THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND:

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 3, Issue 73, 9 October 1851, Page 3

THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND:

Two Lectures delivered by the Rev. Tros Buddle, Wesleyan Minister, at the Auckland Mechanics' Institute, on the evenings of the 25th March, and l2th May, 1851. LECTURE I. All the tiibes of Polynesia seem lo have an estal lislied order of Priesthood. The New Zealauder,- no doubt, brought the institution from Hawaiki. Mr.Jarus tells vis in his hisory of the Sandwich I-damls, that each chief had his (aniily priest who followed him to battle, carried his war god, and superintended all llic sacred rites of his household. They had also ilii high priest, who was immediately attached to the person of the most poweiful ruler, and had the keeping of the national war god. Their power, though it pnrtook of a religious character, wasscarcel) inferior to that of the chiefs. The lusliitilion among the New was much the same, only they hud no national high prieat. Eery tribe had its priesthood, one of «liich was chief, niul had the greatest influence. In many instances the principal chief was the high priest as well, uniting in his own person the rank of Ariki, or lord, and chief priest. The office wae generally hereditary, pnssing from father to son; the father taking pains to instruct the son in all the mysteries ol the order. Kveiy priest had his own peculiar forms of Kurakia. The secrets of his worship, the language he employed in his intercourse with the god, was hidden from the people. In fact it was a language c ot to he understood but by the initiated. I have heard old Tawaki, a gieat piirst of the Ngatimaniupolo tubes, teaching his son at night, when all had tegired and they were alone. Their persons were sacred. They were not allowed to work, tin ir supplies were provided

by tlio tribe. All about them and their houses were tupu. Tliey were considered invulnerable to disease nnd inviolate in Ijnltlc. No sickness coul(i aflrct tliem, nor any evil touch tliem in war, unless they give offence to the gods. I received from Ngaware, Tawaki's son and successor in ths priesthood, a curiou* account of his lather, 011 miuof my visits to their village. Tawaki was an interesting looking old man apparently about eighty years of age, with n long flowing beard, white as snow, appearing as and singular in_ all his movements'Mnd converse ns you might expect such a personage lobe. Ngawnre told me his father was the ohhst man in the country; had outlived all his compeers; that 110 min lived who could compute his ape ; that he had been prool against all disease; and, though he find accompanied the tribe on many a war expedition, no spfar could pierce him, and 110 gun had power to loucli his sacred person. The secret ol all this was, he had a watu in his b'east—a snored red stone given him by his predecessor which was his preserver; nor could he die while it remained within him. "By and by, "said Ngawhnre, " "hen t see my lather so decrepit that he is really sink : ng beneath the weight of years, and life has become a burden. I shall request hi.n to give the walu to me—then he will die. I shall swallow it, and succeed him 111 the priesthood." Their work is to look after the interest of the pods, to sen that the law of tapu be not violated, and that nooflfcnce has been given to the imaginary deity. They are, in fact, the representatives of the gods, and receive all the offerings which nrc to propitiate their deities, part of which was to be consumed by themselves. In war they have the regulations of all Ihc movements. From the supposed intercourse with the gods they are expected to know the mind of the gods. They had their oracles, where tliey made inquiry a3 to their incidents of war. A place was selected, and n rude sort of grove prepared. Everything being tapu, no food was prepared, no fire lit; the gods were invoked and 0 quantity of sticks planted to represent the different divisions of ihe tribes that were going on the expedition. These were in n row, and the enemy opposite. When all were placed in order, the warriors were commanded to turn away their faces when the gods came and threw down the sticks which represented the tribes that were to suffer loss in battle. Id this way they pretended to divine. Like the ancient Diuids, too, they divined by augury —by observations made on the flying and voices of birds; the appearance of the heavers and by a vaiiety of oilier methods. Sometimes they ptofess to havo revelations from the gods. Te " Aula Wliera" pretended to have a revelation that foretold the assault on the pa at Onhaeawai by the British troops and our repulse. He gave it in the furni of a song which was sung by the tiumy after the repulse. THE DREAM OF ATUA ITIIERA (TUB rIBE GOD), An attack! an attack ! £! Ila ! A battle! n battle! E! Ifa! A fight on the banks of the river. It is completely swept and emptied. Oh ! you would light, you would light. You find belter stayed nt borne in Europe Than have suffered a repulse from Wharoali&u, He has driven you back to your CoJ. You may cast your book bchind > And leave your religion on the ground. The peoolc were so fully persuaded of the power of Ihe priesls, and felt so much the importance of keeping on good terms with ihe gods that they most scrupulously obeyed their commands. When the priest chose to halt they must encamp, and not proceed till lie issued the order. Whe» he wished to consult the gods, lie proclaimed a fast, and no iirc was lit. So great was his influence on such occasions that r.nne would think of drinking at a stream as they passed into the field, I'he had prohibited. Any violation of his oiders would be expected to bring disaster and death. On returning from war he led them to a spot some distance from the pa, each warrior with a branch in hw hand which he waved while the priest performed the karakai; then all their implements of war were thrown to a sacred spot and left. Another par', of ihe priest's work was, to heal the sick. AH kinds of sickness was supposed to come either directly from the gods, who being oflended entered into the pcrsuu and was gnawing his vitals ; or indirectly through the medium ol witchcraft. The priests were the only physicians, When called to a sick person the first thing done was lo consult the gods, which was done by plucking up a piece of fern : if it came up clean free from soil, it was a favourable indication. If much earth remained about the root evil was predicted. lie ordered the p.ilicnt to betaken away into Ihe bush—tapuing all the paths so that no one should approach. If he recovered an offering was made. Fern to it was cooked and presented to their deified friends, male mil female. If one by chance was omitted, lie would avenge the slight by afflicting again.

Tigers.—ln the afternoon of last Thursday ' while some Malays were collecting rattans iiml cutting wood "in a piece of jungle near Mr. Dunman'f plantation at Sirangong, they were alarmed by hearing a tiger making his approach through the underwood. They immediately commenced a retreat, but had not cleared the jungle when the tiger came up with them, and singling out the fattest man in the parly sprang upon him. lie dragged the body sonic distance before the man's companions recovered from the fright into which they had been thrown, and pursued liirn with their parangs, on which the tiger dropped llie body and retreated. The poor man was found in the agonies of death with his throat and face severely lacerated. The body was brought away, but the tiger it would appear was determined to have his meal, as llie same night lie had carried off a Chinaman at a short distance from the scene of his morning's exploit. The Chinaman's friends, on milking a search, found the body, with one of the leg* wanting. The tiger is described as being of a large size and remarkable for having large white spots frum which it is conjectured tl'.at he is well advanced in years. , June 11.—List week we mentioned the deaths of two persons by a tiger in the Sirangong district, and we have now to record that the same animal has since killed another man, making his fourth victim, as we are informed, in the course of the present month 1 It is time tin: Tiger Club were resuscitated. These, we are told, are not the only instances of persnns having been destroyed by tigers in our jungles of laic, and it would seem therefore that the government reward of fifty dollars lor each tiger destroyed is not sufficient to induce an effectual crusade against them.—June 18 On the 17th instant at noon, n Chinaman was carried aw.iy by a tiger at Sirangong, and at 4- o'clock in the afternoon of the same day another man shared the fate in that locality. It is statedon good authority that in Sirangong distiict alone upwards of 30 persons have been killed by tigers within a few weeks past 1 The rate of mortality Iroiii tlin cause in other districts has not lieeti ascertained, but it must be considerable, as tigers ure not confined to Sirangong, but pervade all the jungly parts ot the island.