Correspondence.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 4029, 3 September 1898, Page 4

Correspondence.

♦ .—. — MALPBAOTICES OF TOHUNGAS. i toJthbJbditor. 4 Sib, — The case of Buiha Poharama at Eangiawhia, Doubtleßs Bay, affords an opportunity which a willing press takes every advantage of, of holding up to public condemnation what is termed the malpractices of Maori tohunga in general, and of Niho Popata in particular. The fact that tohunga9 differ in kind and also in degree is evidently qf so little consequence, either ,to the afore-mentioned public or lo this class of subject, that it is not included as an element in the discussion. For instance, there was first of all the tohunga or ariM-rangi, next, tohungas of Bongo ; Others again of Tane, and of Tv, who were the metaphysicians of ancient Maoridom, and who- expounded the doctrine of man's divine origin and descent, his purposes and final destiny. Then there were the tohunga-kokorangi, or astronomers, whose minds sounded the vast depths of the starry realms, reduced their apparent lack of uniformity to a system of order, taught that their various movements were regulated by, and subject to, th^ grand principle of motion from evolution, demonstrated the perfection of a zodiacal system of so unerring and comprehensive a nature as to impart to their people the principles of that knowledge which enabled them to overcome the dangers of the deep, and to successfully navigate the broad northern and southern Pacific Oceans to their icebound confines. There was the tiriotohunga, or adept of the highest order ; the tohunga-ki or ■ sooth-sayer ; the ; matakite or seer ; the tohunga-whakapa, who, in a single, painless, non-surgical operation effectually prevented future conception. How sublimely humane, contrasted with the devices and the practices of the pakeha, who, despite the additional fact that their most eminent! practitioners are entirely unable to perform this undoubtedly marvellous operation, refer forsooth to, the "malpraotices of tohungas." Again; there was the tohunga-makutu, or magician, whose professional -duties appeared to consist of ridding sooiety of objectionable members, himself or his, tribe of a personal ensmy, or one whose existence was a menace. To this olass belonged the .tohunga of whom it is related in Ngatiwhatua circles being overcome with despair by the intelligence that one of their most influential chiefs had consented to dine with Governor Hobson and at the same time to formally cede to him a slice of their Auckland tribal territory, determined, on that occasion to makatu the offending chief and if possible the Governor also. On returning from the banquet the chief in question died, and Governor Hobson being a pakeha and less vulnerable, nevertheless proved himself a rahgitira by succumbing to the same mysterious influence very shortly afterwards. This closes without exhausting the list of tohunga. These people taught that man was composed of the elements ; that he was a product of Heaven and earth, or rangi and papa, and an epitome, of the universe. Can the pakeha, of his own research, with the advantages and appliances which he unceasingly extols, demon-, strate or advance a grander .truth ? None, but he can refer with no little pride to the trifling detail of " Harvey's disoovery of the circulation of the blood." Having polluted, with his operations the' stream and river waters, , which were formerly health-giving and highly palatable, he expatiates upon "health laws" and a "sanitary science," the chief branch of which appears to be the confinement — by mqans of tubes and patent fixings— of foul, obnoxious, and poisonous gases, which are ultimately discharged into the air for mankind to. inhale at leisure. Are systems to be gauged by resultant values ? Then it is patent to the ordinary observer that a i very large proportion of European, youths and maidens are of sallow complexion ; be-speotaoled ; have lack-lustre eyes; imperfect sets of teeth or are furnished with false ones ; are these signs of health or of constitutional disability? Do these argue in favor of superior health laws, and this much vaunted science? Compare them with the sparkling eyes, the perfect sets of teeth, and full complexion, -true signs of health, which characterise the average Maori youth and maiden. In his , " New Zealand," Mr Beeves regrets that the Maori do not " accept the teachings of sanitary science," and continue to eat dried shark food, the merest whiff of which will make a white man sick," and who " sit smoking, crowded in huts, the reek of which strikes you like a blow in the face." As to the first the sanitary science which oasts its approving eye on privies built under the family £>of and contiguous to kitchen doorways is, from a health point of view, a scientific fraud. But these matters are agreeable to the white man who is sickened by the " merest whiff" from the dried shark. The white man. who captures at sewer mouths fresh (?) fish, which he eats with gusts, who relishes high— a polite term for putrid— game; who lunches amid the surroundings of an extensively used burial ground, and who holds his nose to pass — with open mouth —the decomposing carcase of some beast. In I all of these matters the white man stands eminently superior to the Maori, as the latter wilfully neglects to do either or any one of them. The •• whiff " is neither germ-laden nor poisonous, and' the flesh of shark is highly nutritious. The " reek "is tame and commonplace compared with the blast — experienced in an apartmenc of a newly-built, firstolass lodging edifice in Wellington — of surcharged poisonous gases on an occasion when the state of the tide prevented these from escaping 'through the sewer mouths, to poison the outer atmosphere. ". Sanitary science," indeed 1 Whiffs and reek ! Pooh 1 The tohunga believed in the efficacy of ah* and sun baths ; fire warmth ; and the virtues of olear, cold running waters. Biver bathing was greatly encouraged and became a national daily recreation. He was skilled in the value and uses of herbaceous remedies. As a physiologist and anatomist he taught that what impaired the functions of digestion vitiated the blood, and that which impoverished the blood destroyed the healthful functions of digestion. The principals of health were matters of daily observation, and added experience. That great essential— a knowledge of the nature of foods — he possessed in a wonderfnl degree, and he was an advocate of •morality, not merely as a sentiment, but as a principle. Let none condemn who cannot understand. He has run his race, played an important part in the past history of a great and ancient people; and the Pakeha — whose practices and science rules are briefly reviewed herein— is .hardly entitled to parade the closing efforts of the tohunga, as crimes of the first degree. The Maori is watching the improvements, and weighing their supposed advantages is not as ignorant of their nature as some writers imagine. He will continue to live in his whare until convinced that a wooden edifice, with its many doorways, is not a vehicle of draught calculated to injure the health.— l am, Ac., Hbnby M. Stowem,. Hawera, 28th August, 1898. Let the croaker croak, and the hard time howler howl. We know no hard times so bad as those in a sick household. The start— a slight cough, gets worse, keeps overybody in the house awake, father swears, mother ditto. Avoid these troubles. ! Keep a bottle of Wood's Great Pepper, mint Cure in the house ; it never fails, a half crown bottle will oure the whole family,