A MAORI SOLDIER'S MOTHER

Southland Times, Issue 17655, 12 February 1916, Page 3

A MAORI SOLDIER'S MOTHER

THE PARTING AND RETURN. (Written on hoani R..M.S. Rotorua the day prior to her arrival in Auckland;. (.Ily 11. .M. To A:, in the Auckland Herald.) A mealing of the tribe had been convened. a gathering of the clan. Jt was my formal farewell to my jrcoplc arid to the ancestral home, the scene of my birth and childhood, endeared to mo by over association of the past. I had enlisted for foreign service in the Great War, and to-morrow would find me at the port of embarkation. Valedictory speeches befitting the occasion had been made in the manner and style of the Maori. My mother, on whose brow about SO summers have left their indelible and unmistakable indentations, till then had remained a silent spectator to the proceedings, though obviously tumultuous thoughts disturbed her serenity of mind. A MASTERPIECE OF ORATORY. Hire was a relic of the older race o' Maori born and reared under (he simple and natural conditions of the good old days nobler and more virile than the degenerate descendants who, by absorption, arc speeding onward to olvlivion. Suddenly she rose, and with stick in hand, every nerve and muscle aqttiver, and her eyes afire, she delivered a spcecli a masterpiece of oratory. The choice of words, the felicity of expression, the delivery and the actions blended harmoniously. She was transported in spirit to the ancient days. Her voice was well modulated and vibrated somewhat, rising and falling according to the theme for the moment under her skilful - manipulation. 'She recounted deeds of heroism, vividly depicted battle scenes the groans of the dying, the shouts of the victors, the inevitable cannibalistic feasts that followed, and fair maidens whose hands the brave alone deserved and won over seas of blood—the deeds of her ancestors. She was versed in the ancient traditions, genealogies, and folklore of her people, and this knowledge she now utilised to the best advantage; tints for a time she swayed her auditors and held them breathless. The stick became a magic wand in her hand as she wielded it with dexterity. To bring tills wonderful oration to a close, to cap the climax, she chanted an old Maori war song reminiscent of the deeds she had already related, while the crowd, carried away by her enthusiasm of the moment, participated. The effort was most impressive. She sat down exhausted, and for a time no one dared to break the spell. It is said that perhaps once in the individual life, as if by inspiration, a person —-physically and intellectually soars above his or her ordinary capability; this extraordinary performance is due to psychic phenomena, a latent dynamic force in the human life. A manifestation of tills had just lake place. A LONG EAREWEEL. The hour of my departure had now arrived, and as I held her hand she said, her heart torn by conflicting emotions; “Farewell. my son. a long farewell! Should you ever return you will find me under the sod. at the ancestral burial ground of my fathers.’’ A lump rose in my throat, the grief which I strove to suppress. Not that it was unsoldierly to weep, hut that it was plainly my duty tinder the circumstances to subdue audio diminish rather than to accelerate the acute and already pent-up feelings which were nearing Hie breaking point. Soldiers weep, and weep bitterly. Talk not of grief until you have seen the tears of warlike men fall copiously! I hastened to leave an atmosphere so stifling and surcharged with gloomy reflections. Even now as L write I can visualise the noble features, the wrinkled brow, the snowwhite locks, the eyes almost devoid of sight, yet expressive of her pride of race. A StifihlKll’S WANDERINGS, Since then 1 have roamed the world; crossed many seas, trod many lands, hoard the ha hide of many tongues; I have iieiLr-l the din of battle, the clash of arnis, and .1 have been in the indescribable confusion thereof, and several time was I under the surgeon’s knife (twice under 'general anaesthetics); in short. I have led a varied and chequered, though withal pleasant career, all crowded within the brief period of the past It; months. Wherever 1 had penetrated, in England or an foreign .strand, that stately form 1 loved so well, as she stood forUt martial, warlike, yet so graceful was ever before my eyes; and I dwelt perpetually upon the anticipation of seeing her again in the flesh. I am now nearing home, and, fortunately. ratnos only some insignificant or redundant part - of my anatomy. During* m v ahsem 11 I haw* had no intelligence of the old soul, nor did I expee; any, as my enforced movements, under siross of rirr mnsiancfs oj‘ war, were rapid and erratic. What the gods have in store, for me I can only prognosticate, lias she indeed been gathered to her fallows in the ancestral burial ground'.’ Then woe is me! Due mote link with the past is broken. Even the very ground that covers the illustrious dead is enchanted and sanctified. Is she still in tin' land of the living? Then what a \vok‘on\f awaits Jilt*! Al this point. nauJcr. ka\C‘ me to my cosrUalions.