TE WHITI.

Temuka Leader, Issue 802, 17 December 1881, Page 2

TE WHITI.

A. writer in tie New Zealand Times thus sketches the Maori Prophet;— At Parihaka, first sitting still, and then addressing his people. I saw this gifted man. Before me, with head uncovered, grey-heided, bare-footed, clad m grey merino shirt, with shawl of many colors wrapped round his loins, erect and motionless stood the most powerful man in these Islands—the mam who had the Queen’s Viceroy's to have anxious moments ; the savage who qu : etly snubbed the High. Commissioner of the Pacific ; the man wlio made oar ministers to, tremble m their shoes; the man whose actions might have tumbled them from their splits ; the ruler, I might almost say of his people, for so they regard him. He looks about fifty years f of age, his dnrh hair tinged with streaks of grey, his thin beard—unusually large for a Maori—quite white. He has the most intellectual face, probably, ever seen in a Maori, with ke«n, bright, but ■kindly, eyes, firm mouth, and refined feafmes. He is of fair height, with, well-turned limbs. Sitting still, in repose, he is not easily distinguishable from other Maoris ; but see him etsruL

'ins there, with all the dignity of a r al Maori Kai.gitira, ti.e dignity acquired thri.uuli generations of control a dignitv which can be seen ouiy to \crffen’on among real rangilira--*. Flic as eembl. d crowd listen breathlessly ; his keen eyes range piercingly oyer the audience, and then his voice rings but clear and distinct, every sentence uttered will) suit-abb* change of voice, now persuasively. now in a tone of thundei, presently in notes of deepest melancholy as he tells them of the wrongs, and m anon stern commands, as the inspired prophet, for such he professes to be. And as I stood there wonderingly listening it seemed to me that he was like the prophets Moses or Isaiah delivering messages : “ Thus sailh the Lord,” ami again, “ He ye the word of the Lord Nor was this merely fanciful, for r Je Whiti tells them they are part of the ten lost tribes of Israelrr-that they are the chosen people of God, and he speaks to them in the very words of the inspired prophets. His knowledge of the Bible is very thorough, and all through his speeches are saturated with extracts from Holy Writ. Unlike most Maori orators of the old school, Te Whiti does not walk about, but stands erect and quiet, now and then only changing one foot. His voice bas greater range that that of most Maoris, is much under, control. His delivery at times is quick and impassioned.’ He is also a ready debate*-, with vast powers of sarcasm, invective, and ridicule. [\o Maori has ever been able to hold his own in debate with Te Whiti. One noted old chief travelled ninety miles to a meeting for the purpose of putting d<*wn this u; start young chief; he sat, listened, and went away without saying a word, merely replying to a question that he felt Te Whiti too much for him. Others have tried in former years, but all were easily s> t dewn by Te Wluti’s wonderful power of ridicule and sarcasm; and now for years no one has dared to dispute with him ; they acknowledge him as master. Te WhitiV delivery is very easy. He has been known to talk fur eight hours, and not fee I hoarse or fatigued. As an orator and debater he is unrivalled by any of bis race—he towers, immensely above them. No m*m can make such speeches unless his mind he well ,-tored with facts. Unlike Maories, who loolT'coarse and even, dull, Te Whiti has the look of a high thinker end plain liver. His language too. is most classic Maori, for Te Whiti is deeply learned in all the old legends and incantations ot his people, and has at his finger ends the karakias snd the religious lore of the old Tohungas. Te Whiti is usually a silent man, taciturn, reserved, com--teoug to all. lavish in hospitality to European s , but always thoughtful, always dignified. All his speeches at his great gatherings are specially tinted for the newspaper correspondents, who are usually present at the meetings, but the real plans are discussed in the runanga house at night among the chiefs alone. At the meetings there is no debating. Te Whiti first speaks, then Tohu, who is to him what Rees was to Sir George Grey, takes up the burden of his song, then Te Whiti says a few farewell words and the meeting ends. A Cruel Hoax —Captain Murphy, of the schooner Albatross, has recently been made the viettn of a merciless practical joke, and it wvuld only be sensible on the part or the perpetrator to keep ont of the way. Some weeks ago the Albatross left Suva, Fiji, for Wellington, and immediately after her departure a paragraph ■appeared in the local journal stating that the skipper had run away with a pretty barmaid, to whose graces and wiles he had become a captive. The paper arrived in Auckland in due course, and the paragraph was extracted and printed as news in one of the Auckland dailies. It .caused considerable astonishment amongst the skipper’s worthy friends here, and not the least astonished was Mrs Murphy, who resides in Auckland. She immediately wrote to her husband, and the tenor of the letter may be guessed from the fact that immediately upon its receipt Captain Murphy threw up the command pf his vessel at Wellington, and burned to Auckland by the first steamer. Naturally enough, he was indignant at the heartless nature of the joke ; but ho was in time to prevent any further mischief being done. The prank, which somebody must have thought to be funny, has cost Mrs Murphy no sraajl amount of anxiety, while her husband has lost a good situation.—Observer.