now liberally scattered the scraped cocoa-nut over the waters whilst chanting a long incantation to his finny subjects. Koro quickly caught up the words, and treasured them in his memory for his own use at some future period. To the infinite delight of the son, the smaller inhabitants of the reef at once obeyed the call of their lord, and came to taste the food provided for their entertainment. At length the voice of Tinirau was heard by the larger fish in the great ocean, who hurried to the feet of their sovereign. Ere the incantation ended, the Sacred Isle itself came bodily from its proper place to the edge of the reef! Thus the entire throng of Tinirau's obedient subjects assembled on the moving Sacred Isle, and changing their forms into a partial resemblance to human beings, came dancing to meet their lord— who, being himself in his true attributes, half man and half fish, gladly united with them in their dance, which was of the famous sort called "Tautiti," in which hands and feet all move at the same time. The subjects, like their sovereign, were all arrayed in necklaces of sweet-scented pandanus seeds, which grow plentifully over the native home of Tinirau. The Sacred Islet, king, finny subjects and all, started off, and were speedily lost to sight in the distant ocean. Koro returned home to the interior, satisfied as to the real cause of his father's frequent disappearance in past times.

A day or two afterwards Tinirau returned to his son, all fragrant as before, with a pandanus fruit necklace, but entirely ignorant that Koro had witnessed his proceedings on his last visit to the Sacred Isle. It was some time ere "the king of fish" started off again on a midnight expedition; but when he did so he did not escape the vigilance of his watchful son, who was anxious to perfect his knowledge of the necessary invocations.

Again with a single hand the old man climbed the tree, threw down the nuts, and descended to the ground. Again he traversed the lonely path to the sea by moonlight, carrying with him a great quantity of finely scraped cocoa-nut. At the projecting piece of rock overlooking the ocean he scattered food for his marine children. The invocation over, fish, islet, and all came again to the feet of the mighty Tinirau, who exultingly joined his merry subjects in their favourite employment of dancing by moonlight. Koro gained his object: he had learned the magic words, and therefore went home well satisfied with himself. On the following night he, in his turn, climbed a cocoa-nut as his father had done, and then carried the finely scraped kernel to "the calling place" where Tinirau had performed his wonderful feats. Now was the time to test his own powers as the son of the king of all fish. Reciting the prayers, he scattered the rich food on the waters, when, to his delight, the fish obeyed the summons, swimming in shoals to his feet. The Sacred Isle, too, with all its vast preserves of fish, soon hove in sight. Amongst its finny inhabitants he had the joy of recognizing his own father, Tinirau, in the merry throng of moonlight dancers. Koro at once joined this novel assembly, when his father greeted him thus: "Son, this, then, is why you hid away my girdle."

Arrayed like the rest in beautiful necklaces of fragrant pandanus berries, father and son that night, and ever after when so inclined, enjoyed the pleasure of a prolonged midnight dance with their finny subjects on the Sacred Isle. It was the renowned Koro who conferred on the inhabitants of Mangaia the favour of planting the first pandanus tree close to the spot (Akatangi) where he was accustomed to summon his scaly friends. He instructed the inhabitants in the mysteries of dancing. His

time was spent half at the Sacred Isle and half on the northern shore of Mangaia, which is thence named Atua-Koro, 1 i.e. the land of the divine Koro."

1 Every return of March shoals of bream (ature) find their way to AtuaKoro. The name of Tinirau's daughter is Ature. Of course there is a play upon the name of the beautiful silvery fish which every year visits that part, and that only, of the island, as if the sister and her attendants were paying a visit to the chosen home of her brother Koro.