TRADITION OR MATUKU AND WITI. 
115 
Matuka and Witi were two great cannibals. After having- 
killed and eaten many persons, Matuku murdered a great 
chief, named Waheroa, and carried off his wife. His friends, 
however, determined not to suffer such a crime to go un¬ 
punished, they therefore went to the wood, and selected a 
suitable tree for a canoe, that they might pursue after Matuku ; 
having found one, they set fire to it, and burnt it down, but 
during the night *Te tini-o-te Hake-turi (Hake-turi’s flock of 
little birds) came and raised it up again. They had therefore 
a second time to burn it down. Haki-turi, however, returned 
with his multitude in the night, and again made the tree 
whole; this was repeated several times. Wondering what 
could be the cause, they determined to watch ; having, there¬ 
fore, burnt down the tree, they hid themselves near it, and 
when te tini-o-te Hake-turi appeared, they suddenly made such 
a great noise, that the birds flew away. Some of the trees 
themselves were so alarmed, that they held down their heads, 
and have never been able to raise them up since; amongst 
these, were the ponga (a fern tree) and the Icareao (supple 
jack), whose tender shoots are now always bent. When they 
had adzed out the canoe, and sewed on the top sides, and got 
everything ready to go to sea, they found the thicket was 
so dense, that they could not launch it. They therefore 
repeated this karakia :— 
AVaea turihunga, 
AVaea taramoa, 
Ka puta ki waho, 
Ko AViti ko Matuku, 
Thrust aside the thicket, 
Thrust aside the brambles, 
And AViti and Matuku 
Shall come forth.f 
The thicket immediately opened. The canoe was then 
launched, and all the warriors embarked. The name of the 
canoe was Riwaru.% They pulled over to Matuku’s residence ; 
* Te tini-o-te Hake-turi appear to be a kind of fairies, in the form of small 
birds, and in very large numbers. In the myth of Tawaki, Tongo hiti is spoken 
of as being the chief of a similar race, although he himself was a glow worm. 
f This is a saying for the beginning of a quarrel:—Push aside the barriers, 
and anger -will burst out. 
J The canoe had three names:— 
The first, Riwaru, because the damp of the forest made it green. 
i 2 
