TRANSACTIONS 



OF THB 



NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE, 



18 74. 



I. —MISCELLANEOUS. 



Art. I. — The Mythology and Traditions of the Maori in New Zealand. By 



the Rev. J. F. H. Wohlers, of Ruapuke, Southland. 



{^Read before the Otago Institute, 7th April and 10th August, 1874.] 



Introduction. 

 This paper has been compiled from a number of tales collected by me in the 

 Maori language some twenty-five years ago, when there were still a few Maori 

 alive who were acquainted with their ancient lore. About the same time, Sir 

 George Grey, when he was the first time Governor of New Zealand, was 

 collecting such tales from the Maori in the north. He afterwards printed 

 his collection in the Maori language. I do not know if there is a translation 

 of the same. I have never seen one. In cases where Sir George Grey's 

 collections differ materially from mine, or where they can throw some light 

 on the subject, I have mentioned it. Where the proper names in the tales 

 bear a clear meaning in the Maori language, I have added the interpretation, 

 but not otherwise. 



Those tales could no more be collected now — at least not here in the south ; 

 for the old Maori are dead, and the younger ones have not learnt them, 

 because the new ideas introduced by Christianity and European settlements 

 have superseded the old Maori ideas. The tales can only have historical worth 

 when the mythologies and traditions of other nations, from widely different 

 parts, can be compared with them, as thereby the migration, and the archaic 

 place where the Polynesian race may have had its growth and development, 

 might be traced. They may also be worth reading as cmiosities. 



