A CURSE SUGGESTED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 239, 18 November 1940, Page 8

A CURSE SUGGESTED

LATER BELIED SAFETY OF THE RANG ITI'KI When the fate of the Rangitiki, New Zealand trade liner, "was nn doubt after she had reported an attack by a raider in the Atlantic, the Maoris of Rotorua, presuming' her loss, were sure of a simple ex-* planation of the vessel's disappearance.

More than that, they have been certain almost since the vessel was launched that sooner or later it would meet an untimely end. Their explanation is that there is a hoodoo or Makuta on the Rangitiki, due to a careless painting of a Maori, warrior which is one of the chief decorative features of the vessel. Above the main stairway there is a mural painting of a Maori warrior armed with a, taiaha in a similar position to that shown on the back of the New Zealand shilling. As on the shilling, the warrior is shown in a position which would have proved fatal to any old-time warrior; not only is the weapon held incorrectly, but the warrior is looking up, wlyneas in battle 'life

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would have had his gaze fixed on the feet of his adversary from which his experienced eye could gain some sign of the preparedness of li.is opponent. As soon as this became known, to some of the Maori elders In the district shortly after tlvi Rangitiki paid its first visit to Auelc land, they declared that it was an ill'omen.