Tangaroa on the beach; it was white in colour, and became a common food of the people, almost to the exclusion—as history says—of the vari, or rice. Tangaroa met with some notable adventures with a monster fish called a Moho-roa-i-ata,[1] which is probably intended for an alligator, and which "fish" with a stroke of its tail, inflicted a humiliating defeat on Tangaroa. Tangaroa married Ina, the daughter of Vai-takere; and if this is the same person as mentioned in the genealogical table, the period must be fixed as early as the first century.
We find the names of several countries or islands mentioned that Tangaroa visited (besides the skies), such as Rangi-ura, Vai-ono, Avaiki, Vairau-te-ngangana,[2] Raronuku,[3] Rangi-make, &c.
Vai-takere, Tangaroa's father-in-law, is accredited with the introduction of the bread fruit to the knowledge of his
- ↑ The change from ka to nga being common to the language, we may probably see in this name the Maori Mango-roi-ata.
- ↑ In the Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol. III., p. 105, it will be seen that the Maoris have retained in their traditions the name Wairua-ngangana as the place from which they originally obtained the taro, and introduced it into Hawaiki. The two names are not exactly the same, the u and the a being interchanged. No assistance in identifying the island can be derived from the native habitat of the taro, which seems to have been common to India and Indonesia.
- ↑ This is the island which I suppose to be represented by the name Ao-nuku in Marquesan traditions. (See a former page.)
connection. Kakano is a seed, such as that of the pumpkin, &c. I am not aware if any species of yam bears seeds. Mr. Taylor White (Jour. Poly. Soc, Vol. X., p. 205) suggests that it was the egg of the Maleo, one of the Megapodidae, which is found in the Celebes. It seems to me probable that Mr. White is right. In the original tradition the words are "Tangaroa went away and found a white thing in the sand, and brought it back. His wife was pulverising the vari (rice); he threw the white fruit (ua, a fruit; also means egg) into the vari, and it thereafter became a principal food of that household."
