1842 - Wade, William A Journey in the Northern Island of New Zealand - Chapter V: From Manukau to Tauranga by way of Waikato

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CHAPTER V.

From Manukau to Tauranga by way of Waikato.

My original intention was to go from Manukau, direct across the Thames, to Tauranga; but learning that there was a probability of falling in with Potiki, a very troublesome chief, and his marauding party, and it being therefore doubtful whether I could safely cross the country, I resolved to go first to Rotorua by way of Waikato and Mangapouri. Mr. Maunsell intending to spend the Sunday with some of the Waikato tribes, we started together, on the morning of the 27th of January.

The first part of this day's journey, bearing south-westward, was over a level and barren tract, and then through a short wood. Nothing worthy of note presented itself, till we came, just before noon, to hills covered with black sand. A ferruginous black sand is common in various parts of the Island. I have obtained specimens of it from Manukau, Tauranga,

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WAIKATO RIVER.

and the Thames. That from Manukau is the finest and blackest. There are also to be found in different parts, good specimens of iron ore. The most perfect one in my small collection is from Pakihi in the Thames.

After trudging for a while over sand hills, the black being exchanged for white sand, we reached the western coast, and had a fine sandy beach to travel on as far as Waikato Heads. Low barren hills, for the most part, skirt the coast here.

The entrance to the Waikato river is very narrow, and rendered at all times dangerous by a shifting sand bar. Its northern banks, near the heads, are low sand hills, or land of perfect sterility; while the south side is a rich mountain range, clad with forest verdure, or cleared for cultivation almost to the summit. We waited some time for a canoe to come across for us, and were then paddled over to Tuhokaia, a village on the south side of the river, situated in a snug little bay, and backed by steep hills richly covered with vegetation.

A company of natives soon gathered round us, not with noisy greeting, as is common with them, but sitting in profound silence till we spoke to them. The common reception, when you are heartily welcome, is with vociferations of "Haere mai, haere mai," (come hither, come hither); or if you are approaching in a boat or canoe, "Hoe mai, hoe mai," (row hither, row hither); the women making a peculiar clawing motion with their hands, in token of approbation. At Waikato, instead of Haere mai, they say, Tauti mai.

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WAIKATO NATIVES.

There are several native settlements along this part of the river. The Waikato tribes are scattered over a large extent of country, and can muster a strong body of fighting men. It was calculated by the Missionaries who first visited them in 1834, that, as far as their observation extended, the population of the various districts included under the general term Waikato, could send into the field 6580 fighting men.

Missionary visits to them had been but few, previous to 1838, and they were, consequently, at that time, behind the Bay of Islands and Hokianga natives as to knowledge. When they were divided into classes on the Sunday, for repeating catechism, &c, I found some difficulty in securing their attention. Mr. Maunsell went up the river to visit other parties. The people with me mustered, to morning service, about a hundred. A subsequent residence of Missionaries among these people, has undoubtedly wrought a surprising change; for it must be recollected that it was Waikato natives who came eagerly forward, as already mentioned, to cast in their shillings and dollars at a Missionary collection.

In the night, we were much teazed by musquitoes, and on the Monday morning the natives detained and annoyed us, by trying to drive a hard bargain for the loan of a canoe, to take me up the river: so that it was eight o'clock before we could make a start; Mr. Maunsell, at the same time, crossing in a canoe, on his way home. The Moeatoa friends having provided me with the services of two of their domestic natives, and three Otawao people agreeing to accom-

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NEW ZEALAND LANGUAGE.

pany us; these, with trusty Paukena, now formed my escort.

Mr. Maunsell's native, a sharp, and rather pert lad, afforded much help in improving my acquaintance with the language; as he readily agreed, for a trifling remuneration, to set me right whenever I spoke incorrectly. The Ngapuhi, or Bay of Islands' natives, who live with the Missionaries in the northern stations, too commonly fall into the lazy habit of speaking to you after your own fashion, rather than be at the trouble of constantly correcting you. Comparing the Ngapuhi dialect with that of the more southern tribes, there is a great variation of words and phrases. For instance, there are three distinct words for fire, --Ahi, Kapura, Ngiha; the latter used exclusively by the southern tribes. "E ka ana te kapura," the Ngapuhi sentence for, The fire burns, would be, at another part, "E ngiha ana te ngiha;" and so with many other words and sentences. It requires time, and much free intercourse with the natives, to obtain a good knowledge of the language, and those who know it best are most sensible that there yet remains much for them to learn.

In some respects, the language of a savage people must of necessity be very defective. That of New Zealand is so, both in the want of words to express many things visible, tangible, and abstract, of which they have no conception; and also in the latitude of meaning attached to some of their words. Not only are there no original native words to signify tables, pens, forks, glasses, and a hundred other things which were not known till introduced; but hope, gratitude,

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THE LANGUAGE.

thanks, &c. &c, have no place in the language: as the ideas conveyed by these words have scarcely a place in their minds.

To instance latitude of signification, no word is more indefinitely used than the word "Mate." If a man grazes his foot, he is mate; --if he is in any way vexed or offended, he is mate; --if covered from head to foot with sores, or tossed with raging fever, still he is mate; --feeling the craving of appetite, or the burning of desire, he is mate; --if dead, you hear that he is mate. And even when mate rawa, (very or quite ill, or dead,) is used, or its still more forcible re-duplicate, mate rawarawa, you are equally puzzled to know whether the person reported of, is very very ill, or quite quite dead; till further informed that he is "Ngaro," Hidden; or "Kua oti te tanu," They have buried him. The opposite word "Ora," has hardly so wide a range, as "Mate," but is almost as indefinite. One just escaped from imminent peril, or raised from dangerous disease, is ora; --if pleased that some trouble is removed from his mind, he is ora; --or if satisfied with a good meal of potatoes, he is ora. So in the use of the corresponding substantive, "Oranga." A basket of cockles, and the knowledge of the way of salvation are alike called a man's oranga.

Notwithstanding these defects, arising from a limited vocabulary, there are points of beautiful precision in which the New Zealand language will stand comparison with those of Greece and Rome. This remark more particularly refers to the pronouns, of which an example, with explanations, shall now be given.

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THE LANGUAGE.

Declension of the Personal Pronoun Hau--I.

Hau--I. 1

Singular.	Dual.	Plural.
N. Ahau .... I	Taua Maua ....... We two	Tatou Matou ....... We
G. Naku	Na taua	Na tatou
Noku	No taua	No tatou
Aku ..... 0f me	A taua .... Of us two	A tatou
Oku	O taua	0 tatou
	Na maua	Na matou .... Of us
	No maua	No matou
	A maua	A matou
	0 maua	0 matou
D. Ki a hau	Ki a taua	Ki a tatou
Maku .... To or for me	Ma taua	Ma tatou
Moku	Mo taua .... To or for us two	Mo tatou .... To or for us
	Ki a maua	Ki a matou
	Ma maua	Ma matou
	Mo maua	Mo matou
A. I a hau.... Me	I a taua .... Us two	I a tatou ... Us
	I a maua	I a matou
V. E a hau ... O I	E taua .... O we two	E tatou ..... 0 we.
Ab. I a hau ... By me	I a taua	I a tatou
E a hau	E taua ... By us two	E tatou ... By us
	I a maua	I a matou
	E maua	B matou

The dual number, although not used in the English language, nor found in the Greek of the New Testament, is well known as giving precision to the copious and euphonious language of ancient Greece. But an examination of the above pronoun will discover a degree of nicety far exceeding that which is secured by the dual alone.

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THE LANGUAGE.

It will be readily seen that there is a change of the initial letter throughout the dual and plural numbers. Thus, in the nominative, we have taua and maua in the dual, and tatou and matou in the plural. This change of the initial is not arbitrary, but conveys an important distinction: as it defines whether the person spoken to is or is not included in the sense of the sentence. If I am sharing a house with a brother Missionary, and wish to point it out to you, I should say, "Tenei ano to maua ware," This is our (two's) house; meaning the house of my brother Missionary with myself. Had I said, "Tenei ano to taua ware," it would mean that the house was mine and yours, and not refer at all to any third person. So, "Taua ka haere" is, Let us two go; inviting you to go with me: but, "Ka haere maua" We two are going, tells you that I am about to start with some other person. The same with the plural. Tatou signifies myself with others, including yourself to whom I am speaking: matou myself and others, without you. The dual taua and maua are sometimes used for tatou and matou. A chief may say of himself and troops, "Ka haere maua," We two are going; but here it is evident that the principle of the dual is not lost, "troops" being regarded in unity as a singular noun of multitude.

Again, in the genitive and dative, a change may be observed in the prefixed particle: which is either na or no, or, dropping the consonant, it becomes a or o. To know precisely all the distinctions implied by this change of vowels, requires an accurate and extensive knowledge of the language. One or two examples

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THE LANGUAGE.

will serve for present illustration; premising that the use or omission of the consonant has reference to the noun as singular or plural. The question, "Whose is this garment?" would be answered, "Noku," (mine); but the reply to "Whose are these garments? would be "Oku" (mine). The use of o or a before certain nouns, as it appears to be somewhat arbitrary, can only be thoroughly learned by close observation, and a good memory. Speaking, for example, of clothes or dwelling as mine, o must always be used: while the possession of any kind of food demands an a. "These clothes are ours," would be "No matou enei kakahu." "These potatoes are ours," would be, "Na matou enei kapana." But there is a further distinction in reference to the noun, as simply possessed, or as acted upon, which cannot be said to be arbitrary, since we are merely informed by the o that the thing spoken of belongs to the person speaking; but the a tells us that he made it. If I see a new canoe lying on the beach, and ask, "Nowai tenei waka?" "Whose canoe is this?"--"No matou," (ours,) tells me that it belongs to my informant's party; but "Na matou." would give me further to understand that they had just completed it. Strange mistakes may sometimes arise by confounding the o and a. Suppose a party of natives have a pig baking in their oven, and I ask concerning some kumaras which are lying on the ground, "Me pehea enei kumara, hei kinake pea mo te poaka?" "What about these kumaras, are they perhaps a relish for (or to eat with) the pig?" This would be correct. But if I had inadvertently said, "ma te poaka," they would

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THE LANGUAGE.

all have laughed at me for asking if the kumaras were for the pig in the oven to eat. The precise distinction between the o and a, except in some cases, is not so much kept up by the Ngapuhis as by the Waikato and other southern tribes; and even among them, if you want perfect correctness, you must listen to the chiefs when engaged in important narration, or when pacing a speech in true native style.

The vocative of the first person is another peculiarity. It is used when any one tells another of a third person calling to him. Wiremu calls out to Tamati, "E Tamati." Tamati going to relate this to Hoani will not repeat the call of Wiremu, and give his own name in the vocative, but will say that Wiremu called out "E hau.." There is also a vocative of the third person which is often used in place of the second person. To call the attention of another it is quite proper, instead of saying "E koe," (O thou,) to address him, "E ia," (O he.)

Of the verbs, which are by no means complex, I will only mention the singular conversion of an English noun into a New Zealand verb. The way in which an imported word finds its way into the native language is by the nearest approach to the sound which those who first hear it happen to make; it being remembered that some of our consonants are never used, and that every New Zealand word must end with a vowel. William, becomes Wiremu, --a watch, wati, --a horse, hoaho, --and victory, (for which, strange to say, a fighting people have no word,) is converted into wikitoria, the name also of the queen of Great Britain. Trowsers, on their introduction,

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EXCURSION UP THE WAIKATO.

were called tarautete. This word is changed into a verb by adding the imperative termination tia: and "Tarautetetia" is sufficient to inform my bare-legged attendant that I wish him to appear a little smarter than usual, by putting on his trowsers.

To enter here into further particulars respecting the language, would appear tedious and out of place; but a well written grammar, with pertinent and copious illustrations, by some of the Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, who are most competent to the task, would form an interesting volume not only for the use of colonists, but for the general linguist. I would only add that, there can be no question as to the New Zealand language being a branch of one original language, common to many of the Islands of the Southern Pacific and to the Sandwich groupe. This may be seen by a comparison of the pronoun given above with the declension of Hawaiian pronouns in the Rev. W. Ellis's Appendix to his 'Polynesian Researches;' or by examining the several printed Testaments of Rarotonga, Vavau, &c.

To return to my excursion up the Waikato river. Our course at first lay almost due north. The river is derived from the junction of two considerable streams, which have their sources full a degree, in direct line, southward of the heads, and unite at a point where there is a pa called Ngaruawahia. The deep river then takes a circuitous course, till running among Islands, either thickly wooded or covered with reeds and brushwood, it divides itself into several streams: and then widens out into a large expanse of shallow water, running more northerly than the

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CANOE-SAILS.

heads, before it again narrows in and deepens, to empty itself into the waters of the Pacific.

At ten o'clock, A.M., we put into a place called Tauranganui, which, like many other places up the river, is merely resorted to during the planting season. Of the seven or eight natives whom we found here, some expressed a strong desire to have the means of instruction, and two of them repeated tolerably well the answers of the printed catechism which had been left by Mr. Maunsell. While I was engaged talking with them, my lads were busily employed fastening four of their garments together, to serve as a sail. A fresh breeze springing up, our odd looking sail really proved to be no contemptible one.

The ordinary canoe-sails in use among the natives have a very mean appearance; but sometimes they will take the pains to prepare strong and handsome sails, made of the dried split leaf of the flax plant, and decorated with tufts of downy feathers. With boat-sails, the natives are rather too venturesome: as they will make the sheets fast in order to take their ease. I have found it necessary to be peremptory with them on this head, having once been nearly upset in the Bay of Islands by a sudden squall, which caught us with our sheets fast.

As we now passed among richly wooded islands, the river increased in beauty; but we saw only two or three scattered parties of natives: and the lads going ashore to catch eels in the little creeks, and staying longer than I wished or intended, we were obliged to put up, at dusk, at the most convenient place we could find.

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NGARUAWAHIA.

Nothing particular occurred the next day in our passage further up the river, except that we passed a picturesque island pa, call Tarahanga, and were joined by two canoes which kept us company till the evening. The country around us was much less wooded than that of the day before, and in the evening the scene suddenly changed to mountainous. Our night quarters were on the opposite side of the river to the hill Taupiri. We had but just pitched the tent on an unsheltered plain, when it began to pour down with rain. The lads tired, and sadly out of temper.

The following morning we reached Ngaruawahia, a pa on the point of land which separates the Horotiu and Waipa branches of the river. The pa did not appear to have a single native in it; the people, we supposed, being up the country attending to their cultivations. When this pa was first visited in 1834 by Missionaries, who were in search of a suitable site for a Mission settlement, the Missionaries pulling towards the pa, were met by nine canoes coming out to meet them; and a mutual salute of musketry was carried on, such as the visitors were heartily glad to have concluded, the balls from the opposite party passing close by them. The natives at that time being at home in their pa, a party of two hundred assembled for service, at the conclusion of which a hundred and twenty others came from places higher up the river, and a hundred and twenty more afterwards assembled.

The main river here takes the name Horotiu, yet still retaining that of Waikato. Our course lay up

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OLD WAHAROA.

the Waipa branch, in a southerly direction. At one o'clock P.M., we met a canoe with twelve natives, pulling down the river. They proved to be a part of the Ngatihaua tribe, taking a canoe round to Waharoa, who, they told us, was waiting up the Horotiu with three other canoes.

Waharoa had long been celebrated as a warrior. He was a man of middle stature, with small, well-formed, intelligent features, a grey half-shaven beard, and partially grey hair, neatly cut, with the usual complement of tattoo lines on his face. The expression of his countenance was altogether prepossessing, while his dress, and general deportment, indicated a chief of superior grade, --it may even be said of superior mind. He shewed himself an able tactician in the Rotorua war, which originated in the murder of a near relative, and which was carried ou with determined enmity on both sides, till a peace was brought about. It was now but too evident, by the course that Waharoa was taking, that the treaty of peace, which it was supposed had terminated the protracted contention, had been based on too precarious a condition to be of long duration; for, on the arrival of the fourth canoe, it was his intention to go over to Manukau, to confer with Te Werowero, the principal chief of Waikato, on the movements of the Ngatiwakaaue or Rotorua tribes.

The demon of revenge still seemed to lurk among them. We learned that Messrs. Chapman and Morgan were not gone to Rotorua, as we expected, --that part of Ngatiwakaaue were at Matata, and that a large body of the Rotorua people were at Maketu, rebuild-

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NATIVE KARAKIA.

ing the pa. I therefore at once determined to change my destination, and make for Tauranga instead of Rotorua.

It was not till the evening of the first of February, that we finished our canoeing. The part of the river gone over this day was exceedingly winding. In some places the banks were high, the land on the top level for a short distance, and then rising perpendicularly to a higher level, sometimes terminated by background hills.

We put on shore at Te Horo, the site of a large deserted pa, formerly occupied by the Ngatiwatua tribe, who migrated in a body to Manukau. Previous to their migration, they were visited by the Rev. W. Williams and Mr. Hamlin, in 1835, and were then in a very disturbed state. Even while the Missionaries were in the act of conversing with them, they commenced a skirmish, in which two were killed on the spot, and two others mortally wounded. As Mr. Hamlin's account of a karakia, or religious ceremony, performed by those who had been in the skirmish, furnishes a striking illustration of native customs, it shall be given in his own words: --"They assembled in rank, two deep; every man having a blade of coarse grass in each of his hands, which were lifted up as high as he could easily lift them: great care was at the same time observed to have the line regular, with their feet even. The karakia was commenced by a man standing a little out of the line at one end; whom I supposed to be the priest. All the others joined; but it was repeated so fast that I could not understand a word of it. The ceremony

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ARRIVAL AT MANGAPOURI.

closed with a short dance: after which each person stooped down, and put his hands before his face, as a person would do in offering up a short ejaculatory prayer; and then each man returned to his house. This, I understand, is the custom of those who consider themselves worsted: but the ceremony ends somewhat differently with those who think that they have gained an advantage over their enemy. This they consider to be a duty that they owe to their god, and which they never think of neglecting; as by the performance of it they expect strength and prosperity for the future." 2

We passed the site of another large vacated pa, called Matakitaki, originally belonging to Waikato nui, and said to have contained five thousand people; but desolated by the northern warrior, Hongi Ika, (known as Shunghee,) at a time when the people had no firearms. Not being able to resist the power of the murderous engines, then, for the first time, brought to bear upon them, they fell an easy prey, and great numbers were slaughtered.

The river now rushing with violence over a sloping bed of stones, so that no paddling could possibly get the canoe up, the lads stripped and jumped into the water, heartily enjoying the sport of towing me up the rapids: which they performed in capital style, and before seven o'clock, p. m., we arrived at Mangapouri.

At the sight of Mangapouri, once occupied as a Mission Station, my feelings of thankfulness for the

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OTAWAO,

many journeying mercies thus far experienced, were mingled with melancholy reflections. The garden once rescued from the wilderness had again become a desolate place. By searching, you might find the rose, the hollyhock, the sweet pea, and other well known garden ornaments, still surviving, hidden among the wild shrubs of the wilderness; otherwise not a trace of civilization remained, nor were there any natives living near the spot.

A two hours' walk the next morning, over fern land, nearly level the whole way, brought us to Otawao, a large irregularly built pa, with much cultivation round it. The people here had once been within reach of Missionary visitation, but circumstances had led to the abandonment of all the stations from which they were visited.

Curiosity soon drew a crowd about me, and I found myself under the necessity of taking a public breakfast. Among the natives who gathered round, were Mokorou, one of the principal chiefs, and Horomona, (Solomon,) a blind chief, formerly called Maruhau. After a little desultory conversation, the bell was rung at the request of the people, and about thirty assembled in their chapel, the rest lingering outside. The chapel was a spacious native building, with an enormous pulpit erected in it. Of this pulpit, I afterwards found, the natives were not a little proud. Left to themselves, they had been adopting certain forms of Christian worship as a new superstition; and, notwithstanding all their anxiety for me to stay among them, I found them not much disposed for quiet attention. Having spoken to them

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THE HAHUNGA, OR FEAST.

in the chapel, they again gathered round me for conversation, and both Mokorou and Horomona made speeches of lamentation on their having been left by the Missionaries. Others followed in the same strain, declaring, that if we would but go and live among them, the people would all turn. But Horomona, as well as the rest, honestly avowed that it was by the blankets and other articles of trade their hearts would be turned. Thus conversation continued till half-past twelve, when most of them began to slack off in quest of food.

As I had made up my mind to spend the day among them, I purposed walking over to Rarowera, a neighbouring pa, but hearing that most of the natives were assembled not far from Otawao, I went with some of the people to the spot, where I found an assemblage of about two hundred natives from the two pas. They were met on occasion of a hahunga, or feast on visiting a sick chief. Rangihaka, the invalid, lay in a hut, a short distance from the mob, and I was not permitted to approach him, the space around being tapued. There was an unusual proportion of young women and children. All was a scene of carelessness and confusion, --strolling, lounging, squatting, talking, and firing of muskets. On a large heap of baskets, filled with potatoes, lay fourteen whole baked hogs; and they concluded the hahunga by a number of women laying hold of, and carrying away, every portion of the pile of food, without the slightest ceremony. I managed to get in a word among them, and to chat with some of the chiefs; but as to directing their attention to anything

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VISIT TO A SICK CHIEF.

beyond the follies of the day, I found them only inclined to oppose and ridicule.

When persons of distinction in New Zealand are taken ill, and their friends imagine that they will die, they are conveyed to an open shed, and placed under a strong tapu, nothing being allowed them but water. Too often the poor sufferer is literally starved to death. Mr. Fairburn gives the following account of a visit which he and Mr. Morgan paid to Kohirangatira, a sick chief, at Tauru.

"Having heard that Kohirangatira was very ill, I prepared some medicine for him; and, accompanied by Mr. Morgan, started early this morning (June 30, 1834,) for Tauru. Reached the place at one o'clock, and found a dozen natives sitting round two others, who were playing at draughts on a rude board of their own construction. Their draughts-men were cockle-shells, played the round side up by one party, and the reverse by the other. I inquired where the sick chief was. They replied, 'tapued.' I told them we had heard that he was ill, and were come to see him. 'Is the priest with him?'--'Yes.' I told one of the players, a son of the sick man, to inform them that we wished to see Kohirangatira. He reluctantly rose from his game to convey my message; and soon returned, saying that the tapu was so great he could not be seen; resuming, very coolly, his position at the draught-board. I told him we had come a long distance in the hope of affording his father some relief by medicine that I had brought for the purpose; but now I supposed that I must take the medicine back again, --at the same time shewing a bottle of liniment.

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VISIT TO A SICK CHIEF.

I then turned to the two natives who came with us, and said, 'Come, let us go; we are not wanted here.' 'Wait a little,' said the young chief. I replied, 'These young men have come a long distance, and are mate hiakai,' (sick or dead for food.) Several voices immediately called out, 'Make haste, scrape and boil potatoes for the strangers.' The young chief then paid another visit to his father and the priest; and, shortly after, I was invited to advance toward the place where the sick man lay, with the priest close at his elbow. Still, however, I found that we were not to advance nearer than within six yards of the invalid; a line being marked off, as a boundary to all except the tapued, by branches of laurel stuck in the ground around his shed. I spoke to the sick chief; and told him I was sorry I could not assist him with my medicine, which I had brought on purpose to ease his pains, --again exhibiting my former passport, the bottle of liniment. he said something in a low tone to the priest, and then requested us to advance. I held out my hand to shake hands with him; which he deferred doing till he had first placed a leaf of the laurel in the hand I was to take hold of. This ceremony over, I sat on the ground beside him: the old priest in the meanwhile watching every motion. Having asked him some questions about his sickness, I found it to be chronic rheumatism. I prevailed on him to let an old woman, one of the sacred party, rub his ancle with the liniment. The priest wishing to know what the liquid in the bottle was, I handed it to him. He applied it to his nose, and being strong, it brought forth tears

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THE HAKARl, OR FEAST.

in abundance; an electric shock could scarcely have surprised him more; while the sick chief and bystanders laughed heartily. I gave the chief some pills, with directions how to take them. One which I gave him while there, he took in his hand, with a leaf placed in the palm as before; then putting his hands behind him, he repeated some words which I could not sufficiently hear to make out, and swallowed the pill." 3

Having spoken of the hahunga, I may here mention the hakari, or native feast of entertainment on extraordinary occasions. The hakari is a business of great importance in its preparation, and, in the giving, rudely magnificent. A stage, or rather a series of stages, sometimes of great height, is formed of poles lashed together. When this is completed, baskets of potatoes, kumaras, &c. are piled upon the stages, till a sort of mis-shapen cone, or massy pyramid of eatables, is formed, which, so soon as all accompanying ceremony is over, is pulled to pieces by every one carrying away his portion.

In June 1835, I was present at a hakari, which, in consequence of the influence of the Missionaries, who had exposed the attendant evils of these meetings, was to be the last held among the Ngapuhis. It was up a small bay at the back of Kororareka. Baskets of food were formed into a great pile by means of the usual support of poles; and a large body of natives had assembled. Some of the people were sitting, without any regard to order, about the pile

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THE HAKARI.

of food, while others were employed in getting down the baskets. When the baskets were all down, Heke, a well conducted chief, mounted the scaffolding to hoist a flag, significant of the termination of all hakaris in the Bay of Islands. A slight opposition to the putting up of the flag was made, more for form's sake than any thing else. One of the men went up after Heke, to try and put a stop to his proceedings; and old Warerahi, one of the head chiefs, went off as if offended. Rewa and Moka, Warerahi's brothers, strutted about in cocked hats, which well harmonized with an old military cloak worn by the former. A speech was made by a young chief of the party who gave the feast; and after Moka had replied to it, the ceremony was closed by the receiving party bearing away the loaded baskets, a good portion being set apart for their friends the Missionaries.

A few days before the above mentioned hakari at the Bay of Islands, the natives belonging to the Waimate assembled, for the purpose of holding their annual feast. It had been their custom to bring together a large quantity of kumaras and pigs, to entertain, by special invitation, a neighbouring tribe; and the bones of relations who had died were produced, and great lamentation made over them. The guests, at this time, were the natives of Hokianga. The food consisted of about two thousand bushel baskets of kumaras, and fifty or sixty cooked pigs. According to native custom, this compliment would have been returned by the receiving tribe the next year or the year after; but the people, convinced of the folly of these things, had determined that this feast should

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THE HAKARI.

be the last, and that no return should be made by the Hokianga people. The business was concluded without any trouble. As a matter of form, a small flag was hoisted at each extremity of the heap; which extended in a line three hundred yards in length. Appended to the flags were placards, desiring the natives of Hokianga not to make any return for this entertainment; also informing them that from that time the removal of bones was to cease. No bones were exhibited to public view; but the separate families collected their own, respectively, and committed them to their final depository.

Much more spirited and more splendid than either of these, was a feast prepared by Waharoa, at Matamata, for the Tauranga people, in 1837, thus noticed by Rev. A. N. Brown. --"They have collected for the feast, six large albatrosses, nineteen calabashes of shark oil, several tons of fish, principally young sharks, which are esteemed by the natives as a great delicacy, upwards of twenty thousand dried eels, a great quantity of hogs, and baskets of potatoes almost without number." 4

Considering the free and careless use which the natives make of muskets and fowling-pieces on these and other occasions, the rubbish which is sold to them in the shape of guns, and the manner in which they keep them, it is really surprising that frequent accidents do not occur. I once visited, in company with the Rev. W. Williams, a chief whose hand was severely injured by the bursting of his piece. While

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OTAWAO PEOPLE.

Mr. Williams was dressing the wound, and conversing with the poor fellow, visitors from different parts kept arriving, firing away, after native fashion, their muskets of condolence, and pouring forth their lamentations on account of his accident. Poor John was glad to be removed to the Waimate, to be set free from their boisterous testimony of regard.

When I got back to Otawao to dinner, the natives again flocked round my tent, and kept me busily engaged in conversation. They were highly gratified at receiving a supply of catechisms, and portions of Scripture. Mokorou came into my tent, and kept me up conversing till a late hour. He begged very hard for some one to go and live among them; pleading, "If you will stay with us, or come constantly backwards and forwards, it will be good for us to listen to you; but if you only come as others have come, and go away directly, we will pay no attention to what you say." It will readily be supposed that it has afforded me sincere gratification since my residence in Van Diemen's Land, to receive a letter from a Missionary dated from this very place, now a Mission station.

I found among the people at Otawao a quarto volume of Scott's Commentary, marked CMS. on the binding, which I recognised as one of the set stolen from the Rev. A. N. Brown, on the occasion which gave rise to the breaking up of the Matamata station. Two volumes of the Commentary, with Donegan's Greek Lexicon, and a few other books, Mr. Brown had recovered; but other works, which the stripping party did not deny having in their pos-

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SINGULAR RECEPTION

session, they refused to part with, because they wanted them for cartridge paper. Seeing the volume in good condition, I offered a new striped shirt for it, to restore it to the owner; but the grasping possessor would not be contented without a blanket; which I did not see fit to give him.

The next day being Saturday, the people much wanted me to stay over Sunday; but having made a previous arrangement to be at Maungatautari, we proceeded onward. Passing Rarowera, then three times crossing Mangapiko, a branch of the Waipa river, and on through uncleared woods and swamps, it was five o'clock in the evening when we reached Taumatamu, a village in the Maungatautari district, where we were to stop that night: but I was much disappointed at finding scarcely any natives in the place, the people being absent on some special occasion of meeting among themselves. A young chief named Neke, and a few others, were remaining at the village. We pitched the tent near Neke's house, and I was glad to retire early to rest, being exhausted with the rough journey, and the people appearing very little disposed for conversation.

I had undressed myself, and was snugly wrapped in my blankets, just dozing off into a sleep, when I was suddenly aroused by the voice of Neke, calling out to me, "You there, give me some food." Had I been a stranger to the people, or had I not already experienced the safety of travelling in Missionary character among them, this demand would have appeared alarming from a cannibal; especially as I had been forewarned at Manukau, that the Maungatautari

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AT MAUNGATAUTARI.

tribes were a troublesome set. However, I told Neke that I was in bed, and could not rise for him; as I had no food in the tent but a few potatoes, with which he himself had supplied us. But this did not content him. His tone grew sharp and angry: -- "What business have you to come here, putting up your house in my place? Is this the spot on which you were born? Get up immediately: light your candle, and give me some food." Expostulation was of no avail, he continued teazing and threatening till I said, "Well, if you will persist in this behaviour, I will get up, take down the tent, pack up my things, and remove to some other place where we shall be better treated." This subdued him. His angry tone subsided into a murmur; and presently he came to the side of the tent, and in a softened voice asked me where I had left my books; whether I had not given them all to Ngatiruru, --the people of Otawao and Rarowera. I said it was true I had given most of my books to Ngatiruru, but that I had one in reserve for him. With this he seemed perfectly satisfied, and civilly concluded by extinguishing the fire which was still burning outside, "Lest," as he said, "the tent should be consumed." In the morning, I found out that his most uncouth and angry demand for food was entirely figurative, and that he had expected me to jump into a comprehension of his figure without having the slightest clue. The fact was, he felt jealous, and a good deal piqued, because he gathered from my lads that all my books had been distributed among another tribe. The thing wanted was not food for the body, but a book.

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FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

The New Zealanders delight in figurative language, in proverbs, and in unconnected half-expressed sentences. Their speeches, when flourishing at a taki, (the true New Zealand oration,) so abound in figures, and are so profusely elliptical, that it requires not only a bright genius to enter at once into their similies: but sometimes a good share of local knowledge of their history and chronology, fully to supply the nine-tenths left understood. Some, therefore, even of the natives themselves, do not fully comprehend the oration; while a European, who is otherwise well acquainted with the language, will be under the necessity of guessing a great part of the meaning. Sometimes their similies are apt and expressive. When I was out with Mr. Kemp at Wangaroa, Kepa, a well disposed chief, thus addressed the people: --"My friends, your ears have become sour with hearing me; but I told you the sugar would come: now this, (pointing to us,) this is the sugar." One man of the company said his throat was too dry to speak of the things of God. Another compared a good heart, or a bad heart, to a good or bad canoe. Mr. Puckey, once inquiring of a native how he felt, received for answer, --"The Holy Spirit has begun to dig at the top of my heart, but works downwards very slowly. He seems to stand in need of a spade, that he may more effectually work down to the many roots which are there. Sometimes there is a great dust in my heart." 5 But the most comprehensive and expressive answer I ever received, was from a remarkably taciturn

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VILLAGE CONGREGATION.

chief. A party had been to attack the pa. "How many men were there?" I asked. The simple and emphatic reply, from the manner in which it was given, I shall never forget. Not a syllable was uttered; but a handful of sand significantly taken up, and poured out, told the tale; as though he had said, "Their number is as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude."

In the morning, after service with our little party, Neke accompanied me to visit some of the villages around. The first party we met with numbered only eight. With them we had a few minutes' conversation, and then, proceeding on over a bad uncleared road, we came to a small village, where I was surprised and delighted to find, in this morally desolate wilderness, upwards of thirty people assembled in an orderly manner for Sabbath service, --not as a set thing, to meet a Missionary, for they could not have dreamed that they should see one, --but as a regularly adopted custom among themselves. Ngaremu, an interesting looking young man, was just standing up to give out a hymn as we came up. They sang. He then passed the book on to me, that I might address them; and the people sat in profound silence, while I spoke to them, and conducted themselves in a most orderly manner during prayers. Of books they were very destitute, and it was not in my power to supply them. Their cry was the same as in almost every place we staid at, --Books, books, "E mate ana matou i te pukapuka kore," We are ill (or dead) for want of books. In the evening eighteen assembled at Taumatamu. They urged me to stay and live among them.

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FROM MAUNGATAUTARI

Our road from Maungatautari lay over short and frequent hills, taking a circuitous sweep in order to make for the only crossing place over the Horotiu. Approaching the river, the land is sandy and barren, and the lay of the country singular. The banks of the river are abruptly steep. The land above is an extensive level; but bounded by another perpendicular ascent to a still higher level, and again backed in a similar manner, so as to form three, and in some places four, gigantic terraces, rising one above another; and each side of the river corresponding. A slight, and rather perilous bridge, of a tree or two, had been thrown across at a place where the river ran deep and with great rapidity. The bridge safely passed, we had not proceeded far before we opened suddenly upon an immense chasm in the sand hills. As our road lay across the deep sand valley which the chasm opened to us, we descended, and found manifest monuments of some amazing convulsion which had sunk a large portion of land many feet below the original surface. The cleft hills on each side rising to a height of ninety or a hundred feet, were composed of pumice-stone, in small rounded pieces, embedded in a mass of sand: and there was a scanty stream of fresh water running through the sandy bottom. Hence we ascended to an extensive plain; and in the afternoon reached Hinuwera.

The principal natives of Hinuwera were living in a large cave, under a huge overhanging mass of rock or indurated pumice-stone. To their plantations, on the level far above their heads, I had to ascend by means of a tree. Two or three of the people kept

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TO MATAMATA.

me busily employed answering curious questions on the meaning of such words as Scorpion, Victory, &c., found in our translation of the Scriptures, but out of the range of their conceptions. Coming down again to the lads, expecting to see our dinner ready, I found them all comfortably stretched out, fast asleep, --no preparation for food; not even a potato cooked for themselves. But I was under the necessity of hurrying them off.

Our road continued over another sunk level of great extent, for the most part swampy, lying between two long ranges of basaltic cliffs. The country between Maungatautari and Matamata is well worthy the researches of a geologist. Finding it impracticable to reach Matamata before night, we brought up at Waitoa, the only place where we were likely to find-wood and water.

By eight o'clock the next morning we were at Matamata, which was once a promising Mission station, but was abandoned in consequence of a daring act of plunder, already alluded to, committed during the long continued Rotorua war. The two houses once occupied by the Missionaries were still standing; but the gardens were almost as much overgrown as those at Mangapouri. After getting a dry change of clothing, for we had been thoroughly drenched with the rain, I found a number of natives assembled in Mr. Brown's old sitting-room. Before I could attempt to get breakfast, they came upon me with a multitude of questions, to some of which I was puzzled to find an answer. One man looked me very hard in the face, and said, "Te toki, te toki, he aha

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STRANGE EMBLEMS.

te toki?"--The axe, the axe, what is the axe? I said, "We all know what an axe is; but I don't understand your meaning:" for I judged from his earnestness and solemnity, that there was a hidden meaning which he expected me to catch. "Te pikaka!" he rejoined. Te pikaka! I thought; what can that be? Now, the word so sounded like peacock, that by way of explanation, I said, "A peacock is a bird." No; it was still "Te pikaka!" At length I recollected that pikaka must be a pickaxe; but still was as far from his real drift as before. When I begged an explanation, he said, "Is not an axe easily broken?" --"Yes."--"That is an emblem of earthly things; but the pickaxe!"--"And what of the pickaxe?"-- "The pickaxe can never be broken; that signifies heavenly things." Whatever importance or sacredness might be attached, in the poor fellow's mind, to the Word of God, in which he had been partially instructed, it was evident he regarded with equal, if not superior reverence, the homely pickaxe, looking upon it as a visible representative of eternal blessings. This he had been taught by Daniel, a native from Wangaroa, an upstart teacher of religion, who had been misleading the people here and elsewhere, by filling their heads with the veriest nonsense. In this way many of the natives employ what little knowledge they possess; not in applying it to useful practice, but amusing and often deceiving themselves by turning everything into figures and fancies of their own invention; and then they expect, that by the repetition of a catch-word or two, you must at once comprehend all their intention, and thread the labyrinth,

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MATAMATA NATIVES.

which they have so ingeniously fabricated. This is quite in keeping with their pure native taki, which abounds in highly figurative, and strangely elliptical language: so that it is not an unusual thing to find very few besides the speaker, who can thoroughly unravel the whole meaning. I told the man he was under a mistake about the pickaxe, and advised him rather to listen to the plain language of the New Testament than to the emblematical notions of ignorant natives. At last I was permitted to take breakfast, and went over to see the pa. A mob of children gathered about me, and on reaching the pa, which was thickly inhabited, curiosity soon drew a crowd of people together. Pohepohe, the head chief, was very civil, and quietly sat to have a sketch taken of him.

At the back of the pa there were many children of both sexes bathing in the river. I could not but deeply regret the necessity of abandoning a place where there was formerly one of the best attended and most flourishing Mission schools in the Island. But it is sometimes extremely difficult to judge what can best be done for the people. In the evening, I met as many as a hundred natives in their chapel, many others sitting round the door outside; and, on returning to the house, twenty or thirty voluntarily met together with me, for Bible class exercises: some of them exercising me pretty sharply, with very knotty questions. In the midst of all their ignorance and their erroneous interpretations, I never met with more striking instances of inquisitiveness, and eagerness to learn. Some of them appeared to have acquired an appetite for knowledge which nothing else

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THE GREAT SWAMP.

would satisfy. It was highly gratifying to see a son of the blood-thirsty Waharoa, a fine, clever, active young man, named Tarapipipi, one of the most forward in knowledge and most desirous to know. In the absence of Missionaries he used to take the lead in all school matters.

In the morning we were early on the move, and soon had to enter the famous Matamata swamp, called Mangapouri. Our usual method of crossing these swamps, was on the back or shoulders of a sturdy native, which mode of travelling the natives call pikau; but sometimes the extent of swampy ground rendered it necessary to free our friends entirely of their burden, and, stripping off shoe and stocking, to go through after their fashion. Thus it was with Mangapouri; but when I had walked barefoot half through, at times knee-deep in mud and water, then treading down the korari, and trying to keep out of the worst, till I found it painful to my feet, and was glad to get into the water again: the lads, who were out of sight, and had without difficulty reached the end of the swamp, commissioned one of their number to come back for me, and I was carried over the rest, to expedite our movements.

Crossing a swamp with which you are unacquainted requires great caution; but the natives generally know well the sound crossing places. Paukena, on one occasion, sank up to his middle when pikauing me over; but it was in a part of the country strange to him. Travelling in another part with two Missionary companions, we were returning home by a way which very few of our attendant natives knew, when we dis-

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THE THAMES.

covered that we must pass through several swamps. It was a dismal, black, pouring night, and no place near, where we could stop for shelter. The darkness was so great that nothing but audible calls one to another kept us from straying wide of our leader; yet we all passed safely through.

Leaving the Matamata swamp, we soon reached the Waiho, called by Europeans the Thames river: this being a narrow part of the river, thirty miles or more from the Frith. The Frith of Thames is now well known, from Waitamata, or Auckland, being the seat of the Colonial Government. The entrance to the narrow part of the river is over an extensive mud bank, with scarcely two fathoms water on the top of tide. To the right of the entrance is a vast korari or flax swamp, which used to supply the raw material collected for exportation in this part of the country. On the same side the banks of the river are covered with dingy mangroves, while on the other side is a beautiful range of verdant hills. Safe anchorage for small craft is found off Kupu, just within the narrows. The course of the river, like that of most New Zealand streams, is winding. From the depth of the channel, and strength of the current at the part we were crossing, it was as much as I could do to get through on one of the men's shoulders.

We then reached the foot of the Wairere, where there is a noble fall of water, bursting from a height of several hundred feet, and losing itself among the thick foliage with which the high ridge of hills is thickly covered. Our ascent was long and steep: and as we gained the summit, the toil of ascending

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WAIRERE WATERFALL. ----TAURANGA,

was not repaid by the prospect, which was little else than one unbroken flat. Near the top of the ascent we entered a wood, and I endeavoured to beat the thicket to obtain a sight of the whole fall. After descending a steep bank, I found myself on the edge of a perpendicular declivity, the bottom of which was totally hid by branching foliage. It would have been impossible to descend, except by dropping from tree to tree, which I felt no inclination to try, and therefore contented myself with climbing one that was overhanging almost horizontally, whence I could see more of the fall than from any other attainable position; but could not get a sight of its base.

Having previously sent a despatch forward to let the Tauranga Missionaries know of our arrival, a boat was ready for us at the Tepuna landing place, when we reached it by eight o'clock in the evening. In another two hours I was comfortably seated at the supper table with our good friends at the Papa.