THE PARIHAKA NATIVE MEETING.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1585, 19 March 1879, Page 3

THE PARIHAKA NATIVE MEETING.

[Press Special Wire.]

Parihaka, March 17.

On the pacific settlement of the Waimate Plains the peace of the colony depends. This is a question which is now engrossing the Native mind. These plains derive their name from an old pah at the mouth of the Eipune stream. There were two fortified pahs at its mouth, the southern being called Waimate, " Water of Death," so termed from a large slaughter which took place there. But nearly every portion of this confiscated block carries its history or legend. The young men and women mourn for the descent of their forefathers' names. They see surveyors going through the land and cutting lines, where their judgment may dictate. They see their homestaads threatened with desecration, and also their burying places; but they lie mute, only bemoaning their perverse existence; for they say that those who confiscated their land were not so callous as Mr Sheehan, who has taken advantage of their positions. They wail and murmur at him, thinking, perhaps from some unknown source may spring redress and restoration. They have a lingering hope that To Whiti may have some influence over the unseen power to prevent the spoliation : honce the interest exercised in this Parihaka March meeting. There are four hapus of Ngatiruanui to be provided for who were

friendly or inactive during the war. It appears probable that a large reserve in common, inaluding the bulk of their cultivated land, will bo made, but even this cannot be done without entailing discontent. Whether or not this March is to be the March of delivery, which 'J e Whiti has bade them respect, at any rate some 2500 people have congregated at Parihaka to listen to the words of the prophet. This village is increasing daily in, its whares, and the extent ot its cultivations, and tho influence of Te Whiti may bo said to have increased in the samo ratio. He is doubtless the most popular man on the coast. According to him a deliverer for the people is yet to appear. Melchisidek, he says, was the first of tho tribe. Tho King of Righteousness, he states, has already come, but the King of Peace has yet to be found. When he arrives all disagreements among races are to cease, and to Maoris will be awarded the mana again over their land—the only thing left for them. There are a good many Europeans at the meeting, to which free ingress and egress is allowed. There is no "Aukati" here. The village swarms with strong and healthy children, as indeed do most of the Native villages along the coast. There are many men of Maori fame here, representatives of nearly all the tribes, and many of them are deeply read in the Hebrew Scriptures. Nearly all his tropes and figures of speech Te Whiti has drawn from that source, and the double meaning which such figures of speech are capable of expressing, enables him to extricate himself from any of his unfulfilled prophesies. He has a brtiher called Tohu, who exercises nearly as much authority as To Whiti himself. Tohu maintains that to him and his hi other have been delegated the control of all Ngatirnanni, Eiruni, and Ngatiawa land. This March meeting is at all events pregnant with interest for believers in Te Whiti, as vague hopes are held out that the dead will be raised.

The plains proper form only a portion of tho valuable land in this district.. What is called the bush land at the back is of excellent quality, level, and unbroken, with open bush, containing extensive clearings. There was some doubt as to whether the Native Minister would put in an appearance or not; but the doubt was set. at rest last night by Tohu having a communication from God that Mr Sheehan would come up in two days. This announcement gave great satisfaction, for Te Whiti assures the people that the confiscation question can only be settled by himself and Mr Sheehan sitting in council. The Natives are assembled in a large square, in groups, according to relationship or locality. Most of the women have white feather * in their hair. Amongst the crowd are Tito Kowaru, Hone JPihama. Wi Parata, Ngarongomate, and many others of Maori historical fame. Outside the mari, and leaning over the fence which surrounds it, are white men in considerable numbers, while the hum of expectation is heard from the the patient waiting people. At length the prophet makes hi 3 appearance in a dirty grey shirt, with a blanket around his loins, instead of the usual prophet's girdle. With a distinctness of utterance few orators possess, he commences one of his mysterious utterances. He was, apparently, somewhat discomfited from some cause or other, and was far less lucid than usual. The substance of what he said may be thus rendered :—" This is the day when all is to be finished. After to-day, I have nothing further to do. I mj self urranged to call the the meeting. This mooting i-i mine I have arranged to have it held in thn days of old. Men are engaged in their own work, or attending to house-building. But there is one thing wanting —the presence of one, ' The expected.' (This I understood is the Native Minister.) This is a great day of meetings. (Alluding to tho Waikato meeting.) The wishes of this meeting will not be obtained through the absence of tho ' Expected.' But it is good wo have gathered at his call. Small and large have come, good and bad, brave and wise, but the " Expected " is absent. Here he alluded to the probability of there being someone delegated to speak for the "Expected." But as no response was made, he for about half-an-hour constantly repeated himself with wearisome reiteration, and then sat down. Tarei, of Wanganui, arose after a short silence, and asked (what he had not yet heard) what he had come here for, and who was the " Expected?" Then he turned to Mr Williams and asked him whether he was the "iixpected," but got no response. Te Whiti then told Tarei that all things were left to him (Te Whiti), and that it was not for him to plan or devise, but to carry out the dictates of hi 3 "inspirations." He exonerated himself from all blame or failure, and professing to be merely the medium of " inspirations." Tarei then told Mr Williams that if he had anything to say to the Natives, he should say it there in public, not whisper it in Te Whiti's ear. Still Mr Williams gave no response. The whole success or otherwise here seemed to hang on Mr Sheehan's presence. He probably in the mind of the prophet is the coming man, or the one who is to establish the " kingdom of peace." Tarei again broke silence, assuming that Mr Williams had private information to give. A Waikato Native then wanted to know what they had gathered there for, as in his opinion they had come for naught. Te Whiti here spoke up, and said that he would keep his plans to himself. Men then began to bring in ferns on which to place food in the middle of the enclosure, and after Te Whiti telling us that this was all, the distribution of food began. The whole of the meeting was a fiasco. There was not a question raised, and the confiscated land was never referred to, although it was on the lips and in the hearts of every Native present. The people had come from all parts of the colony, Maoris and half-castes, to hear what Te Whiti would have to say or proposed to do about the surveys at Waimate, and he only told them that the " expected " was not to hand. The meeting is virtually at an end, save the usual feasting and other accompaniments peculiar to large Maori gatherings.