THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND:

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 4, Issue 81, 29 January 1852, Page 4

THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND:

Two Lectures delivered by the Rev. Thos. Buddle Wesleyan Minister, at the Auckland Mechanics' Institute, on the evenings of the sth March, and, 12th May, 1851. l'lic e'oiincnre ami prowess of their i li.'cfs 'us dir])lav«<l i" such nines i-s of in cdchriitol in ilieir l.mi'i:t<. The Jolhuviii:; is a specimen— • I.AMIST OF ■ KAIIEIIEN'OI'TIS 1011 HIS I MI/.DII VV. As I fit my heart Btrings aru convuUod For my children. Heboid me, O my friends, Tune lias transformed mi', Till I referable the foliage That droops upon the filioro, Anil bond like mourning tree fern. b'ur my children. Where now, thou favoured one, Whom every longuo saluted, And every home bid welcome? He is gone over the great de.-cent. I mn left, my friends. I sit upon r generation crnshed. Like ii plain stripped of its trees, A plain cleared of every blade, A plain siiept completely, Willi untiling left, To look upon tin sun That flings his beams across it. Like a mminiitiii that stands alone, To catch the breeze that lells of home, Wliinti we loved to miirli to feel, As it wafted from the south.

Have they been hidden in that house liy Wbirotho thief!' My heart is ignorant Of the doings of the hundred ; Hay tin! moon is a thief, For she does not always shine.' Say the cliff, too has stolen, Mcnce its land slipped away ; That the seed lias decayed Ilecnuse of ils theft. Had theft heen the cause. Hosts of demons would have Crush,',l us nil, and our end Hate heen like that of (lie Mon.t Leave* only are I. ft to weep Over the descend inta Of I'ani, and of lton-ntau. The fuller* of the ruddy root" ;{ lliclies over which your sires nulled In olden rimes, and"dislnnt lands. From llawaiiki 1 brought you, And here vou grew to men. Vour ancestors exorcised Kvcry spirit of ihe deep, The breath of peslilei.ee, And the wasting famine. Hut they returned, With death and ninurniug in their train. Ily thy fathers nt Kairait Thou wert charmed, With (he charm of Tutorohakina, And of Tule.nganahau ; To Klii-M thee in war. my son, To preserve ihee from revenue, To ward off the stroke of thy foe. And invest Ihee with the stien-lh of on host, That single-handed thou ini-lit'ot l'lunge into the midst of bailie, Like the greedy cormornnt, Who dives Willi mountain waves, And brings up bis prey From lliedark blue sea. Thy fame was planted on llaumtiinu.* Ailinirinir tribes, as they saw thv prowess, Asked, amazed. Whose son is this! 'J hiiu werl mighty in battle, And ihy deeds are heard on everv river. iUen sland upon the prow of their canoes. And catch the sound of thy glory, As they float along the stream; For every tribe boro awav thv fame, And eia'lted thee above liiy felluws J Thou, whoso flesh eat every hall While in close encounter with Iby foes. ()!■! had I but left my son al home! Then Toiaraiahua could not Have viewed him along the barrel of his gun. And vc wnuhl have made a fleet To sail the waters of Manukau, And 1 should not thus have wept for you. Their wenpens n ere not very numerous, but adapted to their mi.de of warfare. The ftle.ri, or I'alu I'oiiimmii, was the wenpm of the rliief, oilher suspended from his wri»t, or carried in Ills girdle nady for application. The Tumere, verv simil-ir only made of Maire. The Parana, cut of a wlwtfs jaw-hone, of snniL' shape. The Piiutvfienuii was n club-bended spear. Tim lVahu-ngohi a large fl.it «i'a|iou or halite axe. The Taialiaor Hani, used for fciirim.', and as a spear, jjenenllv used as by the Teas The Timatn and Taoroa wi re lon<v spears. They had a projeclle called a Ifoernr, made of the j.iw of the si erni "hale, » sort nt h.irpo. n, ie>einbliii!t nil nnricnt instrument of war Ihi' tint I" the head of which .was las'eii'd a lonj; strap which ihe warrior retained when he discharged the tlatl i" order to duaw it lirn-k njrain. The Ilncroi wis flit-Micd tn a rope held in the h'lid, with which the victim was drawn townrds the person throwing it. The Perc was for throning or projecting short arrows made of manuku, or stones a: the enemy. The imlv defensive armniir they used was a Puhipulni a piece of cloth made of (lax closely woven , and of most impervious texture : it was bound round the loins ni d chests. They had no helmet, but like the ancient", thvy endeavoured to protect the breast. It is said that this kind of defence originated with the Egyptians; among whom Meyrick says, ••it was the only liodv armour. It was hung over n In- breast and should rs like a tippet; was made of Until sevcrnl limes fo'ded, and iiuihcd in such a manner as to resist the point of a weapon. These linin pectora s came into, extensive use among the neighhoii'ing nations, and those of Kgvpiion rn inulactuie were paiticularly valued." A linen thornxof this kind seems to have been worn in the Trojan vtar by the lesser Ajax. V-'llJ "with a guard Of linca texture light bis breast secured." The New Zealander sti eped his Puknpuiu (or p.ctor'al), in the waier to stiffen ii, and coiivev a sfreatcr power of resismnce. It was generally "sufficiently liar" '» " esist ,I>e Pere > or spear.

* It Iml boon said thai tome theft had been com milted, which was the cause of hU children's deiih. t A gigantic bird, now extinct. J Tim luinera. •