I.—3b

6

was no less significant of the good fortune of the Maori people in that their lot had been thrown in with the British, and not with some other civilized peoples. The: Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, K.8.E., C.M.G., M.P. (member of the Executive Council representing the Maori race) said : Mr. Massey and gentlemen, I have to thank you for the very kind and complimentary remarks which you have made in regard to the race: to which I am proud to belong. Ethnologists tell us that away back in the twilight of fable our ancestors were rocked in the same Aryan cradle. From that common source we sprang. Your fearing to fall off the edge of a flat and square world, stuck to land, and. they have been grabbing land ever since. Our ancestors, not believing in the flat-world theory, ventured to sea, and have been at sea ever since. Here in " Ceid's own country," after the lapse of countless generations, we have again met, and meeting, have fuse:d and arc fusing, so that the unborn to-morrow will find a new race in. these southern lands, having the virile blood of both races coursing through its veins —a race proud of its traditions, proud of its origin, and proud of being a member of this great and glorious Empire. There was a time when misunderstandings happened misunderstandings which resulted in an unfortunate rupture between pakeha and Maori; but with all these blunders we: fought each other as gentlemen. I need only bring to your mind two instances in the late Maori war. When Hoke's men captured the' British transports with ammunition and stores on board, he reprimanded his Hying squadron for depriving his foe, of their means of sustenance and their means of fighting, for, said he, " How do you expect me: to fight men without ammunition and with empty stomachs ? " Then again, at Gate Pa, the: British men-or-war landed time-fuse shells into our pa ; our men unscrewed the tops, and thus were supplied with powder and lead, and we thought the pakehas were " playing the game." My friend has referred to Mr. Henare. He is the type which the future is going to produce, for not only does the blood of Maori chiefs run in his veins, but also that of the pakeha, his grandfather being Colonel Wynyard, at one time Governor of this country. Again thanking you for the enthusiastic manner in which you have referred to us, I say to you, in the language: of the country, Kia ora. On the call of Mr. Wi Hapi, the health of the pakehas was, with music, honoured in the Maori tongue:; and the proceedings terminated with a haka led by the Hon. Mr. Ngata and joined in con amore by all the Natives present.

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