Matahōrua

This was the first canoe which came to New Zealand. It was a twin of the Aotea, and was given to Kura-maro-tini. Reti became the chief of it, and navigated it. Kura-maro-tini's husband, Hotu-rapa, went out fishing with Kupe, who killed Hotu-rapa, and then carried off the woman. He sailed away till he reached the islands of New Zealand; passing down the East Coast he reached Cook Strait, and crossed to the Tory Channel, where he killed the huge sea-dragon, Wheke-o-muturangi. He left marks at a place now supposed to be the Patea River, and returned to Hawaiki, where he instructed Turi how to sail to find New Zealand in the Aotea canoe.

References

Sources

  • Tregear, Edward. (1891). Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington: Government Printer, p. 22.
  • White, John. (1887). Ancient History of the Maori. 6 vols. Wellington: G. Didsbury, Government Printer, pp. 2:179-180.

This article incorporates text from Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary (1891) by Edward Tregear, which is in the public domain.