Chapter XVI. How a Man has Two Old Women Forced on Him as Wives.

The young girl joined the group laughing, and saying, as she put her basket down beside the other three, “Let me eat of yours, and you can eat of that fish.”

“No,” answered her brother, one of the young men; “you cannot eat man's flesh: you are a woman.”

“How learned you are!” she answered. “I am older than you are.” While saying this she snatched a joint from one of the young men, and tearing a large mouthful from it, she continued: “You may tell lies to stupid girls. I know the flesh of men killed in war is sacred, and cannot be eaten by women; but Koko was not ‘a fish of Tu,’ as the proverb says. I can eat of it; and let me see the hand that will try to take this arm from me.” And, while holding the ends of the limb, she tore off the flesh by mouthfuls, leaving the fish to the young men.

One of the young men asked her, “Is the old woman page 235 yonder sacred, that you took the precaution to put the kumara out of your paro for her as you did?”

“O no!” she answered; “I did not like to touch food with my fingers before her, lest she might bewitch me. She is in a furious passion about an arm she has lost.”

Said another young man, “She did not show such spite when she lost arms, legs, body, and all of her husband, who took a younger wife.”

Another one remarked, “What a fool the man was! I would have kept her to cook for me, and so keep my last-taken wife young as long as I could.”

“When are you going to be tattooed?” asked the girl of the last speaker.

“Will you have me when I am?” he answered. “If you will, I will commence to-morrow.”

“No,” she answered. “I only thought from your words that the marks made on your skin remain there for ever, and that your eyes see the black marks on your nose as long as your life lasts; but do not think that woman loves for ever. You may wash and rub your tattooing—it remains; but you can wash the love out of a woman's heart by the tears you cause to flow from her eyes by your contempt and ill-treatment. Why should that old woman love the man who could turn her off in her old age? You asked me to love you. If I were to do so, and you treated me with contempt, I would not act as she has done, but would let you know what a woman's heart can devise and her arm accomplish.”

“What would you do?” asked an old man, who sat a page 236 little distant from the group, and had been eating by himself.

“I would do that to him,” she answered, throwing the bone she held in her hand at him.

“Surely you do not mean that you would throw bones at him?” asked the old man.

The girl answered, “Yes; but I would not let the bones touch him: it would be the cause of an effect. You are a coward,” added the girl; “you cannot eat man's flesh, and I can. Why do you presume to speak to me, or ask questions?”

The old man answered, “What the gods made me in the other world I shall be in this. I was born a wai-namu¹ as to human flesh. As you are a young girl, I do not feel any anger at your silly contempt.” He rose and went to where Kai was feeding his master's son.

Moe said to him, “Come and eat with us: there is sufficient for us three.”

“Is not my child a chief?” asked Kai.

“Yes,” answered the old man. “Had he not been of high rank, he would not have asked me to eat with him. Only low blood makes silent tongues when an invitation would be an honour to the giver.”

“Give him some of the flesh,” Moe said to Kai.

The man answered, “No; I never eat the flesh of man; it makes me sick. Even the smell of it, when cooked, offends my nose.”

Moe looked at him in astonishment, and said, “Did you try to dislike it?”

He answered, “No.”

“It is good,” said Moe. “You would like it if you tried some.”

“Would you like to eat me?” asked the old man.

“O no!” answered Moe.

“Then why do you eat Koko?” asked the old man. “He was kind to you.”

“O, Kai told me he could not feel me chewing him now that he is cooked,” answered Moe; “and as his flesh would rot and do no good, but breed blow-flies, there is no harm in eating him. And I shall eat our enemies when I am a man. I can learn to be brave now that I am little.”

The old man asked, “How would you like to eat the flesh of a little boy as big as you are?”

“Why do such children allow themselves to be killed?” answered Moe. “If they cannot keep out of the way when our people go to fight, that is their own fault. If they are cooked and eaten, it is their own fault for not keeping out of the way.”

“How would you get out of the way,” answered the old man, “of an enemy, if we were attacked?”

“I would stand behind Kai,” answered Moe, “and throw a stone and knock out the eye of any one who came near to us. But how is it that you were not killed long ago? You are a coward, and cannot eat the flesh of man. If you are afraid of dead flesh, you cannot dare the living body. Why, what is Raku scolding about?”

The old woman who had lost Koko's arm had thrown page 238 off all her garments save the mat which was tied round the waist, covering her in folds down to her knees, revealing her body covered by deep wrinkles. Still there was enough strength and fire in her aged limbs to enable her to jump several paces as she said, “You have all eaten as much as you like.” Then, after pacing to and fro, putting out her tongue, and throwing about her arms, she continued: “Yes, you have become quite good-tempered now. I am old, and do not require food. I am of no use now; I am the sport of children. Yet I remember the time when the fathers of those boys who stole my food from my mouth would have thought my love, if bestowed on them, of as much value as a mako¹ or a heitiki;² but that one, my only beloved of them all, for whom I lived, and whose children I nursed, can now look upon me with contempt. Why could I not have a piece of man's flesh? Why was it stolen from me? You have eaten to-day —you can live. I would die at once, if I could obtain revenge for insults best known to myself. You will soon repeat incantations over the bodies lying in yonder shed, to drive their spirits to reinga. They may obey you; but if you do not revenge the insult given to me this day, my spirit will not obey any art, power, or incantation, but remain among you until I have sufficient revenge. Do you intend to repeat the incantation over the body of the woman who died a natural death, so that the disease she died of may not kill some of you? Then give me satisfaction for the

¹ Shark's tooth.

² A green-stone ornament.

page 239 theft committed on me to-day, and save me from the shame of being insulted by boys, that when I die I may not become an evil spirit to you all.”

“Do you wish that all the people should investigate the evil you speak of?” asked Manu.

“Yes,” answered Raku. “Let those who took my food say what I am to receive as payment. You have all eaten, and are satisfied: I have not eaten since the bodies of our children were brought here. Let the payment be great. I am killed by shame; you can make me live by joy, by giving me a great payment of something valuable.”

Takaho rose and said: “Hearken, O people! The sun has not yet set on the day on which I told you my heart was sad because of your evil deeds, and now I come to listen to your evil doings. Let those who speak during this investigation speak the words of men. Do not cause strife, and let the end of the talk be for good. I will speak once more on this matter.”

Tupu rose and paced up and down for a short time, holding the small branch of a shrub in his hand, which he kept waving to and fro. He said: “If blow-flies were going to light on my body, I would use this, as I am doing now, to drive them away. I do not mean to say that children, or even slaves, may not speak, if they know anything about the evil of which Raku complains; but do not let the talk be all noise and no meaning. I have no sister; but if I had one, and she and my wife intended to speak during the investigation, I would say to them, let your tongues be taught page 240 by the god of caution, and not by hatred, when they speak.”

Kai, the slave, rose, looked round him, and walked to the front of the people, who had by this time gathered from all parts of the kainga, and were sitting in groups on the level ground, a little distance from the houses; as they had eaten their food outside of the settlement because of the corpses that were in it. Kai paced up and down; holding in his left hand the thigh bone of Koko, which he occasionally swung round his head, he said: “I have never spoken to you, O people! since I was taken a slave; but as I know something of what Raku complains of, I want to know if I am the person she blames. I was the son of a chief; I am now a slave; yet I do not wish to be called a coward, even though my being taken as captive might prove that I had been a coward. I wish to ask Raku if she stole the kanae¹ for which my head was called a calabash to cook in? I have said enough.”

Raku rose and said: “Who told you, slave, to ask me if I stole the fish? What do I know about your fish; I did not eat it. If you ate it, why try to blame me?”

A young girl rose and said: “But that was your fault; you were sulky and would not eat it. But was the fish stolen for you? You do not say it was not given to you.”

Raku answered: “I did not blame any one for the fish. My food was stolen from me. Why should I

¹ Mullet, mugil Perusii.

page 241 not eat his flesh who laughed when I was cast out of my children's house? A dog will bite if kicked; and even a slave will speak when a chief says the blow-fly may be permitted to join in the council of men. I ask payment for my food which the boy stole from me.”

The old woman stood still, and, while the tears flowed down her dirty cheeks, she sang:—

“I am lost in shame;
My words are misconstrued
By the lips of the crowd.
O, mother, you were right!
Had you seen my greatness
In my youthful bloom!
Your cautions long kept by me,
Taught for good, I heeded not;
But as the seaweed
Thrown on the ocean shore,
Such was I cast off
Amongst the filth,
To live or die alone.
How many I refused,
And kept my love my own;
O, would they came near now
And give me but one word
Of love, as in my days of greatness.
The sacred house of food
My parents had;
O, that I could now thither go,
And kill my want!
To enter now,
My fear would send me back.
O, that I had a small canoe
In which to go,
That I might enter
The abode of gods!
That my hand could hold
page 242 The origin of Hawaiki (life).
But my fame has long been heard
In that abode.
Karaka, my girlhood's first love,
Across the ebbing tide the news conveyed.
Of gods I have—
Still live ye in my heart.”

A young man now rose, he held a green-stone meré¹ in his hand, and, after pacing to and fro a short time, said: “I do not know what evil our mother wishes us to look into. At first she told us some one had taken her food; now she asks us in her song to make the man who was her husband take her back and put away his young wife, because she was of high birth. She also told us in her song, if he does not put away his young wife, and take her back, she will kill herself; to prevent this calls upon the lovers she cast off in her youth to rise in a body and restore her to her husband; but if they do not, and she kills herself, she will after her death be a god of evil to us, and kill some of those who just now heard her voice. How dull our mother is! Does she not know the old proverb, ‘When the old net is rotten the new one comes into use.’ Does she think that after being the mother of many children she can compare with the youthful looks of a young woman. Men keep their youthful looks longer than women, and youth is to man as warmth is to summer. As our mother is

¹ A warlike implement from 9 to 18 inches long, of an oval shape, about an inch thick in the centre, tapering to a sharp edge on each side, highly polished, and only carried by chiefs.

page 243 old, who would dare to ask the man who cast her off to take her back? If I were to ask him to do so, and he answered me by saying, take her yourself, how foolish I should look to be told to take an old woman for my wife; it would be like putting a rotten garment on to keep my body warm in winter.

“This world is full of old people; if our old mother likes to kill herself, the number would not appear less. The world of gods likes such people; she might go there and no longer be the sport of children. As for her threat that she would come back and be an evil spirit, she may do as she likes; perhaps the potent spells we men have can send her spirit to the lowest room of the reinga, from whence she could not return. I ask you, people what are we to listen to? The words of a cast-off wife, or her complaint that she has been robbed of her food?”

An old woman rose up; her head was covered by a mass of curls matted into a ball, and it looked as if it had not been combed for years. She had dyed her hair with red-ochre and oil, but it had lost much of its colour through contact with the ground on which she rested her head when she slept. Her eyes were deep black, and her mouth indicated one accustomed to have her own way. She asked, “What did that boy say who spoke last? How many summers has he seen in the world of which he is so mighty a speaker? How many wives has he had that he should speak of women as he does? I was a young woman once, but am not very young now. See,” she page 244 said, putting her hand up to her head while she stopped walking to and fro, “my head has the sign of night and day, light and darkness. There,” she said, pointing at a lad of some twelve summers, “that is the child of my child. Am I young that a boy should tell me that I am to be cast off to give place to a girl? Hearken, O women! the men are not to blame; you are to blame: no man dare do as he likes unless his wife allows him. Do as I did. I am not telling tales of fiction. Let the man who knows that what I say is true, say so. Some time since the man I have loved from my youth said he loved a young woman; he told her brother, and I heard of it. I did not cry or make a noise, but did not feed my husband. I did not cook anything for him until he asked me to cook some food. I answered, ‘No, I am eating to be strong, that I may be able to do with power what I shall do. If you take another wife, I will kill you both.’ He knows that I do not tell lies. If you act as I did, there would be no girls taken by your old husbands and you cast off. Let boys listen to Raku's sorrow for being hungry through thieves, and not talk of that about which they know nothing.”

An old man rose and asked: “Raku, what food was it that was taken from you?”

“The left arm of Koko,” she answered.

“Who took it?” asked the old man.

“I do not know,” answered Raku. “I cannot see as I did when I was younger.”

“How was it taken?” asked the old man.

She answered, “Kai had cooked it for me, and while it was on the huki¹ before the fire, a boy came and took it away.”

A young man now rose and said, “Cease your questions, O old man! and let me question her. You say it was your arm, O Raku! how did you get it?”

She answered, “The young men who killed Koko gave it to me.”

“Did you see them give it to you?” the young man asked.

“Yes,” she answered; “they put it before me and I took it.”

“Did any one see them give it to you?” asked the young man.

“I suppose some one did, for a boy came at once and said it was his.”

A young woman now rose and said: “I will ask Raku a few questions now. You may sit down, O young man! and hold in your mouth all the words you were about to speak; you need not look so ashamed. Your words are not so great that you need fear for your teeth; and if they should fall down your throat again, the time will come when you will not be angry with me, for words so swallowed grow into love, and you will need a double portion of that to obtain the favour of some woman. You think enough of yourself, and no doubt imagine you are the only man since Tu made Onekura.” Addressing the old woman she asked, “Do you know my voice, O Raku?”

“Yes,” answered the old woman.

“How do you know it?” asked the young woman. Raku answered, “You offered me some fish.”

“Where were you when I offered you the fish?” asked the young woman.

Raku answered, “Near where I am now.”

“Do you know the girl's name who offered you the fish?” asked the young woman.

“No,” answered Raku; “she was one of those who came to the hakari¹ for the dead.”

“You say it was me, because of my voice?” asked the young woman.

“Yes,” answered Raku.

“Did she eat with you?” asked the young woman.

“No,” answered Raku; “she went away, fish and all.” The young woman asked, “Did you see her face?”

“Yes,” answered Raku.

The young woman went up to Raku, and, putting her face close to the old woman's, asked, “Am I the girl?”

“No, you are not,” answered Raku; “your face is rounder than hers, but your voice is like hers.”

“Listen, O Raku!” said the young woman. “You have been dreaming; and as for the arm which you say was given to you, it is all a dream. I never offered you a fish; I never spoke to you before; yet you say you know my voice. I did eat of an arm of Koko; but it was not near you. How it came into the basket out of which I was eating I do not know.”

An old man now rose and said: “Stand where you are, O young woman! and as you seem to know how to speak, we will have a little talk together. From the manner in which you spoke to a young untattooed face, you appear to be a woman of keen sight. Did you ever see a man, woman, or child with three arms?”

“No,” answered the young woman; “but I know a man who has only one eye and one arm, who with his one eye takes a single view of the property of his friends, and with his one arm appropriates it to his own use. Had Koko's arm done such an act, I could not have eaten of it for fear of causing a storm in my stomach; because the food I eat is all my own, and to introduce a thief amongst it would cause an attempt to be made to draw it out of the society of honest things. Any more questions, O old man?”

“Yes,” answered the old one-eyed and one-armed chief. “You say that you ate some of Koko's arm, and it was in a basket into which you do not know how it came. Were your companions men or women?”

“You need not fret yourself,” she answered. “You cannot now sit in the company of those I was with. To see you among us would make folks imagine there was but one glowworm left in the world, and it had hidden itself under a bit of moss beneath a slight projection of stone, which your wife, when she was alive, thought was the eye of a man. Anything else you want to know?”

“Yes,” answered the old chief. “Who killed Koko? Who cut him up? Who cooked him?”

The girl answered, “Stone killed him; Tuhua¹ cut him up; and fire cooked him. I forgive you for asking these questions, as it proves that you ate none of him. You were not young enough to come to a feast made by the young. Do you remember that you ate your own slave, and did not give any to your wife or children? Then why wonder that you did not receive word to come and eat Koko? If I knew where Koko's arm and thigh-bones were I would not tell you. Anything more you wish me to tell you?”

“Sit down, O girl!” said a voice from among the crowd of listening people, “or the old people will die with shame; you are so proud and insulting to those who are grey with age, and who know what they know, for they have seen many things.”

“Yes, your words are true,” answered the girl; “but then why do old people question me? You have no question to ask; but if you were a young man you might perhaps have one to ask, and then you would be so stunned by the answer, that all your heap of knowledge gathered under your mass of grey hairs would not avail to keep you on your legs. Stand up, and I will ask one question. Why do you keep hid where you sit? Let the people see you, that the glow of a setting sun may be seen on your face. Who was it that ate the last bundle of fern-root when there was no more to be had nearer than three days’ journey from his place, though his wife and three children all asked

¹ Obsidian.

page 249 for some, and they were all so ill that they could not go for any themselves?”

An old man rose and said: “I do not wonder that girls talk as they do to some men. My father was a man, and my mother was a woman, and I am a man. A man is a man, and a woman is a woman; the only difference between them is, that the one is the father and the other the mother. Why do some men treat woman as if she did not think? She does think, even as much as we men; and she knows how to listen to the words of manly truth, and distinguish as soon, if not sooner than men, the deceitful speech from the truth. If you set the kumara in good soil the kumara is good, because it sucks the good out of the good soil. Even so the child. If we men are great and brave, our mothers must have been so, because we only live by the food of our mothers. Cowards are the children of foolish mothers, even as the bad kumara is the fruit of bad soil. I will ask you, O people! some questions; but let not any one answer unless he has knowledge to feed the words his tongue utters. I ask you, Did any one see the arm given to Raku?”

A little boy rose and said: “I saw a man's arm turning itself round and round in the air, and then it came down just in front of Raku, who was sitting, and she at once put out her hand from under her mat and pulled it in under her garment.”

“Was it an arm only?” asked the chief.

“Yes; it was all by itself,” answered the boy. “There was no body with it.”

“Let me speak,” said another boy. “I was making a toetoe¹ kite with some other boys, when one of them went and asked for one of Koko's arms, which was given to him. He roasted the loose flesh on the shoulder, and was in the act of putting it up to his mouth, when Kai snatched it out of his hand and ate some of it, threw it down, and ran away. The boy was so angry that he threw it after Kai to hurt him for his theft; the arm fell in front of Raku, and she took it and put it under her mat.”

“Let me speak,” said a young man, whose face had been fully tattooed. He was of a slender form, had curly black hair, and a fine voice, and appeared to know that he was admired by many of the people. In his right ear he wore a small tuft of albatross down, and in his left the tooth of a blue shark. He held in his hand a hani,² decorated near the top with the red feathers of the kaka, which he kept shaking in a most furious manner while pacing to and fro.

He said: “Did your father learn anything from the two small boys? I cannot see what evidence he obtained for Raku. I think as our father has such a great love for women, he ought to have proved that the arm was hers, and he ought to get it back even now, although it has been eaten. But in telling us that women knew the true speech from the false, I see in our father's speech a kind word for Raku, two kind

¹ Cyperus ustulatus.

² A wooden carved spear given to a young warrior for his bravery, in the Waikato dialect called a taiaha.

page 251 words for all women, and three kind words for himself. Our father has always had a great liking for women, even since he was as old as I am, and year after year he has taken one more than he had the year before, so that he has nine wives now; and such men as I am have to look up to the darkness in the heavens to see sparkling eyes looking at us, but they do not speak. True, the one word our father said for Raku is this: ‘O Raku! though you are old, and I have so many loves, I can make a place for you in my great love. My mother was not a fool, and I am a sensible man.’ He then said to all the women, especially to the young ones: ‘You see how I uphold you, and I will be your leader; if my wives die, many of you must come and fill their places.’ The kind words for himself were: ‘I like to have many persons, especially women, to provide for all my wants.’ I ask you, O young women! who are listening to me, and you need not fear to let your voices be heard—we have been told a blow-fly may buzz in this meeting—is it your wish that our father take Raku for his wife?”

A perfect storm of “Yes, of course,” came from the young women.

He continued: “You know what an old wrinkled woman the widow of Koko is; she cannot even see the end of her hand when she holds it out before her. As our father loves all women, shall he be made to take her also for his wife?”

There was a loud burst of laughter all over the page 252 place from old and young, but especially from the old men and women, and the young chief sat down.

A young woman rose and came in front of the old chief and women's champion, where she skipped and danced, throwing her arms up and down, holding in her hand a fern-stalk; she concluded with a loud laugh. After slowly pacing before him, she said: “Listen, O people! You have heard what our father said about women. I know that he loves us all. I do not know whether he has told you how he looks with kindness upon you; but it is not many days since he asked me to be his wife. I know our father is a great chief; but who of us is of less rank than he? I did not then answer him. I will now give him a kind word.” Turning to the old chief, she said, “O father! you asked me for a good word; I will give you two. I am but one, and am young. I have not gained knowledge by experience, and you like knowledge. You admire the great thoughts of people who know what they say; accept from me the two great presents I now offer you.” She looked round and called Raku to come and stand beside her; she also called Koko's widow, and made her stand on the other side. Koko's widow was so old that she could not stand upright. Addressing the old chief, she continued: “Now, O father! you know my rank. I am a woman, and you say man is not greater than woman. My father is a great chief, so are you. My mother is not a fool; yours is dead, and I cannot say what she was; but if she was a fool, page 253 you will show that she was if you refuse the offer I make you.”

There was a subdued titter among the young people, in which the speaker did not join, but stood perfectly still, and waited until it was over. She continued: “All the people, in their great love to you, wish me to give you these two great women; they are great in knowledge, especially this one.” She pushed Koko's widow up to the old chief. “She is a woman of old, an ancient of the days soon after the first man was made. According to your words you say that time makes you wise; this one is so old that there is no one left on the earth, save herself, who can say how long it is since she was a girl; and as you have always filled up any gap death has made among your wives by taking girls, by this time they are all young women, for they always die when they begin to grow a little old. This oldest of the old will give wisdom to your girls, and you will have young wives with old knowledge.” Addressing Koko's widow, she said, “Go, old woman, and sit next to that man; he is now your husband; he is sorry that Raku lost your former husband's arm. You are to give him your love. Go, O Raku!” continued the young girl, “and sit down by that chief. As he has in a long speech tried to persuade them to give you back Koko's arm, he will be kind to you; live with him for ever.” Then, addressing the people, she said, “Is it the wish of you all, O people! that your father should accept these two very learned women as a page 254 token of love from you for his beautiful speech on women?”

The people answered, as with one voice, “We do wish it.”

The girl continued: “And from this day our father must cease to fill any vacant places caused by his wives dying by getting young women?”

“Yes,” answered the people.

“You need not get up to speak,” continued the young girl, speaking to the old man; “there is nothing for you to say. You must keep all you have to say for your new wives.” Addressing Koko's widow, she asked her, “Can you see your husband?”

She answered, “I do not see things as I did in my youth, for now daylight is half dark to me, so that my new husband looks like a big thing which is about the size of a man; I only know it is something because it looks rather darker than the surrounding gloom.”

“I am glad that you can see him at all,” said the girl. “He has never had a wife like you among his many wives; for when you are in the kumara plantation, and meet with a large stone, you will feel as much pleasure in its company as in his, as you will be sure to think it is your husband.”

“I shall not be jealous,” answered the old woman.

Addressing Raku, the girl said, “Now you have obtained more than one arm (if you ever did possess one of Koko's arms), you need not be dark in your page 255 heart at losing it, for you have a living body, arms and all. So end my words.”

A lively young woman rose and said: “Are we not to be consulted in such a matter as our husband taking these new wives? The people were allowed to talk about the wrong Raku complained of; her losing the half-cooked arm was not proved. But because our husband made a speech in favour of women, and to cheer Raku's heart, he is to have two more wives. I am one of nine already, and I object to Koko's widow being the eleventh. We nine, all being young, can help ourselves; and should our husband be sick, we could attend to him; and it would be light work, for we could do it in turns. What I object to is, in a few moons we may have to nurse that old woman of ancient days. If she is the wife of our husband, who is a chief, we could not kill her if she became sick. I know that she may die any day, or should our husband die, she would be killed to attend him in Paerau; but we will not attend upon her when sick. I also object to her as an assistant in the kumara plantation. If she could not see our husband better than if she were looking at a cloud that was a little darker than other clouds in the sky, instead of pulling up the weeds she would pull up the kumaras. Who then would suffer for breaking the law of growing crops? I will not lend her my eyes, neither would I save her from being killed, because her hands had pulled up the kumara before the time of harvest.”

Another of the old chief's wives rose and asked: “I want to know, O people! who is to give you a feast, as is the custom of chiefs when they take a wife? We nine will not give one bit of food. We have not been consulted in the matter. Our husband does not cultivate with us; the storehouses are all our own; he has nothing. And as you, O people! had all to do with these wives being given to our husband, you can say who is to provide the feast.”

Takaho rose and said: “I am the beginning and end of all talk. You, O people! have heard all the words, and you have given the two women to our father. Let your wish be the end of the matter. I think you have acted in a very just manner. Old Raku said she had lost an arm which once belonged to Koko; her heart was dark; the wife of Koko had lost a husband; her heart was dark; she had also lost her master, who is dead. He and his wife lie in yonder wharau; and as our father, to whom these two women have been given, is a near relative of the dead master of Koko and his wife, he was in duty bound to take the slaves; and as he has always been spoken of, ever since he was a boy, as a man of very large heart towards women, by your act you have done right. You have made him a great chief, you have redressed the wrong done to Raku, and have given life to the dead heart of Koko's widow. As the people have done this, and these women are old and widows, there is no need of the feast of atahu.¹ Live, O father! in your nest,

¹ The agreement to become man and wife.

page 257 but do not let the birds which are young and strong throw the feeble ones out over the edge of the nest, in the same way as the koekoea¹ does to the riroriro,² and kill them. My words are the end of this investigation.”