JOTTINGS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9172, 14 June 1901, Page 3

JOTTINGS.

The night was falling fast, and there •was no opportunity of viewing the decorations, but a. fine arch erected near the Grand Hotel, composed of nikau, palms, ferns trailing, and streaming lycopodium, and consisting of five spans, at once attracted attention. It was? beautifully d^umpnattwl with powerful electric arc lamps, and formed a more striking and imposing edifice than the Auckland arches. This evening Ministers are dining with the Royal party at the Grand Hotel, the Native members of the Legislature being present. v ! At the time of writing (10 o'clock) it is raining heavily, and the outlook for the future proceedings is not promising. Already the drive to Waiotapu, _ on which the Duchess had set her heart, has been excised from the programme, and i other modifications have been made. The j racecourse, one mile from the town, where , the chief ceremonies are to be held, is said to be in a fairly dry state, the soil being pumice, but a number of tents are leaking badly, and camping out is none too pleasant for the Maoris, who, however, are in good spirits. There is no doubt that, given tolerably fine weather, the show will be a very fine one — indeed, the most unique of His Royal Highness' tour in this part of the world. A foretaste of what the dancing will be like was given this afternoon and yesterday, when the Taupo and Tokaonui natives were welcomed by the Arawas. Some 700 dancers, stripped to the buff, gave a performance which men with thirty and forty yean* experience of native life state beat all they had ever known. So excited did the Maoris become that one of their number received a severe -spear wound on the legBefore the Royal visitors take their departure, they will, according to Maori custom, receive numbers of valuable pre- { sents from the various tribes.