14

G.—l

had leit it to put any second party in possession, but it at once reverted to the hereditary heir. To get over the present embarrassment, Tini made presents to Koinaki and his people, in consideration of which they withdrew from the land. The*next instance I shall observe on was the purchase of land for a missionary residence, &c, in the interior. In 1835 the Eev. Mr. Brown and myself formed a missionary establishment at Matamata, and we were desirous of securing land for a village, &c. Our houses were built, and part of the ground cleared and fenced before we made any direct application to Waharoa, the chief of all the Matamata Tribes. This person had no compeer in the surrounding districts, and was feared by all, from the banks of the Waikato to the lakes of Eotorua. As the missionaries had been invited by'this chief to Matamata, and were now living under his protection, they supposed it merely necessary to apply to him in order to be put in possession of the land they occupied. He told them, however, that the land was not his, and that he could not sell it. But, he added, he had land of his own opposite the pa (native fortification), and that they should have that. This the missionaries declined, for, though only a mile distant, yet, as the pa might at any time be attacked and endanger the station, they preferred remaining on the site already chosen. The old chief, pressed by their importunity," consented at last to speak to the proprietor, Paringaringa, and shortly afterwards ibrought him to the settlement. He was a young man, and owned land in the vicinity of Matamata. He readily agreed to sell the place, and having arranged the price, he afterwards returned with his mother and one or two others, who at once removed the property to their own dwelling without making any distribution to others. Waharoa, who was present, took two spades from amongst the different articles, more as an article of friendship than a right, and the purchase was concluded. Other instances might be cited, but these appear sufficient to prove that according to the primitive usages'originally existing in this country such a law as positive personal right to land was acknowledged. But before quitting this subject to noticing tribal ownership I shall take the liberty to insert a remark made by a Taranaki Native, who a short time since accompanied me down the Waikato. I had observed to him that a number of the people in a tribe we had just passed were saved from instant death through the interposition of two Europeans about twenty-five years since, but that they had forgotten their benefactors. My companion for some time pulled on in silence :at last he said, "The Maori does not forget an obligation of this kind any more than the pakeha. The Europeans you speak of could not have been recognised or they would not have been allowed to pass on without a welcome." Then, in order to illustrate the gratitude of his countrymen, he continued "If in former times a rangatira (freeman or gentleman) was dangerously wounded in battle,' and was on the point of falling into the hands of the enemy —if at such a moment he was rescued by the valour of others, who afterwards carried him to his home, his first thought after his recovery was, " What can I give to my friends ? I have no riches, but I have land. I will give them land." And he acts accordingly. The two next cases I shall refer to relate to tribal claims. The first purchase was made by the missionaries at Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty, during my residence among them. The land on which the station is situated was bought from the whole tribe of Ngaiterangi, the chiefs receiving the payment before the people, which was by them divided according to the right The last I shall speak of was at Opotiki, eighty miles to'the eastward of Tauranga, and situated in the same bay. This station was formed and conducted by myself alone for the first twelve years. The land at Opotiki was tribal, and belonged to a number of small clans who were jealous of each other, and always at variance. As it was not easy to adjust and divide the property given in exchange to the satisfaction of a thousand such claimants, I gave the stipulated equivalent, which consisted of clothing, cattle, horses, ironware, money, &c. (£300), to six or seven chiefs, and they arranged the distribution. Thus, though in widely different parts of this country, we find the observation of the same rights' and I believe it will be found that the above precedents form the basis of the tenure by which'lands are held amongst the aborigines.— [Letter to Governor Gore Browne, 1860.]

Extract from Making's "Old New Zealand," Chapter xv. "If ANA." This word has been bandied about a good deal of late years, and meanings often attached to it by Europeans which are incorrect, but which the Natives sometimes accept because it suits their purposes. This same word mana has several different meanings, and the difference between these diverse meanings is sometimes very great, and sometimes only a mere shade of meaning, though one very necessary to observe; and it is therefore quite impossible to find any one single word in English, or in any other language that I have any acquaintance with, which will give the meaning of mana; and, moreover, though I myself do know all the meanings and different shades of meaning properly belonging to the word, I find a great difficulty in explaining them; but, as I have begun, the thing must be done. Now, then, for mana : Virtus, prestige, authority, good-fortune, influence, sanctity, luck, are all words'which', under certain conditions, give something near the meaning of mana, though not one of them gives it exactly. Mana sometimes means a more than natural virtue or power attaching to some person or thing different from and independent of the ordinary natural conditions of either, and capable of either increase or diminution,-sooth from known and unknown causes. The mana of a priest or tohunga is proved by the strength of his predictions as welf as the success of his incantations, which same incantations performed by another person of inferior mana would have uo effect; consequently, this description of mana is a virtue, or more than natural or ordinary conditions attaching to the priest himself, and which he may become possessed of and also lose without any volition of his own.