was to act, and also wrote out the magic spell. I have not yet tried it on any of my enemies, but hope to be able to do so in the future. This subject is an extremely interesting one, but my notes thereon have really become so numerous that they must be reserved for a separate paper.

It is said that the Takitumu migrants brought a great knowledge of magic with them to New Zealand.

One of the most common forms of makutu, or witchcraft, is that in which a medium is used in order to connect the spells of the wizard with the object to be acted upon by them. This medium, termed “ohonga” and “hohonga,” when man is the object, is usually a fragment of his clothing, a lock of his hair, a portion of his spittle, or a portion of earth on which he has left his footprint. By obtaining such a medium the wizard will be able to bewitch the owner thereof by uttering his spells and performing certain rites. This is sympathetic magic. It may work all right, but if the object becomes aware that arts of magic are being practised against him he can divert (whiti, or whakataha, or ripa) such by counter-spells and rites, as the kai-ure, the parepare, the momono, and many others. It will then be resolved by the fact as to which possesses the greatest mana or power (intellectual and supernatural).

The above is generally termed “taking the hau” of a person. The hau of man means his intellectual and spiritual and supernatural power (mana). The hau is the immaterial essence or representation of such powers, while the ohonga is the material representation of the hau, and through such medium the hau of the subject is affected. When a person's hau is affected by magic his body perishes, it can no longer exist; his intellectual and spiritual force has departed.

If you meet a wizard, a person famed for his magic spells, and you happen to be carrying some food, do not give him any of it or he will use it as a medium and bewitch you. But when he has passed you do you stop and wave that food across the track, and repeat an incantation to nullify the effects of his spells. The action of waving the article of food across the trail traversed by the magician will carry with it the “warding-off” power of the karakia or charm.

When the ohonga is taken it is fastened to a branchlet of the karamuramu shrub and taken to the tuāhu, or sacred place of the village, and there the necessary spells are repeated over it in order to cause the death of the subject, who will be afflicted by wasting sickness.

If you are talking to me and I wish to lay a spell upon you, I can take the hau of your voice by uttering certain incantations. Such spells as this and others practised in the presence of the subject are not repeated aloud.

The earliest case of slaying a person by magic contained in my notes is the destruction of Maui by Hine-nui-te-po, Goddess of Hades (the Po) and personification of death. The origin of the quarrel was the slaying of the children of Mahuika (origin and personification of fire) by Maui. After that Maui and Hine differed as to whether or not man should grasp eternal life. The ohonga, or medium, obtained by Hine was a drop of Maui's blood, which Namu, the silent sandfly, procured for her. The mosquito was sent first, but proved to be too noisy a messenger, and was heard and killed by Maui. Verily it was well to be wary in the days of old, for death was ever near.

There were many ways by which personal hau might be protected from magic, so long as the enemy's magic was not the more powerful. For instance, the ahua or semblance of the hau of man could be taken and protected by means of magic. The material token of such semblance would probably be a lock of the person's hair. This would be taken to the tuāhu, or sacred place of the village, and buried at the base of the Ahurewa, which is one of the forms of tuāhu, and is represented to the eye by a carved stick stuck in the ground. The depositing of this talisman was accompanied by the repetition of appropriate incantations or spells to render it effective.

A similar thing was the ika purapura, or taitai. This was a bird into which the semblance of the health, vitality, vigour, productiveness, &c., of the people and tribal lands had been instilled. After being hung up for a time, this talisman or semblance of the hau of man and land was buried, as an ika purapura. It would retain the essence of the desirable qualities of man and land, and guard them against magic arts. For reasoning in a metaphysical and anagogic sense the Maori has probably no superior, so far as his understanding went.

The hau of land, or of a forest, or of a productive tree, can be protected in the same way as personal hau, and in much the same way, by the concealing (with proper charms or invocations) of a material semblance of such land, forest, or tree. Take, for instance, a tree which is much frequented by birds, and hence a desirable one on which to set bird-snares. It is deemed advisable to protect the tree from being killed or blasted by an enemy's magic, or the birds driven therefrom by the same means, or from being poached by other persons. Therefore the tree is made tapu by the priest; after which, should any one interfere with it, such person will be afflicted by the atua or familiar demon of the priest. If that person, so afflicted, wishes to save himself he must go to the priest or wise man who rendered the tree tapu and place himself in

his hands for treatment. Nor is it wise to delay the matter; the gods who live for ever are not to be trifled with.

In the above rite the priest takes the hau of the tree, or the semblance thereof. The usual plan is to take the first bird snared upon the tree—or the long wing-feathers (kira)—which is taken away and hidden in the forest somewhere, and incantations said over it to render the tree tapu and so protect it. It cannot now be injured by the magic spells of enemies.

Should a person sell or barter the property of another, that is termed a “hau whitia,” or “averted hau.” The person who so received the article will surely die; he will not survive.

Theft was often punished by the dread arts of magic in this wise: When a person lost an article by theft he would take the ahua (semblance of personality) of such article to the priest, the material token of which ahua would be something that had been in contact with the stolen article. Two cases came under my notice. In one some eels were taken from a man's eel-pot. In the other case money was stolen from a box. In the first case a fragment of the eel-pot was used as a material token of the personality of the eels. In the other a coin which had been overlooked by the thief was used. This medium would be taken to the priest and laid before him, with the explanation that it was the ahua of an article which had been stolen. The priest would look at the material medium and say to the applicant for justice, “I see the wairua (spirit) of the thief standing by your side.” He would then describe the appearance of the thief whose spirit he saw. Such spirits are always anthropomorphous with the Maori, and probably to all other primitive races. The plaintiff in the above case would, when he recognised the thief from the priest's description, sometimes go and demand his property so as to give him a chance of escaping the awful effects of the priest's spells of witchcraft. When the thief refused to return the article stolen it was time enough to put the law of makutu in force. Sometimes, however, the sufferer of the theft would say at once, “Patua atu” (Destroy him). The priest would then perform his magic rites over the medium which had been brought to him. And it was not well for that thief; death or insanity lay before him. The priest who performed the above rite would be one of the class of tohunga (priests) known as a “tohunga ruanuku.” Other classes of priesthood are tohunga taua, or war-priests; tohunga pukenga, or teachers; and tohunga puri, who are also magicians. The above priest would also be a matatuhi (matakite), or seer. The material medium mentioned above is sometimes termed “hau” or “maawe.”

When it comes to the knowledge of a person that he is under the influence of magic directed by some enemy, or when he is taken ill, he at once hies him to the priest, who will tell him to return to him in the evening. When the sun sets they go together to the wai tapu, or sacred water of the village. This is a pond, spring, or stream set apart for sacred purposes, and no one may interfere with such water or make use of it. To take a drink of it is about equal to taking a dose of poison; it is even dangerous for an individual unaccompanied by a priest to approach it. On arriving at the water the priest looks at the patient and says, “You have been bewitched. I see the wizard standing by your side. What shall I do with him?” The answer will probably be, “Slay him.” The priest then repeats the spell to destroy the wizard, after which he taps the patient with his sacred wand and recites:—

To ara
Haere i tua, haere i waho
Haere te maramatanga
Haere i nga kapua o te rangi
Haere mahihi ora
Haere i nga kapua o te rangi
Haere ma hihi ora
Ki te whai ao, ki te ao marama
Ko rou ora
Haere i a moana nui
Haere i a moana roa
Haere i a moana te takiritia
Ki te whai ao, ki te ao marama
Ko rou ora.

With his wand the priest sprinkles water over the body of the patient. At dawn next morning the sacred umu, or steam-oven, is kindled, and food cooked therein. Among the food is a special piece placed. When the oven is uncovered if that special article of food is thoroughly cooked, then it is known that the wizard has perished or is nigh unto death. Then the patient recovers. It would appear that the above may be a form of crystallomancy, and that the priest, by intense will-power or other means, sees reflected in the water the form of the magician—i.e., if the acting-priest's mana is strong enough to overcome that of the offending wizard. Such rites as the above are always performed in the evening or early morn, for the simple reason that the wairua, or spirit of man, does not wander forth or roam about in the broad light of day, and hence is not available to be influenced by the magic spells of the priest. In like manner, when such a rite is being performed the people of the village or fort will remain in their houses, lest their spirits roam forth and approach the spot where the magic rites of the priest are being performed, which would probably destroy such wander-