A "TANGI" IN NEW ZEALAND.

Southland Times, Issue 589, 9 November 1866, Page 3

A "TANGI " IN NEW ZEALAND.

Ladies when making a great merit of offering tbeir tears a3 a precious gift to man, accompanied or not by other indications of sympathy and emotions as tbe case may be, forget to draw attention to tbe luxury wbicb is to be found in a " good cry," and the readiness with wbicb tbe charming sei bas invariably indulged in its favorite enjoyment in every age, and in all parts of the world. As it was in the days of tbe Old Testament writers, and of iEscbylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, who all make mention not only of emotion publicly expressed, but of professional " bowlers," ready to provide tears, sighs, groans, and shrieks, wholesale, retail, and for exportation ; so, bappilly for all of vs — (for a woman without sympathy is a garden without flowers) — it is iv many parts of the world to this very day. We need not stir out of the enlightened kingdom of Great Britain for instances of professional cryin gs by tbe side of tears of a warmer nature ; and if we take tbe trouble to survey mankind " from China to Peru," or from tbe London Docks to our antipodes, wbicb will perhaps answer our purpose as well, we shall find tbat woman relishes ber " good cry " as keenly, and cultivates it just as assiduously in a settlement of savages, when squatting, wrapped in a dirty blanket, over the smoke of a wood fire kindled in a bole in the * ground, as in a delicious boudoir in London or Paris, with eaa de cologne and

i sal volatile etd. libitum. "When, therefore, r one sweet summers afternoon I rode into - a peaceful little village in New Zealand, i and found all the female inhabitants ent gaged in a ** Tangi," or weeping concert, ■ preparatory to a grand banquet of ceref mony, I need bavo discovered notbing I singular therein, though it seemed at once 3 to carry tbe spirit back for nearly four tbousand years, to tbe days of the patri--5 archs, when Jacob " kissed Rachel and ; lifted up bis voice and wept," as he rolled > away tbe stone from tbe well's mouth to J water her flock. Tlie scenery around, i and the air, like a bath of liquid gold, > with the murmur of tbe adjacent forest, - all fostered a feeling tbat Time had • / stood still, and that we were all patriarchs l together, performing an every-day ob- ? servance. ) A chief, a fine-looking fellow with aqui- : line features, and the appearance of a ' ruler of men, who was a personage of > rank amongst the northern tribes, having ■ just returned from a long absence, was being welcomed on bis arrival by the - customary " Tangi," indicative of affee- » tionats joy, performed by the ladies of ' bis settlement, while tbe gentlemen expressed tbeir sentiments by rubbing their i noses again st his. The ceremony may be described as follows: — Upon the death of a relative or ' friend, or his serious illness or misfortune, . or upon any occasion of rejoicing similar to the one in question, the old women of a tribe assemble for an affectionate " Tangi," or cry together. What a cup of tea is to some ladies, or what a friendly glass of gin is to others in different circumstances, or what a " good cry " is to all the sex, is tbe " Tangi " to elderly Maoris of the feminine gender, sootbiog to tbe spirits, a cure for spasms or little tempers, and in fact, a general clearer of the air. One may see on entering a settlement a number of women sitting on tbe ground iv a circle, some with their faces wrapped in a blanket with which they are draped shawl fashion, some carefully exhibiting with ostentations vanity great circular bead- dresses of turkey's feathers or dog's hair. Tbey appear to be bowing tbeir brows together at intervals, at the same time raising tbeir bands and dropping them on their laps wish gestures of hopelessness, great grief or weariness. On a nearer approach they are heard to be keeping up a kind of wailing chant of a dreary repetition of three notes in a minor key, sung in chorus. Every now and then, at a particularly affecting part of tbe impromptu recitation, tbey will bring all their faces together, and pressing nose to nose, maintain that attitude for nearly ten minutes, while tbey continue the wailing in a murmur. One old woman may , generally be perceived taking the lead, who is evidently tbe most experienced ■ " blubberer," knowing exactly where to , bring in tlie nose business with the greatest effect, and able to keep it up , longer than anyone else ; she will be [ making tbe most tremendous and fearful contortions of tbe face tbat can be imagined, as an accompaniment to tbe i act of weeping, if tbat be not a word suggesting too deep a feeling to be used 1 here. With ber bead raised, ber mouth - drawn from ear to ear, and ber eyes , squeezed up and swollen with tears, she \ lets out a howl that would discomfit a i \ dog at tbe full of tbe moon, only ' stopping to • — in point of fact "se moucber," in tbe primitive manner of -i patriarchal times — wipe ber eyea with ber ■ blanket, and expectorate freely and noisily previous to beginning over again with re- , newed vigor, the whole party seeming to think it a point of honor to . produce tbe most disgusting amount of - grimacing ever witnessed out of a night- ■. mare. At another moment one woman perhaps may be sitting with ber bead : bent forward and inclined to one side, ber • eyes cast down, and he-: bands clasped ( over ber knees, silently sighing, tbe very -, pictnre of quiet, absorbed, heart-broken - misery ; while next to her an old lady \ will be nodding, winking, and exchang- \ ing facetious remarks with a friend for a . minute's interval, after which she will \ take up ber crying with tenfold violence. The ** Tangi " never interferes with j business ; any of tbe party will at any 1 time leave off tbe work to sell a basket of \ peaches, or take a turn at peeling and < boiling the potatoes for her lord's dinner, < afterwards rejoin ber circle of friends, and < will screw up her features into tbeir former j grimace and continue ber performances . precisely where she left off. Eeal i grief or seeling, of course, should be i respected and sympathised with but 1 tbe " Tangi " is no more real than 1 the polite condolence of the world of i London. It is only a ceremony, a required - indulgence in tbe luxury of sham ; and i it can no more be relied upon as an • evidence of tbe . warm or affectionate " nature of tbe Maoris than the first ] funeral met with in London can be ac- * cepted as a proof of tbe ardent tender- " ness of English undertakers. In fact, a i Maori would no more hesitate to knock < out the brains of the man with whom be ] bad previously rubbed noses and wept in ( a " Tangi " than in former times be would * have felt compunction about serving up a ] fricassee of bis grandmother as a choice - dinner for a favored guest. And so, on 1 tbe present occasion dinner and business i both being pressing, tbe " Tangi " was i not allowed to occupy too much time, i Enough having been done to satisfy tbe 1 most accomplished and punctilious of < formalists, tbe ostensible cause of tbe \ meeting was introduced, the bead-dresses ]

, laid aside, tbe countenances of tbe ladies i smoothed and composed into tbeir customary beauty, and decorated with a short pipe, tbe sorrow of all tbe world , was assuaged and tbe tears dried, till . they should be again ordered and paid ; for. — J.J.V., in Once a Week.