CHAPTER VII
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CHAPTER VII.
The Character and Intellectual Faculties of the New Zealanders --Their Classes and Grades of Society--Property--Religion.
I have as yet said nothing about the character and intellectual faculties of the New Zealanders. In their character the predominant feature is self-estimation; and to this source we may trace that heterogeneous mixture of pride, vanity, covetousness of new and strange things, that mildness and ferocity, fickleness, and good and kind disposition, which they exhibit. It appears to me that this self-esteem, if wisely guided, might be made the best means of raising their social condition. I am no partisan of that condemnation of the character of so-called savage tribes, amongst whom I include the New Zealanders, which is so indiscriminately indulged in by travellers: in general I believe that their good and amiable qualities far outweigh the bad.
They are affectionate husbands and parents; and although the younger and more vigorous chiefs supersede the aged in their authority over the tribe, the latter are respected, and their council listened to. The tribes more removed from intercourse with Europeans are hospitable, and this cardinal virtue
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INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES
was once common to all. In the interior a stranger, whether European or native, is always received with welcome: food and shelter are soon prepared for him. With their friends and relations they divide everything they possess. If a New Zealander meets a relation after some period of separation, all he has is immediately given to him; and in these cases it is impossible to make any one who has served you retain for his own use what he has received. A desire of instructing themselves, and a spirit of curiosity, pervade young and old. They are very attentive to tuition, learn quickly, and have an excellent memory. Many know by rote hundreds of traditions and songs, and will repeat word for word the Christian catechism, or whole chapters of the gospel. In attention to the objects which surround them--in quickness of perception--they are superior in general to the white man: plants, animals, stones, and so on, are designated by their own names, the knowledge of which may be said to be common to all. This spirit of curiosity leads them often to trust themselves to small coasting vessels; or they go with whalers to see still more distant parts of the globe. They adapt themselves readily to European navigation and boating, and at this moment a native of New Zealand is master of a whale-ship; and in Cook's Straits many boats are manned by them alone.
On their first intercourse with Europeans the natives always manifest a degree of politeness
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AND CHARACTER.
which would do honour to a more civilized people. When they meet one another, or a European, after the first salutation, by touching noses, they do not remain standing upright, but squat down on their heels; and in entering the house of a European this is immediately done in profound silence, and it appears to me that by this peculiar posture they intend to show their respect to others, as is common with some Oriental nations. They dislike to converse standing, and if we do so they think we are not paying the necessary attention either to themselves or to the subject. But their temper often changes very quickly; and a fickleness of character appears, a change from good to bad humour, often without any imaginable cause, which, especially when travelling, is very disagreeable. But if this irritability of temper is met with firmness, they suppress it; and, indeed, it is often put on to see how the European will bear it. If they are treated with honesty, and with that respect which is due to them as men, I have always found them to reciprocate such treatment; and I have travelled amongst them with as much pleasure and security as I have in European countries.
A prominent feature of their character is to retaliate and revenge any wrong they have suffered. The wrong is often imaginary, and quarrels arise without any cause, especially if a tribe possesses the right of the stronger. I know an instance where the remembrance of a murder had been carried
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INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES
silently for forty years, when it was at length expiated by the death of him who committed it.
They are cruel in their wars, either of retaliation or aggression, and it cannot be denied that they possess a good deal of selfishness, and have not that true generous spirit, that gratitude for benefits conferred, or that true friendship, so characteristic of European and Eastern nations. But we never find these qualities amongst savages: they are, in fact, the fruits, and the best fruits, of refinement and civilization.
It will readily be seen that the character for ferocity and treachery, which has been ascribed to the New Zealanders, does not justly apply to them in times of peace. In their domestic relations they are very easily guided; and if outrages are committed, they are either the consequence of superstition or are authorized by what they regard as lawful customs.
I am sorry to say that, by intercourse with Europeans, the natives have lost many of their original good qualities, and have acquired others far less amiable. They have become covetous, suspicious, and importunate. They have lost a great part of their hospitality and politeness; and their refusing aid, when the stranger is most in want of it, or exacting exorbitant recompense for it, makes travelling now very annoying. To this must be added, that those who have become Christians refuse, by the ill-judged directions of the missionaries, to furnish food or to perform any kind of work for a
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AND CHARACTER.
traveller who may happen to arrive on a Sunday, which must sometimes take place in a country where one entirely depends upon the natives. Highly as I appreciate the merits of the missionaries, I must say that they have omitted to teach their converts some most important social, and therefore moral duties, which they will only acquire by a more intimate intercourse with civilized Europeans.
In their native state they are as laborious as their wants require; but, easily satisfying those, and unable, even by their utmost, exertions, to compete with the lowest of Europeans, they get lazy and indolent, prefer begging to working, and pass a great part of their time in showing their acquired fineries and contemplating the restless doings of the colonist. As servants they are very independent, and Europeans will do well, if they want any native helps, to treat them with attention, and rather as belonging to the family than as servants. They have this feeling of independence very strongly, and it is very creditable to them.
There is every reason to believe that in a short time the character of the New Zealanders will be entirely changed, and any one who wishes to see what they were formerly must study them in the interior, where they are still little influenced by intercourse with us, which, I must repeat, has been little advantageous to them.
Suicides--in consequence of wounded pride, or of shame from having been found guilty of theft,
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CLASSES AND GRADES
from fear of punishment, by a husband at the death of his wife, by a wife at the death of her husband, or by both at the death of their children--are not uncommon, and cases of all these descriptions have come to my knowledge. The love of life is not among the New Zealander's strongest feelings: I could record many instances in which they have ventured their lives to save those of Europeans, with a coolness and courage that would have done honour to a man of any nation.
Simple as the structure of a New Zealand community is, it bears, in its division into certain classes, the traces of a former more artificial state. The principal person in a tribe is the Ariki; but as he is per se a Rangatira, he is rarely called by the former name, and hence the difficulty of ascertaining who is the ariki. His dignity is hereditary; he is the lord of the soil, the Taki-o-te-wenua, the root of the land (or tribe?). It is hereditary both in the male and female line, and, whether child or adult, the ariki is revered as deriving his title from the number and renown of his ancestors. If he unite eminent bodily or mental faculties with his hereditary dignity, his authority over the tribe is of course increased, and he is either a great warrior or a tohunga--a priest. Generally speaking, his authority does not extend to the executive, but is confined to the council, where his advice in the affairs of the tribe is of great weight. Even by the enemies of the tribe he is treated with some
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OF NEW ZEALANDERS.
consideration, and in particular cases, where he boasts of being related to a great number of tribes, his life, even in battle, is spared. To the ariki presents are sent from distant friends or relations, a tribute as it were, although, as already observed, the honours paid to him are voluntary and complimentary, rather than compulsory; and are not numerous. The rest of the men are either rangatira, free men, or taua-reka-reka, slaves. There are distinctions amongst the free men according to the importance of their relations and ancestors, or their proficiency in war or council. But with them, as with the chiefs, their influence depends rather upon their mental superiority than upon the exercise of any legal claim. The ariki, as well as the rangatira, possesses land with well-defined boundaries; and, in disposing of the land of the tribe, every one can sell or retain his own as he likes. Of the sons of a rangatira, the first and the last inherit the greatest dignity, and are called the Ngako-o-te-wenua, the fat of the earth. The slaves, taua-reka-reka, are the prisoners of war, male or female, and such of their children as are born in slavery. They have to perform the greater part of the work of the field, and are the property of their master, who can do with them as he pleases. If they escape to their own tribe, they are either sent back or fetched back without resistance, as the right to a captured slave is acknowledged. Many wars have been carried on merely for the purpose of getting slaves, and this was the avowed object of
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LANDED PROPERTY.
the renowned E'Ongi in making war on the tribes to the eastward. The "tohunga," or priests, can belong to either of these classes, but the "karakia" (prayers), makuta (witchcraft), or healing art, or dreams, are most powerful when coming from a priest who is distinguished by high birth.
There exists a very distinct notion of the rights of landed property amongst the natives, and every inch of land in New Zealand has its proprietor. Sometimes land is given to a strange tribe, either as pay, or from other considerations; but the proprietor reserves certain rights, some of which are what we should term manorial. It was formerly very common that the fat of the native rats (kiore) killed on such lands should be given to the principal proprietor, and in many cases a title to land seems to have been derived from the fact of having killed rats on it: thus a chief will often say, "This or that piece of land is mine; I have killed rats upon it." But generally the titles to land are derived from inheritance or from conquest. The latter constitutes an acknowledged right; if, however, conquered land is again taken possession of by the original tribe, the right of the stronger prevails. In settling the complicated land question as regards European buyers, many difficult cases of this kind will doubtless be brought forward, where the original tribe had returned, trusting for its security to the Europeans and to the advance made in civilization, or to the weakened state of its enemies.
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TITLES AND RIGHTS.
The right certainly is on the side of the conqueror, although another tribe is in possession. Such cases must be settled by a liberal system of compromise.
After a war, the conquered land was distributed according to natural limits amongst the principal people, each of them acting as trustee for his immediate followers. Every hill, vale, or creek in New Zealand has its name, and the definition of the portion of each individual is therefore comparatively easy.
The rangatira, or freemen of a tribe, are very independent of each other. They are kept together more by custom and relationship than by any laws. Each may assemble around him a tribe of his own, and build a pa--a case which not unfrequently happens. And this has probably been the origin of so great a variety of tribes--a powerful family forming a clan for themselves, and adopting a name of their own.
The leader in war is not necessarily an ariki or a rangatira of the first rank, although by his renown as a warrior he may have gained great influence over the tribe.
If we take religion in its common meaning as a definable system of certain dogmas and prescriptions, the New Zealanders have no religion. Their belief in the supernatural is confined to the action and influence of spirits on the destiny of men, mixed up with fables and traditions. I have before observed that Maui and his brothers, in consequence
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RELIGION.
of their having fished up the island, as well as E Pani, for having introduced the kumara, are the principal persons in the mythology of the people. Although tradition says that they have been mortals, they have undergone some sort of apotheosis, and live in the memory of their descendants as beings endowed with supernatural powers. Of Maui the tradition says that he gave them the forms of their houses, canoes, and so on, and was therefore the real benefactor of his people; but there is no sort of worship paid to his memory. Their belief in spiritual agencies more nearly approaches the nature of religion, and has taken its rise in an intuitive feeling of the influence of benevolent or mischievous spirits, or of the souls of their relations and ancestors, over all their actions. These spirits are called Atua and Wairua. It is difficult to define the meaning of these names, but it may be observed that Atua, although qualified to assume many different forms, and represented as so many separate spirits, is the divinity; Wairua, which word signifies both soul and dream, are the spirits of the deceased, invisible, and capable of acting benevolently or in a hostile manner upon men. The native language joins to Atua both the definite and indefinite article and the plural number, --He-atua, Te-atua, and Nga-atua; but, notwithstanding this, although separated in appearance and actions, the gods of the New Zealander are emanations of the "Unknown," and seem to be based upon a former
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THE ATUA.
purer belief of monotheism. The Atua, although immaterial, can assume certain forms, as that of a bird, or a lizard, or a cloud, or a ray of the sun; a beautiful green lizard, called kakariki, is especially dreaded, as being a metamorphosed Atua. Not to those earthly forms of the Atua, however, but to the spirit itself, prayers are addressed for favourable winds and fine weather, for success in war, for averting diseases, for punishing on the offender the breaking of the "tapu," and so on; and the eyes of the priests are raised to heaven during these invocations. 1 I must, however, observe that their idea
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RELIGION.
of Atua is often merged in the indefinable. For instance, a compass, a barometer, are to them atuas. In one word, Atuas are the secret powers of the universe, whether they appear to them as beneficent or malignant; but the latter class is that especially addressed in prayer, for the purpose of averting their supposed wrath and hatred. There is no worship of idols, or of bodily representations of the Atua; and what have been taken for idols are mere ornaments or heir-looms from their ancestors, and are called tiki, or e tiki, as already observed. The wairua, or the spirits of the deceased, can communicate with mortals; but I am not aware that they can assume any form or appearance except the rays of the sun or a shadow. The tohunga does not see, but hears, them (their voice is a whistling or a slight breeze), and communicates their demands to the people. They are the immaterial and immortal parts of men; but it seems as if even these parts could be annihilated, or rather incorporated with the soul and body of another, if he consumes the flesh of an enemy, and especially his left eye, which is considered the seat of the soul. It was formerly a very common practice, of which I myself know an instance, to sacrifice slaves on the death of a great chief, that he might have the advantage of their services in the reinga. They appear to believe that the after-life differs little from this, with the exception that all the good things of this world, especially kumaras, are there in great plenty and profusion.
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THE PRIESTS.
The knowledge of the priests is handed down from father to son; and the youths undergo a regular course of instruction. I was present at one of the lessons: an old priest was sitting under a tree, and at his feet was a boy, his relation, who listened attentively to the repetition of certain words, which seemed to have no meaning, but which it must have required a good memory to retain in their due order. At the old tohunga's side was part of a man's skull filled with water; into this from time to time he dipped a green branch, which he moved over the boy's head. At my approach the old man smiled good-humouredly, as if to say, "See how clever I am," and continued his Abracadabra. I have been assured by the missionaries that many of these prayers have no meaning; but this I am greatly inclined to doubt: the words of the prayers are perhaps the remains of a language now forgotten; or, what is more probable, we find here what has existed among most of the nations of antiquity, even the most civilized, viz., that religious mysteries were confined to a certain class of men, who kept them concealed from the "profanum vulgus," or communicated only such portion of them as they thought fit. They often had a sacred symbolic language, the knowledge of which was confined to the priesthood, as, for instance, the Egyptian hieroglyphics and the Sanscrit; or, if we look nearer home, we find the religion of Thor, Odin, and Freya enveloped in a poetical mythos, which
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THE PRIESTS.
has for its foundation deep and grand philosophical conceptions of morals and ethics. At the introduction of Christianity the priests were not at all intolerant towards the new doctrine; they quickly gave up their own belief, and became the most successful teachers of their countrymen. The priests are, at the same time, among the most expert and clever in the native arts; in fact "tohunga" is often used to designate a clever carpenter, carver, or physician; just as in former times the priesthood, both in Europe and Asia, united in itself all the learning and skill of the period: and when we behold these reverend-looking personages, it is difficult to believe that they have ever been the ferocious cannibals that almost all travellers have represented them.
