TARANAKI.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5402, 20 July 1878, Page 2

TARANAKI.

• (from a correspondent.) The great Maori meeting at Waitara has come to a close, and everything is supposed to be satisfactorily arranged, thank goodness; for at first things looked by no means promising for a meeting at all. Waitara caimot boast much picturesqueness of aspect. There is a river, and there is a broad expat se of flat land bordering it, which is a pleasant mixture of raupo swamp, puddles, and what in summer might perhaps be called dry land—very much turned up in ancient times by pigs. I almost forgot to mention another feature of Waitara, namely, a few houses scattered at the two extremities of a partially formed mile-long road. Upon this flat the meeting was to be held, so the Government ordered Ihe erection of wooden buildings, occupying three sides of a parallelogram, 350 ft. by 300ffc. ; the buildings were Oft. high at the back and Oft. in front, and Bft. wide, without' flooring ; so that it will be readily perceived they did not possess any very remarkable architectural beauty. It rained incessantly for some days after Rewi’s arrival at the north side of the Waitara, so that when he first behold the elegant accommodation which had been provided for him and his people, he told Mr. Sheehan that Maoris did not like to live in stables, and at" first would nob have anything to do with them, suggesting that a canoe should also have been provided, as the buildings were considerably damp inside as well as outside. However, at last the meeting came off on Friday and Saturday, and a good deal of feeding was done ; bub on Saturday night the weather was so stormy that it blew ovtr a great portion of the elegant structure; and Mr. i Sheehan, to quiet the, excited aborigines, deemed it advisable to take them an excursion by rail on Sunday to New Plymouth and up to Inglewood and back again to Waitara, which somewhat soothed their perturbed minds. On Monday the natives were entertained at a fete champetrc, which consisted principally of beer; five hogsheads of which an enterprising settler, who has his eye upon the Waimate .plains, forwarded for their use or abuse, and consequently many of them retired that night most happily drunk. This generous treatment on the part of the enterprising settler I have reason to believe is set down by many natives and Europeans to the credit of the Government ; for on Tuesday, as I was taking my noonday pipe at the corner, I was accosted by a gentleman just in from Waitara as follows “ Oh, beg par’n, sir : know you, bon’st man show on ; but S’George ’slier fine man. If I’d fi-pun note put it down ; raise moii’menfc S’George Grey.” To which I replied that being very busy just then, I was very sorry I could not attend to him, but if he would call at my office next day I would see to it. Apparently the gentleman had not a “ fi-pun note ” to spare, for I did not again have the pleasure of seeing him.

The great talk in the place lately has been the weather. I believe it has rained more or less every day for 49 days ; and as Taranaki has .the finest climate in New Zealand, what must it have been elsewhere ? —ln Wellington for instance. Bat at last we have a fine day, July 16, and we begin to hope that the spell is broken. The oldest resident informed me in confidence yesterday that he did not remember anything appioachiug to it since'42, and that it all came from the June new moon coming in on a Saturdays and being “ on its back ” at the same time. I* think-Captain Edwin’s attention should be called to this important astronomical fact.

Mr. Kelly lias given his speech, and been accorded the usual vote of confidence, which by the bye he did not get last year ; but not all the hints in the papers, nor all the sly pokes in public meetings, have as yet been effectual in getting Mr. F. A. Carrington to the fore ; and so he goes down to your city soon, for the next session.