REINGA. 
103 
The tangi, or wail, was not confined to the dead ; whenever 
friends met, the tangi was raised, they cried over each other. 
This ancient custom probably arose from the insecurity of life 
m former days; those who had escaped from their constant 
fights, when they met, cried over each other as though they had 
been dead : even we sometimes cry for joy, at seeing any dear 
friend, relative, or child, who has had any great deliverance 
fiom danger; the custom naturally becomes general amongst 
a savage and warlike race, like that of the Maori. 
When the dead were buried, the following pihi was used, by 
the side of a running stream, in which a staff was stuck. 
To ko kai i te po, 
Te po nui, 
Te po roa, 
Te po uri uri, 
Te po tango tango, 
Te po wawa, 
Te po tc kitea, 
Te po te waia, 
Tena toko ka tu, 
Ko toko o 
Tane rua nuku. 
Place a staff for the po or night, 
The great po, 
The long po, 
The dark po, 
The gloomy po, 
The intense po, 
The unseen po, 
The unsearchable po. 
Behold the staff stands, 
The staff of 
Tane rua nuku. 
This was followed by one 
then stuck in the water, and 
Toko kai te ao, 
Te ao nui, te ao roa, 
Te ao marama, 
Te ao whekere, 
Tena toko katu, 
Ko toko Ikurangi, 
Ko toko te wai ao, 
Ko toko te ao marama, 
Oti mai ki te ao. 
for the living. Another staff was 
the priest said :— 
Place a staff for the day, 
The great day, the long day, 
The bright day, 
The gloomy day. 
Behold the staff stands, 
The staff of the end of heaven, 
The staff of flowing light, 
The staff of the bright world, 
This is all for the day. 
The prevailing idea of the abode of spirits was, that they 
went to the Reinga, which is another name for Po or Hades; 
the word Reinga literally means, the leaping place. The 
spirits were supposed to travel to the North Cape, or land’s 
end, and there passing along a long narrow ledge of rock, 
they leaped down upon a flat stone, and thence slinging 
