A KNOTTY POINT IN MAORI SUCCESSION. A Muchly Married Aboriginal.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1375, 26 April 1881, Page 3

A KNOTTY POINT IN MAORI SUCCESSION. A Muchly Married Aboriginal.

Eye-witness writes : — I did at one period suppose I would survive the ordeal, of a Native Lands Judgeship. Indoed, it was an appoint ment I rather envied. I have lived however to see my mistake. Battle, murder and sudden death are no doubt calamities, but they do not harrow the feelings or rack the brain to the same extent a good tough knotty point in Maori succession does. Ido not ask any one to endorse that statement until he has heard what Ngataparapara told the Court at Cambridge the other day. After being duly admonished to tell the truth the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he proceeded as follows: — " The fathei of the claimants before the Court (some twenty-five in number, male and female after tlieir kin) was a gay young spark, whose attentions became equally divided amongst a large circle of nutmeg beauties indiginous of the soil. It was during the hight of his conquests that the lights of civilization began to dawn on this benighted land, and a good priest zealous in the cause of evengelicul leform penetrated the remote pah to which he belonged. Foremost in the rankf? of thoso who espoused the faith given to the fathers was our hero, i and, he who had been gallant in love became equally zealous in the war wagged against the evil one. Encouraged by these hopeful systoms, the rev. father concluded events were ripe enough for adjusting the domestic relations of his penitent, in accordance with the standards of the Church. The proposal was received with favor — nay, fervor, if we may judge by the fact that the marriage service was brought into requisition without further delay. Arriving at that clause of the formula, where candidates for matrimony are directed to join hands, a 3cene ensued, I venture to say, without parallel in the history of matrimonial alliance, strange and chequered as its history is shown to have been. No sooner had the direction been given than a whole bevy of inanwatcs sprung forward, two or three hanging on by the hands and arms of the would-be benedict, while an equal number clung to him by the logs. Indeed, he was completely besieged — pinned hand and foot — and what rendered confusion worse confounded, was that they kept hugging and tugging until the unfortunate tellow was in imminent danger of being dismembered. Seeing the turn things had taken, tlip priest naturally enough paused and looked on in dismay. "Go" on," cried the hapless bridegroom, "or can't you see for yourself these infernal wretches will have mo di.igged limb from limb." Still the rev. gentleman hesitated seemingly at loss what to do in the circumstances. "If you don't get along cued the other, " and bring this kind of tiling to a finish, they'll be another dozen of them heie in less than no time, and when they find I h.ive'ut got a flipper left to hang on by, they'll drag off the lasi shrewd of blanketing I have over me " The situation was now perplexing in the extreme, and acting on the impulse of the moment the lcmaiucier of the service was hunied through >vith all possible despatch In that way the father of the claimants to adopt the language employed by the witness "was Htcr.illy married hand and foot ;" each member having been wedged more closely than the other in the holy bands of wedlock. Tho twenty-fivi claimants mentioned above, are admitted to have been the lawful ibsuo of this baud and foot maniage. The question lef t for the Couit to decide, is to whom does the property deseeud in propinquity ? Does it fall to the iNSue of the women who hugged the arms or to tho^e who tugged at the legs? If tho former does the right hand ladies obtain a preference ovci the left ? Evrn then the question has to bo still further narrowed. Has the woman who got hold of the hand no prccidence over her who merely gra&ped at the arm. Mr Mackay, representing tho hapu, who hung on to the legs, contends that at. marriages are made in heaven it docs not matter if the thing is fixed up on earth by tho heels. "In Scotia, from which I hail," continued tho learned counsel, "it is quite sufficient for the occasion if tbe betrothed jump over a broom acick. Now, they could not do that unless they had legs as well ab arms. That fact proves that legs are just as indispensible as arms, consequently I claim that legs are as good for my case as arms." Mr. J. Sheehan, who's clients derived their claim from one of the higher sections of the premogeniture, altogether dissents from that doctrine. He argued that the man might have a peg-leg and that if the contention of his learned friend is correct it would be quite enough for the purposes of matrimony if the bride elect expoused a crutch. Such loos-e ideas of matrimony he maintains cannot be tolerated in the present enlightened state of society, as it would tend to sap the very foundations of public morality. Mr. Grace, another representative man in Maori matters also labored hard to find a peg on which to hang a claim. Not being successful, however, he took legbail and retired from the contest alto - gether. Meantime it will be noted that tho poor judge is having bad times. He has had one or two lengthened adjournments over the head of it and still he continues to •wear a puzzled look. Inavt ord tha leg question is too muoh for any one mind and unless speedy relief is obtained he will be reduced to the sad dilemma of the man without a leg to stand on.

Mb and Mrs Lindsay, the newly-ap-pointed teachers for Coke Bay Native School (Riverton district), arrived three weeks ago, but the work of organisation had scarcely been commenced before it was interrupted by the departure of nearly the whole of the inhabitants of the kaik on their annual mutton bird expedition. The Duke of Manchester was among the unsuccessful applicants for land in the Kimberley district, North-Western Australia. He applied for two blocks of 1000 acres each. The Invercargill people haxe decided to ascertain by oircular the amount of support likely to be given to a company formed to carry the frozen meat export project into effect. _,> «•-