THE LAST GLEAM.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 272, 10 August 1908, Page 5

THE LAST GLEAM.

One can hardly help' asking sometimes whether the Maoris have gained as much from civilisation as they have lost. In the old days, before the whito man appeared upon the scene,' they were in the possession or much knowledge gained from a keen observation of nature, and had a thorough comprehension of the healing and medicinal qualities of herbs that: grew plentifully all over the place. A rather sad little story is told in., this ''connection, of a . Maori; woman who,: : .eyen .when 'her mind was.,completely clouded'"by " madness, still - retained her memory of the uses to which they wero put. and saved her baby's life by it. Hene, ■ tho wife of a chief of somo importance'/ had lost her reason.after a serious illness, and all the tohungas in the country had not been able to restore it by their incantations. As a rule her madness took an impish form that delighted in playing pranks on her neighbours, stealing their belongings and hiding them, or going olf suddenly on excursions about the country that lasted for days, no one • knowing what had becomo of her. There were other times, though, when she became violent, threatening tho lives of everyone she came across. One evening she even went so far as to break into the houso of a white man much, beloved by tho Natives and tried to kill him as he was peaceably reading hi? Bible. Her little daughter was - tho only creature for which she showed any tenderness or. glimpses of reason. , . For a long while tho Maoris endured her pranks and murderous assaults, but a.t last it bccamo too much for them, and they devised means for dealing with her, not wishing to send her to an asylum if they could help it. A tent was erected close by a\tree, and to this tree Hcno was attached by a, chain fastened round her ankle, enough length being allowed her to livo in her tent. The Maori womon would como and giva her food, and look after her gonerally. In : return Hene would call them names, throw things at them, and terrify them as much as she could. About a fortnight after she had been secured, the baby became ill, and nothing that tho adopted mother could do seemed to be of any benefit. - - All day long it cried and moaned and nearly all night, taking no notice ; of anyone, and seemed to : suffer greatly. One thing after another was tried, all tho old women looking very, wiso and profound— but the baby grew worse. At last, after a consultation, it was decided to bring Hono to it, thinking that her presence might at least comfort it. Directly the poor woman was released she went at onco to whore her baby was; picked, it up in her arms, and caressed tho little soul with the utmost tenderness and delight. It seemed as though the presence of its mother was all it wanted, for it lay in her arms weakly and peacefully, its great solemn brown oyes fixed contentedly on her-face. After a while she laid. the baby down and disappeared into the bush, reappearing in half an hour's time with a handful of native shrubs. From these she brewed two or three sinister-looking decoctions, then took them and applied them externally upon tho baby's body, making her swallow a few doses of one of them as well. This treatment was kept up for somo time, in the end completely curing tho child of its illness, whatever it was, Hene being its most devoted nurse. After the recovery of tho child the Maoris decided to send Hene to an asylum, where she might possibly recover her reason. She never did, her life coming to an end quite happily there. ■