﻿!JBaks*ow. 
  — 
  On 
  the 
  Maori 
  Canoe. 
  ti 
  

  

  Abt. 
  IV. 
  — 
  The 
  Maori 
  Canoe. 
  By 
  E. 
  C. 
  Barstow. 
  

   [Read 
  before 
  the 
  Auckland 
  Institute, 
  10th 
  June, 
  1878.] 
  

   The 
  time 
  is 
  fast 
  approaching 
  when 
  the 
  Maori 
  will 
  hear 
  only 
  of 
  the 
  weapons, 
  

   garments, 
  and 
  utensils 
  of 
  his 
  ancestors 
  in 
  traditional 
  story 
  — 
  when 
  the 
  

   tomahawks, 
  spears, 
  paroas 
  will 
  have 
  disappeared 
  — 
  a 
  few 
  meres 
  remaining 
  

   as 
  decorations 
  or 
  indications 
  of 
  chieftainship 
  — 
  when 
  native 
  kakahus, 
  in 
  all 
  

   their 
  varieties, 
  having 
  ceased 
  to 
  be 
  manufactured, 
  wiU 
  have 
  perished, 
  and 
  

   when 
  the 
  stone 
  toki, 
  or 
  axe, 
  being 
  indestructible, 
  wiU 
  remain 
  to 
  be 
  wondered 
  

   at, 
  but 
  not 
  understood. 
  

  

  Not 
  only 
  will 
  these 
  matters 
  of 
  every-day 
  use 
  be 
  no 
  more, 
  but 
  the 
  grander 
  

   works 
  — 
  theu' 
  pas, 
  their 
  canoes, 
  their 
  ornamented 
  whares 
  will 
  have 
  decayed, 
  

   and 
  the 
  few 
  surviving 
  fragments 
  of 
  ])xe-pakeha 
  civUization 
  will 
  have 
  to 
  be 
  

   sought 
  for 
  ia 
  our 
  museums. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  a 
  duty, 
  then, 
  devolving 
  upon 
  us 
  to 
  endeavour 
  to 
  preserve 
  for 
  the 
  

   information 
  of 
  the 
  future 
  races, 
  both 
  white 
  and 
  Maori, 
  such 
  remnants 
  of 
  

   history 
  as 
  yet 
  exist, 
  and 
  with 
  this 
  object 
  I 
  have 
  persuaded 
  Paora 
  Tuhaere 
  

   to 
  lodge 
  here 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  carvings 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  once 
  well-known 
  canoe, 
  

   Toki-a-tapiri 
  ; 
  and 
  as 
  canoes 
  of 
  that 
  class 
  are 
  now 
  uncommon, 
  I 
  propose 
  to 
  

   give 
  a 
  short 
  account 
  of 
  their 
  construction, 
  and 
  a 
  word 
  or 
  two 
  as 
  to 
  their 
  

   history. 
  

  

  Our 
  first 
  accounts 
  of 
  these 
  Islands, 
  resulting 
  from 
  Tasman's 
  voyage 
  to 
  

   them, 
  more 
  than 
  two 
  centuries 
  ago, 
  brought 
  into 
  notice 
  the 
  canoes 
  of 
  the 
  

   people 
  ; 
  and 
  naturally 
  enough, 
  for 
  what 
  the 
  horse 
  is 
  to 
  the 
  Arab, 
  the 
  camel 
  

   to 
  the 
  dweller 
  in 
  the 
  desert, 
  the 
  canoe 
  was 
  to 
  the 
  inhabitant 
  of 
  New 
  

   Zealand 
  ; 
  a 
  country 
  abounding 
  in 
  bays, 
  harbours, 
  creeks, 
  rivers, 
  and 
  

   destitute 
  of 
  roads 
  and 
  beasts 
  of 
  burden. 
  Water-carriage 
  was 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  

   prime 
  necessity. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  dearth 
  of 
  quadrupeds 
  caused 
  

   fish 
  to 
  be 
  much 
  depended 
  upon 
  as 
  an 
  article 
  of 
  food. 
  Our 
  Waitangi 
  treaty 
  

   shows 
  how 
  highly 
  the 
  Maori 
  prized 
  his 
  fisheries. 
  But 
  in 
  Tasman's 
  time 
  

   the 
  canoes 
  he 
  saw 
  were 
  all 
  double 
  ; 
  though 
  Cook, 
  who 
  was 
  so 
  much 
  longer 
  

   on 
  the 
  coasts, 
  if 
  I 
  remember 
  rightly, 
  much 
  more 
  frequently 
  mentions 
  single 
  

   canoes 
  than 
  double 
  ones, 
  and 
  this 
  latter 
  class 
  must 
  have 
  gone 
  out 
  of 
  fashion 
  

   soon 
  after 
  Cook's 
  time 
  ; 
  for 
  I 
  never 
  heard 
  even 
  the 
  oldest 
  natives 
  mention 
  

   them 
  as 
  used 
  in 
  their 
  own 
  day, 
  save 
  temporarily, 
  when 
  two 
  might 
  be 
  lashed 
  

   together 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  erecting 
  a 
  fighting-stage 
  on 
  the 
  platform 
  between 
  

   them, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  overtop 
  therefrom 
  the 
  stockade 
  of 
  some 
  water- 
  

   fronting 
  pa. 
  

  

  Canoes 
  occupying 
  such 
  a 
  leading 
  position 
  in 
  native 
  estimation, 
  many 
  

   of 
  their 
  legends 
  and 
  traditions 
  have 
  reference 
  to 
  them 
  — 
  even 
  the 
  mythical 
  

   Ika-o-Maui, 
  the 
  first 
  drawing 
  up 
  of 
  this 
  island 
  from 
  the 
  ocean, 
  was 
  not 
  to 
  

   be 
  accomplished 
  without 
  a 
  canoe 
  — 
  the 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  seven 
  different 
  canoea 
  

  

  