350 WC: And even these darts, it should be observed, are not spoken of as thrown at the taniwhas.
351 WC: See appendix B.
352 WC: Nicholas’ “New Zealand,” Vol. I., p. 92.
353 WC: Cruise’s Journal, p. 198.
354 WC: Lit., a spoken spear.
355 WC: See appendix, note B, for an illustration.
356 WC: Lit., died like a nobody—a fool.
357 WC: The chiefs and the principal men urged onward the rush of the vanguard, but were not in it; they followed.
358 WC: Vide post “Proceedings H.B.P. Institute, ordinary meeting, September 9, 1878,” for an interesting account of the introduction into New Zealand of this “toy arrow,” by a living witness.
359 WC: That is, a spear-head, fitted on to the rough stem of a large creeper (vine): but never on a raataa (Metrosideros robusta).
360 WC: If I mistake not there will be a full description of a “pigeon spear,” and how it was made, one of the wondrous works of old! in those Notes of mine.
361 WC: In addition to what we have on record (already referred to) by Cook and others, there are a few early celebrated known engagements, attacks on Maori forts by Europeans, when, if ever, the Maoris would have used such projectiles, viz:—(1) That by the French under Crozet, in revenge for the death of their commander (Marion) and his men, when they attacked and took their stronghold or fort in the Bay of Islands. See App. C. (2) That of the combined crews of five whalers on the pa in the islet in Whangaroa harbour in revenge for the taking and burning of the “Boyd,” and the killing of the captain, passengers, and crew. (3) That of the soldiers and sailors of H.M.S. “Alligator” on the pa at Wamate, near Cape Egmont, in revenge for their having plundered Guard’s ship, &c. In all these cases the Maori pas, or forts, securely fenced and well situated (after the old custom) and almost inaccessible, were attacked and taken; and yet, while the Maoris defended themselves well and long, nothing was seen, or shown, or used, in the shape of “slings” and “hot” stones,” “bows and arrows, jagged darts, and poisoned kotahas! (Jam satis!)
362 WC: As described in Cook’s Voyages, Vol. II., p. 342–344.
363 WC: i.e. 3 inches and 6 lines.
364 WC: I may here mention that the moth described in Dr. Dieffenbach’s work on New Zealand, Vol. II., p. 284, (Hepialus) was also raised by me from larvæ which I had fed on kumara leaves, much to the annoyance of the Maoris in those times, who made a great fuss and objection to my so doing. (See note at end.)
365 WC: In Spéciès Général des Lépidoptères Nocturnes.
366 WC: Cordiceps robertsii.—Hand Book, Fl. N.Z.
367 WC: Ipomaæa chryssorhiza.—Hand Book, Fl. N.Z.
368 Cyathea medullaris (G. Forst.) Sw.
369 Possibly Hymenophyllum demissum (G. Forst.) Sw.
370 WC: Here in Hawke’s Bay, during the whole term of my residence (over 35 years), but very few bones of the Moa have been found, and those singly, scattered, and broken. Nevertheless, on one occasion, about twenty years ago, the men at work on the Middle Road (between Havelock and the entrance to the Kaokaoroa Valley), in making a cutting in the side of a hill, found, either the whole skeleton of a large Moa, or the bones of several all together, deeply embedded among or under the limestone. I did not hear of it until some time after, and, on my visiting the spot, I found that the whole of the bones had been smashed up and mixed with the clay and limestone from the cutting where they were found; in fact many of them fell to pieces on being exposed to the sun and air. I obtained, however, a few small pieces of the shank of a tibia and of a tarsus, which were of remarkable thickness, I think the thickest by far that I had ever seen. They had been partly converted into a kind of lime, and were wholly as white as the impure limestone in which they were found, and scarcely at first sight distinguishable from it. A few years ago a fine specimen of a tibia, in fair preservation, measuring two feet eight inches, was found near Patangata: this I now have.
371 WC: These were, a pair each of Femora, Tibiæ, and Tarsi, all from one Moa, found in situ, with other bones, at Poverty Bay, about thirty years ago. The tibiæ measure two feet five inches each, and the whole are in excellent preservation.
372 WC: My first paper was written early in 1842, and published with two plates of bones of the Moa in the “Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science,” Vol. II., part 7: this was subsequently republished in England, by Professor Owen, in the “Annals and Magazine of Natural History,” Vol. XIV., p. 81, with the above title.
373 WC: See Note A, Appendix I.
374 WC: See Note B, Appendix I.
375 WC: See Note C, Appendix I.
376 Lusus naturæ: jokes of nature.
377 WC: This has been sent by Mr. Williams, with several others, to Professor Buckland.
378 WC: For the benefit of the English reader, I give Dryden’s translation of the passage from the celebrated Latin poet:—
“Then when along the crooked shore we hear
Their clatt’ring wings, and saw the foes appear,
Misenus sounds a charge: we take th’ alarm,
And our strong hands with swords and bucklers arm.
In this new kind of combat, all employ
Their utmost force the monsters to destroy.—
In vain:—the fated skin is proof to wounds;
And from their plumes the shining sword rebounds.”
—Book iii., 311.
379 WC: Drawings of these bones were sent to the Tasmanian Society, and published with the original monograph in their Journal.
380 WC: I much regret that I had not an opportunity of inspecting the largest and most perfect bones ere they were sent to England. A vessel sailing from Turanga for Port Nicholson, by which opportunity they were sent, was the reason of my not seeing them.
381 WC: See Note D, Appendix I.
382 WC: The rivers at Waiapu and Turanga have high banks on either side, even where the country is a plain of rich alluvial deposit. Near Mangaruhe, and also near Whataroa (three days’ journey inland from Poverty Bay), I descended the almost perpendicular banks of the river which falls into the Wairoa, where they were from thirty to sixty feet in height. This height they apparently preserved as far as the eye could trace them from the summits of the neighbouring hills. The Wairoa is a large river which disembogues into Hawke’s Bay.
383 WC: The only quadrupeds indigenous to New Zealand are a dog, a small rat, a few Saurians, a bat, and, on the coast, one or two species of seal. [This note is a long one of nearly two pages in the original monograph, describing those animals. I omit it here, —W.C.]
384 WC: The Baron’s words are:— “It appears as if all the muscular power which is at the command of nature would be insufficient to move such immense wings as would be required to support their massive bodies in the air.” (Règne Animal, Class Aves, Ord. V., Fam. 1.) If such were the spontaneous remarks made by that illustrious naturalist, on contemplating the size of the known members of that family, what would he not have said had he but lived to examine the colossal structure of the Moa!
385 WC: It has been my good fortune to have at different times several specimens of the Apteryx in my possession; at present, however, I have not one, nor do I know in whose possession one is to be found in New Zealand.
386 WC: See Note E, Appendix I.
387 WC: Vide Cuvier “Règne Animal,” Glass Aves, Gen. Casuarius.
388 The Malay word is “kesuari” (hence “cassowary”); “emu” is closer.
389 WC: Prof. Owen’s observations on this subject are given on p.444, vol. xii, and p.59, vol. xiv, of this Journal; the generic name of Dinornis has been given by Prof. Owen to this monster bird, and no less than five species distinguished.—Ed. [ie, editor of the Annals; actually Owen’s description was in Vol 5 (30): p166].
391 WC: Called in the Polynesian Mythology (p. 132), “The Legend of Poutini and Whaiapu.”
392 WC: Probably the cliff and waterfall of that name near the river Waihou, between Tauranga and Matamata.
393 WC: Vide Part I., pp. 64-68.
394 WC: I give also the Maori of this, on account of some of the names: — “Ka timata tenei i te haerenga mai o Tamatea ratau ko ona matua; ko nga ingoa enei o ana tamariki,—ko Rongokako, ko Hikutapuae, ko Hikitaketake, ko Rongoaimoa, ko Taihopi, ko Taihapoa, ko Kahuiua, ko Motoro, ko Te Angi, ko Kupe, ko Ngake, ko Paikea, ko Uenuku,—ko nga tamariki enei a Tato.”
395 WC: Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. XI., p. 568.
396 WC: This, of course, is from Genesis, and refers to the deluge.
397 WC: Thus referred to in the very old legend of Tawhaki:—“Tawhaki, having recovered from his wounds, left that place, and went and built a fort on the top of the mountain for himself and tribe, where they dwelt. Then it came to pass that the rain was let down from the sky, and the land was overwhelmed, and all men died; from which circumstance (that flood) was named—‘The overturning of Mataoho;’ and so they perished.” (See this amplified in “Polynesian Mythology,” p. 61.)
398 WC: This was Hawea’s grandfather, who, with his son Te Heheu, saw Cook. Te Heheu died about thirty years ago, old and full of days.
399 WC: I believe the true meaning of the verb (kite), here, is—heard of, i.e., knew from relation; heard it clearly described.
400 WC: All this is with especial reference to my many separate enquiries.
401 WC: An aged chief still living here in Hawke’s Bay.
402 WC: I have been careful to be exact in making those translations of, and extracts from, Hawea’s letters to me, even to the repeating of some portions, as I wished to give them as I received them;—it may be for future reference. I had purposed the giving them also in their original Maori, in the Appendix to this paper. Hawea, being aged, very rarely writes himself, but employs constantly a middle-aged Maori, named Hamuera, to write for him; who, I know, is to be relied on for accuracy: hence it is that Hawea is generally spoken of in the third person.
403 WC: Vide “Polynesian Mythology,” p. 92.
404 WC: See Tangaroa-mihi, “Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” Vol. XI., p.100.
405 WC: Sir G. Grey’s “Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p. 324.
406 WC: Korohiko is another name for Koromiko = Veronica, sp.
407 WC: “Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p. 180.
408 WC: “Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p. 133.
409 WC: “Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p. 96.
410 WC: “Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p.9.
411 WC: Vide “Proverbs” (ante), p.86.
412 WC: Vide “Essay on the Maori Races:” Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol.1., p. 47, Essay.
413 WC: Vide p. 80, Legend of Ngahue.
414 WC: See Trans. N.Z. lnst., Vol. XI., p. 101.
415 WC: See Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. XI., p. 87, etc.
416 WC: “Polynesian Mythology,” pp. 262, 264.
417 WC: “Polynesian Mythology,” p. 250. And, also, that Cook, with his band of scientific men with him, while they often speak of the quantity and variety of feathers with which the New Zealanders ornamented their hair, mention them as belonging to New Zealand birds they had seen or secured: and those chiefs dressed themselves in their very best finery.
418 WC: “Polynesian Mythology,” p. 90.
419 WC: “Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” Vol. XL., p. 100.
420 WC: It was in 1841 that I first visited the Urewera tribes in the interior, at Ruatahuna and Te Whaiiti, near the head of the Whakatane river; and it was on this visit that I saw there (at Mangatepa) the most monstrous goat that I ever beheld! in bulk it was more like a young steer with prodigious flat horns, and was very mischievous. I saw it knock down sprawling big strong Maoris! who, however, generally gave it a wide berth, and so kept aloof. Inside of the fenced pa, or village, it was a perfect pest; for being tapu (i.e., bearing the name of some one of their deceased chiefs), it must not be touched! This ancient custom of the old Maoris of naming their pets after some deceased relation, always insured both its safety (with the tribe) and its being tolerably well cared for; and if the said pet were at all viciously inclined it was sure to become worse through overindulgence! I confess I was afraid of that quadruped, and for a long while could not believe it to be a goat! The Maoris, some years before, had obtained it from a ship on the East Coast.
421 WC: The song which was taught this bird is in Prof. Lee’s “New Zealand Grammar” p. 109; in its present state it is very imperfect.
422 WC: See infra, p. 96.
423 WC: See “Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” Vol. I., “Essay on the Maori Races,” p. 15 of Essay; and Cook’s Voyages, 1st Voy., Vol. III., p. 464.
424 WC: The term “turikakoa,”—lit. glad, or nimble knees—arises from the use formerly made of this globular head of flowers when travelling by the sea-side, in going before the wind over sandy beaches, or flats, when the tide is low; one, or more, of them were gathered and pursued with agility and merriment! such a simple device has often served to beguile many a wearisome journey on foot, with me and my party.
425 WC: Sir George Grey’s “Poetry of the New Zealanders,” p. 41.
426 WC: Grey’s Poetry of New Zealanders, p. 15.
427 WC: Hinetemoa, a lady who lived eleven generations back (and an ancestress of Henare Toomoana, M.H.R.), was the wife of the chief Hikawera, and mother of Te Whatuiapiti, from whom the sub-tribe of Ngatitewhatuiapiti, residing at Patangata and Waipukurau in Hawke’s Bay, are descended. On my formerly enquiring of the old chiefs of that tribe, why she obtained that name? the reply was: To show her high rank; she being the daughter of a great chief and of a great lady; hence, Hine—which was joined to that of the one great majestic Moa dwelling on the mountain Whakapunake, there being no other, so—Hinetemoa!!
428 WC: Raumoa, being the name for a variety of New Zealand Flax (Phormium), found on the West Coast (unknown by sight to me), and also a name for the leaves of the sea-side grass Spinifex hirsutus, a question here arises: (1) is the glaucous green Spinifex similar in hue to the said variety of Phormium—and, if so, (2) could the extinct bird Moa have had plumage of a similar colour in the eye of the old Maoris? (3) the hairy waving flaccid and closely growing Spinifex might also have carried a resemblance to the coarse body-feathers of the Moa. From strict etymological analogy, I should say, there must have been something in connection with the Moa which gave their names to those two plants; such, too, being in keeping with the genius of the ancient Maoris—as we may see (for instance) in the plant Rauhuia = the plume of the Huia (Linum monogynum), just because it bears its numerous white flowers at the tips of its branches, so reminding the old Maori of the white-tipped feathers of the Huia (Heteralocha gouldi).
429 WC: Vide names of places, ante.
430 WC: I cannot resist venturing a remark here on these peculiar terms for those round shining stones: (1) Note the two words; here we have moa reduplicated, meaning, commonly, less than moa (whatever moa may here mean), and, at the same time, having a frequentative tendency; (2), then we have the prefix ha, which means, to resemble, to look like, to remind of; can there be any allusion here to the metallic shining eyes, the ocellated appearance, of that one feather, which Hawea said was a feather of the Moa, and which closely resembled a peacock’s tail-feather? Moa, too, as we have seen, seems to be a kind of generic term for something round, spherical—e.g., the round twirling drill, and the round flowering-headed Spinifex.
431 WC: As obtains also very commonly in modern names among the Maoris, e,g.: Maa (for Makarini = MacLean), Mue (for Hamuera = Samuel), Neho (for Koreneho = Colenso), Tiu (for Matiu = Matthew), Pao (for Paora = Paul), Nahi (for Natanahira = Nathaniel).
432 WC: I may here give the translation of a letter from some aged chiefs on the East Coast, in answer to my repeated enquiries. It will also serve as a fair sample of many received on the same subject: –
“Friend Colenso, greeting to thee, etc. Listen to what we have to say in answer to thy many questions. We are not sufficient (or able) to reply. The reason of our inability is simply this, that our ancestors themselves did not know, and so that want of knowledge has come down to and is with us of the present day. It is so just because there was and is but one meaning of those several words [names of places] , viz.: the name of the place itself. We know the bones of the Moa from old time; but the reason why such a name (of Moa or relating to a Moa) was anciently given to streams, to lands, to persons, to trees, to plants, this we don’t know, we cannot explain; and herein is our great ignorance.”
433 WC: Nearly all that I know of this bird is from a letter from a Maori chief, written in 1878, in which he says:— “The foreigner introduced the dog and the cat, which completely destroyed the food-birds of this island,—the weka, the kiwi, the kaakaapoo, the piopio, and many other birds.”
434 WC: It was the hearing the melancholy wailing of the karoro flying in the Upper Rangitikei River, that caused the chief Kahungunu to burst out into his passionate lament. (Vide, p. 91, ante.)
435 WC: Vide Hawea’s statement of that “one feather” having been found in the mountain district, blown down by the wind to the branches of a white pine tree. (Ante, p. 83).
436 WC: Vide “Cook’s Voyages,” second voyage, Vol. I.,p. 318; and in other places.
437 WC: Nor is this to be at all wondered at, for the Greeks and the Romans did just the same thing to new animals; hence the Greeks named the animal from the African rivers, Hippopotamus (river-horse), and the Romans the Elephant, Lucas bos (the Lucanian ox), because they were first seen by them in Lucania. (Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. viii. c. 6: Varro, de Ling. Lat.) I am led to mention this here in a note, because some of our “superior race” colonists have ridiculed the Maoris for so doing, and in doing so have displayed their own ignorance!
438 WC: Vide “Trans. N.Z. Inst.” Vol. X., p. 146.
439 WC: Page 84, ante.
440 WC: It should not be overlooked, that it is only of late years the Maori Proverbs, Songs, etc. have been reduced to writing, so that it would be very easy for a writer to make such a slight error as taona for tahuna, especially if he were a young person writing down old and almost obsolete sayings from the dictation of aged men.
441 WC: Vide page 87, ante.
442 WC: Vide Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. I., “Essay on the Maori Races,” p. 58 of Essay.
443 WC: Annals, lib. VI., c. 28.
444 WC: Lit., strictly forbidden, or preserved.
445 WC: “Travels in New Zealand,” Vol. I., pp. 140 and 417.
446 WC: At their fifteenth meeting, held June 21, 1845.
447 WC: From the “Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science,” Vol. II., p. 451.
448 WC: Vide Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. XI., p. 110. t
449 WC: Vol. V., Natural History, plates.
450 WC: Vide Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. I., p. 49 of “Essay on the Maori Races.”
451 WC: Vide Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. VIII., p. 58.
452 WC: Vide my genealogical note on Hinetemoa, p. 95, ante.
453 WC: Here I should briefly mention a few of those scientific gentlemen who were also in the Bay of Islands and its neighbourhood during those years (omitting mere passing visitors), and who all through their interpreters zealously sought after any remains of the Moa, now especially coming into prominence; viz., the Antarctic Expedition, under Sir J.C. Ross, R.N., with his several able naturalists (including Sir J.D. Hooker), who wintered there; the United States Exploring Expedition, under Commander Wilkes, U.S.N.; the several French ships of war and discovery, under Admiral Dumont D’Urville, Captain Cecille, Captain L’Eveque, and others; and many other private gentlemen, as Mr. Busby, Mr. Cunningham, the Rev. W.C. Cotton, and Dr. Sinclair,—but whose gains were nil! Through my residing in the Bay and close to the anchorage, I saw and knew them all, and of course had much conversation with them about the Moa, and its history. And last, though not least, there were the many “stores,” or traders settled on shore in various parts of the Bay, who had very extensive dealings not only with the shipping but with the Maoris; who, be it further observed, were now everywhere breaking soil in seeking after the new commercial product, Kauri resin. Those traders would have been sure to have picked up readily any specimens of Moa remains, or any fragments of its past history,—but they, too, got none!