Best. — Maori and Maruiivi. 443 



Here we have two statements made by two different old men, acknow- 

 ledged as being well versed in Maori tradition. Both seem to allude to 

 the bow and arrow as having been known to, and employed as weapons by, 

 the aborigines of New Zealand. One other item may here be mentioned 

 — namely, the bow now in the Dominion MTiseum, having been deposited 

 by Mr. Tregear. This bow was found by persons engaged in excavating 

 a draining-ditch north of Auckland, and is said to have been found about 

 2 ft. below the surface. It closely resembles those from the New Hebrides 

 in the Museum. How long has that bow been so buried, and to whom 

 did it belong 1 This query will never be answered ; if it were, then pro- 

 bably a new chapter of the story of man in these isles would be opened. 



It may be asked, How is it that the Maori did not adopt the bow and 

 arrow as a weapon, if it ever existed here, as they adopted other Maruiwi 

 weapons ? Now, the answer to this query illustrates a very sing-ular trait 

 of Polynesian character. The bow has been known to the Polynesian for 

 many centuries, and he has frequently come into contact with bow-using 

 Melanesians, yet he has ever steadfastly refused to adopt it as a weapon. 

 He has used it for killing game and in archerv contests, northward to the 

 Hawaiian Group and eastward to Tahiti, but never as a weapon. And 

 that is the reason why he would not adopt it here — that is to say, if he 

 really had the opportunity to do so. Wlien the Maori fought, he loved to 

 feel his weapon bite into the skull of his enemy ; he felt the keen joy of 

 the fighting-man as he thrust his slim spear-head through the fish of Tu. 



That is how the bow has been forgotten by the Maori people, and why the 

 natives of Cook's time were ignorant of it. The knowledge their ancestors 

 had of it was preserved only in old, old traditions handed down orally from 

 one generation to another by the wise men of the lohare tvananga, the 

 trained and close-lipped record-keepers of the Maori school of learning. 



As an illustration of how a people may possess the knowledge of usages 

 among a far-distant race, we may note a remark made by a native of the 

 Marquesas Isles, away off in eastern Polynesia, to Porter, an American 

 voyager of the " twenties " of last century. This was to the effect that far 

 away across the ocean, in a southern land, dwelt a black folk who used 

 the bow and arrow as a weapon. 



Stone Implements of Unknown Use. 



On the coast of the Bay of Plenty have been found some curious stone 

 implements quite unknown to the present Maori inliabitants of the district. 

 These objects are carefully fashioned flat stone discs, resembling a cheese 

 in form, but much smaller. The only known objects in Polynesia which 

 they resemble are certain stone discs formerly used by the natives of the 

 Hawaiian Isles in a game called maihi, resembling our game of bowls. 

 These objects have not been found in any other part of New Zealand. 



Artifacts not traceable to Polynesia. 



Another singular stone instrument of unknown use has been found in 

 the Bay of Plenty district, several specimens being known. In form this 

 object may be compared to a flattened tipcat, a wooden item beloved by 

 ungodly boys, who utilize it for the purpose of destroying windows. In 

 cross-section it is almost diamond-shaped, and each end tapers to a point. 

 This implement seems to be quite unknown to natives, and absolutely 

 nothing is known as to its origin or use. 



