THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND
Two Lectures delivered by the Rev. Thos. Buddle, Wesleyan Minister, at the Auckland Alechanies' Institute, on the evenings of the 25th March, and 12th May 1831. The process reminds one of the witch broth >n Macbeth, though the ingredients differ . Tiny had " No fillet of a fenny snake, No cyo of newt, nor tou of frog, No wool of bat, nor tongue of dog. No adder's fork, nor Mind worm's sting, No liinrd'sleg, nor owlet's wing. No tcnlo of dragon, tooth or wolf. No witches' mummy, maw nnd gulf." The New Zealand wizard collected parings of finger nails, broken shells, human hair, sharp jatged edged stones, old rags, &c < These were wrapped together, and with incantations buried. The evil spirit was invoked to send these witche's weapons into the hated one, and tear end tor hue till he expired. • When a person is taken ill or dies, the priest is tailed to ascertain the e.mse ; the patient professes to have seen the spirit of some one with whom he was at variance, standing by his bed, whom he concluded to be the witch. When dead - the priest who is sup. posed lo bo gifted with second sight pretends to moke the discovery. He first divines as to the cau«e, by throwing nn arrow. If it stick in the garments of the coipse, which they dress for the occasion, it was a natural death ; but if it pierce ttie forehead, it was the work of a witch or wizaid, and sometimes the " Mai a-kite " pretends to tea the guilty one
'•ending over the corpse. Sometimes lie performeshis incantations by the water side, and brings up the spirit of the person who hi.s been guilty of the sin, eying out—such a one sUnds before in. Palu him; —when they all rush into the water <ind strike. Hut like Kneu in his pnth to ilie shades, they lilt ih-ir weapons a foe too uriel to be wounded. If a person fixed upon be a person of no rank, he was often despatched without much ci rrmony. I have known the - moat revelling circumstances in connexion with these superstitions. When I lived on the Waipa, a man near the Mission Station had lost two or three children, and the man gifited with second sight had fixed on his o-mi mother-in-law as the witch who hnd caused their death, lie one day enticed her away from the Kai'it/n, on pretence of looking ntier his pigs; and leading her to the .side ol an old kuinera pit, put a noo.'K over her head, strangled her, and tlnew her into ihc pil. There I found the corpse about a week after. The inhuman son-in-law was unmoved when the murder »as discovered, exulting that he had ridded himself of a pest, and angry when we brought ill" corpse to mnko it a cofiin and give it Christian sepulture. Another man lor the same cause had destroyed one tf hi* own wives, and we hnd reason to believe consumtd the remains with (i.e. If tie person was a chief the custom of Pi likolo (cuiiuier divination) was resurud to. The Faries. Among oil or superstitious prevailing in t c land was their b.'licf in the existence of un aerial t'ibe, called "Te patupaiarehe," r Alaroi Faries. These mysterious beings have had an imaginary existence in most parts of the World, generally being supposed the most perfect and beainilul creatuns, of diminutive form living in a land of exquisite beauty, amid scenes of enchantment and loveliness, governed by kings and queens who live in splendid palaces, riding on milk-white steeds, dressed in brilliant green, mov.-ng in processions mote magnificent than those of eastern monarch?, dancing among shady groves and over verdant lawns to music more delicious than any mortal lips could sing or hands produce, and occasionally visiting earth and helping or annoying its inhabitants. The Fairy supeistition among the Maories somewhat dill'i-rs. They arc not the diniiuiutivu beings they arc mpposed to be in mo.si lands, but giants—a people of extraordinary dimension.-. They are exceedingly numerous, and have their abode in the mountains on the lopsof which they build their pas. These pas are itunerally seen at sunrise, all perfeet in houses and fences, and everything essential to Maori comfort and safety ; hut when the Maories go to pay them a visit they find the scene has muved'to another and distant peak, so that they can never get near them. Sometimed they were seen at sea, fishing; both angling and netting; but as the Mamies draw near they disapear beneath the waves, and reappear at their work in the distance. They suppose them to bo the spii its of departed men. Like fairies in other lands, they are musicians; and when they play their instruments bewitch the cars of the listeners They to retimes pay a visit in the night and inuke n whole hoiue sick and ill by trampling the inmates unmercifully as ihey sleep. To protect them against such midnight trnuulers they used to deem it necessary to build their houses with the door towards the north. Only one man is said to havo been taken away alive by tfci'm. His name was Tarapiktu; and it is inconsequence of his residence among them that they spam others whom they visit. They are said to have the power of driving men mad. Is it not probable that these l'utupaiarehe derive their existence from atmospheric ill--sinu 7 Some of those spectral or illusory ap pearances uhich take place from the power of refrac ion in the atmosphere or st.mc other atmospheiic phenomena resembling the mirage of the desert? A very remarkable instance cf this illusion occurred during the passage of the French army ucross the desert at the time of Napoleon's expedition to Egypt. '• When morning dawned," says the historian, " the army found itself traversing boundless plains of sand without water or .shade, and with a burning sun over head. All the wells on the roid were exhausted. In the midst of the general depression a sudden gleam of hope illuminated the countenaces of the soldiers. A lake appeared in the wilderness, with villages and palm trees clea'ly reflected on its glossys urface. The parched troops hastened to the enchanted spot, but it receded from their steps. Again they pressed on with burning impatience but it for ever fled from their approach, and thoy had the mortification of discovering that they had been deceived by the niirjge of the desert. 1 '
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Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 3, Issue 76, 20 November 1851, Page 4
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1,087THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 3, Issue 76, 20 November 1851, Page 4
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