A MAORI TANGI.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 287, 4 August 1888, Page 3

A MAORI TANGI.

This following is the Eginonfc "Star correspondents description of the tangi over Titokowaru : — "On Thursday great prepaiations were being made for the coming feats t ; a quantity of beef and pork had been killed, the slaughtering place being in the middle of the pah. From Manaia large quantities of groceries had been brought, and some Europeans were discharging a cartload of provisions, including over 200 loaves of bread. There appear to be 400 or 500 natives on the ground, and more are continually coming in. As each tribe or hapu arrive within half a mile of the pah they unyoke and unsaddle their horses, and with the women in front (the ugliest leading) they advance in an irregular kind of procession, chanting a low song or howl. Inside the pah, about 40 or 50 young men are arranged in a long row, armed with gunfe, which they fire and reload as fast as possible, and are well supported by more howling women. The remains of the warrior chief are laid out in full war costume, decorated with feathers and other ornarnenbe. It is in the open air with nothing more than a blanket to keep the sun off, and has the appearance of a middle-aged man very thin and worn, as though after a long sickness. Around are some 70 or 80 natives, mostly women, who are crouching in all sorts of positions, and keep • keening ' their death song. The crying, gun tiring, shouting, dogs barking, and the constant babel of tongues make up a scene that is now seldom witnessed. "'