“PASSING MAORI MEMORIES”

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 289, 3 November 1934, Page 2

“PASSING MAORI MEMORIES”

(Recorded by J.H.S. for “The Manawatu Evening Standard.”)

Mahara. (Memory.)

Tli© only fitting monument to th© real discoverer of this distaait land is its highest peak, which stands nearly 2f miles above tho sea. There we should have James Cook’s adventurous history in a nutshell graven on a Pounamu Tangiwai, to be read and absorbed by every tourist. Without the semblance of what we call education lie acquired for himself preeminence in the study of astronomy, navigation and diplomacy. In 1755 ho served in the war against France with distinction. In ’69 ho played a prominent part in the siege of Quebec, and later was commended for his accurate chart of the Newfoundland coast. Then he first read Euclid and became “the highest authority on the art of scientific navigation in tho British Navy.” Cook’s journal gives the only reliable record of the Maori of that period, before they were debased by convicts from Van Dienian or lifted up bv Marsden’s missionaries. He was a. trustworthy historian as lie was also the boldest and most vigilant of all our great navigators. In contrast with Cook’s mercy and forbearance toward the Maori, these primitive folk had cause to remember the atrocities of De Serville, whoso name was honoured neither in New Zealand nor in France. Crozet admittedly “shot down those savages in thousands.” With such records, can we wonder that the Maori is not in love with tho “Wi Wi.” Lacking a concise and intelligent record of Cook’s history in their own language, can we be surprised that their traditions link th© atrocities of others with his name ? A real Maori memorial in marble or in the form of a Maori version of his diary may yet do something to remove this misapprehension. Their resultant indifference is the complete loss of what should be a most valued memory. Food, drink or poison. Having ascertained the unusual absence of all four footed animals except rats and dogs in this fertile land, Captain Cook wisely came with a strange inena.gerie of birds and animals. Of these he liberated some half dozen of each in several unfrequented spots. Most of them seem to have survived the extreme heat of the tropics and the intense cold of the ice hound regions through which their sailing ships passed, though half their hardy sailor men died or suffered serious illness. Mention is frequently made of th© great difficulty of accustoming the sheep, goats, pigs, fowls and geese to their new surroundings, and to hiding them from the natives, in order that thev might multiply. It is believed that all but the pigs died or were killed and eaten by the Maoris. By an inspiration, these “Captain Cookers” were proclaimed Tapu, and thus soon over-ran the country. Sheep and goats died from eating th© tutu, which was described by Cook as “a. kind of.native currant” I It is well-known that pigs are. immune to several kinds of deadly poison; but many died from eating the kernel of the Karaka, upon which our sheep now .seem to thrive. Instinct or heredity has since taught even starving pigs to avoid the Karaka. I am a.t a loss to know what Cook’s associates meant by the “Native celery, upon which the crew were restored to vigorous health after the long voyage,” unless it was the soft luscious heart of the Nikau, so dear to the Maori a.nd to the children of the pioneers. Another mystery is what they referred to “Spruce beer, which we enjoyed with splendid results as a substitute for rum lations.” It was probably taken from the trunks of the great Matai trees. Every boy and girl and bushfaller of the early days knew how to ta.p the tree with an augur, plug the hole with a piece of wood and come every day with a tin pannikin to enjoy a half pint of nature’s brew. Captain Cook's final verdict. In 1776, after all that Captain Cook had ventured, endured and accomplished, with all the wealth, comfort and honour now surrounding him, no one even thought of asking him to again return to the dangers and privations of another such voyage. His advice and assistance in a proposed voyage of discovery in search of a North-AVest passage were freely given. But the piomptings of bis adventurous spirit overcame him, and in less than a year he was again afloat. The Adventure anchored in Ships’ Cove on 12th February, 1777, when Cook was again at work supplymg all hands with wood and water, “wild celery” and fresh food. Aided by Mr Anderson, a competent linguist, and by repeated experiences, Cook s matured judgment is worthy of being remembered by ns, He was convinced that conflicts with these primitive people bad arisen from provocation and misunderstanding on both sides, and that revenge was neither justified nor politic. In close agreement with Cook s Judgment, his interpreter writes: JNo people can have a quicker sense of iniurv, or be more ready to resent it. Froni the number of their weapons, and their skill in using them it is clear that war is their principal profession Public contentions are almost perpetual and they live in constant apprehension of being destroyed bv each other Tt would he natural therefore to suppose that they are devoid of humane feeling. But this is not so, for they lament the loss of friends with deep and tender remembrance.” Even Cook’s fatal encounter in tlie Pacific Islands was an inglorious mistake. He had ventured and provoked too much. The jealous loyalty of the usually friendly natives toward their chief and tribe and land, can never bo recorded against them as a crime. The first blood was not drawn by them, and even justice was not on our side.