A NEW MAORI PROPHET.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1534, 16 April 1887, Page 3

A NEW MAORI PROPHET.

("N.Z Herald.") Within a few weekß a native meeting Ii to be held at Te Kaha, near tho Eaet O»pe, at which it is expected that about 1600 Maoris frill be assembled. One of the prinoipal objeots of the assemblage is to do honor to a new Miori prophet, named Himiona te Orinul, who hae lately been acquiring immense influence over bis fellow-countrymen on the East Coast His ' ohief oonneotlons are with the Ngatlpukeko tribe, at Whakatane, but he has lately been living on the island at Motiti. We have not been able to obtain a description of his karakia or modes of worship, but there doeß not seem to be about them anything dangerous to the peace of the country. That is, so far as h* has gone, but of coarse there is no saying what these fanatioal agitations may develop into. To some extent his teachings are like thoße of rffany of his predecessors m the roll of the Maori prophets. He asserts that God hag given him special power ; that by-and-by, and at an early period, the land will ail be restored to the Maoris ; and that then will follow a blessed time, a time o£ pro. found peace, when the meroioa of God will be poured out on the world. Himlcn* is implicitly believed m by the natives of the Sait Coast. The Maoris as a race have been given up to snoh delusions as this ■lnoe ever we knew them. There were great prophets m the North before the war at th.9 Bay of Islands, and la recent years we have had Horopapera te Ua, Te . whiti, and others. One of the most Curious things connected with these waves of fanatioUm and oreduUty Is that the , Maoris who have been educated m European schools, who have learned the English language, and who have associated .mainly with Enropeaae, are often the ..most bevoted adherents of the prcp'ets They frequently exhibit the meat craven , fear of the power of those pretended religions Uaoher j. The Maori is by nature . superstitions A gentleman residing m the Interior has narrated to us the following faota :— He leased a piece of ground, , to which four persons had been declared by the Court to be entitled as owners In reality, only one of these, aw ma-, , was the owner. One man had been put In because he was the manager of the case before the Court, asd was rnoart In the ways of Europeans, while ft tobunga or prhst, and hia wife were put m because they had squatted on the ground, and the owner was In dread of the mau'B power of bewitohlng. When the land oame to be leased to a European, the owner naturally wanted a larger share of the money than was to come to the other?, bnt she did not daro to express her thought m the presence of the tohanga. Bnt it came to his e«rs, and he was angry. He said, '* Ah, I will coon settle that ; ■he will not trouble anyone by ciming for money again." The threat was repeated to the unfortunate woman, who Immediately became i 1 m mere terrrr of the powers of bewitching ascribed to the tohnnga, and m a few days Bhe was a corpse. This was an example, not of faith-healing but of faith-killing; Many suoh instances of superstition could be cited. Christanity has not diminished the naturally superstitious instinot of tba race, but has merely given If. a now form. It has supplied tho Maoris, fromaoma parts of the Old Testament, and from the Apocalypse, with a Splendid Imagery and a raystorioua phrasoology, which admirably serve the purpose of the enthusiast. The?o waves of fanaticism are interesting, and the Govern. mant should endeavour to collect all tho foots available respecting them. They are of importance to ua, as they aro now the only phenomena aftaoling the peaceful living of the Maori race. They see , that their power is as nothing to outb ; that sny attempt at a contest is, on their part, abiolutely fntile. Therefore they are ready to dwell on the ldoa that, m some mlraculoaa way — by the intervention of superhuman power— they may be restored to the dominion of New Zealand.