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Chapter X. Maori Cremation.

As we returned up the river, Jars enquired what the shot was he had heard, and on being informed, expressed his belief that it would probably lead to trouble. The spirit of revenge amongst the Maoris was, he explained, one of their most strongly-marked characteristics.

The principle of "blood for blood" was so firmly ingrained on their minds, that the death of one of them from the rifle of Gordon would set the whole of the tribe athirst for revenge. Until they achieved what they called "utu^*" for the blood of their companion, there would be continual danger of the village being surprised and attacked, while it would be dangerous for any small party to venture far from the pa.

"But," I said, "how is it, if the Maori territory is so inaccessible, that this tribe has discovered a means of entering?"

Jars admitted that there must be some existing way known to these men, and readily fell in with my suggestion that we should try to discover it.

Immediately I had done so, I felt that I had committed an error in giving the Frenchman possession of our desire page 85and intention to try and leave the Maoris. For the moment I forgot that he was perhaps too far identified with them to be trusted. He had a Maori wife, and was a man of some importance amongst the people. He could not, therefore, be expected to act with us in opposition to the wish of the Maoris.

Having admitted him to our thoughts, there seemed no other course but to continue the confidence, and leave the result to fate. His joy at seeing us, and the subsequent interest he took in our welfare and entertainment, tended to dispel to some extent my feeling of distrust, and I determined to avoid showing him that I had harboured any such thought.

When we reached the pa, and Jars and Te Kahu had reported the visit of the hostile Maoris, considerable excitement ensued. A meeting of the Ariki and Council was held, to which Jars, Gordon, Richards, and I were invited, and a discussion took place as to what course should be adopted to meet the expected attack of the enemy. Some advocated (so Jars told me as the discussion proceeded) that a war party should be sent out to meet and engage them but others counselled preparations for an attack, and extra vigilance in guarding the pa. The chief, through Jars as interpreter, asked our advice, which we unhesitatingly gave in favour of the latter course.

This was very soon agreed upon. As we left the meeting, Richards remarked—

"Look here, you fellows, I think we made a mistake in our advice. We should have gone out to meet the cannibals, and might have discovered a way out of this blessed place."

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Gordon and I both admitted that there was some wisdom in this remark, but it was too late.

"Why didn't you think of this sooner?" I said.

Richards made no reply, and was evidently less forgiving than we were towards his own omission. At that moment Jars rejoined us, and I thought this would be a fitting opportunity to test his disposition, and at once spoke.

"The doctor has just suggested that it would be better to go out and meet the enemy. What do you think?"

Jars looked at me for a moment without speaking. He seemed in doubt how to take my remark. Then he replied by asking another question—

"What would be gained by that?"

I pointed out to him that by so doing we should probably take the advancing enemy quite unawares, and at the same time prevent them from doing any injury to the village or property of the tribe.

My arguments did not appear to have any effect on the laconic Frenchman. He merely replied with a remark which may best be translated as meaning, "he couldn't see it," and, shrugging his shoulders, he left us without further ceremony.

This proceeding somewhat strengthened the doubt I had already entertained as to how far Jars could be trusted, and made me determined to still farther fathom his friendship at the next opportunity.

Shortly after we returned to our whare, we were waited upon by Te Kahu and one or two other members of the Council, who managed to express to us that they came in the name of the Ariki to ask our acceptance of some page 87presents in acknowledgment of our assistance at the deliberations of the Council. These presents consisted of a handsome flax mat, called a Koroai, for each of us, and a greenstone figure, called Heitiki, which is worn by the Maoris round their necks. The mats were almost pure White, ornamented with black stripes, and having a heavy black fringe border. We afterwards ascertained that these mats were worn only by the principal men of the tribe. Those given to us were quite new, and beautifully white and soft.

Before we went to sleep that night Macdonald and Lode related to us a slight and somewhat ludicrous adventure of which the latter had been the subject during our absence from the village.

Left to themselves, these two men had sought to become acquainted with the locality in which they dwelt, and they, with this object in view, had wandered out amongst the dwellings of the pa. In their wanderings they had come upon a party of young women busily engaged in mat-making, and stood for some time watching them. Presently others came up, apparently ladies of distinction, and appeared struck with their visitors, as they evinced a desire to attract the notice of Macdonald and Lode. One of them especially, a remarkably good-looking young woman, made decided advances with the object of attracting Lode, and afterwards followed him wherever he went, until her action was noticed by a Maori, who evidently stood in some relation of authority towards her; for he commanded her to retire to a neighbouring whare, which she immediately did. This man at the same time made page 88unmistakeable gestures of resentment towards Lode, which induced him and his companion to cut short their peregrinations around the pa, and return to their own quarters.

The ludicrous side of this episode struck Gordon at once.

"I say, Mac, you've made a conquest, evidently," he said, turning to his servant with an air of mock seriousness.

The idea of this being the case was indeed very mirth-provoking, and we could not resist a laugh. There was nothing about the Scotchman's personal attractions likely to enlist the preference of any of the opposite sex. The same might be said in a lesser degree of Lode; but as we had already experienced his superior qualifications in one direction at least, I was not then in a position to judge him by the standard of the Maori notions of physical beauty.

Macdonald did not quite relish the joke of his master. The accusation of anything of the kind referred to was not agreeable to his ideas of strict propriety. He must needs take the remark good-humouredly, however, and replied—

"Haud yer tongue, sir; I'm no the man tae fash masel' wi' ony o' that like daein's, an' at ma time o' life, tae."

"You might do worse than marry the daughter of a Maori chief."

"Certies! the dochter o' a king wad hae nae haud on me if I kent o't."

"What, Mac? You don't mean to say you would throw away a chance of being the ruler of a powerful people simply because it was presented to you as the dower of a dusky maiden?"

"Dusky deevil!" replied Mac, somewhat nettled; "wad page 89ye want me tae be the faither o' a race o' dog-eatin' caannibals?"

The knowledge that had been imparted to the Scotchman of the Maori taste for the flesh of his dog had evidently not raised the tribe in his estimation.

"Come, Mac," returned Gordon, not to be deprived of the full amusement of the theme, "you must admit that the admixture of Scotch and Maori blood would result in the benefit of both?"

"I'm no sayin', but I'm no the ane tae dae it," and Macdonald turned away as if he had said something which must inevitably end the subject. Gordon evidently felt so too, for he could only remark—

"Well, Mac, let us hope that the result of the impression you have made to-day will not be anything more unpleasant than your becoming a chief of the Rangitani in right of your wife."

In my mind there arose something other than amusement at the prospect of this disturbance in our relations with the Maoris. I knew that the domestic ties of the natives were amongst their most sacred relations, and that woe betided the man who became the element of discord between husband and wife.

The more I thought on the subject the greater became my uneasiness. I could not lessen it by discussing it with the others, as I felt instinctively that it was better to avoid giving them any trouble of that kind.

Some days went by, and no disturbing events happened, either in connection with the hostile natives or the preference that had been shown for Lode by the Maori woman.

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One day Jars asked if we should like to be present at a native funeral; one of the villagers had died two days ago, and was to be cremated that day.

"Cremated!" I exclaimed with astonishment. "You don't mean to say that these Maoris practise cremation?"

Jars replied that they did, and had done so for some time.

Cremation was not an usual mode of disposal of the dead amongst the natives of New Zealand, but their reverence for the bones of relatives was strongly developed. With this small tribe the ancient custom of scraping and preserving the bones had been superseded by cremation, because they could not be said to have a fixed tenure in their present territory, and by this means were in a position to carry the remains of their ancestors with them in the event of having to flee from there.

The process of cremation, he assured us, was not in the least revolting. A huge stone cylinder was placed horizontally in the centre of a vast fireplace. The body was put into this in a standing position, then a fierce fire was kindled by the nearest relative of the deceased, and kept burning for upwards of twenty-four hours by the attendants, so that when the cylinder had cooled and the moveable bottom, which consisted of a solid stone scooped out like a basin, was removed, there remained a small deposit of ashes, which formed the "remains" of the body operated on, and which were carefully preserved as sacred relics of the deceased.

We went with Jars to witness the cremation, but were too late to see the tangi, or usual lamentations over the body. When we arrived on the scene, the body was being page 91deposited in the cylinder. This was done by slipping it in from above in a perfectly nude state. As the body fell down, the mat in which it was shrouded was removed and thrown on the fire, then ready for kindling. When this was done, the elder brother of the dead man stepped forward and lighted the fire around the cylinder. Presently the flames shot up, and the cylinder began to grow hot. Although we knew that the work of change had begun, we were not aware of anything offensive, or in any way repulsive in the spectacle. The body was being gradually reduced to dust, and the elements of disease or offence were being slowly but surely destroyed. I turned away from the scene with sadness and satisfaction—sadness when I contemplated the end of all life; satisfaction that I had become conscious of a means whereby all the gruesome and unhealthy accompaniments of death and burial could be avoided. It was thus amongst savage and uncivilised people that I had learned this sanitary lesson; from primitive minds that I had acquired the knowledge of how best to bestow the dead.

The Maoris left the scene when the fire had become properly aflame, and the work of destruction was left to the care of regular attendants.

Jars explained to us that it was the duty of the relatives of the deceased to take a cleansing bath after this ceremony before they returned to their homes.

There was a public bath set apart for such occasions. Would we like to see it? We readily expressed our desire in this direction, and accompanied Jars, and Te Kahu who had now joined us, to the bath in question.

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This proved to be on the outskirts of the pa, near the foot of the hill which rose at the rear of the buildings. Here a narrow channel was constructed, which led a stream of water down the hill, and made it run over a gently sloping hillock, whence it was carried again to the main stream. In this water-course were fixed sloping frames at frequent intervals, and these threw the water upwards and projected it in a strong shower some feet further down the channel. At the point where the water fell seats were fixed, with rests for the feet. Upon these the bather sat and received the full force of the descending spray. Here we saw the Maoris taking their bath, and being divested of all effects of their contact with the dead body of their relative, which they had left to the influence of other elements.

When they had completed their cleansing process, there was no reason why they should not return to their families and kindred, and the effect of any of the stringent Tapu regulations was not visited upon them.