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saßen im Kreise um mich und weinten. Es war ein ehrliches, kein konventionelles ‘Tangi’
(Totenklage)” (214). 231 This is followed by a section on the avifauna of the King Country, which,
in typical Reischek junior fashion, promises to explore the world of the ‘Noble Savage’ even
further (although the chapter itself after the following statement reverts back to Reischek senior’s
text): “Ich hatte hier nicht nur Einblick in eine dem Untergange geweihte, edle Rassenkultur eines
Naturvolkes gewonnen, sondern auch die heimische Tierwelt, die hier noch in paradiesischer
Sorglosigkeit in ausgedehnten Urwäldern hauste, so genau studieren können, wie dies vor und
nach mir wohl wenigen beschieden gewesen ist” (215).
It is important to note here that in spite of the ‘frozen’ nature of much of the Maori
imagery of Sterbende Welt, King also lists three original Maori manuscripts, which presumably
would have provided detailed descriptions of Maori life far beyond the content of Sterbende Welt,
with the first centred on Maori history, manners, customs, religion and character, while the latter
two are reported to provide general ethnographical notes, observations and experiences. 232 In his
diaries, Reischek refers to having acquired a “ganze Beschreibung über die Eingeborenen (die
Maori) ihre Kunst, Sitten, Gebräuche, Religion Kämpfe, Cannibalismus Werbung Wilkom und
Todtenfeste, Jagt, Fischfang, Ackerbau, Aberglauben, etct [sic]”. 233 The conclusion therefore is
that Reischek senior was not only attempting to capture ‘unchanging’ forms of Maori, but also
‘changing’ forms, albeit perhaps less important than the first, and items with a significant
European influence to complete his collection. The responsibility for the selective Maori content
therefore rests firmly on Reischek junior’s shoulders, as he presumably had the opportunity to
include further details regardless of whether or not they were omitted from his father’s draft
manuscripts. 234
One such image which points to a change in the ‘frozen’ state of the King Country
‘bubble’ is that of ‘fatal impact’ which is connected firmly to the title of the work “Dying
World”. As Hochstetter was the leading representative of modern science in Vienna, and
therefore also a knowledge on Darwinism, much of this would have rubbed off on Reischek. 235
The similar views of various museum curators and collectors, including Buller, who recalled the
231
In his second notebook, Reischek, however, describes only a normal Maori ‘tangi’ at his departure (ibid., II:548f.).
232
King, Collector, 176.
233
Cited in: Kolig, Umstrittene Würde, 130.
234
Ibid., 145.
235
Ibid., 140.
278