IN THE UNDERWORLD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2859, 30 December 1908, Page 81

IN THE UNDERWORLD.

By Johannes C. Andersen.

Bound him no mourners were gathered, no kinsmen to speed him with honour; None with their presents approached him, lonely he lay at the last; Cuxst.with the curse of the ma-kutu, no man would brave the defilement; Only his wife at his side trembled as life ebbed away. Pua the iieTo was bumbled; Pua the fearless was fallen; Curst by the tohunga Mura, curst by his glance as he -died: Shuddering h« thought as he lay there, thought of thai last gl*re of hatred Mura- upon hint had turned, withering his spirit within. Dying, he- thought o-f the journey, the lone trail to Reinga northwards Siow on the pa*h, Baerau, he lingered-, forsaken by joy. Wrapped in the clothing of spirits, makukuleaves, horpito, Wharangi, acrid and bitter, fit as the emb.ems of death. Gauntly he paused at the food-stores; through days he had tasted no savour; Wbat could avail, .for the dying, food needed. , only for life? Gauntly he paused, but "passed them, touchjing them not, lest the morning Showed them, with red besmeared, unfitted -for, foot bat -of gods-. Sadiy the fax hill he mounted; with sorrow .. he stood on its summit; Stripping his spirit-clothes from him, tremulous sounded his wail; Hound him was nought but a wailing; naught but lamenting of shadows, 'Moving like him on the pathway, seldom by mortals retraced : Down the long slope, when before him, silent and bare, rose another, Lasi of the hills from whose summit the land of the living was seen : Naught was the distance thereafter; naught, for the last hope had flickered, Sunk, and been quenched, as he slowly descended the sorrowful hill. Moving thus far from his body, Pua seemed iost to the living, Moving in thought, where the dead, trooped from the land of light :_ Even in thought be descended the roots whose ends sank in sea-tanglea ; -" Down -as he plunged in the sea trembled bis breast a» he sighed. Over him his wife bent in sorrow ; "Might I but hear what he mutters, j Comfort io. him might I give, whom friends have forsaken, and flea." Si'ent she wept ; he repelled her, if yearning she touched to assist him; ' Muttered' and started by turps — for far was his thought in the gloom. Mournful at Hanmu stood he; at entrance. to regions of dolour, Trembled as- trembles tbe mako', when lightly the forest breathes; Swifi at his feet flowed the river, flowed without ripple or -murmur, Silent and' swift as niist' that rolls from the peak to the vale. - , - Through the chill waters he waded, stemmed the dread stTeam Wifh reluctance, Urged by % pewer self-sustained, that numbed the deeitc to resist: Darkling, he trod in ft twilight, * light that nor lessened nor deepened, Equal' behind' and before, and void df all motion *nd- sound. Hettmed- as with crags sheer and heavy, with riftj3. jtod- huge gnarls on their faces, Weird and fantastic in shape, moving and changing like cloud, On mh the road, and 'he trod it as one in a dream treads a pathway Rouglt and uneven to- sight, but to touch as resistless as air. Worse was the silence than warfare; shuddering he thought of the voices Mutely immured in the clefts, and ere long perchance to awake; Lairs of grim taniwh» seemed they, even at point of emergence. — Now that the- thought in him woke, glaring of eyes he discerned. Were he Pittka the slayer, little he dreaded their onslaught; Now' he was help!es, alone; charms were his only defence ; Faster, his feet Bore him onwards, hastened by fear's apprehension; Yet, though he hasted from one, other dread forms lurked before. Over hia 'head, too, hung shadows, long, like the tentacles,, ■writhing, - Thrust by the' octopus sinister out from the gloom of sea-caves;. Monstrous as Parata, breathing, whilst tides from his cavernous body Ran in the ebb and the flow, as he gulped «nd ejected the sens: Down-thrust, wilAidmvn. without Getting, wary, uncertain, he eyed them. Slowly they waved as he mfived, lengthened, as round him to close; Roofe of the trees were the shidpws, hair of the children of Tajie, Piercing-' the second w'or?d, home of 'the two hidden geds. Soon in the distance a glimmer trembled like Kopn at morning. Beautiful star of the East, hared as it burns ' from the sea . Reinga. ehone in no star-beams, loomed but with sinister glewing, E'en as in mountainous caverns Ru through the rifts redly glares. Flickered the glimmer aud wavered, flashed like & fire that is dying-; Faltered his ieet, for he thought, "Yon is the fire of the dead; Fire that was aeen by the woman, who here to the twilight descended, Saw th.» three spirit and fled, seizing a brand ere «he ran." Backward 'he glanced, as, expecting to see tbe moon'ft crescent above him ; Turning again, lo! the blaze, flashing no more, had expired. One fear had vanquished another; now came the first fear augmented; This was their wctchSre, and coon round him the foe would be borne: Ha! might he meet them as mortals! meet them though fierce and unnumbered ; Never « fear should oppress, never an omen appal ! sw>w the uncertainty weakened, numbed him, ■tilt loosed lrcm his fingers Down fell his weapon, and lay lost in tibe glooms of tiie road. Surely its fall must apprise them; swift they mu&t soon be upon him; fearful ,to stoop or to stay, weaponless, onwards 1 ~he strode. . " - Far frOta tie side* came a flashing, faint on the distant horixon, Thinly as over the hills the lightning oi summer plays, "Wiirther;' wayfarer, dosf stumble, treading the pathway, of «Urlaie*6?"^ JJow his he*rt leasped 1 at the. woiSs, thinking, \ eipecta&t, 'of blows! * Close *t his aide he discerned now, sea-ted, ' and almost recumbent, One thai his throbbing heart knew — Hine, tie Woman of Night! Straight he remembered great Maui, who • Strove to make mortaf immortal. Thought of the father's word, describing Ihe Mother oi Death—

then -where flashes tt© Ugtixiing, tkere where the distant horizon j Opens and shuts, as it were; that is the flash of her eyes: I Cruel is she to devour men, as many- j toothed shark, child of Punga; j Yea, and no man may escape; all make obeisance to her." | Sweet from the forest at morning comes the glad cry of the cuckoo. Sounding as if from afar, when scarcely a speax's length away ; • ( So had the flashing seemed distant, spring- I ing from darkness before him ; " j Voiceless an instant he stood, finding the goddess so near. . Hardly he found lier an answer, but spoke ' as her eyes flashed towards him, j "Lo; I wax come from above; conquered, thy vassal am I. ' "Go then thy way," and she motioned to pathway unlitten behind her; ' "Go then thy way to the night, that T«ne prepared for his sons." Hard grew her speech, and most bilter, think- ' i»g of him who had shamed her; | Half to herself she spoke, as Pua stood j doubtful in dread : — "Dark was the day, 0 my father, whom fonder I loved as a lover! Giver of life and of joy; giver of death and of woe! „ . 1 I' a lorn maiden "fleet hither, to darkness ' that weakens ihe boldest, Then by my anguish be known, my shame and my utter despair. | The Daughter of Light cried her warning — *S>tay, fugitive; -stay here thy journey, For day is at end where thy steps hasten un-pansjng thy- feet.' Day ere I heard her was ended; 'soirowfui night was within me ; Soon to the Daughter of Night, the terrible night, I came. 'Stay!' cried the drear one; 'the warden am I of the desolate region, Barrier betwixt night and day; pass not — or never return.' Whose was the thought of returning? Onwards I hastened with sobbing, E'en to the house of the god 'who quenches the power of sight. Then to my mourning came Tame.; then came my father, my lover-r Nay ; in the lover's song heard I the father's voice. ; Could I return though most tender, most yearning w«*e those hi» «ntreeties? • Could I return with my shame, arid read it again, in hi* eyeeV - Yet, {or the darkness concealed m-e, ■ covered • my fears and my burning, . Song for song I returned, but bade him leave darkness for day. Song for his song; but my anguish grew deeper to hear in my singing: Hear in the daughter's song the voice of the lover betrayed! 'Go then,' I cried; and bitter my bast words I to Ta'ne -were uttered; 'Go; buithe m&n you give life, them will I i drag into death.' " Was iv the worn ait beat sobbing? Pua r recoiled in his terror; Heavy indeed w«re the wroth of goddess saanguished with grief. 'Nay." for no wrath in her .accents heaxd~he~ as mute he stocd listening; •Courage, he plucked from his fear, moved, ! that again she might tee: /'-Still art .tbEnt there, Vfeteheti nsorsfcai? [ Knowesfe. Thou Jier whom thou bravest? Nay; wnce to Maui come death, no map to I,- brave me has dared. Ait thou the same, or another? For never | the troop has an ending; Hi-'her they all must come, whom Tane has | J . wakened to light: Hither they come in dejection, knowing no [ hope fot returning. Downwards and down, ever down, to dar.rn-ess I - and dolour and death." | "Here, 0 dread woman, are jewels, charms of the green jade most precious; Teeth of the scourge of the seav hung on their t knotted band . i Tell me then whither to turn me, that I, befitting a hero, Sure of my way may descend, not on the path of the cur." Flashed then the eyes of the woman, flashed as the lightnings of summer; Pua perceived wiere a hoard profusely lay heaped at her side. Jewels, th« gifts of th& thousands tjiat I downwards had passed into darkness, [ Each one the prayex of a soul to speed «m the pathway of men. ' Mere of jade won with hazard, sought where far southward white mountains Sloped with their crags to the seas, their riv«rs corffined in ravines, Evergreen trees shading all things, their Toots clothed in ferns, and deep mos*es, Sprayed by a thousand falls, and dank with continued rains: Tiki of jade; varied pendants, worn at the ear or the bosom, Jades oi all tints and unvalued, drop-filled Or clouded or clear/ Taiaba wefe- • there, of ake, of bone of the great wh*£e of- ocean, Banded with kaka plumes, set with the white : hair of dogs: v 1 Necklets oi shells whose pure whiteness men [ saw 'twixl the lips of loved women ; iiar drops of jade, or of teeth, finely with ' paua in 'aid : Mats in an endless profusion, thrummed or | with taniko border; Fine msts of feathers close wove, feathers of ! itaka and dove; | Fur mats of black, white, and yellow, from j sons of tbe gca Ira-warn ; ' Boxes of feathers and plume 3, tropic-bird. heron, and huia ; A'.iklets of laniko- woven, worn but by haughty chief's daughters; Sachets most treasured of scents gifts to the dearly beloved; Scented dried skins of porphyrio, dovrn from the albatross' bosom — Nev e r had Pua beheld gifts so bewildering to Bee. "Thither the rotd lies before you." Ehe said as he gave Jier his offering; "Go then, and float on the winds, that blow to the worlds beJtow." Pua departed— "To Hutu she gave to sustain I on his journey Food prepared by her hand, that he with j his love might return." So Pua thought as he floated, lighter of heart and less fearful, Into a twilight fioin gloom, down to a glimmering day. Back turned his thoughts to the legend related of Tama. feil-visaged. How he to Reinga fared, seeking for beauty balow ; How he was marked with the moko, the beautiful -cuivea aod bold spirals That stamp on the vieage of maja « high exaltation of mood! Slowly, as coming to meet him, -up floated ranges and valley*. -JEven as once to the goddess who sought out Ta-whaki in love. Giey wag the air, Jiot as moonlight, but gTey -with the dusk of the dawning, Such as Ihe tohunga, knows, performing his riles 'neath the stars. Scarcely his feet touched the hillsides ere I he by a, shade wa« accosted, ; One who advanced without sound, ac Pua too silently stepped. "Art tbou of me or my people?" thns ■poke the shade aS they greeted; I

Pua made gestured denial, for strange were j the features of him. Onwards he moved, as light-footed as Wheke, I the voice of the forest, • Noiseless his step as he moved, as beat of i a slow wing _in air. Shade after shade came with question, shade ' after shade too departed ; Valleys were broadened to plains, and streams lay in lakes reedy-marged. • "Her« in the fringes of raupo, here of old I moved, ' he thought, "Tama, r Evilest featured of men, in guise of the lovliest of birds! Here too his kindred beheld him, knew him | though thus metamorphosed, 1 Welcomed and led him to those who met the < desire of his heart; s Taka and Ha with their pigment, their instruments keen-edged and biting, Carving the face of « man, as others the darting canoe: C\rves that are proof against waier, unlike I the first painting of Tama, I Tvirala indelibly graved, as courage in heart j of man." Slow came a figure towards him, bent, with the plume of a leader, Aged, he leaned on his staff, moved with his iooks on the ground,Moved as one moves when in. musing, the ■ thoughts from the body iar dtsiant; Ac, and his lips closed, unclosed, twitched as if busied with speech. I Pua his nioko disceraed, observed on his tfh«ek the two spirals. The union they made with the curves interlined betwixt them- and his ear — "No man but oae bore, that moko; father is this o^ my father! _ "Friend!" he cried gladly. "Ehoa (-''greetings, my parent, from me!" Starting, awayed from- his musing, fiercely he gazed on the warrior, Raising his staff in his wrath, ready to strike as of old! "X! moko-puna! my grandson!" said he, head forward and peering; "Welcome, if even to night; welcome to me, not to gloom." Joyous they wept in a tangi, murmured . whilst greeting in hongi; News from above gave Pua; the old man rejoiced as he heard. "Ac, as I died, ' said the ancient, "made I bequest to my gxandson ; 'Vengeance,' said I. 'for the dead, vengeance my son's son shall take.' So said the wise ones of old time, Th«i - grandson is aye the avenger.' I So, would I hope, did the child, nourished by me at my side." "JKest thee content, O my parent; hath not thy foe come before me? Hath not a company lorn "passed thee, with him at its head? Many a moon hath flashed brightly, streng- ■ thened in waters of Tame, Since of his pa. and him fire and weapon made end." "Good!" and his eye burned up dimly, as iibe star flashes u,p from fife water, Half of its .burning: quenched, yet ' ardo.Br stiH keen within : "Truly I thought I had "seen, him ; gibed- 1 „ him not as lie passed me? , Still was his bosom dark with wees he had suffered ' on earth! Nay; but -it joys tefe to he«r"it; that thine, was the weapon dispatched him ; On hath v he passed, and down ; ac, .and I linger too long: I tco must sink with the shadows; Reinga.' gladly I leave now, - : ' Knowing that vengeance was mine, knowing thee heart of my heart! -Well \vas I mourned in, -the tangi? sped with, all rites on my journey? I»aid well in state as behoved? — fain would I hear it again! Truly thy father hath told me— tell thou again for my comfort ; How can I drift to the shades, ivnknowing if rites were perfornTe.3? "Well wast ihou sped as thou knowest ; no day unclean didst thou linger; Tugging the cords to the north, well sped was thy soul by thy kin. Precious th-e presents they -gave thee ; greatly they mourned thee in. tangi; Deep with the green sharp flintß their bodies they gashed for thee. Friends for the dead chief were bleeding as foes' bjOod had flowed for him living; Now it was willingly shed ; then it was wrung with pain ! Two slaves were slain to attend .thee; straight, too. thy wife followed after, Strangling herself that hex" lord might not fare gloomnvards alone. Softly was sung by tbe mourners the keha, the tohunga leading; 'Go thou, depart, depart; we too will follow thee aoon.' Ke!«tives came, bearing presents ; ceaseless and wild was the tangi; Almost the woods were despoiled, so many th© green Jeaves wore. The staff was set up *t the wayside, the bent Staff set up as a warning. Bidding each wayfaxer pause, for a chief lay dead 'mid his kin! After, four seasons of waiting, thy bones were prepared for thy housing ; Scarcely abated tcbs grief, for the tangi again was loud. But 'here is my father, my father! — honour of rites was denied him; Far from his home h« died, slain in a hoctile land." Greeting, he moved to his father ; his heart overflowed with his loving; Clasping each other they wept, and murmured affectionate words. "How have I looked for this meeting, «nd ■ now at the last I am with fhee! ' E! tokti papa! my father! valiant, beloved wast thouJ- ' Weeping, his wife heard him mutter, heard the words "E! toku papa!" "Aue!" said «he, "alas! long has he left us in death!'' "Woman!" said Pua. arousing, "woman, I stand in his presence!" Silence, oblivion .again; the vision was broken wad past. Still in his thought did he wander deep in the underworld's twilight ; Other men, -kindred, he saw, ate of the food that they gave ; Yes. though he knew tfea-t in eating- hope of re'tim he abandoned ; Never to earth he fares who eats of the food of the dead : Therefore to Hiku the venturous gave Hine the food for his journey.

Saying, "The food of Ihe dead will rob Cues ■of earth and' its light : WotOfUt thou return then with Pare, naught must tUou cat till thou find her. Naught must tfcou eat ere afar thou climbest Co earth and to love." Now waa the past as a vision ; a pleasant but vanished enchantment ; A. dream 1 Jie 'had dreamed and had lost, nor wasted lie wishes in vain. Death, seemed again -to approach Turn; a death as it were of a clumber ; He fftrbv© as » child agtunst sleep, but strove without terror or fear, Till (.noughts pf the two 'monster waixlens wkh bodinge disquiet oppressed him. As children -with terror perfceive day fancies take body in sleep. Where merged the one World in th« other, the two monster spirits stood warden,

One either side of the way, to seize >n the souls »nd destroy. All they might seize who were buried, cumbered with earth flung upon them : Siuggjsh their aouls and slow, borne down by the earthly load : Lighter were souls of the mortals whose dead bodies hung from the branches ; They might the monsters elude, pass from dark Reinga on. Shadowy there he beheld ..them, grim as the taniwha lurking. Silent in crevices dim, drawing the living to death. *"Uy its own motions erratic, a small bird the swift hawk can baffle ; So may I warily them," passed through his thought as he neared. Closely he watched, till the spirits, seizings two slaves as they stum-bled, Pitiless tore them and rended, heedless a moment, rage-blind : Past • thain he breathlessly hastened ; in the fourth world he stocd, in Au-toia, . Region where Whiro had home, the deity, patron, of thieves: - . Hither he plunged what time Tura, a dweller with fairies, grew aged, Dwelt in O-tea, and i*ught the way that a child should be bora. Ac, though he gave io the mothers a new lif« and blessings of children, - ' - ..Not to- himself «r to tfietu conad h» teach the subduing of death! Never -so f*r had a- mortal from ««rth to the dark worlds descended ; Neither Mata-ora nor Tama. life-glowing, the fourth world had passed : None the decree of the goddess who guarded the portals had .broken — - • "After Ma.-a-ora no- man shall hither- descend and return."

Pua now thought of old battles, a warrior matuTe among warriors; Thought of the deeds that had won him high prestige and love of his kin. Once more he waged the old warfare; came as a dream, but intenser, Last of the baluies he -fought, winning 'his high renown. I«ong had the foe been awaited; portents had omened i&eir coming ; Wind of the battle had blown, ice-cold' though the summer still burned; Warriors had felt it, and shivered, and more wlien at nigh* in the forests Breaking of baug'ks wa» heard — an omen of ill for the pa. ' v Rain for a- day too had fatten; and afterwards, low in the valley, " Dully the zed glow was seen, as though there were blood in the ait: Timid through doubt, apprehensive, the war- , riors as women grew fretful, Fearing that witchcraft and spells were sent as the scouts of the foe. • Then, too, had Pua. an omen, impelling him boldly to action— "Give ac but seventy men; the foe we -will meat "on the way ! Are- there of heroes but seventy who dare to '• brave, portents and dangers, Da-re to accept my - command — repute shall -'be theirs to achieve!" Seventy he found, -and they issued, admired by the watchful ' -defenders ; Gods who. inspired him to act would counsel the way he should £0. 3?hey pasted ,up the va-lley. ascended the bililsidea, bush-epvered and Tugged, propped to the -valleys beyond, then scattered "to scout for the foe. man too far from his fellows, & kaka-cry three times repeated Should serve *aa a signal to tell that those when* they sought were perceived: Well in the hills .had they entered where bushlands grew open ano> eaey, Approaching a yellow-tfW plain that lay 'twixfc the raiige-s of hill. Soon on© by signals gave tidings; all in a vale preconcerted

G-a,-fcheied *nd. learned tihat «. fcand laycamped on tli-e open beyond : Men of the enemy were they — this was the war-host, the taua, Dreaded in heralding Omens, unfeared when their faces were seen. Plans of attack were debated, though greater • _ than theirs was. the number; Shadows were lengthening now — attack -ere the night brought the stars. Theirs- must be all the advantage in knowing the number assaulted. They, the surprised, -would yield, not knowing, what numbers opposed. "Wait," counselled Pua. "wait rather; the light will too soon be deceptive; We may torment them a night, smite them i» battle at da-wn : Fright them with breaking of branches, with weird and aerial noises; Weaken with terroi their hearts, smite them at dawn with our hands." Thus then they did, and in trembling the fearful ones waited the morning; Spirits seemed thronging the air, omens came dreadful through nighi. Siany declared they heard crying the hokio, night-bird of evil, AVhose ominous choking cry assured them of shedding of biood. - "■ Grey was the dawn when tha restless were thrilled with a cry rhat surrounded; Ac ; and the night that seemed past became tfcs nigbi deep -vvithout end. Pu» was hailed wrfix hie seventy; fleathlesß to them cims the victory; What did his tntn* avail? Still frowned the Woman of Nigfet. Or through the region o-f Whiro, last of the worlds of dark Hine ; Where wa.9 the thieving god, leaving its home to its gloom? Moved he on earth, Ao answer the pries* in his spells against cursing, Or standing to lift from the dead the 'bond* that withheld bin* from life f Musing on this, and on Tura, the fire* greyhaired man among mortals. Pua despondently n>oved; the fourth world of twilight he left.

I«ow »8 an echo of singing a voice to his htaring came faintly. Soon to a sorrowful "wail it trembled, and silence again : "Ah!" .pity-breathing thought Pua ; "'tis Ko'he. the lorn v.-ife of Maui ; Here in this gloom is the home of her who •was lovely as morn." Roinid him lie heard a low sighing, BB on> in the forsst at noon-day Hears the first breath of a wind astir in the tops of tbe trees ; Sees the red mako' a-quiver, ere yet have the other leaves motion, Sees in the ti how one biade waves vibrant •whilst others are still. Dim, he perceived in the sighing * thronging of shapes moving on/wards. Eren as Rat-a first heard, then, saw the elves thronging the glades, < . Floating with fairy -faint singing to raise Tip the Jelled tree of T*ne: Whose -were the shapes? Whither bound'? Compact as a war-host they moved. Opened his lips in a question; he spoke but was silent thereafter; Only hit voice as » moan fell mournful and 1 sad on his e«* : "Thoughts to content me," he muttered; "ac, they may even, be foemen; How shall I stand without spear — how without taiaha ward?" Foemea; again a* a. •warrior he dilfily lived over his battles;

Hard came his breath as he thought how dwngsr ttndl -dealh he had claj-ed : Hark! yet again came the .wailing, tremulous, mournful, and nearer; Kohe still mourned for her shanie. heard Maui laugh at her woe.Swift as a wind down a valley vvliere mis^ iv strange shapes were arising, So 'mid the throng flew a shacle, borne % on implacable feet: Keen as a wind it disper&3<3 them, beat them on rooks as in anger; "Hohe is with us, ' thought Pua, "scourgiflg the souls of tbe dead. '

Swiftly t she Sped as a whirlwind; prone with his fellows lay Pua; Grief and despair were the thongs- that weal-ad them a3 blhjdly she scourged. Passed she away, ~ai*d in Pua two visions thought-builded there drifted ; 'One of the terrors to..cc3ne, and one of the joys that were past. Thus in the blue skies of summer the lower clouds west may ba moving. Whilst in the higher bright air clouds move to the billowy east : Pua thought' backward and forward; slpwly ---the dread thoughts forsook, him, I In thinking of Pera his wife, in musing on I ' her -and their love.

' Ate; through the.gloqm floated fweetsess, as ' v through the still ail wafts an .odour, Akd he who thought not x>f tbe tree murmurs •" "lietl how the ti blossoms sweet!" Pera, bright flower of tie forest, clematis, sw*«t-tirea.thed and" twining'; : " , . : How srta she bxjjlitC in tie gloonv *s .stars' * "to -ilhimine the night! How was she daring!— Tike Pare, who braved her -kin^s . anger foi Hutu, Pera a message had -sent, termed fan- '£■ lover'- , to tcad: - - ' "Thou, who has seen the red kaka, alluring from *ata red-blooming. Come, for there's- one can teach craft, if tbe suarer be willing and bold." Willing he wen*, 1 , fuough beneath her he "too like his^ betters ha\d loved her; Never, though death .weject&e end, should sne cry htm • f Yenfairel" t in vain. Per*, rejoiced at the an«w«r.; . hawk to swift hawk answered boldly^ ; "One only foe shall prevent— one friend— x gloomy Hine or fchou!" Into her bower in secret he came, and as equ*ls tthe gieeted, . Saying, "Thy valour hath . w<m thee ran* which -was urine from my birth: Still, for my iinsmen »re jealous, granting me power,- -yet." Trrtaho^wtg, -We to the wood* musi «w*y, -.dwelling in jjT&S to' *. -hture? (the tnt/tSS|^^-^ ere -par'b? »t?* ?£. S^omised the* **£ *he P SS oi fiC^the W* B^SffffiSS. « **' -^ * xjasy-srass th. W4 ** «* .'.StiS^'havrkindred/' .^ ***\ '"— He t^Sr^JSSA^Srb a**-* <Jo. < ?™a B Sltar emerginf beheld him .it KotHArme^re^tir did Pua un.ovex TheJVnfte shouting ana clamour! ros^m each hand Tendy weapon; » Boimd him in wra«x they ciosed a» *!»• *•*■ round ft lock m the eea: „ "Hear me then first," he cned, boldly, me vrtiom ye stse am defence Jew; Then a« y"e will ye may do, for h«» w«» Ste\rXXvyhZ- chosen; I, for I love, ■ani contented ; T « She, the high-born, has sent me; I, «m ,* craven ? have com*. Will ye as wedded receive us, then we return, ■wife and husband: Mete ye me a*ath who have ventured— go thren, »nd see wh*t *he daTes! "Boldly he speaks," cried tlie elders. Bold* . vere deeds, cried the younger: - -Lo I am ready, said he; "axm me-wiJ . who will oppose?" Soon him. a rrval confronted ; warily wielded Watching 68 ]^ I ' eye tb*t traced the parts it ' w«e tis&ti to prob*! . " Pua first warded, then, lunging, he pterced the broad thigh o{ hi» rival; "Stay! with tie drawing Gf blood conflict " aud hatred shall end!" * Soon to the mountains they apeeded; ft proof should be put on tbe maiden ; Quickly the eMff was reached, where waiting 6he fvatched for her lord. Three days she there wduld flWlit ham— aim or 'her wroth denied 'kinsmen ; Came Pua not. or ram* they— fearless sn« gazed to the depths : Scarce was the sun dipping westward ci« loudly she heard them approaching; Throbbed then her heart aa she stood, dubi•owt 'twist life and death. "Tell me," she cried as they n«ar«d her; • "tell me, is Pua among you?" "What is the youth to us? Thou art th« one we desire. ' "Sought he your courtyard at morning— came ye to me at his bidding? Tell me, 0 youths, who are brave when only a maiden is- near!" "Pua has dared and has fought ue, and her* «re w« come at hie bidding; 'Mete ye me death,' so he said, 'go then and see what eh* dares.' " "See then!" cried Pera; "if darkling, he wander* to Being*. - dreary, Never shall I return, enjoying life's pleasures with, 'yJOu. jr Bold at the edge she stood, and dizzy the £epj&£ big uaneath her. "Nay, be is with us," they cried, "and Pu»' is husband {or thee!" She, who could gaze on death, tearless, to joy sprang. ddin-«yed and breast heaving ;\ Clasped there together they stood; two mortals undaunted by death. "Were she bnt here," be thought, sighing; "Pera, O Pera," he murmured. » "Here am I, lord 1 of my life," answered his wife at bis side. Her he heard not, and shrank, trembling, whispering, "Ttohe approaches; Eohe with features of Maui, -woman embittered by shftme." Would he but rouse from his stupor; know who it w«s yearned beside him;

.H* who braved death shrank away from ncr for whom death he had braved! Per* drew back, her watching saddened and blinded with weeping— "Congtant, my love, as aforetime ; still would I die for my lord. ' Down from TJranga-o'-ra. down to the sixth p^Stf 1 ! forgotten, as through .^Slt^Lriouncils, youth among Sc^fufolSSS'eyes, Coring the red -Xo P rnot2er should lure him, the beauti-bJlSS-S SVSS. red fiery consul Alsole^ovU *««*«■ thC SeVenf ° ld Cl " StCr Sev£ f Ccf eyes iwm # **" W^W^^Sfe&SSi him a* over •JShbold youth he murmured Spells froih the powerful gods, declaring ftJ^S'^Si -re sacred;, woxnen MnSSS ™W- *». •SSJJSffI?^ *' *««*- •chief iis charges— fcvrf«»it "Shim ye vhe pl«ces of women, or forfeit your high stale as men; f*c£d are ye to ihe war-god; women by no SoufcfofaVl^tb, wOl but lure ye to death Se o! b l^d^ V T^- drilled him; one 'who had met with his Jover, Bidding her .tender farewell ere he on the w«£a-path trod. , , Though lecwst, his act was discovered— for wnat can elude the Eeer's vision? Joining the warrior ranks, he gave up bis life foi his love. - "Stripling of man's state unworthy, depart from "the ranks of the chosen; Go; women themselves will revile the youth who thus quails to be man! Still the youth lingered; for terror and hope strove for lordship within him; Terror to think he was changed, «n<i hoped that it might not bs h«. Hope died away when the priest-chief, wuh finger and eye on him bended, Bade him "Go hence!. Go hence !"— terror then urged on -his feet. Whither to go? Where to hide him? lundred would loathe and spurn him; Women would mock him; a youth, worthless *nd we»k as » ntan. Deep in th« forest he wandered ; woman there was, the dark Hine, She would receive -in her gloom the outcast men scorned upon -earth : There would his shame find concealment, it even an end vrere ' denied it; Itead in the piace of their tryst, the youth by his lover- was- found. SUida from his heart Pna banished, baneful •s berries of tetu; How in *heir sweetness larked evil, dishonour, and' wjbree -ti«n death. , ; Even though nature should urge him, only in peace would be heed her; Sc*ree"y .even in peace should maidens have 'favours of him. . . Though with Ms youthful companions, ■when resting in- whare-matoro, H« with the maiden's made tryst, loving like biTda 'ne*th the' trees, - , Once he wa*, sacred as warrior, restrained and subdued we-re his actions, Even as mafds, oace- wive 3, would suffer no h>ve"-bu't their lord*.' - Distant as summer.. clouds melting, as dis- ■ tanr was manhood in vision. Ac, "as he tank- ii>rougb the gloom, his boyhood caane near and more near. Thus when the long yeaTs grow heavy, when come too the grey weeds of Tura, Preseni days fade from the thought, whilst •those oi the past year 3 come clear. Trapping, or snaring,- or fishing, he followed his uncle, his father, Learning the woodcraft, the skill, that with industry plenished tne stores: lieaxned where the fishing grounds lay, with the seasons and tides most propitious; So of the berries a-nd birds, the roots and the herbs used for food. Skill he was taught with his weapons, taught both to make and to use them; Taught usefui . charms that a man in all avocations should know : Chief above all, from his father he learned how the tribe lands were bounded, Hill, stream, and tree found a name, 'a history wrapped in die name. He learned of his ancestors' doings, adventures and lo£ty achievements, Feli his blood, flowing from theirs, fired to an emulous heat: He learned the dread powers of tapu ; in.visible terrors of witchcraft; liearned bow the priests had their might •direct from the terrible gods. Clearly he saw a young novice, new from the -dread wbare-kura, Tested if well 'he had learnt the lessons in "Becrecy taught. " ■' - He in his hand clutched a pebble, murmured a spell— and a wonder; Dust in his hand l"ay now, the pebble by thought was crushed! Over the silent assembly soared •■ .swift hawk 'on wide pinions ; Pell from his lips a charm — fell the hawk dead from the skies! "Goods but a man fell not lightly," so said ■th« chief priest, afid glancing Hound on the people he called, "Come them and £>t>and at my side." Pua- hed started in terror, thinking 'twas he who was beckoned ; But 'twas a slave who was called, who went, but reluctant and slow: ''Cast thou a spell on a being," so said the priest; and the novice Wurmured a powerful charm — the slave sank, arifj died where he lay! •Who oouH forget such a power? Who could withstand or oppose if?. W*rily Pua moved, nor any observance ignored : OH too he saw how the atua, spifits thaiceaselessly hover, Punished with wasting and death the mortal by charms made a- prey. Ev«n more dread when to- battle Pua the first time bad ventured. Omens at first had opposed; the war-host nad met a_repulEe; Many lost heart at the omen, declaring the gods were against them, Counselled a homeward march, since no man might battle with geds. l Then a dread portent was ccvurted; securing the corpse" of a foeman, Answer from gods was invoked in "Oracle ghast of the dead! fiupine lay the corpse, ringed by warriors ; gusk soon would fall with its shadowsSolemnly murmured the priest the spell that reach to the gods. "Then in thy cold house now silent, move as the gods" shall command thee; Bunfjeth the future success, turn where thou .Ueafc— turn!" Cold was the corpse, yet it quivered; stiff, ye! it trembled in motion ; Slt'W, as they gazed in dread joy, the dead body turned on its side. Puft remembered, and shuddered; it turned. and its eyes were upon hinii

Wid« and stony they glared, held him speli-bound-'where he stoodNever it they would leave him; a force irresistible urged him. Almost he leaped to its side, xtihen again it lay still and supine. Ha! were they eyes he saw floating, studding the dusk air around him? Eyes in the place of stars, seemed staring from heavy skies; Each eye a curse' most persistent, fixed as a sheened ring of paua, Glares of hate seemed they all — eyes that still cursed in death! Sudden and swift as a torrent, a space by obstructions impeded, Into the mind of Pua a torrent of swift ! thought swirled — I Wherefore this dread apprehension? Whence came this terror -appalling? Ac, he had passed through Tou-turi ; he stood | at the Door of Night! ! This was the region of Miru, eighth of the I underworlds dreaded; • This was her dwelling he entered— bowed t6 the Door of the Night ; Trembling by manhood forsaken, scarce would his feet, pass the borders ; W«eping, a boy he stood, wiiere the fiercest of warriors must I«ar. Cruel, revengeful, was Mini; her weapon, adventurous ho rov.ed. H«t he had hardened with v mockxn«; learned *11 her games and her pastimes, Taking them back to earth, *nd teaching the children of men. "Luckless am las Ihenga ; to her I stay captive," ihought. P4ia;' Felt, as by creeping of flesh, that spirits, within him abode. . Here thronged the deities «vil, torturing souls with their magic; Menially anguished the souls moved, cowed by unnameable fear. Hugely they loomed up as reptiles," before and behind him and over; Worse than all taniwha these, for death the desired they withheld. • Wonder was none that the hzard by all men was loathed and dreaded. Taking the semblance of these to call down ' the spirit from life. Pua felt gnawings within him; burnings and pangs without number, > Ever at point death, yet never by death released. ' ~ Tales of his boyhood came thronging, tales of grim wizards remorteless, Who sat at their altars and murmured, and men lay and wasted away; Who called. *nd the demons obeyed them, entered the victim and tortured, -Tearing and rending within, till men saw him p«rish accurst. Cumbered as l«et artf. in sleeping, unable to flee from the danger That, threatening, never f*lls, but augments intensely th« fear, Heavy the feet of Pua reftma from the torment to bs« him; Shadows he saw and heard signs— dreaded - the substance and voice! ' Longing to cry for his loved ones, yet feariul^ ghast others might answer, Choking bis sobs be crep-t — passed to thedarkness of Toke!

Thought was benumbed; gone Was courage; even was quenched the boy's boldness ; Weak «s a little child, now as a child he ' wept. "E-l toku whaea! my mother!" soft through his tears he murmured; Felt that he lay in the arms of one who was ward against all : How he had come to his refuge; surely h* heard a dear crooning; Blindly he stretched his- hands to touck her who comforted him. Gone were his tears and his terrors; gone all his heart's apprehension; Gone was all thought but {his — unmenaced lie lay, and secure: Deep cam© the sigh of contentment; its tremulous end .whispered "Pera!" "Ah, best beloved," she answered ; and tears from her eyes fell anew.

Now he seemed borne upon pinions ; a thought to bis pausing heart entered; "Clothed as a mcth was his soul," and upwards and upwards it flew! L»eft was the tenth world, Ameto; his soul when the moth died must perish; .Upwards it flew from the glcom — Pua aroused from his tranc*. Ac as he thought came a death moth, lit on hi 3 cheek as he lay there; Pera perceived it and shuddered; it crept from his cheek to bis breast. Fixed were her eyes on ; lhe creature, messenger sent from the darkness; Must he indeed leave her loveless ? — fixed were her eyes with despair. Pua aroused ; his eyes, quivered ; ere he perceive the death token Must it be crushed, and her hand struck it 'as Pua awoke."Strik* not my soul," he breathed weaklydead lay the moth on His bosom — Shuddered the man, and his spirit soothly to Reinga fared.