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Art" workmanship of <heM?o:i,, ",??,,;; if'**
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GAYLORD
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aUwienlanir 3)tatttutE.
THE ART WORKMANSHIP
OF THE
MAORI EACE m NEW ZEALAND:
A SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SPECIALLY TAKEN PHOTOGRAPHS, WITH DESCRIPTIVE NOTES AND ESSAYS ON THE
CANOES, HABITATIONS, WEAPONS, ORNAMENTS, AND DRESS
OF THE MAORIS,
TOGETHER WITH
LISTS OF THE WORPS IN THE MAORI LANGUAGE USED IN RELATION TO THE SUBJECTS.
BY
AUGUSTUS HAMILTON,
Registrar of the University of Otago,
DUNEDIN.
1896.
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED FOR THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
BY
FERQUSSON & MITCHELL, PRINTERS AND MANUFACTURING STATIONERS, PRINCES STREET, DUNEDIN, N.Z.
0 1
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MAORI ART.
I»Ji.IlT I.
INTRODUCTION.
ON THE CANOES OF THE MAORIS.
PLAN OF THE DETAILS AND CONSTRUCTION OF A MAORI CANOE.
LIST OF CANOE WORDS.
ON THE HISTORICAL CANOES OF THE MAORI MIGRA- TIONS TO NEW ZEALAND, WITH THE NAMES OF CANOES MENTIONED IN MAORI TRADITIONS AND MYTHS.
LIST OF PLATES AND DESCRIPTIONS.
By A. HAMILTON,
Registrar of the University of Otago.
PUBLISHED BY THE GOVERNORS OF THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE,
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND, 1896.
INTRODUCTION.
IT has long been recognised that Art, as appUed to decoration and elaboration of details, reached a very high level among the Maoris ; but the exact position of this work has never been seriously considered, nor its relations to other schools of decorative design. This, no doubt, has been due to the fact that there has never been any collection of reproductions- of specimens of their work published, in any accessible form, by which the general character and peculiarities of Maori Art might be studied. The only work which systematically undertakes the matter is the large and costly folio by G. F. Angas.* The volume of lithographed plates to Mr. John White's " History of the Maori," published by the New Zealand Government in i8gi, contains reproductions of many of these drawings and others from various sources. Some of the plates in Angas' work are most interesting sketches, carefully made, of objects which have entirely disappeared at this time ; but the re-production by hand of the details of an elaborate carving, or the exact shape of a weapon or tool, cannot possibly equal the accuracy of a properly taken and well-reproduced photograph.
It is, therefore, proposed by the Governors of the New Zealand Institute to publish in quarto form a series of photographs of the remaining monuments of Maori skill and art, with short descriptions of the specimens figured. The desira- bility of some record of this kind is now so universally recognised that it will probably be quite unnecessary to explain the necessity for such a publication. The only remarks that seem called for are those of regret that a definite scheme of record of a national character has not been in operation for years. Year after year the " devouring tooth of time " has obliterated carvings and works of skill that can never be replaced — not only on account of lack of practised skill in the present representatives of the race, but on account of difference of environment caused by the tide of colonization.
* G. F. An^as "The New Zealanders," lSi7.
Introduction.
Maori Art has several characteristics which are clearly brought out after the comparison and examination in detail of numerous specimens, the most strongly marked of these being the due application of ornament. It will be shown by abundant evidence that the ancient Maori had a deep and true sense of the fitness of things, and never ornamented his weapons or implements in such a way as to interfere with their primary purpose and free use.
Another point of interest is the conservation of a strictly conventional character or type in the ornamentation of each article ; each tribe having its own rendering of the type, varied in degree of excellence by the skill of the maker. In' some of the more important carvings — such as those in a house — departure from the lines laid dowri by their ancestors was considered an aitna or evil omen to the carver, which often resulted in death. Even in modern times, deaths of noted men have taken place from this cause.
With us an article or ornament is usually completed before it is brought into use ; but the Maori used his weapon or his carved ornament as soon as it was fit to serve its purpose, and further elaboration would be spread over years — perhaps generations — with the result that in the case of the elaborately carved canoe ornaments, very few can be considered to have exhausted the artistic powers of the race : the real explanation of this being that the Maori loved his work and took a personal and national pride in it. The desired result was not easily arrived at ; and, therefore, was highly prized when attained. From a general point of view, the whole of the art work of the Maori comes under the head of ornament. There are no representations in the solid of plant forms, or of animals (with a few exceptions that prove the general rule). No representations of hunting, fishing,
and fowling ; no sketches, like those of the cave-men, on fragments of bone not
even a sketch of a moa. Lizards certainly did appear in the carvings of the Northern tribes, but probably as an esoteric symbol, and not as representing any particular species.
The Manaia, or lizard, or snake, is a remarkable deviation from the general law stated here. There are several varieties : probably the snake form with the eagle's head is one of the most interesting, carrying us back to some of the older mythologies. Specimens of the figures are rare. It occurs sometimes as an ear
Introduction.
ornament carved in bone ; and it is also represented on two large carvings in the Napier Museum which came from the Poverty Bay district. It is reported that a specimen in pounainu exists in the possession of natives near Taupo.
In the limestone caves and rock-shelters on the Waitaki River, on the Tengawai River, and at the Weka Pass, there are numerous rude paintings in red and black — of fishes, lizards, and various symbols and figures. But their appear- ance is quite different to any of the purely ornamental work of the Maori.
In the round the best efforts of the carver were devoid of any claim to correctness of proportion or grace, and probably were never intended to possess it. The most archaic art of the Old World is superior in the perception of the true proportion of the human figure. The highest conception of the human form crystallized itself and found expression in the best period of Greek Art, and repre- sented not only the aftual beauty of the race, but occasionally produced a master- piece of an ideal perfection. The Maoris, with equal facilities for observation of the human figure, and with a racial type of a high order, never seemed to have acquired such a mental ideal, and were content with more or less conventional renderings of the human form ; and the decorative patterns, infinite in their varieties, seem here, and in Polynesia generally, to be based on anthropomorphic lines.
Maori traditions ascribe to Rauru, son of Toi, who lived in the Bay of Plenty about 26 generations ago, the invention of the present pattern or style of Maori carving. No other branch of the Polynesian race uses exactly the same designs, so that tradition is supported in claiming an endemic origin for the art of New Zealand.
One very remarkable conventionality is presented in the Maori representation of the female figure ; and the study of this will, no doubt, furnish us with some curious information. The Maori seldom omitted to indicate in the most definite manner the sex of the person represented ; and it is, therefore, somewhat strange that female figures seldom occur in any old Maori carving in which the breasts, in any way, exceed in size those of the male. Now Nature has amply provided the adult Maori woman in this respect, and this renders the suppression in the carvings more remarkable. It will be extremely interesting to see how far this custom obtains in other areas.
Introduction.
Another peculiarity that will open up an interesting field for research is the custom of representing some of the human figures with only three fingers or toes on each hand or foot. Outside of New Zealand this can be seen in old carvings from the neighbourhood of the Fly River in New Guinea, in the Otago Museum, presented by the Rev. J. Chalmers; in some of the gold ornaments from Antioquia, in the north-western provinces of South America,* in textiles from Ancon in Peru, and in a number of other instances which I have collected. The only way to arrive at any sound conclusion on these and other equally interesting matters is to gather the scraps of the materials still remaining, and piece by piece reconstruct the story of the past. A very small and apparently trivial detail may be some day found to be the key of some of those appa- rently hopeless problems which present themselves at the commencement of the mvestigations into the past history of by-gone generations. The material for study grows scarcer every year; and even those specimens preserved in the public and private collections of the Colony are in constant danger from fire, which may at any time sweep away unique and valuable relics.
Besides the normal decay and neglect, the museums of the civihsed world have for nearly loo years, through their agents and friends, carried off the most portable and interesting of the carvings, mats, and weapons, leaving but scanty remnants for our local museums.
To publish plates of the specimens of Maori Art workmanship still available in the Colony will be a step in the right direction, and will greatly assist in the study of the Archaeology ol New Zealand and its relation to the wider subject of the Art of the great Polynesian Nation.
It will be advisable at some future time to endeavour to secure photographs ot all the New Zealand specimens in European museums.
The first section of the proposed publication will comprise photographs of some specimens of the elaborately-carved figure-heads and stern-posts of the war canoes— objects that were executed with wonderful skill by the carvers of the East Coast district in the North Island of New Zealand, together with plans of the details of the diff"erent kinds of canoes used by the Maoris.
* "Descriptions of the Grold Ornaments . . . belonging to Lady Brassey " (Bryce Wright, London, l.sss),
page 19, iigs. 11-12.
ON THE CANOES OF THE MAORIS.
To the Polynesians, the ocean rovers of the Southern Seas — " The great ocean of Kiwa" — the canoe was of necessity their most valued possession, and in its highest development was a noble and beautiful object, being admired by the early visitors to New Zealand as much for its sea-going qualities as for the beauty of its ornamentation. P'or many years it has been impossible to see any specimen of the first-class canoe in battle order, and now it is only in the Auckland Museum that a specimen can be seen in any wa}' representing the old war canoe or Waka-taua of the Maoris.
The general details of the construction and fittings of a war canoe have been given by Mr. Barstow, in his paper on the Maori canoe, in the Transactions
of the New Zealand Institute for 1878,* but there were some kinds of canoe which are not mentioned in that paper which are of interest. f The early works on New Zealand also give fragments of information. Earlej states that none but men of rank were allowed to work on the making of a war canoe, and that they laboured like slaves at the heavy task of shaping from the rough log with fire and stone tools, the various parts of the whole. The Tohunga of the tribe always directed the work, each stage of progress being accompanied by appropriate Karakias, man}' of which have been preserved. In connection with each of the historical canoes there are at least seven kinds of Karakias which have been used : —
1. The Karakia used in felling the tree — tua.
2. The Karakia used in giving power to the tokis or axes to shape the canoe.
3. The Karakia used when the canoe was drawn out of the bush, to-to-waka.^
4. The Riiriiku used in "binding" or making propitious the heavens before
starting on a long voyage.
5. The Awa-moana, to calm the sea.
6. The Uru-uru-whenua, used on arrival at a strange land.
7. The Ttiki-waka, used to give time to the paddlers.
There were also Karakias for the naming of a canoe when the priest sprinkled it with water with a branch of Kawa-kawa [Piper cxcelsum) . The ceremony was accompanied by the sacrifice of a slave.
* "Trans. N.Z. Institute," vol. xi., p. 71.
t See also plans drawn to scale of Maori war canoes from Tolaga and Bream Bays in the " Voyage de I'Astrolabe" Atlas, vol. 1, pi. 60, and descriptions in " History of the Voyage," vol. 2, p. 492, &c. A good drawing of a war canoe' is triven in " Cook's First Voyage," pi, 15-16 (Hawkesworth), vol. 3 ; also in Parkinson's " Journal of the Voyage," pi. 18, (1773) ; and in Stack's "Views of the Province of Auckland, N.Z.," there is a plate of the war canoe race at the regatta of 1862.
+ Earle, "New Zealand, 1827," p. 110.
§ For Ruawharo's incantation to rouse the ancients and the gods of old to move the canoe Takitumu, see A.H.M. iii., 4.5 ; and A.U..M., ii., 1.56, for another to-io-waha.
10
On the Canoes of the Maoris.
HE TUKI-WAKA.'
Tena toia ! . .
Tena pehia ! . .
Tena tukia ! . .
Tena tiaia ! . .
Tena kia mau !
Tena kia u ! . .
Hoea, hoea atu !
Urunga, urunga atu, . .
Ki Waipa atu,
Tena toia ! . .
E hara te puhi o tana waka
Te oreore ! . .
Te oreore ! . .
Toia ! toia ! . .
Tiaia !
He tuki !
He pelii !
Werohia kia ngoto,
He kukume,
Ae ! Ae !
Tena pehia ! . .
Tena tiaia ! . .
Aue ! peiiia ! . .
He koroheke ki te wliana,
Tiliaua ki te whana,
Tangohia lie piko,
Tango mai he rae,
Waiho atu,
Toia ! toia ! . .
A CANOE SONG (of the Waikatos).
Now pul! away ! Now press her ! Now give the time ! Now dip (the paddles) ! Now stick to it ! Now be firm ! Pull, pull away. Steer, steer away. Away to Waipa.
Now pull away !
What grand feathers his canoe has got.
With a shake !
With a twist !
Pull, pull !
Dip in (the paddles) !
Give the lune !
Press her !
Stick them in deep.
A strong pull.
That's it ! that's it!
Now press her !
Now dip in !
Alas ! press her !
It takes an old man to move her.
Bend to move her.
Fetch to the bend.
Reach another point.
Leave it behind.
Pull away ! pull away !
Two kinds of canoe seem to have entirely disappeared, and are onl)' represented in sketches or descriptions. For Polackf says: — "Among the early occupants of New Zealand canoes were made entirely of the bulrush (typha). We have seen between Kaipara and HokiangaJ one of these vessels of olden time nearly sixty feet in length, capable ot holding as many persons, but they are now (1836) wholly in disuse. They were remarkably thick, formed entirely of rushes, except the thwarts, and resembled the model of a canoe in every particular. They were remarkably light, like the coracles of the ancient Britons, though many bundles of rushes were consumed in forming them, and were paddled with much velocity, until saturated, when they settled down in the water. "§
* From Shortland, "Traditions of the New Zealanders," 1st ed., p. 140; 2nd ed., p. 168.
t Polaok, vol. 2, p. 221. JPolaok, vol. 1, p. 218.
§ Mr. Colenso, in his " Fifty Years Ago in New Zealand " (Napier, 1888) mentions (p. 45) " small rafts which he saw hauled up above high -water mai-k, each being eight or ten feet long and three or four wide, composed of only a few small poles, roughly and distantly, but very firmly, lashed together, with open spaces between them. On these East Coast Maoris went out to fish in deep water, one on each, and when opportunity offered, to a ship with a pig or two fastened to the raft. They said these rafts were quite safe — more so, indeed, than a small or a middle-size canoe, as there was no danger of vipsetting." 1 myself saw these in use in the same district last year.
On the Canoes of the Maoris. ii
Frequent mention is made by early voyagers of double canoes, Wakauniia and Taurita, with a platform, pom, from vessel to vessel, suitable for extended voyages; and an old resident in Otago states that since 1835 he has seen double canoes fishing off the Otago Heads. + Some of Te Rauparaha's southern raids were made in canoes of this kind. Maori tradition says that the Arawa had a platform connecting the two hulls, and a house on the top, and that this canoe had three masts.
The large kauris and pines of the North Island enabled canoes of great size to be made. It is on record that remains of a single canoe could be seen at Hauraki in 1855 which measured no feet in length.
As an outlet for the decorative genius of the Maori race, the war canoe afforded a fine field for native talent. The large ornamented prow and stern piece — taiiihu and rapa, both removable pieces — had to be carved from the solid log, the tau-ihu, or figurehead, requiring a log about four feet in diameter by about five or six feet in length, and the mpa, or stern piece, a log about fifteen inches in diameter and from six to ten feet in length, sometimes even fifteen feet. These logs had to be gradually worked down to the required shape and then carved with elaborate conventional patterns.
It will be seen from the examples figured that the types are well marked, but that the elaboration of detail and the style of execution is very varied, the Maori carver possessing the wonderful art common amongst Oriental craftsmen of working out a design to suit any accidents of material or space. The fixed nature of the type may be accounted for by the reverence of the Maori for tradition and the dread of the vengeance of the gods for the least infringement of the principles of the art. Add to this the localisation of the art of war canoe building, almost entirely to the East Coast district, and we can well understand the stereotyped agreement of the component part of the carvings for the bow and stern of the war canoe.
Prominent in the design of a first-class canoe is the elaborate coil work called pitaii, representing — so I was informed by an old Maori — the young circinate frond of the tree fern Mamaku.-\ The small studs between the coils represents the pinnae. From it the first-class war canoe was sometimes called generically a Waka-pitmi-X All large canoes had special names, as the " Arawa," the " Tainui," or the " Aotea."
* See " Polynesian Mythology," pages 138-212 ; also Haberfield, Otago Daily Times, February 15th, 1892. Cook saw the first double canoe at Hicks' Bay. In April, 1773, he saw five dovible canoes in Queen Charlotte's Sound. He also saw a small double canoe in Dusky Sound (p. 85, Hawkesworth) . The Natives seen by him in some of the other Sounds had no canoes, bvit only two or three logs tied together.
t From Pitau, the young fronds of the fern tree (Cyaihea.)
X Mr. Tregear says "that the spirals are the emblem of ^Yinmnn\, the god of the cobweb." Mr. Colenso says "that for tiie carved figure-heads of their canoes the pukatea {Athe rospermum, N.Z.) was generally used ; while the ornamental carved work of the sterns was made of matai or iotara."— Trans. N.Z. Institute, vol. i., p. 263.
On the Canoes of the Maoris.
The prow usually contains representations of four human figures, all of whom, no doubt, have a significance, but I have only been able to obtain a trustworthy description of some of the parts. Those old men who were well versed in mythological lore and who did know are all dead, and their knowledge has died with them. The same beautiful spiral work ( pit an) is seen to advantage in the stern post. The little figure perched aloft near the top is sometimes called Paikea* but here again the full explanation is wanting.
The small figure at the end of the figure-head looking into the canoe is called Huaki, and the thin board-like central piece with a human figure between two pitait spirals is called Manaia by the Arawas, or Tauroa by the Ngati-porou.§
On the stern-ornament or Rapa, the figure looking into the canoe, or that part of the carving, is caUed Puhi-kai-ariki,-\ Xhe lower portion of the base where it rests on the Rauawa or in some cases on the Haiiiui, is called Puhi-tainga-wai. The upper portion near the figure, which I have called Paikea, is Puhi-taiapa.X
There is another beautiful type of taii-ihu which is very scarce, and which appears to have been almost confined to the Northern Districts, especiall)' Auckland and the Waikato. It consists of four parts, instead of being hewn out of the solid block. The central board (or Manaia of the usual type) is largely occupied by pitau spirals irregularly divided by broad bands, the main one passing diagonally from the upper corner in front to the lower corner behind. In the three or four examples I have seen, the general pattern is the same. This main portion fits into a groove in the middle of the diamond-shaped base, and appears to have been secured by dowel pegs. The transverse portion carrying the Huaki figure is supported on each side by human figures, and is elaborately carved. This also fits into a groove cut transversely across the base, and has a groove to receive the end of the Manaia. The fourth portion is the front part of the base, and represents a realistic human head well tattooed, without the usual protruding tongue. This is sometimes made removable.
Connecting the tau-ihu and rapa, and firmly lashed to the nn or hull of the canoe, are the topsides, rauainia, hewn out of a log, and sometimes carved from end
* This is also a name of the Storm God. t Judu'u Gudgeon, per S, Percy Smith. . "■
X A good woodcut of a stern-post appears in the IlliidrateiJ Lundvii News, of October 4, 1851. § Mr Tregear says that the figure which lies looking upward with the thin vertical board with the pitau spirals dividing him longitudinally, is called Maui. .-
On the Canoes of the Maoris. 13
to end. B}^ means of small holes in the hull and topside these were firmly lashed together with braided undressed flax lashings, and the down of the Raitpo (Typha) was used for caulking the seams and holes. Outside over the joint is secured a long thin batten painted black (taka). This was firmly bound with flax lashings, and small tufts of gannets' feathers were inserted to cover the lashings, the white feathers forming a striking contrast to the black taka or batten and the red sides of the canoe. The part of the hull of the canoe underneath the tau-ihu was painted with a beautiful pattern in red, black, and white (puhoro). The pattern seems to have its motive in the rippling of the waves. f
The whole of the specimens to be figured in the work will be shown just as they now appear in collections, but it must be recollected that when in use and in gala dress the figure-head had an elaborate wig of feathers, and bunches of feathers extended along the top of the thin central board. From the top of the stern-post hung long ornamental streamers reaching to the water (piihi-rcre), made of bunches of the feathers from the tail of pigeon or kaka (Nestor).
The prow (tau-ihu) was sometimes decorated with two long curving wands (piihi) resembling the antennae of a butterfly, elaborately ornamented with albatross' feathers tied in small bunches at intervals of about a foot.
In Forster's "Voyage Round the World"* he mentions under the date November, 1773, seeing in Queen Charlotte's Sound, "the war canoe in which a war expedition had been made ; it had a carved head ornamented with bunches of brown feathers, and a double pronged fork projected from it, on which the heart of their slain enemy was transfixed."
Along the coast of the Central and Southern part of the North Island, I have always found the tau-ihu and rapa painted the same colour as the canoe — a fine red colour made from kokowai, a red ochre or oxide of iron, mixed with shark oil ; but in the Northern part of the Island they were generally painted black.
The inside of the canoe was fitted with a flooring or grating of small rods or battens (kaiivac), and the thwarts (taumanu) for the paddlers were lashed to the top sides and acted as braces : these were frequently carved at the ends and in the middle.
* Vol. 1, p. 521. t The bottom of the canoe was pierced with a hole to let out the bilge water when the
canoe was beached. The karemu or plug for this hole plays an important part in the legend of Ruatapu.
, , On the Canoes of the Maoris.
■'■4
For special expeditions the canoe was fitted up with various conveniences, the fore-part being partly covered m. Paddles {hoe) in plenty were provided, and a large and often highly ornamented steering paddle (urunga). The beautifully carved canoe paddles which are seen m collections, m which the blade as well as the handle is ornamented, were mostly weapons of ceremony, and used by chiefs m the war dance. A beautiful specimen with a unique handle has been recently acquired by the Dresden Museum.*
An important article was the lata or baler, also called tihcru m the North, admirably designed for its purpose, with the handle turned inwards, thus applying the requisite power with the least exertion. In a few instances the handle is made stronger by not being separated at either end from the scoop. There are also some balers with the handle projecting like a sugar scoop.
The sails (ra, or nuimani) of the canoe were used in favourable weather, and consisted of a triangular mat, made in a peculiar manner from the leaves of the raupo, with the mast and boom forming two of its sides, the point was at the bottom, the upper end was ornamented with tufts of feathers and streamers, the whole being supported by stays and sheets of plaited flax. A large stone at either end, secured by a strongly plaited flax rope, served as an anchor (punga). Grooves were chipped round or holes bored in the stone to enable the rope to be firmly attached, and sometimes the stones were slightly ornamented. The anchor stones of the Arawa canoe were named Toka-parorc and Tu-tc-rangi-harurit. Occasionall a flax basket or ketc is filled with stones and let down as an anchor.
Although the canoes rolled a good deal in a heavy sea, they were capable of travelling at a considerable rate when urged by the rythmical strokes of the paddles of the crew. Then the men sang boat songs led by special leaders (Kai-hautu) who animated them to special exertions, and displayed great skill and address in running up and down the canoe, stepping from seat to seat. The steersman sometimes led the chant. The men knelt on the framework (kaiicac) made of manuka sticks to paddle, but when going along leisurely they sometimes sat on the taumanu or stretcher which connected the topsides. Mr. Shortland mentions a temporary deck of raupo or flax by which the fore-parts of the canoes were covered in for a few feet when making coastal voyages of any length, as a protection against the sea.
* \ large plate with figures of both sides of this remarkable specimen, has been issued by the Dresden Museum. Nr. 8569 (1896). See also a sketch in the lithographed sheet of the parts of a canoe in this work.
>'
On the Canoes of the" Maoris. 15
When the triangular raupo sails were set the canoes sailed well in a good breeze, sailing very close to the wind, but not having any hold on the water they made great leeway. If there was any sea on, they could not run before the wind in consequence of their great length. When well managed, however, they were kept in the trough of the sea, and thus weathered the numerous squalls so frequent on the New Zealand coasts. In the early years of the present century they frequenth- left the Bay of Islands fifty or more together, on long coastal voyages as far as Raukawa (Cook's Straits) generally for war, sometimes to trade mats and weapons for pounamii. Some expeditions from the Bay of Islands ventured down the coasts of the South Island. The crossing of the Straits was always dreaded, and numerous spells (Awa-moana) are preserved which had power to still the waves and winds of Raukawa.
When the large canoes were not in use special shelter sheds (wharaii) were built for their protection from the weather.
The second class of canoes f Waka tctc) consisted of those used for fishino- parties and river work, or for short journeys. + The figure-head was of a simple type, and consisted of a human head with the tongue conspicuously extended. The portion connecting the head with the canoe was quite plain, but often beautifully shaped, with an elegant curve. The rapa, or stern post, was smaller and plain, sometimes having a human figure at the base looking into the boat, as in the more elaborate ones. These were not usually adorned with feathers, but painted red. Canoes of this class are still in use on the East Coast of the North Island for fishing purposes.
The third class consists of the simple dug-out, without topsides or carved ornaments, used for crossing small rivers or for fishing in calm weather. They are called Waka-tvK'ai, kopapa, or tararo. These canoes were often painted in some of the usual Maori scroll patterns — in red or black and white.
Many very beautiful model canoes are made by the Maoris, but not to any scale. Angas, in his book,t mentions finding a small model canoe placed in a Wahi-tapu (cemetery) at Te Pahi, containing some of the propert}- of a deceased chief, and they are not uncommon in collections.
* A plate of Maoris dragging a caiioe of this kind down Hawkestone Sti-eet, Wellington, is given as a frontispiece to the Guide to a Panorama of New Zealand subjects, exhibited in London in 1SJ9.
t ■■ Savage Life and Scenes in New Zealand," Vol. ii., p. 71.
i6
On the Canoes of the Maoris.
Sometimes the hull of a canoe was erected to mark the grave of its owner, and either painted with patterns and adorned with feathers as the one at Ngauranga for Te Wharepouri,+ or carved all over as the one formerly in the cemetery at Whanganui.
Occasionally receptacles were made from a part of the hull of a canoe planted in the ground to contain the bones of a chief after the ceremony of scraping and cleaning the bones. The burial chest and the bones Avere painted red with kokowai — a red oxide of iron mixed with oil or fat.
As in Ptolemy we find among the Southern constellations the ship Argo placed for ever in the stars in memory of the voyage for the Golden Fleece, so, according to Taylor, f the Maoris recognised the canoe of Tamarereti as appearing in the neighbourhood of Orion, the three bright stars of the belt forming the stern, and the Pleiades the bow ornaments.
Carved Head from the base of a canoe prow.
I Original in the Museum of tile University of Otago. )
EN*fs=!?'''Tn*i*'^LT'''T'? Jf f^"'""^- ™ ^ '"■'*'' °*' ohromo-lithographs from New Zealand Sket,-hes. l.y R A. Oliver K.N.. LSoA in a plate called A Tangi at Motueka." Also in Angas' ■' The New Zealanders," plate 50, figs. 2 and 3.
'• Pnl^'^T^i " J" ^^^1 ^I'i'"'" ^'"^ ''^■' P- ^^^- ^Iso, '■ Maori Mementoes," C. O. Davis, 173 ; and Sir (ieo,.,,. ,-;,,.,.•, roems. Trad, ic, of the Maori," p. (io. „ m.i.s
Figure-head of a Small Canoe (pakuruTcuru) . Taranaki.
CANOE WORDS.
Ama. — The outrigger of a canoe. The stage between the canoes of a double canoe.
2. The thwart of a canoe. Amatiatia. — A canoe with an outrigger.
Aukaha. — To lash the rauawa or buhvark of a canoe to the body of the canoe. 2. The lashings themselves. (From kaha, a rope.)
Anrukowhao. — The leakage into a canoe through the holes made for the purpose of fastening on the rauau.<a. [Koiclmo, a hole ; urn, to enter.)
Awa-moana. — An incantation to calm the sea.
EhiL. — To bale water out of a canoe.
Hakiitiiri. — The wood elves who made the tree felled by Rata stand up again, and
finally made his canoe. Hauini. — A piece of wood by which the body of a canoe is lengthened. The hollowed
bulky piece of thick wood which is joined on to the ends of a large canoe
in order to lengthen and to raise it, stem and stern.
Hauta. — To beat time for the paddlers in a canoe.
Henga. — The edge of the hull of a canoe to which the raiiawa is fastened. 2. A
long slip or lath of wood on the outside of a canoe, covering the joints
(= tokai) Hihi.— The ornamented projecting rods of the bow of a war canoe (= piihi.) Hikahika. Act of pulling a rope ; hence taura-Jnkuhika, an old name for sailors
(European). Hma. — An old name for a paddle. Hoe.— A paddle (= hiraii, paddle.) Hokai. — Stay or brace of a canoe. Horete. — The old Maori drill for making holes.
Canoe Words.
Huaki. — The figure on the prow of a war canoe, looking inwards.
Huhunu. — A double canoe. Temporary washboards at the bow of a canoe [pain).
Huti-nti. — A rope (=; taura, wliakalickc, kaha, rahiri.)
I ho. — The tohungn or principal person in the bow of a canoe.
Ihu. — The bow of a canoe.
Iri-iri. — To put a strip on the gunwale of a canoe to make both sides equal.
Kaha. — A rope, lashings.
Kaha. — A piece of seaweed stem dried in a native oven and deposited (by Wairarapa natives) as a proteftmg charm or talisman in the bows of a canoe on every voyage. When not in use it was deposited on the tuahit, or sacred altar.
Kahn-papn-waka. — A fleet of canoes, j Also kaii-papa-waha.
Kaipuke. — A ship.
Kai-tuki and Kai-hautu. — He who gives time to the paddlers.
Kaiiiac. — The floor or deck of a canoe.
Kanohi. — Strand of a rope.
Kaokao. — Side of, a canoe.
Kapa. — The row of paddlers on each side.
Knpehu. — The directing god on the bow of a canoe whose duty it was not only to
diredt the canoe, but to guard it against all evil. Karoho. — The floor of a canoe. Kariri. — To sail together in a fleet. Kareinu. — The plug in the bottom of a canoe.
Knnhiinhiia. — A string-board or horizontal support for the floor of a canoe {Whakn-
wahine).
Kaunaroa. — The body of a canoe without the haumi, &c.
A'"'.— The stern of a canoe (= ta, noko, parcmata.) 2. The mizzen or after-sail of a canoe.
Kcrctii. — The thwart of a canoe.
Kiato.—The thwart of a canoe. Formerly the horizontal bar connecting the ama with the canoe.
Kiko {whaka-kiko) . — Patch on a canoe let in like a plug. Koki. — A small canoe.
A'o/zf/Y.— Figure-head car\ed on the body of a canoe (= toicrc.) Konia. — A small canoe.
Kopapa.—K small canoe {=korca, konia, koki, imkn {ge\-\er?i\),pinakujncai, taurua, tctc.) Koporo [K'aka kopovo). — A squaro-stcrncd canoe.
Canoe Wo'-ds. jo
Korea. — A small canoe.
Korepi-nui, Koirpi-roa.~\ncient names for steering paddle.
Kordc. — A small canoe.
Kororirovi. —To scull a boat (modern).
Kotokoto.~The sheet of a sail. 2. Sprit to extend the sail.
Koue. — Steer with a paddle or oar.
Kowhao matapupum.—Violes for the lashm- which fastens the hauim to the bod)- of the canoe.
X«;7/.— Tongue on the end of the boch- of a canoe, which is embraced b^■ the paihaii or sides of the haiimi.
Maaivc.—T\y& same as kaha—2. talisman or protefting charm for a canoe.
Manaia or Tauron.—Voxixon of -the figure-head of a war canoe.
Mainaru. — A sail.
Mata-kauwaka. — A fleet of canoes (emblematical).
Minnra.— To fasten the haumi to the body of the canoe.
Mimiro.— To draw together the sides of the canoe.
MoWii or Moki.—A raft of bundles of raupo or wood.
Mono. — To plug or caulk a canoe.
Ncke. — The skids of a canoe.
Ngariiigan. — A song to make people pull together.
Ngaro. — A roller used in dragging a canoe.
Ngeri. — A chant used in launching a canoe.
Ngongo. — Sail close to the wind.
Ngongohau . — Jib.
Niao. — The gunwale of a canoe (= pakura.)
Oiva. — Thwart of a canoe.
Pae. — Transverse supports of the karaho or floor ol a canoe. Pairi. — Washboards at the bow of a canoe.
Pacccai. — A batten between the raiiaica of a canoe and the hull, on the inside. Paharahara. — Plaited flax rope.
Pnhi. — A ship — the old name for a sea-going canoe. The large lattice work canoes of the Chatham Islands are called iv<aka-piiin. _Vlso used for a large sea- going canoe. Paihau. — Projecting sides of the hamni of a canoe. Pakokori. — A small house or cabin on a double canoe. Pakaiahi. — Fireplace on a canoe. 2. The bulwark <>f a canoe.
20 Caxoe Words.
Pakiira. — Gunwale of a canoe.
Pakurukuru. — The figure-head of a canoe carved into the resemblance of a hurq^n head and bod\-, but without arms.
Panckenckc. — A flat-bottomed boat.
Panoho. — A pole used for propelling a canoe or raft.
Papakaira. — The outer surface of the side of a canoe.
Paparewa. — The deck of a vessel.
Papaicai. — The outer surface of the bottom of a canoe.
I'apawaka. — The sides of a canoe above the surface of the water.
Varata. — A sea monster ; a whirlpool. 2. The projecting part of the bow of a canoe
under the figure-head. The seat of heroes and chiefs. Paremata. — The stern of a vessel (= hci, ta, noko.) I'arengaru. — The washboards of a canoe. Pawai. — The bilge of a canoe. Pehi. — Ballast.
Pitaii. — A war canoe. 2. The figure-head being carved so as to represent the
human body with arms. 3. Also any figure-head except a pakurukuru. Pinaku. — A war canoe.
Pora. — A ship. Canoes with platform. (Platform between two canoes — hence
name for such a double canoe.) Pou-pou. — The shrouds of a canoe mast.
Puhi-rerc. — The streamers of feathers falling from the top of the tau-rapa. Puhi or Hihi. — Projeding rods from bow of canoe, ornamented with feathers. Punakc. — Fore-end of the body of a canoe to which the tau-ihii is spliced. Punga. — An anchor.
Purcngi. — Stay of a mast {= puivhcnua.)
Piirere. — Holes drilled in the pieces of a canoe for the lashings.
Pnrn-puru. — The caulking material for a canoe, made oihunc, the flower of the ra«/)o. Pnru. — The plug on the bilge of a canoe. Viiwhenna. — The stay of a mast.
R^- — A sail (== komaru, mamarti, ivliaka-K'hiti, ivliara.) Raliiri. — Rope. Rakau. — A spar ; a mast. Rangirua. — To sail and paddle at same time.
Rango. — ihe skid or roller over which canoes are dragged {=ngaro =neke). Rapa. — The stern ornament of a canoe (= taurapa).
TAU-IHU
on
TETE
TOIERE
PARM/^
AUKAHA HENGA ''""""'>
{THE UPCLR tDGl OF THB HULL}
RANGO or NEKE or HGARO
PLANS (TO SCALE) OF MAORI CANOES.
FROM VOYAGE DE L'ASTROLABE. D'URVILLE— PLTS. 35-60.
Pl/H/ff£ff£
PUHI-TAINGA-WAI
DIAGRAMS OF THE PARTS OF A MAORI CANOE.
Canoe Words. 21
Raiiaii'a. — The movable top-sides of a canoe.
Raidtara. — An ancient sail for a canoe (named probab]\- from the Pandanus leaf-sail (= 7vhara, fnra, hara, am, in Polynesia.)
Rei, ichakarci. — i. The carved work at the bow or stern of a canoe — (original meaning, to carve, to ornament). 2. A canoe with elaborately carved ornaments. 3. The high priest's seat, carved and ornamented with feathers, at the stern of an ancient outrigger canoe.
Rcrc. — To sail.
Rcii'a. — The mast of a vessel.
Rin. — The bilge of a canoe ; the hold of a \essel.
Riinikii. — The Karakia to " bind " the winds to procure a successful voyage.
Ta. — To bale a canoe (pass., tan<yia).
Tatai. — Act of adorning the canoe with shells, feathers, &c.
Tata. — To bale water out of a canoe. 2. A vessel used to bale with {= tihcru). 3. Stern of a canoe.
Tahatit. — The upper edge of a canoe sail, often vandvked or ornamented.
Taitai (pass., taia). — To bale a canoe. 2. Also to remove the tapu from a newh- built canoe, a ceremony accompanied by the sacrifice of a slave.
Taingaicai. — Part of the canoe where the water is baled out.
Taka. — The batten which covers the outside of the joint of the rauawa of a canoe with the hull.
Takataka. — The lower point of a canoe sail.
Takcrc. — The keel of a canoe. (Also tangcrc).
Takcrc-Jiaia. — Dangerous leak in the bottom of a canoe.
Takotokoto. — Sprit on the lower edge of a sail.
Tanckaha. — A double-handled lever used in tightening the aukaha. Ya The line is fastened at a, and leverage obtained against the side of the canoe. When tight, a plug is put into the koichao or hole, and removed when next hole is plugged.
Tau. — To be at anchor — (modern application).
TauniaiiH. — Thwart of a canoe.
Taiira. — Rope ; cord — (general name).
Tanra u'hakaara. — Fore-stay of a canoe sail.
Tararo. — A canoe without top-sides or carved figure-head.
Taruru. — A lieet of canoes.
Tauparnpara. — An invocation used when dragging a canoe.
Canoe Words.
Tau-icaka. — A canoe son^.
Taurapa. — The stern ornament of canoe.
Taunri. — A thwart.
Tawharau. — A canoe shed ; to he in a shed.
Tcrdcrc. — A fleet of canoes.
Tnurua. — A canoe m which nets are carried. 2. A double canoe.
Tauwhare. — The thwart of a canoe. 2. The space between two thwarts. 3. The space between the riutainga-wai and the bow or stern of the canoe.
Tawai, or tiwai. — A canoe without attached sides.
Tawake. — To repair a hole in a canoe.
Tawc. — Weight on a cable to prevent the anchor from dragging.
Tetc. — The figure-head of a canoe, without arms and legs. A canoe with a plain figure-head.
Teke. — To drift with the anchor down, but not touching the bottom.
Tiheru. — A baler.
Tirara. — The edge of a canoe sail.
Tira. — The mast of a canoe.
Tiratu. — The mast of a canoe.
Tirod. — Modern word for a whale boat.
Tirou. — To move a canoe sideways by plunging the paddle into the water and drawing it towards one.
Tititi. — A canoe song.
TitoKo. — The sprit of a sail.
Tiwni. — A canoe without attached sail.
Toaiiga-w.ika. — Place where canoes are dragged over ; a portage.
Toicrc. — Figure-head carved on the body of a canoe, with a projecting piece above it.
Tok,n. — Battens or slips of wood covering the joints of a canoe. 2. Perpendicular pieces of wood fastened above to the thwart, and supporting the k^ntliiia- hua, on which the raho or floor is laid.
Torotoro. — A hawser, to fasten to the shore.
Toicrc iwaka-toicrc). — Large canoe of superior workmanship, with top sides, and much ornamented.
Tokau. — A canoe having side boards, but no figure-head or stern post.
Tetc. — The figure-head of a canoe, without arms or legs. 2. A canoe with a plain
figure-head. To. — To drag a canoe.
Canoe Words. 23
Tokihi.—A style of paddling used in Waikato. 2. The song or cry with which this paddling is accompanied.
Tolo. — To propel with a pole ; act of poling a canoe ; the pole so used ; a sprit — (modern application).
Tuamahn. — Stout square-shaped flax ropes.
Tiiangi. — Projecting edge of the rauaiva of a canoe.
Tuhi. — A canoe song.
Tuh.-'kai. — Singer, or leader in a canoe song.
Tuhiroa. — The back-stay of a canoe mast.
Turn 11. — To run before the wind.
Tungauru. — The ssat of honour for chiefs near the stern.
Tiipd. — Pads of raupo on the joints of the head-piece of a canoe.
Tupan. — A short, quick stroke in paddling (Waikato), alternating with the strong plunge of the paddle that gives the speed.
Tnte (^p. tutea). — To shove a canoe with a pole in the water.
U. — To arrive at a place by water. (Ka n hi uta).
Ue. — To move a canoe with a paddle worked against the side.
Umcrc. — Song chanted in dragging a canoe ; to sing.
Unua. — To fasten two canoes together, side by side. 2. Double canoe.
Unuku. — A double canoe.
Unuhowhao. — Leakage through the holes made for the lashing of the raiinica.
Urungn, — A steering paddle. (Urungi, to steer ; icruugi-hai, a steerer.j
Uta. — To put on board a canoe.
Umu-o-tc-tiihi. — A sacred oven in which the chips of a new canoe arc burnt with
many ceremonies. Waewac. — The shrouds of a canoe mast (pou-pou.) Wahn. — The sheet of a sail.
Wahinc, whaha-wahinc. — A strip of wood or batten supporting the floor fkaraho) of a canoe.
Wiiihoe. — Rate of speed in paddles.
W(ika.—K canoe (general name).
24
Canoe Words.
Wnl-annua. — Double canoes.
Whalairi-matamntn . — To sail to windward ; to beat.;
Whnl-ahehe. — A rope.
Wakapahi. — A'Moriori word for the large raft canoes of the Chatham Islands.
Whara. — The sail of a war canoe.
Whal-arci. — Fully carved head and stern of a canoe.
Whalawhiti. — Sail for a canoe or boat.
Wnitapc. — Back ship ; go about.
\ / 1^:\j ^'/i * * lit ^*'
Transverse Board of Figure-head of War Canoe. Auckland.
Figure=head (tau-ihu) of War Canoe. Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, N.Z.
THE HISTORICAL CANOES OF THE MIGBATIONS,
WITH THE NAMES OF CANOES MENTIONED IN MAORI TRADITIONS AND MYTHS.
Has it not been heard by all
That Tainui, Te Arawa, Mata-atua,
Kura-haup.o, and Tokomaru,
Were the great canoes of thy ancestors,
That paddled hitherward over the ocean
That lies before us ?
(From the " Lament for Te Tahuri," by Peou, p. 231, Nga Motcatea.) — Sir George Grey.
IN the very full and precise details preserved religiously in the genealogical traditions of the Maoris of New Zealand, we find, in nearly ever}' case, that the voyagers in the great hckc (comprising, m addition to those mentioned in the verses above, Takitumu, Aotea, and Mamari) found, on their arrival from Hawaiki, about the year 1350, wherever they went along the coast of the North Island of New Zealand, a race already possessed of the soil.
Tradition seems to indicate that these first inhabitants were still earlier visitors of the same Polynesian race, voyagers of the very ancient days, and in several traditions they are mentioned as descendants- of Toi or Toi-kai-rakau, whose ancestors came in the Ara-tau-whaiti canoe. Judge Gudgeon has dealt with the subject of these tribes of the North Island in several \'aluable papers in the "Journal of the Polynesian Society,"* and of the Maori migrations to New Zealand in general. He points out that instead of the voyagers in each canoe, or each group of canoes, being current-carried or wind-driven to our shores, that most of the expeditions were undertaken with a set purpose, or for general discovery and adventure in a particular direction.
* Vol. iii., p. 2U.S.
26
The Historical Canoes of the Migrations.
It is also clear from his facts that many canoes came to New Zealand, and after staying a short time returned with the whole or a majority of their crew, showing that at a period from 500 to 750 years ago, voyages backwards and forwards between New Zealand and the islands of the Pacific were by no means uncommon. Of the difficulties and dangers the hardy Polynesians made light, and with faith in the power of their spells sailed out fearlessly on a voyage which must have averaged at least a month, and which was probably protracted much longer under unfavourable circumstances. Tradition, however, states that the wind of Pungawere took the canoes of Ngatoro-i-rangi to New Zealand in seven days and
nights.*
As in other countries, tradition has peopled the earliest ages with mythical races, commencing in New Zealand with the race of Kui, who were left in charge of the newly dragged up land by the hero-god Maui. Then from across the sea came invaders who took forcible possession, and gradually absorbed and supplanted the race of Kui — Kui the Blind going underground to live. These invaders, the Tutu-mai-ao,t were in their turn supplanted by an invasion of the Turehu from across the sea, who remained masters of the soil until the arrival of other descendants of Maui, the original Maoris who claim to have dwelt on the land of their great ancestor Maui down to the present day.
The warriors who arrived in the great migration of about 1350, peaceably amalgamated with the iaiigata-whenua, or people of the land, as a rule, until they found themselves strong enough to take the upper hand, and then they easily subjugated the original inhabitants and planted themselves so firmly on the soil that excepting in the South Island and in the Urewera country, the earlier people have been, comparatively speaking, lost sight ot and their peculiar characteristics either lost or effaced in those of the present Maori race.
It is, as said in the lines at the head of this article, the Tainui, the Arawa, and the other canoes of the Hawaikian hckc of 1350, that are the ancestral canoes in the eyes of the Maoris of to-day. Those who formed this heke were men of somewhat superior force of character, and altogether of a more warlike and adventurous nature, who since the departure from the Central Pacific of the earliest migrants to New Zealand had progressed in development through contact with other branches of the race, during the course of the many voyages which led these adventurous spirits to all parts of the Pacific inhabited by the Polynesians.
* p. M., 102, 106. t A. H. M., iii., I.SH, 191.
The Historical Canoes of the Migrations. 27
It was about the close of the period which the traditions of other islands show to have been the " golden age " of their powers of navigation, that the great hcke to New Zealand took place, and with one recorded exception no canoes have since returned from New Zealand to the islands. Prior to the luke, about the year 1350 (which is deduced from a very large number of genealogical tables by allowing 25 years to a generation), there are several instances of canoes having returned to Hawaiki, the starting places of which are known, and in some cases the names of the chiefs who sailed them. From the chiefs who commanded these canoes, especially those of the great heke, have sprung many powerful tribes, and even those tribes or families who can trace their descent for generations previous to the, Hawaikian migration, prefer to derive their social standing from "the conqueror." The Ureweras express this idea by the saying, " No Toi raua ko Potiki te Whenua ; no Tnhoe te mana inc tc rangatiratanga." "Our right to the land is derived from Toi and Potiki, our prestige and rank from Tuhoe." The Arawas have preserved their genealogies so correctly and carefully that the names of nearly all who came in their ancestral canoe are known, and their descendants can be traced to their living representatives. It is probable that in the case of the South Island, the Rapuicai, the Waita/ia, and the Ngati-inamoe were part of the earlier people descendants of Toi, and that their extension over the South was long previous to the great migration.
The details of how the courses of the canoes were kept across the " broad sea of Kiwa," are not certainly known, to some extent the stars and the position of the sun might be utilised, but many other points must have been considered. It is said that the sailing-directions given to the crew of Te Arawa were: — " A'm ivhahainau koiitou ki a Atutahi-ina-Rchua ; ko Atutahi i ivhakataha nei ki tc Mangoroa." " Direct your course to Atiitaln-ma-Rehna ; Atutahi that is at the side oi Mangoroa.'' Atutahi is the star Canopus; Mangoroa the Milky Way.
A most interesting specimen of a Polynesian chart + has recently been fio-ured in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, but whether anything of this kind was in use three or four hundred years ago, who can say.
The question of the food available during the passage has been discussed by a learned native, Hoani Nahe, in the " Polynesian Journal. "f It probably con-
* J Pol Soo Vol. iv., p. 236. Two sailing charts of similar constrviotion from the Marshall group are given in the Cat Mvis Godeffroy 1881. Taf. xxxii. Of the ceremonies gone through when a canoe with a colonising party arrives at the land where it is decided they shall remain, there is an interesting account given by Hare Hongi in the 3rd vol. Journ. fol. Soc, p. 40. t J- f'ol- Soc, Vol. iii., p. 23 •..
28
The Historical Canoes of the Migrations.
sisted of Kao, dried kumara ; dried fish ; Mahi, preserved bread fruit ; . cocoanuts (both food and drink), and water was probably carried in calabashes or wooden' receptacles.
In such voyages as those of the great heke, no doubt, in some cases fireplaces were constructed in the canoe ; in modern times it is not uncommon to see them in fishing canoes. The legend of Houmea refers to the heated stones of the cooking- place on the canoe. '*^ No cooked food, however, could be allowed on a war canoe, as they were sacred, and cooked food — even a small fragment — would have made them noa or common, and might cause disaster. f It is said that in the Takitumu canoe they lived partly on fish caught whilst on the voyage, j This can, however, have only been exceptional.
My " Catalogue of the Ships " will perhaps scarcely rival that in the second book of the Iliad, but as far as possible
" Their names, their numbers, and their chiefs, I sing."
IjiS^'Sfe^f'^^^'^ff^^'^?^^*^" '""
Fishing Canoe. Poverty Bay.
t As m the case of the Horouta.— A.H.M., iii 9" "
t A.H.M., iii., p. 63.
LIST OF HISTOEK AL AND MYTHOLOGICAL CAXOES
MENTIONED IN MAORI TRADITIONS.
Name.
Landed at
Akeake Akiki-a te-tau Aniu-waru . . .
' A.H.M., iii. 31
Whakatane J. A. W*
Aotea
(one of the canoes of the sn^'iit Heke)
Aotea, W. coast of North Island
Chiefs on Board.
Tribes Claiming Descent.
Turi
Tura
A.H.M., ii. 6 Col. Trail S.N.Z.I., xii. 141
Tuau
Haupipi
Kewa
Tapo
Hou-taepo
Rangi-potaka
Takou
Tama-te-ra
Tuanui-o-te-ra
Uira-ngai-mua
Tutawa
Rongorongo (fj
Hine-wai-tai (f)
Tane-roroa (f)
Kura-mahunga/
Tanene-roro (f) J. Pol. Soo., iii. 151
Ngarauru, Ngati-raunui, Taranaki
Ngati-Apa (in part)
Ngati-Hau
Muaupoko (in part)
Remarks.
Tradition says Tamatea Kaiariki was chief f Gr.
A name of Eata's canoe ; also
Aniwa-niwa, A.H.M., i. 91.
Niwa-reka (Ngaitahu), A.H.M., i. 71
Niwa-ru, A.H.M., i. 74.
Niwharu, Wohlers. Trans., N.Z. Inst., vii. 47.
Punui (Ngai-auru), A.H.M., i. 76
The canoe made by the wood-elves for Eata had three names, niarking three stages in its construction — 1, Biwharu ; 2, Tuirangi ; 3, Paka- wai, P.M., 67§ .
A double canoe. New top-sides were added at Kangitahua (P.M., 133). or Kotiwhatiwha (J. Pol. Soc, ii, 121), or Motiwhatiwha. The names of two of its balers (taia) were Tipuahoronuku and Eangi- ka-wheriko (P.M., 131). In this canoe were brought Kalcau (a kind of sweet potato), Karaka seeds, Para-tawhiti fern, Perei (an edible orchid), edible rats, Pukeko, and Kakarihi,
AUTHORITIES QUOTED :-
* J A W - J A Wilson SMrhc^ of Ancient Maori Life § P.M.— Polynesian Mythology (Sir George Grey).
' ■ and History. 1894. ' j; Fol.Soo.-Journal of PolyT^dan Society.
+ G - ludo-e Gudieon Col.— Eev. W. Colenso, F.E.S.
I a:H.M -lnc!S"fm-.,, of the Maori, by John White. T.G.H.-Eev. T. G. Hammond.
30
List of Historical and Mythological Canoes.
Name.
Arai-te-uru ...
Landed at
Ara-tau-whaiti
Ara-tawhao ...
Arahura
Chiefs on Board.
Tataitu
Kirikirikatata
Aroarokaehe
Mangaatua A.TI.M., ii. 178
Areiawa
Tokomaru,Maku
Tama-ki-hiku- rangi (priest)
Arawat
(one of the canoes of the great Heke)
Whangaparaoa , Bay of Plenty
Ngati-A-\va,
Ngai-te-rangi,
Te Whanau-a- Apanui J. Pol. Soc, iii. p. 69
Pekitetahua
Rongokake
Rangitatau
Hineraho (fj A.H.M., ii. 179
Ngatoro-i-rangi (priest)
Kearoa (f) Tia
Hei
Tama-te- Kapua (captain)
Tribes Claiming Descent.
Ngaitahu
Ngati- Kearoa, of Whakamaru
Ngati-Tuwhare toa, of Putauaki
Tapuika tribe of Maketu, and Ngati - ha, of West Taupo
Waitaha, of Te Puke
Ngati- Rangitiki
Ngati-whakaue
Tuhourangi
Ngati-Rangiwe- wehi
Ngati-Uenuku- kopako
Ngati-Tama]:,of Motuwhanake and Poutawa and Ngati- Huarere, Moehau
Remarks.
Tataitu, said to have been chief (G. J. Pol. Soc, i. 217.) R.emained at Murihiku, at Matakaea.
The canoe Manuka was made from the other half of the same tree. Stack. Trans. N".Z. Inst., vol. xii. 161.
Capsized off Moeraki and her cargo strewed along the beach, now represented by rocks and stones. Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. x., p. 61.
One of the ancestors of Toi-kairakau, Maku, came in this. Probably the earliest of all the canoes.
Said to have been built at Whaka- tane, and to have gone to Ha- waiki to fetch Kumaras and Taro (J.A.W.* This is one of the best authenticated of return voyages to Hawaiki, and its arrival there was followed shortly after by the departure of the great Heke to f^ew Zealand.*
In this canoe was brought a green- stone god.
A double canoe in which a green- stone god is said to have been brovight. Built at Earotonga, " on the other side of Hawaiki." Was burnt by Raumati, of the Nga-Marama (one of the ancient tribes) at Maketu. Judge Gudgeon says : " The position held by the crew of the Arawa is unique, for we find that out of 16 men of rank who came in this canoe, there are but four whose des- cendants I cannot trace, though it is quite possible the Arawa people themselves may be able to do so. Twelve of these chiefs have known descendants at the present day, not to mention Hatu- patu, from whom the late chief Poihipi Tukirangi was known to be descended." G., J. Pol. Soc, i. 222.
* See Judge Gudgeon, Maori Traditions as to the Kumara, J. Pol. Soc, ii., 101. t See " The Coming of Te Arawa and
Tainui," by Takaanui Tarakawa, J. Pol. Soc, ii. 220 and iii, 199. J See Judge Gudgeon's Sketch of the History of
Ngati-Tama, J. Pol. Soc, iii. 157.
List of Historical and Mythological C
ANOES.
31
Name.
Arawa (cuntiiiucd) —
Landed at
Ariki-mai-tai...
Auraro-tuia ... Awarua
(J.A.W.)
Haere ■ . .
Hikutoto
Hira-uta Horo-uta
Hotu-te-ihu-rangi Kapakapa-nui
Kapua-horahora Kapua-rangi . . .
Kauau Kauae-taka ...
Taranaki coast
Matata
•Tauranga
Ahuahu, Bay ol Plenty
Chiefs on Board.
Oro ...
Maaka
Pouheni and Tahu
Kurapoto
Rongomai
Ika
Tainihinihi
Tutauaroa Whaoa
Taikehu Hatu- patu (?)
Tribes Claiming Descent.
Ngati-Apa, of Rangi-taiki, Bay of Plenty
Ngati-Tahu, of Orakeikorako
Ngati-Tuwhare- toa, of Taupo
Descendants in Taupo and Whanganui
Rk
marks.
Tungutu-tan- gata
Tungutu-o-te- rangi
(G.)
Kiwa Paoa"
Ngati - Haua, Upper Whan- ganui and East Cape tribes ...
Taranaki-Ati- Awa
One of the curly canoes, whose des- cendants were found by Turi at Waitara. A.H.M., ii. 177.
The mythical canoe of Maui
A.HM., ii 91; also Haurarotuia, A.H.M., ii. 116. Nuku-tai-mimiha, A H.M., ii. 70. Rui-o-Mahui, Taylor, Ikaf p. 127 Te Pirita-o-te-Rangi, A.H.M ii 113
and 117.
The canoe of Whakatau, A.H.M ii p 151.
Left at the same time as the Mavga rara, A.H.M., ii. 191.
Brought young plants of Kowhai- (Sophora), A.H.M., iii. 67.
Horouta grounded on the reef Tuki- rae-kirikiri, 140 men on board.
Whiro's canoe, A.H.M., ii. 14. >fo particulars known.
No particulars known.
Canoe made by Ngako, in contest with Kvipe at Eangi-whaka-oma A.H.M., ii. 93.
Taylor, Leaves from Nat. Hist N Z p. 49.
A mythological canoe on the other side of the heavens, belonging to the reptile god Mongoroiata or Mangoroa (the Milky Way). There is a man on board called Piipuke.
* See Judge G-udgeon for full list of crew, J. Pol. Soc, i. 77 and 231. For chiefs in Horovita according to J. White see A.H.M., iii. p. 93. f Taylor, Te Ika a Maui, 2nd edition, whenever quoted. "
List of Historical and Mythological Canoes.
Name.
Kauria
Kotahi-nui (? Tainui)
Kura-haupo*
(one of the canoes of the great Heke)
Landed at
East Cape
Kura-tawa . . .
Mahanga-atua-ma- tua
Maka-whiu
Mahuhu
Mamari
Whangaroa . . .
North Cape ..
Manga-rara ..
Manuka
Whanga-o-keno (?)
Chiefs on Board.
Wharewhare- nga-te-Rangi
Ruatea
Rongoueroa . .
Te Moungaroa Turu
Akurama-tapu Tu-kapua
Tribes Claiming Descent.
Ngati-Hako
Rongomai
Tiki
Mawete ...
Nuku-tawhiti.
Ruanui
Moerewarewa
(J. A. W.) Ngati-Whatua... Te Rarawa, Aupouri
Ngati-Apa and Rangitane of Rangitikei
Ngati-Tumata- kokiri (now ex- tinct)
Taranaki-Ngati- kuia, of Pelorus
Mua-upoko
Remarks.
Gudgeon, J. Pol. Soc., i. 218.
The first three canoes were the Arawa, Tainui (which went round the North Cape to Kawhia), and Mataatua. Dieff. N.Z., i. 85.
Or Kurawhaupo. This canoe was wrecked at Whenuakura, Hawaiki, but was repaired and re-named Te Bangimatoru, Te Eangihokaia being chief . (See under Mataatua, and J. Pol. Soc, iii. 106 )
Ngati-Whatua Aupouri, Rarawa Ngapuhi
Ngapuhi and Te Rarawa.
Te Pou
(fj
(.1. A. \V.)
W'heke-toro ..
Te W'ai-o-po- tann-o
Rongo-i-tua"
Ngati-Porout.
Taylor, Leaves, p. 49.
A sacred canoe which came from Hawaiki, manned by priests only. A.H.M., iv. 2i.
The celebrated war canoe of Moki made from an enormous Totara tree, which grew in the Wairarapa Valley. It was buried in a land- slip at Omihi. A.H.M., iii. 207 and 211.
Believed to have come some gener- ations before the great Heke. She finally stayed at Taporapora, Kaipara Heads. Shortland, Tra- ditions of the N.Z., p. 25.
Finally settled down at Hokianga Heads. Met Kupe on the way near North Cape, learnt from him of Tuputupu-whenua, the chief of the aiitochthones then living at Hokianga. Canoe finally wrecked at Omamari,,a few miles south of Maunganui Bluff. The relies (of stone; are to be seen near Hoki- anga. At Onoke is a stone called the <loo- of Nukutawhiti. A rock in the narrows of the Hokianga river is the buoy of the canoe anchor.
Left Hawaiki with the Hirauta. Brought many animals. Five kinds of lizards, including the tuafai-a. several insects, tlie birds tnrea and whini. A.H. Nl., ii. 189
Saile.l from N. Z. to Hnwaiki, for Kiimnra. A.H.M., iii. 112. Stack. N.Z luflt. xii., p. 161.
I P« ■ fts Ptt'??'^ Canoe,' by Te Kahui Kararehe, J. Pol. Soc, vol. ii., p. 180. and by Tabianui Tai-akawa
J.r.o., Ill b&. t Until lately the name Ngati-Porou did not properly apply to the tribes living north of the East
Cape, They were known as the Whanau-a-Tu-whakairi-ora.
List of Historical and Mythological Canoes.
33
Name.
Mata-atua'=
(one of the canoes of the great Heke)
Landed at
Whakatane
Mata-hourua.
Matiti... Moe-Kakara
North Cape, came as far as Whanganui-a Tara, Port Nicholson (WeUington)
Cape Rodney.
Chiefs on Board.
Toroa (captain) Ruaauru
Manu
Whakapoi
Te Mohiro
Weka
Mu
Wairakewa (/)
Taoua
Muriwai (/)
Wairaka (/) J. Pol. See, i. 22;
Nuake
Nuiho
Taneatua
Hikaroa
Puhi
Rahiri
Ruaihonga
Akurama-tapu
Tukapua
Waituhi
Kaki-piki-tua
(/) Te Moungaroa
Tioru J. Pol. Soc, iii. 65
Kupef
Rete
Tribes Claiming Descent.
Many Ngati- Awa tribes ofi east coast ... (J. A. W.)|
Taranaki
Ngati- Kahungunu
Urewera
Remarks.
Made from the other half of the tree out of which the A otea was made. The toco was broucrht by Enaauru in this canoe A.H.M., ii. 181.
" Mataatna is the canoe, Toroa is the man," is a well-known saying on the east coast. According to Hammond (J. Pol. Soc, iii. 106), the crew of the wrecked Kura- haupo came on in the Mata-atua, but still regarded themselves as Kurahaupo.
Mataatua is said in an oU N gati-awa Karatia to have been known in Tahiti as Tuamatua.
Mua-upoko, of Horowhenua and Mahure hure hapu, of Ngapuhi
Ngati- Kah (in part)
Kahungunu
Waitaha, of South Island
Kawerau
Ngati-Rongo
Or Nga-mata-whao-rua, a sister ship to the Aotea. Said to have come to N.Z. just before the great Heke. Kupe returne.l to Hawaiki, and by his experiences Turi laid his course for N.Z. ifupe is said to have taken this canoe from Reti, who was a great explorer. P M ' 129, A.H.M., ii. 177. Hokianoa- o-Kupe, now known as Hokianga, was his point of departure from N. Z. " E hoki Kupe."
No particulars known.
This is identical with the Waka-tu- whenua. Nearly all who came in her died of leprosy, introlueed in her. A few of the Kawerau people of North Auckland claim descent from her crew.
See " The Coming of Mataatua, Kuruhaupo, and other Canoes," by Tabaanui Tarakawa, .1. Pol. S>i t See "The Coming of Kvipe to New Zealand," by Te Whetu, J. Pol. Soc, ii. 151.
34
List of Historical and Mythological Canoes.
Name.
Motu-motu-ahi
Te Muaki-A...
Ngaengae-moko
Nukutere
Landed at
Chiefs on Board.
Puatautahi
Tribes Claiming Descent.
Marahea, east coast
Otu-rere-roa . . . Pahi-tonoa . .
Pakihi-kura ... Panga-toru . . .
Pau-iraira . . .
Puhi-taniwha Pukatea-wai-nui
Pungapunga . . .
Ohiwa
W h i r o n u i Araiara (/) A.H.M., iii. 4.1
Takataka-pu- tonga
Marere-o-tonga A.H.M., iii. 41
Ngamu Ngaipeha 1 Taikehu
Ngarauru and Ngati-ranui..
Remarks.
Ngati-Hau
(J. A. W.)
Ngati-Porou and Urewera
Ohiwa
A.H.M., ii. 182. Taylor, Ilea, p. 290.
Or Te ru-ngakia., probably should be Te-runga-ki-A. The pa/ii or canoe of Kuakutea, the wife of Tama. A.H.M., ii, 37.
Nothing knoKTi beyond the name.
Arrived at N. Z. eight months before the Flood, Te Tai a Euatapu (see Colenso Trans. N.Z. Inst., xiv. p. 26. A.H.M. , iii.f^p. 9 and 41).
Ngariki
Maketu
Rakeiwananga- ora
Rakautaura
Ruaeo
Ngapuhi
Punga-rangi . . .
Rakau-tapu
Rurima and W'airarapa
(J. A. W.)
Whakatane
(J. A.W .j
It is said that Turongo was chief of Ohiwa when this canoe came.
A canoe that left Hawaiki for Te Wairua-ngangana to get Taro plants, but was wrecked. T. G. Hammond, J. Pol. Soc, iii. 105.
A.H.M., ii. 202. .I.A.W., No. 7.
Or Papakatoro. It is said that the men of this canoe were repulsed by the people of the land, and so returned without settling in N.Z. A.H.M., ii. 181.
This canoe is said to have returned to Hawaiki, and that from the crew Kupe got his knowledge of N. Z. A.H.M., ii. 188.
.T.A.W.,No. 10.
Ruaeo's expedition, with 140 of his followers, to recover his wife. P.M., 91.
This was probably the name of the canoe of Taukata and Hoake, who brought the news of the Kuniara to Tama-ki-hikura:igi, and was the cause of the building of the Ara-tawhiio and her voyagfi to Hawaiki.* Jt is also sail that the traditional block of pumice on which Tiira escaped from the Viattle of Maikukutea, was one of the canoes of the fleet of Tini-o- Manahua, called Te Funga-punga (pumice).
Nelson Natives
* An interesting version of this story (aa told by the Mataatua tribes) in the Ure-wera country is given by Elsdon Best " In Ancient Maoriland." Rotorua, 1«96, p. 10 and p. 1.5.
List of Historical and Mythological Ca>
NOES.
Name.
Rangi-pae-nono Rangi-ua-mutu
Rangi whakaoma Rere anini Rewarewa . . .
Rimu-rapa Ririno . . .
35
Landed at
Te Rangaranga Rangi-matoru
(J. A. W.)
Riu-kakara Te Ru... Rua-karamea
Taha-tuna
Tahuri te-arorangi .
Tainui
(one of the c.-niurw of the great Hel;e)
Ohi
Chii;fs on Board.
Hape
angi- (captain)
Rangiwhakaia
Rangiatapu (Taranaki)
\\'hangara(near Gisborne) ..
\\'hite Island and Wakari ..
Tamatea-rokai
Rongomaituahu
Tane-whakaraka
Kuiwai (/)
Haungaroa (/) J. Pol. Soe.i. 213
Porua Potoru
Tribes
Claiming Descent.
Taranaki- Atiawa
Ngati-rangi .. (J. A. W.
N gariki
Ngati-Ruanui and Ngati-awa, west coast
Rongo -whaka- ata tribe
Whangaroa Matata ... Mangonui
Whangaparaoa
Tairea.
Te Uriparaoa.. Te Papawai
Rakataura (Ariki and priest)
Hotunui
Hoturoa (cap- tain)
Remarks.
Ngapuhi... Te Rarawa
Waikatos Ngati-Haua Ngati-Mara Ngati-Maniapoto
No particulars known.
The protecting deity of this canoe was Tu-kai-te-nru. J. Pol. 8oc., V. 2. The crew lived peaceably with the aboriginal Whakatohea, and ultimately became incorpor- ated with them. J.A.W., p. 39.
The canoe of Tawhaki.
Also Bangi-mutu and Rangi-ua-niate and Tairea. On landing the crew saw Moa bones and the ovens of the Autochthones. A.H.M., ii. 183.
Canoe made by Kupe in his contest with Ngako. A.H.M , iii. 93. (See Kapua-Eangi.)
Or Hum ~ hum - inanu, or Uiit-pawa. The canoe of the wives of Manaia, the sisters of Ngatoro-i-rangi, when they fled to N.Z,, carrying with them the gods Maru, Iho-o- te-Eangi, Rongomai, Itupawa, and Hangaroa. J. White Lect. (Gr.), p. 123.
Taylor, Ika, p. 29 ; Leaves, p. 49.
Lost with all on board on the reef of Taputapuatea (P. M., 134) on account of Potoru eating part of the dog offered to Maru by the chiefs of the Aotea, at the island of Kotiwhatiwha. J. Pol. Soc, ii. 121.
The descendants of this canoe are mostly exterminated, but some are amongst the Te Karawa tribe.
A stone at Mangonui marks J;he spot where the canoe finished her voyage.
A.H.M., ii. 178 ; Taylor, Ika, 291.
A cauoe made by Tama-tuna, under water. Taylor, Ika, 285.
Left at Kawhia. Judge Gudgeon gives the names of twenty-four of tli'e crew (J. foL Soc, i. 224). The chiefs given are the only ones whose descendants are living at the present day. The cauoe is represented by rocks at a place called Pariugatai, near Kawhia. P.M., 90; A.H.M., ii. 177.*
Taylor, Ika, 291; A.HJL, ii. 17s.
* The promontory of Phalacrium was considered to be the ship of Ulysses metamorphosed. Solinus 11, § 2. Ed. Mommsen, p. 6U.
36
List of Historical and Mythological Canoes.
Name.
Takitumu
(one of the canoes of the f^reat Helcs)
Landed at
East coast
Chiefs on Board.
Tribes Claiming Descent.
Tane-tewha
Tauira
Tawaowao
Tere anini
G
Tere-hapua
Te-Uanga-ki-o-kupe Toki-a-tapiri
Toko-maru
(one of the canoes of the £;i'eat Heke)
Whakaroao (Ariki and priest)
Ruawharo
Ngarangitere- mauri
Tohi-te-uruangi
Te Iri-angi
Te Whaka- wiringa
Te-kauru-o-te- rangi
Manu-tawhio- rangi
Te Aonoanoa
Paikea (captain (J. A. W.I
Ngati- kahungunu A. H. M., ii. 193
Ngaitahu
Remarks.
AVhanga'paraoa
Called Horouta on her second voyage. A.H.M., iii. 74. Supposed to be represented by the Takitimu Mts. in Southland. On its first voyage it was so sacred that food could not be carried therein, therefore only gods and chiefs were placed on board. The god Ka,hukura, made of totara and represented without feet, was brocicrht by Kuawharo Judge Gudgeon thinks that the claim of Ngati-kahungunu to this canoe cannot be supported. The fastest sailer of the fleet. A.H.M., ii. p. 193, and iii. p. 46, 63, 72.
Toroa
Totara-i-karia'-
Motatau ...
Pouheni
Whangaparaoa Tokomaru . .
(.;. A w,;
Rakeiora (priest) Manaia (captain) Tu Urenui Te Rangitata
Atiawa ...
Ngati-Maru, of west coast-.. Ngati-Tama
Ngati-
Mutunga
Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. i., 446.
J. Pol. Soc, iv. 1S2.
Taylor, Leaves, p. 49. One of the early canoes.
The same as Tu-te-pewa rangi or Bangi-pato-roa, the canoe of Eua- tapu. A.H.M., iii. 54.
Taylor, Leaves, p. 49.
The canoe described by Barstow. Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xi. (This is the canoe of the Auckland Museum.)
Or Tonga-mar^i,.
Manaia is said to have killed ab- originals at Waitara, perhaps descendants of the crew of the Aril;i-matai. P.M., 233. A.H.M., p. 177 and 181.
A priest named Rakeiora was brought in this canoe, and w,i,s left at Tongaporutu, Taranaki, and sub- sequently deified. A rock at Mokau is called Te Punga-o- Matori, supposed to be an anchor of this canoe. P.M., p. 232.
A.H.M., ii. 179.
This canoe made from a buried tree to replace the burnt Arawa. The canoe went with a war party (ope) to Hawaiki with Ngatoro-i-rangi, to avenge the insults of Manaia, and then returned to Maketu. P.M., 17(1.
Gvidgeon, " Maori Migrations," J. Pol. Soc, i. 213.
List of Historical and Mythological Canoes.
37
Name.
Landed at
Tu te paerangi
Tu te-pewa
Tu-te-puehu ... Ua-piko • ■
Uruao
Uriwera Waipapa . -
Waka-tane
Waka ringaringa
Wai-kerere
Whaka-teretei^e-te uru-rangi
Whatu-a-rangi-nukii Whiri-toa
Moehau ..
Chiefs on Board.
Tribes Claiming Descexi'.
Paikea
Ngati-Porou and Rarawa.
Taipa, near Mangonui
Oruru
(G.
(J. A. W.)
Whakapau- korero, West of Matata
(J. A.W.)
Kaupokonui, near Waimate Taranaki
Rakaihaitu
Rangihouia J. i'ol. Soc , iii. 14
Kaiwhetu Wairere
Mawakeroa
Ngati-Waitaha
Ngati-Awa
Ngapuhi
(.1. A. W,
Near Wairara- pa Lake
Tahuwera
Ngati-Ruanui.
Remarks.
Waitaha-tu- rauta
Ngati-Makino
The same as Hurepureiata, the canoe bonoweil from Heroa >iy Eua- imku (XJenuku). A.H.M , iii- p. U and -Z-d.
A.H.M., iii. p. 54
Nothing known beyond the name.
The canoe that shot tlie Huka falls on the Waikato, with Tamatae and his thirty companions. Riri- wai jumped ashore at the entraaco of the race, all the rest were drowned. A.H.M. iii., p. 70.
Claims to he the first to colonise the Islands. Came from Tapatapa- hanga-a-Taiehu. J. Po . Soc, iii. p. 9 and 14.
J.A.W., Anc. Maori Life and Hist, p. 7,
A.H.M., ii. p 182.
A canoe which left Hawaiki but never arrived in N Z.
The canoe of Tama, A.H.M., ii. p. -to.
.r. Pol. Soc, iv, p. 178. 'Pho consort of the Arawa, which carried those who could not come in the Amwa.
One of the fleet in which Whaka-tau sailed to burn the temple known as Te Uru-o-Manono, thu vharc- Icim of Hawailii (P.M., 02). The other canoes were : —
Tu):atapa-nukari;rc.
Halnrere. J. Pol. Soc, iii p. 10.5.
'rurja-\-lai-pakihi.
.l/r/iKiiw.
Awatea.
Part of a Canoe, carved and erected as a Memorial to a deceased Chief.
Formerly in a Native Burial Qround at Wanganui.
DESCIMTTIOX OF THE LITHOiiliAPHIC PLATES
OF THE
PARTS OF A MAORI CANOE.
PLATE 1.
During the stay in New Zealand waters of the French Scientific Exploring Expedition, under Dumont D'Urville, a number of valuable ethnological observations were made, and these are now all the more interesting, inasmuch as they are faithful records of man}' things which were then in existence, but are now quite lost. The three canoes given in the plate are from the Atlas of Plates to the account of the Voyage, and are carefully drawn to scale from measurements made on the a6tual canoes seen along the coast of the North Island. They show the varieties of the methods of constructing the grating or flooring of the canoe, and the general arrangement of the fittings. In the second icaha-pitnu there is an additional gunwale or bulwark at the bows as a protection against the waves. In the top corner of the plate is a little sketch of a war canoe under sail on the Taranaki coast, after a. drawing by Angas. It shows a local variation in the shape of the raupo sail- mat. In the lower part is half of the diagram of a Maori canoe (not drawn to scale) with the names of the various parts marked. Full explanation of the terms used will be found in the glossary of words.
FIL.ATE 2.
In addition to the diagrams given in tliis lithograph of the usual sails and paddles of a canoe, are five forms of paddles of greater rarity.
Fio-s. I and i.v are two views of a splendid example of a chief's ceremonial paddle with an unusual form of handle, involving great difficulty in the construction,
40
Lithographic Plates of the Parts of a Maori Canoe.
The specimen has recently been purchased for the Dresden Museum from an Enghsh dealer. The Museum authorities have issued a very fine collotype repro- duction of it. It was originally obtained in the Bay of Islands by Captain Chegwyn* in 1836, from a chief named Titouri (Titore).
Fig. 2 is a very long narrow paddle, the blade of which is slightly hollowed, and a mid-rib passes for some distance up the centre, quite unlike any northern form of Hoe. The ornamental portion at the end of the handle is unique in form in New Zealand. It was found on the banks of Waipori Lake in Otago, at a depth of three feet from the surface.
The length is unusual, being about 8ft. 6in., of which the blade is 4ft. The width of the paddle at its widest part is only 3f in.
Otago University Museum.
Fig. 3 is a strong and heavy paddle, somewhat roughly made of manuka (Leptospenniun), with a raised ornament on the commencement of the blade, probably as a mark of private ownership. This was also found on the banks ot a lake at Waihola, in Otago, about two feet below the surface.
The extreme length is 5ft. gin. ; length of blade, 2ft. 3in. ; width, 5Jin.
Otago University Museum.
Fig. 4 is a paddle found at Bendigo, near Cromwell, Otago. The pattern of the raised fork projecting on to the flat of the blade seems to indicate a recollection of paddles in which the blade was a separate piece of wood. A specimen of the same form was found in Monck's Cave, near Sumner, and is figured in Trans. New Zealand ,;#;■ Inst., vol. XXII., pi. ii., fig. 3. The workmanship is poor, but the handle shows signs of much use.
The length is 5ft. loin. ; length of the blade, 2ft. gin. ; width, sJin.
Otago University Museum.
Fig. 5 is perhaps of the greatest interest. It is of unusual length and weight, and of peculiar form, as may be seen from the sections. It was found some years ago in a cave at Strath Taieri, Otago. No other example is known, but a similar paddle is drawn in " Cook's Voyages " (Hawkesworth.f pi. liii.), in the plate repre- senting a Maori family seen in Dusky Sound— another instance of the fidelity of the
i.-^^^'^J^ ^ ^?!f""-S" T}^^ ^ somewhat similar open handle in the Belfast Free Library and Museum ("Ethno- graphical Album of the Paoifac Islands." Edcr,..Partington and Heape. Plate 229, fig. 3), and I have seen one handle ot the same pattern on a fine old paddle from the Bay of Islands, the blade of which was painted with scroll patterns but not carved ; and I have a photograph of a good one which is, I believe, in the Auckland Museum.
t Keprodxxced in " The New Zealanders," Plate 20.
Lithographic Plates of the Parts of a Maori Canoe.
41
draughtsman of that remarkable work. The shape and strength, as well as the weight of this paddle, would make it a formidable weapon, in the hands of a powerful man, and the general form recalls some of the fighting clubs from the Pacific Islands. It possesses great interest, as being at present a unique example of a paddle of the old original tribes of the south-west of New Zealand. The holes at the angles of the centre portion are so small that the_y can only have been used for the purpose of affixing a small ornamental bunch of feathers or dog hair. It closely resembles some paddle-shaped clubs from the South-East Pacific, figured in the " Edge-Partington Album," pi. 43. The specimen figured is now m the collection of Dr. T. M. Hocken, of Dunedin.
The length is 7ft. Width, jiiin.
Frasment of a Canoe Prow found on the Beach at Lyttelton by one of the Early Settlers.
There is a Tradition that it belonged to one of the Canoes of Te Rauparahas Expedition. Now in Canterbury Museum.
Huaki=figure on the f(ni-lhn of a War Canoe.
Colonial Museum, Wellington.
^i
y^Vit^
M I I I 1 .1
■ T V T V T T V •:
PLATES.
M
' i i ' 1 i i i ' ! ' ' i ! : 1 ' ' 1 ' i 1 . ' ' ' ' ' .
I , Maori Art.
N^o. 1.
Figure=head (tau-ihit) of a War Canoe.
A very typical example of the tau-ihii, er carved figure-head of a New Zealand war canoe. Between the two double spiral coils (pitati) on the central board, or manaia, is seen a human figure, and below it another conventional face. The execution of the work on this specimen is of the highest degree of excellence. It is now in the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch.
The extreme length is about 5ft., and the height aft. 6in.
The locality from which it came is probably a little to the north of the East Cape.
►•-•-
N^o. 28.
Figure- head fian-ihuj of a War Canoe.
A fine and well-preserved tau-ilut in the collection of the Colonial Museum, Wellington. This specimen, having a good example of the Huaki, or figure looking into the canoe, is perhaps the fullest type of this class of figure-head. In both of these carvings it will be noticed that the figures are represented with three fingers only to each hand — a conventionalism common to nearly all old Maori work. The specimen still retains its original colouring of red ochre mixed with oil. The upper part of the forehead of the tongue-protruding figure is painted of a yellow colour.
Length, 4ft. bin. Height, 2ft. Locality : East Coast of North Island.
PLATE I.
'^'i^ *^ ''^■'
mmmmimmmmiM
/■
46
Maori Art.
N^o. 3.
Figure = head ftau-ihii) of a War Canoe.
An interesting specimen of less elaborate workmanship. The same parts are present as in No. 2, but show much degeneration. The Huali figure and the figure between the spirals are represented as looking forward. Both are so altered that they would probably escape recognition, if not compared with other examples. The face at the bottom of the spirals is shown more plainly ; it is also in a side-view position. The leg of the foremost figure is lost. This specimen is in my own collection, at present in the Museum of the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, Napier. It belonged to a large canoe at Te Mahia, at the northern end of Hawke's Bay.
The length is 5ft. 2in., and height 2ft.
Figure=head (taii-ilm) of a War Canoe.
A well-carved tau-ihu or figure-head of a war canoe, which has at some time in its history lost an arm. Here the figure on the thin central board, and the face beneath, closely resemble those in No. i. The face, however, has diminished to the symmetrical curves indicating the mouth and tongue. This specimen was obtained at Waikanae, on the west coast of Wellington, but it probably was carved by east coast Natives. Canoes, being of great value, were often con\'eyed to long distances from their place of manufadlure, either as spoils of war, or as presents, or, in later times, in course of trade.
Length, 4ft. yin. Height, 2ft. 3in. Colonial Museum, Wellington.
PLATE II.
48 Maori Art.
:no. 5.
Figure=head (tmt-ihu) of a War Canoe.
This is an interesting specimen, in which, either as the result of accident or design, the flat portion with the prostrate human figure beneath the pitau spirals is absent, being replaced by two bold open spiral forms - not new to the design, but much accentuated. The open spaces will be found in nearly all the figure-heads, but not to this extent. I have seen but few of this remarkable form. In this, as in No. 6, four fingers are represented. The locality from which the specimen was procured is not known, but I am inclined to think that it is from the west coast of the North Island.
Length, 4ft. Height, 2ft. 4in.
It is in the Colonial Museum, Wellington.
N^o. 6.
Figure=head (tau-ihn) of a War Canoe.
A small but typical specimen of perhaps rather more modern work. The grotesques or mythical monsters on the under part of the prow are treated on a different style to the preceding examples, and it has the usual figure on the flat surface, each side of the base of the central board.
This tau-ihu is now in the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch. Length, 4ft. gin. Height, 2ft. lin.
PLATE ITI.
50
Maori Art.
Figure=head Itau-ihui of a War Canoe.
In most of the museums of the Colony there are model canoes made by the Maoris, but none of them are proportioned to scale. The Colonial Museum at Wellington has several good specimens of these models, and has also the carved bow and stern pieces for a model canoe, shown in the figure. Setting aside the question of scale, it will be seen that these examples are carved with great skill, and combine all the details of the real ornaments in a most masterly manner.
Length of prow (tau-ihu), igin.; height, iiin. Width o{ ?,tern-'po?,t (tau-rapa), Sin. ; height, i6in.
Colonial Museum, Wellington.
M^o. 8.
Figure=head itan-ihu) of a War Canoe.
A most venerable relic worthy of every care, if only for the ver_y archaic character of the carving. Long exposure to the weather is probably responsible for the advanced state of decay, but the style of work points to a very early date, and to very inadequate tools. This is one of the few specimens to which a tradition has become attached, for it is said that it formerly belonged to a war canoe owned by the great Rangihaeata, the comrade of Te Rauparaha.
Length, 4ft. bin. ; height, 2ft.
It is now in the Coloni;il Museum at \\'ellin"-ton.
PLATE IV
Maori Art,
1*0. 9.
Part of the Figure=head of a War Canoe. Auckland.
The central board of the Northern type of tan-ihu, or canoe prow. In this beautiful piece of work the artist has introduced a flowing spiral superior to the designs ordinarily met with. I regret that I cannot state where this specimen is to be found. The figure given is taken from a photograph kindly sent to me by Mr. S. Percy Smith, who procured it in Auckland with some others in an album, concerning which no particulars could be obtained.
l»fo. 10.
Part of the Figure- head of a War Canoe. Auckland.
Is a similar portion of a canoe prow, reproduced through the kindness of Burton Brothers, of Dunedin. In the original photograph it appears to be about five feet in height, judging b\' the figure beside it. The three examples of this type figured in this work show the same general leading lines — a \va^•ing or undulating main stem or band passing diagonall)' from the lower corner to the upper, and from that issue two secondar}' bands or stems, passing more or less \'ertically to the upper margin. This carving is also reproduced in tlie A'olume of Illustra- tions prepared for White's " Ancient Histor}' of the Maori." 1891.
PLA'i'E V.
54
Maori Art,
N^o. IX.
Figure-head of a Canoe.
To the present day canoes with figure-heads of the type here given are to be met with on the east and west coasts of the Northern Island of New Zealand. Comparatively simple as they appear after the wonderful carvings on the great war canoes, yet an infinit}- of patient labour was required to shape the required figure from the solid piece of timber. The width of this specimen is 32 inches, and conse- quently the original log must have been at least of that diameter. To cut through at both ends a piece of timber of this size with stone tools would be great labour, even if aided by fire. This specimen is in my own collection, and is at present in the Museum of the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute at Napier. Its length is 5ft. It still preserves traces of the red war paint. It came from A\'airoa, Hawke's Bay, and was probably made in that neighbourhood.
Hio. 13.
Figure-head of a Canoe.
A line specimen now in the possession of the Rev. Flerlx-rt Williams at (iisLorne, Puvert\' Bay. Though in good preservation, it has e^•identl^• not been m use for many a year, being partly co\-ered with a gre\- encrustiuir lichen.
Length, 4ft. gin. Width, 2ft. yin.
PLATE ^'I
■>.^^*__^,
?s^
56
Maori Art.
IMo. 3.3.
Stern Ornament {tau-rapa) of a War Canoe.
This tau-rapa was bought by Mr. James Mackay (then Assistant Native Secretary) in 1861 from the Ngati-toa tribe, who possessed the country on the coast of the Wellington province opposite to the Island of Kapiti. It is stated to have been part of the canoe Kahutia-tc-Rangi, one of the fleet in which Tc Rauparaha and his people waged war against the Natives of the South Island of New Zealand in 1831-32. Native tradition then stated that the carving was from 130 to 150 years old, and consequentl}' executed with stone implements.
I do not know where this carving is at the present time. The figure is repro- duced from a negative taken in Auckland some time ago.
N'o. 14.
Stern Ornament (tan-rapa) of a War Canoe.
Canoe sterns, or rapa, are, apart from their size, objedls worthy of close studv, especially when, as in the case of the two examples here figured, the highest powers of the carver's art have been used to embellish and adorn them. Though so different in many respects from the last in the treatment of the minor ornamentation, the same kinds of design again occur. In this case I feel certain that the rapa bslonged to the same canoe as did the ihu figured on PI. i, Fig. 2. By comparing the two an idea will be gained of how the same method of treatment was carried out in two carvings so unlike one another in general form. Unfortunately at the present time this identification of the corresponding parts can only be carried out in a few cases.
Height, 6ft.
Colonial Museum, Wellington.
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58 Maori Art.
N^o. 15.
Stern Ornament {tau-rapa) of a War Canoe.
Carved stern-post of war canoe. It is hard to say which of the two is the more beautiful — the carving at the prow or the stern of a canoe. Whilst there is a practical uniformity in the pattern, or the essentials of the pattern, there is an endless amount of variation and elaboration in the details. Here we have a very typical example, not fully elaborated, but presenting the essentials of the design. The figure seated at the base, looking into the canoe, is occasionally reduced to a head only, as in fig. 17.
The examination of the three figures in this plate will show that, apart from the two ascending bars, the motive is the same as on the tau-ihu — a figure or face between two double spirals, repeated as often as may be necessary to fill the space.
Height, 5ft. 2in.
It is in the colleftion of Dr. T. M. Hocken, of Dunedin.
)• •♦<
N^o. 16.
Stern Ornament {tau-rapa) of a War Canoe.
"" A very highly-finished specimen in the Museum of the University of Otago,
Dunedin. This specimen, together with the tau-ihit at end of list of Illustrations,
belonged to one individual canoe.
Height, 4ft. 3in.
— >»♦»< —
N^o. 17.
Stern Ornament (tau-rapa) of a War Canoe.
This beautiful, but unfinished, piece of carving is in the possession of a gentleman in Poverty Bay, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is a more modern piece of work than the last, but in pattern and style preserves the old traditions. It is not unusual to find, even in some of the oldest carvings, portions left unfinished. I have a canoe prow in which the whole of one side is finished, and the other side hardly started.
Height, 6ft. 6in.
There is a remarkable likeness between these tall canoe stern carvings and those on the Tahitian canoes of Cook's time, as may be seen by Webber's drawings to " Cook's Voyages."
I'L A'i'i; \'iir.
V -* ■
Ho Maori Art,
N^o. 18.
Baler (tata) of a War Canoe.
(a) A baler from Akuaku, Poverty Bay. A typical example of this form of canoe baler. The specimen is of considerable antiquity, and is one of a pair. They were of some repute, and were named. This one was called Pororangi, after the chieftainess of that name.
This is in my own collection at Dunedin.
ffo. 19.
Baler (tata) of a War Canoe.
(b) A unique specimen of curious appearance and great antiquity, having been found in what is known as Monck's Cave, at Sumner, near Christchurch, a prehistoric ca\e-dwelling of the Maoris.
It is \tr\ unusual to find the handle continued on into the bowl, or left in the solid ; but I have seen some instances. It adds greatly to the strength of the article.
Length, isin. Breadth, 8in.
Canterbury Museum, Christchurch.
I«o. 20.
Baler {tata) of a War Canoe.
(c) A very graceful specimen showing much refinement in the contours and execution. It is in the Colonial Museum, Wellington.
Length, i8in. Width, i2in.
There are several other forms of balers found in collections, but I am not able to figure them for want of space.
PLATE rx.
^■_.
!j.:^_ . f)
62 Maori Art.
N^o. 21.
Figurc'head (taii-iliii) of a War Canoe.
Represents the northern form of tnii-ihii, with all the parts put toofether. It is not so highly finished as those pieces figured on PI. V., but it evidently carries out the same idea in another way. The transverse portion is given as a tail-piece on page 24. The head is also given as a tail-piece on page 16. The base seen from above is shown at Fig. 23.
14^0. 22.
Figure-head of a War Canoe (seen from above).
A view of the tau-i/ni is figured on page 68, looking from above.
I4'o. 23.
Part of Figure-head of a War Canoe (seen from above). Auckland.
Is, as already mentioned, the base of the large northern figure-head (Fi^x. ai), as seen from above. In the groove in the centre, and also in the transverse groove; are seen the holes for the pegs connecting the various parts.
N^o. 24.
Figure-head of War Canoe (seen from above).
The view from above of a very large canoe-head or tan-ihn. This fine specnnen is figured on page 25, and is a beautiful piece of work. The total length is 6ft. 3in. It is now in the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch.
I'LA'l'E X.
^^^ V;^' ":'?^ MS^
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
Double-page lithograph of diagrams of the parts of a Maori canoe and its fittings.
fc>^
Carved head from the base of a canoe pruvv.
Original in the Museum of the University of Otago, Dunedin .... Page i6.
Figure-head {pakurukurii) of a small canoe. Taranaki.
In Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand .... Page 17.
Transverse board of figure-head of a war canoe. Auckland .... Pao-e 24.
(See also Plates V. and X.)
Figure-head {tau-ihu) of war canoe. Length, 5ft. 3in.
Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand .... .... Page 25.
B^ishing canoe of the present day.
Poverty Bay .... .... .... .... .... Page 28.
Part of a canoe carved and erected as a memorial to a deceased chief.
Formerly in a Native burial ground at Wanganui .... .... Page 38.
Fragment of a canoe-prow found on the beach at Lyttelton by one of the early settlers. Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand .... Page 41.
Hiiaki figure on the tau-ihu of a war canoe.
Colonial Museum, Wellington .... .... .... Page 42.
Figure-head {tau-ihu) of a war canoe.
Otago University Museum, Dunedin .... .... .... Page 68.
(See Plate VIII., Fig. 16, for tau-rapa belonging to this prow).
LIST OF SPEC^IMEK.S FIGllUED IN THE PLATES.
->-»-0^»4-
Plate I., Fin-, i. — Figure-head (tau-ilin) of war canoe.
Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand. Fi!^^ 2. — Figure-head (tail i/iii) of war canoe. Colonial Museum. Plate II., Fig. 3. — Plgure-head (iaii-ihii ) of war canoe.
Museum of Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute. Fig. 4. — Figure-head (taii-iliii) of war canoe.
Colonial Museum, Wellington.
Plate III., Fig. 5. — Figure-head (tau-ihu) of war canoe.
Colonial Museum, Wellington.
Fig. 5. — Figure-head (tau-ihu).
Canterbury Museum, Christchurch.
Plate IV., Fig. 7. — Tau-iliu and tau-rapa for a model war canoe.
Colonial Museum, Wellington.
Fig. 8. — Figure-head (tau-iliii) of war canoe.
Colonial Museum, Wellington.
Plate v.. Fig. g. — Part of thi iigure-head of a war canoe.
Auckland.
Fig. 10. — Part of the figure-head of a war canoe. Auckland.
Plate VI., Fig. 11. — Figure-head of a canoe.
Museum of Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute.
Fig. 12. — Figure-head of a canoe.
Gisborne, Poverty Bay.
Plate VII., Fig. 13. — Stern ornament (tau-rapa) of war canoe.
Fig. 14. — Stern ornament (tau-rapa) of war canoe. Colonial Museum, Wellington.
68
Specimens Figured in the Plates.
Plate VIII., Fig. 15. — Stern ornament (taii-rapa) of war canoe.
In collection of Dr. T. M. Hocken, Dunedin. Fio-. 16.— Stern ornament (tan-rapa) of war canoe.
Otago University Museum, Dunedin. Fig. 17. — Stern ornament ( tmi-rapa ). Poverty Bay. Plate IX., Fig. 18. — Baler {tata) of war canoe.
From Poverty Bay. Fig. ig. — Baler (tata) of war canoe.
Canterbury Museum, Christchurch. Fig. 20. — Baler {tata) of war canoe.
Colonial Museum, Wellington. Plate X., Fig. 21. — Figure-head [tau-ihu) of war canoe.
Auckland. Fig. 22. — Figure-head of war canoe, seen from above. Otago University Museum, Dunedin. Fig. 23. — Base of figure-head of war canoe, seen from above.
Auckland. Fig. 24. — Figure-head of war canoe, seen from above. Canterbury Museum, Christchurch.
Figure = head {iau-ihu) of a War Canoe.
otago University Museum Dunedin.
TLLIISTRATTONS OF A/TAOPT apt
New Zealand Institute,
Wellington, 23rd September, 1897.
IN issuing Part II. of Maori Art, Mr. Hamilton desires me to acknowledge the assistance he has received from numerous correspondents since the publication of Part I., and to return his thanks for the numerous photo- graphs forwarded to him, more particularly for those sent by Mr. Josiah Martin, of Auckland, who has taken several photographs specially for this Part ; Mr.
A. Martin, of Wanganui ; Mr. Morris arid Messrs. Burton Brothers, of Dunedin, who have kindly rendered great assistance from their large store of Maori photographs ; and many others who have rendered cordial assistance. Promises of co-operation have been received from the chief Museums in England and the Continent, and it is therefore anticipated that the best results will follow from such generous help.
JAMES HECTOR,
Director. Colonial Museum,
Wellington.
Specimens Figured in the Plates.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MAORI ART.
I»J5.ItT II.
THE HABITATIONS OF THE MAORIS.
LIST OF WORDS RELATING TO HOUSES AND PAS.
MAORI RAFTER PATTERNS, WITH DESCRIPTIVE NOTES.
DIAGRAMS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MAORI HOUSE, PLANS AND SECTIONS OF FORTIFIED PAS, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DIAGRAMS.
PLATES AND DESCRIPTIONS.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURED IN THE PLATES.
By A. HAMILTON,
Registrar of the University of Otago.
PUBLISHED BY THE GOVERNORS OF THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE,
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND, 18 9 7.
Konipe, or Lintel of a Doorway.
THE HABITATIONS
OF
THE NEW ZEALANDERS
THE perishable nature of the building materials used by the Maoris, and the operation of the social customs relating to the property of deceased chiefs, have rendered it a difficult matter, at the present time, to obtain from personal observation a faithful record of the various buildings, which, in times now past, went to make up the village cluster or kainga — unfortified — or the fortified pa, or stronghold. Before endeavouring to present, in a collefted form, the evidence still available of the different kinds of houses and buildings, I should at once make it clear that, whilst there was a general similarity, many forms were undoubtedly local, some the result of individual caprice, or adapted to some special circum- stance. It is also very unlikely that a.ny pa ever contained at any one time all the recorded varieties of buildings.
The earliest account that we have of the appearance of a Maori village in its normal condition is, fortunately, to bs found in "Cook's Voyages."* He says, speaking of their villages in general :—" Their houses are the most inartificially made of anything among them, being scarcely equal, exceptmg in size, to an English dog-kennel. They are seldom more than 1 8 to 20 feet long, 8 to 10 feet broad, and 5 to 6 feet high from the ground to the pole which runs from one end
*Cook (Hawkesworth), Vol. iii., p. 457, 1st ed., 1773.
^2 The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
to the other, and forms the ridge. The framing is of wood, generally slender sticks, and both walls and roof consist of dried grass and hay, which, it must be confessed, is very tightly put together ; and some are also lined with the bark of trees, so that in cold weather they must afford a comfortable retreat. The roof is sloping, like those of our barns, and the door is at one end, just high enough to admit a man creeping on his hands and knees ; near the door is a square hole, which serves the double office of window* and chimney — for the fireplace is at that end, nearly in the middle below the two sides ; in some conspicuous part, and generally near the door, a plank is fixed, covered with carving after their manner — this they value as we do a pifture, and in their estimation it is not an inferior ornament ; the sidewalls and roof projeft about two feet beyond the walls at each end, so as to form a porch, in which there are benches for the accommodation of the family. That part of the floor which is allotted for the fireplace is enclosed in a hollow square by partitions, either of wood or stone, and in the middle a fire is kindled. The floor along the inside of the walls is thickly covered with straw, and on this the family sleep. f Some of the better sort, whose families are large, have three or four houses, enclosed with a courtyard, the walls of which are construfted of poles and hay, and are about 12 or 13 feet high. We saw at Tolaga the frame of a house much superior to these ; it was 30 feet in length, 15 feet in breadth, 12 feet in height, and adorned with carved planks."
The material used to cover the framework varied very much with the locality, and a large number of sedges, grasses, reeds, and leaves were used. Sheets of bark from the Totara pine (Podocarpus Totara), and the leaves of the Nikau palm (Arcca sapidaj, made excellent coverings for temporary shelters, and were also used in more permanent work.
The remarkably small doorway of the ordinary house is noted by all the early authorities, and they also agree on the height in the inside of the house, from floor to ridge pole, being only five or six feet. The ma/iati, or deep porch at the end of the house, usually faced the sun, as it was an ill omen to face the south (such a house being called wharc-kotore) ; it served for many purposes, especially for feeding in, as no cooked food could be taken into a dwelling house or eaten there.
* Crozet mentions " the small window, about 2 feet square, furnished with a rush trellis." — " Nouveau Voyage a la Mer Sud " (H. Ling Eoth) In several Maori legends instances occur of a kind of skylight or window (pihanga: in the roof, as in the story of Monoa entering the Wharekura. Taylor says tlie opening fpihangaj had a small roof over it to keep out the rain (Taylor, Te Ika, 2nd ed., p. 179).
t (-'rozet says — "They had a square of boards well joined together, about 6 feet long by 2 feet broad; on these planks are laid 7 or 8 inches of grass or fern, well dried, and upon which they sleep."
The Habitations of the New Zealanders. 73
Crozet, in 1772, and Earle,* in 1827, found the ordinary houses exactly corresponding to Cook's description. The sketches, made by Angas and others, show that the ordinary whares were mostly small, about seven feet long by five or six broad ; and Mr. Colenso says, their common houses, though plain, were often very strongly made ; sometimes, however, their walls were not more than two feet high, with a prodigious roof. In some distrifts a custom obtained of sinking the floorf a foot or so below the level of the ground, and heaping the earth up against the sides of the house, thus avoiding to a great extent the variations of external heat and cold. When a house of this kind was destroyed by fire or perished from decay, the pit remained, and in all parts of the North Island these hollows attest the presence at some past time of native dwellings, or store pits. In the southern part of the South Island the praftice of excavating the house area was not followed, although the climatic conditions would appear to demand such proteftion more than in the north. Possibly, however, the praftice may have been introduced into the North Island at a late date, or originated there since the Maori occupation of the North, as house and store pits are also found in the north of the South Island.
Taking the small simple dwelling house or hut as the unit or starting point of a village, we find that each family group surrounded its house or houses with a screen or fence of posts inserted into the ground close to each other, and made into a secure barrier by cross rails firmly lashed with ake or other bush creepers (kareao, &c.) Several of these groups related by family ties or a common interest combmmg together, would ereft a stouter and stronger fence round the whole, leaving sufficient space somewhere in the enclosure, generally in front of the large assembly houses, as the marae or courtyard, where dances or meetings could be held, or speeches made. In large pas the great fence (pekerangt) was composed of large posts, sometimes entire trees ; at short intervals in the fence a larger post than usual (tukumaru) was placed, and the top carved into the representation of a defiant warrior (kahia), armed with some native weapon.j Most of the smaller posts were finished off at the top by a deep notch all round a foot or so from the end, giving a resemblance to a head stuck on a post. At the building of an important pa it was usual to bury a slave under each of the main posts of the fence.
Colenso, "Transactions Now Zealand Institute," Vol. i , 2.id ed., p. 349. ** Earle, Nari-ative. &c., p. 50. „ ir i ■■ n^ •\R9
of theV is given in the "Transactions New Zealand Institute, Vol. xxvuu, p. 41.
7^ The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
Close to Opotiki eleven skeletons were recently found, each buried under the decayed post of a />a. Space would be required for store houses for food and for weapons, paddles, &c., for cook houses (kauta), and sheds for various purposes, and covered pits (rua) for storing root crops. A striking pi6fure of a Maori pa of the olden times in the Whanganui distrift, North Island, during peace, was published as a lithograph from a painting by Gilfillan, and in most of the details is excellent. Unfortunately the wave of European influence is just reaching the village, and sailors' caps and blankets are to be seen, together with potatoes and that useful animal-often called, with much reason, one of the great civilizers of the Pacific— the pig. The situation of the pa, or village, would naturally be determined by the charafter of the neighbourhood as a food-providing area. By the mouth of streams or rivers, by the swamps teeming with eels and birds, or on headlands or points running out into the sea, the settlements grew up of a more or less permanent nature. Next to these praaical considerations came the esthetic. " They generally sought a clear open site for their villages, so as to command a good view ; a fine open prospeft from a villiage being loudly praised by strangers, while a cramped or bad one was denounced. They did all they could to keep their villages both clean and tidy. Each village had its common privy, generally in some secluded spot. Their houses were often neatly kept, all their little articles hung up or stowed away in baskets in their proper places. Their fishing residences, or huts near their cultivations, and forest huts where they sometimes dwelt (for a chief had generally five or six residences), were usually beautifully placed and snugly ensconced under shady trees, and by the side of a murmuring brook ; they rarely ever wantonly cut down evergreen shrubs or old shady trees growing near them for the sake of their wood for timber or firing, choosing rather to fetch the same from a long distance." *
The houses of the common people were frequently scattered about in the neighbourhood of their cultivations, within easy reach of the great tribal pa, and these, if destroyed by a marauding enemy, were easily replaced. The great meeting houses and the residences of chiefs, with the series of houses for various purposes, were usually within the great fences.
It is worthy of notice that in regard to sanitary regulations. Cook found that most Maori pas were better regulated than many of the large cities of Europe at
* Colenso, "Transactions New Zealand Institute," Vol. i., p. 375.
The Habitations of the New Zealanders. 75
that date— every little cluster of houses being furnished with a privy [paepae), the offal of their food was piled up in regular dunghills.
There were no regular streets, but there were irregular passages of communication between the various clusters of houses, each enclosure having small apertures for ingress and egress, and usually, in modern times, a stile of one or two steps either of wood or stone, so as to exclude pigs. Sometimes these stiles, even those connefting the plantations of kumara and potatoes (ot taro) were carved with grotesque figures.* The main entrance (waha-roa) to the pa through the great fence was often elaborately carved, f Mr. Colenso thus describes the gateway of a pa at Onepoto, a village close to Lake Waikare-moana— " The gateway was embellished with a pair of huge and highly-carved human figures, besmeared with shining red pigment, armed with spears, and grinning defiance to all-comers. These were not only seen to advantage through being elevated above the horizon, but their eyes (or rather sockets), instead of being set with glittering haliotis shell, according to the usual native custom, were left open, so that the light of the sky streamed through them ; and this was yet more particularly manifested owing to the proper inclination given to the figures, looking down, as it were, on all looking up at the narrow, steep ascent into the well-fenced village. "J
Many of the great Maori pas must have contained one or two thousand people. The natives are unanimous in affirming that they were much more numerous in former times than they were at the time of the arrival of the colonists. The old hill forts are many of them so large that an amount of labour must have been expended in trenching, terracing, and fencing them — the want of iron tools increasing the difficulty a hundredfold — that must have required a vastly greater population to accomplish. These forts were of such an extent that ten times the number of men living in the distrift in modern times must have been required to defend them, even under the old conditions of warfare. And yet, says Manning, "when we remember that in those days of constant war — being the two centuries preceding the arrival of the Europeans — the natives always, as a rule, slept in their hill forts with closed gates, bridges over trenches removed, and ladders of terraces drawn up, we must come to the conclusion that the inhabitants of the fort, though so numerous, were merely the population of the country in the close vicinity."||
* Angas, "Savage Life and Scenes," Vol. ii., p. 129.
t See a sketch of a gateway to a jra in Major-Gen. Robli^y's " Moko," p. 89, fig. 99.
X Colenso, "Transactions New Zealand Institute," 1S94, Vol. xxvii., p. 360.
II Judge Manning, " Old New Zealand," p. 105.
76 The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
The warlike nati?re of the Maori, however, looked upon the piping times of peace only as a convenient time to prepare for war, and the great war pa or citadel of a tribe was the most important feature in their daily life, and had to be kept in order and readiness for instant use. This feeling was a universal one, and we find that Angas says, " near the path leading from Pukepoto I observed a minature pa constructed by the boys, who amuse themselves by building tiny fortifications, and emulate the courage and skill of their sires in the sport of besieging and defending them. The mounds were made of heaps of earth, and the fencework constructed of upright sticks, displaying the characteristic ingenuity of the Maori children. Their elders also, when fighting their battles over again to an appreciative audience, would frequently construct a rough model on the ground with pieces of fern stalk stuck in to illustrate their story, and show " how fields were won."*
Every advantage was taken of the natural features of the country, and every isolated hill or promontory in the North Island, or any easily fortified situation, has at one time or another been the site of a war pa or citadel. These sites have as many historical associations as any castled height in Europe, and it is much to be regretted that all the palisades and carved posts, with their defiant figures, have decayed, leaving only the scarped sides and ditches and banks as reminders to the present age of the glories of the past. As the British and Roman camps on the hills of Britain call up the visions of a long passed stormy period of war and strife, so in future years will the ditches and banks of the Maori forts testify to the energy and military genius of the great Maori race. From the sketches and plans given it will be seen that the system of defences offered an effectual resistance to the assault of an enemy unprovided with steel weapons or firearms.
The introduftion of firearms struck a fatal blow at the whole system of Maori tadics. With great skill, however, the leading chiefs of the day modified their defences, and many new pas were built that commanded the respea and admiration of European officers, and trained forces of the British army found it no easy matter to dislodge a brave and war-loving foe from his rifle-pits and entrench- ments. The defensive works at Te Arie pa at the VVaitara were found to be very
* Angas. See " Life and Scenes," Vol ii., p. 9G.
The Habitations of the New Zealanders. "]^
formidable, ditches 15 feet deep, and this novelty in Maori fortification — there was a strong parapet built of earth mixed with fern about 16 feet thick, covered by a line of rifle pits or a covered way, about 40 yards in front of the line of stockade ; so that had the guns been used, the Maori defenders, being in front instead of the rear of their stockade, would have been entirely under cover ; the shot and shell which would have been naturally thrown into the stockade, would have been quite ineffectual, and the garrison would have been able to have received any attacking column after the palisades had been apparently breached.* The earthworks at Rangiriri were also very effeflive, the ditch being 12 feet wide, and the parapet 18 feet high. It is said that in purely native warfare it was not unusual for an an enemy to approach the walls by a sap or underground approach.! Colonel Wynyard made a model of one of these pas adapted to the new conditions — the celebrated pa at Ruapekapeka, construfted by Kawiti in 1845. A similar model was constru6ted by Capt. Balneavis of the 58th Regiment, and sent over to the Great Exhibition of 185 1. In some cases, as in two old pas near New Plymouth, one at Te Koru and another at Stony River, the banks or walls of the pa under the palisading were compaftly built of stone, mostly large boulders from the river beds. The Waiohua or Ngaiwi, near Auckland, are also said to have had stone walled pas.
Many ingenious devices were used in war time. Shortland mentions an instance of the besiegers eredling a stout fence {karapoti] as a blockade entirely round the besieged pa, effe6lually preventing the escape of the victims. Another party construdied a huge wickerwork shield (kahupapa) large enough to proted twenty men, who, thus covered, pushed it up to the fence of the pa, after the manner of the ancients. Another ingenious device was spreading sea shells over the paths leading to the pa, so that the sound of the shells breaking under the feet of the enemy might alarm the inmates in the case of a night attack. In the instance quoted, however,^ the enemy outwitted the defenders by spreading their dogskin mats over the shells, and took the pa by surprise. During the defence of Te Namo pa by the Taranaki and Wi Kingi, the Waikatos, during the night, constructed three taumaiJns (towers of earth or wood) to enable them to fire into the
* Major-aen. Sir J. Alexander, " Bush Fighting," &c., 1873, p. 237.
LI\7rct™t''o7a'S:t^^^^ Kaiapohia in Shortland's " Traditions of the New ZeaUnders."
p. 256 ; and Kev. J. W. Stack in " Kaiapohia : The Story of a Siege 1893^
: Judge Penton, "Important Judgments Native Lands Court, lSbb-/9, p. o3.
g The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
pa, and parties were told off to steal up under cover oi the darkness and undermine the parapet. This was also done at the siege of Moturoa.*
A hthoc^raph of the pas of two parties of Maoris at Waitangi in the Chatham Island, formmg part of a series drawn by Major Heaphy in 1839, was published by the New Zealand Government, showing fighting towers (taumatlu) built of wood to a great height.
Cook remarks that " south of Poverty Bay he saw no Uppahs, but upon the hillsides were stages of great height, furnished with stones and darts."t The whole of the country from Poverty Bay to Cape Kidnappers is covered with the remams of fortified pas, many of which appear of great antiquity, so that Cooks statement probably applies to some portion of the distridf then recently devas- tated or temporarily uninhabited.
Deserted villages seem to have been frequently seen by Cook, especially in Queen Charlotte Sound. After a defeat the viUages forsaken by the conquered were rarely occupied by the viftors.
Cook visited a great war jS^a at Mercury Bay, and he thus describes it — " The pa was enclosed with a fence about 10 feet high, consisting of strong poles bound too-ether with withes ; the weak side next to the land is also defended by a double ditch, the innermost of which has a bank and additional palisade ; the inner palisades are upon the bank next the town, but at such a distance from the top of the bank as to leave room for the men to walk and use theii arms, between them and the inner ditch ; the outermost palisades are between the two ditches, and driven obliquely into the ground, so that their upper ends incline over the inner ditch ; the depth of the ditch from the bottom to the crown of the bank is 24 feet.
''■ Close within the innermost palisades is a stage 20 feet high, 40 feet long, and 6 feet broad ; it is supported by strong posts, and is intended for a station for the defenders, from which they may annoy the assailants by darts and stones, heaps of which lay ready for \x^e.\ Another stage of the same kind commands the steep avenue from the track, and stands also within the palisading. On the side of the hill there are some little outworks and huts, not intended as advanced posts, but as
* .Judge Gudgeon, " History and Traditions of the Maoris," p. GS. f "Cook's Voyages" (Hawkeswoith), Vol. iii., p. 4U9. I See also " Crozet's Voyagi>" (H. Ling Both), p 32.
The Habitations of the New Zealanders. 79
the habitations of people, who, for want of room, could not be accommodated within the works, but who were, notwithstanding, desirous of placing themselves under their protection. The palisades, as had been observed already, run round the whole brow of the hill, as well towards the sea as towards the land, but the ground within having originally been a mount, they have reduced it, not to one level, but to several, rising in stages one above the other like an amphitheatre, each of which is enclosed in a separate palisade ; they communicate with each other by narrow lanes which might easily be stopped up, so that, if an enemy should force the outward palisades, he would have others to carry before the place could be wholly reduced.
" The only entrance is by a narrow passage about 12 feet long, communi- cating with the steep ascent from the beach ; it passes under one of the fighting stages [Cook in another place calls this stage porava =poraiva] , and though we saw nothing like a door or gateway, it may be easily barricaded. The openings in the fences were not opposite each other, but some distance to the right or left. There were quantities of fern root and dried fish in the store house, and water was stored in calabashes or bowls, to say nothing of the kumaras, taros, &c."*
In every group of houses of any importance there was one, a ichare-ichakairo or carved house, which served in the first place as a council chamber and as a guest house, and was also often regarded as a memorial of some great event in the history of the tribe, such as the birth of an heir to the principal chief, or of a special assembly of the tribes to discuss questions of war or peace. On the arrival of each of the famous canoes of the migration from Hawaiki, a lohare maire or n'liarc kum was built, in Nvhich was taught the religion, history, poetry, and genealogies of the tribe, by the priest whose special funftion it was to preserve this lore. The names of nearly all, and the positions of many of these celebrated houses are known. t It was on these ceremonial houses, and on the chief's store houses, that most of the best art workmanship was bestowed, and it is therefore necessary to ^ive some detailed description of the mode of construaion.J This has been rendered a comparatively easy matter by the publication of an article by the Rev. Herbert Williams, of Poverty Bay, on a Maori house§ as construfted by the Ngati
*" Cook's Voyage " (Hawkesworth), Vol. ii., p. 34-3.
i SeTa":\ntte'un Jdes^-^i^tion of a house built by the Maoris for Mr. Colenso iu 1S« at Waitangi, Hawkes Bay. " Trans. N.Z. Institute," Vol. xiv., p. 50. 5 Journal Pol. Soc, Vol. v., p. 145, No. 19.
8o The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
Porou tribe, who still occupy the East Cape distrift, and who have at all times been noted for their skill in building and carving.
■^&
A whare consisted of a framework of timber, carefully notched, and lashed together with flax, the wall spaces being filled in with screens made chiefly of kakaho, the reeds of the toetoe plsint (A rundo conspicuaj, the whole being covered with bundles of raupo (Typha angustifolia) , bound on with strips of flax (Phormmm tcnax). For months, and perhaps years, the materials would be sought for, coUefted, and prepared. Suitable timbers would be slowly and laboriously dressed down to the required size by the application of fire and stone tools. The timber most desired for building purposes was that which had been brought down by floods and then buried for years in the bed of the river, and in course of time had lost its sap wood and become well seasoned. To drag these logs from their watery bed, and to get together the numerous large timbers required, was a great undertaking. Numbers and determination overcame all difficulties, as was exemplified in the case of the building of the Mission Church at Otaki, where the enormous ridge pole — a solid piece of totara 86 feet long, was dragged 12 miles, and finally elevated on three pillars, 40 feet high, by the manual labour of the natives.
The kakaho, or reeds, the flower stalks of the Arundo (toetoe), had to be cut at the proper season, if possible from a forest locality, and carefully dried. Huge stores of the leaves of the Typha or bulrush {Ratipo) would be required for the sides and the roof of the house, together with quantities of the invaluable Phormium or Muka, the so-called New Zealand flax. In the northern districts, the wiry creeping fern {Lygodinin scandcns) Mange-mange was utilized to fasten down the outside layers "of thatch on the roof; in other districts, plaited ropes of flax, or a light lattice of thin manuka rods. If suitable timber could not otherwise be obtained, it was necessary to fell some huge Totara or other pine, and to do this, fire and the stone axes {toki) had to be used. The branches were removed, and the trunk then split with wedges made of hard wood.
The materials having^been procured, and the position of the house decided on, the appropriate ceremonies were performed by the priest, and the proper karaktas recited. Any levelling that was required was then done, so as to have a hard level earthen floor. The shape of all houses was practically a parallelogram of varying
The Habitations of the New Zealanders. 8i
proportions ; in some of the larger houses the length was as much as 60 feet or 10 jiiaro (fathom). Anything over 25 feet would, however, be considered a large IV hare. The proportion of the width to the length varied according to the taste of the tohunga who superintended the building.
On the East Coast, measurement was by the maro., or fathom of 6 feet, measured by the extended arms ; on the West Coast, by takoto, that is, the length from the foot to the hand extended beyond the head as the measurer lay at full length on the ground.
The Rev. Herbert Williams gives the following account of the details of the construftion of a Maori house, which I am permitted to reproduce from the "Journal of the Polynesian Society": —
" The lines for the two ends, known as roro, the front, and tiiarongo, the back, were first laid down, and the building squared by measuring the diagonals, hauroki. Finally, for some occult reason, the corner on the right-hand side of the roro, looking into the house, was displaced a very slight distance towards the tuarongo, or back. The sides of the open porch, or ichakaiiiahaii, were not a continuation of the sides of the house, but were on parallel lines a few inches within the others.
" The next business was the ereftion of the main posts, or potc-tahn, for the support of the ridge-pole, tahu or taliithu. These were trunks of trees, either whole or split in half, with the inner convex faces carved or more -often painted, and stood in the middle of the ro7'o and tuarongo respeftively ; that at the roro being perceptibly higher than the other to allow the smoke to escape at the front of the house. Some- ingenuity was displayed in eredting these posts. The hole was dug, and the post brought up to it and laid face downwards inside the -wliarc ; a heavy slab of wood, the tiiaiiait, was placed in the hole against the foot of the post ; the head of the post was first raised by lifting, and then by hauling on two heavy ropes, the advantage made in hauling being secured by a pair of shears, tokorangi, placed under the post, and worked gradually forward towards the hole ; a third rope fastened to the head of the post served to guide it as it rose ; when the post was perpendicular the tuanaii was removed, the hole filled in, and the earth rammed down. In some houses the parts of the main posts within the ground were
82 The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
surrounded with slabs cut from the fibrous trunk of the large tree-ferns (ponga), which, being almost imperishable, preserved the posts ; such slabs were called
turi/iimga.
" The tahii, or ridge-pole, was in one piece, and about lo feet longer than the wharc proper. Its section was an obtuse isosceles triangle, the apex uppermost. In a large house it might be two feet or more in width, and must have been of considerable weight. The difficulty of raising it to its position on the pou-ahii was overcome b}' the use of tokorangi at each end, a scaffolding {rangitapu) being erefted to support it in different positions, until it finally rested on the flat tops of the pou-tdiu, the rear end resting on its post, while the excess mentioned above projefted in front of the -wharc. This extra lo feet of the tahii was carved to represent a conventional human figure (pane), while the part between the posts was painted with a scroll pattern [kowhai). The tahu was retained in its position by stout pins driven through either side into the posts, also by lashing to sunk eyes.
" During the work of building, the tahu was supported between the posts by one or two temporary supports (tokotoko) ; these, when the building was completed, were replaced by the pou-tokonianaica, a post much lighter than the pou-tahu, generally squared through the greater part of the length, with the lower part carved to represent a human figure, the result in many cases being very realistic. In some iz'hares there may now be seen a light pole supporting the projefting end of the tahu, but this formed no part of a regulation Maori wharc.
" The framework of the sides, pakitara, consisted of upright slabs of wood set in the ground. These slabs, poupou, were from one to three feet wide, from three to nine inches thick, and of such a height as to make the pitch of the roof about 30 degrees. ' Of course, as the pou-tahu were not of the same height the poupou had to be graduated accordingly. In ordinary houses the height of the poupou above ground was somewhat under six feet, but in special cases has been made as much as 13 feet. The poupou were flat or slightly convex on the inner face, which was sometimes elaborately carved with conventionalized figures of ancestors, sometimes painted, and sometimes slightly relieved by notches along the edges. The edges of each poupou were rebated from behind ; and at the top there was a semicircular depression, the rua-whctu, to receive the end of the rafter ; in small houses this
The Habitations of the New Zealanders. 83
depression was about half the width of the poiipou. When in position the poiipoii leaned slightly inwards, and were each buttressed behind with a hirinaki, a rough piece of split timber set in the ground, and lashed to eyes near the upper end of the poupou. The poupou were, of course, set opposite one another at even distances, starting from the corners by the tuarongo. The four poupou at the corners of the house were tapu. The intervals were, as a rule, a little wider than the poupou, and were invariably of an odd number inside the ic/iarc, and an odd number also — generally three — in the whakainahmi . Not infrequently the poupou nearest the front wall was split down the middle with its corresponding rafter, half being inside the house and half in the porch, thus making in all an odd number of poupou on each side of the house. The upper ends of the poupou were secured to a batten, kaho- paetara, placed behind the poupou and lashed to notches or holes in the corners of each. The kaho-patu were respeftively contiguous to the tahu and kaho-paetara.
" The framework of the tuarongo consisted of uprights, epa, set in the ground similarly to the poupou, except that they were set vertically. There were, of course, the same number on either side of the pou-tahu, generally three; in the case of a large whare as many as five. The height was fixed by the heke-tipi, a board placed on its edge, and extending from the top of the pou-tahu to the top of the poupou ; each epa was lashed to the lower edge of this board.
" The row was similar to the tuarongo, but with a frame for the door, tatau, on the right of the pou-tahu, looking outwards, and one for the window, niatapihi or pihanga, on the left ; the epa being cut away to leave room for these frames.
"A skirting-board, papaka, was formed by slabs placed between the poupou. These slabs were rebated from the front at the ends to come flush with the faces of the poupou, and from the back along the upper edge to correspond with the rebate on the sides of the poupou. Similar boards were placed between the epa of the two ends of the whare.
" The door, tatau, was rarely more than two feet wide and four feet high, and consisted of a slab of wood about two inches thick. It was opened by sliding the slab from the pou-tahu into a recess built m the wall. When the whare was closed
84 The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
from without, the cord holding tlie door was fastened in a knot, nirti aho tuwhere. Many owners had their special knots, which were highly complicated, to serve as burglar deteftors. When closed from the inside the door was secured by a peg, and rattling was prevented by a wedge.
" The door-frame consisted of the paepae, or threshold — a piece of timber in length rather more than twice the width of the door, and squared, about 12 inches by 12 inches, having a groove, toanga, on its upper face to carry the door. Upon this stood the jambs, whakawai (roughly morticed to the sill and taupoki), which projefted front and back to form a moulding; the two whakawai were flanged, the front edge being generally ornamented with carving. The left-hand jamb (looking outwards) stood close against the pou-tahu, the right-hand one was in two pieces, which stood on either side of the groove in the paepae. Over the whakawai lay a horizontal slab, the fuapoki, while the front of the doorway was finished off by a carved slab, the korupe, or kororupe, which rested on the carved edges of the whakawai. The koriipc was not put in its place until the spaces in the walls had been filled in with raupo. The recess into which the door slid was lined with light horizontal battens, to prevent the door injuring the packing of the walls. The arrangements for the window, which was about two feet by two feet, were in all respefts similar to those for the door ; except that of course the window slid to the left. The sill was flanged on the outside similarly to the jambs. The usual height from the ground was such that a man sitting could barely see out.
" After the poupou had been allowed to stand in the ground some time so as to get well set, the rafters, heke, were put into position. These were flat on the upper,, and rounded on the under face. They were not, as a rule, straight, but curved slightly upwards throughout their whole length, or curved at either or both ends, and straight through the remainder of the length. The under side was frequently ornamented with a painted scroll pattern. The lower end of the rafter was cut into a tongue, teremu, to fit the depression, ruawhetu, in the poupou. The heke against the row was like its corresponding poupou, sometimes split and placed half inside and half outside the whare. The rafters were kept m place by lashing the lower ends to the poupou and the upper ends to one another over the tahu, and in some cases to a lighter beam, the tahu-iti, which lay along the tahn.
The Habitations of the New Zealanders. 85
" The front edge of the walls was prote6fed by slabs, aino, as a rule carved to conventional form. The aino supported the lower ends of the barge-boards, inaihi. The maihi had near the lower edge of the back a projefting rib, papaivai, which rested against the foremost rafter, or in some cases replaced a rafter. The mailii were carried beyond the amo ; the projefting part, known as the raparapa, being carved with a pierced pattern, which formed over the amo a shallow mouth fitting over the head of the figure in the amo. The upper part of the barge-boards was finished plain, and ornamented with painting. The junction of the barge-boards was covered by a carved flat face, the koriini, which was adorned with feathers, and sometimes surmounted by a full-length figure, the tekoteko. The korurii was kept in place by a boss at the back, which was pierced horizontally.
" The wood-work of the roof was completed by laying on the rafters horizontal battens, kaho. Of these there were an even number on each side, the upper and lower one on each side being called kaho patu. The kaho were first kept temporarily in position by cords between the rafters passing over the ridge-pole. These cords, which were known as kaumahaki were replaced by the permanent supports, tataki, ropes passing over the tahu and down the back of each heke, being knotted to each kaho, and the ends made fast to the backs of the poupou.
"The covering of the framework involved several processes. For the roof, hianui, the kakaho (reeds of toetoe) were lashed evenly to laths, called karapi, which were placed at distances corresponding with those of the kaho. The screens thus formed were laid, with the laths uppermost, upon the kaho, to which they were carefully bound by strips of flax. The flax was passed from above, carried diago- nally across the kaho, up through the kakaho, and over the karapi ; a second, and sometimes a third, stitch was taken at a distance of about two inches, and the same repeated at short intervals. When the whole roof was covered in this way it was strewn with raupo, in layers known as timhuri ; these layers were kept in place by strips of flax tied to the karapi. Over the tuahuri were laid bundles of raupo, aranati, the process of laying which was known as nati, and over these were layers of toetoe, aratuparu, then aranati again, and so on alternately, until it was judged that the roof was of sufficient thickness. Over all was placed a thatching, araichimchiu, of toetoe, the laying of which was called tapatn. It was found that toetoe-rakau, a
86 The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
variety found m the bush, was more durable than toetoe-kakaho, or upoko-tangata. In the best class of house the ridging was further protected by a turihunga of ponga, fronds of tree-fern. The thatching was protefted from damage by the wind by aka vines, placed latticewise across the roof; this open lattice-work was called tatami. In smaller houses light rods of manuka took the place of the aka. In the north this end was secured by the use of thick ropes of mangemaiige (a species of climbing fern — Lygodium articiilatum), which are there called taotao. The pent, or eaves, were made sufficiently prominent to throw the water off the walls.
"The spaces of the walls between the poupovi were filled in by mats woven from strips of flax leaf, or kiekie, or with lattice-work panels, known as tukutuku. The tukutuku consisted of light horizontal laths, kalio-tarai, half inch to one inch wide, which were closely laced to vertical reeds, kakaho, with narrow strips of kiekie (Freycinctia Banksii J, white, or dyed black, and occasionally with pingao (Desmoschenus littoralis), a rich orange-coloured grass ; but where these were not procurable, flax was used. The laths of the tukutuku were sometimes painted red and black, four, or some even number of one colour together, and an equal number of the other colour following. In making the tvihi-tuku each lath was lashed to each reed, a variety of stitches being used. If the strips of Jiickie formed a cross on the lath in front of each reed, the stitch was called pukonohi-aua. Single stitches were known as luliakarua kopito, or tapuae-kautuku, according as they formed diamonds or zig-zag lines, either vertical or horizontal ; the pattern formed by the latter stitch was also sometimes called waewae-pakura. In well-made tukutuku, a rounded rod, tuuiatakahiiki, ran up the middle of the face of each panel. It was lashed to the laths by close stitches, crossing in front, each stitch passing over two or three laths ■ this lashing was known as piliapilia mango. Further ornamental effeds were produced by alternate use of black and white kiekie. The two patterns most commonly used were a succession of chevrons, kaokao, and a step pattern, poutama. Other more elaborate patterns were designated kurawa icaicawawai, tahirararautau, &c. The tukutuku, when completed, was framed in the rebate of the poupou and papaka; horizontal battens, four, five, or more m number, being lashed to the backs of the poupou to keep the panels in position. Warmth was obtained by means of vertical bundles of raupo, called tupem, which were lashed to the battens just referred to. The front wall was finished off with kakaho reeds, neatly held in
The Habitations of the New Zealanders. ^y
place with cords of whitaii, or prepared flax. For the sake of effeft, ornamented reeds were placed at even distances, the ornamentation being produced by winding strips of green flax spirally around the reed, and then smoking it, and removing the flax.
" Finally, across the entrance to the porch was placed a stout piece of timber, the paepae kainga-aivha, or pacpac-kai-a-wlia, or paepac-roa, about eighteen inches by four inches, lying on its edge.
"An explanation has been suggested for the position of the door and window — that it afforded those in the whare the advantage in the case of an attack. In some whares a small aperture was made in the roro, under the eaves on the side door, and through this aperture the ends of the long flghting-spears projeded into the lohakainahau, so that in case of a surprise, the warrior could snatch up his spear without delay in his right hand as he rushed out of the wharf.
" In the wharc the place of honour is immediately under the window ; this is reserved for the important guests, the chief men of the place taking up their position on the opposite side. This inferior side is called pakitara i a Tnwheo, in allusion to a great chief who invariably sat on the lesser side, saying that the other side was well enough for the common run of chiefs. In other tribes this side is called te kopaiti, and was allotted to the slaves of the family.
" The floor was strewn with rushes and fern, with the exception of a bare space inside the door, the rushes being kept back by pieces of wood, p<u- or paurukangu, which were pegged to the floor. Over these rushes, on state occasions, were laid the whanki, mats of flax or kiekte, which were known by various names, koaka, waikawa, takapau, &c. ; the flax or Aiehe being split into strips of equal width, with the thumb nail.
" The hearth, takuahi, was a space about a foot square, generally defined by four stones, and was placed half-way between the pou tokomanawa and the front pou-tahu, the side of the hearth being placed on the line drawn to the pon tokomanawa from the edge of the pou-tahu next the door. The smoke from the fire soon obliterated all the painted work on the ^rea^mto inside the wharc.^
; ] Z^i. 1,1 ^v a,nrl verl imn oanoo and ■wA.ero) —were mixed with oil or fat, and
applied* w^^^ a^S of tx! "^^^^^^^i^^t^^^^^^^^-^^^ we Jnnme.ons, and were all na.ned.
The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
This faa, coupled with the destruaible nature of the materials used in buildings, makes it impossible to obtain specimens of painted scroll patterns any great age ; and the best Maori artists of to-day cannot free themselves from Pakcha forms of ornamentation, which they have, unconsciously perhaps, assimilated.
" Of course every step in the construflion was taken with the greatest ritual, and appropriate karakias were recited. No woman or cooked food was allowed within the precinfts of the whare until it had been formally opened by the ceremony of the Kawa. The baptism, or the naming of the house, includes the taking off of the spell under which the building had been laid during its erection."
To this detailed account the Editors of the " Polynesian Journal " add the following: — " In the building of all large houses intended for meeting-places of the tribe, or for the entertainment of visitors, on the eredtion of the main pillar or poti-to komanawa, a slave, or in some instances a member of the tribe, was sacrificed, and after the abstra61:ion of the heart, the body buried at the foot of the pou- tokomanawa. The heart of the victim {whatu) was cooked and eaten, after many karakias, by the priest, or tohunga, presiding over the work. This was the practice in some distrifts, as for instance among the Arawa tribe ; but on the East Coast the victim, whatu, was buried at the left-hand back corner of the house, at the base of the poupou in that corner. Amongst the Urewera tribes, the whatu was called ika- purapura, and it was buried at foot of pou-toko-manawa. After some time the bones may be exhumed and taken to the tuahu (altar), and there used as a manea, or means of beneficial influence for the owner of the house. Manea means the hau, or spirit, the essence of man, and also of the earth. The following lines from an old song allude to this custom ; it is part of an oriori, composed by some member of the Ngati-Kahungunu tribe of the East Coast : —
' Ka whaihanga Taraia i tona whare, Ka makaia taua potiki Hei whatu mo te pou-tua-rongo, O tona whare, o Te Raro-akiaki.
' Then Taraia built his house, Placing his youngest child As a whatu for rearmost pillar Of his house, of Te Raro-akiaki.
Taraia was a very noted ancestor of the Ngati-Kahungunu tribe, and the house whose name is given above was erefted at Herepu, near Karamu, Hawke's Bay. The ritual connefted with the taking off of the tapu from a new house differed in
The Habitations of the New Zealander
s.
each tribe. Mr. Elsdon Best gives the following account of the ceremonies used by the Urcwcra tribe :— "When the building is finished, and the people assembled to the Kawanga (opening ceremony), the priest affixes to the pou-tuarongo, a piece of the petako (= Lomaria Patersom), or some other sacred plant, which is called a maro. The objed is to draw warmth to the house, and to 'bind' it there. The pillar is then named Rna. On completion the priest issues forth from the house, and taking a wand of Karnum wood in his hand, strikes the side of the house, and then commences to recite a Kama. After this he strikes the riko (corner posts of house) with his wand, then the mahilu, the tau-tiaki, and the paepae-awha, reciting at the same time the Kama. The priest then ascends to the roof of the house, and recites a karnkia-whakanoa, or invocation to make common — i.e., free from tapu. That of the Urcwera tribe is as follows : —
" Manamana hau, manamana hau, Pera hoki ra te korepe nui te korepe roa, Te wahi awa te totoe awa, Whakamoea, whakamoea taina, Kauka tama e uhia, Kauka tama e rawea Ki te ata tauira mai-ea Mai-ea te niho o te tupua Te niho o te tawhito
Te whakahotu-nuku, te whakahotu-rangi, Tururu o hiti, whakamau kia tina.
Chorus of people : Ti-i-na
I aua kia eke, Eke Tangara, Eke panuku, Hui-e ! Taiki-e !
Cliorus : Ka noa te whare.
All join in the response, which is heard far away. After this the house is free from tnpu, and people may sleep in it."*
In addition to the tuku-tuku work with flat laths laced with strips of flax, Mr. Colenso mentions- that "sometimes the Natives lined their houses with the small light-brown, narrow stalks of the common fern (Ptcris escuknta) all cut to one
* "Journ. Pol. Soc," Vol. v., p. 1.54.
The particulars of ceremonies performed during process of removing the tapu from a new house maybe found in J. 'White, "Maori Customs and Superstitious," p. 107; in "The Appendix to Journals, House of Representatives," G. 8, 1880; and in "The Life of Patuone," by C. 0. Davis," p. 136.
go The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
length, and placed horizontally and closely, and bmlt up or interlaced together with a very great deal of care and trouble, between the pou-pous of the building."*
They also lined the roofs of their dwelling houses and Ktunara stores (the first layer of thatch placed upon the white rafters) with the large green leaves of the Nikau palm (Areca saptda), which were regularly placed on while fresh, and their long, narrow pinnate leaflets neatly interlaced ; those which were green at first soon became of a uniform dark-brown colour on drying, serving remarkably well to set off to advantage the light-coloured rafters of Kaun or Tawa wood. This mods of roofing chiefly obtained at the North among the Ngapuhi tribe, where Mara timber was not so common as in the South. t
The only other building in a pa that in anyway compared with the large whare maire was the great storehouse, or patnka, in which were kept the personal possessions or provisions of the chief. In all the old pidures of Maori villages, various kinds of small storehouses for provisions, &c., are conspicuous objeds, elevated often to a great height from the ground on a post, or even affixed to the trunk of some convenient tree, and reached by a notched pole as a ladder. Usually these boxes or small houses are painted red, and sometimes they are carved. A pataka was often, however, of considerable size, and placed on strong piles a few feet from the ground. The sides, in some cases, were lined with slabs cut from the thick trunks of the tree-ferns ; and Mr. Colenso saw at Ruatahuna the trunk of a Dicksonia squnrrosa grotesquely hewn by the Natives into all manner of shapes in cutting out these slabs (turihunga), which are not only easily cut for building purposes, but are praftically rat-proof. I noticed slabs of this kind built into store- houses at Poverty Bay a few years ago.
The East Coast of the North Island, between Poverty Bay and Tauranga, seems to have been the chief centre of the art of wood carving, and a distridl: pre- eminently noted for carved storehouses. Two noble examples from this distrift are in the Auckland Museum, J and will well repay careful examination. Of other specimens we have only fragments ; but enough remains to show that if the whare whakairo was the palace of the Maori civilization, the putaka was the treasury,
* Colenso, " Trans. N.Z. Inst.," Vol. xiv., p. 63 ; see also Vol. xiv., p. 50 (note.)
t Colenso, "Trans. N Z. Inst.," Vol. xiv., p. 63.
X See "Trans. N Z. Institute," Vol. xviii., p. 421; and p. xxvii., p. 674.
The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
and its adornments were not only elaborate and beautiful, but had special significance. Their beauties also were more easily seen by the people and by travellers, as the carving was on the outside and plainly visible ; whereas a large part of the carvings of a Maori house, being mainly on the inside, could seldom be seen after their eredtion, especially the large slabs at the ends {poutahu).
Under special circumstances food stores were erefted in lakes,* as at Horo- whenua ; and in describing them Taylor mentions a Ngatiranui tradition that "there were formerly tree-houses inhabited by Maoris on the slopes of Mount Egmont."t
Storehouses supported' on piles were used for containing the spears and weapons of the fighting men.;};
Crozet describes the open space in th^ pa he visited as containing three public buildings, the first of which, and the nearest to the village gate, was the general maeazine of arms ; a little distance off was the food storehouse, and still further the storehouses for nets, all the implements used in fishing, as well as all the material for making the nets, &c.§ " These public storehouses," he says, "are made of timber well squared and fastened by mortice and tenon, and pinned together. They are generally oblong in form. Instead of planks for the walls of their houses, they make use of well-made straw matting, which they ply doubled or trebled one on top of the other, and which shelter them from wind and rain."
For storing Kiimaras, several plans were adopted. One was a small house put together with much care and neatness, with a raised floor, and with the lower part boarded at the sides to keep out rats. A verandah was generally carried from the roof right round the building, supported by carved pillars. The door is made very small, and contraded at the top. These stores were always rigidly tapu, and could only be entered by certain persons at certain times.
* Taylor, " Te Ika,," 2nd ed. (see plate) ; and "Trans. N.Z. Inst,," Vol. v., pp. 101-102.
. ,, ^, , ^ , 1 -u ■ 4-i,„ ■■ T^,iv„ PaI Snf " Vol ii n 86. " a tree fort used by some of the Muaupoko
t Mr. Elsdon Best describes m the /o^i";^°l^ It was constnicted more than 50 feet from the ground on the at Whakahoro, near the present township of Manukau. ^^? ^^^^ constructea more u R».UT,H,raha when the
branches of three large trees (KaUMtea) , and was kept m order as a refuge till the time ot KaupH,iaha, when the introduction of firearms rendered it untenable."
t Polack, " Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders," Vol. i., 212.
§ " Crozet's Voyage " (H. Ling Roth), p. 24.
Pood storehouses are built north and south, lest ^P-it^/°-|, *°J^? ^rf uT ^"' -- t^^^^' ^^^-l^ would cause the food to decay .-Gudgeon, " History and Doings of the Maoris (1885), p. 118.
92
The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
At the present day Ktimaras and potatoes are stored in small huts {Rua) made underground, with the eaves of the roof resting on the ground. These may still be seen in villages on the East Coast — often a little group of them is fenced in, to keep away pigs and horses. The lintel of the doorway is generally roughly carved.
In addition to their houses in the village, the Maoris eredl sheds for resting and cooking on their plantations, where they also have storehouses for depositing the seed during winter.
The ceremonial regulations, or tapu, in connexion with food, were very stridl and rigidly observed, consequently every family and every chief had their own cooking shed, often a mere screen or shelter from the wind.
Ano'as* records an interesting form (now passed away) which he saw at the old Waitahanui pa at Taupo. He says : — " The cook houses where the father of Te Heuheu had his original establishment remained in a perfect state ; the only entrances to these buildings were a series of circular apertures, in and out of which the slaves engaged in preparing food were obliged to crawl. Cook houses were frequently built with the tree-fern trunks as being less inflammable than the ordinary bundles of reed and posts. Near the cooking houses would be one or more whatas, or stores for firewood, raised on posts about six feet from the ground."
Dr. Marshall, describing a cooking-shed on the Taranaki coast, says : — " The walls consisted of little more than wattled flax, and the roofs for the most part being merely dry-thatched with grass, the thatch projefting on both sides over the walls ; and the roof at both ends being prolonged to form a rustic porch. The doorways, also, were much larger to admit of easier ingress and egress ; while there were no doors to them ; — but the size of the stone ovens within, if everything else had been wanting, would have at once denoted the office to which this variety of building was appropriated. Occasionally, one roof was found to cover in two, three, or four such kitchens, but each otherwise unconnected with its neighbour, and all having separate entrances. The separation of these many kitchens under one roof being rendered more distindl by stores of wood, all the pieces cut in equal lengths, being piled up with the utmost regularity and compaftness against the several partition
* Angas, " Savage Life and Scenes," Vol. ii., p. 125.
The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
93
walls. In the number of these stores, and the abundance of wood contained in them, no little foresight was exhibited; the wood being cut at stated seasons m a sufficient quantity to last for several months."*
The advantages and disadvantages of the position of persons of high family are well shown in the story of Pare, a Ngai-Tahu chieftainess, a sacred woman of the highest rank who was kept unbetrothed till a chief of the same rank sought her hand. She lived with her female attendants in a carved house, which was set apart for her sole use, and was most beautiful, and surrounded by three sets of palisades. When food was prepared for her, it was given by those who cooked it to an attendant who gave it to a second attendant who gave it to a third. By this one it was taken and placed before Pare. The house was adorned with beautiful mats, and perfumed with all the perfumes known to the Maori people, such as sweet-smelling gum, grasses, mosses, and shrubs.
In connexion with the ceremonies attending the initiation of a chief's son into the mysteries of the priestcraft, a special shed was required, construded of the leaves of the Nihau palm, an equal number of leaves or sticks being required on each side and at each end ; and, further, the makers of the shed must all be chiefs. In this shed the candidate had to pass a certain time.f
As previously mentioned, canoe houses, or sheds (wharaii) were built t6~ protedl the great war canoes from the sun and weather when drawn up on the beach. Polack says that " the sheds had open sides, and that sometimes families dwelt in the roof portion, ascending by means of a notched pole. "J
The houses of the natives of the Taranaki coast on the west side of the Island seem occasionally to have differed from those in the other parts of the Island, in having the entrances at the side instead of the end, and a projecting verandah with several carved posts. I have seen houses of this kind at Mohaka, on the East Coast ; but suspeft modern influences in this case. Sometimes these West Coast houses were of great size, even 120 feet long by 30 feet in width. One is remembered as being 140 feet long and 18 feet wide, having seven doors or opanings, and a rude verandah m front about 3 feet wide.§
* Dr. W. B. Marshall, "Two Visits to New Zealand in H.M.S. ' Alligator,' " 1834, p. 213. ■ t E. Tregear, " Journal Anthropological Institute," Vol. xix, p.. 99. J Polack, "Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders," Vol. i., p. 112.
§ Wells, " History of Taranaki," p. 5i. The house called Te Urii-o-Manono or Te-tihi-o-Manono (in Hauaiki rj was so large as to have 10 fires in it ; and there were 8 doors to it (P.M., 121.) It was probably of this West Coast type.
94
The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
Taylor mentions that " the great Taupo chief, Te Heu Heu, had a long building about 40 feet in length at Te Rapa, resembling an eight-stalled stable, each compartment being occupied by one of his wives " — but this was in the good old days.
Dr. Marshall describes a whare-mahana at Waimate, on the West Coast, which is also somewhat different to houses on the east side of the North Island. Hs says* : — " The whare-mahana consisted of a single apartment, and appears to have been used almost entirely as dormitories. They displayed a greater degree of care, as well as skill, in the construftion than any of the other varieties. Yet, I heir external appearance was rude, the walls and roof being made of mud and clay, and the former staked in on all sides ; the stakes at the side being pointed at ihe top, so as to correspond in height and appearance ; while those in front and behmd were cut to correspond with the gable-end of the roof, over which the turnip and kuinara spread out their thick foliage, forming a sort of leafy canopy over all, very refreshing to the eye, which might otherwise have tired at gazing upon the monotonous dullness of the town generally.
" The interior of these houses was,* on the other hand, beautifully and even elegantly fitted ; the walls, as it were, wainscoted, with a row of cane running round the whole room, and divided horizontally into square compartments by ligatures of carefully twisted and plaited grass, crossing at regular distances four smooth and polished stanchions, these again supporting a framework, from which four arches sprang to support the ridge-pole at the top, it being upheld only by three pillars, in the shape of which the first dawn of architeaural embellishment is seen, they being handsomely formed and decorated with comparatively chaste carving . . . a bed of dry fern was spread over every floor . . . The occupants repose their heads round the base of the pillars in the centre of the room, and stretch themselves out like the radii of a circle."
It should probably have been mentioned before that (as is universally the custom in all parts of the world) caves were frequently inhabited by the Maoris. Unfortunately, but little attention has been paid to the proper exploration of the caves found in New. Zealand; but in a few instances, such as the caves near
* " Narration of Tnro Visits to New Zealaad in H.M.S. ' Alligator ' in 1834," p. 211.
The Habitations of the New Zealanders. 95
Christchurch (known as the Sumner and Monck's Caves) * most interesting evidences have been recovered of facts concerning the habits and modes of life of the people who used the caves either as temporary or permanent dwellings, f
Scattered throughout the various stories and poems of the Maoris are refer- ences to domestic arrangements that have probably either long passed out of use or were exceptional. In the case of the legend of the entrapping of Kae, the magician, one of the points of the story is the difference between the round-house of the one chief, as contrasted with the more ordinary form of the house of the other. [This is, originally, a Samoan story. Kae came from Tonga, hence the difference in the style of building, &c.] Again, in a story of the perhaps-mythical hero, Tini-rau, it mentions the four pools where he bathed, and where he went to see his own refleftion — his natural looking glasses. These were carefully enclosed, and Hine- te-iwa-iwa is represented as breaking down the doors and fences of three ot these enclosed pools. :[: Enclosures somewhat similar to these were sometimes made in the rivers for the purpose of securing the ketes of karaka berries, maize, or potatoes (= kotero) which were soaked until putrid, and then eaten with apparent relish. Angas saw one of these in the Waikato about 20 feet square, carefully made.§ Polack mentions a building (probably the result of the trade in the Phorminm fibre).
He says : " The largest public works undertaken are those of flax houses, some of
which are above 100 feet long, 30 feet in width, and 40 feet high. Among the natives, the sides of a flax house are generally open, with poles only placed across it ; the flax being tapu, it is safe from depredation."
According to one of the versions of "The Legend of Whakatau,"|i there was a window in the roof of the Tihi-o-nmnono. Sir George Grey figures in his " Polynesian Mythology "1[ a house with a square opening in the roof.
The Colonial Museum in Wellington possesses a finely-carved house, in which the carvings are exceptionally bold and massive. Tareha, a noted chief of Hawke's Bay, describing this house at a meeting of the Wellington Philosophical
Tg^ " Trans. N.Z. Inst.," Vol. vii., pp. 54,-85, and 98-105 ; and Vol. xxii., pp. 64-70.
t When Heein. fron. a P-uin, en ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ to - ^^Z^i^'^^^^'^i^^^^
Liee:e;Ks\S- -^sr =r;t^^^^ the n.ore%ecent drawings seen ove.yin, the older
ones were made by them at that time.-A.H.M., Vol. in., p. 251. „ ^r , ■■ .,u
X A.H.M., Vol. ii., p. 131.. § Angas, "Savage Life and Scenes, Vol. n.. p. -8.
II A.H.M., ii, 152 and 153. t ^-M-. P- 174.
The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
Society, mentioned that the lower and larger figures of the pou-pou represented the fathers and the uppermost ones the sons— illustrating in this way the ancestry of the builder ot the house and of the tribe.
The Christchurch Museum has a house which was built by Honu-tu-ahu, called Haii-tc-ana-nui-a-Tangaroa*
The Wharc matoro was a house in which games were played or dances prafticed, such as the Kani-Kani.
Passing from buildings, there are a few other items belonging to a Maori pa that should be noticed, and especially the stridlly-tapued area, known as the Wahi tapii, or sacred groves.
The Wahi tapu seems to have been sometimes a small clump of bushes or some retired spot in, or just outside, the pa, sometimes fenced off. In its general sense, it was the place where the bodies of deceased chiefs were placed, either above or below ground, until the final ceremonies (hahunga) took place, and the bones were stored in the family burial cave (tor ere). Practically, any place might be made a Wahi tapu for a certain purpose ; thus Angas mentions that he saw " within a small railing in one corner of the verandah of the largest house at Pari-pari a Wahi tapu, where the head of Te Kauwau, with his feathers, hani, and mat were deposited. "t Even in recent years there is usually in the neighbourhood of a />« a place where the household utensils and personal belongings of a deceased person are thrown. The spade with which a grave is dug is always thrown away after- wards, and not used again.
A curious form of Wahi tapu is recorded by Bidwill.t He says : — " On the brow of a steep hill overlooking the pa stood a singular ereftion of sticks almost resembling basket work, elevated on four upright posts, and having a semi- circular top. Within this cage-like building was placed a variety of different articles, household utensils, skins, calabashes, and dried fish ; and several garments and baskets were suspended from the sticks underneath :" and I have already mentioned that Angas noticed a little model canoe placed with other property of a deceased chief in a Wahi tapu.
* A.H.M., ii., 163, and "Trans. N.Z, Tnat," Vol. i. (n. ed.), pp. 445-146; and Vol. viii., pp. 172-176.
t Angas, "The New Zealanders," Vol. ii., p. 88.
X Bidwill's " Rambles in New Zealand," 1841, jjp. 2&1 and 297.
The Habitations of the New Zealandhrs. gv
For religious purposes, the priest of each pa would have his tu,lhu or altar, a sacred place for divination. Taylor* says :— " A tuahii was a short stone pillar stuck into the ground in a slanting position ; it was really any place made sacred, where incantations are recited, and usually consisted of merely a few sticks stuck into the ground with their tops tied together with flax."
Near Ohinemutu there were no fewer than three of these cairns of stones and stakes and soil : one at Motutara, one at Te Arikiroa, and one at Utuhina. At each of these places, ntuas were consulted on subjects of consequence to the tribe.
The tiidhus mentioned in the legends seem to have been platforms or raised places built of stones ; but some of the traditions represent the chiefs of the great heke as setting up a wooden post for their tiidhu, as when Hoturoa and Hapi disputed over the position of their respeftive altars. t Takaanui Tarakawa says :J — " There are many kinds of tiiahus : the Tapatai is one, Ahupuke another, the Torino another, the Ahurewa another — this kind is movable : it is a good one like the Ahurangi, and brings salvation to man. The latter kind of hidhu is made on the ground, and can be removed, but the prayers must be offered at a distance, and then the earth must be removed to another place and left." An instance is given in the same volume of the Journal, of a powerful sorcerer, Kaihamu, who, with a number of his friends, was entrapped by his enemies in a large house. He sought for the means of preparing an altar, or tudhu, for his incantation. Not finding the means in the house, he used his hollowed hand for the purpose. This sort of tudhu was also called Ahurangi. The incantation was then thrust out through the window. Such was his power, that his enemies were blasted, and Kaihamu and his people escaped. It was at the tudhu that the ceremony of offering the hair, or lock of hair, from a slain foe, or the body of a prisoner of war, took place (whangai-hau) with appropriate invocations to the war-god. When the hair of a chief is cut, the hair cut off is always carefully dealt with, and never thrown away carelessly or allowed to be lost. In the neighbourhood of the Maori settlement at Kaikai Bay, near Dunedin, the clifts are full of crevices, and many of these have been used to deposit clippings of hair, the crevice being then carefully plastered over with mud or clay.
* " Te Ika," 2nd ed., p 183.
t " A. H. M.," iv., 28.
J " Journ. Pol. Soc," Vol. iii., pp. 202 and 152. See also p. 173.
q8 The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
A sight that always impressed the early settlers was the food scaffold, or staf^e, for displaying the food coUefted for one of the great feasts {hakari) . Sometimes a number of poles were planted in the ground, 50 or 60 feet high, which were made to support 8 or 10 stories, or stages, heaped up with baskets of food to the very top. Mr. Colenso mentions that "to enable great weights to be raised to their high stages for great feasts, they used rollers smoothed and wetted or covered with wet seaweed —making the body to be moved glide the better. At other times, long rows of baskets of Kitmaras were erefted ; these were made with the greatest care ; they were generally about four feet high, as many broad, and were, in modern times, covered with pigs, roasted whole ; several hundred were often thus killed for a single feast, or else their place was supplied by dried fish, and with what is still considered a great delicacy — birds or pork cut up small and cooked in their own fat fhuahiaj." Views have been published of some of these great feasts held near Auckland, in which long rows of bags of flour and of sugar, with potatoes and maize, partly replace the food of former days.*
Somewhat similar frameworks are ere6led to dry the flesh of the sharks and eels that are so prized by the natives, and also to ripen the cut cobs of the maize.
In a suitable place in the wa.r pa stood the paku, or war gong, consisting of a large piece of dry, light wood (generally Matai), suspended from a framework either by one or both ends. This piece of wood had a portion cut out of the centre, and when struck vigorously with large wooden mauls, or hammers, gave out a noise that could be heard at a great distance. In two instances I have seen a huge hollow tree- trunk, in which a portion of the side had been detached, so as to represent a long pendant tongue (tohetohc), the part above being carved to represent a gigantic face. The tongue being struck with a heavy club of wood or a stone, produced a loud sound. In the second example, a portion of a decayed tree-trunk, resembling a long pendant tongue, was used ; the whole had been painted red, but was not carved. War gongs of this kind are used by the Malays, and by the Indians of the Cordilleras of Mexico.f Mr. Potts saw the Hau-haus at the Hikurangi meeting called to their
* Figures of these food stages are given in Polaek, " New Zealanders," Vol. ii, p. 23 ; and a description by Mr. Colensois to be tound m "Trans. N.Z. Institute," Vol. xiii., p. 13. e j
t The Malay name for the gong is Kayu-Kutoh, or wooden gong, on which the watchman, or Mata-mata (man- with-eyesj, beats the hour. In the " Story of N.Z.," by Dr. Thompson, Vol. i., the frontispiece shows a pahu with the striker on an elevated stage. So also in " Savage Life and Scenes," Angas, Vol. ii., frontispiece and p. 150.
The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
99
place of worship by the beating of the pahu. It was made of porokaiK'hiria wood (Hcdycarya dentata). It was hung from a cross pole supported at either end h\ a forked stick. The sound was produced by this rough wooden drum being beaten on its edges by several persons furnished with short batons. Angas describes the one he saw at Otawhao as an oblong piece of wood, about six feet long, with a groove in the centre, slung with ropes of flax. It was kept sounding during the night to inform the enemy that the inmates of the pa were on the alert, and to assure the people of the pa that the watchman was on the look-out.
Kiwi, a chief at One-Tree Hill (Mangakeikei), near Auckland, had a large slab of greenstone called W liakarcivhatahma. The slab was suspended and used as a war gong, and was supposed to carry the inana of the Tamaki district ; and possession of it was evidence of the ownership of the land.
Rua, or Underground Storehouse for Root Crops, at Wai-o=matatini.
lOO
The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
TOMBS.
The ceremonials attending the funeral rites of a Maori chief were numerous and elaborate, but all that can be treated of here are the memorials erefted to his memory after his death. The modes of disposing of the bodies of those other than chiefs seem to have been : —
By throwing into the sea.
By burial in the sand or earth, in either horizontal or sitting position.
By cremation — praftised extensively in the South Island.
By burial in wooden coffins hewn out of a log, with lids, and placed either in caves or underground chambers.
By wrapping the body in mats and placing in dry caves.
By throwing the body into a hollow tree* or chasm in the rocks.
By burial in a rough chamber made of stone slabs (on Mokoia).
The bodies of chiefs and persons or children of special note were treated m a variety of ways, the first process being generally the exposure of the body on an elevated stage or platform, or a preliminary burial until decomposition had removed the soft parts ; the bones were then carefully extradted and cleaned, and at a *convenient season a great feast was held, and the final ceremonies performed, before the cleaned bones, neatly tied up, and often painted or ornamented with red paint, were placed in the tribal burial cave or torere. A carved box or casket was frecpently used as a shrine for a portion of the bones, ranging in size from small ones, which would contain only a few bones, to those large enough to contain a complete skeleton. These boxes would be kept in the cave or elevated on a high post and surrounded by a fence.
The memorials were often very elaborate, and presented a beautiful appear- ance when recently executed.! Figures are given of some of these, and in the first
* See Mair, "Trans. N.Z. Inst.," Vol. xxviii., p. 38. " The Panenehu lised to deposit their dead in a very large pukatea tree, called Te Ahoroa, which stood on the left bank of the Otara river. There was a hole at the top, 50 or 60 feet from the ground, and the dead were hoisted up and thrown in." Also note, Jan. 18S1. Some settlers up the Opotiki Valley reported having discovered a great quantity of human bones. I immediately visited the spot, and found it was the place described by Maiki-Whenua as Te Ahoroa (the long line). An enormous pul-atea tree, some 2<J feet in girth, had fallen against the hillside, and, splitting open, disclosed cartloads of skeletons. I counted 3'..I7 perfect skulls, but an equal number probably had crumbled away, or been broken up by the trampling of cattle.
t See Taylor, " Te Ika a Mavii," 2nd ed., pp. 12, KiL', 17 l, 229 j also, in the Illustrations prepared for White's " Anc. Hist. Mnori," 1891 ; and Angas, G. F., " Savage Life and Scenes," Vol. i'., pp. 27o, 270, 27'.1.
The Habitations of the Niiw Zealanders. ioi
part mention has been made of the canoe memorials, consisting of the whole or part of the chief's canoe planted in the ground, and either carved or painted and adorned with feathers.
Another kind consisted of three or more carved slabs decorated with feathers.
The painting of the bones with red ochre or paint is an interesting custom of great antiquity, and apparently world-wide in its occurrence. The Indians of British Guiana have the same custom,* and red paint in the form of haematite is found extensively in North American burial mounds. f A writer in the " Athenaeum"! describes some remarkable "Well tombs" of the Sicani, near Palermo, as having small chambers in which were found the bones of men stripped of flesh, and still covered with red paint. He says : — " I should have stated that the praftice of stripping the flesh from the bones has been explained as an effort to avoid detedtion of the remains by wild beasts. For my own part I should be more inchned to look for its origin in cannibalism. The painting might destroy the smell, and so wild beasts would be less attradled to the tombs, or it might be in honour of the dead." I believe the real explanation of it in New Zealand, where red is always a sacred colour, is in the last few words.
Stone pillars or posts were sometimes erefted as memorials, as between Ke^i Keri and Kaitaia there are some perpendicular stones set up, called Te Hakari. They are also called Whakarara. These stones are sacred to ancestors ; and natives, after passing them, chant the charm called Whakau.i^ Again, we are told that when Tara's war party went to Kati-Kati and killed Miti-nui and Tu-te-rurunga, they put up a stone for each chief at the spot where he was killed. The attacking enemy put the stones up. t|
Stone boundary posts, or marks, are found m the Taranaki distrid, and are generally from two to three feet in height, cut from the local trachytic rock, pointed at the base, and having a human head carved at the top.f
* " Anthropological Review," Vol. iv., p. cxevi.
t " American Naturalist," August 1893, p. 716.
J ■' Athenaeum," No. 883, April, 6, 1889, p. 244.
§ J. White, "Maori Superstitions," p. 108.
II A.H.M., Vol. v., p. 35. Holes were sometimes dug to mark such spots, and called whalaumu.
IT On the' importance of the Landmarks see J. White, "Maori Customs and Superstitions," p. 184
102
The Habitations of the New Zealanders.
Closely conne6ted with these are Rahitis, which were usually posts more or less carved, set up either as tribal landmarks or as warning posts against trespassing on portions of ground under tapu* Memorial figures were sometimes set up at spots where the body of a chief had rested on the way to the final burial place. f
The carved temporary resting place of the great Arawa Chief, Waata Taranui.
* Polack, "New Zealanders," p. 2G5. For other information about Rahai, see J. White, "Maori Customs and buperstitions, p. 190; and " Journ. Pol. Soc," Vol. i., p. 275.
t Taylor, " Te Ika," 2nd ed., pp. 106 and 133.
Pave, or Konipe, the Carved Ornament over the door of a house. Taranaki.
WORDS CONNECTED
WITH THE
HOUSES AND BUILDINGS OF THE MAORIS.
>«■♦*<
Aka. — Vines placed lattice-fashion across the ratipo roof. The lattice-work is called
tatami in the North. Maiif^c Mange (Lygodiiun ) is used for the purpose.
The lattice is then called tao-tao. Anio. — The two slabs, generally carved, in the front of a house, supporting the lower
ends of the maihi or barge boards. Amohanga. — Elevated platform for food. 2. The posts of a whata. Anga. — Aspect of a house or garden. Ai^ahanga. — Bridge or ladder. Arm. — Shade. A screen. Aranati. — Bundles of raupo for the roof. Arataparu. — Layers of toe toe on the roof of a house. Arawhata.—K bridge. A ladder (= ^7'o/m/a). Arawhiuwhiu.—The outside layer of raupo on a roof. Atamira.—K platform for a corpse {ox pouraka.) A to. — To thatch.
^;(.__Smoke. {An, current of a river ; aice, soot.) Awamate.—A moat ; a ditch outside the palisadmg of a. pa. Awarua.—A ditch. {Whakaaicarua, ditch inside the palisading of a. pa.) Epa.—Fosta at the end of a native house, between the ponpou and pou-tahuhu.
Not mclined inward as the poupoti. The framework of the tua-rongo.
I04 Words connected with the Houses and Buildings of the Maoris.
Haijwko.— Opening between the small bundles of ranpo which form the sides of a
house. Hangi. — An oven (= Hapi.)
Hapoki.—Fotato house. (Pit, &c.) Also Hapoko. Haiirangi. — "\"erandah.
Hauroki. — The diagonal lines from corner to corner in setting out the plan of a house. Hekc. — Rafter. Hekc-tipi. — The carved board placed on edge from the top of the poupou to the top
of the poll -tahii, and connefting the top ends of the epa.
Hercuinii. — Cooking shed.
Hirinaki. — A rough piece of timber used as a support for the poupoiis, to resist the thrust of the rafters.
Hoka. — Screen made of bushes (^ oka, the rafters of a Kmnara pit).
Hopekiwi. — Potato house under ground. Kopiha (Ngati-porou, and Ngnrauni.)
Hopi. — Native oven.
Hua. — Screen from the wind.
Hualuia. — Rails of a fence, or roaii.
Ihi. — Front gable of a house.
Ikuiku. — Eaves of a house.
Kacaea. — Verandah. The image over the centre of the verandah.
Kakaho. — The reeds of the toe-toe (Anindo conspicua ), used in lining and orna- menting the inside walls and roof of a house, often burnt or smoked with patterns.
Kahia. — The image of a human figure carved out of a pa fence.
Kaho. — Battens on the roof.
Kaho-paetara. — A batten connefting the upper ends of the carved panels, lashing them into position.
Kaho-patit. — Battens on the rafters : those next the tahn and the Kaho-paetara.
Kaho-tarai. — Thin laths in tuku-tiilai work.
Kahotea. — Having battens only on the roof.
Kainga. — Place of abode. An unfortified village.
Kauwhata. — A pole placed across two sticks to suspend food from.
Kakaka. — Fern stalks used in building.
Kainiiri. — Cooking house or shed.
Kangatungatu. — A^erandah.
Words connected with the Hous'?s and Buildings of the Maoris. 105
Kaoka. — Name of a ivhariki or floor-mat made of kic-kic or of flax. Also icaikan'a,
takapati, &c. Karahu. — Oven. Also umu^ topipi, tapi, karahii, kovno, kori, kohita, kopa, okcokc,
tarahii, marac, ouinii. Karapi. — ^Sticks put in cross-ways in building a house, to keep the reeds or rushes
in their place. Karawa. — A bed in a garden.
Karupe. — Lintel of a door. fKorupe, or Korontpe.) Katua. — Main fence of a pa. Kauae. — Beam of a building.
Kan-mahaki. — Temporary cords to regulate the distance of the roof battens. Kaungaroa. — Side fence of a pa. Kaiipae. — Steps of a ladder.
Kaupapa.—k level surface ; a foundation ; a floor. 2. A raised platform for storing food. 3. A raft. {Ka inahia te kaupapa raupo.- A.H.M., 5-68.)
Kaupaparu. — Flat-roofed.
XaM/fl.— Cooking house or shed. (Ngapuhi), or hereumu, or whareumu.
Kauwhata.— An elevated stage for storing food. ( Whata.)
A'flzc'az£;a.— Palings of a fence. Waiva and wita of ^pa. Wana of food enclosure.
Kawa.—Ta-i-te-Kawa. Remove the tapu from a new building.
Kawa-whare .—The general name of incantations to remove the tapu from a house.
Kereteki.— Outer ience of a fortified village.
Kintal. — Space immediately outside the fence oi 3. pa.
Koaka.—¥\oor mat. A coarse mat made of flax-leaves. {Koka, a coarse mat.)
Koihi. — Verandah .
Kokonga. — Corner.
Komanga.—StSige upon which food is kept in store.
Konakitanga. — Corner.
Kopa.— Angle, kopanga. Corner ; native oven.
Kopa-iti.—The corner of house on left-hand side of door, where the slaves sat.
Ko/>ae. — House ornamented with carved work.
Kopafii.— Boor closing the. entrance to a kumara pit (= a cover).
Kopiha.—Vit for storing potatoes or taros.
Kopuha. — Small house.
[o5 Words connected with the Houses and Buildings of the Maoris.
Korcrc. — Funnel, or spout, or pipe.
Kori. — Native oven. Umti, hangi, topipi, ngepaki (Ngatiporou).
Koronac. — Stile.
Koropu. — House ; under-ground house ; a low house ; built with wrought timber.
Korotangi. — Pit for storing potatoes.
Kontru. — A figure placed on the gable of a house. 2. A toy with two strings, which when played with makes a whizzing or roaring noise.
Korupe, or Kurorupe. — The carved slab over the doorway resting on the whaka-wae.
Kotaretare. — Stage projecting from the fence of a pa, and slanting upwards (= Kahekoheko). A look-out place in a pa.
Koteo. — A post ; a peg. {Me te Koteo tnaii Kupenga. — Prov.)
Kotopihi. — Window.
Kone. — Posts supporting the paepae of a privy.
Koukouaro. — The carved figure oh the front gable of a house (^ teko-teko). {Ka rerc akiore taki te koukouaro ka ngaru atu. — A.H.M., 11-28).
Kowhaiwhai. — A pattern of scroll ornament. Also Kowhai.
Kithu. — Cooking house.
Kuhiiiiga. — Hiding place.
Kukawhare. — Soot.
Kurapapa. — Flat roofed.
Kurupae. — Joist or sleeper of a house ; beam.
Kuwaha.—Door of a house. Gate of 2. pa. The gate of the fortification.
Mahau. — Verandah. ( Whakamahau.)
Maehi. — Verandah fence.
Mahihi. — F"acing boards on the gable of a house.
Maioro. — Embankment or wall for defence.
Mamaku.^To prepare timber in a peculiar way with the adze.
Marae.— An enclosure in a pa belonging generally to the individual or family ; properly the space before the tohunga's house ; courtyard ; where the dis- cussions are held and speeches of welcome made.
Mataaho. — Window.
Matangaro.~Te Kaho matangaro. The batten next the ridge pole.
Marokc. — Whaka marokc. Eaves of a buildino-.
Matapihi. — Window.
Words connected with the Houses and Buildings of the Maoris. 107
Matntara. — Dam for water. Papuni [N^atiporou.) The guiding part of a weir forming the entrance where the hinaki is placed for catching piharnit (lampreys) .
Moa. — Bed in a garden. Moana. — Roof of a kuinara rua.
Nati. — To tie up raiipo m building the walls of a house. (Nnnntt.) Nclic. — Rafters of a house.
Ngnotu. — A method of working timber with the adze. (He ngaotu tend tnrai). Ngawaewc. — Door posts.
Ngerengerc. — Part of the fortification of a. pa. Ngutukaka. — A pattern of ornamental painting. Ngutukurn. — A pattern of ornamental painting. Nohoanga. — Seat. Okeoke. — Oven.
Oumu. — Oven. A weir for catching fish. Barricade.
Pa. — Fortified place. A name taken from the fence which surrounds the village. Pae. — Step on a ladder.
Paenga. — A site to build upon ; a boundary ; place where pits are made for keeping kumara ; boundary of a cultivation.
Paepae. — Threshold ; door sill.
Paepae-poto. — Threshold of door.
Paepae-kai-awha. — Board across front of verandah to keep out pigs, dogs, &c.
Paetara. — Kahopaetara. Batten fastened to the uprights of a house to keep them
in place. Paewae. — Threshold. Pahoka. — Screen from the wind. Pahuki. — Shade or screen. Paikea. A lon^^ house having the doorway at one end, but no verandah. [Ko to
Tinirau he whare paikea.— P.M., 2nd ed. Maori part, p. 40.) Pakahokaho.— Skirting boards of a verandah. Pakato. — A pattern of carving. Pfl/i/'/ara.— Walls of a house. Side walls. Pakokon.—A small house or cabin on an ancient canoe. {'' Koia kahore he tangata
kia-tae ki taku pakokon."—A.ll.M., 11-29.) ...
Pakorokoro. —Stile fence. Store house.
'Kahore Icoia he tangata Ida tae Id taku pal:o!;ori.
io8 Words connected with the Houses and Buildings of the Maoris.
Paknra. — Tapuwae pakura. Footsteps of paknra or pukeko. A kind of ornamental flax-work in a Maori house.
Pane. — That part of the tahii, carved like a human figure, over the porch or ivhaka-
mahau. Papa. — The broad board closing the doorway or window aperture of a native house.
Papaku. — Skirting-board, or papaka. The small square slabs between the poupou at the floor level.
Paparahi. — Stage upon which kuuiaras are dried. (Also the floor of the house.)
Paparahua. — A kind of table from which food is eaten.
Paparu. — Flat roofed.
Parepare. — Breastwork in a fortification.
Pare. — Carving above the door.
Pani. — Coat of raupo on the walls of a house and roof, not tied on.
Papain. — Screen for defensive purposes.
Parakiri. — Innermost fence oi 2. pa ; inside the katua or main fence.
Pataka. — Store house raised upon posts. A stage upon which food is laid up in store. {Kei te pataka e tii niai ra. — P.M., 83.)
Patakitaki. — 'DW\d^\ng board inside fence. Divisions in store house. The principal
residence. {Tarahaii, lining boards; tarawhare, outside boards. Patengitengi. — House wherein knmaras are kept.
Patu. — Wall of a house ; screen. {Kahopatu, uppermost or lowest batten on the roof of a house.
Patiitii. — A screen.
Pauruhunga, or pae. — Pieces of wood pegged to the floor, keeping back from the
centre of the floor the rushes strewn on either side. Peru. — Eaves. Pikitara. — Verandah.
Pekefangi.— Outer or fourth fence of a pa {= wiia, katua, parakiri.) Pihanga . — Window .
Pora matanui. — Having a roof of moderate pitch. Poti. — Corner, as of a room.
Pou or poupou. —Fost for a house or fence ; the upright broad slabs, usually carved
to represent ancestors. They were set so as to incline slightly inwards. Pouraka. — Platform ereded on one post. [Or poutaka.) Powreiwa.— Elevated platform attached to the stockade of a pa.
Words connfxted with the Houses and Buildings of the Maoris. 109
Poutahuhii. — Middle post inside, each end of house. Poutanm. — A pattern of titkiituku work on the walls of a native house. PoutokoinanaK'o. — Central post of the house, in the centre of house. Pou-tiiarongo. — The large post at the back of the house.
Puhara. — Elevated platform in a pa, on a level with the top of the tu wata ivata or katiia (main fence). Also a platform for fishing from (= pnwhara.)
Pukonohiaiia. — A pattern of tukiituku work on the walls of a native house.
Puni. — Shed for a taita or travelling party ; a camp.
Pure. — A ceremony for removing the tapu from houses or persons.
Purcku. — Cooking shed.
Raihc. — Small enclosure ; a pig stye.
Rangitapu. — Temporary scaffolding used in the erection of a large house.
Raparapa. — The lower ends of the maihi beyond the amo, generally carved with open-work patterns.
Ram. — Stage, or a grid for drying things at the fire.
Raiipo. — The leaves of the raupo plant (Typha augtistifolia) ; bundles of these leaves used in building, tied together with strips of flax leaves (Phormium.)
Rauponga. — A pattern of carving.
Rauwiri. — Fence interlaced with twigs.
Rianga. — Screen.
Roan. — Rail.
Rona. — To tie with rope of mange mange ; the rushes or raupo on the roof of a
house ; to tie. Also the ropes of mange mange, or aka, outside roof to
prevent wind disturbing it. Rongoniaioro. — Steep roof of a native house. Roro. — The front of a house. fina. Store house ; a pit. {Whaka-rua kopito, a kind of ornamental work in the
interior of a native building.) Ruakoauau. — Kumara store. Ruakopia. — Excavated store house. Ruatahuhu. — Potato store.
Ruatirawa. — Store, the floor of which is excavated. Ruapare. — Store built on the ground. Rua-K'hetu.—A notch or depression on the top of the carved slabs or poupou to
receive the end of the rafter.
no Words connected with the Houses and Buildings of the Maoris.
Rnpc. — Verandah.
Tahnhn.—'R\dgQ pole of a house.
Taiepa. — A fence.
Taka.^A batten.
Takapau. — Floor mat.
Takarararautau.—K pattern of tukiituku ornament on the walls of a native house.
Take. — Posts for the palisading of a pa.
Takitaki. — Fence for shelter.
Takuahi. — A stone fender or box for the fire let into the floor of a hut. The side
of the fire. The stones called " /ja/'wa " ov '' iautau hauhimga." Tangotango. — Rail of a fence.
Tapatit. — To roof a house ; thatch.
Tapau. — A mat to lie upon (= takapau.)
Tapere. — He wharc tapere. A house used for meetings of the " hapu."
Tara. — Walls, or pakitara.
Taramatanid. — A low-pitched roof of a native house.
Tarawharc. — Storehouse for kumara.
Tata-Tatara. — Fence. Pointed pegs placed horizontally in the eaves of a rua- kumara.
Tataki. — To attach the battens of the roof of a house to a cord to keep them in place. Cord to which battens are fastened, reaching from poupou to poupou, being knotted to each kaho, passing up along the back of a hcke, and then over the tahii and down the opposite lickc.
Tatau. — Door. A sliding slab of wood usually on the right of the poii-tahii if seen from the inside, and a little to the left of the centre as seen from outside.
Tatau haulmnga. — Window.
Ta tc kawa. — The act of performing the ceremony of the dedication of a building. — A.H.M., i-g. (= taki te kawa.)
Tauarai. — Screen.
Taumaihi. — Small tower of a fortified village ; facing boards of the roof.
Taupoki. — A horizontal slab over a doorway.
Taura. — Little piece of wood which fastens the window.
Tautari. — To tie up reeds to the side of a house. Upright stick in the wall of a
native house supporting the small cross batten to which the reeds are
fastened.
Words connected with the Houses and Buildings of the ?sIaoris. hi
Teki. — The outer fence of a pa (= taki.)
Teko-teko. — Figure placed at the top of the gable end of a native house. Tcrcniu. — A projection on the end of a rafter to fit into the rua-whctii or notch on the poupou.
Tia. — A peg.
Tienga. — Floor mat, or tianga. Mat to lie on.
Tihokahoka. — Shed (= ivliaraii.)
Tiki. — A figure on the house gable.
Tikikiu'i. — A method of finishing off the thatch of a house.
Timangu. — Stage upon which food is placed. Also patake.
Tinohi. — To put heated stones upon food laid to cook in a hangi.
Tipi. — Heketipi. Board placed on end under each of the end rafters of a Maori
house. Tire pa. — To line with reeds the roof of a Maori house. Tiwata. — A fence. Tiwataivata. — Fence of Sl pa. Toanga.—Thft groove in the paepae to carry the sliding door.
Tokorangi.- -Strong poles used as shears in the ereflion of the large posts and ridge pole of a house.
Torere. — A sacred place ; depository of bones.
Tiiahuri. To cover the roof of a house with a coating of raupo before thatching it
with toe-toe.
Tnanni. — Roof of a house.
Tiiaroa. — Tuarongo. Back part of a house.
Tuanan.—K heavy slab of wood used m getting the ridge pole of a house into position.
r»/;;.— Stitching of the reeds. Adorn with painting.
Tukahotea. — Having no covering on the roof.
r«rtH///aM.— Ornamented work m the interior of a house.
Tuawwaru.--M2i\n posts in the palisading of 2. pa (= tuauant.)
Tumatakihau. SmuWer side posts between the larger ones (= tumatakahuki.)
Tnmatakalmh. ^\]^nght sticks to support the laths to which the reeds are fastened in tiiku-tuku work, between the slabs of a native house.
Twnatapu. — Small binding batten.
Tinnu.—TiiiiiU'tiimii. Posts; stumps.
112 Words connected with the Houses and Buildings of the Maoris.
Tungitun^i. — Sacred oven near a cultivation. Titkaruparu. — To build with raupo.
Tupiini. — To build up the sides of a house with raupo, &c. The bundles of raupo. Tiirihunga. — Dressed slabs cut from the trunk of the tree-fern placed round the principal posts of a house underground as a preservative.
Tutaka. — Carved ridge pole of the verandah.
Tiituni. — Doorpost. Any post of a door, or in a building.
Tmcatcucata. — Fence. Palisade of a. pa.
Uhi. — To thatch ; to cover generally.
Uniii. — Native oven.
Uriipa. — Grave. Also the ground inside the fence.
Wawa. — Fence.
Wita. — One of the fences forming the fortification of a pa outside the " hahia " or main fence.
Whaitoka. — Doorway (= ivhatitoka.)
Whakairo. — Carving.
Whakapakoko. — An image. A carved figure of wood or stone.
Wliakaporo. — Tops of posts cut to represent the heads of their enemies. A finished or wrought end of a post (= whakangarengare, Ngatiporou.)
Whakamahau. — Verandah. The open front of a whare.
Whakainanimarii. — Screen from the wind, sun, or rain. Signifies shade and pro- tedtion from sun.
Whaknra'iva. — Fastener for a door (= uihakarawc.) (Ngatiporou ; also Ngaraurn of Patea.)
Whakaruru. — Screen; shelter from wind; lit., to make calm.
Whakawai. — Jamb of doorway, or window opening.
W liana. — Upright sticks of a fence ; battens.
Whao. — Nails ; also titi, a peg. Whao, originally a small stone chisel ; the transition to a large iron nail easy.
Whara. — Mat used as a carpet.
Wharariki. — Mat used as a carpet. Or wharaki.
Wharau. — Temporary sleeping shed ; a canoe shed.
Wharc. — A house.
Wharc-uialoro. — A large meeting house.
Wkarepotae. — A house in which to mourn ; a round-topped house.
Words connected with the Houses and Buildings of the INIaoris. 113
Whare-apiti. — Steep-roofed house.
Wharc-kohanga. — A temporary shed in which women gave birth.
Whare-kohuku. — A kind of wharaii.
Wharc-kura, or red house; or Wharc-pu-rahau. — Where the classes were held for instrudtion three months of the year, from sunset to midnight ; a house for reciting ancient legends ; a house with painted timbers.
Whare-maire. — A large ornamented, sacred house, in which was taught the history
and learning of the tribe. Each canoe built one soon after arrival. The
names and positions of many are known (= ivhare-kura.) Whare-mato. — A house built for purposes of amusement (= izihare-ato, whare-maloro.
— A.H.M., 1-6.) Whare-ngakau. — A house built in order to get up an expedition to avenge the death
of someone ; a condition of mind while planning revenge. Wharc-pnni. — A closely-covered house for sleeping in. Whare-rangi. — Store house built upon posts. Wharc-tatai. — Astronomical school. Whare-tntnrn. — House with a hipped roof; proper house, permanent home, as
applied in opposition to a temporary house ; a well-built house of any
description. Whare-iimu.—Coo\s:\ng house. Always kaiita in Hokianga ; wharc-iimu in Patea
distrift. Whare--wharau. — Shed, or booth of branches of trees.
Whata.St3.ge on which food is kept ; a store house for food buih on piles. Whatnrangi. — Stage or platform on two or more posts. Whatitoka. — Doorway. Whatu.—The viftim slam and buried at the foot of the pou-tua-rongo of a new house,
or at foot of main posts in new pa. H//«« ?£'/»•«. —Layers of toetoe overlapping each other on the ridge of a house.
114
Maori Art.
Kiirm-u, or Carved Ornament from the Qable of a House.
AIaori Art.
Il:
Meeting House at Ohinemutu, Lake Rotorua.
This carved house was erefted in 1878 as a token of the ratification of peace between the Arawa and the Waikato tribes, and to induce Tawhiao (the so-called Maori King) to pay the Arawa people a friendly visit. Patera te Pukuatua, and other Arawa chiefs, had already presented themselves to, and been welcomed by, Tawhiao at Te Kuiti. None of the carving is very old.
It is named after Tama-te-Kapua, the great ancestor of the Arawas.
The house measures 52ft. by 30ft. inside. The porch is 12ft.
ii6
^Iaori Art.
Carved Ornament for Qable of House (Koi-uru or Parata.)
MAORI RAFTER PATTERNS.
MAORI RAFTER PATTERNS.
MAORI RAFTER PATTERNS.
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MAORI RAFTER PATTERNS.
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MAORI RAFTER PATTERNS.
MAORI RAFTER PATTERNS.
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29
MAORI RAFTER PATTERNS.
Korupe, Or Carved Board over the Doorway of a House.
DESCRIPTION
OF
MAORI RAFTER PATTERNS
THE elaborate patterns decorating the rafters ( /u-ArJ of a large Maori house have never been recorded or described, and I am, therefore, pleased to be able to figure the coUeftion of patterns nov^^ given m chromo-lithography, most of which are from the east and north of the North Island. They have been collefted by the Rev. Herbert Williams, and I am indebted to him for the following descrip- tions. He says : —
"Any scientific discussion of that branch of Maori Art which comprised the decoration of the whare by painting is rendered extremely difficult, if not impossible, by the fad that none of the old school of painters are now living and little, if any, of their work has survived them.
" The Maori decorator does not copy— that is to say, he does not draw from a pattern, but carries the design as far as may be, in his head. To transfer the design to the material before him, he apparently forms a mental projedlion of it upon his board, and traces the outline, workmg in the colour afterwards. It may be dangerous to argue from the habits to be observed now, back to the custom of the ancient tohimga ; but certainly this method of producing a pattern does not at all accord with European notions. Instead of laying down the main elements of the
ii8 Description of Maori Rafter Patterns.
pattern and working in the details later, some, at any rate, of the modern