Whakamatiti.

The whakamatiti is a spell of magic, or magic rite, which is employed by a priest in order to punish a thief without killing him. This causes him to become mentally deranged, as described above, and also contracts his fingers and weakens his hands, so that he can take or hold nothing with them. This rite is sometimes termed “ahi matiti.” It is mentioned in an oriori, or lullaby, of olden times:—

Waiho te whare, E hine!
I to tipuna i a Paia
Hua rawa atu nei ka matau rawa i a ia
Te whata a to tipuna, a Raumati-ninibanga
Para whetau—e
Na Turuwhatu te whata a Pouroa
I Tabuna-a-tapu.
Mou ra, E hine!
Koi hikaia koe ki te ahi o te ruhi,
Ki te abi o te ngenge,
Ki te abi o te whakamatiti
Mo te kore rawa, E hine!

There were in former times a great number of charms or spells of an inferior kind, which had no power to destroy life, but simply unnerved or weakened the subject. They were often put in the form of a song or chaunt (waiata). The following is a specimen thereof. It is one of the class of songs known as a “makamaka kaihaukai,” which are chaunted by the people who present food to guests at a feast. The following was composed by one Ruru, of Tuhoe, in order to unnerve a rival and render him incapable of performing with good effect before the visitors at a feast:—

He Waiata Makamaka Kaihaukai. Na Ruru: He Karakia kia kore e kaha tana hoa Makamaka Kaihaukai, kia hinga i a ia.

Korokoro whiti, korokoro whiti
Tu ana te manu i runga i nga puke ra
Tenei hoki te kame ka whakairi
Te kame ka whakarere
Te kame i pokaia noatia
I runga i a Tu-ka-riri
I a Tu-ka-niwha, i a Tu-ka-ritarita
E baere ana Rita, he tangata kamenga kore
Ka pau te ki hanga maka
He nui kame maoa e tu ana i ou atua roa
He tini te kame, he mano te kame, he tutae taua
Ka kame tiko iho ki waenga