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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 52

The Maori Spirit Land: a New Zealand Poem

The Maori Spirit Land: a New Zealand Poem.

The Maori formerly believed that the souls of the dead entered the other world through a cave, which is situated by the seaside at the northern extremity of the North Island, and it was supposed that some of the priests or seers could see their spirits passing away on their journey by the shore to the cavern in the North. Many very strange and poetical ideas are associated with the procession of the spirits to the northern cavern, where they take a final departure from "day," and enter the "night," such, for instance, as the waterfalls ceasing to roar as they pass by, etc. I have often seen the long leaves of a plant which grows on the shore in the North tied in knots; these knots were made by the spirits as a memorial to their friends, and to show the path they had taken. Infidels think these knots are made by the wind whirling about the long narrow leaves, which are more like ribbons in shape than leaves.

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The Spirit Land.
The seer stands on the sacred hill above the ocean strand,
His eyes fixed on the spirit path that leads to the spirit land;
To the far North, with many a bend, along the rugged shore
That sad road leads, o'er rocks and weeds, whence none returneth more.
The weak, the strong, all pass along—the coward and the brave—
From that dread track none turneth back, none can escape the grave.

Seer.
Tangaroa! Tangaroa!* whither have fled your waves?
Who 'gainst the land eternal war wage from their ocean caves.
Why abashed, with lowly head,
Sleep they on their heaving bed—
Your sons! your braves!
And, Tangaroa, tell me why flows this fountain silently?
Why has the cataract ceased to moan,
Bounding his last bound,
From mountain top to salt sea stone
Headlong, but with no sound?
And the west wind passes by,
Silently, without a sigh!

Tangaroa.
Passing now are the ghosts of the dead,
The winds are hushed, the rude waves hide their head;
And the fount flows silently,
And the breeze forgets to sigh,
And the torrent to moan
O'er rock and stone.
For the dead pass by!
Now on the barren spirit track
Lingering sadly, gazing back,
Slowly moves a ghastly train,
Shades of warriors, brave in vain:
For what can mortal valour do
Against thee, furious war-god Tu?
You, by sacrifice and pray'r,
To hostile ranks allured were;
None but you, O Tu! could slay them,
None but the war-god's self dismay them
You who spoke first at thy birth,
"Let us destroy heaven and earth;"

* Tangaroa is the Maori impersonation of the ocean—the Maori Neptune,

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You who, charging like a flood,
Wrap whole armies in their blood;
You who scale the hill fort steep
When the weary warriors sleep,
And awake them but to die
With the Wakaara cry;
You who, when the fight is done,
Roast the flesh on heated stone.
Brother of the thunder, scarlet-belted Tu,*
For ever and for ever shall the warriors worship you;
Wealth and power and high command
Are all in thy forceful hand.
Earth-shaker,
Spoil-taker,
Climber of mountains, climber of waves,
Weapon-bearer, binder of slaves,
Battle-fighter, wrathful Tu,
Builder of the war canoe.
Though your followers may lie
In their blood on battle plain,
They alone can never die,
For in song they live again;
And their names remembered long,
Twine in many a warlike tale;
And the tangi, plaintive song,
Makes for them the parting wail.
The seer has left the hill. Hark! hark! that wailing cry;
The shades he saw were the braves of his tribe to the Reinga passing by.

How long the dynasty of Sargina remained supreme in Babylonia it is not necessary to inquire. Shortly after his epoch a great change seems to have taken place in the politics of Chaldæa, and an Arab dynasty reigned there. Whether the intruding power were Arabs of the same Cushite race, i.e., from Arabia Felix and

* Tu, who is so frequently mentioned in these verses, is the Maori war god. He was supposed to assimilate more nearly in his nature to man than any of the other Maori gods. All the epithets applied to this deity, who appears greatly to resemble the Odin of our Northern forefathers, are in strict accordance with native tradition and custom. Indeed, the whole imagery employed is due to the peculiar poetry of the Maori mind.

"Scarlet-belted Tu."—The maro or belt of the Maori warriors before they came to this country was covered with very beautiful scarlet feathers; and from all time the war god Tu has been supposed to wear the scarlet belt and girdle.

page 21 Hadramaut, or Joktanite Arabs from the northern parts of Arabia, there is no need to inquire. In the former case there would occur an enlargement of the political influence of Southern Arabia and a temporary retrograde movement of the population; and in the latter the Cushite inhabitants would most certainly flee to Southern Arabia for refuge and safety among the people who were akin to them in blood and in language; so that the result would be the same, so far as the subject population was concerned. Respecting this remarkable historical event, Dr. Brugsch ("Egypt under the Pharaohs") states, while recounting the difficulties that beset Thutmes, the great Egyptian Pharaoh: "A great revolution took place at the same time (about 1600) in the mighty empire of the Chaldæans on the banks of the Euphrates. The Chaldæan dynasty was attacked by the Arabs from the South, and the ruling princes of the land were overthrown and expelled, or carried away into captivity. A new era began, the era of the Arab kings in Babylon, who from this time bore rule for many years in the river-land of Mesopotamia."