Ca8-27 is a peculiar hônu glyph with a long 'peg' at bottom and it presumably illustrates how at new moon a new fire will be alighted, possibly by fire drilling (which, though, is not the usual Polynesian method to light fires). In Ca5-17 a similar hônu maybe ignites the new sun fire in midwinter:


Ca5-17	Ca5-18	Ca5-19

The back-to-back persons (Ca8-28--29 respectively Ca5-18--19) are the old and new periods, i.e. the Janus concept - called Takurua in Polynesian.

We should notice how the position of hônu immediately before takurua takes on a more profound meaning when we consider the numerical facts: Ca9-1--2 are the two first nights of the new month and the creator of the text has ingeniously arranged them to also initiate a new line (Ca9).

Ca8-28 is the last night of the old month in which moon is visible, while in Ca8-29 the moon is dark. Likewise, Ca5-18 presumably signifies the last time sun is present, while Ca5-19 is a vero time. 360 / 2 = 180 days measures a 'year' and 180 is 18 'decades'.

Hônu, therefore, is present while the old 'light' still is 'alive'.