THE TWO RACES WHICH PEOPLED POLYNESIA. 
15 
as the Maero and Mohocto, or wild man of the woods ; they 
are said even yet to exist on the Tararna mountains ; if a 
curl of smoke should be seen upon them, it is commonly 
attributed to the Maero. This, however, is to be regarded 
as an evidence of their past, rather than present existence. 
The Nga-ti-rua-nui, many years ago, stated that some of 
their tribe were once in the forests which cover the sides of 
Mount Taranaki, now called Egmont, spearing birds, and 
ascending higher than usual they came to a large tree, at the 
base of which were signs of man having been there ; won- 
dering from whence they could come, they looked up, and 
perceived a platform amongst the branches^ climbing up to 
it, they found a house, in which were several men, women, 
and children, who, as a matter of course, were soon killed 
and cooked. 
It is singular that the Australians likewise imagine there 
are men still wilder and more degraded than themselves 
living in their forests, of whom they have the greatest fear.* 
Portions of the Melanesian race have recently been found 
in some of the islands, living in tree-houses. Bishop Patteson 
states, that in one of the islands which he visited, he found 
a tribe living in lofty trees, the ascent to which appeared 
very difficult, and expressed his surprise at the facility with 
which the natives went along trunks of trees in inclined 
positions as ways of communication. f 
* “The natives of Sumatra suppose man to have originated with the Orang 
Outang, such as the fabulous Orang Gugu and Orang Cubu ; these are dreaded 
as most savage and violent creatures ; it seems possible that the Maori and 
Australians derived their ideas of wild men thence, and that this is a proof of 
common ancestry.” — Latham's Natural History of the Varieties of Man, 175. 
Some of the natives in South Eastern Africa believe that the souls of their 
ancestors return in the form of monkeys. The Australians think they become 
white men. The connection of men with monkeys is also entertained in 
Western India, where they advance a step still further, and give the order in 
which different nations have been changed from one into the other. 
t The following interesting account is extracted from a journal of ‘The 
Southern Cross ’ schooner, 1866 : — “ The Bishop (Patteson) slept on shore last 
night at one place, which he describes as a most extraordinary habitation. A 
site for the village has been chosen on a hill surmounted by steep, almost per- 
pendicular coral rocks ; the forest has been cleared for some space all round, 
so as to prevent any enemy from approaching unperceived ; there is a wall of 
