HE KORERO HARAREI A HOLIDAY STORY na H. te M. Wikiriwhi The Queen in Rotorua part ii Haere taku wai, kua peke whakamuri te rangi o taku patere. Kua: “Tapapa i te hiwi ki Horohoro, Ka matai tonu au ki Tarawera Ko te Hemahema, Ka rere titaha te rere … E oma ana i te tai pouri, Ki Rotorua …!” Tihee Mauri Ora ! ! !” Kua tae ki te waka, ki a Te Arawa, ko Maketu ki Tongariro, kua wharona te karanga mo te Kuini te take, ko Te Arawa, atu i te Taitokerau ki Raki-ura, ki Wharekauri. Ko te marae tenei mo te motu katoa. Kitea atu ana i reira nga mana, nga reo, nga karangatanga o tena waka, o tena waka, o tena waka. Kua utaina katoatia ki runga i te tuara-nui o Tamatekapua. I te papa-purei-hoiho o Rotorua te marae. He mea hanga ki reira te mahau whakairo hei taunga atu mo Te Kuini. He mea whakatu he puhara. Ko Hunuhunu rangatira o Ngati Rangiwewehi te tutei, te tohunga, nana i karakia te marae me te ra. Na te Horana raua ko Te Kopata me Hoani Herekiekie i arahi te manuhiri ki to raua ahurewa atahua i wenganui o tena whakaminenga wehi. Kaore i arikarika te tangata, iroiro ana i nga hau e wha, taiawhio noa i tena marae. No te timatatanga tonu o tena powhiri ka tumeke te Kuini. Ina te take. Ka puta atu raua ko tona hoa i te mahau whakairo i te waharoa o te marae, ka purei mai te pene o Rotorua i te waiata mo Te Kuini: There is a momentary lull in the melody of my song: “It skims the summit of Horohoro's tableland, Swooping down to Tarawera And there stands the chief Te Temahema, Angling onwards the flight continues, By the dark waters, To Rotorua … breath of life eternal.” It has reached the canoe, Te Arawa stretching from Maketu in the Bay of Plenty to Tongariro in the heart of the island, and the call for Her Sovereign the Queen has reached its uttermost boundaries, unto the tribes of the North, the South, and of the Chatham Islands. This was the courtyard for the whole of the island. It was there that the aristocracy of each canoe was seen and heard. They were the guests of the broadbacked Tamatekapua. The Rotorua Horse Racing Club's course was the venue for this welcome. A Maori carved archway was erected upon it. A sentinel's watch-tower was raised nearby. It was a Mr Hunuhunu, a Ngati Rangiwewehi elder and chieftain who acted as the lookout man, and tohunga, and he pronounced the dedicatory prayer for the day. The Right Honourable Mr Holland, Prime Minister, and the Hon Mr Corbett, Minister of Maori Affairs with his private secretary Mr Herekiekie Grace escorted the distinguished guests to the garlanded ahurewa that stood as the central feature in the middle of that great concourse of people. Men, women and children were present in thousands, and were literally crawling all over the place, to surround and fill completely that vast marae. At the very beginning of the welcome, the Queen was mildly amazed. Here was the reason … as she and her husband emerged from the carved mahau at the entrance to the inner court, the Rotorua Brass Band commenced to play the National Anthem:— “God save our gracious Queen, etc.” When the crowds heard the first bars of the familiar song, they all stood to attention in the customary manner, but just where the Queen stood, and facing her, was the main body of tattooed warriors, a picked band of fighting men from the Taupo and the Rotorua districts, and, strange to relate, they remained crouched on one knee closely to