Kui was greatly surprised, but did not speak. She thought, “What daring fellow has invaded my land and come to steal my food?”

Kui next took up a plantain and put it into her basket. But on seeking for the second-lo, it was gone! And thus, too, of the bread-fruit and the packages of sour bread-fruit paste.

The old blind woman, now thoroughly enraged, exclaimed, "Whoever this is that has dared to come to my land, I will devour him." She then re-entered her house, carrying the diminished supply of food. Tavai whispered to his elder brother, "Beware of her tricks touch nothing belonging to her." At this moment Kuithe-Blind came out, armed with a terrible fish-hook fastened to a long line. This she swung backwards and forwards, all the while chanting a song, in order to catch the thief. The lads contrived to keep clear of it, but threw a pandanus log at it. The log was hooked. Whilst Kui was pulling in her line with immense satisfaction, the boys chanted these words

:

Carefully secure thy fish,

Ere thou be o'ertaken by a shark.

To which Kui replied :—

For him that is caught by my hook

There is no hope. Strong is my hook.

Its name is (" Furnisher of) food for immortals."
The line is called "The indivisible."

Kui seized her supposed victim, which proved to be a mere log of wood. Angry at this, she again threw out her dreadful fish-hook. This time she caught the elder boy Arii. Both the brothers wept bitterly. Kui again chanted the former ominous words, "For him," etc. When the youthful victim had almost arrived at the doorway where the cruel blind woman sat, the brave Tavai ran forwards, and seizing the fatal string snapped it asunder by sheer

force, thus rescuing Arii from her pitiless clutches. The brothers then entered the house of the now defenceless Kui, and discovering the stone axe with which she was accustomed to despatch her victims, slew her therewith. Her body was next chopped in pieces; the house pulled down and set on fire, thus consuming this foe of mankind.

Tavai now proposed that they should resume the search for their father, and that Arii, as the elder, should take the lead.

The brothers accordingly prepared to leave the land of Kuithe-Blind.

Arrived at the sea-shore, they walked over the ocean and saw a red streak ahead on the surface of the water. On drawing nearer to the red streak, they found a red shark swimming underneath. Arii trembled and entreated Tavai to go in front. As the younger brother sturdily refused, Arii had still to go on. The great red shark now rose to the surface, and said :

O era taata e aere

Na raro i te moana ra ē!

Keinga korua e au!

Yon daring travellers

O'er the briny sea

Shall furnish my repast.

These words struck both lads with terror, but Tavai, recollecting himself, replied:

Art not thou our aged ancestor,
Nutaravaivaria? And are not we
The offspring of Oemā and Ouri?

The enormous fish now learning that these boys were his own grandchildren, allowed them to get on his back, and conveyed them safely to the shore of Rauai'a-Nui, where Tavai landed. The red shark now asked Tavai to give him Arii to eat. But the brave boy said, "You must not devour him, for I have but one

brother." Three times did the red shark ask for Arii: three times was the request denied by Tavai.

Now there was a great abundance of cocoa-nuts in this new land. Tavai climbed the trees and gathered the nuts, so that the ground was everywhere covered with the fallen nuts. Tavai's next work was to tie these nuts together in fours and count them. In all there were a thousand nuts, which he with no little labour placed on the back of the great red shark. And not until the last four was given up did the shark give up his brother.

Arii and Tavai spent three days on that island. On the morning of the fourth day the red shark came back. The lads again mounted on his back and were borne over the ocean in search of their lost father. Now the boys had provided themselves with cocoa-nuts to eat by the way. All but one had been disposed of during their long voyage. At their wits' end to know how to open it, they broke it on the head of the shark. Pained by the smart blow, the red shark dived down to the bottom of the ocean, leaving the boys swimming on the surface. When at length the strength of Arii was exhausted, the red shark again rose to the surface, and generously forgiving the late offence, carried them to shore. This is the farthest limit of spirit-land.

The brothers now travelled about in search of the inhabitants. They fell in with a man who asked what they were in quest of. They told him that they were seeking for their father, and inquired whether he could give them any intelligence respecting him. The old man advised them to apply to the oracle. Tavai at once started off to the residence of the famous priest. Without ceremony they opened the door and entered. The priest sharply asked "What stranger is this that has dared to come to my land?" Tavai, annoyed at this brusque reception, struck the priest on his head,

causing him to writhe in agony.

Having thus humbled the priest, he asked him where Oema was. The priest replied, "Yonder-he is dead. Go on until you meet an old woman- -she has charge of the corpse."

At length they met an aged woman, and inquired where the dead body of Oemā was deposited. She promptly replied, "In the 'stercus' hole." The brothers said, "Go, then, and fetch it." They closely followed the old hag. On coming to the place, they found that he had long been dead, for only the skeleton remained. They tenderly took up the bones and wrapped them in a mat. They next killed the old woman, and burnt down her house. Not satisfied with this, they slew the priest and the first person they had met, and set fire to their dwellings.

Finally, these brave boys, Arii and Tavai, made their way back to this upper world, bringing to Ouri the bones of her long-lost husband. In doing this they traversed the old road, the chasm opening up again as the words taught by their wise-hearted mother were uttered by Tavai.

Compare this with the myths entitled, "A Bachelor God in Search of a Wife," and "The Wisdom of Manihiki." "Kui-theBlind" figures in all three versions of their ancient faith.

CHAPTER XI.

FAIRY MEN AND WOMEN.

TAPAIRU; OR, FAIRY WOMEN AND MEN.

THE deformed and ugly Miru has her home in the nether-world, where she cooks human spirits in her oven. Her son Tautiti presides over the dance called by his name.1 Besides Tautiti,

the pitiless spirit-eater has four daughters, called Tapairu, or peerless ones, on account of their matchless beauty. They delight to make their appearance in this upper world whenever a dance is performed in honour of their brother. Thus, if a dance took place anywhere in the northern half of the island, they would be sure to make their appearance that evening at sunset, bathing at a little shady stream named Auparu (= soft-dew). These fairies would then climb the almost perpendicular hill overlooking the fountain, in order to dry themselves and to arrange their beautiful tresses in the moonbeams, ere proceeding to witness the

1 The graceful "Tautiti" dance stands opposed to the "Crab," in which the side movements of that fish are most disagreeably imitated. Dances always took place by moonlight.