THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



were the sweet potato, taro, and the gourd; ferns and some other plants supplied edible 

 roots, and certain berries and fruits were also used. The sea and the rivers yielded them 

 fish. Tradition says that they hunted the huge moa, above referred to, and in time they 

 became skilful in hunting, in fishing, and in agriculture. 



The native children are very interesting, full of intelligence, quick in learning their 

 lessons at school, and unusually free and open in their manner; they live as much with the 

 men as with the women, and hence their faculties are sharpened at an early age. 



Until recently the code of Maori morals was very lax, and is still to some extent, a 

 young girl being permitted the utm'ost freedom until she is married. But after marriage she 

 is a model of constancy. This vicious system of free intercourse, exercised at a very early 

 age, is very bad physically as well as morally, and checks the healthy development of the 

 body. But it carries no reproach, and the girls are wonderfully modest and childlike in 

 manner. Suicide is very common, for these people firmly hold death to be better than 

 disgrace, and, like the Chinese, sometimes kill themselves under very slight provocation. 



Each tribe has its own great chief, while an inferior chief presides over every clan. Broadly 

 speaking, there are three grades of society first the nobility, then the freemen, and lastly 

 the slaves. The name Rangatira is applied to the native nobility, and by courtesy also to 

 officers, missionaries, and other white men who may be placed in any position of authority. 



The Maori man is a very lazy mortal. 

 In war he is all fire and spirit, but 

 in piping times of peace he lounges 

 about, and will do no work if he 

 can help it. The real work is done 

 by women and slaves, whose drudgery 

 makes them grow old prematurely. 

 Those who preserve their beauty 

 longest are the daughters of wealthy 

 chiefs, who can afford slaves to do 

 the hard work. 



Formerly the Maoris wore 

 greatly given to cannibalism. The 

 real reason of this revolting practice 

 was, as has been stated in the 

 previous chapter, the superstitious 

 notion that any one who ate the 

 flesh of another became endowed 

 with all the best qualities of that 

 person. A chief would sometimes 

 eat only the left eye of his enemy, 

 that being supposed to be the seat 

 of his soul. To drink his blood was 

 to imbibe his courage and spirit. 

 The practice must also be regarded 

 as symbolising a man's final triumph 

 over his enemy. 



There was a good deal of head- 

 hunting in old days. Years ago a 

 large number of preserved Maori 

 heads were brought into Europe. 

 (A collection was recently exhibited 

 at a meeting in the Anthropological 

 Institute in Hanover Square.) In 



Photo by Burton Bros.] 



A MAORI MAX AND HIS WIFE. 



