A PROLONGED TANGI.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1726, 17 April 1913, Page 4

A PROLONGED TANGI.

MOURNING LASTS FOR TWO MONTHS.

REMARKABLE GATHERING. (By Telegraph— Special Correspondent.) Auckland, April IG. An.. unusually prolonged tangi at a Maori pa nbout midway between Ohakuno and liaetihi is creating a good deal of comment in the district. A Native died there two months ago, whereupon his lather found himself the host far evergrowing parties of Maori sympathisers, they began to arrive from nil directions in buggies and on horseback, several even ".'""Pi'iß °ut to the pa from the station at Ohakuno. Tho gathering lias not vet dispersed. '^i 1! 0 /""Ki is proceeding in an open paddock by (lie roadside in front of tho meeting-house, and numbers of Maoris arc to be seen reclining in various poses 01 ! i. e l? rou u'li on slacks of timber, in wheelbarrows, or on watcrtanks, listening to one of their number, who, an umbrella in his right hand to help emphasise his poiuts, holds forth for hours in expatiauojj, uo doubt, of (he host's qualities. IhrcG Hags uro suspended half-mast in tho centre of tho paddock. SOlllO rough wuare-liko contrivances down by the bank t a » ,? shelter tho wahines, who placidly smoke briar pipes or cigarettes, and perform culinary ami laundry operations. Dogs and children, tho latter 111 gorgeous shairls, prowl in ami out of the picture, and tho Native mats of the tribe hang out in tho sun for an airing, together with a heap of blankets. Away in one corner of tho paddock stands a newly-built tomb of concrete, with an air-tight doorway. Hero reposes tiro corpse. No attempt has been made to inter the remains beneath the ground, and two or three times since tlio tangi opened tho mausoleum has been opened and the dead man has been brought out for further mourning attentions. Whether or 110 the cost of this prolonged tangi will in time impoverish the old Maori who is footing the bill is hard to say. His first invoice for groceries at tho outset of the function is said to have been .£3OO. However, from tho way in which the various buggies and traps of the visiting Natives aro lying around covered with tarpaulins, and tho fact that tho adjoining paddock contains many horses wearing, a peaceful look of undisturbed holiday-making, it would seem, that the gathering has forgotten how to disperse.