HISTORIC BURIAL-PLACE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 2057, 20 November 1919, Page 4

HISTORIC BURIAL-PLACE.

THE OTAKI NATIVE MISSION CEMETERY. A. SPOT OF INTEREST TO ALL. (By “Pakeha," in the Wellington Post.) “Where heaves the turf in many a moulderin'}'heap. Each in his narrow eel! for ever laid, 'file rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." The Native Mission cemetery at Otaki, in the grounds adjoining the celebrated Maori Church “Rangiatea” —famed throughout the length and breadth of the land on account of its unique construction and its historical associations —has a peculiar interest to all. Some twentylive to thirty years ago, when the Rev. J. MWYilliam was in charge of the mission here, this old burial-gro-und was one of the most picturesque spots in Olaki. At that time many beautiful trees and shrubs adorned ihe knoll that forms a prominent feature of the cemetery; the ground-' were then kept much tidier than they are at present, and. with the neatly-kept church grounds and the beautiful old-fashioned garden in the mission house plot in the foreground, ma.de a lovely spot, which was one of the show-places of “Historical Olaki.” The Natives, with the best of intentions, doubtless, a few years ago set to work v. ilb unwonted energy to clear the ground,-,, with the result that thought toss vandals ruthlessly destroyed many beautiful wattles and other lovely trees and shrubs which made the hill a place of rare beauty, trails funning a lovely wilderness into a barren, Win. and unlovely Imri-

(-ground. However, the old assoremain, and the place is as full of interest ns ever, though not so picturesque as of old. .1 never visit this spot but 1 a;n reminded of those immortal lines— Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard. As I wander from plot to plot, glancing at the neglected mounds, and trying to decipher and translate the Maori inscriptions on (lie tombstones —tn many cases .almost obliterated by the hand 0.l Time —1 am taken in spirit back to (he stirring early days of the colonisation of this land., when Otaki and the district was peopled hy thousands of Maoris —fierce, warlike, barbarous, and cruel, it is true, but possessing many tine characteristics and saving qualities, which stamped them as one of the-noblest Native races in the world. Sitting on the hillside in the old cemetery on a recent spring afternoon, dreamily listening to the murmur of Ihe distant waves of the Tasman Sea, and the humming of the busy bees', drinking in the fragrance of the spring air, laden with the sweet scent of hawthorn blossoms and wild roses, I tell to meditating over the career oi Ihe men and women who lay buried at my feet —the manner of then- lives, their varied luheutures and experiences —and my thought-; ran to those beautiful lines:

“Perhaps, in this neglected spot, is laid Some heart once pregnant with celestial lire; Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, Or wakVl to ecstasy the living lvrc” RESTING-PLACE OF TE RAUPAR A HA-

Sea re I ling among live tombstones, I came at last to one —a sombre grev slab —erected to mark the rout-ing-place oi." Ike celebrated ehiei!ain, Tc luuipa raha —the .Napoleon of the Maoris, who, I read, died on 27th November, 18-!!), I recalled iho line: “Hands that the rod of Empire' might have swayed,” and thought how appropriate were those words of Thomas Gray. I hark back to the lime when Te Hauparaha’s name was a terror throughout the land, and think of his remarkable achievements as a warrior and general. Who cannot but udmire the genius of the man! Here is the spot, where he was buried. Many who have resided -for years in-the neighbourhood are quite unaware of the fact —so quickly docs the tamo of mortals fade onee they depart hence! Close by, a handsome monument marks Urn burial-place of Henarc Mateue te Whikhi-o-te-ltangi. This tine old chieftain was greatly beloved by the Ngaluraukawas and Ngatitoas, as also by the pakchas. Many a time he proved a friend in need to the Europeans, and it was largely owing to the influence of (his peace-loving, good-living old Maori that the Natives of this coast remained loyal to the British flag, and refused to join.in the Maori wars, though urged to do so time and again. Mateue te Whiwhi was one of the Natives who journeyed all the way from Olaki to the Bay of Islands to persuade the pakchas there to send a missionary to proclaim the Gospel in these parts, and it was very largely owing to Ins personal influence, raid that of Tamihaua te Hauparaha (only son of the great warrior), that the late Bishop Hudfield commenced the mission work which ho re such good fruit hi the Otaki and neighbouring districts. Mateue te Whiwhi passed to his rest, a man beloved by all, on 28th September, 1881, at the good old age of 00 years.

Many another ancient gravestone tells an interesting story to those who seek to learn their message. In the enclosure on the tint, near the church, highly ornamental stones mark the resting-place of many rangatiyas who occupied important positions in their day, among the number being the Rev, Pineaha (a Native clergyman of the Ngutiraukuwus who did excellent work a-

mong the Ain oris of this coast, and also in the AVairarapa), Puke to Ao, Kopata to Ao, and Hoard Taipua —three noted Olaki chieftains who each represented the Western Maori electors as members of Parliament. MEMORIAL TABLETS. In the Maori church itself —the sacred edifice of which Maoris and Europeans alike are so justly proud —are four memorial tablets,' all worthy of notice. One is erected in memory of the much-loved late Bishop Had Held, born Ist October, 1814, died 11th December, 1904. Another, occupying a prominent position, is in honour of the lute Archdeacon Samuel Williams, who laboured with signal success in Olaki and district from 1847 to 1854. It is most titling that this tablet should be placed in Rangiatea, seeing that the archdeacon was largely responsible for the building of the grand old church. He was architect of the building, and supervised its erect ion.

The memory of the late Henry S. Hadtield, of Paraparaumn (son of Bishop Hadtield), is also perpetuated by a brass plate in the chureh. Henry Hadtield was horn at Olaki on the 11th April, 1853, and until his deatli, in December, 1910, was always a firm friend of the Olaki Natives;. who frequently sought and followed his wise counsels.

Following is a translation of the inscription of a fourth tablet in the church: “To the memory of Rota Wailoa. of Ngaiiraukawa, and Riwi to Aim, of Ngaiiraukawa. They were baptised by the Rev. Hadtield, and were the two lirsl Maori clergymen ordained by the Bishop of New Zealand. They were taken (o those who sleet) in the year of our Lord 1SG(). V