44 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



it is very likely that the better-looking women were 

 spared, and became wives or concubines of the 

 victors. Tradition confirms the anthropological theory, 

 and so we may consider that matter settled. While 

 some authorities hold that the Polynesian immigra- 

 tion took place about 3,000 years ago, others give 

 a much more recent date, and native traditions seern 

 to show that not more than 600 years have elapsed 

 since the first invasion. The earliest colonists prob- 

 ably came from some of the islands between Samoa 

 and Tahiti. The tradition is that they came from a 

 place called Hawaiki: "The seed of our coming is 

 from Hawaiki, the seed of our nourishing, the seed 

 of mankind." This somewhat mythical region might 

 be Samoa or Tonga. The language of the Maoris 

 appears to be most nearly related to that of Baro- 

 tonga, and tradition points to that island as the 

 place where the canoes for the expedition were built 

 double canoes they were, and their names survive. 

 The legend still recalls how the seeds of sweet 

 potatoes, together with taro, gourds, karaka, berries, 

 dogs, parrots, rats, and sacred red paint, were put on 

 board the canoes, which were scattered in the night 

 by a storm. The north island was the one first 

 colonised. The reason for this migration, according 

 to the tradition, was a civil war, which devastated 

 Hawaiki. A chief, Ngalme by name, was driven to 

 flight; after a long journey he reached New Zealand, 

 and returned with pieces of jade and the bones of 

 a gigantic bird. These evidently belonged to the 

 moa, now extinct, which attained a height of about 

 12 feet, and was something like an ostrich. (See the 

 writer's "Extinct Monsters.") 



The Maori's chief article of dress is a long mat, 

 in which he muffles himself up to the neck (see illus- 

 tration, page 45). The mats are of various textures, 

 but are always made from what is called "New Zealand flax" (Phormium tenax). The fibres 

 of this plant (one of the Liliacece] are strong and fine, and when properly dressed have a 

 silky look. The mats are dyed with various colours, obtained from bark or from roots. Birds' 

 feathers are added for ornament. The natives also dress the skins of dogs, and make valuable 

 cloaks of them. The men -tattoo the face and parts of the body (see illustrations, pages 45 and 47), 

 but the women tattoo only on the chin. The reader who wishes to learn more about the art of 

 tattooing as formerly practised by these people should consult Major-General Eobley's interesting 

 work "Moko." 



The Maoris have undoubtedly developed a higher state of civilisation than other peoples of the 

 Pacific who belong to the same race of brown Polynesians. Perhaps this may be accounted for 

 by the fact that life is not so easily supported in New Zealand as in tropical Pacific islands, 

 where bread-fruits, cocoanuts, and bananas flourish with so little attention on the part of 

 man. ' The climate also is much more variable. The people who settled there found life 

 harder; and this struggle with nature was, no doubt, the means of drawing out capabilities 

 and talents which were previously more or less dormant. They appear to have brought with 

 them the dog, which was used for food, but not the pig. The only plants they cultivated 



MAORI GIRL. 



