THE MAORI IN EUROPE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 244, 12 October 1916, Page 11

THE MAORI IN EUROPE.

HE SHARES IN THE WORLD __yD joins rs: SEseiSs-^. ... 'T_?PERARxV* "(Correspondent of London '"Times.'') - In the green lanes of France yon may ' meet at any time with men'"of"a"U colours. There are black .men marching there, brown men, and bronze, besides all the , English and French soldiery.- A while .ago a,Jong column swung along the road to the. tune of a melody sung in time to the marcMng feet. The. tune you- would know, but the words would be new to 'you, or at least seem so. ~~ '"'. .He roa te wa ki Tipirere, ' ' '.■- ■■ ■■ He tlno mamao, ■ - He roa te wa ki Tipirere, ;•-- . Xi taku kotiro, "'■■ E noho pikatlri,' 2—iw »£'. r-.- ' Hel kona rehita koea. He mamao rawa Tipirere \ •' -_ - Ka tae ahua. > J Xt is an old' friend in new guise, and the last -word of "the "first line-will-tell lybu that it is none, other,\than '""Tipperary." But what is the tongue that it is sung in and what of the men that sing it?- . ' ■ - ~ ,a--C----•On.the under side of the world there is.a land where the trees never turn yellow.. ' Where the summer is a_ fair division of the year with a month; _hd"a _alf thrown in for good measure. It is a land of big spaces, full, broad rivers, and turquoise lakes. In the south- "there * are great,mountains with their peaks clothed in 'perpetual snow and- their glaciers moving .towards the sun-bathed, plains. In the interior there lived a race of chivalrous warriors who fought a- great fight against British troops. Now New Zeftland'is'as British as Sussex, and the spirit of the dark-skinned fighters .who . 'took up' arms.against the'red-coats has come to France in the Maori contingent. When Britain first declared war ttlere was "an immediate response.. fT.om the! Po—in ions and the Maoris 'lastceif* that ithey'snould 'be allowed 'to fight for their j -Bang, with their - "pakeha" .. (white men) 1 brother/. At first, there .were ficulties, and it was not for some time I that'the Government was able to-accede I to ? their request. Then" ther>e came - a time wheat there-was great rejoicing in . _e : Maori pas, and the young men flocked to! the re——iting -offices, : as became the so—v of.a. fighting race. ,It was disgrace to he hoeing the knmara-beds when the mar—ood of England was needing respite from the- battle. : They would go over' the sea to help" the King and the Empire, J -ai»d so^they came; first to GaUipoli, and then to France. .- ; They are children in spirit, and their ! pleasures have always been of their own :devising. They had no writtefrlangukge, hut thiy handed down by oral tradition the most complex genealogical trees and their own detailed and picturesque folk"lore." There ia another side toother n that ' has been evidenced as the result of the ' civilisation thai we have taken thein,-bnt 'that is not the side we are interested in. When the war came to New Zealand it fp_ld.ont— .the • waters of Lake Taupo. He was happy MJQfiW ?>e and.notrrjverwprked..._!e had ibeen_-taught .English by the Catholic i'priest of Waihi, and' he could raul the ;papers slowly, but sufficiently, well to tell "that there was a great adventure offered ; Hit .;!__• sat In the whare one night • reading from the cables how the Germans • *.had : ihrbwn our' Army back.;fr6m Mons. He;did net know wihere Mens-was, but he !„lewitiat men were, wanted. H—__ked : if_t.could go to .fight, but was tcJdthat •'it-was "nos a war for the Maori. :Then ai last "came his chance. - He took his 'jwugx: -brother.out.to the.potato .padda— and gave, him detailed instructions as to what he was to do if the' knitiaras • were by • any- chance ready for • digging 'before"he came back from settling the ; Kings affairs. He shook htfn^ba- Solemnly y .jWjth.hia grandfather and performed the rubbing his ~6w__afhose on "the -tattooed face of. the old __n>-"_e shoulr idered hia handle and walked away past ,;tiie^4wt.springs, ..through ,—ae..manuka -;ser_»" with its", sweet-sn—jljjjg;^—owers, mtti he struck the coach road under .-annganamu, the little -pocket-edition- of .with .its dead crater, filled with '"Soxglove. - • ' «j —- - yEe walked to Waiooru,- and then he "wok-atrain-; Id' 10 days; he was wearing a khaki jacket and a helmet and doing . ~$ lma *t r- i ll °h a ha'rd-trodden_sa_uare. Then, after the allotted space of training, he was embarked with his fellows, all of ms own race, and the long journey to Egypt commenced. Arrived at Gallipbli ' his fin,t taste of fighting, and heredity came uppermost. Disregarding *11_ that an impressive sergeant-major m 1 drammed into his head, he,forgot ™ a bayonet was for use at close-quar---tea. He was sent.with the other Maoris <»alrtifepiece bf work that demanded nvßch steadiness and the -quiet, "ley crept along the "dere to attack the jxv " was " to k* a surprise attack, and the rifles were not to be &&!'-* It surprise, and Hone went into the Uttek of the melee with his rifle clubbed . fikette «ta__» or the "teko-teko" of his ?«>e»ra. It was hard work, but orders JW obeyed, *nd there were no. noises but ' iTj 90 ? of b_rd breathing, and the «_4 of I_e rifle stocks and the cries of tt-omrfed:., Tieir object was achieved, •'•£.-_?•* „*•#-* pn the • leach, ■ Under ™^f ! threat and talked in their of the-glories of" that halftiiey came to France, and%e find y*m swinging along between the high ggars to the tune of "Tipperary" sung their soft voices and with" the ?e_ect «mc that all Polynesian races are into therr music. Hone came, here he is a t the head-of the wumn with two stripes on his sleeve. As Sfl'^l-i? 8 Wishes wistfully.thajt his and -little Hori, his broseebim now and 1 'could' lave - W-«»e cheers that greeted-them in the through. Once more he was in ~» %ck of things, but this time he did m arch back to the bivouac. Acarried him to the, .waiting • _2w^ laDCe and he s hurried to where a surgeon-shook his —«v sadly Mjver him . . Wnt was .already half round tbe world cl a l! e - ide wbere tte-'hite Tanno^„- He OU S ht himfielf »* S„?% Mder the -shade of- the The «te__-r*S_M_W_4 Poote a the fa-tree was wafted across the chncVlJr ld J the boilin e mud geysers Su7*:_l gargled, like goblins as he gjMfe brother and- the old S maTof how |gi fought the Turk" and the Ger- '-" *i?snM ai t!le other '«»-*""* --elvard and S\if y of soft singing, hetwet^-S? 16 alon g «» paasage^wav • • Wtw hed A she h » r d voice h&tei She> ]amr the tane - ™ate w^" Were S W Uge to her " "3° Air* i? lrere ' he tino mamao." ho PooKoWi 1 T en as fhe little boiling ant \ 80«lr and ti^^ 1 bel?iird came ««■ etewtS. Jw ; /"- from Wait ««»i ha &£ wherHn and b i S ' Spirit AVent to the where aU good .warriors go.