INTERESTING MAORI RELICTS.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1490, 21 January 1882, Page 3

INTERESTING MAORI RELICTS.

Wk arc indebted to our Rtiapukc correspondent ' tor 3thc following account of a discovery, we are given to understand, has attracted deep interest in the district and which thcre > is reason to believe will threw important 'light upon what is now a prehistoric era of the race. With confidence, I predict that the subject matter of this paper will prove of more than ordinary interest to the readers of your journal. I submit that anything which may be the means of leading us to the study of the Maori race in pre-historic times should be readily seized and should at once attract the attention of thoughtful men. I consequently feel it imcumbent upon me to relate to you what knowledge I possess in relation to the preserved Maori bodies now jresti/ng in a limestone cave at Kavrhia, From the Maori portion of my informant's I have had considerable difficulty in extracting any information bearing upon the subject. The superstitious dread with which they regarded even the bare mention of the matter made them extremely reticent and I believe that, from this fact, far less is known about the remains than otherwise would be the case, considering the interesting character of the subject. My main authorities for the following particulars are, however, reliable. 1 Flowing into the beautiful harbour of Kawhia on the south side is a river called the Awaroa. In proceeding i>p this river a visitor would at once feel delighted with the character of the scenery, which is of the most enchanting description. About six miles up the Awaroa is a hill named Hautapu (sacred wind). The very name leads you to believe that you may now hear of something which may prove of more than ordinary consequence. Your predictions do not piove false. Hautapu is formed chiefly of limestone, and as is usual in such circumstances, numerous small caves are found on it. One of these caves situated in one of the most inaccessible portions of it, and immediately facing the river, contains the remains I wish to tell you about. Until about thirty years ago very little was known even amongst the natives about them. There was a belief or tradition amongst them, that some- | where in Kawhia there were preserved bodies, but they had lost the place of their deposit. A man named Karidi first found them out. Nearly thirty years ago, being one day out pig-hunting, he had occasion to let himself down the face of a rock to rescue his dogs who were fighting with a wild pig below. On descending, lie suddenly came upon a cave. Led by curiosity, he made his way into it, and was surprised to see before him several preserved bodies sitting on two ledges of rocks. Fright got the better of him, and as quickly as his legs would carry him, he made his way back tp. the settlement. The discovery he had made having became known, an expedition party was soon formed with the object of more closely inspecting it. The natives soon saw that the easiest way to reach the cave was to climb a large karaka tree, from the top oi, which they were able to swing themselves onto a projection in the cliff facing the mouth of the cave. On entering, they found twelve preserved bodies. On one ledge there were six men and a boy ; and on another ledge immediately underneath it, there were five more bodies, three men and two women. The Maoris who wero living in Kawhia at that time being of the Ngatimaniopoto tribe laid claim to the bodies on the bottom shelf as chiefs and chieftainessesof theirtribe which years ago had been first preserved and then placed thepe. By this I would be led to the conclusion that the bodies were not petrified, (whatever they may have become since), when first placed there, but had been previously embalmed and then put there for better security. This art we know the Maories at one time possessd. The Ngatimaniopotos'havesince removed these five bodies and buried them. The Key. John Whitely, who was afterwards murdered by the natives, lead the burial services over them. The other seven bodies are still in the cave in perfect preservation. I refer to the six men and the boy. The natives assert that they ai"e the ancestors of the Ngatiho.ua tribe who now reside in the Wanganui and Taupo districts. They (the bodies) have been there since the Ngatimaniopoto tribe came from the north and possessd themselves of the lands which at that time belonged to the Ngatihauas. This mnst be several hundred years since. The place is now strictly forbidden to be vi-ited. From some white men however, who managed to reach the cave I gained the following additional information. They had a native guide called Tihunga who is now dead. The mouth of the cave is large and the mummies are directly facing it. They are sitting in a row close together the boy being at one end. Their attitude is, a In Kaon, their heads resting on their two hands their elbows on their knees. They are about eight-feet from the mouth of the cave which faces eastward. At the time of my informant's visit the sun was just rising and shown on the bodies. They are perfectly preserved and are the colour of new leather. They are wholly naked. A dog skin mat was at one time over the shoulders of the boy but it has now disappeared. They are large men. Their teeth are still entire and like the teeth of all Maoris are of fine quality. So life-like are they — my infermants say — that if they had glass eyes, you would be led to imagine they were still alive. Some of them have greenstone earrings in their ears. The hair in their heads is jet black. They have no beards and are not tattoed. This circumstance firms in my opinion a very strong argument as to their antiquity. For several generations the chiefs in virtue of their social position have been tattoed, and those bodies being the remains of chiefs, as no doubt they are, should in the ordinary course of things have been tattoed also. They have evidently lived, moved, and had their being before the art was introduced amongst the natives. Such is the description of the mummies which at present occupy the cave at Hautapu, and the existence of which, no doubt, dates back to the time when the Maori held indisputed dominion over this colony. That they were preserved before they were jpiit there is to my mind clear. The natives gaurd them with jealous care, and at the present time will allow no one to go near them so they may be deemed secure. Dr. Julius Yon Haast of Canterbury, told me that when iii Raglan twenty-five years ago he heard something about them but believed the story of their existence to be false. It is not however, so and that they have been there for at least three hundred years is equally certain. When persons are permitted to see them without fear of incurring the displeasure of the natives, no doubt the privilege will be largely taken advantage of and we will then see the remains of these persons who roaned over this island before the whiteman Jiiad ever seen it or civilization had dealt the > death blow to the primitive cuBtomjjl£|&cpndition of its inhabitants. correspondent.] * P.S.-rllaaye omitted to say that they felt as bard as stone.

J. ,A. .Poorman, 1 of Pawpaw, Van Buren County, U.S., and his two chily di^n,,' ate, pancaked, on Nov. 8, which 4* had been mixed with arsenic, which had Pj,:be>h "mistaken for baking powder. ?V;',Poormau,ha«Bmce difd, -and^it^issaid ;, that tb© Qhildreo <wot) recover. ' -