There is a class of dreams called _moe-papa_, which are very unlucky: and if any one has one of these dreams, he will avoid going on a projected journey; for it is firmly believed that should he persist in going he will fall into an enemy’s ambush, or meet with some other misfortune. Hence the proverbial remark, if a person has neglected such a warning, and has fallen in with a war-party, “He was warned by a _moe-papa_, and yet went.” The kind of sleep denoted by this word is described to be the climbing a precipice, the wandering astray in a forest, entering a house, climbing a tree. Such dreams are death warnings. They appear to be such as we term night-mare. The startings of the limbs or body during sleep are called _takiri_, some of which are lucky, and some unlucky, each kind being distinguished by a special name. The lucky _takiri_ are— The _hokai_, or starting of the leg or foot in a forward direction. It denotes the repulse of the enemy. The _tauaro_, or starting of the arm towards the body. The _whakaara_, when in sleep the head starts upwards. It signifies that ere long the _Ariki_ or his father will arrive. The _kapo_, a very lucky sign. While a man sleeps with his right arm for a pillow, if the arm starts so as to strike his head, on awaking he will not mention it to his companions; for he knows by this omen that in the next battle which takes place it will be his good fortune to kill the first man of the enemy. The unlucky _takiri_ are— The _kohera_, a starting of the arm and leg of one side of the body in an outward direction. The _peke_, a starting of the arm outwards from the body. The _whawhati_, a sleep in which the legs, the neck, and the head are bent doubled up towards the belly. This is very unlucky. The evil will not come to another person, but attends the man himself. The former _takiri_ do not necessarily denote evil to the individual sleeper, but to any of his companions. CHAPTER IV. RELIGIOUS RITES OF THE MAORI. Tantum Relligio potuit suadere.—_Lucretius_.