THE "GOBLINS."

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 1, 26 September 1907, Page 8

THE "GOBLINS."

$ WHAT THE MAORIS THOUGHT OF ' CAPTAIN COOE. > ' What Captain Cook thought of the Maori is a commonplace of New Zealand literature. Every maker, of books gives a version of his notes". What the itaori thought ,qf Captain Cook is not so widely known. Yet it'is just as interesting, and happily the picture ,of the great navigator as h.e appeared to tho savages has been preserved to ,us. Among the tribe living at Merloury Bay when the Endeavour put in i there, was a boy-'-a' little fellow of labout eight years old',>but possessing .tho name of Horota-Taniwha (Redsraoared Dragon), no-less. Tho child lived through all the ,changes and chances of Maori life and- warfare to more than ninety years of age. In his extremo old ago ho would tell the , 6tory of how: ho saw Kapono Kuku— Captain Cook. Once he told the story, to Governor Wynyard, who had it promptly taken down. Anbther version is also printed in one of Mr. John White's volumes. Tho two, do not differ in any important particular. The amazing apparition of the huge white-winged ship with its orew , of' goblins, and what they said, and what they did, and how they looked, had remained clearly photographed upon the retina of Taniwha's mind's-cye for three-quarters of a century. From youth up, ho had, of course, proudly repeated the story. A more delightful child's narrative it would he hard to find.

Tho people at' Mercury Bay knew nt onco, says Tariiwhii, that tho English were goblins, because a >oat's crow pulled ashore, with their backs to the land. , Only goblins havo eyes in the' backs of their heaJs. When these creatures stepped oil to the beach all tho natives retreated and the children ran into tho bush. But ceoing that tlicsa wondrous beings walked peaceably about, picking up stones and grasses and finally eating oysterß, they said to each other, "Perhaps these goblins aro not like our 'Maori goblins,".arid, taking courage, offered tiiain sweet potatoes, and even lit * •lire and roasted cockles for Yt'licn ouo of these strangers pointed a walking-staff ho had in his hand at s cormorant sitting on a dead tree, arid thero was'a flash of lightning and !■ clip of' thuuder, followed by the cormorant's fall,' there was another stampede into the lr«b-. Sut the goblins laughed so that the took heart to'rotun.and look at tire fallen bird. " Yes, it was dead; but what had killed it? And still the wondor grew. Tho Endeavour lay in the'bay for some timo, and a - brisk .trade* grew up between ship and shore. On one great, never-to-be-forgotten day little Taniwha and somo of his- playfellows were taken out in a . canoe and went on board tho magic ship. . Wrapped in their flax, cloaks, they sat closo together on tho deck, 'riot daring to inovo about'for'fear they might be bewitched in some dark corner, and so might never be a bio to go away and get homo again. But' their sharp brown oyes noted 'everything: They easily mado out tho leader of the goblins. He was a " tino tangata " (s. very man—emphatically a man). Grave and dignified, ho walked about saying few words, while the other goblins chatted freely. Presently tho goblin-captain camo up to tho boys, and, after patting.their heads and stroking their cloaks, produced a large nail, and held it up ~ beforo them temptingly. Tho other youngsters sat motiouless, awe-struck. But tho bolder Taniwha laughed' cheerfully, ■ and was at onco presented with the orize. The children forthwith .agreed amongst themselves that Cook was not only a "tino'tangata," but a "tine rangatira "—a 'combination of'a great chief arid a perfect gentleman. Hon othorwiso could lie bo so kind to them, ;ind so fond of children, argued these youthful sages. 1 . Then ■ they saw the captain draw black marks 011 tho quarter-deck and make a speech to the natives, pointing towards tho coast. " The goblins want to know tho shape of tho country," said a .quick-witted old chief, and, 'rising lip, lie drew with. charcoal a 'map of the Fish of Maui, from the ■Glittering Lake at tho extrcnio south to tho Land's End in tho far north. Then seeing that, tho goblins did not •.imlcrstand that the Land's End was ihe spot from which the spirits of the' dead slid down to tlife shades below,the old chief laid himself down stifHy • 011 the deck and .closcd his eyes." But still the goblins did not understand; they only looked at eaclr other, and s'>nlco in their hard; hissing speech. After this, little Taniwha went on shore, bearing with him his precious nail. He kept it for years, using it in turns as a spear-head and an auger, or carrying it slung round his neck as a sacred charm. But. one day, when out in a canoe, ho was capsized in the breakers off a certain islet, and, to use Ms own' words, "My god was lost to me, though 1 dived«for it."' ' Taniwha describes how a thief was shot by Lieutenant Gore for stealing a piece of calico. Tho thief offered to sell a dog-skin cloak, but when a pieca of calico was handed down over tho bulwarks into his canoe, which was alongside the Endeavour, lie simply took it, gave nothing iii return, and told his comrades to paddle to land. What followed was a capital example of the Maori doctrine of "utu," or compensation, the cause' of so many wars and vendettas. The 'tribo decided that as tho thief had stolen tho rulieo, his death ought not to bo avenged, but- that as lie had pnid for it-with his life lie should keep it'. So it was buried with him.—From " Tho l,ong White Cloud,'' by W. P. Ueevea.