Newman. — On the Long Maori Trumpet. 135 



fukaea ; rarely indeed has it been blown of late years. It is 

 probable that beyond one or two Maoris (and even this is doubt- 

 ful) no one could sound it. I ransacked the Maori literature 

 in the libraries, and find it rarely mentioned. My friend the 

 great Maori expert, Mr. Samuel Locke, had one, and this is an 

 exact replica of it. Mr. Colenso says he had only seen one or 

 two in the early days, and greatly prized the one Mr. Locke had. 

 Mr. C. 0. Davis jotted down a few Maori tunes, and so did a 

 musical expert for Sir George Grey, but these are for Maori flutes. 

 Colenso quotes the following interesting passage from Forster, 

 the naturalist, who came to New Zealand with Captain Cook : 

 " They brought a trumpet or tube of wood, 4 ft. long and pretty 

 straight. Its small mouth was not above 2 in. wide, and the 

 other not above 5 in. in diameter. It made a very uncouth kind 

 of braying, for they always sounded the same note, though a per- 

 former on the French horn might perhaps be able to bring some 

 better music out of it." Forster wrote these words of prophecy, 

 and to-night, 130 years later, Mr. Warren has shown you how 

 wide is its range, how musical and perfect its tones. It is in- 

 teresting to note that Forster says the Maoris uttered an uncouth 

 braying sound. Mr. Warren makes it utter any musical bugle- 

 call. The difference is that Mr. Warren knows the tunes and 

 the Maori did not. Much of Maori art and Maori carving is 

 simply a degradation of a higher past. Their ancestors in far- 

 past davs invented this instrument, and doubtless could play it 

 for all that it was capable of ; but their descendants forgot their 

 ancient musical lore, and as time rolled on their knowledge 

 shrank and shrank, till it was, as Forster writes, always the 

 same note — an uncouth braying. The Maoris in Forster' s day 

 could not produce the varied notes that were lying dormant. 

 Having old trumpets in their possession, they could easily copy 

 them ; but how to produce the old notes and tunes — the memory 

 had lapsed. 



Judge Chapman, the learned expert in Maori art, told me this 

 strange story : Years ago an ancient Maori said that his an- 

 cestors in the far past had played on a trumpet that worked in 

 and out of its tube. The Maori explained how it was lengthened 

 and shortened, as Judge Chapman says, like a modern trom- 

 bone. The Judge believes that this must have existed in the 

 long-ago ; but there is not one left for our museums. 



One old writer says they shouted words through it. This 

 is incorrect. Mr. L. Grace says the chiefs had a few well-known 

 calls. 



John White and the Rev. R. Taylor do not mention or de- 

 scribe this trumpet. Colenso says the chiefs when travelling 

 were known by their trumpet-calls. When a great chief 



