EARLY DAYS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 525, 4 June 1909, Page 9

EARLY DAYS.

BISHOP WILLIAMS'S REMINISCENCES. .' : PAKEHA-MAORIS' PRIVILEGES. Bishop Williams, ;of;Waiapu, who will retire: from• activo work in tko Cliurch •at the end of next month;' loolcs back to many interesting, and some . thrilling, experiences in tho /early days of bi.s ministration. It is fifty-six'years sinob lie entered, tho Church,: after Ihe had finished his education ,in England- (states.-'an interview in.the/'''Lyttelton Times; 1 ). His life work'. has been .done in the. Poverty .Bay anil .Hawko's Bay" districts. He went there a young man to help his father,; the! first Bishop of Waiapu, ,in mis■sionary/.work'iittiongst the Maoris., He has a! clear recollection, of; that .part' .of . the Dominion as; it was before settlement began. A Pakeha Maori. • •The:.first European to liveamongst .the "Maoris;there,' it. soem's,: was:a man named Harris, who came over from Sydney to represerA'a .firm engaged in the flax trade. Ho was taken:into one of the tribes, and became its "pakeha." That tribal official .carried on negotiations; with European traders for,flax produced by. the Maoris... rin .return; ho 'was treated 'with .'■ the height. of ' generosity.He was'given: all that tho Maoris had it in their power-to give.' Practically the only thing he .-/had f toV fear was: the infringement of established custom; . That. was .an almost unpardonable offence, and 'it occasionally to . costing ,the' "pakeha". his life. The loss of. a ."pakoba'! was regarded as/ so disastrous, however, that. the offender was. usually pardoned. On one occasion: for instance,a; "pakeha" .told: :• Bishop'. Williams that, whilo'.strolling through the• pa, ho .saw : .th6' : yoinig . son , of. , a chief tako up. a :stick , and 1 belabour .hisvmothier'.;, The .woman made an outcry,' there was a. slight 'disturb-; ,ajice', . : aiid,.,the .. palteha" . stepped 'up.the young-follow, and gave him a resounding bos in the ear.' -' Ho was astounded at tho hubbub that immediately arose. _ Tho woman, the son, and. the! chief •' himself:' joined .in it; . andthe angry faces : that' gathered '; around' tho /astonished "pakeha", showed ..him that ;in striking tho sacred:, person' of the son of a; ohief, ho ;• had raised a storm which it would' not bo easy to quell. Tho old chi6f, : however, •was practical enough to seo that utility must come ■ before .'seritimont,. and as, ho; dearly, wished to. retain: the- valuable' se'rvioes of his ,"pakoha," 'he /induccd - tho tribea-peoplo ;to attribute 1 the-action;to : gross ;iguor'ando, and: :to.-!ov«iookvit;.'on.: , c6ndition , "'thatat Bhould not bo repeated; and it .never was. |! i : A Tattooed European. 'I/Another early arrival, in' that' part' :was< a' man named Burns. ■ In Dr. Hookon's library of Zealand-Works; -in/ Dunedin, there is ,a' photograph of this man, whoso descendants still live . in the Poverty. Bay district. '. Ho •became, so "intitnate '^vith: the':; Maoris?;' and'

i-cusijonis »>, so ;.willingly,'; apparently,. that ; ho\allowed tliem to ;tattoo his face ,with all tho curves .and spirals - ihat ' form; ; t^vprihcipal'features, ofthe ancient Maori's decorativo art. 1 Ho told a story that' he .was, capturod by. the;.Maons,-was kept a prisoner- by them, and ,was compelled to adopt .their .custom's.'ibut; this"is:discredited by. those .who know4he ;i Maoris of-the'.dostrict~ He, lived with them - for a' time, exrid then dis-. appeared, . .Bishop. iWilliamsphas -had*- many Tconversatiohsi with Biirris's . son,'.' who;" hoW' ever, .knoivs very little of. his; father's, history.' Advent of tho Whalers. "

;Vthose jigolated", v;and iiiUropeans there bamo the whalers,- who were the . forerunners >of xinliMtion. • /Thoy- established whaling • stations yat points along the coast ,of both, Pov.erty- Bay and > Hawlce's iiay, notably ,at the Mahia Peninsula, where -SP®" Ol whales .were plentifui. ; Some old, maps of '. New,: Zealand - bear. : the . words," on . the coast-line 'representing',the country between Cape Kidnappers and .Cape l'allisor, "No .Natives along ,tlns coast as far as Ahuriri." It-i's oxplained that at that'time, about ■-1843,;! Rauparaha, one of , the -most, famous : Zealand,,-ihad armed: 'his' :tribe™oii:i'. ; mttf:-, : fifleß,/;and*-" wab'.'dovastatiiigCoast of .. : the North Islandi-advancing cast as far as the Wairarapa. Tho Maoris on-. thef.:-'East .Coast, dreaded - his; approach; and,,: fe'aring : hist further 'had gath- . tho)"strongest ;, fortifioatiohs, desorting all, their/coastal territories." •,. . i Z&-. ■ fairly) large trade ' with, sprang np, vessels:,-being Bent :) At ; the. tiino of the ~',' rush". in Australia, in tlie 'earlyfifties,'- when: wheat'was .at a',veiy.: high price,- the Maoris grew largo quantities of ■that .cereal 'all ; )along the'coast.', .After"; that 'sqifclars-:-:began ; .to 'take, up land, the' extraordinary' fertility of the soil was discovered, apd' .th'e foundation..for progress' and: civilisation was. laid;' • ' 'jv