pakehas in using Maori names. Hearing persons addressed, they have taken the preceding “E” to be part of the name. The chief Te Puni, of Wellington, was always known by the European settlers as “E Puni.” A great many similar instances might be given. There are no family names among the Maoris. Every child has his own name given soon after birth, which is retained through life, though not always used. A person may take many names. The so-called Maori King, Potatau, was known as “Te Wherowhero” in the early days of the colony. The name of the head of the family, however, comes into use by his descendants as the name of a hapu or tribe, generally by adding the prefix “Ngaati” or “Ngai”—Ngatiwhakaue, at Rotorua—the family or descendants of Whakaue; Ngai Te Rangihouhiri, in the Bay of Plenty—the descendants of Te Rangihouhiri: both of these prefixes meaning the same—i.e., progeny. In some cases the singular form is used, as “Te Atiawa” instead of “Ngatiawa;” and other forms also are used, as “Te Whanau o,” “The family of”—Te Whanau o Apanui, on the East Coast—or, “Te Uri o,” “Te Aitanga a,” “The offspring of”—Te Uri o Hau, Kaipara; Te Aitanga a Whare, Poverty Bay, &c. It is not meant to assert that the names of tribes and hapus are invariably, or even generally, those of ancestors; but in many cases it is so, and the use of these prefixes would always be understood as indicating the family of the name so prefixed. Families of some of the early missionaries, which have multiplied and reached to the third and fourth generations, are often so designated. In speaking of Maori names, of course the names given in Christian baptism are excluded. There is a remarkable Maori custom, which in bygone days used to be very strictly observed. If a chief changed his name, as in the cases above referred to, and took as a name a word in common use having any connection with food, some other word was forthwith substituted for the word so appropriated, which thereafter ceased to be used. I recollect instances of this in the Bay of Plenty. A chief took the name of Te Wai Atua (Spirit-water), and forthwith the word “ngongi” was substituted for “wai,” which was dropped, both words meaning water. In another case the word “kai” (food) formed part of the names assumed by chiefs—Korokai and Nga Kai. The use of the word “kai” for food ceased in consequence, and the words “kame” and “tami” were used instead. Other peculiar uses of names were the tapatapa and tukutuku. To tapa anything was to give the name of a person to it, the effect of which was to put it, figuratively, into the keep-