Nga korero o te hanga nei he korero i nga tataku korero whakapapa o mua, he tataku i nga tupuna mai ano i Hawaiki, he ako hoki i a Ponga; te take i korerotia ai aua korero nei e ratou ki a Ponga, he uri teina a ia no nga ariki, i puta mai hoki a ia i a Hotunui ma. E tataku ana tera i nga kauhau o nehe, me te korero i nga mahi a nga tupuna i mahia i tenei taha, ara, i Aotearoa nei. Haere ake ano te whakapapa tupuna me te whakatu i nga pakanga o mua, i nga ra o Hotunui i haere mai ai ki Hauraki nei. Me nga mahi a Tamatea-pokai-whenua, me nga mahi a Ngati-awa i raro i Hokianga-o-Kupe, me nga mahi a Kauri i heke ai ki runga ki nga kainga i Tauranga, me Taranaki, nawai i korero, a, korero, a, ka taki hokihoki etahi o aua koroheke nei ki o ratou whare moe ai, a, ka haere ano hoki ka moe nga tangata o te whare nei, noho tonu a Ponga i taua whare, kihai i hoki ki te whare manuwhiri moe ai. Ka moe te whare nei, a, roa rawa ka mate a Ponga i te hiainu, ka pa tona waha ka karanga ki tana ropa ki te wai ki a ia, ka mea, ‘E ta, kawea atu he wai ki a au’. He mea koa, ko te whare a te mokai ra i moe ai he wahi ke noa atu o te pa nei, a te rongo kau noa ake. Ko te whare a Puhihuia ma i noho ai i te tekoteko o te pa nei i te taha tua-a-tonga ki te marangai o Maungawhau, i raro tata ake ano i te wahi papa maro te whare kauta o nga ropa a Puhihuia ma i moe ai, hua noa te hunga e moe i te whare nei kei reira te ropa a Ponga e moe ana, a he hoi marire (turi) ano nona, a, he kainga tauhau, he wehi tetahi ona ki te tiki wai i raro i te papa koraha o te pa nei, koia raka te take o tana hoi, a, tetahi u ana, he po pouri, he te kitea te ara ki te puna wai. Karanga tonu a Ponga i tana kupu ki tana ropa, a he te rongo mai, ka hoha a ia, ka mea ‘Ka hei tau, kia penei rawa ake koe apopo, hei kai koe ma te rango’. Ka takoto ano a Ponga ki te moe, me te ngunguru puku ki a ia, ano ka rongo te whaea o Puhihuia ki te tangata ra e karanga nei, ka oho ake a ia, ko te kuia koa o te kotiro nei te mea kua oho ake, ka oho te kupu a te kuia ra ki tana kotiro, ka mea, ‘E ko, he tuturi ano hoki tetahi ou, te rongo koe ki te manuwhiri e karanga kau nei ki tana ropa, ka tingia nei a ia e te hiainu, e kore koe e aroha atu u ana ki tana mate, a, ka haere koe ka kawe wai mana’. Ka mea atu te kotiro ra ki tana whea, ‘Ua atu e ui koe he atua te taru o te ara e wehi kau ai au; ko Kuo te po, he kano kahurangi’. Ka whakatika te kotiro ra, ka mau ki te to bring water for him, saying, ‘O my slave! bring some water for me’. As the slave was some distance away, he did not hear the command. The house in which Puhihuia lived with her parents was on the top of the hill on which the pa stood. On the south rim of the crater and on a little flat below this to the north of the house, there were the cookhouses of Puhihuia's family, where their attendants slept; it was supposed the attendant of Ponga was there, and that it was fear at being in a strange place, and terror at having to go in the dark far down to the flat on the north at the main entrance of the pa, that caused the slave of Ponga to disobey his master's call. It was a dark night, and the road to the spring could be followed only by those who knew it. Ponga repeated his command to his slave, saying, ‘Evil will befall you, and tomorrow will not have gone before blow-flies will gather on you’. Then Ponga lay down, but uttered certain words in a low mournful tone to himself. The mother of Puhihuia heard him call to his slave, and rose and spoke to her daughter and said, ‘O daughter, you are also deaf; you appear not to hear one of our guests calling in vain for his slave in his thirst. Can you not feel some sympathy for him in his need, and go and fetch some water for him?’ She answered her mother and said, ‘Rather you might ask, “Are not the weeds on the road gods, that I should not feel fear?” Kuo is god of darkness and descendant of spirits.’ Puhihuia rose and took a calabash and left the house. She and her parents slept at the opposite end of the house of that at which Ponga slept. There was a door at each end of the house. As she left the house with a lighted torch in her hand, Ponga rose and said, ‘I will go to find my deaf slave, who does not pity my raging thirst, whose soul will soon go along the road to Paerau (the road to the world of spirits)’. These words of his were pure pretence, and only said to mislead those who heard them, and to prevent their knowing of his desire to follow Puhihuia. He had no intention of finding his slave and killing him. He left the house, and followed the path the young woman had taken. He had no knowledge of the road that led to the spring but followed as best he could the light of the torch and the voice of Puhihuia; for as she went along she sang a song to keep her heart brave, to amuse her ears with the sound of her own voice, and prevent the spirits from touching