Spirit of the Pacific.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 10473, 31 December 1927, Page 6

Spirit of the Pacific.

BAST AND PRESENT STUDENTS OF MAORI HISTORY, NEW ZEALAND' AVRiITERS; j. ! (Specially written for the Gisborne Times.)

ELSDON BEST

In a smalhroom in the. top storey of the Turnbull 'Library in ..Bowen St., Wellington, sits the most romantic figure in New Zealand literature— Elsdon Best. A tall man, perfectly Upright, though well on in the seventies. with a close-cut beard and kindly eyes, which light up as if hy magic when lie encounters a visitor with tastes akin to his own, Elsdon Best is "a most genial comrade. In the mundane matters of everyday life hr takes an interest of comse, but his heart and soul is wrapped up in the history •of the Maori race. He is not a mere chronicler of Maori myth, tradition and history ;■ lie is that rare combination of. poet, litterateur ana historian. No careless scribbler is .Elsdon Best; lie searches hack amongst a huge pile of notebooks, and no- matter whether it he astronomy, religion, agriculture, folk lore or rites of the Maori, nothing goes into print until it is carefully and methodically worked out in advance, with the result- that a hock or a monograph hy Elsdon Best is. almost in the same category as an educational work so far as its accuracy is concerned. Judge Maning is usually associated with the term pa-keha-Alaori, hut if that hyphenated word means the pnkohn with the 'Maori thought, the Maori belief and the Maori love for the race, Elsdon Best is indeed a true palcehaMaori.

, Elsdon Best has led an adventitious life, mostly amongst the Native l ace in the interior of the Urewe-ra Country, where in many places he was the first white man to set foot. When a youth lie went to America, where, as a member of the Texas Bangers, he fought against the murderous Apaches. Then he came on to New Zealand and for years, in the employ ol the survey service, was in the. heart of the Urowera.s or Tuhoeland, “the Children of the Mist.” At one time lie lived near To Karaka and a. few years ago paid a visit to the locality where he had spent his earlier days, hut, as lie sadly remarked recently, “f couldn’t toll where I was;’the dense hush had given way to farms and homesteads, and motorcars dashed hy on up-to-date roads which in mv time were- merely bush tracks, and sometimes not even that.”

Elsdon Best loves the Afaori, then is no doubt on that point, even although in the early days they trico to kill him on several occasions. “Still,” he said jocularly, “here 1 am and no harm was done. They bar what they thought good reasons a-t (hat time to kill the pakeha, and wo must judge them according to thenlights.” In the heart- of the Urewera hush, .when the day’s work was finished, and before bedtime Elsdon Best would mix with the Alaoris“Hour after hour I would listen to their tales, their romances, their traditions, and their songs. I recorded all these in numerous diaries—and here, they are now,” he said, with a smile, pointing to a. large pile or somewhat worn looking hooks. But the tragedy of it all lies in the I act that much of the contents- of those hooks’ will never be printed. Elsdon Best will not dictate his matter to expert stenographers; He must have time to think as he goes along, he says. And dav in and day out he sits in'his cosy little den m Bowen Street, ter ever delving into these valuable diaries, of which New Zealand and the whole world gets the benefit, lor his works are in demand in scientifi institutes and societies from .Austria to Java, from Brazil to India, from America to Japan. Elsdon Best’s works are each of equal importance, dealing as they do do with different aspects of Alaon life. His latest-hook, "Tithoe,” cou-p-rises, first, a massive volume of 1200 pages.closely printed, dealing with the origin, history, myths and belief’s o the Tuhoe tribe (in the Urcweras). and, secondly, a volume of maps and genealogical tables, whiih, even to the non-exp“rienced mind, must have taken years alone to ompile. “The Maori” is another work ol two volumes—covering every aspect of the race from physical and mental characteristics to social customs, games fortifications, fishing, forest lore, textile arts. etc., veriiv an encyclopedia on the Maori. Then there are the Dominion Afusouin bulletins, hooks that sometimes run into 400 odd pages, such as “The Stone linpio monts of the Maori,” “Afaori Storehouses,” “The Afaori Canoe,” “Games and Pastimes of the Maori,” “Afaori Agriculture” and “Afaori Mythology.” In addition, Afr. Best has written Dominion ALuseum mono graphs, perhaps tho most popular form of literature on the Afaori race yet printed, because they are so cheap, ranging from one shilling upwards. These are “Afaori Myth and Religion,’ “Spiritual and Mental Concepts o the Afaori.” “Astronomical Knowledge of the Afaori,” “Afaori Division of Time,” “Maori School of Learning,” and “Polynesian Yovagers.” fn°ad.dition, he has written “Waiknremoana; the Sea of Rinpling Waters,” “’The Maori as he AA T ns,” etc., and hundreds of papers for the Polynesian Journal and Philosophical institute, etc., which, in response to popular demand have been reprinted.

JAMES COWAN

After ,Mr. Elsdon Rest, the next best authority ou Maori subjects is, perhaps. Mr. James tCown-n, probably the most fluent writer in his class in New Zealand. Mr. Cowan was born at Paknranga. Auckland, in 1870, his father being one of the pioneer settlers in the Waikato. In those troublous days the Maoris ovor-ran the district, and even in his childhood Jas. Cowan was. a fluent- Maori scholar. As a youth of eighteen he started work as a. shipping reporter on the Auckland “Star” and later did special work for that-paper, including service with military expeditions to the disturbed Maori districts, and also represented his journal in the native war in Samoa in 1899. Later he joined the Tourist Department, and in that capacity had special opportunities to visit little-known pas and villages. The arrival of a pakeha in some of these pas was accepted quite unconcernedly. Asa Government official he was accorded the usual hospitality, but when the Rime came to talk,' the Maori would say little. For a week, Tim Kowana, as he is known to the Native race, would settle down and little would he said to him. Then the visit would extend to two weeks, and -perhaps a tew Maoris would consider the pakeha not such had company. Then a little later the historian of the tribe would open up and Tim iKowana got his “story.” Much of the information secured in# this way is incorporated in his “Maoris'of New Zealand,”'which is accepted as one of the standard works on this subject, and also in “Kimble Bent,” the life- story of the British deserter whp lived amongst the' Maoris Horn a vouth until ho reached old age. Incidentally, “Kimble, Bent” is claimed, hv'many renders to he the best story of N.Z. lito amongst the Maoris ever written. ; Retrenchment in the Tourist Department saw Mr. Cowan take ,service on the literary staff of the “Lyttelton Times,” and later be returned to ft Government position ns historian, the result of his. patient researches being the two volumes of “New Zealand

Wars,” printed two years ago, which may be accepted as the- standard work on the subject. Mr. Cowan is a voluminous writer, the nom-de-plume “J ,0.” beilig familiar to readers of many newspapers, especially, in the Auckland district. He has just completed two books on New Zealand travel.

Mr. Cowan’s “Fairy Folk -Tales' of the Maori” is a record of legends which, drawn from a rich store, will serve to preserve them for peoples yet unborn. He tells of the doings of the l’air-haired- fairies of the forest; the mysterious wild men of the mountain mists; the strange spirits that haunt great pools, streams and lakes.

JOHN ATACAHLLAN BROWN

Dr. John Macmillan Brown is without doubt the keenest searcher on tho . origin of / the Polynesian races, if travel is any criterion. As an example of this only one instance need lie given. To further his researches he decided to visit Faster Island, that romantic and mysterious spec in the Pacific, where huge statues he lengthways in the sand, or, in some cases, practically upright. Those huge figures, reminiscent of the Pyramids and the Sphinx, are relics of a bygone age, lint what race made them? flow were they made Y And for what reason are they, in many eases, halflinished, as though some all-powerful hand had swooped down and, as it were, in the twinkling of an eye, had wiped, the workers from the face of their small isle 3 To reach Easter Island to pursue his researches, Dr. Macmillan Brown had to travel to South America, and wait for some time in a small port on the coast of Chile until a small schooner put m an appearance, on her way to tho scientist’s destination. The writer’s patient investigations on that lone speck are incorporated in his “Riddle of the Pacific.” Of his books on the Native races the best-known is “Maori and Polynesian.” Dr. Macmillan Brown was born in Irvine, Scotland, in 1846, and was educated at the Edinburgh, Glasgow and Cambridge Universities. He was appointed Professor of Classics on the foundation of Canterbury College in 1874, and resigned and was appointed Professor of Literature in 1879, which position ho hold for sixteen years, when he resigned. Me has been a fellow ol the Senate of the University of New Zealand since 187 i, and two years ago was Chancellor. His educationnf works include “.Manual of English Literature,” published in 1894; Stud-, ies of “Merchant of Yenice’’ (1895); “Julius C'aesar” (18961 and several others of a like nature.

AfA OR I LENT COG BAPH Y

In the wo 1 * l of .lexicography the limited field is admittedly headed bv the Williams family, with their “Dictionary of the New Zealand Language.” The first edition was written °by Bishop William Williams, first Bishop of Waiapu, and was issued hy the Mission Press at Padua, in 1544, though it had been ready for publication six years previously. The hook was small in size and contained 195 pages. The second edition was printed in London in 1802, and contained 323 pages, including an English-New Zealand part. The third edition was hy Archdeacon W. L. Williams, son of Bishop AY. UHliams, and was also pubh.shcd_in London and was a volume of 267 pages. The fourth edition, by Archdeacon AY. L. AY ill in ms. was issued in Auckland in 1892, and a portion reprinted in Wellington in 1915. The filth edition is by Archdeacon H. W. Williams, of "Gisborne, and was published in Wellington in 1917. and reprinted in 1921. Ihe latest edition Is hardly likely to he superseded, for it contains many thousands of new words and is a large, closely-printed book of 589 pages winch was compiled after many years’ study and research, and with the assistance ol such authorities as Elsdon Best, Percy Smith, Joseph Hocken. Edward Trogear and other authorities on the Afaori race.

LEARNING- THE MAORI LANGUAGE.

Tim pakeha student of tlm Maori language cannot hope to make much success, unless in exceptional instances, without the aid of printed lessons, and happily there are several volumes of" the grammar type. “First Lessons in th e Maori Language,” with a short vocabulary, is a popular publication written and edited by the members of the Williams family. The first edition was written by Archdeacon W. L, Williams, afterwards second Bishop pf Wainpu, and son of Blishop W. Williams. and was published in London in 1862. Other editions followed, published in Auckland in 1872, London 1882, and Auckland 1804. In 1904 the fifth edition published in Auckland was thoroughly revised, and it was followed by further additions in the sixth edition published in Auckland in 1010.. The latest edition, the seventh, was published in Christchurch in 1923. Archdeacon H. W. Williams, of Gisborne, supervised the later editions. In connection with Maori grammars also, Sir Apirana / Ngata has performed a noteworthy woj k m the compilation of his “Marini or Maori Conversation and Grammar,’ issued in 1906, and reprinted a few years ago. This book was. not Sir Apirana’s first attempt to break into print, for in 1893, as a student of Te Ante College, he wrote a small pamphlet on “The Past and Future oi tho Maori," which, according to a scribe of that time, formed a somewhat mournful history and outlook.

(To be Continued Next Saturday.)