SKETCH OF A NATIVE LANDS COURT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 49, 26 February 1881, Page 4

SKETCH OF A NATIVE LANDS COURT.

{Auckland Herald.) A position not enviable is that of sitting in a prosy law court in the dog days in the old country. A drowsy, musty, fusty, legal Bmell seems to thicken tho atmosphere, and the abominable hard benches (why are legal benches so herd ?) are the acme oi diecomforf. But all this is luxury compared to epaurH&jr an afternoon in a Native Land Court in New Zaaland. One blnztDg.fcot day last week, sitting in my easy cbair, on a cool, shady verandah, imbibing quantum sufficii of a certain cup tbat not only cheers, but dcea something inebriate, I felt that I was enjoying the quintessence of idleI ne3P, and was certainly put into a bad [ temper when a fiend, in the shape of a friend, came nod suggested tbat I should spend the afternoon in the Native Lands Court. Ah me, what are tbe duties of a poor unfortunate newspaper hack ! Gentlemen of the fourth estate forsooth ! tbey ought to be gentlemen of at least forty estates to recompense them for all their toil and trouble in pursuit of lt public interests." Scene the first : A Native LanJ Court, Enter your own correspondent. A Court room or bouse some 60 by 30 feet, grotesquely carved and decorated with mythical subjects of Maori lore. Tho floor is of beaten clay— eolid by the couotlees tread of many colored feet. Ou an elevated platform at the further end are placed a table and a couple of chairs, upon wbich sat the semblance of law and order in the shape of one European and one native judge. The Englishman, grave and atern, as befits his legal position, is a fine, tall, scholarly man, of decided military bearing ; a crisp iron«grey beard covering hia faoe and hiding a mobile yet sarcaßtic-loooking moutb. His learned confrere, a Maori, witb a grand yet stern-looking face, deeply lined with indigo-hued tattoo marks — a Maori who was once one of our bitterest foes, but tc-day iB heid in esteem by ail who know him, Witbin an enclosure round tbe platform Bits the verbose Clerk of the Court, " Government official" written on every line of bis fea« tures. Hard by stands the Govern T ment interpreter, a fine, handsome specimen of tbe mixed races ; a sbarp, shrewd, educated man of tbe world \ tbe prototype of Macaulay's dream; Outside the enclosures, at a table, sljt various Maoris— fine, strapping yoi-'ng fellows, the beau ideal of tbe native race— bard at work taking down, in the neatest of caligraphy, tbe veibotim report, both in Maori and Englißb, of tbe evidence before the Court. This scene shows the power ojf England's greatness. A few years since, these " braw" specimens of suntanned mortality would have lifted the war- club and brandished the tomahawk against tbe palefaces ; but tbe pen is mightier than the sword, and to-day the sight of these intelligent Maoris — cannibals, and bloodthirsty as they once -were — reveals the secret of England's conquering power. Misguided policy it may bo in tbe eyes of some, by education to piaco tho coloured race on an equality with tho whites ; but the tiny steel strip of the Birmingham artificer is a far nobler weapon than edge ever produced in famed Damascus of old. At the table pleading, stands a tall native with full, bold, forehead, betokening hard, keen reasoning powers. He is cross-examining a witness respecting a native claim. With keen, glittering eye, and outstretched forefinger ; witb the mildest of accents, as though he were asking, with deep humility, some great favour ; by delicate insinuation, he draws forth a weak confession of his point. Then with knitted brow, and flashing eye, and clenched fist, ho thunders forth in denouncing tones the important question he deems necessary. Full of dramatic power and pathos, but with a deeper earnestness, the Maori lawyer is, in my humble estimation, a favourable compeer to his British brother at law. Round the sides of tbe Court-liouse are groups of delegates of the various tribes involved in the question before the tribunal. Such a variety of characters, colours, and clothes ! Standing majestically on the right is a fine tattooed old chief, a gaudy striped blanket enfolding bis nether limbs, and a native mat of fino dressed flax drapes gracefully over bis broad shoulders. It is whispered in my ear tbat, meek and mild as he is now, that benign face of bis has in former days gloated over a feast of fried " long pork" or " cold, boiled missionary." Lounging carelessly against the wall stands the picture of a Maori swell ; faultlessly "got up" in the correctest European morning dress, •with the whitest of skirt collars and cuffs ; a pair of Oxford shoes revealing the latest fashion's freak in colored hose ; his handkerchief redolent with perfume, his jewellery good and in correct taste); and with a society smile upon Ins face, bo shows tho highly civilising power of an English suit of clothes. This reminds me of wbat I once heard a friend jestingly remark, "tbat a ton of paper collars and cheap looking-glasses were equal to ten tons of gunpowder in conquering savage naiiOiS,"and really I believe it. Tbo Native land Court was well attended by tbe gentler sex (?). Wrinkled old beldames of 70, gloriously arrayed in neat gowns, can-ary-coloured, witb half-crowr-sizeds^ots of blood-red hue, sitting check by jowl with dainty damsels, clad with the airiest of neat-made latest London fashions, w'io aro fastidious as to the proper tilt of their artistically-built chapeau, bandling, in their tinted glo /es and witb the skill of a Spanish madonna, tl e embroidered fan, whicii the sultry atmosphere requires ; deeply absorbed by dividing their attention between the legal jargon of the Court and tho many attentions of their various admirers. As I gazed rou..d at tbe interesting sight before me, I longed for tbo pencil of a Dor6, to perpetuate in glowing colours a Native Lands Court in New Zealand,