To what has been already said of the practice of eating human flesh, I shall only add, that in almost every cove where we landed, we found flesh-bones of men near the places where fires had been made; and that among the heads that were brought on board by the old man, some seemed to have false eyes, and ornaments in their ears as if alive. That which Mr. Banks bought was sold with great reluctance by the possessor: the head was manifestly that of a young person about fourteen or fifteen years of age, and by the contusions on one side appeared to have received many violent blows, and indeed a part of the bone near the eye was wanting. These appearances confirmed us in the opinion that the natives of this country give no quarter, nor take any prisoners to be killed and eaten at a future time, as is said to have been a practice among the Indians of Florida: for if prisoners had been taken, this poor young creature, who cannot be supposed capable of making much resistance, would probably have been one, and we knew that he was killed with the rest, for the fray had happened but a few days before.
The towns or Hippahs of these people, which are all fortified, have been sufficiently described already, and from the Bay of Plenty to Queen Charlotte’s Sound they seem to be the constant residence of the people: but about Poverty Bay, Hawke’s Bay, Tegadoo, and Tolaga, we saw no Hippahs, but single houses scattered at a distance from each other; yet upon the sides of the hills there were stages of a great length, furnished with stones and darts, probably as retreats for the people at the last extremity, as upon these stages a fight may be carried on with much advantage against those below, who may be reached with great effect by darts and stones, which it is impossible for them to throw up with equal force. And indeed the forts themselves seem to be no farther serviceable than by enabling the possessors to repress a sudden attack; for as there is no supply of water within the lines, it would be impossible to sustain a siege. A considerable stock of fern-root and dry fish is indeed laid up in them; but they may be reserved against seasons of scarcity, and that such seasons there are, our observations left us no room to doubt; besides, while an enemy should be prowling in the neighbourhood, it would be easy to snatch a supply of water from the side of the hill, though it would be impossible to dig up fern-root or catch fish.
In this district, however, the people seemed to live in a state of conscious security, and to avail themselves of their advantage: their plantations were more numerous, their canoes were more decorated, and they had not only finer carving, but finer clothes. This part of the coast also was much the most populous, and possibly their apparent peace and plenty might arise from their being united under one Chief, or King; for the inhabitants of all this part of the country told us, that they were the subjects of Teratu: when they pointed to the residence of this Prince, it was in a direction which we thought inland; but which, when we knew the country better, we found to be the Bay of Plenty.
It is much to be regretted that we were obliged to leave this country without knowing any thing of Teratu but his name. As an Indian monarch, his territory is certainly extensive: he was acknowledged from Cape Kidnappers to the northward, and westward as far as the Bay of Plenty, a length of coast upwards of eighty leagues; and we do not yet know how much farther westward his dominions may extend. Possibly the fortified towns which we saw in the Bay of Plenty may be his barrier; especially as at Mercury Bay he was not acknowledged, nor indeed any other single chief: for wherever we landed, or spoke with the people upon that coast, they told us that we were at but a small distance from their enemies.
In the dominions of Teratu we saw several subordinate chiefs, to whom great respect was paid, and by whom justice was probably administered; for upon our complaint to one of them, of a theft that had been committed on board the ship by a man that came with him, he gave him several blows and kicks, which the other received as the chastisement of authority, against which no resistance was to be made, and which he had no right to resent. Whether this authority was possessed by appointment or inheritance we could not learn; but we observed that the chiefs, as well here as in other parts, were elderly men. In other parts, however, we learnt that they possessed their authority by inheritance.
The little societies which we found in the southern parts seemed to have several things in common, particularly their fine clothes, and fishing nets. Their fine clothes, which possibly might be the spoils of war, were kept in a small hut, which was erected for that purpose in the middle of the town: the nets we saw making in almost every house, and the several parts being afterwards collected were joined together. Less account seems to be made of the women here than in the South Sea islands; such at least was the opinion of Tupia, who complained of it as an indignity to the sex. We observed that the two sexes eat together; but how they divide their labour we do not certainly know. I am inclined to believe that the men till the ground, make nets, catch birds, and go out in their boats to fish; and that the women dig up fern-roots, collect lobsters and other shell-fish near the beach, dress the victuals, and weave cloth: such at least were their employments when we had an opportunity of observing them, which was but seldom; for in general our appearance made a holiday wherever we went, men, women and children, flocking round us, either to gratify their curiosity, or to purchase some of the valuable merchandise which we carried about with us, consisting principally of nails, paper, and broken glass.
Of the religion of these people it cannot be supposed that we could learn much; they acknowledge the influence of superior beings, one of whom is supreme, and the rest subordinate; and gave nearly the same account of the origin of the world, and the production of mankind, as our friends in Otaheite: Tupia, however, seemed to have a much more deep and extensive knowledge of these subjects than any of the people here; and whenever he was disposed to instruct them, which he sometimes did in a long discourse, he was sure of a numerous audience, who listened in profound silence, with such reverence and attention, that we could not but wish them a better teacher.
What homage they pay to the deities they acknowledge we could not learn; but we saw no place of public worship, like the Morais of the South Sea islands: yet we saw, near a plantation of sweet potatoes, a small area, of a square figure, surrounded with stones, in the middle of which one of the sharpened stakes which they use as a spade was set up, and upon it was hung a basket of fern-roots: upon inquiry, the natives told us, that it was an offering to the gods, by which the owner hoped to render them propitious, and obtain a plentiful crop.
As to their manner of disposing of their dead, we could form no certain opinion of it, for the accounts that we received by no means agreed. In the northern parts, they told us that they buried them in the ground; and in the southern, that they threw them into the sea: it is however certain that we saw no grave in the country, and that they affected to conceal every thing relating to their dead with a kind of mysterious secrecy. But whatever may be the sepulchre, the living are themselves the monuments; for we saw scarcely a single person of either sex whose body was not marked by the scars of wounds which they had inflicted upon themselves as a testimony of their regret for the loss of a relation or friend: some of these wounds we saw in a state so recent that the blood was scarcely staunched, which shows that death had been among them while we were upon the coast; and makes it more extraordinary that no funeral ceremony should have fallen under our notice: some of the scars were very large and deep, and in many instances had greatly disfigured the face. One monument indeed we observed of another kind,—the cross that was set up near Queen Charlotte’s Sound.
Having now given the best account in my power of the customs and opinions of the inhabitants of New Zealand, with their boats, nets, furniture, and dress, I shall only remark, that the similitude between these particulars here and in the South Sea islands is a very strong proof that the inhabitants have the same origin; and that the common ancestors of both, were natives of the same country. They have both a tradition that their ancestors, at a very remote period of time, came from another country; and according to the tradition of both, that the name of that country was Heawije; but the similitude of the language seems to put the matter altogether out of doubt. I have already observed, that Tupia, when he accosted the people here in the language of his own country, was perfectly understood; and I shall give a specimen of the similitude by a list of words in both languages, according to the dialect of the northern and southern islands of which New Zealand consists, by which it will appear that the language of Otaheite does not differ more from that of New Zealand, than the language of the two islands from each other.