\C>6 



Pa of Pomare. 



NEW ZEALAND. 



Rooiing of houses in New Zealand. 

 Visit to Pomare. 



among them. It was told me, on good authority, 

 that there had been a trial for murder by a jury of 

 chiefs at or near Hokianga, under the direction of 

 a white man, but there was great reason to believe 

 that the person did not receive that impartial 

 justice which a duly-organized court would have 

 assured him. The evidence was said to have been 

 deficient, but the current belief being against him, 

 he was notwithstanding shot. 



The natives, we were told, were not a little sur- 

 prised at the summary way in which justice, or 

 rather punishment, is dealt out by the magistrate 

 of Kororarika. 



Their taboo laws are very strict, and cai-efully 

 observed, even among those who are considered 

 Christians. The chief, Tomati, refused to enter 

 the house of a person whom he took Mr. Hale to 

 visit ; for if he had entered, it would have become 

 tabooed; and the native law, which does not permit 

 any man to enter a house in which a chief has 

 resided, even temporarily, would have compelled 

 him to abandon his dwelling. Women alone are 

 allowed to enter the houses of chiefs. An instance 

 of this was witnessed at the pa of Pomare, and 

 another where we attempted to purchase the prow 

 of a canoe. This prow, which was elaborately 

 carved to represent some nondescript animal, with 

 a human head, having the tongue protruded, was 

 accidentally seen in an out-of-the-way storehouse, 

 and was somewhat mutilated ; it had belonged to 

 the late chief Kiwikiwi, and was tabooed in the 

 first degree. Overtures were made to the widow 

 of Kiwikiwi for its purchase. It was evidently 

 considered very sacred, for none of the natives 

 would touch it, or even enter the storehouse in 

 which it was kept. Notwithstanding all its sacred- 

 ness, it was sold, after a little chaffering, for six 

 dollars. The first price asked was two pounds, 

 but the widow could not resist the chance of its 

 sale. After the bargain was concluded, no native 

 could be found willing to incur the penalty of the 

 taboo, by carrying it. When the transportation 

 was accomplished, a new and unexpected difficulty 

 arose : it could not be carried across the water in 

 a canoe, as it was against taboo to do it. The 

 threat of making them refund the money, and take 

 back the i/tu or nose, so worked upon the covetous- 

 ness of old Kawiti, the chief, that he consented to 

 remove it, and also promised to come the next day 

 and paint it red, after the native fashion. This he 

 punctually performed, using a kind of red earth 

 mixed with water. 



The taboo is always resorted to, to protect their 

 kumara -patches, and the fear of breaking it was 

 strongly shown by the intrusion of Mr. Tibbey's 

 goats into the kumara-patch of Pomare, near his 

 pa. No one could be induced to go in to drive 

 them out, for fear of punishment ; and a message 

 was sent to the chief to allow them to be expelled. 

 After the permission was given, the natives could 

 not be induced to enter by any other place but that 

 where the goats had broken through. 



The natives, for the most part, have their per- 

 manent residence in towns, or what are here 

 termed "pas," which are generally built on high 

 promontories, or insulated hills, and fortified in a 

 rude fashion, with a palisade of upright stakes, 

 about ten feet high : the houses or huts are all 

 built closely together. 



Pomare's pa being near our anchorage, was 



frequently visited. It contained about three hun- 

 dred huts. There was a main entrance through 

 the palisade, near which are two posts, the tops of j 

 which are carved into distorted representations ! 

 of the human figure. 



Within the main enclosure are other enclosures, 

 each containing five or six houses, with alleys of 

 two feet wide, that traverse the town. Their 

 houses are very simply constructed: four corner- 

 posts are driven into the ground, and left from two 

 to five feet above the surface; in the centre line 

 two or three strong posts are firmly set in the 

 ground, to support the ridge-pole of the roof; on 

 the posts is placed and lashed a horizontal beam 

 for the rafters to rest upon, and smaller poles are 

 lashed to the posts, at one foot apart, from the 

 ground up; on these the roofing is worked: the 

 material used in thatching is the rush (typha 

 latifolia), or our common cattail. The manner of 

 making the roof is to tie the materials on the hori- 

 zontal strips or poles, setting the larger ends on 

 the ground, and driving them close against each 

 other, generally with the fist, and so on until all is 

 closed in, leaving doorways under the eaves, at the 

 gable-ends; the rappooing is then cut square off at 

 the upper horizontal beam or plate-piece, and the 

 roof is put on, made of the same material, and 

 generally thatched with it or fern. The roofs have 

 usually but little pitch, which gives a squat look to 

 the houses. Mats are generally hung up at the 

 doorways, but some have doors made of pine; they 

 are low, obliging one to stoop or creep, in enter- 

 ing. Around their houses they have usually peach 

 trees growing, but nothing else is cultivated about 

 them. 



The furniture consists of mats, a few baskets 

 and trinkets, an old chest to lock them up in, an j 

 iron pot, and a double-barrelled gun, generally of 

 the best maker. 



Pomare's house was about twenty feet long by 

 twelve broad; from five to eight feet high. The 

 mode of construction was the same as above de- 

 scribed, with the exception that the rafters were 

 flat and ornamented with arabesque work, drawn 

 with soot or black pigment. The posts were like- 

 wise carved; but from the dirt and filth with which 

 they were covered, it was difficult, if not impossi- 

 ble, to decipher them. It is said that the New 

 Zealauders have improved in the art of building 

 since they were first visited, but they are still in 

 this respect far behind any of the islanders we 

 have visited. 



Four of our gentlemen, before my arrival, had 

 paid Pomare a visit, and made him some presents, 

 which, so far from satisfying his cupidity, only 

 made him more covetous. On receiving a watch- 

 chain, he asked for the watch; and could not be 

 induced to exhibit a dance, unless each person pre- 

 sented him with a shilling. This exaction was 

 submitted to, though they were disgusted and dis- 

 appointed with the greediness he manifested. The 

 dance proved very similar to those seen among the 

 Samoans and Tahitians, with the same tossing of 

 the arms and legs, and various contortions of the 

 body, performed by a number of men and women. 

 The only music was that of the voice, two or three 

 singing in a high monotonous key. The dance 

 was, however, seen to disadvantage by candle- 

 light. 



On the top of the hill is a sacred enclosure, or 



