WITH TAWHAIO AND THE KINGITES.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 211, 26 July 1878, Page 2

WITH TAWHAIO AND THE KINGITES.

Under the above title, a writer in the New Zealand Country Journal gives a most interesting account of the late visit of Sir George Grey and party to the King Country,; that terra incognita to the great majority of the inhabitants of New Zealand. The description of the Highlands, little more than a century ago, given by Bailie Nicol Jarvie, may be said-to apply to a considerable portion: of the North Island, removed by only, a few hours' travelling from many of the centres of civilization. " The truth is," said the Bailie, " that ye ken naething about our hill country, or Hielands, as we ca' them. They are clean anither set frae the like o' huz— there's nae bailie-courts amang them— nae magistrates that dinna bear the sword in vain, like the worthy deacon that's awa'. But it's just the laird's command, and tha loun maun loup; and the never another law hae they but the length o' their dirks—the broadsword's pursuer, or plaintiff, as you Englishers ca' it, and the target is defender j the stoutest head bears langest out; and there's a Hieland plea for ye."

"Thevwriter of ■•"the article we refer to, eschewing the political-aspect of the meeting, with which we have already been dosed ad nauseam, simply describes it from a picturesque point of view. He is evidently a naturalist in the best sense, that is, a lover of nature, and sees unwonted combinations of form and color with the artist's,. eye, We purpose making a few extracts from the article, hoping that they will possess : greater interest for our readers than the wearisome dialogues commencing—" This is my word ;to joi*,'' &c„ with wHich we have been dosed.

Leaving the commonplace modes of progression by rail and steamer behind at Alexandra, the party proceed onward by canoe, a progress which is thus described :•—

"At a favorite landing-place near the town (Alexandra)' were moored ' three of these quaint-looking vessels of the olden days, each abundantly decorated with the plumed ornamentation proper for the waka tawa. The longest of these canoes measured some 78 feet in length— that is without the accessory adornments of puhi, ngahflii, &c, which would probablyadd another 20 feet; the breadth across the top sides was about six feet. The waka. tawa we stepped into was named Tataire heia, after a revered ancestress of the great Waikato tribe.; we look on a picture of life and manners which might have illustrated some work of the earlier navigators of the Pacific. : The war canoe, with her red-stained sides; the carved puhi, bearing the likeness of some warlike chief, from the tall puhipuhi, j plumed thickly with the dark-shaded feathers of the wood pigeon, standout like antenna ; the slightly-bending ngahihi, decked with the snowy plumage of the albatross, carrying at their extremities the red ornaments called pakoura knra. Near the bow, too, is the waka tete, the sight of whose awful visage was supposed to inspire energies with dread. Near the plumed rapa, or stern-post, an erect male figure, with oblique eyes, cut from the irescent shell of the paua, according to ! severe notions of decency, required the | adjustment of the conventional fig leaf. ... . . The waka tawa might be comi pared to some strange-looking object of the earlier ages of the earth, creeping up the winding stream of the river, feeling its way with its long white antennas. Hark to the cry of te tangata hautu!—' HoeY ho 6, hod, kaha, hoe" kaha !■' Swiftly is the barque urged forward. A pah, or settlement, comes in sight after rounding a turn ; the kupapas increase the force of the plußging hoe. Both canoes dash onwards in a terrific spurt. One feels the long craft bounding and quivering beneath the . vigorous stroke, Te tangata hautu, in a ngeri frantically chanted, urges the panting kupapas to renewed exertions, ' Hoe kaha, kia kaha, Ida mau ;' then the burden of the song is taken up by the whole crew with a startling crash of sound, spray dashes over the sides of the vessel, and we rush through the water as though borne onwards by a wild crew of demons, excited to the verge of madness." Of the land journey we are told—

" The track soon crossed the cultivations of the level ground, ascending gently swelling downs and ferny knolls up were now and then disclosed delightful peeps of the silvery sheen of the brook,

winding its tortuous course through sedgy « banks, till it joined its strength to swell the rapid waters of the Waipa. As our party proceeded onward towards the higher spurs of timber-clad Pirongia, the scene became a picture of exquisite beauty, hill and dale clothed with bracken that displayed the ever varying, yet harmonious tints that glorified the prospect with their warmth and loveliness. Far in the distance, to the right and left, groups of people, hastening onward, lightened up each fern-covered spur with bright specks of color; graceful women, with their nodding plumes, were seen amongst the troops of riders scattered along the ridges. To some, the busy scene might faintly havo recalled old days with an English hunting field, the eager meet crooping onwards to witness the drawing of some favorite covert. But the comparison would not bear close scrutiny; not only from the difference of costume, the total absence of the regulation pink and topboots, of well-groomed- steeds .of high blood, of the feathering sterns of the mottled pack, but where in the old country could i you'fellow Pirongia, lifting its shapely head 3COO feet, clothed to the very summit" with its noble forest growth of darkest green ? Whilst revolving'in your mind the n__ie£f and appearance of far-famed British hills, turn like a wheezy climber scant of breath, look round on the laudscape stretching away below, presenting:an area bo widely! 6pVea~d'"that the broad acres of more than one fair-sized county would be needed ,to; equal its extent."

"Now, on the skirts of the. forest above us, as we neared the wood, we saw what appeared to us a long palisade of close-set posts whose.extent of line was hidden by the obtruding foreground on the left; these seeming, posts were, on-closer view, transformed into the veritable almost nude figures of 'powerful men, grasping in their sinewy hands a medley of weapons which spake of the old world 'and the' new. In the miscellaneous armament might be seen the broad-edged tewa-tewa'with its dangling tuft of feathers plucked from the softwinged kahu, the double-faced taiha -with its deadly point shaped to ;the grotesque fashion of an extruded tongue, the flatsided mere-mere, carved from the white bone Of the mighty whale, and the prized mere pounamu chipped from its bed of jade, polished, through long months of patient labor, till its keen edges rivalled the clouded emerald. There, the j old Tower musket (the Brown Bess), held its Slace with the light, birding gun, the ouble-barrelled fowling-piece, and swords that had been waved by European hands; we stood in front of the Kangite force marshalled in serried rank and file by active officers. With the notion that even the most blase" man of the world would have felt a sensation, we close up our ranks, following the leadership of Sir George and Mr Sheehan. Gracefully guiding her plucky pony in the next rank followed one of the loveliest flowers of Maoridom, instructing her much amazed escort *, one glance around showed our party, some four hundred strong, like some huge reptile trailing upwards its hundred-jointed scales through the broad-winged bracken. In a few seconds we reach the plateau of Hikurangi, half stunned and dazed by the 'wiktafcnta of welcome yelled forth by thousariffs of strong throats—•'• Hnramai! Haramai Kawaria! Hnramai! Haramai Kerei! Haramai 1"— our ears well-nigh overpowered by these fiantic greetings. . . . . .A few shots were discharged during this burst of welcome, the whilst our eyes were taxed to the utmost ot their power to receive, some fair impression of the scene before us. Dusky warriors naked to the. waist, whence depended gaudy colored kilts, brandished their weapons in their outstretched arms, with up-turned eyeballs and protruding tongues, went through the diabolic gestures of the war dance, in their furious excitement, keeping time to the quivering fingers and tho shrill chanting of the blue-lipped crones that i leaped with frenzied bounds. In a brief time the warriors retired before us to tbe heart of the village ; bringing up the rear in company with some notable. rangitirae, there* was pointed iout, wrapped' m-the ample folds or" Ins. white robe, Tawhaio. armed-with, his lioe-roa or- two-handed sword of whalebone,' the observed of all beholders.'" ■•. o"a ;:s, ■ a■ : * o; , ©-' **« "As the shades of evening deepened, with us this great meeting place lost no jot of interest. ; Below the terrace fires burnt brightly amongst the trees.yet standing in the clearings; tents lighted up showed how goodly,, a number, of / the native race had brought together; laughter, the hunfof voices, droning songs, the flitting by of .shawl-veiled forms; all lent their charm of novelty, till wearied with the excitement of the day, we sought the. comfort of our blankets laid over a deep bed of rarehue, i" the shelter of our canvas homes.'

In a future issue we hope to find space for further extracts from this interesting paper. A