GREAT NATIVE TANGI NEAR TAURANGA.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4740, 2 November 1872, Page 3

GRE AT NATIVE TANGI NEAR TAURANGA.

There waa a tangi on Tuesday, Oo tober 29, to bewail the death of Tawhewhe (not Kingi), son of Tareha, one of tho principal chiefs of tho Ngatihoko branch of the Ngaiterangi, whose head- quarters are at Maungatapu. A few volleys fired on the previous day notified the occurrence of death in the community, and the following day a muster of two or three hundred natives took place from various quarters of the harbour, Rangiwaia, Oponui, Opuhi, &c, quite a fleet of boats and canoes being anchored at the beach. Abundant provision was made for the entertainment of the guests, principally consisting of flour, of which 24 tons were stacked in front of the village. The ceremonial observed was of the customary kind, and the robing, if not elaborate, was characteristic. Feathers in the hair answered the purpose of hatbands and scarfs ; the few privileged mourners who had the honour of being near relations of the departed wore hair closely cropped, but otherwise were decked in array as gorgeous as their wardrobes would permit, while there were some who even " walked in silk attire." The flag that braved a thousand years— reversed — fluttered over the whare containing the corpse, and but for the wailing of professional mourners the place had a holiday appearance. Tawhewhe (departed) was laid out on the floor of a room, the side wall of which had been taken down ; his coffin lay beside him, and various articles, in which, no doubt, his soul had formerly delighted, were arranged on the same mat. At his head sat Mr. and Mrs. Tareha, with flappers of feathers at the end of sticks to drive away flies from the dead man's face, the only portion visible, ' the body being covered with black cloth. Tareha is a fine tall, middle-aged man, with a cheerful countenance, polite in his manner, with a natural, easy courtesy immeasurably removed from the clumsy attempts of some Europeans. Both he and his spouse appeared quite animated by the dignity with which the occasion invested it, and manifested a restless anxiety to do the honours of the place to the guests who came to pay their tribute of respect to their kinsman, not to say, come solely for the purpose of receiving tpo customary presents of food distributed lit such times — certainly not to guzzle, as some Maoris do, for, up to the time your correspondent left, no food was cooked on the ground, but, in place thereof, the bags of flour, together with bundles of charmed fern-root, were divided into lots, and taken away in boats by the visitors, after they had gone through the formula of the orthodox cry and nasal friction. A few Europeans were amongst the "spectators ; and Mr. ISodell, with his camera, took a number of photographic views, the doing of which createi quite a temporary sensation, weepers suddenly suspending their moans, and four-; ryin£ to secure good positions in the group/ which the whakaahua (picture) was to contain. There was a momentary ruffling of plumage, and settling ■ into postures considered graceful or imposing, and then, at a signal from the operator, all the folks became rigidly still, but broke out into a laughthe moment the sitting was concluded. By\ the way, in the sand on the beach at, Maungatapu there ia 'an old chip's gun, apparently a 24-p6under, the unexplained' p"re'-" sence of which is calculated to excite curiosity. — [Correspondent.] -