THE MAORI CANOE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XV, Issue 5173, 15 June 1878, Page 7

THE MAORI CANOE.

The following is the paper read by Mr. Barstow, K.M., at the meeting of the Auckland Institute last Monday night: —"The time is fast approaching when the Maori will hear only of the weapons, garments, and utensils of his ancestors in traditional story, -when the tomahawks, spears, paroas will have disappeared a few meres remaining as decorations or intii'ca tions of chieftainship ; when native ' kakahus ' in all their varieties, having ceased to be manufactured will have perished, and when the stone toki, or axe, being indestructible, will remain to be wondered at, but not understood. JNot only will these matters of everyday use be no more, but the grander works—their * pas their canoes, their ornameuted ' whares '—will have decayed, and the few surviving fragments ot pie-pakeha civilisation will have to be sought for in our museums. It is a duty, then, devolving upon us to endeavour to preserve, for the information of the future races, both white* and Maori, such remnants of interest as yet exist, and with this object I have persuaded Paora Tuhaere to lodge here some of the carvings belonging to the once well-known canoe, Toki-a-tapiri ; and as canoes of that class are now uncommon, I propose to give a short account of their construction, and a word or two as to their history. Our first accounts of these islands, resulting from Tasman's voyage to them, more than two centuries ago, brought into notice the canoes of the people; and naturally enough, for what the horse is to the Arab, the camel to the dweller in the desert the canoe was to the inhabitants of New Zealand—a country abounding in bays, harbours creeks, rivers, and destitute of roads and beasts of burden. Water carriage was a matter of prime necessity, in addition to which the dearth of quadrupeds caused fish to be much depended upon as an article of food. Our Waitangi treaty shews how highly the Maori prized his fisheries, but in Tasman's time the canoes he saw were all double; though Cook, who was so much longer on the coasts, ' if I remember rightly, much more frequently mentions single canoes than double ones, and this latter class must have gone out of fashion soon after Cook's time, for I never heard even the oldest natives mention them as used in their own day, save temporarily, when two might be lashed together for the purpose of erecting a fighting stage on the platform between them, so as to be able to overtop therefrom the stockade of some water-fronting pa. Canoes occupying such a leading position in native estimation, many of their legends and traditions have reference to them—even the mythic 'Ikao-Maui,' the first drawing up of this island from the ocean, was not to be accomplished without a canoe : the accounts of the seven different causes which brought from Hawaiki to this country the progenitors of the present race of Maoris, are familiar to most of us—one only of these, the ' Tainui,'is always mentioned as being double ; and as some ships of our navy have been immortalised by the prowess of their crews in celebrated engagements, so many of the Maori ' waiatns' or songs are in honour of their ships—most often in praise of their celerity, by dint of which some enemies' ' pa' had been surprised, or their women and children carried away into captivity. Canoes may be divided into four classes—' waka-taua' or ' waka-pitau' -war canoes, fully carved : the ' wak:i-tete%' which was generally smaller, had a plain figurehead and stern ; 'waka-tiwai,' an ordinnry canoe of one piece, and the ' kopapa' or small canoe usually used for fishing, kc, travelling to cultivations, itc The'Toki-a-tapiri,'belonged to the ' waka-pitau,' which differed from the • waka-taua,' in having an untatoood figurehead with a protruding tongue, and being less elevated forward. Canoes, being of vital importance whether for war or as a means of procuring food, a superstitious race natu rally attributed to the tree set apart for the 'hiwi' or hull of the canoe, some power over its future fortune ; not only was a particular site or aspect in its growth deemed lucky, but it was supposed that incantations by a ' tohunga,' or wizard, bestowed upon tbe living tree, would increase the virtue of the wood when used. Special trees were sometimes the cause of war between two tribes, were set apart, or made ' tapu' by a father for an infant son, remained even as an heirloom to the grandson, and necessarily, in early land sales, weie specially reserved. Totara was the tree chiefiyprized on account of its durability. Kauri was next in estimation, and in the North was easier to procure of large size. I have seen a ' waka-tiwai" —that is, a canoe entirely of one piece — carry, beyond its crew, three and a-half tons of potatoes in a seaway. Kahikatea was sometimes used : it is light, but not lasting, and I have known rimu canoes, but these are t--o heavy to be popular. When a tree had been selected either by an individual 'rangatira' or by a ' h-.ipu" who determined to build a war-canoe, it was first necessary that a sufficient stock of food to supply the workmen employed upon it should be available. If the tree grew in a place distant from the 'pa,'a special cultivation, as near as possible to the bicvs nptrniuli, might be made for the purpose, otherwise a particular patch of 'kumera,' or other esculent, was planted and set aside. Then the future canoe had to be draughted. Certain nav.il architects were the Symonds or Heeds of their day, and were occasionally fetched from far to design a craft which was required to possess extra speed. Many a deliberation of the ' knumatuas,' or elders took ph.ee over the prepared model ere the shape was finally settled. The next step was to consult the ' tohunga' as to the da}- for commencing the falling. The state of the moon must be cousideied: an in auspicious day for beginning would surelv cause the canoe to capsize; the ' taua," or warparty, using it to be defeated ; or if not to be a ' waka-taua," no fish would be caught therefrom. When stone axes and fire were the only means of falling the tree, the task of bringing down a totara four or five feet through must have been tedious. The first iron hatchets used were those procured from Captain Cook, and those obtained at Manawaora, a century ago, where the Marion's crew were ashore, and were slaughtered whilst, getting out a spar. I'robably it was not till thirty years later that iron axes became sufficiently abundant to supersede those of stone entirely. Some care was needed that the tree in falling should not be broken nor shaken. An accident of this kind is by no means uncommon, and many fine spars are now lost in this way. The destruction of a specially large tree, after the labour of falling has been incurred, must, indeed, hare been a calamity. Though when an outlying tree of sufficient scantling could be found it was preferred to one forest-grown—as our shipwrights considered hedgerow better than plantation oak, —yet, in most iustances, the totara or kauri tree stood in a forest, miles from the sea shore, and so far from 'mahingas,' or cultivations, that relays of women were needed to carry up provisions for the workpeople ; a road for hauling out by would also require preparing. Secrecy, too, was often needed ; for a hostile tribe would be only too glad either to attack the 'pa,' weakened by the absence of many of its men, or to surround and cut off the party while engaged at work. At last, however, incessant labour haj fallen the tree, cross-cut the log, and dubbed down the outside to somewhat near its destined shape, and fire and adze have partially hollowed out the 'riu' or hold—dry re ware wa wood being used for the chairing, — the amount of excavation done at this stage depend ing upon the distance to which the canoe has to be hauled, and the danger of its splitting on its journey. In peaceable times there is a great feast, and all the friendly neighbouring ' pas ' contribute hands to haul out, by dint of 'akas,' or vines over rollers or skids, the still weighty mass. The workmen pull together over the steeps to the songs of the women. It is not always fated to reach the water. At the foot of Wairere Hill, in Whangaroa Harbour, there lay some years ago the two sides of a mighty canoe, which had been fashioned on the elevated plateau above the bay. Whilst a party of some t'tiirty slaves were engaged in lowering it down the steep hillside, a vine broke, the canoe rushed headlong to the bottom, and sjdit from end to end. A cry of despair from the awestricken slaves brought their ' rangatiras ' to the spot, and instant death was the punishment meted out to the unlucky slaves for their neglect or misfortune. But even when the 'hiwi,' or bottom piece, has reached the sea beach, or creek, in safety, but a small portion of the work has been completed ; this piece has to be redubbed and further hollowed,—this operation, too, is repeated as the timber seasons after the canoe has been in use ; then trees have to be fallen for the ' rauawa,' or top streak, not much smaller than the one first mentioned. These top-streaks in the Toki-a-tapiri are each about seventy feet long, and eighteen or twenty inches deep amidships ; these have to be dubbed down to their proper thickness and shape, to be dragged out and fitted to the hull ; holes ' puerere' require boring through both, so as to lash them along together; a simple enough business with a brace and bit, but a very different matter when ' kerepaka,' or quartz, was used (the natives had learned to construe"a drill armed with this pointed stone). The ' tete,' or figurehead, and ' rapa,' or sternpiece, had to come, and you have only to look at these to form some notion of the time, taste, and skill requisite for their manufacture; a very slight mistake, an unskilful blow, and the thing is luined ; another seasoned log must be got, and the work be recommenced. It is not everywhere that this carving can be executed ; the Arawa and Wakatohea, Bay of Plenty tribes, were long celebrated for their knowledge of designing and carving the ornamental parts of canoes, and their services were obtained by hire, or the requisite carvings—of course, I am speaking now of modern days—were procured in exchange for guns, blankets, horses, or European goods ; in earlier times, raids were made, and men carried as slaves to carve for their masters. Only a small portion of the tracing must be cut out at a time, lest exposure to the sun should cause a crack; a fully ornamented stern-post was months or years even before it received its finishing touch, though the pattern had been sketched from the first. These portions of the craft have to be carefully fitted and bored for seizing on; the ' taumanu,' or thwarts—frequently of mahukau wood—must be cut, worked

out, and lashed to the «niao,' or gunwale. On the proper fitting of these, which took the place of our deck-beams, much of the strength of the canoe depended, and the women spent days in preparing the * muka,' oi flax for these lashings ('kaha'). Then along each side of our canoe has to be fitted a battel* sailed 'taka,'covering the joint of the 'hiwi' and'rauawa.'and the 'kaha' has again to be carried over this, so as to secure this streak firmly to the side; these pieces, too, were of great length, some 30 or 40 feet, so as to have only one joint or splice on each side. Our canoe is now pretty well built, but yet requires many fittings: the 'kaiwae.' stages or platforms, usually made of small manuka sticks, upon which tbe ' kaihoe' or paddlers either sat or knelt; a kind of grated deck, running the length of the craft, with openings here and there to communicate with the ' riu ' or hold. One or more of these apertures were supplied with a ' tikeru' or bailer, for toughness sake made of mangiao wood, for many a sea in rough weather would break on board, and was it not for the caulking ('purupuru') with 'huni' or flower of raupo, a supply of which the women had gathered in the swamps, much water would have found its way through the joints and holes. This native substitute for oakum i* impervious to wet when properly applied. The next process is to paint our vessel, and, for the prevailing red colour in fashion, ' karame,' a species of clay, which needs to be burnt before being applied, is most valued. The parts to be coloured are first cleaned, then sized with the juice of the sow thistle and the poporo shrub, after which the ' karamea' mixed with water is rubbed on. This yields the most brilliant colour, and is very lasting. ' Kokowai' is a kind of pigment, burnt, dried, and mixed with shark liver oil ; this is a good deal darker than the former. The batten, carved stern, and head of a 'wakataua' are usually blackened with powdered charcoal, or lamp-black and oil. The ' wakatetee' has usually a red head; on gala days the ' taka' would be adorned with albatross feathers, and wreaths of pigeon or wild duck feathers flutter upon the stem and stern. The equipments are still to follow ; according to size, sixty to a hundred paddles are requisite. One very large canoe, formerly in Taraia's possession, could seat 140 paddlers, but the ' hiwi'of this was 96 feet long, the projecting stem and stern adding 14 feet to this huge length. It is said that the ' Toki-a-tapiri' would stow fifty on each side. Steer paddles, too, which are much longer than ordinary ones, and usually with carved handles. Then the nusts (rewa), steps for which have been left when the 'riu' was hollowed, with the booms and cordage, and the queer sails, supposing our caDoe was made as far back as forty years ago, must not be forgotten. These last, ere the days of duck or calico, were made of long leaves of the ' raupo,' kept in their places by an interlacing of flax-twine ('aho'); the butt or wide part of the leaf was uppermost towards the boom, the small ends of the leaves -converging to a point at the tack, making thus a triangular sail. Two or three masts were vised, according to the canoe's length, and small as the amount of sail appeared to be, I have seen a great pace obtained under ' raupo' alone. We yet want a plaited flax cable and an anchor: of these last there were three varieties; an oblong stone with a hole through the smaller end, a stone enmeshed in a netting of rlax or vines, or three or four crooked pieces of ' pohutukawa, lashed together with a stone between the shanks, and the carved points forming a rude grapnel. Sometimes, though the hull might be new, the carved portions of worn-out canoes would be re-used, being renovated for the occasion. Formerly the stem and stern pieces were detached and stored in sheds when a war-canoe was laid up iu ordinary. Our canoe is now at last ready for launching, nearly as much time having been occupied in its building as would in England have turned out an ironclad ; a feast marks the event, and though to the ' rangatiras' of the ' kainga the day was one of rejoicing, fifty years back it would have been a poor ' hapu' that could not afford a slave or two as a ' kinaki' or relish on such an occasion. The canoe is run over the skids into the water and anchored ; many are the comments on the way she sits ; presently another one is launched, crews of young men are found for each ; they paddle out some distance quietly, turn and race back, animated by the cries and gesticulations of the assembled spectators. As with us, a name is fixed upon as soon as the ko--d has been laid, so, I think, with the Maori, at .i very early stage of the work the appellation is agreed upon. Ido not know what led to the name of ' Toki-a-tapiri' being given to the canoe to which these carvings belong. I had hoped to have interested yon with a narrative of battles in which she had been engaged (though sea-fights were notcommon), or voyages she had made, but can only tell you that she was built by the Ngatikahungunu, of Hawke's Bay, and given by a chief of that tribe to Hone Kopiha, better known as John Hobbs, during Governor Browne's administration. At that time the canoe was not an old one. Hobbs afterwards sold her to Aihepene Kaihau and other Ngatiteata chiefs, at VVaiuku, for £700. At the commencement of the Waikato war she was seized at Waiuku by a party of Volunteers and Militia, composed of Messrs. J. C. Firth and others, and brought to Onehunga. She was subsequently conveyed overland te Auckland by order of the late Mr. John Williamson, then Superintendent, for the purpose, of landing H. R. H. Prince Alfred, on the occasion of his first visit to Auckland, and wis used by the natives when the Orakei land claim was investigated. I can only add that herlength was some 7-S or SO feet, and beam about bS feet. In Auckland's infant days twenty or twenty five of these w\r canoes, from the Thames alone, might be found hauled up in Mechanics' Pay. Where, alas, are these now?