1 26 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Considering how comparatively soon his visit followed 

 upon the atrocities recorded by Mr. Shand, it is difficult to 

 understand how the good Bishop could have been kept so 

 much in the dark as to the true history of the Maori usurpa- 

 tion as his remarks would lead one to suppose. It is not 

 difficult to believe that whoever invented the title " elder 

 brother of the Bishop " for the unfortunate Moriori was gifted 

 with a certain sense of humour, but tbe "amusing stories" 

 of the first invasion were probably very carefully selected 

 before they were allowed to come to the ears of the dis- 

 tinguished visitor. 



With tbe advent of European settlers the condition of the 

 Morioris was doubtless greatly improved. As, however, the 

 Maori occupation of the island took place prior to the Treaty 

 of Waitangi, their ownership of the land by right of conquest 

 has been admitted, with the exception of 2,000 acres, which 

 they have been obliged to set apart as a reserve for their 

 former slaves, of whom the remnant appear now to be very 

 well treated, and to live on terms of equality with both Maoris 

 and Europeans. The younger ones, at any rate, dress like 

 Europeans and follow the same occupations— in fact, they are 

 so completely " civilised " as to be no longer of much scientific 

 interest. 



The extent of the Moriori population in former years is 

 still attested by the immense quantity of human remains with 

 which the shores of the island are littered, and by the abund- 

 ant evidence of native handiwork. At intervals along the 

 low sandhills which fringe the greater part of the shore old 

 burying-places and huge shell-mounds or "kitchen-middens " 

 are met with. It was the custom of the race to bury some, 

 at any rate, of their dead in the sand by the sea-shore, in a 

 sitting posture, facing the west, with the elbows down and 

 the knees up. In many places the remains have been exposed 

 by the wind, and the shore is strewn with skulls and bones in 

 various stages of dismemberment. Owing doubtless to the 

 ease with which graves are scooped out in the loose sand, the 

 Maoris chose (at any rate, at first) similar situations on the 

 island for their cemeteries, so that it is now by no means easy 

 to say whether any particular skull or other bone picked up 

 on the shore belonged to one of the conquered or one of the 

 conquering race. The only safe plan for those who wish to 

 obtain specimens for scientific investigation is to dig out the 

 entire skeleton, when the sitting posture may be regarded as 

 sufficient proof of Moriori origin, for the Maoris appear to 

 have buried their dead in a horizontal position. 



Visit to the Chatham Islands in the Year 1848." Loudon. Printed for 

 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and sold by the Society 

 for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1851. 



