A DAY AT PARIHAKA.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1920, Page 3 (Supplement)

A DAY AT PARIHAKA.

6PECIAL PRIZES.

(Clarence Tyrrell, Rahotuj aged 11 years.) The most interesting day of my life was a day spent in Parihaka. One day one of my school mates and I started off on our ponies about nine o'clock, and after a long ride of about three or four miles we reached the village.

In the centre of the town there stands the two tombstones of the Maori chiefs, Te Whiti and Tohu. We did not see many Maoris, for most of them were out planting potatoes and kumaras. All that was to be seen were two or three very old Maori men, and a few stray dogs, as well as a few hungry-looking pigs. There are very few of the old thatched whares left, the houses being mostly of the European style. Then we rode on to where the soldiers have got their farms. Some were splitting posts, and others were putting up their fences. They are living in tents now, but the timber is on the ground ready for building. We then dismounted, and tethered our ponies to some email trees, and went to look for kie kies. After we had had a good feed of kie kies we began to walk into the bush. We saw many birds nests with eggs and young ones in them, and we also heard tuis calling out, thrushes singing, and young birds chirping. The rata trees were very pretty with their crimson flowers. After scrambling through supple-jacks and other,vines we came upon a patch where there were some nikau palms and tree ferns growing. As it was now getting dark we made onr way back to the place where our ponies wore tethered. When we reached our ponies we mounted them, and started off for home. We reached home feeling very tired, but pleased with the day which we had spent.