" MAGGIE THE GUIDE."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 9, 5 July 1911, Page 3

" MAGGIE THE GUIDE."

j IMPRESSIONS OF ENGLAND AND THE ENGLISH. | ALREADY A CELEBRITY.

I London, May 5. ' (Lady Correspondent Dunedin nTlar.) ) Little did the writer think when, ill the golden sunlight of a spring afternoon, she stood talking to Maggie Papakura by i the bridge at " Whnksi,'' nearly three years ago, that, our next meeting would be at the Crystal Palace Hotel in Upper Norwood—one of the suburbs of London —in t'his year of grace 1911, with Maggie and her little tribe here to help to celebrate King George's accession. Her ' trip, the first to England, and the wonders of London, have pleased Maggie greatly, and she is utterly amazed to find herself already something of a celebrity. Every day since her arrival several interviews with her, or impressions of her, have appeared in various morning or evening papers and weeklies, and her voice, her delightfully pure English, and her personality are made much of by the English and Scotch journals, so that Maggie's collection of press cuttings would more than rival those of a modern society woman. She, however, shows not the leaat sign of being spoiled, and is frankly delighted at her new experiences. It seemed absurd to ask her impressions of London after a few days' residence here, but the old question will out, in this as in all other countries. i

"Oh, I love it all—much better, already than I expected to, though I expected «uch a lot. I knew I should love England, but even I hadn't expected to find London so fascinating, or its people as kind as they are. The shops are, so beautiful—l love gazing in the windows, all full of beautiful things that must simply tempt money out ot people's pockets, ' I should think. In the afternoons and evenings some of us have been guests at various theatres, and on Sunday we went to a splendia concert at the Albert Hnll, and also to hear .Madame Zela, the New Xenlauu singer, at the Palladium," "Bella, your sister, is with you?" I asked, for only Maggie and Hara, her young cousin, appeared at first.

"Oh, Bella is our leading lady," Maggie smiled; "we couldn't leave her behind. She is to lead the dances. The Arawa village at the Crystal Palace is not ready for us yet—when it is, ot course, 've shall all live there in Maori fa*lrion." STRICT REGULATIONS.

There are 22 Maori men, 18 women, and four children of (he Arawa tribe here, and they arc under rules made, by themselves, and a good deal stiffer, probably, than any that would have been set for them. The principal regulations are that no one, man or woman, is allowed any intoxicating drink in the camp, or allowed to accept it. No one may go beyond the village bounds without permission, even then he or she must have two companions. "You have brought over the 'furniture' of the village, I am told." I said.

"Yes ; no less than 100 tons of effects," Maggie rejoined; ''Maori mats, cloaks, and all kinds of weapons of war, taialias, tewliatewhas, greenstone and whalebone meres; then all kinds of ornaments —tikis, whakakais, makos, pekapekas, and koropepes." "And many kinds of cloaks?" I asked, as much for the pleasure of hearing the sweet-sounding Maori words as anything. "<)h, yes; cloaks of kiwi, kukura, koromai. tamiko, piupiu, pora and korohunga," she made answer. The carving also that will decorate the village has been brought over, so that, completed, the show should certainly be a genuine representation of a Maori scene. One need riot dilate to Yew Zcalanders on the Maori sense of lnimor. or Maggie's expression when dvsorihing her efforts to understand pidgin Knglish exploited for her benefit. "You have lots of experience of that, kind of tlung among the tourists at Rotorua," I suggested. "Oh, indeed, I do," she laughed; "and it only amuses mo when applied* to myself, though it annoys me intensely when I hear it spoken to other Maoris. I had rather a funny experience one day at Whakarewarewa with an oldish lady who would talk broken English to me. I didn't take much notice of it, really, but when a sufficient number of people had collected and I was explaining the various points of interest to them, sue suddenly turned round to me and said, in an astonished voice:

"Well, Hi declare, you speak Hinglish halmost as well as we do!"

Old Mita Taupopoki, the famous old chief, had been sent fov to greet me, and here entered the room —a fine, warlike old fellow, with white hair and beard, and the wonderful eyes of his race. MAORI COMPLIMENTS. Tie cannot understand a word of English, but my halting attempt at "Kahoro au e mohio kite korero Maori'' (which I trusted he'd underatand as "T do not speak Maori") brought me the pretty answer, ''Koia, kfii tenei kohine kai konei" which I believe to be something like "Fancy seeing this little girl here!" a sentence it would puzzle an Englishman to make unblushiugly, I fancy, to a woman of my age! Maggie kindly translated Ihe old man's impressions of his trip, out of which one pretty sentence remains in inv head.

''He has had his desire now. and wants to go lio further," she smiled. "After England, only Heaven!'' "Of course, beyond everything on our trip, we look forward to once more seeing the King and Queen," Maggie said; "and that we shall do next week, when the Festival opens." "You were a fortunate individual, and saw a great deal of them out in Xew Zealand," I put in. "Yes, but the worst of it is that I was so excited that I can hardly remember what they said to me!" Magsie answered. "They asked numbers of questions, and the Queen took a wonderful interest in the Maori babies and Hie Maori houses and housekeeping, and several times stopped the women and spoke to their children. Then, before they went away, she said so prettily to me as she shook hands: "Thank you for your care of my husband and mc." . \ .. :i