fire and
watched his mother.

Maui's mother was the guardian of the way to the invisible world. When
she desired to pass from her home to the other world, she would open a
black rock and pass inside. Thus she went to Hawaiki, the under-world.
Maui planned to follow her, but first studied the forms of birds that he
might assume the body of the strongest and most enduring. After a time
he took the shape of a pigeon and, flying to the black rock, passed
through the door and flew down the long dark passage-way.

After a time he found the god of fire living in a bunch of banyan
sticks. He changed himself into the form of a man and demanded the
secret of fire.

The fire god agreed to give Maui fire if he would permit himself to be
tossed into the sky by the god's strong arms.

Maui agreed on condition that he should have the right to toss the fire
god afterwards.

The fire-god felt certain that there would be only one exercise of
strength--he felt that he had everything in his own hands--so readily
agreed to the tossing contest. It was his intention to throw his
opponent so high that when he fell, if he ever did fall, there would be
no antagonist uncrushed.

He seized Maui in his strong arms and, swinging him back and forth,
flung him upward--but the moment Maui left his hands he changed himself
into a feather and floated softly to the ground.

Then the boy ran swiftly to the god and seized him by the legs and
lifted him up. Then he began to increase in size and strength until he
had lifted the fire god very high. Suddenly he tossed the god upward and
caught him as he fell--again and again--until the bruised and dizzy god
cried enough, and agreed to give the victor whatever he demanded.

Maui asked for the secret of fire producing. The god taught him how to
rub the dry sticks of certain kinds of trees together, and, by friction,
produce fire, and especially how fire could be produced by rubbing fire
sticks in the fine dust of the banyan tree.

A Society Island legend says Maui borrowed a sacred red pigeon,
belonging to one of the gods, and, changing himself into a dragon fly,
rode this pigeon through a black rock into Avaiki (Hawaiki), the
fire-land of the under-world. He found the god of fire, Mau-ika, living
in a house built from a banyan tree. Mau-ika taught Maui the kinds of
wood into which when fire went out on the earth a fire goddess had
thrown sparks in order to preserve fire. Among these were the "au"
(H