112 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Inanimate Objects, and the operations of Nature already mentioned, about 

 100. (4.) From Man, — both chief and slave, male and female, old and 

 young, — the parts of the body, his ailments, infirmities and sins, — his 

 faculties, habits, and great powers, — nearly 100. I also find (5.) that from 

 their Guds, demi-gods, and ancient heroes, mythical or real, they derive above 

 100 ; and a lilie. number, incidental, occasional, and pecuhar, of particular 

 or celebrated men; (6.) from Numbers, about a dozen; (7.) from Artificial 

 Objects, — such as, the House and its belongings, the Canoe (their shix^ !) and 

 its equipment, — from their many and varied garments, — from war, fishing, 

 fowling, and husbandry implements, — from their artificial paper kites and 

 other games, — from their many Ornaments of greenstone, birds' feathers, 

 and shark's teeth, — and from their scented necklaces, anointhig oils aad 

 various cosmetics, nearly 200; while (8.) for love, affection, sympathy 

 nobility and greatness, — kindness and hospitality,- — industry (both of men 

 and women), quickness, and expertness, — endurance, patience, deliberation, 

 counsel, and advice, — peace not war, — courage and bravery, — and, against 

 ill-temper, ill-manners, and ill-nature,— laziness both of men and women, — 

 weariness and grumbling, — slander, shame, lying, and theft, — begging, idle- 

 ness, and gluttony, — disobedience, fear, cowardice, anger, hate, rashness, 

 and threatening, — superstition and omens, they have more than 200 ; of 

 which, it may be observed, that by far the largest number are in support of 

 industry, and against slander, gluttony, and laziness — their present three 

 common vices. " tempora I mores /" 



The colonist of to-day — aye, and most, too, of those of the last ten, or 

 even 25-30 years — who have had many dealings with the Maoris, or who 

 have had ample opportunities of observing them closely, will natm*ally feel 

 a httle peplexed at this ; as, I fear, their own experience would generally 

 tell a different tale. But it must be borne in mmd that the present genera- 

 tion is a widely different one from then- forefathers, — inheriting nearly all 

 their vices (with those heavier and commoner ones too surely attendant on 

 " civilization !"), and but little of their vhtues. The modern settler in New 

 Zealand would be quite prepared to hear of many Maori proverbs and 

 proverbial sayings in favour of war, cruelty, anger, hate, murder, theft, 

 gluttony, sloth, laziness, lying, duplicity, stratagem, over-reaching and 

 over-bearing conduct, the ill-treatment of women, children, and slaves, and 

 of superstition and omens ; but of all such proverbs, as a rule, it may 

 safely be afiirmed they are not to be found among those of the Maori people. 



There is something in all this which is of far greater moment than 

 appears at first sight ; which, I have little doubt, will be duly considered in 

 time to come. The question here naturally arises. Were those many pro- 

 verbs and proverbial sayings' in favour of the good and the useful — real ? 



