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Ka eva ra Ono-kura

I te puka maru.

Kauvare a Iva e!

Ono the Handsome chants mournful

songs

Under the shade of the laurel trees.

Ne'er more will Iva be seen!

This song is complete in itself, and is an introduction to the narrative of his exploits and sorrows.

The style is very unlike

that of later times, when the art of song-making became a national passion. There is no reference to the known history of Mangara. The "Iva" referred to is believed to be Nukuhiva.

It was under the rule of the Mautara tribe that the poetical faculty of these islanders was most highly cultivated; i.e. during the past 150 years of their history.

CHAPTER VI.

INA, THE FAIRY VOYAGER.

INA'S VOYAGE TO THE SACRED ISLE.

THE only daughter of Vaitooringa and Ngaetua was Ina, whose brothers were Tangikūkū and Rupe. The parents of Ina were the wealthiest people in the land of Nukutere, boasting as they did of a rich breast ornament, abundance of finely braided hair, beautiful white shells worn on the arms, and—more precious than all these a gorgeous head-dress, ornamented with scarlet and black feathers, with a frontlet of berries of the brightest red.

Early one morning the parents for the first time left their home in the care of Ina; the mother charging her to put these treasures out to air; but should the sun be clouded, be sure to take them back into the house. For Ngaetua knew well that in the bright beams of the sun the arch-thief Ngana would not dare to come; but if exposed on a lowering, cloudy day, the envious foe would not fail to try his luck.

In a short time the sun shone brightly; not a cloud could anywhere be seen. The obedient Ina carefully spread out these treasures on a piece of purest white native cloth. But the arch-foe

Ngana was on the watch. Very cautiously did he approach through the neighbouring bushes in order to get a good sight of these much-coveted articles. He forthwith used an incantation, so that the sun suddenly became obscured. Ngana now fearlessly emerged from the thicket and endeavoured to grab the longwished-for ornaments. But Ina was too quick in her movements to permit this. Ngana now with affected humility begged permission to admire and try on the various ornaments, for her to see how he would look in them. Ina was very loth, but after great persuasion, consented that Ngana should put them on inside the house. To prevent the possibility of his taking away any of these treasures, she closed the doors. The crafty Ngana now arrayed himself in these gorgeous adornments, excepting the head-dress, which Ina still held in her hand. Ngana, by his soft words, at length induced her to give that up too. Thus completely arrayed he began to dance with delight, and contrived to make the entire circuit of the house, careering round and round in hope of seeing some loophole through which he might escape with his spoil. At last he espied a little hole at the gable end, a few inches wide, through which, at a single bound, he took his flight, and for ever disappeared with the treasures. Ina at first had been delighted with the dancing of her visitor; but was in utter despair as she witnessed his flight, and heard the parting words :—

Tamu tamu tai tara

E Ina e tou reka.

Beware of listening to vain words,
O Ina, the fair and well-meaning!

Not long afterwards the parents of Ina came back in great haste, for they had seen the arch-thief passing swiftly and proudly through the sky, magnificently attired. A fear crept over them that all was not right with their own treasures. They asked the

weeping girl the cause of her tears. She said, "Your choicest possessions are gone." "But is there nothing left?" demanded the parents. "Nothing whatever," said the still weeping Ina. The enraged mother now broke off a green cocoa-nut tree branch and broke it to pieces on the back of the unfortunate girl. Again and again Ngaetua fetched new cocoa-nut branches and cruelly beat Ina. The father now took his turn in belabouring the girl, until a divine spirit (" manu") entered and took possession of Ina, and in a strange voice ominously said

E kiri taputapu taua kiri;
E kiri akaereere taua kiri;

E kave au i Motu-tapu

Na Tinirau e ta ta i taua kiri.

Most sacred is my person;
Untouched has been my person;

I will go to the Sacred Isle,
That Tinirau alone may strike it.

The astonished father desisted: her younger brother Rupe cried over his beloved sister. After a while Ina got up, as if merely to saunter about; but no sooner had she eluded the eyes of her parents, than she ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the sandy beach. When nearly there, she fell in with her elder brother Tangikūkū, who naturally asked her where she was going. She gave an evasive answer; but fearing lest he should inform her parents of her flight, she snatched his bamboo fishing-rod, broke it in pieces with her foot, and selected one of the fragments as a knife. She now said to her brother, "Put out your tongue." In an instant she cut off its tip. speak; so that Ina was certain secret of her sudden departure. and pressed on to the shore, where she gazed long and wistfully towards the setting sun, where the Sacred Isle is. Looking about for some means of transit, she noticed at her feet a small 1 The only knife known in these islands formerly, save red flint.

Tangikūkū vainly essayed to that he could not reveal the She kissed her maimed brother

fish named the avini.

Knowing that all fishes are subjects to

the royal Tinirau, she thus addressed the little avini1 that gazed

at the disconsolate girl :

Manini tere uta koe i teia manini?

Manini tere tai koe i teia manini?

Oro mai takitakina atu au
Ki taku tane ariki kià Tinirau,
Matoto atu au i reira.

Ah, little fish! art thou a shore-loving avini?

Ah, little fish! art thou an ocean-loving
avini ?

Come bear me on thy back
To my royal husband Tinirau,
With him to live and die.

The little fish at once intimated its consent by touching her feet. Ina mounted on its narrow back; but when only halfway to the edge of the reef, unable any longer to bear so unaccustomed a burden, it turned over, and Ina fell into the shallow water. Angry at this wetting, she repeatedly struck the avini; hence the beautiful stripes on the sides of that fish to this day, called "Ina's tattooing."

The disappointed girl returned to the sandy beach to seek for some other means of transit to the Sacred Isle. A fish named the paoro, larger than the avini, approached Ina. The intended bride of the god Tinirau addressed this fish just as she had the little avini; and then, mounted on its back, started a second time on her voyage. But like its predecessor, the paoro was unable long to endure the burden, and dropping Ina in shallow water sped on its way. Ina struck the paoro in her anger, producing for the first time those beautiful blue marks which have ever since been the glory of this fish.

Ina next tried the api, which was originally white, but for upsetting Ina at the outer edge of the reef was rendered intensely black, to mark her disgust at her third wetting.

1 "Manini" is an old form of "Avini."

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