Maori Religion and Mythology

Front matter

Maori Religion

AND

Mythology.

Chapter 1

PRIMITIVE RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.

ARYANS AND POLYNESIANS.

Νόμιζε σαυτῷ τοῦς γονεῖς ἔιναι Θεούς.

The religious feeling may be traced to the natural veneration of the child for the parent, joined to an innate belief in the immortality of the soul. What we know of the primitive religion of Aryans and Polynesians points to this source. They both venerated the spirits of deceased ancestors, believing that these spirits took an interest in their living descendants: moreover, they feared them, and were careful to observe the precepts handed down by tradition, as having been delivered by them while alive.

The souls of men deified by death were by the Latins called "Lares" or "Mânes," by the Greeks "Demons" or "Heroes." Their tombs were the temples of these divinities, and bore the inscription "Dis manibus," "Θεοὶς χθόνιοις;" and before the tomb was an altar for sacrifice. The term used by the Greeks and Romans to signify the worship of the dead is significant. The former used the word "πατριάζειν" the latter "parentare," showing that the prayers were addressed to forefathers. "I prevail over my enemies," says the Brahmin, "by the incantations which my ancestors and my father have handed down to me."

Similar to this was the common belief of the Maori of Polynesia, and still exists. A Maori of New Zealand writes thus: "The origin of knowledge of our native customs was from Tiki (the progenitor of the human race). Tiki taught laws to regulate work, slaying, man-eating: from him men first learnt to observe laws for this thing, and for that thing, the rites to be used for the dead, the invocation for the new-born child, for battle in the field, for the assault of fortified places, and other invocations very numerous. Tiki was the first instructor, and from him descended his instructions to our forefathers, and have abided to the present time. For this reason they have power. Thus says the song:— E tama, tapu-nui, tapu-whakaharahara, He mauri wehewehe na o tupuna, Na Tiki, na Rangi, na Papa. O child, very sacred—very, very sacred. Shrine set apart by your ancestors, By Tiki, by Rangi, by Papa.

The researches of philologists tend to show that all known languages are derived from one original parent source. The parent language from which the Aryan and Polynesian languages are derived must have been spoken at a very remote time; for no two forms of language are now more diverse than these two are. In the Polynesian there is but the slightest trace of inflexion of words which is a general character of Aryan languages. The Polynesian language seems to have retained a very primitive form, remaining fixed and stationary; and this is confirmed by the fact that the forms of Polynesian language, whether spoken in the Sandwich Islands or in New Zealand, though their remoteness from each other indicates a very early separation, differ to so small a degree that they may be regarded as only different dialects of the same language. The Maori language is essentially conservative, containing no principle in its structure facilitating change. The component parts or roots of words are always apparent.

When we consider the great remoteness of time at which it is possible that a connection between Aryans and Polynesians could have existed, we are carried back to the contemplation of a very primitive condition of the human race. In the Polynesian family we can still discover traces of this primitive condition. We can also observe a similarity between the more antient form of religious belief and mythological tradition of the Aryans and that still existing among Polynesians; for which reason we think it allowable to apply to the interpretation of old Aryan myths the principle we discover to guide us as to the signification of Polynesian Mythology.

It was a favourite opinion with Christian apologists, Eusebius and others, that the Pagan deities represented deified men. Others consider them to signify the powers of external nature personified. For others they are, in many cases, impersonations of human passions and propensities reflected back from the mind of man. A fourth mode of interpretation would treat them as copies distorted and depraved of a primitive system of religion given by God to man.

The writer does not give any opinion as to which of these theories he would give a preference. If, however, we look at the mythology of Greek and Latin Aryans from the Maori point of view the explanation of their myths is simple.

This mythology personified and deified the Powers of Nature, and represented them as the ancestors of all mankind; so these personified Powers of Nature were worshipped as deified ancestors. There is no authority for any other supposition. With regard to the two latter theories above referred to it may be remarked that fiction is always liable to be interpreted in a manner conformable to the ideas prevailing at any particular time, so that there would be a natural tendency, in modern times, to apply meanings never originally thought of to the interpretation of mythology. Man in early days, ignorant of the causes of natural phenomena, yet having a mind curious to inquire and trace observed effects to some cause, formulated his conceptions on imaginary grounds, which, although now manifestly false and absurd, yet were probably sufficiently credible in the infancy of knowledge.

There is a notable mental condition of the Poly to which we desire to direct attention. The Maori has a very limited notion of the abstract. All his ideas take naturally a concrete form. This inaptitude to conceive any abstract notions was, it is believed, the early mental condition of man. Hence the Powers of Nature were regarded by him as concrete objects, and were consequently designated as persons. And this opinion is confirmed by the fact that the researches of comparative philologists give proof that all words are, in their origin or roots, expressive of visible and sensuous phenomena, and consequently that all abstract words are derivable from such roots. The absence, too, of all abstract and metaphysical ideas from Homer has been noticed by Mr Gladstone as very remarkable.

I have seen it stated in print that the New Zealander has no sentiment of gratitude; in proof of which it was mentioned that he has no word in his language to express gratitude. This is true; but the reason is that gratitude is an abstract word, and that Maori is deficient in abstract terms. It is an error to infer that he is ignorant of the sentiment of gratitude, or that he is unable to express that sentiment in appropriate and intelligible words.

ARYAN MYTHOLOGY.

The Aryans do not appear to have had any tradition of a Creation. They seem to have conceived of the Powers of Nature very much in the same way as the Maori did,—namely, that the mysterious power of Generation was the operative cause of all things.

Hesiod in his Theogony relates that the first parent of all was Chaos.

From Chaos sprung Gaia (= Earth), Tartarus, Eros (= Love), Erebus, a dark son. Night, a dark daughter, and lastly, Day.

From Gaia alone sprung Ouranos (= Heaven), Hills, Groves, and Thalassa (= Sea).

From Heaven and Earth sprung Okeanos (= Ocean), Japetus, Kronos (= Saturn), Titans.

Hesiod also relates how Heaven confined his children in the dark caverns of Earth, and how Kronos avenged himself.

In the "Works and Days" Hesiod gives an account of the formation of the first human female out of Earth, from the union of whom, with Epimetheus, son of the Titan Japetus, sprung the human race.

So far Hesiod's account may be derived from Aryan myths. The latter and greater part, however, of Hesiod's Theogony cannot be accepted as a purely Aryan tradition; for colonists from Egypt and Phœnicia had settled in Greece, at an early period, and had brought with them alien mythical fables which were adopted in a modified form, in addition to the antient family religion of worship of ancestors.

Herodotus asserts that Homer and Hesiod made the Theogony of the Greeks; and to a certain extent this may be true, for the bard was then invested with a kind of sacredness, and what he sung was held to be the effect of an inspiration. When he invoked the Muses his invocation was not a mere formal set of words introduced for the sake of ornament, but an act of homage due to the Divinities addressed, whose aid he solicited.

The traditions prevalent in Bœotia would naturally be strongly imbued with fables of foreign origin; and Hesiod, who was a Bœotian by birth, by collecting these local traditions and presenting them to the public in an attractive form, no doubt contributed, as well as Homer, to establish a national form of religion, made up of old Aryan tradition and what had been imported by Phœnician and Egyptian colonists.

Thus Zeus and the other Olympian deities formed the centre of a national religious system; but at the same time the old Aryan religion of worship of ancestors maintained a paramount influence, and every tribe and every family had its separate form of worship of its own ancestors. The prayer of the son of Achilles, when in the act of sacrificing Polyxena to the manes of his father, is a striking instance of the prevalent belief that the deified spirits of ancestors had power to influence the destinies of the living.

"O son of Peleus, my father, receive from me this libation, appeasing, alluring, the dead. Come now, that you may drink the black pure blood of a virgin, which we give to thee—both I and the army. And be kindly disposed to us, and grant us to loose the sterns of our ships, and the cables fastening to the shore, and all to reach home favoured with a prosperous return from Ilium."

Euripides would not have put these words into the mouth of the son of Achilles had they not been in accord with the sympathies of an Athenian audience.

Comparing the Greek mythological traditions, such as they have come down to us, with those of the Maori, some striking resemblance is to be observed. First, there is the fact that both treat the elements of nature, and abstract notions as persons capable of propagating from each other by generation. In both Light springs out of Darkness. The sons of Heaven and Earth in both accounts conspire against their father for the same reason—that their father had confined them in darkness. And lastly the first human female, in both, is said to have been formed out of earth. The first woman, in the Maori Mythology, drags down her offspring to Po (= Night), meaning to death. And the first woman of the Greek Mythology, Pendora, introduces all kinds of afflictions as an heritage for hers.

It is also to be noticed that just as Zeus and the Olympian Gods were national deities for Greeks, so their old mythical deities—Po, Rangi, Papa, Tiki, &c., were invoked alike by the whole Maori race, especially in the ceremonies required to free a person from the sacred restrictions comprised under the term tapu. They were the Maori national Gods, for they were their common ancestors. But at the same time every Maori tribe and family invoked independently each its own tribal and family ancestors, just as was the practice of the Greeks and Latins.

Chapter 2

CHAPTER II.

MAORI COSMOGONY AND MYTHOLOGY.

An quoquam genitos nisi Cœlo credere fas est Esse homines.—Manilius.

The Maori had no tradition of the Creation. The great mysterious Cause of all things existing in the Cosmos was, as he conceived it, the generative Power. Commencing with a primitive state of Darkness, he conceived Po (= Night) as a person capable of begetting a race of beings resembling itself. After a succession of several generations of the race of Po, Te Ata (= Morn) was given birth to. Then followed certain beings existing when Cosmos was without form, and void. Afterwards came Rangi (= Heaven), Papa (= Earth), the Winds, and other Sky powers, as are recorded in the genealogical traditions preserved to the present time.

We have reason to consider the mythological traditions of the Maori as dating from a very antient period. They are held to be very sacred, and not to be repeated except in places set apart as sacred.

The Genealogies recorded hereafter are divisible into three distinct epochs:—

I. That comprising the personified Powers of Nature preceding the existence of man, which Powers are regarded by the Maori as their own primitive ancestors, and are invoked in their karakia by all the Maori race; for we find the names of Rangi, Rongo, Tangaroa, &c., mentioned as Atua or Gods of the Maori of the Sandwich Islands and other Islands of the Pacific inhabited by the same race. The common worship of these primitive Atua constituted the National religion of the Maori.

2. In addition to this the Maori had a religious worship peculiar to each tribe and to each family, in forms of karakia or invocation addressed to the spirits of dead ancestors of their own proper line of descent.

Ancestral spirits who had lived in the flesh before the migration to New Zealand would be invoked by all the tribes in New Zealand, so far as their names had been preserved, in their traditional records as mighty spirits.

3. From the time of the migration to New Zealand each tribe and each family would in addition address their invocations to their own proper line of ancestors,—thus giving rise to a family religious worship in addition to the national religion.

The cause of the preservation of their Genealogies becomes intelligible when we consider that they often formed the ground-work of their religious formulas, and that to make an error or even hesitation in repeating a karakia was deemed fatal to its efficacy.

In the forms of karakia addressed to the spirits of ancestors, the concluding words are generally a petition to the Atua invoked to give force or effect to the karakia as being derived through the Tipua, the Pukenga, and the Whananga, and so descending to the living Tauira.

maori cosmogony.

|Powers of Night and Darkness. | Te Po (= The Night). Te Po-teki (= hanging Night). Te Po-terea (= drifting Night). Te Po-whawha (= moaning Night). Hine-ruakimoe Te Po.

|Powers of Light. | Te Ata (= The Morn). Te Ao-tu-roa (= The abiding Day). Te Ao-marama (= bright Day). Whaitua (= space).

|Powers of Cosmos without form and void. | Te Kore(= The Void). Te Kore-tuatahi. Te Kore-tuarua. Kore-nui. Kore-roa. Kore-para. Kore-whiwhia. Kore-rawea. Kore-te-tamaua (= Void fast bound). Te Mangu (= the black) sc. Erebus.

From the union of Te Mangu with Mahorahoranui-a-Rangi (= The great expanse of Rangi) came four children:—

Toko-mua (= elder prop).

Toko-roto (= middle prop).

Toko-pa (= last prop).

Rangi-potiki (= child Rangi).

GENEALOGICAL DESCENT FROM TOKO-MUA.

|Powers of The Air, Winds. | Tu-awhio-nuku (= Tu of the whirlwind). Tu-awhio-rangi. Paroro-tea (= white skud). Hau-tuia (= piercing wind). Hau-ngangana (blustering wind). Ngana. Ngana-nui. Ngana-roa. Ngana-ruru.

|Human beings begin to exist. | Ngana-mawaki. Tapa-huru-kiwi. Tapa-huru-manu. Tiki. Tiki-te-pou-mua (The 1st Man). Tiki-te-pou-roto. Tiki-haohao. Tiki-ahu-papa. Te Papa-tutira. Ngai. Ngai-nui. Ngai-roa.

| | Ngai-peha. Te Atitutu. Te Ati-hapai. Toi-te-huatahi. Rauru. Rutana.

| | Whatonga. Apa-apa. Taha-titi. Ruatapu. Rakeora. Tama-ki-te-ra. Rongo-maru-a-whatu. Rere. Ue. Raka. Kakati. Tawhao. Turongo. Raukawa. Wakatere. Taki-hiku. Tama-te-hura. Tui-tao. Hae. Nga-tokowaru.

| | Huia.

GENEALOGICAL DESCENT FROM TOKO-ROTO.

|Powers of the Heavens. | Rangi-nui. Rangi-roa. Rangi-pouri. Rangi-potango. Rangi-whetu-ma. Rangi-whekere.Ao-nui. Ao-roa. Ao-tara. Urupa. Hoehoe. Puhaorangi (f.).

After the birth of Rauru, the son of Toi-te-huatahi and Kuraemonoa, while Toi was absent from home fishing, Puhaorangi came down from Heaven, and carried off Kuraemonoa to be his own wife. She bore four children from this union:—

Ohomairangi.

Tawhirioho.

Ohotaretare.

Oho-mata-kamokamo.

From Ohomairangi descended:—

|Time of Migration from Hawaiki. | Muturangi. Taunga. Tuamatua. Houmaitahiti. Tama-te-kapua. Kahu. Tawaki. Uenuku. Rangitihi. Ratorua.

| | Wakairikawa. Waitapu. Hine-rehua. Te Kahu-reremoa. Waitapu. Parekawa. Te Kohera.

GENEALOGICAL DESCENT FROM TOKO-PA.

Kohu (=Mist) was the child of Tokopa.

Kohu married Te Ika-roa (=The Milky-way), and gave birth to Nga Whetu (=The Stars).

GENEALOGICAL DESCENT FROM RANGI-POTIKI.

Rangi-potiki had three wives, the first of which was Hine-ahu-papa; from her descended:—

|Sky Powers. | Tu-nuku. Tu-rangi. Tama-i-koropao. Haronga.

Haronga took to wife Tongo-tongo. Their children were a son and daughter, Te Ra (=The Sun) and Marama (=The Moon). Haronga perceiving that there was no light for his daughter Marama, gave Te Kohu in marriage to Te Ikaroa, and the Stars were born to give light for the sister of Te Ra, for the child of Tongo-tongo. "Nga tokorua a Tongo-tongo" (=the two children of Tongotongo) is a proverbial term for the Sun and Moon at the present day.

Rangi-potiki's second wife was Papatuanuku. She gave birth to the following children:—

Rehua (a star). Rongo. Tangaroa. Tahu.

Punga and Here, | twins.

Hua and Ari, | |do.

Nukumera | rowspan=2 | |rowspan=2|twins.

Rango-maraeroa

Marere-o-tonga | rowspan=2 | |rowspan=2|do.

Takataka-putea

Tu-matauenga | rowspan=2 | |rowspan=2|do.

Tu-potiki

Rongo was atua of the kumara.

Tangaroa was ancestor of Fish and the Pounamu, which is classed with fish by the Maori. Tangaroa took to wife Te Anu-matao (=the chilly cold): from which union descended.

|All of the Fish Class. | Te Whata-uira-a-tangaroa. Te Whatukura. Poutini. Te Pounamu.

Tahu was atua presiding over peace and feasts.

Punga was ancestor of the lizard, shark, and ill-favoured creatures: hence the proverb aitanga-a-Punga (=child of Punga) to denote an ugly fellow.

Tu-matauenga was the Maori war God.

Rangi-potiki's third wife was Papa (=Earth). Tangaroa was accused of having committed adultery with Papa, and Rangipotiki, armed with his spear, went to obtain satisfaction. He found Tangaroa seated by the door of his house, who, when he saw Rangi thus coming towards him, began the following karakia, at the same time striking his right shoulder with his left hand:—

Tangaroa, Tangaroa, Tangaroa, unravel; Unravel the tangle, Unravel, untwist. Though Rangi is distant, He is to be reached. Some darkness for above, Some light for below Freely give For bright Day

This invocation of Tangaroa was scarce ended when Rangi made a thrust at him. Tangaroa warded it off, and it missed him. Then Tangaroa made a thrust at Rangi, and pierced him quite through the thigh, and he fell.

While Rangi lay wounded he begat his child Kueo (=Moist). The cause of this name was Rangi's wetting his couch while he lay ill of his wound. After Kueo, he begat Mimi-ahi, so-called from his making water by the fireside. Next he begat Tane-tuturi (=straight-leg-Tane), so-called because Rangi could now stretch his legs. Afterwards he begat Tane-pepeki (=bent-leg-Tane), so-called because Rangi could sit with his knees bent. The next child was Tane-ua-tika (=straight-neck Tane), for Rangi's neck was now straight, and he could hold up his head. The next child born was called Tane-ua-ha (=strong-neck-Tane), for Rangi's neck was strong. Then was born Tane-te-waiora (=lively Tane), so called because Rangi was quite recovered. Then was born Tane-nui-a-Rangi (=Tane great son of Rangi). And last of all was born Paea, a daughter. She was the last of Rangi's children. With Paea they came to an end, so she was named Paea, which signifies 'closed.'

Some time after the birth of these children the thought came to Tane-nui-a-Rangi to separate their father from them. Tane had seen the light of the Sun shining under the armpit of Rangi; so he consulted with his elder brothers what they should do. They all said, "Let us kill our father, because he has shut us up in darkness, and let us leave our mother for our parent." But Tane advised, "Do not let us kill our father, but rather let us raise him up above, so that there may be light." To this they consented; so they prepared ropes, and when Rangi was sound asleep they rolled him over on the ropes, and Paea took him on her back. Two props were also placed under Rangi. The names of the props were Tokohurunuku, and Tokohururangi. Then lifting him with the aid of these two props, they shoved him upwards. Then Papa thus uttered her farewell to Rangi.

"Haera ra, e Rangi, ē! ko te wehenga taua i a Rangi."

"Go, O Rangi, alas! for my separation from Rangi."

And Rangi answered from above:

"Heikona ra, e Papa, ē! ko te wehenga taua i a Papa."

"Remain there, O Papa. Alas! for my separation from Papa."

So Rangi dwelt above, and Tane and his brothers dwelt below with their mother, Papa.

Some time after this Tane desired to have his mother Papa for his wife. But Papa said, "Do not turn your inclination towards me, for evil will come to you. Go to your ancestor Mumuhango." So Tane took Mumuhango to wife, who brought forth the totara tree. Tane returned to his mother dissatisfied, and his mother said, "Go to your ancestor Hine-tu-a-maunga (=the mountain maid)." So Tane took Hine-tu-a-maunga to wife, who conceived, but did not bring forth a child. Her offspring was the rusty water of mountains, and the monster reptiles common to mountains. Tane was displeased, and returned to his mother. Papa said to him "Go to your ancestor Rangahore." So Tane went, and took that female for a wife, who brought forth stone. This greatly displeased Tane, who again went back to Papa. Then Papa said "Go to your ancestor Ngaore (=the tender one). Tane took Ngaore to wife. And Ngaore gave birth to the toetoe (a species of rush-like grass). Tane returned to his mother in displeasure. She next advised him, "Go to your ancestor Pakoti." Tane did as he was bid, but Pakoti only brought forth harekeke (=phormium tenax). Tane had a great many other wives at his mother's bidding, but none of them pleased him, and his heart was greatly troubled, because no child was born to give birth to Man; so he thus addressed his mother—"Old lady, there will never be any progeny for me." Thereupon Papa said, "Go to your ancestor. Ocean, who is grumbling there in the distance. When you reach the beach at Kura-waka, gather up the earth in the form of man." So Tane went and scraped up the earth at Kura-waka. He gathered up the earth, the body was formed, and then the head, and the arms; then he joined on the legs, and patted down the surface of the belly, so as to give the form of man; and when he had done this, he returned to his mother and said, "The whole body of the man is finished." Thereupon his mother said, "Go to your ancestor Mauhi, she will give the raho. Go to your ancestor Whete, she will give the timutimu. Go to your ancestor Taua-ki-te-marangai, she will give the, paraheka. Go to your ancestor Pungaheko, she has the huruhuru." So Tane went to these female ancestors, who gave him the things asked for. He then went to Kura-waka. Katahi ka whakanoho ia i nga raho ki roto i nga kuwha o te wahine i hanga ki te one: Ka mau era. Muri atu ka whakanoho ia ko te timutimu na Whete i homai ki waenga i nga raho; muri atu ko te paraheka na Taua-ki-te-marangai i homai ka whakanoho ki te take o te timutimu: muri iho ko te huruhuru na Pungaheko i homai ka whakanoho ki runga i te puke. Ka oti, katahi ka tapa ko Hineahuone. Then he named this female form Hine-ahu-one (=The earth formed maid).

Tane took Hine-ahu-one to wife. She first gave birth to Tiki-tohua—the egg of a bird from which have sprung all the birds of the air. After that, Tikikapakapa was born—a female. Then first was born for Tane a human child. Tane took great care of Tikikapakapa, and when she grew up he gave her a new name, Hine-a-tauira (=the pattern maid). Then he took her to wife, and she bore a female child who was named Hine-titamauri.

One day Hine-a-tauira said to Tane, "Who is my father?" Tane laughed. A second time Hine-a-tauira asked the same question. Then Tane made a sign: and the woman understood, and her heart was dark, and she gave herself up to mourning, and fled away to Rikiriki, and to Naonao, to Rekoreko, to Waewae-te-Po, and to Po. The woman fled away, hanging down her head. Then she took the name of Hine-nui-te-Po (=great woman of Night). Her farewell words to Tane were—"Remain, O Tane, to pull up our offspring to Day; while I go below to drag down our offspring to Night."

Tane sorrowed for his daughter-wife, and cherished his daughter Hinetitamauri; and when she grew up he gave her to Tiki to be his wife, and their first-born child was Tiki-te-pou-mua.

The following narrative is a continuation of the history of Hinenuitepo from another source:—

After Hinenuitepo fled away to her ancestors in the realms of Night, she gave birth to Te Po-uriuri (=The Dark one), and to Te Po-tangotango (=The very dark), and afterwards to Pare-koritawa, who married Tawaki, one of the race of Rangi. Hence the proverb when the sky is seen covered with small clouds "Parekoritawa is tilling her garden." When Tawaki climbed to Heaven with Parekoritawa, he repeated this karakia:—

Ascend, O Tawaki, by the narrow path, By which the path of Rangi was followed; The path of Tu-kai-te-uru. The narrow path is climbed, The broad path is climbed, The path by which was followed Your ancestors, Te Aonui, Te Ao-roa, Te Ao-whititera. Now you mount up To your Ihi, To your Mana, To the Thousands above, To your Ariki, To your Tapairu, To your Pukenga, To your Whananga, To your Tauira.

When Tawaki and Parekoritawa mounted to the Sky, they left behind them a token—a black moth—a token of the mortal body.

Pare gave birth to Uenuku (=Rainbow). Afterwards she brought forth Whatitiri (=Thunder). Hence the rainbow in the sky, and the thunder-clap.

Chapter 3

CHAPTER III.

RELIGIOUS RITES OF THE MAORI.

Αλλ' ἄγε δὴ τινα μάντιν ἐρείομεν.—Hom. Il. 1–62.

The religious rites and ceremonies of the Maori were strange and complex, and must have been a severe burden, as will be understood from the translations of Maori narratives relating to such matters contained in these pages. To make these translations more intelligible to the reader, a brief review of the subject is now given in explanation.

The religious rites under consideration are immediately connected with certain laws relating to things tapu or things sacred and prohibited, the breach of which laws by anyone is a crime displeasing to the Atua of his family. Anything tapu must not be allowed to come in contact with any vessel or place where food is kept. This law is absolute. Should such contact take place, the food, the vessel, or place, become tapu, and only a few very sacred persons, themselves tapu, dare to touch these things.

The idea in which this law originated appears to have been that a portion of the sacred essence of an Atua, or, of a sacred person, was directly communicable to objects which they touched, and also that the sacredness so communicated to any object could afterwards be more or less retransmitted to anything else brought into contact with it. It was therefore necessary that anything containing the sacred essence of an Atua should be made tapu to protect it from being polluted by the contact of food designed to be eat; for the act of eating food which had touched anything tapu, involved the necessity of eating the sacredness of the Atua, from whom it derived its sacredness.

It seems that the practice of cannibalism must have had a close connexion with such a system of belief. To eat an enemy was the greatest degradation to which he could be subjected, and so it must have been regarded as akin to blasphemy to eat anything containing a particle of divine essence.

Everything not included under the class tapu was called noa, meaning free or common. Things and persons tapu could, however, be made noa by means of certain ceremonies, the object of which was to extract the tapu essence, and restore it to the source whence it originally came. It has been already stated that every tribe and every family has its own especial Atua. The Ariki, or head of a family, in both male and female lines, are regarded by their own family with a veneration almost equal to that of their Atua. They form, as it were, the connecting links between the living and the spirits of the dead; and the ceremonies required for releasing anything from the tapu state cannot be perfected without their intervention.

On arriving one evening at a Maori settlement, I found that a ceremony, in which everyone appeared to take deep interest, was to take place in the morning. The inhabitants were mostly professing Christians, and the old sacred place of the settlement was, from the increase of their numbers, inconveniently near their houses; a part of it was, therefore, required to be added to the Pa. I was curious to see in what way the land required would be made noa. In the morning when I went to the place I found a numerous assembly, while in the centre of the space was a large native oven, from which women were removing the earth and mat-coverings. When opened it was seen to contain only kumara, or sweet potato. One of these was offered to each person present, which was held in the hand while the usual morning service was read, concluding with a short prayer that God's blessing might rest on the place. After this each person ate his kumara, and the place was declared to be noa. I could not but think that the native teacher had done wisely in thus adopting so much of old ceremonial as to satisfy the scruples of those of little faith. In this case, every one present, by eating food cooked on the tapu ground, equally incurred the risk of offending the Atua of the family, which risk was believed to be removed by the Christian karakia.