THE MAORI KING AT AWAHURI.

Manawatu Times, Volume VIII, Issue 171, 27 January 1883, Page 2

THE MAORI KING AT AWAHURI.

On Thursday afiis noon a represeiftta tive of tbis journal visited Affaburi, to witness the gathering m honor of Kiup Tawhho. The Kiiangi is si mated on the bauk of the Oroua riv-.r, ant is of moderate size. In the centre of thground, an enormous structure ha*l been erected, about 120 feet long by 30 feet wide, and this as reserved for the visitors. Beside it was a small house, re-' served for Tawhiao and his immediate attendants. The scene was one of- v-ry great animation, there being several hundreds or' natives about the place, besides a constant influx of European visitors from Feilding, Bulls, &c. In a prominent position on the ground was A FLAG POLE on which was hoisted a white flag, on wfricb were represented t;ie Christian cross, the Moslem c .escent, and the S mthern cro-s, a mixture of symbols it would be difficult to explain. The Avrahuri natives were just finishing a haka as our representative arrived, the men and women being # all thinly clad for the. performance. Groups of natives were scattered all over the ground, some practising different movements, of the haka, othirs doing a tangi for some departed friend, others, chatting, and chaffing, and others again preparing for the cv. niug meal. We- were- conducted to \ the whare m which ! IKB KING WAS SEATEDy ~ a place about 20 feet by 12 tee t, with the usual nix matting on the Hour. Titwhiao has not a countenance which disj.lays very great intelligence ; m fact, it would. not Ik difficult to select at leasf 20 men on the ground who, judged by their faces, Are more fitted than he to lead and direct. One can easily understand, after seeing him, that Wahanui woul'l be greater than Tawhiao. He is elaborately tattooed about the face, and has restless, piercing ejes, which seem to denote suspicion. His secretary, a big halt. caste, about 6. feet 3. inches high, interpreted for us m the conversation our representative had with Tawhiao, who speaks m a very low tone, and de : liberates between his sent' nces, speaking I rapidly however; tie was not very com • municativ.e. That may be accounted tor by the fact that a "dead. marine " (3. Heonessy and Co.). was rolling about the floor. He stated that never having been here before,, he was desirous of seeing his friends, and the land, and had come. He. also desired to see the Europeans, to \ whom he felt friendly. He seemed to show great solicitude' for his hat,, which he persistently stroked with a silk handkerchief, which was handed to. him out from a band! ox But the distant sound: of the last real haka of the day called us from the presence of Tawhiao, and after ; a few minutes, the Waikatos were seen ' to be emerging from the big whare for THE GRAND.. EVEST OF THE PAT. .It appears the Waikatos hid been out- . vied by the local peop'e,. and were fully determined to hea.t all opponents.. They, came alo-ig the side of the whare m full war-dance style, though the leader conducted the dance with a somewhat unpoetic American b-oom, which, however, he wielded with great art As to the subsequent part iff the haka,. the less, said about it the better, as it was considered a disgrace by- even the natives. The performance over the company dispersed, and the women began to prepare for THE EVENING MEAL. The Maori women have a- peculiar ■way of cooking. They dig a hole m the ground, and m it put a layer of stones upon which they place a quantity of sow-thistle, maiae leaves, cabbage leaves, or some Mich stuff on the stones, and on tbe«e pour m the pot&tQes, the top .of which they lay the fish to b e cooked. The whole is then covered h more leaves, and a bag ist placed on the top, upon which a quantify of earth is thrown, a bucket of water haying pre% viously.been thrown over : the whole. The food is thus steamed, and it is said is cooked perfectly. We did not taste any of the dried eels- or potatoes cooked yesterday evening, and which were uncovered m our presence, but they certainly looked very nice. At least a hundred weight were cooked, at one time m this way. The natives came from all directions with small green flax baskets, to carry, away their portions of the hat: The bottom lot of potatoes were burne>l, and would be given to. the pigs. Tea being over* we. were surprised to notice several lads get pieces of wood and start beating_a piece of scantling suspended like the seat of a swing from, a tree, with an incessmt clatter. They were joined by others, and soon at least a dozen were engaged m making, the clattering noi c c. This was the- call to . . THE HiU HATT PBAYBBS; t ; bells being despised by them/ Presently the wlHe of the Waikatos filed out from their whar**, and sat down m rows m front of the King's house for evening devotions, The «' tohunga " or priest, a smooth faced looking, man, who took a prominent part m the haka (m which, however, the King did not join), stood behind thfc people and rapidly recited something which sounded like an invocation* and. then began to. chant a waiata or hymn, the whole of the people singing m unison, and a* .}}&, end of each part giving their voices a " tarn " and dropping on to the closing note m a very sweet manner. The 'tohunga then addressed th.c people, the burden of bia sermon being an explanation of the Hau Han religion, and a number of reasons why all those assembled should have the same religion »and acknowledge Tawbiao. as their King. The sermon, app ared to have a strong political tendency* and forcibly Biigir«'Sted to us the idea that Tavhiao. is »eaixy "on the stcmp," and endeavoring, as Sir George Gcrey did, to make converts by a tour, though the Pakeba did the talkina hitnself^and Tawhiao gets his clever tohunga to do it for him. He is not, judging from the way the tohunga's, sermon was received by the other natives, likely to convert many to his opiniou% for some of the local Maoris were " poking bbrak" at the priest whilst he preached; a dir^ respect ne disdained to notice. After the priest had finished there was a, pause, and a woman took the lead, chant- ;; i ing ber devotions m clear tones,, and the others joining m unison as before. Prayers being . . over, the natives all . proceeded to their whare?, and present y

the bell rang for Cbrisfiao service*. About eight o'clock tbe natives gathered for MOHB AMUSKMENT m the big wbare. At one end of this & Ma ri played a conceitinvand a "set '* was organise'l for quad iliea, white girls dancing with nativ«8 r and European youths with native girls. Alt. the figure* were goi c through wth absolute precision. Then came a Highland aelioK tischp, waltzes, polkas, Ac, the mnn< . cianpliying what he please'!, and both natives »nd Europeans joining m. Close- - by the^e again, were-auumber of natives practising h ka«« r and evidently enjoying the fun imnu>nsely>.whiU all around the piece natives were lying at rest^ but in> sucharjitt sleep would be impossible.. Thus the fun was kept up, and at the time our .representative left was m full swing, and would p obably be kept up until midnight... The natives, appear- to> be determined to make the king's visit a.saason of genuine festivity and w.ewere informed that although their corn at Awahuri is actually, dropping out of the car,, they stopped all harvesting; directly tbe King- arrivedk