canoe named Raupo also left this island in former days, but she went in another direction, to Tuanaki. Kaka-tu-ariki was the captain of Raupo. His friend, Tiare, stole ten bundles of atarroi (coco-nuts cooked in a certain fashion), hence he left for Tuanaki.
"A man named Ava formerly came to this country; he landed at Poko-inu (west of Avarua). He came from Iva. It was he who brought the kokopu (a fresh-water fish) here first, hence the name Vai-kokopu near here, of which the old name was Avana-nui, a name given to it by Atǎ. The migrations to this land occurred in this order: Tangaroa, Aio, Tangiia—Ava came after Tangiia.[1]
"The fleet of canoes I have mentioned left here to go in search of another country for their crews, as Rarotonga was fully occupied when they came, and they also went to look for the toka-matie. There were two kinds of stone used in making tokis (adzes) in ancient times, the toka-matie and the karā. The toka-matie was taken to New Zealand and the karā left here. The toka-matie belonged to Ina. It was Ngaue who hid the toka-matie so that Ina should not find it. Ngaue went to New Zealand to hide the toka-matie. When he was at New Zealand, he saw some great birds there as high as the wall-plate of this house (about ten feet), they are called the Moa. Ngaue brought back part of those birds preserved in an ipu (calabash) as well as the toka-matie. These were the two things he brought back. It was after Ngaue returned that the fleet of canoes sailed for New Zealand, but I don't know how long after. It was because
- ↑ There is a Maori tradition that Awa-morehurehu went from New Zealand to Hawaiki. He lived two generations before the fleet arrived here in 1350. Little is known of the story of this Awa, however. It was in answer to my question as to this Awa that the old man replied as above. The date agrees well with that of Awa-morehurehu.
