Abstract
THOSE who are interested in the study of anthropology need no reminder as to the European belief in a connection between ancient stone weapons and thunder. It would be mere waste of time if I quoted instances of this connection; but it may not be devoid of interest to some of your readers if I bring to their notice a modern account of the thunder-weapon, as described to-day by a New Zealander. The account may also be of service to those studying another branch of anthropology—that concerning the influence and value of ancient and modern creeds warring in the minds of semi-civilized peoples. I shall make no comment of my own, but proceed to give a translation of a tale printed (in Maori only) in the pages of the native newspaper, the Korimako. The few words in it which were not understood by those acquainted with the ordinary Maori speech, I referred to old men well versed in the dialect of that part of New Zealand.
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TREGEAR, E. The Thunder-Axe. Nature 38, 296 (1888). https://doi.org/10.1038/038296a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/038296a0
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