MAORI " KING."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 233, 3 October 1933, Page 9

MAORI " KING."

TANGI THIS WEEK.

PREPARATIONS AT HUNTLY,

thousands expected,

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.)

HUNTLY, tliis clay.

Hundreds of Maoris have since Sunday been pouring into Huntlv 011 their way to Waalii, the village of the late Maori king, Rata Mahuta, to be present at the tangi this week. It is thought that by the time numbers reach their maximum, there will be some thousands. It will be one of the largest native gatherings for years. Visitors, both Maori and pakeha, are coming from all over New Zealand to do honour to the king's memory.

There is great activity at the village, for preparations have to be made for the visitors to camp and cook largely in the open. The rumour that the king's 24-year-old son had refused the succession is stated to be without foundation. The matter will not be discussed until after this week. "So Now, Depart." Messages of condolence have been sent from all over the land to the relatives of the late Maori king, Rata Mahuta, for he was a man whose prestige stood high not merely among the Maoris, but among many of the pakehas. Though such messages have been sent from some of the highest in the land, none is more simply dignified than that sent to the deceased (according to Maori custom) by Te Akarana Maori Association. Members of the association stood in silence to the Maori king's memory, after which the message was sent as follows, both in Maori and in English.—

"Haere e Tama! Haere atu i runga i te m'arae wharanui! Haere atu i roto o Waikato! Haere ki ou Matua, tupuna, kite iwi nui kua wehe atu kite po! E pai ana, i haere atu koc i roto i te ra e wliiti ana! Ko tenei, Haere!"

"Depart, 0 Son! Depart hence from the majestic courtyard of thy ehiefdom! Depart hence from Waikato! Depart— go, to thy fathers, thy ancestors, to the great numbers of thy people who have passed hence to the shades of death! It is well. Thou hast departed when the sun was shining. So now, Depart!"