VISIT TO WHAKAREWAREWA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17457, 29 April 1920, Page 4

VISIT TO WHAKAREWAREWA

RECEPTION AT THE PA.

POHUTU REFUSES TO PLAY.

' TR.ING WAIT IN THE RAIN. PRINCES EXAMPLE OF PATIENCE. [BY TELEGB.ATH. —SFECLAJ. REPOBTEK.] ROTORUA. Wednesday. The Prince visited Whakarewarewa immediately after his return from inspecting the King George V. Hospital. Great preparations had been"made by the Maoris to accord His Royal Highness a fitting welcome, and notwithstanding the rain a iarge crowd assembled to witness the reception at the Whakarewarewa pa. Just before the Royal car reached the pa gates .it was met by a party, including two standard-bearers, who carried the flags presented to the Whakarewarewa natives by the present King on his visit to Rotorua in 1901. The official guide, Bella Papakura, who accompanied the standardbearers, then led the party to the pa gates, which were arched and suitably decorated. Here stood a group of Maori warriors garbed in ancient style and carrying meres. A»'the Prince approached they gave a longdrawn call, and then broke into a haka of welcome.. This concluded, the party was led to the Maori meeting-house in front of which, facing the crowH, seats had been prepared for the Prince and his retinue. Interested in the Poi. Immediately the party was seated the women commenced a poi, the plaintive sound of the chant harmonising well with the greyness of the skies and the generally depressing effect of the conditions. The Prince was an • interested spectator of the graceful movements of the dance, the twirling of the pois, and the evolutions of the ancient ceremony. Immediately upon it 3 conclusion the chief, stepping out in front of his tribe and brandishing his taiaha, swung into his oration of welcome, pacing the muddy soil of the marae and gesticulating to the accompaniment of shouts of approval from Maori listeners on the fringe of the crowd. The Hon. Dr. Pomare, who sat on the right hand of the Prince, in".erpreted the graceful.and flowing sentences of the chief, who was welcoming to the pa the future king whom the tribe professed itself so glad to welcome to its home. " Arawa Ever True." The speech concluded, the Maoris advanced in a body bearing the gifts for the Royal visitor. These included a taiaha, a feather cloak and a miniature greenstone mere. At' the some time an illuminated address in a carved frame was handed to him. At tnis stage the Prince made a brief acknowledgment of the welcome, and gifts. He thanked the tribe for the gifts, and made a reference to the "Arawa Ever True." As soon as Dr. Pomare had concluded the interpretation of the reply, the Maoris spontaneously broke into tho " kamate' haka, which was given with vigour and effective force. The Prince and Sir Lionel Halsey, followed by one or two of the party, then disappeared inside the Whare Runanga, and the crowd was left to its own devices for a few moments. The pause was filled in by a number of the women, who went gesticulating around the small cleared space chanting fragments of their poi song, making grimaces, and exchanging what was apparently broad chaff in Maori with their acquaintances in" the surrounding crowd. Then the Prince emerged and a move was made toward the Whakarewarewa Reserve, wherp it was expected that Pohiitu "would respond to the efforts made to stimulate its activity and play for tho entertainment of the Royal visitor. Bain Enhances Weirdness of Scene. With -the rain falling still more steadily and insistently, the weirdness of the reserve was more evident than ever 1 . Huge clouds of steam were rising, every . small blowhole and hot crevice combining its quota. Piloted by Bella Papakura, the Prince made his way across the steaming terraces, the following- crowd scrambling .for points of vantage from which the spectacle could be seen. Pohutu had been soaped and the Cauldron was boiling furiously, giving off huge gusts of steam, while the little indicating jet on the othei side of the Blowhole was spouting steadily. A semi-circle'was made round the steaming moand by the crowd, the Prince taking up his stand in the centre of the rocks above the Cauldron. Everybody settled down to wait for the spectacle. The park keeper gave it as his opinion that the geyser would play as soon as the Cauldron overflowed. With the insistent rain fall ing conditions became more and more unpleasant. There was nothing to be done save wait, and the only redeeming feature of the affair was the hot rocks kept the feet warm, though the rain seemed to become colder and colder. Here the party stayed for over three-quarters of an hour, the Prince being partly sheltered by an umbrella held over him.bburt r nevertheless, coming in for a fair share of the falling rain. A cigarette was the only comfort that could be provided, but His Royal Highness did not look the most unhappy in the assemblage by any means. During the wait the Cauldron boiled and rumbled continually, and as the gusts of steam blow aside it was seen that the level was rising slowly but steadily. • Choruses' Believe the Tedium. Another pause followed, with Pohutu still sulking and defeasing the hopes of tbe spectators, though by ihii time the water in the Cauldron was very near the edge of the outlet. Suddenly a group of nativewomen from the Whakarewarewa pa. who were seated in front of the Prince on the bank of the track, broke into a chorus harmonising in two parts, with the plaintive .-our.d of the seconds coming to the ear with.a poignant melancholy that con -.lasted strangely with their sniiline fat.,-?. Most of them had been in the rain for ell over two hours, but they were st'll smiling. This little .effort was so well received that they repeated it, and after an understanding glance among themselves broke out into the little piece of doggere; so popular during the war: "Rotorun, wher? the water boils all dav, if we onlv had the. Kaiser sitting on Pohutu Gevser, then we'd all shout hip-hooray .'" *Th;s effort was greeted 'by the Prince with a smile of amusement, and this, coupled wi.h the laugh from the crowd, emboldened them to repeat it also. Then they returned *r> ■' the sadder strain and sang "Annie Laurie"' I with picturesque variations, again in exquisite two-part harmony. By this time the patience of everybody was wearing thin. Pohutu evidently diliked the weather and refused to" play even for the Prince. A brief consultation among those with him. and His Roydl Highness suddenly turned back toward the entrance to the reserve, trudging his w-W lhrough the liquid mud into which \nc paths had bee churned by the ma-.y feet that had trodden them." The retuu>; I was made across the. bridge and o-it I through the main entrance to Whakare- ! warewa. Walk Through Sea of Mad. Ouch outside, it hecame evident that an unfortunate n.isunderstanding had 0,-- ! curred. It had been arranged that after! making the rounds of the reserve the party I should leave the place through the model pa. All the cars had been sent up there' rind parked on the road leading to the pa, i up past the entrance to the golf links.' I The Prince walked through a sea of mud I In the pelting rain up to the cross road,. Arrived there, it was not easy to find his far. He had just entered another one and dropped the taiaha which he had been carrying a!I this time, when his own far appeared from down the road. He immediately (hanged cars and made off at a. smart pace toward the hotel, after :m experience as trying, so far as w father , conditions were concerned, as probably ;, e has enr-ountered during his travels, and after bearing the discomforts of the experience, without showing any- sign of impatience. • ' ' ' ■«• • ' * .;