RANGIRIRI, FROM THE OLD PA.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVII, Issue 4407, 29 September 1871, Page 3

RANGIRIRI, FROM THE OLD PA.

The river gently glides below Tv sinuous winding 1 soft and slow, i<\iv o'er its brinks the willowa bend And low the clustering bonglis depend; While landward 'neath their ample shade, I Jests many a wairior lowly laid. Yonder, reclining 'mid the blaze Of the sun's fierce meridan rays, 'I ho dusky Maori wiles away In listless idleness the day, Mis bronzed limba extended loose, Strangers to " Pakeha pants"' or hose Eastward, far in the distance rise The lulls, whose summits kiss the skies, The placid lake lies close beneath, Scarce ruffled by the Zephyr's breath., Each lofty steep, o'erhanging brow, Mirror'd on its clear depths below. But man the loveliest scenes can mar Witli woeful, desolating war, Even here its fierce tornado swept, And many a maid and mother wept For those who in the pale moonlight Lay cold on Kangiriri's height.*" They sleep beneath, in yon green vale, The simple tablets tell their tale; The murmuring river's ceaseless flow Ch aunts their sad requiem soft and low, And sweet the wild-flowers wave o'erhead In memory of the valiant dead. Wm. Johns, Te Awamutu. •*When the British, troops, under General Cameron, attacked Rangiriri in November, 1863, they were repulsed, with, the loss of over a hundred men killed and wounded. The sl.iin of course lay unburied during the night. In the morning the enemy capitulated.

A. good story is told of a clergyman who, in the kindnfcss of his heart, invited a footman to get into his vehicle for a lift on the road. No sooner was the man seated than the clerical gentleman, seeking to, improve the occasion, asked his companion "if he was prepared to die," whereupon he leaped out of the chaise, and ran off at a good speed, doubtless considering the question synonymous ■with " you? (poney w your lifo J