TE KOOTI'S BODY.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXII, Issue 66, 19 March 1910, Page 8

TE KOOTI'S BODY.

A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE. In giving an account of his recent journey through the Urewera .Country (says the Poverty Bay Herald), the Mayor of Gisborne (Mr W. D. Lysnar) made a singular announcement respecting the circumstances surrounding the end of the notorious rebel, Te Kooti. "When in the Urewera Country recently," remarked Mr Lysnar, "I made enquiries as to what had been done with the remains of Te Kooti, which, I understand, had been buried near Whakatane. On making further enquiries I found that the body had been exhumed. The grave was found open, with the corpse and the coffin gone on the fourth day after Te Kooti's burial. What became of the body is a mystery. The natives explain that he has risen again on the third day, like Christ, and has gone 'Bo heaven. I ascertained an interesting story, however, from a person whom I consider very reliable —a man who had been endeavoring to discover what had become of the body. Meeting one of Te Kooti's leading supporters one day, a nativewho was generally regarded as one of the few who knew the secret, my informant, observing the old Te Ivootiite was under the influence of drink, asked him, 'What did you do with Te Kooti's body?' The Maori replied, 'We took him to Gisborne. It took us a week to get him there, as we carried him at night. It was a disagreeable undertaking. We took him out of the coffin and wrapped him in six tents. Te Kooti had been dead some time.' The locality where the body was conveyed to in Gisborne the native resolutely declined to disclose. "Such a thing," continued Mr Lysnar, "is only in keeping with native custom. Old chiefs of standing, and there are few who had not at some period of their career caused the death of others, were frequently buried in an unknown spot, the reason being that otherwise the relatives of the rangitira's enemies surely would desecrate his grave in revenge. It is quite likely this custom was carried out in the case of Te Kooti."