98 Essays. 



stort by saying their ancestors came from Hawaiki on the water by enchant- 

 ment in a few hours ; or under water by diving ; or on the back of an 

 albatros, &c., &c. And the writer also knows how many late writers and 

 lecturers on this subject have repeatedly stated their full belief in the his- 

 torical truth of such traditions ; and not only so, but by proceeding to cal- 

 culate the generations of the New Zealanders (believing, of course, all their 

 genealogical statements), have come to the conclusion, that " their dwelling 

 in New Zealand has not been more than 500 years ;" scarcely four centuries 

 before Cook and not three before Tasman discovered them (a.d. 1642). 

 In reasonably prosecuting this inquiry, a few old truthful witnesses will 

 have to be carefully examined ; and although their evidence, from the nature 

 of the case, will scarcely be any other than purely negative, yet, combined, 

 the reasonable proof they will yield of great antiquity may be sufficient to 

 establish its claim for favourable consideration to the intelligent and scientific 

 mind. 



(1.) Tradition uniformly speaks of the Northern Island of New Zealand 

 having been fished up by Maui. How did this peculiar myth arise concern- 

 ing this one island ? Did the first inhabitants see recent signs of upheaval, 

 which, geologically speaking, are patent to us, especially on the East Coast, 

 and in the Hawke Bay province ? Further, tradition speaks of the 

 vehement struggles of the said huge earth-fish after having been brought to 

 the surface (owing to the impiety of the brothers of Maui, who, in his 

 absence, had proceeded to cut up his fish), which caused the very broken 

 and abrupt appearance of the country ; — may this be also considered as in- 

 dicative of subsequent violent volcanic action, known to the first inhabitants ? 

 What necessity was there for such an addition to the Polynesian myth of 

 Maui, seeing either of the countries they had left (Hawaii or Sawaii) , were 4 

 more broken ? Again, the hook, with which Maui had fished up the land, 

 was said to be at Cape Kidnappers, in Hawke Bay ; no doubt from the 

 curved extension of the land at that cape in ancient times, when the present 

 two islets lying off it were joined to the land ; but those two islets existed, as 

 now, in Cook's time. And long before that period, owing to the very gradual 

 irruption of the sea there at that clayey cape, the ancestors of the present 

 natives, seeing the "hook " was gone, had removed its locality to Cape Turn- 

 again, which cape also had a similar though smaller curvature ; this, too, 

 has long ago been washed away. May not this be considered as another item 

 in favour of antiquity ? Tradition also speaks of many local portions of the 

 North Island having been upheaved, f alien-in, submerged, and deluged ; of 

 the old channels of the present rivers having been far ofE from, and flowing 

 over much higher ground than where they now are ; of chasms having opened, 

 and of the escape of the imprisoned monsters (Taniwha or Ngarara) to the 



