NOBLE NGAKUKU PANAKAROAE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 379, 21 June 1856, Page 4

NOBLE NGAKUKU PANAKAROAE.

It becomes our painful duty to record the sudden death of the celebrated Chief Noble Ngakuk'i Panakareao. IL> is n ss was occasioned by swimming across t i river with hi, horse twice in one day, a ,d .-Huiaining for some time iv bis wet ciotn«-«. 11... object of this journey extraordinary wi.^. it would app. ar, to be present at a jA..uri settlement in the neighbourhood toco.. .-,;,. ,«me natives, a dispute -having arise:: o:w en himself and the parties in que.l- : . Hi- luise took place on the 12th inst, initl.c m—cure of numerous attendants,' who. :uci/"mg to Maori usa-e, proclaimed the mo :■ ,i;hn\y tidings to the people by fir. mg o.'-' -; volley of muskefry as soon as the imrrK-n<; .-;;>,,ij foivook iis earthly tenement. The b I;, was laid out in b latc and interred with-. '«J pomp on the 18th, upwards of a tho •„J pi r«ons having assembled .to witjje- ! ->" iiKMii-iiful proceed!, gs.

A great void has been created by the removal of this distinguished personage from among theAupouri and Rawawa tribes, nor is the great sensation felt by the people likely to pass away - speedily nor the solemn event soon forgotten. Noble having left only one child —an infant daughter,—the various representatives of families and petty tribes, had signified a desire to nominate a successor, and for this purpose a great festive meeting was to be called, when the elected Chieftain would be duly inaugurated.

Noble was one of those daring restive spirits of the old Maori schools whose deeds of valour, independently of Chieftanship, entitled them to sway the councils of the land, and called forth the plaudits of the people. His family tribe—Te Patu—numbered two hundred strong, but sixteen hundred flew to his standard when their services were in requisition. Noble's father, Te Kaka, was alike influential and brave ; but his enemies were so powerful and numerous, that he was driven from his lands at Orurn, and obliged to take shelter on the group of islands off the North Cape, called the Three Kings. Te Kaka, in making his escape through a densely wooded forest, became entangled in the supple jacks, thereby endangering his life, and in commemoration of this event, he named his son, —the subject of our present very brief sketch, —Panakareao, which signifies being pushed aside by the vine commonly known as "karea 0 ." This was previous to the initiation of, —as General of the Ngapuhi tribes, —that wholesale destroyer of his species, Hongihika. . In re-occupying the disputed territory subsequently, Noble was attacked by Heke and his adherents, and driven, as was his father before him, from the valley of Oruru. He retired to Kaitaia after a few* of his men had been shot down. ! :- During the late war at the Bay of Islands, valuable services were rendered to our troops by Noble and his men; and he distinguished himself by various strategic exploits and acts of chivalry. We are aware of the fact that our departed friend has been charged with mere hollow professions of friendship to the Europeans, and we are told that he was selfish and overbearing. That Noble had his failings, like every other child of Adam, we are willing to admit, but when parties whose views he may have thwarted attack character, and impugn motives, we feel ourselves bound to defend the injured, aud to request that "more substantial" proofs be given than mere assertion. Nurtured in freedom, and yielding obedience to no will but his own, ! it would be strange indeed if he did not occasionally commit some petty act of injustice ; and surely we may with propriety ask, whether those who enjoy the advantages which accrue from: civilization and an enlightened education, would be likely to conduct themselves with that tolerance which characterized Noble's career, should they have enjoyed the same unlimited power. _ Not long before the formation of a mission at Kaitaia, Noble embraced Christianity, and was for a series of years a faithful friend of the Church Missionary Society and by his influence many were led to abandon heathenism and enrol their names on the Church records. We are trusting that the Biblical instructions, imparted to our deceased friend by the missionaries, resulted in his personal application to the "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world •" and that his mortal remains were consigned to the tomb—surrounded by a weeping multi--tude-" in sure and certain hope of the resurrectipn-l'to eternal life/'-CW undented to the New Zealander. ■ ' '