NOBLE NGAKUKU PANAKAREAO.
It becomes our painful duty to record the sudden death of the celebrated chief Noble Ngakuku Panakareao. His illness was occasioned by swimming across a river with ahorse twice in one day, and remaining for some time in his wet clothes. The object of this extraordinary journey was,-it would appear, to be present at a Maori settlement in tb« neighbourhood, to confront some natives, a dis pute having arisen between himself and 1 the parties in question.His'demise took place on the 12th of April J presence of numerous attendants, who, accoidin;.: o the il tori usage, proclaimed the melancholj. tidings to the people by firing off a volley of musketry as soon as the immortal spirit forsook its earthly tenement. The body was laid out in state, and interred with great ponp on the 18th. •opwards of a thousand persons hawn; assembled to witness the mournful proceedings.
A great void has been created by the removal j of this distinguished personage from among- the ' Aupouri and Earuwa tribes, nor is the great sensation felt by the people likely to pass away speedily, or the solemn event soon to be forgotten. Noble having left only one child, an infs.nt daughter,the various representatives of familiesand 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 restless spirits of the old Maori school, whose deeds of valour, independently of Chieftainship, entitled them to sway the Councils of the land, and call forth the plaudits of the people. His family tribe—Te Palu—-numbered two hundred strong, but sixteen hundred flew to lis standard when their services were in requisition. ! Noble's father, Te Kaka, was alike influential i and brave; ; but his enemies were so powerful and numerous,- that he was driven from his lands at Oruru, and obliged to take shelter on the group of islands off the North Cape, called the Three Kings. Te Kaka,4n making bis escape through a wooded forest, became entangled in the supple-jacks, thereby endangering his life, and in commemoratiou of this event, he named his son—the subject of our present very brief sketch which signifies, being pushed aside by the vine commonly known as hareao. This was previous to the initiation as generil of the Ngapuhi tribes, —of that wholesale destroyer of his species, Hongihika. •f In reoccupying the disputed territory subsequently, Noble was attacked by IJeke and his adherents, and driven, as was his iather before him, from the valley of Oruru. He retired to Kaitaia after a few of his men had been shot down. ; £>uring the late waf 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 erevy other ehiTd of Adam, we are willing to admit, but when parties whose views he may have thwarted attack character, and impugn motives, we feci ourselves bound to defend the injured, and to demand that more substantial proofs be given than mere assertions. Nurtured in freedom, and yielding obedierce 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 enlightened education, would be likely to conduct themselves with that tolerance which characterized Noble's career, should they have enjoyed the same unlimited poweF?
Not long after the formatiou of a Mission Station at Kaitaia, Noble embraced Christianity, and was for a series of years a faithful friend of the Church Missionary Society; and by his influenc e many were led to abandon heathenism and enrol their names on the Church records. We v are trust&ig:"lrtK}£ the BibScal instructions imparted to our deceased friend, by the missionaries, resulted in his personal application to " the lamb of God which takeih away the sins of the world;" and that his mortal remains were consigned to the tomb—surrounded by a- weeping multitude—" in sure and certain hope of a resurrection to eternal life."
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Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume II, Issue 9, 30 September 1856, Page 11
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737NOBLE NGAKUKU PANAKAREAO. Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume II, Issue 9, 30 September 1856, Page 11
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