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Eckiges, dass ihr Vornehmthun höchstens komisch, wenn nicht gar abgeschmackt wirkt.” 48 The
women, it seems, are even treated poorly by their own children: “[E]in nackter fünfjähriger Junge
[schlug] […] ungestüm mit der Faust auf seine Mutter […], bis sie ihm die Brust zum Saugen
reichte”. 49
This is followed by his disappointment and annoyance at finding the stereotypical greedy
Maori in the Hot Lake district, whose “Spekulationsgeist” 50 has been well documented, if not also
exaggerated. 51 Here, Buchner observes the new emphasis of the younger generation: “Der alte
Geist des Haka war eben unter dem jüngeren Volk nicht mehr vorhanden, und wenn er jetzt noch
hie und da produzirt wird, so geschieht es blos des Geldes wegen und vor Touristen, die nichts
davon verstehen.” 52 Furthermore, when his Maori guides demand further money from his tour
group he is outraged at their audacity after having already paid for their services in the first place:
Wir armen Europäer waren nicht so praktisch gekleidet und standen verlegen am Rande, während
jene sich höhnisch erboten, für einen Shilling uns hinüberzutragen. Wir waren entrüstet ob dieser
Frechheit. Sie waren unsere gemietheten Diener, jeder von den Kerls kostete uns per Tag fünf
Shilling und die Verpflegung, und nun wagten sie noch uns extra zu brandschatzen. Gerne hätten
wir uns der Stiefel und sonstiger Anhängsel entledigt, allein wir hätten sie sicher wegen ihrer
Feuchtigkeit nicht wieder anlegen können. Wir wollten um keinen Preis nachgeben und
beschlossen, auf das Kanuu zu warten. 53
It seems the Maori are only stirred into action as soon as they receive his second payment and at
once became very attentive guides. 54 However, he does note that in other situations he was only
once treated in an unfriendly manner by Maori. 55
As the future director of a German ethnological museum would appreciate, he also views
seemingly abandoned ancient Maori relics as being left needlessly at the mercy of the elements,
in doing so providing the reader with a similar position to Reischek:
48
Ibid., 110.
49
Ibid., 99.
50
Ibid., 123.
51
“[T]ourists came with idealised preconceptions of an indigenous people who were bound to nature, an integral part
of an exotic landscape, and were disconcerted to find that Te Arawa were entrepreneurial providers of tourist
experiences, charging entry to sights and expecting payment for guiding and entertainment. Disputes with Te Arawa
over these payments contributed to critical tourist tales that multiplied and repeated one another. Travellers described
the Maori hosts as manipulative and greedy, lazy and drunk, or as comic figures – men holding an umbrella as they
bathed in hot pools, or women hideous in high heels and red and yellow clothing ‘loud enough to make one’s head
ache’” (McClure, Wonder Country, 12f.).
52
Buchner, Reise durch den Stillen Ozean, 145.
53
Ibid., 152.
54
Ibid., 152f.
55
Ibid., 162.
301