1921 .] 
Best.—Polynesian Mnemonics. 
69 
and the bird was then taken to the tuahu, a sacred place where ritual cere¬ 
monies were performed, and there released for its long-questing flight. In 
the original we have the following : “ Katahi ka hevea te tau ponapona 
hi te kaki o Te Kawa, patai atu— L Kei te ora ranei koutou . Kei whea koutou 
e nolio ana .’ Ka mutu nga kupu o te tau ponapona. Ka kawea Te Kawa 
hi runga i te tuahu tuku ai kia rereP 
The reference to the taking of the bird messenger to the tuahu is of much 
interest. Unquestionably the object was to perform some ceremony over 
the bird that would enable it to perform the task assigned to it, the finding 
of the ocean waifs. The ceremony is not described, but the tohunga of yore 
were believed by the Maori to hold very singular powers, and a high-class 
member of the fraternity would assuredly be held to possess sufficient 
mana to enable him to endow the bird messenger with the power to fulfil 
its errand 
We are told that Te Kawa succeeded in locating Turahui on the island 
of Rangiatea, and the knotted cord was taken from its neck and the 
message read off. All the castaways assembled to greet Te Kawa, and 
it was resolved to send the bird back with a return message as follows : 
“ We are all well; we are at Rangiatea.” Soon after this occurrence the 
castaways set forth to return to their home island. On their way to 
Hawaiki they encountered Te Kawa at sea, and the bird now bore another 
quipu question, as to whether or not the party was returning home. Again 
Te Kawa was sent off with a reply, and ere long the party reached the home 
island in safety. Hawaiki is said to have been an old name for the island 
of Tahiti, and Rangiatea is the correct form of the name of Ra’iatea, 
another isle of the Society Group. Whatonga made the voyage to New 
Zealand shortly after his return home, and spent the rest of his days here 
The tradition of his sojourn at Wellington Harbour is one of deep interest, 
and, indeed, the harbour was named after his son Tara—Te Whanga nui 
a Tara. 
In regard to the above tradition the question is how far it is credible. 
All the writer will venture to say is that it is firmly believed by the Maori, 
and that it at least proves his knowledge of a former use in Polynesia of 
the quipus. In Part II of the Lore of the Whare Wananga (published by 
the Polynesian Society), at p. 104 occur some further remarks on the above 
tradition, and also certain explanations. Attention is dravm to the fact that 
the natives of the Ellice Group send messages from one island to another 
per medium of the frigate-bird, but that the natural migration or move¬ 
ments are there taken advantage of. The Rev. W. W. Gill tells us in his 
Jottings from the Pacific that “ The native pastors on most of the islands, 
lying about sixty miles apart, of the Ellice Group correspond with each 
other by means of the frigate-bird. The note is concealed in a bit of reed 
and tied to one of the wings. In the olden times pearl fish-hooks w r ere in 
this way sent from one island to another.” In this case it is evident that 
our script was the vehicle employed, and not a knotted cord. The Maori 
account relates to something very much more extraordinary, illustrating 
a belief in very remarkable powers as held by priestly experts of former 
times. The mystic element in the Polynesian character closely resembles 
that of Oriental folk, and the former people assuredly possessed powers, 
genuine or otherwise, that leave us marvelling. The so-called “ mango 
trick ” of India was practised in Polynesia, and apparently the ancestors 
of the Maori had mastered some power of hypnotic suggestion, or other 
influence, of which we are yet ignorant. 
