WAKATAUKI, OR PROVERBS. 299 
59. He wahine ki uta, he kahawai ki roto ki te wai. 
A woman on shore ; a kahawai in the sea. — The kahawai is a 
fish which is very particular in selecting the hook which 
most resembles its food, and woman is the most difficult to 
please on land ; hence the saying, “As a kahawai selects 
the hook which pleases it best out of a great number, so 
also a woman chooses one man out of many.” 
60. Mata kitea, maoa, riro ke. 
When raw it is seen ; when cooked it is taken away. — A say- 
ing used when persons who are cooking food see a party of 
strangers approaching. It is better to eat the food only 
half cooked, than wait and have to divide with others. 
61. Ka ngaro a mo a te iwi nei. 
This tribe will become extinct like the moa. The moa, or 
dinornis, was a very large bird, which is supposed to 
he extinct, the bones only having been discovered. It 
would be thus with the tribe alluded to ; the people would 
all die, and their skeletons only remain to show what once 
they had been. 
62. He titi rere ao, ka kitea; he titi rere po, e kore e kitea. 
The titi, mutton bird, which flies in the day time is seen ; but 
the titi which flies in the night is not. — Used when a stranger 
arrives at a village in the night, being unseen, he is not 
welcomed till he gets into the pa. The titi is a sea bird 
which only goes inland at night. 
68. Ki te hamama popoia te tangata, e kore e mau te ika. 
If a man yawns whilst fishing, he will be unsuccessful. — A 
saying which is applied to a person who has not persever- 
ance enough to finish what he has begun, yawning being a 
sure sign of weariness. 
64. E kore e taka te parapara a ona tupuna, tukua iho ki a ia. 
He cannot lose the spirit of his ancestors ; it must descend to 
him. — This saying is, perhaps, identical with ours, “A chip 
of the old block.” 
65. Ka tangi te karewarewa ki waenga o te rangi pai, ka ua apopo ; 
ka tangi ki waenga o te rangi ua, ka paki apopo. 
If the sparrow-hawk screams on a fine day, it will rain on the 
morrow ; if it screams on a rainy day, it will be fine on the 
morrow. 
66. I hea koe i te tangihanga, o te riroriro ? 
