Visit of the Tuhourangi Natives.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XVII, Issue 5732, 10 March 1887, Page 3

Visit of the Tuhourangi Natives.

The following are the chiefs (or some of them, for all Maoris are chiefs who are not slaves, thai is, of war) of the above tribe now on a visit to Kirikiri Te Kena to Raugipuawhe, Tamati Paora, Himiona. Titoko, Tiritiu, Paratomeo, Wi Warena Parakaia, Wi Kawana.and Katene .Waiana. The first named is unique amongst Maoris. His uniqueness consists in bis having stood" for election to Parliament in 1879 for the European seat of = East Coast, against Messrs Kelly, Morris, and Johnson when he obtained quite a ' respectable majority. The number of visitors would have been much larger,_ but 1' many staid at home as a Land Court is to beheld at Rotorua and Maketu on the 20th instant. , .« : Yesterday the visitors appeared in . brighter. colorß tban.they did on Tuesday. • The habiliments of woe or travelling garbs, had disappeared .and gay attire produced from- their portmanteaux — colonially . termed swags. They are now more approachable than they' were on the day of * their arrival; their food is taken close up to their doors, and they mingle more freely ; With their entertainers. Not much in the ..wayof business.was accomplished; rest being still , the order of the day. The . encampment presents quite a busy aspect, 'bullocks are being killed at the rate of two or three a day, and fish are likewise served tip fresh. This is of course besides the stores of dried fish which'are piled up all around on stages. The ovens are built of convenient size abound. Besides the Tuhourangi visitors there are several chiefs from Waitoa, Te.Hoe-a-taiqui and other settlements in the, vallies of. the Thames and the Piako. The number of men, women, and children of local Maoris cannot 1 be less in number than three hundred, and all are contributories towards the supply of provisions, Maoris from Parawai, Kupata, Puriri, Hikutaia, Tairua and Paeroa are the entertainers, while those from more distant parts are guests. , V A. slight,.practice .was held in the forenoon at ,the tribal baka at! which luhourangi, are adepts. This was just by way 1 of beeping their hands in. ; The,assembled 'Maoris .would willingly join in the regatta sports' to -be held this day week. They "would 'give a "canoe, race," and in the event of no suitable canoe being procurable, they would paddle in whaleboate, The regatta promoters ought, however, to lose no time, if they wish to 'add this attraction to thsir meeting,' No place, ,by the. wayi:'could be better than, the reacbroff :K,opu wharf, .for!all sorts -of . rowing, races.; as here the race would be .visible throughout all the, course at a short 'diitanee off.: Should the town committee neglect this addition to 'their programme, -"it-'ia quite likely that the residents around Kopu and' Kiritciri ' will fill up the gap. "Meanwhile'the'weather continues everything, that can be desired. The thermometer stands at.' BBdegs. Fahrenheit in the shade,!which'is rather.hot ' for hard work, but . not oppressively hot, for those . who .have no other work on band than 'making themselves,comfortable.

In conversation with these visitors, a'.very melancholy episcode was related to 'our . reporter, relating to the Taraw'era eruption. The only European who lived at the settlement ofTe Ariki. which is, .close by Rotomahana, was a Glasgow-man, called Samuel Brown. He had. beef about, 12-y.ears in the Bay of Plenty, and before that; he conducted a dancing class in Parnell. He was a baker by trade, and was well-known at Matata, Te iTeko, Whakatane, and Opotiki. With his Maori wife, Mary Peka, and their five children were all .submerged. ,Te Hepaj stated 'that the ashes were so largely""; heaped up over the devoted villiage, Te Ariki, where over 100-bouls were buried alive, that no attempt has Bince been made to dig th 9 corpses' out.'' Perhaps after centuries the place may, be unearthed like a second; Pompeii.!;', Mrs Brown was singularly fated. so to perish. She had been absent on a visit to her sister at Wairoa, .and .was for returning to Te Ariki on the day before the' eruption. Her sister said, " Wait till to-morrow, and I'll go with you," The stars ruled otherwise, however, and',she returned to, be, known no' more by her kindred on earth. Her -eldest 50n,,,0n the other hand, left Te Ariki on: the same day, and was thus the only representative of these unfortunate people. It would be a curious thing to consider \yhat: took place in these over'whelmed wbarcs, and whether the poor doomed people : died ot once', or survived for hours to beat last suffocated for want of 'air. It does not seem at all probable that the whares were large enough or strong enough to render it possible for any of the people to survive for days, and to die of starvation. But we shall never know.,