NATIVE HOSPITALITY.

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 89, 14 April 1923, Page 7

NATIVE HOSPITALITY.

After dinner we hurried off so SB to make Parinui > fairly early, where we could, if rain came on, camp in a large Maori meeting house (Wharepuni). The after end of our canoe got stuck on a boulder in one of the rapids, but our voluble chief mate Tuiri's rapid fire* of Maori swear words, ably seconded by those of the skipper, Bob Gray, aided by a rolling motion of the passengers and muoh pushing on the poles, got us off. ,

At Parinui we were met by a party of Natives, who helped padk our things up to the Wharepuni, which they insisted we should occupy for our stay. After a r«al good dinner we entertained/ our hosts at a sing-song, etc.. and Uiey responded in the same way with their delightful Maori melodies. They certainly could sing, and gave us a rare treat. We gave them a haka of welcome and defiance, but in this they acknowledged that, they were out-classed." .We certainly did have a great 1 evening, and carried on till well past midnight, when we turned in. It rained very hard throughout the night, and we w»re lucky to have good shelter. Our cook left us very early with three others to visit some friends a few miles inland on the road to Stratford, so wohad breakfast prepared for us by. a University professor. That he had considerable culinary ability was very evident. - We were given a great send-off, and a hearty invitation to come again. . The nver was well up, which made navigation over the shnllows much easier. The fcenery below the point was particularly fine, and so too was the weather for a while. We alflmired much and stopped now and again to take photos.- We •visited the caves and climbed round a bit. A bull, which was made rather r.ervous by some of our party, charged our professor, but an old half-back is not too easily caught, and he made the canoe -safely. As many of us had gone ahead, and to return to the ship would have tn n&M the bull, our skinner cam*

round to where we wsre, «o possiblj ; avoiding trouble. At thi« spot we turned round and moved up against the cur< rent, go as to view the famoua drop scene frbm various aspects. Ju6t befor« we reached Pipiriki rain came down in torrents, so our skipper chased us ashor* , to have lunch at his house. We made a, good meal off bully beef, kumi kumi, and taiawa, which Mrs: Gray had got readji for us. The shower did not last very iong, so we were able to see the sights.Our hostess is an expert in mat-making, and we saw a fine specimen of a puk j.ui in course of construction. Some of our people had friends staying at Pipi. riki House, and these latter came to the landing stage to see us off, Koping, they kindly said, to see us capsize in ths swollen rapids. They-didn't know Tuiri and Bob Gray. We "called at Htruh'azama (Jerusalem), where a tennis tournament was in full swing. MRS. GRUNDY DISAPPROVES. ' At the landing we were met by all th« small fry of the village, who, as subse-. quently were the ladies of the pa, were " rouch interested in the knickers worn 'so , unconsciously by our ladies. One well- '< Eourished, but ■ particularly stern-looking i"ld dame, ma-ie many interesting remarks far too Rapidly, for the writer* small^ knowledge of their language. This night -we stopped at Galatea, where there is a wonderfully carved meet-' ing house. This is the ancestral homa of our conductor, Bob Gray, and his mother and father were ' particularly, kind to us. They were a dear old couple, and we shall all cherish memories of them and their capable son. • We were tol_d to make the fullest use of tha orchard," and regaled ourselves with peaches, apples, pears, water-melons, and walnuts. Besides cooking much cumi cum, sweet corn, and potatoes, we were given an ample supply of fresh pork— delicious meat from a fruit and corn-fed animal that had never known a, sty. Next day, Monday, we spent a day browsing round photographing and visiting the Matahiwi pa.. At this place "we were annexed by a very plump small boy whom we tempted with a small silver coin to sing for us. He was diffident until payment was made, but after that hs was quite willing to perform and show us the whole gamut of his/talents. The young people liked us, and our muscatels . and dates, and sang us sweet songs aa well as giving us a dance. The small boys also gave us an exhibition of boxing and mixed it very willingly. Our two Aussie members missed this, .but were compensated by' a bush and hill rambis where they, made their first "acquaintance with our wingless birds. The kiwi is said to be fairly common here, but as • they come out at night it is .more probable that our friends saw wekas, but. their description was too indefinite for accurate classification—perhaps they ..saw a mob of turkeys—heaven knows. . The afternoon was spent swimming and ■ photographing and viewing the Maori arts and eating—mostly eating.- We saw . some_ fine canoe-work in the rapids and previously at Hiruharama had seen a small boy paddling in expert style ■up the river. Some say the Maori has lost his canoeing skill, but we did not think so; but undoubtedly they soon will. ! ' A GASTRONOMIC CLIMAX. -''' Dinner was a wonderful affair. Bob'-. bie laid himself right out to eclipse ths Professor and he did -it. Our financial . magnate, and our Diplomatic Servica Lady, who are both world travellers, re-, collected only one dinner that bore any comparison, and that was at the Bitz— or was it the Savoy? ... As we were to be up before^daybreak so as to make an early start we made for bed when most people'are recovering from their dinner. At 4 o'clock next morning we had a breakfast of scrambled . eggs, toast, coffee, and remnants, main--' ly remnants. An hour later we were packed up and ready to start.' Even.at this early hour the old chief was at the landing to bid us good-bye, or rather "E Noho Ra !" which means the same thing. We hurrahed back until we were out of sight, feeling that we were parting from a real friend and gentleman. Our voy- | aging in the dark had its peculiar charm, and to witness the. dawn of a sunny day/ whilst sailing down between bush-clad banks' leaves-an ineradicable memory. ■

Homesteads and pas were now more frequent, and we sent out hurrahs across the waters to every one we saw. Our singing towards the end of the journey was decidedly better than it had been, and another week of tuition by-Bobby, and Archie would have seen us in good trim. "Wanganui came in sight too soou, and we were not at' all pleased that our wonderful trip had come to an fend, and that on the morrow we should each his own way to carry out our usual duties.