wonderful sermon and we all stood up to close the meeting with a hymn. It was sung in Maori. ‘Come to the Saviour.’ Hauntingly sweet, all voices blended as one as we came to the chorus, ‘Nei te hari, tino hari nui. Joyful joyful will the meeting be.’ I sneaked a look at the older people. It seemed to me as if they could already glimpse the Promised Land. Just then there was a loud explosion, Bang! Glass fell and splintered everywhere. There was a hushed ghostly silence. Someone had fired a shot at the windows. Bang! went the gun again, crash went another window. Then hell broke loose, the children screamed and cried in fright. ‘Lie down everyone, remember God is with us’, said the calm voice of Pastor. ‘It's that silly old kuia, and she has a gun’, called Rangi as he peeped out of one of the broken window panes. We could hear her screaming wildly. I could make out some of the words, and they weren't very nice, mostly about Pakeha ministers. Now and then I heard her mention Bella's name, which was followed by a word I had not heard before. ‘Taua wahine puremu.’ Amidst all this came a clear pure soprano voice, carrying on the remainder of the unfinished hymn. It was Bella, her youngest child clinging to her skirts. She had assumed a virginal beauty about her, as she stood singing to the tinkling of falling glass. ‘Lie down please sister’, pleaded Aunty. ‘This is no time for heroics.’ During all this noise Uncle rushed out. Once more there was a loud bang, and all shuddered in fright. There was a loud crash and the old bell toppled from the cabbage tree. ‘Aue, ko nga mahi a Hatana, ko Hatana—its the work of Satan, Satan!’ I heard a cry of pain and peeping out I saw Uncle struggling with the old kuia in her robes and veil. He wrenched the rifle out of her hands and smashed the butt on a nearby rock. Crying and performing, she was led away by some of the women. My, there was a big meeting at the marae that night. People came from miles away. Of course, by the time they got the news the story was that the old lady had shot six people. Even the newspapers sent reporters to get news and a good story. After Uncle had threatened to pull down the church and rebuild a new one on his own property, the other people agreed to let any religious group use the church. That happened a few years back now, and only the old folk speak of it, in hushed voices. The flock has spread far and wide, while the good Pastor has returned to his own country to be replaced by another. Uncle Hemi, old and grey but young in faith, is still a staunch pillar of the Church. He still seems to have more energy than his own children. Perhaps it's the vegetarian diet, I don't know. Ruihi's little golden-haired daughter is at university. Her husband Rangi is ill in a mental hospital, suffering from a religious mania. Oh, the new religion was certainly good for the widow, Bella. For on a church tour of Australia she met a fellow Pakeha member from New Zealand. Now they live in a large brick home in Auckland, her former way of living cloaked in respectability. No more does she have the need for pills. Me, I'm like the Biblical text, ‘All we like sheep have gone astray’. You see I strayed one time too many, right into the arms of the Law. I'm in jail. ? The annual reunion of the Hokowhitu-a-Tu association (the organisation of Maori veterans of the First World War) was held this year at Manukorihi Pa, Waitara. This is the first time that the reunion has been held in Taranaki. ? Since last October the Maori Education Foundation has received more than 1,200 applications for financial assistance. Of these applicants, 443 have benefited from the Foundation. The awards made have cost £45,000. Most of this money has gone toward paying the boarding fees of secondary school pupils, but many university students have also received help. ? The New Zealand Maori Council wants a full inquiry into Maori land. In a recent newsletter, the council says that there is a crying need for more facts about Maori land and that apparently no-one knows just how much of the country is still owned by Maoris, much less how much is unproductive. It says that a study of Northland made a few years ago by a university graduate showed that in the area surveyed, there was just as much Pakeha and Crown land lying idle as there was Maori land. The newsletter says that there has been too much patching up of the law dealing with land titles and too many temporary remedies.