One axe deserved particular attention, not only from its great size, measuring 18 inches in length, but also from the purity of the jade, or, as it was more familiarly called by the Maoris, greenstone," and from the fact of its edges being beautifully crenulated or worked. No other example of similar workmanship was known. The Meri-meris or Patoo-patoos were thoroughly representative, there being three in jade, one extremely large, and another of quite a translucent material. Three were wrought in basalt and one in a greenstone.

The gods, or "tikis," which were suspended round the neck and worn often as charms as preventives against disease, were interesting; they ranged in size from 14 inches to 6 inches in length.

A necklace of perforated jade beads was described as extremely rare, as also were some of the ear pendants. The largest of the latter was quite straight and translucent, measuring 61 inches in length. The smaller ones were of very rare type, especially one shaped like a shark's tooth. Other ear pendants would be found to be quite transparent, and, although at first glance might be taken for jade, were in reality a precious green serpentine, perhaps a variety of bowenite. No specimens cut in this rare material by the Maoris were known to exist in other European collections. The formidable circular jade axes which were so deftly handled were from New Caledonia, in which country they were called nboucts, and are specially mentioned in the "Voyage in Search of La Perouse." It was pointed out that a small apple-green axe exhibited was the identical specimen figured in that work. The largest axe, nearly a foot in diameter, was perhaps unequalled for its size, and for the purity of the material, an apple-green jade. It was mounted in a handle 18 inches in length, terminating in a cavity containing nuts or stones, which are rattled about to keep time to the primitive dance of the Papuans. The handle is covered with a native cloth bound round with cord.

DISCUSSION.

Mr. JOHN EVANS made some remarks on the methods by which the jade implements from New Zealand appeared to have been manufactured. He pointed out that upon a large proportion of them there were marks showing that a process of sawing had been employed in roughly fashioning them. The saw used might either have been a piece of stone or of hard wood or bone, used in conjunction with sand or corundum, if forthcoming. He called attention to the fact that most of the neolithic implements, formed of fibrolite, and of frequent occurrence in France and Spain, showed distinct marks of having been sawn in a similar manner. The saw-kerf was

usually made on both sides of the stone, and when carried in to a little depth the stone was broken in two along the line marked by the saw. A similar sawing process had been in use for various hard stones by the Lake-dwellers of Switzerland. He exhibited a somewhat worn New Zealand axe of jade, on which two lines, joining each other at an obtuse angle, had been sawn or cut with the intention of removing a portion of the blade for the purpose of making a curved earring. This interesting specimen had been brought from New Zealand by Professor Moseley, F.R.S.

Mr. RUDLER called attention to the fact that several minerals of green colour, quite distinct from one another in chemical composition, were popularly included under the general name of jade. The true jade, or nephrite, is a mineral closely related to hornblende, and consists essentially of a silicate of lime and magnesia. Its specific gravity, which is a character of diagnostic value, varies from 291 to 3:06. The species termed jadeite by Damour is quite a different mineral, its affinities being rather with epidote than with hornblende. This mineral is a silicate of alumina and soda, with a density ranging from 3.28 to 3:35. Without recourse to the test of specific gravity, it is not always easy to distinguish between nephrite and jadeite. In consequence of the use of jade in the manufacture of axe-heads in New Zealand and elsewhere, the mineral is sometimes known as Beilstein. The fibrous variety of New Caledonia differs in certain characters from the normal nephrite, and has been termed "oceanic jade." The subject of jade has for many years engaged the attention of Professor Fischer, of Freiburg-in-Breisgau, who has written almost exhaustively on the subject; and of late years valuable contributions to our knowledge of this material and of its uses have been made by Dr. A. B. Meyer, of Dresden.

The following paper was then read by the author:

The ORIGIN, PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, and MANNERS and CUSTOMS of the MAORI RACE, from data derived during a recent exploration of the King Country, New Zealand. By J. H. KERRY-NICHOLLS, F.R.G.S.

Introductory.

THERE are perhaps few aboriginal races which have awakened at all times so keen an interest in the science of ethnology as the Maoris of New Zealand. From the period at which the race was first made known to Europeans there has naturally been a desire to learn more and more of a people who have at all times been remarkable for their singular intelligence, their

fine physical characteristics, their nobility of character when at peace, and their courage when at war.

Much has already been written of the Maoris in a cursory way, but a complete history of this interesting branch of the human family remains to be produced. There is a great amount of native lore still extant among the Maoris, especially among the older natives, and there is yet time to save many valuable traditions of the race from extinction. Information of this kind will become more valuable as time rolls on, since the history of the Maori race must form one of the most brilliant chapters in the records of New Zealand. In time to come the Maoris will take the same place in the annals of the colony as do the ancient Britons in the history of Great Britain, and it would therefore be the more a subject for regret if the as yet unrecorded traditions of an intelligent abori inal people, now fast disappearing, were allowed to pass into oblivion forgotten and unknown.

The information which I shall place before you on this subject has been derived from personal observation during my recent exploration of the King Country, or that part of New Zealand which may be said to form the last stronghold of the natives, and where I found the Maoris living in their primitive mode of life.

Native Tradition of the First Maori Migration.

Whence the Maoris originally came, or at what period they arrived in New Zealand from their mysterious dwelling-place beyond the sea, is one of those interesting events in connection with their history which have been lost in the dim vista of the past. The Maoris of the present day refer to Hawaiki as the fatherland of their race, and hence the proverb, I kune mai i Hawaiki te kune kai te kune tangata ("The seed of our coming is from Hawaiki, the seed of man"); but of the locality of Hawaiki, besides the belief that it was an island somewhere in the broad waters of the Pacific, absolutely nothing beyond conjecture is known. They have, however, a distinct tradition that their ancestors migrated to New Zealand in certain canoes, the names of which, with the principal historical events connected with them, have been handed down from father to son through countless generations.

According to general tradition the first of the Maori race to reach Aotearoa, or the "Land of Bright Sunlight," as the North Island was termed by its original discoverers, was Te Kupe. This hero is said to have separated the North Island from the Middle Island, and thus to have formed the wide channel of water known as Cook Strait.

When Te Kupe returned to Hawaiki he gave such a glowing account of the size, beauty, and products of Aotearoa, that a fleet of canoes was immediately raised by his people to proceed to the newly discovered country. Each canoe was under a separate navigator, and contained representatives of the principal Hawaikian tribes, with the head chiefs and arikis, or high-priests, and it was the final dispersion of these canoes to different parts of the North Island which gave rise to the great tribal divisions of the race, as represented at the present day. All the various tribes claim that their progenitors came to New Zealand in one or other of these canoes, but the several traditions connected with the arrival and dispersion of the Hawaikian fleet are naturally shrouded in much mystery. The following particulars, however, have been derived from information afforded to me by King Tawhiao, Topia Turoa, Te Wheoro, and other reliable chiefs.

The Aotea canoe was commanded by Rangi-te-Hau. It contained the ancestors of the Ngatihan, Ngatiapa, and those of kindred tribes. It brought the mouku, or paratawiti, an edible fern, and the pukeko, a swamp bird.

The Arawa, which is said to have been the largest of the fleet, was commanded by Tama-te-Kapua, and arrived at Maketu. The ancestors of the Ngatiwhaka-aue of Rotorna and of the principal tribes of the Lake Country came in it. The Ariki Ngatoroirangi, the first explorer of the island, with his slave Ngauruhoe, after whom the crater of Tongariro is named, arrived in it. It brought the kiore, or rat, and the kumara, or sweet potato.

The Kurahaupo was navigated by Te Ruatea. It sailed to Waitotara with the ancestors of the Ngatiawa, Ngatiruanui, Ngarauru, and kindred tribes.

The Tainui had for its chief Te Hoturoa. It touched first at Whangaraoa, and sailed thence to the Tamaki river, where the voyagers saw the kuaka, a gull, flying inland, which indicated a sea beyond. He therefore proceeded up the Tamaki to Otahuhu, and discovered the Manukan Harbour, and touched at Awitu, whence it sailed to Kawhia, where a block of stone is still shown by the natives of the present day as the petrified prow of the canoe. In it were the ancestors of the Waikatos, the Ngatimaniapoto, and Ngatituwharetoa, while the Ngapuhui, the Rarawa, and other allied tribes also claim for their ancestors a place in it. It brought the Kakariki, or green parrot, and the seeds of the Karaka tree, which it distributed along its course up the Tamaki.

The Takitumu was commanded by Tama-a-te-Hau, and arrived at Waitemata. It brought the Ngatiwhatua, Ngatitai and ancestors of kindred tribes.

The Tokomaru had Te Manaia for its navigator. It proceeded to the mouth of the Mokau, where it lost its punga, or stone anchor. It was afterwards beached at Waitara. It brought the progenitors of the Ngatiama and Taranaki, with those of other allied tribes.

Probable Origin of the Maori Race.

Many theories have been advanced as to the probable origin of the Maori' race. Its presumed migration has been variously traced from the Sandwich Islands, the Samoa Islands, the Fijis, the Tonga Islands, from South America, Easter Island, and finally from the Mori-orio of the Chatham Islands. These latter islands were, without doubt, peopled by a race cognate to the Maoris. As already pointed out, the Maoris of to-day have a well-authenticated tradition that Hawaiki was the original home of their race, but, as a matter of fact, there is no evidence, legendary or otherwise, to indicate, with any degree of certainty, where that land was situated; but, as the vague tradition of the Maoris concerning their first migration tends to show that Te Kupe, who is represented as the first discoverer of New Zealand, returned to Hawaiki with tidings of his good fortune to his tribe, there is thus far more reason to presume that the latter country situated at no great distance from the newly discovered land, and that it was in all probability one of the Tonga islands.

Some writers assert that Hawaiki has not a geographical, but a mythical signification. I am not by any means of that opinion. During my travels among the Maoris, I made it a practice to endeavour to glean all the information possible with regard to the current traditions respecting Hawaiki, which was always represented to me by the various tribes throughout the country as an island somewhere in the east, in the direction of the rising sun. Again, other authors point to Hawaii of the Sandwich Islands as the fatherland of the race, on account of the similarity which that name bears to Hawaiki. It should, however, be

borne in mind that the islands of the Pacific bear names very similar, such, for instance, as Sawaii in the Samoan group, while it should at the same time be remembered that, if we accept Hawaii as being the original Hawaiki, Te Kupe, who according to the legend first discovered New Zealand, and returned to his people, would have had to perforin a journey of over six thousand miles, while the original canoes, freighted with male and female emigrants, would have had to undertake a voyage of over three thousand miles before they reached the new land.

Turning again to the Tonga Islands, not only do the Maoris

1 The word "Maori" signifies anything native or indigenous to the country.