Snatch, snatch at your own head,
Perishing in the Night of Darkness,
In the Night of Death—Death.
Whakahokitu
Is the name given to forms of makutu employed to counteract the curse of some other tohunga, or wiseman; for whoever practises makutu, even though he be skilled in the art, may have to yield to the mana of some other wise-man who can command the assistance of a more powerful Atua. The following is a specimen of this kind of makutu—
Great curse, long curse,
Great curse, binding curse,
Binding your sacredness
To the tide of destruction.
Come hither, sacred spell.
To be looked on by me.
Cause the curser to lie low
In gloomy Night, in dark Night,
In the Night of ill-omen.
Great wind, lasting wind,
Changing wind of Rangi above.
He falls. He perishes.
Cause to waste away the curser tohunga.
Let him bite the oven-stones.
Be food for me,
The tapu and the mana,
Of your Atua,
Of your karakia,
Of your tohunga.
Among the Atua much held in awe by the Maori were the Atua noho-whare, or house-dwelling gods—spirits of the germs of unborn infants. They are also known by
