THE LAY OF THE LAST MAORI.

Colonist, Volume VIII, Issue 802, 4 July 1865, Page 4

THE LAY OF THE LAST MAORI.

{Dedicated to the ABORIGINES* PROTECTION SOCIETY.)

[The following is a portion of a long extent of versifification which is published by the New Zealand Herald. Some stanzas which we omit are much more abusive and "name calling" than the worst printed below ; and what wo regret to see is a flourishing daily paper lending itself to such a course:—] Tho way was long, the wind tvas cold, The Maori wns half-starved and old ; His tattoed cheek and mournful eye Told tales of better days gone by; Around his neck, in blanket slung, His greenstone oneri loosely hung ; His prized jews-harp, his only joy, Was." toted " by a half-caste boy. The last of all the Maoris he Who fought for Native Monarchy. Alas! his race's date had fled, His brethren Pai Marires dead ; The Philo-Maoris —crafty knaves — Had brought their victims to their graves; And he—the last remaining chief— From door to door now craved relief; Aud played, to please each settler's ear, The harp great Thompson loved to hear. Upon Mount Eden's rising swell He paused, and gazed towards Parnell; Then turned his eyes upon the Bay, Where many a white-wing'd vessel lay ; His restless look, from sea and ship, Wandered to Niccol's Patent Slip ; He shook his head ; then as he viewed The busy, hurrying multitude In Auckland's streets, he heaved a sigh, And wept to think on days gone by. The settler marked the old man's woe, And to his cottage bade him go ; Where Icailcai, in tho shape of beef, Might give his troubled heart relief. With beef and Jcumeras supplied, The old chief soon was satisfied : Then 'gan to rise his warrior pride. And he commenced to talk anon Of crafty Thompson, dead and gone, Of Pota'tau and Kewi too— Braver than these ne'er soldiers slew ; Of Kawau's lord, who hard did strive The Maori race to keep alive ; Of Shaftesb'ry, and the famous " Hall," Whose cantings worked the natives' fall 3 O.f tho3e who caused the Maoris' stir; And Weld, the would-be Minister. Still as he spoke, his fadod eye Lit up with savage ecstacy; Straight for his half-caste boy he sent, To play a bold accompaniment; Aud, as the jews-harp loudly rung, 'T\va3 thus the Latest Maori sung : " Gone is the noble native race ; Through all their former lands no trace Of Maoris can bo found, Save I, descended from a King, Yet now a wretched, starving thing, Spurned like a beaten hound. Yet time has been when thc3e broad lands Owned men whose ever-ready hands Their bravery had shown, When, spite of priests and bloody war?, Aud feeble rulers' wav'ring laws, The Maoris held their own. 'Twas but a space. They fought and died, I\ To lusty sons their place supplied, No more the race could thrive ; Of nil who by their threatened raid Kept Auckland's citizens dismayed, But one remains alive ! Whence tlii3 decay ? Go ask those foola Who cant about their Bagged Schools, Yet starving leave their poor ; Who struggle in their turgid throes O'er the benighted ' brother's' woes— With wretches at their door. Ask them the cause of our decay ; These slanderers of your race will say, ' The settler's grasping hf ml, Prom which nor truth nor justice saves, Drove the poor Maoris to their graves, And seized upon their laud.' 'Tis false! For our sad fate the blame Is theirs —who used Religion's name Their selfish aims to speed ; Who raised suspicion in each heart, And counselled us to keep apart, And dread the settlers' grec-d. They taught us prayers to say by rote, And told us that this parrot note The Just and Good would please : Pity, with nil their pious prate, They did not teacli us, till too late, To know the Pharisees. Such men as Morgan, Volknor, true, Tried all that Christian, zeal could do To benefit our race; Others discredit—to their shame — Brought on the teacher's sacred name— A Hadfield and a Grace ! That we were brave is known to those Who marked the slaughter of our foes In many a bloody fray, When Taruihana's couusel wise Made numbers at his bidding rise To hold the troops at bay. Yet what availed our noble deeds, . When iv our midst the baleful seeds Of anarchy were sown ; When Maori 3, urged by fancied wrongs, Revolted, and in frenzied throngs Did British rule disown. The scttlei^'s patience, tired at last, Gave way, and fierce reprisals fast Swept o'er our fated land ; Tho' Weld and colleagues, dull and vain, With platitudes soi'ght to restrain The white's avenging hand. Our race was doomed. I saw it fade : Yet not alone the settlers' raid Provoked our direful fate ; But that fell practice, ne'er reproved By those who, with their preaching, moved Our minds to doubt and hate. 'Twas Communism, and not war ; Unheeded by us, Nature's law And Heaven's—married life ; And deadlier far was our abuse Of God's injunction for its use Than bloody fields of strife. This caused our fall; and one by one They died : the race at length was run j They quickly passed away : Aud I, the last of Maoris, leave A curse on those who did deceive And led myrace astray" HoNI SOIT QTJI ITAL T PENSS. June 15, 1865.