THE PAI MARIEES AND THEIR LEADERS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XX, Issue 22, 17 June 1865, Page 5

THE PAI MARIEES AND THEIR LEADERS.

A veet interesting letter appears in the Southern Cross of the 6th instant, in which Borne details are given by the writer, "A Scott," relative to the Pai Marires. "Wo make a few extracts :—- --" My first interview willi Patara to Eau Eatauri, arch priest of the liauhau, was at Patutahi, on the night of the 20th March last. I was ushered into a small house, a little apart from the other dwellings of the pa, in which, sat nine Maoris and one European, evidently a prisoner. After the customary salutations had passed, the tallest and most commanding man »f the party spoke thus : — ' lam Patara te llau Katauri, tiu and chief of thia band of Taranaki men. I have come to make known our religion to all our friends who live in this place, Tauranga. Have you come here to speak to me ? What do you seek here at night?' I told him I had come to listen to hia talk and to seek information. ' What information do you require ?' I said, ' I have come to question you as to your object in coming here, and more particularly as to your intentions with reference to the European settlers of this place.' Patara' s reply to this wus as follows ; — ' You did well in coming to see me ; you ask me my yiews in a straightforward way, and I will repty to you frankly. I have already told you that my object in coming here is to make known the religion of Te Hna (Horapapera) to the people of this place, and to enlist men to aid mo in my war against Governor Grey. In reference to the European settlers, neither myself nor any of ray people will seek to molest them. The soldiers and the missionaries I regard as my enemies, and with these I will never make peace— never, never. The Governor and the missionaries have taught mo duplicity, and I shall act on theii" own maxim, that any stratagem is fair in war. With regard to the English people now dwelling in this country, let them stay peaceably, in the meanwhile they are useful to us, they bring U3 clothes and provisions. When we havo firmly established a Maori kingdom in this island, they must either become subjects of the king or depart quietly in their ships to their own land. In the matter of Europeans of other nations living amongst us, we have already decided how to act, Scotch, Irish, Jews, and Poles we look upon as brethren, all these are of oppressed nations, and with them we seek to make common cause against our oppressors. When New Zealand is delivered from the yoke, oui 1 first act shall be to allot to these peoples a moiety of this land ; this part wo will not sell nor measure by acres, but we will run to parallel lines from the east coast to the west, and all the land contained within these lines shall belong to these people and their posterity for ever — ifc shall be theirs in free gift.' I then aaid, 'Patara, we Europeans mistrust you, and I may tell you that a number of settlers with their wives and families have this evening gone on board a vessel at Taiirauga, now ready to sail for Auckland. We reason thus : you have murdered Mr Volkuer, at Opotiki, and ma}'' repeat the act here.' He appeared troubled on hearing this, and said, ■ This is folly ; tho chiefs of this place have decided that no blood shall be spilt here, and we have listened to them ; go then, when it is daylight, and tell the Europeans to eomo ashore. Tho words of the chiefs of Tauranga is a law to us. There is nothing to fear, no hand shall be lifted against an European.' I then said, ' You look upon the English nation only as your enemies ; how then is it that you murdered Mr Volkner — he was a German?' This seemed to confuse him, and he hesitated slightly, but replied, ' That act is Kereopa's, not mine; ho has done a great wrong. After I left Opotiki, and went to visit tho tribe at Tokaakuku, Kereopa did this deed. When I heard of it my heart was dark and sad. I said to myself, a great evil has been done. I hastened back to Opotiki to upbraid Zeroopa, and to save the life of the minister that remained alive (G-race). I was very wroth with. Eereopa. Ho had tasted blood, and was bent on sacrificing Grace also. This I prevented, and Mr Volknei-'s body I had buried.' At this stage of our conversation another native entered the house. He carae up to where I

sat and shook bauds with me. Instinctively I knew the man. His eyes glimmered with the light of incipient madness ; his whole appearance denoted the heart without pity — that of the human tiger. Ho remained in | the house but a few minutes, and spoke not j a word. Wheu he was gone, I said to Patara, i ' That is Xereopa.' He replied by a gesture iof assent, and I proceeded. 'You say you i did not approve of Mr Volkner's murder; why then do you still permit Kereopa to re- , .' main with you H Do you not know that in ! the eyes of God and man his life is forfeited ?' : He replied, 'Yes, you are right ; my mind j is made up on that subject. This man's life j must pay for that lie has taken. I will lead . ' him back to the scene of his crime ; thence j I will take him to Makotu, and deliver him j over to the Governor.' The expression and '■ gestui'e used here was literally, ' I wi'l cast him down at the feet of the Governor. I went on : ' You jJi'ofess to be a humane man, and averse to deeds of blood ; how come 3it that at the present moment you have got the head of a murdered man in your keeping ? According to the rules of civilised warfare (supposing it to be the head of an enemy killed in battle) such relics of mortality are buried in the earth, instead of being carried about from place to place as a spectacle,' ' Ah,' he said, ' it is the head of a dead enemy taken in battle. According to your notions it may bo wrong to preserve it, but it appears pleasant to my eyes, and therefore I keep it.' X did not see chat it could serve any purpose to argue the point, go, after some further desultory conversation, I shook hands round and took my departure. A CRITICAL POSITION. On the 28th March I went again to Patutahi, accompanied by a friend who was anxious to see the preserved head. "We found Patara in his house. I told him my friend wished to tee the head. He replied, " Go outside, you will find 'lvereopa at the flagstaff with the head." We found a great number of natives howling round the flagstaff, and Kereopa in the midst, with a line circling the staff at a distance of several yards to keep off tho crowd. I stepped inside the line, my friend following, and walked up to the flagstaff, where stood ICereopa, close by the head, which was fixed on a short pole. This, with the cap, which bore the mark of the 70th Kagiment, we examined closely, the murderer looking on in dumb Burprise. I could hear some remarks from natives outside the line, which told me the storm was about to burst. I gare my friend a hurried hint to retire outside the line, aud leave me to find my way out of the difficulty. He did so, and I then stood leaning against the flagstaff, and facing Xereopa, who, with a taiaha in his hand and an officer's sword girt round his waist, now camedancing to wards me, yelling and gesticulating and brandishing his taiaha. He spoke — " There is a time for all things ; there is a day of sunshine and a day of rain, a day of peace and a day of war ; do you come under this flag as an enemy, to interrupt our ceremonies ? If so, my teeth, which have eaten of Volkner's flesh, are still as sharp as ever. If you come aa a friend, here is my hand." I began to think I had got into a fix, so bearing in mind the adago of dointj in Eome as the liomans do, and making a mental reservation against the act, I gave him my hand, which he shook, placing his other hand on my shoulder. He then stood off, and I spoke — " Xereopa, we have shaken hands, but my heart protested against tho act ; over your head hangs the doom of a murderer, and sooner or later the fate must overtake you." At this juncture Patara stepped in and called Xereopa aside, and thinking I was in a ticklish predicament, I beat a retreat and mixed with the crowd. Patara afterwards cautioned mo against tempting Xereopa. Vl'l TAKO AND PATARA. About a week previous to Patara's leaving, his cousin, Wi Tako, with Mafcne To Win- • whi and party, arrived from Wellington. Wi j Tako, whose present role is that of Queen's I man, proposed at first to apprehend Patara j and Xereopa, but this turned out bounce, for ( on more than one occasion Patara tried to , throw himself in his way, so that he might , have every opportunity of putting his threat ■ in force. Speaking of Wi Tako, he said, ■ " That weathercock threatens to seize me ; | this word of his is good, let him do it. There [ will be a runauga at vfaeringahika to-mor-row ;he will be there so will I. Look at this taiaha (an ancient Maori weapon), it belonged to Wi Tako, and to his father before him ; it was rendered up by him as a solemn pledge of his adherence to the cause of King Potatu ; it has never boon redeemed. Yet Tako is now a Queen's man ; his heart is still with the king, but his face is with the Government. While he thought the Maoris were able to destroy the Queen's troops his speech was strong for the king ; tho Maoris were beaten at Orakau and afc Tauranga — Fox carried his word to him nnd gave him money, then Tako turned on his path and became a friend of the Governor. Listen, friend, Wi Tako will not look meiu the face, his heart is small, he is ashamed, he is a poor dog. He and I were once brothers in the same cause. I was a Xingite at first — I am ao still. What my heart feels my tongue gives utterance to. Tako's tongue speaks lies." Patara was right, Tako feared to meet him, and did not attend the runanga until he heard that the former had taken his departure. Which is the truest man, he who deserts a hopeless cause, or he, who through a mistaken patriotic feeling, stands by it to the last? Patara I believe to be a man possessed of a large yet ill-directed mind. Physically, he is a noble specimen of the Maori race, standing nearly six feet, powerful and wellmade, endowed with great powers of oratory, and much suavity of manner ; being in every respect a man eminently qualified for revolutionary leader. He is als)o, from his want of sound principle, well fitted to act as a minister of the abominable Hauhau superstition. Let the Government look well to this movement ; if not checked in time, it will spread rapidly, and gather force as it rolls. Asßumiag the external appearance of a religious fanaticism, it is a thousand times more to be dreaded than a purely political movement, invented by crafty and designing minds, to foster and reanimate the superstitious prejudices of the Maori race. It is intended as the bond of union that shall j cement all ancient jealousies, and draw the I tribes together, so that they will inevitably i consent to make common cause against tho European foo. Tho Hau Hau delusion is now openly professed by at least two-thirds of the Poverty Bay natives. The Christian Sabbath, which was was formerly as strictly observed as it could possibly be by , the most rigid puritanical sect, is now. with ; them, a working day. Saturday has become > their ratapn (sacred day.) lam disposod to ! think that this fanaticism is more of a poll-

tical than a i'eli;_;ious cast — it is the last move of the -King party. By it they hope to win ! over all the tribes who have hitherto stood ; aloof. It is no religion; nor are there an} r 1 mysteries connected with it. ft is, in fact, ■ but a jumble of unintelligible nonsense ; their 1 pretended knowledge of tongues is humbug, The whole matter consists in dancing, shouting, and jesticulating, aud their detestable orgies invariabl}^ wind up by their sinking , on the ground in a slata of total physical 1 prosLration.