KING MAHUTA DEAD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 517, 13 November 1912, Page 5

KING MAHUTA DEAD.

A SUDDEN END. . BIG TANGI AT WAAHI. TE RATA TO SUCCEED. The sudden death occurred at Waahi, near Huntly, on Saturday evening, of Mahuta Tawhiao to Wherowhero, "King" of the Maoris. Deceased was about 57 years of age, and his death took place at 10 o'clock on Saturday evening, with tragic suddenness. On Thursday he paid a visit to Huntly, and, though lie complained of feeling unwell on Friday, it was not thought that his condition was sufficiently serious to warrant the attention of a doctor. News of his death came with a blow to even his nearest relatives. The tangi commenced on Monday, and may last over a month. The body of the late King will probably be embalmed, and enclosed in a lead coffin with a glass opening over the face. Messrs Kaihau and Eketone will direct the ceremonies, and it is expected that thousands of natives will assemble at Waahi for the tangi and the investiture of the new King. It is stated that Mahuta's estate, is, personally, worth £2O,O<)U. and that his people had vested in his trust lands worth £IOO,OOO, which property and trust will now pass to Te Rata. MAHUTA'S SUCCESSOR.

Mahuta will be succeeded by his eldest son, Te Rata, now S4 years of age. Te Rata has had the advantage of a European education, and is more closely in touch with progressive European ideas than was his father. He will be invested with the leadership so soon as the influential chiefs from all over New Zealand have arrived. THE DEAD CHIEF. Mahuta's descent can be traced directly through nine generations, many of the celebrated chiefs, to another Mahuta, from whom the Ngatimahuta tribe took its name. He was born at Whatiwhatihoe, in the King Country. His father, Tawhiao, died in 1894, and while he was lying in state, Mahuta, with much pomp and circumstance, was made King. He was pre-deceased by two brothers —one, Tutawhiao, was senior to Mahuta, but died during his fathers' lifetime; the other, Wherowhero, died twelve months ago. Mahuta is survived by his wife, Te Marae, the daughter of Amukete, a chief of the same line, who was killed at Rangiriri, and who also traced his descent from the first Mahuta. He is also survived by two brothers, Haunui and Teae, sons of Tawhiao, and his second wife, Werawera, and by a sister, who Tu Kotuku, who lives at Maungatautari, near Cambridge. The deceased | chief leaves five sons—Rata, Taipei, Tumate, Tonga, and Wherowhero Mahuta.