The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-07-02
"A SAVAGE MAORI FROM @ADME
Ni'n IN JOINED TRIBE OF HAU-HAUS AND is THEIR
MEDICINE MAN.
(New York Evening Post.

CNew York Evening Post.
from the many American ships that
carried on the whaling industry i'm the
waters To the south of New leland. in
the early decades of last century. not
a few of the members of their crews
must have deserted and settled among
the i~ndigenes, leading the same life as
1heN. dressed like them, and partici-
pating in all their social usages These.
in common with other such immi-
grants. We're known as pakeha Maoris.
or foreign-horn Maoris. But of none
nj them has any record heen preserv-
ed. Sometimes the death of an out
cast has been noted. Almost so years
an American, who was reported
with doubtful accuracy, to have
been at n time a professor of
classics in Columbia college, New
York. was speared by the blacks OF
northern Queensland. among whom
he resided. Sow. by a piece of ARE
good fortune We are placed in posses
sion of the entire life-story of one
such rebel against civilization.
kimble BEN is Go he still lives)
the son of n Waterman Bent. who
once dWelt in the town of PASSPORT in
Maine. where he was a s%hipbuilder.
and of Eliza Senter. his wife. who was
a half-caste Indian. belonging to the
Musqua tribe on the Ste. Croix River.
AT Eastport he was born on August
"a. 1897. Seventeen years later he
ran away from home and shipped on
board the United States training fri
gate Martin. in which he cruised about
the Atlantic coast for three years.
Then. having been paid off, he return
ed to Passport. but with his mothers
restless blood in him he could not re-
main.
Eager to see more of the world, he
I fnnl- 40 @-r~-
there. having spent all his money, he
enlisted in the British army. He soon
had cause to repent of his rash act.
SO d~isagreeahle proved his life with
his regiment in Cork that he resolved
to desert, and, with the connivance OF
his felloW-countryman. the captain. he
slowed himself away in A Boston bark,
then living in Cork harbor. The bark
encountered a succession of gales that
ultimately sank her. but her crew was
trans-shipped to an American brig
that was. unfortunately. bound for
Glasgow. On the streets of Glasgow,
Bent was recognized as a deserter,
and he was sent back to Cork. There
he was court-martialed and imprison-
ed for twelve years.
When his term had expired, he was
dispatched. with his regiment, TO In
dia. There he spent two years, when
tidings came of a native wal raging
far way. south in New Zealand. and
his regiment was marched by night
to Bombay. whence it sailed for the
Southern Britain. The change was
welcome to all. and especially to the
freedom-loving Bent. out there was
only one way Of escape from bondage,
Always impatient If discipline. he was
constantly in conflict with his mill
tary superiors, n me day he point
eddy refused to obey a petty officer,
plainly telling him that he might do
his worst. The colonel of the regi-
ment could not of course, overlook so
gross an offense. and Bent received
the cruel punishment-now abolished,
but then frequent-of a sever fog
ging with the cat-'-nine-tails. After
much agony and much humiliation he
resolved to desert. and on June -,
1865, he went over to the enemy, his
fellow soldiers conniving at his escape.
A distance of 4s years Bent still. as
is the way with some old men, remem-
bers every word that passed between
him and the mounted Marori scout
who level his gun at him. The desert
er told the chief for such he turned
out to be-. that he had come to dwell
with the Maoris. you pakeha (for-
eign) fool, go back" shouted the
chief. but they soon made it up, and
the dead-tired "kumara Peneti,"
which was the nearest approach the
Maori could make to the pronuncia-
ton of his name. rode into the Maori
camp on his captor's horse. Thread
ing the forest and fording streams. the
two soon reached the pah. or fortress.
The village was a secluded and pretty
sight, with its rows of snug cottages
laid out. inside the inclosure. and its
squares Of maize and sweet pototoes
outside Of it: a number of naked lit
tie children We're playing in the open.
A very different scene met the eye as
they entered within the Dalisade and
encountered the hostile gaze of a
crowd Of armed and half-naked war
riors and hardly less savage women.
A strange ceremony was then initi-
ated. They all-men. women and
children-marched round and round a
sacred Flagstaff. with a priest in the
center shouting a Notwithstanding
chant. which all Of them took up.
Then Bent was made to take a solemn
oath that he would never go back to
the English. His captor pledged him
self for his good-behavior. The WON.