MYTHOLOGY. 
53 
wero-wero-Taniwha, the wakapuru to tumangai, the whanga- 
whangai, the whakautu-utu, and many others ; they also made 
a taiki, a large cone-shaped basket, in which they descend to 
the bottom of lakes to catch cray and other shell fish, and one 
bold chief named Pitaka, with his comrade, volunteered to 
descend into the abyss, and pass a rope round the monster. 
Whilst he was in the water, the party above kept repeating all 
their spells, to weaken the Taniwha and strengthen the divers; 
the monster, immediately he saw them, elevated the spurs on 
his back, with delight at the prospect of such a feast, but 
Pitaka and his friends, nothing daunted, at once passed a rope 
round him, and then gave a signal to be drawn up. The party 
above by a strong pull, brought both the men and Taniwha 
up together, a thing which would have been impossible for 
them to have done on account of the enormous weight of the 
monster, but for the power of the spells used; they then killed 
and eat him. Four hundred and fifty men were engaged in this 
exploit; they found bodies, mats, &c., in his stomach, the 
same as in the others. His name was Pekehaua, when his ribs 
were bare of flesh they looked “ Ano te Riu o tane maliuta ,” 
like the hollow trunk of Tane mahuta. 
Another Taniwha, named Katorore, was also killed by the 
same party, and thus that district became freed from those 
fearful reptiles.* 
Such are the supernatural beings who were thought by the 
natives to have an existence; but in every place there were 
other objects which were viewed with reverence, as being the 
peculiar abode of certain spirits: rocks, stones, trees, rivers, 
fountains, even large eels were reverenced, and prayed to, and 
had daily offerings made them : the sacred trees were known 
by their being daubed over with red ochre, and by rags tied 
round them, something in the way of the fetish tree of 
Africa, each visitor leaving a rag as he passed by. 
A solitary Turkey cock by some means or other found his 
way to a small isle in one of the lakes, adjoining Rotorua, most 
probably having fled from the mission station at the Ngae. 
* See Sir G. Grey’s Overland Expedition to Taupo. 
