Pungarehu

A man who, with his friend Koko-muka-hau-nei, was driven to sea in his canoe by a storm, and landed in a strange country inhabited by the Nuku-mai-tore fairies. Disgusted with the elves for eating raw flesh, Pungarehu made fire by friction and cooked some of the flesh of a whale, of which they all partook. These fairies were much troubled by the visits of a huge pouakai (a man-eating bird), but Pungarehu slew it with his stone axe. The two friends set out and arrived safely in their own land again.

References

Sources

  • Tregear, Edward. (1891). Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington: Government Printer, p. 375.
  • White, John. (1887). Ancient History of the Maori. 6 vols. Wellington: G. Didsbury, Government Printer, p. 2:33.

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