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January 31, 1857.] THE X. E A. P !E It. ...
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ADVICE TO OFFICERS IN" INDIA. Advice to ...
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According to the traditions of the New Zealanders themselves respecting their origin , it seems not improbable that the first settlers came from Hawaiki , though it would be presumptuous to say that they were all peopled from , the same island ; and from the different genealogies of their several chiefs , who admit that about eighteen generations have passed away since New Zealand was first colonized * we may compute the date to be about £ ve hundred years ago . This supposition seems to receive confirmation from the fact that all the genealogies coincide with regard to the number of generations that have elapsed . The inhabitants of the three islands may be classed under six primary divisions , distinguished more or less one from , the other by peculiarities of dialect , of physiognomy , and of disposition . A question , however , naturally arises as to wliat island is
meant by xiawaiki ,. and whether those persons are right who suppose it to be the Owyhee of Captain Cook . The principal difficulty appears to be in the . distance , it being doubted whether a light canoe could weather so long a voyage . This objection , however , is at once met by tlie fact that the nearest land to New Zealand is a thousand miles distant , and that the first inhabitants of the country must have traversed that breadth of ocean . It is also well known that canoes of the present day , which are much smaller than the canoes of the time of Cook , make voyages of five or six hundred miles . We meet also with further evidence of a cognate origin in the peculiarities of their language , and in their customs . For example , the Hawaiians omit the consonant k in words where it is used by the New Zealanders ; they sound the consonant I , Tvhich the New Zealanders never do , employing in its place r ; and they sometimes substitute the consonant k in words in which t is
used by theNew Zealanders . Similar peculiarities have been sliown to exist in the two ' languages , which prove them to be nearly identical . We have alluded to other circumstances , as affording links of connexion between the inhabitants of these islands , so remote from each otlier . Boti were found , on their first discovery , to resemble each other in personal appearance , in warlike disposition , and ia the practice of cannibalism . The same remarkable ceremony , called Tatiyi ) prevails both in the Sandwich Islands and in New Zealand . In both these countries it is the custom for g ; uests to carry away with them any part of the food set before them which they cannot then consume . There can , therefore , remain little doubt that the aborigines of the Sandwich Islands are members of the same family . This family , it is not improbable , found their way southward , from the great continent of Asia , by way of the Malay Peninsula , and Papua or New Guinea .
Haying alluded to the mythology of the New Zealanders , it may be interesting to give some idea of their cosmogony , as well as their traditions respecting the origin of living things . In their genealogical legends , Night , or Darkness , is represented as being the source from whence all things have sprung . But instead of conceiving the power of a god calling forth light and order out of a blind chaos , they have simply invested , the different objects of creation with personal existences , and made them proceed the one from the other , as children are begotten by their parents . Thus in the beginning of time was Te Po ( night , or darkness ) . In the generations that followed Te Po came Te Ao ( the light ) , Te Kore ( nothingness ) , and Maku
( moisture ) . Maku slept with Mahora-nui-atea ( the-straight-the-vast-theclear ); their offspring was Rangi ( the sky ) . Rangi slept with Papatuanuku < tho earth ); their children were Hehu ( the mist ) , Tane ( male ) , and Paia . Froai Tane and Paia sprang Tangata ( man ) . Other legends relate that ltangi ( heaven ) , and Papa ( the earth ) , clave together , so that li g ht could not penetrate between them ; but that at length one of their children , by main force , separated his parents , pressing the latter down , and raising the former upwards , to their present positions . The names and attributes of these children are rather curious . One was the god and father of man ; another the god and father of the cultivated food of man ; a third the
god and father of the food of man springing up without cultivation ; a fourth the god and father of fish and reptiles ; a fifth the god and father of forests , birds , and insects inhabiting forests ; and a sixth the god and father of winds and storms . The New Zealanders , even those who have beeu brought within tho teaching of the Missionaries , believe in beings possessed of supernatural powers , called Atuct . These are the spirits of the dead , whom they suppose to watch over the conduct of the living to see that they compl y with [ their rules and regulations concerning things sacred . JJiey also give advice , and exorcise the spirit of cowardice in any of their descendants who maybe nervous on the threshold of battle . They confine their care , however , to those among the living with whom they are connected by ties of relationship . Therefore each tribe has its Atua . But so little interest do the Atua of one tribe take in the affairs of another tribe , that if a man is made prisoner he loses the protection of his ancestral Atita , without being adopted by the Atua of the tribe by whom he is made a slave , And with whom , therefore , he becomes domesticated .
There is a distinction to be drawn between the work of Mr . Shortland and the work of Sir George Grey . We must not overlook the fact that tho latter was , in soiue measure , an official production , by which we mean , tiiat the opportunities aad means which his position as Governor placed at uw disposal , enabled Sir George Grey to collect , through tho intervention of others the various fables current amongst tho Now Zealanders . Those yery facilities afforded room for interpolation and glosses of the original legends . Wejiavo an instance of this in an attempt made to trace vestipof Mosaic accounts such as the Deluge , in tho traditions of these islanders , than which nothing appears to be more groundless , the legend upon , which the assumption is based referring to some partial inundation in the country . Another instance of this may be shown in the paragraph accounting for the origin of charms and incantations , in which it is asserted that " the great God had taught those prayers to man- " the legitimate inference of which is , that the New Zealandera had an idea of <* o < l m the sense of a supreme intelligence . This is not the case . But tho passage may be clearly regarded as the rollcction of a native educated or
I ? " -educated in missionary doctrines . Mr . Shortland , however , assures us I tuat he hved with natives who had never been visited by missionaries , that I « e won their complete confidence , and that it was from them ho obtained his i | uogorbled accounts of their myths and superstitions . We may ,
therefore , regard the work so far useful ; the difficulty being , in such cases to arrive at truth , the natives on the one hand putting on a de ^ reo of reserve from fear of ridicule , and the inquirer , especially if he ° be ; a missionary , generally endeavouring to adapt everything to his peculiar views
January 31, 1857.] The X. E A. P !E It. ...
January 31 , 1857 . ] THE X . E A . P ! E It . 115
Advice To Officers In" India. Advice To ...
ADVICE TO OFFICERS IN" INDIA . Advice to Officers in India . By John McCosh , M . D . W . H . Allea and Co . Ar-THOXJGH perfectly agreeing with- Colonel Taylor that e-ven Venus would be unbearable were she introduced as Miss McJupiter , we are bound to confess that a medical gentleman , with that not -very harmonious prefix to his name , has presented the public with a book which will be welcomed by many families . To young officers going out to India , especially to those of the medical profession , Dr . McCosh tenders the most salutary advice , based on long experience , and rendered easy of application by being mixed up with a large share of common sense , and an extensive knowledge of the world . Many orthe Doctor's suggestions afford matter for serious reflection , and the ' Griffin , ' whether of the military or medical variety , will do well to give them his best attention . For instance , he exhorts all youne
othcers , preparatory to leaving home , to acquire some sort of accomplishment , or to take to some rational pursuit , for "Happiest are they who have some pleasant , hobby to mount independent of the world , and can take a tmiet canter along the monotonous highways and byways of a tropical existence . " All branches of" natural history , economical geology , the elements of electricity and magnetism , painting , music , or photography , -will prove an invaluable acquisition , and tend to beguile many a weary and lonely hour . " But the possession of a hobby is not enough : they ought to be able to physic their own horses and dogs ; to superintend the construction of their own houses and baggage-carts ; to know how to manage a farmyard and a garden ; how to cook their own dinner ; brew their own ale ; how to ride and how to drive ; how to shoot , and how to sail ; how to calculate their pay in vulgar and decimal fractions ; and how to balance the debit and credit side of their accounts to the utmost farthing . "
The besetting sin of the [ British soldier in India , as elsewhere , is the excessive use of spirituous liquors . _ " There is , in fact , a constant struggle between the men rushing to their graves and the surgeon trying to keep them out of it ; and his best intentions are often defeated . " Sorae allowance , however , is to be made for the dull , listless , monotonous life they are compelled to lead in the hot season in the plains . Perli . aps , as the author suggests , something might be done for them by building at every European station a covered gymnasium , where at all hours of the day the men might amuse themselves by various games and pastimes , such as rackets , bowls , billiards , concerts , and theatrical performances . At Lahore , under the superintendence of Sir Henry Lawrence , " an extensive native garden ,
overgrown with weeds and brushwood , was converted into a place of public resort for the amusement and instruction , of the European soldiers , where they could spend tie day in the shade , or read ,, or play at all sorts of gymnastic exercises , according to their tastes . " The late Hindoo Rao was in the habit of saying that , if lie were commander-in-ehief , he would keep the English soldiers in the hills , give them plenty of beef and porter , and , when war broke out , convey then * to the scene of action in carts and palanquins , and turn them suddenly loose upon the enemy like so many falcons , or cheetahs . It may not be necessary to take quite so much care of oui ' natural protectors' as seemed expedient to the old Mahratta chief , but that they do require much consideration is manifest from the fact that at this
moment an extraordinary demand is made for a thousand men to fill up the voids in the European regiments in India . Something more , too , shouldbe done to secure the health and comfort of the native troops . Instead of allowing them ' hutting money' to repair their own lines , it would be a -wise and truly economical measure if Government took into their owa hands the duty of supplying barrack accommodation for the entire army . In that case avc should probably not read that the native barracks are " long lines of mud huts covered with thatch or tiles , just high enough to stand in , and just long enough and broad enough for a bed either way . Being- on a level with the ground , the floors and walls are excessively damp , and the unhealthiness is increased by exuberance of vegetation in the lines . " A very formidable affair does it seem to take tho field with an Asiatic
army . " With a horse , three camels , and a Cooly , " the Doctor incidentally remarks , " and a well regulated mess in his regiment , an oflicer is fit for any campaign , and few enter upon one with less baggage . " No wonder thnt Sir Charles Napier inveighed against such an amount of impedimenta ^ though the grim veteran may possibly have run to the opposite extreme in curtailing an officer ' s requirements to a clean shirt , two towels , smd a cake of soap . "'The baggage , "" we arc told , " follows in rear of the whole force , and when that is large , the last camel has not left the old camp when the first enters the new , the line of inarch being one continued stream of beasts of burden . " A truly pleasant prospect for the poor -wretch whoso little comforts are packed on the back of thnt last camel , which may be
expected to arrive about the time ho is again preparing to march . Tho sick and wounded are conveyed in ' doolUis , ' " a sort of bed , with four low legs and a corded bottom , suspended on a . bamboo pole , over which is fixed a waterproof top with dependent curtains , tho patient reclining at full length . For the conveyance of a ' dooly' six men , called bearers , are allowed ; two in front and two in rear , the other two relieving them alternately . "When an army takes the field , one ' dooly is allowed for overy hundred natives and for every ten European soldiers ; so that the bearers alone of a European regiment of ono thousand strong amount to six hundred men . " These aro the ' ferocious doolies' whom an Hibernian orator in the House of Commons once indignantly denounced , with rhGtoricnljioriturc , for carrying off our poor wounded men as they lay helpless and unarmed on the field of battle .
I he Doctor becomes savagely facetious as ho dwells on tho alightd offered to his own useful and honourable profession . " I have often thought , " ha says , " that it would have been better for tho profession had Marl borough or Wellington suflerod the amputation of « ju arm or a limb upon tho field
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1857, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31011857/page/19/
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