The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-07-19

ate trains at night. This Will cause a
considerable delay. and Salt Lake will
probably not be reached before Fri
DAY morning. In the party are five re-
turning missionaries: Wesley Gibson
and William Douglas, of Smithfield; j..
c. Rasmussen, of Mt. Pleasant; A. j.
Butler, of Granite; James Kingdom, OF
| Louisville, Idaho; Hinrini Whanga, his
wife and three bronzed children, and
the chiefs sister-in-law. Whanga is
known to every Utah missionary who
has ever been to New Zealand, and his
arrival here will be the cause of a
general reunion of old friends The
chief has always been most friendly
to the Mormon elders, and all love him
for his many sterling qualities. In a
few days he will proceed with his fam
lily to Kanab, Kane county, where his
future home is to be.
For some time the strangers
will be the guests of William Stewart,
at one time president of the New Zea-
land mission.
Whanga has for many years
been among the most powerful OF
the Maori rulers. His tribe, some forty
years ago. when he first took upon
himself the authority of chief, popu-
lated the New Zealand coast in vast
numbers The remnant of his follow
ers vet numbers over 400, and besides
this, they own land for 100 miles along
the coast and stretching back into the
interior indefinitely.
Yet the old chief has cast aside his
crown and deserted his subjects, VINO,
as warriors. whalers, farmers and
stock-growers, had so often obeyed his
beheStS. and is now coming to Utah
to settle He has become Mormon,
and will henceforth have nothing more
to do with war. His ambition for con-
quest among neighboring tribes, which
was once his pride, is now his con-
tempt. His greensboro war club and
his spear have been cast aside along
with the crown. He will have none
of them. He is, as he says, a man of
peace.
The party landed last week from the
steamer Monowai and the Maories were
objects of much interest. The San
Francisco Examiner detailed reporter
on the case and through Elder Gibson,
as Interpreter, the old man told his
story as follows:
q come of a long line of Maori
kings" said Hinrini Whanga. These
kings, my ancestors, have ruled
through twenty generations before me,
and the frs came over from Hawa TX
otherwise Hawaii, in his boat, the Ia
k:timu followed by a large number of
his people That king was Rua Wha-
TO. and he was a very able potentate."
The chief had been talking slowly,
and when mention of the twenty kings
was made he named them all, Elder
Gibson counting them off in the Maori
language on his fingers. Elder Gibson
explained that the Maoris had no writ
ten language until the advent of the
English, but that their history had
been perfectly preserved by being
transmitted verbally from father to
son. He said they had the most re-
markable memories of any people, as
was attested by Sir George Gray, who
had for some years resided among
them.
IN those remote times when my an
cestors landed and began to rule re-
sumed Whanga, eve collected the
greensboro for war clubs, spears and
other use. made clothes from fax,
caught fish and to q, small extent culti-
waited the land. We also hunted for the
native animals of that senai-tropical
country. but much of our time after
several generations was given over to
war
1.-The people increased and spread,
and as they diverged subordinate rul-
ers were necessary, who in time sought
to question the authority of the de-
scendants of Whara. The result was
that there became tribal wars and
wars bordering on revolution. Because
of this the greensboro, which is very
heavy and admirably suited for weap-
Ons Of all kinds, was priced above ev-
erything else. Tt made a very good
war club, and with one with rather
sharp or oval edge a mans head could
be laid open.
81 was borr in 1928, and am conse-
quently sixty-six years old, and, of
course. recall wildly the pervading
wars among the Maoris for sixty years.
In many of chem I took an active part.
In those days 1 had several man.
horses, or, powerful men, captured as
slaves, which were used as horses. I
have man-hcrse now. whom I rode in
many a battle, and who, according to
the royal mandate, must be ready at
any moment tc instantly carry me
wherever I wanted to go.
This man-horse l speak of was Po-
nonga. now very old man. I saw
him just before come away He was
running ferry on the east coast. My
tribe yet numbers about 400 and they
inhabit an area 100 miles long on the
ocean to far back in the interior Many
of my people are expert fishermen
and whalers. My sister-in-law, Mary
Apikara, who accompanies my family
with her two children, has seven bro
theirs. all large, strong men, who are
expert whalers.
my people are expert musicians on
native instruments. In early times we
played on a shell from the ocean and
invented flute made of wood, on
which we could play almost anything.
We were always expert dancers, and
the Haka dance has nothing to sur
pass it for grace and beauty of move
ment.
This is a very wonderful city" said