HOANI WIREMU HIPANGOS PRESENTATION TO THE QUEEN,

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume II, Issue 11, 27 November 1856, Page 8

HOANI WIREMU HIPANGOS PRESENTATION TO THE QUEEN,

(From New Zealand and its inhabitants by the Rev. R. Taylor,-M. A.,-F.G.S.)

September 4,-1855. "I received a summans from Sir William Moleswortli, to be at lUtckingham Palace, with the New Zealand chief Hbani Wtremii Te Hipango,. to-morrow at half-past two, to be presented by him to the Queen. We look a cab at the lime appointed, and will) .our basket of presents from ihe New Zealand chiefs,.proceeded lo Ihe Palace. After a little delay in discovering the right way- of entering this abode of royalty, we were ushered through of long passages, ami were showed into an inner room, where we were left. It was elegant, but plain; the walls were hung with full-length portraits of the Royal family. I recognised George IV'., William IV., tbeDnkes of York and Cumberland, and several others. After wailing about ten minules, Sir William Moleswortli made his appearance, hewas(heissincedead) an intelligent and remarkable looking man : his hair was very light and ibin ; he wore it brushed straight down; it was of unequal length, and seemed as though it had never been cut; the crown of bis head was quite bald. After some desultory talk of about leu minutes, the folding doors were thrown open, and Her Majesty was announced whb Prince Albert. They immediately entered, and came up to us. We bowed. She had on a little bonnet, and was dressed remarkably plain; the Prince also, like a plain gentleman. The Queen is little in stature not stout; with a snwll oval face, her voice is extremely sweet, and she has a good natured smile. Sir William Moleswortli intioduced us. She expressed her satisfaction in seeing us, and put many qnestions relative to Te Hipango—how long he had been baptized—whether he spoke English—whether he had long worn English clothing—what proportion of the race had embraced Christianity—and how long T had been there—all which queries I answered.

* l I then Slated to Her Majesty the object Te Hipango had in desiring to see her; that several tribes on the western coast of New Zealand were anxious for him to convey the expression of their attachment to her, and their desire of being considered as her children, fcThnt they had sent two embroidered matsasspocimensof their native manufacture, and several weapons of war, as proofs they were no longer needed. Jfr A nana bad sent his green stone Mere"the New Zealand emblem of sovereignty, as a token of his allegiance to Her Majesty; that this was the most valuable property he had to give. That the finely embroidered bag had been expressly worked for her by Rawinja, the wife of Te Hipango; that when she'was recommended to make it of less dimensions she refused, saying it would not be right to make a little bag for the greatest lady in the world—the Queen smiled. I then presented the large cloak made of the feathers of the Kiwi (apterix AustralisJ, and slated that it was the most singular bird of New Zealand, and likely soon to be extinct; that it was extremely rare lo see a cloak made of its feathers; that this present was sent by the Upper Wanganui natives, who had hitherto been opposed to her Majesty ? s Government: that their chief Majiajiu. v , was one of the commanders in the late war;&that this, and an ancient weapon which had been in the family of. for nearly a dozen generations, were sent as tokens of their love to Her Majesty, ana proofs they were no longer enemies, but friends. The Queen put many questions relative to the presents. She took up the bag, and inquired what it was made of, and whether it was manufactured by a machine. I slated that it was done by hand. She again asked whether some instrument had not been used. I assured her it was done entirely with the fingers, and pointed out that both sides were alike, and that it was very tedious work, having taken more than a year. The Prince examined the mats, talked about the flax, and thought it might be prepared by acids. This, I said, had been tried, and not found to answer, as it decomposed the fibre. He remarked it was wrongly called a flax. I replied that it belonged to the asphodelece. Sir VV. Molesworth remarked that New Zealand flax, had been found upon trial to be capable of sustaining a much greater weight than the Russian, which the Prince assented to. -W The Queen particularly adnrred the green stone Mere, and took it up several times:

she inquired the use of it. I told Her Ma-, jesty it was used not only as a sceptre, but I to put an end to unruly subjects. She smiled, | and asked how it was used for that purpose. I placed it in Hipango's hands, and he explained that they did notstrike it lengthways, but pushed it into the side ofthe skull. The Prince remarked that they were acquainted with the soft parts of the head. She also took up the ancient weapon of Pehi, and said it did not appear a very dangerousone. I told her it easily fractured the skull. She said, they must fight very close, and lake hold of each other's hair, i replied, thai was precisely the way they formerly fought. The Queen asked the Chief if he had eaten the Kiwi. He answered, no; he was a coast native, and the bird was only found in the interior. I replied, that I had frequently eaten it. She inquired whether it was good eating. I said it was, and that it lasted more like flesh than fowl, t JJjeclyMiexL to Hoani Wiremu to speak; he the first coming of the Europeans he had been their friend; after be embraced the Christian faith he felt they were one with biro; that be had always been attached to Her Majesty, as she was the Defender of the Faith. The Queen smiled; she Ind me assure him that she had always the welfare of ihe New Zealand race at heart, and also commanded me, when I returned to New Zealand, to make her sentiments known to all the tribes. ♦ Her MajesLy desired me to write every particular of each present, and label them that she should send them to Windsor, to be laid up in her Armoury. »«T e Hi P an S<> began speaking again. Her Majesty however, thinking she had honoured us with a sufficiently long audience, made ■us a very graceful bow and retired, turning round and bowing again, and as she entered the next room, making a third bow. The Prince also gave a slight one. Thus ended our audience. After the Queen had retired to an inner -room, we remained with Si rW. Moles worth and wrote the names and particulars of each article, which were then severally attached to them. Hoani said he did not know it was the -Queen, and scolded me for not telling him • the fact was, she came in such an Sn?i IS 7 ay, , with . so little appearance of »£?if? at . Bhe^ 11, i ght easil y fa e mistaken. Her Majesty and the Prince stood the whole SE?i»? de 5 fl V we Were a!I in one group. She remained about twenty minutes; we then

took our departure, and so terminated our interview. We have been permitted to see, in the person or a good na lured, sweet-toned, nicelooking little lady, the head of the first empire in the world, and therefore must consider it one of the most interesting days of our life; At the palace door our cab drove up, we were handed in, and drove off, thus bidding the palace adieu, and ending our first, and, in all probability, our last interview with Queen Victoria, our Most Gracious Sovereign: we mingled again in the multitude, and nothing remained but a pleasing recollection, somewhat like a daguereolype of the scene, vividly and distinctly impressed on the mind.-