﻿106 
  Transactions. 
  — 
  Miscellaneotis. 
  

  

  "They 
  descend 
  at 
  tJie 
  close 
  from 
  c 
  to 
  tlie 
  octave 
  below 
  in 
  a 
  fall, 
  resembling 
  

   the 
  sliding 
  of 
  a 
  finger 
  along 
  the 
  finger-board 
  of 
  a 
  violin. 
  I 
  shall 
  now 
  dis- 
  

   miss 
  this 
  subject 
  with 
  the 
  following 
  observation, 
  — 
  that 
  the 
  taste 
  for 
  music 
  

   of 
  the 
  New 
  Zealanders, 
  and 
  their 
  superiority 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  to 
  other 
  nations 
  

   in 
  the 
  South 
  Seas, 
  are 
  to 
  me 
  stronger 
  proofs 
  in 
  favour 
  of 
  their 
  heart, 
  than 
  

   all 
  the 
  idle 
  eloquence 
  of 
  philosophers 
  in 
  their 
  cabinets 
  can 
  invalidate." 
  — 
  

   Forster's 
  Voyage, 
  vol. 
  II., 
  pp. 
  476-478. 
  

  

  Abt. 
  VI. 
  — 
  On 
  the 
  Ignorance 
  of 
  the 
  Ancient 
  New 
  Zealander 
  of 
  the 
  Use 
  of 
  

  

  Projectile 
  Weapons. 
  By 
  W. 
  Colenso, 
  F.L.S. 
  

  

  {Read 
  before 
  the 
  Haivhe 
  Bay 
  Philosophical 
  Institute, 
  9th 
  Septeniber, 
  1878.] 
  

  

  I 
  HAVE 
  read 
  Mr. 
  C. 
  Phillips' 
  paper 
  " 
  On 
  a 
  peculiar 
  Method 
  of 
  Arrow 
  

   Propulsion 
  amongst 
  the 
  Maoris,"* 
  and 
  as 
  Mr. 
  Phillips 
  has 
  referred 
  to 
  a 
  

   very 
  brief 
  remark 
  made 
  by 
  me 
  in 
  my 
  essay 
  " 
  On 
  the 
  Maori 
  Eaces,"i 
  and 
  

   is 
  evidently 
  unacquainted 
  with 
  the 
  old 
  state 
  of 
  things 
  which 
  obtained 
  in 
  

   this 
  country 
  with 
  regard 
  to 
  missiles, 
  I 
  have 
  thought 
  it 
  right 
  to 
  say 
  a 
  few 
  

   words 
  on 
  this 
  subject 
  in 
  this 
  paper. 
  

  

  First, 
  however, 
  I 
  would 
  briefly 
  remark, 
  that 
  in 
  my 
  writing 
  that 
  essay 
  I 
  

   appended 
  thereto 
  a 
  quantity 
  of 
  " 
  Notes," 
  all 
  elucidatory 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  

   statements 
  I 
  had 
  made 
  therein. 
  Somehow 
  those 
  "Notes" 
  were 
  not 
  

   printed 
  with 
  the 
  essay 
  — 
  a 
  matter 
  I 
  have 
  greatly 
  deplored, 
  for 
  it 
  was 
  wholly 
  

   incomplete 
  without 
  them. 
  Had 
  they 
  been 
  printed 
  with 
  it, 
  then 
  Mr. 
  Phillips 
  

   would 
  have 
  found 
  related 
  the 
  circumstance 
  which 
  gave 
  rise 
  to 
  my 
  remark 
  

   quoted 
  by 
  him, 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  Zealanders 
  " 
  throwing 
  fiery-headed 
  darts 
  at 
  a 
  

   pa 
  (or 
  fort) 
  when 
  attacking 
  it." 
  That 
  note 
  I 
  shall 
  give 
  in 
  this 
  paper 
  

   farther 
  on. 
  

  

  It 
  should 
  be 
  perfectly 
  well 
  known 
  to 
  us 
  all 
  that 
  the 
  first 
  European 
  

   visitors 
  to 
  New 
  Zealand 
  found 
  the 
  people 
  utterly 
  without 
  the 
  bow 
  and 
  

   arrow, 
  and 
  the 
  shng, 
  and, 
  indeed, 
  the 
  common 
  frequent 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  small 
  

   dart 
  or 
  javelin, 
  as 
  an 
  offensive 
  projectile 
  weapon. 
  And 
  all 
  of 
  those 
  early 
  

   visitors 
  had 
  ample 
  oiDportunities 
  of 
  knowing 
  this, 
  for 
  they 
  were 
  often 
  

   attacked 
  themselves 
  by 
  the 
  New 
  Zealanders, 
  both 
  on 
  land 
  and 
  on 
  water, 
  

   when 
  such 
  missile 
  weapons 
  were 
  never 
  once 
  used. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  it 
  should 
  be 
  observed, 
  that 
  whenever 
  a 
  canoe, 
  or 
  a 
  

   body 
  of 
  natives, 
  came 
  up 
  with 
  Cook, 
  whether 
  at 
  sea 
  or 
  on 
  land, 
  and 
  were 
  

   for 
  fighting, 
  a 
  single 
  spear 
  was 
  invariably 
  thrown 
  ; 
  tliis, 
  however, 
  was 
  by 
  

   way 
  of 
  challenge 
  ftaki), 
  and 
  was 
  in 
  accordance 
  with 
  their 
  national 
  custom 
  ; 
  

   just 
  equal 
  to 
  the 
  old 
  Eurojoean 
  one 
  of 
  throwing 
  down 
  the 
  gage. 
  

  

  This 
  non-use 
  of 
  prepared 
  missiles 
  appeared 
  the 
  more 
  strange 
  to 
  the 
  

   Europeans, 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  such 
  weapons 
  (slings 
  and 
  darts) 
  being 
  com- 
  

  

  " 
  * 
  Trans. 
  N. 
  Z. 
  Inst., 
  Vol. 
  X. 
  97. 
  ' 
  

  

  f 
  Trans. 
  N. 
  Z. 
  Inst., 
  Vol, 
  I., 
  p. 
  15 
  of 
  the 
  esssj; 
  2nd 
  ed,, 
  p* 
  SoS* 
  

  

  