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The following narrative shows the cause which led Turi, the ancestor of the Whanganui tribes, to emigrate to New Zealand, and the manner in which he reached these islands.
Hoimatua, a near relation of Turi, had a little boy named Pōtikiroroa. This young fellow was sent one day with a message to Uenuku, who was an ariki, or chief high priest, to let him know that a burnt offering had been made to the gods, of which Uenuku, as ariki, was to eat part, and the little fellow accidentally tripped and fell down in the very doorway of Wharekura, the house of Uenuku, and this being a most unlucky omen, Uenuku was dreadfully irritated, and he laid hold of the little fellow and ate him up, without even having the body cooked, and so the poor boy perished.