The National tribune., 1908-03-12

grow 1t. The New Zealand wool is the
softest and warmest of any and brings
the highest price in the markets. 1t is
the principal export.
In animal life New Zealand is quite
unique. Many of its birds are wingless.
the crow strikes as sweet a note as any
heard in the woodland, and our old
friend, robin redbreast, would not be
recognized, for he has no song and no
red breast. The hen is the greatest OF
rat killers. and there is caterpillar
which blossoms. There are no snakes.
When the first colonists arrived they
found land singularly free of all land
mammals except some bats, but with
its colonization the character of its ami
NAL life became completely changed,
dogs, pigs, all kinds of domestic ami
mails and small birds being imported by
the English and acclimatized. In an
evil and unguarded moment they intro
duced the rabbit and sweet briar, mere
ly to make their new home seem nat
ural and pleasant, which very shortly
proved to be the greatest of pests, a.
they literally overran the country. Lat
terly, however, the rabbit has been
made a source of revenue, being export
ed by millions to feed the English.
History.
New Zealand was first discovered in
of the greatest navigators of the nth
century, who also discovered Tasmania.
Holland took no steps to occupy it, how
ever, and Capt. Cook took possession of
it in 1853 in the name of England, but
no colonization took place till 1899. The
English found the country occupied BY
warlike savages, called Maori who had
an absolute genius for war and showed
the greatest ability in building, fortify-
ing and defending stockades. They wer,
cannibals, ard their strange religion il
some respects resembled the Chinese,
ancestral worship forming an important
part of it,
Among their religious observance
was the singular institution called
"Tapu," which was established for po-
litical purposes, however, and consisted
in making any person, place or thing
sacred for longer or shorter pcrio,
of time. If it were person, during the
time of the tapu he could not be touch
ed by anyone, nor could he touch him
self or any object. Places were tapu
for certain periods-rivers until the fish
ing season was over, fields until the
planting or reaping was completed, etc.
The tapu was of two kinds, private and
public, one affecting individuals and
the other communities. The garments
of chief when tapu would kill anyone
who put them on; drop of blood from
the veins of a chief rendered tapu any
thing il fell upon. In planting time all
people so employed were tapu, so that
they could not leave the place or do
any other work till that were finished,
which was extremely convenient for him
who wanted the planting done. The
MaoriS considered the fiat nose a sign
of beauty, and as soon as an infant was
born the nurse took the child and
pressed gently but firmly upon the
bridge of the child's nose with her fin
ger till the bridge broke and gave way,
which usually happened in about a hall
hour.
Many of the Maori customs resemble
those of the Incas, among which may
be mentioned the manner of obtaining
their wives, for Dolygamy was univer-
sally practiced; the way in which the
land was cultivated by the people for
the chiefs, the whole population going
out at dawn and 1aboring together thru
the day, chanting their popular ballads
as they worked and in the custom of
the favorite wife and nunlber of
slaves strangling themselves when the
head chief died. 1t is said that when
the famous Inca chief, Huayna Capac,
died, 1000 of his subjects were immo-
lated on his tomb WaiIing for the dead
was Maori practice. The Maoris diff
fer much in personal appearance. Some
of the finest of them have an unmis-
takaDlc Jt Wish Cast or features, hlgh
foreheads and aquiline noses, others
show a Chinese strain. and again others
the Negritto, only more slightly formed,
with a chocolate-colored skin and friZ-
zled rather than woolly hair In the
north and extreme south they are the
darkest some Of them being as fair as
the Spanish or Portuguese. They are
rather small. but wiry in form and ac-
tive in their movements.
Maori Civilization.
The Maori. while not equal to the
Incas in the high grade Of their civiliZa-
ton, showed their superiority to most
savages in many ways-in the finely
wrought mats and elaborate embroid-
cry, in the elegant latticework of their
houses, their canoes. and power of
working the greensboro. The compli-
Gated tapu, also, evidently instituted to
enable the higher to control the lower
classes. shows deep design and wisdom.
The Maori language more closely re-
sembles that Of the Sandwich Islands
than any other, tho many of their words
are Sanscrit and others more nearly like