Best. — Maori Eschatology . 169 



haps two hours. But a similar scene would be enacted on the 

 arrival of every fresh mourning party, which might arrive, at 

 ever widening intervals, for a year after the death of a person. 



During the tangihanga or weeping there are usually several 

 elderly or old women who advance to the space between the 

 two parties — i.e., who place themselves in front of their respective 

 parties — and there, with bowed bodies and outstretched, quiver- 

 ing arms, appear to act as chief mourners, though they may not 

 be the nearest relatives of the deceased then present. This is 

 termed " tangi tihaipaP These few persons occasionally wail 

 forth a line of some dirge, and then recommence their wordless 

 wailing sound. 



Another custom much in evidence formerly at such times, 

 but now discontinued, was the haehae, or laceration of the body 

 bv mourners. 



" A Maori dies. The people collect for the wailing. The 

 nearest relatives of the dead show their affection by lacerating 

 their bodies, faces, arms, and legs until they are scored all 

 over. It was a token of affection. Though the dead be male 

 or female, daughter or son, that was the sign of affection of 

 our ancestors. The greatest sign of their affection was the pre- 

 serving of the head of a relative and carrying it about with 

 them. But Christianity put a stop to that. The laceration of 

 the body was done with obsidian [flakes] : hence these words in 

 an ancient dirge, ' Homai he mata hia haehae an ' [' Give me 

 obsidian, that I may lacerate myself ']." 



This custom of cutting the body was practised by near 

 relatives of the dead only (among the Tuhoe Tribe). These 

 mourners presented a gruesome sight, stripped to the waist, 

 blood streaming from numerous gashes made by the keen 

 obsidian (mata). 



Anent this cutting of the body at funeral obsequies, Andrew 

 Lang, in his " Making of Religion," looks upon it as being prac- 

 tised as a counter-irritant of grief, and a token of recklessness 

 caused by sorrow. The Maori ever gives the one explanation 

 thereof — He tohu aroha — a sign of affection or sympathy. As 

 the word of old was " Ye shall not make any cuttings in your 

 flesh for the dead," so has the custom died out in these isles. 



Another custom among these Natives is that of presenting 

 gifts to the bereaved clan or relatives of the deceased. Such 

 gifts are termed " taonga Iwpahi " (taonga = goods, property ; 

 kopalci, as an adjective = wrapping, enveloping, covering). 

 Some of the persons who join the visiting mourning parties 

 will bear with them such articles as fine cloaks, polished green- 

 stone ornaments, &c. After the tangihanga, or wailing, is over 

 such persons will step forward and present their gifts, laying 



