THE REGATTA.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 2, Issue 29, 31 January 1850, Page 2

THE REGATTA.

We feel a very great regret at our inability to have conveyed to you any previous intimation of the Regatta. which took place here, on the 29th inst.; but, the truth is, the matter was projected and perfected in so few days, that our paper was in course of publication just as we ascertained its final arrangements. Next year, in all probability, the Sports will bo repeated, and upon a much more extensive scale:—if so, we trust to have it in our power to afford you timely and ample information, so that you may be enabled to enter into general and generous competition in nn exercise in which nature and habit have rendered you so eminently fitted to excel. Regattas have long been a favourite enjoyment of the people of England. They are an honourable and a healthy source of amusement. Still, much ns they contribute to individual pleasure, they possess a character and quality beyond that of mere pastime. Regattas have been, in a very great degree, instrumental to improvement in ship-build-ing, on account of the time and attention given by men of skill and ingenuity to the designing of vessels of a handsomer and finer description. Although vessels, intended for regattas, are chiefly designed for speed, yet so much care Jins been bestowed upon their general qualities that both the fighting and the merchant ships of England have derived great profit by the skill and learning which has been brought to bear upon their construction. The vessels employed in the English Regattas are termed Yachts, and are bui't and maintained at the private cost of their owners. Many of these yachts are most magnificent vessels, measuring from fifty to five hundred tons, built at a great expense and equipped in a sumptuous manner They are generally armed and well manned. Most are merely fitted out for the summer's pleasure, but several have performed long and arduous voyages, and some of their owners have contributed much to the enlightenment of mankind. Wherever Englishmen establish themselves, they are fond of introducing Regattas, and although they cannot, in remote settlements, be expected by such institutions, to accomplish equal benefits as those they have conferred upon England, yet, as they tend to encourage nnd improve the nautical taste we are delighted to think thoy are likely to take root in New Zealand.

Considering tlie very short time in which tlie Auckland Regatta was pro • pared, it must, we think, be admitted to have been a remarkably good one. The boat races were well aud ably contested, and it was only because of the prevailing calm that the sailing matches possessed so little comparative interest. We were much gratified to find, limited as the time for preparation nocesssarily was, that several of our Maori friends were nevertheless as much on the alert as their European brothers, and were as eager to give token of their prowess as the best amongst us. Every one was delighted with the cnnoe ra"cs. They were excellent—and we trust should another Regatta occur that many more canoes will come forward, and that the managers may be able to afl'ord more numerous and valuable prizes. We should be glad, too, to

see you following the English example, endeavouring to win the race not merely by the paddle, but by your skill and dexterity in navigating your canoes when under sail. At the Regatta on the 29th inst.. there were rules laid down for the guidance of the native racers, of which they were either ignorant, or which they disregarded ; —for example, the first race was lixed to take place between canoes with not more than twelve men in each. However, wiicn the canoes came to the starting place, tliey were all mixed together, some with twenty, some with fifty paddles. Had these been English boats, they would not have been permitted to race at all j—but the Committee being anxious to accommodate their Native friends overlooked this departure from their rules and allowed the contest to take place. The energy and the animation of the scene that ensued was beautiful to behold J—and the anxiotv to win, evinced by the vigour with which each canoe was impelled, elicited the warmest admiration from every English spectator.

The event of this race must show our Native friends the necessity of becoming perfectly acquainted with the course they have to pursue. Only one canoe nulled round the buoy at the North Head, ami that canoe, although not the first to reach the Hag-ship, on its return, was stiil the only one, of seven that started, entitled to win the prize—winch was accordingly awarded to its conductor, Hcwiti. We were happy to observe that the disappointment thus occasioned was borne with n good grace, and that four canoes of the-erring number went vigourously t<> work to compete for a second prize. This second race was .1 splendid one, the canoes smuggling and striving for mastery, and keeping together head and head throughout its entire course. Victory declared in favour of Arapui, his canoe, the "Mokewitiwiti," reaching the goal oidy a few feet ahead of her competitors. So much for the Regatta of ISSO. At that of 1851, we hope the Natives will muster much more numerously, and that they will show the world there are few, if any, more proficient in Aquatics than they.