THE MAORI CANOE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5384, 29 June 1878, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE MAORI CANOE.

The following interesting paper was road by Mr. Baratov/, 11. M., at a recent meeting of the Auckland Institute : “The time is fast approaching when the Maori will hear only of the weapons, garments, and utensils of his ancestors in traditional story, when the tomahawks, spears, paroas will have disappeared, a few meres remaining as decorations or indications of cheftianship ; when native ‘ kakahns,’ in all their varieties, having ceased to be manufactured, will have perished, and when the stono ‘ toki,’ or axe, being indestructible, will remain to bo wondered at, but not understood. Not only will these matters of everyday use bo no more, but the grander works —their ‘pas,’ their canoes, the ornamented ‘whares’—will have decayed, and the few surviving fragments of propakcha civilisation will have to be sought for in our museums. It is a duty, then, devolving upon us to endeavor to preserve, for the information of the future races, both white and Maori, such remnants of interests as yet exist, and with this object I have persuaded Paora Tnhaoro to lodge hero some of the carvings belonging to the once well-known canoe, Toki-a-tapiri ; and as canoes of that class are now uncommon, T propose to give a short account of their construction, and a word or two as to their history. Our lirst accounts of these islands, resulting from Tasman’s voyage to them, more than two centuries ago, brought into notice the canoes of the people ; and naturally enough, for what the horse is to the Arab, the camel to the dweller in the desert, the canoe was to the inhabitants of New Zealand—a country abounding in bays, harbors, creeks, rivers, and destitute of roads and beasts of burden. Water carnage was a matter of prime necessity, iu addition to which the dearth of quadrupeds caused fish to bo much depended upon as an article of food. Our Waitangi treaty shows how highly the Maori prized his fisheries, but iu Tasman’s time the canoes ho saw were all double ; though Cook, who was so much longer on the coasts, if I remember rightly, much more frequently mentions single canoes than double ones, and this latter class must have gone out of fashion soon after Cook’s time, for I never heard even the oldest natives mention them as used in their own day, save temporarily, when two might be lashed together for the purpose of erecting a fighting stage on the platform between them, so as to ha able to overtop therefrom the stockade of some water-fronting pa. Canoes occupying such a leading position in native estimation, many of their legends and traditions have reference to them—even the mythic ‘lkao-Maui,’ the first drawing up of this island from the ocean, was not to bo accomplished without a canoe : the accounts of the seven different causes which brought, from Hawaiki to this country the progenitors of the present race of Maoris, are familiar to most of us —one only of these, the ‘Tainui,’ is always mentioned as being double ; and as some ships of our navy have been immortalised by the prowess of their crows in celebrated engagements, so many of the' 1 Maori ‘ waiatas,’ or songs, are in honor of their ships—most often iu praise of their celebrity, by dint of which some enemies’ ‘ pa’ had been surprised, or their women and children carried into captivity. Canoes may be divided into four classes —‘ waka-taua ’ or ‘ vvaka-pitau’— war canoes, fully carved; the ‘ waka-toto,’ which was generally smaller, had a plain figure-head and stern ; ‘ waka-tawai,’ an ordinary' canoe of one piece ; and the ‘kopapa,’ or small canoe, usually used for fishing, &c., travelling to cultivations, &c. The ‘ Toki-a-tapiri’ belonged to the ‘ waka-pitau,’ which differed from the ‘waka-taua’ in having an uutattoed figure-head with a protruding tongue, and being less elevated forward. Canoes, being of vital importance whether for war or as a means of procuring food, a superstitious race naturally attributed to the tree set apart for the ‘ hiwi’ or hull of the canoe some power over its future fortune ; not only' was a particular site or aspect in its growth deemed lucky, but it was supposed that incantations by a ‘ tohunga,’ or wizard, bestowed upon the living tree, would increase the virtue of the wood when used. Special trees wore sometimes the cause of war between two tribes, ware set apart, or made ‘ tapu’ by a father for an infant son, remained even as an heirloom to the grandson, and necessarily, in early land sales, were specially' reserved. Totara was the tree chiefly prized, on account of its durability. Kauri was next in estimation, and in the North was easier to procure of large size. I have seen a ‘ waka-tiwai’ —that is, a canoe, entirely of one piece—carry, beyond its crew, three and a-half tons of potatoes in a seaway. Kahikatea was sometimes used ; it is light, but not lasting, and I have known rimu canoes, but these are too heavy to be popular. When a tree had been selected either by an individual ‘ rangatira’ or by a ‘ hapu’ who determined to build a war-canoe, it •was first necessary that a sufficient stock of food to supply the workmen employed upon it should be available. If the tree grew in a place distant from the ‘ pa,’ a special cultivation, as near as possible to the locus operandi, might bo made for the purpose, otherwise a particular patch of ‘kumera,’ or other esculent, was planted and sot aside. Then the future canoe had to be draughted. Certain naval architects were the Symonds or Reeds of their day, and were occasionally fetched from far to design a craft which was required to possess extra speed. Many a deliberation of the ‘kaumatuas,’ or elders, took place over the prepared model ere the shape was finally settled. The next step was to consult the ‘ tohunga’ as to the day for commencing the falling. The state of the moon must be considered ; an inauspicious day for beginning would surely cause the canoe to capsize; the ‘taua,’ or war party, using it to bo defeated ; erif not to be a ‘ waka-taua,’ no fish would be caught therefrom. When stone axes and fire were the only means of felling the tree, the task of bringing down a totara four or five feet through must have been tedious. The first iron hatchets used were those procured from Captain Cook, and those obtained at Manawaora, a century ago, where the Marion’s crew were ashore, and were slaughtered whilst getting out a spar. Probably it was net till thirty years later that iron axes became sufficiently abundant to supersede those of stone entirely. Some care was needed that the tree in falling should not be broken nor shaken. An accident of this kind is by no means uncommon, and many fine spars are now lost in this way. The destruction of a specially largo tree, after thelaborof falling has been incurred, must, indeed, have been a calamity. Though when an outlying tree of sufficient scantling could bo found it was preferred to one forest-grown—as our shipwrights considered hedgerow better than plantation oak, yet, in most instances, the totara or kauri tree stood in a forest, miles from the sea shore, and so far from ‘ mahingas,’ or cultivations, relays of women wore needed to carry - ' U P provisions for the workpeople ; a road f ov hauling out by would also require preparing. Secrecy, too, was often needed ; for a hostile tribe would be only too glad either to attack tho ‘ pa,’ weakened by the absence of many of its men or to surround and cut oft' the party while engaged at work. At last, however, incessant labor has fallen the tree, cross-cut tho log, and clubbed down the outside to somewhat near its destined shape, and firo and adze have partially hollowed out tho ‘ riu’ or hold—dry rowarewa wood being used for tho charring, the amount of excavation done at this stage depending upon the distance to ■which tho canoe has to be hauled, and the danger of its splitting on its journey. In peaceable times there is » great feast,

and all the friendly neighboring ‘ pas’ contribute hands to haul out, by dint of ‘ akas,’ or vines over rollers or skids, the still weighty mass. The workmen will pull together over tho steeps to the songs of the women. It is not always fated to roach tho water. At tho foot of Wairere Hill, in Whangnroa Harbor, there lay some years ago tho two aides of a mighty cattoo, which had boon fashioned on tho elevated plateau above tho b ly. Whilst a aarty of some thirty slaves wore engaged in lowering it down tho steep hillside, a vino broke, tho canoe rushed headlong to the . bottom, and split from end to end. A cry of despair from the awe-stricken slaves brought their ‘ rauga.lir.is’ to the spot, and instant death was the punishment meted out to the unlucky slaves fur their neglect or misfortune. But even when the ‘hiwi,’ or bottom piece, lias reached the sea beach, or crook, in safety, but a small portion of tho work has been completed ; this piece has to bo rodubbed and further hollowed—this operation, too, is repeated as tho timber seasons after tho canoe has been in use ; then trees have to bo fallen for tho ‘ rauawa,’ or top streak, not much smaller than tho one first mentioned. Those toji streaks iu the Toki-a-tapiri are each about 70ft. long, and 18in. or 20in. deep amidships ; theso have to bo dubbed do wn to their proper thickness and shape, to be dragged out and fitted to the hull; holes, ‘puerero,’ require boring through bo;h, so as to lash them along together ; a simple enough business with a brace and bit, but a very different matter when ‘ korepaka,’ or quartz, was used (the natives had learned to construct a drill armed with this pointed stone). Tho ‘ tete,’ or figure-head, and ‘rapa,’ or stern-piece, had to come, and you have only to look at these to form some notion of the time, taste, and skill requisite for their manufacture ; a very slight mistake, an unskilful blow, and the thing is ruined; another seasoned log must bo got, and tho work bo recommenced. It is not everywhere that this carving can be executed ; tho Arawa and Wakatohea, Bay of Plenty tribes, wore long celebrated for their knowledge of designing and carving the ornamental parts of canoes, and their services were obtained by hire, or the requisite carvings—of course, I am speaking now of modern days—wore procured iu exchange for guns, blankets, horses, or European goods; in earlier times raids were made, and men carried off as slaves to carve for their masters. Only a small portion of tho tracing must be cut out at a time, lost exposure to the sun should cause a crack ; a fully ornamented sternpost was months, or years even, before it received its finishing touch, though the pattern had been sketched from the first. These portions of the craft have to bo carefully fitted and bored for seizing on ; the ‘ taumanu,’ or thwarts—frequently of mshukan wood—must be cut, worked out, and lashed to the ‘niao,’ or gunwale. On tho proper fitting of these, which took tho place of our deck-beams, much of the strength of the canoe depended, and the women spent days in preparing the ‘ muka,’ or flax, for theso lashings, (‘kaha’). Then along each side of our canoe has to be fitted a batten called ‘ti.ka,’ covering the joint of the ‘hiwi’ ami ‘ rauawa,’ and the kaha has again to be carried over this, so as to secure this streak firmly to tho side ; those pieces, too, wore of groat length, some 00 or 40 feet, so as to have only one joint or splice on each side. ‘ Our canoe is now pretty well built, but yet requires many fittings; the ‘kaiwae,’ stages or platforms, usually made of small manuka sticks, upon which the ‘kaihoe,’ or padcllers, either sat or knelt ; a kind of grated deck, running the length of the craft, with openings here and there to communicate with the ‘riu,’ or hold. One or more of these apertures were supplied with a ‘ tikeru,’or bailer, for toughness sake made of mangiao wood, for many a sea in rough weather would break on board, and .were it not for the caulking (‘pimipuru’) with ‘liuni,’ or flower of raupo, a supply of which the women had gathered in the swamps, much water would have found its way through the joints and holes. _ This native substitute for oakum is impervious to wet when properly applied. The next process is to paint our vessel, and, for the prevailing rad color in fashion, ‘ karame,’ a species of clay, which needs to bo burnt before being applied, is most valued. The parts to be colored are first cleaned, then sized with the juice of tho sowthistle and tho poporo shrub, after which the ‘karanifffl’ mixed with water is rubbed on, Tli is yields the most brilliant color, and is very lasting. ‘ Kokowai’ is a kind of pigment, burnt, dried, and mixed with shark liver oil; this is a good deal darker than the former. The batten, carved stern, and head of a ‘ wakataua’ are usually blackened with powdered charcoal, or lamp-black and oil. The ‘ wakateteo’ has usually a red head ; on gala days tho ‘ taka’ would bo adorned with albatross feathers, and wreaths of pigeon or wild duck feathers flatter upon the stem andstern. The equipments are stillto fol-/ low ; according to size, GO to 100 pad- ' dies are requisite. One very large canoe, formerly iu Taraia’s possession, could seat 140 paddlers, but tho 1 hiwi’ of this was 96ft. long, the projecting stem and stem adding 14ft. to this huge length. It is said that tho ‘ Toki-a-tapiri ’ would stow fifty on each side. Steer paddles, too, which are much longer than ordinary ones, and usually with carved handles. Then tho masts (rewa), stops fo;: which have been left when the ‘ riu ’ was hollowed, with the booms and cordage, and the queer sails, supposing our canoe was made as far back as forty years ago, must not be forgotten. These last, ore the days of duck or calico, were made of long leaves of the ‘raupo,’ kept in their places by an interlacing of flaxtwine (‘aho’); the butt or wide part of tho loaf was uppermost towards the boom, the small ends of the leaves converging to a point at tho tack, making thus a triangular sail. Two or three masts were used, according to tho canoe’s length, and small as tho amount of sail appeared to be, I have seen a great pace obtained under ‘raupo’ alone. Wo yet want a plaited flax cable and an anchor; of those last there were three varieties ; an oblong stone with a hole through the smaller ond, a stono enmeshed in a netting of flax or vines, or three or four crooked pieces of ‘ pohutukawai, lashed together with a stone between the shanks, and the carved points forming a rudo grapnel. Sometimes, though tho hull might be new, tho carved portions of the worn-out canoes would bo re-used, being renovated for tho occasion. Formerly the stem and stern pieces were detached and stored in sheds when a war-canoe was laid up iu ordinary. Our canoe is now at last ready for launching, nearly as much time having been occupied in its building as would in England have turned out an ironclad ; a feast marks tho event, and though to the ‘ rangatiras ’ of tho ‘ kainga ’ the day was ono of rejoicing, fifty years back it would have been a poor ‘ hapu ’ that could not afford , a slave or two as a ‘kinaki,’ or relish, on such an occasion. Tho canoe is run over the skids into the water anil anchored ; many are the comments on the way she alts presently another ono is launched, crows’ of young men aro found for each ; they paddle out some distance quietly, turn and race back, animated by tho cries and gesticulations of the assembled spectators. As with us, a name is fixed upon as soon as tho keel has been laid, so,T think, with the Maori, at a very early stage of tho work the appellation is agreed upon. 1 do not know what led to tho name of ‘Toki-a-tapiri’ being given to tho canoe to which theso carvings belong. I had hoped to have interested you with a narrative of battles in which she had been engaged (though sea-fights were not common), or voyages she had made, but can only tell you that she was built by the Ngatikahungunu, of Hawke’s Bay, and given by a chief of that tribe to Hone

Ropiha, better known as John Hobbs, during Governor Browne's administration. At that time the canoe was not an old one. Hobbs afterwards sold her to Aihepene Kaihau and other Ngatiteata chiefs, at Waiuku, for £7OO. At the commencement of the Waikato war she was seized at Waiuku by a party of Volunteers and Militia, composed of Messrs. J. O. Firth and others, and brought to Onohunga. She was subsequently conveyed overland to Auckland by order of the late Mr. John Williamson, then Superintendent, fertile pm pose of landing H.R.H. Prince Alfred, on tho occasion of his first visit to Auckland, and was used by tho natives when the Orakoi land claim was investigated. I can only add that, her length was some 70ft. or 80ft., and beam aboutGlft. In Auckland’siiifnntdays twenty or twenty-five of these war canoes, from tho Thames alone, might be found hauled up in Mechanics’ Bay. Where, alas, are these now 1