NATIVE MEETING NEAR ALEXANDRA. [BY OUR OWN REPORTER.]

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1537, 11 May 1882, Page 2

NATIVE MEETING NEAR ALEXANDRA. [BY OUR OWN REPORTER.]

A Change of Name. Alexandra, Tuesday. A steady downpour of rain for the laat twenty-four hours has kept all within doors, and none of us (I mean the unfortunate visitors) have had an opportunity of crossing the river to-day. Indeed the native settlement is in such an unpleasant condition that the name Whatiwhatihoe has been changed by general approval to the more appropriate appellation of "Muddymuddyhoe" and, I think this latest development in the nomenclature of Maoridom is exceedingly happy.

The Meeting. When business will commence it is very hard to say, for- my recent experience of the adaptation of that very general word "Taihoa" has led me to believe that natives are very indefinite in what they say, and that when they contemplate holding a meeting on a certain day_ they simply mean the month in which the day falls. During the past week we have been reSeatedly misguided by hearing that "the ay after , to-morrow business will be entered upon," but it would seem as if that particular day was deliberately receding as we endeavour to come up with it. It has never come as yet, and were I to say that the meeting will for certainty commence this day fortnight, I may be as near to the mark as if I said that the meeting would for certain open tomorrow. I can only say that we have been given td understand that favourable weather is the only thing now wanted, everything else being in readiness. All the tribes with their respective heads have arrived, and a sufficiency of food is on the ground. I dare say if to-morrow is fine your readers will know on the following morning the line of policy Tawhiao intends to pursue.

Maori Mummies. Natives coming from the interior have ventilated stories which lead me to the conviction thatthe natives, like the Egyptians, anterior to the European advenfc, carried out the process of embalming their dead. Though these stories were of doubtful origin, they have to a great extent been authenticated by several Europeans who speak from experience on the matter. Two mummies are said to be located in caves one below, and the other above the Kuiti settlement. The former is said to be the remains of a great chief named Tumondna, and the latter of Taieheihi, both of whom are supposed to have existed about six generations ago. It is said that another mummy was located in a cave somewhere in the Mokau district, but that the children with their usual infantine curiosity, were in the habit of poking it with sticks by way of testing the material, and it accordingly came to grief. These are supposed to be the ancestors of the Ngatimaniapotos. The process qi embalming is very different from that adopted by the Egyptians. A hole is made in some part of the body, through which the internal organs are taken out. The body is then placed in a cave exposed to the rays of the sun, and to the wind, but is completely sheltered from the rain. This is sufficient, and if they are not meddled with they will remain intact for generations. The chief Honana informs me that there are a lot of such objects in caves near the Pilot Station at the Manukau Heads, and that the natives residing m that vicinity, if requested, would direct any visitor to the place. His story of the embalming process is very different from that which I have mentioned above. He says that the head is taken Jfrom the body, after being exhumed, and dressed with feathers and other native ornaments. It is then placed on sticks, which are likewise dressed a la Maori, and with the richest material available. These images were brought out of their dungeons or caves once a year, when a tangi was held by the members of the tribe.

The Liauor Traffic. Up to this morning very little change bad been effected in the sobriety of the natives, who, through some agency, whether known or unknown, had been supplied with liquor to any extent. Sergeant McGovern arrived here from Hamilton to-day, and since hia arrival, I am glad to say, marvellous changes have taken place. Very few drunken natives were to be found lounging about _ the streets since dinner-time, and this I attribute to the business-like manner in which the Sergeant has gone about his work. The police force has been augmented by the addition of a few more constables, who are kept to their duty. Detective Doolan, who is to be replaced by Constable Gillies, of Te Awamutu, leaves here for his station at Cambridge to-morrow. r