owenite deposit at Anita Bay, Milford Sound, was discovered by the Maori as early as the nephrite deposits traversed by the Arahura and the Teremakau. The Maori continued to work the deposit until European times, and it was ultimately exploited by a Dunedin firm, who were responsible for the very large number of faked pieces in bowenite to be seen in collections.
B. Maori Myths Relating to the Origin of Greenstone.
The myth relating to Ngahue and his connection with greenstone has been collected from various Maori tribes, and each account has variations of its own. The following appear to be the most important points. Hine-tu-a-hoanga (Lady of the Grindstone, personification of the grindstone) was antagonistic to Poutini (personification of greenstone). Poutini belonged to Ngahue, who lived in Hawaiki. Ngahue fled overseas with his “fish,” as the Maoris described greenstone. One version states that he rode on his “fish.” They reached Tuhua Island in the Bay of Plenty, an island which yields the best quantities of obsidian and has given its name to that material. Thence they were driven by the Lady of the Grindstone. Quarrels between Poutini, on the one hand, and Waiapu (a stone used in making adzes) and Mataa (flint) are recorded, and finally Ngahue fled to the west coast of the South Island and hid Poutini in the bed of the Arahura. Ngahue tore off a side of his “fish” and took it back with him to Hawaiki, where it was made into pendants and adzes. The latter were used in hewing out the Arawa canoe. By a number of writers Ngahue has been regarded as an historical character, and New Zealand school-children are taught to regard him as one of the discoverers of New Zealand.
The tales from which the above incidents have been taken are all derived from North Island sources. Very different are the stories current among southern tribes. Mrs Pani Te Tau told the present writer that she was often told by her father, Mr T. Parata, that greenstone was brought to New Zealand by the canoe Te Arai-te-Uru and was deposited on the West Coast as far south as Milford Sound. The canoe was then brought overland to Moeraki—how, Mr Parata did not know, but such was tradition. Her stores and fittings were turned to stone and may still be seen as the Moeraki boulders.
Another myth of the greenstone centres round Tama-ahua, whose wives were abducted by Poutini (greenstone). In his pursuit of them Tama was guided by a magic dart which led him to the Arahura River. Here he found his wives Hina-ahuka (syn. kahurangi), Hina-aotea, and Hina-kawakawa. These are all names of varieties of greenstone. Percy Smith was puzzled as to the interpretation of Tama-ahua's adventures in Westland. But he concludes a discussion of the point (Smith, 1910, p. 23) as follows: “whatever we may think of the peculiar story of Tama-ahua and his search for the precious stone, the journey of Tumuaki, on the same errand, is
historic, as will be seen.” Tumuaki went from Taranaki to the greenstone country and found a boulder of pounamu. In breaking it up he struck his finger with the hammer. He thoughtlessly put his finger in his mouth, for which impious act he was turned into stone. His wife, Hine-tu-a-hoanga (Lady of the Grindstone, a name which we have already seen in a quite different setting), went in search of him, but was drowned. Mr Smith dated these events about 1550.
The interpretation of these myths as history, and especially the allotting of dates, seems perilous.
C. Date of Maori Discovery of Greenstone, and Culture of the Earliest Users.
All the North Island myths relating to the origin of greenstone refer to the Arahura and the Teremakau Rivers; some of them include also the Milford Sound region. It is legitimate to conclude that these were the first-discovered sources of greenstone. The fact that information secured from the Maoris by Cook and his successors indicated a lake as the principal source of supply, and in a good many cases specified Otago as the region in which the lake lay, probably indicates that in more recent times a new source in Otago had ente