KOHI'S TALE—ILLUSTRATIONS OF MAORI CUSTOMS. [From Shortland's New Zealand.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 710, 22 May 1852, Page 4

KOHI'S TALE— ILLUSTRATIONS OF MAORI CUSTOMS. [From Shortlands New Zealand.]

Near us lived id old chief, named Pokeni, who frequently made inquiries about Te Rauparaba," towards whom be expressed the greatest hatred. I found that many of his family had lost their lives in wars with that chief, and that he was an uncle of Ttmaiharanui, whose tragical end has been related* He had outlived all those of his owii times and age, and .was scarcely ever to be seen unaccompanied by a child, the great-graudson

iof his wife's elder brother, who occupied all bis cares. " . The old man had the oddest looking- being for a wife I had ever seen. . One half of her face was tattooed in every respect like that of a man, while the other had no more roarki than her sex entitled her to ; so that two persons, who stood opposite each other, each viewing a different side of the face in profile, while she, perhaps, sat wrapped in her blanket, with a pipe in her mouth, would have pronounced the object to be a man, or a woman, according to the circumstance of bis position. I afterwards met with several other old women of this tribe, who had similarly engraved on their faces mnny of the marks, which in the north Island I had never seen but on males. One day Pokeni, came to me with a complaint that the father of Timoko, the child of his adoption, had, a short time before our arrival, been murdered by another chief of this place, named Karetaj, and some others. I had learnt to be cautious in believing the whole of a native's tale, and therefore walked over to Karetai's place of residence, on the eastern Head, to bear what he had to say to this charge. I found him very willing to meet his accusers at my house, in order that the truth might be discovered. This he did the next day, and the case was fully heard in the presence of all parties interested, except a chief named Taiaroa, when the following strange tale came Urligbt. Karetai, Te Matahara, Kohi, and others, had bought a sealing boat among them, each having contributed a portion of the payment. Kobi falling ill, and thinking himself at the point of death, feared that his child, about four years old, darned Timoko, would never have any benefit from the boat. He therefore resolved to burn it. Shortly afterwards, the boat having beeu left at Koputai, where Kohi lived, he took advantage of the absence of the others interested, and ordered a feraole, named Kurukuru, and a young man, named Rau-o-te-uri, to fill it full of dry brushwood, and set fire to it. His wife Piro tried to dissuade him, and placed their child on it, but without effect. Kohi was then so ill that he could not walk, and was carried to a place near the boat, where he lay on the beach looking on while it was burning. The next morning Karetai came ; but did no more than vent his anger in words. The day following Te Matahara and the rest arrived. When they found the boat destroyed, they were greatly enraged, and running ashore, where Kohi was lying, assailed him with threats and curses. Te Matahara, the most violent, kicked him, and struck the ground repeatedly, naming different parts of bis body at each blow. He then fired his house, and stript him of everything but his shirt. Kohi never said a word. All night he lay on the beach, covered only with a few clothes, which his wife and a slave carried to him secretly, while the rest were asleep. In the morning Te Matabara again cursed Kohi, kicked him, and then went awaay. Piro, Kohis wife, admitted the general correctness of this statement, but said the kicks given by Te Matahara were more severe than by his account they would have seemed to be. After Te Matahara left, Kohi remained two nights at Koputai. During the time that he lay on the beach he had, unknown to everyone, concealed beneath his shirt a' " rakau-pounamu," or weapon made from a stone called " pounamu," which belonged to him and Taiaroa. This he he gave to Piro, as soon as they were alone, desiring her to hide it for their boy Timoko; and tell Taiaroa that it had been lost. On Taiaroa's arrival, he inquired for the "ra-kau-pounamu," and was persuaded to believe that it bad been destroyed in the house when burnt. Kohi was then carried in a boat to Otaheiti, Taiaroa's place of residence. vVbile crossing the harbour, Karetai and Te Matahara met their boat, and asked if Kohi was in it. Taiaroa replied, " Tenei ta korua tangata." " Here is the man you have done for." On the second night after Kohi arrived at Otabeiti, Taiaroa advised him to consent to be strangled ; persualing him that, if he did not die speedily, people would say that Te Matahara had not caused his death, and he would not then obtain " utu" or satisfaction. So Kohi consented. The only persons present at the completion of the tragedy were the slave Kurukuru, who sat at the door to watch, and his wife Piro and Taiaroa within. Kohi observing Taiaroa's hand tremble as he was tying the knot, said to him, " Kahore kia raatau a Taiaroa ki te inca ote taura." "Taiaroa does not know how to make a noose." He then took the cord, tied a slip knot, and adjusted the rope about his own neck. Piro sat at his feet, while Taiaroa pulled the rope tight till he was dead. This part of the tale was related by Piro with the greatest coolness, and without a symptom of remorse. , • Immediately after this, Taiaroa went to Mr. W , a Wesleyan Missionary, living at Waikouati, with crape tied > round his hat, and complained that Kohi had been killed, in a very barbarous manner by Te Matahara, who, he said, had jumped on his belly and chest, and then turned theJbody over and jumped on his back,, so that he died. Mr. W was then persuaded to write a request to the police magistrate, resident at Hakaroa, to send constables to apprehend Te Matab'ara for the murder, and Karetai as an accomplice. Taiaroa was bearer of this letter to" the police magistrate, who forthwith made application to the Government for force to seize the persons accused. Piro went to live with a European, the partner of our landloid, and placed the "rakau-pounamu" in his charge. "One day it was shewn to Colonel Godfrey and myself, in the presence of my natives. As the New Zealander is sure to relate all he sees and hears on the first occasion, its size, 'form and colour, were soon described to the natives who lived near ns, when it was at once identified as Taiaroa's property, supposed to have been destroyed in ihe burning home. This discovery, it seems, induced Piro to make a clean breast, and to confess the part she had acted at her husband's death. Some months afterwards I saw Taiaroa, who agreed to the correctness of the above statement, i as far as related to himself. He seemed to think j that he had'" acted verydiscreetly. Kohi was his " teina," and it was his duty to obtain satisfac- ■ tion for bis death. In this case he hoped to obi tain it by the assistance of the laws of the Pat keha. i We have here exhibited several points of the t New Zealarider's natural character, very important i for the European colonist to understand, as teach-

ing liira that the former ha« many motives, of action quit* different from his own, and that it is necessary to study these well, apart from the" ideas natural to European education, before he can hope to be able to refer a native's actions to their tight source. As not the least 'remarkable, we' observe the facility with which, Taiaroa appeared to adopt our laws, while he was really only endeavouring to make use of them, as far as they served him to carry out bis own ideas of what was befitting. At th« same time the Wesleyan missionary and police magistrate, no doubt, looked on his conduct as an example of the rapid march of European civilization, and a prooof of the readiness with ,wbich British law would be appealed to hereafter. The result of my experience, derived from re,siding much among them, taught me to be very cautious how I received as true any statement obtained from purely native sources, if I could suggest to myself any motive for misrepresentations. At the same time — although a New Zeajlander will not scruple, in many cases, to misistate and deceive, often even 'without the possibility of thereby deriving to himself any advantage, and apparently influenced merely by the proneness to exaggerate/ common to the inventive faculty 'of a " conteur"— rhe is also, I firmly believe, in- ' capable of persisting in a statement, which he iknows to be false,- for any considerable length of time, and therefore, if carefully cross-examined, is very likely soon to tell the truth. This peculiar trait of character cannot fail to attract the notice of any !> one who has long had intercourse with the natives. * », * • • * In the course of the above narrative Te Matahara is described as having frequently cursed Kohi while he struck the ground, naming at each blow some part of his body. A blow thus given by proxy amounts, in the estimation of a New Zealander, to the same thing as one actually given to the person, and is commonly so spoken of; so that, at first, I was under the impression that Kohi, and not the ground, had received all the blows, and it was only by inquiry that I learnt how the case really stood. Similar to this is the practice, when a new pa is erected in time of war, of naming some of the largest posts of the stockade after the chiefs of the hostile tribe, and then firing at them by way of expressing the deadly nature of the feud ; and it is not uncommon to bear a chief complain that he has been shot at, when on explanation it appears that he has only thus been shot in effigy. This form of insult is called a " tapatapa," or " tukutuku." It also comes under the mo.re general te.m " kanga," which although commonly " curse," has a more extended signification than that word. Thus it is a " kanga" to use any form of words which can establish a relation between a person, or a part of a person, and the verb to cook, or to eat, so that the person spoken of is the object of the action. Where an Englishman says, " You be d d!" a New Zealander will say "You be eat!" or "Your head be put in a pot !" or something to that effect. Tcnei tou roro, Ko te Kowhatu c tv ki te ahi-kai : Kia reka iho ai Taku kaigna iho — c. _ " O that this were your brain ! this very stone placed by the food fire ! So would my banquet be thoroughly grateful to my taste." These lines are the concluding stanzas of a hymn, which I heard sung on the occasion of the death of a chief, who was surprised, killed, and eaten, by his foe. His surviving relatives may therefore be excused for having shewn great sympathy with the spirit to which it gives utterance. It is, perhaps, the strongest form of " kanga" of which the language is capable. Even to speak of any part of the body, but especially of the bead or back, in such a manner that, from the mode or turn of expression, it can be inferred that it is intended to be the subject of an injury or indignity, is equally, in the estimation of a New Zealander, a " kauga," an insult to be avenged by blood according to ancient usage. W hen we are aware of the peculiar mode of thinking common to the New Zealander on this subject, we can understand how insulting it is to swear at him, or even to tell him that you will " break bis head," or ll box bis ears," favourite expressions in the mouths of Englishmen ; nor can we wonder that they have often severely suffered for their indiscretion. Hence we have ac< quired among them the title of the cursing tribe : •« Katah/ te Iwi-kanga, Te Pakeha," " What a' cursing tribe are the white men !" I was once called upon to endeavour to obtain compensation from a native, who had destroyed, as it was stated, wantonly, several hundred yards of stout bullock-fence. I found that the fence had actually been in great part erected by this man, who was a good workman ; but on some dispute arising about the payment, the European, a violent person, cursed, him, and threatened to let loose on him a large and savage dog, which lay chained close to his bouse. Ou hearing this, the native threw off his blanket, and rushing at the posts and rails, vented his rage in chopping them to pieces with hjs axe. It has sometimes .happened that even missionaries, without being aware of the interpretation their words were capable of, have uttered " kanga " in addressing their congregations, who have taken ! no more notice of the unintentional insult tbau, perhaps to point out the error after the service. On one occasion, however, when a clergyman of great influence and experience nnwittingly made a mistake of this sort, the honour in which he was held did riot entirely protect him. I first heard the circumstance from old Te Heuheu, at Taupo, where it occurred, who was very angry, that a gentleman, while his guest, should have been insulted under any circumstances, by one of his countrymen. When * * • arrived at Te Heuheu s place of abode, there happened to be there some chiefs of Waikato tribe, who were not within the pale of missionary influence. One of these was very importunate for tobacco, and thought to obtiin the object of his desire by saying that he would listen to what * * * bad to say if he would give him some. Then said • * * " I had better plug your ears with tobacco." These words, though a very natural and innocent joke in English ears, were a " kanga " to the old chief's mode of thinking, »nd with this idea, before any ■ one could interfere, he knocked off • * *'s hat and then brandished his tomahawk, as if hewere not yet satisfied. | A New Zealand chief will never "carry food, but in bis bands, not allow it to touch any part of vis, head, except his mouth. He will not even

enter a cOoking-libuse, or a building where any sort of fobd J is suspended' from the ceiling, lest his head should be for a moment under it. These ideas are instilled into his mind from youth as part of the dogmas of bis religion ; and he believes that, if he transgresses the rules of his religion, he will be punished speedily in this world. The spirits of his departed ancestors, jealous of the infringement of their " ritenga 1 * or rites, will commission some' spirit of their' kin to enter into his body, and feed on some vital parti The visible signs of' this hidden' and mysterious process they believe to he the 1 various forms of disease. The mildest form's 'of' disease are hence supposed to be caused by the spirits of those who knew the sufferer while on earth, and are therefore imagined to be more merciful, and more reluctant to injure an old friend and relation : the worst forms are supposed to be caused by the spirit of a dead infant, who, having never'contracted any affection' for those on earth, tears and feed« on the vitals of his nearest' kin without compunction, With these ideas of the origin- of disease, they would never have sought for a cure in the natural remedial effects of herbs or other drugs. And such is" found to be the case : their whole, efforts being directed to the means of driving or coaxing away abe, spirit. Of this I will say more in another place; -but the digression seemed necessary to render it- -intelligible,' how ♦ • *'s words were so offensive. , To hear any one talk of placing food in his ear — a part of the head — without avenging the insult would be to a chief to incur the anger of the spirits of the dead, and the consequent punishment. To a missionary native it would be of much less. moireut f| from his belief that the God, preached by the Pakeha, had power over lh c malignant spirits of the dead, and would jprotec him. * There is another form of " kanga" which is worthy of notice, called an " tpiti," which may be translated "double entendre ;" the word "apiti" signifying "a thing added," or "a meaning added," I lived for a long time with a very large tribe, Ngatiwakaue, whohad abolished from their vocabulary the word " Kai," in common use over all the rest of New Zealand to signify " food," for which they substituted " tarai," because one of their chiefs had, among other names, received that of " Nga-kai" (plur. of food.) They could no longer use this word' ; for such an expression las <v Honfai tfga kai maku, 1 " "Give me food' to ea," which might he frequently in one's mouth, might be 1 construed " Give me Nga-kai to eat." I was often much amused at the difficulty experienced by strangers, when on a visit, in remembering not to use this word in its ordinary sense, and their consequent embarrassment, when it half slipped out. At length I became so familiar with the synonym of the tribe, that I sometimes used it when out of the circle of old Nga-kai's influence; and was then laughed at for so doing. Some tribes are moie sensitive on these points than others ; and an 1 expression, which would be a curse with one, might be \n everyday use with another, and be thought nothing of. Thus Kaitahu use-the word "papa" indiscriminately to signify " bread^" or *' father," and many other words with double mean ing's, 'wh|ch would shock the ears 0/ Ngati-wakaue,' and most other tribes in the North Island.