dently had gone so far away from
home that a strange people was found. The legend which speaks of the
death of his brothers, "eaten" by the great fish drawn up from the floor
of the sea, may very easily mean that the new people killed and ate the
brothers.

Maui apparently learned some new lessons, for on his return he quickly
established a home of his own, and determined to live after the fashion
of the families in the new islands.

Maui sought Hina-a-te-lepo, "daughter of the swamp," and secured her as
his wife. The New Zealand tribes tell legends which vary in different
localities about this woman Hina. She sometimes bore the name
Rau-kura--"The red plume."

She cared for his thatched house as any other Polynesian woman was in
the habit of doing. She attempted the hurried task of cooking his food
before he snared the sun and gave her sufficient daylight for her
labors.

They lived near the bank of a river from which Hina was in the habit of
bringing water for the household needs.

One day she went down to the stream with her calabash. She was entwined
with wreaths of leaves and flowers, as was the custom among Polynesian
women. While she was standing on the bank, Tuna-roa, "the long eel," saw
her. He swam up to the bank and suddenly struck her and knocked her into
the water and covered her with slime from the blow given by his tail.

Hina escaped and returned to her home, saying nothing to Maui about the
trouble. But the next day, while getting water, she was again overthrown
and befouled by the slime of Tuna-roa.

Then Hina became angry and reported the trouble to Maui.

Maui decided to punish the long eel and started out to find his hiding
place. Some of the New Zealand legends as collected by White, state
that Tuna-roa was a very smooth skinned chief, who lived on the opposite
bank of the stream, and, seeing Hina, had insulted her.

When Maui saw this chief, he caught two pieces of wood over which he was
accustomed to slide his canoe into the sea. These he carried to the
stream and laid them from bank to bank as a bridge over which he might
entice Tuna-roa to cross.

Maui took his stone axe, Ma-Tori-Tori, "the severer," and concealed
himself near the bank of the river.

When "the long eel" had crossed the stream, Maui rushed out and killed
him with a mighty blow of the stone axe, cutting the head from the body.

Other legends say that Maui found Tuna-roa living as an eel in a deep
water hole, in a s