LETTER TO THE MAORIES.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 1, Issue 15, 19 July 1849, Page 3

LETTER TO THE MAORIES.

Showing that one of the chief Causes of their Sickness and Decrease in Numbers is Bad Fòod; with an Account of the best Food to Eat.

I'itiF.NDs, Maomi:?, —In my last letter I said you wore diminishing in number? in ■ome parts of the cvuiitry, 1 Jkivc j : ow to

toll you that one of the chief causes of this misfortune is bad and insufficient food. As I wish to convince your own minds that what I tell you is truth, and not mere idle words, I beg you will inquire at any of your friends who havo visited the villages on the banks of the river Waipa, and at Rangiawhia, where plenty of good food is cultivated, what is the state of the Maories in thrse places 1 Tlioy will tell you, for I have seen them myself, that the men aro strong, that the children are fat, and that many of the younger children have no marks or sores on any part of their bodies.

Again, lot me beg you to inquire at any of your friends who have visited the Maories living near Kaikohc, and over in the direction of llokiang.i, where little good food is cultivated, and where food is often scarce for several months in consequence of waste, what is the state of tho Maories there. They will tell you that the men arc thin, tho children are poor, and few in number; many of them have sores or swellings about their necks, and many die from cough, scrofula, and bowel couiplain's. Now let me tell you that this difference between the Maories living on the Waipa and at Rnngiawhia, and those nt Ilokianga and its neighbourhood, is chiefly produced by food ; and if you hare any doubts of this, I would ask you to make the following experiment. Take two dogs, and feed one on pork and potatoes, and the other on potatoes alone. In a few months you will see the dog fad on pork and potatoes strong and active, and the one fed on potatoes thin and weak. Compare the Maories* dogs with the white men's ; the Maories feed their dogs chiefly on potatoes ; pakchas give their's pork, iiotli d gs have come from the same stock, yet how diiferent are the dogs of the two ncople. The Maori dogs aro generally tlirtiA long legged, thin, and weak; the Pattellas' dogs are clean, short legged, fat, and strong. I i a few generations your dogs, unless you give lliem pork now and then to eat, will dwindle away, and they will lose their courage to face or catch a pig, and tlicy will look like a different race of dogs to that of the white men's. It is the nature of a horse to live on grass, or one kind of food, all his life; but not so with men. They must cat various kinds of food to become strong and healthy. It is true that men will not die if they live solely on potatoes ; but in a few generations disease and the seeds of decay will be found in every race of men who make use of no other food but potatoes and kumeras. All animals have a wish to eat that kind of food which is best for them; thus a lien will pick up seed the moment it comds out of Ilia shell, and a kiwi worms; but a child is more difficult than any other animal to bring up, for what is goud for a child at one period of its life is hurtful at another. I shall therefore tell you, in a few words, tho best kind of food you can cat, so as to drive out from the bodies of yourselves and your children those seeds of disease and decay which are found so prevalent among the Maori race. The test food for your children.—l hope you will attend to this, fur the deaths among your children before they can walk are fearful, and it is one great cause of the decrease among the Maories. Until a child has got teeth, the only food it should have is milk from the mother's breast. When the child has got two or three teetli you should feed it daily, in addition to the mother's milk, with food made by boiling wheaten flour with milk and a little sugar; as the child gets more teeth, and when it is able to walk, feed it with wheat, flour, milk, and soup made from pork. There is a practice among the Maories of feeding children for a long time at the mother's breaet. This you ought not to do ; it is bad for the child, and also for the mother. When a child has got teeth, take it away from the mother, and feed it 011 wheaten flour, milk, and. now and then on a little pork. On the management and feeding of your children, I cauuot well express myself so a3 to be understood ; I therefore beg you will inquire at the wives of your friends the missionaries about this, It ij by careful attention to the rearing of a child that a strong nu.ll comes ; and it i> sinful to let children die as jciu do, when by a little care death inipht be prevented. The lest f'Wil for men ('.ml toomcit.—You ; ought to cat i'eod at hvst twice a day ; and every dav.you -lio'.iM cat ronie whea'.eii flour made into bread, some pcr.k, and some p;>ta- ' iocs, ov any other kind of vegetable you like. 1 This is all 1 have to say nbur.t your food ; 1 o.ily want yon to oat i-vcry day a little meat ' and wheatin Hour in addition io your p'la- '• toes and Uumfras. Toe employed 0.1 1 the public works near Auckland eat pork and 1 loaf bread frequently, and they are a strong ' hea'l'.y set of Maories. 1 You have adopted from tho white men the I bl ss'ngs of the Christian religion, pray adof.t 1 their mode of livinj-, by using the same food thvy 00, but avoid imitn'-ing the Pakclns iu 1

drinking spirits, for ini.;mperance is hurtful to "Iw body and degrading to the mind. Friendt, Afaorits—lf you neglect this advice which lisa been often given, and still continue living entirely on potatoes, kumeras, or jmlrid corn, no human power can apparently -'vent your race from dwindling ai»ay ; or, in the words of one of your chiefs, " from drying up like a river when there ia no rain . and, in place of Maories becoming a great and civilized Christian people, they will every generation become less numerous and more sickly, until, like the ntoa of old, they he-

The seeds of decay are laid in your bodies by the poor food you eat, and the disease is called into exiitence durine; your lifetime by bad clothing and bad houses acting on your weakly constitutions. If, however, you commence and eat meat and wheat in addition to

your other f&od, you will gi»e your bodies strength to Resist these causes of disease, and in a few generations you will be a healthy people, and will be equal to the white men in knowledge, industry, and goodness. Some among you who should thiuk over this letter may bold out their legs and arms and say, Where is the white man that can show such a largo arm and leg ? Can it be bad food which makes me so fat 1 In reply to this I will tell you that many a man is fat who is not strong and healthy ; and to convince you that your fat is not healthy, I muit tell you that 1 measured the height of 160 Maori men, and found tliey were on nn average nearly as tall as the white men ; that I found the Maorieshad as large a girth round the chest as the while men, and tho weight of the Maories and white men was very similar, nottuo pounds difference; but when I compared the strength of the white nun and the Maori I found that the strongest Maori man did not raiso from the ground more than 420 lbs., whereas a white man of the same height and weight could raise upwards of 600 lbs,

From this you will learn, although you arc as tall and A3 fal as the white men, llint you are not nearly so strong ; the largo legs anil arms you have got is the fat of potatoes and Vegetables, it is not like the fat of the whito jrien. If, however you eat more pork and wheat I am sure you will be as suotig as any -white man. I shall now conclude, for the present, by aßking you to become more industrious, and to labour to obtain good food, so as to endeavour to remove from yourselves and your children those seeds of disease and decay which I have told you about, and which must, in the course of years, tend lo destroy a great .portion of the Maori rnee.