RUA AND HIS PALACE.

Feilding Star, Volume II, Issue 532, 27 March 1908, Page 4

RUA AND HIS PALACE.

A SACRED VILLAGE. THE PKOPHET AND HIS WIVES. SOME APOSTLES. On his way to Poverty Bay recently, Dr. Bell, Director of tho Geological Survey, wandered casually through the Urewena country, with tho object of getting a general idea of the tertiary strata there. Right in tho 'heart of tho Urewera, on the northern shoulder of the Huiarau range, there ds a mountain well known in the history of tho To Kooti wars, Maungapohatu. On tho western slope of this line crested ridgo of limestone, near tho head of tho Waikare river, stands the historic pa of Maungapohatu, where tho colonial forces fell foul of tho Te Kooti men and sent them running towards tlio interior. It was then a considerable clearing, but to-day it is something infinitely more, as Dr. Be\\ made amply plain to a New Zealand Time-i reporter. THE NEW RELIGION. Rua does not protend to bo the Messiah. Among those who follow his cuio Te Kooti' himself is held to bo the Messiah, and Te Kooti, it may not be generally known, actually compiled a testament for the guidance of his followers. Rua, the successor of To Kooti, claims to bo John tho Baptist, and, like Te Whiti, ho has twelve apostles (Tekau ma rua). Thero has beon a wonderful change in the face of nature since the Rua people flocked to Maungapohatu seven or eight months ago to found thero the seat of their new religion. Tho clearing has been greatly enlarged, and, with strenuous industry, tho Rua people have not merely felled the trees over many ■acres of ground, but .have actually uprooted huge stumps to mako room for their buildings and cultivations on the slopes of the kill to tho eastward of th© old pa. Rua's pa is first 6-een, when approaching Maungapohatu, from Galatea, at a distance of about four miles. AN AMAZING SIGHT. "I was amazed at tho size of the -village," said Dr. Bell. "It is not a mere Maori encampment, but a distinct and decided settlement* It is amazing how muoh has been done in the short time that the Rua people have been there. Huge stumps have been taken out bodily, and the whole site of the town has been cleared absolutely. The forest is burning all round where they are clearing on both sides of the Waikare valley." The town is divided into two parts, one within and the other without the palisaded enclosure. The stockaded portion is reached by two large gateways from the track which runs through this part of the iJrewera country. From the principal of these a hard, wide clay road runs right through the enclosure, at either end of which are the two chief buildings of the village, the palaco and the temple. There are alio about a hundred smaller buildings in the enclosure, which are used entirely for sleeping purposes. No one is allowed to eat within the palisaded enclosure, which is regarded as sacred. The bank and store are also in the socred marae. A GORGEOUS TEMPLE. Dr. Bell describes the temple as quite a remarkable building. It is circular in form, with a diameter of about 70ft. The main building is surmounted by a smaller one of the same shape, the tower being about fifty feet high. Inside the lower part of the building are circular scats arranged round th© rostrum in the centre from which the prophet addresses his followers. The upper part is a sort of holy of holies, to which only Rua and his apostles have tfooess. Around this is a small balcony, from, which an elevated gangway leads to a detached tower from which the speeches are made in fine weather. The temple is a most impressive building, gorgeously painted in yellow, blue and white, with mosaic designs which are supposed to have some symbolic meaning. The palace, which is at the other end of the marae. is a double-gabled building roofed with corrugated iron, and having a pathway leading down to the Waikare river. It is said to be of four roonis, and is also tapu, inasmuch as it is only accessible to the, prophet and his six wives — for Rua is a Mormon himself, although he disapproves of the practice of polygamy so far as his followers are concerned. A CULT OF CLEANLINESS. Cleanliness is one of the strictest injunctions of the prophet on his people, and it is the most striking feature of the village. At the entrance to the marae from the farther end are two troughs, with water laid on from the hills. Here the Rua people wash their hands before entering the tapu enclosure. The eating houses are quite apart from the rest of the village, being situated on the hillside!