CHAPTER VI
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CHAPTER VI
INTERNAL GOVERNMENT OF THE COUNTRY. ----PRIMOGENITURE. ----PARAMOUNT RIGHTS OF AN ELDER SON. ----DISCUSSIONS OF AFFAIRS, DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. ----NATURE AND STYLE OF THE ORATIONS. ----CHIEFS AMENABLE TO PUBLIC OPINION. ----DEATH OF E'ONGI. ----TERMINATION OF AN ASSEMBLY. ----LAWS OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS. ----NATURE OF UTU. ----A SERIES OF ENACTMENTS AND USAGES. --ADVANTAGES. TAKEN OF MISFORTUNES. ---- THE REVERSING OF JUSTICE. ---- ILLEGAL APPROPRIATIONS. ----CONTINUATION OF USAGES AND CUSTOMS PERSISTED IN.
THE internal government of the country may be termed patriarchal and despotic 1 as the head of a family is invested by custom with the power of awarding life and death to every member under his jurisdiction. It would be accounted a gross interference for any native chief to remonstrate on a brother aristocrat putting his slaves to death, but in the event of inflicting such a punishment on any of his wives, he is likely to be called to an account for it, by any of the relations of the female, if they possess sufficient influence to punish him, but if they should be unable personally to obtain revenge on the culprit, they possess an apology for satis-
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fying their honour by killing some poor innocent freedman, or slaves, who cannot be implicated in having any reference to the subject, for which (unconsciously) he or they are made to suffer. During the absence of a parent, the eldest son is allowed to exercise all the rights and immunities of his father, to whom alone (and not in every instance) he is accountable. Between the ages of forty and fifty, should the parent escape the dangers of war, and the teeming ovens of his enemies, he generally resigns his authority in favour of the son, who has become established by that time as a man of family, occupying with his numerous wives, handmaids, children, freedmen, and slaves, a separate portion of the village.
The affairs domestic and foreign, are discussed by the principal chiefs in open assembly, (Star Chambers or Select Committees, the terms are synonymous, being as yet unknown among them,) but the females are allowed to deliver their sentiments on subjects in which they are interested, and children of tender years are permitted to ask questions, and even add their mite to the discussion, and are listened to by the venerable elders, with patience and attentive gravity, and should they by chance make any observation that would appear to the assembly of any import, the approbation of the chiefs is given by loud applause. Many of the arguments are apparently based on justice, as a quarrel is never openly undertaken against an
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enemy, without some shadow of it. This arises from the chiefs being amenable to the opinion of their equals and followers. Even the principal of the warriors cannot publicly outstep the moral boundaries of the powers they possess. The celebrated E'Ongi was originally but a minor chief, but afterwards became the head of his tribe; he then fought his way to the command of the army, comprising a number of tribes from various parts of the country, and finally aspired to the sovereignty of all New Zealand. His wound which finally terminated his existence, at the head of the Hokianga river, put a stop to his further progress, and thus died a chief alike, to whom the country can never produce again, from the transformation (the work of Europeans) that has taken place in the country. E'Ongi on his decease was instantly installed as a divinity, and his apotheosis published. 2
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Councils are held in the open air, or under a verandah, but when different sentiments are expressed, the want of a "speaker" is sadly discoverable, as opinions are not always confined to words; bravadoes are interchanged, old grievances are unripped, and the debaters separate in a fury, that blood can scarcely quench. The tobacco-pipe is the inseparable companion to the debate, but unlike as among the North American tribes, it is not always regarded as the calumet of peace. The laws of the New Zealanders are simply a collection of established usages, which cannot be invaded by the weak with impunity. Public quarrels between chiefs are referred to the rangatira nui or head of the tribe, and his fiat is generally conclusive. His authority is much respected, yet subordination is scarcely known, as provided a chief is satisfied with his people, they may be insolent to any other party, independent of his authority; the people supporting their chief, who in turn, winks at their exactions and ill conduct.
Utu or payment is invariably expected for any injustice committed, and is exacted in some shape, the sufferer feeling debased in his own opinion,
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until he obtains satisfaction. The Utu, similar to the tapu, enters into every thing, connected with this people, payment being legally demanded for the extremes even of an excess of joy or sorrow. Equanimity alone is allowed to pass toll-free, but this virtue, together with that of patience, are unknown among the people. The following are among the established laws and usages of the country, of which some hints may be taken in the next edition of "Archbold upon Chitty."
If a man should burst his piece of ammunition while discharging it in honour of the arrival of a visitor, the weapon is instantly wrested from him, and becomes the property of the captor, for the accidental affront offered to the visitor. Should the man have received a wound in consequence, his criminality is accounted of greater magnitude, and he must be contented at the least, with the loss of his piece, and may regard himself as fortunate if he escapes a beating.
When a man enters the state of matrimony, the ceremony would not be observed with due honour, unless he allowed himself to be robbed of every article possessed by himself and the bride, every item of provision is stolen from him, and should a blanket be left to cover his personal nudity, he may thank his Atua.
Some chiefs of high rank, on such occasions, habit themselves in the best garments they possess,
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and such conduct redounds greatly to their honour, as indicative of the absence of parsimony, and is reported to distant tribes as a remarkable instance of individual liberality. The parties who undertake these burglarious excursions, must be related in some degree, but a seventieth cousin, provided he can make good his being simply a fibre of the genealogical tree, is admitted as one of the party. The alertness of the natives is particularly shown on such occasions, as much competition arises in who shall first undertake the official visit.
A similar scene takes place on the death of a wife, as if the affliction was not sufficiently overpowering. The loss of a favourite child is attended with a like wake. These visits are not confined to robbery only, as the sufferers obtain in addition a sound castigation, in which blows are often given with no sparing hand.
The rejoicing of a parent at the birth of his child, is sobered by a similar infliction, which spares neither excessive happiness nor the most overpowering affliction.
Nor is this law confined to domestic occurrences. If one or more natives are capsized with their canoe, through stress of weather or mismanagement, the natives nearest to the place, instantly swim to the mariners, and instead of lending them assistance, appropriate to themselves every article they can lay hold of, whether paddles, or garments, then tow the canoe on shore, which they
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instantly make prize of, and further strip the hapless sufferers of every article of raiment, and often with the additional stimulus of a good beating.
If a chief or freedman is killed in battle, his friends immediately hasten to his plantations, and unearth every article of provisions, reducing his wives and families to destitution. An influential chief will probably appropriate to himself such of the wives of his deceased friend, as he may fancy, with a fair proportion of his slaves, and to be scrupulous in such matters, would be accounted as utterly superfluous, as the law would work in the same manner in the event of his own death.
If a person stumble over the gate of his European neighbour, a payment may be conscientiously demanded by the sufferer, as a reward for his own awkwardness or stupidity.
If any article, on being thrown away, should fall on any person, however slightly, an utu may be fairly expected.
Should an hapless wayfarer tumble down a well in the dark, a deodand may be safely levied in consequence.
For the unintentional expression of a curse, the delinquent must pay for his inadvertency.
To enter a cemetery, to touch of a prohibited article, to possess a cat, dog, pig, goat, or cattle guilty of the same imaginary offence, a retributive payment must be given.
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A nickname (however merited) is subject to a payment.
To wish that another man may die, that his head may be cut off, or eaten, requires a heavy utu.
To accuse a person of theft, without proving it, even for a man to sprain his wrist or foot in attempting to knock another down, is deemed a fit opportunity to enforce payment.
Examples of this kind have frequently occurred to ourselves.
In one instance in consequence of a mutual disagreement, after a war of words had passed, our antagonist (a native of a ferocious disposition) threatened to enforce his argument by the application of a blow, for the better execution of which he seized a piece of rail-fence that lay on the ground, and in so doing, a nail slightly punctured his hand; on feeling the unintentional application, he immediately demanded a heavy utu, this logician alleging, that the circumstance never could have occurred, had we not raised his choler. His proposition was negatived.
