A TRADITION OF GREATION.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 44, 10 September 1864, Page 3

A TRADITION OF GREATION.

(From the S. Monthly Magazine.) The Heavens which are above us, and the Earth which lies beneath us are the progenitors of men and the origin of all things, For formerly the Heavens lay upon the Earth, and all darkness. They had never been •eparated. And the children of Heaven and Earth sought to discover the difference between light and darkness, between day and night — for men (1) had become numerous, but still the darkness continued. With reference to this period are the sayings, " during the night," " the first night," " from the first to the tenth night, from the tenth to the hundreth, from the hundreth to the thousandth " — The meaning of which is, that the darkness had been without limit, and light had not yet existed. So the sons of Hangi (the Heavens) and of Papa (the Earth) consulted together, and eai i, "Let us seek means whereby to destroy Heaven and Earth, or to separate them from each other. " Then said , Muniatauenga (2) , " Let us destroy them both." Then said Tane-Mahuta (3), " Not so, let them bo separated; let one go upwards and become stranger to us ; let the other remain below and be a parent to us. " So the children of Heaven and Earth agreed to rend their parents asunder. Tawhiri-Matea (4) alone had pity on them. Five agreed to separate fchem ; one only had pity. . Thus by the" destruction of their -parents they sought to make men increase and flourish, and in commemoration of these things are the . saying, "Tlie night 1 ! the night! the day! tho day! the sssrcliing, the vague struggles fo * €ho U 3 ht ' * for hVht ! for the licht ! " (5) : , So now Eongb-Matane (6) arose to separate Heaven fropi Earth, but failed. Then Hauuiia-Tikitiki (7) tried his strength, but failed also. . Then arose Tdngarba to rond his parents asunder but was xxnablo to do bo. (8) . ..Tiunata.ueaga .ticen *fcrted,-' hub tras equally ■au'BrfCOBBOTtI. '■■**•■"

At last arose Tane-Mahuta, the . ForesfcGtod; to battle against Heaven and Earth Hia.arma proved too weak, eb bonding down his Head, and pushing upwards with his" feet, ho tore them asunder. Then wailed the Heavens and exclaimed the Earth—" Wherefore this murder ? Why this great sin ? Why dcßtrpy.ua ? „WJiy: separate us ?" But what cared Tano ? Up-wartta he sent one, and downwards the other ; and thonco came the saying, "Tane pushed, and Heaven and Earth were divided. He it is who sepai-ated night from day." .... ....,,., „. ........ „.^ rV .,. -....., _ r , T ' Immediately on the sepai'at;ioh J 6f Heaven 1 from Earth, the people became visible, who had hitherto been concealed betwoen thehollows of their parents] breasts. I So now Tawluri-Matea (thpnWJLnd) thought ho : would make war against "His "Drethern, because they had separated their parents ; for he only had not consented to divide the-wife from the husband* It was his brothers who had resolved to separata them,- and to' leave but-one— -Dart — as. apparent,- \ ' So the Storm-God resolved" that there should bo no peace, and he arose and followed his father, 'the Heavens,' and "remained witlrlum iii the openepace of the skies ; and being there, these two consulted together. The Heavens gave council, winds gave heod, and being instructed, 'lie' 'reared his children, and they became numerous and strong and ho sent, them forth — -some the .West, some] to the South, some 'to' the ' East- and others to the North, and these also were there names. * Then sent he forth the Whirwind and Storm, and dismal dnsky days, and dripping chilly skies; and arid scorching blasts, and all the host of Heaven, in clouds of dust the Storm-Q-od leads them on ! Now bri they rush to where the ForestGod stands boldly up, and seems to dare the storm. A blast suffices,. , Low on earth he lies with all his branches food for moth and worm. , Now turn they against the waters. Ha! Tangaroa deserts tho wave-worn clifF, and flies to the depths of- the ocean. But the • children- '.of Tangaroa separate. The son of Tangaroa .waa Pimga (an anchor), and Punga had two sons, " Swimming Fish " and " Terror, " the great reptile. His other name was " Consternation, "j So when Tangaroa fled to the ocean, his famlijj disputed, some saying, " Let us to the water ; " othora cried, " Let us to the land ;•" sothey r ßeparated accordingly to their families, the 'family of terror, the lizard, remained upon the land ; but the family of Punga sought the ocean. Thus were they scattered by the anger of the Storm, and from thence is the Baying. " Let us to tho land." " Let us to the sea ; for " Swimming Fish " had cried to "Terror," " Let ub to the -water ; but " Terror" answered," No, to the land! to tho land !" Then said the fish, " Go then to tho land, to the flaming fern pile go !" Then answered the lizard, " What though Ibo roasted on heaped up forn (9) ; yet when with spines erect, and tearing claws, I came forth from my cave, " Terror " and " Consternation " shall come upon men ; but go you to the waters ; go, and bo hung up in baskets for food." Then said the fish, " What though I hang up in the baskets of cooked food, great treachery alone can draw me from my refuge in the deep." So these two separated, one to the soa, and tho other to the laud : and from that time there ha§ been unceasing war between Tangaroa and Tane, bocause nome of tho children of the waters had taken refuge in the Jorcst. And the children of Tangaroa are continually destroyed by the Forest God— that is, by canoes, and no-la, and spears, and hook 3 ; and the children of the forest are in turn devoured by tho ocean ; tho canoes are overwhelmed by the waves, and floods wear away the earth, and sweep trees and j houses outwards to the sea. Thus thj waters ever ! prey upon the land, endeavoring to destroy entirely tho homo of Tane, so that tho great trees of the forest may be taken out to sea, and become aproy to (ho ocean, Now the Storm turned against RongoMatano and Jlaumia ; but earth snatchod them away, and hid them in her bosom, and the Storm sought them in vain, for Earth concealed her children. Now at last the Storm turns against Tv ; but his rage and his wrestling are of no avail. Tv values' them not. Ho only of the children of Hoavon and Earth hath given his voice for tho destruction of both his parents, and he alone is Btrong in war. All his brethren had fallen before the biting storm. Tane waß broken i and overthrown, Tangaroa fled to the ocean, Kongo and Haumia fled to the earth ; but Tv stood upright on the open plains of his Mother Earth, until the fury of the Heavens and tho winds wore abated. After this, generation was added to generation, but death came not to Tu. Not until the birth of Maui, the son of Taranga, came death into the world. He it was who by his misconduct to Hine-Nui-te Po, brought death to man (10), and but for this men would have lived forever. Tv now determined to make war against his brethern for their weakness in not having assisted him to resist the Storm, when he sought to revenge his parents. So he turned first againt Tane. He also remembered that the family of Tand were now becoming numerous and strong, and would therefore soon make war against himself. So now he makes gius and snares ; he hangs them in the trees. Ha! the children of Tane are entrapped and slain (11). Then he sought the sons of Tangaroo, and found them swimming in the sea. He cuts the flax, he knot 3 the net, he draws it in the water. Ha! the sons of Tangaroa are dying on the shore. Now he seeks his brethren Kongo and Haumia whom the Earth had concealed from the Storm ; but their hair appearing above ground betrayed them. Now with stone wedge lie bursts the hardwood tree, and forms the pointed ko. Now he weaves baskets, and now he digs the earth. Roneo and Hauraia are uncovered, and lie drying in the sun. Thus Tv devoured his brethren and consumed them for having allowed him singly to fight against the Heavens and the Storm, for he only was the 1 r .vc one in war (12). Tv now having overcome his brethren, dirided bis names, calling himself Tv the angry, Tv the fierce, Tv the devourer of armies, Tv of the close fight, Tv of the narrow mesh, Tv disturber of the Earth. These name 3 had reference to his conquered brethren and to himself. Four of them he devoured, but one remained sacred. This waa the Storm ; and he remains for ever as an antagonist for man, and the strength of the two are equal. Now, Tv sought prayers and incantations by which to depress his b rethren, and reduce them to the condition of common food for himself. He also had incantations for the winds to cause a calm, prayers for children and for wealth, and for abundant crops, fpr fair weather, and also for the souls of men. It was during the warfare of the Storm againit his brethren that a portion of the earth disappeared. The names of the ancients by whom the greater part of the earth was destroyed were — Heavy Rain, Long-continued Rain, Loudresounding Rain, and Hail. Their children were Damp, and Dripping- Winds, and Dew.° So the greater part of the earth was overwhelmed by the waters, and but a small portion remained dry. The light now continued to increase, and as the light increased, so also the people who had been hidden between Heaven and Earth increased. Tumatauenga and his brethren, they who had existed during the first great darkness, during the seeking and vague struggling, when old Earthquake'reigned. And so generation was added to generation down to the time of ifaui-Potilri, (13) he who brought death into the world. 2S T ow in these latter days -Heaven -rests far removed from his wife the Earth ; but the love of the wife is wafted in sighs towards her husband. These are. the mists which, fly upward* from the mountain-tops ; and the tears of Heaven fall downwards on his wife- Behold these dew-drops! (1.) "Men". — not to be understood literallyaa Human beings, bit more probably as^. cbxiscious intelligences, the first emanations of mind, 'combined with the first rudimental organizations jof nature. ' .-.-■--...'-■.,---■ ; (2) " Tumatauenga," — fteSEan-.SodjiaapGoa of War, the Father of Mejt— he Ms a hundred nanit-8 or epithets descriptive of his attributes^ '- ■ (3) "Tane-Mnhuta,"— The;: Forest God, father «.nd protector of Thirds, .symbolised a

(4) " TawhinMatea "r^tttß.vnn<l,«kljiotne ouuiy presiding overwinds and at orm.B, the Maori - (5) ■ <• Ttie^eircKiH^," Ad—T^his^teiaiiii ; to'*b» a mystical intimation jof the, •sruggl«» of natuw for organisation j< and to eseapo from " Ch*oi aad old night " (6) " Bongo-Matane/i-r-tho God of tha omlti' vated fruits of the earth,- symbolised by a kumar*. ■' • (7) ■'■". Haumia-<^tiki/^^d3O^|ths!?»po»<a-'ne.ousiinu.pß of the earth/repr/senteflyiyjaffern rqok (8) * "Tangaroa/'— the ocean, also the G-od or impersonation of the Saa— ifather^of fish and reptiloa, water In general. " (9) " fern." Formerly" large lizards'^were' plentiful in New Zealand> andiTfere used •by^heivpatj.vea fof food." The common' mode" of cooking them was to roast them oii'heaps' Sf dfyTfem-iJThe natives haT» traditions of .reptiles of a larger size, like crocodiles, -which existed hero ohce.'and which were no doubfc "terrible." About twenty^yeara ago an animal of the lizard shape, aix.feet.long, wajs killed in my neighbourhood. It was about as thick a3 a man • thigh, had a short bfoad'h^ad, and sharp fang* like those of a'dog, but Sharper and thinned in proportion ; it; had along .each sid^e a row of twelve knobs or spines, which were to ascertain degree mo vaable, arid could be "'either 'elevated or depressed at will. Thejoro^paws or hands had fir« claws, but were not weblied. Though the animal was ampWbiousjdJtjwasj'kUledrinjgajirfsh-water stream, and fed on eels and smail fish. The eyo§ largo, andhad a very* A'MJ7»o?t?Bort of jJook. The tail was short and thick-to the extremity, unlik» the crocodile or alligator, as was also the^ead. ' (l6y- ''Hine'-mti te to u ~ great ffine of dark* nesß or death. .• •■»i; J( -., J i * frirr .iy^J.y. (11) ". The children fl pf Tane '^;the birds of the forest." " ' '' ■ : -' J -" (12) It is worthy _of notice that all th© " brethren " of Tv tho man — that is, the organised forms of -plants^ fish, and ;reptilejil?&v<S called in the Maori elder brothers, and this is in accordance with Scripture and also with tho deductions of geological science. The wind is an elder brothar. (13) " Maui-Potiki "^Maui r; the younger. There were several Mauia; but Maui-Potiki, who has also several other name's, ia the favorite, domi* god of Maori romance. His last exploit brought death to himself and.all.men. It is the subject of a separate tradition. His .character, as it » delineated ih^tlie^ history of his \',^cta.Twas capricious, mischevious, adventurous, and trcacherou« above all things. .• ,- „: - iv: M,l ;^:,-iS