The  Maories  had  no  written  language  until  it
was  given  to  them  by  the  missionaries.  Their
alphabet  consists  of  only  fourteen  letters — a,  e,  i,
0,  u,  h,  k,  m,  n,  p,  r,  t,  zu,  ng.  Two  consonants
never  come  together,  excepting  in  the  nasal  sound
ng,  and  every  syllable  ends  with  a  vowel.  There
are  ten  dialects,  very  slightly  differing  from  each
other.  The  same  word,  or  root,  stands  for  noun
verbal,  noun  adjective,  or  verb  :  this  secures  sim-
plicity. Terseness,  force,  and  beauty  belong  to  it.
New  Zealanders  make  no  mistakes  in  speaking
their  own  language,  but  it  is  easy  for  any  foreigner
to  do  so.      To  use  one  vowel  instead  of  another  is


The  Aborigines.  27

to  completely  change  the  meaning  of  the  word':
to  say,  for  instance,  moti  or  man — both  which
words  have  the  same  meaning  in  English,  for  yoii
— will  carry  very  different  significations.  Suppose
the  reference  is  to  some  cooking  utensil  :  the
latter  word,  man,  indicates  it  is  an  article  to  be
used  ;  the  former,  moii,  as  one  to  be  cooked
in   it.
They  have  numerous  proverbs,  fables,  and  tales.
