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himself.' But Whakatau coolly asked him again: 'Was the man really something like me? And
Mango-pare replied: 'Yes, he was like you; I really think it was you'; and Whakatau shouted
aloud: 'You are right, it was was I.' As soon as they heard this, all of them in a moment sprang to
their feet. But, at the same instant, Whakatau laid hold of the end of the rope which he had
passed round the posts of the house, and, rushing out, pulled it with all his strength, and
straightway the house fell down, crushing all within it, so that the whole tribe perished, and
Whakatau, who had escaped to the outside of the house, set it on fire, and Hine-i-te-iwaiwa, who
was sitting upon the roof of her own house watching for the event, saw the whole of one part of
the heavens red with its flames, and she knew that her enenues were destroyed. Whakatau,
having thus avenged the death of Tu-huruhuru the son of Tinirau, returned to his own village.
The Dissensions at Hawaiki
Toi-te-huatahi and Tama-te-kapua
OUR ancestors formerly separated-some of them were left in Hawaiki, and some came here
in canoes. Tuamatau and Uenuku paddled in their canoes here to Ao-tea; again, at that time some
of them were separated from each other, that is to say, Uenuku and Houmai-tawhiti.
For in the time of Houmai-tawhiti there had been a great war, and thence there were many battles
fought in Hawaiki; but this war had commenced long before that time, in the days of
Whakatauihu, of Tawhaki, and of Tu-huruhuru, when they carried off Kae alive from his place as
a payment for Tutunui; and the war continued until the time of the disputes that arose on account
of the body of warriors of Manaia. Again after that came the troubles that arose from the act of
desecration that was committed by the dog of Houmai-tawhiti and of his sons in eating the matter
that bad sloughed from an ulcer of Uenuku's. Upon this occasion, when Toi-te-huatahi and
Uenuku saw the dog, named Potaka-tawhiti, do this, they killed it, and the sons of Houmai-
tawhiti missing the dog, went everywhere searching for it, and could not find it; they went from
village to village, until at last they came to the village of Toi-te-huatahi, and as they went they
kept calling his dog.
At last the dog howled in the belly of Toi' 'Ow!' Then Tamate-kapua and Whakaturia called their
dog again, and again it howled 'Ow!' Then Toi' held his mouth shut as close as ever he could, but
the dog still kept on howling in his inside. Thence Toi' said as follows, and his words passed into
a proverb: 'O, hush, hush! I thought I had hid you in the big belly of Toi', and there you are, you
cursed thing, still howling away.'
When Tama-te-kapua and his brother had thus arrived there, he asked: 'Why did you not kill the
dog and bring it back to me, that my heart might have felt satisfied, and that we might have
remained good friends? Now, I'll tell you what it is, O my relations, you shall by and by hear
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POLYNESIAN MYTHOLOGY
53
more of this.' Then as soon as the two brothers got home, they began immediately to make stilts
for Tama-te-kapua, and as soon as these were finished, they started that night and went to the
village of Toi' and Uenuku, and arrived at the fine poporo tree of Uenuku, covered with branches
and leaves, and they remained eating the fruit of it for a good long time, and then went home
again.
This they continued doing every night, until at last Uenuku and his people found that the fruit of
his poporo tree was nearly all gone, and they all wondered what had become of the fruit of the
poporo tree, and they looked for traces, and there were some-the traces of the stilts of Tama'. At
night they kept watch on the tree: whilst one party was coming to steal, the other was lying in
wait to catch them; this latter had not waited very long when Tama' and his brother came, and
whilst they were busy eating, those who were lying in wait rushed upon them, and caught both of
them.
They seized Whakaturia at the very foot of the tree; Tama' made his escape, but they gave chase,
and caught him on the sea-shore. As soon as they had him firn-dy, those who were holding on
cried out: 'Some of you chop down his stilts with an axe, so that the fellow may fall into the
water'; and all those who had hold of him cried out: 'Yes, yes, let him fall into the sea.' Then
Tama' called down to them: 'If you fell me in the water, I shall not be hurt, but if you cut me
down on shore, the fall will kill me.' And when those who were behind, and were just running
up, heard this, they thought well of it, so they chopped him down on shore, and down he came
with a heavy fall, but in a moment he was on his feet, and off he went, like a bird escaped from a
snare, and so got safe away.
Then all the village began to assemble to see Whakaturia put to death; and when they were
collected, some of them said: 'Let him be put to death at once'; and others said: 'Oh, don't do that;
you had much better hang him up in the roof of Uenuku's house, that he may be stifled by the
smoke, and die in that way.' And the thought pleased them all, so they hung him up in the roof of
the house, and kindled a fire, and commenced dancing, and when that ceased they began singing,
but their dancing and singing was not at all good, but indeed shockingly bad; and this they did
every night, until at last a report of their proceedings reached the ears of his brother Tama' and of
their father.
And Tama' heard: 'There's your brother hanging up in the roof of Uenuku's great house, and he is
almost stifled by the smoke.' So he thought he would go and see him, and ascertain whether he
still lived in spite of the smoke. He went in the night, and arrived at the house, and gently
climbed right upon the top of the roof, and making a little hole in the thatch, immediately over
the spot where his brother hung, asked him in a whisper: 'Are you dead?'-but he whispered up to
him: 'No, I'm still alive.' And his brother asked again in a whisper: 'How do these people dance
and sing, do they do it well?' And the other replied: 'No, nothing can be worse; the very
bystanders do nothing but firid fault with the way in which they dance and sing.'
Then Tama' said to him: 'Would not it be a good thing for you to say to them: "I never knew
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