E—No. 7

There is your food, The essence of it has gone To the world of spirits, Where you are. At the conclusion of this, the child was shown to the people; and the Tapu being thus removed from the mother and child, they were once more allowed to go amongst the tribe. The next ceremony, the actual baptism of the child, at which the father and mother, and any of the heads of the tribe might be present, but no common person. They went to a stream, and all being naked save a maro (that is an apron made of the leaves of trees round their waists) the priest took the child in his arms, and going into the water, he with a Karamu branch sprinkled the child, saying :— Baptised in the water of Tv, Be thou strong By the strength of the heel of Tv, To catch men By the strength of Tv, To climb mountains ■ '.. ■• ■ . ■ By the strength of Tv; May the power of Tv Be given to this son. Be thou strong, That thou mayest overcome in the fight; Be thou strong To enter the breach, To kill the watchman, To grapple with the foe. Be thou strong By the power of Tv, Be thou strong To pass over the lofty mountains, To ascend the lofty tree ; Be thou strong To brave the billows of the sea, To overcome its strength. Be strong to cultivate food for thyself, To build great houses, To make war canoes, To welcome visitors, To make fishing nets, To catch fish, To do all thy work. There comes the strength from Kiharoa* To take me to the sands of Rangaunuf To the place where spirits depart into night, And what know I further. These were the ceremonies in removing the tapu and baptism of a boy. For a girl they were somewhat different. A boy was baptised to the god of war, Tu. Girls were baptised to Hine-te-iwaiwa, who is goddess of all the necessaries of life. In taking the tapu from the mother when a girl was born, the same ceremonies were used as for a boy, which we have just described. The same things being done at the brook the priest said:— Here are the mounds Now standing on the shore, On the water, In the depth, On the brink, They stand as from Hawaiki, As in the stealing from Hawaiki. We will here digress to explain a little. When one of the canoes came from Hawaiki, called Te Arawa, navigated by Tamatekapua, some time after she had left, the Hawaiki made an offering to the gods; they erected altars, and cooked food for them, to induce the gods to give a foul wind to send the Arawa back, when they promised to cook the navigators) for the gods. While they were preparing the offering, two women called Hangaroa and Kuiwai, (who were related to the navigator of the Arawa,) went to tho principal temple, called Rangiatea, and stole the principal gods Maru, Iho-o-te-rangi, Rongomai, Itupawa, and Hangaroa, and came off with them to New Zealand, hence the phrase— As in the stealing from Hawaiki. [The priest continued his incantation,] From the priesthood of Hawaiki, There is the post standing, [Putting a stick upright in the brook,]

* Death is here represented under the name of Kiharoa ; Kiharoa signifying the last breathing of dying mortals. f The sands of Rangaunu, at the entrance of the Reinga.