﻿l.^Ulji<jlNWU 
  

  

  . 
  — 
  Oil 
  a 
  better 
  Knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Maori 
  Mace. 
  681 
  

  

  this 
  I 
  have 
  often 
  seen. 
  Why 
  was 
  this 
  ? 
  was 
  it 
  that 
  he 
  really 
  feared 
  that 
  

   little 
  harmless 
  animal 
  ? 
  or 
  was 
  it 
  that 
  that 
  tiny 
  creature 
  was 
  to 
  him 
  the 
  

   form 
  and 
  representation 
  of 
  a 
  great, 
  fearful, 
  mischievous, 
  and 
  mysterious 
  

   power, 
  the 
  deadly 
  foe 
  of 
  man, 
  ever 
  hated 
  and 
  dreaded 
  by 
  all 
  New 
  Zea- 
  

   landers, 
  and 
  called 
  an 
  Atua, 
  or 
  demon 
  ? 
  of 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  said 
  — 
  aye, 
  and 
  

   firmly 
  believed 
  — 
  that 
  it 
  often 
  gnawed 
  the 
  internal 
  part 
  of 
  diseased 
  folks, 
  

   and 
  so 
  surely 
  caused 
  their 
  death 
  ; 
  or 
  was 
  it 
  through 
  then- 
  belief 
  in 
  those 
  

   cherished 
  legends 
  of 
  the 
  olden 
  time, 
  that 
  had 
  been 
  strictly 
  handed 
  down 
  

   through 
  many 
  generations 
  from 
  father 
  to 
  son, 
  containing 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  

   some 
  dreadful 
  monsters 
  of 
  the 
  Saurian 
  order, 
  and 
  which 
  the 
  prowess 
  of 
  

   their 
  ancestors, 
  aided 
  by 
  the 
  charms 
  and 
  spells 
  of 
  their 
  priests 
  (mark 
  this), 
  

   had 
  enabled 
  them 
  to 
  vanquish 
  and 
  to 
  overcome 
  ? 
  Animals 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  huge 
  

   and 
  monstrous 
  size 
  as 
  would 
  comparatively 
  leave 
  the 
  Megatherium 
  and 
  

   Mammoth 
  far 
  behind 
  in 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  kittens 
  ! 
  

  

  And 
  here 
  I 
  cannot 
  help 
  caUing 
  your 
  particular 
  attention 
  to 
  a 
  very 
  

   curious 
  feature, 
  which 
  will 
  prominently 
  appear 
  in 
  the 
  relations 
  I 
  shall 
  have 
  

   to 
  give 
  you 
  — 
  viz., 
  that 
  while 
  the 
  utmost 
  exactitude 
  is 
  preserved 
  in 
  those 
  

   strange 
  stories 
  — 
  of 
  time, 
  and 
  ^Dlace, 
  and 
  persons, 
  and 
  of 
  a 
  certain 
  amount 
  

   of 
  strong 
  natural 
  reality, 
  yet 
  not 
  a 
  single 
  vestige 
  of 
  any 
  osteological 
  remains 
  

   of 
  any 
  animal 
  of 
  the 
  Saurian 
  kind 
  has 
  ever 
  yet 
  been 
  discovered 
  ! 
  While, 
  

   on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  the 
  fossil 
  remains 
  of 
  many 
  large 
  and 
  extinct 
  Struthious 
  

   birds 
  of 
  several 
  genera 
  and 
  species, 
  and 
  commonly 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  lump 
  by 
  

   the 
  name 
  of 
  Moa, 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  great 
  abundance 
  ; 
  and 
  yet, 
  of 
  these 
  

   realities, 
  there 
  are 
  neither 
  credible 
  history, 
  nor 
  curious 
  legendary 
  tale, 
  nor 
  

   myth 
  nor 
  fable, 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  ever 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  lay 
  hold 
  of. 
  

  

  Cax^tain 
  Cook 
  heard 
  something 
  of 
  those 
  large 
  Saurians 
  on 
  his 
  third 
  voyage 
  

   while 
  at 
  anchor 
  in 
  the 
  Straits 
  which 
  bear 
  his 
  name 
  ; 
  which, 
  being 
  but 
  brief, 
  

   I 
  will 
  give 
  in 
  his 
  own 
  words 
  : 
  — 
  " 
  We 
  had 
  another 
  piece 
  of 
  intelligence 
  from 
  

   this 
  chief, 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  lizards 
  there 
  of 
  an 
  enormous 
  size. 
  He 
  described 
  

   them 
  as 
  being 
  eight 
  feet 
  in 
  length, 
  and 
  as 
  big 
  round 
  as 
  a 
  man's 
  body. 
  He 
  

   said 
  they 
  sometimes 
  seize 
  and 
  devour 
  men 
  ; 
  that 
  they 
  burrow 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  ; 
  

   and 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  killed 
  by 
  making 
  fires 
  at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  holes. 
  We 
  

   could 
  not 
  be 
  mistaken 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  animal, 
  for, 
  with 
  his 
  own 
  hand, 
  he 
  drew 
  a 
  

   very 
  good 
  rej)resentation 
  of 
  a 
  lizard 
  on 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  paper, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  show 
  

   what 
  he 
  meant." 
  And 
  this 
  statement 
  was 
  further 
  confirmed 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Ander- 
  

   son, 
  the 
  surgeon 
  to 
  the 
  ship, 
  as 
  aj)pears 
  from 
  a 
  note 
  appended 
  to 
  that 
  

   voyage, 
  viz. 
  : 
  — 
  "In 
  a 
  separate 
  memorandum 
  book, 
  Mr. 
  Anderson 
  mentions 
  

   the 
  monstrous 
  animal 
  of 
  the 
  lizard 
  kind, 
  described 
  by 
  the 
  two 
  young 
  New 
  

   Zealanders 
  they 
  had 
  on 
  board, 
  after 
  they 
  had 
  left 
  the 
  island."* 
  

  

  * 
  3rd 
  Voyage, 
  Vol. 
  I., 
  pp. 
  142, 
  153. 
  

  

  