THE MAORIS DESCRIBED BY AN ENGLISH WRITER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1434, 17 December 1886, Page 2

THE MAORIS DESCRIBED BY AN ENGLISH WRITER.

The Sheffield Telegraph is publishing a series of articles on ** Wild Life in the Pacific. In the last one the Maoris are <ie cribed We give some extracts from the article : What a ‘ sell ” that mast have been for the English gent'eman who was one day strolling down Queen-street. Auckland. He espied the well and fashionablydressed figure of a young lady a short distance in front Her heal was concealed from h a view by a sunshade of gay pattern and ultima mode He became a deeply interested p.ny at onoo. Young Englishmen oat in the colonies for a holiday invariably take a deep Interest in our fair sex, more especially when their personal appearance is attractive. And onr girls very of'en posies* fathers who ova considerable stretebe- of “jnmbaofc” property, which is an additional attraction. The young fellow pushed ahead till ha came on a level with the lady. Imagine his snrpthe, when he looked in her face, to find it copper-colored, with a black stuck leisurely in her mouth. Bis disenchantment waa sadden and complete 1 The “Amurrnkan citizen” is s great amok r, as a rate ; in fact, the rale has come to be so generally recognised that the Yankee now passes, with most people as the tallest smoker in creation.

But the Maori can give him a long start And the Maori would be prepared to bet on h ; mself, too, I dare say. The proverbial keenness of the Yankee for speculation Is as “ nowt ” when the Maori enters the arena. The Maori, as a smoker, begins yonng. On my first visit to Auckland 1 saw a portrait in a photographer’s window, in which a mother was shown with a child slang, ia the orthodox fashon, upon hes back—the mother was represented smoking a large-bowled meerschaum, while baby sucked at a dimi utive Irish caddy. My first impression, of coarse, was that this meant to convey some artistic idea of the photographer’s, and not a representation of “things as they were.” But I rfterwards learned that children took kindly and early to the fragrant weed. I was one evening the guest of a Maori gentleman in Whakarewarewa. The party was a smad one—the Maori, bis wife, her sister, and myself. We had a robber at whist, and my host suggested an adjournment for refreshment and a smoke. While we were e r joying onr weed, a child—about three years of age, 1 should judge—suddenly pat in an appearance, and made a formal demand for a amoke- “ Finish my cigarsaid my host, tendering his bat. But tbe child would have none of him. It threw its head in “ mamma's ” lap, and made a disjointed request, throwing occasional side glances at the stranger, for mamma's pipe. My own experience has taogbt me that cigars give poor satisfaction to a real smoker. X therefore suppose that the child bad already learnt what it bad taken me years to gather. I said to the mother on this occasion. “ Fine boy, that.” « Q ho laughed as she replied’ “Ko te wahine” (“ It’s a girl ”). The Maori people have never taken kind yto «ha British. Although peace has resigned in the country far tiny years, the Maori preserves a anllenneas • bich at times creates some alarm in the political atmosphere. The great King Conn ry, a belt of rich, but undeveloped com try, lying between the Wairarapa and the now celebrated Hot Lakes district, has not been open to Europeans till qaite a recent date. Afrer many years of discussion tbe Government last year succeeded in gain ng the consent of the Maori people to the construction of a railway through the conntry. The first sod of the railway was turned at Te Awamutn, a few 'miles fr> m the home of King * awhiao, at Wha- ♦ iwWihoe, Wahanal. the Maori orator, and Parliamentary representative for one of the Maori districts, came to Te Awsmutu with the Premier, Mr (now Sir) Robert Stoat. It had been arranged, of coarse, that the Premier shonld tarn the first sod. Before the appointed hoar for the ceremony, however, a korero was held, «t which the Maoris decided that their member, Wahanul, shonld tarn the sod, while the Premier was relegated to a “ beck teat ” Accordingly Wahanul was tbe principal performer at tbe ceremony, Mr S out being allowed the privilege of wheeling away the barrow which contained th« sod.

Rewl—the hero of Orakau —Wahanul, Taiaroa, and many others possess more Influence than the King. Tawhiao carries the bine ribbon, and drinks as much liquor as any man in New Zsaland. He goes about preaching morality, while his fsmiv life Is one unbroken career of debauchery. Bnt as regards illustrious decent, he Is theCeoil, the Norfolk of Maoriland. His dynasty changed its ruling name a generation before http—his official title being Potatau the Second. The Maoris are keen business men, and many of them rank amcpgtt the richest people in New Zealand. 1 was sitting la s gentleman's office In Christchurch one day, when a Maori came in. He spoke to my friend for a few moments, handed him a cheque, and left again. When he had gone, my friend showed me the cheque It was drawn for £IO,OOO. I said, '‘That’s a big figure for a Maori." “Oh,”said he, “that’s nothing;’’ that m&n is worth over half a million of money. It was the Hon. Mr Taiaroa, for many years parliamentary representative for the Southern Maori Division, but now a member of the Upper House. It will be interesting to English readers to be told that Sir John Gorst 1s an old New Zealander, and that he conducted the first Maori newspaper published In that c yntry. The Hotel was published In the J£iug Country, in the Kiaglte cause. The press'and types were given by Maximilian kf the Maoris vkho vlstied Swope with Pr. a«9b#ie«w.‘