Season-Forecasting Star.

One of my old Maori friends, a man skilled in the wisdom of the cultivators and bushmen and fishermen of his race, said that a name for the three of Tautoru and Orion, was “Nga Tira a Puanga,” which means “Puanga's Company,” or “The Travelling Party of Puanga.” Some called the bright star above the Belt (Rigel of the astronomers), Puanga, but most of the wellinformed elders said the name was really that of the red star below which when seen rising out of the ocean, is very large and bright. It throws out unmistakeable red flashes. “If these flashes appear to be towards the north,” said my authority, “it will be a year of plenty on land and in the sea, but if towards the south it will be a lean season for food. In the past our people looked eagerly for the first appearance of Puanga each winter, a sign, they said, that never failed. You could put this to the test, supposing that you had a good clear view of the eastern ocean, by watching for Puanga and his Tira.”

This season-forecasting star is, therefore, not Rigel, as some writers have said, but Betelgeux, which in Oldworld classic lore is the right arm of Orion the Huntsman. In this southern world he appears to be diving downward— “the Boetian huntsman upside down,” to quote Alfred Domett's “Ranold and Amohia.” Astronomers describe Betelgeux as a curious red star, which varies in brightness, a scientific fact well evident to the keeneyed Maori.