A MAORI LEGEND.
Ruatapu was one of the sons of Ouenuku the Great,* by his wife Paimahutanga. This young chieftain was very forward, and in order to check this rising propensity, his father said to him one day, 'lt is not becoming of you to go up to yourj elder brother's house; you are a son of low condition an allusion, most probably to his mother, who was a person of inferior rank. Thi3 saying sunk into the heart of Ruatapu,and he determined to punish his father in the destruction of some of the fairest of his people. He, therefore, ordered a canoe to be made, which he named 'Huripureiata,' and when ready for sea, he invited the sons of the neighbouring chiefs, to the number of one hundred and forty, to accompany him on a visit to some distant Isle. Before the party put to sea, Ruatapu; dexterously contrived to make a hole in the bottom of the canoe, which he covered with one of his feet. When they had paddled along time,and were far from land, Ruatapu removed his foot, and allowed
the water to rush into the canoe, which immediately swamped, and all on boad perished, except a chief named Paikea, who was endowed with supernatural power, and changed himself into a fish. In this, his new form, he swam for many days crossed the great Ocean, and landed at a place near the Great Barrier. Having gained the shore in good spirits, he resumed his human form, ana fixed his residence on the eastern shore of New Zealand. Some of the surrounding tribes claim this extraordinaty being as their ancestor, and proudly quote the proverb :—'How wondrous was the work of Paikea, the man who transformed himself into a fish !' * Ouenuku—a Maori dcitv, whose residence is said to be in the red clouds which sometimes adorn the eastern and western sky ; supposed also to inhabit the rainbow. Many ancient chiefs took this appellation; another name was attached, however to distinguish these great personages, as >stenuku-nui, ojienuku-kuare, ■ ouenuku-tuwliatu, &e.^—i)A\) X * ;
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Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume I, Issue 3, 1 March 1855, Page 31
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343A MAORI LEGEND. Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume I, Issue 3, 1 March 1855, Page 31
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