SKETCHES ON NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 114, 3 July 1847, Page 3

SKETCHES ON NEW ZEALAND.

BY CRAYON.

The origin of cannibalism amongst the New Zealanders is a mystery; but, neveithcless, it appears to me, that as man in a state of savage nature is infinitely superior to the brute, (in reasoning faculties), who raj cly devours his own particular species, consequently, as a matter of choice, man would never hunger for his fellow's blood ; but that a terrible necessity has caused its adoption, in the first instance. Such was the case, we read of in Holy Writ, during the famine in Samaria, in the time of Elisha — when the two mothers agreed to devour their children on alternate days ; but the first child having been eaten, the mother of the other refused to have hers destroyed, and the parent of the murdered child appealed to the king for his decision in the matter. This, perhaps, is the earliest instance which history gives of cannibalism. The necessity having lasted, and the habit having been contracted, perhaps the pricbts of the wretched homicides have, to excuse the custom, given it ihe sanction of their idolatious religion; and when the necessity no longer existed for eating the flesh of their fellow-creatures, they have sacrificed their slaves and captives to their gods, as a continuation of their acquired and habitual inhumanity. Herodotus, in his history, mentions the existence of cannibalism in India, as antecedent to the early age in which he wrote ; also amongst the Tlubctians, and the Massoegoetco, a tribe living in the northern part of Scythia : this might have been before the emigration of any tribes from the Asiatic continent to the islands in the Indian seas; Ttubruquis, the traveller, confirms the accounts of Herodotus, and states that the inhabitants of Thibet, had once the habit of eating the dead bodies of their parents, from a^motive of piety, believing that to be the most honorable sepulture ; but in his time they had abandoned the custom, which was looked upon as abominable by all other nations. They still however, continued to make handsome drinking cups of the skulls oftheir patents, that they might call them in remembrance even in their mirth. But whether it was a custom known to those caily emigrations of the human race, or originated in famine, ferocity, revenge, or brutal appetite, there arc no means of discovering, its disgfcsting practice is, however, discontinued amongst the .New Zealanders almost entirely, and its relation even is seldom heard from their lips. Thus much is kuown from close enquiry, that the young people, of both sexes, looked upon human flesh with superstitious dread, on account of the tapu, and ceremonies to which it was subjected ; and that the diabolical feast when spread was only tasted by the vicious and revengeful warriors, the members of the demon priesthood, and those who had fallen by the hands ot their enemies, and who thirsted for the consummation of their revenge. There are some circumstances in which may be traced the connection of the New Zealanders with the early nations of the earth ; with those of Asia more particularly. One custom, even, which these natives have amongst them, can bo traced to the Israelites themselves: it is this — it was not an uncommon circumstance, when a native chief wished to gain allies and assistance from other tribes, for the purpose of being revenged on his enemies, to send a portion of flesh from the corpse of some relation who had been killed by them in battle; it v, as carefully secured in raupo, and tied round with flax ; this was a silent and forcible appeal to the feelings of the warrior, and the request was answered as either passion or prudence dictated. I, myself, was at Wakatani, on the East Coast, when the Heu Heu, of Taupo, after his defeat at Wanganui, sent a herald with packets of human flesh to old Tautari for, this purpose. Now, we read in the book of Judges, that the wife of a Levite was murdered by some of the tribe Benjamin ; the husband of the woman took her corpse, and divided it into twelve pieces, and sent a piece to all the tribes of Israel, calling for vengeance on the murderers. The appeal was answered, and the tribe of Benjamin destroyed, all but six hundred men, who fled to a cave in the desert. Secondly, the New Zealanders had a cubtom, when war first commenced, of sending out a party of warriors, to lay in wait, and kill any travellers, or straggling families of their enemy ; no matter how helpless they might be ; this was called a taua tapu, or an omen onslaught : the bodies of the murdered people were left where they fell, neither was any clothes or other articles taken from their persons. The object was to secure a good augury by shedding the first blood. Marco Polo, in his travels in the east, describes a race of people on the borders of Tartary, with .whom this superstitious custom was generdl. Thirdly, — the doctrine of Metemphsychosis, which history slates Pythagoras to have learned amongst the priests and wise 'men of India; is still in partial existence among the New Zealamjers, but the transmigration of the soul is limited to priests, (to hungas,) and sorcerers. For instance, the soul of a priest hus a particular kaupapa, or agent, in which it is embodied, and in this form he carries out his evil intentions on the human race, even after his death. They are various in character, as dogs, wild pigs, sharks, lizards, owls, &c. This fact, with many curious circumstances connected with their superstitious rites, I learnt from Maruhau, the blind old chief of Otawao. Fourthly, it was a common custom among the Hew Zealanders in former times, when a chief died, or was killed in battle, for them to kill one or more of his slaves, to attend him in that capacity in another slate of existence ; old residents in this country will remember many cruelties of this kind. Marco Polo says, — It has been an invariable custom, on the death of the princes of the race of Zingis Khan, to kill any of their subjects they meet on the road to the place of intciment, saying to them, " Depart for the next world, and there attend on your deceased master." Being impressed with the belief that all whom they thus slay, do actually become his servants in the next life. When the corpse of Maugu Khan was transported to the mountains of Altai, the horsemen who accompanied it, having this blind and horrible persuasion, slew upwards of ten thousand persons who fell in their way. In my first paper of these sketches, I have supposed the circumstances which might have attended one of the early emigrations ; I will Anther suppose them to be the ancestors of the present race of New Zealanders. i'hen arises the question, where did they locate themselves, and where did they, (the New Zealanders) spring from ? To gain any clue to this, I must have recourse to their language ; thus for instance, pakeha-maori, means a European or foreigner, who has lived with the natives and married, (native lashion), amongst them. Here is the union of two distinct races, pakeha and maori, or while-man and New Zealander. What then do we conclude from the term tangita-maori, maori means a native, tangata means a person, why are the two words united \n one meaning, if it was not to express a connection between two races in distant ages, the cases strike me as being parralel, but a littleniore explanation may be necessavy to understand it as' # buch, —we will take the following words in reference to tangata, though differing slightly but not materially in pronunciation, with the first syllable of tangata j both spoken differently by natives of the west and the east coast. Wust Coast East Coast Tonga Tanga Tongariro I Toi\a Tana Toimriro E.wiud.tattooing'a volcano j E.wind.tatooing.a volcano The striking difference in the pronunciation of the ngaonthe east and west coast is further evidence of

two races. The Bay of Plenty natives cannot pro* ttounce the nga, but make ii simply na. Amongst the Mohohaus, o>- bush natives, there ia much of the wan* tiering habits remaining of a people who subsisted on the indegfnous productions of iho country without cultivation. One tribe particularly, 1 shall notice in some future paper, who spend most of their time wandering in the forest, snaiing birds, digging and subsisting on) fern and other roots habitually. The negro race coming from the tropics, were most likely acquainted with the alligaior and lizard form, and had no superstitious dread of them, and there is a tribe of Nga-te-mania l'outo, who used to preserve lizards, in the fut of rats, and ea£thcm as a great delicacy. Now it is a well known fact that other tribes of New Zealandcrs loot upon this reptile as disgusting, fearful, and loathsome,, and believe it to be a demon. In native language we hav<* two of the most striking 1 and principal objects in nature namcl tangata and tongariro, and tbe cast wind, also tonga; then again the tattooing is called a tanga. lb» will not be difficult I think to come to the conclusion as to the possibility of these names, originating in the islands of Tonga or Tongataboo. That Maori was the antecedent race, that the succeeding was from Tonga or Tongataboo, and that the two races verged into tangata-maori. The tattooing possibly was introduced by the later emigration, and came from some contiguous island* The name of the volcanic mountain in Taupo, Tongariro* 1 can readily suppose was given by the new coiners, from the fact of its resembling some mountain in their own country, and it might have been their first exclamation of surprise on seeing it, " Tongariro," " Tongshere," for the word riro is applicable when speaking of a thing 01 person present, as it is of that which it absent,— for example, kua riro mai, it is come, ku* riro atu, it is gone. The traditions of New Zealand tell tia of two distinct immigrations, whether tangata was or was not the national name, of the last is a matter of conjecture,— but many circumstances go to prove that they were of two distinct races, how else is it possible to account for tbe obsolete language in some of their prayers, and old songs ; they were not a literary people, to improve their language, consequeatly the only conclusion to be arrived at is, that it became altered by the introduction of another people and language amongst them, the same as the harsh old Saxon was softenld and disguised by the Norman tongue. The original race I conjecture to have been something akin to the negro ; for wherever you travel in New Zealand, you cannot fail to be struck by the rough curly head, broad flat nose, and thick lips, in contrast to the Malay features* Grecian nose, sometimes acquiline, and glossy straight black hair. The pepple possessing negro features, strange to say, are found more frequently ampngit tho lower classes, and slaves; which would favour the surmise, that the original inhabitants had beea a conquered people, and subject to their more 1 powerful invaders. Supposing that the original race were those nearest allied to the npgro, it is not difficult to imagine the probability of their having come from New Guinea or thereabouts ; they might have been driven through Torres Strait by a tempest, and as their rude junks were capable of sustaining heavy seas, they would have been enabled to reach New Zealand, in twelve or fourteen days, running before the wind, which was perhaps their only chance of safety, and thus in distant ages the negro race was located in New Zealand. There is a traditional song amongst the Nga-te-Kauda, which describes a tree, brought by a canoe across the. sea, and planted on the east coast, the stem was lofty, and the fruit grew on the very top ; it goes on to say that a violent easterly gale at last blew it down. This descriptiou answers exactly to the cocoa-nut, and nothing is more likely than that the wanderers, coming frora islands were jt grew, would endeavour to preserve a plant of their favourite tree. The taro and kumera possibly came with them, they are cultivated with care, and generally the ground is made sacred on which they grow, or the plants themselves, by placing the tapu on them. Their names, have been unchanged, as, they are still the same in other islands, whereas the potatoe is known by different nvnes, as taiwa, riwai) &c, in different districts. The calibash, or hui, as the natives call it, is very likely to have been introduced at the same time, as there is little doubt but they were necessary to contain water for the use of the voyagers on their perilous adventure; the same purpose to. which the shell is applied by the New Zealanders, and the inhabitants of other islands. The original inhabitants might not have been cultivators of the soil, but subsisted on the immense va--riety of indigenous vegetable productions, in which New Zealand abounds. To their hunting expeditions, may be attributed the complete extinction of that wonderful bird, the Moa; the heigth of which has been calculated from partial skeletons, to be from fourteen to sixteen foe*. The natives doubtless, were expert and active in such an employment. The forests of New Zealand, wheie there are no paths in them, are impassable, so full are they of. tangled vine and under* wood, and these labyrinths were made the means by which these gigantic birds were trapped. A native for instance would place himself on a commanding eminence, which overlooked the adjacent plains, and his quick eye wonld soon detect their presence, he would give the signal to his comrades, and they track the birds till twilight, when they retired to their haunts; most probably in the bushes which skirt the forest The hunters next morning, armed with tauroas, or long spears, from ten tQ fifteen feet in length, would creep upon them in their retreat,. and by shouting and yelling in front of 'them, drive the starred birds to plunge deeper into the difficulties of the forest, wheretheir long necks and huge bodies would soon be snared and trapped by the vines, an,d thus unable to, defend themselves, they became victims to the hunter's spear. The oviginal inhabitants, being bold and active hunters, might have contributed much to the extinction of a large amphibious animal, no doubt peculiar to New Zealand, though in the description given by the natives, you recognise the form of the alligator I myself always treated their tales of this object of dread, as fabulous, till I spoke to the pld chief Taniwa, (or water-devil, as. his name means when translated), from the Thames ; and he positively assured me thut when he was a boy, he saw one of these monsters frequently, when living on the Utllo Harrier, that both himself and his tr,ibe, had often watched its ascent from the sea, to its haunt some distance up the slope of the island; that it was an object of dread with his people before he was born, and being the prevailing topic of discourse at the moment of his birth, he was called after its name Taniwa, or sea-devil. Ii suddenly disappeared, and was never afterwards seen ; it was a solitary relic of its species, and died probably frowi extreme age in the depths of the ocean* The subject; of this paper is one of peouliar interest, and I have given my simple ideas upon it; should however men, of greater eruditiqn and enquiry, than it is my lot to possess, give further elucidation publicly as I have done.; I for one shajl be much gratified. The discussion is fitted for a traveller, who has made a personal observation of the many varieties of the human race, their characteristics and language, and who would not be sparing of sonic little time anci labour in his enquiries after trut! «