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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 78

Maori Witchcraft—an Exodus.—the Flax Industry

page 30

Maori Witchcraft—an Exodus.—the Flax Industry.

The following is an account of the method of employing "the curse," as given me by the Maoris :—The women are much vexed when any of the flax scraped by them is stolen. In such a case she would consult a tohunga, who would undertake to discover thief. Her house would be placed under tapu, during which time no one is allowed to enter it. This is necessary to render the makutu effective. Then the tohunga asks,'" Has any one entered your house ?" On a reply in the negative, he tells the woman be will come to her at night, when he visits her and takes her to the water-side, where he takes off his clothes, and proceeds to strike the water with a stick carried for the purpose. Immediately he does this the form of the thief is supposed to appear to the tohunga, whereupon he curses it, when the thief is supposed to fall ill, and perhaps die. The old Maoris had religions peculiar to each tribe and family in forms of karakia, or invocation addressed to their departed ancestral spirits.

It was about the year 1850 when Wi Kingi and his tribe abandoned Waikanae and went to Taranaki, the land of their ancestors. The journey was made through Cook's Straits in large war canoes. It was an imposing sight to watch the entire tribe numbering several hundreds, in the canoes about three miles outside the breakers. In the year 1860 the dispute arose between Wi Kingi and the Waitara chief Taira, a dispute which eventually involved the Colony and Her Majesty's Government in a long and expensive war. Luckily for us the Natives' preparations for was were incomplete, which fact was responsible for the misfortune which befell us during the war not being worse than they were. In the year 1842 my father, having imported a rope-making plant from England, established rope-works at Petone. His supply of fibre was drawn from the Wellington Natives, and also from Kawhia. The fibre produced by the Kawhia Natives was of silky appearance, and quite different from the local article. It used to be sent down in baskets, which were packed with neatly-made hanks. Wheat sacks being scarce, my father employed a considerable number of Scotch women to weave thread from the flax fibre by means of "spinning jennies." My father presented the first sack made by this means to Governor Fitzroy. The venture ended in financial failure, however, as it was after wards found that sacks could be imported from Sydney for Is 6d. each, whereas it cost my father 2s 6d each to manufacture his and consequently the enterprise had to be abandoned at considerable loss, the plant having cost some £500. Experiments page 31 were made by my father to ascertain if the flax rope would take tar, and the captain of the H.M.S. Calliope took a ton of the tarred rope with a view of testing it. On his return, however, he informed my father that the experiment was a failure as the fibre did not absorb the tar, which wore off with use. The gum in the fibre was the cause of the trouble. After carrying on the business of rope-making in Petone for four years my father established his plant at "Waikawa, where we spent four years. Then my father : was attracted to the Manawatu district, and, leaving Waikawa, he, in the year 1848, established a rope-walk on the bank of the Manawatu river near the Maire lake, Shannon, where Mr. Charles Hartley was engaged in carrying on a large trade with the Maoris. I retain vivid and pleasant recollections of our canoe trip up the Manawatu river on the occasion when we took up our infacturing plant to the new site. I was struck with the appearance of the rich alluvial flats which stretched back from both banks of the river. The banks were adorned with kowhai trees, the yellow blossom of which shone replendent in the bright sunshine. Then there were patches of bush skirting the river banks, composed of tall pines and thick undergrowth of many varying shades of green, among which bright-blossomed creepers "reached aspiringly upwards till some reached the tops of the tallest trees, making a striking scene of natural beauty. Here and there in the bush the bell-birds and tuis sang their wild musical songs of joyous freedom, white cuckoos and many other Native birds abounded. In the clearings along the banks we saw Maori villages, and crops of wheat which promised a rich harvest to their dusky owners, who took great trouble with their cultivations. And so we made our way slowly up the river, while our Native "canoemen shouted their wild songs while straining at their paddles, until at last we reached Mr. Chas. Hartley's place. Here we found a fine Maori settlement composed of large pahs and hundreds of Natives engaged in the cultivation of the rich river flats, and the preparation of fibre from the flax which grew in abundance in the vicinity. It was indeed a pretty place possessed of great natural beauty. Here I saw suspended between the branches of a giant rata tree four Maori coffins. It was the Native burial ground, land in one place was a canoe set upright in the ground, and in it, the corpse of a woman in a sitting posture dressed in beautiful, mats and feathers. We established our rope-walk about three chains from this spot.

There were two powerful tribes living in the neighbourhood, one of which was named the Ngatiwakatere. The other tribes were heathens. So well ordered were the customs that months would pass without an angry word being spoken among them, Indeed, the old Maori tongue was almost devoid of any expression page 32 of a profane nature. The only-curse it contained was considered to be so awful that it was only applied to a public enemy, or to those about to become such, and its employment was nearly always followed by a declaration of war. I could not have wished to have lived among better people.

At the time of which I write, Messrs Thomas and John Kebbell were engaged at Piaka in carrying on a large trade with the Natives. They had a steam flour-mill, and also did a considerable trade in timber. Hundreds of Natives from Moutoa used to visit them and bring canoes laden with wheat and dressed flax. The Kebbells also had a fine farm. Mr. T. W. Cook was located on a nice farm on the opposite side of the river, and he, too, carried on trade with the Natives. This was about 1851. Mr. Cook also owned two forty-ton coasting vessels, which were built for him by Messrs G. Nye and F. Able, of Foxton. At that time Mr. A. Burr had a splendid farm lower down the river at what is known as "The Long Reach." I considered it a model farm, and it was well stocked with cattle.

At that time (1851) Captain Robertson and Dr Best were farming at Foxton, where they both had large cattle runs, and Messrs H. and C. Simmons were then overseers for Mr. Robinson, who also had a cattle run there. The Rev. Jame3 Duncan was in charge of the Foxton Presbyterian Church, and was well liked by the Natives in the Manawatu. The rev. gentleman, who arrived in the Colony in 1844, had been an eye-witness of many Native disturbances. It was about the year 1857 that a general exodus of the Ngatikahungunu from the Manawatu to the Wairarapa occurred on account of the lands occupied by them being sold by the rightful Native owners. They were an industrious tribe numbering several hundreds, and the departure was a heavy loss to the traders of the district, for the flourishing Maori village at Moutoa became deserted, and their supplies of corn, potatoes, and flax were, of course, lost to the traders.

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The Late Mr Thos. Bevan, father of Mr Thos. Bevan senr., of Manakau, Died 1882, aged 84 years.

The Late Mr Thos. Bevan, father of Mr Thos. Bevan senr., of Manakau, Died 1882, aged 84 years.