Page:Maori Religion and Mythology.djvu/83

CH. vi. ." Ihenga had given this name to the island, which was afterwards named Mokoia by Uenuku-kopako.

Then Ihenga went alone in pursuit of his birds along the borders of the lake. He passed by Ohinemutu, where he found the hot springs, and the steam which he had supposed to be the smoke of a fire. When he reached the hill at Kawaha, looking down he saw the smoke of a fire burning below at Waiohiro; so he thought with himself, "Shall I go on, or no?" He decided on the no; for he saw a net hanging near a stage, on which there was food, so he went to look for the tuahu or sacred place for the net. When he had found it he forthwith set to work to carry off the earth, and the posts, and the old decaying inanga, in order to make a tuahu for himself by the face of the cliff at Kawaha. Then he brought fresh earth and new posts to the tuahu of the man of the place, and carried away some posts partly burnt by fire. He also stript off the bark from branches of koromuka and angiangi, and fastened them together with flax, and set them up in the inclosure of the tuahu belonging to the man of the place. When Ihenga had done all this secretly, he named his own tuahu Te Pera-o-tangaroa, and went on to the place where the fire was burning.

As soon as he was seen, the people of the place waved their cloaks, and shouted cries of welcome. And when the ceremony of uhunga was ended, the chief, whose name was Tu-o-rotorua, inquired when Ihenga had come to the lake.

"Ho! this is my own land," said Ihenga.

"Where is your land?" asked Tu.