1971 - Sharp, A (ed.) Duperrey's visit to New Zealand in 1824. - Voyage of M. Duperrey, p 31-50

       
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  1971 - Sharp, A (ed.) Duperrey's visit to New Zealand in 1824. - Voyage of M. Duperrey, p 31-50
 
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Voyage of M. Duperrey

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Voyage de M. Duperrey

(Voyage of M. Duperrey)



JULES SEBASTIEN CESAR DUMONT d'uRVILLE



A note on the bibliographical background of this selection is given in the Introduction (p 21). A translation by Olive Wright comprises the immediately following section of the present book.

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'Natives of New Zealand'. The two standing are Hongi (Schoungie) and Tuai (tooi). The sitting man is described elsewhere as Tuai's brother (see Introduction, p 24)

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VOYAGE OF M. DUPERREY

Lieutenant-Commander Duperrey, of the French navy, in command of the corvette La Coquille, appeared in the Bay of Islands on 4 April 1824, 1 and spent fifteen days at anchor there. During this visit, there was continuous and very friendly intercourse between the Frenchmen and the natives, and several officers carried out an interesting excursion to Kidi-Kidi, the principal station of the English missionaries in these parts. 2 No doubt M. Duperrey collected curious observations concerning New Zealanders and he will perhaps make them known to us in a published account of his voyage. Unfortunately this publication has not made much progress and there is every sign that we shall have to wait a long time for the part relating to New Zealand. 3 I have therefore been forced to give up the idea of quoting among my sources M. Duperrey's observations, as was the case with regard to those of M. Freycinet relating to New Holland. 4 I took part in the Coquille expedition and at that time I spared no effort to collect information about the way of life of New Zealanders. Chief Touai, 5 who spoke English fairly fluently and who was sincerely attached to me, was a great help to me and often spent whole days shut up alone with me in my cabin answering my questions, with the greatest willingness and remarkable intelligence. I am also indebted for useful information to Mr Kendall, the only missionary who has attempted any scientific research. 6 It is this material, verified as a rule in my 1827 voyage, 7 which I record in part in this volume under the title of Personal Observations, the substance of which has already appeared in my Essay on New Zealand. 8


PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

The tricks which Europeans have so often played on New Zealanders, the shameful manner in which the good faith of these men has been betrayed by whalers, have made them extremely suspicious in conducting business. Before concluding an exchange of any importance, they spend a long time examining the objects that are offered; the slightest scratch in an axe, any variation in colour or texture in the gunpowder and the firearms is enough to make them refuse them. They were never willing to take in exchange the muskets from La Coquille because of the band on them which, they said, prevented them from aiming

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straight. As an example of the wounding deceptions that these natives had experienced on the part of whalers, Touai told me one day how these adventurers, not satisfied with bringing them powder in bad condition, had often mixed cabbage seeds with it, and that the islanders had been no less puzzled than indignant when they saw that these would not ignite.

These men who are so cruel and so bloodthirsty towards their enemies are capable of the tenderest feelings, and it would be possible to quote a large number of features showing their attachment and devotion to their relatives and friends.

Although nearly nine months had passed since the widow of Koro Koro had lost her husband, 9 when some officers from La Coquille went to visit her, they found this woman in her hut, given up to grief and tears and in a state of despair similar to that often described by Mr Marsden. 10 These officers insisted that it was a sight really worthy of pity, particularly as there did not seem to be any affectation in the behaviour of this unhappy woman.

Tai-Wanga was in the same boat as myself when we met Shongui's canoes, and he saw his parents and friends again after an absence of fifteen to eighteen months. 11 I should try in vain to describe the proofs of affection and sensitiveness which this poor lad gave on this occasion. For more than an hour his heart was bursting with emotion and tears of tenderness flowed from his eyes.

Touai quoted the example of several chiefs who had killed themselves in despair at the death of a dearly loved wife, and the thing happens still more often in the case of the wife.

The fact that an ornament or any sort of article has come to them from a friend or relative is enough to make them attach the highest value to it. It has often happened that I tried to bargain for sharks' teeth which they had come to possess in this way, and however attractive my offers might be for them, never have I been able to persuade them to part with the teeth. These peculiar people are violent in all their feelings and carry everything to excess, their love and devotion as much as their hatred and revenge.

When the Cossack was wrecked at the mouth of the Shouki-Anga, 12 far from taking advantage of the opportunity to harm the Europeans, the inhabitants showed them all sorts of kindness and procured canoes and slaves to transport their stores when they wished to go to the Bay

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of Islands. In return the chiefs were content with the things that the captain of the vessel was kind enough to leave for them.

Shongui, which should really be pronounced Chongui, was the supreme chief of the tribe of Kidi-Kidi, better known under the name of Ngapouis, and the most powerful chief of those living in the Bay of Islands. 13 In spite of his intercourse of long standing with the missionaries, in spite of a trip to England, he never gave up any of his cruel practices and proved himself to be just as vindictive as he was fierce. For the rest, he was a very fine-looking man, of great dignity, but with an expression that betrayed his false and cruel character: his name should be written E'ongui-Ika, which means literally hail fish, alluding no doubt to the fish which New Zealanders worship. 14

Knowing quite well the treatment to which whalers had often subjected other chiefs, Shongui, heartily distrusting these foreigners, as a rule only went on board their ships accompanied by an imposing bodyguard. That is how he came to pay us a visit in La Coquille; he was standing up in one of his finest war canoes, surrounded by his chief officers and bravest warriors, all armed and ready to help him in case of danger. He was offered good accommodation for the night, but he would not accept it and preferred to camp on the neighbouring beach with his suite.

Although Shongui's father was also a chief, he still did not belong to the highest ranks of his tribe, and it was chiefly to his personal bravery that his son owed his power and influence over all the tribes of the north of Ika-Na-Mawi. 15 To his functions as First Chief he had moreover added those of priest and prophet, and that had put the final touch to the widespread consideration in which he was held. He had even gone on a pilgrimage to the Sacred Cove near Cape Reinga, and on his return had introduced ceremonies unknown until then among these tribes. 16

Nevertheless Touai, in speaking of him, never failed to mention that Shongui's family was less ancient than his own and he further re-

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proached his rival with several little weaknesses, especially that of never going into a fight without the coat of mail and the shield given to Shongui by King George, 17 whereas a brave warrior should not have any shield other than his spear.

Shongui was never willing to yield to the missionaries' efforts to persuade him to accept Christianity. He scorned a religion whose spirit and dogmas were such an extraordinary contrast to the ideas that he had cherished from childhood respecting the glory and honour of which the human spirit was capable in this world as in the next. He only tolerated these foreigners because of the services they could render in mechanical arts; for a long time he had particularly expressed to Mr Marsden his wish to have an armourer to repair his muskets and keep them in good condition. Mr Clarke, whom we brought with his family to the Bay of Islands in 1824, 18 had been spoken of as such to Shongui. In fact, Mr Clarke had been to begin with a gunsmith and locksmith; but, in his new calling as a missionary, he had adopted a tone and aspirations far above those of an ordinary workman, and I saw quite well that he would never condescend to his earlier trade. Shongui, who had looked forward to receiving him, had himself enough judgment to come to the same conclusion the first time he saw him, and the annoyance he felt on seeing his hopes crushed once again made the reception he gave Mr Clarke rather chilly. 'A good workman was what I wanted', said Shongui, 'not yet another priest; I have too many of those already.'

With more understanding than his colleagues, Mr Kendall had gained the affection of Shongui and all the New Zealanders by living in their midst without distrust, and putting at their disposal all the tools that could be useful to them. Further, he seemed to me to have much more sensible ideas than his colleagues about converting them. He maintained that the time had not yet come to turn them into Christians; that all the importunities of the missionaries only served to annoy the islanders, and that for the moment they should confine their efforts to winning their confidence, learning their language and making them see little by little the absurdity and evil of their customs. Finally Mr Kendall was the only one who so far had attempted to gather information about this extraordinary race; for this reason it is a matter for regret that he was not able to prolong his stay in these regions.

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Mr Kendall himself was very much attached to Shongui, whom he constantly praised, asserting that when not on the battlefield he was the nicest man on earth. One day when we were discussing the character of this famous chief, as I was disinclined to believe all the good that Mr Kendall was telling me about him, I quoted, as proof of the natural and very deliberate savagery of Shongui, the frightful act of barbarity related by the missionaries of Kidi-Kidi themselves. Mr Kendall retorted that the way this incident had been described was not accurate: Shongui had never intended to sacrifice those unfortunate prisoners; but his daughter-in-law, whose husband had perished in the fight, after heaping reproaches on her father-in-law, demanded the blood of the prisoners. On his refusal, this pitiless woman, with the help of one or two relatives, went herself and put the prisoners to death during the night. Mr Kendall added that Shongui was very vexed by this incident. 19 This missionary told me over and over again that Shongui was the chief he would trust most readily, and that on more than one occasion he had had the opportunity of proving the sincerity of his attachment and the stability of his feelings.

Although Touai had taken much greater pains than Shongui to imitate the manners and the general appearance of Europeans, at bottom he had not benefited any more from his trip to England, so far as principles are concerned. He was just as addicted as any of his compatriots to the tastes, customs and superstitions of his land. Only being more skilful, more ingratiating and more determined to pay court to Europeans, Touai took the greatest care to disguise his conduct and feelings under the outward signs of civilisation, and this savage had all the sagacity characteristic of a professional courtier. Thus, throughout our stay in Paroa Bay, 20 we had nothing but praise for his behaviour and even for his acts of kindness. Always guided by his one motive, he hoped to obtain from us a lot of powder and muskets. As for Titari, his companion, when I inquired after him, Touai replied that he was a bad lot, that he had committed a crime and he had been forced to banish

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him from the tribe. 21 Without being sure of the nature of this crime, I got the impression that it must have been a theft.

Touai had acquired European manners to such an extent that the first time he came on board in 'gentleman's' attire and spoke to me, I took him for an Englishman who had settled in New Zealand and had been tattooed, as sometimes happens. I must agree that this chief did not cease to manifest towards everyone belonging to La Coquille an unfailing kindness. The Captain, officers and men had nothing but praise for him; and I have often admired the tact and shrewdness which enabled this native to realise with whom he had to deal and by what means he could commend himself to all.

In the language of the New Zealanders the real word for a slave or prisoner was tao reka-reka and for a servant wari. 22 Nowadays they are more frequently known by the name of kouki, which is a corruption of the English word cook, because the chief work of the slaves is to prepare their masters' food and to cook dishes for them. These poor souls seemed to me to be treated fairly kindly and are sometimes sincerely devoted to those whom they are forced to serve. In fact, the authority of the masters over their slaves is absolute and they have the power of life and death over them. When I asked Touai what would be done to a chief who killed a slave without any reason, he agreed that nothing would be done; but he added that it would be a wrong act and that this in itself would prevent it from being committed. One day a chief of the Bay of Islands showed me one of his slaves crouching at his feet waiting in silence for his orders, and this chief told me proudly that his slave had once been one of the most famous warriors of the Shouraki region. In fact, this unfortunate man bore on his face all the marks which belong exclusively to those of high rank, and I could not help pitying him for not being eaten on the battlefield like his fellows, rather than being reduced to the shame of serving his triumphant enemy.

The warriors generally take their slaves to war to carry their stores and prepare their food: sometimes they even give them arms to enable them to fight. Touai showed me one of his slaves whom he had brought

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back from Witi-Anga Bay. 23 Instead of killing him, as is the usual custom, he had spared his life and some time afterwards had set him free and even given him a wife to live with him. Although this man was a chief in his homeland, he was sincerely attached to Touai; he was his agent in all the bargains to be made with Europeans and he accompanied his master to battle. Touai explained to me the man would henceforth be shown no consideration in his own tribe and it was for this reason that he was attached in this way to Touai's interests.

It must be noted that the consideration and preference which navigators have unwittingly shown to slaves or men of the lower classes, in the presence of and to the neglect of chiefs, have often been the reason for the jealousy and indignation of the latter; for these islanders are very proud of their rank and their prerogatives, and any outrage against these rights would in their estimation be one of those serious insults which blood alone can avenge. Slaves who have nothing to lose and can only gain in these circumstances are almost always the first to put themselves at the disposal of foreigners and to show them the consideration and respect which earn the gratitude of their hosts. So it is with slaves or the lower classes that Europeans usually have their first dealings and this seldom fails to annoy the chiefs. Much the same thing would happen among us if people of high rank, going on a visit to a palace or a mansion, showed great friendship to the domestics and loaded them with gifts, without showing consideration or paying much attention to the master of the house. It is an unfortunate happening which navigators find it all the more difficult to avoid, because often the slaves are not distinguishable from the chiefs by any external mark; but it accounts for behaviour which has often seemed surprising and inexplicable on the part of chiefs of savage races.

Again, the conduct of the sailors of the crew is frequently a cause of serious trouble between the navigators and the savage tribes; however carefully they are supervised, whatever instructions they are given, these men are convinced that the savages exist to obey their every wish, submit to all their whims, and as a general rule they act in accordance with this opinion. It is a fact which I have had only too many occasions to note, and which it is very difficult to prevent, if the officers do not constantly keep an eye on the sailors' doings; for men of this class, without however being wicked or cruel, are as a rule little inclined to listen to the voice of reason and sympathy. In this case, the best course is to reduce, as far as possible, intercourse between the sailors and the savage inhabitants of the islands where the boat calls.

To replace seamen who have died or deserted, or to procure recruits

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to serve in their undertakings, English or American whalers have often taken New Zealand savages into their boats. As a general rule these natives have been harshly treated and the whites look upon them almost as slaves of whom they become the absolute masters. In the end, when they have extracted all kinds of services from them, they leave them stranded in any place whatever, without resources and without any kind of remuneration for their long services.

Among these essentially warrior tribes, it is indispensable that the chief be able to lead his fighting men in person to the field of battle. Thus in the Kahou-Wera tribe, in whose neighbourhood we were anchored, Koro-Koro having left only a son scarcely more than an adolescent, his brother Touai had held the supreme rank since his death. Touai however had an elder brother, but as this brother had uncertain health, he had voluntarily renounced the privileges of being in command. 24 Touai told us repeatedly that he was going to set out on a fighting expedition, otherwise his fellow citizens would cease to have any sort of esteem for him, in spite of his right by birth. Touai himself appeared to be inclined to hand over the supreme authority to Koro-Koro's son, as soon as the latter's age would permit.

At the highest point of the Kahou-Wera pa, 25 in a little hut built for this purpose, when Touai was absent, there was always a trusty warrior, a chief, whose duty it was to keep watch on all the movements that took place in the neighbourhood. Touai assured me that in time of war he himself could scarcely leave it, that this was his post, as formerly it had been the post of the great Koro-Koro. When I went with him to visit his pa, the chief Touao, his cousin, was on guard at the entrance; he came to meet us with his spear in his hand, escorted by the warriors, and asked from a distance who we were. 26 The chief Touai answered that it was the rangatira para-parao from the French vessel. This word para-parao means the one in command; they speak in this way of the lieutenant of a European boat, because they have noticed that he is more often in command of the sailors than the captain himself. Further, with them the rangatira para-parao is as a rule also the military lieutenant of the principal chief, and specially in command of the warriors. 27

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In order to get from Touai some more definite details of the ceremony of baptism, I took advantage of a moment when this chief, full of gratitude for some presents which I had given to him, seemed to me to be more favourably disposed than ever towards me, and ready to answer my questions in a more satisfying manner than usual. I would point out that this is a method of approach indispensable to anyone who may wish to succeed in obtaining information respecting the customs and beliefs of this extraordinary race; that is to proceed with much circumspection, to appear to enter into their beliefs, and even to respect and admire them up to a certain point, for these men are extremely sensitive to the scorn and disdain of Europeans, and they seek by every conceivable means to elude an attitude which is so humiliating for their vanity.

To begin with, Touai's one idea was to evade my questions, either by saying rather coldly 'I don't know', or by declaring that these ceremonies were mere nonsense only fit for savages, or finally pretending that all this could not be of the slightest interest to me. Presently, he became more obliging and certainly answered my questions, but often he poured out anything that came into his head, and was at bottom quite indifferent as to whether the information was true or false. After I had questioned him about baptism and had quoted the words attributed to this ceremony by the grammar book, 28 he even began to agree that they did express what was said in such cases. Finally, pressed to give me their meaning in English, as I was surprised to find that his translation did not make sense, he ended by agreeing that in fact the words had no meaning and that he did not know where they had been found. It was only then, after being further pressed, that he consented to give me the words used at baptisms, at any rate those used at the birth of his son, with the rites carried out at that ceremony, for it is extremely probable that these rites, as well as the words, vary from tribe to tribe and perhaps even among families of the same tribe, following the whim of the chiefs or those who officiate at the ceremony.

Five days after the birth of the child, the mother, assisted by her friends and female relatives, places it on a mat and this mat is supported by two heaps of wood or sand. One after the other, each of the women dips a branch into a vase filled with water and sprinkles the child's forehead. This is the moment at which he is given his name; the name has a sacred character with these people and in their eyes it somehow forms part of themselves.

Yet they sometimes change it in order to perpetuate the memory of

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an incident, or an extraordinary feat in their life. Thus, in memory of the place Witi-Anga where Koro-Koro died from sickness after a battle, his brother Touai took the name of Kati-Kati, but the earlier name has persisted. 29 The reverse happened in the case of Pomare, whose former name, Wetoi, was almost forgotten; 30 this also happened to the chiefs King George 31 and George, 32 whose earlier names were unknown among Europeans, etc. etc. In such cases, Touai assured me, the ceremony of the change of name had to be consecrated by a new baptism.

Here are the words used at the baptism of Touai's son, as he pronounced them and following our pronunciation. As for the significance of each of the words taken individually, I cannot vouch for it, for this chief himself did not know and could not distinguish syllables when isolated from those with which they were united to form a word. Further, it often happens that certain combinations of words give to the composite whole a value that is quite different from the one they have separately in themselves:

Takou taaama.
I toi hia.
Ki te parawa.
Kia didi.
Kia ngoui' hia.
Ko te tama.
Nei, kani.
O tou.
Let my child be baptised.
Like the whale
For life,
may he be fierce,
may he be threatening.
Let this child
be supplied with food
For death,
by the Atoua, my father.
Ko tinga na.
Kia ou we.
Ka waka teka.
Te kani, hia ou we.
May he have good health,
be happy. For life.
May he receive his food,
when his bones are raised. For death.

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With the help of the Vocabulary, 33 I can understand reasonably well the first eight lines; but it is not at all so with the last four and I am forced to depend implicitly on the translation that Touai gave me, partly in disconnected English words, partly by signs and gestures not finding enough words to express his ideas. 34

However that may be, one sees that this prayer consists of two distinct parts, one for life, the other for the moment when the individual is reduced to his spiritual substance. In all their acts, in all their ceremonies, these extraordinary people never lose sight of this moment. This deep conviction of a future life and the glory that is connected with it, when they can triumph over their enemies, must be an enormous influence in their ferocious courage, that savage scorn of death which are characteristic of them, for they seldom fear death, provided they are assured that their bodies will receive honorable burial.

The last line refers to the solemn ceremony of raising the bones of the dead. This is what it consists of, or at least what Touai saw carried out recently at the obsequies of his brother, the famous Koro-Koro.

Five months after the funeral, and often longer, the bones are removed from the tomb in which the body had been placed in order to deposit them finally in the family burial place. Usually the next of kin is made responsible for this task, and by his contact with a body that is tapu he necessarily becomes tapu himself, and that to the fullest extent. So long as he is in this condition, no one may touch him, and if by carelessness or otherwise someone happened to do so, he would be killed without mercy if he were a common man, and his body, being tapu, would be thrown on the rubbish heap. A chief guilty of this sacrilege would at the least be stripped of his possessions and his rank.

Here now is what Touai had to do to purify himself: on returning home, he took from the tomb or from some tapu spot a piece of wood which is then called po-poa (consecrated). 35 In the presence of the chief, he placed it solemnly on the ground; the chief offered Touai a handful of sweet potatoes; Touai took one and placed it in contact with the po-poa, and left it there from eight to ten minutes; it had now become tapu. He took it up again, broke off a piece which he threw behind him with great respect. This was the food of the atoua, 36 the spirit of the dead, to which the baptismal words refer. Then he put the rest into the mouth of the highest priest, who had to swallow it without touching it with his hands. As soon as the sweet potato has become tapu

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by contact with the po-poa, the latter is picked up, put into the mouth of the chief, from which it is soon removed and thrown to a place where it will not risk falling into anyone's hands. The chief is also forbidden to touch the second sweet potato, and he must receive it in the same way into his mouth. Finally he himself takes the rest, eats it, and then the man who was tapu becomes free once more and can mix with his relatives and friends without danger.

There are few savage races in which the men value the loyalty and chastity of their wives to the extent that they do in New Zealand. Those creatures whom the earliest travellers received on board their boats, or who were introduced to them in the course of their time on land, were as a rule only slaves who lavished their favours in order to obtain a few gifts from the foreigners, and the rewards for these advances are not even retained by these unfortunate women, everything belongs to their masters. In this way Touai and his wife Ehidi 37 never failed to summon and to visit their slaves each evening to take possession of their day's yield. It was strange to see these women, faithful echoes of their owners, asking all the time for poudra (powder). As a rule they were more attractive than the married women. The latter rarely went on board and then they never left their relatives and husbands for one moment. An unmarried woman, however, is free to grant her favours to anyone she likes, so long as the object of her choice is worthy of her rank, otherwise she would lower herself. In the married woman death is the penalty for adultery. However, when she belongs to an influential family whom the husband is afraid of offending, sometimes he contents himself with sending her back to her parents, and from that moment she is once more free to act as she pleases. When Frenchmen approached the wives of chiefs with gallant proposals, they were constantly rejected with scorn, and even with a sort of horror by the words: married woman, forbidden.

The village of Paroa or Kahou-Wera, situated on a hillock on the coast, was in a very strong position, at the point of a peninsula, and could only be reached by the spur of a hill which it was very easy to defend. On all other sides this pa overlooked steep rocks; and further, on the most inaccessible points it was defended by a fairly deep trench and a strong palisade twelve to fifteen feet high. In 1824 it seemed to me to hold about two hundred little huts, which were low and each provided with a door scarcely two feet square, such that one could only reach the interior by crawling on hands and knees. A large proportion of the warriors belonging to this pa were at that time away fighting

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under Pomare, 38 and Touai assured me that their number reached about two hundred, which was no doubt an exaggeration. Kahou-Wera is formed of two words Kahou mat, and wera burnt; Paroa from the words pa fort, and roa big. It was in fact the largest village of this district. 39

The Pihe is the solemn ode which warriors chant in chorus, sometimes after the fight, always by the fire which consumes the meal of the God, Kai-Atoua, 40 and at funeral ceremonies. It may be said to be the patriotic and religious song of the New Zealanders: it seems to embody the foundation of all their mystical beliefs. Touai had a passion for this chant and never recited it without an expression on his face and such emotion as would be impossible to describe: it was easy to see that his whole being was deeply affected; and I noticed the same effect in a great many other natives.

This was enough to excite my curiosity, and I can give an assurance that I spared no effort to obtain the interpretation of the mysterious Pihe. My attempts were often useless; the first time I took Touai into my room and kept him for at least three hours to question him. A few isolated passages certainly made sense to me; but taken as a whole it was disconnected, incoherent and absolutely unintelligible. Convinced that Touai alone could not give me what I wanted, I wished to take advantage of a visit from Mr Kendall a few days later in order to carry out my plan, for Touai himself agreed that this missionary understood and spoke the New Zealand tongue very well. So I got them both together in my room, and Mr Kendall showed the utmost readiness. Yet once again I was disappointed in my expectation and I was unable to obtain the translation of the sacred song.

Mr Kendall seemed not to understand at all well Touai's explanations, and he on his side seemed incapable of giving the true meaning of the different parts of the Pihe. It may be that the allusions which are found in it already belong to a too distant past and that their meaning is beyond the intelligence of the islanders of today. 41 No doubt I was experiencing at this time the difficulty which would confront a Brahmin or an adherent of Fo in questioning most Christians in the hope of obtaining the exact meaning of some of the parables in the Gospel. Here, at any rate, is what Mr Kendall told me of the general meaning and chief characteristics of this curious ode.

First, the word Pihe consists of two particles, pi which denotes adhesion, connection, and he which, on the contrary, expresses a dis-

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connection, a violent separation. Thus bringing together these two words pi he (Pihe) signifies separation of that which is united; this composite term refers to the end of life, to death, that point at which the soul and the body, these two substances intimately united in life, part from one another with an effort at the moment of death.

This ode consists of five fairly distinct parts: the first is related to the very manner in which the Atoua, the Supreme Being, has destroyed the man, and to the reunion of the creature with God brought about by this action. From that point one passes to the corpse, and there are laments over its destruction; then to the sacrifice itself and to the incense, the food offered to the Atoua. To their minds this incense is still the breath, the live spirit, the soul. Then come exhortations to the family and friends of the dead calling upon them to avenge his death and to honour his memory by vouchsafing him glory (kia oudou -- make him glorious). 42 Finally the song ends in laments and consolation offered to the family for the loss of one of its members.

No doubt, when several hundred warriors clad in their war-dress, fully armed and standing in one or two ranks chant together this solemn hymn and accompany it with terrifying menacing gestures, the effect produced must be impressive, ominous and terrifying. Before beginning the fight, it would seem that these men desire to celebrate in some way in common their own burial and to give a sacred character to their fighting by this final religious act.

It was a cause of deep regret to me that I was not able to fathom the meaning of this extraordinary ode, and I begged Mr Kendall to go into the matter most carefully. When I was again in New Zealand in 1827 this missionary was no longer there, and the others had not gleaned any kind of information relating to this hymn.

Here then is the Pihe as Mr Kendall gives it in his Grammar, 43 except for a few passages that I corrected under Touai's dictation.

Papa ra te wati tidi
I dounga nei
Kou ana, kana pou i e o
E ahi o
Tou ka didi
Rongo mai, ka heke
Ta tara
Te wai pouna
Te aha kohoudou,
Ko nga nana,
Ko wai parangui

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Ko kapi te ono,
Ko kapi te ono
Te iki iki,
Te ra marama
Te weti, te weta
Te toto roi ai
Wano,
Wano, wano, wano
Mai toki oumi e.
Ka didi tou,
Ka ngouïa tou,
Ko wewei tou,
Ko wa wana
Toue toue toue
Ka taka
Raro poudi aï
Ka taka te waro.
Pi pi ra ou e dou ko i e
Pi pi
Ra ou e dou ko i e.
Ke koti kotia,
Te oudou o te ariki
Pi pi ra ou e dou ko i e
. . .Pihe
E tapou
E tapou tou mata tara roa.
E ngaro
E ngaro tou ki tana e iwa.
E iwa
E iwa tukua ki te marai
Wero wero.
Wero wero, te tara o mai ra,
Wero hia, ki tai hia,
Waka rawa, waka rawa
Te tara ki a tai,
Me ko tahi manawa reka
Te manawa ki a tou.
Haï, haï, ha!
Haiï, haï, ha!
Kia oudou, haï haï ha!
. . . Pihe
Iki iki
Iki iki wara wara

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Ko iaï tanga roa
I tawa.
O maï ra,
E ki na tou.
Wanga hinga,
Ki a tai
Koro pana
Te koua ki te maraï
Witi doua
Te ika tere ki painga
Kia oudou, haï, haï, ha!
Haï, haï, ha!
Kia oudou, haï, haï, ha!
. . Pihe.

Throughout the whole of the time we spent in the Bay of Islands, the thirty or so slave girls who had settled down on board to trade their charms gave us regularly every evening an exhibition of their love dances. Nothing could be more lewd or more obscene than their movements, gestures and poses; moreover everything made one think that the songs that accompanied them were, to say the least, quite as lascivious. The day he came on board, Shongui arranged to let us see a war dance; it was performed by a dozen or fifteen of his picked warriors and directed by Rewa and Hihi. 44 The precision, the litheness, and the energy which were so marked in the figures of this dance made it extremely interesting; but it was not difficult to realise that it was wholly connected with their ferocious bloodthirsty customs. Touai regarded the women's dances with disdain and scorn; but when faced with the war dances, in spite of our being present and the constraint that he tried to exercise on himself, his face lit up, his eyes rolled round in their sockets, his knees jerked convulsively, his tongue protruded from his mouth, and one could see that in spite of himself, he was at one in heart and mind with the movements and the words of the warriors.

On the occasion of my visit to the pa of Kahou-Wera, Touai took me with an air of mystery into his hut and shut the door on us both, then he took out of his chest a mat in which was wrapped a tattooed head moko mokai; 45 the pattern of the moko shewed that it must have belonged to someone of high rank. In fact he told me it was the head



[Inserted unpaginated illustration]

'Ecao [Kahu? ] Girl of New Zealand'. The small writing in the illustration states that the colour of her skin was 'a little less red than at Tahiti' and that the colour of her eyes and hair was black.

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of a powerful warrior who was greatly feared from the coast of Shouraki. His name was Kapou-Oka. 46 In a fight two or three years earlier, he had wounded Koro-Koro very seriously with a blow from his spear; but not long afterwards Shongui killed him with a gun, and Touai showed me the hole that the bullet had made in the head. The chief of Kidi-Kidi shared the body of Kapou-Oka with his warriors and presented the head to Koro-Koro. Touai added that on the first journey that he undertook on the banks of the Shouraki, he intended to give this head back to Kapou-Oka's son as a pledge of the peace he wanted to conclude with him. Nevertheless he offered to let me have it for a pound of gunpowder; and, if the bargain had suited me, it is clear that Kapou-Oka's son would never have seen the head of his unfortunate father. I drew the conclusion quite naturally from Touai's offer that he thought more highly of a pound of gunpowder than of the friendship of the young man. This head was one of the finest and the best tattooed that I had seen in the course of my voyage, but the dogs had gnawed a piece of the left cheek.

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1   The vessel entered the Bay of Islands on 3 April and left on the 17th.
2   For Blosseville's report on this visit to Kerikeri, see pp 113-6.
3   See Introduction, pp 19-20.
4   Freycinet's account of his voyage round the world, on which he visited part of the Australian coast, was not published until 1825-7. See Introduction, p 11.
5   See Introduction, p 19.
6   See Introduction, pp 17-9.
7   See Introduction, p 13.
8   Voyage de la corvette L'Astrolabe, vol 2 (Paris, 1830), pp 289-610.
9   See Introduction, p 19.
10   For example, accounts in J. R. Elder (ed), The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden (Dunedin, 1932). pp 159, 243-4.
11   Taiwhanga, who returned to New Zealand from Port Jackson in La Coquille.
12   The American schooner Cossack was wrecked in Hokianga Harbour on 27 April 1823. C. W. N. Ingram and P. O. Wheatley, Shipwrecks (2nd ed, Wellington, 1951), p 18; Elder, op cit, pp 359, 361.
13   Hongi. See Introduction, p 18. One of his villages was Kerikeri, d'Urville's Kidi-Kidi. The people of the north-west part of the Bay of Islands and environs traced their descent from an eponymous ancestor Puhi-moana-ariki, hence the tribal name Ngapuhi. The initial sound in Hongi's name was usually spelt S or Sh by early European visitors. To d'Urville's ear it apparently sounded like Ch.
14   Hongi's full name is usually spelt Hongi Hika. The first word means 'smell' and derivatively 'salute' as the touching of noses is a form of greeting, the second word represents ika (fish). In saying that the spelling should be 'E'ongui-Ika', for 'hail fish', d'Urville means that the particle E before the verb forms the imperative. H. W. Williams, A Dictionary of the Maori Language (6th ed, Wellington, 1957), pp 24, 58.
15   Ika-Na-Maui, for the North Island, is a corruption of 'Te Ika-a-Maui', meaning 'The Fish of Maui'. The folk hero Maui, in Maori legend, fished up the North Island from the sea.
16   The Cape Reinga-Taputupotu Bay area forms the north-eastern tip of the North Island. According to Maori tradition the spirits of the dead entered the sea from a pohutukawa tree on Cape Reinga on their journey to the spirit world.
17   According to Lesson (see p 62) Hongi in Sydney on his way home from his visit to England disposed of all his presents, including a complete suit of knight's armour given him by the King (George IV). Yet according to Tuai he later used a coat of mail and shield given him by King George.
18   George Clarke, a lay missionary who had been trained as a gunsmith before joining the Church Missionary Society, was assigned to the mission station at Kerikeri. He later attained some temporary influence as Protector of Aborigines, a Government position, from 1840 to 1846. Biography by M. W. Standish, in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, vol 1, pp 353-4.
19   On 21 December 1821 Hongi brought back to Kerikeri a number of prisoners taken during campaigns in the Hauraki area. On the arrival of the canoes Hongi's daughter, whose husband Tete had been killed on the expedition, was seen by the missionary Francis Hall to kill with the assistance of some other women some of the prisoners, and he was told that after he left the scene Hongi himself killed five more with a sword. Hall also recorded in his journal that next day Hongi had the audacity to offer two of the missionaries some of the cooked human flesh. On 29 December Hall noted further that he had been told that Hongi and his people had killed and eaten more prisoners, bringing the number known to have been slain in cold blood to eighteen. Lesson says that Hongi's daughter, whose husband was killed in a quarrel, avenged herself by helping her brother to massacre twenty-three prisoners in their sleep (see p 104). But Hall's account appears to establish that Hongi was involved in the killing of a number of prisoners. Missionary Register, 1823, pp 505-6.
20   This name is applied today to the bay running west and south of the Peninsula off the north of which La Coquille was anchored from 4 April. Paroa was the name of the peninsula and surrounding district.
21   The name of Tuai's companion on his visit to England in 1819 was spelt Titari in the signature to a letter from him at that time. This was published, with a letter attributed to Tuai, in Missionary Register, 1820, pp 309-11, and d'Urville's spelling Titari was presumably taken from it. The signature Teeterree is given in an extant manuscript letter of which the reliable missionary Francis Hall was the scribe; this justifies the modem spelling Titeri. O. Wilson, 'Tooi and Teeterree', The Turnbull Library Record, vol 2 (ns), pp 64-6. The spelling Titore is not correct, its bestowal on Tuai's companion in later times arising from a confusion of him with a chief of another part of the Bay. O. Wilson, 'Tooi, Teeterree and Titore', Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol 72, pp 267-8.
22   A Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language (London, 1820), p 207, gives 'tao réka réka' for 'slave', and, p 226, 'wari' for 'a servant, a poor man'.
23   Whitianga Bay, now known as Mercury Bay after Cook's name. Whitianga continues as the name of the main settlement.
24   Dumont d'Urville in 1827 met a brother of Tuai named Rangui (Rangi), saying that he had been the guard on the visit of La Coquille. Voyage de la corvette L'Astrolabe, vol 2, pp 233-4. Lesson refers to a 'fourth brother' of Tuai. See p 57. Lesson's reference to the brothers is obscure, as he speaks of Tuai as the third brother of Korokoro and mentions the death of the second brother, but does not say anything about a first brother. The explanation may be that there were four brothers, Korokoro, Rangi, the dead one mentioned by Lesson, and Tuai, Rangi being the one passed over for Tuai according to d'Urville, and identical with the fourth brother referred to by Lesson.
25   Kahuwera, Tuai's main pa. See map at back of book, where the name is spelt Kawera.
26   A ceremonial challenge.
27   Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language, p 189, gives 'para parau' as an adjective meaning 'commanding'.
28   A Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language. On p 108 there is a ten-line poem or chant described as 'New Zealand Baptismal Service'. In a note it is said that some passages in it are not well understood by the compiler and are left to be translated hereafter.
29   Marsden on 1 October 1823 was told at Paroa that Tuai was waiting with Korokoro's body 'on a small island not far from the Thames'. Elder, op cit, p 378. The precise place where Korokoro died is not clear.
30   See Introduction, p 18. Pomare changed his name from Whetoi after hearing of the exploits of Pomare, King of Tahiti.
31   Te Whareumu, chief of Kororareka, usually known as King George to European visitors, to whom he was unfailingly friendly. A. Earle, Narrative of a Residence in New Zealand, ed E. H. McCormick (2nd ed, Oxford, 1966), pp 82-4, 82 n 2.
32   This was no doubt Tara (Te Ara), a young chief of Whangaroa associated with the taking of the Boyd in 1809. Ibid, pp 79-80, 79 n 1, 80 n 1.
33   A Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language.
34   Tuai's and d'Urville's difficulties over the translation of the words relating to baptism exemplify the well-known archaic and cryptic character of numbers of Maori chants, songs and traditions.
35   A Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language, p 195, gives 'sacred victuals' for 'popoa'.
36   Atua.
37   Assuming that the initial E indicates the vocative case and that the letter d represents d'Urville's spelling of the sound r in modern Maori spelling, it would appear that the modern form of this name would be Hiri.
38   See p 29 n 29.
39   A Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language, p 155, gives 'kahu' for 'garment' and, p 227, 'wera' for 'burnt'.
40   A Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language, p 156, gives 'Kai Atua; Victuals for the Atua'.
41   See p 43 n 34.
42   A Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language, p 163, gives 'Kia udu; Let there be glory'.
43   Ibid, pp 108-9.
44   Leading chiefs of Kerikeri.
45   A Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language, p 182, translates 'moko' as a tattooed face and 'moko mokai' as the tattooed, decapitated head of a man.
46   Kapu-oka. The Bay of Islands Maoris wrought great havoc by their raids on those of Hauraki Gulf. Elder, op cit, p 253.

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