RUA'B PALACE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13663, 30 March 1908, Page 8

RUA'B PALACE.

£ . . .. 1 1 m A REMARKABLE VILLAGE.

VISIT TO THE PROPHET'S REALM On his way to Poverty Bay recently Dr. 8011, Director of. the Geological Survey, wandered casually through the Urejyera country. Kight in the heart of the Urewera, on the northern" shpulder of the Huiarau range, there is a mountain, _.\vejl7.knpjyn in the history of tho Te Kooti wars, Maungapohatu. On the western slope this fine crested ridge of limestone', near the head of tho Waifcare riror,- stands -"-the historic pa of Maungapohatu, where the colonial forces fell foul of the Te Kooti men and sent them running towards the interior.^ 1 It was then a considerable clearing; • but « to-day nit is something infinitely more, as Dr. Bell mado plain to a New Zealand Times reporter.

.THE NEW RELIGION.

Rua' does not pretend to be the Messiah. Among those who follow hia cult' 'fe Kooti himself is held to be tho Messiah, and Te Kooti, it may rtot be generally known, actually compiled a testament for the guidance of his followers. Rua, the succossqr of Te Kooti, claims to be John .the Baptist, and; r like Te Whitf, be has tAvelye apostles (Tekan ma rua). There has been a wonderful change in the face of. nature since the Rua people flocked to Maungapohatu seven or eight months ago to found there a seat of their* new religion. . ,The clearing ' f has boen greatly enlarged, and, with strenuous industry, the Rua people have not merely felled the trees over many acres of gr6und, but have actually uprooted huge stumps to make room for their buildings and cultivations on- the slopes of the -Bill to tlit* eastward of the old pa. Rua's pa^is first seen, when approaching Maungapohatu from Galatea, at a distance of about four miles. , '- > AN AMAZING SIGHT. "I Was amazed, at the size of the village," said Dr. Bell. "It is not a mere Maori encampment but a distinct and decided settlement. It is' amazing how much has been done in the short time that the Rua people have been there. Huge stumps have been taken out bodily, and the whole site of the town haa been cleared absolutely. The forest .is burning all round where they are clearing on both sides of the Waikare valley." The town is divided into two parts, one within, .and; the other without the palisaded 'enclosure;. '? 'The stpeka'ded portion is 'reaehea* two ';lftrge " gateways from the- track which runs through this -part' "of the Ureweraj country. Prom the principal of these! a" ITard" "." wT3e clay roacf funs! right through the enclosure, at either! end of which ars the two chief build-; ings of the village, the 'palace and the temple. There are also about 'aj hiimjred smaller buildings in the en-! closur«£ wiiicn. ' ttr'e- used entirely 4 - for sleeping purposes. No one is 'all&ir'ejd to eat within tb,e palisaded^ enclosure, which is regarded as , sacked. Tho bank and store are- also in the sacred

marae

A GOBgEQtfS TEMPLE. , Dr. BeU describee tie temple as quite a remarkable building. It is circular in fornr, wifh a diameter of about 70ft. The main building is wraJounted by a smaller o»o'of the same shape, the tower being about fifty, feet high. Inside the lovverpart of the building arc circular seats arranged round the rostrum in the centre, from which the propbet addressee his foilowera. The? upper part i 3 a sort of hoi* of Tiolie*, to which only' > Rua and % lri3 apTosflcs have tosnezsj ■ Arojrad- this is n. r smal balcony,, from whioji- an *elovatcd gangway loath to a -detatdicd tower % f tem ■which the *pe©oitefl p.^a .tjsad(S ht fma He<»tlior. <Th<» "temple is a most imprpTsivr* bui?di!'g» gerg;eously painlfd in yellow, Wp.p and wl'ito. $ - k!i inrtsai/' dc^igHs which- aro supnosod to Isbvoio»T»«j. symbolic meaning. The p»lswe, which is 8t the othe« end of the marae, is a double gnbled J building roofed' wilib; corrngirtod iron, and having a pathway loading down to" the Waikarp river. Jt is said to be of four rooms, and is also tann, inflsmuch as it is only pceessiblo to the proptiet and Im* six wives — for Rua is a Mormon himself, although he disproves of the practice of polygamy so far as his followers are concerned. A CITLT OF CLEANLINESS. Clennlines-; is one. of the stridost injunctions ,of the prophet on his 'neople, and it W We' most striking feature of tjie village. At the entrance or t!ic mara« : from the farther end are two troughs, with water laid on from the hills. . Hrre thr Rua people wasli their b,ahds Vf^re entering the tapu enclosure.', Tlio eating houses am quite apart from ihe rest of the village, bciiig 'situated" on the hillside.