506 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



from over the sea. One of these named Taukata, which was 

 landed at "Whakatane, came in the canoe Matatua ; and to 

 save this prized memorial of Ngatiawa, it was secreted in the 

 earth — in the same way, undouhtedly, as was the Korotangi — 

 cognizant only to the priests of the tribe. The other stone 

 image named Matuatonga came in Te Arawa canoe, which 

 landed at Maketu, in the Bay of Plenty. " This sculptured 

 treasure was removed to Eotorua-nui-a-kaha, about forty 

 miles from the coast, and finally deposited on the sacred 

 island of Tinirau " — Mokoia, in the centre of Lake Rotorua — 

 " where it lay beneath the soil, hard by the hot bath of the 

 celebrated Maori beauty Hinemoa, who flourished in the ninth 

 generation after the landing at Maketu." Sir George Grey 

 has in his fine collection a small stone figure presented to 

 him by the Rotorua chiefs. These images may have been 

 sculptured by the ancient Maoris in their old home across the 

 sea ; but they present nothing of the artistic design and finish 

 of the Korotangi. The j)osition of the bird is so natural that 

 even a Can6va need not have been ashamed to claim it as a 

 conception of his genius. 



The Korotangi, its history and appearance, naturally sug- 

 gests the whence of the Maori, all indicating his extreme 

 eastern origin — speaking from a European standpoint. But 

 as this monograph deals simply with the subject before us — 

 the stone bird, to w4t — we leave the more important and ex- 

 traneous discussion of the origin of these people to others ; 

 and, perhaps, on some other occasion, to ourselves. Mean- 

 while, we fondly hope this paper may meet with the approval 

 of the members of this honourable Society. 



Note by Edwaed Tregeae, F.R.G.S. 



Ox account of my deep interest in the study of Maori {i.e.., 

 Polynesian) dialects and antiquities, Major Wilson very kindly 

 allowed me to become the medium through whom his valuable 

 paper on the Korotangi has been presented to the Society. 

 The writer has told us how highly this stone bird, this beau- 

 tiful work of art, was valued by the Maoris ; that it had been 

 })robably brought across the sea from afar ; been lost ; bewailed 

 in ancient songs ; found in the upturned roots of a fallen 

 tree, and wept over by great chiefs with pathetic lament. 

 It is a point of great interest to consider whether any men- 

 tion of the name of this bird can be found outside New 

 Zealand among the other inhabitants of the South Seas. 

 I believe that the word Korotangi is connected in some 

 way with the Polynesian traditions of the Deluge, and quote 

 the following as evidence. In the Marquesan Flood-legend, 

 an ancient song, above suspicion of having been either com- 



