SIR GEORGE GREY'S NOTEBOOK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12248, 18 April 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

SIR GEORGE GREY'S NOTEBOOK.

Amongst the papers left by Sir G. Grey for final deposit in the Auckland Public Library are five notebooks, which he had evidently used during his travels throughout the colony. The contents are of a very miscellaneous character. Sometimes he takes note of a peculiar name, with the meaning given by a native. _ Then he makes a memorandum of some particular request by a chief, that he would purchase certain articles for him, or perhaps the person making a request may be a chief's wife. Then comes a list of the principal persons present at a native gathering. Then notes of long days of travel, memos, on peculiarities of Maori idioms, songs, and proverbs, and a multitude of other things. Here are a few notes evidently made on a journey into the interior: — " Patupaiarehe, a kind of fairy who ..inhabited mountain districts, and who were said to live in large communities, devoting themselves to music and the study of eloquence. They nursed their children in their arms instead of carrying them on their backs." Then we have " Ko Whanganui te Wai nui o Tarawhera. Whanganui-a-Tara (Port Nicholson, Wellington). Tuhimatakeo, the name of the lofty taumata immediately above the northern plains, from which the road named Rangipo, from Hikurangi to Rotoaira, descends. Sir George seems whenever he heard a new proverb, or a new word or phrase, to have made a note of it, obtaining what explanations he could. It is evident too that he frequently handed over his notebook to a native, who pencilled his name or the name of a place or hapu. Here is a note about a locality .on the East Coast:"Kahuarangi is the name of the rock to the south of the anchorage at Castle Point. Immediately under it is a cave which runs straight through into the sea. This cave is named Te Wheke. It was formerly inhabited by a tapua and taniwha named Ko te Wheke-a-mutu-rangi. Kupe came, to this cave, when Te Wheke, frightened at seeing a man, ran off to Te Awaiti or Kura-te-au, or Tory Channel. Kupe followed it there, when it tried to seize Kupe's canoe with its claws, but as it put each claw upon a gunwale Kupie cut it off and slew the beast there."

We give a specimen of the legends picked up:—"On the coast about seven miles from the cave called Te Wheke is a high peaked rock named Te Rerenga-o-Tahuruhuru. A chieftainess lived in a pa on the high hills immediately to the north of the rock. Her husband waking in the night found her on a very hot night sleeping without clothes. He lit a large fire, and struck by her beauty called many of the men of. the village to see her. She awoke, and filled with shame she the next morning adorned her head, dressed herself in the richest mats and sang as follows : —

. Kaku rai moe tuwerawera Ka tahuni kite ahi Kia tino tuarama A ka kataina ahauna She then threw herself headlong from the cliff, and fell on the rocks on the northern side; she was dashed to pieces." Following this is a series of legends and songs written in Maori. Here is a memo, made by the way: — "It should be noted that near Waipukenui is a high hill called Pukewera, formerly inhabited by spirits, who, if people tried to burn the fern, always put the fire out. The sound of their flutes, trumpets, and other instruments of music, with their songs, were often heard." A date is marked here Tuesday, February 1, 1853. Then we have another entry:—"The Rev R. Taylor and Sir George Grey left Putiki Pa, Whanganui, on Monday, the 24th of January, about half-past four p.m., in a canoe with two chiefs, Takana-and Mete Kiugi." _ The itinerary is given day by day, the whole journey being done on foot, sometimes penetrating thick forests, and sometimes climbing high hills. Further on we have several sketches by Sir George Grey, done with considerable artistic skill, of the summit of Ruapehu, and of several parts of that mountain. One is dated "A sketch on Ruapehu, January 30, 1852." The second book begins with a list of the Taupo chiefs, and proceeds to give a narrative of a journey in that locality. It begins :—" December 31, 1866.—Started from the village of Pautu or Rotoaira at twenty minutes to eight o'clock, Commander Maeruire, myself, Mr. Thatcher, Poihipi, and Hetaraka te Whitu." The narrative tells of the ascent of Tongariro, and the return to Rotoaira. Next, we have a draft of a despatch to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated from Greymouth, January 28, 1867. It runs'thus:—"My Lord; —I have the honour to transmit the copy of an address which I received from the inhabitants of this town on my arrival here, also also a copy of my reply to that address. lam sure your lordship will be gratified to learn that a town of about fifteen hundred inhabitants has sprung into existence here within the last eighteen months, which is the centre of a populous and thriving district of about 15,000 inhabitants, as also to find how thoroughly loyal, prosperous, and contented Her Majesty's subjects in this part of the world are." ' There is a draft of a similar despatch from Hokitika. We have also a long note of a despatch to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, a portion of which runs: —" I think your lordship has not sufficiently considered the great question which underlies the whole of this matter. Colonel Weare, C.8., made no report to the Governor of the country of circumstances he apparently believed related to the lives and welfare of Her Majesty's subjects. General Chute made no report to the Governor of the country of his thinking it necessary to order the execution of a man. as to whether any inquiries took place as to the guilt of that man." Sir George enters at great length into the position of the Governor and the commanders of the troops, and protests against the Secretary of State corresponding with military officers unknown to the Governor. A large portion of one of the notebooks is occupied by drafts of despatches and letters to be sent about the Weraroa affair, at which Sir George commanded in person. These are dated: "In front of the Weraroa Pa, 19th July, 1865." The first is addressed to Bri-gadier-General Waddy, C.B. Here are specimens of some of the notes while on a journey in the Lake district in 1866: — ; : "Taitua knows where Tuhourangi's bones are., Korekoreko, the dazzling blindness from anything white." "On the road from Whakar'ewarewa to Rotokokahi, about halfway to the lake, as you come out of a piece of bush, the natives show a stone called Kurangaituku, on which are four scratches, or long indentations, made, as they say, by the giantess of that name, as she made a grab at Hatupatti, as he plunged under the stone. Homaitawhiti, the name of the stone idol on Mokoia, 4ft high in trachyte, in a sitting posture, the head thrown back or the shoulders and held back by one hand under the chin; the eyes fixed on the skies, the other hand pressed on the chest. From twenty to thirty priests always attended on their god of peace." ■ . There is a draft of a despatch to the Secretary of State, written at Maketu on March 28, 1866, and one from Ohinemutu on the •following day. . In a despatch dated from Raglan on May 3, 1866, Sir G. Grey reports to the Secretary of State: —" On the Ist inst. William Thompson, in ! compliance with-the wishes ;I ' had expressed to him, came to Hamilton )to meet me. He spent the greater _ part of i the day with me, and appeared to be upon ■ the whole well pleased with the future pros i pects of the country." '. - ' , " ; It ■is curious to find in: these; notebooks, amongst Maori words, proverbs, and traditions, memoranda as to classical books in his • library, !or as to classical books which he desires to acquire. '