Landing supplies at Murderer's Cove are Doug Frew, Invercargill, John Wixon, Bluff, and Jack McKay, Invercargill. The Haka-wai I would like to mention the legend of the ‘Haka-wai’ to the readers of this article to consume and digest. The legend of the ‘Haka-wai’, known mostly to the older mutton-birders of about five decades back, is as follows: The ‘Haka-wai’ was supposed to have been a bird—yet nobody had ever seen it to certify that it was a bird. The sound it makes is said to resemble the jingling of chains being drawn through space, as it soars over the islands. The legend sounds like another fisherman's story, yet it is said that even scientists who tried to fathom the mystery of the ‘Haka-wai’ were baffled by the chain-like clinking in space over those islands of the South Pacific Ocean.

Poutama Island landing, South Cape, showing the living quarters and the rough seas through which the boats are landed. The Titi (Mutton-bird) Before the mutton-birders depart for the islands, a great deal of preparation is necessary. Enough food to last for three months must be taken, kerosene for heating and lighting, torches and batteries, plenty of salt to cure the birds with, tin containers to pack the birds into ready for the market, and other personal belongings. Before the tins came into vogue, the birds were packed in bags made from kelp gathered off the rocks along the sea-coast. I very much preferred the birds packed in kelp bags. The titi tasted much better and kept much longer in the kelp bags than they do in the tins. The preparation of the kelp bags was rather fascinating. Broad pieces of kelp were gathered and opened up from the small end, or neck, with a knife, leaving a margin of about two inches around the sides and bottom of the kelp. The kelp was then blown up like an ordinary balloon and hung out to dry in the sun. Flax baskets were made to cover the bottom of the kelp bags, and bark was gathered from trees, especially totara bark, as it was the most suitable—being more pliable and much easier to strip than most bark. The bags were filled up with titi then the baskets were fitted over the bottom of the bags. Blades of bark were then inserted between the baskets and the kelp bags, to cover the whole container from top