Smith. — On Maori Nomenclature. 409 



bears was given on that occasion, and contains in its significa- 

 tion a reference to the result of the battle. I have not seen 

 this song, and can offer no opinion on the matter. The word 

 " Bangi " is the word for " sky," also for " day," and " toto " 

 is the word for blood. 



As before remarked, it appears fair to give our own names to 

 our own creations — new settlements, townships, road districts, 

 &c, we may properly name ; but are we justified in discard- 

 ing or changing those names which we found here, names 

 which may be said to belong to the land we have come to oc- 

 cupy jointly with its original owners? I see no just cause for 

 depriving Putauaki of its ancient name in order to name it 

 Mount Edgecumbe, nor why hoary old Taranaki should forfeit 

 his name, or exchange it for Mount Egmont. I think " Wha- 

 nganui a Tara " — the wide bay of Tara — as good and as eupho- 

 nious a name as Port Nicholson; Ahuriri or Heretaunga as 

 good as Hawke's Bay or the Hutt. I see no sufficient reason 

 for changing Wakaraupo to Port Cooper or Lyttelton, or for 

 substituting Lake Ellesmere for Waihora, Spread-out water ; 

 Port Levy for Koukourarata, Tame owl ; Stewart's Island for 

 Eakiura ; Chatham Island for Whare Kauri or Warekauri, and 

 so on. If the right to give names to places is founded upon 

 discovery, surely we are overstepping ours in changing or 

 altering these names. Most of the mountain-ranges and 

 rivers in the Middle Island have English names, which have 

 superseded the old Maori ones — the Grey and Buller rivers, 

 as instances, ousting Te Mawhera and Te Awatere. 



As a means of preventing the old Maori names of places 

 from being quite lost or forgotten, I should like to see an out- 

 line map or maps specially prepared upon which the original 

 Maori names of places might be put, when accurately ascer- 

 tained by careful inquiry, and the sites of old pas and other 

 interesting objects associated with Maori history marked. 

 Such a work might be undertaken under the auspices of the 

 Government, and should not be difficult of accomplishment. 



I wall now ask your attention for a few moments to Maori 

 names of things. The Maori vocabulary has been greatly 

 enriched, or enlarged, since the advent of the pakeha to Maori- 

 land. A very great many words have been adopted and meta- 

 morphosed into Maori shape, and are now used as freely and 

 commonly as if they always belonged to the Maori language. 

 The process of converting an English into a Maori word is not 

 a mere haphazard one. It proceeds upon a fairly regular 

 plan or rule. In turning an English word into a Maori one, 

 very nearly the same shape would be given to it by every Maori 

 wdio undertook the operation — that is, with very few variations. 

 William would be " Wiremu " every where ; Frederick would be 

 "Pererika"; a letter "reta"; a boot "putu"; a steamer 



