Chapter VI
Rites and ceremonies performed and incantations chanted to repel the effects of a curse (Arawa)

The priests also chanted incantations as they swept the marae(courtyard). They also chanted incantations when they stuck the sticks up on the marae – that is, at the time they made the marae clean and clear so as to perform their ceremonies, and that the marae might be sacred for such performance of the rites of ancient times.

When the incantations had been chanted while they were sweeping the marae, and while they stuck the sticks up, the priests dug the rua-hae-roa (the pit, or grave, into which the priests sweep the spirits of those they wish to kill by incantations), around which the priests stood and shouted with a loud voice, while they chanted the incantations repeated at such grave or pit. This is one of the incantations chanted before such pit by the priests:—

Oh! now is the pit dug,
Dug to the depths of Nuku (world),
Dug to the root of Take (origin),
Dug to the root of Papa (earth),
Dug to the root of Aio-oi (trembling peace),
To Aio-o-te-po (peace of the night) below,
The great night, the long night,
The night of the many words,
Of these the priests,
Of you the many words,
Of the many words,
Of these the gods,
Of you the many words,
Of you these sons,
Of you the many words,
Of these the disciples.

And when the priests had repeated all the words of the incantations, and had repeated these last words, "Of these the disciples," they knew that the souls of those who uttered the words of the curse had arrived, and were now standing on the brink of the rua-hae-roa (long pit or grave). The priests took the shells of the kakahi (Unio), and with them scraped the spirits into the pit; and when the priests had scraped the whole edges of the pit with the shells they again shouted aloud with their voices in uttering the words of this incantation, at the same time they threw the Unio shells into the pit as they chanted:—

Ah! There is the Unio closed,
Closed [on those] from above,
On Rehua above,
And Atu-tahi above,
And Mata-riki above,
And Au-tahi above,
And the moon above,
And the sun above.
To Great-rangi,
Long-rangi,
Dark-rangi,
Black-rangi.
To the Defeat-rangi,
Very-black-rangi,
Hot-rangi,
To Great-day,
To Long-day,
To Watchful-day,
To the great origin,
To the great cause,
To the priests,
That they hearken to this word,
To this disciple,
That they battle,
And seek revenge,
And seek death, oh! e!
The seeking of Tu (the god of war),
An embracing,
And covering of those sons,
And those priests,
And those gods,
And that influence,
And those incantations,
And those disciples.
The covering-up
Of the greatness of these priests,
The covering-up
Of the greatness of these gods,
The gods of mediation.

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Then the priests reached forth their hands towards the mouth of the rua-hae-roa and swept the souls of those who uttered the curse, that they might fall into the rua-hae-roa. And as soon as they had ceased to sweep the souls into the pit with their hands, again they raised their voices in a loud manner and chanted:—

Beset now,
Coming up,
Burying,
Killing,
Of those weapons,
Of that power,
Of the anger,
Of that weapon,
Of those warriors,
Of those words,
Of those altar-mediums,
And those war-eaters,
To kill beneath the world,
To kill beneath the earth,
To kill beneath the origin,
To let down below,
That the multitude
From beneath there may eat,
And thousands beneath there.
Those the gods,
Those the root,
Those the origin,
Those the disciples.
And you effective incantations
Which are with you,
The power of him,
The power of him,
The power of him
Gathered into a heap,
And is killing,
And is hiding,
And is thrashing
Into this pit,
Into this Unio,
Of these sons,
Of these disciples.

The priests then went and scooped up with their hands the soil which had been thrown aside when the pit was dug, and heaped it into the pit again till the pit was filled. The soil was then patted with their hands; and the priests each took an apron made of leaves of trees and covered his front parts, and then they covered the pit with the aprons of leaves. Then they took some flax-leaves and split them into shreds, and plaited the shreds into baskets; then they again cried aloud and chanted and said,-

Plait, plait my basket,
In which my sons may sleep-
My basket for my sons.
My basket has gone
For my sons.
My basket is dead
In which my sons are to sleep.
My basket is lost
In which my noble ones may sleep.
My basket,
My noble ones.
My basket is lost,
My noble ones.
My basket is dead,
My noble ones.
My basket will be lost.
The basket of whom?
The basket of the gods,
The basket of the priests,
The basket of the originals,
The basket of the disciples,
The basket of the ancient females,
The basket of the performing priests.
Fill up, fill up my basket,
Into which to put you.
For you and the priests
Is my basket-
For you and the gods,
For you and the originals,
For you and the incantations,
For you and the power.
My basket,
The basket of whom?
The basket of the ancient females,
Of So-and-so,
Of So-and-so,
Of you these originals,
Of these foundations,
Of those the performing priests.

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The pit, or grave, was then left, and on the following morning the priests went to the pit and performed the ceremonies and chanted the incantations to take the tapu (sacredness) off themselves which had come on them by the acts they had performed before the pit. They also performed the ceremonies and chanted the incantations in making offerings to the gods, and they performed the ceremonies and chanted the incantations to take the tapu from themselves. And when they had had the tapu taken off them they went to the people, and with them sought for a tree of which to make a canoe in which they could go back to Hawa-iki to seek revenge for the curse uttered by those who cursed them. They found a tree, and out of it they made a canoe, which they called Totara-karia(keria) (the dug-up totara-tree); and they manned the canoe with a crew, and voyaged to Hawa-iki. Having arrived there, they lay down and beat their own noses on the courtyard in front of the altar of Manaia, and each struck the nose of another, and, the blood flowing, they smeared it all over their bodies, and lay down that it might appear that they had been slaughtered. And on the following morning, when Manaia went to the courtyard of his altar, he called to his people and said, "Come out and view the offspring of Hou-mai-tawhiti (the ones who pushed their way from a distance), who are here in a heap on the courtyard of my altar." The people came out, and the voice of Nga-toro-i-rangi (the one who went to visit heaven), who was in the midst of those who were lying with their eyes shut, was heard to say, "Rush on them." The blood-smeared people rose and attacked the people of Manaia, and that people fled to their pa (fort) called Tawhiti-nui (great distance); and the name of that slaughter was Ihu-motomotoki (beaten nose).

The people of Nga-toro-i-rangi came back to Ao-tea-roa (long day) (New Zealand), and were followed here by the Hawa-iki people of Manaia, who landed soon after Nga-toro-i-rangi's people on Motiti (flat island); and the people of Nga-toro-i-rangi called and said, "Lay at anchor out on the sea; I cannot be beaten at night." And that night Nga-toro-i-rangi chanted his incantations, and caused a storm to rise, which wrecked the canoes of those who had followed them from Hawa-iki, and all the crews were drowned. And the name given to this wreck was Maikuku-tea (white finger-nails), and hence the truth of part of the song sung by Pehi-tu-roa (press down the long standing), where he says,-

'Tis true the anointing of the naked
And the many of Mana-hua
Died then.

The people who followed Nga-toro-i-rangi from Hawa-iki were called Mana-hua (the continuous power).