536 Proceedings. 



Sixth Meeting: 26th October, 1892. 



Sir Walter Buller, President, in the chair. 



New Members. — Mr. B. M. Molineaux and Mr. H. J. 

 Freeman. 



Papers. — 1. "On Unwritten Literature," by E. C. Hard- 

 ing. (Transactions, p. 439.) 



Mr. Hulke agreed that the lore of the people referred to by the author 

 was quite as valuable as that of our own. He did not think that real 

 genuine poetic feeling would die out as was supposed, however hard we 

 had to fight the battle of life. The Maori was quite as poetical as those 

 gone before. 



Mr. Maskell considered this paper a most valuable contribution ; it 

 required to be read carefully before any proper discussion could take 

 place on the subject treated. He would take an early opportunity of 

 writing an answer to this paper, as there were many points on which he 

 differed from the author. It was the tendency of the age to look down on 

 the emotional side of things, and to give too great prominence to the 

 practical and purely scientific ; but nature would assert itself. The modern 

 tendency was to discourage literature and foster technical science, but he 

 did not think this would succeed. 



Sir W. Buller complimented Mr. Harding on his paper, but took 

 exception to some of his observations. The speaker referred to the pecu- 

 liarities of Maori tradition and poetry, and testified to the marvellous 

 powers of memory possessed by these custodians of an " unwritten litera- 

 ture." He had heard a Maori for hours together recounting tribal and 

 family genealogies without once faltering or tripping— genealogies throw- 

 ing quite into the shade the longest of those given in the Scriptures. 

 He dwelt on the flexible character of the Maori language — its euphony, 

 and the idioms, which lent themselves so readily to poetry. Some of the 

 books of the Old Testament, such as the " Song of Solomon," were con- 

 fessedly more beautiful in Maori than in English. Many of the poems 

 possessed a high order of merit ; and the collection, or rather selection, 

 made by Sir George Grey, and published under the title of " Poetry of 

 New Zealand," was a very important contribution to Polynesian literature, 

 the only regret being that no translation had ever appeared. The speaker 

 doubted, indeed, whether it would be possible now to get many of these 

 poems translated, their references being too obscure, and their language 

 that of the race of tohungas or priests, who had now passed away. Twenty 

 years ago, when he, the speaker, first met Professor Max Midler at Oxford, 

 that distinguished scholar sent his regards to Sir George Grey, and a re- 

 quest for the long-promised translation. Sir W. Buller said he did not 

 wish to underrate Mr. Colenso's labours in the same direction, but he 

 considered Sir George Grey's volume of "Maori Proverbs" (published 

 subsequently to the " Poetry ") far and away the most complete collection 

 in existence. This book was now extremely scarce, and, for the sake of 

 Polynesian literature, he would be glad to see the New Zealand Govern- 

 ment undertake its republication. 



Mr. Harding, in reply, said that he was agreeably surprised that his 

 paper had been received so well. What he had wished to imply was 

 that the appreciation of poetry was dying out, not that poetry itself was 

 disappearing. 



2. "On some Mites parasitic on Beetles and Woodlice," 

 by W. M. Maskell. (Transactions, p. 199.) 



Mr. Hudson exhibited two beetles with the parasite on them. He 

 remarked that he did not think that attention should be wholly devoted 



