OUR FORERUNNERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1921, Page 10

OUR FORERUNNERS.

TRE-MAORT ffWILISATION 1 * I fc i SOME OF THE EVIDENCES, J (By Henry Wily in Auckland Herald.) Accepting the commonly-held theory that the earliest Maori immigration took place not more than 650 years ago, I always found it extremely difficult to admit that they could have executed the numerous earthworks to be seen in all parts of the country, and especially north of Auckland and in the Bay of Plenty. The pas that cr.own nearly every hill, some of great extent, sometimes in single instances involving the removal of many thousands of cubic yards of soil, often of a most intractable nature—to say nothing of the terraces that scarf the flanks of many volcanic cones, notably those on the Auckland isthmus—appear to be beyond the limit of work likely to have been carried out by the comparatively insignificant numbers of the Maoris, with their .primitive tools, in the time. But even if it be conceded that the Maoris could have executed the works, there is another point that seems to show that other hands were employed in some of them. In the Raglan County there is an instance of a totara tree eight feet .in diameter growing on the floor of one of these earthworks. In another case a large rata grew ip one, and on my own property I have puriri trees probably’ not less than 650 years old growing in similar situations. So, even if the Maoris made these works immediately upon their arrival, and at once abandoned them, it would be difficult to account for the trees.

Much of the evidence that induced me to believe in the existence of a pre-Maori race came under my notice in that pa<rt of the Franklin County lying between the Manukau Harbor and the lower reaches of the Waikato River. Here there is a large depression approaching •20,000 acres in extent, known as the Aka Aka Plains. This- was at one time evidently a lake with a depth of from 120 ft. to 250 ft., as shown by artesian borings, and was filled up entirely by debris carried down by the Waikato River. At one time it is apparent that a large population lived on the borders of the Aka Aka, while it was still a lake, but after the Waikato had gone well on the road toward filling its bed. From the drains that have been cut into it have come numerous canoeanchors—smooth oval stones that were put in a kit, and occasionally one with a deep groove round it to hold the rope. These water-worn pebbles, weighing from 201 b) to 601 b, all come from the west coast beach, four or five miles south of the Waikato Heads, and must have been carried at least that distance. Such being the case, they must have had a fo value sufficient to prevent them being carelessly discarded, and the fact that the disturbance of so minute a fraction of the lake bed area as the section of the drains represents results in so many being found, argues a large population living there for a considerable period. Overlooking, and in close proximity to a portion of the lake shore where at least a dozen of these canoeanchors have been found, are two pas, in the moat of one of which grow the puriris already alluded to.

AN OLD-TIME WEAPON. After the lake came the forest, and after the forest the peat. In the most easterly arm of the lake drainage has revealed two forests super-imposed upon one another. The first in period of time was an extremely' heavy one, beside which meet, of our modern bush would appear as merely a r orified shrubbery. This was succeeded by another of lighter growth, but containing many trees from 4ft. to sft. in diameter. Over them both grew 9ft. or 10ft. of peat —in the higher reaches up to 13ft. Thrust point downwards in the bed clay, below all this, with the hilt at least a foot below the clay, was found a peculiar dagger, or rapier-like weapon, 2ft. 3in. in length, and with a thin blade L}in. in width, double-edged, and very keenly pointed. It is absolutely certain it was placed there before the first forest grew. A large wooden bowl was found, but that was lying on, and not in, the clay. It is of totara, almost a complete, half--sphere, 2ft. in diameter and Ilin, deep, with sides about %in. in thickness. The bottom is just sufficiently flattened to enable it to stand comfortably. A handle and spout are carved out of the solid, the latter not a lip, but a projecting cylinder, bored by a |in. hole. The interior is worked to a smooth finish, but the exterior shows still the marks of stone tools.

In another branch of the Aka Aka some drains of undoubted antiquity have come to light. Here the peat had reached a depth of over 20ft. The purpose of the main drain, which may have been sft. deep and as many wide, was evidently to cut off a wide bend in the stream, and shorten its course by about a mile. Since the drains were made and abandoned a forest had grown over and in them, and then at least 20ft. of peat.

THE SOAPSTONE FIGURINE. . You have published a fairly full description of this in Mr. (Eflsdon Bests words. The only point I disagree with Mr. Best in is that he considers it to be Manchurian, while 1 believe it to be Tibetan. Between the two pas mentioned above, cattle had worn a track in the hillside, aided by the flow of water after rain. In the floor of this, , face downwards, I found the image, bedded firmly in the clay, in which it had certainly lain undisturbed for a very long period. A bullock had put his "sharp-pointed hoof on one corner and ground it to dust, exposing the fresh while Himalayan soapstone or steatite which attracted rfiy notice. The land had never been turned over—at all events since the advent of Europeans. The figure has been to Wellington and Christrhurch in the hope that someone would be found who would tell us with certainty the location of its origin and the period of its execution, but fruitlessly. I propose to send it to the British’Museum to try to get these questions settled, but before doing so will deposit it for a while in the Auckland Museum in order that those interested may have an opportunity of examining it.' At present.it can hardly be taken as establishing the existence of an ancient race here, but viewed in conjunction with the. beautifully-carved water-bowl of similar material, the bronze bell with the Tamil inscription, and a bow said to be of Himalayan pattern, it forms an interesting link in a chain of presumptive evidence that at some time there was communication — direct or indirect—-between here and Asia.

Before I close I would like to mention one more thing, which is P how-

ever, merely an oblique piece of evidence. At Mauku, above the well-known waterfall, stands an old pa. From one of the angles the inoat and embankment are continued lor 100 yards or so, then make a right-angled turn, and run on again for some distance. For about 20 yards at the .angle the earthern bank is replaced by a wall of boulders, some a great weight, brought up the hill. It is perhaps seven or eight feet high, and the face about perpendicular. I have not seen work of this sort anywhere else. It appears hardly possible these stones could have been got into position without some mechanical assistance.

In one way and another I think there is evidence enough to lead us to conclude that the primitive Morions whom the Maoris found in possession were not the only nor the earliest inhabitants of New Zealand. If it should be established that the Awanui lintel 1 js of totara, as it appears to, or of some other indigenous timber, we shall be a long way on the road to certainty. We may also hope that further draining of swamps will supply even more Convincing testimony of early settlement here. Geologists believe parts of New Zealand to be some of the oldest land on the globe, and it would not be surprising if we yet found traces of a race even older than the carvers of the 2. anui lintel.