NELSON HISTORY

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 142, 12 March 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

NELSON HISTORY

Interesting Narrative Of Maori Activities "01<l Tasman Bay," by J. D. Peart. Nelson: R. Lucas and Son. Written especially for presentday inhabitants of Nelsi of wide interest to all students ,ew Zealand history is Mr. .1. D. Peart's story of the original native inhabitants of Nelson Province, of their tribal wars and of their earliest contact with the white man. He says:— Any information that. 1 have been privileged Io gather on this subject, with Its many omissions and imperfections, is offered purely as the work of an amateur collector. It has been a hobby and a very ettjovable one. and tile taking of notes has led the writer in various ways to some ol the pleasant and largely unknown coastal districts adjacent to Nelson.

Mr. Peart speaks of the Maoris as being -a “scriptless folk,” who had to depend entirely on the memory of their leaders for records of the innumerable tribal wars which in the old days were the most notable events of a tribe’s history. The ordinary reader may be forgiven if he finds it impossible to follow intelligently a detailed account of these many battles and the causes thereof, for, as the present author remarks, they “are inclined to follow one another in a monotonous repetition.” He has, moreover, made a point of varying the story by including, whenever procurable, stories of other aspects of life in the Nelson district at that period. He chiefly regrets that the work of collecting material for a treatise of this kind was not undertaken fifty or more years ago, before the real old-time Maori with his marvellous and intimate memory-stored knowledge of ancient history and legend had passed away. The young Maori of to-day has been inevitably drawn more or less into the life of the Pakeha, and is gradually losing knowledge of and, iu many cases, interest in the past history of his race. There is now not always someone to whom the secrets and history of the tribe may be legitimately handed down. In consequence much has been forgotten and much is already in danger of going the same way. The thanks of all who are interested in various types of man are due to investigators like Mr. Peart who endeavour to dig out and preserve the historical memories of a fast-fading past. A considerable section is given to the lives and characters of the famous Te Rauparaha and other notable chiefs, and the author brings out clearly the mixture of myth and history with which a would-be delver into the Maori past is confronted. There is a good deal about the cannibalism disputed, not in part, but rather in degree and significance, by so many writers of early Maori life. There are, sometimes conflicting, accounts of the earliest appearance of the Pakeha, and this section is interestingly illustrated by drawings of Mr. A. IT. Messenger from "The Atlas of the Voyage de la Corvette L’Astrolable” (Paris 1836). Several Maori folk tales are included, and a most valuable feature is the list of Maori place names at the end of the book over which the author has spared no pains in order to record, as far as possible, the correct spelling and the meaning, often connected with some unknown event and not always obvious at first glance.