CHAPTER I
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NEW ZEALAND IN 1837.
CHAPTER I.
Cannibalism of the New Zealanders--Anecdotes attesting the facts--Anathemas of the natives--Systematic treachery towards each other--Murder of a flax collector--Native ideas respecting treachery--Ingenuity in workmanship-- Art of carving--Manufactures--Canoes--Fishing nets-Method of erecting houses designed for various purposes.
The existence of cannibalism among the New Zealanders, few persons will be disposed to doubt at the present day.
Not a single traveller, however tenacious towards a contrary opinion he might previously have been inclined, ever left the country, without the certain assurance, whether from witnessing
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CANNIBALISM, ITS HORRORS
the horrid repast, or seeing only vestiges, of the prevalence of these savage enormities so repugnant to the feelings of civilised man.
Few persons can conceive by theory alone, the disposition of man in a state of barbarism. The habit of devouring their enemies has been brought from the country inhabited by their remote ancestors; doubtless, revenge and the insane precepts of the most gross superstition, was the first cause of this unnatural violation of the mortal remains of a deceased enemy.
If any additional horrors can add to our disgust, it is, that matrimonial alliances are being continually formed among themselves, which cause them to devour with insatiate gluttony, the bodies of their relations and friends.
The passions of these frenzied people are never checked in infancy. It is supposed this method of devouring an enemy, annihilates him from the enjoyment of a future existence, and secures to the cannibal, the strength, vigour, and good fortune of the victim, who has fallen to his abominable appetite. The ignorance and villainy of the priests, who derive their principal tithes from their choice of this horrid food, impel all classes to take a delight in partaking of the mangled remains of their opponents.
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INDULGED IN FROM INFANCY.
Cannibalism could scarcely have arisen from an insufficiency of food, as any tasteless root, leaf or grass, would have been made use of, rather than so dreadful an alternative. Of this much we may be certain, namely that the present practice of cannibalism, has little or no reference to the original causes of its institution; that continual indulgence from earliest infancy, has wholly obliterated any disgust that might have anciently accompanied the horrid rites; but it is a vice indulged in from a depraved taste, that scarcely the powerful feeling of shame can subdue. The children, from the earliest recollections are habituated to these lusts; the hearts of the victims are often preserved for their especial food, as beings, who from their rank are alone entitled to such prized parts.
Yet many natives have sickened at the thoughts of such provender, and refused it with unconcealed horror.
The maledictions of these people consists wholly of expressions having reverence to cannibalism, "E'kai na to wangana," or I'll eat your head, "kai koe to matua," feed on your parents, "puketuki tukia," and many others are made use of, evincing the most indelicate and cannibal feelings. These feasts are not confined to the battle field,
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CANNIBALISM IN MAUNGA-MUKA,
as slaves are liable to be put to death on the slightest fault committed by themselves, or by a stranger to them, distant many miles, or at the caprice of their masters, in which case they are cut down, immediately dressed, cooked and devoured.
During my residence on the banks of the Maunga-muka, a branch of the Hokianga, in June 1831, Te Tawoa a chief within that district, felt inclined towards a shooting excursion in a neighbouring forest. Previously to his leaving the village he desired a female slave to prepare some kai pakeha or large sweet potatoes against his return. The slave did as she was requested; but the chief was so long absent, that the food got cold, and she eat them.
On Tawoa's return, he demanded the meal he had ordered, but was told how it had been appropriated; he then called the hapless woman to him, and without speaking a word, dispatched her with a blow on the forehead with a tomahawk. This guilty miscreant had been cohabiting with the slaughtered woman for some time previously; he sent for his friends, the body in the meanwhile was dressed, cooked, and on their arrival eaten, and to use the expression of Putranui, a chief who partook of the feast, on his pointing out the oven to me in which the body
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ALSO AT WAKARAPA.
had been cooked, not a bone was left unmasticated. The feast took place about five miles distant from my residence.
Another act of a similar wanton nature occurred at Waio, a river some few miles distant from the mouth of the Hokianga. A European named Anscow, proceeded down that river in a boat, accompanied by a crew of natives; he carried with him the usual trade, such as blankets, powder, and tomahawks, to purchase flax or hogs. He arrived about sunset at a village called Wakarapa, and as the tide had ceased to flow, put up there for the night. He was received hospitably, and was promised a quantity of hogs early the ensuing morning; provisions were cooked for him and his attendants.
Anscow had not been long seated, when an interesting slave girl arrived, apparently about fifteen years of age, and remarkably handsome. Her approach was no sooner discovered, than an old decrepid chief woman hobbled forth from her hut, and made use of the most vehement language to the girl, who it appeared had absented herself without leave for two days. After the old crone had vented forth her objurgations, which she was unable to continue through exhaustion, she turned to a ferocious looking fellow who
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FATE OF A FEMALE SLAVE,
was standing by her, and desired him to kill the girl immediately. The ruffian did not wait for a repetition of the request, but ran to the boat, and seizing one of the tomahawks, which had been brought for barter, he struck the miserable girl a blow on the forehead with the implement that cleft her head in twain.
This was the work of an instant, before Anscow could interfere and purchase her, which he could have done for a musket.
The body was then decollated, opened, and the entrails washed and placed in a basket, the limbs cut in pieces at the different joints, attended with circumstances at once horribly disgusting and obscene. The head was thrown to the children as a plaything, and these little miscreants rolled it to and fro, like a ball, thrusting small sticks up the nose, in the mouth, ears, &c. and latterly scooped out the eyes. The remains in several pieces were then put into baskets and taken to the river, to be cleansed from the filth it had received, by being mangled on the ground. The ovens were heated, some vegetables scraped, and the whole was cooked in a half hour. A large party partook of the body.
Anscow was in a state of intense agony during those proceedings, and felt fearful for his own
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AND OF A EUROPEAN.
life. Some of the body was presented to him, in a small basket, and he was derided for his refusal.
At earliest dawn he had his boat launched into the water, the crew did not partake of the body. When the boat was afloat, all the trade was put in together, with the tomahawk that had been used for the horrid deed. The villagers placed in the boat the remnants left uneaten of the cooked body, done up in some small baskets, as a present to be conveyed to their friends. In vain Anscow protested against the abhorred freight being placed in the boat; it was put in forcibly against his will, attended by three of the villagers. On arriving below the river, these men landed and carried the food to their friends. The tomahawk was thrown by Anscow in presence of them, into the deepest part of the river; he then returned to the settlement he had departed from. This account he gave to me the moment he landed.
Anscow's ultimate fate was equally as unfortunate as that of the poor slave, whose murder he had witnessed. He afterwards left the Hokianga, and crossed overland to the Bay of Islands, where he joined as seaman, the whale ship "Toward Castle," of London; Messrs Birnie
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JUDICIAL PUNISHMENTS.
of London owners. The vessel on quitting the Bay, steered for the Pacific islands, and lying off the Figi group, a boat was sent on shore for refreshments. Anscow was one of the crew, between whom and the natives a quarrel ensued, and Anscow killed one of the chiefs, but in retreating, he was taken prisoner, killed, and his body devoured by the natives, who are the most determined sarcophagi in existence.
The crimes of adultery, bewitching, robbery under certain circumstances, an anathema bestowed by the weak against a stronger party, or entering a prohibited place, incur the punishment of death, and the bodies are generally devoured.
To record the various judicial and injudicial murders committed by these people against each other, would alone fill up a volume. The most creditable navigators and travellers from Cook to our own times, have reiterated various facts of the cannibalism of the New Zealanders.
Cook observes in his first voyage, "Almost in every cove we landed, we found the flesh and bones of men, near the places where the fires had been made." Again, "Some of the officers went on shore, where they saw the head and bowels of a youth, who had been lately killed,
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CANNIBAL PROPENSITIES.
lying on a beach, and the heart stuck on a forked stick. The head was purchased by them, taken on board, a piece of the flesh was broiled and eaten by one of the natives before all the officers and most of the men." Cook was on shore at the time; on his return on board, he was struck with indignation against these cannibals, but curiosity surmounting his disgust, and, as he says, "being desirous of becoming an eye witness of a fact that many doubted, I ordered a piece of flesh to be broiled and brought to the quarter deck, where one of these cannibals eat it with surprising avidity. This had such an effect on some of our people as to make them sick, Oedidee (a Taheitian) who came on board with me was so affected with the sight, as to become perfectly motionless, and seemed as if metamorphosed into the statue of horror; when roused from this state by some of us, he burst into tears, continued to weep and scold by turns, told them they were vile men, and that he neither was, nor would be their friend any longer. He used the same language to one of the gentlemen who cut off the flesh, and refused to accept or touch the knife with which it was done."
Murders are often committed in a systematic, treacherous manner.
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INSTANCES OF TREACHERY.
A feud, some years hack, had existed between the immediate ancestors of two tribes in Hokianga. Peace had apparently been arranged between both parties. One of them who lived on the banks of the Waiema river, went to pay a friendly visit to his late enemy. On meeting, the usual pressing of noses took place, and while performing the act of salutation, the visitor was struck on the head by the tomahawk of his treacherous antagonist, and killed on the spot; the head of the victim was preserved and the body eaten.
Mr. Fairburn, in a letter to the Church Missionary Society, also instances a treacherous murder, termed by the natives kohuru. He says: "Not more than a month ago, a man and his wife, natives of Waikato, came over to our Settlement to see a relative, and had been here for some days, when a young chief of another party, who lived thirty miles lower down the river, named Koinaki, and between whom and the Waikato tribe a deadly feud exists, came to our valley under the mask of friendship to see Kapa and his wife, (such was their name, ) professing to wish all animosity at an end. He succeeded, after remaining three days in the valley, eating and sleeping with them, in persuading them to accompany him down the river
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RECKLESS DEPRAVITY.
to his village. They had not proceeded more than ten miles, before the vulture landed with his prey, killed them both with his hatchet, and afterwards conveyed the dead in his canoe to his settlement, where they were afterwards eaten. All this was done in revenge of a relative of his, who was cut off by another party, in connection with the tribe to which the murdered man and woman belonged about seven years since."
This is by no means a solitary instance of treachery to one another, as such circumstances are almost continually occurring in one shape or other. They never forget an injury, or let slip an opportunity when they have it in their power to revenge it. The reckless depravity attending these diabolical practices fully proves, that the incitement to a good meal is often sufficient to mark their tracts in the blood of their countrymen and relatives. A chief residing at the Maihia, the north foot of the Table Cape, heard that one of his wives had proved faithless to him. The man was unable to find out the adulterer, and, not unlikely, the whole story was a fabrication; --however, accompanied by his brother, he called early one morning on a minor chief, towards whom the brothers had always professed to be on friendly terms, and
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EXCUSES FOR CANNIBALISM.
beckoned him out of his house; on the man doing so, and pressing noses with the eldest, the younger brother cut the poor fellow down, murdered him on the spot, and the body was afterwards cut up, and devoured. No blame could be attached to the slaughtered man, but the chief had not the power to kill his wife for fear of the revenge of her relatives; but he was allowed to satisfy his honour, and not least, his appetite on the innocent.
In May 1837, a chief left Hokianga for the Bay of Islands, leaving his wife at the former place, to pay some attention to their plantation, and then to follow him. After a lapse of three weeks, the husband felt anxious that his wife should join him, at which time a native of the Hokianga arrived in the bay, and expressed his surprise to the husband that his farm should be so much neglected. On enquiry, he found that his wife had left her village ten days previously to the setting out of the informant, to join her husband in the bay; an enquiry was immediately instituted, when the body of the unfortunate woman was found in a state of putridity with the throat cut, hidden among some bushes on the road-side. The murderer was soon discovered, who publicly boasted he had dishonoured the hapless woman before depriving her
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TREACHERY OF A CHIEF.
of life. It was then demanded by the friends of the deceased, that the guilty chief should be given up; but the opposite party to whom the villain belonged, would not do so; a desultory war, it was stated, was likely to ensue.
I shall have to refer to the subject of cannibalism on treating of the wars of the natives; but the following occurrence will shew the little security held out to European life and property, when isolated among hostile tribes in the interior.
Mr. S. junior, a partner in a respectable firm in Sydney, engaged in the flax trade, established a settlement at Touranga in the Bay of Plenty, and a branch station on the island in the Rotorua Lake, situated in the elevated plains in the interior. He had commissioned a European to purchase the dressed article from the natives. Mr. S., on arriving at one period at the station, was requested by the principal chief of the district to remove the trade to another village outside the lake, as the natives intended to change their residence near some plantations, at a distance from the island, and to carry flax to that isolated place, he added, would be too burthensome. Mr. S. complied, and on the following day superintended the removal.
A large canoe was brought expressly to re-
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TREACHERY OF THE NATIVES.
move the goods. About one half the trading materials was disposed of in the canoe, when a scuffle ensued between the natives and the Englishman in the canoe. Mr. S., together with another respectable trader, hastened to his assistance, and perceived the natives around began to be troublesome. A powerful native attempted to drag Mr. S. into the canoe, and would have succeeded, if that gentleman had not hastily drawn a dirk to defend himself; this was wrested away, and the native would have overpowered him had not Mr. S. fortunately drawn forth a pistol and presented it; the ruffian then hastened away.
The poor man who was first assaulted in the canoe, was soon overpowered and thrown into the lake, when several muscular fellows threw themselves in after him, kept his head under water, and ripped up his stomach with knives. Mr. S. and his companion seeing his blood crimson the water, ran to the house, determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible. A crowd assembled of upwards of three hundred natives, who were infuriated, and attempted to draw them from the house, and tear them to pieces. The two traders presented their pieces, which kept for a few seconds these furies at bay, when about a dozen young chiefs rallied and at-
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FURY OF THE SAVAGES.
tempted to interfere and save them. This the savage multitude were not disposed to grant, when these protectors environed the hut, and determined to guard the Englishmen with their lives. The din and clamour was terrific, sufficient to appal the stoutest hearts. This lasted for full twenty minutes, during which the Europeans were kept in dreadful suspense; the hut they had taken shelter in was small, made of dried rushes, and the barbarians without, threw firebrands to burn them within the place, but they were as quickly plucked away by their young friends. These gentlemen heard the tumult among the savages arising from the distribution of the body of their murdered comrade, and heard the promises of the head chief, that all should participate in human flesh as soon as the white men were taken from the house.
After some time, the fury of the savages subsided in some degree, and the young protectors entered the hut, and brought the Englishmen forth. Mr. S. enquired why they had acted so unaccountably; he was told in answer, that he had no business to remove the trade from the island. On Mr. S. demanding from the principal chief if he had not done so at his request, no
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THE STATION ABANDONED.
answer was given. He next requested to know what they required him to do; he was answered, "remove your goods when you please, we repent of what we have done, our anger is past," on which several chiefs ran into the house and carried every thing that was left into the canoe. The goods that had been previously placed there had all been stolen; these were now mostly returned, and the natives deported themselves as if nothing had happened, except the principal chief, who approached the gentlemen, and cried the lament over them. This hypocritical wretch had been the sole cause of the disturbance. Mr. S. now demanded the body of his unfortunate countryman, but a very small portion of the viscera and an arm, was all he could recover. These remains were placed on the wretched hut, which was set fire to, and were speedily consumed; the trade was then taken to the mainland, and carried by the natives to the new plantation, but as early as an opportunity offered, the station was abandoned by the Europeans.
The early missionaries and traders were often unwilling witnesses to similar outrages. My companion, Kahika had been in several war expeditions against the natives of Waipoa, yet
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FEROCITY OF THE NATIVES.
during the visits we made there, in our journey to Kaipara, he was received with honours and tears of the tangi. The subject was often discussed respecting the different friends that had been eaten on either side of their respective tribes, and though some animated observations took place, his safety was not endangered.
At the Haihunga, where many hundred families assembled I requested Kahika, from a feeling of curiosity, to point out to me a single family whose relatives had all died natural deaths; but he stated he could not even allude to a party who had not a melancholy tale of cannibalism to relate, whereby their friends had suffered, or who had not also partaken of the blood of their enemies; and added, but for the frequent fires that take place in villages and consequent destruction of so many of the native antiquities, scarce a family existed in the country that would not possess at least the bone of an enemy, worked up either as a whistle or a bracelet, ear-ornament or fish-hook.
At another time, I asked Te Kawika, a shrewd chief of the Maunga-muka; the cause of the natives first becoming cannibals; he replied, it was good that the stronger preyed on the weaker, as the puti or puss eat the kiore or rat. Dogs eat men, and the native man performs the
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NATIVE'S ARGUMENTS.
same savory turn. "If I do not eat my enemy when I catch him," added he, "he will not show the same self-denial when he catches me; in short, what in nature is there that has life, that will not eat readily of its kind. There," (continued this subtle dignitary, pointing to a hawk,) "the kaka will eat other birds, and the larger species will also devour him." A hog passing by closed the argument: "Would you eat of that pig?" enquired this logician, describing with his hand the sleekness of the animal's form, as it slowly ambulated, grubbing for provender, to the right and left. I nodded significantly in the affirmative. "Well," continued the apologist, "bait him, and see if he will refuse a piece of yourself."
The ingenuity of the people is principally confined to the elaborate art of carving, in which their canoes and houses come in for the greatest share of attention.
The canoes are various, from the little tewai of eight feet long, to the pitau of eighty feet. These vessels, to the northward, are made of yellow and red pine, those to the southward, of totara, rimu, and other larger woods. The forming of a large canoe complete, generally takes many months ere its completion. The tree, formerly, was generally felled by fire being applied to its roots, which burnt so slowly for a length
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NATIVE CANOES.
of time, as to harden the wood, rendering the labours of the workmen more painful. It has been also generally hollowed by fire, which widens the trunk; it is afterwards dressed with the adze-axe and chisel, or apologies in some shape for those invaluable implements.
I purchased one in Uwoua that was seventy-six feet long, six feet wide, and four feet deep, the bottom being as sharp as a wedge. The sides were well projected, and about two inches thick, and near the bottom full three inches; on each side was raised a plank, to the making of which a whole tree had been used; these were sixty-six feet in length, fifteen inches wide, and two inches thick, fitting to the hull by a piece of lath, painted black, and placed outside the vessel, which when lashed, bound the gunwale board to the hull exceedingly firm, by holes being bored above and below the band, fastened by flax well scraped. The small spaces of the holes were closed up with the down of bulrushes, which answered the purpose of caulking. A considerable number of thwarts were laid across the gunwales, and strengthened the compactness of the vessel by being securely lashed. The pitou, or figure-head at the bows, projected six feet beyond the hull, and was about three feet in
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NATIVE CANOES.
height; the ruppa, or stern ornament, was about twelve feet high, two inches thick, and
eighteen inches in breadth. The designs will be best understood by the above sketches.
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A SCULPTOR'S DEFINITIONS.
These carvings denote the phrenological bias possessed by the artist or the employer. If combativeness should preponderate, a gorgon head is displayed in front, with a tongue thrust forward some feet in length, and a pair of eyes inlaid with mother of pearl shell, of the diameter of a sugar basin, to pourtray the implacability of the owner towards his enemies. If amativeness should reign paramount in the bosom of its proprietor, numerous devices that will not admit of a description, leave no doubt as to the predominant sensations that actuate his taste. Self-esteem is represented by two hands garnished with six fingers between them, rubbing an enormous stomach. Mirthfulness, by a mouth extended from ear to ear, and "laughter, holding both her sides." Gravitation stands confessed to the connoisseur by an enormous posterior casualty. Acquisitiveness, by a wart, in size to a young pumpkin on the nasal promontory.
Long garlands of feathers generally hang pendant from the stem and stern, and gannet's feathers line the band below the gunwale on either side. Every part is painted with the bright kokowai, and they present in the waters an imposing appearance.
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CANOES.
Many canoes are only painted with hierogliphics, similar in appearance to tattooing on the native body. The paddles are generally constructed of the kaikatoa tree; they are very light in weight and neatly made. The blade is broad about the centre, ending in a sharp point. Some amateurs stain their paddles with red earth, but few are carved except at the hilt. A carved paddle is made use of as a spear or truncheon on gala days, but is not adapted for the water. These native oars are generally four or five feet long, but those made use of for steering are some inches longer, and help to propel the canoes with speed.
Canoes are very rarely lashed together; during my seven years acquaintance with the country, I never saw a single instance of the kind, and no platforms are made to surmount them, as is practised by the natives of the islands of Oceanica.
The canoes made in the vicinity of Hawkes Bay will carry easily one hundred men, and are paddled double banked.
Canoes are esteemed as peculiar riches among a tribe, and are regarded in the same light as so many ships sailing out of a port. Canoes in sailing are only capable of going before the
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APPARATUS FOR CANOES.
wind; the natives do not understand any other method, and the little hold these vessels have in the water would render all further knowledge useless.
The sail is made of raupo flags or kiakia grass, etc., of a triangular shape; it is fastened to two small rickers or poles, which serve for both mast and yards, and is fixed upright between the gunwales. The sheets are made of plaited flax, fastened to the end of each pole, but they are very clumsy. These vessels are safe in a brisk breeze, but from keeping in the trough of the sea are continually wet in windy weather. Two men generally sit aft to steer the canoe. The ancient moki has been mentioned. The tiaru, tata or baler, is of essential importance to the apparatus of a canoe. These are often carved fancifully, and obscenities are frequently indulged in the forming of these humble articles.
The duty of paddling is often relieved by boat songs, accompanied by chorusses, indiscriminately chaunted by master and slave. The words have been handed down from their fathers; and the exact time kept by the paddles appears to the stranger as if one soul animated the group. Every person makes use of his vocal powers to
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ANCIENT IMPLEMENTS.
the best advantage, producing a chorus far from displeasing.
The canoes rail very much, often their gunwales under water. Their velocity may be reckoned at six miles an hour. Some few of these canoes have circumnavigated the island and crossed over Cook's Straight. Eating is barely allowed in their native boat, and on certain occasions it is accounted impiety. On the demise of an esteemed warrior chief, his favourite canoe and its various utensils, such as paddles, baler, sails, etc., are prohibited from being made use of. It is equally sacred from use as firewood, but it is placed in a wai tapu, or cemetery, as a monument of the deceased.
The implements of carpentery, formerly in use among the natives, have become obsolete in favour of the adze, axe, tomahawk, chisel, plane, iron and gimlet.
The ancient materials for these invaluable tools were principally black and dark grey granite, called onewoa by the natives, or the poenamu a green talc, which are both hard and tough; also small pieces of red jaspar, which were chipped off small blocks, similar in size to green flints. These latter tools were principally employed in finishing their best performances,
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ANCIENT BATTLE-AXES.
and were thrown away when blunted, from their inability to sharpen their points when become obtuse.
Chisels formed of the bones of an enemy were also used in the exercise of tatooing; and even at the present day no substitute for the native materiaux has been found among the various instruments of metal introduced by Europeans. Stone axes were regarded beyond all price by their owners, and they were seldom disposed of, being regarded as heirlooms from a remote ancestry, that the numerous casualties of fire occurring in the villages, could not consume. With native chisels they were enabled to cut glass and apply them to such work as was required; pieces of obsidian or volcanic glass was also employed for this purpose. Much patience was required to put an edge on their meri's, which was often managed by pounding the talc to powder, or some comminutable substance, and briskly rubbing the surfaces against each other. The name for the axe was toki, which is another name for rock or stone, and the adze was known as toki pu tangata, or a warrior's stone battle axe. These latter were in the shape of our adze without the curve.
The fishing nets of the people are often of an enormous extent, and are generally made, by
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FISHING NETS.
each family in a village working a certain portion of raw flax, which is cut with the finger nail into strips, after the boon or useless gummy matter at the lateral part is cut off and thrown away. These narrow strips are tied up in bundles and left to dry on poles. The nets of this plant are remarkably tough, and resist decay for a long time.
Many of these seines, which are the common property of a village, are one thousand feet in extreme length. The manufacturers and the locality around are under a strict tapu while making them.
A native chief, from the westward, at one period, brought to me, in his canoe, twenty large hogs and a quantity of potatoes in barter. On approaching the beech, which was tapued, the resident natives rushed into the water, took away the whole of the provisions, also the canoe and clothing of the people as payment for their having unwittingly broken the prohibition, and gave the chief, his wives, and slaves, a beating for this inadvertency; the man came to me in tears and requested my interference; but the natives had law on their side, and I could do nothing. However, I called on the principal of these conscientious fellows and enquired of him, before his people, if it was likely I could
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SCRUPULOUS CONSCIENCES.
continue to reside with them, when they would greedily devour all the provisions I had, but would never supply me enough for a meal in barter, and even robbed those friends who brought me any. The chief replied, "Go! be off! who sent for you to come to New Zealand to interfere in our customs. The laws must be satisfied!" This was repeated by another of these Shylocks, on which I put a smiling face, though I wished them certainly elsewhere. Some jokes passed among us, and I got the pigs and potatoes back, on the promise that the head of the first I killed should be given up as a sacrifice to the sensitive conscience of the chief, who had given himself so much trouble to rob me. The canoe was also returned; the clothing was kept back; but they had nothing to congratulate themselves on in their detention, these being nearly a heap of rags.
Various other nets are in use among the natives; one of them, in the shape of a bag fixed to a pole, is made use of in fishing for the kohuda or crayfish, among the rocks, which they search for with their feet, and when successful, they place the net close to the fish, and with a jerk tumble him into it. The nets are very strong and the hehaho, or fishing lines, are infinitely
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METHODS OF FISHING.
stronger, and fitted to bear a heavier strain, than any made from European materials.
The method of making up fishing lines is very tedious. The manufacturer twists it upon his thighs and rolls the flax with the palm of his hand, to which he continually applies his saliva.
Shrimps for bait are caught by common baskets on the edges of the shores.
The fish-hooks are made of bone, shell, and wood, and are very clumsy affairs; a fish, in Europe, would scarcely be taken in by such articles: many are formed of the human bones of their enemies.
Baskets of a large size, made of twigs and liands, large below and narrow above, are made use of for catching the finny tribes, out of which there is no escape. Fishing is carried on in large parties. In the river Thames, during the season for catching sharks, the banks are occupied by numerous fishers. Fishing employs much of the time of these people, and large hoards are preserved for winter provision by desiccation. Shell fish is also similarly made use of as a primary article of food.
The houses of the common people are but very sorry affairs. They are seldom above four
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HOUSES OF THE PEOPLE.
or five feet in height, with a much less respectable appearance than an English dog-kennel.
The framing is formed of two forked sticks thrust into the ground, on which a ridge-pole is placed in an angle of forty-five degrees in the ground; small sticks are made to intersect the hut fastened with flax, and the whole is covered with raupo flags, over which the toitoi grass is plentifully sprinkled, which ensures the place being water-proof. They have much the appearance, at a distance, of low hay sticks.
Doors there are none, but a hole is formed to apologise, in some measure, for the omission, through which these sinners drag their length along, like to the trailing of a snake. The hearth is placed in the centre of a small hollow surrounded by stones. Few Europeans can breathe in such a cabin for ten minutes, as the smoke from the green wood, for which there is no outlet, would quickly dispatch them.
Whole villages of the common houses above described, are erected within the space of an hour. When a war or fishing party is on its route to a distant place, the parties make for a convenient shore every night, the brave warriors being fearful of their shadows after nightfall. The moment the canoes touch the ground
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PRIMITIVE ERECTIONS.
the men instantly leap out and begin stumping up the bushes and brakes, while others are employed searching for sticks, which are soon procured, thrust into the ground and complete the framing of the huts. The women secure the provisions, take care of the canoes, and gather decayed branches for cooking and preparing the oven, and rollers for hauling on shore the canoes; if bad weather is predicted, which is easily ascertained. The ammunition, &c, is placed so as to be laid hold of in a moment if requisite. These huts, notwithstanding their hasty erection, are wind and water tight.
Very often in travelling, a shed only is erected to windward, especially in a forest, and bushes often afford shelter to the people, who cover themselves with their blankets or ensconce themselves within a grass mat that is impervious to rain, and which give the people the appearance of haycocks. These simple sheds are made use of by the principal warriors, and the celebrated E'Ongi, whose renown spread even to England and France, and before whom the principal warriors felt abashed--whose name was used like that of our Richard's after his feats at the battle of Askalon, to still unruly urchins and court them to repose, was accustomed to sleep in such kennels, at which any respectable dog, with a pro-
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
per sense of his condition, would turn on his tail with contempt. A single blanket, (not the cleanest,) covered this singular man, and the green fern constituted his bed; whereas his rank in the country was sufficient to procure him any European luxuries.
In standard villages some very superior houses are erected. These are built twelve feet from the ground to the ridge-pole; the side and roof of reeds, neatly put together; the roof thatched with grass; handsomely-carved boards called the maihi, and a wooden image or tauparre warre are placed near the part of the verandah which is always prefixed to these houses. The doorways and sills of the windows are ornamented with similar boards, carved and painted with kokowai. The subject of the carvings are generally of the most obscene nature and caricatured. These houses are erected for chiefs, and are often forty feet long and twenty wide. The reeds within the verandah are handsomely variegated with painting, and are the pride of the builders.
These houses occupy some months in their erection; the chiefs applying themselves with as much assiduity as the most common slaves.
In these houses strangers are received, and the children, at whose tender age nature is
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VARIOUS BUILDINGS DESCRIBED.
stronger than the inclinations of the parents would exactly wish, are turned out of these high places, similar to many European families who keep their drawing-rooms tapued from the little urchins who are so uncleanly in their habits; a sliding door also carved with insignias, representing the sexes serve to keep everything comfortable; the ground is always the most pleasing sitting place to a native with a wall to lean his back against. The powaka or village store has been described, in which the tribes keep their best apparel, ammunition, &c; the elaborate carvings on these places are monuments of the taste, patience and ability of these neglected people. The house appropriated to the kumera or sweet native potatoe is built expressly of the raupo with exceeding neatness. These have sometimes a verandah all round the building, and are enclosed with a neat fence; the doors are large, neatly carved and painted. These entrances are often formed in the Egyptian style-- narrow above and widening as it descends; a small figure also surmounts the door-way.
The flax houses have been mentioned; --great care is taken that the roof be water tight, some of these latter houses are forty feet in height. Houses are also erected for war canoes; in the gable part above, families often reside. The
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KUMERA HOUSES.
ground floor of these houses have rollers to preserve the canoe from rotting beneath. Sheds
are erected for pigs and their bantlings, who when old enough to grub about, and make use of their lateral extremities choose for themselves the best houses they can find.
The watta is a platform built upon trees, or raised on stout branches. These are solely used for the purpose of preserving the provisions from the damp ground, the incursions of the rats, and the insidious affections of the dogs, who possess sentiments of unalloyed admiration towards the dried fish and other morceaux that continually regale their olfactories A sound beat-
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SERVICEABLE HOUSES.
ing often explains to them, as they wistfully eye the viands, that they comprise meat for their masters. Houses or posts are also erected for the preservation of food or the honour of young ladies.
I once was witness to an affaire du coeur of this kind. A village Lothario sighed after a damsel of the same place. During the absence of her father, the gentleman called at the cottage of the Dulcinea who was protected by her mother only. The young man, undeterred by the presence of the old lady, began to be too distinct as to the nature of his intentions, on which the lady ran to one of the post houses, mounted the ladder, and drew it up after her. The swain was kept at bay until her mother got assistance, and he was turned out of the village by a rival, who found the lady less impregnable.
Houses are accounted as sacred; no food may be eaten in them; they are kept in neat order, save that the fleas and kutus reign paramount. Sheds are made use of by the ladies in bad weather, during the moment of gestation, but in any pleasing season the open air is preferred.
