Polynesian Mythology

Preface to the First Edition

Towards the close of the year 1845 I was suddenly and unexpectedly required by the British Government to administer the affairs of New Zealand, and shortly afterwards received the appointment of Governor-in-Chief of those Islands.

When I arrived in them, I found Her Majesty’s native subjects engaged in hostilities with the Queen’s troops, against whom they had up to that time contended with considerable success; so much discontent also prevailed generally amongst the native population, that where disturbances had not yet taken place, there was too much reason to apprehend they would soon break out, as they shortly afterwards did, in several parts of the Islands.

I soon perceived that I could neither successfully govern, nor hope to conciliate, a numerous and turbulent people, with whose language, manners, customs, religion, and modes of thought I was quite unacquainted. In order to redress their grievances, and apply remedies, which would neither wound their feelings, nor militate against their prejudices, it was necessary that I should be able thoroughly to understand their complaints; and to win their confidence and regard, it was also requisite that I should be able at all times, and in all places, patiently to listen to the tales of their wrongs or sufferings, and, even if I could not assist them, to give them a kind reply, couched in such terms as should leave no doubt on their minds that I clearly understood and felt for them, and was really well disposed towards them.

Although furnished with some very able interpreters, who gave me assistance of the most friendly nature, I soon found that even with their aid I could still only very imperfectly perform my duties. I could not at all times and in all places have an interpreter by my side; and thence often when waylaid by some suitor, who had, perhaps, travelled on foot two or three hundred miles to lay before me the tale of his or her grievances, I was compelled to pass on without listening, and to witness with pain an expression of sorrow and keenly disappointed hope cloud over features which the moment before were bright with gladness, that the opportunity so anxiously looked for had at length been secured.

Again, I found that any tale of sorrow or suffering, passing through the medium of an interpreter, fell much more coldly on my ear, than it would have done had the person interested addressed the tale direct to myself; and in like manner an answer delivered through the intervention of a third person, appeared to leave a very different impression upon the suitor to what it would have had coming direct from the lips of the Governor of the country. Moreover, this mode of communication through a third person was so cumbrous and slow, that, in order to compensate for the loss of time thus occasioned, it became necessary for the interpreters to compress the substance of the representations made to me, as also of my own replies, into the fewest words possible; and as this had in each instance to be done hurriedly, and at the moment, there was reason to fear that much that was material to enable me fully to understand the question brought before me, or the suitor to comprehend my reply, might be unintentionally omitted. Lastly, I had on several occasions reasons to believe that a native hesitated to state facts, or to express feelings and wishes, to an interpreter, which he would most gladly have done to the Governor, could he have addressed him direct.

These reasons and others of equal force made me feel it to be my duty to make myself acquainted, with the least possible delay, with the language of the New Zealanders, as also with their manners, customs, and prejudices. But I soon found that this was a far more difficult matter than I had at first supposed. The language of the New Zealanders is a very difficult one to understand thoroughly: there was then no dictionary of it published (unless a vocabulary can be so called); there were no books published in the language which would enable me to study its construction; it varied altogether in form from any of the ancient or modern languages which I knew; and my thoughts and time were so occupied with the cares of the government of a country then pressed upon by many difficulties, and with a formidable rebellion raging in it, that I could find but very few hours to devote to the acquisition of an unwritten and difficult language. I, however, did my best, and cheerfully devoted all my spare moments to a task, the accomplishment of which was necessary to enable me to perform properly every duty to my country and to the people I was appointed to govern.

Soon, however, a new and quite unexpected difficulty presented itself. On the side of the rebel party were engaged, either openly or covertly, some of the oldest, least civilised, and most influential chiefs in the islands. With them I had either personally or by written communications to discuss questions which involved peace or war, and on which the whole future of the islands and of the native race depended; so that it was in the highest degree essential that I should fully and entirely comprehend their thoughts and intentions, and that they should not in any way misunderstand the nature of the engagements into which I entered with them.

To my surprise, however, I found that these chiefs, either in their speeches to me, or in their letters, frequently quoted, in explanation of their views and intentions, fragments of ancient poems or proverbs, or made allusions which rested on an ancient system of mythology; and although it was clear that the most important parts of their communications were embodied in these figurative forms, the interpreters were quite at fault—they could then rarely (if ever) translate the poems or explain the allusions, and there was no publication in existence which threw any light on the subjects, or which gave the meaning of the great mass of words which the natives upon such occasions made use of; so that I was compelled to content myself with a short general statement of what some other native believed that the writer of the letter intended to convey as his meaning by the fragment of the poem he had quoted, or by the allusions he had made. I should add that even the great majority of the young Christian natives were quite as much at fault on these subjects as were the European interpreters.

Clearly, however, I could not, as Governor of the country, permit so close a veil to remain drawn between myself and the aged and influential chiefs, whom it was my duty to attach to British interests and to the British race, whose regard and confidence, as also that of their tribes, it was my desire to secure, and with whom it was necessary that I should hold the most unrestricted intercourse. Only one thing could, under such circumstances, be done, and that was to acquaint myself with the ancient language of the country, to collect its traditional poems and legends, to induce their priests to impart to me their mythology, and to study their proverbs. For more than eight years I devoted a great part of my available time to these pursuits. Indeed, I worked at this duty in my spare moments in every part of the country I traversed, and during my many voyages from portion of the Islands. I was also always accompanied by natives, and still at every possible interval pursued my inquiries into these subjects. Once, when I had with great pains amassed a large mass of materials to aid me in my studies, the Government House was destroyed by fire, and with it were burnt the materials I had so collected, and thus I was left to commence again my difficult and wearying task.

The ultimate result, however, was, that I acquired a great amount of information on these subjects, and collected a large mass of materials, which were, however, from the manner in which they were acquired, in a very scattered state; for different portions of the same poem or legend were often collected from different natives, in very distant parts of the country; long intervals of time, also, frequently elapsed after I had obtained one part of a poem or legend, before I could find a native accurately acquainted with another portion of it; consequently the fragments thus obtained were scattered through different notebooks, and, before they could be given to the public, required to be carefully arranged and rewritten, and, what was still more difficult (whether viewed in reference to the real difficulty of fairly translating the ancient language in which they were composed, or my many public duties), it was necessary that they should be translated.

Having, however, with much toil acquired information which I found so useful to myself, I felt unwilling that the result of my labours should be lost to those whose duty it may be hereafter to deal with the natives of New Zealand; and I therefore undertook a new task, which I have often, very often, been sorely tempted to abandon; but the same sense of duty which made me originally enter upon the study of the native language has enabled me to persevere up to the present period, when I have already published one large volume in the native language, containing a very extensive collection of the ancient traditional poems, religious chants and songs of the Māori race, and I now present to the European reader a translation of the principal portions of their ancient mythology, and some of their most interesting legends.

Another reason that has made me anxious to impart to the public the most material portions of the information I have thus attained is, that probably to no other person but myself would many of their ancient rythmical prayers and traditions have been imparted by their priests; and it is less likely that anyone could now acquire them, as I regret to say that most of their old chiefs, and even some of the middle-aged ones who aided me in my researches, have already passed to the tomb.

With regard to the style of the translation a few words are required. I fear in point of care and language it will not satisfy the critical reader; but I can truly say that I have had no leisure carefully to revise it. The translation is also faithful; and it is almost impossible closely and faithfully to translate a very difficult language without almost insensibly falling somewhat into the idiom and form of construction of that language, which, perhaps, from its unusualness, may prove unpleasant to the European ear and mind; and this must be essentially the case in a work like the present, no considerable continuous portion of the original whereof was derived from one person, but which is compiled from the written or orally delivered narratives of many, each differing from the others in style, and some even materially from the rest in dialect.

I have said that the translation is close and faithful; it is so to the full extent of my powers, and from the little time I have had at my disposal. I have done no more than add in some places such few explanatory words as were necessary to enable a person unacquainted with the productions, customs, or religion of the country, to understand what the narrator meant. For the first time, I believe, a European reader will find it in his power to place himself in the position of one who listens to a heathen and savage high priest explaining to him, in his own words, and in his own energetic manner, the traditions in which he earnestly believes, and unfolding the religious opinions upon which the faith and hopes of his race rest.

That their traditions are puerile, is true; that the religious faith of the races who trust in them is absurd, is a melancholy fact; but all my experience leads me to believe that the Saxon, Celtic, and Scandinavian systems of mythology, could we have become intimately acquainted with them, would be found in no respects to surpass that one which the European reader may now thoroughly understand. I believe that the ignorance which has prevailed regarding the mythological systems of barbarous or semi-barbarous races has too generally led to their being considered far grander and more reasonable than they really were.

But the puerility of these traditions and barbarous mythological systems by no means diminishes their importance as regards their influence upon the human race. Those contained in the present volumes have, with slight modifications, prevailed perhaps considerably more than two thousand years throughout the great mass of the islands of the Pacific Ocean; and, indeed, the religious system of ancient Mexico was, probably, to some extent connected with them. They have been believed in and obeyed by many millions of the human race; and it is still more melancholy to reflect that they were based upon a system of human sacrifices to the gods; so that if we allow them to have existed for two thousand years, and that, in accordance with the rites which are based upon them, at least two thousand human victims were annually sacrificed throughout the whole extent of the numerous islands in which they prevailed (both of which suppositions are probably much within the truth), then at least four millions of human beings have been offered in sacrifice to false gods; and to this number we should have to add a frightful list of children murdered under the system of infanticide which the same traditions encouraged, as also a very large number of persons destroyed for having been believed guilty of the crime of sorcery or witchcraft.

It must further be borne in mind, that the native races who believed in these traditions or superstitions are in no way deficient in intellect, and in no respect incapable of receiving the truths of Christianity; on the contrary, they readily embrace its doctrines and submit to its rules; in our schools they stand a fair comparison with Europeans, and, when instructed in Christian truths, blush at their own former ignorance and superstition, and look back with shame and loathing upon their previous state of wickedness and credulity; and yet for a great part of their lives have they, and, for thousands of years before they were born, have their forefathers, implicitly submitted themselves to those awful superstitions, and followed those cruel and barbarous rites.

Preface to the Second Edition

After the lapse of upwards of thirty years I have to write a preface to a second edition of a work which has long been out of print. This is in some respects a trying task. Those who were my fellow labourers and assistants in collecting the materials for the original work, so long ago as the year 1845, are now nearly all dead. Some of them, to whom I was much attached, and on whose fidelity I placed the greatest reliance, led astray by designing men, joined in a native war against the Europeans, and perished, many of them on the field of battle; others from that want and those diseases which invariably accompany war. Others, again, surviving such disasters, died from old age or sickness, in a state of obstinate and resolute isolation from the Europeans, under a native king, in the mountainous fastnesses of the interior of the North Island.

Others, and not a small number of my native friends, remained true to their religious faith, and to their promises. Nearly all of these have gradually died off from natural causes—many of them much respected and admired. European hands and European regard have raised monuments to some of them—monuments which testify not only to native worth, but also to British admiration for nobility of character and purpose, wherever these qualities may be found.

Such, indeed, has been, upon the whole, the feeling between the two races during and since the cessation of the war to which I am alluding, that the Europeans thoroughly appreciated all instances of truly noble courage in the natives who were opposed to them, and loudly expressed their admiration for the men who thus distinguished themselves.

Even upon a recent occasion, when it was proposed to interfere, in an undesirable way, with a piece of land, which, in the eyes of all, was almost sanctified by an act of invincible and heroic courage on the part of a small body of hostile natives, the House of Representatives, composed of ninety-one European and four native members, insisted that the piece of land and its vicinity should be forever reserved as public ground, dedicated to the remembrance of the heroic deed of which it had been the theatre.

A generous conquering race thus preserved a record not of its own triumphs, but of an act of unconquerable courage upon the part of its adversaries, who fell before superior numbers and weapons—an act which the future inhabitants of New Zealand will strive to imitate, but can never surpass.1

However, wars and years have swept off nearly all those grand old chiefs who were my associates in many great trials, and for whom I felt and still cherish a deep regard. I desired to preserve, and they aided me in preserving, a memento of a noble race, in its original state when first discovered. No complete record of such a nation in its savage state-exists, and yet such a record, complete and perfect, is required to clear up many important points in the history of mankind.

There are also peculiar circumstances connected with the New Zealanders which render such a record peculiarly desirable in their case. They were probably the most remote of the Polynesian race, from the point from which that people came in their emigration to the islands of the Pacific. They therefore were most likely sprung from those who first separated from the parent stock, whose descendants in successive generations would probably have always kept continually in front in the line of successively advancing emigrations.

Again, in so far as our knowledge goes, it appears probable that no other people with whom we are acquainted, had been for so long a time shut off from all communication with exterior nations as the New Zealanders had been when first visited by Europeans. If these suppositions are granted, we ought to expect to find the Polynesian language, religion, legends, and customs all preserved in New Zealand in their most unadulterated form.

When the first edition of this work was published in 1855, I had no true idea of the number of New Zealand printed books and manuscripts which I had collected in pursuit of the task I had undertaken. In 1858 they were, however, all carefully arranged and catalogued, when it appeared that the collection contained 301 printed volumes, nearly all in the Māori language, and 223 manuscripts, and that the latter documents contained 10,090 pages. The tabulated form which follows, taken from the catalogue of Māori books which was published at Cape Town in 1858, shows the size of the various books and manuscripts, which are deposited in the library at that place.

It is very desirable that the portion of the Cape of Good Hope catalogue which relates to New Zealand should be republished in this country. It consists of only 76 pages, and contains a description of the contents of each printed work and of each manuscript.

Many of the manuscripts were written by natives from the dictation of the most celebrated old chiefs, such as Rangihaeata, Te Rauparaha, Pōtatau, Te Heuheu, Patuone, Te Taniwha, etc. Those that I took down from the dictation of the great chiefs, were all carefully gone over and corrected by natives who could read and write. The chiefs who supplied the various religious services, poems, legends, and histories, including the wars and events which had taken place during their own lives, were as anxious as I was, that a complete picture of the Māori race in its original state should be preserved and handed down to posterity, and they cheerfully and eagerly aided me in the work. In many cases I told them exactly what I wanted, supplied them with the requisite writing materials, and some months afterwards received a valuable manuscript which had been dictated to an educated native. Probably no such collection of materials for illustrating the history of a barbarous race has ever before been made. The labour undergone in its collection was great.

Another reason why this Cape catalogue should be republished in New Zealand (it has been long out of print) is, that it contains a minute account of the information supplied to me by each individual, which was embodied in the first edition of the Māori legends. When two or more individuals, European or native, supplied the same portion of a legend the manuscript furnished by each was catalogued, so that the aid rendered by each individual was recorded, although it was not made use of, except as a confirmation of that which had been previously supplied.

I find from the Cape of Good Hope catalogue of manuscripts, that the following European gentlemen gave me the undermentioned papers connected with Māori poetry and legends.

• J. White, Esq.—A manuscript of 215 pages of various songs, proverbs, and customs, all relating to the tribes of Hokianga, which were collected by Mr. White and by him prevented to Sir G. Grey.

  A manuscript of two pages, being a translation by Mr. White of the Tale of the Two Dwarfs.

  Neither of these manuscripts has been published. They are bound up in Vol. 146 of Māori works in the Cape Library. They are of value, not only from their intrinsic worth, but as illustrating the Ngāpuhi dialect. Copies of them should be obtained for New Zealand.

• The Present Bishop Of Wellington.—Manuscript, being an original paper on the System of Government amongst the New Zealand Tribes in their Savage state, written in 1846 by the Rev. Octavius Hadfield, 23 pages. A very valuable manuscript for Native history. A copy ought to be procured from the Cape of Good Hope for the purpose of publication in New Zealand.

  Manuscript, being an original paper by the Rev. Octavius Hadfield, written in 1846, on the relations then existing between the British and the Native Tribes of New Zealand, 68 pages. Both of these MSS. are bound up in the 147th Vol. of Māori works.

• Sir Wm. Martin.—Manuscript, The Legend of Pāoa, written by Wm. Hoeti.

  Manuscript, Explanations of various expressions in Native Poems as given by Natives, in the handwriting of Sir Wm. Martin, so eminent for his knowledge of the Natives, their language, and customs. This valuable manuscript is bound up in the 151st Vol. of Māori works. A copy ought to be procured from the Cape, and published for the use of students. It consists of twelve pages.

• Archdeacon Maunsell.—Manuscript, a treatise by the Rev. R. Maunsell on the Poetry of the New Zealanders, illustrated by examples of various songs. Bound up in Vol. 152 of New Zealand works. A copy of this ought to be procured from the Cape for the use of students. The name of the author shows its value.

• The Rev. J. F. H. Wholers, a German missionary who resided in Foveaux Straits, and at Ruapuke (Island).—Manuscript of nine pages, containing Six Legends of the Tribes inhabiting Foveaux Straits, with translations. Very valuable as containing the dialect spoken in the extreme south of New Zealand. Bound up in Vol. 151 of New Zealand works. Mr. Wholers has recently died. He was not only an amiable and excellent missionary, but a man of superior attainments. He published some Māori legends with English translations in the 7th Vol. Transactions New Zealand Institute, 1875. Pp. 3–53.

The foregoing list of contributions to my task, afforded by European friends, will show how very large my obligations were to the Māori chiefs for the assistance which they afforded me. This is perhaps as it should be. The legends, poems, and histories are Māori—as they recognised them, and supplied them. One instance that occurs to my recollection is this. Attracted by the beauty of the spot, I determined to pass a morning on the island of Mokoia.2 I proceeded there in a canoe with some friends and two or three natives. Wandering about, I grew weary, and was tempted at last to sit down at the edge of a beautiful warm spring, close to the margin of Lake Rotorua, in which lake the island of Mokoia stands. After a time a native chief came up to me, and knowing my fondness for legends, he told me the beautiful legend of his ancestress Hinemoa, who had landed on the spot where we sat. I was charmed with the tale, made him repeat it, and at once wrote it down in my notebook. I crossed over again to Te Ngae, the mission station on the mainland, in the afternoon, and repeated the legend to my old friend, Mr. Chapman, the missionary. He said, “It is strange, I have lived here for a good many years, and they never told me this.” I could not help smiling, and told him they could never have imagined that a missionary would have cared about such a thing. But he went out at once to ask some of his native converts about the matter, and returned quite pleased to think that he lived near so interesting a spot.

The discovery of this legend, on December 26, 1849, created a strong sensation of pleasure in many minds in New Zealand. It was not then known, and at first could hardly be believed, that tales, containing so much of romance and poetic beauty, existed in New Zealand. I shall never forget the pleasure with which my valued friend Domett first heard it, and long will live the magnificent poem, “Ranolf and Amohia,” into which his genius has expanded the legend, so fortuitously acquired.

The foregoing list of Māori manuscripts taken from the Cape of Good Hope catalogue will show how largely the Cape Library is endowed with New Zealand native literature of extraordinary value. Since the establishment of that Library I have made another collection of New Zealand manuscript literature for the Auckland Public Library. This latter is as yet unarranged, and no catalogue of it has been made. It is, however, extensive and valuable. But in the Auckland Library will also be found a considerable collection of manuscript South African literature, which would be of great value to the Cape Library. I must thus seem to have made an injudicious arrangement regarding the place of deposit of great historical treasures.

A man employed in the service of a great and extensive Empire can, however, never perfectly adjust or arrange his entire life. He can neither at any given moment estimate the time he may live, nor can he know in what part of the world he may in a few months find himself. Thus ignorant of his own fate, he is equally I ignorant of that of each of his associates. An arrangement he may deem wise and prudent may turn out, if he lives to a considerable age, not to have been the wisest he could have made, if it was in his power to have foretold the future. When I made arrangements for giving a Library to the Cape of Good Hope, I believed, if I lived so long, that I was likely to have resided at the Cape for a few years. My friend Dr. Bleek, one of the greatest of living philologists, was then resident at Cape Town. He was a good Māori scholar. We were in the habit of working together, and I hoped that we should have worked out and published a great part of the New Zealand literature which was deposited at the Cape. I soon had to leave the Cape, have never returned there, and my friend Dr. Bleek, many years younger than myself, is dead. Perhaps still advantages may be derived from the arrangement which was made. The learned of the Cape of Good Hope and of New Zealand must, in time, be driven into frequent and intimate correspondence regarding the sources of information which the two countries mutually possess of their early history, and of the native populations which inhabited each of two such important portions of the world. From such correspondence and literary intimacy great mutual advantages may arise to each of these two places. Ultimately, I have no doubt also, that frequent exchanges of literary treasures will take place between them, and that they will thus, each of them by relinquishing something, gradually acquire those manuscripts which, in their respective estimations, they think it most desirable that each country should possess. If in any respect either of them may feel disappointed, they will, I know, readily pardon a man whose sole desire was to benefit each of them, according to the best of his ability and knowledge at the moment he formed his decision.

I am indebted to my friend, Dr. Edward Shortland, an eminent Māori scholar, for having corrected for the press the native part of this volume, with the exception of about the first fifty or sixty pages. The students of the Māori language, in studying that portion of this work, will find their labour greatly lightened from the ability and care with which this has been done.