OPEN COLUMN.

Waka Maori, Volume 10, Issue 9, 5 May 1874, Page 113

OPEN COLUMN.

European correspondents who have a knowledge of Maori are requested to be good enough to forward their communications in both languages. To the Editor of the Waka Maori. Sydnev, Port Jackson, 14th April, 1874. My Friend, —Greeting. I send, for insertion in the Walca, some account of my visit to this place, and the things which I have seen here. My coming hither with Mr. McLean was purely accidental. However, on Saturday, the 41 hof April, at 5 p.m., we left Auckland in the steamer " Rangatira," a vessel of three masts. At G a.m. on the following clay we were off the Bay of Islands. The wind was on our beam, blowing from seaward. Under steam and canvas our progress was rapid, without comparison. By 6 o'clock in the evening we had left the E-erenga Wairua (i.e., place of spirits' departure, .North Cape) behind, and we advanced in the night. In the morning we looked in vain for New Zealand. b . So we gave up all thoughts of beholding any land for a time. Meanwhile the wind continued without intermission day and night. The captain said on Thursday we should see land, and enter Sydney harbour by 10 a.m. ; and, at 9 o'clock, after breakfast (on Thursday), we entered the heads of Port Jackson. Then we looked about us, which, in fact, was what I came for—to look at the world. There were bays and coves on every side, each with their shipping in separate berths. Large threemasted vessels, which would fear to navigate our waters, pass an immense distance into this harbour, and their only hindrance is the delay in getting berthed. By 10 'o'clock we got into our berth, and Mr

McLean went on shore. Colonel St. John and I followed shortly after, and went to a hotel, where we took up our quarters. -At 12 o'clock next day we went to see the races, about three miles out of town. "We travelled by omnibus ; and the rumbling of the wheels of the 'busses was deafening; it was like the rumbling of thunder. There we saw in very truth a multitude of the Pakeha race. Amazing ! They were like a hive of bees! Some tall, some short; some large, some small; some well-favoured, some evil-favoured ; children and old men and women, amounting altogether probably to 6,000 people. But all the people were by no means assembled here. The inhabitants of this town have been set down at 600,000 ; and probably at the present time they number 800,000! At length the horses commenced to run. Some were very fleet, others were nothing more than usual. Then there was a hurdle-race. At the first hurdle one horse and man fell, and the others passed on.to the third hurdle, where two more came to grief. The riders rose from the ground and were led away by others. Two horses out of the lot got through all right. They flew over the hurdles, eight in number, in splendid style, without touching anywhere. The Pakehas of this town are affable aud courteous in their demeanour towards strangers. Thev are, apparently, very sociable and friendly with" each other, engaging with zest in their various games and amusements—cards, and so forth. They are not repulsive and ungracious in their intercourse with each other. I hazarded a couple of shillings in a game and gained a pound. The races being over, we returned to town in the evening. On the morning of the 12th (Sunday) we were surprised at the number of bells ringing'all over the city, like the continuous humming of a multitude of bees. On Monday morning we went to take a look at the country. "Where were the familiar mountains and hills and valleys of New Zealand ? .Not here. The only mountain rising upon the view was the dimly distant horizon. The sight gave rise to feelings of sadness, calling to mind the far-off watery horizon seen from the shores of New Zealand. I saw, intermingling with the Pakeha, some of the last of the Native lords of the soil—the blacks. At 12 o'clock the Pakehas assembled to view an Agricultural Show. There were exhibited numbers of entire draught-horses and common hacks; bulls, oxen, and cows ; birds, plants, and trees, from various countries; and a variety of animals and other interesting matters belonging to the Pakeha race. They (the Pakehas) are a people of ceaseless activity, always engaged in some absorbing pursuit or occupation. We, the Maoris, would consider this sort of thing a tiresome and noisy bustle. The great misfortune"of the Maoris is their want of enterprise. They are like carved inanimate images—voiceless, soulless. Thus it is with the ignorant. This ancient people (the Maoris) are found wanting—they are in a bad case. The establishment of Native schools therefore by the Government of New Zealand is a good measure, that the Maori children may acquire a knowledge of the English language, and other things arising thereout; in fact, that they may obtain a general knowledge of European matters. I have no doubt the (Maori) children of New Zealand will advance in knowledge if their teachers be painstaking. See the disadvantage under which I labour in this country—looking on every side to find a Maori or a Pakeha of New Zealand, with whom to converse, but finding none. The Pakehas of Mr. McLean's party have no knowledge of the Maori language, except, perhaps, Colonel St. John, and his

knowledge of the language is very slight. Then MrMcLean's time is continually occupied, so that I have no one to talk to; and I can only look at the moving lips of the Pakehas, and conjecture what they are talking about. Heat is a distinctive feature of this country. Ifc would probably be beneficial to those of New Zealand whose throats are rent with coughing ; probably they would appreciate it. After wearing a shirt? for a single day it is soiled with perspiration, and has to be cast off and another taken. I have not experienced such strong winds here as we have in New Zealand; the winds here are more like our sea breezes, and yet this is winter. I suppose with you, Bakamaomao (a mythological blustering deity, as Boreas) is carrying on as usual. During the time I was in Auckland the wind never ceased. Mr. McLean and I are still abiding here. It is not yet decided whether we shall return direct or go elsewhere. But I have heard that we shall probably visit Melbourne, where Governor Bowen resides, if the business which brought him (Hon. D. McLean) here be satisfactorily arranged. Most likely we shall go there, and then he will be able to decide when we shall return. This is all I have to say at present. From Major Ropata, of Ngatiporou.

To the Editor of the TVaka Maori. Te Niho-o-te-Kiore, Taupo, April 14th, 1874. My Priend, —Will you insert this letter in your " Open Column," if you have room. Since I have been reading about the various animals and reptiles mentioiaed in the account of Dr. Livingstone's travels, published in the Wafca, I have been thinking about them day and night, with great interest. I have myself seen some of the kind of reptiles described, not all of course. Some maneating reptiles, however, I have seen in South America. "When I shipped in a Pakeha whale ship and sailed away upon the great and boundless ocean, I visited that land. But there is upon the great sea a still more dreadful man-devouring reptile. I mean the white-crested waves, chasing and contending with each other. "When great storms arise upon that watery waste, the ship glides down, whilst the impending wave towers high above. To me instant destruction appeared inevitable; my thoughts reverted to my distant home, and I bid farewell to father and mother . But what cared the Pakeha, the master of knowledge ? They appeared to revel and rejoice amidst these dread dangers, even of death. The more imminent the danger the greater becomes the energy of the Pakeha in resisting its advances. We, the Maoris, never could attain to the achievements of the Pakeha. After we had been six months at sea, our ship touched at some place in South America. It was some outlandish place, for there were not many people there. Their houses were raised on poles, after the fashion of our Maori raised stages for storing food (patakas). The poles or posts upon which the houses were built were very high. This plan was resorted to from dread of voracious man-eating reptiles. When we landed to obtain wood and water I saw one of these large amphibious reptiles. It was lying on the dry ground. A Pakeha fired at it, but the bullet would not penetrate it. The teeth were like the teeth of a cross-cut saw. Such a reptile would not take two minutes to eat up a man entirely. It does not bend its body, but it moves its head from side to side. Its body is jagged all over, like teeth. Prom this place we sailed to Valparaiso, a shipping-

port of South. America. There I saw the railway which goes inland to Santiago. This is the largest town I ever saw; probably three or four times as large as Auckland. These towns are situate not very far from that fearfully stormy, surging ocean, where ships and men are so frequently engulphed, called Cape Horn. Here I conclude my letter. From Mohi Hoetja Tahaj&angi. [Santiago, of "which Mohi H. Taharangi speaks, is the capital town of Chili, a territory of South America lying along the shore of the Pacific Ocean. It is situated on the River Maypocho .on an extensive plain, and is about 100 miles inland from Valparaiso. It is nearly 2,000 feet above the sea level. It is one of the finest cities in South America, in respect of buildings, conveniences, and healthiness. The streets, forty-five feet wide, cross each other at right angles, and have a gutter in the centre, through which a current of water from the river is permitted to flow during two hours of every day for cleansing purposes. Most of the streets have a flagway on one side, laid with slabs of red porphyry, nine feet wide. The houses are built of brick, white washed, only of one story, on account of the frequent earthquakes. In 1860 its population was estimated at eighty thousand inhabitants.]