THAT TANGI.

Observer, Volume XV, Issue 822, 29 September 1894, Page 5

THAT TANGI.

OH, IT WAS SUCH A DAY.

Did we go to the Maori tangi ? . Of course, we did. And .89, also, did James Mackay, in a tawny sugar mat, and George "S. Graham, in striking gig lamps -which reflected his brilliant complexion to an embarrassing extent, and Johnnie McLachlan, with a weeping willow stack in the front of his hat by way of mourning, to show howsorry he was, and three or four hundred other citizens and citizeneases, some with garlands of foliage wrapped round their disconsolate and woe-begone-looking countenances and others, not so mournful, laden with picnic baskets filled with good things for the inner man. It is not for the Observer to tell of the terrifically quick passage made by the fast and furious excursion train, which advertised cheap fares and charged ordinary rates, or to report the proceedings at the reception and the moving speeches made on the occasion. All this has been done and done .well in the daily papers. They have related how we were received at the station by a bodyguard of naked natives,' how the bodyguard fired salutes over us and how we followed Mackay in his sugar-mat, and Johnnie McLachlan with the weeping willow in his hat, to the front of the mortuary tent, where we knelt reverently and patiently while Geo. S. Graham told us of the great deeds of- his father, and the history of the barrack wall, and other things too lengthy for a newspaper's columns^-stories of the pygone greatness of the absent Graham, which we bore on our knees, unaccustomed to much knee-drill, with exemplary resignation, wondering meanwhile whether we were at a Graham golden wedding or a Tawhiao funeral. But all inflictions have an end, and we have been told that this one had an end, too. We didn't wait to see. We crept out from the kneeling multitude, and saw the major-domo, with a naked sword for a cane, and clad in an effective uniform consisting of a scanty shawl round his loins and a waistcoat on his body, putting his dusky and semi-naked warriors through their facings. It was interesting to hear how he delivered his comments in proper Maori and his occasional anathemas at stupid blunders in improper English. Then, we saw some stirring war-dances, which were very interesting, and we followed George S. Graham — silent at last — to the reception tent and made the acquaintance of the new king,immediately after Johnnie McLachlan, who had been discoursing on the advantages of his seamless blankets, good value for 3/11, to the wonder of the king and the envy of John Court, who doesn't care to talk shop when he goes to a funeral. Aha! And then there was hai, or dinner, in an immense whare, where the natives fed five hundred pakehas in approved " Eiiropean style, and with splendid hospitality. And, by the way, you can't rub out the hospitality of the Maoris. That day, they were kindness itself, as, indeed, they always are. Then, there was another war-dance, which everyone admired, the Otaki Maori Band, nicely uniformed, under the clever Cimino, playing selections of music with a taste and capability Auckland brass bands seldom show. And then came the hakas, by scantily-attired youths and maidens, the latter dressed in chem — well, never mind. We won't dwell on the hakas. The giddy old boys of our party appreciated them, while the ladies blushed and gazed at the scudding clouds. The fair sex looked considerably relieved when the hahds were over, and they were able to take their absorbed hubbies away from such sights. Well, the afternoon was drawing in, so the Maoris gave three hearty cheers for the Europeans, and the Europeans, at the call of James Mackay, now divested of his sugar mat, fave three cheers for George S. Graham, ut why, God only knows. Nobody gave any cheers for the Maoris who had done so much for our entertainment. . But, any how, we all felt grateful. Then the cry was home— home in Hudson's furiously, fast express. "We stopped at Mercer, we struggled vainly witn the crowd for something to eat at the refreshment room, we were ready to barter our next holiday for a cup of scalding hot tea and a ponderous pork pie before we got them, and sorry for an hour afterwards that we touched them ! And we were home at nine o'clock, tired, contented, and prepared to dream of war-dances by naked savages, and hakas by pretty dusky maidens, in che well, never mind.

Twenty-fifth annual general meeting Auckland Rowing Club will be held tomorrow (Friday) evening, at Club House, Dock Reserve. Announcements having reference to the stallions Kalo and Laird o' Largo appear in our advertising columns. Kalo is very well-known ; no horse better, in this island, especially. His breeding is simply Al. Laird o' Largo can also boast big a pedigree and heaps of ' honours.' Bori Bons, a sweet and mild smoke.