SONGS. 
141 
action of the legs in walking; it is now called Rangitikei. 
Passing on, he came to a large river, which he feared he should 
not be able to cross; this, therefore, he named Manawa-tu, 
(the depressed spirit). As he proceeded on his way, the wind 
whistled past his ears, and he called the place where he was at 
the time Plokio. The next small creek he called Ohau, per¬ 
haps after himself. He now carried his staff in a horizontal 
position ; the next river was, therefore, called Otaki, from 
taki, to level a spear when making a charge. When he 
strengthened himself by praying and repeating karakia, he 
called the place Wai-mea, from mehameha, to make sacred. 
At the next river he looked out slyly from the corner of his 
eye to see if he could discover his wife, and called the place 
Waikanae. He breathed hard when he reached the place, 
where Wairaka was sitting with her paramour, at Te Paripari, 
the termination of the Tararua range. He said to her, “ Wai¬ 
raka, I am exceedingly thirsty; fetch me some water.” She 
got up and walked down to the sea with a calabash in each 
hand. When she was up to her knees, she commenced filling 
them. He called to her to go further; she went in up to her 
waist; he bid her go still deeper, and she went on again till 
the water nearly covered her shoulders. He then repeated a 
karakia ; she became petrified, and has remained so ever since. 
Leaving her there, a rock in the sea, still bearing her name, 
he joyfully went on his way, and called the next place Wai- 
rarapa (the river of joyfulness), from rarapa, the glistening of 
the eyes with delight. The poet then informs his daughter 
that it was the rejoicing of her ancestor. 
A reference is here made to the myth of Waitiri's erection 
of a temple of Cloacina, which is a chief Maori constellation. 
“ Hanga te paepae ” means, literally, to form a barrier, but 
is here a large plank, for which the stake called meremere* 
was also required. This and the remainder forms a portion 
of the myth of Tawaki. 
The song is a very interesting one as it gives the origin of 
the name of every place from Wanganui to Wairarapa. In 
another version, it is attributed to Turi, and begins at Patea. 
* Meremere, the evening star. 
