Kupe

Kupe and Ngote followed the giant octopus Muturangi along the east coast while Ngote's canoe sped after him. Their pursuit carried them past places that Kupe discovered and named, until they reached the southern tip of the North Island. Muturangi was enormous, with a body twenty-four feet wide and tentacles stretching two hundred and forty feet. Ngote's plan drew Muturangi towards the calabashes, while Kupe waited nearby with his paoa. At the southern tip of North Island, the pursuit became a battle.

Ngote devised the plan. He threw several large calabashes into the ocean, and Muturangi mistook them for human beings. The octopus attacked the floating objects. Kupe waited on the side with his paoa, a stone axe, and struck hard at Muturangi's head and eyes. He continued until the giant was dead. At that moment Kupe looked up and saw the snow-capped mountains of the South Island, a sight he had not seen before. Kupe and Ngote then explored the South Island and continued discovering places. Muturangi was dead, and Kupe named South Island Ara-Paoa after his powerful axe.