REWI IN A NOVEL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5426, 5 July 1879, Page 3

REWI IN A NOVEL.

A story is now " running in the Satur} $&& Advertiser, in which the author, Mr Thorn aa Bracken, introduces various episodes of the late war. In the last £ftsifpfe*;a p^ty of .Europeans are takep by Maoris, ; who hold a consult^ tio.n.aaio whether they should kill them or'nbi' We doubt whether such an inct rdent ever ocourred, as Maoris kUI at once!, or letajone altogether. After giving the speeches of several ruffians who wish to kill the European prisoners, Mr Bracken introduces Rewi as follows :-r "—"ln the meantime, the Maori chief had stood up to reply to the warriors who had addressed him. Bewi waa then, and is fetill, one of Nature's true noblemeii, and as he stood before his followers o# the morning in question, he looked a pet-: feet model for an artist. His tall, commanding figure, well-proportioned limbs, and regular features, betokened his physical superiority ; whilst his clear and intelligent eye, in which no trace of cruelty could be detected, bespoke a soul which only required to be cleared from the eleuds of barbarista by which it was shroiid^d iii order to allow its true nobility to display itself, Wating with his outstretched hand for" dilence, the chief spoke as follows : — ' Hear the words of your Ariki, O ! warriors ; hear the words and be silent. I am your leader, 0 ! men of Ngatimaniapoto. lam the flesh of the braves who sailed over the gteat sea of the TainuL I have sprung from the loina of Hotorua. lam from the men of Hawaiki, far over the sea. My fathers were the mighty chiefs who sailed _ into the dark waters of Kawhia ; Kawhia, tie 1 lonely ; Kawhia, the lovely ; Kawhia, ;the. hotttd oi 'Tainui. I am a branch of the great .tree — the proud tree of Ngatimaniapoto. I am its topmost b'btrgh. ' I have led ye into battle { I Hat 6 : f otfght side- by side with ye, O! my tribe. I atfi yduY rangatira, your Ariki ; therefore hearken unto m f I words, O! my people. The spirit of the great Tawhaki dwells within my body, and. the strength of my fathers come Reinga to my aid. Therefore, I say, hearken to, my words:. The . pakehas Bhall live ;' ; they shall not die. I have spoken.'",- •.. . •• :. -