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                             MAORI RELIGION
                                  AND
                               MYTHOLOGY.




                    WILLIAM ATKIN, GENERAL PRINTER,
                      HIGH STREET, AUCKLAND, N.Z.




                            _Maori Religion_

                                 _and_

                              _Mythology._




               ILLUSTRATED BY TRANSLATIONS OF TRADITIONS,
                             _KARAKIA_, &c.

                           TO WHICH ARE ADDED

                    NOTES ON _MAORI_ TENURE OF LAND.




                                   BY
                   EDWARD SHORTLAND, M.A., M.R.C.P.,
                  LATE NATIVE SECRETARY, NEW ZEALAND,
                               AUTHOR OF
         “TRADITIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS.”




                                LONDON:
                        LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
                                 1882.
                         _All rights reserved._




                             TO THE MEMORY
                                   OF
                           SIR WILLIAM MARTIN

                       THESE PAGES ARE DEDICATED,

                        THE AFFECTIONATE TRIBUTE
                                   OF
                      A FRIENDSHIP OF MANY YEARS.




                                PREFACE.


The Maori MSS. of which translations are now published were collected by
the author many years ago. The persons through whom the MSS. were
obtained are now, with one exception, no longer living. They were all of
them men of good birth, and competent authorities. One who could write
sent me, from time to time, in MS. such information as he himself
possessed, or he could obtain from the _tohunga_, or wise men of his
family. Chapters iii. and iv. contain selections from information
derived from this source.

The others not being sufficiently skilled in writing, it was necessary
to take down their information from dictation. In doing this I
particularly instructed my informant to tell his tale as if he were
relating it to his own people, and to use the same words that he would
use if he were recounting similar tales to them when assembled in a
sacred house. This they are, or perhaps I should rather say were, in the
habit of doing at times of great weather disturbance accompanied with
storm of wind and rain, believing an effect to be thereby produced
quieting the spirits of the sky.

As the dictation went on I was careful never to ask any question, or
otherwise interrupt the thread of the being guided by the sound in
writing any new and strange words. When some time had thus passed, I
stopt him at some suitable part of his tale: then read over to him what
I had written, and made the necessary corrections—taking notes also of
the meanings of words which were new to me. Chapters v. and vi. are with
some omissions translations of a _Maori_ MS. written in this way.

Chapter ii. contains a tradition as to _Maori_ Cosmogony more particular
in some details than I have ever met with elsewhere. My informant had
been educated to become a _tohunga_; but had afterwards become a
professing Christian. The narrative took place at night unknown to any
of his people, and under promise that I would not read what I wrote to
any of his people. When after some years I re-visited New Zealand, I
learnt that he had died soon after I left, and that his death was
attributed to the anger of the _Atua_ of his family due to his having,
as they expressed it, trampled on the _tapu_ by making _noa_ or public
things sacred—he having himself confessed what he no doubt believed to
be the cause of his illness.

In Appendix will be found a list of _Maori_ words expressing
relationship. It will be observed that where we employ definite words
for ‘father’ and ‘brother’ the _Maori_ use words having a more
comprehensive meaning, like our word ‘cousin’: hence when either of the
words _matua_, &c., are used, to ascertain the actual degree of
relationship some additional explanatory words must be added, as would
be necessary when we use the general term cousin.

A short vocabulary of _Maori_ words unavoidably introduced in the
following pages, which require explanation not to be found in any
published dictionary, are also printed in the Appendix,—as well as a few
selected _karakia_ in the original _Maori_, with reference to pages
where their translations appear, as a matter of interest to some
persons.


_Auckland, January, 1882._




                               CONTENTS.

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                                                                PAGE
    _Chap. i._—Primitive Religion and