The Native Race.

Origin and Traditional History.

There is nothing on record respecting the origin of the Maori people; but their arrival in New Zealand, according to tradition, is due to an event which, from its physical possibility, and from the concurrent testimony of the various tribes, is probably true in its main facts.

The tradition runs that generations ago a large migration took place from a distant island, to which the Maoris give the name of Hawaiki. Quarrels among the Natives drove from Hawaiki a chief, whose canoe arrived upon the shore of the North Island of New Zealand. Returning to his home with a flattering description of the country he had discovered, this chief, it is said, set on foot a scheme of emigration, whereupon a fleet of large double canoes started for the new land. The names of most of the canoes are still remembered, and each tribe agrees in its account of the doings of the people of the principal "canoes" after their arrival in New Zealand; and from these traditional accounts the descent of the numerous tribes has been traced. Calculations, based on the genealogical staves kept by the tohungas, or priests, indicate that about twenty-seven generations have passed since the migration, which would give for its date about the beginning of the fourteenth century. The position of Hawaiki is not known, but there are several islands of this or a somewhat similar name.