Haasr.— Address. 55 
history of the Maoris begins. This tribe sprang from a chief of that name, 
who came from Hawaiki in the canoe Arawa, commanded by Tama te Kapua. 
Their first home was on the shores of Lake Taupo, but they were soon 
driven away southwards by their more powerful neighbours, and eventually 
crossed the straits about 400 years ago. The Ngatimamoe supplanted the 
Waitaha, and were in their turn supplanted by Ngatikuri, the present 
inhabitants. 
ApPENDE No. 2. 
Description of an ancient Drawing on a Hock-shelter at Parihaka, near the 
Gorge of the Opihi, South Canterbury. By the Rev. J. W. Srack. 
Although I had heard for many years from the Maoris of the existence of 
these drawings, which were popularly attributed to the Ngatimamoe, I was 
never able to examine them till November, 1875, when I went to see them, 
aecompanied by my friend, Mr. C. M. Wakefield. Owing to the incom- 
. petency of our guide, we were not taken to the spot where the best 
specimens exist, but to a long shallow cave or ** rock-shelter," on the north 
bank of the river Opihi. The cave is about 200 yards long, 10 feet wide, 
and 12 feet high, and protected from the weather by a dense growth of 
shrubs. The entire surface of the rock is covered with drawings, which, 
however, are unfortunately so defaced by modern scrawls, that it is impos- 
sible to distinguish their exact forms. For since the natives have lost their 
superstitious regard for these relies of antiquity, the eeling parties who 
frequent the spot make a practice of scratching rude drawings with charcoal 
all over them. The only perfect specimen I could find was near the eastern 
end, and at a height of fourteen feet from the ground. It was about five 
feet long, and had evidently been very carefully drawn. The black paint 
used by the artist has stood exposure so well, that the lines, from the 
crumbling away of the rock between them, are now somewhat in relief. 
There is a remarkable difference between this drawing and those found 
at Waikari, so great that I hardly think that they can belong to the same 
period. The parallel lines on the Parihaka drawings bear a strong re- 
semblance to the patterns on Maori baskets and the battens of ornamented 
roofs, Although I could not distinguish the shapes drawn, I saw everywhere 
these parallel lines and curves, but nowhere anything like the Waikari 
drawings, which are either only outlines or coloured throughout. This fact 
eonfirms, in my opinion, the statement made by Matiaha Tira Morehu 
respeeting the far greater antiquity of the Waikari drawings. I showed the 
copy I made of the Parihaka drawing to the Rev. Koti Rato, Wesleyan 
Minister at Rapaki, and to Hone Paratene, late M.H.R., and other intelli- 
gent natives, who concurred in the opinion that it was the representation of 
