![Thumbnail: [Volume 34, 1901 page 59]](/journals/rsnz/images/rsnz_34/thumbnails/rsnz_34_00_0090_0059_ac_02.gif)
Teka, or Neti.
This was a favourite pastime of olden times, and quite a game of skill. It was Maui-tikitiki who invented the game of teka. He expectorated upon his dart and repeated this charm:—
Taku teka, tau e kai ai he tangata
Haere i tua o nga maunga
Me kai koe ki te tangata
Whiwhia, rawea.
Then Maui threw his dart, which flew apace and stuck in the jaw of an old man who was sitting in the entrance of the house known as Tane-kapua. The old man's jaw dropped off. Maui arriving, said, “Old man, your jaw has dropped off.” The old man nodded. Maui said, “I will take your jawbone with me.” That old man was Muri-ranga-whenua, the grandfather of Maui. That jawbone was the hook by which this land was caught and dragged from the ocean depths. The fish caught with that hook was Papa-tuanuku (Mother Earth) herself. The hook may still be seen at Heretaunga.
But about the teka. It is a dart, usually made of a stalk of the fern rarauhe, about 3 ft. in length, the after-end bound round with a piece of flax. This dart is thrown so as to glance off the surface of a small mound of earth, which is cleared of weeds and made smooth. The thrower stands a little way behind the mound and holds the dart (teka) by the rear end, between thumb and second finger; the forefinger is on the end of the dart, to propel it. The dart was thrown
![Thumbnail: [Volume 34, 1901 page 60]](/journals/rsnz/images/rsnz_34/thumbnails/rsnz_34_00_0091_0060_ac_02.gif)
underhand, so as to glance off (pahu) the smooth top of the mound. Each player casts his dart in turn, and he whose dart is cast the greatest distance wins the round. When a player wins his first round he cries, “Katahi ki rua.” On gaining his second round he says, “Ka rua ki toru.” At the third, “Ka toru ki wha,” and so on; thus each player keeps his own tally. The first to win ten rounds wins the game. The cry of a player for the ninth round won is, “Ka iwa ki ngahere,” the expression “ngahere” being here used for “ngahuru” (ten). The cry at the tenth round won is “Kapiro.”
Each player, as he proceeds to cast his teka, would repeat the following charm to render his cast effective:—
Patu atu taku pehu ki mua
Me he matakokiri anewa i te rangi
Te rokohina ko te teka na Tuhuruhuru
Kia tika tonu te haere
Mau e piki atu, mau e heke atu
I tua o nga pae maunga
Toroi e taku pehu
Ko te pehu, ko te koke
Marie kia tika.