Te Kanawa

Te Kanawa, a Waikato chief, goes out with his party to catch kiwis. Night finds them at the top of Puke-more, where they make a fire and settle beneath the roots of a large tree. Voices approach through the forest: men, women and children seem to be coming, yet the hunters cannot see them. Te Kanawa understands the visitors to be fairies. His companions are so frightened that they cannot decide where to flee in the dark.

The troop draws close to the fire and peers at Te Kanawa from behind the tree's high roots. Whenever the fire flares, the visitors retreat; when it dims, they return and sing. Te Kanawa offers the carved greenstone ornament from his neck, a carved jade ear-drop and an earring made from a tiger-shark tooth. He hangs them on a stick rather than letting the crowd reach him. The fairies pass patterns of the ornaments from one to another, then suddenly disappear.

In the morning the originals are still there. Te Kanawa takes them back and descends the mountain, ending the hunt.