AMUSEMENTS. 
349 
He liaka . — The dance was a favourite amusement. There 
were various kinds of them, many were very indecent ; 
some were only danced by females, others by men, but in 
general both sexes joined in this amusement. 
Te Ko Jciri is an amusement of diving by closing the legs 
and arms, and then sinking in deep water, feet foremost. I 
have seen a native thus drop down over the side of the canoe 
to a great depth and pick up with his toes a tobacco pipe he 
had noticed at the bottom, using them as readily as his 
fingers. 
Te Ko Jdri also is jumping from a pole into deep water : 
before doing so the party says : — 
Puhi puhi rawa ki te keriru ; Flutter like pigeons’ feathers ; 
Mehemea e kato ana, ko kiri. And if the water be calm, dart 
downwards. 
There was also the turujoejoeke, or tumbling head over 
heels; walking with stilts, jpouturu ; the rourou , a game 
played with stones in the hands ; the kai is a puzzle to undo 
a knot, or find out a riddle ; and many similar ones. 
* But the chief amusement of the females was, and still is 
the tangi, or crying ; the ladies pride themselves on doing 
this in the most affecting way, so that a stranger would be 
deceived, and not think it possible that it could be a mere 
mockery of woe, and yet it is nothing more ; tears are shed 
in abundance, and the hands are wrung, as if suffering the 
most poignant grief, whilst the most heart-rending cries ex- 
cite the sympathy of the company. The ladies have their 
heads adorned with fillets of leaves, or of dog's hair, and so 
much joy do they experience in this exciting amusement, 
that they look forward to a good crying with the same desire 
a young lady in England does to a dance or ball. 
* The natives have another amusement, which consists in rendering their 
conversation unintelligible to strangers, by adding one or more letters to each 
word as they may previously agree upon, so that only they who are in the 
secret, can understand what is said : thus, instead of saying kei te haere au 
ki reira, they would say te-ke-te-i te te-hae-^-re te-a.-te-u te- ki te-re-te-i-te-ra - 
few can find this out when spoken quickly. This is called He Kowetewete. 
