The Production of Fire, hika ahi.

Fire was produced by the usual Polynesian method of rubbing a pointed stick along a longitudinal groove made in another. An assistant may hold the under piece of wood. Fig. 54.

Figure 54.
Production of fire, hika ahi.

The best wood to use is the banyan, aoa, but various other woods were used. The under piece is termed the kau ati. The upper active piece is the kau rima from the fact that the rima, hands, are actively used in its manipulation. It is shaped in the form of a wedge in front and cut away below. Fig. 55. The two hands are clasped over the kau rima which is rubbed along the kau ati until a groove is formed. When the groove deepens, the small particles of wood collect at the front end of the groove. page 52The rubbing increases in speed and the rapid friction causes the fine particles to smoulder. The judicious application of gentle blowing causes it to light up. This process of

Figure 55.
The shaping of the fire stick.

a.—From above. b.—From the side.

rubbing is called hika ahi. If the fire does not come quickly the operator spits on the kau rima and rubs it on the ground. This no doubt causes some coarse particles to stick to the kau rima and increases the friction.

The dry textile-looking sheath at the base of the cocoanut leaves, kaka niu, is used to kindle a fire from the smouldering particles on the kau ati. A piece was twisted (taviri) loosely and kept or carried about for kindling purposes.

Pehe for producing fire.
"Taviri, taviri te ure o Hiro.
Ka hanake e Hiro
Ki muri i te tua o Maina
Ka hika ai tana ahi e
Ka ka!"

"Twist, twist the fibres of Hiro!
Come up O Hiro
Behind the back of Maina Island
And then rub for fire.
It is alight!"

The comparison of the twisted cocoanut sheath material to Hiro, the famous navigating ancestor, was not an insult but, according to my informants, by reciting his name in such an important duty as fire-making, it helped to perpetuate and honour his name.

The Earth Oven, umu.

Apart from grilling, all cooking was done in the earth oven, umu. In the settlements, the umu was in the rounded open end of the cooking house. A round shallow hole was page 53dug in the earth and, in some cases, the sides were lined with stones to prevent the earth falling in. The hole was not quite so deep as in the Maori umu.

The stones used for heating were the kind known as pohata maori as they do not crack or splinter. The stone called pohatu aoa was not used, as it splinters and flies when heated. In temporary ovens by the seaside or at the cultivations, if a pohatu aoa is put on the fire by the inexperienced, it is very quickly scraped off by the older people.

Oven Covers, rau tao.

There are no plaited bands used to build up a rim round the circumference of the oven as in New Zealand. Neither are plaited mats used as covers, but their place is taken by a covering of leaves. The leaves of the young hau are most commonly used, as the plant grows everywhere. These leaves may be over 10 inches wide. The breadfruit and other leaves are also used. The manner in which they are sewn together is ingenious and merits description.

Two or three leaves are placed with the stalks together and the same surface upwards. With a pointed stick, a hole is pierced through one quadrant. The stalks of two other leaves are passed through the hole and the leaves flattened out so that they will overlap the next quadrant of the two foundation leaves. Fig. 56A. Another hole is pierced and the stalks of two more leaves passed through. These are rotated again to overlap the next quadrant of the foundation leaves. A third hole is pierced and the stalks of two more leaves passed through. These are rotated to cover the last quadrant of the foundation leaves. A fourth hole is pierced and two more stalks passed through. We have thus four sets of leaves symmetrically arranged as in Fig. 56B, with their stalks protruding

Figure 56.
Oven cover. Commencement technique.

Figure 57.
Oven cover. Fixation of leaf stalks.

page 54 through the foundation leaves on the under surface. Each added pair has also passed through the overlap of the previous pair.

The leaves are now turned over and the stalks fixed. The four pairs of stalks form the four corners of a square, Fig. 57A. Commencing with any pair, they are bent round the inner side of the next pair and twisted round them twice. This second pair is bent across at right angles to pass on the inner side of the third pair. The free ends of the first pair are to the outer side of the second and are effectively fixed in position. The second pair takes two twists round the third pair which is bent over at right angles to fix the second and to pass to the inner side of the fourth pair round which it makes two twists. The fourth pair must make two twists round the first pair to complete the fixation. The first pair is now lying horizontally, so the fourth pair must pass under it near its point of emergence, take two twists round it and finish with the free ends to the outside, Fig. 57B. In the figure, for the sake of convenience, the pairs of leaf stalks are merely represented by one. In this manner, the layer of leaves is firmly fixed together.

Figure 58.
Oven cover, rau tao.

To increase the circumference of the cover, the leaves are turned over. Another series of holes are pierced on a wider circuit and leaf stalks passed through. The leaves are turned over and the leaf stalks fixed as before. See Fig. 58, which shows that eight sets of leaves were added in the second layer. More layers can be added if necessary. The success of the technique depends on the leaf stalks passing on the inner side of the following set.

These covers are used several times. The name rau tao is derived from rau, leaf, and tao, to cook in an earth oven.

Food Platforms, Pahata.

A platform of poles was often provided in the cook-houses to support the small reserve stocks of taro and other foods that were brought in from the cultivations. Such raised platforms or shelves were termed pahata. Taking away the common prefix pa, we have hata which is exactly the same as the Maori whata.

Food Stretchers, Pahata.

A movable stretcher of light poles was made for carrying food to a feast. Three poles about 8 feet long were laid longitudinally. Cross pieces were laid above them and lashed with hau bark. Above these, poles were tied along each side and across the ends to form a shallow tray. The stretcher, which was also called a pahata, was covered with banana leaves and the special cooked foods for the feast were piled upon it. As it was an occasion for rejoicing, garlands of flowers and shells (hei) were hung round the pahata. The loaded stretcher was carried by several people on their shoulders to make an imposing appearance as well as to relieve the weight.

On lifting from the ground to the shoulders, an appropriate chant was recited to give the time for the movements.

Pehe for lifting food pahata.
Ka tama tiki hia—
Ka tama rangi a—
Ka hapai nuku,
Ka hapai rangi,
Ka hapahapaina a te rangi e.
Ka rutakina.

Solo:

Ka Mimo
Ka Mimo
Ka Mimo

Chorus:

Hui
Hui
Hui o—

page 56

Stretch down to grasp—
Up to the heavens—
Lift the earth,
Lift the heavens,
Lift to the very skies.

Solo:

Mimo
Mimo
Mimo

Chorus:

All together
All together
All together o—

With every line after the second, the stretcher is raised a little higher until with the long drawn hui o, it is placed on the shoulders.

In the legend of Varokura, a pahata plays an important part. The deserted wife, Varopana, on the advice of the blind witch, Kui, prepared a stretcher of choice foods as the only means of enticing her husband, Varokura, back from the underworld or the hidden land of Taki-nuku-akau. On it were placed the choicest bananas of those days.

They were:—

Aha	Tuhanga
Tapua	Torotea
Kiri mangeo	Haumarei
Koputea

The pahata was lowered down the opening leading to the Underworld to the accompaniment of the following charm:—

Charm to entice Varokura.
Ko rua i te tūku
Ko rua i te korei hau e!
Ka tutūku,
Ka tutūku te hata mānga
A mahine Varo-pana
Ki raro ki Haivaiki.
Taviri, taviri, totoia.
Ka hanake e Varo
Ka hanake e Varo
Ki te nguturua i Katurangi
Ka hanake!

It is the hole for lowering down,
It is the hole for the food stretcher.
The lowering commences.
The platform of food is lowered,
(The food) of Mistress Varo-pana,
Down to Havaiki
Twist, twist, lift.
Come up O Varo!
Come up O Varo!
To the hole's mouth in the world above.
Come up!

Korei hau in the second line literally means "the rods of hibiscus," from which the stretcher was made. Varo-kura, attracted by the scent of food, climbed on to the stretcher and was speedily drawn up into the world of light.

The legend is built round the sea-centipede, which is supposed to be inveigled out of its hole by reciting the above charm.

The Carrying Pole, oka.

Food, or any burden is carried balanced on the ends of a pole carried horizontally over one shoulder. This is the balance pole used throughout Polynesia. A stout pole

Figure 59.
Notch in oka carrying pole.

of hau is used and a notch may be cut at either end to prevent the burden from slipping off, Fig. 59, or it may be tied to the pole with hibiscus bark.

Throughout Polynesia, the name for the balance pole is usually amo or some variation of it. In Aitutaki, the name is oka and the word amo is not used. To carry on the shoulder is hapai, and to carry on the back, hakapiki. The word oka, as applied to the balance pole, is old. When the ancestor Ruatapu arrived, he is said to have brought the first cocoanuts. The place where they were carried ashore was named Okaoka from the balance pole on which they were borne to the land.