But one of the gods--no man knoweth which--angry because Ngahue persuaded so many to leave the land of their birth, set fire to Hawaiki to destroy all therein. But Rangi sent a storm of rain upon the land, so that the fire was utterly killed, save for certain few sparks which hid among the trees where the rain could not reach them, and there abode for ever. Wherefore it is that, if a man rub together two pieces of wood, fire will issue therefrom. And now, a fleet having been built--some say at one place, some at another, but most at Rarotonga--a great company assembled and filled the double canoes, whereof the names were Arawa, Matatua, Tainui, Takitumu, Kurahaupo, Tokomaru, Matawhaorua, Aotea, and more whose names are forgotten. [Illustration: Farewell to Hawaiki] Family by family they embarked, taking great store of seeds of _kumara_,[16] _karaka_[17] berries and gourds, together with _pukeko_,[18] dogs, and rats. Thus they set sail in company from the land of their birth. But an evil spirit let loose a tempest upon them, so that the fleet was scattered, and each canoe must sail upon its own course, its captain having no pilot, but only the knowledge which Ngahue had imparted to the high chiefs. Yet by the grace of Atua they all came safe to the land which Maui had fished up from the sea. Aotea, Arawa, Tainui, and the rest, all were beached at last, and the exiles bade one another farewell and wandered here and there over the land, each family making choice where they would dwell. Nor was the choice too easy, since every place was so beautiful and inviting. But at last they came to rest, and thus from the beginning was Te Ika a Maui peopled by the friends and followers of Ngahue; and their seed, multiplying as the spores upon the fern, founded and established the nations which compose the Maori Race. NOTE.--According to another tradition, the first Maori explorer was Rakahaitu, a chief, who landed in the South Island about one thousand years ago. Other traditions, again, give the credit of discovery to Kupe. In August of this year, an interesting find was made on the south coast of the North Island, in the shape of an ancient stone anchor. This is held by experts to have been used by Kupe, whose canoes, buried under huge mounds of earth, still rest upon the heights to which the adventurers dragged them after landing. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: The island--true site unknown--whence the ancestors of the Maori emigrated, according to tradition, to New Zealand.] [Footnote 2: Obsidian, or volcanic glass.] [Footnote 3: The Lament for the Dead.] [Footnote 4: The Abode of the Shades.] [Footnote 5: House. In Maori there are no silent vowels. Thus whare "wharry," not "whar"; kupe "ku-pe," not "koop."] [Footnote 6: Maori names were frequently bestowed on account of mental or physical peculiarities, or of real or fancied resemblance to natural objects.] [Footnote 7: Poor, low-born men to do menial work.]