
This is the story of Rupe, a god in the form of a pigeon, 
of his sisters Hina te iwa iwa, Hina te otaota, Iti iti mareka- 
reka, Raukatauri, and Raukatamea. Behold Rupe arrived 
from heaven to search for his sister Hina te otaota, he was 
seen by her at Motutapu, Rupe came to the window of the 
house and cried over his sister ; this was his lament, down 
from the window above : — - 
0 Hina, 0 Hina, 
The long lost, 
Lost in Motutapu, alas ! 
His sister cried up to him from within the house — 
