REWI AND SIR GEORGE GREY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9444, 26 February 1894, Page 5

REWI AND SIR GEORGE GREY.

The following is a translation of the full text of Rewi's letter to Sir George Grey :— Kihikihi,l9bh February, 1894. To Sir George Grey. My friend,—-I greet you because of our long mutual affection for each other. We have now both of us reached the limits of the days of our forefathers. Let this suffice by way of greeting, and let me touch upon another subject, and mention that as your body and mine appear to be equally affected by age during those days of our unbroken unity of feeling, even until this very day, my most earnest request is that your name and mine be recorded on the some memorial stone. Enough !— From your affectionate friend, Rewi Makiapoto. INTERVIEW WITH REWI. The Rev. William Gittos, superintendent of Wesleyan Native Missions, is at present in town. It will bo remembered that he brought down a message from Rewi to Sir G. Grey, the result of a conversation with the old chieftain, when he visited him at his residence near Kihikihi. Rewi said, "Carry my greotings to Sir George Grey. Tell him I intend to send my friend Kihi to see him about our monument to be erected at Kihikihi. 1 should like it to be one with two sides—one for Sir George and the other for me. Wo are tho men who made peace in Waikato, and our names must be on the same stone, so that the present and succeeding generations—English and Maori—may know. If SirGeorgoconsents to my wishes, we will have tho monument erected at the junction of the roads at Kihikihi." Mr. Gittos states that Rewi entertains feelings of the greatest esteem for Sir George, and say» that but for his action peace would not have been brought to Waikato. The Rev. gentleman read and translated to Rewi the account of the siege of Orakan which appeared in the Herald (in which Rewi was a central figure), and the old chieftain said it was vary accurate in detail. He escaped, he stated, through the swamp, tripping in a hole caused by pigs rooting, and lay unconscious for some time, but fortunately the soldiers did not see him. When asked why he selected such a place as Orakau for a stand, Rewi replied he had no choice as he was closely pursued by tho troops. Part of his force was across the Mangahue, and he was unablo to concentrate his men. Rewi told Mr. Gittos one thing which rather surprised the rev. gentleman. He said, " You pakehas have always blamed tho Maoris for the murder of the Rev. John Whiteley, at the White Cliffs. The Maoris never did that deed ; ib was done by a European— Pakeha-Maori. Rewi, on being further questioned, reasserted what ho had said, and gK,ve the name of the European. Rewi was baptised by the Rev. Archdeacon Williams, but when at Kawhia entered the Weslayan communion, being one of tho Rev. J. Whiteley's people.