leaves on each side of her, that their presence as spirits might not be discovered, as their ethereal lightness would be unable to destroy the leaves. If she did not do this, they (the sisters) might be caught and destroyed by the wizards and spirit-catchers.
The contestants took their places, the maiden and her friends seated on the large green leaves. The anxious Kauhi bent forward eagerly to scan the features of the rosy maiden, but too well he saw that her eyes were those of a mortal, and that his wager was already lost. Kaea the wizard saw the rending of the leaves which the virgin quietly carried on, and acknowledged her as being of flesh and blood, but he declared that he felt the presence of supernatural creatures. The judge Aka, the grandfather of Kaha, sarcastically advised the wizard to try to see the faces of the spirits in an open calabash of water. Kaea assented, but upon the water being brought in, he unwisely bent over it, and saw only the reflection of his own face. This was seen at the same time by Aka, who knowing that the reflection was the spirit of the wizard, crushed it between his hands, and Kaea fell dead beside the calabash. Aka then acknowledged Kaha to be really his grandchild and no false spirit in her semblance, but the king’s curiosity had
