THE REV. THOMAS BUDDLE ON "THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND."

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 531, 17 May 1851, Page 2

THE REV. THOMAS BUDDLE ON " THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND."

We have reason to know that our publication of very copious extracts from Mr. Bundle's First Lecture on this interesting subject was gratifying in a high degree to many of our readeis, including not a few who were present at the Mechanics' Institute when it was delivered, as well as those who, from distance or from other causes, were unable to be present on the occasion. We have no doubt that we shall further meet the general wish by inserting in a similar manner a principal portion of the Second, (delivered in the Hall of the Institute on Tuesday last) which was in no degree inferior to that which preceded it either in the amount of solid and trustworthy information which it embodied, or in the agreeable and entertaining manner in which that information was communicated. The main topic of this Second Lecture was the Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders, with a brief view of their General Character. Before entering immediately upon it, however, the Lecturer observed that it would be impossible to condense within the limits to which he was confined, all that might properly and advantageously be said upon the subject " A volume, or even volumes" would be required for this. He could therefore only " select" what might prove most interesting ; and this we may add, he did with so much skill and effect as to leave in the minds of his hearers no other feeling than a desire for more — if his other and indispensable engagements had permitted him to afford it. Mr. Buddle also premised that native customs, traditions, &c, differed much in different districts and tribes — for instance the custom of killing slaves to attend their Chiefs to the world of spirits, which was common amongst the Waikatos ; — and the traditionary accounts of the emigration, which vary considerably, each tribe having its own ancestor, although all agree in the one belief that four canoes came originally from Hawaiki. He remarked on thesa differences " lest any should conclude that facts which came under their own observation contradicted some things advanced by him." The Lecturer then proceeded to treat of

The Customs in War. The Polynesians generally are a people addicted to war. Christianity has effected a remarkable change. Where its influence has been but partially received, and its peaceful and benevolent precepts but partially submitted to, the passion for war is held in check ; md when it has burst forth, it lias been marked by a subdued ferocity, and its results have been much less sanguinary than formerly :<— where Christianity has established its rule and obtained entire approval and ! submission, the war propensity is well nigh extinguished. It has given place to a love of the useful arts, has inspired proper regard for the rights of property, j nd created earnest desire for domestic improvement,

and social progress. Such have invariably been the happy results of the introduction of the Gospel. Whenever it takes hold of a sword it converts it into a ploughshare, and turns the spear into a pruning hook; it creates a love of the peaceful arts, which supplants the love of war, and substitutes the implements of husbandry for the weapons of the battle-field. Bui originally the New Zealander was a warrior— war, in fact, was the principal engagement of his life. He loved sons better than daughters, that he might have men to fight his battles and avenge his wrongs. The greatest wish he had in reference to his sons was, that they might grow up brave warriors. When taken to the priest to receive a name, and be baptized, it was not to dedicate them to the God that made them, and seek his blessing, but to seek from the demons that delight in blood the spirit of inhuman warfare; to pray that he might be brave to bear the weapons of war. " Let this child be strong to grasp the battle axe, To grasp the spear Stiong in the strife, Foremost in the charge, First in the breach, Strong to grapple with his foe, To climb lofty mountains, To contend with the raging waves " " May he be industrious in cultivating the ground, In building large houses In constructing canoes suited for war, In netting nets." Such were the prayers offered to the gods on behalf of their children— so that the New Zealander was literally baptised for the battle field. As he grew he was taken to the camp and trained in all the horrid practices of savage waifare. They sometimes laugh at us, and say, we leave our fighting for men in red coat 3, and don't know how to fi>ht for ourselves,— but every tangata Maori is a man of war. The occasions of war among them were numerous. The principal causes were land and women. They have a proverb to this effect, which they often quote, " He wahine, he oneone, nga mea i ngaro ai te tanoata." (" Women and land have been the great causes of the destruction of men.") They often made war upon each other for the sake of territory, lands, fishing grounds, &c, and the proprietors would defend their property to the last, and part with it only with their lives. Nor has this feeling been extinguished ; the New Zealander is as tenacious of his possessions as ever he was, and as much disposed to defend his rights against aggressors, whether native or foreigners. A woman marrying into a different tribe without the consent of her friends, or a caie of adultery, frequently raited a war. If a woman has gone to another tribe, her friends go and demand her. She ii placed between the parties, and after some korero a tria] of strength takes place, first between the huiband and a near re« lative of tbe female ; perhaps her brother goes to drag her away, and the husband firmly grasps bis prize to retain her. If sufficiently brave and strong to throw his antagonist, another conies and he has to encounter « second. Friends on both sides look on for awhile, ti>l by and by a general scuffle ensues ; the poor woman is most cruelly treated, all but torn to pieces ; perhaps blood is ipilt ; they retire, muiter their forces, and waris (he result. To obtain slaves, they often made war on weaker tribes. The Waikatos were constantly returning to Taranaki for this purpose, until a most populous district became all but forsaken, and stripped of its inhabitants. Men were slain, and women aud children* enslaved. Christianity has produced its usual results in reference to slavery. When the tribes embraced the. Gospel, they gate their ilaves leave to return and occupy their own lands. The crime of murder was generally the cause of extensive wars— it was a " take ?*«*,»' (a great cause,), and would enlist the sympathies of many tribes. The friends of the murderer never thought of giving him up to be punished ; nor would the friends of the murdered expect it. Their practice was to leek satisfaction i» a general war. The greatest slaughter that ever befel the Waikato tribes originated in a murder. A man called Koperu of the Ngapuhi tribes, wai on a visit to the Ngatipaoa at Tamaki, at apa where Panmure now stauds. Tiuiwai, for some cause or other, b.7 singing a song induced Te Paraoa-rahi to kill him. They often conveyed their wishes in this way. P^raoa-rahi understood it, and killed him insUntly. As soon ni Hongi heard of it he brought down his army and cut them off. Some children belonging to a Waikato chief happened to be in the pa and were killed ; this led the Waikatos to seek ulu, and they went to Wangarei and destroyed the principal chiefs. This brought Hongi again to the south, just after his return from England, whence he had brought so many fire arms. The Waikatos had not received fire arms, and they assembled at Matakiiakj on the Waipa, to die together. There Hongi slew many hundreds ; as many as could, escaped to the mountains. The event is recorded in several w songs» The following is a specimen :— " The rooming breaks, Tawera bites the moon. A memento of the death that has befallen the tribes, Alas ! my son of noble birth and greater valour, With his fathers all are gone. Prepare a canoe, let us embark To^seek revenge, for the death of Whare-ate Hinu, And reap satisfaction for the offspring of Kokako. Their death was nobleIt was the end of the brave. By the tribes that flowed from Kaipara, And crossed the Manukau in hosts, Were they outnumbered and slain. Koperu died by the murderers hand ; But that sin was not ours. And the death of Tauhatawhiti Was just ; for Tiihoehoe was slain, And Kaipiha ; Ac and Taiheke, Who was eaten as canoes paddled off. And Hika and Hope consumed By plebians of the Rarawa tribe. And thou, Houtaewa, Hongihika was thy grt/e, Alas ! the children of Waikato are fallen, They sleep in death." The following was composed by an old chiefteee returning home after the slaughter of Motakitoki. Te Iros Lovn of Home. " It is love for my grandchildren That draws me onward. In days gone by, my step was light, When in the bloom and vigour of my youth ; Now I perish, I am going to decay, I hasten to the land of spirits. Ai nestling birdi intensely listen for their dam's return, That they may feed, So wait I for thy voice, O Pebirangi, that calls to food, That strengthened we may swiftly tread The lengthy path of Mawete ; The path that Hikatamure, Thy anceitor, so often trod When journeying to the rising sun, To Nukutaurua and the coasts of Mara, To visit on the eastern shore. O for the wings of a Matataketake To speed us on our way, And iwiftly bring us to the waves

That o'er the floating rock of Tv Throw their while foam. We are on the mountains yet, But home draws nigh. No friends were left to welcome our return. But hark '. the sea birds criei I hear— The Gull that hovers o'er the river's month ; .-" The Gannet, skimming- ocean's waves : These join the rippling tides that wash the shore To call us home, And welcome us to the loved land Of our illustrious sires, The land of Kaupaea and Parepare, Of Rua-te-mahue and Tau-te-paoa, The men who were the terror of their day. O, Hurakau ! though potent ii thine arm, Too late thou hast arisen to avenge our wrongs. Return thy weapon to thy bosom,— Rautatiti, who i>bould feel its stroke, Now dwells with death. He drove me to the mountains. For him we «ayr Maramatahs, And stood unfed at Ohurakm, And sought repose on Tongariro, And shivered with the cold of Ruapahu Till our limbs were blue. Say, was it in derision of the tatoo's hue Thy snows, O Paretetaitonga, stained my limbs, That thus adorned, I might tread the sands of Tapiu. Cursing vras a great offence, and often the cause of war. Cursing an enemy was a very ancient custom. It consisted in deve ing them to destruction, and was practiced in eaily timei. The prophets or poets were supposed to have the power ot cursing persons and places, so as to confound all their designs, frustrate their counsels, and fill them with terror and dismay. Hence the attempts of Balaam to curse the Lord 1 1 people. We have many instances in history, as at the destruction of Carthage, when the Romans devoted the city to destruction, with all its inhabitants, and called upon the gods to forsake them. Tacitus observes, that when Suetonius Pauhnus prepared his army to cross over into Anglesea, where the Britom and Druids made their last stand, the priestesses, with dishevelled hair, white vestments, and torches in their hands, ran about like funes, devoting their enemies to des'ruction. The New Zealander generally connected Ins cursing with cannibalism. He took offence or became envious and jealous, and in language lhat implied he wiihedhis enemy killed and cooked for food, pave vent to the feeling. Perhaps saying. •• tou upoko (thy head) "upoko kohua" (head cooked) " taku kai 1 (food for me). Sometimes the curses weie uttered in the lorm oi poetry: as Topeora's cuise — " Oh, my little daughter, are you crying, are you screaming for your food- here it is for you— the flesh of Hekemanu and Werata. Although I am surfeited with the soft brains of Putu and of Rikiriki. and of Raukauri, yet such is my h-itied that I will fill myself fuller, with those rf Pan, of Ngaraunga, of Pipi, and with my most dainty morsel the flesh of the hated le Ao. Leave as food for me the flesh of my enemy Titoko, I will shake with gieedy teeth the bodies of Huhikahu and of Ueheka. My throat gapes eageily for the brains not yet taken from the skull of Potukeka. In my great hatred I will swallow raw the stinking brains of Taratikitiki. Fill up my distended stomach with the flesh of Tiawha, and Tutonga, &c, &c. Is the head of Ruakerepo indeed considered sacred ? Why it shall be given to me, as a vessel for boiling Kaeos in at Kawau." A violation of the Tapu sometimes occasioned war. This singular custom was described in the lait lecture. Its regulations were regarded with the utmost strictness, and no one dare to break them with impunity. The penalty for a breach wai eeneially a robbery; if thii wa« resitted, war followed." Yeatei, in his work on New Zealand, furnishes a curious account of the manner in which the tapu was regarded. He says he one day found a chief of great importance with a fiih bone stuck in his throat, and though in great agony and in a state of suffocation no one dared to touch him nor to approach within a certain distance on pain of death. Mr. Yeates went to the suffering man, and extracted the bone. Instead of being grateful for the deliverance, the first words he spoke were in command to bii people to take from Mr. Yeates the instrument with which the bone had been extracted as payment for having diawn blood from him, and for touching his bead when he wag sacred. Everything connected with the planting and harvesting of the Kumera was tapu, and all the paths leading to the plantation were marked off; if any stranger dared to travail over them, a war might be the con» sequence of his temerity. Such were some of the causes which led to their desolating wars. It has been said, and I have seen it written 100, that ihey lore war. I question this ; Ido not think that love of it was a passion among them. I should rather say they were impelled by pride and revenge. They are nnturally proud, and haughty ; they have keen sense of honour ; pride would not allow them to brook an insult ; their honour trampled on, a degrading epithet applied, a chief called a taurekareka, or familiarities with his wives, were insults not to be passed over. The feeling of revenge too was deep. We generally find, however, if he could honourably pass by an insult he would, so that no one thought him base or called him a coward. Some of the tribes have embraced Christianity that they might have a pretext for not going to war. But when the demon was once aroused he was not easily satiated. When war was determined, the next thing was to find out by divination the probable results. The Waikato tribes used to resort to a sort of divination they called a Tuahu or To/tuhuroa. Rods were planted as representatives of the demi gods, Tiki and hik sons, and Wakamaru and others, to represent the tribes. The latter were tied to the former with flax. A solemn fast was observed, no food cooked, no fire lit, but Karakia performed till noon. When the suu had reached the zenith they went to breakfast, then retHrned to learn the remit. If they find the rods representing the tribes on the ground, the pa will be taken, if dug about, some are to fall, if only dug about the outside, the leader only 'will be slain, if Wakamaru lies low, no success is to be expected, and the army is dispersed. Of course the priest can arrange matters to meet the wishes of his friends, and no doubt did to. If the ansvter from the gods was favourable, and success promised, the expedition started in full confidence that they should realize the promised victory. Tribes expecting war generally chose the most inaccessible spots for their pahs [or fortifications, often on the top of a hill protected by swamp or river or precipice, perhaps with all sides inaccessible save a narrow pass. Fences were erected, trenches dug, breastwork thrown up, and other defences prepared adapted to protect against invaders with native weapons. I once passed a pah in the Mokou district of this description, situated at the bend of a narrow stream, precipitous on all sides save a narrow defile forming the entrance to the pah, which the natives said had never been taken, and was quite a refuge for their children in times of war. It was under siege on one occasion, and the inhabitants being nearly perished of famine, had to

send out the men to dig fern root. They threw a tree across the river to the opposite bank, and so went out unseeu by the enemy. While the men were out on one occasion the enemy well nigh succeeded in makinp a bieach, when a heroine rushed out and danced in native style in the face of the foe. The warriors sat down to look at her, and she thus kept them at hay till the men returned, and saved the pah. The feat is related with great admiration by her friends. An army would sometimes keep up the siege for months, till the besieged were reduced to the greatest straits, compelled to dig for clay, and eat it as food. They lometimes attempted to deceive the foe by cutting up the stem of the tutu to resemble fern root, and pile it in stacks, as though they had subsistence to enable them to withstand a long siege. They generally keep watch. A sentinel is appointed, who sings the livelong night, that the enemy may not attempt to surprise. Song ok the Centinel during a Siege. Whilst the moon shines brightly The weapons are placed in battle array. Lo we rest us for awhile. Our spears were not uplifted. "Ye came not nigh. Are ye coining to the contest ? Are ye approaching to the battle ? Oh ! get you hence. For even the drowsy ones Await your attack. When the armies met in open field, they were drawn up by their respective leaders in deep columns face to [face, with the hideous war dance. The Toas, t. c , the men of valour and bravery, rush out between while the principal body rest on their arms and flour* ish about, defying each other, as Goliah did the armies of Israel, aiming at distinction by slaying the first man. The leaders generally exerted themselves to excite the passion? of their army by addresses. The reasons of the conflict are set forth with all the peculiar powers of maori oratory, and by the most impassioned appeals to the excited feeling! of the untutored savage. The pride of the tribe, their honour, their wives, their children, their lands, the bravery ot their ancestors, the spirits of the departed, their own lives now menaced, — every fact and circumstance dear to them is invoked, and all the power of their wild poetry and savage rhetoric employed to inflame the passion for war, and stimulate to bravery. The eloquence and prowess of their chiefs as displayed at such times is often celebrated in their laments. The following is a specimen. Lamhnt of Ikaheuengutu for his Children* As I sit my very heart strings are convulsed For my children. Behold me, O my friends, Tane has transformed me, Till I resemble the foliage That droop* upon the shore» And bend like mourning tree fern For my children. Where now, thou favoured one ? Whom every tongue saluted, And every home bid welcome. He is gone over the great deicent. I am left, my friends. I sit upon a generation crushed. Like a plain stripped of its trees, A plain cleared of every blade, A plain swept completely, With nothing left, to look upon the sun That flings his beams across it. Like a mountain that stands alone, To catch the breeze that tells of home, Which we loved so much to feel, Ai it wafted from the south. Have they been hidden in that house By Whiro the thief ?* My heart is ignorant Ot the doing* of the hundred. Say the moon is a thief, For she does not always shine. Say the cliff too has stolen, Hence ts land s ipped away ; That tlie seed has decayed Because of its theft. Had theft bten the cause, Hosts of demons would have Crushed us all, and our end Have been, like that of the Moa. Leaves only are left to weep Over the descendants Of Pani, and of Rongotau, The fathers of the ruddy roots ;f Riches over which your sires exulted In olden timei, and distant lands. From Hawaiiki I brought you, And here you grew to men. Your ancestors exorcised Every spirit of the deep, The breath of pestilence, And the wasting famine. But they returned, With death and mourning in their train. By thy fathers at Kairau Thou wert charmed, With the charm of Tutorohakina, And of Tu-te-nganahau ; To shield thee in war, my son, To preserve thee from revenge, To ward off the stroke of thy foe, And invest thee with the strength of an host, That single-handed, thou might'bt Plunge into the midst of battle, Like the greedy cormorant, Who dives 'neath mountain waves, And brings up his prey From the dark blue sea. Thy fame was planted on Haumatao.J Admiring tribes, as they saw thy prowess, Asked, amazed, Whose son is this ? Thou wert mighty in battle, And thy deeds are heard on every river. Men stand upon the prow of their canoes, And catch the sound of thy glory, As they float along the stream ; For every tribe bore away thy fame, And exalted thee above thy fellows ; Thou, whose flesh eat every ball While inclose encounter with thy foes. Oh ! had I but left my son at home 1 Then Totara-i-ah.ua could not Have viewed him along the barrel of his gun. And ye would have made a fleet To sail the waters of Manukau, And I should not thus have wept for you. Their weapons were not very numerous, but adapted to their mode of warfare. The Meri or paiu pounamu was the weapon of the chief, either suspended from his wriut, or carried in his girdle ready for application. The Tumere, very similar only made of Maire. The Paraou, cut out of a whale's jaw-bone, of same shape.

* It had been said that some theft had been committed, which was the cause of his children^' death, ■f The Kunaera. % The place where he fought.

The Pouivhenua was a club-headed spear. The TVaha ngoM a large flat weapon or battle-axe. The Taiaha or Hani used for fencing and as a spear, generally used by the Toas. The Timala and Taoroa were long spears. They had a projectile called a Hoeroa, made of the jaw-bone of the sperm whale, a sort of harpoon, resembling an ancient instrument of war, the dart, to the bend of which was fastened a long strap, which the warrior retained when he discharged the dart in order to draw it back again. The Iloeroa was fastened to a rope held in the hand with which the victim was drawn towards the person throwing it. The Peievr&t for throwing or projecting short arrows, made of maouku, or slinking stones at the enemy. The only defensive armour they used was tbe Pukupnhu. A piece of cloth made of flax closely woven, and of almost impervious texture ; it was bound round the loins and chest- They had no helmet, but like the ancients, they endeavoured to protect the brenst. It is said that this kind of defence originated with the Egyptians ; among whom Meyrick says " ' fc was the only body armour. It was hung over the breasts and 6boulders like a tippet ; was made of linen several times folded, and quilted in such a manner as to reiist the point of a weapon. These linen pectorals came into extensive use among the neighbouring nations, and those of Egyptian manufacture were particularly valued." A linen thorax of this kind seems to have been worn in the Trojan war by the lesser Ajax, who "with a guard Of linen texture light his breast secured." The New Zealander steeped his Pulcupuhu, (or pectoral) in the water to stiffen it, and convey a greater power of resistance. It was generally sufficiently hard to resist the Pere or spear. In attacking a Pa, they would sometimes form along wall of flax leaves and raupo, fastened with vines, large enough to cover two or three hundred men ; a party moving it forward, and the warriors advancing behind it protected from the missiles of the pa, and enabled to | make a breach without much loss. Sometimes they , would dig a subterranean pathway leading into the very pa. Such patience and perseverance did they display in seeking revenge, and to obtain satisfaction for real or imaginary offences. Before the introduction of fire-arms, the method of fighting, after the otiser, was each man choosing his individual antagonist ; and the field presented the spectacle of a multitude of single combats, just as in the primitive wars, and indeed among the Greeks and Trojans, at the seige of Troy. Though the Greeks used both chariots and missiles, yet their battles and skirmishes usually resolved themselves into a number of duels. It was exactly the iame among the American Indians. The New Zealander had no weapons by which warfare could be carried on at a distance for any length of time. It soon became necessary to enter into close combat. A mode more adapted to the tempers and feelings with which they came into the field, than any which would have kept them at a distance from each other. The introduction of fire-arms greatly tended to change the original character of war. It may not have diminished the destructiveness, but it necessarily abaf ed the rancorous feeling with which it was originally carried on ; it converted it from a contest of fierce and diabolical passion, into an exercise of science. The dreadful waste of human life invoked iv war by any method is lamentable, but the displacement of brute force and those other animal impulses by which it was mainly directed, even by the musket, was something gained. It is impossible that war can be so debasing to those engaged in it, when chiefly a contest of skill, as when wholly a contest of passion. The first introduction of fire-arras among the New Zealanders was most destructive, Hongi had great advantage over other tribes that could only meet him with native weaponi; hence the sad havoc he made among the Waikato tiibes at MatakitaUi. When they became equally armed, their wars became much lesg bloody. They are all all are afraid of guns, and keep at a respectful distance, carrying on the war by straggling shots from behind trees, and fern, and doing but little execution. But best of all is the spread of Christianity.,— T tße introduction of those " weapons which are nst (arnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down, of strong holds." To be continued.