THE ARIKIS FROM RAROTONGA. FIRST GLIMPSES OF CIVILISATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2467, 26 June 1901, Page 12

THE ARIKIS FROM RAROTONGA . FIRST GLIMPSES OF CIVILISATION.

AN INTERVIEW WITH A KIXG.

(By Our Special Coheespoxdext.)

WELLINGTON, June 17.

The two Arikis of the Cook Islands, which, with Niue, or Savage Island, make the last piece of territory added to the fringe of our Empiie dining Queen Victoria's leign, aie amongst the interesting personages with us just row. Their presence here on this occasion is all the more interesting in that the same blood runs in their veins as runs in the veins of our own Maori people. Their language and their legends arc the same. From far-away mythical Hawiiki "theii ancestors no doubt came down through the atolls and islands of the summer seas to these lands, and while Pa Ariki, of the beautiful palm-girt Karotonga, and King John, on his little kingdom of upheaved coral northward within the tropics, maintain many of their ancient characteristics, climate, and a new environment have made many changes in the New Zealand Maori. 'Ih'e Maori of New Zealand has been in contact with civilisation for nearly a generation, but these visitors are seeing it for the first time. I thought it would be interesting to get their impressions of what they had seen, so I called on them at the Star Hotel in Auckland, where they were staying with Colonel G-udgeon, the British Resident of the Cook Islands. I had met Pa Ariki. ot Rarotonga, and John, of Mangai, .during Lord Ranfurly's cruise of annexation in H.M.S. Mildura, and they seemed surprised to meet me so unexpectedly again. They readily conpented to give their impressions of the new land and the new civilisaton to which they had just been introduced. Colonel Gudgeon acted as interpreter.

"What impresses us most,' .stud Pa, who did most of the talking, "is the very large number of the people, and the extraordi Ja> v order in which they keep themselves : also that in all these many thousands of people here we scarcely see any drunkenness whatever. We have also been taken by the .size af the town and the vast number of people, wjo apparently ;>re constant inhabitants of tne place. Abo*e all, we are struck with the social lavs of the place, and the extraordinary ' mana ' of those laws, so that it appears to us that the people are living vi absolute liainionv one with another. We also observe that your people here seem to keep the Sabbath absolutely sacred. W e aho notice that all the people seem to be employed ; there ii 1 * no wandering- about aimlessly. Wo are not used to that peculiar condition of thing-.

Here the Colonel, who knmvs how difficult it is to get a Pacific Islander to work, smiled bro3dly.

"What about the buildings?" I asked — I " Oh, Te vrhare ! they exclaimed, icing ' our Maoii word, "have surprised us, because of the size and style or them. "With the museum we were delighted, ard especially with the fine Maori canoe. All that is J entirely new and wonderful to us. '"How lonsr, John, will it t?ke you to tell your people about what you have seen?" I asked the Colonel in Maori, and .John smilingly said he thought it would take him about a yec>r. They were also &urpri-«d .it the commerce of the place, and the exeat and liumber ol vessels all going mv.iy to different destinations, i

! "What do you think of the Duke?" 1 I asked. — Pa Ariki answered me. "I think," he said, "when he reaches the Kingship that he ™ill be a very excellent King We were struck with hi-s mien and his dignified behaviour. Ona thing amused vis, ' he added. '" The Prince arrives here some time before he is wanted or expected. According to the Maori custom, there would have at once been a great rush to bring him on shore ; here your people simply waited, waited, and waited till the time came for his landing. ' Here King John breaks in. He has let his cigarette go out, and a^, he talks he gesticulates with his hands. "We," he said, " would be so impatient that we would not be satisfied until we had him on shore at once; but here with you theie does not appear to be any impatience. All is done strictly in accordance with the arrangements already planned." TlTe Duchess, they both thought, was chaiming. They were both at the reception at Government House, and had the honour of phaking hands with the Duke and Duchess. Pa Ariki, speaking of this function, said: "We were surprised with the number of carriages that blocked the way. We moved on inch by inch, and then, when wp reached the ' whare ' of the Governor it was filled with all the people. The Duke must have been worried by the number of people with whom he had to shake hands." What about the dresses? — ''Manea?" both exclaimed. "They were beautiful." j What about the Maori people?— Well, they thought the type was pretty much the type of ancient Rarotonga, and that the New Zealand Maoris had not degenerated, hub rather the reverse. They were both able to talk quite well with the Hon. Mr Carroll ■ in tJieir native language. One of the strangest experiences here was a visit to a meat fieezing works, where, as they expressed it, they saw beef and sheep being cut up and made hard. They also saw fowls frozen so that they resembled wood more than anything else; they pot so hard tbat you could not bend them. Ev the. time they had seen all these tilings, they were nearly frozen, so that it seemed to them as if they were filled with very cold water inside, and they begged to te taken out and thawed. Here for the first time they saw ice. '' Stone , made of water," they called it Once more ! they referred to the crowds of people they 1 had seen, but we assured them that after ' all Auckland was but a small place. I said j something about a little place called London. Pa had evidently heard of London, for he added in very fair English : " London little place, but he got big family."