Those of the chiefs ascend in the first place to the upper heavens, where each
chief leaves his left eye, this left eye becoming a new star. Hence the custom in
Maori warfare for the victor to eat the left eye of a chief slain in battle, in the
conviction that by this process he absorbed into his own system the skill,
sagacity, and courage of the departed.
It is humiliating, perhaps, to record these illustrations of human folly; but they
are valuable as proofs of the depths to which Humanity descends when unaided
by the elevating influence of revealed religion.
According to the Maories, the soul is not confined absolutely within the limits of
the Reinga, but may at its will revisit “the glimpses of the moon,” and converse
with its former friends and kinsmen,—of course, only through the medium of the
tohungas. The latter are sometimes favoured with a view of the spiritual visitor,
who takes the form of a sunbeam or a shadow, and speaks with a low whistling
voice, like the sound of a light air passing through trees. This voice is
occasionally heard by the uninitiated, but the language it speaks can be
comprehended by none but the tohungas.
Respecting the wairuas, it is difficult to gather any satisfactory information. The
word “wairua” means either “a dream,” or “the soul,” and Dr. Dieffenbach says
it is chiefly used to signify the spirit of some dead man or woman who is
supposed to cherish a malignant feeling towards the living. The wairuas frequent
certain localities, such as mountain-tops, which the Maori consequently takes
good care not to visit.
It is a necessary result of the Maori belief in atuas and wairuas that these should
foster a belief in witchcraft. Individuals of bolder and stronger minds than the
majority will always claim a special relationship to the unseen Powers, and avail
themselves of this pretended relationship to work upon the popular imagination.
Convince the ignorant of the existence of evil deities, and he will listen readily
to any who tell him that they can shield him from their malignant influence. And
then it naturally follows, “as the night the day,” that all misfortunes arising from
unseen or unintelligible causes, will be attributed to witchcraft. A vast—an