THE PASSING OF TE WHITI.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12969, 23 November 1907, Page 9

THE PASSING OF TE WHITI.

+ THE SCENE AT PARIHAKA. A STRANGE MIXTURE. (srKCIAI, TO "THE MtESS.") PUNGAREHU, November 22. ; "I'm off back among the cockies." said a disappointed tradesman outside ' the pa on Thursday afternoon. He 1 had anticipated doing brisk business ' with tho Maoris expected at the pi, ' but they did not flock in. It was said that many wer© too busy with crops or cows to interest themselves in n ' tnngi, and others—followers of Tohu— 1 were loth to com©. 1 Whatever the cause, Parihaka was a ' very restful place on Thursday after--1 noon. Pigs and dogs slumbered peace--1 fully in tho sun and shade, and wahincs squatted against the walls of whar©s asleep or smoking briar pipes. Men * played billiards and lounged about. A tew' wero working; they were digging a grave near the tent in which tho body lay in state, about thirty yards I in front of Ruakura. Te Whiti's late residenco, a modern villa, single storey ', with vernndah all along the front. Women wailed in the ho:i3© of death, but otherwise th© proceedings wero as slow ' as the financial debate in tho House of Reprrr,ent:itives in the small hours of tho morning. A bras* band was stationed on Port 1 Roberts hillock at the entrance to the ' pa occupied by the British in 1881. 1 and men with double barrelled guns lingered there to firo a salute in honour of any visitors that arrived. About G p.m. there was 6omo stir, but nothing tremendous. ' A sergeant of police was present ' during th© afternoon, but there.was no 1 call for constables, nnd the officer re- ' tired before nightfall. Th© Maoris wero almost startlingly quiet, but there was nothing nffected in their stillness. ; They wer© prepared for the end of Te ' Whiti, and saw no need for doing any- ■ thing cNtraordinnry. ' Parihaka is merely a tangle of modern houses, small, medium, and large. 1 There is scarcely an ancient stick left 1 to recall the dead past. It has no re--1 semblance to even the average pakeha ' Maori pa. There ia only on© old time. • whare within sight in th© main part of 1 tho vi!la(". and that structure has Euro- * p:>nn fixings and a high pressure water ■ supply. What i.s tho anomaly of Pnri- ( luutn? Te Whiti and Tohu wero forced to progress in spito of deep rooted con- ' sorvatWn. When tl» kai.nga split » into two sections—Tohn's party on one I side, and Te Whiti's on tho other—the rival sections vied with each other in • mnkinQ. improvements, and thus the : settlement took a European shape as far ' as a Maori vilag© could take it. '■ Mr W. Gray remarked on Thursday ■ that, there was absolutely no truth in ► rha statement that To Whiti had a ■ hoard of gold. When th© two chiefs had their difference the money was left ' with Tohu, whose party still had the ' treasure.