Haast. — Address. 55 



history of the Maoris begins. This tribe sprang from a chief of that name, 

 who came fi'om Hawaild in the canoe Arawa, commajnded by Tama te Kapua. 

 Their first home was on the shores of Lake Taiipo, but" they were soon 

 driven away southwards by then- 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. 



Appendix No. 2. 



Description of an ancient Drawing on a Rock-shelter at Parihaka, near the 

 Gorge of the Opihi, South Canterbury. By the Eev. J. W. Stack. 



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, 

 accompanied 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 siu-face 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 suace the natives have lost then- 

 superstitious regard for these relics 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 fom-teen 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 di'awn, I saw everywhere 

 these parallel hnes and curves, but nowhere anything like the Waikari 

 drawings, which are either only outlines or coloured throughout. This fact 

 confirms, in my opinion, the statement made by Matiaha Tira Morehu 

 respecting the far greater antiquity of the Waikari drawings. I showed the 

 copy I made of the Parihaka drawing to the Eev. Koti Eato, Wesleyan 

 Minister at Eapaki, and to Hone Paratene, late M.H.E., and other intelli- 

 gent natives, who concurred in the opinion that it was the representation of 



