New Zea- fpedive chiefs, and others who are fubordinate to them, Thefepro-
" vinces'are often in a ftate of warfare j and^the captives taken are'un-
doubtedly devoured by the, vi&ors. ' At other times a little traffic is
~ .carried' on, in flax ; and green jad, of which they make axes and or-
naments. On the weft fide of the northern file there is a large river,
but only navigable for canoes. The ranks are, the chiefs, and then-
officers; *the-priefts, whofe authority is equal, if not fuperior ; and the
common people.
Manners and “ The New - Zealanders inter their dead; they alfo believe that the
.Cuftoms. . t h i r |S y after the interment the heart feparates itfelf from the corpfe,
and that this feparation is announced by a gentle .breeze of wind,
which gives; warning of its approach to an inferior Ea-tooa:(or-'divinityJ
that hovers over the grave, and who carries itth'the clouds. In his
■ohait To^gee has marked an imaginary toad Whtchf^t>fes f t # Ifeirgth-
■ways of JEaheinbmawc, viz. from: iCook’s ftrait to the^8tt»l»i@ape,
•Which Too-gec calls Teny-inga. While the foul is received by*the
,g«od Ea-tooa, an evil fpiritffs alfo i n f e d m p u r d f i a r t
rof the c o r p f e to the .above road j! along which it is carried to Terry-inga,
-whence it. is: precipitated into the fea.
Suicide is .very comnion among the New Zealand ers, and this fhey
-often commit by hanging themfelves on the fligbteft occafions; thus
a woman who has been beaten by her hufband will perhaps hang, herfelf
•immediately. In this mode of/putting an end to their exiftence both our
-vifitors feemed to be>perfe<ft .adepts, having often threatened to hang
= themfelves, .and ffometimes' made very ferious promifes of putting it
dnto execution, if they .were not fent -to their own country. As thefe
-threats however were ufed in their gloomy .moments, -they were foon
-laughed out of them.
“ It could not be' difcovered that they have any other divifion of
•time than the revolution of the moon, until the number amounted t®
.one .hundred, which they terra “ Ta-iee E-tow,'” that is one Etow, or
•hundred moons; and it is thus they count their qge, and calculate. all
ffother eyent& 1
“ Hoo-cToo, and Top-gee both agreed that a great quantity of manu-
Ta.tftu.red Ja x might he .obtained for trifles, fuchas axes, .duffels, See.;
«and
A 0<S T R AL AS PA. 489
and faid that in moft places the flax grows naturally in great quantities ;
in' other parts it is cultivated by feparating the roots, • and planting, them
out, three in one hole, at the d « , of a foot from each other. ,-*®hey
give « i j«Kato gfews: here, both|for
quantity änd.,fiz&'!|p|
raäy^e’expeft'ed (ffäysdGöVernbr Kirig>thath after affix .months
afec^Mintahce'between, us and'-the two New«ZSeaiandèrs, * werdhauld.aaot
•ffi-tfgftorant. of.each otheris language. Myfelf.-anff feme ,.©fi then
(/wHbtfWisrb fo^kinff 'as th è'dmmunpaj^iheióblhrwatims* théyiobtained
ffoöt o^r’-vifeors,.) -could make o^fläHeaa-'hoown, andutoj^bly weffsun-
dê«^©t)d by them. 1 They.too, hyintermixing wharEhgfiftj. w,arjds they
kiiéw with.1 what we knew. of their > langua f^qo a 1 d 1 hi a Jcg' f h e m fe 1 v es
fuffitjiently ufndecfto®d byt.tis;.'.!I^m:mg^Jths' ■timeuthby wei^'yväth, us
I did not poffels anyaCcount o£ Captain Cook’s 'Mppfgesj sbtitffnce thds
departure T find from his firft voyage .that it has great fitoilitude to the
geheral languagefpokén irr thofe feasi”‘8;
• Captain: iCoekls; laft vé'yagö eoptaios ftOnfidprable information, relative
to theffouthern iflê, from'which ;%few: Mof hints may,bc a^ded^as this
regio.rt only yields ito Papua in^fize and co^feq|épcè^q Storms were
feuijdbto be; <notj on}y.- frequent but.violent, and pftpt^changedyn their
direction by the height _o£ the mquntains, which at thgfe tilths are ,al7
ways loaded with .vapours, whencerit may feern -that they are calcareous,
The^inhappy natives live in conftant apprehenfiqns,,of mutual ,deftruc-
tion ;- and each party earneftly befought Captain Coqk to exterminate
their enemies, a true pidqre of fa vage life, which is tqjje traced ^rom
tl^e^gepuine practice and experience,pfhuman affairs,, anff no j; frQmidlc
theories^of poetry,. br,of,philpfoph-yi ' Thetr^eyengp- is fanguiüary, and
Jndulged even.tq the moft brutal cannibalifm ; the^Lre {hocking as they
believe, that the foul of a man, devoured by his enemy, is doomed to perpetual
fire. They have no moral, or place of worfhip ; but the priefts
alone addrefs thrgods for profperity. | It appear^ .that ‘the jad Is' found
in lakes, to which it is - borne down by the mountain torrents,- * This
fubftance' •is 'called Poeh amt?/00, and. a lake being fly led Th-ui, thence
a miftaken appellation has' fiten given'to thé Fóüthern;ifland, by our.
** Cöllitis,
N ew Z ealand
«
Languages.