Cape News Notes.

Opunake Times, Volume IV, Issue 184, 7 April 1896, Page 2

Cape News Notes.

[By "Notator."]

Noticing that very little appears in your columns concerning the state of affairs in this part of the world, I ventuie now to send a word or two to show that, however quiet we may be, we are not by any means dead yet. Things in general are very quiet, the only placo bearing evidence of life and bustle being Parihaka; but of that more anon. After a somewhat protracted period of dry weather rain has fallen, which freshened vegetation up a bit. Indeed, some whose' water supply depends on the small creeks were begin, ning to get very short of water. I understand that at Messrs Rutherford and Son's Tipoka flaxmill they could not work • full-handed in the mill, owing to want of sufficient water for the wheel.

I notice that the water-wheel at the Pungarehu Dairy Factory, which broke down some three or four months since, is once more in working order. For a week or two past the great centre of attraction has been the Maori capital—Parihaka. The attendance of Maoris has been unusually large at the meeting, which is now about at an end. But not only has the Maori attendance been large:— pakeha visitors thronged the village on the two or three principal days of the feast, coming from far and near to see the sights of the place. There are two or three splendid —one might almost say palatial—buildings belonging to a few of the leading Maori chiefs, and in these the pakeha visitors were provided with meals, served up in a manner which would be a credit to any European hotel. Forming a lively contrast to this, one would see in another place a large number of natives seated upon the ground, and partaking of a meal of shark, &c, in true Maori fashion--men, women, and children mixed indiscriminately, eating from out of little flax baskets, and without the assistance of either knife or fork. In the village there are two rival parties; the most powerful of which recognise in" the Maori prophet, Te Whiti, their leader. All belonging to this party are distinguished by the , fact that they wear a white feather in their head gear. The other party, which is not nearly so powerful, however, is led by a chief, Tohu, and the followers wear no decoration at all.

Speaking of the feather reminds me of a little joke perpetrated by Tohu upon a South Island gentleman, who was visiting the.place. This gentleman was being shown around by a well-known local man, and they first visited the Te Whiti portion of the pah. While there he was duly invested with the white feather. On leaving, the gentleman acting as guide suggested they should have a look at Tohu, which was readily agreed to. After the introduction, during which the white feather came conspicuously into Tohu's view, he began to ask where his visitor came from, and so on. Then he asked how he came. "Oh," it was explained, "he came partly by train and partly by steamer." "Ah," looking intently at hat and feather, " I thought he flew here I " Pungarehu, 30/8/'96.