Kate McCosh Clark Maori Tales and Legends

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. From a vast mass Of legendary tales, rich in variants, and recorded Often in a fragmentary manner, I have chosen those in this little volume as the Oldest and best known amongst the natives. I have endeavoured to adhere to the true spirit Of the tales themselves, and to give them the form, expression, and speech characteristic of the country and clever native race. The Maoris, as a rule, are eloquent, and their language is full of metaphor and poetical allusion, and musical with open vowels. Every syllable ends with a vowel, every vowel is sounded, and that according to the Italian method.