﻿CoLENSO. 
  — 
  On 
  a 
  better 
  Knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Maori 
  Race. 
  77 
  

  

  Art. 
  V, 
  — 
  Contributions 
  towards 
  a 
  better 
  Knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Maori 
  Race. 
  

   By 
  W. 
  CoLENSo, 
  F.L.S. 
  

  

  [Read 
  before 
  the 
  Haiolce 
  Bay 
  Pldlosophical 
  Institute, 
  IWi 
  August, 
  1878.] 
  

  

  " 
  For 
  I, 
  too, 
  agree 
  with 
  Solon, 
  that 
  ' 
  I 
  would 
  fain 
  grow 
  old 
  learning 
  many 
  

  

  things.' 
  " 
  — 
  Plato 
  : 
  Laches. 
  

  

  " 
  Though 
  this 
  be 
  madness, 
  yet 
  there 
  is 
  method 
  in't." 
  — 
  Hamlet. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  Ideality 
  of 
  the 
  Ancient 
  New 
  Zealander. 
  

  

  Pakt 
  I. 
  — 
  Legends, 
  Myths, 
  and 
  Fables. 
  

  

  § 
  1. 
  Introductory. 
  

  

  I 
  HAVE 
  long 
  been 
  desirous 
  of 
  adding 
  what 
  little 
  I 
  may 
  have 
  gleaned 
  on 
  this 
  

   subject 
  during 
  an 
  extended 
  sojourn 
  in 
  New 
  Zealand; 
  and 
  I 
  feel 
  still 
  the 
  

   more 
  inclined 
  to 
  do 
  so 
  through 
  (1) 
  it 
  being 
  now 
  evening 
  time 
  with 
  me, 
  and 
  

   (2) 
  through 
  my 
  having 
  noticed 
  the 
  many 
  crude 
  theories 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  

   broached 
  concerning 
  the 
  Whence 
  of 
  the 
  Maori, 
  not 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  which, 
  by 
  their 
  

   several 
  writers, 
  have 
  been 
  laboriouslv 
  propped 
  and 
  buttressed 
  with 
  all 
  and 
  

   every 
  item, 
  however 
  insignificant, 
  far-fetched, 
  and 
  vague, 
  they 
  could 
  possibly 
  

   impress 
  and 
  bring 
  forward, 
  but 
  in 
  which, 
  in 
  my 
  estimation, 
  they 
  have 
  

   notwithstanding 
  signally 
  failed, 
  because 
  they 
  laboured 
  to 
  build 
  up 
  a 
  pet 
  

   fancy 
  or 
  hobby 
  of 
  their 
  own 
  rather 
  than 
  the 
  truth 
  ; 
  some 
  even 
  starting 
  

   with 
  assuming 
  the 
  very 
  proposition 
  which 
  they 
  had 
  to 
  prove.* 
  

  

  For 
  my 
  own 
  part, 
  I 
  altogether 
  disclaim 
  all 
  such 
  ; 
  I 
  have 
  no 
  pet 
  theory 
  ; 
  

   I 
  only 
  seek 
  the 
  truth 
  ; 
  to 
  do 
  what 
  httle 
  I 
  may 
  tow^ards 
  establishing 
  it 
  ; 
  firmly 
  

   believing, 
  as 
  I 
  have 
  already 
  written,! 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  years 
  to 
  come 
  this, 
  too, 
  

   will 
  be 
  found 
  out 
  and 
  known. 
  

  

  For 
  this 
  purj)0se, 
  then, 
  I 
  shall 
  bring 
  before 
  you 
  on 
  the 
  present 
  occasion 
  

   a 
  few, 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  many, 
  curious 
  old 
  legends, 
  myths, 
  and 
  fables 
  of 
  the 
  Maori, 
  

   preferring 
  those 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  known 
  for 
  many 
  years, 
  which 
  have 
  to 
  do 
  wdth 
  

   natural 
  and 
  tangible 
  objects, 
  and 
  which 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  tampered 
  with 
  or 
  

   added 
  to 
  by 
  Europeans, 
  or 
  by 
  Maoris 
  who 
  had 
  imbibed 
  new 
  and 
  foreign 
  

   ideas. 
  

  

  * 
  Plenty 
  of 
  this 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  several 
  volumes 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Transactions 
  N.Z. 
  Inst.," 
  

   which, 
  although 
  often 
  attempted 
  to 
  be 
  dressed 
  up 
  in 
  a 
  new 
  fashion, 
  is 
  not 
  new. 
  I 
  append 
  

   a 
  suitable 
  extract 
  on 
  this 
  subject 
  from 
  an 
  old 
  book, 
  as 
  the 
  work 
  itself 
  is 
  scarce 
  and 
  little 
  

   known 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  " 
  In 
  respect 
  to 
  the 
  New 
  Zealanders, 
  some 
  have 
  imagined 
  that 
  they 
  sprang 
  from 
  

   Assyria 
  or 
  Egypt. 
  ' 
  The 
  god 
  Pan,' 
  says 
  Mr. 
  Kendall 
  to 
  Dr. 
  Waugh, 
  ' 
  is 
  universally 
  

   acknowledged. 
  The 
  overflowings 
  of 
  the 
  Nile, 
  and 
  the 
  fertility 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  in 
  con- 
  

   sequence, 
  are 
  evidently 
  alluded 
  to 
  in 
  their 
  traditions 
  ; 
  and 
  I' 
  think 
  the 
  Argonautic 
  

   expedition. 
  Pan's 
  crook, 
  Pan's 
  pipes, 
  and 
  Pan's 
  office 
  in 
  making 
  the 
  earth 
  fertile, 
  are 
  

   mentioned 
  in 
  their 
  themes. 
  Query 
  — 
  Are 
  not 
  the 
  Malay 
  and 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  South 
  Sea 
  

   Islanders 
  Egyptians 
  ?' 
  To 
  which 
  we 
  reply 
  — 
  When 
  will 
  the 
  spirit 
  of 
  conjecture 
  rest?" 
  — 
  

   Beauties, 
  etc., 
  of 
  Nature, 
  by 
  C. 
  Bucke 
  ; 
  new 
  ed., 
  vol. 
  ii., 
  s. 
  79; 
  London, 
  1837 
  (note). 
  

   f 
  In 
  Essay 
  on 
  The 
  Maori 
  Eaces 
  ; 
  Trans., 
  Vol. 
  I., 
  pp. 
  61, 
  62, 
  1st 
  Ed. 
  

  

  