MAORI NOBILITY FREELY TRANSLATED.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 61, 28 August 1862, Page 3

MAORI NOBILITY FREELY TRANSLATED.

Wharemoboao, August 20th, 1862. To the Printer of the Hawke's Pay Times. litiExn, —Salutations to you. I have beard that there is a great and good man in the Assembly at Wellington, who is a great orator. It lias been told to me that this clever man has proposed that the Jlaori Nobility should have a place in Parliament like the House of Lords in England ! I also hear that the house of meeting would bo large and handsome, like a church without a steeple, but very much larger, with beautiful cushions and fittings, and brilliantly lighted. Now, I don’t feel exactly easy about this. Of course I should very much like to drink the wine, and eat the cake and puddings that will bo provided, and I shan’t object to wear the new coat, and black cap with the gold band round it, but I don t like boots ; and unless there’s something ” o;, y important going on I shan’t mind brushing my hair, for it’s a very great deal of trouble and answers no useful end. But you pakehas are very exacting. 1 never do those things at home, and don’t see that I should do them when I come to talk for the benefit ot the Empire. I can talk ’ 1 c:m talk with a “ forty-parson power,” which I mil told is a great thing and cannot be dispensed with. I am the wisest man in these parts, a sort ot tohunya of everything. I can play on the Jew’s harp, ride a horse, can swim and catch fish. I know the multiplication table up to twelve times, can read the Scriptures, and play at draughts, seeing three moves beforehand. I can smell when a man has money about him, and if I’m sure that a man is without money I never ask for any, and tnis the pakcha calls acuteness. To be plain, I never think it good policy to ask for that which you know can t he had. It looks as if von were greedy. 1 never was a man like (hat. f can eat a shni’k at tiro goes , and never had indigestion in my life : and a kit of karakas is very good for dessert, and regulates the bowels if the nuts are sufficiently rotten. 1 can work a long division sum with three figures lor a divisor, but never eoukl get over (hose confounded vulgar fractions. 1 always give the pakeha a feed, because I’ve more than I want, and the food costs mo little, and 1 generally manage to get value in return either in knowledge, tobacco, or money. This gives me a high character for hospitality and kindness. [ am a believer in Barnum. 1 don’t like nun, for it makes my head ache. The wise man of Ellesmere says “ r lhe .Maori is a man of courageous and generous character. Hie Maori had a great intellectual character. Ho had seen papers written hv Maories which would have done credit to the greatest diplomatist .in the world!” The wise man of Ellesmere is right. The pakeha tells me that a diplomatist is a man appointed to tell lies lor the benefit of his country. Unit's an easy occupation, and would suit me “ all to pieces.” l.unati, the pakeha, says 1 should he a dabster at it, and get fat ; and then for generosity—potatoes, ells, and a night’s lodging (when one's glad to see a stranger) what are they 'i —what are they when you have thousands of acres. Tanmti has gone into a calculation, and says that what the pakehas and their government have given to the Maories, and what the Maories have given to the pakcha, would be thus—lo,ooo,ooo to -V. “Oh! what an intolerable deal of sack to one halfpenny-worth of bread ! Intelligence ! J Think of the long division sum and (lie draughts 1 Courage P Think of our bush fighting behind the trees at Taranaki' Diplomacy ? Think of Sir George Grey’s visit to J anpiri and the M aikato ! Maori nobility ? when I wash once a year, and my wife once in three ; nho never had a pocket handkerchief, ami never loimu the want ot it. Maori nobility ? with sloth, lleas, and calabashes in the house. Maori humbug ! lie meant, and I believe without knowing it. Iheorctically— sublime ; practically—bosh, mummery, and expense. A gilt poison-pill. That's wiiat lamati says, and not. 1. Tamati married my consm s son s eldest daughter, and speaks in his sleep, and that s how wo get the information from him. He knows a great deal, and says the country is ours, and ire know it. There are morbid philanthropists who preach for our benefit, and wc know it. Missionary demonstrations must be held in England—Stowolls will preach over crimson cushions to wealthy, aristocratic, and pci fumed listeners, and we know it. Bussells and Sehvyn s sympathise with ns, and we know it. Knowledge is power. Tamati says so, and we find it true. My brother Timote desires me to ask you if tobacco is to be found for the Assembly ; and he says he would like to have a fire in the middle of the floor to light his pipe with, and 0...0 inaicr.cs. ■ niienciea to have sunt you some Maori poetry 7 , but Eue! I thought of the wine and puddings, and the cap with the gold laco on it. Good bye. From your friend, TUPUAAVHIRO, No to Ngatikahorctegammona iwi. F.S. 1 lit this in small type, so that it may scarcely be seen, I am told that the man of Ellesmere knows little ot the Maori, except from books and parsons who “ teach our vonng ideas how to shoot.” Don’t, lot this he known. I hear that there are thousands of human beings in England that arc compelled to sock other lands—lands of plenty ; that in England many have pallid

cheeks and sunken eyes ; that ghastly forms of skin and bone, attenuated by cold and human-, wander in the streets ; that fever, famine, and wretchedness stalk about because the people are too many ! Is this true ? O printer! Is it true that hunger thus destroys ? Are there civilized people of the keenest susceptibility suffering from want ? and do I exist gazing over untold acres of rich, but neglected, and consequently useless land ? Have I all this of our broad and beautiful earth that was given for man’s use, when starvation stalks through England, bidding people tlee ? What a moral for Exeter Hall! Tupuawkiho.