Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 1879.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 12, 1879, Unnumbered Page

Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 1879. I.—Miscellaneous.

Appendix, I. Note A, page 64. The Tuatara is an animal belonging to the Class Reptilia, Order Sauria; but to which of the families composing the same, I cannot, in the absence of books of reference, at present determine. It appears to possess characters common to Lacertinidæ and Iguanidæ, in its having the thin and extensible tongue of the former, combined with the undivided one of the latter. It is common in some parts of New Zealand, particularly on rocky headlands and islets lying off the coast. I have one at present in spirits, which I had alive for nearly three of the winter months; during which time, although I repeatedly tried to get it to take some kind of food, I could not succeed. From its habits I supposed it to be a hybernating animal. It measured nineteen inches in length, had a row of elevated spines (or rather recurved scales) nearly the whole length of its back, and appeared a perfectly harmless creature. It was taken, with two others, on Karewa islet, off Tauranga harbour, in the Bay of Plenty. The natives speak of another species, having a forked tail! and also assert that a larger species, which inhabits swampy places, has been seen six feet in length, and as thick as a man's thigh. The largest, however, that I have ever heard of did not measure above two feet in length. Note B, page 65. The shells of several species of Haliotis, Ostrea, and other nacrescent genera, are commonly used by the natives inhabiting the isles of the South Pacific for this purpose. A narrow slip of the shell is firmly fastened to the back of the hook, the barb of which is generally concealed by a tuft of metallic-surfaced blue feathers, procured either from the Korora (Aptenodytes minor) or the Kotaretare (Dacelo leachii). The hook thus prepared

and attached to a stout line, composed of the fibres of the Korari (Phormium tenax), which, after being cleaned from the parenchymatous parts, are twisted together by the hand, is drawn quickly through the water by a person paddling a small canoe; the larger fish, believing this glittering lure to be their prey, eagerly pursue it, and greedily catching at the same, are taken. In favourable weather a great number of fine fish are soon captured by this method. Among the New Zealanders it is a very favourite sport, and one that is not a little animating when several canoes are engaged. I have seen upwards of twenty small canoes thus employed on a fine summer's evening, on the beautiful sheet of water in the Bay of Islands. I may here mention that, previous to the introduction of the Gospel among the New Zealanders, their hooks were often composed of human bone; those of their enemies being used for that purpose. Sometimes they formed their-hooks from the tough stalks and branches of Tauhinu (Pomaderris ericifolia) and Mangemange (Lygodium volubile), hardening them by the aid of fire. At present they invariably prefer the hooks which they make from iron nails to those of our manufacture, the latter, they allege, being much too brittle. Note C, page 65. Whoever has read the marvellous “Thousand-and-One Nights” must be well acquainted with the monstrous stories related of this extraordinary bird; its celebrity, however, is not confined to that work. “Rukh,” says the author of the Arabic Dictionary, “is the name of a monstrous bird, which is said to have powers sufficient to carry off a live rhinoceros.” To this animal Marco Polo also refers, in his relation of the story of the ambassadors:—“The rukh is said, by persons who have seen it, to measure sixteen paces across the wings from tip to tip, the feathers of which are eight paces in length, and thick in proportion. A feather of the rukh was brought by those messengers who were sent by the Grand Khan for the purpose of making enquiries respecting it, which feather is positively affirmed to have measured ninety spans, and the quill part to have been two palms in circumference.” The existence of this immense bird seems to have obtained universal credence throughout all the Eastern nations; and while ancient historians make mention of certain enormous and peculiar animals as common to the Orientals, scientific men of modern times have wisely omitted such relations from their nomenclature. Note D, page 72. After all, it may very possibly be observed by some, that I act rather more precipitately than is consistent with judicious consideration in thus rejecting in toto the whole of such evidence. And such persons may also recollect the hastily formed conclusion originally arrived at by some of the

first Continental naturalists, in reference to the existence of the Apteryx, the Moa's probable congener:—“L'Apteryx de M. Temminck ne serait-il pas fondé sur les pièces de Dronte (Dodo) conservées au Muséum de Londres?”—Lesson, Manuel d'Ornith. ii., p. 211. I do so, however, on the spot, after long investigation and careful consideration of the whole matter. Note E, page 75. It may not be amiss to give here an outline of the genera composing the Family of Struthionidæ, seeing they are but few. Each genus contains but a single species. In the present state of our knowledge the group may be thus arranged:— Class Aves. Order IV. Rasores, Vigors. Family 4. Struthionidæ. 1. Genus Struthio, Linn. (Type of the group.) Ostrich of South Africa: possessing two toes. 2. Genus Casuarius, Brisson. Cassowary of the Indian Archipelago: three toes. 3. Genus Dromiceius, Vieillot. Emu of New South Wales: three toes. 4. Genus Rhea, Vieill. Nandu of Straits of Magellan: three toes. 5. Genus Didus, Linn. Dodo, formerly an inhabitant of the Isles of Mauritius and Bourbon: three toes: extinct. 6. Genus Apteryx, Shaw. Kiwi of New Zealand: three toes and a rudimentary one. 7. —–? —–? Moa of New Zealand: three toes: supposed to be extinct. Explanation of Plates IV. and V. Plate IV. Fig. 1. Tibia of Moa, nearly perfect, 30 inches in length. a, a, girth 16 1/2 inches, bone at the end much broken and reduced in size. b, b, girth, over processes, 12 1/2 inches. c, c, girth, 5 1/2 inches; smallest part. d, deep muscular impressions. e, e, girth, 9 inches. Note.—The largest Tibia yet found measured 4 inches longer than this. Fig. 2. Femur of Moa, nearly perfect, length 13 inches. f, f, girth, 12 1/2 inches. g, g, reticulated muscular impressions, very numerous. i, i, girth, 7 1/2 inches. k, k, girth, smallest part, 3 1/2 inches. m, m, girth, 11 1/2 inches. Obs.—I have seen a portion of a femur, the small part of which measured 8 in. in girth! The one from which the drawing was taken, though not so large, was more perfect.

Fig. 3. Tarsus of Moa, nearly perfect, length 10 inches. p, p, girth, 9 inches. r, r, girth, 4 inches. s, s, girth, 8 inches. Plate V. Fig. 1. Upper surface of fragment of pelvis and dorsal vertebræ of Moa; deeply indented with muscular impressions. a—b, measures 9 1/2 inches. c, canal of medulla spinalis. d, outer edge of acetabulum. Obs.—This bone differs very considerably from such bones in other birds, in its peculiar carinated shape in that portion which must have formed the lower part of the back. It must have been also considerably larger when entire, as the whole of the upper ridge is much broken. Fig. 2. Under surface of Figure 1. a, a, a perfect part of the bone, where, in the narrowest place, it measures 3 inches half-way across. b, outer edge of acetabulum. c, canal of medulla spinalis. Part II.—What I have gleaned since. § 1. Positive (if such it may be called)! I. Myths, or Legends. 1. The Myth of Ngahue. In all the legends and myths of the Maoris that I have heard recited, and taken down, and received from them in writing (including, also, those published by Sir G. Grey** “Polynesian Mythology,” 1855.), I have only once met with any mention of the Moa; and this is in the very ancient Mythe of Ngahue;†† Called in the Polynesian Mythology (p. 132), “The Legend of Poutini and Whaiapu.” who, it is said, visited New Zealand before the so-called migration hither from “Hawaiki:” therefore it is that I place this legend first in order. In this legend, which is a particularly interesting one, the Moa is mentioned twice; but then only in the most casual way—provokingly so! I shall just give here the two short sentences from that original Maori tale; as I intend translating the whole of this brief legend with explanatory notes shortly. Strangely enough, the translation of this tale given by Sir G. Grey (supra) omits one of those two sentences which mention the Moa, or I would willingly quote from his published translation. Of Ngahue it is said,—that he arrived in New Zealand and visited both Islands; and on his returning from the South, Arahura (= Westland), and on his way to the East Coast, Whangaparaoa (= Cape Runaway), “he

killed the Moa at Te Wairere.”* Probably the cliff and waterfall of that name near the river Waihou, between Tauranga and Matamata. On his return to Hawaiki he related that “he had seen the land containing the green jade stone and the Moa.” 2. The Legend of the Destruction of the Moas by Fire, etc. A few years ago, while engaged in prosecuting my Maori etymological enquiries for the New Zealand Lexicon, I received the following from an old intelligent chief of the East Coast respecting the Moa:— “Anciently the land was burnt up by the fire of Tamatea; then it was that the big living things, together with the Moas, were all burnt. Two Moas, however, survived with difficulty that destruction—but only two; one of these lived at Te Whaiiti, and one at Whakapunake.† Vide Part I., pp. 64–68. The feather of this one at Whakapunake has been seen and found; it was preserved as a plume decoration for the heads of dead chiefs of note, when their bodies were laid out on a sumptuous bier for the funeral obsequies. The name given to that feather was ko-te-rau-o-piopio (= the special plume of Piopio). The forefathers of the Maoris heard of the Moa, but they never saw its body, only its bones.” Falling-in lately with an old chief of the Ngatiporou tribe, from Tokomaru, near the East Cape, and enquiring of him, if he knew anything of the Moa? He replied, “No; all that was known by them was the old tradition from their forefathers, that the Moas all perished through the fire of Tamatea, save one which escaped to the mountain Whakapunake; where it was said to sit in its cave with its mouth open, and hence to live on air.” Here I would observe, that Tamatea is a very ancient name in the New Zealand mythological history, and is frequently mentioned both in their proverbs and songs. It occurs, also, several times with varying suffixes full of meaning in their old astronomical lore (of which more anon). Tamatea is said to be one of the sons (or grandson) of Tato, who, according to some genealogies, was the fifth lineal descendant from the first man Rangi = the sky; their names are thus given together in one of their old genealogies:—“Now I will begin to rehearse the coming hither of Tamatea, his fathers, and elders; these are the names of his children, Rongokako, etc.; these are all the children of Tato.”‡ I give also the Maori of this, on account of some of the names:—“Ka timata tenei i te haerenga mai o Tamatea ratau ko ona matua; ko nga ingoa enei o ana tamariki,—ko Rongokako, ko Hikutapuae, ko Hikitaketake, ko Rongoiamoa, ko Taihopi, ko Taihapoa, ko Kahutua, ko Motoro, ko Te Angi, ko Kupe, ko Ngake, ko Paikea, ko Uenuku,—ko nga tamariki enei a Tato.” And these are also said to have come hither in the waka (“canoe”) Takitimu. While another genealogy (that of the Hawke's Bay tribe—Ngatikahungunu), commencing also with Tato,

gives his son as Rongokako, whose son was Tamatea, whose son was Kahungunu, and from this man (the founder of their tribe) down to the present generation are just twenty-one generations. In another old story we have the following:—“When Tamatea arrived, he burnt up the tangled mass of herbage and scrub from the surface, then it was that man, possessing useful land, dwelt and lived well.” 3. Of the “Feathers,” etc., of the Moa. On my reading the first part of my paper on the Moa,* Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. XI., p. 568. a discussion ensued; when Mr. Locke, who was present, said that he had formerly heard when travelling in the interior among the Urewera tribe, a very similar relation from them in reply to his enquiries respecting the Moa; and that he had also heard more than once from the old chiefs on the East Coast, south of Hawke's Bay, that they had themselves seen the feathers of the Moa, which were anciently used for head decoration. As this, about the feathers and their use, was new to me (as coming from these persons), I lost no time in making further enquiries in that direction, and the following (extracted from several letters) is the result:— 1. (May 7, 1879.) “This is a return to your questions concerning the Moa. I have made diligent enquiry of the chief Hawea and others. At that very time, too (when the letter arrived), the chief James Waiparera was here staying; he had come from his place at Patangata to conduct hither certain visitors from Rotorua and from Tauranga. They all heard me read to the chief Hawea your long letter of enquiries, even unto the end of it. Then they said, to take up each question separately; and this was also done. Then they all, including Hawea, said to me: Write to him (Colenso), and say, No man of old ever saw the Moa; the last of men, perhaps, who ever saw the Moa, was in the time of Noah;† This, of course, is from Genesis, and refers to the Deluge. because it was at the time of the overturning in the days of (or by) Mataoho‡ Thus referred to in the very old legend of Tawhaki:—“Tawhaki, having recovered from his wounds, left that place, and went and built a fort on the top of the mountain for himself and tribe, where they dwelt. Then it came to pass that the rain was let down from the sky, and the land was overwhelmed, and all men died; from which circumstance (that flood) was named—`The overturning of Mataoho;' and so they perished.” (See this amplified in “Polynesian Mythology,” p. 61.) that the race of Moas died, whose bones are now seen. The men of the after times did not (see it); the men also who preceded Wahotapaturangi§ This was Hawea's grandfather, who, with his son Te Heheu, saw Cook. Te Heheu died about thirty years ago, old and full of days. did not see it, down to the times of Te Heheu; and now here also am I, an old man, relating this. All those men never saw the Moa, also myself I never saw it.

I cannot possibly tell a lie in this matter to thee (emphatic), and say, I saw, or I heard of it. Those men of olden time, as I have said, never saw* I believe the true meaning of the verb (kite), here, is—heard of, i.e. knew from relation; heard it clearly described. the Moa—that is, its body, its size, its length, its height, its feathers—never once. No man ever heard of the taste of its flesh, and of its appearance; or of its fat, or its skin, or its being sweet or bitter to the taste.† All this is with especial reference to my many separate enquiries. For if, indeed, those men of old had known anything of the Moa, they would have left that knowledge to be talked of and handed down to the men of after times. But inasmuch as those men of the olden time did not know, therefore it is most certain that these men who came after them did not know also. Again: you enquire, `How is it that the Maoris of to-day know these bones which they see to be of the Moa?' According to my way of thinking, our old ancestors saw those said bones and called them so, and thus it is that we now know them to be such. But no man of old knew anything more of them, so that they knew it (as) food, or the real living appearance of its bones (when clothed with flesh), which are now seen by us bigger than those of a horse! Hawea also says, No man of old before the time of Wahotapaturangi knew anything of the food of the Moa, or of its habitat. This phrase, `the air-eating Moa'(=te Moa kaihau), is only a common proverbial saying among us; it is often applied to a man; a man-moa is such-a-one who turns away from his food and lives on air. Again, with reference to the feathers of the Moa, it is said that the feather called the plume of Piopio (Te rau-o-piopio) is from the Moa. When the chiefs of the Maoris die, then this feather is stuck in their hair, and the body so decorated is placed on the raised platform (prepared for it), and the friends and visitors, on seeing it, exclaim, `Thou art good (or beautiful), O plume of Piopio!' Here ends what was said by Hawea and his friends, visitors, about the Moa.” 2. (July 4, 1879.) “Referring to your further enquiries about the feather of the Moa, called the plume of Piopio, Hawea says,—there is no known body whence came this feather; the body in which it had been fixed was that of the Moa at the mountain Whakapunake; it was a feather from it. It was blown hitherwards by the winds, and, on its being seen, drifting, it was picked up. When a chief died, that feather was taken and used for head decoration while lying on the ornamented stage, or bier; and when the corpse was finally borne away, that feather was taken out of the hair and preserved for some other chief who should afterwards die. Hawea also says that the look of this feather was just like that of the Peacock, that it did not differ a bit in its glossiness and variety of colours, in its

length, and in its ocellated appearance; its great beauty altogether was exactly that of the feather of the Peacock.” 3. (July 18, 1879.) “This is in answer to your new and repeated questions to Hawea concerning the said feather called Te rau-o-piopio (=the plume of Piopio) and Te Kowhakaroro; this is what he says:—I will first speak of the body whence came that feather. I have heard formerly the old men talking and saying that the Moa fed on air (or wind); that it never walked about, but kept its head always turning. The Moa race was killed through the overturning of the Earth by (or in the time of) Mataoho; therefore it is that only the bones are now found. Another saying of theirs, that one Moa only escaped from that destruction, and this one dwells within the cave at the mountain Whakapunake; but this (saying) perhaps is false, and this is my reason for saying so:—In my time (early days) a travelling party went thither, and I saw how they were teased about it on their return. A feather, however, was found stuck fast on a white pine tree (Kahika), which was brought back. When Matawhaiti died, (the ancestor of Tukuwaru,* An aged chief still living here in Hawke's Bay.) this said feather was stuck in his hair, and it was afterwards reserved for that purpose of decorating the heads of deceased chiefs when laid in state upon the bier. I, myself, saw that feather on that occasion; and so did (many of) the men of Te Wairoa and of Te Whakakii (in Hawke's Bay), they also saw it. That one feather bore two names—Te rau-o-piopio, and Te Kowhakaroro. It was like the feather of the Peacock, that is in its ocellated appearance; very likely if that bird, the Peacock, had been a native of this island, then that feather would be certainly said to be a Peacock's feather. All those are Hawea's words.” 4. (July 21, 1879.) “Shortly after my last letter to you was written, a visiting party arrived here from the neighbourhood of the mountain Whakapunake, and we again talked about the Moa, on account of your enquiries. Those men say, in addition to what I have already informed you,—that the famed Moa of Whakapunake bore twelve of those beautiful round-eyed feathers, resembling those of the Peacock. From (signed) Hawea.”†† I have been careful to be exact in making those translations of, and extracts from, Hawea's letters to me, even to the repeating of some portions, as I wished to give them as I received them;—it may be for future reference. I had purposed the giving them also in their original Maori, in the Appendix to this paper. Hawea, being aged, very rarely writes himself, but employs constantly a middle-aged Maori, named Hamuera, to write for him; who, I know, is to be relied on for accuracy: hence it is that Hawea is generally spoken of in the third person. II. Proverbs. 1. He koromiko te wahie i taona ai te Moa. The firewood with which the Moa was baked was of Koromiko (Veronica salicifolia).

This is often said on seeing the hissing sap-like exudation issuing from the branches of the Koromiko shrub when fired, green or wet; which sap is also said to be the fat, or oil, of the Moa. Note, here, the mode of cooking, as shown by the verb (tao), is that of the earth-oven or haangi; but the koromiko shrub is never used for such a purpose, the wood being much too small. [I may here mention that the late Sir Donald McLean, who had kindly endeavoured in former years to glean some information for me relative to the Moa, in his travelling in his official capacity and meeting with the old Maori chiefs, told me that this common saying was all he had met with.] But then a similar proverb, or saying, is also used concerning this very same shrub when burnt green, connecting it with Tutunui, the pet whale of Tinirau (which whale was killed and roasted and eaten by Kae, as fully related in their myths);* Vide “Polynesian Mythology,” p. 92. namely—“Tena te kakara o Tutunui! = Excellent is the nice smell of (the whale) Tutunui (roasting)! 2. He mihiau te kowhatu i taona ai te Moa. Mihiau was the (kind of) stone with which the Moa was cooked, or baked. This apparently simple saying has given me a world of trouble. During several years I have been enquiring the kind of stone called mihiau, but with little or no success. One intelligent old chief only, seemed to know something about it; according to his statement, a mihiau was one of three sorts of stone anciently used for cutting and lacerating their flesh in times of grief, and death of relatives—waiapu, paretao, and mihiau—and all three were, I think, of a volcanic nature (Waiapu-obsidian), and therefore could not be used for common baking purposes; besides, their own highly superstitious fears as to any desecration of the tapu would have prevented their so using them. Has this any hidden, or obsolete, reference to the “fire of Tamatea” (supra)? which is said to have originated from the country near the burning mountain Tongariro. Further, the name itself is a strange one. Etymologically it means—thy expressed grief after something dead, or gone; mihi = grief, or affection shown after something absent;† See Tangaroa-mihi, “Trans. N. Z. Inst.,” Vol. XI., p. 100. au = thy, or thine; and as such the name would be a highly poetical one for a cutting bit of sharp stone used only for lacerating purposes on account of the departed. 3. Ko te huna i te Moa! All have been destroyed as completely as the Moa! Said of a tribe—of a fighting party—of the people of a village—or of a family, when all have been surprised and killed—or carried off by death.

4. Kua ngaro i te ngaro o te Moa! All have wholly disappeared, perished, just as the Moas perished; none left! (A saying similar to the foregoing, and used under similar circumstances). 5. Na te Moa i takahi te raataa. The Raataa tree (Metrosideros robusta) was trampled down, when young, by the Moa—hence its irregular growth. (The meaning being, early evil habits are not to be afterwards overcome. “Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined.”) 6. Ko te Moa kai hau! Even as the Moa feeding on air! This saying, which is also very ancient, arose from the belief of the myth that the Moa (the one that had escaped from the universal fiery destruction) resided in a cave on the top of the mountain Whakapunake, with its mouth wide open; hence it is said to feed on the wind, or air. 7. He Moa oti koe, ina ka kore koe e kai? Art thou, indeed, a Moa, that thou dost not eat? 8. He Moa kai hau! A Moa living on air! 9. He puku Moa! A Moa's stomach, or appetite! Those last four proverbial sayings, nearly alike in meaning, are used—(1) in banter of a man in health who has no appetite for food; and (2) of a woman who at meal times cares not to eat, through being very deeply in love—her lover being absent, or his person not agreeable to her tribe and family, and so her affections are crossed, etc., etc. Of this latter we have a notable instance in Hinemoa, the woman whose name is handed down in a tradition of the olden time, as having swum in the night from the mainland at Rotorua to Mokoia, the island in the large lake there, to meet her lover, Tutanekai, the object of her desire. Hence, too, as her people suspected her, seeing she did not care to eat, etc., she got the provisional name of Hinemoa, which subsequently stuck to her; like many other names of very frequent occurrence among the Maoris, through derision, accident, fault, war, etc. Hine=young lady, daughter of rank; and Moa=the mythical animal—i.e., the young lady who left her food, or lived on air (just as the Moa), on account of her love for her sweetheart. Her name has been given to the Colonial Government steamer ‘Hinemoa.’ There is still, however, another meaning belonging to the words “He kai hau;” namely, that it is the name of an ancient malediction or curse used by sorcerers; in which death is invoked on him who makes a practice of receiving gifts without giving any in return, so that he pines away and dies, This, in connection with the mythical creature the Moa, might some-

times also have had something to do, among such a dreadfully superstitious race, with sudden and unaccountable loss of appettite. This remark, however, can only be fully appreciated and considered by those who well knew the ancient Maoris in their old times of superstitious fear and dread; when everything which happened and could not be satisfactorily accounted for, was immediately placed to the malevolence of some fancied supernatural demon (atua), or human sorcerer (kai-makutu). III. Poetry. 1. In a long and ancient poem, or chaunt, called “the Lament of Turaukawa”—in the midst of many similar references to the oldest Myths and Legends—occur these lines:— —–“Kua rongo 'no au Na Hikuao te Korohiko, Ko te rakau i tunua ai te Moa 'A rewa aana hinu.”* Sir G. Grey's “Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p. 324.—– I have indeed heard (from olden times), That the Korohiko† Korohiko is another name for Koromiko = Veronica, sp. (shrub) was by Hikuao The very tree with which the Moa was roasted When all its fat was melted down. 2. A lament, or dirge, over the slain, concludes with these words:— “Mowairokiroki, ko te huna i te Moa, I makere iho ai te tara o te marama.”‡ “Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p. 180. Very calm and placid now the raging billows have become, Even as (it were) at the total destruction of the Moas, When the cusps of the new moon dropped off and fell down (to earth). 3. In another song is a very peculiar reference to the Moa, such as I have never heard of or met with anywhere else, except in Hawea's relation respecting the use of that one feather (ante). The song itself being very short, just one stanza, I shall give it in its entirety with an almost literal translation:— “E! muri koe ahiahi ra, Tango mai te korero, o namata, O nahe rawa, o nga kahika; E, kei runga riro, Kei a Kahungunu; Ko te manu hou nei e, te Moa, Hei tia iho mo taku rangi.”§ “Poetry of the New Zealanders,”p. 133. Alas! afterwards do thou in the evening hours Produce and begin the talk of old, The story of the very earliest times Of the great ancient men; Thus let it be, begin with the very beginning of all,

With the chief Kahungunu; So that the bird's plume here present, That is to say of the Moa Shall be stuck into the hair of my principal chief (or beloved one). Meaning, the principal one spoken of, or being now bewailed. I should say (1) that this song is not a very ancient one; (2) that it must have been sung by some of the Maoris of the East Coast, descendants of Kahungunu; (3) that Hawea's statement throws great light on it; (4) that such a song would be highly suitable, and wholly in keeping with what would be sure to take place, as preliminaries, on the assembling together at the death of a chief,—say, the first day or evening of meeting; (5) that on such occasions the assemblage would begin with their tribal progenitor (Kahungunu) and come down gradatim to the one lately deceased (lying before them), who would thus have the last word; (6) that it is more particularly applicable (from the last two words) as a lament over a young person of high rank. 4. Another song from the East Coast concludes with this stanza:— “Tu tonu Puhirake, ko te Moa kai hau, He whakareinga rimu ki o pou, raia.”* “Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p. 96. Which, as the song is a peculiarly taunting one, may be thus translated:— Poor betrothed beauty, there thou art alone and forlorn, standing continually in the midst of the dense thicket, even as the Moa feeding on air, thy posts (supports or fences) are only for the long, shaggy, ash-coloured, lichen to fly and adhere to, nothing more! To the Maori those two lines possess a whole multitude of suitable images and ideas. 5. In an ancient dirge-like song, or chaunt,†“Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p. 9. of great poetical depth and beauty, and very carefully composed,—often used in times of heavy disaster and death, the old and common proverbial saying already noticed,‡ Vide “Proverbs” (ante), p. 86. (“Kua ngaro i te ngaro o te Moa!”), is brought in with thrilling effect at the end of the third stanza. Here I may mention that, in 1852, at a season of extraordinary calamity here in Hawke's Bay, I both re-wrote (a-la-Maori) with variations, and translated into English, this composition; and on my reciting it, in Maori, before several chiefs who were assembled here from several places in the southern portion of this North Island (one of whom was the late Karaitiana), I was not a little surprised to find they could all join in many of its parts, including the ending of all its stanzas. I then discovered that it had long been a truly national poem (so to speak), and, like very many others

of their poetical effusions, altered from time to time to suit the present occasion.* Vide “Essay on the Maori Races:” Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. I., p. 47, Essay. I have carefully gone through more than 900 pieces of Maori poetry, including Sir G. Grey's published collection, some of them very long (and not a few of them written coarsely in a wretched hand); indeed, I may say I have laboriously studied them all in the course of many years, and these few lines which I have here brought before you are all that I have been able to discover in them relating to the Moa—just those five small scant and antiquated sentences! There are, however, a few others containing the bare word “Moa,” but those are merely references to names of persons, or poetical contractions of other common words having in them those three letters, and possessing little or no bearing on the subject before us. IV. Names of Places and of Men of the Olden Time which contain the Word “Moa.” Of such I have obtained several; but—as I cannot, in a single instance, be sure of the word or term in question strictly belonging to the extinct animal or bird Moa—I shall defer the consideration of this part of my subject to the second (or negative) head of this enquiry. § 2. Negative. 1. In all the many legends and myths of the Maori, some of which are of great antiquity—from before the time of their common genealogical period or beginning, commonly known as “Hawaiki,” or “no Hawaiki”—there is no mention of, nor reference to, the Moa, save that one solitary and brief intimation I have already quoted.† Vide p. 80, Legend of Ngahue. And yet there were plenty of opportunities in them of bringing the living Moa prominently forward, if that animal were then known, or, at all events, of some casual allusion to it, or to their manner of capturing and killing it. As, for instance (among many others), in their several fables of birds, in which the birds converse one with another, etc., as may be seen in the Fable of the Great Battle of the Land and Sea Birds;‡ See Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. XI., p. 101. in that of the Hokioi (another large and extinct bird), and the Kaahu (hawk); in the myths of the slaying of those several Saurian monsters;§ See Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. XI., p. 87, etc. and in the old legends of Maui, and of Hatupatu and his brothers, in which the various birds are made to play such an important part;—those ancient stories are all silent concerning the Moa. So, again, where in them special mention is made of the food, particularly birds, to be found in plenty in certain regions; such as was said of the chief Takakopiri, in the legend of Kahureremoa—that “he was a great chief, and had abundance of food of the best kinds on his estates; plenty of potted birds of all kinds (pigeons, and tuis), and kiwis, and kiores, and wekas, and eels;” and

again it is said, the question was asked, “What is the name of yonder mountain? and they answered, That is Otawa. And the young girl asked again, Is the country of that mountain rich in food? and they replied, Oh, there are found kiores, and kiwis, and wekas, and pigeons, and tuis; why, that mountain is famed for the variety and number of birds that inhabit it.”* “Polynesian Mythology,” pp. 262, 264. 2. Further: with reference to the very great use of feathers as ornaments for the hair, which were greatly prized by the chiefs of olden days, there is also no mention, no allusion, however distant, to any feathers of the Moa in any of their legends; although there are plenty to the feathers of other birds, sea and land,—both as head decorations and as forming cloaks, for which latter purpose those of the Kiwi were commonly used. And from the now known fact, of the Moa being also a struthious bird and a congener of the Kiwi, and its common body feathers equally as well if not better adapted, being stronger and tougher, for the feather-cloaks of the ancient Maoris. How are those omissions to be accounted for if the Moa were known? Especially if (as Hawea says) that one feather he had seen was so surpassingly handsome! In the old Legend of Marutuahu we read of the killing of birds for food in the interior, and of the young chief, who had been out hunting and spearing birds, dressing himself finely in his cloaks and feathers, when, “after combing his hair he tied it up in a knot, and stuck fifty red Kaaka (= Parrot) feathers in his head, and amongst them he placed the plume of a white heron, and the tail of a huia as ornaments; he thus looked extremely handsome, and said to his slave, Now let us go: for he now appeared as handsome as the large-crested cormorant.”† “Polynesian Mythology,” p. 250. And, also, that Cook, with his band of scientific men with him, while they often speak of the quantity and variety of feathers with which the New Zealanders ornamented their hair, mention them as belonging to New Zealand birds they had seen or secured: and those chiefs dressed themselves in their very best finery. 3. Their proverbs, too,—many of which are very old—contain no other allusion to the Moa than those few very meagre and misty mythical ones I have already quoted; and yet they deal largely with all Nature, animate and inanimate, known to the New Zealander; the various animals, particularly birds, coming in for a full share of notice; of those drawn from birds alone—their natural habits, powers, feathers, appearance, uses, etc., I have collected nearly 70. Here, too, we find proverbs in plenty relating to food and delicacies,—especially to what, being wild, was obtained by hunting and snaring:—e.g.— “Haere i muri i te tuara o Te Whapuku, Kia kai ai koe i te kai whakairo o te rangi.”

—When you travel, join yourself to the company of the great chief Te Whapuku, that you may eat of all the choicest delicacies (particularly game and wild fowl);—which delicates are stated to be (by an old Maori chief commenting thirty years ago on this very saying) “birds” (pigeons and tuis) “potted in their own fat in calabashes, parrots, and ground-parrots (kaakaapoo), rats, and eels, and berries of the tawa and hinau trees.”—Another pregnant omission! 4. If their old proverbs contained little allusion to the Moa, their old poetry contained still less (as far as is known to me.) And here I may also briefly mention two peculiar quaint poetical ditties of the old Maoris, both being long laments after nice and plentiful food formerly known and eaten; in which every chief article of pleasant food is severally noticed, together with its habitat. The one being a kind of nursery-song, chaunted to a child while nursing it; the other the lament of the chief Kahungunu (who lived twenty-one generations back), when away in the cold Patea country in the interior; in both of which, while mention is made of many birds, no allusion whatever is made to the big fleshy food-yielding Moa! 5. Moreover, while the ancient Maori possessed charms and spells, and prayers for luck in plenty for everything they did, particularly for fishing and fowling and the snaring of rats; and such, too, varied for every different animal whether of the land or of the sea; how is it that there is none for the Moa? which must by far have been the most difficult to catch or kill; or, at all events, by far the biggest game of all! Here we have, still extant, those charms and spells for being successful in taking the various birds—kiwi (Apteryx), kaakaapoo (ground-parrot), koitareke (quail), weka (wood-hen), kaakaa (brown parrot), kautuku (white heron), huia (Heteralocha), kereru (pigeon), tuii (parson-bird), pukeko (swamp-hen), parera (duck), whio (blue mountain-duck), kawau (shag), and toroa (albatross)— —besides the various petrels (?) taiko, toanui, tiitii, and oi; some of those charms being also of great antiquity, and yet there is none for capturing the Moa! This alone has ever been to me an unanswerable argument. 6. In travelling in the interior of this North Island—largely I may say—more than forty years back, I have often had pointed out to me the old land-marks of the game preserves of the ancient Maori, particularly of the ground game—as quail, kiwi, kaakaapoo (ground-parrot), and weka; and the mountain-passes where, in the breeding-season, the tiitii (petrel) was taken in a foggy night by firelight; and also the cliffs on rivers which were smoked and scaled for the fat young of the kawau (shag) ere they were able to fly; even then, at that time, some of those birds had become extinct (as, notably, the quail and ground-parrot), the young men had never seen them, but the old ones had, and caught and eaten them too, in great plenty; and

while they all knew them well by description and oft-told tale, there was nothing whatever known or rehearsed of the habitats of the colossal Moa, save the mythical dwelling of the only one on the top of the high mountain Whakapunake! 7. Further still, I think some notice, however slight, should be taken of the great predilection of the ancient Maori towards making pets of wild animals, even including those of the most extraordinary and bizarre kinds, as we may see in their ancient legends of “Kae and the Pet Whale of Tinirau,* “Polynesian Mythology,” p. 90. and of “The Killing of Kataore,” the monstrous Saurian pet of the chief Tangaroamihi.† “Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” Vol. XI., p. 100. Those stories, however, are both very old and almost prehistorical. Then we have the account of the tame lizard pet of the chief Kahungunu, named Pohokura, which was carried by him from Taputeranga, in Hawke's Bay, to Te Awarua, on the western flank of the Ruahine mountain-range, near the head of the Rangitikei river (about twenty-one generations back), and got loose there, and was not recovered. This lizard pet is still believed by the old Maoris to be dwelling in those lonely mountain forests! Captain Cook and other early visitors tell us how very much the New Zealanders were addicted to pet animals; and, in my own time, I have known of their pet indigenous birds—parrots, paradise ducks, tuiis, ngoiros and karoros (two gulls), huias, and kautukus (those two last being kept solely for their long tail and wing-feathers). They also formerly petted extremely, and made great fuss over, the then newly-introduced animals, as pigs, dogs, cats, and goats.‡ It was in 1841 that I first visited the Urewera tribes in the interior, at Ruatahuna and Te Whaiiti, near the head of the Whakatane river; and it was on this visit that I saw there (at Mangatepa) the most monstrous goat that I ever beheld! in bulk it was more like a young steer with prodigious flat horns, and was very mischievous. I saw it knock down sprawling big strong Maoris! who, however, generally gave it a wide berth, and so kept aloof. Inside of the fenced pa, or village, it was a perfect pest; for being tapu (i.e., bearing the name of some one of their deceased chiefs), it must not be touched! This ancient custom of the old Maoris of naming their pets after some deceased relation, always insured both its safety (with the tribe) and its being tolerably well cared for; and if the said pet were at all viciously inclined it was sure to become worse through over-indulgence! I confess I was afraid of that quadruped, and for a long while could not believe it to be a goat! The Maoris, some years before, had obtained it from a ship on the East Coast. The tuii (or parson-bird), which was a great imitator and dearly prized by the ancient Maoris, was even taught a song,‡ The song which was taught this bird is in Prof. Lee's “New Zealand Grammar,” p. 109; in its present state it is very imperfect. which it spoke tolerably well; of such first-rate talking specimens, however, I have only seen two, and those more than forty years ago. Here again, reviewing the past relative to pet animals,

one is led to enquire,—Why, seeing we have such a long line of testimony from the earliest times as to pets among this people, why is it there is nothing said or handed down concerning the Moa?* See infra, p. 96. 8. Lastly, there remain to be considered the several usages, or meanings, of this word—Moa, in the Maori language—exclusive of the term as applied to the extinct bird, or rather (by the old Maoris) to its fossil bones; those may thus be classed:—1. Simply as a common noun for other things. 2. (still in its simple form) as an abbreviation of the proper names of other things, or of states of nature, or of persons. 3. As a name for places, and for men of the olden time, having also a word either prefixed or suffixed. 4. As a compound word used for names of things. 5. As reduplicated, and also with the causative particle prefixed. (1.) The word Moa is also used for—1. That peculiar kind of boring instrument or drill†† See “Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” Vol. I., “Essay on the Maori Races,” p. 15 of Essay; and Cook's Voyages, 1st Voy., Vol. III., p. 464. with which the old Maoris quickly bored the hardest substances known to them, as the green jade-stone, the thick part of a common black bottle, etc. (this little instrument was also by some tribes called a pirori); 2. For a raised plot, or long ridge for cultivation in a garden or plantation (a northern word); 3. For a coarse-growing sea-side grass (Spinifex hirsutus), which is also called turikakoa,‡ The term “turikakoa,”—lit. glad, or nimble knees—arises from the use formerly made of this globular head of flowers when travelling by the sea-side, in going before the wind over sandy beaches, or flats, when the tide is low; one, or more, of them were gathered and pursued with agility and merriment! such a simple device has often served to beguile many a wearisome journey on foot, with me and my party. though this last term more properly belongs to its globular involucrate heads of female flowers, from the old use made of them; 4. For a certain kind of stone; or, for a layer or stratum of stone. (2.) As an abbreviation; mostly, however, in poetry, and in colloquial language: e.g.— 1. “Horahia mai ano kia takoto i te aio Moa' i rokiroki.”§ Sir George Grey's “Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p. 41. (speaking of a very great calm). 2. For a person:— “Hua atu, e Moa, Ka wareware ano Ka' te hapai mai.”| Grey's Poetry of New Zealanders, p. 15.

Here, however, this may be the full name; though I doubt it. (3.) 1. As names of places:—e.g., * Te Moa-kai-hau. (See Legends and Proverbs, ante). * Te Kaki-o-te-moa = the neck of the Moa, * Pukumoa = belly, or bowels (of the) Moa. Papamoa = Moa flat; also, Spinifex flat. Taramoa = Moa's spur; also, Bramble (Rubus australis). * Taramoa rahi = spur of the big Moa. * Hauturu moanui = Hauturu big Moa:—i.e. possessing, or having had there, a big Moa. (There are several places named Hauturu). * Moakura = red, or brownish, Moa. Rauhamoa = said to be the name also of a bird. * Moakatino = big, or fine, Moa or Moas. * Otamoa = Moa eaten raw. * Haraungamoa = Moa, or Moas, observed, or watched, or sought; or, the spot where the skin of a Moa was merely grazed, and it got off. * Tarawamoa = stand, or stage, erected for hanging dead Moa. * Moawhiti = startled Moa, or doubling Moa. * Moawhanganui = Moa long waited for. * Moawhangaiti = Moa briefly waited for. * Moarahi = big Moa. Moawhango = hoarse-sounding Moa. 2. As names of persons:—e.g., * Tawakeheimoa—this may mean, Tawake able to meet a Moa; or, Tawake for, or to be at, the Moa; or Tawake to yoke (i.e. hang, or put, a band, or rope around the neck of) a Moa. * Te Kahureremoa—this may mean, the garment which fell off, or was thrown aside in fleeing from a Moa; or the garment of the person who ran on to, or over, a bed in a food cultivation (an offence); or the garment which was blown on to it. Rongoiamoa,—the name of one of the men who is said, according to some legends, to have brought the kumara (sweet potatoe) to New Zealand. I have great doubts, however, of the termination of the word being derived from the animal Moa; it may rather be taken as amoa—carried on the shoulders; although the passive of that verb (amo) generally has the termination hia, sometimes wia; should it prove to have been derived from the Moa, then of course, it shows its high antiquity. (Those three proper names are mentioned early in their history, and are all found in the two legends of Hinemoa, and of Te Kahureremoa; all three might also have been originally the names of ancestors in the long past!)

* Hinetemoa,—derived like Hinemoa (ante) but having a different meaning.† Hinetemoa, a lady who lived eleven generations back (and an ancestress of Henare Toomoana, M.H.R.), was the wife of the chief Hikawera, and mother of Te Whatuiapiti, from whom the sub-tribe of Ngatitewhatuiapiti, residing at Patangata and Waipukurau in Hawke's Bay, are descended. On my formerly enquiring of the old chiefs of that tribe, why she obtained that name? the reply was: To show her high rank; she being the daughter of a great chief and of a great lady; hence, Hine—which was joined to that of the one great majestic Moa dwelling on the mountain Whakapunake, there being no other, so—Hinetemoa!! * Te Awheramoa,—this may mean, to surround a Moa or Moas, through going behind; or, to relate, or point out, the precise place where a Moa or Moas had been seen. Raumoa = Moa's feather: also, a variety of New Zealand Flax (Phormium): also, a blade of grass (Spinifex). Himoa = ? to fish with a hook and line having a bit of Moa's bone (fossil) attached as a lure—as the Maoris formerly did at the East Cape. Karamoa,—this may mean the same as Taramoa; the k being substituted for t, which is sometimes done. (N.B—Those preceding names of persons and of places have been obtained from all parts of the North Island.) (4.) As a compound word for names of things, etc., e.g.:— Raumoa,‡ Raumoa, being the name for a variety of New Zealand Flax (Phormium), found on the West Coast (unknown by sight to me), and also a name for the leaves of the sea-side grass Spinifex hirsutus, a question here arises: (1) is the glaucous green Spinifex similar in hue to the said variety of Phormium? and, if so, (2) could the extinct bird Moa have had plumage of a similar colour in the eye of the old Maoris? (3) the hairy waving flaccid and closely growing Spinifex might also have carried a resemblance to the coarse body-feathers of the Moa. From strict etymological analogy, I should say, there must have been something in connection with the Moa which gave their names to those two plants; such, too, being in keeping with the genius of the ancient Maoris—as we may see (for instance) in the plant Rauhuia = the plume of the Huia (Linum monogynum), just because it bears its numerous white flowers at the tips of its branches, so reminding the old Maori of the white-tipped feathers of the Huia (Heteralocha gouldi). Kauhangaamoa, names of 3 varieties of New Zealand Flax (Phormium). Karuamoa, Hinamoa—a grub in wood, eating and making it rotten, and yet having a fair outside. Rauhamoa—a large bird. Taramoa, Tataramoa, Bramble (Rubus australis). Tautauamoa—a dispute about a piece of land or bed (moa) in a cultivation; a quarrel between a few of the same tribe; a private quarrel.

Moai = peaceful, quiet—as the land in time of peace. * Maimoa (v. and n.), = a decoy-bird—as a tame parrot, kept solely for that purpose; to decoy by means of a tame bird, or bait. This is another highly peculiar word, deserving of notice. The term is composed of two words, mai = hither, towards, hitherwards; and moa = the name of the extinct animal. Is it possible that this word is derived from its very old original use as a term for the decoy for the living Moa? Nothing could have better expressed it. Maimoa = (come) hither Moa; or the means (whatever that originally was) of making the Moa to come towards its hunter or his snares, or the better to secure it. Some forty years ago I found the word largely and comprehensively in use among the scattered Urewera tribes in the mountainous interior; it is also a general word. * Taniwha-moawhango = a monster having a hollow cry like a hoarse Moa; or, a monster-like Moa with a deep, hoarse, grating cry. Another very peculiar proper name, a relic of the olden time, carrying almost its own interpretation! At all events I can get no more. I have found only one old chief who had ever heard of the word, and that in his boyhood, but who could not explain it, save that that was the name of the creature, which was much feared (superstitiously). It is said that its hoarse, repulsive cry was heard always beneath in the earth (not unlikely some subterranean noise caused by volcanic action). Curiously enough, there is a river in the Patea country (interior) named Moawhango† Vide names of places, ante. (= hoarse-sounding Moa). This river runs in some places very deep below in the earth far beyond the light of day, and there, perhaps, may have a hoarse, hollow murmuring. Thirty-five years ago I crossed this river more than once on long poles thrown across the narrow surface chasm; I could not see the water below in looking down through the rift! (5.) As reduplicated, and also with the causative particle prefixed; e.g.: Moamoa, Small spherical shining mineral balls, the size of marbles, Hamoamoa, found in the earth in various places; as (by myself) near Cape Turnagain; perhaps iron pyrites.‡ I cannot resist venturing a remark here on these peculiar terms for those round shining stones: (1) Note the two words; here we have moa reduplicated, meaning, commonly, less than moa (whatever moa may here mean), and, at the same time, having a frequentative tendency; (2) then we have the prefix ha, which means, to resemble, to look like, to remind of; can there be any allusion here to the metællic shining eyes, the ocellated appearance, of that one feather, which Hawea said was a feather of the Moa, and which closely resembled a peacock's tail-feather? Moa, too, as we have seen, seems to be a kind of generic term for something round, spherical—e.g., the round twirling drill, and the round flowering-headed Spinifex.

Whakamoa—to make up, or raise a plat, or heap of small stones or of earth; to make a raised bed of earth for planting, as in a food cultivation. Whakamaimoa—to show kindness to rough, undeserving people; to make tame, civil. Those several names of places, persons, and things, selected from a large number, would of themselves prove of great service to us in our researches if they could be depended on; as showing that, in some indefinite period in the far past, they applied to the animal in question. But in almost every case they may mean (or originally have meant) something else; for some of them may have had reference to a man, or men, named Moa; others (as Papamoa, Raumoa) to the sea-side grass called Moa, etc. It was a common custom with the Maoris (and it is not yet abolished—indeed, it seems of late, during the last 20–25 years, to have been strongly renewed), to name a child after some ancestor of the olden time, which was not unfrequently repeated again and again in the course of succeeding generations, as may be found in their genealogical lists of descent—much the same as obtains among us. In some cases, too, the name of Moa, when derived from that of a man of ancient times, may have originally been only a part of his name—the beginning, middle, or ending* As obtains also very commonly in modern names among the Maoris, e.g.: Maa (for Makarini = MacLean), Mue (for Hamuera = Samuel), Neho (for Koreneho = Colenso), Tiu (for Matiu = Matthew), Pao (for Paora = Paul), Nahi (for Natanahira = Nathaniel). of it, as the case might have been—having subsequently had something else added thereto, as is now still being done by them. Nevertheless I must, in all fairness, allow that it seems to me that such names of places, etc., as Moawhiti, Moarahi, Otamoa, Haraungamoa, etc. (which I have marked with an asterisk in the foregoing list), are derived from the animal in question, viz., the Moa, and that, too, when in a living state. And, if I am right in my deduction, or conjecture, such also serves to carry the age in which the Moa lived very far back indeed in the history of the Maori; as the names of places were before anything else with them, and were also never changed.† I may here give the translation of a letter from some aged chiefs on the East Coast, in answer to my repeated enquiries. It will also serve as a fair sample of many received on the same subject:— “Friend Colenso, greeting to thee, etc. Listen to what we have to say in answer to thy many questions. We are not sufficient (or able) to reply. The reason of our inability is simply this, that our ancestors themselves did not know, and so that want of knowledge has come down to and is with us of the present day. It is so just because there was and is but one meaning of those several words [names of places], viz.: the name of the place itself. We know the bones of the Moa from old time; but the reason why such a name (of Moa or relating to a Moa) was anciently given to streams, to lands, to persons, to trees, to plants, this we don't know, we cannot explain; and herein is our great ignorance.” And this will the more strongly appear to be the case, for, as

we have seen, apart from such we have no traces of the animal in question (save fragmentary and mythical ones) left in their language. Additional Remarks. A few other additional remarks I would also offer; gleaned, I may say, by the way we have come in our enquiry:— 1. The very peculiar names (Rau-o-piopio and Kowhakaroro) repeatedly given by the chief Hawea to that “one Moa's feather” he had seen:—observe (1.) that such is not that of the bird itself; it is not here called a Rau (or Piki) Moa=the plume or fine feather of the Moa; while such is commonly the case with the feathers of other birds which are prized for head decoration,—which are always named after the bird itself; as, Rau (or Piki) huia=the plume or fine feather of the huia,—Rau (or Piki) kotuku=the plume or fine feather of the kotuku (white crane),—Rau parera=the plume of the duck, etc., etc. (2.) That the term Rau-o-piopio would properly mean—feather, or plume, of (the bird) Piopio; and there is a bird of that name known to the Maoris; or, rather, I should say, there are three! all widely differing from each other:—(a.) the New Zealand thrush (Turnagra crassirostris);—(b.) a small reddish bird;—(c.) a bird (unknown to me) said to have been a kind of ground game and largely used as food, but now extinct!* Nearly all that I know of this bird is from a letter from a Maori chief, written in 1873, in which he says:—“The foreigner introduced the dog and the cat, which completely destroyed the food-birds of this island,—the weka, the kiwi, the kaakaapoo, the piopio, and many other birds.” Of these three birds I only know the first one, having both seen and heard it in the forests on the west side of the Ruahine mountain range, although it is a South Island bird, and but rarely met with so far north as Hawke's Bay; it is also called by the Maoris korokio, and koropio; by this last name it is best known in these parts. As the first of these three birds (the thrush) is not unfrequently mentioned by the Maoris in their songs, owing to its cry (piopio), and also in their proverbs, I have made special enquiry, whether the said “one feather” bearing its name could have belonged to it; but met with a direct negative. Neither have I succeeded any better in all my endeavours to learn why that one feather should have obtained those two long names. (3.) The other term for that one feather, “Kowhakaroro,” has, curiously enough, a peculiar meaning, that is etymologically,—a reference to another bird, the karoro, or large white and brown gull (i.e., it may have had some such meaning). One meaning of the word kowha is,—favourable consideration, kind gracious words or dealings, a kind parting word, regret, a gift, souvenir, etc. And the karoro, with its long and melancholy cry, is also mentioned in their legends, as causing them, the old Maoris of ancient

days, to lament when they heard it;* It was the hearing the melancholy wailing of the karoro flying in the Upper Rangitikei River, that caused the chief Kahungunu to burst out into his passionate lament. (Vide, p. 91, ante.) so that I can well perceive how those two words put together would form an appropriate name, among such a poetical and imaginative race, for such a feather only so used, viz., the last melancholy parting gift of the karoro. But still this may be fanciful on my part. 2. That “one feather” is also plainly and fully described by Hawea as closely resembling the tail-feather of the peacock. Now, here three things are observable:—(1.) That such is not the case with any Struthious bird known, especially with the remaining New Zealand one, the kiwi (Apteryx, sp.); (2.) that, curiously enough, a similar glowing description is also given of another extinct New Zealand bird of large size, viz” the hokioi; which bird, however, had been really seen by the old Maoris of the generation just passed away, and by them particularly described. It was said, by an intelligent aged Maori, seven to eight years ago, when writing of this bird:—“Our forefathers saw that bird of former days, the hokioi; we of this generation have never seen it, for it has become extinct, but only of late. According to what our forefathers have handed down to us, the hokioi was a very strong bird, especially on the wing; it was very much bigger and stronger than the hawk, with which, however, it was always at feud. Its habitat was on the mountains, never in the lowlands. It was seen by our fathers when flying, on its days of coming down, or flying abroad; but this was not every day, because its home was in the mountains. Its appearance or colour was red and black and white, having plenty of feathers; some of which were also bright yellow, like the colour of the flowers of the kowhai tree (Edwardsia), and some were glistening green, like those of the small parroquet; it had also a beautiful tuft, or plume of feathers on its head. It was a very big bird indeed.” (3.) If that “one feather” was not a stray feather from the recently extinct bird hokioi, which also lived away in the mountains,† Vide Hawea's statement of that “one feather” having been found in the mountain district, blown down by the wind to the branches of a white pine tree. (Ante, p. 83.)—it may have been a feather from a Peacock, brought hither by those whaling ships from Sydney or Tasmania, which came here often early in this century to refit, etc., and who would have quickly known how very much handsome feathers were in request, both in New Zealand and in the other South Sea Islands; of which, indeed, the barter had been commenced in the very time of Cook,‡ Vide “Cook's Voyages,” second voyage, Vol. I., p. 318; and in other places. and of which those who came after him in those seas, of course knew. Here I may also remark, that the old Maoris who first saw the Europeans, as a rule, named the new and strange things (especially animals) in

accordance with their own ideas respecting them;* Nor is this to be at all wondered at, for the Greeks and the Romans did just the same thing to new animals; hence the Greeks named the animal from the African rivers, Hippopotamus (river-horse), and the Romans the Elephant, Lucas bos (the Lucanian ox), because they were first seen by them in Lucania. (Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. viii. c. 6: Varro, de Ling. Lat.) I am led to mention this here in a note, because some of our “superior race” colonists have ridiculed the Maoris for so doing, and in doing so have displayed their own ignorance! hence they called the horse, the kuri (or kararehe) waha-tangata = the dog (or beast) which carries a man, and this was the name by which the horse was long known in the Bay of Islands, where it was first introduced; so with the sheep which was called pirikahu (from its wool), and the cat = ngeru; while the fowls, which were given by Cook to the old chief who boarded his ship off Blackhead, on the East Coast,† Vide Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. X., p. 146. were called by them (in my time) koitareke pakeha = foreign quail. 3. In the proverbs I have quoted concerning the Moa, the first one runs,‡ Page 84, ante. “He koromiko te wahie i taona ai te Moa;” and I have there said that the verb used in the proverb for cooking, tao (taona, pass.), is that which points out the particular mode, viz., baking in a ground oven; but here it may be observed, that the common verb for burning, tahu (tahuna, pass.), is of similar short pronunciation, and is also sometimes used for cooking, and such may have been originally here intended,§ It should not be overlooked, that it is only of late years the Maori Proverbs, Songs, etc., have been reduced to writing, so that it would be very easy for a writer to make such a slight error as taona for tahuna, especially if he were a young person writing down old and almost obsolete sayings from the dictation of aged men. as we find another analogous verb for roasting, scorching, tunu (tunua, pass.), is also used in those few songs∥ Vide page 87, ante in which the Moa is mentioned; this supposition is further strengthened by what is uniformly said in their legends of its sudden disappearance by fire. To this I may also add, that frequently in my early travelling in this country (some 45–46 years ago), my Maori companions, on nearing a pa or village among their own tribe (especially if emerging from a forest near), would call out, “Tahuna he kai,” and “Tahuna he kai ma matou!” instead of “Taona he kai,” etc., although this latter was intended (Bake some food for us); as the firewood in the ground oven must be first burnt (tahu) before that the food could be baked therein (tao). Conclusion. It will, I think, be seen that I have written exhaustively on this subject, at least I have endeavoured to do so, and that for two reasons:— 1. I wished to tell all the little I knew—all I had subsequently gleaned since first publishing about the Moa in 1842; in hopes of others hereafter following up the quest.

2. I have, in so doing, finished my work; I shall not again write on this topic. For my own part I am, as I have long been, satisfied. My own fresh labours in this direction have only served the more fully to confirm me in my old views* Vide Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. I., “Essay on the Maori Races,” p. 58 of Essay. as to the very great antiquity of the living Moa in this North Island of New Zealand. Few, very few, will be fully able to comprehend the immense amount of labour this enquiry has cost me; the amount of time, writing, and patient research consumed would be almost incredible, especially in my seeking after ancient names of places and of persons containing the term Moa,—and what a very small result! I have often been led to think of the amount of toil spent in obtaining two dishes for the banquet of Heliogabalus, viz.: of ostriches' and nightingales' tongues! and yet all devoured in an hour. In fine, the conclusion I have come to is this:— 1. That the bird Moa (some of those of its genera and species) was really known to the ancient Maori. 2. That such happened very long ago, in almost pre-historical times; long before the beginning of their genealogical descents of tribes, which, as we know, extend back for more than twenty-five generations. 3. That this conclusion is the only logical deduction from all that I have been able to gather; whether myth, legend, proverb, song, or the etymological rendering of proper names of places, persons, etc. I will conclude my paper in the highly suitable words of Tacitus, when writing on another celebrated bird of great antiquity, which had given him and other philosophers before him an immense amount of labour—I mean the Phænix. Tacitus says: “In the consulship of Paulus Fabius and Lucius Vitellius, after a long series of ages, the bird called the Phænix arrived in Egypt, and furnished the most learned of the natives and Greeks with occasion for much speculation concerning that marvel * * * But the accounts of antiquity are enveloped in doubt and obscurity * * * whence some have believed that the present was a spurious Phœnix * * These accounts are not entitled to unqualified credit, and their uncertainty is by the admixture of matter palpably fabulous: but that this bird has been at some time seen in Egypt, is not questioned.”† Annals, lib. VI., c. 28. Appendix II. 1. Of Dr. Ernest Dieffenbach's opinion on the Moa. Among the very few early scientific writers on New Zealand, who had themselves travelled in and partially explored the country, I may here

mention Dr. E. Dieffenbach, the Naturalist to the New Zealand Company. This gentleman was here in the years 1839–1841, and I had the pleasure of being acquainted with him while he stayed in the Bay of Islands, where, for some time, he lived next door to me. He saw and “overhauled” all my specimens (even then rich in shells, and insects, and ferns, and in geological samples), and many conversations we had respecting the Moa. In his work, in two volumes, on “New Zealand,” he twice mentions the Moa, but only in a very slight way; in fact, he, then, could not say any more, for he did not himself collect a single Moa bone, although he was industrious in obtaining all kinds of natural specimens. He saw, however, what few broken bones I had at that time, obtained from near the East Cape through the Christian Maori teachers, who had been sent there by us after our early visit made there in January, 1838. Dr. Dieffenbach thus alludes to the Moa in his work:—“The natives (of Taranaki) could not understand what induced me to ascend Mount Egmont; they tried much to dissuade me from the attempt, by saying that the mountain was tapu;* Lit., strictly forbidden, or preserved. that there were ngarara (crocodiles) on it, which would undoubtedly eat me; the mysterious bird Moa, of which I shall say more hereafter, was also said to exist there, But I answered that I was not afraid of those creations of their lively imagination,” etc. And again, in writing of “special changes in New Zealand,” he says:—“If a geological cause, such for instance as a diminution of the size of the island, attended by an alteration of climate and a diminution in the means of subsistence, has contributed to the extinction of the struthious Moa in New Zealand, and of the Dodo in the Mauritius, it is no less sure that, since New Zealand began to be inhabited by its aboriginal race, the agency of man has effected a part of that eternal fluctuation in the organic world, the knowledge of which has been one of the most important results of modern science,” † “Travels in New Zealand,” Vol. I., pp. 140 and 417. And this is all he says! Some time after, however (in 1845), we find him reading a paper “On the Geology of New Zealand,” before “the British Association for the Advancement of Science,” ‡At their fifteenth meeting, held June 21, 1845. in which he says:—“That he has examined into all the traditions respecting the existence of the Moa, or great bird of New Zealand, and concludes that it has never been seen alive by any natives of New Zealand; the rivers in which its bones have been found flow between banks from thirty to sixty feet high, and, as they are continually changing their course, the remains of the Moa may have been derived from tertiary fluviatile strata.” §From the ‘Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science,” Vol. II., p. 451. (Of course I cannot help thinking the Doctor was indebted to my published paper on the Moa for this information, as it is

given in almost my very words; nevertheless, if not wholly original on his part, I bring Dr. Dieffenbach forward as a valuable witness, and a supporter of my early published opinions). 2. Of the later opinions of Sir George Grey and of Mr. Weld (with others of lesser note), stated, or adduced, in some of the past volumes of the “Transactions of the New Zealand Institute.” Having read them, I cannot allow this (my last!) opportunity to pass without briefly noticing them. Sir G. Grey is stated to have said that he had heard from the Maoris of their general knowledge of the Moa, and of its recent extinction, in common with some other birds; and Mr. Weld relates of a Maori informing him how the bird kicked like a horse, etc., etc. To me all this is easy enough. From January, 1838 (when I first heard of the Moa), down to 1842, and later, no man could possibly have done more than I did in my quest after it, and no man could have had better opportunities; by enquiry everywhere, personally, in travelling (and I, then, travelled largely); by letters to a distance, in New Zealand, to both Europeans and Maoris; and by Maoris (my own lads), returning to their homes in all parts from our Mission Stations at the north;* Vide Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. XI., p. 110. and through many others of them whom we had redeemed from slavery and restored to their homes and tribes, and with whom I subsequently long corresponded;—and, I again assert, that it was through me that the Maoris generally got to know of the Moa having been a real (or common) bird. I showed them, repeatedly, at the station, the plates in Rees' Cyclopædia,† Vol. V., Natural History, plates. containing all the Struthious birds, and told them of their habits, etc., and of my opinion of the extinct Moa; that information was carried almost everywhere (with, no doubt, many additions),—and that information, together with simple leading questions on the parts of the enquirers (especially when put by the Governor of the Colony, or by any superior,—which, according to Maori etiquette, would not be negatived even if wrong) ‡Vide Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. I., p. 49 of “Essay on the Maori Races,”—and, also, with but a small knowledge of the Maori tongue on the part of the Europeans, fully explain all to me, and that very satisfactorily. Here, I cannot help remarking, in order to make things clear, that words would fail to show to the colonist of to-day—or (say) of the last thirty to thirty-five years—how highly different it was with the Maori before this Colony was established, and for a few years after; I mean, particularly, with reference to the making of those enquiries. They were carried everywhere throughout the length and breadth of the North Island; they were the constant theme of conversation among the Maoris, who then had little of a novel nature to

talk over,—increased, from the fact of rewards being offered for bones, feathers (if any), and for information. Mr. Travers' paper (compilation)* Vide Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. VIII., p. 58. I should not care to notice separately, were it not for a letter contained therein, written by my good friend Mr. John White. (I could only wish, in this as in some other matters, that Mr. Travers would write of what he himself knows of things). Some portions of Mr. White's letter astonish me. For Mr. White had lived at the North among the Ngapuhi tribes many years (just as I had), and to that information said to be obtained from them he adds more—even to a Moa which was “killed” here in modern times “near to Waipukurau!”† Vide my genealogical note on Hinetemoa, p. 95, ante. where I have also been living nearly forty years!! and where I had conversed with those old Maoris who saw Cook, but who knew nothing of the Moa! (I fear this Moa “killed here near to Waipukurau” was much like mine which lived on Whakapunake, or that one mentioned by Dr. Dieffenbach as said to be living on Mount Egmont!) Yet, not only this last statement, but nearly all that Mr. White says is equally new to me. Now I recollect when Mr. John White came to New Zealand (a boy); it must have taken him some time to learn the language—before at all events he could talk clearly about such a highly recondite subject as the Moa, not being then particularly drawn thereto—and when talked of, I presume, such was only very occasionally, and then but slightly; whereas with me and others it was a matter of deep, extensive, and persistent enquiry extending over years. Remembering, also, how Dr. Dieffenbach and others ‡Here I should briefly mention a few of those scientific gentlemen who were also in the Bay of Islands and its neighbourhood during those years (omitting mere passing visitors), and who all through their interpreters zealously sought after any remains of the Moa, now especially coming into prominence; viz., the Antarctic Expedition, under Sir J. C. Ross, R.N., with his several able naturalists (including Sir J. D. Hooker), who wintered there; the United States Exploring Expedition, under Commander Wilkes, U.S.N.; the several French ships of war and discovery, under Admiral Dumont D'Urville, Captain Cecille, Captain L'Eveque, and others; and many other private gentlemen, as Mr. Busby, Mr. Cunningham, the Rev. W. C. Cotton, and Dr. Sinclair,—but whose gains were nil! Through my residing in the Bay and close to the anchorage, I saw and knew them all, and of course had much conversation with them about the Moa, and its history. And last, though not least, there were the many “stores,” or traders settled on shore in various parts of the Bay, who had very extensive dealings not only with the shipping but with the Maoris; who, be it further observed, were now everywhere breaking soil in seeking after the new commercial product, Kauri resin. Those traders would have been sure to have picked up readily any specimens of Moa remains, or any fragments of its past history,—but they, too, got none! laboured to glean something about the Moa in those same northern

parts before that Mr. White knew Maori,—I confess I feel strange. The only ready solution to my mind is that Mr. White in this matter has been half deceived; that is, he heard something long ago (just as Sir G. Grey and others heard it), and the rest has been in the course of many years evolved therefrom or added thereto, or both. 3. Of the Rev. R. Taylor's statement, which he calls “An Account of the First Discovery of Moa Remains.”* Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. V., Art. III. I have often of late read and considered with no small astonishment, what Mr. Taylor has here stated. I could enter into it fully, dissect it, and say a good deal upon it; but, as I have hitherto kept myself from doing so, I will still forbear. This much, however, I deem it right to say (bearing in mind the adage: “De mortuis nil nisi bonum,” to which I would add—vel verum),—1. If Mr. Taylor really made those early discoveries and in that way, why did he not make them known? Like myself, he, too, had been early elected a member of the “Tasmanian Society,” both of us together in 1841, with the Rev. W. Williams, and other residents in New Zealand;† Vide “Tasmanian Journal,” published lists of members. soon after which Mr. Taylor wrote a paper on the “Bulrush Caterpillar of New Zealand” (Cordiceps robertsii), which he sent to Tasmania, and it was published in 1842, in the first volume of the “Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science;” ‡In that paper Mr. Taylor says: “The Aweto” (!)—Cordiceps—“is only found at the root of one particular tree, the Rata, the female Pohutukawa. * * * These curious plants are far from being uncommon. The natives eat them when fresh (!) The seeds of the fungus are nourished by the warmth of the insect,” etc., etc.—Tasmanian Journal, Vol. I., p. 307. while mine on the Moa, though written early in 1842, was not published in that “Journal” until 1843, and that in the second volume: my first papers being on some of our New Zealand Ferns. 2. Mr. Taylor says, “The chief readily gave me the (fragment of a) bone for a little tobacco, and I afterwards sent it to Professor Owen, by Sir Everard Home; this took place in 1839.…. I think I may justly claim to be the first discoverer of the Moa.” ‡Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. V., p. 98. But in Professor Owen's paper on the Moa, he gives verbatim Mr. Taylor's letter to him, which he received through Sir Everard Home; it is dated “Whanganui, February 14, 1844” (five years after!) and in it, Mr. Taylor, in writing of his single visit to the East Cape with the Rev. W. Williams in 1839, on his first arrival in New Zealand, says, (after) mentioning his discovery of Moa remains at Whaingaihu—? Whangaehu, “I have found the bones of the Moa in this stratum, not only in other parts of the Western, but also on the Eastern Coast and at Poverty Bay; from whence in 1839 I procured a toe of this

bird.”* “Zoological Transactions,” Vol. III., part 4, p. 327. This, however, is widely different, both as to date (of his first sending to Professor Owen), and also as to the extent of his “find” at the East Cape. He only specifies the, so-called, “toe,” which is quite correct, as I had myself stated in my early published paper;† Vide “Tasmanian Journal,” Vol. II., p. 85; and Dr. Dieffenbach also saw it. At that time, and for several years before and after, I was residing at Paihia in the Bay of Islands, while Mr. Taylor's home was at the Waimate, then a long day's journey inland. I saw him on his return from the East Cape as he landed at Paihia, and with him tried to match his “toe” (or claw) to my few bones of the Moa, but it would not fit; at that time Mr. Taylor had none, neither had Mr. Williams. The so-called “toe,” which was very black and solid, resembled a bit of water-worn and rolled Obsidian more than anything else; yet it might have been a claw; but, if so, greatly worn, and with dull and rounded edges. I only saw it once and for a short time. he says nothing here, however, of “the fragment of bone;” nevertheless, he goes much further—actually saying that “he had found bones in that same kind of stratum at East Cape and at Poverty Bay!” All I can say is: If so, why did he not make them known? Mr. Taylor was well-known not to be at all backward in writing of every thing; and while at the North he had plenty of time to call his own. In this same letter to Professor Owen, (supra), Mr. Taylor goes on to say: “The Kakapo or Tarepo is about the size of a turkey, and from its habits, nature, and other circumstances, seems so closely to resemble the Dodo, as to lead me to suppose it is the same,” etc. 3. I well remember Mr. Taylor (with whom I was for some time on the most intimate terms of friendship), ‡As a proof of this, see “Tasmanian Journal of Science,” Vol. II., p. 244, for an account of a fine fossil Terebratula (T. tayloriana), which I discovered far away in the interior in 1841, and dedicated to him. complimenting me highly on his receiving that part of the “Tasmanian Journal of Science” containing my paper on the Moa. [Those parts came regularly through my hands for distribution to the members residing in New Zealand, owing to my living near to the anchorage.] Whenever Mr. Taylor came from the Waimate to the Bay, he always called, and saw repeatedly all my collections, from which he obtained many specimens. Briefly reviewing the past, I cannot but conclude that Mr. Taylor's memory must have failed him when he gave his last statement at Wellington, in 1872, in which, I think, many incidents of the past relative to the Moa, are jumbled together as to date and sequence; which, also, from the Editor's note attached, seems to have been done rather hurriedly. At present I make no further remark concerning the many strange (? erroneous) statements with which his published works on New Zealand abound; on a future occasion, however, I may have to notice some of them. 4. Of a remark made by Mr. Vaux, in his paper, “On the probable origin of the Maori race.”

In justice to myself—if not also to Professor Owen and to Mr. Rule—I had intended noticing a statement made by Mr. Vaux in his above-mentioned paper, in which he says that “Bishop Williams and the Rev. R. Taylor, in 1839, were the first to discover the remains of the Moa;”* Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. VIII., p. 11. but, owing to the great length of my paper, I am obliged to omit doing so; merely saying here that I deny it. My grounds for so speaking will be found in what I have already written upon it (supra). Mr. Vaux, evidently, had not seen my early-published paper on the Moa, neither those of Professor Owen, and of Dr. Mantell. There are also other matters of high importance in Mr. Vaux's paper respecting the Maoris (for which he has mentioned me); to them, I hope to return ere long. 5. Of sundry early English published scientific testimonies. In conclusion, I may be permitted to call attention to the following testimonies in connection with the foregoing; and I do so the more readily because they were all spontaneously given by gentlemen of the highest standing in their respective scientific pursuits, and written, and published, and spoken of publicly (in lectures, etc.) by them at a very early period. I mean:— (1.) Sir W. J. Hooker, K.H., etc., etc., the very eminent Botanist, formerly Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, who, in the London Journal of Botany, for January, 1844, Vol. III., p. 3, mentions approvingly my paper on the Moa, and the bones I had sent through him, in 1842, for Professor Owen. (2.) Professor Owen, F.R.S., etc., etc., the eminent Naturalist and Osteologist, who—both in his papers on the Moa (Dinornis), “Zoological Transactions,” Vol. III., part 4, p. 327,—and, also, in his kindly and of his own accord, republishing in the “Annals and Magazine of Natural History,” 1844, Vol. XIV., p. 81, my early paper on the Moa,—has borne a similar testimony. (3.) Dr. Mantell, F.R.S., etc., etc., the celebrated Geologist and Osteologist, has also done the same, and that, too, at various times; particularly in his work entitled “Petrifactions and their Teachings,” pp. 93, 94, and 487; and also in his very able and lucid paper (doubly interesting to us here in New Zealand), “On the Fossil Remains of Birds, collected in New Zealand by Mr. Mantell of Wellington,” published in the “Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,” February, 1848, Vol. IV., pp. 225–241 (passim), where Dr. Mantell says:—“I do not deem it necessary to enlarge on the question whether the Dinornis and Palapteryx still exist in New Zealand; on this point, I would only remark that Mr. Colenso, who was the first observer that investigated the nature of the fossil remains with due

care and the requisite scientific knowledge (having determined the struthious affinities of the birds to which the bones belonged, and pointed out their remarkable characters, ere any intelligence could have reached him of the result of Professor Owen's examination of the specimens transmitted to this country), has given, in his masterly paper before quoted, very cogent reasons for the belief that none of the true Moas exist, though it is probable the last of the race were exterminated by the early inhabitants of these islands.” (Loc. cit., p. 235. Addendum. Napier, October 24, 1879. I was very much surprised this morning, on finding (and that by the merest chance, in looking into the “Index, Vols. I.–VIII.”) that Mr. Stack, of Canterbury, New Zealand, had some time ago written a short paper containing those passages from Sir G. Grey's “Poetry of the New Zealanders” which I have in this paper adduced respecting the Moa. I had never before this morning seen Mr. Stack's paper; no doubt this was owing to its being placed in the Appendix at the end of the volume,* Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. VII., Appendix, p. xxviii. and to its extreme brevity. However, had I earlier seen it, I could not have accepted his translation of those passsges referred to, still less his remarks thereon. New Zealand poetry and legends cannot be rendered by any Maori scholar in the South Island; besides, their myths and legends are not now to be found there in their integrity; indeed, such could not reasonably be expected among such a small remnant of Maoris living isolated among settlers.

Maori Proverbs, etc. I. Relating to Industry. 1. He tangata momoe, he tangata mangere, ekore e whiwhi ki te taonga. A sleepy-headed lazy fellow will never possess riches. Resembling some in the Proverbs of Solomon. 2. He kai kei aku ringaringa. I can earn my food with my own hands. Lit. I have food in my hands; or in the use of my hands. 3. Tama tu, tama ora; tama noho, tama matekai. The working chief (or son) flourishes; the idle chief wants food. Lit. Standing chief—living chief; squatting chief—hungry chief. 4. He kai tangata, he kai titongitongi kaki; He kai na tona ringa, tino kai tino makona noa. Food from another is little and stinging to the throat; Food of a man's own getting, is plentiful and sweet, and satisfying. 5. He panehe toki ka tu te tangitangi kai. A little axe well-used brings heaps of food. This reminds one of the Persian proverb:—“In time the mulberry leaf becomes satin.” To have plenty of food for hospitable purposes was the greatest of all things with a New Zealand chief, as nothing raised them and their tribe more in the estimation of all. 6. Takoto kau ana te whanau o Taane! The forest is felled (for planting), the hard work is done. Lit. The children of Taane are lying prostrate.—Taane being the god of woods and forests, the trees were called his children or offspring. 7. Tena te ringa tango parahia! Well-done the hand that roots up weeds! Applied to a steady worker in root-crop plantations. Parahia, a low-spreading weed (Ctenopodium pusillum), is particularly plentiful at Taupo. 8. He mate kai e rokohanga, he mate anu ekore e rokohanga. Hunger can be remedied, not so the want of warm clothing.

Lit. Famine can be overtaken, sharp feeling of bitter cold can not be overtaken. N.B.—Here, bear in mind, that all the garments of the New Zealanders, whether made from their flax fibres, or the skins of their dogs, took them a very long time to make; and the majority were but poorly clothed. 9. He toa taua, mate taua; he toa piki pari, mate pari’; he toa ngaki kai, ma te huhu tena. The warrior is killed in war; the fearless scaler of lofty cliffs (in search of sea-fowl) is dashed to pieces; the industrious husbandman lives long and dies peacefully of old age. Lit. The hero dies in fight; the climber of precipices by a fall; the cultivator of food by worms—meaning old age, or gradual decay. N.B.—This bears out Cook's statement: Vol. III., pp. 460,461. Here is another of similar meaning:— 10. He toa paheke te toa taua; tena ko te toa mahi kai ekore e paheke. The warrior stands on insecure footing (or slippery is the fame of the warrior); but the industrious cultivator of land will never slip or fall. 11. Ma pango ma whero ka oti. Through chief and slave working together with a will the work will be done. Lit. By black (and) by red finished. The slaves and plebeians, naked and unwashed, were black enough; the chiefs used red pigment to anoint themselves. 12. Maramara nui a Mahi ka riro i a Noho. The big chips are hewn off by Worker, but the food is taken and eaten by Looker-on, or Do-nothing, or Idler. Lit. Worker (has) big chips gone with Squatter! This proverb is so cleverly constructed as not to give offence to a highly-sensitive race, with whom a cross word, or gesture, or look, respecting food, was quite enough to cause serious disturbance: here, however, so much has to be inferred—“If the cap fits wear it.” This is used when men are hard at work hewing timber for a canoe, house, etc.; at which time some are sure to be idly squatting-by looking-on; and when the cooked food for the workmen is brought in baskets, those squatters are often the first to fall-to; and to this, also, no exception can be taken! 13. Kahore he tarainga tahere i te ara! You cannot hew a bird-spear by the way. Meaning: Without timely preparation you may die for want of food. Birds were formerly speared in great numbers in the woods; but to make a proper bird-spear took a long time, and (to me) was one of the wonders of old!

14. Ka mate kaainga tahi, ka ora kaainga rua. Through having only one cultivation the man dies from want, through two he lives. Lit. One place death (or want), two places life (or good living.) This was carried out fully by the New Zealanders, as to food cultivations, houses, bird-preserves, eel-weirs, fishing-grounds, etc., not only that they might have plenty, but so as to secure some from being carried off by their foes, in time of feuds, often happening. Another similar proverb ran— 15. Ka mate whare tahi, ka ora whare rua. With one house, want; with two houses, plenty. The meaning being much the same, only more applicable to the chief having two wives, who, each in her own house, wove garments. 16. I whea koe i te ngahorotanga o te rau o te kotukutuku? Meaning: Where wert thou in the time of work,—or of danger? Lit. Where wert thou in the falling of the leaves of the kotukutuku? This tree (Fuchsia excorticata) is the only one in New Zealand which is really deciduous. This proverb may also be used for many other purposes; as,—When in siege or battle your tribe or people were killed, where were you? absent or hiding? Meaning, Is it meet for thee to boast, find fault, or speak? At such times it is a very cutting sarcasm; often causing intense feeling. 17. I hea koe i te tangihanga o te riroriro? Where wert thou at the crying of the riroriro bird? The riroriro (Gerygone flaviventris) cries in the early spring, the season for preparing cultivations for crops; so this proverb is used to a lazy or careless person who is without cultivated food, especially when begging; and it causes great shame. It is not unlike in meaning to the western fable of the Ant and Grasshopper. 18. Ko te tokanga nui a Noho. The peaceful dweller at home has always a thumping big basket of food to eat. Lit. The big basket of Stay-at-home. N.B.—Here it should be observed that the dweller at home is merely named Noho, = to sit down, to dwell quietly: of course such a one is not supposed to be idle. 19. He wha tawhara ki uta, he kiko tamure ki tai. Inland is the tawhara fruit; in the sea, the flesh of the snapper. Meaning: Sweet food for man is everywhere, in land and water, by exertion. The tawhara is the large sweet sugary flower bract of the kiekie (Freycinetia banksii), generally found plentifully in the white pine forests,

and formerly eaten abundantly. The tamure is the snapper (Pagrus unicolor), a common fish on all the coasts. 20. Whana atu poho ki roto, haere mai taiki ki waho; nohoia te whare, ko te hee tonu. Inward goes the pit of the stomach, outward come the ribs (from) persistently sticking in-doors, the greatest of all ills. This is a highly ludicrous proverb; the joke, or point, being largely increased through the play on the three verbs,—to recede, to come hither, and to squat idly in-doors; or, increased as it is in the passive,—to remain within to support the house! It is used in times of cold and hunger, showing their effects: “Too cold to go out,” “Too hungry to remain in-doors without food, yet keeping house!—squatting idly, or doing nothing!” 21. Te wahie ka waia mo takurua, te kai ka mahia mo tau. Firewood is sought for winter, food is laboured after for the year. Meaning: Be usefully employed. 22. Te toto o te tangata, he kai; te oranga o te tangata, he whenua. The blood of man (is from) food, the sustenance of man (is from) land. Meaning: Hold to your land, particularly that whence you derive your living. 23. Taane rou kakahi ka moea; taane moe i roto i te whare kurua te takataka. The husband who is dexterous at getting shell-fish in deep water, will find a loving wife; the husband who sleeps idly in the house, will be thumped and knocked about. This operation of getting shell-fish in deep water, both fresh and salt, was generally performed by men with their feet; by which they dislodged the shell-fish, and then got them into proper nets, etc. II.—In favour of Perseverance, Exertion, etc. 24. Tohea, ko te tohe i te kai. Persevere strenuously, like as you do in eating. 25. Na te waewae i kimi. Obtained by seeking. Lit. Sought for by the leg. 26. He iti te toki e rite ana ki te tangata. Though the stone-axe be small, it is equal to the man (in clearing the forest, etc.) 27. He iti hoki te mokoroa, nana i kakati te kahikatea. Although the grub is but little, yet it gnaws through the big white pine tree (Podocarpus dacrydioides).

28. Mate kanohi miromiro. To be found by the sharp-eyed little bird. Lit. For the miromiro's eye. Used as a stimulus to a person searching for anything lost. The miromiro is the little Petroica toitoi, which runs up and down trees peering for minute insects in the cavities in the bark. 29. He kai iana ta te tou e ho ake? Do you think to gain food through inaction? Lit. Will squatting at home on your posteriors bring you food? 30. E rua tau ruru; e rua tau wehe; e rua tau mutu; e rua tau kai. Two seasons of drought; two seasons of scarcity; two seasons of crop failure; two seasons of plenty. Meaning: Persevere, keep at it, success will follow. 31. Tungia te ururua, kia tupu whakaritorito te tupu o te harakeke. Set fire to the scrub that the flax plants may shoot forth young evergreen shoots. Meaning: Clear off the old and bad that the new and good may grow vigorously. III. Against Idleness, Laziness, Gluttony, etc. 32. Nga huhu, nga wera, to kai, e mangere! This lazy fellow does nothing but roast himself by the fire! Lit. Burns (and) scalds (are) thy food O lazy-bones! 33. He kai ko tau e pahure. Food is the thing you can get through very well (but work you cannot despatch, understood). 34. Kai hanu, kai hanu, hoki mai ano koe ko to koiwi! After going about idly “loafing” (mumping) from place to place (lit., eating scraps!), thou returnest again to thy own proper home! 35. Hohonu kakii, papaku uaua! Deep throat, little sinews (to work)! N.B.—Here also the adjectives should be noticed, being in direct opposition, and not only so but as here used they have a ludicrous quip, being terms properly and usually applied to water—Hohonu = deep: papaku = shallow. This would prove a cutting saying. Here is a similar one:— 36. Ka kai kopu, ka iri whata, kei te uaua te kore. He fills his belly, he carefully lays up the remainder for himself, but, alas! has no sinews for work!

Here is another:— 37. To kaha kei te kakii, karapetau tonu! Thy strength is in thy throat, for ever swallowing greedily. 38. He moumou kai ma Te Whataiwi puku ngakengake! It's waste of food to give it to big-bellied Store-up-bones. Two peculiar terms are to be noted here:—1. The figurative name given to the person, Whataiwi, i.e., one who puts by dry bones (including fishes' heads, etc.) for himself on a platform for storing food; and, 2. The ludicrous term (not the common one) for big belly, i.e., the loose hanging bag of a large sea-net! 39. He hiore tahutahu! An often singed tail! Used for an idle fellow. Taken from a lazy dog lying before the fire and getting its tail repeatedly burnt. N.B. The tail of the ancient Maori dog had very long hair, which was of great value to its master for clothing and ornament, but when singed was useless; and might therefore be killed for food. 40. Kei te raumati ka kitea ai e koe te tupu. When summer comes you will find it by its sprouts. Spoken ironically to a person who will not exert himself to find a lost thing, etc. 41. E noho, tena te au o Rangitaiki hei kawe i a koe. Sit on idly, doing nothing, there are the rapid currents of the river Rangitaiki to carry thee along. Used to a lazy fellow who ceases paddling the canoe. 42. He huanga ki Matiti, he tama ki Tokerau. In the planting season merely a relative; at harvest time a son (or, eldest son). 43. He kooanga tangata tahi, he ngahuru puta noa. At planting time, helpers come straggling singly; at harvest, all hands come from everywhere round. Lit.—to show its terseness—At planting, single-handed; at harvest, all around. Here is a similar one, which was a favourite saying of the late chief Te Hapuku:— 44. Hoa piri ngahuru, taha kee raumati. Friends stick to you in harvest, but fall off in summer—the season of scarcity and work. Very like our English proverbs, “Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them;” “The rich man has many friends.”

45. He kakariki kai ata! (Like) a little green parrot (which) eats at daybreak! Spoken of a person who looks to eat on rising before going to work. 46. He kuukuu tangae nui! A pigeon bolts his food. Used of a greedy fellow, never satisfied. 47. He kuukuu tangaengae nui; he parera apu paru. The pigeon bolts, the duck gobbles up mud and all. Said of a gluttonous fellow. 48. He kaakaa kai honihoni! A parrot eats leisurely, bit by bit. Said to a person who eats moderately and slowly. 49. Ka whakarongo pikari nga taringa. (With) ears quick at listening, like young birds in their nests. Spoken of a fellow always on the look-out for the call to meals. Here is another of a similar meaning (also one of Te Hapuku's):— 50. Taringa muhu kai! Ears on the qui vive for food! 51. Awhato kai paenga; and, Ka mahi te awhato hohoni paenga! Bravo! great caterpillar eating around the edge of the leaf! Those two proverbs are nearly alike. The awhato is the large larva of the moth Sphinx convolvuli (or some allied species), which ate the leaves of the kumara, or sweet potatoe, in the Maori plantations (beginning at the edges and leaving the mid-veins), and was therefore a most noxious and hateful animal to them. The proverb is used of a greedy person who goes eating from basket to basket at meal times, selecting the best bits. Formerly, the New Zealanders had their cooked food served up in numerous small baskets; they often sat in a circle to eat their food, and always out of doors. 52. Awhato ngongenga roa! Ugly great caterpillar, always slowly nibblin This is similar to the last two. 53. Ko Uenuku to korokoro! Thy throat is even as Uenuku's. Applied to a great glutton. This is even stronger in Maori,—“Thy throat is Uenuku.” He was a desperate old glutton of very ancient times, who had dwelt at “Hawaiki.” Many things are related of him. 54. Tohu noa ana koe, e Rangikiato, he whata kei te kakii! O Rangikiato! what are you after? Laying by food! Verily, a food-store is in thy throat!

Applied to a man who eats more than his share, or who takes away titbits from others at meals. 55. Patua iho, he kaka, ki tahaki tera; a, ka puehuehu, ma tana whaiaro tera. He pounds away, lo! a stringy bit,—that's placed alongside (for the visitors); ha! a nice mealy bit, that's for himself or his favourite. This has reference to the preparation of fern-root for eating; and was used for a sly, selfish, greedy person. N.B.—There was a great difference in fern-root, of which varieties the Maori had many names. The difference was much the same as in the various kinds of potatoes and of flour with us. 56. Pikipiki motumotu, ka hokia he whanaunga! Constantly returning (at food-time, saying, he does so) because he is a relation! This proverb is concerning a lazy fellow, a “loafer,” who always contrives to drop in at meals, because he is a relation; and is often used in times of scarcity of food, so as to cause those sitting at meat to eat up their victuals quickly. But the whole story is too good to be lost, so I give a translation of it. “Tama-ki-te-wananga was lighting his fire to roast his food, but the fire did not burn briskly, so he said, ‘Bother the fire, it does not kindle well; and stooping down he blew at it with his breath that it might burn the better. At this very moment Hauokai had come up, and was standing behind his back, but Tama did not know of it; so he kept on blowing away at his fire, saying, between whiles, ‘Flame up, blaze away, that thou be not caught by Hauokai.’ It came to pass, however, that he (Tama) was indeed thus caught by him while saying those very words. On hearing them, Hauokai called down from behind his back, ‘What have you got against me, O Tama-ki-te-wananga?’ Then Tama turned round and looked up—alas! there, verily, was Hauokai himself standing looking down on him. For some time Tama kept looking up with vacant surprise, not knowing what to say. At last he said, ‘Thy often comings and goings.’ Hauokai replied, ‘Yes, my returning hither was owing to my relationship.’ Then Tama said to Hauokai, ‘Just so, and more too; it is thy continually returning hither.’ Then it was that Hauokai said to Tama, ‘I frequently returned hither, as you have said, through our relationship, but now you and I shall be separate; we shall never again see each other from this time forward; nevertheless, our two spirits (wairua) shall meet in the nether world (reinga).’* There are several items of interest in this old story, but I must pass them by to take up a more modern one. A few years ago, the then Superintendent of the late Auckland Province (Mr. J. Williamson) sought to have an interview with a Maori chief of note on political matters; this, however, the chief would not grant, ending with saying, “You and I shall never meet until we meet in the reinga.” This, of course, was made much of. The dreadful bitterness of expression—“never until we meet in hell!—was intensified and dwelt upon shudderingly with much Christian feeling, but all through ignorance on the part of the Christian Europeans. The New Zealander had no such thoughts, and only made use of an old saying, the English having chosen this word (reinga) as the equivalent for hell; a meaning, however, which it does not possess. And from that time they never saw each other up to their death.

IV. Against Slander, Lying, Story-telling, etc. 57. He pata ua ki runga, he ngutu tangata ki raro. Dropping water wears away the soil, so frequent slander a good name. Lit. A rain-drop above, a human lip below. Resembling some of Solomon's Proverbs. 58. He tao rakau e karohia atu ka hemo; te tao kii, werohia mai, tu tonu. A thrown wooden spear, if warded off, passes away; the spoken spear, when spoken, wounds deeply. Another rendering of the same proverb:— 59. He tao kii ekore e taea te karo, he tao rakau ka taea ano te karo. A spoken spear cannot be warded off, a wooden spear can easily be warded. 60. Ka katokato au i te rau pororua! I am going about gathering, bit by bit, the bitter leaves of the sowthistle. Meaning: I hear nothing but bitter words against me everywhere. N.B.—The pororua was the old New Zealand indigenous variety (or species) of sow-thistle, which is much more bitter than the introduced variety commonly called puwha. 61. Te whakangungu nei ki nga tara a whai o Araiteuru! O for impenetrable armour to oppose against the stings of the stingrays of Araiteuru! Used by a chief in defending his own tribe against slander. I believe Araiteuru is a large shoal off the West Coast, near Taranaki; in such places, as also on shoals and mud-flats in harbours, as at Ahuriri, Whangarei, etc., large sting-rays abound. N.B.—Here again there is much in the very name of that shoal which is lost in translation, viz.: Barrier-against-the-western-blast. (Psalm LVII., 4). 62. Kia eke au ki runga ki te puna o Tinirau! I may just as well attempt to climb up and sit on the blow-hole of a whale!

A proverb of deep meaning to a Maori, grounded on legendary lore. Used of slander. 63. Aweawe ana nga korero i runga o Maunga Piware. Reports and talks are ever floating in the air over Mount Piware. I suspect that this place, “Mount Piware,” has a highly figurative meaning:—1. Pi and ware: pi = young downy nestlings, and ware = any thing viscous or sticky, as gum, etc. 2. Maunga has, besides its common meaning of mountain, the meaning of fast-to, adhering to; so that the full meaning may be, reports floating in the air are light and downy, and are easily caught and held by soft viscid surfaces. Meaning; Don't believe all you hear. 64. Tangaroa piri whare! Tangaroa is hiding in the house. Tangaroa is one of the great Polynesian gods, and particularly of the sea and fishes; is invisible, and hears all; be careful. “Walls have ears.” 65. Tangaroa pu-kanohi nui! Large-eyed Tangaroa can see all you do, or say. 66. Kei whawhati noa mai te rau o te raataa! Don't pluck and fling about to no purpose the blossoms of the raataa tree! The raataa tree (Metrosideros robusta), produces myriads of red flowers; the small parts of these when blown off by the winds fill the air around: so,—Don't become ashamed when your lying is detected. 67. Ko Maui whare kino! Yes, Maui with the evil house! or, Just like Maui of the house of ill-fame! Schemes and cunning stratagems were planned in Maui's house, or by Maui wherever staying; he was truly the coming deviser of schemes; in this respect much after the fashion of Mercury, the son of Maia;* Sophocles; Philoctetes.—Aristophanes; Plutus.—Horace; Odes, lib. I., 10. and of Proteus. 68. Ko Maui tini hanga! Yes, Maui of many devices! These last two proverbs were often used in speaking of a scheming, cunning person. 69. Ko korua pea ko Tama-arero i haere tahi mai? Perhaps thou and False-tongue† Son-of-the-tongue, or, Master-of-the-tongue, would be more literal, but I have given the meaning. travelled hither together? 70. Korua pea ko Te Arahori, i haere tahi mai? Perhaps thou and False-road came here together?

71. I haere mai pea koe i te kaainga i a Te Arahori? Perhaps thou camest hither from the village of Mr. False-way? 72. Korua pea ko Te Tangokorero i haere tahi mai? Perhaps thou and Take-up-talk travelled hither together? 73. Na Tangokorero pea koe i tono mai ki konei? Perhaps thou wert sent hither by Take-up-talk? Those last five proverbs are very nearly alike in meaning, though used by different tribes. They were made use of when visitors should arrive bringing strange tales, or slanderous ones. I bring them here together to show how largely the ancient New Zealanders dealt with fictitious and figurative characters, to whom they gave highly appropriate names, just as Bunyan, already mentioned. 74. Ka mahi te tamariki wawahi taahaa! Bravo! children, smashing your (mothers’) calabashes! This saying is often applied to a man who is defaming his own relations, or tribe. V. Against Trusting to Promises, Appearances, etc. 75. Nga korero o era rangi, mahue noa ake! Promises of other days, wholly left behind! “Never trust to fine promises.” 76. He marama koia kia hoki rua ki Taitai? If indeed thou wert like the moon to return a second time to its place of shining? Lit. A moon indeed! to return twice to one place (or to Taitai = name of place)? Said to a person who promises to give you something at the next time of meeting. 77. Poroaki tutata, whakahoro ki tau kee! Last words at parting stand close at hand, deferred by slips to another year! Said of a person too ready in promising. N.B.—The word “whakahoro”—which I have rendered deferred by slips—is here very expressive; it means to fall by degrees, or to slip, slide, or crumble down, as clayey cliffs, etc.; or to be levelled, as mounds, dykes, etc. 78. Hohoro i aku ngutu, e mau ana te tinana. My lips were quick (to move), the body being fixed. Meaning: Promises were quickly made, but the body is slow to perform. N.B.—“Body,” with the old Maoris, meant more than with us; viz., the whole man, the entirety, the substance, as against the mere lips. Just

as we might speak of the body of an oak in comparison with two of its branchlets. “My tongue hath sworn, my mind is still unsworn.”—Eurip.; Hippolytus. 79. Haere ana a Manawareka, noho ana a Manawakawa. Well-pleased goes off, Bitter-mind remains behind! Meaning: He who has got what he wanted goes away rejoicing; while he who has given without any return gift, trusting to the others' promises, endures the pangs of disappointment and regret. 80. Tee whai patootoo a Rauporoa! Long-Bulrush did not strike loudly and repeatedly (so as to be heard)! or, Long-Bulrush gains nothing by his repeated attempts at hitting! This proverb is used by, or for, a person who returns without that for which he went. It is one of deep meaning to an old Maori (though little understood by the present younger ones), and always evokes a laugh; but requires a little explanation. The Raupo plant (= Bulrush, Typha angustifolia), which is here figuratively personified, grows in watery places and in the water; the tips of its long narrow numerous leaves are always agitated with the least breeze, and are naturally carried by the same in one direction before the wind; hence, they invariably keep the same distance from each other, or, if they clash, their striking is not heard, and is productive of no result. Moreover, as the longest plants grow only in the deeper water, the saying may also have a latent reference to the greater difficulty in gathering the flowering spikes from such tall plants; for, in the summer season, parties went among the Raupo specially to gather the dense heads of flowers for the purpose of collecting their pollen, when only a smaller quantity could be obtained from the over-long plants, owing to their extra height above and to the greater depth of water below, etc., though attended with much more labour. This pollen, in its raw state, closely resembled our ground table-mustard; it was made into a light kind of yellow cake, and baked. It was sweetish to the taste, and not wholly unlike London gingerbread. Thirty years ago, specimens of it, both raw and baked, were sent to the Museum, at Kew. I have seen it collected in buckets-full. 81. Hei te tau koroii! and, Hei te tau ki tua! Put off till the season in which the white pine tree bears its fruit! (which is not, however, every year); and, At the season yet to come. 82. He iramutu tu. kee mai i tarawahi o te awa. A nephew stands carelessly (or, without regard) on the opposite side of the river.

Meaning: He is not to be depended on in times of extremity, etc., like a son. I take it, however, that this “nephew” is the son of a brother, not the son of a sister. 83. He pai rangitahi! A one day's beauty; a short-lived pleasure. Sometimes used of a girl's countenance. Meaning, also: After a fine day, a storm follows; after a great feast, a famine, etc. 84. He pai tangata ekore e reia; he kino wahine ka reia. A handsome man is not always eagerly sought after; an ugly woman is eagerly sought for—or, has plenty of lovers. Here it should be remembered, that with the New Zealanders the women always began the courting. 85. He pai kanohi, he maene kiri, he ra te kai ma tona poho; waihoki, he pai kupu kau. Pretty face, smooth skin, loves to bask idly in the sun; therefore the beauty consists in words only. (“Prettiness dies quickly”). This is plain enough; but, in the next, we have just the opposite. 86. He pai kai ekore e roa te tirohanga; he pai kanohi e roa te tirohanga! Good and pleasant food is not long looked at; a good-looking face is long observed. Meaning: Looked on with satisfaction and delight. VI.—Against a Boaster, etc. 87. He nui to ngaromanga, he iti te putanga. Long thy absence, little seen (with thee) on return. 88. E wha o ringaringa, e wha o waewae! Thou hast four hands and four legs! A word said quietly to a boasting fellow. 89. He kaakaa waha nui! A noisy-mouthed parrot! Applied to a chatterer, or boasting person. 90. Me ho mai nga hau o Rirapa ki uta. Let the exploits of Rirapa be brought to land. 91. Kei uta nga hau o Rirapa te tu ai. ’Tis on shore that the fine doings of Rirapa are seen. Both used of a lazy, hulking fellow, who is lazy in a fishing-canoe at sea, etc. 92. Whaka-Ruaputahanga i a koe! Thou art making thyself appear as big as the great lady chief of old Ruaputahanga! Said to a boaster.

Here again, no doubt, is a figurative name; or a secondary name, often added on account of qualities, doings, etc.; Ruaputahanga meaning a store whence goods, etc., were always being issued. The liberal person was always liked and immortalized. 98. Toku toa he toa rangatira. My courage is that of a chief; or, my courage is derived from my ancestors. Said, but rarely, to a mushroom-man of to-day, who boasts of himself or his doings. Here it should be borne in mind that a chief of to-day is the descendant of ancient chiefs. 94. Ko nga rangatira a te tau titoki! Chiefs of the titoki year! This needs explanation. The titoki, or titongi tree (Alectryon excelsum), from the fruit of which the natives formerly extracted an oil for anointing the hair and persons of their chiefs, only bore fruit plentifully (according to them) every fourth year; so that, in that year, all hands could use the oil and a little red pigment, and thus, for once, look like a chief without being so. (A daw in borrowed plumes.) 95. Tiketike ao, papaku po! A tall pinnacle by daylight, shallow water by night. Lit. Lofty day, shallow night. Meaning: Valiant and boasting, when the sun is shining and all is well and no danger near; but in the darkness and dread, low enough. 96. Tiketike ngahuru, hakahaka raumati! Tall at harvest, low at planting season! Meaning: He boasts enough in the autumn when there is plenty of food and little to do; but in the wearisome and heavy working spring season he is not to be seen. 97. Ko wai hoki koia te wahine pai rawa? Te wehenga atu ano i a Muturangi! Who, indeed, now is the beautiful woman? All that ceased for ever with the last great lady (i.e., when she died). This saying is used when a woman is vain of herself; or, when persons boast of the good old times, when better, or handsomer females lived. The ancient beauty's name, Muturangi, means,—the last of the great lady chieftainesses. Rangi (= sky, heaven) is an ancient name for a principal chief, whether male or female,—from Rangi, the first parent or producer of man; and was also used by way of high title, or address. I have no doubt, however, of its here having a highly figurative meaning, like other proper names in many of their proverbs.

VII.—Against Inhospitality. 98. He kuukuu ki te kaainga, he kaakaa ki te haere. A pigeon at home, a parrot abroad. The New Zealand pigeon is a silent bird; the parrot is a noisy screamer. The pigeon remains quietly sitting on the high trees; the parrot flies about, making the forest resound with its loud cries. This proverb is applied to an inhospitable chief; he does not raise the cheerful inspiriting shout of “Welcome!” to travellers nearing his village; but, when he travels, then, on approaching any place, he sounds his trumpet to get food prepared, and afterwards finds fault with the victuals given him. 99. E riri Kai-po, ka haere Kai-ao. When Eat-by-night is angry, Eat-by-day leaves. Meaning: If the illiberal mean chief be angry (shown by withholding food and welcome), the liberal generous men continue on their journey. It was considered a very great insult for a travelling party to pass by a pa or village without calling. Kai-po is the common term for a mean selfish person. 100. Kei kai i te ketekete. Lest there be nothing to eat but vain regrets. Meaning: Bad for both sides—the visitors and visited—to have only excuses for food. This proverb was sometimes used by a chief as a warning to his tribe, when expecting visitors. 101. He kotuku kai-whakaata. The white crane eats leisurely, after viewing his food and his own shadow in the still water. This is said of a chief who looks after due preparations being made for his expected visitors; also, of one who quietly and courteously awaits the arrival and sitting of others to their repast before he eats his own food. VIII.—Relating to Hidden Thoughts. 102. He kokonga whare e kitea. The dark corner of a house can be seen and searched;—(understood, to complete the meaning) but not the heart of man. 103. He taanga kakaho ka kitea e te kanohi; tena ko te laanga ngakau ekore e kitea. A mark, or knot (or placing), of a reed can be seen with the eye, but that of the heart can not be seen. 104. He ta kakaho e kitea, ko te ta o te ngakau ekore e kitea. A knot, joint, or mark, on the cutting-grass reed is seen, but the mark or knot (heaving or thought) of the heart is not seen.

I have often heard these last two proverbs used. They fall with bitter effect on the guilty person, often causing deep shames, as the New Zealanders abominated slander. The reference in both is to the kakaho reeds or flower-stalks, (cutting-grass = Arundo conspicua), formerly used for the inner walls and ceilings of a chief's house; these were sometimes partly coloured black in a kind of pattern of scroll-work, and when regularly laid side by side had a pleasing effect; any irregularity, however, in pattern or in laying, was speedily detected by the practised eye of the Maori; hence the proverb. 105. He nui pohue toro ra raro. The convolvulus (roots are) many and spread below (the soil):—supply, just as the secret thoughts of men's hearts are hidden within. 106. He tiitii rere ao ka kitea, he tiitii rere po ekore e kitea. The petrel which flies by day is seen; the petrel which flies by night is not seen. One species of petrel always flies back to its mountain home from the ocean very late in the evening; I have very often heard its cry, but never saw it on the wing. This proverb is said of men's thoughts; also of night-attacks from the enemy. 107. Ko to kai waewae te tuku mai ki au, kia huaina atu, e arotau ana mai. Thou allowest thy feet (or thy footsteps) to come hitherwards to me, that it may be said abroad, thou lovest to come hither. Often said by a woman who doubts the affection of her lover; also by the people of a village who doubt the professions of a visitor. 108. Katahi ka auraki mai ki te whanau a te mangumangu kikino, i te aitanga a Punga i a au e! How strange! to struggle to hasten hither of thy own accord to the offspring of the black and ugly, to me the begotten of Punga! Punga is said to be the father or progenitor of all the ugly and deformed fish, as sharks and rays, and also of lizards. This proverb is applied by a man to a woman who had deserted him as her lover, but who returns to him again. IX. Respecting Caution, etc. 109. Ehia motunga o te weka i te mahanga? How often does the wood-hen break away from the snare? Meaning: Take care, you will be caught at last. 110. Ka hoki ranei te weka i motu ki te mahanga? Will the escaped wood-hen indeed return to the snare? Meaning: “Once bit, twice shy.”

111. Hoki atu i kona, ko te manu i motu i te mahanga ekore e taea te whai. Go back from where you are, it is useless pursuing the bird escaped from the snare. Meaning: It is useless to attempt to take me in again. Said to have been used in ancient times by a lady who ran away from her husband; he pursued her to bring her back, and she got round a headland at low-water; on his reaching the place, the tide was breaking against the base of the cliffs, when she called to him from the top using those words, which have since passed into a proverb. 112. He pureirei whakamatuatanga. A faithful fatherly tuft of rushes. This is said of a good solid tuft of rushes in a swamp, which, in crossing the swamp, you stand on to rest a while, and to look around before you take the next step. A word of caution for many things. “Look before you leap.” 113. Ka tuwhaina te huware ki te whenua, e hoki atu ranei ki tou waha? When the spittle is spit out on the ground, will it return to thy mouth again? Meaning: (much as the last), “Look before you leap.” 114. Kia mau koe ki te kupu a tou matua. Hold fast to the advice of thy father (or guardian). A word of caution often given to the young,—as the dying advice, or teachings of the departed, were always strongly inculcated. 115. Kia whakatupu tangata, kaua hei tutu. Show yourself (lit., be growing up) a true man; never be disobedient. Often said to the young. (I. Cor. xvi., 13). 116. Kapo atu koe i te kai i nga ringaringa o nga pakeke, a e taea ranei e koe te whai i nga turanga o tupuna? Thou snatchest food roughly from the hands of the elders, and dost thou think thou wilt be able to follow in the steps of thy ancestors? Applied to a chief's child, on his snatching food, or anything, from the hands of aged persons. 117. Ata! ina te kakii ka taretare noa; ka maaro tonu nga uaua o te kakii! How disgusting! to see the neck turning from side to side; and the sinews of the neck strained to the utmost! Said of a person looking over the other baskets of cooked food set before a party, and coveting what is placed before his neighbours or companions. The peculiar terms used are those which refer to a bird on the look-out up in a tree.

118. Kaore a te rakau whakaaro, kei te tohunga te whakaaro. The wood has no thoughts, such only belong to its carver, or designer. 119. Tirohia, he moko. Examine well a tattooed countenance! (Meaning: A nobleman.) Said by a man to another who stares rudely at him. 120. He whakatau karanga, tino taka iho a Te Kaahu. At the very first attempt to make the call (to dinner), down rushes Te Kaahu. Applied to a person who jumps at an invitation which was scarcely really meant. The person mentioned figuratively by name, Te Kaahu, is, translated literally, the Hawk. 121. Mate wareware te uri o Kaitoa; takoto ana te paki ki tua. Foolishly died the offspring of Recklessness, the fine weather was ready close at hand. 122. Mate papakore te uri o Kaitoa. The offspring of Rashness died heedlessly. These last two proverbs have the same meaning; the reference is to those who went hastily to sea in their canoe when a gale was coming on, and all miserably perished; fine weather, too, being near. Meaning: Be prudent; don't act rashly. 123. Kei mau ki te pou pai, he pou e eketia e te kiore; tena ko te pou kino, ekore e eketia e te kiore. Do not select a fine nice post (for your storehouse), as that kind of post will be climbed up to the top by the rat, but the ugly post will not be so ascended by the rat. This is advice from a father to his son about taking a wife (which has become a proverb)—meaning: Do not seek so much for a handsome person, who may cause you trouble, for you may be better off and dwell quieter with a plain one. 124. He pirau kai ma te arero e kape. The tongue soon detects and rejects (a bit of) rotten or bitter food. Meaning: Any evil thing may be quickly found out and thrown aside. 125. Honoa te pito ora ki te pito mate. Join the living end to the weak one. Used sometimes for raising a weak or impoverished chief or tribe, by alliance or marriage with a stronger one. An allusion is here made to the ends of kumara, or sweet potatoes; in planting, they make use of the sprouting end of the root as seed, and so, sometimes, place two such ends in one little hillock to make sure of plants. 126. Honoa te pito mata ki te pito maoa. Eat together (lit., join) the underdone end with the nicely-cooked end (of the sweet potatoes, understood).

Meaning: Don't be too nice. 127. Kai mata whiwhia, maoa riro kee! Food underdone (is) your own (lit., possessed), fully-cooked goes (with others). Meaning: Be quick at your cooking and eating, or visitors may eat it for you. 128. Tunu huruhuru, kei wawe tu ana a Puwhakaoho. Roast (your bird) with its feathers on; (or your rat) with its fur, lest you be suddenly surprised by an unwelcome visitor.—Here figuratively named Startling-trumpet. The meaning of this is the same as the last. 129. Kakariki tunua, kakariki otaina. Eat up the green parrots whether roasted or raw. Meaning: Be not over nice; as a party travelling in the woods, or going to fight, has no time for much cooking. 130. Hohoro te kai ma tatou; akuenei tu ana Rae-roa, noho ana Rae-poto! Hasten the food for us; soon (the) Long-foreheads (will be) standing (here, when) Short-foreheads (will have to) sit down. Raeroa, or Long-forehead, is a name for chiefs; while Raepoto, or Short-forehead, is a name for the common men. I suspect this arose from the old manner of dressing their hair,* Vide plates, 13, 55, etc., in Cook; and in Parkinson, 15, 16, 17, 21. in which that of the male chiefs was drawn up tightly in front and secured at the top by a knot, or band; while that of the lower people hung loosely down. The New Zealanders, always a hard-working people, were quite alive to the English proverb of “Quick at meat, quick at work.” X. Against Making Much of Small Matters. 131. Kei maaku toku. Do not wet my garment. Lit. Let not mine be wetted: the passive being the more genteel, or mannerly, way of expressing it. The whole saying is, perhaps, worthy of notice:— Kei maaku toku kakahu! A, maaku noa atu? Kapaa, he wera ite ahi, ka kino; tena, he maaku i te wai,—horahia atu ki te ra kua maroke!— Don't wet my garment! And yet, if it were wet, what then? But if, indeed, it were burnt by fire, that would be bad; as it is, however, merely wet with a little water,—just spread it in the sun, and it is dry again in no time! Meaning: Don't complain of trifles. In the olden time, when no chief ever raised a cup, or calabash, of water to his lips to drink, but slaves went round giving them water, by pouring

it out of a guggling calabash into the palm of the chief's hand, held beneath his under-lip,—no doubt it was a ticklish matter to give drink to all, sitting closely together, without wetting their scanty clothing. And so, this story, or saying, was invented to ease the poor slave! Here is another, and a good one, having the same meaning:— 132. Tineia te ahi! auahi tahi! Put out the fire! there's nothing but smoke! A sentence, or exclamation, often made, as I have too painfully experienced in their close houses without a chimney! But, again, let us have the whole story:— Tineia te ahi! auahi tahi! Ha! he au uta! Kapaa, ko te au ki Katikati, ae. Put out the fire! there's nothing but smoke! Exactly so! but it is smoke on land! If now, it were the whirling currents at Katikati,—then, indeed, you would have something to complain of. One of the peculiarities of this sentence is the play upon words, which is lost in the translation. The same word (au) is used for smoke as for a strong current or rapid; it is also used for the gall of the liver of any animal; and frequently for anything very bitter. Ergo; Just as smoke is to the eyes, so is gall to the taste, and strong fear or dread to the heart, or inner feelings. Moreover, the name of the place with the fearful rapids is Katikati = to bite sharply and quickly; to sting like nettles, thorns, etc.; to draw and pain, as a blister, mustard-plaster, or living “Portuguese man-of-war”—one of the stinging Medusæ. 133. Ka uia tonutia e koe, ka roa tonu te ara; ka kore koe e uiui, ka poto te ara. If (the length of the road) be continually enquired after by thee, then it will prove very long; but if thou wilt not keep asking, then it will be short. This speaks for itself. It is just the same with us. 134. Pipitori nga kanohi; koko taia nga waewae; whenua i mamao, tenei rawa. With sharp bird's eyes and quick moving feet, land at a distance will soon be gained. Similar in meaning to the last—a word of comfort to young, or new travellers. 135. Imua, ata haere; i muri, whatiwhati waewae. Those who leave early on a journey travel leisurely; those who leave late, and have to overtake the others, hurt their feet. Lit. Foremost, travel gently; hindmost, break legs. 136. Kia noho i taku kotore; kia ngenge te pakihiwi. Be thou sitting behind my back (lit., anus), and let thy shoulder become weary. A saying for paddling in a canoe. Meaning: All work has unpleasantnesses. “No gains without pains,”

137. He manga-a-wai koia, kia kore e whitikia? Is it indeed a big river, that cannot be crossed. A saying often used, meaning: It is as nothing, why make such a fuss about it. XI. Against Beginning War, etc. 138. He kai kora nui te riri! War (is like) a devouring fire kindled by a spark. (James, III. 5.) 139. Ka tahuna te ururua ki te ahi, ekore e tumau tonu ki te wahi i tahuna atu ai; kaore, ka kaa katoa te parae. When the tangled fern and shrubs are fired, (the fire) will not always be fixed in the place of firing, but will burn up the whole open country. Meaning: The sure extension of warfare. 140. Kei uta te pakanga, kei tai te whiunga. Though the fighting is begun inland, the spreading and finishing will be at the sea, or sea-side. Lit. Inland the fighting, at sea-side the flinging, Meaning: In war the innocent suffer for the guilty. 141. E tae koutou ki uta, kei mau ki tai ki Tu, puhia he angina! e mau ki tai ki Noho, ma te huhu e popo, e hanehane. When you reach land, do not hold with the fighting-side, or you will be blown away as thin air; but hold with the side of Peace, that you may live long and die naturally. Lit. When you land, do not hold to the standing-side (or the side of Tu = god of war), blown away, thin air; but hold to the sitting (or quietly-dwelling) side, for the worms gradual decay and skin disease. This is a difficult sentence to render into English; but it is well worth preserving on account of its alleged antiquity. It is said, in their legends, to be the parting advice of an old chief, at “Hawaiki,” named Houmaitawhiti, to his sons, on their leaving “Hawaiki” for New Zealand. Of course, the meaning is, “Hold fast to peace.” N.B.—Note the opposition in the words Tu and Noho; Tu, standing, and restlessness = War; Noho, sitting, and settledness = Peace. 142. E horo ranei i a hoe te tau o Rongomaitakupe? Canst thou level the rocky ridge (or shoal) of Rongomaitakupe? Meaning: Canst thou cause peace when war begins? Rongomaitakupe is an extensive shoal or ridge of rocks, on which a terrible surf is always breaking. Here one is reminded of similar questions in the ancient Eastern book of Job, respecting the taming of Behemoth and Leviathan.

143. He ika kai ake i raro. A fish eats upwards from below. The fish which you have caught, and is lying dead in your canoe, commenced nibbling from below in the depths of sea, and out of sight. Meaning: From trifling disputes bloody wars arise, ending in the death of chiefs;—often poetically termed ika = fish. 144. Ko Nukutaumatangi, ko te hara; waiho te raru mo Rupe. Nukutaumatangi was the cause of all the trouble; but Rupe got caught and punished for it. Said to a person who gets others punished for his evil doings. Here, also, from the names, there may be more of meaning than appears at first sight:—Nukutaumatangi = off to windy ridge; Rupe, the opposite (being also a name for their proverbially quiet and harmless pigeon). 145. Kaua e hinga mai ki runga i a au, kapaa iana he urunga oneone, ko te urunga mau tonu. Don't lean on me (as a pillow), if indeed (I were as a) pillow of earth, that would remain firm. Meaning: Don't look to me for help. 146. Ka tae ki Weriweri, he tohe rara, tona otinga. When (two) arrive at (the place called) Angry-dispute, the end is actual strife. (Angry-dispute is here spoken of as a place). Meaning: Keep your temper. 147. Kaati ra to penei, ka tae kau taaua ki Weriweri. Leave off thy (saying, or doing) thus, for you and I have fully come to Angry-dispute. A timely word of warning; similar to the last. 148. He tohe taau ki Kaiwere? Art thou striving to reach Kaiwere? Meaning: Provoke me a little longer and you will be hurt. 149. Ka karanga Taiha, kia apititutia, kia whana te hingahinga nga tupapaku; ka karanga Maero, E, kawhakina tetahi momo ki te kaainga. Taiha cried, Close ranks with the enemy standing, that their slain bodies may early fall! Maero cried, Better let some retreat as posterity for our possessions! Meaning: Discretion better than rashness. “The better part of valour is discretion.”—Shakspeare. 150. Ka riri Taiha, ka kata Maero. When Taiha (is) angry, Maero laughs (or is merry). Meaning: Keep your temper.

151. I paia koia te reinga? Is the entrance to the lower world barred (or closed)?* So Virgil: —“facilis descensus Averno; Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis.”—æn., lib. vi. Said to one desirous of war. 152. He iti tangata e tupu; he iti toki, e iti tonu iho. A little human-being will grow; a little stone-axe always continues little. N.B.—An axe (though only of stone) was formerly among the most valuable of their goods. Cook says,† First Voyage, Vol. III., p. 464. he could not get the New Zealanders to sell him any of their stone axes, not for anything he had in his ship. Meaning: A man is of more value than any property. XII. Concerning Conduct in time of War, etc. 153. I nga ra o te pai, hei pai; i nga ra o te kino, hei kino. In times of peace dwell peacefully; in times of war be brave. Or, In the good days be good; in the evil days be evil. Here, again, is a double play on words which possess much meaning. “In peace he was the gale of spring, In war the mountain storm.” 154. Ruia taitea, kia tu ko taikaka anake. Shake off the sap-wood, and let the hard heart-wood only stand. In a totara tree (Podocarpus totara) the taitea is the outer, white or sapwood, which soon decays, and near the centre is the taikaka or hardest wood. Meaning: Let the common people and children stay at home, and the warriors only go to fight. 155. Rangitihi upoko i takaia ki te akatea. Rangitihi's head was bound up with the white-flowering creeper (Metrosideros albiflora). This hero of old, when his skull was split with his enemy's club, had it bound up with this creeping shrub, and, although his men had retreated, led them on again to battle, and gained the day. Meaning: The truly brave man never despairs. 156. Ko te upoko i takaia ki te akatea. The head which was bound with the white-flowering creeper. Used for a brave warrior:—He binds up his head, or wounds, and fights away. A proverb similar to the last, and from the same incident.

157. Ka mahi te tawa uho ki te riri! Well done tawa-kernel fighting away! 158. He tawa para! he whati kau taana! A tawa pulp! he only runs away! These two proverbs I have taken together, on account of their simile. The tawa tree (Nosodaphne tawa) bears a large purple fruit, in which there is a single stone or kernel, not wholly unlike that of the date; this is exceedingly hard, and cannot easily be broken; the pulp or flesh of the fruit is very soft when fully ripe; hence, from the one fruit, the comparison is drawn of the hero and the coward. 159. Te waka pukatea; te waka kohekohe. The canoe (made of the) pukatea tree; the canoe (made of the) kohekohe tree. The wood of those trees is alike soft, and won't last long in the water; besides canoes made of them are both heavy (when water-logged) and slow. Pukatea = Atherosperma novæ-zelandiæ; Kohekohe = Dysoxylum spectabile. This proverb is used of cowards. 160. He hiore hume! and, He whiore hume tenei tangata! Both terms derived from dogs, which clap their tails between their legs and sneak away. Used also of cowards. 161. Titiro to mata ki a Rehua, ki te mata kihai i kamo. Look up with thine eyes at the planet Mars (or Jupiter), at the eye which never twinkles. Meaning; Never allow your eyes to wink when face to face in hand-to-hand combat. 162. He koura koia kia whero wawe? (Art thou) indeed a crawfish, to turn red, the moment (thou art) thrown on the fire? Said to a foe in hand-to-hand encounter, who boasts you have not yet hurt him. 163. Tini whetu, e iti te pokeao. The stars are many, but a little black cloud hides them. Meaning: A small party of determined warriors may beat a large number. 164. Ma wai e rou ake te whetu o te rangi ka taka kei raro? Who can reach (or scrape) with a crooked stick the stars of heaven that they should fall below? Meaning: Can you take captive a powerful chief? 165. He mate i te marama. The moon dies, or, it is of the nature of the moon to wane or die, (and returns again, understood). Meaning: Not so, however, with you; so beware of rashness.

166. Kia mate a Ururoa! kei mate Tarakihi. Let us die fighting bravely, as the fierce shark, Ururoa, struggling to the last! and not die quietly like the fish Tarakihi (Cheilodactylus macropterus). 167. He pokeke Uenuku i tu ai. By means of the dark cloud the rainbow is seen to advantage brightly. Meaning: A chief looks well at the head of a large tribe.* Vide Prov. No. 11, ante. 168. Me te koteo mau kupenga! Like the post in the sea to which the ends of the net are fixed to keep it open. Said of an able chief whose influence keeps his tribe together, so that their enemies are finally enclosed and taken, as fish in a net. 169. E moe ana te mata hii tuna, e ara ana te mata hii taua. Sleeping are the eyes of the eel-fisher; wakeful are the eyes of the war-fisher. Meaning: That the eyes and thoughts of the fisherman enjoy peaceful rest at nights, and he even nods between his bites when fishing; but those of the planner and conductor of battles know no rest. 170. Tatai korero i ngaro; tatai korero e rangona. Concerted schemes are hidden = come to nothing; concerted plans are heard = carried out. Meaning: Only those schemes which are agreeable to the tribe will be attended to. 171. Hinga iho, tomo atu te pa. (The enemy), falling (before you), enter the fort. Meaning: Follow up quickly an advantage; i.e., having defeated the enemy in the open, storm their village. 172. Te koura unuhanga a Tama. The crayfish which was pulled out (of its hole) after long pulling and working by Tama. Tama is said to be one of the first who found out the plan of dislodging crawfish from their holes and using them as food. Meaning: Not easy to dislodge a warrior from his strong-hold, but got out at last! 173. Turaungatao e, E pewhea ana te mamae? Taaria iho. Kihai he hangahanga ake te kai a Turaungatao! O Stand-against-a-hundred-spears, what kind of pain (is caused by a wound in battle)? Wait a while. It was not long (before he knew) the food of Stand-against-a-hundred-spears.

This question is supposed to be put by a young man before the battle begins to an old warrior, and half slightingly. After the battle is over, and the young fellow wounded, the veteran says to him, “Ah! You thought that what I had had so much of (my food) was a trifle, did you? What think you now? “He jests at scars that never felt a wound.”—Shakspeare. 174. E! ho te matakahi maire! Lo! the iron-wood wedge! Used of a warrior. Meaning; He separates the enemy before him, as the wedge of the hard Maire wood (Santalum cunninghamii* But, at the south parts of the North Island, Maire is the Maori name of the Olea cunninghamii.) splits up a log. 175. E tia! me te wheke e pupuru ana! Though stabbed through (with my spear), he holds on (to it) like a cuttle-fish with its arms and suckers. Said by a warrior of his hand-spear in fight. Another saying of similar meaning:— 76. Me te mea kei te paru e titi ana! As difficult to pull my spear back out of his body as if I had stuck it into sticky holding mud. 177. Waiho i te toka tu moana! Stand firm and compact as the surf-beaten rock in the ocean! Used by a chief in battle. 178. Waiho kia oroia, he whati toki nui. Just leave the big stone axe to be re-sharpened, its edge is merely chipped a bit. Meaning: Though some of the braves of our tribe are killed, the remnant, including the chief, will fight the more fiercely. 179. Ekore e ngaro, he takere waka nui. The hull of a large canoe cannot be hidden. Meaning: Although we have lost many in battle, we shall not become extinct; our tribe is numerous. 180. He puia taro nui, he ngata taniwha rau, ekore e ngaro. A cluster of flourishing Taro plants (Colocasia antiquorum), a hundred devouring slugs, or leeches, cannot be extirpated = It is difficult to destroy them all. So with a large tribe. 181. Kore te hoe, kore te taataa. Alas! without paddles and baler! A canoe in this state must be lost. Applied to a tribe in a helpless state. 182. He pukepuke maunga, e pikitia e te tangata; he pukepuke moana, e ekeina e te waka; he pukepuke tangata, ekore e pikitia e te tangata.

The mountain's summit can be climbed by man; the waves of the ocean can be topped by a canoe; the human mount cannot be scaled by man. Meaning: If he had sought shelter on the mountain, or at sea, we could have followed him; but being sheltered by a great chief, we cannot follow him there. N.B.—Note the play on the three mounts—pukepuke; which are wholly lost in translation. XIII Miscellaneous. 183. I motu mai i whea? te rimu o te moana. Whence was the drifting sea-weed torn? Sometimes used of a stranger. 184. He rimu pae noa! A sea-weed driven about! Used by a wanderer concerning himself. I have known this saying used in a very melancholy way by a young man, a lover, when discarded by his love, and he travelling from place to place to forget his grief. It struck me as being very poetical. 185. I taia to moko ki te aha? To what purpose was your face tattooed? A cutting sarcasm to a finely tattooed man, when he acts cowardly or meanly. As only nobles and chiefs were tattooed. 186. Kapaa ianei he matua whare e hinga ana, ka hangaa ano, kua oti; ano ko te marama kua ngaro, kua ara ano. If indeed your father had fallen like a house, then he could be raised again and finished anew; or if he were as the moon and died, then he would return again. This saying was too often used by the watchers around a dead chief to his children, to keep up their incessant wailing for their father. 187. Ka tata ki a koe nga taru o Tura! The weeds of Tura are near thee! Meaning: Thou art getting grey-haired. Tura was a grey-headed man of old; his story is a highly curious one. 188. Ka ruha te kupenga, ka pae kei te akau. When the fishing-net gets old, it is drifted on the shore. Said by an old woman to her husband who neglects her. Another of similar meaning:— 189. He kaha ano, ka motumotu! A rope indeed, but become old and broken up! Meaning: My beauty and strength are gone, I can no longer serve you. You love a younger wife.

Another of like meaning:— 190. Kua pae nei hoki, te koputunga ngaru ki te one. The white foam of the surf is cast up and left on the shore. Said by a woman getting grey-haired, when her husband seeks a new wife. 191. Ka tangi te pipiwharauroa, ko nga karere a Mahuru. The cries of the glossy cuckoo are the heralds of warmth (or spring). The little cuckoo (Cuculus lucidus) is a migratory bird, and arrives here in early summer. 192. Penei me te pipiwharauroa. Like the glossy cuckoo (in his actions). Applied to a man who deserts his children; as this bird (like the English cuckoo) lays its eggs in another bird's nest, and deserts them. I give now a few (out of many) short and beautiful proverbial sayings, mostly poetical, and used by the New Zealanders in their songs:— 198. Me he korokoro tuii As eloquent as the throat of the tuii (the sweet-singing “parson-bird”). 194. Me he manu au e kakapa! I'm all of a flutter like a poor caught bird! 195. Me he mea ko Kopu! (She is) as beautiful as the rising of the morning star! 196. Me he takapu araara. As beautiful as the silvery, iridiscent belly of the araara fish (Caranx georgianus) when first caught. Ancient European poets have thus spoken of the dolphin. 197. Me he toroa ngungunu! Like an albatross folding its wings up neatly. Used of a neat and compact placing of one's flowing mats or garments. 198. Me te Oturu! Her eyes as large and brilliant as the full moon rising over the dark hills in a clear sky. 199. Me te rangi ka paruhi. Just like a delightful tranquil day; or, a fine calm evening. 200. Moku ano enei ra, mo te ra ka hekeheke; he rakau ka hinga ki te mano wai! Let these few days be for me, for the declining sun; a tree falling through many floods of waters. Meaning: Be kind and considerate to the aged. Used by the old, and often with effect; of which I knew a remarkable instance that happened in 1852, when Mr. Donald M`Lean, the Land Purchase Commissioner, paid the chief Te Hapuku, the first moneys for lands

at Hawke's Bay. An old chief, named Te Wereta, who resided at Wharaurangi, between Castle Point and Cape Palliser, uttered these words, and he got a lion's share of that money—and he lived more than twenty years after. Another of similar meaning:— 201,. Maaku tenei, ma te ra e too ana. He aha kei a koe? Kei te ra e huru ake ana. Leave this for me, for the setting son. Why shouldst thou care about it? the sun just sprouting up (or beginning life). I scarcely recollect a single instance of those words being advanced by the aged, (in former years), and not heeded by the younger folks. It always seemed, to me, to form an admirable trait in their character; one, no doubt, grounded on ancient custom. 202. Whangaia ta taaua tuahine, he tangi i a taaua. Let our little sister be fed and nourished, to mourn over you and me (when we die). Meaning: That a widow's mourning is soon over, for she marries again; but with a sister it is lasting and true. This is also eminently shown in the Greek tragedies, by Antigone and Electra.—Sophocles. 203. Taku hei piripiri, taku hei mokimoki, taku hei tawhiri, taku katitaramea. My necklace of scented moss; my necklace of fragrant fern; my necklace of odorous shrubs; my sweet-smelling locket of Taramea. This affectionate and pretty distich was often sung to a little child when fondling it, expressive of love. A short explanation may be given of the four plants mentioned in it. Piripiri is a fine horizontal moss-like Hepaticœ (Lophocolea novœ-zealandiœ and other allied species) found in the dense forests; Mokimoki is the fern Doodia caudata; Tawhiri is the shrub, or small tree, Pittosporum tenuifolium; Taramea is the Alpine plant Aciphylla colensoi. From the two last a fragrant gum was obtained; that, however, from the needle-pointed Aciphylla only through much ceremony, labour, and trouble,—and, I may say, pain,—gently indicated in the prefix given to it in the chaunt—kati = sudden sharp prick, or puncture. All those scents were much prized by the New Zealanders, who wore them, in little sachets suspended to their necks. 204. E iti noa ana, na te aroha. (The gift) is very small indeed, still (it is given) from love. 205. To Kakawai ngako nui, aroaro tahuri kee. Ah! you take my fine fat Kahawai fish (Arripis salar), but you turn away your face from me. Applied to one who receives presents, but returns no love.

206. He manu aute e taea te whakahoro! A flying-kite made of paper mulberry bark can be made to fly fast! (away, by lengthening the cord). Used by a lover, expressive of impatience at not being able to get away to see the beloved one. 207. Na to tamahine ka pai i takina mai ai tenei kekeno ki konei. It was thy exceedingly pretty daughter which drew this seal to land here. This speaks for itself, and would be doubly suitable for such a person coming by sea; in the olden times most visits were made by water. N.B.—The verb taki (pass. takina), means to forcibly draw a captured fish to land out of the water. 208. E kimi ana i nga kawai i toro ki tawhiti. (He is) seeking after the tips of running branches which extended to a distance. Used with reference to any one claiming distant or lost relationship. N.B.—The terms used for runners, or running branchlets, and their spreading, are taken from those of trailing plants, as the convolvulus, gourd, etc. 209. E raro rawakore, e runga tinihanga. Poor and without goods are those of the North; abounding in wealth are those of the South. This proverb, which in former times I have often heard is used, is peculiarly a Northern one, and requires explanation. The most esteemed goods—the real personal wealth of the ancient New Zealanders—were greenstone—unworked or worked—as axes, war-clubs, and ornaments; finely-woven flax garments; totara canoes; and feathers of the huia bird (Heteralocha gouldi). These were all obtained from the Southern parts; so were the skilled carvers in wood (males), and the best weavers of first quality flax garments (females), who were sometimes made prisoners of war. 210. He karanga kai, tee karangatia a Paeko; he karanga taua, ka karangatia a Paeko. At a call to a feast, Paeko is not called; At a call to a fight, Paeko is called. Used evidently by an inferior, though a good man at fighting, etc. Note the name, which may be translated, Keep them off. “Rich man has many friends”. 211. E hoki te patiki ki tona puehutanga. The flounder returns to its own thick, muddy water (to hide itself, understood). 212. Puritia to ngarahu kauri! Keep (to thyself) thy kauri-resin soot!

This saying was used when a person was unwilling to give what was asked, the same being some common thing and not at all needed by the owner. Soot from burning kauri-resin (a genuine lamp-black!) was carefully collected in a very peculiar manner and only by much pains, and buried in the earth placed in a hollowed soft-stone, where it was kept for years, and said to improve in quality by age; it was used as a black pigment in tattooing. But there is a double meaning here, viz.: You may never require it, or live to use it! 213. Waiho noa iho nga taonga; tena te mana o Taiwhanake. Leave (your) goods anywhere; here is the power and might of the Rising-tide. Used to strangers, to show, that the people of the place were honest, etc., and under their chief, who is figuratively called the Overwhelming Sea or Rising-tide. 214. Te aute tee whawhea! The paper mulberry bark is not blown away by the winds. Meaning: Peaceful times; all going on well; no disturbances. The bark of the paper mulberry shrub, or small tree, (Broussonetia papyrifera) which was formerly cultivated by the ancient New Zealanders, and used as a kind of white cloth ornament for the hair, was, after being beaten and washed, etc., spread out to dry in small pieces, but only in fine, calm weather. 215. Haere mai ki Haurahi, te aute tee awhea! Come hither (to us) to Hauraki, a district in the Thames, where the prepared paper mulberry bark is not blown away (or disturbed) by the winds while drying and bleaching. A proverb of similar meaning to the last one. 216. Haere i mua, i te aroaro o Atutahi. Go before the presence (or rising) of (the star) Atutahi; or, Work away diligently in advance of the appearing (of the star) Atutahi. Formerly used (1.) concerning the proper time of annual friendly visiting,—viz., in the autumn, when food is plentiful, and before the frosts set in; (2.) also (and more commonly), for the early digging and storing securely in their neatly-built storehouses of their precious kumara crop, on which so much depended; which roots if but slightly touched by frost, rotted. The star Atutahi* See a future paper on the astronomical lore of the old New Zealanders. rises in April, and was to them indicative of the season of approaching frosts.

217. Rehua pona nui! Rehua (causing) big joints! Rehua is one of the larger planets (possibly Mars or Jupiter), and when seen in summer, in time of heats and droughts, this saying is used; as then men grow thin (substantial vegetable food being scarce), and their joints protrude and look large. Rehua is a famed star (planet) with the old New Zealanders,—many things are said of it; some of which, however, belong to a noted chief of that name of the olden time. (Vide proverb 161, ante). 218. Takurua hupe nui! Takurua (causing) watery nose! This saying is in opposition to the last one, conveyed in the same semi-metrical manner, and is highly expressive of the cold raw weather in winter. Takurua being also one of their names for the winter season (indeed with the Southern Maoris the only one), at which time the old Maoris, slightly clothed, must have suffered much annoyance in the way alluded to. Takurua*Note on preceding page. is the name of a star which rises in the winter. 219. Ka mate he tete, ka tupu he tete. One duck dies, another duck is hatched. (Spatula variegata.) Meaning: Man dies, and another comes in his place. Reminding of Homer (Iliad VI.):—“As is the race of leaves, such is that of men; one springs up and the other dies.” And of our English saying:—“As good fish in the sea as ever came out of it. 220. He huruhuru te manu ka rere: he ao te rangi ka uhia. When the bird has feathers it flies away; when the sky has clouds it is obscured. Lit. The fledged bird flies; the clouded sky (is) covered. Meaning: Great changes soon arise. Circumstances alter cases. XIII A Few Very Brief and Pithy Sayings (as a Sample). 221. Rae totara = Forehead as hard as the totara, wood. Spoken of a liar; and of an unabashed, shameless person. Equivalent to our English Brazen-face. 222. Tou tirairaka = Flycatcher's tail (Rhipidura flabellifera). Said of a restless person who does not sit quietly in his place at their more important meetings. 223. Arero rua = Double tongue. 224. Ngakau rua = Double mind. Both spoken of a false promiser; of a person who says one thing, yet means another. 225. He ringa whiti! A quick ready hand, at reaching out, across, or over.

226. He tangata tunu huruhuru! One who roasts (his bird or rat) with its feathers or hair on. Both said of a hasty quarrelsome person. 227. Ka kata a Kae! Kae laughs. Sure to be said when a cross person smiles; or when a person discloses unintentionally his thoughts. Derived from their old legends.* See Grey's Polynesian Mythology, p. 90. 228. Whakawaewae wha! Make (thyself) four legs (first)! Used, ironically, to a person who boasts of what he can do. 229. Nga huruhuru o oku waewae = Hairs of my legs. Used reciprocally: (1) By a chief, of his tribe and followers; and (2) by them of him, by merely changing the pronoun oku to ona. In this latter sense I have known it to be used beautifully and with great effect. 230. Ka rua hoki! = Twice also! Meaning: Thou hast just said the contrary; two (opposite statements) indeed! 281. Naana ki mua = He began it. A sentence of great service formerly, in relating quarrels, etc., and always highly exculpatory. 232. He kowhatu koe? and, He kuri hoe? Art thou a stone? and, Art thou a dog? Used, generally, interrogatively, by way of prohibition, disapproval, etc., but, sometimes, with care, indicatively. 288. He o kaakaa! A small bit of food for a journey. Lit. A parrot's morsel for its flight. The old Maoris said, that the parrots always carried with them in one claw a small stone which they constantly nibble. 234. He marutuna!=Bruised or squashed eels! Said of any person or thing, ugly, displeasing, or repulsive. 235. He kupu matangerengere! A harsh or disagreeable word, sentence, or speech. Lit. A word (having a) hideously ulcerated face.

The Legend of Hau-mia. Hau-mia was the son of Kiapara-te-hau (the wind is sporting). He belonged to the Kahui Tipua. At a place called the Kohanga o Hau-mia (nest of Haumia), on the face of a cliff known as Pari-nui-awhiti (great cliff of Whiti), you may trace the gable of Hau-mia's house, the upright posts, and the cross battens. It was here that Hau-mia's people tried to stop the canoe of the celebrated navigator Kupe, by placing a reef of rocks in his way, but they did not succeed, as he went far outside them and escaped. For the Legend of Kopu wai and Arai Te Uru, see Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. VIII., 1877. I now turn to the most interesting part of Sir. Cameron's paper, that relating to the derivation of the names Kahui Tipua, and Ngapuhi. After carefully examining the evidence to hand, I am reluctantly forced to the conclusion that it does not support his hypothesis. The relation existing between the Maori words and similar Indian or Malay words is undeniable, but it is explained by the fact that the races using them have a common origin. When these words are examined, it will be found that their meaning must be very much strained to make them fit in with the theory. Kahui Tipua means in Maori a band of terrestrial monsters—an ogre or demon-band. Hui means to congregate; prefixed by the particle ka, it means a herd, or flock. Tipua is a poetical form of Tupua, which comes from the verb tupu, to grow; the idea being that the creature so called sprung out of the earth—that it was, in fact, an αυτοχθωυ. In Archdeacon Williams's dictionary, one of the meanings given for tupua is steal. This is an associated meaning, and does not belong to the word in its primary sense. Terrestrial monsters being regarded as hostile to man, the word came to be used in the same way that many words are employed by us; as for instance, jockeyed, mesmerized, or macadamized. Tipua is sometimes applied in Maori as we apply monstrous in English. Nga Puhi is the other name, which, singularly enough, is almost identical in appearance with the Indian words meaning serpent-race. But here again, I am inclined to think that the likeness is more apparent than real. Nga Puhi is a contraction for Nga-aitanga a te Puhirere. Nga is the

plural demonstrative particle. Ai tanga means the begotten, a of, te the, Puhirere (name of the father). With all but the last word, there is no need for further enquiry, as Nga cannot be identified in any way with Naga, the great serpent. But what the meaning of Puhirere is, may be open to discussion. Pu has many meanings classed by Williams under headings:—1. Bunch, heap. 2. To blow. 3. Precise. 4. Loathing. 5. Gun. Puhi, one betrothed; knot on the head ornamented with feathers or flowers. Rere, means to fly. The name Nga Puhi is borne by one of the most powerful tribes in the country, and when the chiefs have been asked about the derivation of their tribal designation, they have explained it, as being derived from the Puhi, or feather-ornaments of the canoe in which their ancestors came from Hawaiki. Puhirere may, I think, be freely rendered: “The streaming feather-ornament of the head.” Nga Puhi, or Nga aitanga a te Puhirere will then mean, “the begotten of the streaming feather-ornament;” the ancestor being probably distinghished by some peculiar head-gear. The South Island Nga Puhi were descendants of Awatopa, and consisted of three sections: Puhi kai ariki, Puhi-manawanawa, and Matukuherekoti; and it was their tribe that succeeded the Kahui Tipua. In connection with the name Puhi, attention is drawn to the fact, that a kind of eel is known by that name, but tuna, and not puhi, is the generic name. Puhi is merely the distinctive name of a variety, and is descriptive of some peculiarity. I do not wish to be understood as criticizing the theory under consideration in a hostile spirit—far from it; but I am reluctantly forced to the conclusion, that the evidence furnished by the legends regarding the Kahui Tipua, does not support it. The evidence of the eastern origin of the Maori is daily accumulating, and, at the same time, indications are found of the presence, in past ages, of people in these southern lands, who must have differed in many respects from the present inhabitants. The discovery by Sir George Grey* Vide Travels in Western Australia, by Sir G. Grey, K.C.B., Vol. II., p. 201. in 1839, of rock-paintings in Australia, which he said could not have been done by the blacks; and the subsequent discovery near Mount Elephant, in Victoria, of circles of stone resembling Druidical remains; regarded in connection with the gigantic statues in Easter Island, the ancient roadways of masonry in Samoa, and the rock-paintings in our own country, all open up a wide and interesting field for speculation and research, into which it is to be hoped that many like-minded with Mr. Mackenzie Cameron will enter.

II.—Zoology.

III.—Botany.

IV.—Chemistry.

V.—Geology.