confined to one or two vertical or horizontal lines upon the lip and chin. This tattooing occasionally, however, takes place twice, in order to bring out a black colour, as the New Zealanders consider a black lip as the very ideal of beauty. It also figures as such in the songs chanted by the Tohunga on such occasions, of which the following stanzas may be presented as a specimen:—
Be ready, my daughter, to have thyself marked,
To tattoo thy chin!
That, when thou crossest the threshold of a strange house,
They may not say, "Whence cometh this ugly woman?"
Be ready, my daughter, to have thyself marked,
To tattoo thy chin!
That thou mayst have a comely aspect,
That when thou art bidden to a feast,
They may not ask, "Whence cometh this red-lipped woman?"
To make thyself beautiful
Come and be tattooed!
That when thou dost enter the circle of dancers,
They may not ask, "Whence cometh this woman with the ugly lips?"
The Tohunga is usually well remunerated, and frequently in the course of his chant makes allusion to the amount of reward he expects, and indeed sometimes stimulates the generosity of his patient by singing amongst other ditties, something like
"The man who is paid well
Tattoos beautifully!
The man who receives nothing
Does not tattoo well!"
The marks, when completely brought out, are so manifold and various that hardly any two New Zealanders are to be found who are tattooed entirely alike. Accordingly these markings serve neither to indicate variety of tribe, nor difference of rank. A slave, if he possess the means, may have his face tattooed with the same ornaments as his master. However it appears, as we were informed by Colonel Browne, that on the occasion of the chiefs ratifying the treaty with the English, they superscribed the various documents with the lines upon their faces, like so much heraldic blazonry, instead of writing their names.
Another remarkable custom of the Maori consists in the right of the priest to declare certain persons and things taboo, that is, consecrated and inviolable. This custom, which is nothing else than a religious ordinance instituted for political purposes, is frequently most beneficial in its consequences. So great and universal was the respect paid to the law of taboo, that even hostile tribes were in the habit during war of leaving unharmed all persons and things thus protected. A plot of ground planted with esculents, a fruit tree, a sick person, a "lady in the straw,"—all these were so many objects declared holy and inviolate.
Formerly polygamy was tolerably frequent among the Maori, although instances were by no means rare in which a man had but one wife to whom he continued faithful. At present this custom, incompatible with the Christian notion