THE "NATIVE DIFFICULTY" AND THE TURKISH BATHS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4692, 27 November 1876, Page 2

THE "NATIVE DIFFICULTY" AND THE TURKISH BATHS.

On Saturday afternoon we paid a visit to Mr. Sykes' Turkish Baths, Upper Queenstreet, and were pleased to observe that his spirited venture is being largely patronised by the public. Nothing succeeds like success, and Mr. • Sykes <is - now " pnttinpthrough", oyer a - hundred visitors a-week or between five . and. six thousand persons per annum. At the period 0 £ our visit tb£ " patients" were, by a singu. lar coincidence, principally newspaper" men, and a~ number of other persons were patiently waiting their turn, utterly un a We to reach the tepidarium, like ZacchaM of |old, /'because of the press." A. week's dabbling in the mire of local polities no doubt makes the former class glad to avail themselves of the earliest opportunity at the close of the week, o£ " sloughing." ita scene at this particular juncture was solemn and impressive one, for Mr Svkes .of solving the "'native difficulty," having got hold of a Maori chief and "nm him in" to the bath, passing the bine-blooded rangatira triumphantly through the mysteries of the tepid arium, sudatorium, and frigidarium — subsequently letting him out of a side door " clothed and in his right mind." It came about in this wise An officer of the Native Lands Court, suffering from chronic asthma had been induced to try a course of the baths' the result being his complete cure from that distressing complaint. Converts are usually enthusiastic, and the gentleman in question was not slow to proclaim the virtues of the Turkish Baths. Meeting his friend, Hami ora (Samuel) Ngaropi, a Wesleyan native minister, stationed in the Waikato, he easily persuaded the reverend gentleman to accompany him to Mr. Sykes' establishment." Hamiora did not express his surprise at what he saw there—a Maori is rarely surprised at anything, and would look upon the setting in of the Millennium with unquickened pulse. While undergoing the "sweating" process Hamiora entered into a" theological discussion with his Mentor and, drawing upon his ample store of Scripture imagery, said "the whole concern reminded him of the Pool of Siloam where the angel was wont to ' trouble the waters,' and the people rushed to be healed." As Mr. Sykes and his attendant genius " John," had been "troubling the waters"fon Hamiora's especial benofit, by the medium of the douche, his delicate compliment may be safely divided between them, unless, indeed, Hamiora has mistaken "the colons of the angeL" On adjourning to tha frigidarium, Hamiora, turbaued and sheeted, was directed to a couch on which to repose, and where, inhaling the fumes oE his favourite pipe—with a cup of genuine Mocha, on a dainty salver, steaming at his elbow—a beam of tranquil joy stole over his tatooed visage which would have excited the envy of a Chinese opium-eater. He summed up the whole affair as Kapai! tino pai rawa ! (the highest form of Maori approval) —it had renewed his youth, and taken ten years off his age. Leaving the establishment, to quote his own phraseology, "a new creature," Hamiora gambolled down the street as frisky as a kitten. While "cavortin 1 around," in order to reduce the wonderful elasticity of body which he felt, he fell in, as lnck would have it, with a fellow-countryman, the well-known Ngatimahanga chief, Te Rewiti Waikato, o£ Whatawhata, to whom he communicated with an infinity of pantomimic gestures, the startling intelligence that he had just come out of Paradise, up the street. Reweti's great brown eyes dilated with amazement, and after sundry snorts and exclamations of Auwe! he jußt "went for" Mr. Sykes' premises with seven-leagued boots. One of the visitors at the Baths interpreted to Mr. Sykes, Keweti's desire to be put'into the "hot place"-where Hamiora had been rejuvenated, and his wish was duly gratified. A short half hour's sojourn there convinced Reweti that though the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak, and that in fact he was as completely steamed and " cooked" as if he had been in a Maori hangi. But here an embarrassing difficulty arose. Reweti was nearly innocent o£ any knowledge of English, and "John" was wholly so of Maori. However, " one touch of nature makes the whole world kin;" Reweti, after "fly-catching" for a few moments, at last gasped out, "Ehoa! too much the hot! too much—he hangi Maori lenti. Tenet tuhia, kia puta ahau ki waho." ["This is a regular Maori oven; let me out for goodness sake."] ' A ray of intelligence suddenly illumined "John's" honest countenance, and after performing a variety of "dumb motions," he courteously requested the old gentleman "to come with him to the sudatorium." With a mystified expression upon his features, the ancient party instinctively followed his guide, and thus that lesson on the common origin of languages was successfully achieved ! Reweti retired into private life, after the ordeal, in a state of ecstacy—his verdict being that of Hamiora, Kapai ! tino pai rawa! When ho returns to his kainga, invested with the newfound dignity which belongs to a Maori trho has had a Turkish bath, many an evening will be beguiled, according to native custom, by his recital to gaping listeners of a full, true, and very particular account of its mysteries. As the Turkish bath has such a miraculously soothing effect upon the native temperament, would it not bo wellhappy thought!—if the Native Department made an endeavour to " run in" Tawhiao or Manuwhiri, as the speediest method of placing us en rapport with the Kingite party. That department has already laid out £30 for " milk punch " to Maori chiefs (see Parliamentary Blue-book), and money laid out in " bath orders" among leading Hauhau chiefs, would be much more judiciously expended than in the dispensation of "milk punch." A word to the wise is sufficient. Who knows but that Mr. Sykes • may yet divide the honours—as the pacificator of the native race, and the discoverer of the true solution of the native difficulty—with the great " medicine man, Sir Donald McLean ?

Are Yon Engaged?— When you many, and wish to obtain good value for money, visit the City Hall Arcade. Amongst the numerous improvements made in Auckland lately, Messrs. Holloway and Garlick's is one of the most important; they have turned the large Music Hall into a splendid Showroom for Furniture and Carpets, &c. They can furnish a house throughout in one day. They import largely from liugland, and also have a numerous staff constantly manufacturing Furniture under the superintendence of Mr. R. Cranwell (late Cranwell and Co., Shortlaud street). Their cabinet-work is really good, and their largo business is due to the cheapness and durability of their goods. Bedding is a special feature, and 13 made on. the premises, from thoroughly good material. In addition to furnishing requisites, they keep a large and wellassorted stock of Drapery, Millinery, and Manchester Goods, Ladies' Underclothing, and Boys' and Men's Clothing. The Arcade is conducted after the London style. Country settlers especially will fiud it convenient to patronise Holloway and Garlick, City Hall Arcade, Queen-street, Auckland. _ Dr. de Jongh's Ltght-Brown CoD LrvHtj Oil.—lnvariably pure, uniformly exceUenfc. —Dr. Letheby, late Medical Officer of Health to the City of London, writes 1 " InaUjeMeß I have found Dr. de Jongh's Cod. LitferiOdl possessing the same set of properties-amOW > which the presence of cholaic f and of iodine in a state of organic combination, are the most remarkable. It is,^ 1 ;??!) lieve, universally acknowledged>that-- wus description of Oil' has great . power; and, from my investigation*, e x. no doubt of its being a pnre and unadaJtera article." Sold.omy in-• ca P sn K4/5 n £igt(u Half-pints; Pints, and Quarts, by sll l L£ e Druggists, and. Storekeepers.^ gignees:' Ansar,- Harford and Co., ' J London. -Agents,for New Zealand: iAefflK thorne, Profser and Co., Auckland Donedic. (1)