Page:Hawaiki The Original Home of the Maori.djvu/118

106 Tangaroa on the beach; it was white in colour, and became a common food of the people, almost to the exclusion—as history says—of the vari, or rice. Tangaroa met with some notable adventures with a monster fish called a Moho-roa-i-ata, which is probably intended for an alligator, and which "fish" with a stroke of its tail, inflicted a humiliating defeat on Tangaroa. Tangaroa married Ina, the daughter of Vai-takere; and if this is the same person as mentioned in the genealogical table, the period must be fixed as early as the first century.

We find the names of several countries or islands mentioned that Tangaroa visited (besides the skies), such as Rangi-ura, Vai-ono, Avaiki, Vairau-te-ngangana, Raronuku, Rangi-make, &c.

Vai-takere, Tangaroa's father-in-law, is accredited with the introduction of the bread fruit to the knowledge of his