MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 January 1940, Page 3

MAORI MEMORIES

INFLUENCE OF HEREDITY. (Recorded by J.H.S. lor “Times-Age.”) There are on record some missionary accounts of a Hindu who deserted from the ship “City of Edinburgh in 1815 and lived among the Maoris ol the Far North for five years. When an offer to rescue him was made by a ship's officer, he said he would much prefer to live with the Maons who treated him with every consideration. It was suggested that his lean body and small size compared with the Maori warriors was too like a pigmy, and not suitable for the umu (oven)! Ho married a stalwart Maori woman who fed him generously and allowed him to work only when he pleased. A ship's cook offered him a bag of rice as a present, but he said he preferred the Artthe (fernroot.) tn which lie was certain there lay the whole secret of the superior Maoti health and endurance. Nicholas and Marsden found a lad of 11 years at the North Cape who came from Otaheti with Mr atjd Mrs McArthur, who treated him with every kindness and gave him a good education in which lie showed exceptional interest and talent. His foster parents were proud of him and their mutual relations wore all that could be desired: but Mother Nature and the instincts of heredity overcame all other circumstances and the attempts to "educate" one of those born of a primitive race. He married a Maori and lived in comparative seclusion among them.