RECEPTION OF REWI IN AUCKLAND.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1083, 3 June 1879, Page 2

RECEPTION OF REWI IN AUCKLAND.

We take from the 'Herald' the following account of the reception of • Rewi and the Hon. Mr Sheehan at the Railway station at Auckland : "It having become known that the famous Chief Rewi Maniapoto, or Manga, as he is called amongst the -udaoris, was to accompany the Hon. J. Sheehan, Native Minister, to iUiclcland yesterday, a very large crowd, probably not less than 500 people, assembled at the railway station to receive him. There is probably no chief in New Zealand, who at present exercises the sarnW / amount of influence as Rewi. I&*y<' was a staunch but a fair-dealing foe during the Maori, war, but he has been a true pariot, and recently having cast his lot x wibh the peacepreserving party, and been taken iD hand by the Hon. the Premier, and the Hon. the Defence Minister, he has,. while actuated by the same patriotic motives, used his whole influence to effect a permanent settlemeat of what is known as the Maori difficulty. The arrival of a man of such standing in Auckland, and in such company, was naturally a matter' of congratulation. The reception was to both the Native Minister and Rewi. The people of Auckland feel grateful to Mr Sheehan for his untiring exertions to open the interior by peacetul arrangement with the natives, and they recognise in Rewi a man of enlarged views, who wishes to guide his people in the only .'way in which safety lies. Amongst those piesent on the platform there were, no doubt, many actuated. by motives of ' mere curiosity, and others, perhaps, by different ones, but, amoagst the great majority, there was manifested a spirit of genuine interest and rejoicing at a step which appeared to be the precursor of a final settlement of Maori disputes. All tb»t is now required is to pursue the system of social intercourse whieh has been commenced, and, aj- was predicted by the Native Minister in his address yesterday, we shall have seen the last of that isolation of the races which has prevailed, and the uative difficulty will be a thing of the past. This was the feeling- oy which the largo majority 6t those who assemblod on the platform yesterday were actuated—not by a mere desiro to see the famous chief, who exercises such vaßit influeaCrt amongst his own people, uoy to view the warrior who ia i given nible battle to the flower of the British army and colonial forces. It was generally understood that the special train would arrive ' a'oout 2 o'clock. Up to that time the weather had held tine, but soou afterwards a steady raia se*t it. There was no room for one-quarter of those who awaited "the arrival of the train to get under shelter in the sheds atnl waitingroootns, and the others were obliged to protect themselves, with umbrellas and greatcoats as best they could until the train arrived at 3 o'clock. In the interval there was a iarge amount of good humored chaffing, bat good order prevailed. Perhaps a speciman of Maori chaff may be worth giving. Wi Maihi to Etangikaheke was on the platform, and he held forth as follows : v< Now this remiuds me of the parable of the Prodigal Son ; Rewi is the prodiagl son who comes back to to his father's house, after a course of riotous living. You pakehas are she father, and you are killiug the fatted calf and making great rejoicing for him. Now, here am I, the elder brother ! My tribe, the .irawas, have been friendly to Europeans all these years, and have • snpported and upheld you. But you never make any rejoicing for me. We are not treated as this prodigal son." There is a good deal of material for thought in Marsh's speech." The gist of the speeches has already been given in the telegraphic columns of the Waikato Times.

Rewi's speech, however, seems to have been but the uttranoe of a single proverb, the translation and meaning of which, like all that chief's oracular deliver a aces, is somewhat obscure and ambiguous. The ' Herald' goes on to say : '• Rewi had now to reply. The circumstances were all against him, and no Maori would have attempted to make a speech under the difficulties whioh existed. They are accustomed to' address people all sitting down, and not confusedly surging around them, ltewi got out of the dilemma, not by saying that he was unaccustomed to public speaking, but by repealing an ancient Maori proverb, whakatauki y containing a great deal in a few words. Addressing the Mayor, he said, "My reply to you will be brief,', and then followed the proverb :—"He kefcahi tangata na Motai, tere e haerea te one i Hakerekere." The worst thing about this speech was that nobody on the spur of the moment could translate it for the benefit of the crowd, who were all agape to hear what weighty sentiments Kewi had uttered in those few words. Maori provarbs constitute a terra incognita even to most Maori scholars. They frequently include words which have passed out of ordinary use, and in UOti $ fsyi in.stan.oeSj as jn, the preseii^

npp, they cannot be understood without knowing the circumstances wliiab gave rise (o the saying. Several natives who were standing around commenced to offer explanatory remarks, but Rewi himself took no pint in the exesisis. He had said his say, and all pprsons might just puzzle ou f t the meaning of it. Hewas, enough to repeat thef w£rda to one of our staff, and we append an explanation furnished by Mr C. O. Davis. The literal translation is :—" A. deecendant of Motai, who will yet journey along the sands of Hakerekere." Motai was an ancester of jtfgatiraukawa (Rewi's tribe). Hakerekere is th« n(|me' of a sea beach in the neighborhood of probably owing to its appellation to the ironsands in that locality, the meaning of Hakerekere being " dense dark-' ness." The origan of the proverb i 3 as follows:—A chief who lived near Hakerekere, took captive a Ngatiraukawa woman during one of his raids into the country of her peo] le, and while in captivity at his settlement he taunted her by saying, '' Who will be daring enough to come hither on a- war expedition !" Sbe L repiied, "He kotahi fangata na Motaitera e haereateone i Hakerekers " —" there is a descendant of Motai who will yet journey along the sands to Hakerekere." A son of the captive woman, whose name was Kapu, traversed the sands of Hakerekere, fought the chief's party, and liberrted his mother from her captivity. She related the previous conversation to her son, and the saying became a national proverb of the IS'gatiraukawa people. i