IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Otago Witness, Issue 2848, 14 October 1908, Page 13

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

THE GODWITS AND THE MAORI NAVIGATORS.

(By James Dktjmmond, F.L,S., F.Z.S.) No phase of bird life in New Zealand -has attracted more attention than the migration of the godwits from Eastern Siberia to these shores. Evidence collected show's that large numbers of godwits, following some strange instinct, which has battled satisfactory explanation, leave their northern homes to spend the summer in New Zealand. They usually arrive in October, November* and December, and return again when the -winter months approach. They come singly, passing down the coasts of China and -the islands, and their arrival is hardly noticed. - Occasionally an exhausted bird is found apparenWy just after its great journey has been completed. In the summer the godwits, wheh are shore-birds, are seen near the mouths of rivers and on ' some of the sea ■beaches in' fairly large numbers- AVhen the time for departure comes, in the .autumn, they disappear from the districts as Quietly and mysteriously as they came; but, according to. the accounts of observers, they assemble at several places in the north, notably -the North Cape, the northernmost point of New Zealand, in vast flocks, each flock numbering from 60 .to 1000 birds. After streams of- godwits have poured in from all parts of New Zealand, they prepare for> flight to the north. They leave in flocks, with much excitement, bustle, and clamour, and go out 'over the ocean to cross 1000 miles before they reach the nearest land. The godwits' object in coming to New Zealand every year with praiseworthy punctuality and .the instinct -that guides them day and night are* still open questions, and are fair subjects for~T>bseryation and study. A paper dealing with these migrants has been sent to me by j Mr B. Leys, of Kihikihi, Auckland. It : does not throw light upon the most important points of the godwits' remarkable habitß, but it is interesting to New Zeaianders because it touches upon Maori legends as applied to these birds. The paper has been translated ' by .Mr Leys ', from a - document written by " a Maori clergyman', the Rev. Wiki te Paa, who is a member of the Rarawa tribe, which lives in the far northern district, from which the godwits, it is stated, n,ske their final departure. Wiki te Paa's document sets out the theory that it was the godwits .that guided the navigators when the Maoris came to New Zealand from the inlands, at the time of the great migration, some 500 or 600 years ago. He says that it is quite likely that the "ancient Maoris, when they lived at Hawaiki, which is supposed to be Tahiti, knew that there v/as land in the south by the godwits' regular migrations. Knowing that the gcdwit does not settle on- the water like a seabird, apd that it flies from shore to shore, they concluded that in the distant couth, far beyond the horizon, there vas a country where the birds spent the summer months before they returned to '{Tahiti on the northern journey.' Accoring to this theory, the Maoris' ancestors were going to a country which, although unknown, was not a myth, and the n&vi- j gators believed that, sooner or later, they would reach the land which, .gave a ha\en to the godwits and which would also give [ a haven to them. . - ■ . Wild te Paa carries the theory further. He 'believes that the Maoris used the ibirds sb guides', and that the canoes followed the godwits' tracks over the ocean. "The kuaka," he says, using the euphonious Maori name of the bird, ".was the compass of the Maoris' ancestors -when they left Hawaiki for Aotearoa. The kuaka continues to coma te New Zealand for a -whole month. He converses in a loud voice with his fellows as he journeys with them. During the light of day. the voyagers would guide their canoes as they observed the flight of the kuaka, - and during the night they would ■listen for his voice as he advanced towards the south above the fleet." Wiki <te Paa- supplies a saying applied to the (paddling of the canoes as follows: — The fleet of cuioes paddled over the ocean, <$Vhile the company of the gods hovered '"•above in the heavens. He says that to the Maori everything becomes a god when he realises that it has power to further his desires, whether it is bird, fish, or reptile, and he suggests that jthe "company of the gods" might well mean flocks of kuaka. As further .evidence for his theory, he points out that, according to tradition, some of the canoes in the fleet were loaded with kumaras. These sweet potatoes were planted in New Zealand when the canoes arrived, and they have been cultivated by the Maoris ever since. He says that there is some significance in the iaot that the food canoes apparently arrived in" New Zealand about the same time ax iftoe y\ear as the arrival of the godtfte, """■

Mr Leys states that he has made inquiries amongst Maoris in regard to these theories, but he has not found anything to support them. The older Maoris, he says, cannot discard their faith in the "atua," or god, who played an important part in, the lives of their ancestors; and the younger Maoris, having forgotten, or never learnt the ancient traditions, do not concern themselves with these problems. 'irff Leys, in his letter, (states that a v Maori £t tVhak&tane has supplied him "with aii explanation of another tradition. I^rg* nnjßjJfrffls of godwi^e maj^e their departure jrps| j# l|e|pga, the ancient Maoris' Spirits pay, .where the epirije of the dead went d^wn into il» depths oi tjie ocean, and oji tp jhe yfpr^d- of^ |)axknes! and the future life. It was pejieved that at times the spirits might be heard m fche night conversing together as they

passed northward; sometimes 6ighing in grief at having to leave- their relatives, sometimes displaying ■ a more cheerful mood. It is suggested that the poetical superstititon arose from the godwits' mysterious flight, a>nd from the twittering of the birds, and the occasional swish of wings heard in the night.