PROPHECY THAT FAILED.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 3913, 18 October 1899, Page 2

PROPHECY THAT FAILED.

(Contributed). The arts of magic, divination .■ ■ nd prophesy have been practised ince the dawn of human history 1 nd even in the most highly ivilized nations to-day, lingering races of them are to be found. Unong the Maoris these allied 0,-ts have' been largely exercised .nd had great influence in the past tnd are even yet practised and ►elieved in to a very considerable extent. Natural signs and portents ire still held in respect and awe rat in earlier days auguries were :a9t on more fearsome bases. For • nstance, when the famous Ngae- . ;erangi chief, Kotorerua, laid his . rians for the attack of the great pahs on the Mount,, ho found favourable omens by killing -the 3lave of a friendly chief and critically examining some portions of his interior, saving his victim's head for still further divination at a later stage of his strategic preparations. Prophets, however, even among the Maoris, are not looked up to with the same reverence as they were a few years ago, as witness the case of the still living Himiona Te Orenua, the once great seer of Maketu, now living at Motiti. In former days he was a man of great authority among the Natives of this coast, his every word and movement was watched and his wishes and instructions implicitly carried out. The few who dared to disobey him or withstand him in any way, were promptly suppressed by his supporters. Now all this is changed and Himioha is a man of small account and little better than any other man, his mana has departed from him. As a matter of fact the prin*. cipal reason for the decay of his power is probably to be found in the (for him) unfortunate circumstance that the biggest thing in the way of a prophecy that he ever attempted, came off all right up to a certain point, just before the climax, and then failed.' This prophecy that failed has row become a matter of local history and at the present moment, when our skies are about to be visited by two comets and grand meteoric streams, it is interesting to see how a similar but less extensive display of a few years back, preyed upon the superstitious fears of the Maoris. Some three or four years, after the eruption of Rotomahana, when Himiona was still residing at Maketu, he conceived the idea of forecasting another and more devastating volcanic outburst. His mana as a wizard was then at its height and to add weight to his words he foretold that at a certain time before the catastrophe a comet would, appear in the heavens, mentioning both the date and the position at which it would be seen. True enough the comet put in an appearance and intense excitement at once seized the Natives of Mafe^tu and that' district generally. Preparations were begun to try and preserve their lives through the awful visitation that was to come. Men, women and children laboured for days gathering food and fir.'.ag into the whares, catching their cattle and pigs and tethering them close by, carrying up Avater to the pahs and staring it in^every conceivable etc. Far into the night religious services were held in every wharepuni and Himioiva was the man of the hour, exhorting, advising, comforting. At length the fateful day arrived, but not $, tremor shook the .earth. Days passed but still nothing happened and Himiona's countenance became clouded. At last, courage was mustered to question him on the subject and lie replied ' On account of God's love for his people he would not allow them to be destroyed. 5 Whatever his hearers thought at the time, from that hour Himiona's power has steadily waned though the habit of tinkling bells and frequent services then inaugurated has survived to some extent even te the present time. Himiona eventually withdrew to Motiti and is now devoting his attention to the re -erection of a great ancestral whare ?*unanya there, a work of filial piety which may, to some extent, restore his lost mana. <