THE LAY OF THE LAST MAORI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume IV, Issue 1073, 23 April 1867, Page 4

THE LAY OF THE LAST MAORI.

{Dedicated to the Aborigines' Peotectiox Society. The way was long, the wind was cold, Tlio Maoii was half starved and old ; . li is tattocd chcek, and mournful eye Told tales of better days gone by ; Around 1113 ncck, in blr uket slung, Liis greenstone meri loosely liun- ; His prized Jews'-lr.rp, his only joy, Was "toted'' by a half-caste boy. The last of alt the Maoris lie Who fought for Native monarchy. Alas ! his race's date had fled, Hi? brethren Pai dead ; The Philo-Maoris—crafty knaves— Had brought their Id their graves ; And he—the last remaining chief— From door to door now craved relief ; played ta please cach settler's car, The liurp Thompson loved to hear. Upon Blount Eden's rising swe'l He paused, and gazed towards Parnell; Then turned his eyes upon the Bay, Where many a white-wlng'd vessel lay Hi? restless look from sea to ship, Wandered to Niccoll's Patent Slip ; Ho shook nis head ; then as he viewed The busy, hurrying multitude In Auckland streets, he a sigh, And wept to tl> ; ik on days gone by. The settler marked the old mail's woa And to his cottage bade him go ; Where Jcaikai, in the shape of beef, Mght give hi 3 troubled heaii relief. With beef and Jcitmcras supplied. The old chief soon was satisfied ; Then 'gan. to rise his warrior piide. And he commenced to talk anon Of crafty Thompson, dead and gone. Of Potatau and F.evri tooBraver than these ne'er soldiers slew ; Of Kawau's 10.-d, who hard did strive The Maori race to keep alive ; Of Sliaft'JslAy—and the famous " Hall : '— Whoso critiugs worked the natives fall; Of those who caused the Maoris' stir, And Weld, the would-be Minister. ■ Still as he spoke, his faded eye Lit up with savage escstasy, Straight for hi 3 hulf-castc boy he sent To play a bold accompaniment t And, as the jew's-harp loudly rung Twas thus the Latest Maori sung— Gone is 'he noble native race; 'J hrcugh all their foitner lands no trace Of Maoris can be found give I, descended from a King; Yet dow a wretched Etarving thing-, Spurned like a beaten hound. Yet time has been when these broad lands Owned men whose ever-reidy hands Their bravery had shown. When, spite of priests and bloody war?, And feeble rulers' wav'ring lawsj The Maoris held their own. 'Twas but a space. They and died Ho lusty sons their place supplied, No more the race cor'd thrive ; Of all who, by their threatened raid Kept Auclr'aud's citizens dismayed, But one remains alive 1 ' Whenco this decay ? Go ask those fooh Who cant about their Raggr I School?, Yet starving leave their poor ; ' Who struggle in their turgid throes, O'er each benighted " brother's " woe 3— With wretches at their door. Afck them the cause of our decay; These slanderers of your race wil 1 siy " The settler's grasping hand, From, which nor truth nor justice saves, Drove tho poor Maoris to their graves, And seized upon their 1-md " 'Tis false ! For our sad fate tlie blamo Is theirs who used religion's name Their selfish aims to speed ; Who raised suspicion in each heart, And counselled us to keep apart, -id dread the settlers' greed. They taught us prayers to say by roto, And told U3 that this parrot note Tho just and good would please} P ty, 'with all their pious prato, They did not teach u', till too late, To know the Pharisees. Such men as Morgan, Yolkner, true, Tiled all that Christian zeal could do To beuefit our race ; Others discredit—to their shome— Brought on tho teacher's sacred namo— 4 Hadiield and a Grace ! That we were brave, is know a to those Who marked the slaughter of our foes In many a bloody fray ; When Tami! ma's counsel wise Made numbers at his bidding riso, To hold the troops at bay. Yet what availed our noble deeds, When in our midst the baleful seeds t Of anarchy were sown ; When Maoiis, urged by fancied wrongs Pevoltcd, and in frenzied throngs Did British - ale disow.i. Tho settlers' patience tired at last, Gave way, and fierce rop.lse's fast Swept o'er our fated land ; Tho' Weld and colleagues, dull and vain, With platitudes sought to restrain The white's avenging hand. Naught then availed, to brunt the shock, Tho veer of Daily Wcathcrcock (Cross readings in each fold), In vain, with ever-changing zeal. The Tunny Titchpipe's feeble squeal Blew hot by turns md cold : Our race was doomed. I saw it fade ; Yet not alono the settlers'a raid Provoked our direful fate; But that fell practice, ne'er reprovol By those who with their preaching moved Our nr ids to doubt and hate. 'Twas CoMMTJKisii, and not war; Unheeded by us, law And Heaven's—married life ; And deadlier far was our abuse Of God's injunction for its use Than bloody fields of strife. This caused our fall; and one by one Thoy died; tho race at length was ruu, They quickly prised away j And I, tho last of Maories, leave A curse on those who did deceive And led my race astray. The yarn was spun —the Maori gone j And did ho wander forth alone, Alone, in his declining houra To exercise hi 3 loafing powers ? No ; on the Kawau's sea-girt islo Where Grey erst held vice-regal style An old man lived ; content and staid "While troops of half-castes round him played, And oft he smiled at questions sly Of Governors, and days gone by; And ever thus his story ran Your father was a mighty man, " And when he died—a» all must do— " In Exeter's l'ainod Hall but few " There were who had not heard or read " Hia love for tho poor race now dead." Hosi S3IT QVI HAXi Y PES® June loth, 1865.