The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2: Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristicsWood, J. G. (John George)
History
The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2: Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Anthropology; Ethnology; Manners and customs
I have much pleasure in presenting on the preceding page an
illustration of this beautiful monument of Maori art, taken from a
drawing made by Mr. Angas in 1844, while the perishable materials of
which the tomb was made were yet in tolerable preservation. Under the
carved and decorated roof may be seen the semicircular coffin in which
the body had been placed, distinguished from the outer portion of the
tomb by the red and white colors with which it was painted, in contrast
to the red and black of the outer portions. The reader will notice
that red is the prevalent color in all tombs, because red is the hue
of mourning as well as of war among the Maories. Immediately under the
eaves of the front may be seen the highly ornamented border of the
kaitaka mat once worn by the deceased, and now left to decay upon her
tomb.
Round the tomb itself runs a slight and low fence. This palisade, small
as it might appear, afforded ample protection to the tomb, inasmuch as
the whole space within it was rendered sacred by a tapu laid upon it by
Raupahara, so that not even the highest chief would venture to enter
the forbidden enclosure.
One of the finest specimens of carving in New Zealand--perhaps the
finest in the whole country--is, or rather was, a mausoleum erected by
Te Whero-Whero to his favorite daughter. It was upon the death of this
daughter that Te Whero-Whero gave such dire offence to the other chiefs
by threatening to throw their scalps into his daughter’s grave, for
which offence he had to give up the celebrated armor of E’Hongi by way
of fine.
The monument was erected in Raroera, formerly one of the largest and
finest pahs in New Zealand, but rendered desolate by the act of the
headstrong and determined chief. He had this wonderful tomb built
for his daughter, and, as soon as her body was placed within it, he
pronounced the whole pah to be tapu. It was at once deserted: old and
young quitted the place, leaving everything behind them, the provisions
to moulder and the weapons to decay. Solid houses that had occupied
many years in building and carving were allowed to fall into mere
shapeless heaps of ruins; and even in 1844 the rank vegetation had so
completely overrun the place that many of the best pieces of native
work were covered by the foliage.
The tomb is about twelve feet high, and consists of the usual box for
the reception of the body, covered by a projecting roof, which is
supported by pillars. Were it as graceful in form as the monument to
E’ Toki, this would be by far the finest specimen of native art; but
unfortunately it does not possess the bold outline and contrast of the
curve and the straight line which are so characteristic of E’ Toki’s
tomb.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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