THE SUPPOSED POISONING CASES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 7921, 13 April 1887, Page 5

THE SUPPOSED POISONING CASES.

[BY TELEGRAPH.— PKKSS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, Tuesday. Me. Bishop, R.M. at Mangonui, wires the Native Minister as follows re death of Hakuene and others :—" Did nob hear of the olroumstanoes until arriving home on the night of the Bth instant. I hurried through, and obtained all possible information, and iecided'aa coroner that the moot searching inquiry must be made, and a post mortem held if possible. I therefore proceeded to Peria with Dr. Trimnell, and found several hundred natives assembled on Saturday, and the funeral fixed to take place in an hour. Knowing the intense aversion of the nativee to interfore with a dead body, I was not sanguine, and almost regarded the request for the body as already refused. I addressed the assembled natives at length, telling them what I had come for and the urgent reasons for granting my request. They were very stiff, and nothing that I could say would induce them to allow me to open the body, and that it was useless my staying there aud talking. I, however, met their arguments one by one and used all my persoual inflaeuce to induce them to come round, and I could see that I was making an impresaion. At last they agreed to adjourn the funeral for an hour and to talk the matter over privately, .the result being that they agreed to hand me the body at the grave to do as I thought fit with. This I consented to. The doctor performed a post mortem in the porch of the church, removing the stomach and other portions which we now have ready to forward to Auckland for analysis. I swore iu a mixed jury for the iuque3t, and after viewing the body ad journed. The funeral was v«ry largely attended by both Europeans and natives. The report will be both interesting and satisfactory I trust, for it is an important preoedent in like matters, as in the past it has beeu quite impossible to indnce natives to give over a body for dissection."