Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume Iii Part 5

The instruments used were the following:--

The "Uhi," a small piece of wood, one extremity of which is armed with a small piece of sharp-edged bone, set in a vertical direction. This needle-like tool, which was formerly made either of human bones or of those of the albatross, has been since supplanted by proper steel instruments.

The "Ta" or "Tuki," a stalk of fern, which is pressed upon the Uhi in order that it might enter the skin, and bring out the desired pattern.

The necessary colouring stuff (_Ngarahu_) is made from the soot of the wood, when burnt, of the Kauri fir (_Dammara Australis_), which is collected in the leaves of the Ti-reed (_Cordyline Australis_), and is prepared with an infusion of the bark of the Hinau (_Elaeocarpus Hinau_), in the form of small cones.

Immediately before the tattooing begins, the colouring matter thus prepared is moistened with the juice of the fruit of Tupa-kihi (_Coriaria Sarmentosa_). The complete "Moko" comprises the face, the hips, and the upper surface of the thigh as far as the knee. Every separate tattooing has its appropriate name and its special position. Dieffenbach counts 17, and Richmond Taylor 19 of these, distinguishable by their several markings.

The operation is of so severe a nature, that very frequently it cannot be completed without endangering the life of the individual. Only one instance is on record, in which a native sat out the whole formidable process at one sitting, and he died just as the last line was finished.

Usually the first tattooing took place at the 18th year, and was continued at various intervals. During the process, the patient lies on the ground with his head reposing on the bosom of the _Tohunga_, who holds the "Uhi"

in his left hand, and the "Ta" or "Tuki" in his right, which he strikes upon the former with a rapid constant motion. As soon as an incision is made, the blood is wiped off with a piece of fine flax, and the colouring matter rubbed in. While this is going on the priests and the friends standing by keep up a continual chant, in order to cheer the patient and stimulate his courage.

After the operation the face swells, and for some time presents a downright hideous appearance, and instances have occurred in which it has been permanently distorted. Usually, however, the wounds heal after ten or twelve days, when the incised lines made by the "Uhi" present a bluish-black appearance.

With the women the operation is much more simple, being confined to one or two vertical or horizontal lines upon the lip and chin. This tattooing occasionally, however, takes place twice, in order to bring out a black colour, as the New Zealanders consider a black lip as the very ideal of beauty. It also figures as such in the songs chanted by the Tohunga on such occasions, of which the following stanzas may be presented as a specimen:--

Be ready, my daughter, to have thyself marked, To tattoo thy chin!

That, when thou crossest the threshold of a strange house, They may not say, "Whence cometh this ugly woman?"

Be ready, my daughter, to have thyself marked, To tattoo thy chin!

That thou mayst have a comely aspect, That when thou art bidden to a feast, They may not ask, "Whence cometh this _red-lipped_ woman?"

To make thyself beautiful Come and be tattooed!

That when thou dost enter the circle of dancers, They may not ask, "Whence cometh this woman with the ugly lips?"

The Tohunga is usually well remunerated, and frequently in the course of his chant makes allusion to the amount of reward he expects, and indeed sometimes stimulates the generosity of his patient by singing amongst other ditties, something like

"The man who is paid well Tattoos beautifully!

The man who receives nothing Does not tattoo well!"

The marks, when completely brought out, are so manifold and various that hardly any two New Zealanders are to be found who are tattooed entirely alike. Accordingly these markings serve neither to indicate variety of tribe, nor difference of rank. A slave, if he possess the means, may have his face tattooed with the same ornaments as his master. However it appears, as we were informed by Colonel Browne, that on the occasion of the chiefs ratifying the treaty with the English, they superscribed the various doc.u.ments with the lines upon their faces, like so much heraldic blazonry, instead of writing their names.

Another remarkable custom of the Maori consists in the right of the priest to declare certain persons and things _taboo_, that is, consecrated and inviolable. This custom, which is nothing else than a religious ordinance inst.i.tuted for political purposes, is frequently most beneficial in its consequences. So great and universal was the respect paid to the law of _taboo_, that even hostile tribes were in the habit during war of leaving unharmed all persons and things thus protected. A plot of ground planted with esculents, a fruit tree, a sick person, a "lady in the straw,"--all these were so many objects declared holy and inviolate.

Formerly polygamy was tolerably frequent among the Maori, although instances were by no means rare in which a man had but one wife to whom he continued faithful. At present this custom, incompatible with the Christian notion of the family tie, is confined to those few chiefs who are still heathens.

Usually the young men and girls marry very young. English travellers state they have seen a mother only 11 years of age! Usually the first wife of a young chief is much older than himself, but, on the other hand, instances were frequent of old men marrying young girls. The daughters of men of very high rank frequently remained unmarried.

The mortality among infants under a year old is very great. At present not more than three children are reckoned to each family, and the number of barren marriages is much greater than those that prove fruitful.

Infanticide is at present as rare as in Europe. In former times, especially during the wars of the interior, it was by no means unusual for a mother to put her children to death, especially if females, in order to spare herself the trouble of nursing and bringing up. Male offspring, on the contrary, were taken more care of, because they would increase the aggressive power of the tribe, and were looked upon as the avengers of injuries sustained and not yet compensated. Illegitimate children they almost always put to death, either by strangling them or compressing the mouth and nostrils. The practice of infanticide among the weaker s.e.x took its rise chiefly in the life of slavery which was the normal state of the women during their heathen condition. Such was the reasoning once avowed by a murderess of her child:--"Why should my child live? to be brought up as the slave of the wives of my husband, to be beaten and kicked by them!"

There seems to be some mistake in the a.s.sertion of several writers upon the customs prevalent in New Zealand, to the effect that on the death of a Maori it is customary to sacrifice his nearest relatives. Only when a great chief dies, are some of his slaves occasionally put to death at the same time, that their spirits may accompany him who has preceded them to the shadowy land, to serve him there, and execute his commands as they did while on earth.

So too it occasionally happened that, on the death of a much-esteemed chief, a hostile incursion was made by a number of warriors, in order to provide a victim from another tribe, and thus make it feel the same pang as that which they were suffering in the loss of their chief. Suicide, on the death of a near relative, is even at present far from uncommon as a token of inconsolable grief. A low estimate of the value of life seems to be a leading feature in the character of the New Zealander; it needs but a slight cause to make him take his own life or plunge into some abyss.

Slavery, to the extent that existed among the aborigines in former times, is no longer to be found, though many prisoners taken in war are still held as slaves by their captors. In many cases the slaves prefer to stay with their present masters, if they have been well treated, rather than return among their own race, from whom they feel themselves estranged, and by whom it is probable they have long been forgotten.

The introduction of Christianity was immediately followed by the manumission of all slaves throughout the islands. Under the old laws, the owner of a slave was undisputed master of his person and property, and might put him to death, or sell him,--in short, do with him as he pleased.

Everything that the slave possessed belonged to his master. Slaves were usually made in battle, either during the storming of a fortified village, or _pah_, or during flight before a victorious enemy. Each warrior might take as many prisoners as he could, who thereupon became his incontestable property. Chiefs, however, and youths of rank were usually put to death on the spot.

The offspring of such prisoners of war were also slaves, and equally the property of their masters. However, it frequently happened that a young slave married a girl of the tribe of his conqueror, in which case their offspring were no longer considered as slaves, although they were reputed of low rank. According to the old Maori laws, there were no slaves other than those taken in war and their descendants.

Among the free Maori, there are a number of varying grades; but the principles on which they are bestowed do not seem as yet to have been accurately ascertained by any European observers. Any individual who is able to trace his descent from distinguished parentage of either s.e.x, has the right to a.s.sume the t.i.tle of a chief. As a rule, the elder branch of a family takes precedence over the younger. The heir-male was always regarded as the head of the family, and in the olden times was its priest or _tohunga_.

The wars of the Maori were chiefly carried on with spears and clubs of various shapes and sizes, but since the arrival of the Europeans the use of fire-arms has become almost universal. Hangi, one of the most renowned and formidable chiefs, who visited England in 1826, on his return exchanged all the splendid presents made him by George IV. for European fire-arms and ammunition, in order the more readily to subjugate all the races on the island by means of these new and dangerous weapons, and make himself omnipotent. Since that period the older warlike implements (_taiaha_, _paki_, _ehi_) have only been kept as objects of curiosity for the various chiefs to show.

But the most remarkable weapon of the New Zealanders, which was held by the chiefs in high honour as an emblem of rank, a sceptre so to speak, and which descended from generation to generation, is a piece of nephrite beautifully polished, from 10 to 20 inches long, 4 to 5 inches broad, and half an inch thick, called by the natives Meri-meri, "the fire of the G.o.ds," which is pierced at one end, and is usually attached to a cord pa.s.sed round the hand. In the days of heathenism the Meri-meri was used occasionally as a weapon of defence, as also to scalp prisoners.

The various weapons of nephrite that we had an opportunity of examining were of a pale green colour, which became transparent at the sharp edge, which ran all round, and had a peculiar flame-like glow.

The stone from which these costly weapons are made (the manufacture of which, in consequence of the dearth of suitable instruments before the arrival of the Europeans, was often the work of several generations), is found in loose fragments among the various mountain-streams along the west coast of the central island. The places where they are found in greatest abundance are Arahura and Ohonu on the N.W. coast, beyond Wakatipu, an inland lake, one of the sources of the river Matan, and Piopiotahi, a mountain-torrent on the S.W. coast. At the last-mentioned place, which, although we have little reliable information concerning it, has long been known to seal-hunters, a gigantic block of nephrite, many tons weight, was found in the middle of the current, which owing to its size was valueless, because useless to the aborigines. A sealer, who visited this coast once during a flying visit to Sydney, overheard a remark that this description of stone was much prized in China, and being aware of the existence of this colossal block of nephrite at Piopiotahi, he already beheld himself the possessor of considerable wealth. A company was quickly got up, with a merchant from Manila at the head, and a number of miners were forthwith sent to the spot, in order to blast the huge, unshapen rock into fragments admitting of easy transport. After immense labour and incredible hards.h.i.+ps a few tons of the rock thus blasted were dispatched by the labourers to Manila for the purpose of being tested and examined. The workmen remained some months at Piopiotahi, anxiously awaiting intelligence of the results of their toil. At last, when they had about exhausted their provisions, and were still without intelligence, they buried the fruits of their exertions, and dispersed themselves among the small Maori settlements adjoining Foveau Straits.

The samples of nephrite were duly sent from Manila to China, where they proved to be of very poor quality, being disfigured by small black specks.

For some years after small quant.i.ties of nephrite were annually brought for sale from the Piopiotahi to Wellington, where they found plenty of purchasers among the natives of that district at about 1_s._ per lb.

In former days the Maori used to make long and difficult journeys from the east to the west coast of the island, in search for the much-prized stone.

When found it was usually shaped and polished by rubbing it upon a flat sandstone block; this operation was so long and arduous that its completion was often the work of two generations; and this is probably the main reason why such value is attached to it. The extraordinary hardness of the stone, which admits of its being ground to a very sharp edge, also made it an excellent subst.i.tute for iron in the manufacture of hatchets and chisels, the New Zealanders having only become acquainted with that metal since their intercourse with the Europeans.

The shape which the Maories gave the Meri-meri when completed, resulting from the absence of implements with which to manipulate this stone, which is so hard that even iron does not bite it, probably gave rise to the notion that when found the stone is in a soft state. Sandstone, however, is found efficacious in the process just as it polishes iron also, and the holes requisite for suspending it, are made by the very simple process of drilling with a piece of pointed hard wood, with fine sand and a little water.

Cannibalism may be said to have entirely ceased in New Zealand. Any allusion to this revolting practice is very painful to the New Zealander of the present day, as reminding him of his former low position in the scale of nations. Every time that we endeavoured to make any inquiry of the natives respecting this custom, they withdrew with an ashamed look.

In like manner dog's flesh has ceased to be an article of food, ever since the introduction of pork by Captain Cook. Formerly the native or Maori dog, which at present is very scarce, was eaten on certain occasions, while its blood played a somewhat conspicuous part in Maori pharmacy.

The vegetables most extensively used for food before the arrival of the Europeans were:--

1. Raorao (_Pteris esculenta_), a fern three or four feet high, which covers vast tracts of land, and the root of which, before the introduction of the Peruvian potato, formed the chief subsistence of the Maori.

2. k.u.mara (_Convolvulus Batata_), or sweet potato, the most valuable of New Zealand products. Various legends of adventure exist among the natives respecting its first introduction. The harvest-time for this plant is accompanied by a grand festival, and the fields in which the k.u.mara is grown, as well as the labourers engaged in raising it, were declared by the priests _taboo_, or consecrated. Of the varieties of the k.u.mara, one, the size of a yam-root, is named _Kai-pakeha_, or "white man's food," and is exceedingly palatable. The common potato (_Solanum tuberosum_) was first brought hither from the Cape of Good Hope, by Captain Cook, who planted it here.

3. Mamaku (_Cyathea Medullaris_), one of the most elegant tree-ferns in the country, whose whole stalk, sometimes 20 feet high, is edible, and is sufficient to maintain a considerable number of persons. The pith of the Mamaku, when cooked and dried in the sun, is an excellent subst.i.tute for sago.

Fermented liquors, like the Kawa of the South Sea Islanders, or the Chicha of the Indians of Southern and Central America, seem never to have been known to the New Zealanders.[32] The only fruits from which liquors are occasionally prepared are the Tawa (_Laurus Tawa_) and those of the Trepa-Kihi (_Coriaria Sarmentosa_), the latter of which, however, when the stamens of many are mingled together, is apt to be followed by symptoms of poisoning, resulting in violent convulsions and death.

Although their short stay at Auckland, coupled with other indispensable business, did not admit making an adequate number of measurements of the physical proportions of both s.e.xes of natives, we nevertheless had an opportunity of measuring some individuals, whose appearance seemed to present a very fair average.

Here we ought to remark that many years ago, Dr. A. Thomson, surgeon of the 58th regiment, impressed apparently with the value of these experiments as aiding the diagnostics of various races of men, had made a great number of measurements of the natives during a long residence on the island. These, however, were mainly confined to height, weight, magnitude of chest, and physical strength of individuals, but which are of much value, having been compared at the time with similar results obtained from an equal number of British soldiers, thus furnis.h.i.+ng most interesting standards of comparison for the two races. Dr. Thomson measured, for instance, the height of 147 natives, and found them to average 5 ft. 6-3/4 inches. Of these, 35 measured 5 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 7 in.; 20 from 5 ft. 5 in. to 5 ft. 6 in.; 2 from 5 ft. 11 in. to 6 ft.; one 6 ft. 1 in.; and one who measured 6 ft. 5-1/2 in. Of 617 men of the 58th regiment, the average height was 5 ft. 7-3/4 inches.

Like the English, the Maories attain their full stature after they have completed their 20th year, the average height of 46 individuals between 16 and 20 being 5 ft. 6 in., whereas of individuals between 21 and 25 it was 5 ft. 6-3/4 inches, the average height of the human race in the temperate climes of Europe being 5 ft. 5 in. to 5 ft. 6 in., according to Haller.

The weight of New Zealanders, as compared with that of English soldiers, gave the following remarkable result in the case of 150 men of both races who were examined at Auckland:--

8 Maories weighed more than 112 lbs., but less than 126 lbs.

avoirdupois.

25 " " " " 126 " " " " 140 " "

54 " " " " 140 " " " " 154 " "

41 " " " " 154 " " " " 168 " "