OLD NEW ZEALAND.

Press, Volume III, Issue 130, 31 March 1863, Page 1

OLD NEW ZEALAND.

(continued Jrom our last.) THE ILUHU A>*D TAPC "There were in the old times two great institutions, which reigned with iron rod in Maori land—-the Tapn and the Murtt. Pakehas who knew no better, called'the mv.m simply 'robbcrv, , because the word mum, in its common signification, means to plunder. But I speak of tho regular legalized and established system of plundering as penalty for offences, which in a rough way resembled our law by which a man is obliged to pay ' damages.' Great abuses, had, however, crept into this system—ho great, indeed, as to render the retention of any sort of nioveablc property almost an impossibility, and to, in a great measure, discourage the inclination to labor for its acquisition. These great inconveniences were, however, met, or in some degree softened, by an expedient of a peculiarly Maori .nature, which I shall by-and-by explain." The offences for which

people were plundered were -Hnuethnrs of a nature which, (o a iiurt' pakelm, would seem curious. A mini's cliilil fell in the fhv, him! was almost burnt to death. The father w;is immediately plundered to nu extent tlmt nlniost left; him without the means of subsistence: fishing nets, c.-uuvs, pigs, provisions, all went. Hi* I'auoc upset, :iml he nml all his family narrowly escaped drowning— some were, perhaps, drowned Jlo was ir.nnediately robbed, and well pummelled with n club into the bargain, if ho was not- good at the science of self-defence --llieelub part of llio ceremony being always fairly administered ono against <ine, ami after fair warning given to defend luiiimH'. Ho might be clearing sonio land for potatoes, burning oil' the fern, and tin) fire spreads farlher than ho intended, and gets into a mt/,1. lapit, or burial ground. Xα matter whether any one bus been buried in it or no for tlit? hist hundred years, ho in tremen-: dou>ly robbed. Tv fact for ton thousand ditl'erent causes a mini might be robbed ; iiiul I can rcnlly imagine n c»i-m> in which a mini for semtehing Jiig' own head might bo legally robbed. Kow m tho enforcers of this law wero also tho parties who received the damages, as well as tho judges of tho amount, which in many now* (such as that of tho bunit child) would bo everything they could by any means lay hands on, it is easy to perceive that under such a system personal properly was an evanescent sort of thing altogether. These executions or distraints were never resisted. Indeed in many eases, as 1 shall explain by-ancl-by, it would have been felt as v slight, and even an insult, not to be robbed; the sacking of a man's establishment being often taken as a high compliment, especially if his head wan broken into the bargain ; ami to resist the execution ■would not only lmvo been looked upon as mean and disgraceful in the highest degree, hut II would have debarred the con~ lemptihh individual from the privilege of robbing his iirif/hkmm, which was tho eonmtuisating expedient 1 have p.lludocl to.

■-• ■•Mffho"'general effect was to keep- personal property circulating, from hand to hand, pretty briskly, or indeed to convert ifc into public property ; for no man could say who would bo the owner of his canoe, or blanket, in a 'month's time. Indeed, in that spneo of time, I onco saw* a nice coat, which a native hnd got from tlio captain of a trndi.ig schooner, nnd which was nn article much coveted in thoso days, v pn.ss through the linnds, and over tho back?, of mx didbrtuifc owners, and return, considerably tlio worse for wear, to the original purchaser; mid all these transfers had been made by legal process of muni. I have been often myself paid the compliment of being robbed for little accidents occurring in my family, and have several times also, from a feeling of politeness, robbed my Maori friends, though I can't s-iy I was a great gainer by these tranßactionc. I think the greatest haul I ever nuulc was about half ti bug of shot, which I thought a famous joke, seeing that I had cold it tho day before to tiio owner for full value."

The iibovo slight sketch of the poniil law of New Zealand 1 present and dedicate to tho Law Lords of England, na it might, perhaps, affortl some liinls f<;r n reform in our own. Tho only remark I shall liavo to add is, that if a man lcihocl another, "malice prepence aforethought," the act, in nineteen cases out of twenty, would be cithern, meritorious ono, or of no consequence whatever; in cither of whiuli cases the penal code hud, of course, nothing to do in the matter. If, however, a"nian killed another by accident, in tho majority of cases the consequences would be most fiorious; and not only the involuntary homicide, but every one connected with him would bo phnutered of everything they pofwssecl worth taking. This, however, to an English lawyer, may require some explanation, which is as follows: —If a man thought fit to kill his own slave, it was nobody's afiair but his own j tho law had nothing to do with it. If he killed a man of another tribe, he had nothing to do but declare it wna in revenge or retaliation for home aggression, cither recent or traditional, by tho other tribe, of which examples wore never scarce. In this cuso tho action became at once highly meritorious, and his whole tribe would support and defend him tothe last extremity. If ho, however, kjulqd a man by accident, tho slain man would be :is a matter of course, in most instances, one of his ordinary companions, that is, one of hie own tribe. The accidental discharge of a gun often, caused death in this way. Then, indeed, tho law of mv.ru had full swing, and the wholesale plunder of the. criminal and family was tho penalty. Murder, as the Natives understood it, tlmt is to> fay, the malicious destruction of a man. of Hie same tribe, did not happen a« frequently as might be expected; and when it did, went in most case* unpunished ; the murderer, in general, mana<nng to escape to some other section of the tribo wficre he had relations, who, a« he (led to them for protection, were bound to give it, and alwave ready to> do so ; or otherwise lie would stand Iris ground and defy all comers, by means of the strength of his own family or section, -who all would defend him and protect him ai a more matter of course? and as the law of tilu or lex ialionh was the only one which applied in this case, and ns, itnlike the law of mxmi, nothing was to be got by enforcing it but hard blows, murder in most cases'wont uii4 , punished.