Hawke's Bay Herald. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1886. AN ANCIENT MARINER.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7549, 24 September 1886, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1886. AN ANCIENT MARINER.

• .iN.an idle ntoniejlt tn'e ; otl)6i; day; .tiirnijig .'ove\' tlie leaves o'ffa'liobkoncdjveli ktiown .. but.nbwJittleieatjl-^ihe.l'.AMdites.' 1 . 'jil 1 the jgossi'ppirig .Eoube'n::- and '• Sholto -Percy— we came across an- old a • page of New Zealand history wl'uch we ; not reniomber to have seen elsewhere. V. iThis. relates to tho adventures of one \ George Brdce,. mariner', amp'ng tjie |' "gin'es of New Zealand. We are told that when Tipp'aheQ— by-the'bye^ that doesnlt I sourid very like "a Maori name— was " "king of New Zealand, J> -he paid a visit 3 to Port Jackson. The manners and cus- , tpms— or perhaps it wa-V the rum— of the J. 'pakehas'did hot suit Tippahee's'cohstitu-' > tionj and he fell sick to death. A inariuer named George Bruce, who had fc qualified : ' himself' fdr- : a 1 physician' • by [a fon« . course ..of. voyages.. and. ; , saH junk, was appointed to attend ori the > sickmionarch. Tippabeewas so jjlcased with his marine; .physician that -he,re--1 ce'ived Bruce into his family circle. Tlie sailor; elevated intb (! rbyal favoiVwo are told; " spent tlio first few months in New Zealand, in exploring the country, and : ? acquiring! a knowledge of; the ; lauguage,|' '" manners, and customs of the people. He found tho country hoalthy and pleasant, . full of romantic sconery, 1 agreeably diver--1 hsifleji \\;iHi hills and. dales, f .and covered, with wbbit.'^Tlie pebßio.'tiiough'rude arid' '1 igno.rant, were hospitable, 'frank, and open." The dusky monarch at last made Bruce the Field Marshal-in-chief, or wuajtover.'.tne ■' leader f r 6f "llie^'MJiSgV armee" was called, but as a necessary preliminary he had to be tattooed, Bruce already 'p'osse.fsed/' a] nurtiberVof. those -'• Indian ink caricatures on his arms' and" breast, "after tho .manner of the- British -sailor at that period, but his face had to r be covered also. When ho hadn't an f| .inch ol untattooed skin visible to the naked eye he looked so handsome in the eVeS of the King's daughter, Aetockoe —unfortunately, that; cname'; also* hasnlt the I right', Maorj-- '■' bang!-'— that she married him, he, became a , prince ' oi the blood' royiiy. with any number of ''undivided 'ipierests >> ''jin-*big.';blppks' of forest and fern. "Princess- Aetockoe," the ' narratiyegoes.on.to.saj', j^'wa^a maiden of fifteen .brisisteeni years' of age,, whose native beauty had probably been great> but which .so much improved by the ■ fashionable enibellishinents of art that all' . tlie, softer charms of nature, all the sweetness of expression, .-\Vere lost in the bolder expressions of, tattooing Bruce now, became- the 'chief member of the. king's [ family, , and was vested with" theTgovern- ;. ■ mieKt of- the island. 11 All we- can say. is' ' '.that if Bruce had to 'ihoss" tho Various' tribe's in either' Island of 'New Zealand we doi^t feßl any envy for .his royal billet. : A journalist's lot may not be a happy one,' 'but it is elysium compared with tliat which ' tlie veracious chroniclers assign-to Bruce. Our horo^'however, didn't'seeni 1 to.' take. , his' troubles' sad ly,"if w,e are to believe the" narrators of this wondrous talo," for they I.' .'goonjq say :—j' Bruce and his wife were 1 1 now contented and happy, and in the full enjoyment, of doinestic., comfort,, with no iwants that were. ungratified^'jttiessed with" health a^nd .perfect independence,'^ r Here. we haVo'a' sad' proof of the decadence' of the British sailor. Nowadays 'tltey- r gro\VL' at 1 tinned meats' -~ though' .not -from-tther '■■ -Tpmoana est'ablishhientr^'and.vbte'pfe- ! ( /served vegetables a bore, .' : But Bruce, good simpl.6 niarine|v;,pf v the';6ld school, '.'.^as 1 " contented- and- 'happy" with kumaras, i fish,;'and perhaps an" q'ccasional,pig,' and 'a , ■du'sky'lortj7tc?^a'an'd'pienty■of hard'knocks • byj way of . relishes..- Butj .evil, day .for' 'Bruce I. fhe ship r General,Wellesley,'Cap-'---tain i)airyiriplei tpuclied at Brucels settle-' ment, and a yearning aftov'theflesh'p'ots 1 of 1 Egypt '^fitledV'liis^lntbiarioC-lidnteiite'd , mind, and hewenf bn'boardi 'accompanied f 'by| his wife.^^.-He.wasJpersnaded" to assist in 'getting a r ca'rgo ! of ! spars and "benjamin " — that last item, whatever it was, has since disappeared from our- list of ■ exports— and the General AVellesley sailed '1 for- the, North , Cape; .It is .noted, cn.-j)«s- ; 1 sant, that Captain Dalrymple hoped to 'find gold -dust "there.^ A r protifise was .given ...that- Prince and Pi-iricess' Bruco ; "should !,l)e landed, again 1 at'-7the:.Bay-of> Islands, .where .they, embarked,' but' contrary winds prevented the return of the vesseVwhich'at last made fbV the Fiji Islands, or, as the book, before, us has it; the' Feejees. N6xt' they 'sailed" for Malacca', where Brjuce went bn'sKc-repMt tlie native the country overcame him, and the" ship sailed 'during't'he'night without him, but „ carrying Princess Aetock.oej,off.;/'Bruce,v in-isearch^of his; princess, took passage for Penang, where he found bis wife- had preceded,., him, but had, : been bartered, away, , to, an- English. , Through' tho "influence of the j Governor bis' wife was restored to'liimY' -aiid' after 'knocking about the Indian seas for twelve months,, in search oiF , a'; passage to .New '"Zealand, they reached' tlioif island homo, by a devious course;', Here, of course, "they lived .happily ever afterwards,".,as the old fairy tales have it. Can 'any of onv. old colonists throw'any light on this old romance'? Mr'Coienso, . perhaps) might be 1 able-; to do s'o-H-mayhap he -has Icorcrtfd with the descendants of Brnc'e, and broken kuiiiaVa with'his great- ' grandchildren.