Aa1-30 Aa1-31
 

The 8th period has the sun waving farewell with his hand, the fingers (light) oriented away from him (indicating that light is vanishing). And tapa mea is slimmer, telling the same story.

The sun in Aa1-30 has the shape of Y on top (= no more growth), i.e. we see the after noon sun.

On the other hand it is no longer a sun compressed from above, he looks like the noon sun:

 

And the sun disc is 'vertical' (= morning sun). The morning sun has grown old.

The right (from us seen) part of Y in Aa1-30 is broader than the left part, which is the opposite pattern to Y in the noon sun. Also the bottom part of Y is broader. More of him is old now.

But we should also think of these two suns as connected. There is a tendency in the rongorongo texts to connect by using the same image but reflected (transformed as in a mirror). The same but opposite. At noon (6th period) the morning sun stops (with a blow from a toki) and will grow no more, and here (8th period) we see him reaching for his end (the next blow).

In Aa1-31 we have tapa mea thinner and its top part is not horizontal:

 

Aa1-19 Aa1-21 Aa1-23 Aa1-25 Aa1-29 Aa1-31
2 3 4 5 7 8
right right left left horizontal left

Possibly Aa1-29 is not horizontal but leaning towards right. Symmetry demands it.

 

It is now time to have a look at what Metoro has chosen to say at these six tapa mea:

Aa1-19 Aa1-21 Aa1-23 Aa1-25 Aa1-29 Aa1-31
2 3 4 5 7 8
right right left left horizontal left
i uhi tapamea e uhi tapamea e hokohuki e uhi tapamea ma te hokohuki e uhi tapamea

What is hokohuki? I cannot find that word in my word lists. We therefore have to examine its two parts, hoko and huki:

 

1. To jump; to rock or swing in rhythm with the chants in festivals, as was the ancient custom; an ancient dance. 2. Number prefix: "in a group of...": hokotahi, alone; hokorua, in a group of two (also companion, e hakarere te kai mo toou hokorua, leave some food for my companion); hakatoru, in a group of three, etc.; hokohía, in a group of how many? Hokohía ana oho koe ki te rano? With how many people will you go to the volcano? Vanaga.

1. To traffic, to trade, to buy, to ransom (hoò); hoòa te kaiga, to buy land. 2. To sport, to play. Churchill.

Move the body to and fro with the rythm of a song. Barthel.
1. Pole attached to the poop from which the fishing-net is suspended: huki kupega. 2. Digging stick. 3. To set vertically, to stand (vt.). 4. Huki á te mahina, said of the new moon when both its horns have become visible. Vanaga.

1. To post up, to publish. 2. To cut the throat (uki). Churchill

Standing upright. Barthel.

M. Spit for roasting. Te Huki = constellation. Makemson.

The fundamental part of hokohuki is huki, some kind of vertical post it seems.

In addition to the above about huki I have a note that huki = "small sticks which close up the ridge of a house. Ha.: hui, the small uniting sticks in a thatched house." This is from Churchill, but I have not noted from where. It must be some of the southeast Polynesian languages, but not Tahitian and not Rapanui.

We should regard the 5th and 6th periods of Tahua as together constituting noon:

    

First the last stage of 'eating' and then the sudden 'blow' by toki (interestingly the word 'blow' can be used in this way to).

Therefore, the 4th and 7th periods are similar (adjacent to noon) and Metoro could have felt the need to get one post up at each one of these periods.