Page image

E.—No. 4

But a« it is O son, come and bring us the word of the Governor. Bring them to our ears. Thy name is Porokoru. Missionaries have been many years in this country, but that is still my name, and now Pai Mariro, Pai Marire (lie took off his cap and made two most polite bows.) My word is ended. Te Ori Ori—Song * * * * "Do not you say that the evil which is come upon you, loss of life and land, was the doing of the Governor. No, that was yours. You yourself have devoured^ Waikato. Therefore I say that it was not the doing of the Governor. It is not he who has devoured the land. Where is the piece which he has not paid for? Therefore I.say that the land was lost by your own act and not by the Governor's. If Ngatihaua had returned from Mahuranga with Piripi, it would have been all right, but they still linger with Ngapuhi and Te Hemara. There is again war at Taranaki. It commenced at the commencement of this month. Paora te Ahum—" It was always this way, when one remedy did not suit another was adopted. I know that the last one failed. Do you not feel ashamed to ask for our land and our guns ? I will not consent to peace if those are your terms. I will give up nothing, only this, I will sit quiet. Also your word that I devoured the land is not correct. It was not so. The man whose doing that was is with the Governor—the land is with him and you ; —but if God choose to return it to me ' Pai Marire.' The Governor is a wise man and he knew that the land was mine, yet why did he give payment to others, when it was not theirs, God spared me, therefore did 1 escape when the few fled. Your words are, Pai Marire and good, so that we may reply to them." Here the speeches ended. Later in the day W. Te Waharoa came privately to see Te Ori Ori. Te Ori Ori availed himself of the opportunity offered, to speak to him of the Pai Marire superstition and stated that in consequence of To Waharoa having written letters to different persons in which the word Pai Marire had occurred, the belief had arisen that he also had joined the Fanatics, as he (Te Ori Ori) observed the whole of Ngatihaua had done. Te Waharoa replied that a native named Pukutira had come and told him that Captain Heale and his party were surveying land, upon which other tribes than Ngaiterangi had claim, and asked permission to cut them off (Captain Heale and party) that he (W. To Waharoa) refused to give it as it would be said to be a murder—that he then wrote a letter to Captain Heale advising him to keep to the seaside and not go inland —that he had put the word Pai Marire in the letter, not attaching to it any other meaning than that which the word " Pai" and " Marire" imply. He then asked " Oti neaha te kino o tenei kupu ote Pai Marire, me i kiia pea eau " Kino Marire " kua tino riri rawa pea ngeia." That Captain Heale had made answer that he would wait further instructions from the Governor. A short time after this, another Tauranga native (named Pete) came to him asking to be allowed to kill Captain Heale and party but that he had not permitted it—then some time later Pukutoia came again on the same errand, but that he had again refused him —but made up his mind after that to let the people have their own way and not to interfere with them —if they killed Captain Heale it was not his fault —he at least had been informed of his danger and that was enough. Te Ori Ori then told him of the object of his visit, that it was to ascertain if he had really joined the Pai Marire or not, —that if he had not he wished him to leave the rest of the tribe and go to Auckland, but on the other hand if he had, he would deeply regret it, and would never come near him or the Tribe any more. Te Waharoa then replied that the Pai Marire superstition had completely infatuated all the people; that the teachers of the tribe had not even advised them to wait and see what it was like; that the whole of the Waikato women and children and three hundred Ngatimaniapoto women and children at Mokau had all joined the new faith ; and that when the people got within the charmed circle (poti) they at once became " porangi." Te Ori Ori then asked him. if he had yet been within the circle. Te Waharoa answered, No; that, in his belief, it was all nonsense and infatuation; but that, there certainly was one of the rules to be observed that he most cordially agreed with ; that was, that all weapons were to be laid aside; he also cited two or three instances in which miracles were alleged to have been wrought, but added that he put no faith whatever in them, but that there certainly was one thing which came under his special notice, which to say the least of, he thought remarkable. " You know," he said, " Pai Marircs must not carry food with them when they are on a journey, and when our party (which consisted almost wholly of Pai Marires) were on their way to this place, we had but one meal, which consisted of flour and boiled wheat, during three days ; myself and others who had not joined the new religion suffered severely for want of food, and could scarcely hold our head up, whilst, on the other hand, the Pai Marires went on in strength with cheerfulness and vigour." The conversation then took a political turn. Te Waharoa stated that before the issue of the late proclamation by His Excellency he was on his way to Mokau to see the tribes, but hearing that there was no one there, he returned from Eangitoto —that the object of his visit to Mokau was to ask what were the views of those tribes—whether it was their intention to continue or cease fighting. Upon his return to Peria, he saw the " Panuitanga," and he said then that it was his opinion that if the time had been extended to February instead of the 10th December, he might be able to effect some good for both races, but as it is what can one man do ?—" Am I the whole of Waikato ? This matter cannot be arranged by one man." Here the conversation ended. It is Te Waharoa's intention to proceed at once to Taranaki, and ask the tribes what course they intend adopting. lam informed that there are only thirty of Ngatikawa with W. Te Waharoa who have not become converts to the Pai Marire religion; that the

8

FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE SPREAD OE THE

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert