THE PASSING OF HORI.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 492, 27 April 1909, Page 11

THE PASSING OF HORI.

-A SUNDAY. SCENE AT PORIRUA. • >. \ ' . A MORMON COMMUNITY. Hori Manupiri, a lineal descendant or tlio jreat Pikau' Terangi: (who counted tlie notorious lVßauparaha/among' liis. earlier descendants), lied "at the "Wellington .Hospital- on \Vednes-. lay- night,, since: when, that- remnant, of..the Ngatitoa -tribe,•"has..lived in-' amity on- the , 30U-acre ./reservation provided 'for. the Natives : under the .-.beneficent administration' of: Sir George. Grey. '. H6ri, who. was >a brother-in-law. of' Mr. 'E. Welch, of, : tho' Native. Department, was a'Very popular member,: of, the tribe, and ode had.'only to-be present at the graveside,to know how/ 1 much/-- his iintir.:oly decease: is, lamented. The attracted-; a' large number of Natives, i'roin, : l.ac immediate • vicinity, and also' (wiumbcr of/visitors from, • town, including Chief Judge Palmer (of the Nativo Land ..'.Court) land; Mr./P. Sheridan, (lateNative Lands. Purchase: Officer). As. usual, tho, casquet was ■ exhibited-in" an open tent erebted alongside the tribal- whare-' puui, and there sat his female relatives wailing aloud,' whilst, from - unexpected points,' a cottag© door hundreds of yards away, a-distant paddock,, from round: .the'-. kopa-Maoris (where the, food -was .being prepared),. a. tremulous wail struck the startled ear. like' tlie sudden. cry of an.infant 'in;the night, telling in piercing highflung notes of-"peculiar timbre of another sue- . 'cess of'the grim-hunter Death. .' " ■■•'' i". Pat, - brown,/ . wide-eyed : children, ' neatly dressed,' gambolled before /the marae,' innocent of the i grim Presence, under - tho gaily-coloured mats' in the tent of'mourning.. Meeting Natives pressed noses,- and .'drifted about' the enclosuro aimlessly,' until a 1 bell of (temper clanged rudely outside the wharekai. It was a summons for the visitors to. partake' of; food before' the funeral: service-began.. -The viands generously offered were those one-usually associates with afternoon .tea on' Lambton. Quay. Again,/thai-bell! Half a dozen-husky young Natives approached/ the wailing place, 'and amidst the'shrill crying of the women conveyed ■ tho : cofSn-into .the meeting-house, whither it was followed-by man,..maid, and: child, Tho 'Ngatitoas of.Porirua accept the spiritual aid of the Mormons, and it was Eider L./H. Booth, of.Salt Lak«rCity,. ; Xl.tah, an earnest young : man, unaffected ami, pronouncedly American, who' directed the service.' .It was simple enough.' A of'the'Scriptures,read by a moisteyed woman, a/hymn, a short prayer, another hymn, a Scriptural,.disconrso:by a - Nativo-in Maori, and a few.remarks by the, Mormon missionary.', After another hymn has been'sung, .the coffin was shouldered, and the procession started fpr .the cemetery—along the " toad, across the stream spanned only by a couple of planks, and across an upland field unmarked by path or track,- to-a bright knoll Overlooking the head-waters' of Porirua Bay. The grave had been dug by the friends of the deceased, who in loving kindness had paid-particular attention to their work. Cut deep in the smooth •clay , sides was the name of the, deceased, and at the head and foot was a cross carved in the clay...Tho servico .was brief. / A hymn, sung to an old, old. tune, and a'prayer offered by a Native—no more.: : The ropes used for lowering, the, coffin were not withdrawn, and just before'tho earth, was .shovelled in the clothes of the deceased—suit; collars,, tics, shirt, etc.— were thrown-on top of the cbffih. '. -I . So- they left. Hori for-ever; But one remained :l iri a. paroxysm of gi-ief—his sister. : : Tears streamed down her face literally, and her sobbing shook, the [emotions, of -all 1 present 4.t the end she stopped forward and said- "Never mind, Hori, I come by and bye. Good-bye. Hori; ■ -*■/" Again thatrbell.x'and to /loud chantings advanced the kai-bearers from the four points of the compass, bearing smoking dishes of titi (mutton-bird), pohau (nativo cabbage), taro kumara, and other foods more familiar to the pakeha./'The feast- was marked by a fine hos- , pitality : and ,an : entire . -absence- of those features , of the 6ld-timo' tangi-feasts considered to be ( mora ,or less objectionable. There was no intoxicating liquor.