Shortland

Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders

(Extracted from pp. 97-125.)

'When we returned in the evening to the village, I found that I had lost a piece of paper, called a debenture, which represented £5. At that time this was almost the only kind of money current in the colony. Some wise persons of Tarapipipi's family, who heard of my loss, at once put it down to the malice of the infant Atua who had visited us; and talked very confidently of the mischievous propensities and power of these little beings. I believe most of those present were quite persuaded that the paper money had been thus made away with. But unfortunately for the prediction, this proof of the Atuas power was denied, my debenture being picked up early next morning, on the path we went, by an old man, who was going to his potato garden. The old man did not know the value of what he had found, and would probably have made a cartridge of it, had not one younger and more knowing, to whom he showed it, preserved it and restored it to me.
    From that day the hut in which this adventure took place was deserted. Having been the resting place of Atua, it and all it contained became tajm. This prohibition of their sacred law fell rather severely on the old lady, as she had placed in store there, temporarily a great number of baskets of potatoes, which it would now be sacrilege to eat. Indeed, to use these potatoes for food would, by a New Zealander, be dreaded as much as to swallow a dose of deadly poison.
    I have already said, that the whistling voice of the Atua was easily enough traceable to the old woman's mouth. But how the rustling noise, which seemed to creep along the thatch of the roof and the side of the hut was caused, I could not comprehend. Tarapipipi, on whose part I felt sure there could be no deception, must have seen any one without the hut at or near the parts whence the strange noise issued. Besides, the only persons on the premises, at our arrival, were the old lady and her two female slaves, who all remained inside the hut, never moving from their seats, and could, therefore, have taken no part in producing it. Who or what caused the rustling noise was a mystery I could not penetrate, nor could Tarapipipi. Whatever my own opinion as to the evidence of a cheat, I had not detected it in a way to shake a New Zealander's faith; for as to tracing the voice to the mouth of the old woman, that might be explained on the supposition that the Atua, having entered into her body, spoke by means of her organs of speech. And such a supposition would be quite admissible according to the theory of their natural religion.
    That the sounds we had heard were really due to supernatural agency was, perhaps, as easily credible as the miracle of St. Januarius, which is repeated two or three times annually, at Naples, in presence of a wondering and believing multitude.
    The reader has probably been as much struck as I was by the manner in which Tuakaraina invoked the presence of his gods. How similar the scene in which the priests of Baal are described as actors. "And (they) called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any thing that answered."
    M. de Humboldt, who took much pains to investigate the language and habits of the Polynesians, offers the opinion that they present a picture of the condition of society and manner of existence once common to the whole Malayo-Polynesian family, in their more simple and more ancient, and, probably, their original state. The Maori of New Zealand are one of the branches of the Polynesian family who seem to have been preserved to the greatest extent unmixed with foreign alloy. If we may so say, they are ages behind the major part of the world of the present day. Hence, the contemplation of their manners and superstitions takes us back to a period in the history of the world when the different races of mankind had not been confounded, as they are now, by having become multiplied and intermixed when, in fact, they were not so remote from the original centre, but that traces of their primitive identity were still marked. It is therefore, perhaps, not to be wondered at that we should discover a resemblance in some of their superstitious practices, and those of so ancient a people as the heathen worshippers of Baal.
    The superstitious observances of the natives of New Zealand are referable to certain laws relating to mea tapu (things sacred or prohibited), the breach of which by any one is a crime displeasing to the Atua of his family. The word tapu, commonly written tabou, is used in the same sense in the Sandwich Islands, in the Society Islands, and, as far as is known, in the other islands of Polynesia. It is probably derived from the word ta, to mark, and pu, an adverb of intensity. The compound word tapu, therefore, means no more than "marked thoroughly," and only came to signify sacred or prohibited in a secondary sense; because sacred things and places were commonly marked in a peculiar manner, in order that every one might know that they were sacred.
    The fundamental law on which all their superstitious restrictions depend is, that if any thing tapu is permitted to come in contact with food, or with any vessel or place where food is ordinarily kept, such food must not afterwards be eat by any one, and such vessel or place must no longer be devoted to its ordinary use; the food, vessel, or place becoming tajm from the instant of its contact with an object already tapu.
    The idea in which this law originated appears to have been, that a portion of the spiritual essence of an Atua, or of a sacred person, was communicated directly to objects which they touched, and also that the spiritual essence so communicated to any object was afterwards more or less retransmitted to any thing else brought into contact with it. It was, therefore, necessary that any thing containing the spiritual essence of an Atua should be made tapu, to protect it from being polluted by the contact of food designed to be eat; for the act of eating food which had touched any thing tajni involved the necessity of eating the sacred essence of the Atua, from whom it derived its sacredness. If to eat an enemy was the greatest insult to be offered him, how horrible to eat anything containing a particle of the divine essence. Hence it will be understood why Atua, when on a visit to the earth, disliked to approach any place which was not tajm. Their aversion, indeed, to touch food designed to be eat by man was supposed to be so great that, in former days, before the introduction of Christianity, whenever any one was obliged to travel by night from place to place, he carried in his hand a little cooked food, or a brand taken from a fire whereon food had been cooked, believing himself then quite secure against the attacks of wandering spirits.
    Every thing not included under the class of tapu is called iwa, meaning free or common. The restriction of tajni, however, may be removed from any person or object, by certain ceremonies to be explained hereafter. This was a very necessary provision; for if no bounds had been placed to the general rule, by which things were liable to fall under the restriction of tapu, by coming into contact with things before made tapu, the severity of their superstitious law would have been intolerable; in fact, every place, and even the food it contained, must in time have become tapu; in which case, as it would then be unlawful to partake of it, the very existence of man would have been interfered with. As it was, the dread of trespassing on any tapu spot was formerly so powerful, that, on going to a strange land, ceremonies were performed in order to make it noa, lest, perchance, it might have been previously tapu.
    It has been already stated, that every tribe and every family has its own proper Atua, namely, the spirits of departed ancestors. The heads of families, also, in both the male and female line, are regarded by their own family with a veneration almost akin to that of their Atua. They form, as it were, the links of connexion between the living and the spirits of the dead; and the ceremony of releasing any thing from the restriction of tapu cannot be perfected without their intervention. Ariki is the title by which the heir male or heir female of a family is designated in New Zealand; and the same word is found throughout Polynesia, varying slightly in pronunciation in different islands, and has, most probably, the same universal signification, although it has been often, I believe erroneously, translated by the terms Lord, King, &c.
    In Tahiti, the Ariki (or Arii, as there pronounced) of a tribe appears to have been more sacred even than in New Zealand, every part of his body being tapu, so that no one could touch him; and, whenever he overpassed the bounds of his own hereditary lands, he was obliged to ride on the shoulders of persons appointed for the purpose, to prevent his feet touching the ground; for wherever he trod became forthwith tapu, and any food growing there no one could afterwards eat but himself.
    The extraordinary influence which their superstitious principles of action have had on the social habits of the New Zealanders has been too often overlooked by those who have given descriptions of the character of these people.
    One of the many subjects of reproach which have been brought against them is, that they employ their females in carrying heavy loads of potatoes and other food on their backs, the practice being considered a sign of the laziness and inhumanity of the male portion of the community. From the light we have already thrown on their superstitions, it will be seen, that for any one whose back was tapu to carry a basket of food on it, would be to render it unlawful for any one but himself to eat of that food. So erroneous are the opinions which travellers are liable to form regarding the customs of a strange people, by judging only from what they see.
    By neglecting the law of tapu, Ariki, chiefs, and others peculiarly the objects of the care and protection of Atua, are subject to their displeasure more than persons in a humble station of life, and so are afraid to do a great many simple but necessary acts in private life, which must therefore be done by slaves, and such females as are exempt from the law of tapu. For this reason, persons of the sacred class are in the habit of eating their meals in the open air, at a little distance from their dwelling houses, and from the spot where they and their friends usually recline. Some few are so very sacred that each must have his food served up to him on a separate dish, and if he is unable to eat all that has been placed before him, the remainder must either be thrown away, or kept for his sole use when next needed, by being placed in a sacred receptacle devoted to that purpose; for no human being would dare to eat what so sacred a person had left on his plate. In villages whose inhabitants are chiefly heathen, these private larders are still used. Their shape is that of a house, though no larger than an ordinary sized box, and being stuck on top of posts six or seven feet high, they are rather conspicuous objects in their court-yards, which can hardly fail to excite the curiosity of a stranger.
    The dread lest the residue of their meal should be eat by another person has been the cause of a very singular custom, namely, that guests always carry away with them all they are unable to eat of the food which is placed before them, even if they afterwards take the first opportunity to throw it away secretly. This practice still prevails to a great extent, notwithstanding the very general adoption of a new religion and new manners.
    Shortly after the settlement at Auckland was founded, the chief of the neighbouring tribe happened to call one day on a gentleman who held an office under the Colonial Government. This gentleman was not able to converse with the chief in his own language; but being desirous to secure his good offices, thought the best way of making friends would be to give him something to eat. Accordingly, a leg of mutton from which he had just dined was again placed on the table, with a dish of potatoes. The chief ate all the potatoes, but did not seem to relish the mutton. However, true to the usages of his country, when he had done eating, he called to one of his attendants who sat outside the door to bring a basket, and then, taking up what was left of the leg of mutton, he very gravely placed it therein, and bidding his friend adieu, in the laconic phrase of his country, "Remain where you are. Sir," walked off, leaving his host quite new to the manners of the New Zealanders petrified with astonishment.
    One of the most important of the superstitious laws of this people, is that which makes the head and backbone of the human body tapu. I have never heard any reason assigned for this remarkable superstition; but it seems not unlikely that it originated in a belief that the soul, or spiritual essence of man, resided in the brain and spinal marrow, those organs having been necessarily observed to be so essential to life. Hence, it is a crime for a sacred person to leave his comb, or blanket, or any thing else which has touched his head or back, in a place where food has been cooked, or even to suffer another person to drink out of any vessel which has before touched his lips. Hence, also, when any one wishes to drink, he never touches with his lips the water-vessel, but holds his two hands close to his mouth so as to form a hollow, into which water is poured by another person, and thence is allowed to run into his mouth. If even a light for a pipe is required, the burning ember taken from the fire for that purpose must be thrown away immediately after being used; for the pipe becomes tapu, because it has touched the mouth; the coal becomes tapu, because it has touched the pipe; and if a particle of the tapu cinder were to be replaced on the common fire, the fire would in like manner become tapu, and then could no longer be used for cooking food.
    The following scene, taken from domestic life, will give some idea of the importance of the office of the hair-dresser: "Go to your father," said a mother to her child. "Go, and have your hair cut, and the and their eggs destroyed. Your condition is enough to make one sick."
    So the child ran, and said to his father, "Pray cut my hair, sir: pray clean my head."
    "Go," said the father, "ask your grandfather to cut your hair." Then the child went to his grandfather; and the old man turned kindly towards him, and bidding him lay his head down on his knees, began to cut his hair. But when he saw the dreadful condition of the poor child's head, he was so moved with pity, that he could not refrain from lamenting over him: "Alas!" said he, "however could my grandchild have endured the ravages of these swarms of insects?"
    "Why, it's Tapu-te-anga (Sacred-skull) himself," exclaimed a person who happened to be sitting near, alluding to a gentleman whose head was so very sacred that no one dared touch it, and whose fearful state may, therefore, be imagined. The old man took no notice of this remark, but went on cutting his grandchild's hair; and, lastly, concluded the operation by scraping his head very carefully with a cockle-shell, till it was as clean as it could well be made by such a process. When all this was done, some food was served up to both of them apart from the family. This food was cooked over a sacred fire, and the grandfather was fed by another person; for his own hands, having touched a sacred head, were tapu; and, therefore, could not be employed in the office of conveying food to his mouth, till they had been restored to their free state.
    However the refined ideas of the reader may be shocked, this is no more than the picture of an everyday scene in a New Zealand village. For a mother to wash her own child's head with soap and water would, according to the laws of the ancient regime, have been impossible. But the laws of tapu, though still strictly observed by the heathen part of the population, are felt a hardship to be endured of necessity, and not of will. Thus, we see the father gladly transferring to the grandfather the disagreeable office of family hair-cutter, lest his hands should be bound by the strong, though invisible, cords of the tajm till the following day; before which time the ceremony whereby they were to be released from bondage could not be performed. The ceremony, in this case, was simply to rub the hands over with potato or fern root, which had been cooked over a sacred fire. This food, called horohoronga, was then carried to the head of the family in the female line, who having eat it, the hands became noa immediately.
    The idea seems to have been, that the sacred essence, before imparted to the hands, passed into the food rubbed over them; but why it was necessary for the female representative of the family to eat the food so made sacred, does not appear very intelligible. We shall have occasion, hereafter, to give some further explanations respecting the mode of making noa things and persons who were tapu.
    As for the hair cut from the head, it was deposited on some sacred spot of ground; for not only was it necessary to protect it from being touched accidentally or designedly by any one, but even should any one as might happen if the hair were left on the ground make such a remark as, "Whose hair is that? how disgusting!" the expression would be an insult, the more dangerous, because an offensive word or threat, in this country, is equivalent to an act of violence committed, and requires the same utu, or compensative vengeance.
    By an extension of the law of taim, any thing became taim by giving it the name of a sacred person. Hence, when a chief wished to prohibit some particular spot of ground being cultivated by any one but himself, a common practice was to call it his own back-bone; after which even to tread on it would be equivalent to a declaration of war.
    Adjoining every village was one or more tapu spots of ground, of a sufficient size, set apart for the purpose of receiving dead bodies, and every description of tapu offal, which would have been sadly in the way, if it had not all been collected together in one place.
    Since the introduction of Christianity, the fear of tapu has gradually grown weaker, and the observances connected with the ancient superstitions have very generally fallen into disuse. By the elder persons, however, the old belief is more or less retained. Frequently, when I have been travelling in company with a party of natives, among whom were one or more of the sacred class, the latter have separated themselves from the community on reaching the night's resting-place, and remained by their own solitary sacred fire. The peculiar opinions of the New Zealanders on such points have been particularly explained by the author in a former publication, to which the reader is referred, former days, the huts used in travelling by sacred persons were always distinguished by their posts being daubed with red ochre, to prevent the law of tapu being inadvertently broken; and, for the same reason, sacred persons painted their bodies and clothes with the same red substance, that they might leave a mark behind them where they rested. These practices still prevail to a limited extent.
    Enough has, perhaps, been said on this subject to give the reader a clue to the interpretation of many of the peculiar habits of this people, without the necessity for repeated explanations on every occasion that may occur in the subsequent part of the narrative. I shall, therefore, at present, only mention one other instance of the singular influence which the law of tax has exerted on the domestic habits of this people.
    It is a curious fact, which often struck me as remarkable, before I learnt how to account for it, that a New Zealander will never lean his back against the wall of a house. The company assembled within a house, however numerous, always leave a little space between themselves and the wall. The cause of this strong objection to sit close to the wall, is their dread of the mysterious influence of certain tapu objects, which have been thrust into the rush walls of dwelling-houses for concealment.
    When a foreigner enters the house of a New Zealander, feeling the want of the convenience of a chair, to which he is accustomed, he is very apt to lean his back against the nearest wall for support. By so doing, however, he exposes himself to sly jokes and various remarks, which to a New Zealander would be highly offensive. I have frequently subjected myself to such remarks, on account of this breach of etiquette, being at the time quite unconscious of the error I had committed, as well as of the meaning of the observations made on the occasion; for it was not till after I had been several years in the country that I was let into the secrets connected with the word kahukahu, which will be explained hereafter.
    Intimately connected with the superstition respecting things tajm is their theory of the nature of disease. The only cause from which sickness is ever imagined to originate is spirits who have entered into the body of the sufferer. Their belief is, that all neglect or infringement of the law of tajm, either wilful or undesigned, or even brought about by the act of another person, moves the Atua of the family to anger, who punishes the offender by sending some infant spirit to feed on a part of his body, more or less vital, according to the magnitude of the crime.
    Infant spirits, it seems, are generally selected as the agents of the vengeance of the Atua, on account of their love of mischief, and because, not having lived long enough on earth to acquire attachments to their living relatives, they are more likely to attack them without mercy. The most deadly diseases, however, are inflicted by the spirits of the germs of human beings, called kahnkahu. This word involves some curious notions, which, I believe, are scarcely, if at all known to Europeans; the subject being one regarding which a New Zealander would not be likely to volunteer any information, and on which no one, perhaps, but a medical man would have made enquiry. The explanation of the word, however, is not calculated to interest the general reader, and is, therefore reserved for the Appendix.
    The Atua are not supposed to inflict punishment always on the person causing an infringement of tapu, by eating food which has touched the person or clothes of one of the sacred class who, as one would imagine, should be looked on as the chief offender but more generally on the sacred person himself, whose duty it appears to have been to guard himself and clothes from such an indignity. For this reason, chiefs and other sacred persons are always ready to resent any infractions of the law of their tapu, whether caused by the ignorance or by the design of others: and many an unfortunate slave has been killed because he had been careless enough to carry his master's hair-comb, or some other part of his dress, within the limits of the family kitchen.
    When a person falls sick, and cannot remember that he has broken any law of tapu himself, he endeavours to discover who has got him into the scrape; for it is not an uncommon practice to make a person offend against some law of tapu, without his being aware of it, with the express object of causing the anger of his Atua to fall on him. This practice is a secret art called makutu. And it has often happened that an innocent person has been sacrificed to the rage of the relatives of a sick man, under the belief that he had caused the disease by such unlawful means.
    They who have recourse to the art are generally persons who have suffered wrongs, but are too weak to hope to obtain redress by more open means. Some tribes are supposed to have more skill than others in the mystery of makutu. The Uriwera, a branch of the Ngatiawa of the Bay of Plenty, who inhabit the forests and mountainous district south of Opotiki, have the worst reputation in this respect of any in New Zealand. It is quite sufficient for those who are adepts in makutu, if they can get hold of a little of the spittle of their enemy, or some of the leavings of his food, in order to treat it in a way to ensure the rage of his Atua. For this reason, some will not dare to spit when in company with any one they fear might be inclined to injure them in such a way. And the same dread of witchcraft has, no doubt, been the primary cause of the strange custom already noticed, "that the guest never leaves behind any part of the food which has been set before him; but, if he cannot eat it, carries it away with him."
    Another method sometimes employed to makutu a person is to place in his way some food which has been so prepared beforehand, that the act of eating it will be followed by the anger of an Atua. While acting as interpreter to Colonel Despard, I was one day with a reconnoitering party, led by the Colonel in person, to examine the position of the enemy. After several miles' march, we at last found ourselves on the outskirts of a forest, in which, at about the distance of three-quarters of a mile, the hostile party had built a stoccade on a spot called Te Eua-pekapeka (the Bats-Den). A small body of the natives who fought on our side, pushed on immediately across a wooded ravine, and took up a position beyond it on an open space of three or four acres covered with fern, a sort of oasis m the forest. Here a path, coming from another point of the country, united at an angle with that by which we were advancing, both in one leading onward to the stoccade.
    As soon as Colonel Despard came up to this spot, he sent two of the advanced guard of the 58th regiment to explore this other path for a short distance, while he, from the highest ground of the oasis, examined the stoccade with a telescope. The men, however, returned almost immediately, reporting that they had seen two natives in the wood, at a short distance from them, who fled the moment they were discovered; and, in proof of their tale, produced a small bundle of tobacco, tied together with flax, which they had found deposited between the branches of a tree close to the spot where they had first seen the two natives. The most natural interpretation to be given to the occurrence was, that the natives were scouts from the hostile party, merely sent to watch us, and that the tobacco had been left in the hurry of flight. The Chief Nini, however, who happened to be present, took a different view of the matter. He no sooner saw the tobacco, and had examined the way in which it was bound up, than he pronounced it to be designed to makutu some of us, and cautioned the standers-by not to touch it. The dread of this secret influence was very observable; for every one of the natives present seemed instinctively to shrink from contact with the tobacco, as a European might from the infection of plague.
    I will mention another anecdote to show the reader how generally prevails the belief in makutu at the present day, and that even foreigners are supposed to be not quite exempt from its powerful malignance. An old lady had claims to portions of land which had been sold to the Government by some of her tribe (Ngati-whatua). The purchase money of this land had been paid to a chief professing Christianity, and baptised by the name of Davis, on the understanding that he was to divide it fairly among the various claimants. Nevertheless, he defrauded the old lady; and she, to show her displeasure, gave it out that she would makutu both him and the Governor.
    Strange enough, not long after, the chief fell sick and died; and, in a few months more, the Governor also died; which coincidence tended very much to confirm belief in the report which generally prevailed among the members of that and neighbouring tribes, and is, no doubt, still credited, that the cause of death in both cases was the old lady's makutu.
    Diseases, unknown before the arrival of Europeans among them, are supposed to be caused by foreign Atua, and are called after their reputed names. Thus, the influenza is in some places attributed to a Pakeha or foreign Atua, called Rewharewha. All information of this sort is communicated to them either by certain persons, called matakite, or seers, who are supposed to have supernatural means of acquiring knowledge, or by their Atua in person. On occasions of difficulty or danger, those who wish to consult the Atua of the tribe assemble in a sacred house, and invite their presence. I have been frequently assured by eye-witnesses of the fact, that the Atua invited by name has come in the visible form of a spider or Uzai-d perhaps, and has then walked about and all round the open space left in the middle of the house for his accommodation, stopping in front of this and that person, and replying to the questions proposed in the peculiar whistling voice which has been already described.
    When first Missionaries came to preach the Gospel in New Zealand, the Atua were frequently consulted, whether their preaching was true or lying. It is a remarkable fact, that wherever the inquiry was made, the answer invariably given declared Jesus Christ to be the true God. This may account for the little opposition which the introduction of Christianity received in New Zealand. It was even frequently the case, that part of a tribe or family professed Christianity, while part remained in their old belief and practices. And it sometimes became a matter of arrangement among the elders who should be Missionary, and who should remain devil that term being commonly given to those of the old leaven, but without any discredit being attached to the name. They who did not join the Missionary party always made a point, if they could, of keeping the Ariki of the family on their side. Of this there is a very striking example in the Ngati-toa tribe. The two younger brothers of the Ariki of that tribe are not merely professing Christians, but the best instructed and best conducted converts of their tribe; while their elder brother, though generally living in their company, and on the most intimate terms with them, practices the superstitious rites of his forefathers. No doubt, the part of the tribe who would not be Christians have prevented his becoming a convert.
    From the explanations already given of the importance of the Ariki to the proper practice of their superstitious rites, it will be comprehended that his loss to the tribe would be like that of the queen bee to a hive; and that his example of becoming a convert to Christianity would be likely to be followed by the rest of his tribe.
    It will not be out of place to mention, in connexion with this subject, the feelings by which the New Zealanders appear to have been, in the first instance, very frequently actuated in their desire to have Missionaries. We cannot but admit that self-interest had often much to do with the pressing invitations they gave them to come to reside in their country; and the following facts, relating to the establishment of a Missionary at Rotorua, will be sufficient to confirm this opinion.
    A chief of the powerful tribe who inhabit that part of New Zealand had observed, during a visit at the Bay of Islands the head-quarters of the Church Mission that the Missionaries had temporal benefits as well as spiritual ones to bestow on their converts, in the shape of blankets, clothes, iron pots and implements, as payments for the labour they required about their establishments, or for the purchase of land. On his return to Rotorua, he was loud in his praises of Missionaries, and, having talked the subject over with others of his tribe, determined to make another voyage to the Bay of Islands to try and bring back with him one of that body as a resident among them.
    The Missionary gentlemen at the Bay of Islands were, no doubt, much gratified at receiving the application, and probably made a report, in their correspondence with their Secretary in England, of so remarkable an instance, as they might well have believed it, of the desire of the New Zealanders to embrace Christianity. As they were not then able to form a new station, the chief was sent back to Rotorua, with hopes that on a future occasion his wish would be gratified. Accordingly, he returned the next year to see Mr., now Archdeacon, H. Williams on the same subject, and at length, through his unceasing importunity, a Missionary was sent to Rotorua. Notwithstanding such antecedents, Taiapo so the chief was named never became a convert to Christianity, although he takes great credit to himself for having given the first Missionary to his tribe. I have several times conversed with him about his strange conduct; and he made no difficulty in acknowledging, that his object had been the temporal advantage he expected to reap from having, as a resident with his tribe, a foreigner with a large store of blankets, &c.; for he seemed to regard both Missionary and his effects as the undeniable property of the tribe.
    Such feelings were, without doubt, at first very general. On another occasion, a gentleman of the Church Mission thought fit to remove his residence from one tribe to its neighbour; and, with the assistance of some influential chiefs, had actually conveyed all his effects to the confines of the districts occupied by the two tribes. When, however, he began to make arrangements to place them in the canoes which were to transport them to their neighbours, with whom they were not on the most friendly terms, the reflection that they were giving away so much property to be distributed among aliens was too powerful. They could no longer withstand the temptation; so making a rush at the packages, they tore them open, and divided their contents among themselves, excusing the act to the gentleman who was quitting them for the reasons just stated.
    The New Zealanders have received instruction in Christianity from three principal sources; namely, from the Church of England, from the Church of Rome, and from the sect of Wesleyans. Their selection of one or other of these forms of Christianity has often been influenced by causes which would hardly have been anticipated. The members of a tribe, though connected by ties of relationship, were often divided into distinct bodies by petty jealousies. If one of these bodies joined the Church of England, the other would often refuse instruction from teachers belonging to their rivals, preferring even a stranger teacher who was a Wesleyan, or a Romanist.
    Had it not been for the existence of such jealousies, the whole native population of Cook's Straits would, in all likelihood, have become members of the Church of England; for the first European Missionary who resided in that part of New Zealand, the Rev. O. Hadfield, was a most intelligent and zealous minister of the Gospel. But it so happened that the young chiefs of the tribe called Ngatitoa would not receive instruction from him, because a son and nephew of Te Rauparaha, of whom they were jealous, had the credit generally with their people of having brought Mr. Hadfield from the Bay of Islands to dwell with them. They, therefore, determined to have a Missionary of their own finding, and went to the head-quarters of the Wesleyan establishment, and prevailed on that body to send one of their number to reside with them. Thus the inhabitants of Cook's Straits became divided between the Church of England and the Wesleyan sect.
    Many similar instances of the same mode of proceeding might be adduced; but the one we have mentioned, being well known to many persons in New Zealand, is perhaps the best illustration we could give.
    Holding the peculiar opinions respecting the causes of disease which have been explained, it is but natural that the New Zealanders should have remained in ignorance of the curative effects of drugs obtained from the vegetable and mineral kingdoms. This we find to be the case. When a person falls sick, the mode of treatment is the following: In the first place, his father goes to consult the matakite or seer of the family, to learn the cause of the illness. Should the father be absent, the mother is the proper person to go. If both are absent, then the brother must go.'