adopted by their uncles, they become reinstated in the tribal rights which their mother had forfeited.
A NEW ZEALANDER'S WILL.
Under this title in a former publication[1] I gave a literal translation of a written communication which I received from the celebrated Wi Tamihana Tarapipipi of Matamata, as follows:—
"A certain man had a male child born to him, then another male child, and then another male child. He also had daughters. At last the father of this family being at the point of death, the sons and daughters and all the relations assembled to hear his last words, and to see him die. And the sons said to their father: 'Let thy mouth speak, O father, that we may hear your will; for you have not long to live.' Then the old man turned towards his younger brothers, and spoke thus:—
'Hereafter, O my brothers, be kind to my children. My cultivations are for my sons. Such and such a piece of land is for such and such a nephew. My eel-weirs, my potato gardens, my potatoes, my pigs, my male slaves, and my female slaves are for my sons only. My wives are for my younger brother.'
Such is the disposition of a man's property; it relates only to his male children."
From this it appears that the head of a family had a recognized right to dispose of his property among his male offspring and kinsmen, and that his will expressed shortly before his death in the presence of his family
- ↑ Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders. Edit. 2, p. 271.
