lY WY

D. V. LUCAS

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THE MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

REV. I). V. RUCAS, D.D

THE MAOKIS OF
NEW ZEALAND

By

REV. D. V. LUCAS, D.D.

Author of ‘‘Railway Sermons," “All About Canada,”
" Australia and Homeward,” “ Canaan and Canada,”

” Federation of the British Empire,” etc., etc.

TORONTO
WILLIAM BRIGGS
1910

Copyright. Canada, 1910, by
D. V. LUCAS.

TO

&ir 0anbfcir& firming, 2C.0Li$L<&.

In remembrance of many years of the
warmest and sincerest friendship
this volume is respectfully
dedicated.

INTRODUCTION

It is but right to say to the reader that I spent a year
in New Zealand, visiting almost all parts of the two main
islands, each nearly five hundred miles in length, and had
abundant opportunity, therefore, of observing the native
people of whom I write, preaching to hundreds of them,
visiting them in their villages (pahs) and conversing with
them.

I had the good fortune also to meet and converse with
Sir George Gray, who always, to very old age, took a deep
interest in them and mastered their language, and am very
largely indebted to Sir George for the information given
the reader respecting their poetry and folk-lore.

The whole of Sir George’s works on the Maoris are in my
possession, as also five volumes of Mr. John White’s com¬
plete works on the same subject in both languages. Unfor¬
tunately Mr. White’s fifth volume was burned in a con¬
flagration which consumed the Parliament Buildings and
all their contents. My volumes, therefore, are I., II., III.,
IV. and VI. Fortunately other writers are able to con¬
tribute sufficient matter to almost cover the loss. I say
“ almost,” for Mr. White was the most prolific writer of all
who have written upon this subject.

I sincerely hope that some young native New Zealander

INTRODUCTION.

will take up the subject and give the world a work worthy
of his clever ancestors. For they are ancestors of whom no
man need be ashamed.

I hope, too, that none of his people or any other will
ever “ take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge
to sketch the ruins of St. Paul’s.”

It was my good fortune also to meet several of these
Maori M.P.’s in the New Zealand Parliament in much
less than a century after their fathers had been can¬
nibals.

Surely the world is rapidly progressing. May our God
lift up all the nations. He expects much from us who
have been born into the world in the midst of clearer light.

D. Y. LUCAS.

St. Catharines, April, 1910.

8

CONTENTS

PA0B

Maoris of New Zealand . 15

Their Poets and Musicians . 24

The Story of Ponga - - - . 41

The Runaway . 48

Councils Held - -- ------59

The Feast and the Wedding . 68

The Legend of Toi and Tama - - - - - - 95

The Legend of Maui --------96

The Story of Rata . 110

The Legend of Whakatau ------- 118

ILLUSTRATIONS

Rev. D. V. Lucas, D.D.
Paroto, an M.P. -
A Great Chief and Warrior
Huia (Hoo-yeh) -
Heroine of Rotorua -
Great Chief (Ta-vvhee-o)
Pare Whabreronqonna
Mare Pa-o-re -
A Dwelling -
Entrance to a Cemetery -
Wood Carving -
Wood Carving -
A Dwelling -
Moetara -

PARE

Frontispiece

- 16
- 20
- 22
- 28

- 42

- 44

- 46

- 56

- 84

- 86
- 118
- 122
- 126

THE MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Maoris* of New Zealand

This book tells its readers of cannibals who, contrary to
all our knowledge or imaginings of cannibals, were highly
intelligent, conscientiously moral, artistic, eloquent, poetic
and musical.

Can we truthfully call such people savages? Yet this
has been our describing designation of those who eat human
flesh.

The fact is, these aborigines of New Zealand seem to
have been an exception to all aboriginal races with which
the English have come in contact.

Considering their numbers, which were small compared
with continental races, they offered the strongest and best-
ordered resistance to British forces which Britons ever
met. However, no matter how well equipped with their
native weapons, clubs and spears cannot hold out long
against disciplined soldiers armed with guns and heavier
ordnance.

Do you think it cruel and wicked for civilized men to

* Pronounced Mow-ries.
2

15

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

visit these native people and destroy them by the hundred
or the thousand because they are provided with superior
weapons, when perhaps they would hardly have the courage
to attempt such a task if no better equipped than they?

In the native New Zealander you have a man who appre¬
ciates nothing, in a supposed enemy, except brute force.
If he has to submit to it, when he has done his best, he
does so with a good grace, as he has done in this instance,
and respects it, because he discovers a power superior to his
own.

Their subjugation to civilized power has resulted in a
complete cessation of those tribal wars which were con¬
tinuous, and in which thousands were slain — many more
thousands than those who fell in their resistance to their
conquerors. Now they have peace among themselves as
well as between them and their victors.

The English gave them a written language, which they
had not until they were conquered.

When Sir George Gray, for a time Governor of the
islands, and Mr. John White and others went among them,
and by great kindness and unlimited sympathy made the
natives feel that they were real friends, they found, among
many other interesting things, that for a long time these
people had schools which were open through four months of

16

P A R O T O

A Member of the New Zealand Parliament.

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

each year, to which especially the sons of priests and chiefs
had to go, there to commit to memory histories of their
wars, their traditions, songs and folklore.

Then, by means of the written language, they have given
to the world the wonderful history and aboriginal con¬
ditions of these very remarkable people.

As to their origin, I think there is some ground for
believing that their ancestors came to New Zealand from
the Sandwich Islands.

From whence the natives of the Sandwich Islands came,
it is hard to trace.

The people of those islands deny that their fathers were
ever cannibals.

m

It is very interesting to discover that among the people
of the entire Hawaiian group there was a general knowledge
of those things believed and taught by the Hebrews.

For instance, Captain Cook found during his short stay
among them that the system of refuge cities for the pro¬
tection of the unintentional homicide was almost, if not
fully, identical with that established by Moses and Joshua.

Their ideas respecting the flood tallied well with that
given us in the Pentateuch, and what makes the fact more
striking is that the name among them of the Deliverer who
saved a few of his race by his big canoe was Nui (Noah).

17

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

However, our book deals with the New Zealand people, and
not with the Hawaiians, though there is reasonable evidence
that the former came originally from the more northern
group of islands.

If it may be conceived that they are descendants of the
lost ten tribes of Israel, while it will ever be a puzzle to
discover how their fathers reached these islands, that sup¬
position will explain why there are abundant evidences of
an earlier civilization of no low degree.

It is thought by some that it is not very long since New
Zealand and the continent of Asia were connected by dry
land. The existence of the moa and other wingless and
flightless birds would seem to confirm that idea. These
immense birds, unable to either fly or swim, must have
come upon dry land to this southernmost extremity of the
Asiatic continent and had there made their habitat prior
to the sinking down of the link of land between them and
the larger portion of Asia. Ignoring the claim of those
who argue that the New Zealander came from Hawaii, he
may have found his way to his present home precisely as
the birds and four-footed animals did.

Though their ideas of the flood and of cities of refuge
and other points of resemblance to Hebrew History may
not be so definite and circumstantial as those of the Sand-

18

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

wich Islanders, yet they have well-established ideas, com¬
monly held among them, of the creation of the world and
of the redemption of the world after man had become cor¬
rupt through transgression, as I will show from some of
their poetic effusions.

For there were poets among them who, as the reader will,
I think, readily acknowledge, deserve to rank among
classical poets of Greece and Rome.

Though dark of skin, as a look at the pictures of a few
of them, inserted for the purpose of giving the reader a
fuller knowledge of them, will show, the picture reveals at
once that they are very far removed from the African.
Notice the hair, the forehead, the nose. While these facial
features take him as far away from the negro as the east
is from the west, the eye tells us that he is not a truly
Asiatic or Mongolian.

From whence, then, came he? Let that pass. I do not
know. We will deal with him as we find him.

While holding uniformly very fixed views respecting the
creation of the worlds and the separation of cosmos from
chaos, they had a very strong prejudice towards what they
regarded as orthodoxy.

They held that a god, “Tiki” ( te-Jce ), had made man.
They could not excuse any departure from that belief.

19

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

However, one priest did depart from the true faith as to
this very essential doctrine.

An old warrior, “ Tewera,” extremely orthodox, was very
much offended. The more he thought of it the more
wrathy he became because of the false teaching of the
erratic priest.

When war happened the priests were obliged to take their
place in the ranks and fight like other folks. This erring
priest was killed. Old Tewera got clay and stuffed it into
his mouth and his ears, that no heresy could possibly escape.
Then he made an oven of the proper size for a priest, and,
after heating it, into it he thrust the body of the heretic
and roasted him thoroughly, and kept right on, except at
spells to let his dinner settle, until he ate the heretic
entirely up and scraped his bones, remarking with much
satisfaction that we would have no more of his unorthodox
lies.

0 you preachers, a little loose in your theology, I pray
you keep away from New Zealand, for if old Tewera is not
now alive, some of his descendants may be, and it may not
go well with you.

Heretics, so called, at least, have been roasted often, but
the cannibal seemed to think that the work was not well
done till the heretic was eaten.

20

A GREAT CHIEF AND WARRIOR

*

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

It does not seem that their cannibalism went further, as
a rule, than eating their enemies slain in battle.

Sometimes a successful warrior would preserve the head
of an enemy, especially if well tattooed, and keep it on a
shelf in his house, and now and then take it down and talk
lo it after this fashion: “ So you thought you would run
away from me, did you ? Yes, but my spear was too quick
for you; it caught up to you. Where is your brother?
Killed and roasted to make food for my stomach. Where
is your wife ? There she sits ; mine now. Where are your
sons? There they are, carrying burdens for me; my
slaves.”

You will notice that the head in each picture of a Maori,
male or female, is ornamented by a feather with a white tip.
These ornamental feathers are to the Maori what the
eagle feathers are to the North American Indian. He
could hardly think himself respectably dressed if not
adorned with one or more of these tail-feathers of the huia
( hoo-yeh ). The bird is about the size of a pigeon. The
male and female are exactly alike in shape, size and color,
almost a blue black, the tail-feathers being tipped with
white for about one inch back from the points. The only
difference in the form of the sexes is, the male has a wedge-
shaped beak, somewhat like that of the crow, though a

21

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

little shorter and broader at the base. The female has a
long, bent beak, the size of a lady’s crochet needle, quite
three times as long as that of the male. Without the
stronger, wedge-shaped beak, the male could not peck
through the rough, hard bark of the tree where he hears a
large white grub gnawing. The grub, disturbed by the
pecking, draws away from it as far as he can, so that the
bird with his thick beak cannot reach him when the bark
is pecked through. He whistles for his mate, who runs
her long, thin, curved beak into the hole until she reaches
the grub, and, having pulled him out, a dividend is declared.

For some years it was thought by the white people that
the long-beaked bird was the male, because it seemed to be
feeding the other.

It is a standing joke in New Zealand that the bill of
the female is always the longest.

This queer provision of nature to provide for the wants
of this bird gives it a notoriety and popularity which is
appreciated by the natives, who regard the tail-feathers of
the huia as of great value, especially as the bird is not
very common. In fact, it is very difficult to obtain now.

The other queer-looking, twisted-up ornament hanging
around the neck of one of the young women is a token
indicating that she is of royal blood, her father being either

22

mmm

HU I A ( HOO-VHH )

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

a very great chief or a king. She would not dare to wear
it if she could not establish her right to do so.

All things belonging to a chief or great warrior or king
are taboo to the common people. To handle his spear or
war-club, or to put on a coat of his, or his mat over your
shoulders, is grossly to insult his highness, and revenge
must ensue. The insulted one is so enraged that he has
not always time to hunt up the wrong-doer. Anyone near
to him will do just as well. A slave or a brother or parent
is attacked and slain.

Some one near of kin, not knowing how the trouble
originated, must seek revenge by retaliation. He perhaps
slays two. Then the feud begins to make headway.

Quarrels of this kind, and with no larger origin, used to
run on for years, till hundreds or sometimes thousands
were slain.

The worst wars were those which occurred between the
inhabitants of the two main islands. New Zealand consists
principally of two islands, each about five hundred miles
long, separated by about twenty miles of water called Cook’s
Straits. The Maoris of the lower or southernmost island
were the more aggressive of the two, and wars of the
severest kind were fought in the northern island, those
from the south having crossed the straits and attacked the

23

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

northern tribes for some trivial reason, or often for no
reason at all, save that the fighting spirit was in them and
could not be gratified without the shedding of blood. They
were fierce fighters, and their conflicts were no child’s play.

Their Poets and Musicians.

That they should have had warriors, and sometimes very
eloquent warriors, does not surprise us, for all who are at all
familiar with the conditions of aboriginal peoples are aware
of the existence of such among them, even where there was
no written language, or no means of intellectual education ;
but that they should have had poets worthy of being classed
with some of the classical poets of ancient times, and while
they were yet cannibals, is almost beyond our belief, and
would be wholly so if our faith were not supported by the
most reliable testimony.

The reading world will always be indebted to Sir George
Gray, Mr. J ohn White, and a few others not so well known,
for going among them, mastering their tongue and making
themselves thoroughly familiar with their folklore and
their ancient customs.

Their poets, in their natural imagery, allowed their
thoughts to move so rapidly that they could not attend
very largely to detail. The natural simile was seized upon

24

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

or alluded to at one or two striking points only, and these

/

of the most lively phases. The setting sun, the red even¬
ing sky, the twinkling of a star, the rising moon or
breaking dawn, the flash of the lightning or the rolling
thunder, the hooting of an owl or the roaring of the sea
— almost all phenomena of nature were woven into their
songs.

Their poetry may be classified as lyrical, historical and
ceremonial. Their lyrical poetry contains martial, venge¬
ful, taunting, humorous and exciting songs. Their his¬
toric songs embraced, for the greater part, the warlike deeds
of their ancestors. These they also recited in traditions
and legends. The ceremonial poetry was chanted for the
purpose of securing the aid of or dispelling spiritual
influences, sometimes containing a command or threat.

The following song seems to have been intended to allure
an enemy into battle, by some small degree of flattery, that
he might be slain and eaten.

Oh! spirit of the light
Of day, a halo on
Thy head is seen.

Lift up thy head,

Lift it up on high,

Lift it o’er the hills,

See there thy host
Upon the ocean shore.

25

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Go there my foe, in
Light of day, and
Pass the god of war.

Tis there the battle
Rages- There sleeps not,
The enemy of peace.

Nay, ’tis war in battle
Fierce, as when a
Northern cloud let
Loose and drifting on
In blackness bursting,
Drowns the shrieks of
Lips that utter grief.

But you say, the
Feathers lift you.

And you fly from
Me, and death, with
Power supreme of life.

But no, my glow of life
Is still a power
And can with ease
Convey me to the north.

There shall thy cry
Be heard, thy shrieking call
Re-echo to the heavens,

And to the highest peak
My voice in startled
Accents will call in vain.

“Go, climb the mountains,
Assisted by the roots of
Trees, where we wage

26

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Our war in presence
Of thy gods.

There thou shalt be,

As shark with broken fin.

“ There thou wilt start,
And be as food
Offered to the gods
On sacred pile.

What are the mountains
Which I yonder see.

The Whata and Rangota?

“ There let us wage
Our war. The comet
Gives the sign.

My slashing weapon
Beaten on the skull
Shall give thy head
To me for food.

Ah! iS’weet food.”

A shorter poem tells of the misery occasioned by famine,
resulting from drought, although these poor people
attributed all such calamities to the anger of the gods.

Welcome, Rup6, yet
Wait awhile with me,

And I will tell
Thee what the ancients
Say of smiles or frowns
The seasons give.

27

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Two years of food deficient,

Then two years of want,

And bitterest scarcity,

And then a harvest
Crop of plenty comes.

But thou, oh, Rup6,

Hast the power to
Choose or cast aside
The choicest that
The earth can give.

When sleep enwraps
Thy frame, the medium
Of thy spirit comes
And shows thee what
The staff of life would say,

Thy omen staff, if
All alone, tells what
Heaven’s fiat is of
Famine, and of
Universal death to man.

The following poem is from the heart of one in dire
distress because his sons have fallen in battle, and whose
wife and daughters had fallen, too, as victims of famine
and pestilence, during his absence in war with a distant
tribe. No part of the great drama of Job is more touching
or more forcibly put.

The tide of life glides
Swiftly past and mingles
All in one great eddying foam.

Oh! heaven now sleeping,

Rouse thee. Rise to power.

28

HEROINE OF ROTORUA

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

And Oh! thou earth
Awake- Exert thy might for me
And open wide the door of
My last home, where calm and
Quiet rest awaits me in the sky.

The sun declines and hides
In dusky eve. So will I
Leap forth to the sacred isle.

Oh! stay, thou voice of my
Own sacred bird. My heavenly
Bird now far up in the sky,

Whose voice with double
Sound now weeps.

Smite me and thrust me
Into blackest night and
Endless gloom, where I
May stay upon the border land
And rest submissive
To my fate.

There is an interesting legend which embraces the story
of Hine-moa, the daughter of Hine-maru, who, falling
deeply in love with a young chief, Tutane-kia, who dwelt
on an island in Lake Roto-rua, and quite captivated with
his music and his playing upon the horn, swam in the
night from her home to his island, where they became man
and wife and the ancestors of all those who dwell along
the shores of Lake Roto-rua.

The following ancient poem refers to that event :

29

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Oh, gentle air, blow from the north.

Blow softly, gently on me now.

And I will gaze and watch to see
The loved one coming from afar.

Oh! turn and look this way,

And make me glad for thee,

Then here I still may stay
And wait for thy return.

I watch the cloud that hovers
O’er the home of my beloved,

While fond regrets must moan
Thine absence in the north.

My heart felt certain thou
Wouldst be all mine for ever,

And now that thou art here,

The days are always bright.

I spent some time around the shores of this very popular
lake, particularly celebrated among the Maoris by the his¬
toric event which I have just given, as these two people
were regarded as belonging to Maori nobility.

We took a small steamer and crossed to the other side,
towing at her stern a skiff, perhaps twenty or twenty- five
feet long. We landed at the mouth of a small river or
creek. One man paddled the skiff up stream something
over a mile. The rest of us walked the distance along a
path through the wood. At the distance named above we
came to a rapid river rolling directly up out of the earth.

30

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

It is probably fifty or sixty feet across, quite circular in
form. One can walk all the way around it on perfectly
dry ground. The current is so rapid that no one standing
on its edge could throw an oar, no matter how strongly,
so as to impel it down into the water its whole length.
Nor can anyone dive entirely below the surface, no matter
how expert at diving; the current forces him back so
quickly that he cannot possibly go entirely under.

Where this river enters the earth, or what may be the
length of its underground course, no one can tell. It is
supposed to be supplied from the bottom of one of the
lakes some miles away.

Sometime in October of each year many thousands of
fish, absolutely blind, with no semblance of an eye, come
up with the stream and are carried down the river into
Lake Roto-rua. The natives, however, catch very many
of them with nets, and dry them in the sun for winter food.

The river rolling up from depths unknown is of sufficient
volume to make a stream deep enough to carry five or six
of us men down in the large skiff to the lake.

New Zealand has a large number of natural objects to
make it a very interesting country for tourists.

There seems to have been among these people a common
and natural love for poetry and song.

3

31

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Song seems to have entered into all phases of ordinary
life, domestic or social, in times of peaceful cultivation of
the soil, or in times of war preparation or of belligerent
action.

The following song was commonly sung during the cul¬
tivation of the land and the planting of seed, to ensure
protection to the growth of the crop from the ravages of
insects or inclemency of the weather :

My spirit trembles in this world,

While down from Rehia Hill
Lightnings flash and winds descend,

I offer sacrifices demanded.

My enemies are these,

The earthquake and caterpillar,

And all devouring insects,

Coming from Wero-ti-a.

Oh! may the yams and kumera
And taro now fall out,

The girdle which encircles
The breast of Wahi-roa.

May the god of man
Deprive all enemies of power,

For I now am at my work,

And my crops am planting.

Moisten my plantations
And cause my crops to grow,

While I chant my sacred song
To Him, the one supreme.

33

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

In the next song, with its refrain, there is an evident
idea of a knowledge of the origin of preparation necessary
for making the earth ready for the abode of man.

Separate heaven and earth,

That they may be parted.

Sing the resounding song,

Sing the resounding song,

Separate the damp part,

Sing the resounding song,

From the part that’s dry,

Sing the resounding song.

That parting may take place,

Sing the resounding song.

j

Separate the darkness,

Sing the resounding song,

From the sun and brightness
Sing the resounding song,

Separate Tu and Rongo,

Sing the resounding song.

Where it was desired to set certain neighbors or others
at variance, for the purpose of revenge or war, incantations
were used, such as I give below, this one being attributed
to an old female goddess of the first generation of the
lower world. Like many of their poetic creations, the
original author is entirely unknown.

Rough be their skin,

So altered by dread,

As brambles and nettles

33

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Repugnant to feel,

So change for each other
Their love into hate.

With dire enchantments
Oh! sever them, gods,

And fill with disgust
To each other their days.

Engulf them in floods,

In ocean and seas,

With dire enchantments,

Oh! sever them, gods.

Let love and regret
For each other be hate.

Nor affection nor love
For the past live again.

There seems to have been in the minds of some of their
poets, at least, an idea of a Deliverer for man from the
darkness of this world, leading the soul up into the realms
of greater light and happiness.

Stay, omens, stay, the
One Supreme has come.

And signs now tell
Of his disciples near.

They come, and peering
Forth, they gaze into
Vast space of sparkling
Beauty, and of good.

34

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

I, the scholar, hold the
Sacred stone of power,

Soul of power, soul
Of earth and heaven.

Accept delight and
Ecstasy unlimited,

Hold all beauty, but
Let it spread around.

The soul now climbs
And high ascends to
The soul of the Supreme
And his disciples.

Oh, heaven! the soul
Is far above, in
All creation’s space,

In light supreme
And in the blaze of day.

A father's lament for the loss of his children. — Their
parental affections were very strong. They were also
solicitous for the morals of their children.

I bow my head as
Droops the tree of fern,

Weeping for my children.

My child, so often called,

My children. Oh! my children.

Gone. Yes, gone as
With the mighty flood.

I lonely sit, ’midst
Noise and crowd.

35

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

My life ebbs fast,

My house is swept,

Clean swept for ever.

The shining sun has nought
To gladden now.

But I will bow me
In my house and
Ponder in despair.

My heart will then
Forget the deeds of man.

Oh! was it theft that
Makes the moon to wane?

Or was it theft that
Makes the avalanche?

Or was it they who
Caused my children’s death?

The old vocal Maori music differs very widely from our
music, although now and then one might hear a near
approach to some of our more simple chants. With them
every song or piece of poetry must have its own proper tune
and must not be sung or recited to any other but its own.

They have other songs which were sung only by the
women, whose voices were very remarkably mellow and
soft, with always a pleasing effect. The time is slow, and
the cadence mournful, but conducted with a taste we could
not have expected from such a people.

The children seem to be initiated at a very early age into

36

MAOEIS OF NEW ZEALAND

keeping in their songs the strictest time. They sing with
much spirit and melody.

They enjoy their songs more if accompanied by the
flute. Their tongue is not harsh, and whatsoever qualities
are requisite to make a language musical are not lacking
in them. Their delicacy of ear in the distinctions of tone
and in their diligent efforts to improve their musical
knowledge and musical permanence reveal a very creditable
musical faculty.

37

'

THE STORY OF PONGA

THE STORY OF PONGA

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT AND MATCH MADE

Longfellow never discovered in the history of the
courtship of Hiawatha anything more thrilling or sub¬
lime than will be found by the reader in this story of
Ponga ( pong-eh ) and Puhi-huia ( poo-e-hoo-yeh ).

These young people were the offspring of genuine can¬
nibal stock, and their love drama was enacted in those
good old cannibal days which some of the older, still
remaining, mourn as gone forever.

Ponga had come from Awhitu ( ah-wee-too ) to visit for a
fortnight the young people of the larger tribe at Mount
Eden, one of the natural features of the now beautiful city
of Auckland, New Zealand. The young bloods of higher
rank, that is, the sons of older chiefs, had boasted that they
would capture the heart of Puhi-huia.

Ponga was a modest boy of few words. In the haka-
haka and kami-kami games, the performance and gestures
and grimaces of each were so perfect and enchanting that
these two fell violently in love with each other. Puhi-huia
being of the very highest rank, the noblest Roman of them
all, could not, according to their strict rules of etiquette,

41

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

come near or in any degree associate with Ponga, a man of
low degree, because the son of a chief third or fourth
removed from the oldest born of the old chieftain’s family.

He could not sleep, he went and sat in the moonlight on
a rock near the dwelling. Hearing a footstep, he asked,
u Who is this ?” The answer was, “ It is I, your slave.”
Ponga said, “ How strange that I am not able to sleep in
that house !” His attendant replied, “ You have fatigued
yourself in the haka games and in making grimaces, but
as the proverb says, ‘ He who fishes for the sprat may
sleep, but he who fishes for the whale must keep awake.’ ”
Ponga said, “ Yes, but it is also strange that I have lost
all thought of Awhitu matters.” Said the attendant, “ To
what do you allude ?” Ponga said, “ Having regard to
deeds of past times, I feel that I must be cautious in my
conduct. The evils which in former days came on the
people of this tribe have never been avenged.” The slave
answered, “ Yes, but we came here as guests, and all are
quite young. What can rats do ?” Ponga said, “ It is so,
but the old proverb says, ‘ Though the mokoroa grub be a
little thing it can cause the big Kauri tree to fall.’ ”

The slave replied, “ We came here for amusement and
we presume upon the fact that peace is made between the
tribes.” “ Yes,” said Ponga, “ provided that all our party

42

MAORI KING

Tawhia (Ta-whee-a)

■

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

keep their hands from touching that which is not theirs ; if
such were to take place evil would come on us all.” The
attendant said, “ You chiefs only dare to touch the sacred
things of the pah (village). Such as I am would not
commit such an act.” Ponga said, “ Do you mean, to
touch and take, that is, to steal property?” The slave
answered, “ Not quite so ; property is property, but there
is also such a thing as sacredness in property that has life.”
Ponga asked, “ Do you allude to Puhi-huia ?” He
answered, “ Can the fact be hidden that the eyes of you, of
noble birth, glistened and flashed when looking at that
young woman when she made grimaces in the games in
which she took part?”

Ponga said, “ I am quite bewildered. Let us return to
our homes, lest evil befall us.”

After sitting in silence a long time, the slave said, “ Ah,
friend, I have a thought. Do you agree to what I propose, it
will be good ; if you do not, you have a right to reject. Let
us return to the house; if you sleep, well and good; if you do
not sleep, it will be good, but be brave. Let your spirit live
in you; food is food, eat it. Talk and laugh, and let the sor¬
row that is in you be smothered by your determined will;
let it be kept hidden from the knowledge of others. On the
evening of the coming day, feign to be thirsty and call for

43

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

me; call loudly, and order me to go and fetch you water.
I shall not hear you, and it will seem as if I were not
heeding you. The mother of Puhi-huia will perhaps ask
her daughter to go and fetch you water, which would not
be degrading to her, seeing you are suffering for it, and
because you are a chief and a guest. If the daughter obeys,
you can arise and follow her to the spring; but be sure
and let everyone awake hear you say, e I wonder where that
deaf and stupid slave is. If I can find him I will crack
his skull/ ”

All wa,s carried out to the very letter the following
night. The mother said, “ 0 daughter, are you so deaf
that you cannot hear one of our guests calling for
water? Can you not feel some sympathy for him and go
fetch him water ?” Ponga left the house as soon as she
had gone, vowing vengeance on his disobedient slave, ending
with a proverb that the day may be long but the night must
come at last. Puhi-huia sang, to strengthen her heart, an
old song, common in her tribe, having come down from her
ancestors through many generations :

Shoot up, oh! rays,

Of coming days,

And moonbeams, too,

I wait for you
With song resounding.

44

PARE WHABRERONQONN A

Ornament upon her neck is a sign of nobility She would not dare to
wear it if she could not establish her right to do so.

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

May you shine forth
To light the path,

Which now I take
With song resounding.

That sure I may,

With path all clear,

Now travel on

With song resounding.

Along the road,

Which echoes still,

And still vibrates
With song resounding.

Tonga, guided by her song and light of her torch, over¬
took her at the spring. She was in the act of lifting the
filled calabash (gourd) from the water, when she discerned
Tonga near her. She asked, “ What do you want ?” He
replied, “ I want a drink.” She said, “ I came for water
for you. Then why did you not stay in the pah (village),
and I would have taken it to you.” He answered, “ My
word in regard to thirst is true, but my thirst is that of
the heart, and it is from within that I feel a longing for
you.” She heard his words and thought, “ Why, he loves
me !” They sat down and talked. Ponga said, “ My home
at Awhitu is famed for its fish and shellfish; here you have
but fern root.” She said, “ We have fish in our pah from
the east coast and the west coast — the coast of which the

45

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

proverb says, the coast where a female may paddle a canoe.”
He replied, “ You may have much fish and food in your pah,
but what food does the heart obtain ?”

She said, “ Quite so ; maybe at your home young chiefs
delight themselves in sports.” He replied, “ That is true ;
then return with me, that you may behold and join in our
sports.” She said, “ The matter rests with you ; on the
night preceding the day of your departure, command your
servants to go to One-hunga (o-ne-hung-eh) , our seaport,
and cut all the lashings of our canoes, and keep your canoe
well out and afloat, so that when I leave with you our people
will have no canoe with which to pursue us. Now go in
front of me and arrive first at the pah; go quickly.” He
entered the house and asked, “ Has any water been brought
forme?” He was told, “ No.” He said, “ I have not been
able to find that stupid slave ; I will yet crack his skull.”

He was repeating proverbs galore and nursing his wrath
to keep it warm when Puhi-liuia entered at the other end of
the house. Her mother said, “ How long you have been !”
She answered, “ Is the road so short, or does the sun shine,
that you should wonder at the time I have taken?” The
mother said, “ Take the water in your calabash to Ponga,
who has felt the pang of thirst so long in awaiting your
return.”

46

MARK PA-O-RE

A Maori Educated in English

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

She took it, but as he was a chief he could not drink like
a common person, directly from the calabash, but formed
a cup by placing his two open hands together into which
she poured the water, which he drank. The night before
their intended departure he commanded his servant to go
with his associates to One-hunga and to cook food and make
all necessary preparations, but especially to cut the lashings
which held the top sides of the Mount Eden canoes. All
was done as he directed.

The next morning the guests put on their belts and
rugs ready for departure. The head chief of Mount Eden
took his mere-ponamu (greenstone heirloom weapon) and
gave it to the young chief of supreme rank of Awhitu,
who in return gave his also to the great chief of Mount
Eden. This was according to ancient custom. This
exchange of weapons was a ratification of any terms of
peace which might have been agreed upon by the tribes.

4

47

THE RUNAWAY.

When the young people set out, Puhi-huia accompanied
them for some distance, when her father called out, “ 0 girl,
come back. It is only the insane who go so far. You will
be called a person of low birth.” If she heard her father’s
voice she certainly did not heed. Her female friends
immediately turned back on hearing the words of their old
chief, her father. Puhi-huia, driven by the power of her
love, and the great longing of her heart, flew towards him
with whom were all her affections. She came up at length
to the Awhitu people and went at once to the side of Ponga.
She said, “Let us proceed quickly; life is in the power of
our muscle, and by this we shall gain the canoe.” They
all went swiftly on, like the feather of a bird driven by the
wind, like the weka escaped from a trap, like the pinga
along the coast driven by the fierceness of the blast. The
Mount Eden people saw, from their pah, Puhi-huia join
the departing guests. Each warrior seized his weapon and
joined in the hot pursuit. Not in command of any leader,
they jostled each other in a combined mob, many tumbling
to the ground in their vengeful haste. Seeing their princess
had embarked with their late guests, they rushed to their
canoes to drag them to the water.

48

V

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

As was the custom, a line of men and women on either
side laid firmly hold of the craft to launch it for pursuit.
One gave the command, “ Move it, move it,” while all
responded, “ Slide on, slide on.” As all the lashings of the
top boards had been cut, they at once tore away and left the
body of the canoe standing unmoved. Some of the people
fell head over heels, and some went sprawling ; others were
held down by the weight of the boards, with their limbs
badly bruised. These rose to rub their arms and legs, and
seeing the sorry plight they were in, they shook their fists
and made grimaces at their departing guests, repeating
proverbs by the dozen.

Go, go, go,

The sun may rise,

And the sun may set,

But we will see you later.

The guests paddled towards their home full of glee,
proud of the young woman of high rank who had come
with them. Ponga’s slave was happy. It so happened
that as Puhi-huia was one of the last to enter the canoe she
sat near the young chief of highest rank who had received
the greenstone weapon from her father. He took it from
his bundle and showed it to her and said, “ 0 young woman,
there is the weapon of your father given to me: accept it

49

MAOKIS OF NEW ZEALAND

as your gift to our lords of Awhitu.” She said, “ Am I

a man that I should hold a thing so sacred ? It is for you

in the male line of supreme chiefs to hold such things. I

will not take it, lest in days of evil it may be said that the

evil was caused by the hand of a woman holding a thing

so sacred.” He answered, “ Accept it, and let it be your

gift to our head chief at Awhitu. Will it be right for you

to go into his presence without a gift in your hand ?” She

replied, “ Should there be an exchange twice repeated ?

No, all I shall take with me will be that which I already

possess.” He said, “ Who received the scented oil taken by

our young people to your pah ?” She answered, “ It was

in the open courtyard and for all the people. I did not

receive any of it.” He said, “ I asked my question as I

thought your remark respecting a double exchange alluded

to the scented oil.” She replied, “ You are impertinently

inquisitive; you can see, and have seen, that I came here

with Ponga, yet you ask questions.” She arose and went

and sat next to Ponga. The timekeeper for the rowers

sang songs of his own composition :

Pull on, oh, friends, pull on,.

Put down your paddles deep.

How leaps my fluttering heart,

As flashes of such brightness,

Gleam from out thine eyes.

O, Puhi-huia.

50

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Though thy fame had spread
From Eden’s mount to distant lands,

Yet thou dost deign to live
With us, in humble home,

O, Puhi-huia.

They paddled on; when halfway across the outer harbor
the young chief once more said, “ 0 young woman, accept
this your weapon; it is the weapon of your ancestors, it is
the famed weapon called ‘ Kaho-tea.’ ” She said, “ Hold
your own weapon; you may ponder your thought and I
will ponder mine/’ He replied, “ Then let us cease our
contentions in respect to the weapon of your ancestors.
Peace was made in days of old, and there is food in the fish
of the sea we are now crossing. You are not ignorant of
the fact that death has come to many because of these fish.
I did wish to put this heirloom into your hands that I
might have the honor of protecting you.” She answered,
“ You of us two are the more ignorant. You have seen
that I was in the protection of Ponga. He is the one known
to my heart and whom my love embraces. He will be my
protector.” He said, “ Then do you say that Ponga is to
be your lord ?” She answered, “ If so, what then ? It is
as you say.” He said, “ It is well ; let it be as you say.”

She answered, “ Who are you ? And what is he that I
should not take him as my lord? And what can you do?

51

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Are you so sacred that you cannot work in the cultivations ?
Of such as Ponga it is said, ‘ The brave in war never lose
their fame or power/ I and my heart have found one for
ourselves. If evil comes, only death shall part me from
Ponga.”

The canoe neared the shore. Those on the beach waved
their garments and said, “ Come, oh, come, and welcome, to
our home from a distant land, all our returning children.”
The young chieftain of highest rank stood up and called to
those who had assembled. “ Whom do I see sitting on the
shore?” They answered, “ We, your ancestors and parents,
are all here.” He said, “ Stay where you are and hearken
to my words. I, your child, have had a narrow escape from
death. All the young people of our party conducted them¬
selves at Mount Eden in a quiet and peaceable manner,
but Ponga acted to me like a murderer. Here is that young
woman, sacred and of most supreme rank, daughter of the
lord of Mount Eden, brought here by Ponga. He did not
tell me at the time that he was about to commit this theft,
or I should have made him to desist. When we had bidden
farewell to our Mount Eden friends, and had got near to
One-hunga, Ponga, unknown to us, was in the act of taking
this young woman from her home.

“ All the warriors rose and with their weapons fol-

52

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

lowed us. I was bewildered by the suddenness of the
fright when I saw that we were being pursued by an
enemy. They at once rushed to their canoes to drag
them to the sea to follow us, but your two tribes have
been so long at peace the lashings of the top sides of
their canoes had become rotten, so that the top sides came
away and let the people fall one over the other on the
ground, and thus the rotten lashings saved my life. I am
angry with myself for fleeing from them and not sending
this young woman back to her home. Daylight is light in
these days, but now darkness is deadly gloom, and by to¬
morrow your enemy will be here. If you are brave, well
and good; if not, you will be lost, like the extinction of
the Moa, and Ponga will be your murderer/5

As soon as he ceased the head chief arose. All others
sat in silent dread. The old chief said, “ Welcome, wel¬
come, take the girl back to her parents. You are right:
because of long years of peace the lashings of the canoes
had become rotten and thereby your life has not been taken.
I will not allow the girl to break the bonds of peace/5
The canoe was yet a little way from the shore. Puhi-
huia arose and waved her hands for some time towards the
crowd on the shore. She stretched her arms at full length
and said, “ 0 people, look at me.55 All the people uttered a

53

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

low moan of admiration at her noble figure and attitude.
She was a fine-looking woman, tall, with dark curling hair,
and supple as a sapling of the forest. To those on the
shore she said, “ Your anger against me is not just. You
are right in blaming me, as I may be the cause of evil which
may fall on you; but you are not just when you falsely
accuse Ponga. I came here of my own accord, but I blame
you for this. Why did you not see how beautiful your child
Ponga was and keep him at this your home? If you had
allowed only his companions to come I should still be at my
home. You allowed the agitator of my heart to come near
me, and I could not restrain my feelings, but rushed madly
into love because he is so good-looking. I am not to blame;
you laid your plot to murder me.”

She ceased, and with one bound went into the water and
swam towards the shore. Those in the canoe sat like so
many beings bereft of their senses, and not one of them
uttered a word. She swam till she could feel the ground
beneath her feet, and then stood in the water, which came
to her knees. Again she spoke : “ I, Puhi-huia, stand in
your presence. I alone sought for and have found that
which shall be mine. I am not and will not be amenable to
the order of anyone who says, ‘ Do this/ or ‘ Do that/
and if you persist in saying that I must return to Mount

54

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Eden, by the time the midnight comes to this day I and
Tonga will sleep in the foam that the sea surges make on
the bar of this harbor. I shall not come on the land; the
land is yours, the ocean is my home.”

Not a voice was heard from the shore, save the
deep and loud wail of the sorrowing women. The
young chieftain spoke again to those on the shore : “ The
crop takes one ear before it is ripe, but the thoughts of
man are planted and the crop is here at once. Why, old
men, do you sit in inaction? The Mount Eden warriors
will follow. Does the year ever remain calm through all
its days ? No, there is summer and then winter. The sun
shines and then thunder is heard. Are you ignorant of the
lightning of heaven ?” Ponga waded through the water to
his beloved and stood beside her.

Again the old chief of Awhitu arose. He did not utter
a word while passing from one end of the beach to the
other. Then he turned quickly and ran along, kicking
the sand into the air so that it fell in dust behind him.
Then he exclaimed, “ Oh, woe ! Oh, woe is me, 0 my
offspring, the world is all a blaze of fire! Come, my
child, 0 daughter of high birth. Go where you will,
death is there. Live where you like, death is there.
Plant your crops, death is there. From the days of

55

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Maui ( mow-e ) death has been everywhere. Do you
think that you will not die? 0 my child, all is death in
this world. Come to our home. 0 young woman, welcome
to these of your ancestors. Evil or death has not its origin
with you. Death and evil are of old. 0 my child, your
ancestors have never slept on a mat on the foam of the sea.
How brave and daring you are ! Come, 0 child of noblest
birth, come, and you and I will live or die together.”

This last word meant that he would sooner die defending
her than allow her to be taken back against her will. As
the old man ascended to the pah, the very old men and
women there came out and waved their garments and called
the welcome as of old. The old man led Puhi-huia to his
house, followed by Ponga. Food was cooked by his attend¬
ants and carried and laid before the young people returning
from Mount Eden.

It was borne from the ovens by the young people, who

formed in line, three abreast, carrying the food in baskets

and singing all in chorus :

It is thee and Ponga,

Puhi-huia and Ponga,

Tender, tender,

Rich and ripe and mellow,

Red and rare and yellow,

Let the feast be eaten,

Come to our pah and welcome.

56

CA

DWELLING

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

When the food had been placed in a heap, the old chief
took a green bough and, touching it, said, “ This food, this
food, this food is for all the tribes in every place.” He
sat down, and Puhi-huia arose and, taking a fern stalk,
broke it in short pieces and stuck them at intervals along
the pile. Then she went to the young chief whose life had
been so wonderfully preserved by the rotten thongs of the
Mount Eden canoes, and taking the mere-ponamu ( me-re
ponam-u) in her right hand she waved it above her head
and said over the first division of the food, “ This food, this
food, is for the Awhitu people, for each and every sub-tribe
within all their boundaries.” The old chieftain again
arose and, taking his green branch, struck the portion that
was nearest him, and said, “ This food, this food, is for
Puhi-huia ;” and another, saying, “ This food, this food,
is for all those of Awhitu ;” and yet another, saying, “ This
food is for all of Wai-ka-to and for all them who live within
its boundaries ;” and the last portion, “ This food is for
all in any place through all the world.”

Puhi-huia arose and said, “ Where is the man who was
deaf to the call of his lord, calling for water? Stand up
and let me look at you. Now, are you the man who brought
not the water for your master?” He answered, “Yes.”
She asked, “ What is the most requisite accompaniment of

57

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

food?” He said, “Water” She replied, “It is by your
conduct I am here; you were deaf to the commands of
your lord, and I had to fetch water for him, and so I
learned his love for me. It is for you to distribute the food
allotted to me and in my name.” The attendant went near
to the food and said, “ This food is for Ponga and for the
many young chiefs who paddled to visit Mount Eden.”

A chorus of voices cried out :

Right, right you are,

You have acted nobly,

Give the food for Ponga
To his worthy friends,

Who helped to bring

The noble born to our home.

58

COUNCILS HELD.

The old chief who had led Puhi-huia up from the water
said, “ What is to be our policy ? Let us meet in the visi¬
tors’ house and hold a council.” One of the young chiefs
said in the council, “Was it I who brought the noble-born
from her home? Why should I stand in dread of the
weapons of Mount Eden ?” Another said, “ She has come
of her own accord : let her harvest her crop, or, in other
words, lead us to battle.” The young chief who had
received the heirloom from the great lord of Mount Eden
said, “ Here is Kaho-tea, the weapon of the father of the
girl, given me to bind more firmly the terms of peace
between our tribes. Ponga did not heed this token. He
stole the daughter from her parents and brought her here.
If the evil had originated with me I should take a part in
our defence, but as it has come from the act of one of low
degree, why should I be killed for naught?”

Puhi-huia, having arisen, said, “ My ancestors and fathers,
the evil of which you speak did not originate with Ponga.
You were yourselves the first cause of all this action. You
allowed Ponga to visit the home of my parents. Why did
you not keep him here with you ? If only your other young

59

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

chiefs had come I should have still been at Mount Eden. To
any of them I should have said, ‘ I will not go with you.’
Why should I not charge you with being the cause of the
evil for which you blame Ponga ? He is not the originator
of my action, nor did he utter one word of advice or order.
I alone had the thought and acted upon it, and I am here ;
and if the war party which you fear should come I will
grimace at them, and though I am but one and Ponga is
but one, what then? Do you think I will return to my
home? No. This is my adhering to Ponga even to the
world of spirits.” The head chief arose and said, “ It is
right, 0 tribe, you have spoken. If I and my daughter are
killed, who can order otherwise?”

No one dared say more at the conference after this great
chief had spoken. Some were afterwards heard to say,
“ The words of our great chief are just. If the young
woman loves Ponga, why should we not support her in her
determination? If war follows, let us all be brave.”

It was now grey dawn. Each warrior, bound round with
his war belt, brought out his weapon. All knew the
meaning of their chief — “ If I and my daughter are killed,
who can order otherwise ?” He meant by these words that
he would not allow Puhi-huia to be retaken without resist¬
ance even with death. The sun had scarcely gained the

60

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

meridian when a large canoe full of warriors came close to
the shore.

Puhi-huia went near to them and said, “ Cease to paddle ;
stay where you are. You have come as the advance-guard.
Who is supporting you?” They said, “All our tribe is
behind us.” “And what is the object of your coming?”
They replied, “ That you return to your home.” Puhi-
huia said, “ Return, go back and tell them that if they come
they can only see me as you see me. I shall not return to
my home by force alive. Do not send the people to the
world of spirits by war; let mine be the only death. My
husband Ponga will not sit in silence; he also will speak.
I have found for myself that which I like, and shall hold
it even to the dark world. I am not yet the wife of Ponga,
but if my parents and my people will come to this pah
when next the moon is full, Ponga will prepare them a
feast. If they come guided by the god of war they shall
not see me alive ; I will meet them in the world of spirits.”

She ascended to the pah, and they turned their canoe and
paddled for One-hunga. When Puhi-huia had said to the
advance-guard that she would die with Ponga rather than
be forced to yield to their demands, all the women on the
shore said, “ Even so, such is the constancy of the noble-
born, she will not act in a trifling manner. She will even

61

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

go to the world of spirits rather than leave him she loves;
such hearts are never fickle; even so does the noble-horn
act.”

The message sent by Puhi-huia was delivered to the
tribe. A council was called. All the young chiefs were
present. One young chief gave a loud cough to attract
attention. He rose and said, “ My parents and ancestors
have for many years nurtured that to which my heart was
inclined, but when my valued property was full-grown and
the bloom of summer beautified it, my junior in rank came
and took it away. Why should I not feel anger? You
old people have felt the joys of life and its power. Allow
us of younger years to feel the same ; allow us, then, to go
and bring back by force our most valued one.”

Another young chief said, “ I have noticed that when the
Kaka parrots take their flight as winter comes, there always
is at least one red Kaka which takes its flight with the
second flock. Is it wrong for the red Kaka to fly with that
flock? You propose to compel Puhi-huia to return to her
home. If she has determined to act she will do as she says,
and if you go to fetch her she will not return while she is in
life.”

A female attendant of the absent girl said, “ I have
been an attendant on Puhi-huia through all her life; her

62

MAOEIS OF NEW ZEALAND

attendants have joked with her and told her she could have
any of the young chiefs of our coast. Some of these have
tried to win her, but she would not listen to them. She
is a most determined young woman, and nothing will turn
her from her purpose.”

The meeting continued all night. Most of the speakers
advised that she be allowed to choose for herself. Some,
however, argued strongly in favor of the use of force to
bring her back. As the day was dawning, the mother of
Puhi-huia said, “ The mind which swayed and the acts
performed by her progenitors will be followed by Puhi-huia.
I am a descendant of Hotu-nui. I was not one to whom
my tribe said, ‘ 0 daughter, such a one must be your hus¬
band.’ My lord with whom I live was of my own seeking
and choice. I defied all my brothers. The one I loved
was at Para-tonga. His parents and chiefs came to our
fishing-grounds, bringing him with them. He had just
been tattooed. When T saw him my heart was bewildered
by him. How brave was the one I loved ! My spirit was
dead to all other objects. I came to this Mount Eden and
lived at his home. On the night of the day on which we
arrived, I went out to the courtyard and proclaimed to
all the people, ‘ I will not hide the secret, I will have my
husband.’ I found him at Para-tonga; all the people can

5 63

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

understand what I mean. The Rara-tonga tried to make
war with the Mount Eden people, but they did not succeed.
Puhi-huia will do as she has said. If we attempt to take
her by force we shall see her but one day in life, and no
more till we meet her in the land of spirits. She will do
as she says; there is not any power that can command
her.”

The mother of the young chief who first addressed the
meeting said, “Yes, the words of Puhi-huia’ s mother are
true, but the young chiefs of this pah are stupid. Yes, you
are the veriest cowards, void of daring. Do you think that
your bare, untattooed faces will ever gain a wife? Why is
it that Ponga is so noble-looking? He is tattooed, and he
looks grand. Yes, it is quite right that you should lose
your noble young woman.” Others spoke, but all were
agreed that it was better to allow their princess to have her
way as to her choice of a husband.

When the morning repast had been eaten, an old priest
stood up and said, “ How foolish is this people ! We are
invited to a feast : then why do we not inform our friends
at Awhitu that we will go? Do you not feel a longing to
smell the savory scent of sharks’ flesh permeating your
breath ? I say, 6 Send a messenger to tell Puhi-huia that
when the moon is at the full we will be there by in vita-

64

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

tion/ ” All the people agreed to the proposal thus made,
but the mother of Puhi-huia said, “ I and my war party
will start for Awhitu.” She went to her house and
took her most valuable garments, gourds of oil,
down of the albatross, tail-feathers of the huia
bird, and garments made from the kiwi, and all
else esteemed valuable in those days, and putting them
all into a basket she called one of her female attend¬
ants and told her to put them on her back. Then she went
to the gate and called, “ 0 daughters, 0 women, this is our
day. To Awhitu, to Awhitu ! And you, 0 men, you will
not be able to act as my war party of women will do.”

Sixty women in all passed through the gate and started
towards One-hunga. Launching one of their biggest canoes,
they paddled for Awhitu. As they neared the shore the
mother of Puhi-huia stood up at the helm and said to those
who had come out towards them, “ 0 you on that shore, put
your war mats on and tighten your war belts, for we, the
enemy, are here. If you hide yourselves, what can
you gain? If you come and stand in view, what can
you lose? Come out of your stockade. Why did you
rob me of my daughter? What property have I of
yours that you should take my precious greenstone and
wear it on your breast ? Come outside that we may fight
our battle.”

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Puhi-huia again spoke : “ I have already told you
that you and I shall not meet in life, but if you
persist we shall meet in the land of spirits. Why do
you dare to blame this tribe when I the sole cause of your
anger am here? Keep in your canoe, but let some of your
female friends come on shore, that I may do battle with
them, and if they kill me, then take my body home in your
canoe. I will not be taken home alive by you, but will
live with the one I love.” Several of the young women
came on shore, each with a war weapon in her hand. Puhi-
huia said to Ponga, standing near her, “ Follow me and see
me die.” She said to the first of the warriors, “ Here am
I, the person for whom you have come.” The young
woman, holding in her hand a whalebone weapon, made a
blow at the head of Puhi-huia, who parried the blow, then
with the tongue end of her weapon dealt her antagonist
such a blow in the pit of her stomach as to bend her double
and bring her to the ground. Said our heroine, “ Now
another of you stand forth to meet me.” One with a short
spear made a thrust at her, but Puhi-huia parried the
blow and hit her with such force on the shoulder as to
destroy the power of her arm. A third female soldier
attacked our heroine, but a blow in the pit of the stomach
put her out of the fight. The fourth stepped forward with

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a weapon which had no band to hold it to the wrist. It
was hit by Puhi-huia with so violent a blow as to send it
flying a considerable distance from her.

Then the mother of Puhi-huia cried out, “ 0 young
woman, cease now. You have beaten them all ; come back
with me to your father/’ Puhi-huia said, “ Will Kupe
return?” This is the god who never ceases till he has
gained the end at which he aimed. The mother said,
“ How shall I gain a place in the courtyard of your pah ?”
The old chief replied, “ If you come by the authority of Tu,
the god of war, you must dare and make a road for your¬
self. If you come in the name of Tahu, the god of peace
and plenty, I will make a way for you over the ditch of my
stockade.” The mother replied, “ Have you seen the
bravery of your granddaughter ? Her ancestors were gods
in war. She has inherited their power, she is not to be
overcome. If the god of peace and plenty is her guide,
what she undertakes she will accomplish. Stay here. I
will return to my people, and when the moon is at the full
I and my people will come to the feast given when she
takes Ponga as her husband.” Puhi-huia was standing
listening to the words of her mother. As soon as her
mother had ceased speaking she went and rubbed nose3
with the young women whom she had beaten, who with her
mother immediately set out for One-hunga.

67

THE FEAST AND THE WEDDING.

The Awhitu people now began to catch fish and dig fern
and convolvulus roots, and, having dried them, put them
into storehouses and on stages. Then they fished for shark
and hung them to dry on long poles one above another.
They also speared pigeons and preserved them in their own
fat; collected cockles and cooked and dried them. Other
shellfish also were caught and dried, and roots and bulbs
which required cooking for a long time to make them
palatable. A couple of days before the moon was full a
messenger was sent to Mount Eden to invite the people of
that place, to whom he said, “ 0 people, you who live in
this pah, for you all now is ready ; on the day following
to-morrow the feast will be laid in the courtyard of Awhitu.
Come all, and welcome.”

On the appointed day the Mount Eden people left One-
hunga in their canoes. All came except the very old and
decrepit. When they neared the landing-place at Awhitu
all the people of that pah rose and waved their garments
and sang their usual song of welcome :

Welcome, welcome, friends,

I bid you all a welcome,

My soul is weary

Of all cares of home.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

My wonder is why
All the noisy crowd
So occupy their days
Beneath the shady trees.

But now I know
The tempting fern root,

And the sweet Kauri stem,
Entice friends here.

Ye thousand stars above
Who twinkle over the
Highest bough of forest trees,
Pierce into darkest shade
Of forest gloom,

And startle all the
Owls who dwell at
Our loved home, Awhitu.
Thus interesting all the land
And show with blaze of light,
The coveted new roots of fern.

The staff of life for man,
While on the ear he moves,
And let the new creation
Come where hands now toil
And feet are weary
With their walking.

Call ye, then, our babe,

Even heaven’s own child,
Though skin of dusky hue,
When shall I be so
Charmed and follow
Close the progeny of him
They now call Ponga’s child,
Which all the goblins say.

Is horn of forest lizard.

69

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Some of the Awhitu men and women went down from
their pah to the beach below as those who are going to give
battle, with their war paint, feathers and belts around their
waists. There they waited for the crews to land, at whom
they threw fern stalks and then ran back towards the pah,
closely followed at full speed by the best runners of the
Mount Eden people. As soon as those they had been pur¬
suing were in the midst of their own people, the Awhitu
tribes danced their war dance. Meanwhile, the guests had
all followed up and were now drawn up in war array,
kneeling on one knee, looking at their hosts. So soon as
the Awhitu people had danced their war dance the visitors
followed with one of theirs, and then all, hosts and visitors,
joined in one great dance, led by the Awhitu people, all
waving their garments. The Mount Eden people followed
those of Awhitu into the pah and sat down in the courtyard.
The visitors had not been there long when an Awhitu chief
rose and made a speech of welcome.

He said things were better than they had seemed in days
gone by. Then war was the rule on every, even little, pro¬
vocation. He thought a feast was better than a fight, and
a dance was to be desired rather than darts poisoned for
destruction. The savory smell of roasted shark was more
acceptable to all than roasted enemies slain in battle. The

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young people of x\whitu had been very diligent in search of
the best the land yielded, and he hoped their visitors would
find their meeting of the Awhitu people at the wedding a
means of binding together in closer bonds the two great
tribes which in earlier days had been the bitter enemies
of each other.

A Mount Eden chief followed with an eloquent avowal
that a sincere desire for peace between the tribes had very
much more to do with their coming to Awhitu than the
savory smell of the flesh of the shark or the luscious fibre
of the sweet potato. They came also because of the invi¬
tation from the noble of birth who had chosen to change
her home from Mount Eden to Awhitu. It was a grief
to the Mount Eden people to lose one for whom they had
so great admiration, but they were glad she was so near
and still one of their great tribal family.

A chief of high rank of the Awhitu people, with a rod in
his hand, stepped up to the heap of food and struck it with
his rod, saying, “ This food, this food is for all the tribes
of the Mount Eden people in all their boundaries. The
father of Puhi-huia then arose and with a rod touched one
end of the food heap and said, “ This food, this food
is for all the people of the Awhitu tribes through
all their boundaries/’ Then each tribe took their

71

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own portion assigned them and ate it. When the
feast ended, the head chief of Awhitu rose and
went to the heap of those things counted of great
value — as huia feathers, albatross down, mats, greenstone
and other precious articles — and said, “ These valuables,
these valuables are for our ancestors who have gone to the
world of spirits. These valuables, these valuables are
for the priests and chiefs and for the family of my
daughter Puhi-huia.” These gifts were left in the court¬
yard until the evening, when they were distributed to the
Mount Eden people.

After this the Mount Eden people went to their canoes
and brought with them to the courtyard of their
hosts dried codfish, dried mackerel and eels, preserved
kiwi, cooked Maori dog, rats and preserved pigeons. A
heap, also, w'as made of weapons of war and war gar¬
ments and other costly articles. When the last of the
tribe had added his contribution, the father of Puhi-
huia, standing near the heaps, said, “ Hearken, 0 world
of Darkness, and hearken, 0 world of Light, here are
valuables for you; 0 ye gods and ye ancients and ye
descendants of Hotu-nui, here is property for you; and
you, my child, here is your property ; and as you have left
me I sorrow for you, I weep for you, but 0 my most

72

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valuable property, as you must leave me, go, oh, go.
If you had gone to death all would have been lost with
you, but as this is but another canoe of our ancestors, and
as we are also a canoe of the same, then go, yes, go, oh,

go”

Though the old man’s power to sing had long since
ceased, yet his mind being clear and bright he repeated
for the one now leaving, and for some of his who had gone
to the spirit land, an old song often sung and repeated
under similar conditions:

I silent sit as throbs my heart,

Sighing for my children,

All those who look on me,

As now I bow my head,

May deem me but a forest tree,

From distant lands.

I bow my head as droops
The weeping fern,

And tears start for my children,

Oh! my child, so often called,

Come, oh! my child.

My house is swept, clean swept.

Clean swept forever,

The shining sun has nought
To gladden now,

And yonder peak oft
Gazed upon in days of joy

73

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Now prompts the sigh,

To heave with chill
Of coldest air fresh
From the frosty south.

Oh, was it theft that makes
The moon to wane?

Or was it theft that makes
The mighty avalanche?

And was it they who
Caused my children’s death?
The hosts of god uplift
Their power on us,

And now annihilate us,

Like the moa extinct.

When the old chief had ceased Puhi-huia arose and stood
where she had been sitting at the side of Ponga, and said,
“ 0 my parents and grandparents, welcome, welcome !
Come and see the one who ran away from you. Is the evil
mine ? Did I determine that Ti-ki should be a man ? Or
that Kauataata should be a woman? No, this was done
by the gods referred to in the speeches made by you. These
gods were your progenitors. Is it wrong for me to follow
in the steps of Ivauataata? She is your progenitor and
from her you take your sacredness, and from her you
receive the gods who preside over you. She took one of
her choice for a husband. If I am doing wrong, then your
female ancestors did wrong also. If she had lived alone

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and kept to single life, none of yon had ever seen the light
of this world. The evil is not mine, it is your evil.

“ When she saw the one she loved she recklessly pursued,
and as your gods and you opened the path for such acts I
followed in your footprints. This wrong of my leaving you
is one of your own acts and was not of my planning. It
is good that you have come to our feast. Now I say to you
assembled here, and to all our tribes, that my husband, my
husband, yes, my husband, is Ponga.”

A more loyal Maori or more loving husband was never
known among New Zealand natives than Ponga. Nor was
there of them all a more devoted and loving wife than
Puhi-huia. For nearly twenty years the life of husband
and wife was one of uninterrupted peace, contentment and
prosperity.

One son was born to them. He was called a tau-tihi,
because he had neither a predecessor nor successor — what
we would call an only child.

When he had very nearly arrived at manhood and had
been tattooed, news came that one of the tribes of their
great nation, who had gone to Wai-ta-ra to buy garments
in exchange for their own local products, had been mur¬
dered and eaten.

One hundred warriors collected immediately at Wai-uku,

75

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

and from thence set out to avenge the murder of their
relatives. Fifty more left their home at Awhitu and went
up the Wai-ka-to river, where they were joined by fifty
more of their people, all bent on severely punishing those
who had so offended and wronged their nation.

The first hundred, after killing some of the murderers
and their friends at Pu-ke-aruhe, and many more in the
surrounding district, returned home. The second hundred,
who went by way of the Wai-ka-to, and then on to Mokau,
and thence on to Maro-kopa, were never heard of again
by their friends at Awhitu. Whatever befell them no Maori
knows to this day. All traces of them were lost forever.
Ponga was one of these.

After many moons, when no tidings could be had of her
beloved, Puhi-huia set out with her son to seek their lost
one. Before her departure she sang this mournful song
of lament for him whom she loved more than her life :

How grand the mountain
Piki-horo looks. How shall I
Weep and tell my sorrow
For thee, oh, my beloved !

Keen sorrow, day and night,

And pain of lacerated
Flesh, my trembling
Frame o’erpowers.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Oh, would some priest
Enchantments bring,

And in the stream
Revive my soul.

I know, oh, yes, I know
The house where Tatan dwelt,

And where the Mae-waho,

Hi crowds, all met their doom.

And slept in death, and
Where the Pona-turi's voice
Was hushed to speak no more.

So I for thee will mourn, beloved.

The sorrowing Puhi-huia and her son, hoping against
hope that they might yet get some tidings of him whom
in vain they sought, went up the Wai-ka-to river, and there,
with friends, remained for some weeks; thence to Mokau,
where they stayed for a few months, soliciting tidings from
all who came down the river. They then proceeded to
Kawhia and tarried there several days, and then up the
Kawhia river and through the mountains of that region.

Through these long journeys, sometimes at the homes of
their friends, whose hearts were full of sympathy for them
in their patient quest: sometimes lodging in the caves of
the mountains or under the broad fronds of the palm fern,
Puhi-huia imparted to her son, in whom was all her hope
if their search should fail, many of those songs and legends
and historic events of her fathers, from the ancients down

77

MAOEIS OF NEW ZEALAND

to her own times. Being the daughter of the highest of
all the chiefs of her people, she was by birth the noblest
Maori of them all. She had, therefore, had opportunities
to learn these things, such as the more common people of
her nation had not enjoyed.

What more could she do than was done by the mother
of the great Hebrew lawgiver — pass on to her son a
correct knowledge of all the history, religious beliefs
and poetical productions of her people, that he might hand
them down to those coming after him?

Each mother taught according to her light. What could
she do more? And the light which fell upon the earlier
maternal instructor, we may discover, imparted also some
of its rays, even though very faint, to the mind of the
later teacher.

A record of Puhi-huia’s talks with her son may not be
of so much value to us as the conversations of J ochebed, the
wife of Amram, with hers, yet when we find that in some
degree they really are related and similar, so that the
threads of Puhi-huia’s teachings, though rotten threads,
perhaps, are, after all, from the same texture as that woven
by the mother of the great lawgiver, the subject before us
becomes more interesting.

The heathen are not altogether dark, as in earlier days

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they have been supposed to be. There are, here and there,
thoughts which Christian men may respect. These better
thoughts, rising far above the bulk of their beliefs and
superstitions, are simply scattered rays, perhaps piercing
the clouds above them, yet rays from that infinite Sun
which enlightens us all.

Aside from this, we shall learn something of the thoughts
of our brethren who have lacked our opportunities and
advantages. We shall learn something of men who had
nothing in common with ourselves except that they were
men. When I say “ nothing,” I mean, of course, our civil¬
ization. The question has been sometimes very reasonably
asked, What, after all, is civilization? And according to
our standards of civilization, is it an advantage? While
that condition we designate as such certainly does deliver
us from some forms of evil, it seems to burden us with other
forms of evil. In some respects it is terribly and painfully
overdone. The conventionalities of society often burden
us with chains from which anyone loving true freedom is
glad to escape.

Happy is that one who is content with the simpler life —
life among the lowly.

“ Oh, but these Maoris used to eat their fellow creatures,
especially in times of war.”

6

79

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Not until after their fellow creatures were dead, and
then only slain enemies. Paul seemed to think that there
were some to whom he found it necessary to say, “ If ye
bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not con¬
sumed one of another.”

I fancy the biting and devouring to which the Apostle
had reference is not a very great improvement upon the
cannibal consumption of a slain and roasted enemy. I
don’t commend either the one or the other, but what is the
use of blinking at it? It is worse. Many a poor, honest,
yet nervous and sensitive soul has been done to the death
by the gossipy and slanderous tongues of empty-headed and
Christless-minded members of the Church, who, while they
professed to be followers of a meek and loving Master, were
cannibals of the lowest degree.

By way of preface to his warning Paul gives us the only
basis upon which a true civilization can be founded and
built up, namely, “ Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy¬
self.” If we rise to this standard we shall bite and devour
our neighbors neither with our teeth nor with our tongue.

I said, some distance back, that there were some reasons
for thinking their ancestors came to New Zealand from the
Sandwich Islands, although that cannot be established for
a certainty.

80

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Assuming that to be a fact, we can easily account for
some of their religious ideas being quite in harmony with
those great truths taught by Moses. It must be that the
Sandwich Islanders from the very beginning of their his¬
tory knew something of the teachings of our own great
inspired lawgiver, though how they came by that knowledge
will ever remain a mystery to men.

I spent three very pleasant weeks at Honolulu, my home
while there being at the residence of the Rev. Dr. Beckwith,
pastor of the Congregational Church. I found in his
library a work consisting of three volumes written by “ A.
Fornander,” who was for thirty-four years an official of
the Hawaiian Government. He had a native wife. He
was for several years Circuit Judge of Maui.

I could not persuade the Doctor to sell me the work. I
wrote my son in London, who visited ten of the largest
second-hand book stores, but he could not secure me a copy.
Fortunately I took some notes, though I regret I did not
possess myself of a larger supply.

I give the reader the benefit of the notes I have. I have
already said that they had a system of refuge cities and
traditions of the flood, with Nui (Noah) as the chief per¬
sonage. The ancient Hawaiians worshipped one god, who
in himself embraced three beings, equal in nature but

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

distinct in attributes. The first was, however, considered
greater than the other two.

These gods were Ka-ne, Ku and Lono. These existed
from all eternity.

By an act of their will they broke Chaos in pieces that
Light might enter into space.

They then created the heavens, three in number, as their
dwelling place, and the earth to be their footstool.

Next they created the sun, moon and stars and angels.

Last of all they created man, a model after the image of
Ka-ne.

The body of the first man was made of red earth. His
head was made of whitish clay which was brought from the
four ends of the world.

When the earth image of Ka-ne was finished, the three
gods breathed into its nose and called on it to rise, and it
became a living being.

Afterwards the first woman was made from one of the
ribs of the man when he was asleep.

These two are called in Polynesian chants and legends
by a great variety of names, the most common being, for
the man, “ Ku-mu-honua,” and, for the woman, “ Ke-ola-
ku-honua.”

Getting away from the Hawaiian group, where these

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

things were taught, many hundreds of miles farther south,
and after very many, many moons, with no written lan¬
guage, it is not wonderful that other ideas had crept into
the minds of the natives of other islands in the southern
seas.

The people in some of the Polynesian group had a tradi¬
tion which related that in the beginning there was no life,
light or sound.

A boundless night enveloped everything over which the
god Tanaoa (darkness) and the god Mutu-hei (silence)
ruled supreme.

The god Atea (light) separated himself from Tanaoa
(darkness), made war on him, drove him away and con¬
fined him within limits.

The earth, they say, was fished up out of the sea by
Tanaoa. Some of them claim that man was a direct crea¬
tion of Tanaoa, who made him out of red clay, and then
made woman out of one of his bones; hence she was called
“ iwi,” that is, a bone.

The Hawaiians said that the home of the first pair was
a beautiful land, a very sacred land. The man, they said,
must have been very holy who could dwell there. They
sang of it in their chants.

According to their tradition, a beautiful river ran

83

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

through this land. Its banks were very splendid. Its
waters had such life-giving properties that if a man who
had been killed were sprinkled with it he would come to
life again.

In this wonderful land there grew a tree called the ulu-
kapu-a-kane, or the tabooed or forbidden bread-fruit of
the god. Here is part of a chant referring to the trouble
which came to man from having eaten of this tabooed fruit.
While the result, according to the sentiment of the chant,
tallies well with the account given by Moses, the chant
seems to make that account more emphatic.

Oh! Kane, Laao, uli, uli, uli!

Oh! fallen chief, dead by the
Feast. Dead by the oath,

Dead by the law.

Oh, vanish the stars,

Oh, vanish the light,

In company with
The blushing moon.

Cursed be my hand,

Cut off through my cause.

I am dead by the law,

Yes, indeed, truly.

Oh! Kane, Laao, uli, uli!

To the gods disobedient.

May you speedily return
Again to the dust.

84

ENTRANCE TO A CEMETERY

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

The deluge was caused by two bad grandsons of the god
killing a favorite bird. When he remonstrated with them
they added insolent language to their wrong-doing.

To punish them, he gathered the clouds, which burst
over them. Towns, villages, mountains and plains were
all submerged. The rebels cried to a god, who instructed
them how to make a big canoe, by which eight persons
were saved. Among all these South Sea peoples are many
versions of the story of the great flood. Not all of them
give the name of the principal actor. One of these ver¬
sions, however, gives this person the name Nui (Noah), as
briefly stated in a preceding page. He, by command of his
god, made a large boat (“the royal vessel”), by which he
and his wife and his three sons and their wives were saved.

When the flood subsided, the three gods, Ka-ne, Ku and
Lono, entered the royal vessel and commanded him to go
forth, which he did. He found himself on the top of a
very high mountain, where for a time he dwelt in a cave
with his family. He named the cave after his wife, and
there it is to this day to assure you that this tale is true.

When Nui came from the royal vessel he took a pig and
some cocoanuts to offer as a sacrifice to Ka-ne, the chief
deity. As he worshipped, looking up he saw the moon.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

He said, “ No doubt you are Ka-ne,” and so he offered his
sacrifice to the moon.

The god descended on the rainbow and rebuked him,
but as Nui had done it ignorantly and at once had asked
forgiveness, he was forgiven, and the god reascended to
heaven, leaving behind him the rainbow as a sign or token
of his mercy.

Stones, partly dressed, about six feet high, are common
emblems of worship, and if near a dwelling are significant
of family worship.

At Roto-rua, in New Zealand, I saw one of these sacred
stones, which was said to have been lost for many years
and its loss greatly lamented, but it was rediscovered on
ground where a great battle had been fought.

It was locked up in a small, well-built house, about the
size of a sentry-box. The tribe professed that the key
could not be found. A fellow tourist and I succeeded, how¬
ever, by prying up an unfastened window, in getting a
glimpse of this celebrated stone, in the estimation of the
Maoris one of the most sacred relics of their past history.

I have dwelt longer on the beliefs of the more northern
groups of the Islands of the Pacific, because of the more
definite doctrines of the Polynesians, and because the writer
from whom I have taken these definite statements has with

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

such great research made himself so familiar, and has with
great credit to himself given us such interesting and
valuable information.

I repeat, where, when or how all these people, so far
removed from the centres of our civilization and intelli¬
gence, obtained their ideas, so fully in harmony with our
own ideas respecting the origin and early history of our
race, must, I presume, ever remain a mystery.

With the Maoris, Ta-ne (not Ka-ne) is God. Rangi is
heaven, Pa-pa is earth. The first man was Ti-ki ( tee-lcee ),
and Mariko was the first woman.

When their first child was born clouds began to skim
over the sky. There were dark clouds, black clouds, and
very black clouds.

Water began to flow, and the banks of rivers were seen
and dry land was preserved from floods.

Then was the earth seen in the dawn of day. There was
lightning and thunder. Then came rivulets and streams
flowing on to the rivers.

Then was seen the full light of day, and Ta-ne propped
the heavens up and great Rangi was seen above. Then
light and day were complete.

To Ta-ne belongs the taboo (prohibited) of everything
sacred.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

This is the chant of Ta-ne relating to the creation of
man :

Seeking most earnestly,

Seeking in the gloom,

Searching. Searching on
The bounds of light and day.

Looking into night, for

Night had conceived

The seed of night, the heart,

The foundation of night
Had stood forth self-existing,

Even in the gloom.

It grows in gloom like sap
And succulent parts of life,

And the pulsating cup of life,

The shadows screen the
Faintest gleam of light,

The procreating power and
Ecstasy of life of man first known
And joy of issuing forth of man,

From deep silence into sound.

Thus the progeny of man
From Tane the great extending,

Filled the heaven’s expanse.

The charms of life created
Arose and swelled in ecstasy.

Then rested long in bliss
Of happy calm and quiet.

There were many chiefs and priests when men had
grown numerous upon the earth.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Rua-tai-ao ( ti-ow ) preached the words of life to the
greater portion of the people, but many werei disobedient.

Wi, another good priest, taught the people all the laws
of Ta-ne, having derived his power and wisdom from Ta-ne.
He said, “ 0 friends, hearken to the words by which we
may be saved. Live peaceably. Do not work evil. Do
not be disobedient. Do not be intemperate. Do not offer
false, lying worship, but let your worship be true.

These people and their leaders resisted.

Wi spoke to Wa and Miru, and said, “ 0 young people,
you two, hearken to my words which I now utter. When
you eat, give thanks. Educate and build up the soul, that
it may go correctly to the world of spirits. Believe what
I now tell you, as this is the truth of Ta-ne.”

They did not hearken. Wi thus preached for two years
to this unbelieving people.

He then called to them and said, “ Soon, on the morrow,
the land will be overturned by God.” So when the days
were ended, he prayed to Ta-ne, and the land was over¬
turned and all those wicked people perished.

Puta was another of the priests who preached to the
people in those days. He built a temple in which to teach
men how to become noble.

They were rebellious and said, “ 0 Puta, can your wor-

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ship save you ?” Puta replied, “ Hearken, 0 friends, to
the words I now disclose to you. They are the words of
Ta-ne. If you hearken not, soon the hosts above will make
accusation.”

The proud people answered, “ Friend, your words are
lies.” Men had then become very numerous upon the
earth. There were a great many tribes. Evil prevailed
everywhere. Men obstinately opposed the teachings of
these good priests and declared them to be false, and
asserted that Rangi and Pa-pa, heaven and earth, were as
they had been from the first, and that Ta-ne had not done
and would not do as they taught.

Then Tupu-nui-a-uta and Para-mea got stone axes and
cut down totara trees and other light timbers and dragged
them to the mouth of the river To-hing-a. They bound
the timbers together with vines of the pirata and made a
very wide raft.

Then they repeated an incantation prayer and built a
house on the raft and put much food into it, and then they
prayed that rain might come in such abundance as would
convince men of the power of Ta-ne and prove the truth of
his existence and the necessity of worship for life and
peace.

The priest on the raft prayed that it might rain in great
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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

On the next day the rain had reached the settlements.
All men and women were drowned of those who had denied
the doctrines of Ta-ne.

The raft floated down to the sea and for many days went
hither and thither till at length it reached the land again.

Those on the raft thought that some of the people of the
world might perhaps still be alive and that the earth might
still have the same appearance as it had before the flood.
They saw, however, when they had landed, that not one of
all human beings remained except themselves, and that the
earth was greatly changed. It had cracked in places and
had evidently been turned upside down.

When they landed they repeated incantations to all the
gods and offered sacrifice of seaweed.

After this, the high priest, with a branch of a tree in his
hand, went to the edge of the water, and, dipping the
branch into it, he turned and faced the people and waved
his hand towards them and threw the water in their
direction. This he did three times. Then, returning to
his people, he sat down by a fire produced by friction in
which to cook fern root as an offering to the gods for the
company rescued from the flood. They sat until the fire
had all gone out and the sun had set on the first day of

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their restoration. In joy they produced fire by friction and
cooked food and ate it and slept.

On the morrow, when they had eaten their morning meal,
they looked np and there they saw" the rainbow in the sky.

Raki, one of the gods, said to Ta-ne and to his younger
brothers, “ Come and kill me that men may live.”

Ta-ne said, “ How shall we kill you ?”

Raki answered, “ Lift me up above, that I may stand
separate, that light may come upon you all. If I die, then
light and day will be in the world.”

Ta-whaki, another of the gods, at one time lived in the
earth, and, though a god, he had the appearance of a man.
His garments were like those of a poor man.

He went up to the top of a mountain and sat down.
Then he put off his earthly garments and clothed himself
with lightning. From thence all the people looked on him
as a god and all the tribes chanted incantations and offered
sacrifice to him.

Ta-whaki was killed by some of his own relations, but he
was innocent of the deed for which he was killed. By his
own inherent power he came to life again. He climbed,
by means of a spider’s web, into heaven, into all the various
heavens, chanting incantations as he went. There he
learned the incantations which are there taught, and then

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returned to earth and taught them to men. He then
returned to heaven and there remained.

I have picked out the foregoing from very much that
they have themselves invented, and which therefore would
be of small interest to the reader, who, I think, will feel
with me that the Maoris at some perhaps very early date
had not only heard the story of creation as told in Genesis,
but also the story of redemption as it is told us in the New
Testament.

Here is a very ancient lament said to have been taught
to men by the god Ta-whaki, who, as I have just shown,
died an innocent victim for men :

Bow to earth and bow to
Heaven. Wilt thou, 0 man?

With craving hunger driven,

Weary, gaunt and near insanity,

Must wander, aimless and alone,

While death creeps nearer still.

And to one focus draws
Thy path of glory.

Honor, fame and joy
Which youth laid out
But blots and blurs
The whole, whilst staggering
Thou canst scarcely sweep
The grass aside that grows
Along the path that leads
Up to thy home in heaven.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

How cowed and servile
Gnawing hunger makes
The soulless frame to stagger.
When at low eventide
The reeling form oft seeks
To eat the refuse cockles
Cooked and left by others.

How crushed by shame
Once noble self now dies
Within, as crouching,

Thou drawest near,

To see thy boyhood’s home.
No welcome greets by
Uttered words, or calls
Aloud thy name.

But thou must onward pass,

And in the path of famine,

Up to the gate of heaven,

Go, where though a starved
One, thou mayest hear
The welcome word
That bids thee come.

From their folklore I cull some of their legends, which
generally are so absurd the reader would not find much
interest in them. Two or three of them, however, may
be acceptable and serve as fairly good specimens of the
whole.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

The Legend of Toi and Tama.

A dog of Tama had eaten something which Toi had
intended for his own dinner, so what should Toi do but
eat the dog, after he had killed and cooked him.

Tama went hunting for his dog, calling louder and
louder, till at last the dog howled “ Ow, ow,” in the stomach
of Toi. Tama and his brother went on calling again and
again, and the dog kept answering “ Ow, ow.” Then Toi
held his mouth tight shut, just as close as ever he could,
putting his hand over it, but the dog kept howling, “ Ow,
ow.”

Toi said, “ Oh, hush, hush ! I thought I had hid you in
the big stomach of Toi, but there you are, howling away,
you cursed thing.”

When Tama and his brother had located the dog, Tama
said to Toi, who was his relative, “ ’Why did you not kill
the dog and bring it back to me, that my heart might have
felt satisfied? ” But Toi said, “ Yes, but if I had not eaten
the dog, when he had eaten my dinner, my stomach would
not have felt satisfied.”

We can come a little nearer home to get stories from some
of our own ancestors not a whit better than this :

In Caxton’s life of St. Patrick we are told that, “ it

7 95

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

happed on a time that a man of that contre (Ireland)
stole a shepe which belonged, to a neighbor, whereupon St.
Patrick admonished the people that the shepe must be
restored. The man that had stolen the shepe made no sign,
whereupon St. Patrick commanded by the virtue of God
that the shepe should blete and crye in the belly of him
that had eaten it; and so happed it that in the presence
of all the people, the shepe cryed and bleted in the belly of
him that stole it; and the man that was culpable repented
him of his tresspace and others thenne forthe were kept
from stelying of shepe from any other man.”

The Legend of Maui ( mow-ee ).

Maui went on a fishing excursion with his brother-in-
law, Ira-waru. Maui caught no fish, for his hook had no
barbs. He expressed surprise that his companion should
catch so many and he none.

Their lines became entangled and both felt the fish
jerking. Maui said, “ Let me pull the lines to me, as the
fish is on my hook.” The other said, “ Not so. The fish
is on my hook.”

Maui said, “ Let me pull my line in, then.”

Ira-waru did so, and then saw that the fish was on his
hook.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

He said, “ Untwist the lines and let mine go, that I may
pull the fish in.”

Maui was so enraged that when they reached the shore
he sprang upon Ira-waru, knocked him down, trod on him,
pulled his backbone out long and turned him into a dog.
On reaching home, his sister said, “ Where is my husband ?”

He replied, “ He wished me to say that you were to go
and bring his fish. If you do not see him, if he does not
come, call for him as you would call for a dog.” She went,
but not seeing her husband, she called aloud for him.
When he did not come she called, “ Moi, moi, mo-i-i-i.”

Ira-waru heard the voice of his wife and came towards
her, wagging his tail. She was quite shocked and over¬
come by the appearance of her husband, and returned home
weeping, followed by her husband.

She took a girdle and apron to hind around her, that she
might go to the sea and drown herself and be eaten by the
monsters of the deep. Having arrived at the seacoast, she
is credited with having composed the following song.

Of course, the story is a mere idle legend, with no founda¬
tion in fact, yet the song is there. It must have been the
offspring of some Maori bard, and counted among a thou¬
sand such, collected by Sir George Gray, who spent so many
ye&rs among them, without any written language or books

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

to aid him to master their tongue and possess himself of
the wonderful literary productions of these very extra¬
ordinary people.

I weep, I call to
The steep billows of
The sea. To him the
Great, the ocean god,

To monsters all,

Now hidden there,

And all the seals, to
Come and me entomb.

To me, who now am
Wrapped in the mourning garb,
And let the waves
Wear mourning, too.

There let me sleep,

As sleeps the dead.

I weep, I call to monster
Shells of ocean deep,

And thou great wave
Of endless roar, to
Come and me engulf,

Yes, me, who calling now,
Implore a mighty host
To come and gratify
My ardent wish.

Oh! let the heavens wear
Their mourning garb,

And let me sleep
The sleep of death.

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The absurd legend goes on to say that she threw herself
into the sea, but after many moons her body drifted ashore,
where it was found by two brothers.

When they saw how beautiful she was they rubbed the
moss and seaweed from her face and placed her close by
the fire, and soon she came to life again.

When asked her name, she gave them a new name which
meant that she was a child of the ocean.

Tine-rau ( tiny-row ) took her to his home for his wife,
but he had two wives already, who kicked up something
more than a tiny row on seeing this new and handsome
arrival, so they cursed her and tried to kill her.

She was so grieved at their conduct that she determined
to bewitch them, and for this purpose she chanted the fol¬
lowing incantation: (I give a few lines of it in Maori, as
it may be interesting to the reader.)

Haruru to toki
Nga hoa ta toki
Hei paoitto
Uru to toki
Tena toki ka
Haruru tena
Toki ka ngatoro
Ko te toki o
Whiro te tupua
Manawa ko koe
Kai tangata.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Let the booming
Blows of the axe be
Heard, and pain the head
With deafening din.

The axe? 0 yes, the axe,

To smite your head,

The axe to scatter
All your brains.

Oh! now the blows
Of the axe are heard.

The chips are seen,

Scattered far and wide,

Yes, the great axe of Whiro,

The monster and avenger,

The great man eater.

No sooner was the charm repeated (so Maoris say) than
the heels of the jealous rivals were seen in the air and their
bodies were stretched lifeless upon the ground, and the mer¬
maid had her new husband all to herself.

The following song is accredited to the wife of a chief¬
tain who was slain in one of their great battles :

How cold and dim it is
Within the house, for thou,

My love, art to a distance gone,

And I must wait the throng,

If out on ocean far
What shall I see?

Shall keen regret

Thy soul then tightly hold?

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MAOEIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Ah! no, I feel that thou
Art one of those from
Whom come with daring
Thoughts of war.

But what can be the
Deadly pain I feel
Now throbbing in my heart
That burns as fire within.

I dread the future now,

Yet all will be forgotten
In the depths of darkest gloom,

Oh! come back to thy wife,

Nor let her feel and dread
The awe oft felt by those
Who wait the coming of the foe
To make them slaves.

Oh! Te-pa-ea, where wast
Thou then when my bright
Days were young?

We loved each other
Then, as others loved.

But though cast down.

And left as wrecked canoe,

I shall not be destroyed,

But I shall still, like
The canoe, be strong again,

And by the ocean wind
Glide o’er its rippling waves
Where often calm is felt.

Another fallen chieftain’s wife sang her mournful dirge
for her dead beloved. Surely, how like ourselves these poor

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people are. They, too, have hearts that feel life’s burdens
and life’s woes. What a blessed Gospel is ours for all our
race. It only can bring comfort.

Ah, wind ! now passing to
The north, blow, blow gently
On my path, but onward go,

Go first and I will follow,

Will follow thee.

Lead, that we may onward
Go by this path to the
World of spirits. Ah, me! to
That world and isles
Where life is great.

Where I may see, ah, me!

Where I may see but him,

Ah me!

The following story will show the ingenuity of a tactical
warrior :

When a battle was apparently imminent, a principal chief
commanding the expedition on the one side, greatly fearing,
as the two forces drew quite near to each other, that the
opposing force was very much stronger than his own, said
to his followers, “ 0 people, light fires at some little dis¬
tance from each other. Let them be large. Let three
women be at each fire with some of you men, and let each
man make a speech, and let a man at each fire speak, and

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speak at the same time, and let all say, ‘ Be brave to fight
on the morrow, 0 sons, when we are attacked by our enemy.
Do not think of life/ ”

The men thus directed did as their chief suggested, and
as they used their voices the sound was loud and strong,
like a great trumpet uttering a war call which might be
heard far off.

So thus these warriors spoke, and brave were their throats
to utter such speeches as they made. These great, loud-
sounding speeches, being heard by the enemy, made them
think that an immense army was encamped just in front of
them, and they fled back to their country, and their fear
was so great that they never returned to attack their wily
opponent.

It is a mistake to suppose that the condition of Maori
life was one of privation, suffering and gloom in times of
peace. On the contrary, it was rather a pleasant life.
There was usually an abundance and a variety of food.

There was also agreeable and healthy occupation both
for mind and body. Each season of the year and each
part of the day had its specially allotted work both for men
and women.

The women, in addition to such household duties as cook-

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

ing and cleaning their houses, made the bedding and
clothing required for their families. They gathered the
wild flax and prepared its fibre for use, and worked it up
into a great variety of articles both useful and ornamental,
many of which required several months to complete.

The men gathered the food and stored it in “ whata,” or
storehouses built upon tall posts to protect it from damp
and rats. One of these “ whata ” was owned by every
family.

Besides such natural products of the soil as fern root,
stems of the tui-palm, and convolvulus roots, they cultivated
the kumura or sweet potato, tara and karaka.

Fish were caught in the proper season and prepared for
storage by drying. Wild pigeons, kaka (parrots), ducks
and titi (mutton birds) were cooked and preserved in their
own fat, in vessels made of large kelp leaves and bound
round with totora bark to give them strength.

Netting, carving, grinding by friction, and fitting stone
implements and weapons occupied the time of the old men
and a good deal of the time of the young men as well.

I visited several of these “ pahs,” or villages, during my
stay of nearly a year in New Zealand, and have in my
possession a goodly number of specimens of articles such
as they manufacture at their homes.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

I visited one pah in the hot lake district where they need
no fire of any kind, cooking being done by means of the
boiling hot water which comes bubbling to the surface from
the depths below. Over a hole a foot or so in diameter
they hang a dressed pig in a packing case, got from the
white village near by, and cook him thoroughly in a couple
of hours or so. The women, with dippers with long
handles, lifted boiling water out of the earth for washing,
or making tea.

They beguile the winter evenings by tales' of myths, his¬
torical traditions, tribal genealogies, chanting and singing
poetry, by telling fairy tales, or performing the haki-haki
games or the hari-hari war dances.

It was only when they were ill or were harassed by their
enemies in times of war that the ancient Maori could be
said, with any truth, to be unhappy. Even in war, the able-
bodied men delighted in it, so here also, among this class
of Maori, there was no real unhappiness, especially for the
victor, though woe unto the unhappy ones who proved the
weaker party in the fight. Roasted ! eaten ! and their
smaller bones worked into needles and fish-hooks.

Some poor poet, finding himself going to the wall with
all his tribe in one of their conflicts, sings thus :

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Overcome and exhausted,
I am in spirit, dead.

Oh, that the war girdle
Might expand itself
And flaunt itself,

For me. Yes, for me.

I cry trembling,

I wail, oh, me!

And my calamity on
The mountain of life
In the midst of power
Of bitterest foes.

Tu, come near to Maru,

And Maru come near
To Rongo, and you,

O Rongo, come near to me,

Come near to my calamity.

The reader will be interested in some of the stories and
legends they used to tell each other when sitting around
their fires. Some of them were of things above, like a few
of those of their religious beliefs already narrated in the
earlier part of the book, and some of them may be classed
with our own fairy tales.

Ta-ne and Rangi, his father, dwelt in the upper worlds
with their spirit hosts. Of these hosts some of the leading
spirits persisted in trying to draw many of the others into
rebellion. Orders were therefore given to expel them, and

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Ta-ne, who had the power to do so, cast them out, and they
fell down from the first heaven.

When they had fallen to the earth they set about securing
the destruction of those creatures Ta-ne had made and
placed upon the earth, and thus be avenged for their having
been cast out of heaven.

There was a second and also a third rebellion in heaven,
in which thousands were killed, that is, so far as it is
possible to kill spirits. Ta-ne was determined to kill all,
but the god Raki proposed that the universe should be
divided and that the heavens should be altogether separated
from the earth, so that these spirits might become human
by assuming bodies. To this Ta-ne would not agree.
Because of this, these spirits were doomed to stay in
darkness.

This was the result of their rebellion. These rebels were
driven from the upper heavens, and their unalterable fate
was to live in doubt in this world and in the world of dark¬
ness beyond this world.

Some of the priests say it was Tu and Rongo who first
made war and killed men, but the beings killed were not
like men as they are now. They were gods.

Rau-riki was the first to kill man in this world. He
killed Hotua, because of jealousy. The females loved

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Hotua and praised him for his nobility and beauty. When
the news of his death reached his relatives they sought
satisfaction.

They dipped the forefinger of their left hands in
the blood of Hotua, and held their hands up towards heaven,
and then they pointed downwards. This they did many
times, all the while repeating their incantations and naming
each god in heaven and all the names of heroes above and
below. Then they repeated the incantations of “ Life and
the origin of all things ” :

Peal thou thunder in the sky
That I may hear thy booming,

Like to that of rushing tide,

'Cast down the prop of life
That gods above and gods below
May hear the words of Apa-Kuru.

Now she utters words of dread,

Of lonely desolation; i

And laughs the laugh of madness,

To her own kindred blood,

And begs for retribution
For the death of Whaka*rara.

His sister wails in agony
Of woe upon the ocean shore-
She calls the sacred hills
To smite the soul of him
Who did the murderous deed.

Now to her aid comes Nuku.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

As darts the flash of keen
Revenge from out the
Eye of ehdless spite,

The hosts of Kewa come,

Assembled in the clan of
Those who would
Her cause espouse.

This was all done when the army went to avenge the
death of Hotu-a. When the fight was over, the victors
took the first prisoner captured, and, after killing him,
presented his heart to the high priest. This he cooked and
ate. They then killed all the other prisoners, carefully
saving all the blood, which they offered in sacrifice to the
gods. Then the bodies of all the slain were cut up and
cooked and eaten by the army.

This was the origin of cannibalism in this world, and the
practice has been continued down to the present time.

After Ta-ne had arranged the stars, and made his father,
Rangi (heaven) beautiful, and formulated the laws of taboo,
he visited the earth and then returned to the heavens above.

After his departure the spirits of the lower worlds sought
to be avenged on Ta-ne for the part he had taken in driving
them out of heaven.

They first caused evil amongst the fish of the sea, and
multitudes of them were destroyed.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

They then caused evil amongst the birds of the air, and
great flocks of them perished. And when men were mul¬
tiplied they caused evil amongst them.

The Story of Rata.

When Rata’s father was killed, he determined to avenge
his father’s death. For this purpose he went into the forest
and having selected a tall, straight tree he felled it and cut
off its beautiful top, intending to fashion it into a canoe on
the morrow.

When the insects who inhabit trees and all the spirits
of the forest learned what Rata had done, they assembled
during the night and, while singing aloud their incanta¬
tions, put the tree back into its place with every chip and
shaving and branch, just where they were before.

This is what they sang, with the confused noise of various
voices :

Fly together, chips and shavings,

Stick ye now all fast together,

Hold ye firm and fast together.

Stand thou again, 0 tree, upright:

Be our monarch of the forest.

Early the next morning back came Rata to hew the tree
into shape for his canoe, when lo ! where is the tree ?

If that tall, straight tree standing there is not the one
he felled, then his eyes greatly deceived him.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

However, Rata thought it was useless to waste time won¬
dering, so he at it and felled it again.

When he went to his home at nightfall the insects and
fairies and imps of the forest returned and set it up again.

When he returned the second day, lo ! there was the tree
erect.

Nothing daunted, he felled the tree once more, and then
started off as if going home, but when he had gone a little
way he hid himself in some thick scrub.

He very soon saw an innumerable multitude of the spirits
of the forest approaching the tree, singing their incanta¬
tions as they came along.

When they had arrived at the fallen tree and were about
to raise it again. Rata rushed out upon them, saying, “ Ha !
ha! then it is you, is it, who have been exercising your
magical arts upon my tree ?”

Then they all cried out, “ Who gave you authority to
fell our forest god to the ground ? You had no right to do
so.”

Rata was very much ashamed and quite sorry for what
he had done.

They said, “ Return, Rata, to your home. We will make
a canoe for you.”

They were so numerous and so familiar with the forest

8 111

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

that they were not long in making a canoe for Rata capable
of carrying 140 men, all warriors, who embarked with
Rata to seek his father’s bones.

One night, a week or so later, they reached the fortress
of their enemies. Rata alone landed, leaving all his war¬
riors on board.

As he stole along the shore he saw a fire burning on the
sacred place, and some priests near the fire performing
their incantations.

There he saw them making use of the bones of his father,

beating them together to keep time while they were repeat-

%

ing their incantations, known only to themselves.

Rata listened attentively until he had learned this incan¬
tation by heart.

When he was quite sure that he knew it, he rushed in
suddenly upon the priests and killed them and secured his
father’s bones, and fled to his canoe and, with his warriors,
set out for home.

It was not until the morning that the tribe discovered
what had been done and who had done it.

Without delay they raised an army and pursued. This
army consisted of a thousand fierce warriors.

In the battle which ensued Rata was worsted and sixty
of his followers were slain.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

At this moment Rata remembered the powerful incanta¬
tion he had learned of the priests. He repeated it, and
immediately his dead soldiers were restored to life. Then
they returned to the fight, fiercer than before, and their
enemies were slain. The whole thousand were killed and
so Rata was counted in those days as a mighty warrior.

Ratals task of avenging his father being now ended, his
tribe drew their great canoe up on the shore and thatched it
over to protect it from the sun.

The Legend of Whakatau.

Whakatau was a grandson of Rata. He was brought
into existence in a very strange manner.

His mother, if such she could be called, was one day
walking along the seashore when she took off her apron, and
rolling it up, threw it into the sea. A god seized it and
shaped it, and breathed upon it, and it became a living
being, and its ancestors taught him magic and all sorts of
curious things. When he was little, his favorite amusement
was flying kites.

What was most strange to mortal men was that while
they could see kites flying about, they could see no one
attending them, for Whakatau was running about on the

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

bottom of the sea, holding the end of the string in his
hand.

One day he stole up out of the water by degrees till his
whole body was plainly visible on the shore.

All the people ran to seize him, but he slipped back into
the water and went on flying his kites as before.

The people who saw him were surprised at the strange
sight, and they determined to seize him, if possible. So
they sat on the shore and watched for him.

When he came up out of the water and stepped on shore
again they all ran at full speed to catch him. When he
saw them coming he cried out, “ You had better go and
bring Apakura here; she is the only one who can catch
me and hold me fast.” They ran to fetch Apakura.
When she saw him she said, “ Here I am : I am Apakura.”
Then he stopped running and she caught him, and asked
him, “ Whom do you belong to ?”

He said, “ I am your child ! You one day threw your
apron into the sea, and a god, my ancestor, seized it and
from it made me, and I grew up, and they called me
Whakatau.”

Then he left the water and resided on the land, but his
principal amusement, as long as he was a lad, was flying
kites.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

But he understood magic well, and nothing was hid from
him, and when he grew up to be a man he became a re¬
nowned hero.

The following song was often sung in honor of one of
their great warriors :

I thought, 0 Kana! if
I kept the secret still
Untold, unknown and hid,

’Twas dread and fear
Of the still awful doom
Of song and war
That ruled thy every act.

But thou, 0 Wera,

Hast the red and
Sacred plume, that binds,

Commands, and keeps
In power, and saves
From death thy
Warrior host.

Here is a very ancient lament sung in chorus by the

whole tribe over their illustrious dead :

The small stars now
Westward troop in majesty.

The satellites of Mars
Go on in drowsy mood
The path they ever went,

But what may it avail?

Since he, Wari-a-hau ,

Rushed reckless to the
Battle front; nor heeded

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

That the great, the people’s,
Power, the guardian and
Protector of our hosts
Had succumbed to death.

No aid had he to grapple
With the unrelenting god
Of war. Nor were there then
Bright rays of light
Seen on the peak of
The hill Wai-tawa, where
All the mighty men

Lie with Rangi-te-amo
There. But seek our guardian
Power and rouse it
At once to act anew
Before our great canoe is
Overturned and all is lost.

I’ll deck me with the plume
Of the white crane as the
Gentle breeze from off the sea
Wafts to our shore the totara.
Of prized young chiefs.

Oh, gently blow, ye breezes
Of the land and rouse
To deeds of daring all
The active souls of men.

I dreamt, and in my dreams,

I felt the chill of snow
Grate through my frame.
Which trembled with the chill.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

As in the night’s ill omen,

Those Tama-te-a nights of
Dread, the signs of which
Are seen high up above and
In the midnight clouds.

0, my beloved! couldst
Thou once again arise
And in the day-dawn speak.

Thou wouldst the incantation
Chant of A-wa-tea-aroa,

And tell the power by
Which thine ancestors learned
The path to come across
The ocean road to
This our far-off home.

These cannibal people were not only capable poets, as I
have pretty fully shown, but they were also a musical
people, vocal and instrumental. Their instruments were
mostly trumpets, flutes and whistles. They had a few that
were not wind instruments, and they were continually try¬
ing to invent others. Their attempts in this direction
were like what the ancient Greek used to relate of Apollo
himself, in the construction of his first lyre or harp, employ¬
ing a cast-away shell with a few strings stretched across it.

Their trumpets were made of wood or shell. Those of
shell were usually made by using the Triton or conch shell.
Its apex was neatly cut off, and a mouthpiece of hard wood,

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

suitably hollowed and carved, was ingeniously put in and
very firmly fixed.

The old Maoris seem to have had a curious plan for
increasing or altering the power of sound of their conch-
shell instrument. A thin piece of dark, hard wood of a
broadly elliptic form, and measuring about three by five
inches, was most dexterously fitted in to fill up a hole in
the upper part of the body or large whorl of the shell.
This piece of wood was also carved and ribbed or scraped
to resemble and closely match the transverse ridges of the
shell.

There was only one kind of wood of sufficiently sonorous
quality to suit their taste for this purpose. Of this wood
also they made their best loud-sounding drums and gongs.
From this same wood they dressed down and polished sticks
about three feet long and of the thickness of small walking-
sticks. Two persons, standing about four feet apart, each
holding one of these prepared rods, would throw them
toward each other with such dexterity as to make them
strike each other at just such distances from the ends as
that they might produce just the sound necessary to suit
the note required of the song they were singing.

Their wooden trumpets were also very curious and

118

MAORI WOOD CARVIN' C

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

ingenious. They were made of pieces of hard wood, scraped
and hollowed and jointed, and very compactly put together.
The work was so well done that it was almost impossible to
discover the joinings.

Some of the long trumpets had a large hole in the middle
of the instrument from whence the sound issued, and which
was there modified by the hand.

Others of their trumpets, about four feet in length, had a
central piece, or diaphragm, set back twelve or fourteen
inches from its mouth. The sound of this instrument was
emitted from the large aperture at the big dilated end.
By the different sounds of these instruments the several
chiefs in travelling were known.

These loud-sounding trumpets were often used as speak¬
ing trumpets when giving words of command or other
important words to persons at a distance.

The flute was made of wood or of bone. Those of the
latter were of human bone. They were generally six or
eight inches long and open at both ends. They had four
holes, three on one side and one on the other.

The wooden ones were ornamented with a great amount of
carving and inlaying, each being an example of skill, indus¬
try and patience.

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MAORIS OP NEW ZEALAND

On these flutes the old Maoris were able to play simple
Maori tunes and airs.

The whistles were made of hard wood, scraped, polished,
and profusely carved, and inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
They were worn by the chiefs, usually hung to their necks.

Ability such as many of them manifested could only have
been attained through long and persevering practice,
indicative of both a good musical ear and love for music.

It was surprising to hear these people from most patient
perseverance extract even only a short series of pleasing
notes from such instruments.

Ever since the advent of the white man, the Maoris have
taken a great interest in jews-harps.

Sometimes they will try a score or more before they can
find one soft enough in tone to suit their fancy. They will
spend hours and invent all sorts of plans to alter the tone
where it is harsh.

They will, for this purpose, fix about the tongue a small
bit of sealing-wax or gum. One writer says, “ I have known
a Maori to beg for an old dessert knife worn out to the thin
remnant of a blade that he might make with it a small
instrument resembling a jews-harp, its sound being so much
sweeter than any he could buy.”

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MAOKIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Much of their carving, especially on the prows of their
canoes and on the fronts of their dwellings, was most
exquisitely artistic as the reader will see by turning to
the illustrations given.

Their tattooing was always apparently a thorough work
of art. No one was considered really handsome without it.

Well-tattooed heads were mostly always preserved and
kept in the home so that the deceased relative might still
be counted one of the family.

When white men came in touch with these people, finding
that a well-tattooed head could be sold for a good price to
the museums and curio hunters in England, a trade for
heads sprang up which was very discreditable to the more
enlightened race.

The first head made an article of commerce was taken
to Sydney, New South Wales, in 1811.

A sailor who had been fishing for some months for
seals, stole it from a native house.

As soon as the theft was discovered, there was great
excitement among the people.

Fortunately for him and his companions the wind was
blowing off shore, and weighing anchor they quickly
got away. He realized a good price for the head, but it cost
him his life when he returned to New Zealand.

121

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

In England a well-preserved head with very artistic
tattooing would bring almost any price demanded.

To such depth of wickedness was the trade at length
carried that thousands of slaves were purposely killed that
their heads might be sold.

It became unsafe for anyone to be handsomely tattooed
unless he was a chief.

An English captain having his vessel loaded with Kauri
gum or flax would be offered a head by the chief whose men
were carrying cargo aboard.

The captain might refuse because it was not as good a
specimen as he wanted. He would point to one of the men
whose tattooing he admired and say that if he could get
one like that he would give a good price for it.

When he would return a year later with his ship for
another cargo, that poor fellow’s head would be ready for
him. It very often happened that a powerful chief had
his slaves all handsomely tattooed that he might kill them
and sell their heads for a big price.

One slave who had been tattooed at much expense and
weeks of time was dishonest enough to run away with his
own head, though the chief might have maintained in an
old Maori court that it wasn’t his own head.

All we can say is that at least it was a “ capital ” offence.

122

MAORI DWELLING

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Head for head, all that a man hath will he give for his
head. This poor fellow had nothing but “ leg bail,” so he
gave that.

In 1831 a captain of a schooner purchased fifteen heads.
When a company of natives came aboard, the captain, being
under the influence of liquor, brought the sack and emptied
them on the deck before his visitors. They were horrified
to see among them the heads of some of their own relatives.
He succeeded by a favorable wind in getting away, but he
was fired on by the natives when he returned later. His act
resulted in the total prohibition of the traffic.

Governor Darling, of New South Wales, issued a pro¬
clamation which put a stop forever to this iniquitous traffic.

One of the oldest warriors now living says that through
their continued fighting the Taranaki district was left with¬
out any adult male native.

Some time after that, all began to feel tired of war, and
from both sides warriors from two large warlike tribes
met and agreed there should be no more war between them.
A gun was buried as a sign that they would fight no more.

“ Then,” says the old warrior, “ the gospel came. Since
that I and all my people ” (of that tribe) “ have all accepted
the Word of God. When I heard of the rising of some of
the people for war, I took the Word of God to the Waikato

123

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

party, and also to their opponents. Eighty of ns went.
We spoke to the Waikato people and they agreed that there
should be no more war. Then they all began to believe in
God. When we came again to Waikato, Christianity had
greatly spread.”

As I have given an extract of a portion of a native song
in their own tongue, it may please the reader to see the
Lord’s Prayer in Maori:

Te inoi a te Ariki E to matou matua i te rangi kai tapu
tou Ingoa. Kai mai tool Ranga tiratanga.

Kia meatia tou epaiia ki runga Kite whenua. Kia rite ana
kito te rangi. Homai kia matou aranei he taro ma matou mo
tenei ra.

Murua O matou hara me matou hoki a muru nei i ote
hungae hara ana kia a matou. Ana hoke matou e kaiwea kia
whakawaia engara whakarangia matou te kino.

Mau hoki te rangatiratanga, te kaha me te kororia.

Ake, Ake, Ake, Amine.

Te inoi a te Ariki.

The prayer of the Lord.

E to matou matua i te rangi,

O our Father in the heaven

kai tapu tou Ingoa, kai mai tou

let be sacred thy name, let come thy

Ranga tiratanga

Kingdom ( chieftainship ) ,

kia metia tou epaiai ki runga

let be done thy will on to

kite whenua. Kia rite ana kito

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

the earth, let It accord with

te rang!.

that in heaven.

Homai kia matou aranai he taro
Give to us now some bread
ma matou mo tenei ra.
for us for this day.

Murua 0 matou hara me matou
Blot out our sins as we
hoki e muru nei i ote
also blot out those of the
hungae hara, ana kai a matou,
people who sin against us.

Ana hoke ma tou e kaiwea
Not also us take

kia whakawaia, engri whakarangia
to be tempted, but deliver
matou te kino,
us from the evil.

Nau hoki te rangatiratanga
Thine also the kingdom,
te kaha me to kororia,
the power and the glory,

Ake, ake, ake, Amine.

Ever, ever, ever, Amen.

If these pagan people saw some things which the white
people had brought to them that were good, they saw also
that some of the white man’s customs were bad.

They saw from the very beginning the evil effects of
intoxicating liquors.

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MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

They resolved that, at a very early period in their more
civilized condition, this evil should not continue among
them.

Their first prohibitory law dates as far back as 1835.

Moetara, a native chief, was at the head of this move¬
ment.

About 500 Maoris were present when resolutions were
passed, through the assistance of a few English-speaking
residents, that the sale of intoxicants should be abolished.

It was decided that there should be a fine of £25 each
put upon vendor and purchaser.

A deputation was sent to a vessel loading for Australia,
and the rum cask in her hold was demanded.

So much harm had been done that the people were
determined. When the captain saw that the demand was
backed up by 500 natives, he hoisted the cask on deck, the
bung was drawn, and the Maoris turned the grog into the
sea.

The poor captain said, “ Things have come to a pretty
pass when we have to go to sea without our supply of
grog.”

No opposition came from the blacks. They were all
against the use of that which produced such effects upon

men.

126

MOETARA

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Their very strongest objection to the introduction of
Christianity was on this ground.

They saw among those who were taking possession of
their lands, and among the sailors, men — who claimed to
have a better religion and a better civilization than their
own — behaving worse than demons and besotting them¬
selves worse than brutes, and some of them could not dis¬
associate their boasted religion and civilization from the
doings of the drinkers of rum.

Opposition to the prohibitory movement came from white
men.

A few of these, knowing that the missionary had encour¬
aged the movement, gathered around the mission house and
drank their rum and flourished their rum bottles.

One of these in their drunken row received a blow on the
head from one of his drunken companions, which caused
his death a few hours later.

He was a general dealer, and a man of mark among his
fellows.

He sent for the missionary and expressed his sorrow
for his opposition to him and to the chiefs.

He ordered all his rum casks up from the cellar and
had them emptied upon the ground before the eyes of his
wicked associates.

127

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

From that day until now prohibition has prevailed in the
whole of the “ King Country,” that is, that part of New
Zealand exclusively occupied by the Maori people.

Thanks to the noble example set by these native people,
New Zealand makes more persistent progress towards
the total annihilation of this infamous traffic than any
other of the British Colonies.

The self-sacrificing zeal of the Christian people of that
beautiful colony is worthy of all praise.

That white-skinned civilized men should cling to this
traffic with all its hellish nature and history is one of those
mysteries most difficult of solution.

The beverage use of an intoxicant is contrary to the laws
of nature and to the declared will and mind of God.

Its continued hold upon humanity is one of the strongest
evidences of the existence and activity of Satan with legions
of demons under his control whose chiefest business is to
destroy men ; and never in all the history of invention for
human ruin has any other thing been devised of greater
potency for the accomplishment of its purpose.

I have given in preceding pages illustrations of Maori
poetry. I think the reader will be glad to have here a poem
by a New Zealander, though not a native.

Perhaps the reader will have more sympathy with these

128

MAOKIS OF NEW ZEALAND

lines if I inform him that the gifted author of these very
forcible and touching sentiments was a sufferer from the
drink habit.

Even after composing this poem he was still a slave
to rum. I hope, if he still lives, he has become free, for oh,
what a slavery it is !

THE VILEST FIEND OF ALL.

False demon, take thy fiendish shape;

Thy name is demon and not wine.

Durst thou cling to the purple grape?

Durst thou take shelter ’neath the vine?

Nay, cling unto thy patron — Death —

And hide thee ’neath his blackest pall.
Throughout creation’s length and breath
Thou art the vilest fiend of all.

What are thy crimes? Go ask the grave
That yawning waits the lifeless clod,

Thy murdered serf, thy poisoned slave:

A type once of the living God.

The shrieks within the maniac’s cell.

The chain-clanks round the prison wall,

The wails and groans of millions tell
Thou art the vilest fiend of all.

What are thy crimes? Yon soulless thing
Was once God’s image, pure and fair.

Yea, fiend, as witnesses, I bring
Lust, hatred, murder and despair

129

MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

To prove thy guilt. The fiercest flame
That burns below where sinners fall
Is fed by thee. Remorse and shame
Proclaim thee vilest fiend of all.

What are thy crimes ? Thy counsel’s plea
Is this: Thou’rt good and we should prize
Heaven’s gifts; but I do view in thee
A cruel devil in disguise;

Before thee, peace and comfort fly,
Replaced by senseless feud and brawl;
Near thee, truth, love and honor die:

Thou art the vilest fiend of all.

130

In