NEW ZEALAND A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 194, 14 August 1920, Page 17

NEW ZEALAND A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

MAORI LIFE AND CUSTOMS IN 1820. (From the Journal of Major Richard A. Cruise, of the 84th Regiment Foot.) His Majesty's store ship Dromedary was dispatched from England In 1819 to Australia with convicts. After landing the convicts she was sent over 10 New Zealand to get a load of kauri spars for the Navy. She remained in New Zealand waters for ten months, from February to December, 1320, spending the time at the Bay of Eslands and Whangaroa, with the exception of a trip she made to the Hokienga River, from which she turned back, as the entrance did not look safe. Major Cruise was attached to the guard of soldiers which convict ships carried, and employed his stay in New Zealand making a close study of Maori life and customs. He published his journal in 1823, and It is one of the most interesting accounts of native life In pre-civllisatlon days.

CHAPTER 11. Arrival of the "Dromedary" at the Bay of Islands—Newcomers Find Whalers in the Bay—Maoris' Passion for Muskets and Gunpowder— An Excursion up the V/aikare. On February 25th, 1820. we saw the Throe Kings' Islands. The wild expression,? of joy used by the Xcw Zealandcrs when they beheld their country wore quite amusing. As they had passed two Sunday? at sea during the voyage to Sydney, it. wrs impossible to persuade them that their return could be effected in a shorter period : and, though, by the usual observations, we were well aware that land would bo made in the course of the day. no reasoning could induce thorn to believe it; they always gave us to understand, that two weeks must pass over their heads before this happy event could take place. On the 26th we made the Cavallis Islands, and soon after, the heads of the Bay of Islands, whither the ship was bound. The delight of the New Zealnnders, as they saw successively the different parts of the country with which {1 x<-y were familiar, was excessive; they ran up the rigging with the activity of seamen, shouting the names of the various headlands: and so acute was their sight, that, though there were very good glasses on board, .they were almost always the tirst to discover a new object. On February 2?th we found ourselves within the heads of the Bay of Islands, and anchored off Kororareka Beach. We were not a little surprised to observe, lying at some distance from us, and in part of a bay called Parua, three whale ship.-: and some of their boats soon came to us. Before the ship was brought to, she was surrounded with canoes, full of the friends and relations of the chiefs wo had on board. To salute them, as well as to exhibit the riches they had acquired by their visit to Sydney, our New Zealanders began firing their muskets without intermission, and, indeed, so prodigal were they of their powder, that one might presume litlc of it would remain after their landing, for the destructive purposes for which they had gone so far to procure it. When their fathers, brothers, etc.. were admitted into the ship, the scene exceeded description ; the muskets were all laid aside, and every appearance of joy vanished. It is customary with these extraordinary people to go through the same ceremony upon meeting as upon taking leave of their friends. They join their noses together, and remain in this position for at least half an hour; during wlfieh time they sub and howl in the most doleful manner. ]f there be many friends gathered around the person who has returned, the nearest relation takes possession of his nose, while the others hang upon his arms, shoulders, and legs, and keep perfect time with the chief mourner (if he may be so called) in the various expressions of his lamentations. This ended, ihcy resume their wonted cheerfulness, and enter into a detail of all that has happened during their separation. As there were nine New Zealanders just returned, and more than three times that number to commemorate ihe event, the howl was quite tremendous, and so novel to almost every one in the ship, that it was with difficulty our people's attention could be kept to matters, at that moment, much more essential. Little Reporo. who find frequently boasted during the passage, thai he was inn much of an Englishman ever In pry again,

made a strong effort when his father. Hongi, apprnnc-liecl him. to keep his word; but his earl}" habit soon got the better of his resolution, and he evinced, if possible, more distress than any of the others. There was something particularly respectable in the appearance of Hongi: in person, he was a fine-looking man. and was dressed in the uniform coat of a British officer. Though one of the most powerful chiefs in the Bay of Islands, and its bravest and most enterprising warrior, he was by far the least assuming of those who had been permitted 10 r-onip on board; and, while many of the others tried to force their way into tin , cabin, lie remained with his son on the deck: nor did he attempt to go anywhere without invitation. HOXGi'S DESTRE FOR A DOUBLE-BARRELLED GUX. We learned that the ''Sew Zealander" whale ship «a- to sail for England in two days, carrying ihither Hongi and Mr. Kendall, one of the missionaries. This arrangement was much lamented by the rest; their little settlement had been formed in Honpi"- district, and under his protection, and when he was withdrawn from thorn, it whs difficult to say what might be the consequences. Every persuasion was used to divert him from leaving his country, without '.'fi'ect: lie always answered, thai "he should die if he did not go—that if he once got to England, he was certain of getting twelve mur-kris. and :; double-barrel led gun"; which latter article, in the opinion c.f a New Zealander, value ail possessions. In the evening it was quite impossible to clear the ship of many of the natives who had got into her on pretence of seeing fh-.-ir friends; and, sj-is to be expected, when they are too ntuni'rou? to be looked after, liianv petty thefts were committed by them during the night.

On February 28th Titore loft us. and as we had promised to follow him in the afternoon, to sec the timber ho had so often spoken of during the voyage, the tido serving at three o'clock, w sot out upon our excursion. Titore described his residence to bo on the banks of a river called the Waikaro. which flows into the southern side of the Bay of Islands, and which we found to bo navigable for the Prinee*Rogent schooner for three miles. When it grew shallow we took to the boats; but the distance to the village of the chief was greater than had been anticipated, it was quite dark before we arrived. Mis presence there -was announced by his firing his musket, ami the salute was returned by a general discharge of all our fowling-pieces. A number of the natives immediately crowded about the boats and hauled them on shore; and we wen.' making preparations to take up our quarters among them for the night, when Tiioro pointed out the propriety of still continuing our excursion up the river, as the timber district was some miles from us. We consequent!v ri-einbarkrd. attended by the chief and as many of his followers as we could well carry: nor did we arrive at the place of our destination till a late hour. The river here was very narrow, and the village where we were to sleep lay about half a mile from it. DIGNIFIED CIIIKFS. On landing, two muskets were discharged in (he village; and when we entered it we were given to understand that it belonged to Wetere, Titore's elder brother, and, of course, the greater chief. To this man we were presented in due form, and to his protection we were consigned. He was seated on the ground opposite his house, to receive its. with his best mat thrown over his shoulders, his face and hmly smeared with red ochre, and his hair tied in a bunch on the top of his bead, and ornamented with the white feathers of the gannet or the albatross. This is the universal manner of receiving strangers: and we afterwards frequently observed that when our boats approached the villages, and the natives had run down to the beach to invite us to land, the moment they observed us preparing to do go, the chiefs retired to arrange their persons and compose their looks for the formal reception which they are in the habit of giving to those whom they v/ish to compliment. Wetere desired us to sit down beside him, and sent several of his tribe to assist in carrying our baggagu from the boats, and in pitching our tent. The huts of the natives were not very numerous, and the most remarkable among them was. the public store-house, or repository of the general stock of kumaras. or sweet potatoes, which stood in the centre of the village. Several posts driven into the ground and floored over with pieces of timber fastened close together, formed a stage about four feet high, upon which the building was erected. The sides and roof were of reeds, so compactly arranged as to be impervious to rain; a sliding doorway, scarcely large enough for a man to creep through, was the only aperture; beyond which the roof projected so far as to form a kind of

verandah, which was ornamented with piece? of plank, minted red, and carved in various grotesque and indecent figure?. The carving is a work of much labour and,ingenuity; and artists competent to its execution are rare. Wet ere pointed out lo ns the man who was then employed in completing the decorations of his store-house, and told us that he had brought him from ihe River Thames (a distance of one hundred miles from Wnikare). for that purpose. THE STORE HOUSE. The store-house is always the largest: and the best building in the village; the one described was about 20 feet long, o-'ght feet wide, and five foot high : it \v:is quite new. and there seemed to have been more pains taken in erecting it than nio-t of those which we had subsequent opportunities of examining. Next to the store-houses, in point of respectable appearance, must be ranked the residences of the chiefs. They are built upon the ground; the floor and the space in front neat I v paved : but they arc very low, and we seldom met with one in which a man could stand upright. The small sliding door of entrance, which is the only aperture for light or air, is not more than adequate to the size of the owner: they have their verandah and ornamental carving, which, being painted red, have a showy appearance, and the quantity of carving often indicates the rank of the individual to whom the house belongs. The huts of the inferior r.ecple are wretched, very little better than sheds; but the practice of sleeping in ihe open air i- -" scrupulously adhered to. that it must be very bad weather that can ; V-,<: ■ -.:• Xew Zealanilors to seek- ihe shelter cf their houses. They take their rest in a sitting posture with their legs gathered under them : ami from the eoar-e texture of the outer mat. in which they envelop ihein.-ehes. they have the appearnii'-e during the night of a number of bee-hivtv fcauered in group- about a village. (To he Continued.)