The Double Canoe

Our information concerning this type of vessel is extremely meagre, and it is only when treating of Polynesian forms, as observed by voyagers and others, that details as to construction can be given.

The double canoe must have been in common use here at the time of Tasman's visit in 1642, for he thus writes of them in his journal: "Their boats consisted of two long narrow prows (prau or proa) side by side, over which a number of planks or other seats were placed in such a way that those above can look through the water underneath the vessel; their paddles are upwards of a fathom in length, narrow and pointed at the end: with these vessels they could make considerable speed." Again he writes: "Having weighed anchor and being under sail, we saw twenty-two prows near the shore, of which eleven, swarming with people, were making for our ships."

These canoes were observed near Separation Point, in Massacre Bay. An old plate connected with this occurrence shows a weird- page 25 looking vessel of uncouth form, and so small that thirteen men seem to occupy all available space (fig. 1). The prow and stern projections do not resemble any known Maori forms, neither does the general form of the vessel. The top-strake and its covering batten are shown, as also the lashing; but the picture does not inspire confidence in the artist—it is probably unreliable.

Tasman speaks of one canoe containing seventeen men as though it was a noteworthy fact. We get no further information as to canoes from his journal; he may or may not have seen the single canoe, and he does not mention the outrigger.

We have now to move forward to the date of Captain Cook's arrival on these shores, in 1769, ere we again meet the Maori canoe. In the journal of Sir Joseph Banks we find the following entry concerning a double canoe seen off Whale Island:—"November 1st: Just after nightfall we were under a small island, from whence came off a large double canoe, or rather two canoes lashed together at a distance of about a foot, and covered with boards so as to make a kind of deck." On referring to Cook's journal we find that on the 1st November he passed Whale Island, in the Bay of Plenty, and he remarks that "At 7 p.m. was close under the island, from whence page 26a large double canoe full of people came off to us. This was the first double canoe we had seen in this country." Apparently at that time double canoes were much more numerous in the South than on the shores of the North Island. Concerning this Whale Island canoe Parkinson writes: "This canoe was double, and differed in other respects from those we had seen before."

When working down the coast north of Banks Peninsula, in February, 1770, Cook's vessel was visited by four double canoes, in which were fifty-seven men. Cook speaks of fifty or sixty natives, in five double canoes, visiting his vessel at Queen Charlotte Sound. Presumably these canoes were not large ones. This was on the 10th April, 1773. On the 3rd June a large double canoe was seen at the same sound, and the next day a similar one with twenty or thirty natives on board her. On the 7th April of the same year Cook speaks of seeing a small double canoe in Dusky Sound; it was just large enough to contain a family of eight persons. Some other natives seen in those sounds appeared to possess no canoe, but used a primitive raft consisting of two or three logs of wood tied together.

An entry in Bayly's Journal, published in McNab's Historical Records of New Zealand, volume 2, commences—"12 April, 1773. We were visited by eight or nine canoes, some double and some single, in which were 109 Indians…. There was one canoe much larger than the rest, and well carved."

Forster speaks of a double canoe seen at Queen Charlotte Sound in 1773 as containing about fifty men. Of another seen at the same place he remarks: "Their double canoe was about fifty feet long, and seemed to be new; both the high stern and the head were very curiously carved with fretwork and spiral lines, as described in Captain Cook's former voyage. A misshapen thing, which with some difficulty we perceived was meant to represent a human head, with a pair of eyes of mother-of-pearl, and a long tongue lolling out of its mouth, constituted the foremost extremity of the canoe. This figure is the most common in all their ornaments, and principally in everything that relates to warlike affairs. The custom of lolling out the tongue in contempt and defiance of the enemy seems to have given rise to the frequent representations of it; the figure of their tongue forms the heads of their war-canoes."

Of the double canoe seen at Dusky Sound on Cook's second voyage (1773) Forster writes: "The canoe, which appeared to be old and in bad order, consisted of two troughs or boats joined together with sticks tied across the gunwales with strings of the New Zealand flax-plant. Each part consisted of planks sewed together with ropes made of flax-plant, and had a carved head coarsely page 27representing a human face, with eyes made of round pieces of ear-shell."

In Anderson's account of Cook's voyages we find a few notes on Maori canoes. Of those seen at Poverty Bay in 1769 he writes: "A a single tree formed the bottom of their canoes, and the upper part consisted of two planks sewed together; these were painted red, representing many uncommon figures, and very curiously wrought." Off Portland Island seven canoes went off to the "Endeavour," and next day, farther south, nine canoes approached her. Off Cape Turnagain a number of canoes also visited the explorer's vessel. When she returned up the coast canoes went off to her from Portland Island and Gable-end Foreland. Of the double canoe seen near Whale Island Anderson remarks: "In the evening a double canoe, built after the same fashion as those of Otaheiti [Tahiti] came up." A number of canoes also went off to the vessel next morning in that vicinity. Some canoes seen farther up the coast were formed of the trunks of whole trees, rendered hollow by burning; but they were not carved, nor in any manner ornamented. Many canoes were seen at Mercury Bay and of these also we are told "Their canoes are very indifferently constructed, and are not ornamented at all." Those seen in the Hauraki Gulf, however, are described as being well constructed, and ornamented with carved work.

South of Cape Brett seven large canoes, containing about two hundred men, went off to the "Endeavour," and these were followed by two others that were adorned with carving. On reaching the Bay of Islands the ship was surrounded by thirty-three canoes, but no remarks are made on these craft, or on those seen farther north. North of Banks Peninsula four double canoes went off to the vessel. In a summary at the conclusion of the account of the first voyage we find the following remarks on Maori canoes: "The canoes of this country are not unlike the whaleboats of New England, being long and narrow. The larger sort seem to be built for war, and will hold from thirty to one hundred men. One of these at Tolaga measured near seventy feet in length, six in width, and four in depth. It was sharp at the bottom, and consisted of three lengths, about two or three inches thick, and tied firmly together with strong plaiting; each side was formed of one entire plank, about twelve inches broad, and about an inch and a half thick, which was fitted to the bottom part with equal strength and ingenuity. Several thwarts were laid from one side to the other, to which they were securely fastened, in order to strengthen the canoes. Some few of their canoes at Mercury Bay and Opoorage are all made entirely of one trunk of wood, which is made hollow by fire; but by far the page 28greater part after the plan above described. The smaller boats, which are used chiefly in fishing, are adorned at head and stern with the figure of a man, the eyes of which are composed of white shells; a tongue of enormous size is thrust out of the mouth, and the whole face a picture of the most absolute deformity. The grander canoes, which are intended for war, are ornamented with open work, and covered with fringes of black feathers, which gives the whole an air of perfect elegance; the side-boards, which are carved in a rude manner, are embellished with tufts of white feathers. These vessels are rowed with a kind of paddle between five and six feet in length, the blade of which is a long oval, gradually decreasing till it reaches the handle; and the velocity with which they row with these paddles is very surprising. Their sails are composed of a kind of mat or netting, which is extended between two upright poles, one of which is fixed on each side. Two ropes, fastened to the top of each pole, serve instead of sheets. The vessels are steered by two men having such a paddle, and sitting in the stern; but they can only sail before the wind, in which direction they move with considerable swiftness."

Of the natives of Queen Charlotte Sound this account remarks, "They are poor, and their canoes without ornaments."

When Cook arrived at the above sound during his second voyage ten canoes visited his vessel. At the same place one other day brought five double canoes of visitors.

Of the canoe at Tolaga referred to above as being nearly 70 ft. long Captain Furneaux wrote: "It was .. no less than sixty-eight and a half feet long, five broad, and three feet six inches high: it had a sharp bottom, consisting of three trunks of trees hollowed, of which that in the middle was longest: the side-planks were sixty-two feet long in one place, and were ornamented with carvings, not unlike fillagree work, in spirals of very curious workmanship, the extremities whereof were closed with a figure that formed the head of the vessel, in which were two monstrous eyes of mother-of-pearl, and a large-shaped tongue; and as it descended it still retained the figure of a monster, with hands and feet carved upon it very neatly, and painted red. It had also a high peaked stern, wrought in fillagree, and adorned with feathers, from the top of which two long streamers depended, made of the same materials, which almost reached the water."

In November, 1773, Furneaux speaks of seeing six large canoes, "most of them being double ones," hauled up on the beach at some place in Queen Charlotte Sound. In Anderson's narrative of Cook's third voyage is given the following account of canoes seen in the sound: "Their boats consist of planks raised upon each other, and page 29fastened with strong withes. Many of them are fifty feet long. Some-times they fasten two together with rafters, which we call a double canoe: they frequently carry upwards of thirty men, and have a large head, ingeniously carved and painted, which seems intended to represent the countenance of a warrior when engaged in the heat of action. Their paddles are narrow, pointed, and about five feet long. Their sail, very seldom used, is a mat formed into a triangular shape."

The double canoes employed by the Maori were evidently two genuine open vessels, both of which were used, as for passengers. Any platform across them was evidently a minor affair, not the important thing that it was in a Tongan vessel of that class.

Captain Furneaux remarks that at one place in Queen Charlotte Sound he saw "six large canoes hauled up on the beach, most of them double ones." This was in December, 1773. Again, at Grass Cove, he saw "a very large double canoe."

Neither Cook nor Banks mentions double canoes as having been seen in the Bay of Islands district; and Crozet, who was there in 1772, is equally silent regarding them, though he describes the single canoes.

Our next note comes from Dr. Savage, who visited the Bay of Islands in 1805: "Their canoes are formed of the trunk of a fir-tree, hollowed out by the adze, and usually raised upon by a plank of a foot broad on each side: they are of various dimensions, from thirty to sixty feet in length and upwards, and from two feet six inches to more than five feet broad; sharp at each extremity, and about three feet deep, including the plank before mentioned. This plank is united to the body of the canoe by ligatures, and a quantity of rush or flax placed in the seam, so as to answer the purpose of caulking. Their war-canoes are ornamented with carving and painting, and many of them are really very handsome. These will contain upwards of thirty warriors, and they sometimes lash two of them together. Ten or fifteen of these double canoes must form a powerful fleet, and would prove formidable to a European merchant ship. The common canoes are seldom more than about thirty feet in length; these sometimes contain two families, that come off to the ship for the purpose of trade. There is usually a division in the canoe, formed of wattle, to prevent the dealings of the two families from interfering with each other. They are also provided with nets, hooks, and lines, as an almost inseparable part of their equipment. Paddles are universally made use of, and, from the great strength and activity of the natives, the canoe is impelled forward with uncommon velocity. A large stone supplies the place of an anchor."

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The division in the canoe mentioned above is unknown to us, as no other writer seems to have mentioned it. The remark that "they sometimes lash two of them together" apparently implies that but few double craft were seen by the writer, and possibly that the lashing-together was but a temporary arrangement. However, Mr. H. M. Stowell (Hare Hongi), who is a member of the Ngapuhi Tribe, of the Bay of Islands district, states that two forms of double canoe were formerly employed by his folk. One of these, the waka hourua, consisted of two canoes placed side by side, close together, and so secured. They were fitted with top-strakes. The other type, termed a mahanga, had the two canoes secured about 30 in. apart. When a double canoe was employed in coastal voyages one hull was often used to contain travellers' stores. Mr. Stowell also states that in his youth he saw an old waka hourua, both ends of which had been destroyed by fire, the width of the two canoes being 10 ft. to 12 ft.

The above form in which the two canoes were fixed close together without a space between their central parts is an hitherto-undescribed type. The term mahanga, also employed to denote "twins," is a word that might well be applied to a double canoe.

In an account of the troublous times in the South Island during the early part of last century, as given in Stories of Banks Peninsula, page 31we note the following: "Taiaroa's fleet, which consisted of twenty-nine canoes, was mainly composed of vessels specially adapted for ocean voyaging, formed by lashing two ordinary war-canoes together, and further strengthening them with a deck."

In the same work a statement made by an early settler is given: "I have seen as many as twenty canoes of fishermen go out in the morning, and they would take their double canoes outside the heads without fear of being blown off."

An early settler, Mr. James Hay, author of Earliest Canterbury (1915), writes: "When a boy I can well remember two double war-canoes and a large sealing-boat coming into Pigeon Bay from the North Island." This would be in the "forties" of last century.

It seems clear that the double canoe survived to a later period in the South Island than in the North, and that it was in common use there in Cook's time. Polack, who lived for some years at the Bay of Islands in the "thirties" of last century, and also voyaged down the east coast as far as Tolaga Bay, remarks that "Canoes are very rarely lashed together; during my seven years' acquaintance with the country I never saw a single instance of the kind, and no platforms are made to surmount them, as is practised by the natives of the islands of Oceanica." We see that Cook and his companions mention but one double canoe as having been seen by them on the coast of the North Island, while they saw a considerable number in the South.

Mr. Shortland, writing in the "forties" of last century on the acquisition of whaleboats by South Island natives, says: "The large double canoes they formerly had were too valuable a property to be possessed by any but the wealthy, and required a more numerous crew for their management than a boat does; so that a great part of the population were then, as they are at the present day in the North Island, obliged to travel by land." It would appear that these double canoes seen in the South by Cook and by early settlers were indeed of a permanent type, and not merely two single craft temporarily lashed together.

The Rev. R. Taylor, author of Te Ika a Maui, states that "The New-Zealanders have retrograded since the days of Captain Cook; they then possessed large double canoes, decked, with houses on them, similar to those of Tahiti and Hawaii, in which traditionally their ancestors arrived; it is now more than half a century since the last was seen." There is no evidence to show that the double canoes seen by Cook had any form of house on them.

The Rev. J. Buller, author of Forty Years in New Zealand, states that according to Maori tradition their ancestors came to New Zea-land in thirteen large double canoes, but that they did not all come page 32at the same time. He adds: "The canoes they had were like those of the South-Sea-Islanders of today. They were double canoes, and provided with outriggers." Now, in the first place, no double canoe is provided with an outrigger, for the simple reason that it is quite an unnecessary adjunct to that class of vessel. Secondly, a much greater number of canoes reached New Zealand from Polynesia than the thirteen above mentioned, and they were by no means all double canoes. Thomson, in his Story of New Zealand, states that the vessels "Arawa," "Tainui," "Matatua," "Takitumu," "Kurahaupo," "Tokomaru," "Matahorua," and "Aotea," that reached these isles, were all double canoes; but native tradition does not support this statement. Of "Takitumu" we have a more detailed description than of any other Polynesian vessel that reached New Zealand, and she was certainly a single canoe furnished with an outrigger, as also was "Kurahaupo." "Tokomaru" arrived here probably nearly two hundred years before the "Arawa" "Tainui" fleet, and is not described, but the three vessels that followed her under Nuku are distinctly described in tradition as being e rua nga waka unua, kotahi te waka marohi (two double canoes and one single canoe). "Aotea" and "Matatua" are said to have been single canoes.

It is generally asserted that the "Arawa" was a double canoe with a platform between the two hulls on which a cabin or shed was built; but, as Archdeacon H. W. Williams has pointed out, this is by no means clear in the account preserved in Sir G. Grey's Polynesian Mythology. In the English part we find this—"I will climb up upon the roof of the house which is built on the platform joining the two canoes"; whereas the original reads thus —"Kia piki atu au ki runga i te tuanui o te whare nei": hence we see that the latter part of the sentence after the word "house," is not a translation, as it does not appear in the original. Where did the platform and the second canoe spring from? (See Grey's Polynesian Mytho-logy,2nd edition, p. 86, English, and p. 73, Maori.)

A statement occurs in volume 2 of White's Ancient History of the Maori that the "Arawa" was a double canoe. It was obtained from Whanganui natives, who also said that the "Arawa" was the largest vessel that reached these shores.

The term whare (house, or hut) may have referred to the covering often erected over the stern part of eastern Polynesian single canoes, or to the awning fixed during bad weather.

The double canoe is sometimes alluded to by natives as a taurua; but it would appear that this term was more especially employed in cases where the joining of two canoes was a temporary one, page 33the more specific terms of waka unua and huhunu denoting a permanent form.

The word pora, applied in New Zealand to a ship, is, in the Hawaiian (Sandwich) Isles, given to the slightly elevated platform between the two hulls of a double canoe. In Tahitian farepora (Maori whare pora) is a small thatched house or hut on a double canoe of the Paumotuan form.

Barstow considered that the use of double canoes in New Zealand waters was gradually abandoned for three reasons—(1) single canoes of large size could be made from the big timber obtainable here; (2) the unhandiness of double canoes in the rougher seas of this region; (3) the numbers of rivers, and creeks, unknown in coral islands, but common here, many of which, through narrowness, would be inaccessible to double canoes.

In his paper on "Maori Life on the Poutini Coast" Mr. H. D. Skinner shows that double canoes were used on the west coast of the South Island, apparently in recent times. In this paper we find a definite statement that the two canoes were of different lengths, one being about 10 ft. longer than the other. They were attached by means of spars lashed across them, and in the middle a platform was constructed on which a mast was erected. Natives from other parts of New Zealand used to visit their coast in canoes for the purpose of obtaining greenstone (nephrite).

The following remarks on double canoes of the South Island are taken from a paper by H. Beattie on "Traditions and Legends collected from the Natives of Murihiku," published in volume 25 of the Journal of the Polynesian Society:—

"Mention has been made of the double canoes. .. These were a typically southern product, as the rough seas round Otago and Foveaux Strait need security in sea-going craft. An old man described them to me. They were, he said, all double canoes in the South Island, not single ones like those of the North Island, which the people down here call taratahi. The name of these double canoes was waka hunua, or sometimes just hunua. They were not used in the North Island; probably there were bigger trees there, and they could get big enough single canoes. Of the double canoes, one was larger than the other, and there was a deck between, this deck being called orauwawa. These canoes all carried sails made of mats, and known as ra tiaka. The bows were called ihu, the figures carved thereon being tauihu; the sterns were called ta, and the carvings on them were called whakairo. The great advantage of these canoes was that they would not capsize; and in storms they would often lash two or three together into rafts, and ride out the storm by page 34keeping the bows to the wind. Sometimes, in bad storms, the lashings would break, and then there was trouble and perhaps loss of life. My informant had never seen one of these canoes complete, but when he was a lad he had noticed the carvings lying about, and, being interested in all that pertained to seafaring, he asked the old men about them and learnt the particulars given above."

One might infer from the above that double canoes were not used in the North, which would be incorrect, though apparently they were scarce here even in Cook's time. The statement that all canoes used on South Island coasts were double ones is also an error. The name orauwawa for the platform is new to us. Mr. S. Percy Smith states that a similar canoe at Rarotonga is called vaka orau. The Tahitian horahora (= platform of the pahi vessels) is scarcely a comparative, and the Paumotuan horau may be noted as a possibility that the platform at one time supported a shed. Tiaka is the northern word tianga (a mat); ra tianga =mat sail.

An old whaler named Haberfield, who came to the South Island early in 1836, informed Mr. A. Bathgate that he had seen as many as a dozen large double canoes at one time off Otago Heads.

A dismantled double canoe named "Nga-toto," belonging to one Tahuahi, is said to have been seen on the Wai-rarapa coast-line in the "forties" of last century.

Of the origin of the double canoe Colonel Lane Fox writes: "The double canoe represents a variety in which both logs of the double-logged raft have developed into canoes. The two canoes are placed side by side at a little distance apart, and transverse spars lashed across the gunwales of both, a platform being built upon the cross-spars."

The distribution of the double canoe in the Pacific seems to be about the same as that of the outrigger. In Polynesia it was used in the Society, Cook, Paumotu, Hawaiian, Friendly, Marquesas, and Navigator Groups, also at many other isles, and at New Zealand. In Melanesia it was found in the Fijian Isles (see fig. 3), at New Caledonia and elsewhere; also it was used in Micronesia, and from northern Australia as far as India and Burmah.

Late Use of Double Canoe in the Bay of Plenty.—On the east coast the term taurua was applied to a temporary form of double canoe, as when two canoes were lashed together for some specific use, such as the manipulation of large seines. These seine-boats would at other times be used as two single canoes. Mr. W. Best, of Otaki, has informed us that he saw such a double canoe in use at Maketu, Bay of Plenty, about the year 1873. The natives had made page 35a very large seine in the old way—that is, each family group living in the neighbourhood had made a certain length of net, after which all these separate pieces were joined together to form one huge seine 63 chains long and 30 ft. deep in the middle. Large as the seine was, still longer ones were seen by early voyagers to these shores.

When the seine was ready for use, two waka taua, which would not be less than 50 ft. to 60 ft. in length, were fastened together to serve as a seine-boat. These canoes were fitted with top-strakes, thwarts, and carved prow and stern-pieces. Poles were laid across the gunwales of both, securely lashed, and a platform about 20 ft. square constructed thereon. The seine was stacked or folded on this capacious platform, which was none too large for the purpose.

The double canoe was then paddled out seaward, the seine being payed out as she progressed. The usual attachements of sinkers and floats kept the seine in the proper position. Our correspondent remarks that he saw this double canoe used for the above purpose on two different occasions.

Such temporary joinings of two canoes for a special purpose differ from the permanent double canoe of Polynesia, but show that a knowledge of the usage has been preserved, and utilized to a late date.

The Moriori folk of the Chatham Isles had preserved a remem-brance of the double canoe.