place very distant, and probably in Indonesia,[1] for on their return, they first called in at Uea or Wallis Island, from where, after much drum beating, etc., they proceeded on to Upōlu, but had to return to Uea for one of their trumpets left behind. Here they were joined by Katu, and thence came back to Upōlu, where more ceremonies were performed, and a song composed, alluding to their adventures.
From Kupolu (Upōlu) Tangiia, sailed back to Iti (Fiji), where they fell in with Iro, a very noted ancestor of Rarotongans and Maoris, called by the latter Whiro. After some time, Tangiia asks Iro "Where is thy son? I want him as an ariki for my people, my sons being dead." "He is away at Rapa, where I have settled him." Said Tangiia, "I will go after him and fetch him as an ariki for my people," to which Iro consented. This son of Iro's was Tai-te-ariki, whose name is still borne by Maoris now living in New Zealand, and who are descended from him. It was from Tai-te-ariki also, that the long line of arikis who have ruled over the Ngati-Tangiia tribe of Rarotonga down to my friend Pa-ariki, the present worthy chief of Nga-Tangiia, are descended. Maori and Rarotongan history and chants are full of the adventures of this ancestor of theirs—Iro, or Whiro—who is also known as an ancestor of the Tahitians.
Tangiia now started from Fiji on his long voyage to Rapa-nui or Easter Island to fetch Tai-te-ariki, a voyage dead against the trade wind, and 4,200 miles in length. No doubt he called at many islands on the way, but they are not mentioned. There he found Tai-te-ariki, who, at that time, was called Taputapu-atea, and after explaining
- ↑ I have already shown the probability of Avaiki-te-varinga being Java, or, it may be that the name is here used for some of the neighbouring islands, Ceram, or the Celebes.
