322 
MOKO, OR TATTOO. 
Ki to wahine takiri karito 
kowhara. 
Naku koe i whakanako 
Te tangata i te whakautu 
Kia ata whakanakonako ; 
Tangata i te whakautu kore, 
Kakoia kia tatahi. 
Patua i te whakatangitangi 
E hiki Tangaroa, 
E hiki Tangaroa. 
To the girl who gathers you sweet 
greens 
In baskets of Kowhara. 
Let every line be traced. 
On the man that has the atu, 
Let the figures be handsome ; 
On the man that has no atu , 
Make it crooked, leave it open. 
Let our songs lull the pain, 
And inspire thee with fortitude. 
0 Hiki Tangaroa. 0 Hiki, &c. 
He tangata i te wakautu, 
Ki ata wakanakonako, 
He tangata wakautu kore, 
Kumekumea kia tatahi, 
E hiki Tangaroa, 
E hiki Tangaroa. 
Patua kite waka tangitangi, 
E hiki Tangaroa hai, 
Tangata te kitea, 
Te waihanga patua, 
Ki te wakatangi tangi, 
E hiki Tangaroa hai. 
He who pays well, let him be 
beautifully ornamented ; 
But he who forgets the operator, 
let him be done carelessly. 
Be the lines wide apart. 
0 hiki Tangaroa, 
0 hiki Tangaroa. 
Strike, that the chisel as At cuts 
along may sound. 
0 hiki Tangaroa. 
Men do not know the skill of the 
operator in driving his sound- 
ing chisel along. 
0 hiki Tangaroa. 
This song was chiefly to remind the gentleman of the duty 
he owed to the operator, who, not having any regular.pro- 
fessional charges, chiefly depended on the liberality of his 
patient, who was expected not only to feed him with the 
best, but to make him a very handsome present as well. 
When the operator suspected that he should not be re- 
membered, he frequently became careless in his work, 
and rendered the person an object for life; some of the 
mokos are very coarsely done, whilst others are finished 
with an artist's touch, by which we may judge the way they 
severally paid the owner of the sounding chisel. 
