Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1866-08-16
A "TAVGI5 IN NEW ZEA-
LAND.

gift to man, accompanied or not by
Indications of sympathy and emotion
as the case may be, forget to draw
attention to the luxury which is to be
found in n good cry" and the readi
ness with which the charming sex
has invariably INDUCED in its favorite
enjoyment in every age, and in all
parts of the world. AS it was in the
DAYS of the Old Testament writer's.
and of 4Esehylus. Sophocles, and
EuripideS, who all make mention not
only of emotion publicly expressed,
but of professional ''hOwlers," ready
to provide tears, signs, groans and
ShriekS, wholesale, retail, AMI for ex-
pOrtation; so, happily for all of us
for a woman without sympathy is a
garden without flowers-itis in many
parts of the world to this very day
We need not stir out of the enlight IN
eel kingdom of Great Britain for in
stances ofprofessional cryings by the
side of tears ola warmer nature; and
if We take the trouble to survey man
kind from China to Peru" or form
the London Docks to our Antipodes.
which will, perhaps, answer our pur-
pose as well, we shall find that woman
relishes her ''good cry as keenly and
cultivates it just as assiduously in a
settlement ofsavages when squatting,
wrapped in a dirty blanket, over the
90 L.,
hole in the ground, as in a delicious
boudOir in London or Paris, with eau
dc Cologne and sal volatile ad libitum.
When, therefore. one sweet summer s
afternoon / rode into peaceful little
native village in New Zealand, and
found all the female inhabitants en-
gagged in q ''Tangi," or weeping con
cert, preparatory to grand banquet
of ceremony, Inee'l have discovered
nothing singular therein, though it
seemed at once to carry the spirit
back for nearly foar thousand years,
to the days of the patriarchs, when
Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up
his voice and wept, rs he rolled away
the stone from the wells mouth to
water her flock. The scenery around,
and the air, like q bath of liquid
gold, with the murmur of the adjacent
forest, all fOstered feeling that time
had stood still, and that we were all
patriarchs together, performing an
everyday observance.
y chief, fine looking fellow with
aquiline features and the appearance
of q ruler of men, who was person
age of rank among the northern
tribes, having Just returned from a
long absence, was being welcomed on
his arrival by the customary ''Tangi,"
indicative of affectionate JOY, per-
formed by the ladies ofhis settlement,
while the gentlemen expressed their
sentiments by rubbing their noses
against his.
The ceremony may he described as
follows: Upon the death of a relative
or friend, or his serious illness or mis-
fortune; or upon any occasion of re-
joicing similar to the one in question,
the old women ola tribe assemble for
an affectiOnate '.Tangi," or cry to-
gether. What cup of tea is to some
ladies, or what friendly glass of
gin is to others in different circum-
stances, and what good cry is to
all the sex, is the ''Tangi'' to elderly
Maoris ofthe feminine gender, sooth-
ing to the spirits, cure for spasms or
little tempers-and, in fact, a general
clearer of the air. One may see, on
entering settlement. number of
women sitting on the ground in a cir
Gle, some with their face wrapped in
the blanket with which they are
draped shawl fashion, some carefully
exhibiting with ostentatious vanity
great circular head-dresses of tur-
keys feathers or dogs hair. They
appear to be bowling their brows to-
gether at intervals. at the same time
raising their haads and dropping
them on their laps with gestures of
hOpelessness, great grief, or weari-
ness. On anearer approach they arc
heard to be keeping up a kind of wall
ing chant of three notes in a minor
key, sung in chorus. Every now and
then, at particularly affecting part
of the impromptu recitation, they
will bring all their faces together,
and, pressing nose to nose, maintain
the wailing in murmur. One old
woman may generally be perceived
taking the lead, who is evidently the
most experienced 'blubberer, know
ing exactly where to bring in the nose
business with the greatest effect, and
able to keep it up longer than any one
else: she will be making the most ire
mendous and fearful contOrtions of
the face that can be imagined, as an
to the act of weep |
ing, if that be not q word suggesting
too deep feeling to be used here
With her head raised, her mouth |
drawn from ear to ear, and her eyes
up and swollen with tears,
she lets out howl that would dis
comfit a dog at the full of the moon,
only stopping to--in point Offact 'se
in the primitive manner of
patriarchal times-wipe her eyes with
her blanket. and expectorate freely
and noisily previous to beginning
over again with renewed vigor, the
whole party seeming to think it a
point of honor to produce the most
amount of grimacing ever
out of nightmare. AT
another moment one woman perhaps
may be sitting with her head bent for
ward and inclined to one side, her
- - - - -, bop1a o1oor,