The Greenstone Door

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The Greenstone Door (1914)
by William Satchell

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5220387The Greenstone Door1914William Satchell

THE
GREENSTONE
DOOR
William Satchell

THE GREENSTONE DOOR

THE

GREENSTONE DOOR

BY
WILLIAM SATCHELL
AUTHOR OF
“THE TOLL OF THE BUSH” ETC.

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK
1914

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

Preface

The Maori words used in this story are explained when they first occur, and also, for convenience sake, in a glossary (p. 399). Certain of them are used so frequently that I am afraid the English reader will hardly be able to avoid acquiring a knowledge of their meaning. Such words are pa, a fortified village; tohunga, a medicine-man or magician; pakeha, a white man as distinguished from a Maori; whare, a native house; and kumara, the sweet potato. My excuse must be that these words have long since been adopted into the English language as it is written and spoken in the Dominion.

The Author.

Auckland.

Contents

chapter		page
I.	I AM LOST AND FOUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1
II.	I AM CLAIMED IN UTU AND BECOME THE LITTLE FINGER OF TE WAHAROA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	14
III.	I FIND A HAVEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	27
IV.	I MEET RANGIORA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	43
V.	CAVE AND RIVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	58
VI.	I VISIT THE PA OF THE CANNIBAL CHIEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	72
VII.	THE WAR OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	85
VIII.	THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE—AND OF DARKNESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	100
IX.	I AM SET AT LIBERTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	113
X.	I MAKE ACQUAINTANCE WITH A HORSE AND A WHITE GIRL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	125
XI.	I ENTER THE WHITE MEN’S CITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	141
XII.	I LEARN MY ORIGIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	159
XIII.	THE PAST REPEATS ITSELF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	176
XIV.	THREE YEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	191
XV.	PARTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	211
XVI.	I FIGHT A BATTLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	222
XVII.	I RETURN HOME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	236
XVIII.	THE PATH OF TRUE LOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	253
XIX.	LETTERS FROM HOME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	266
XX.	THE STORM-CLOUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	278
XXI.	I LEAVE AUCKLAND AND FALL INTO AN AMBUSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	293
XXII.	PRISONER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	311
XXIII.	I REACH THE END OF MY CAPTIVITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	340
XXIV.	THE LAST STAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	354
XXV.	A BLACK DAWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	374
XXVI.	THE GREENSTONE DOOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	391

Glossary

Ariki, the Priest-Chief. See note.
Atua, a spirit, god.
Haeremai, welcome.
Haerera, farewell.
Hangi, food cooked in a Maori oven.
Hapu, a sub-tribe.
Huia, a bird (Heteralocka acutirostris.)
Kai, food.
Kainga, the home.
Kaiwae, the floor of a canoe.
Kakino, bad.
Karaka, a tree.
Kauri, the great N.Z. pine tree.
Kehua, a ghost.
Kiritangata, the innermost barricade.
Kiwi, the wingless apteryx.
Koe, korua, kotu—you, you two, all of you.
Kowhai, a tree.
Kumara, the sweet potato.
Makutu, magic.
Mana, authority, prestige.
Manuka, the tea-tree.
Marae, the village common.
Maro, an apron.
Matai, a tree.
Matakite, second-sight.
Mere, a stone or jade club.
Morepork, the settler’s name for the native owl.
Nikau, a species of palm.
Niu, divining rods.
Noa, cleansed from tapu.
Pa, fortified village. See note
Pai, good.
Pakeha, a white man.
Pakeha-maori, a white man living as a Maori.
Papa-tea, an untattooed person.
Patu, strike.
Pikau, a pack carried on the back.
Pounamu, jade, greenstone.
Pupurangi, a species of large snail.
Rangatira, a chief.
Reinga, Te, the Land of Shades. See note.
Rongo pai, the Good Word.
Runanga, a Parliament.
Taepo, a supernatural being.
Taniwha, a fabulous saurian monster.
Tapairu, High-Priestess. See note.
Tapu, sacred, infected. See note.
Taraire, a tree.
Tatau, a door.
Taua, a war party.
Tawhara, the flower spathe of a climbing plant.
Te kai tango atua, the undertaker.
Tena koe—korua—kotu. sing., dual, and plural greeting.
Tetere, a war trumpet.
Tiki, a breast ornament.
Titoki, a tree.
Tohunga. See note.
Tohunga-ta, a tattooer.
Tui, the parson bird.
Tutua, a slave.
Umu, an oven of heated stones.
Uto, vengeance.
Utu, payment in compensation.
Wahine, wife, womenfolk.
Wai-piro, alcoholic beverage.
Waiata, a song.
Whare, a native house.
Whare-kura, the Maori university.
Whare-matoro, the Maori pleasure house.
Whare-puni, the sleeping house.

Notes

Ariki, the Priest-Chief, the eldest son of the eldest son, tracing descent back to the Maori gods.
Pa, a fortified village. It was usually situated on the summit of a hill, so aa to command a view of an approaching enemy. Its defences consisted of ditches and palisades, one within the other.
Te Reinga, the World of Spirits. The soul having quitted the body was supposed to travel to the extreme north of New Zealand, where was the leaping-off place or entrance to the Land of Shadows. See p. 61.
Royal Huia Bird. The tail feathers of the huia, black tipped with white, were highly prized as hair ornaments. See p. 38.
“The Southern Cross,” one of the two newspapers published in Auckland at that date, adopted a tone highly antagonistic to the Governer. It is said, however, that Grey never read it. See p. 172.
Tapiru, the first-born of an exalted linedge of the female sex, a High Priestess.
Tapu. Mr. Tregear, to whose valuable work, “The Maori Race,” I am much indebted, says: “The true inwardness of the word is that it infers the setting apart of certain persons or things on account of their having become possessed or infected by the presence of supernatural beings, particalarly of the ancestral spirits who were guardian deities of the tribe.” The reverse of tapu is noa, “cleansed from tapu,” “common.”
Tatau Pounamu. This figurative expression was used to denote the making of a lasting peace. The Greenstone Door, through which war and rapine might enter, was conceived to be finally closed with those making the compact. It was the most sacred bond of peace to a people whose chief delight was in war. See p. 71.
Tohunga. The tohunga was the master of arts and sciences or trades, the teacher, the priest, and the physician, though not all of these were combined in the same person. Common usage has considerably reduced the scope of the word, and the tohunga nowadays is merely a rather discredited medicine-man and religious mystic.

Pronunciation

The stress is on the first syllable.
A is pronounced Ah, as Pah (Pa).
Terminal i equals terminal y, as Hahng-y (Hangi). In other places i has either the sound of ee, as Pee-Cow (Pikau), or i in thick, as Tick-y (Tiki).
O as in English.
U as in goose, Oom-oo (Umu).
E as in merry, terminal e as eh; Mer-reh, nearly same sound as merry (Mere).
Ng is sounded as in song and singer.
Every vowel is sounded, but this is not alyays evident at a casual hearing. Compare Mah-ory, Maury (Maori), Kah-y, Kye (Kai).

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1931.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1942, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 83 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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