Pemberton's and farmer Greening's houses were finished, their gardens
dug and planted; and they had now, in addition to the sheep, which Harry
and Toby continued to tend, several cows and pigs and poultry. Lucy,
assisted by Betsy, was fully occupied from morning till night; she,
however, found time to give instruction to Waihoura, while Mr Pemberton
or Valentine assisted Harry in his studies. He seldom went out without
a book in his pocket, so that he might read while the vigilant "Rough"
kept the sheep together. Several other families had bought land in the
neighbourhood, and had got up their cottages. Some of them were very
nice people, but they, as well as Lucy, were so constantly engaged, that
they could see very little of each other.
The Maoris employed by Mr Pemberton belonged to Ihaka's tribe, and
through them he heard of his daughter. He had been so strongly urged by
Mr Marlow to allow her to remain with her white friends, that he had
hitherto abstained from visiting her, lest, as he sent word, he should
be tempted to take her away. Lucy was very glad of this, as was
Waihoura. The two girls were becoming more and more attached to each
other, and they dreaded the time when they might be separated.
"Maori girl wish always live with Lucy--never, never part," said
Waihoura, as one evening the two friends sat together in the porch,
bending over a picture-book of Scripture subjects, with the aid of which
Lucy was endeavouring to instruct her companion. Lucy's arm was thrown
round Waihoura's neck, while Betsy, who had finished her work, stood
behind them, listening to the conversation, and wondering at the way her
young mistress contrived to make herself understood. "God does not
always allow even the dearest friends to remain together while they
dwell on earth," replied Lucy to Waihoura's last remark. "I used to
wish that I might never leave my dear mother; but God thought fit to
take her to Himself. I could not have borne the parting did not I know
that I should meet her in heaven."
"What place heaven?" asked Waihoura.
"Jesus has told us that it is the place where we shall be with Him,
where all is love, and purity, and holiness, and where we shall meet all
who have trusted to Him while on earth, and where there will be no more
parting, and where sorrow and sickness, and pain, and all things evil,
will be unknown."
"Maori girl meet Lucy in heaven?" said Waihoura, in a tone which showed
she was asking a question.
"I am sure you will," said Lucy, "if you learn to love Jesus and do His
will."
Waihoura was silent for some minutes, a sad expression coming over her
countenance.
"Maori girl too bad, not love Jesus enough," she said.
"No one is fitted for heaven from their own merits or good works, and we
never can love Jesus as much as He deserves to be loved. But He knows
how weak and wayward we are, and all He asks us is to try our best to
love and serve Him, to believe that He was punished instead of us, and
took our sins upon Himself, and He then, as it were, clothes us with His
righteousness. He hides our sins, or puts them away, so that God looks
upon us as if we were pure and holy, and free from sin, and so will let
us come into a pure and holy heaven, where no unclean things--such as
are human beings--of themselves can enter. Do you understand me?"
Waihoura thought for some time, and then asked Lucy again to explain her
meaning. At length her countenance brightened.
"Just as if Maori girl put on Lucy's dress, and hat and shawl over face,
and go into a pakeha house, people say here come pakeha girl."
"Yes," said Lucy, inclined to smile at her friend's illustration of the
truth. "But you must have a living faith in Christ's sacrifice; and
though the work and the merit is all His, you must show, by your love
and your life, what you think, and say, and do, that you value that
work. If one of your father's poor slaves had been set free, and had
received a house and lands, and a wife, and pigs, and many other things
from him, ought not the slave to remain faithful to him, and to try and
serve him, and work for him more willingly than when he was a slave?
That is just what Jesus Christ requires of those who believe in Him.
They were slaves to Satan and the world, and to many bad ways, and He
set them free. He wants all such to labour for Him. Now He values the
souls of people more than anything else, and He wishes His friends to
make known to others the way by which their souls may be saved. He also
wishes people to live happily together in the world; and He came on
earth to show us the only way in which that can be done. He proved to
us, by His example, that we can only be happy by being kind, and gentle,
and courteous to others, helping those who are in distress, doing to
others as we should wish they would do to us. If, therefore, we really
love Jesus, and have a living active faith in Him, we shall try to
follow His example in all things. If all men lived thus, the gospel on
earth would be established, there would be really peace and good will
among men."
"Very different here," said Waihoura. "Maori people still quarrel, and
fight, and kill. In pakeha country they good people love Jesus, and do
good, and no bad."
"I am sorry to say that though there are many who do love Jesus, there
are far more who do not care to please Him, and that there is much sin,
and sorrow, and suffering in consequence. Oh, if we could but find the
country where all loved and tried to serve Him! If all the inhabitants
of even one little island were real followers of Jesus, what a happy
spot it would be." Waihoura sighed.
"Long time before Maori country like that."
"I am afraid that it will be a long time before any part of the world is
like that," said Lucy. "But yet it is the duty of each separate
follower of Jesus to try, by the way he or she lives, to make it so.
Oh, how watchful we should be over ourselves and all our thoughts, words
and acts, and remembering our own weakness and proneness to sin, never
to be trusting to ourselves, but ever seeking the aid of the Holy Spirit
to help us."
Lucy said this rather to herself than to her companion. Indeed, though
she did her best to explain the subject to Waihoura, and to draw from
her in return the ideas she had received, she could not help
acknowledging that what she had said was very imperfectly understood by
the Maori girl. She was looking forward, however, with great interest,
to a visit from Mr Marlow, and she hoped that he, from speaking the
native language fluently, would be able to explain many points which she
had found beyond her power to put clearly.
The work of the day being over, the party were seated at their evening
meal. A strange noise was heard coming from the direction of the wahre,
which the native labourers had built for themselves, a short distance
from the house. Harry, who had just then come in from his shepherding,
said that several natives were collected round the wahre, and that they
were rubbing noses, and howling together in chorus. "I am afraid they
have brought some bad news, for the tears were rolling down their eyes,
and altogether they looked very unhappy," he remarked. Waihoura, who
partly understood what Harry had said, looked up and observed--
"No bad news, only meet after long time away." Still she appeared
somewhat anxious, and continued giving uneasy glances at the door.
Valentine was about to go out to make inquiries, when Ihaka, dressed in
a cloak of flax, and accompanied by several other persons similarly
habited, appeared at the door. Waihoura ran forward to meet him. He
took her in his arms, rubbed his nose against hers, and burst into
tears, which also streamed down her cheeks. After their greeting was
over, Mr Pemberton invited the chief and his friends to be seated,
fully expecting to hear that he had come to announce the death of some
near relative. The chief accepted the invitation for himself and one of
his companions, while the others retired to a distance, and sat down on
the ground. Ihaka's companion was a young man, and the elaborate
tattooing on his face and arms showed that he was a chief of some
consideration. Both he and Ihaka behaved with much propriety, and their
manners were those of gentlemen who felt themselves in their proper
position; but as Lucy noticed the countenance of the younger chief, she
did not at all like its expression. The tattoo marks always give a
peculiarly fierce look to the features; but, besides this, as he cast
his eyes round the party, and they at last rested on Waihoura, Lucy's
bad opinion of him was confirmed.
Ihaka could speak a few sentences of English, but the conversation was
carried on chiefly through Waihoura, who interpreted for him. The
younger chief seldom spoke; when he did, either Ihaka or his daughter
tried to explain his meaning. Occasionally he addressed her in Maori,
when she hung down her head, or turned her eyes away from him, and made
no attempt to interpret what he had said. Mr Pemberton knew enough of
the customs of the natives not to inquire the object of Ihaka's visit,
and to wait till he thought fit to explain it. Lucy had feared,
directly he made his appearance, that he had come to claim his daughter,
and she trembled lest he should declare that such was his intention.
Her anxiety increased when supper was over, and he began, in somewhat
high-flown language, to express his gratitude to her and Mr Pemberton
for the care they had taken of Waihoura. He then introduced his
companion as Hemipo, a Rangatira, or chief of high rank, his greatly
esteemed and honoured friend, who, although not related to him by the
ties of blood, might yet, he hoped, become so. When he said this
Waihoura cast her eyes to the ground, and looked greatly distressed, and
Lucy, who had taken her hand, felt it tremble.
Ihaka continued, observing that now, having been deprived of the company
of his daughter for many months, though grateful to the friends who had
so kindly sheltered her, and been the means of restoring her to health,
he desired to have her return with him to his pah, where she might
assist in keeping the other women in order, and comfort and console him
in his wahre, which had remained empty and melancholy since the death of
her mother.
Waihoura, though compelled to interpret this speech, made no remark on
it; but Lucy saw that the tears were trickling down her cheeks. Mr
Pemberton, though very sorry to part with his young guest, felt that it
would be useless to beg her father to allow her to remain after what he
had said. Lucy, however, pleaded hard that she might be permitted to
stay on with them sometime longer. All she could say, however, was
useless; for when the chief appeared to be yielding, Hemipo said
something which made him keep to his resolution, and he finally told
Waihoura that she must prepare to accompany him the following morning.
He and Hemipo then rose, and saying that they would sleep in the wahre,
out of which it afterwards appeared they turned the usual inhabitants,
they took their departure.
Waihoura kept up her composure till they were gone, and then throwing
herself on Lucy's neck, burst into tears.
"Till I came here I did not know what it was to love God, and to try and
be good, and to live as you do, so happy and peaceable, and now I must
go back and be again the wild Maori girl I was before I came to you, and
follow the habits of my people; and worse than all, Lucy, from what my
father said, I know that he intends me to marry the Rangatira Hemipo,
whom I can never love, for he is a bad man, and has killed several
cookies or slaves, who have offended him. He is no friend of the
pakehas, and has often said he would be ready to drive them out of the
country. He would never listen either to the missionaries; and when the
good Mr Marlow went to his pah, he treated him rudely, and has
threatened to take his life if he has the opportunity. Fear only of
what the pakehas might do has prevented him."
Waihoura did not say this in as many words, but she contrived, partly in
English and partly in her own language, to make her meaning understood.
Lucy was deeply grieved at hearing it, and tried to think of some means
for saving Waihoura from so hard a fate. They sat up for a long time
talking on the subject, but no plan which Lucy could suggest afforded
Waihoura any consolation.
"I will consult my father as to what can be done," Lucy said at last;
"or when Mr Marlow comes, perhaps he can help us."
"Oh no, he can do nothing," answered Waihoura, bursting into tears.
"We must pray, then, that God will help us," said Lucy. "He has
promised that He will be a present help in time of trouble."
"Oh yes, we will pray to God. He only can help us," replied the Maori
girl, and ere they lay down on their beds they together offered up their
petitions to their Father in heaven for guidance and protection; but
though they knew that that would not be withheld, they could not see the
way in which it would be granted.
Next morning Waihoura had somewhat recovered her composure. Lucy and
Mrs Greening insisted on her accepting numerous presents, which she
evidently considered of great value. Several of the other settlers in
the neighbourhood, who had become acquainted with the young Maori girl,
and had heard that she was going away, brought up their gifts. Waihoura
again gave way to tears when the moment arrived for her final parting
with Lucy; and she was still weeping as her father led her off,
surrounded by his attendants, to return to his pah.
CHAPTER SIX.
AMONG THE MAORIS.
RIVERSIDE.--MR MARLOW THE MISSIONARY, VISITS THE PEMBERTONS.--LUCY AND
HER FRIENDS VISIT IHAKA.--A NATIVE PAH DESCRIBED.--A FEAST--NATIVE
AMUSEMENTS.--RETURN TO RIVERSIDE.
The appearance of Riverside had greatly improved since Mr Pemberton and
farmer Greening had settled there. They had each thirty or forty acres
under cultivation, with kitchen gardens and orchards, and Lucy had a
very pretty flower garden in front of the cottage, with a dairy and
poultry yard, and several litters of pigs. Harry's flock of sheep had
increased threefold, and might now be seen dotting the plain as they fed
on the rich grasses which had sprung up where the fern had been burnt.
There were several other farms in the neighbourhood, and at the foot of
the hill a village, consisting of a dozen or more houses, had been
built, the principal shop in which was kept by Mr Nicholas Spears. The
high road to the port was still in a very imperfect state, and the long
talked of coach had not yet begun to run. Communication was kept up by
means of the settlers waggons, or by the gentlemen, who took a shorter
route to it on horseback.
Mr Marlow at length paid his long promised visit. Lucy eagerly
inquired if he had seen Waihoura.
"I spent a couple of days at Ihaka's pah on my way here," he replied,
"and I am sorry to say that your young friend appears very unhappy. Her
father seems resolved that she shall marry Hemipo, notwithstanding that
he is a heathen, as he has passed his word to that effect. I pointed
out to him the misery he would cause her; and though he loves his child,
yet I could not shake him. He replied, that a chief's word must not be
broken, and that perhaps Waihoura's marriage may be the means of
converting her husband. I fear that she would have little influence
over him, as even among his own people he is looked upon as a fierce and
vindictive savage."
"Poor Waihoura!" sighed Lucy. "Do you think her father would allow her
to pay us another visit? I should be so glad to send and invite her."
"I am afraid not," answered Mr Marlow. "Ihaka himself, though
nominally a Christian, is very lukewarm; and though he was glad to have
his daughter restored to health, he does not value the advantage she
would derive from intercourse with civilised people. However, you can
make the attempt, and I will write a letter, which you can send by one
of his people who accompanied me here."
The letter was written, and forthwith despatched. In return Ihaka sent
an invitation to the pakeha maiden and her friends to visit him and his
daughter at his pah. Mr Marlow advised Lucy to accept it.
"The chief's pride possibly prevents him from allowing his daughter to
visit you again, until, according to his notions, he has repaid you for
the hospitality you have shown her," he observed. "You may feel
perfectly secure in going there; and, at all events, you will find the
visit interesting, as you will have an opportunity of seeing more of the
native customs and way of living than you otherwise could."
Mr Pemberton, after some hesitation, agreed to the proposal, and
Valentine undertook to escort his sister. Harry said he should like to
go; "but then about the sheep--I cannot leave them for so long," he
said. James Greening offered to look after his flock during his
absence. A lady, Miss Osburn, a very nice girl, who was calling on
Lucy, expressed a strong wish to accompany her.
"I think that I am bound to go with you, as I have advised the
expedition, and feel myself answerable for your safe conduct," said Mr
Marlow. "I may also prove useful as an interpreter, and should be glad
of an opportunity of again speaking to Ihaka and his people."
A message was accordingly sent to the chief, announcing the intention of
Lucy and her friends to pay a visit to his pah.
The road, though somewhat rough, was considered practicable for the
waggon, which was accordingly got ready. They were to start at
daybreak, and as the pah was about twelve miles off, it was not expected
that they would reach it till late in the afternoon. Two natives had
been sent by Ihaka to act as guides, and as they selected the most level
route, the journey was performed without accident.
About the time expected they came in sight of a rocky hill rising out of
the plain, with a stream running at its base. On the summit appeared a
line of palisades, surmounted by strange looking figures, mounted on
poles, while in front was a gateway, above which was a larger figure,
with a hideous countenance, curiously carved and painted. The natives
pointed, with evident pride, at the abode of their chief.
As the path to it was far too steep to allow of the waggon going up it,
Lucy and her friend got out to ascend on foot. As they did so, the
chief and a number of his people emerged from the gateway, and came down
to meet them. The usual salutations were offered, and the chief,
knowing the customs of his guests, did not offer to rub noses. Lucy
inquired anxiously for Waihoura. She was, according to etiquette,
remaining within to receive her visitors.
After passing through a gateway, they found a second line of stockades,
within which was a wide place occupied by numerous small wahres, while
at the further end stood two of somewhat larger size, ornamented with
numerous highly carved wooden figures. On one side was a building,
raised on carved posts, with a high-pitched roof--it was still more
highly ornamented than the others, in grotesque patterns, among which
the human face predominated. This latter was the chief's store-house,
and it was considerably larger and handsomer than his own abode. The
dwelling-houses were of an oblong shape, about sixteen feet long and
eight wide, with low walls, but high sloping roofs; the doors were so
low that it was necessary to stoop when entering. The roofs were
thatched with rampo, a plant which grows in the marshes; and the walls
were of the same material, thickly matted together, so as to keep out
both rain and wind.
As the party advanced, Waihoura appeared from her wahre, and throwing
her arms on Lucy's neck, began to weep as if her heart would break. She
then conducted her friends into the interior, while the chief took
charge of Mr Marlow, Valentine, and Harry.
Waihoura's abode was clean and neat, the ground on each side covered
thickly with fern, on the top of which mats were placed to serve as
couches. Here the Maori girl begged her guests to be seated, and having
recovered her composure, she thanked Lucy warmly for coming, and made
inquiries about her friends at Riverside. She smiled and laughed, and
became so animated, that she scarcely appeared like the same person she
had been a few minutes before. She became very grave, however, when
Lucy asked if her father still insisted on her marrying Hemipo.
"He does," she answered, in a sad tone. "But I may yet escape, and I
will, if I can, at all risks."
She pressed her lips together, and looked so firm, that Lucy hoped that
she would succeed in carrying out her resolution.
Their conversation was interrupted by a summons to a feast, which the
chief had prepared, to do honour to his guests. In the centre of the
pah a scaffold was erected, with bars across it, on which were hung up
various fish, pieces of pork, and wild-fowl, while on the top were
baskets full of sweet and ordinary potatoes, and a variety of other
vegetables; and a number of women were employed in cooking, in ovens
formed in the ground. These ovens were mere holes filled with hot
stones, on the top of which the provisions were placed, and then covered
up with leaves and earth.
In deference to the customs of their white friends, the natives had
prepared seats for them, composed of fern and mats, in the shade of the
chief's wahre, while they themselves sat round, at a respectful
distance, on the ground, in the hot sun.
When all were arranged, the chief, wrapped in his cloak, walked into the
centre, and marching backwards and forwards, addressed the party, now
turning to his guests, now to his countrymen, the rapidity of his
movements increasing, till he appeared to have worked himself into a
perfect fury. Waihoura, who sat by Lucy's side, begged her and her
friend not to be alarmed, he was merely acting according to custom.
Suddenly he stopped, and wrapping his cloak around him, sat down on the
ground.
Mr Marlow considered this a good opportunity of speaking to the people,
and rising, he walked into their midst. His address, however, was very
different to that of the chief's. He reminded them that God, who rules
the world, had given them all the food he saw there collected; that He
desires to do good to the bodies of men, and to enable them to live in
happiness and plenty; but that He loves their souls still more, and that
He who had provided them with the food was ready to bestow on them
spiritual blessings, to feed their souls as well as their bodies: that
their bodies must perish, but that their souls must live for ever--He
had sent the missionaries to them with His message of love, and He
grieved that they were often more ready to accept only the food for
their bodies, and to reject that which He offers for their souls. Much
more he spoke to the same effect, and explained all that God, their
Father had done for them when they were banished for their sins, to
enable them again to become His dear children. Earthly fathers, he
continued, are too often ready to sacrifice their children for their own
advantage, regardless of their happiness here and of their eternal
welfare. Ihaka winced when he heard these remarks, and fixed his eyes
on the speaker, but said nothing. Other chiefs, who had come as guests,
also spoke. Lucy was glad to find that Hemipo was not among them.
The feast then commenced, the provisions were handed round in neat clean
baskets to each guest. Ihaka had provided plates and knives and forks
for his English friends, who were surprised to find the perfect way in
which the fish and meat, as well as the vegetables, were cooked.
After the feast, the young people hurried out of the pah towards a post
stuck in the ground, on one side of a bank, with ropes hanging from the
top; each one seized a rope, and began running round and round, now up,
now down the bank, till their feet were lifted off the ground, much in
the way English boys amuse themselves in a gymnasium. In another place
a target was set up, at which the elder boys and young men threw their
spears, composed of fern stems, with great dexterity. Several kites,
formed of the flat leaves of a kind of sedge, were also brought out and
set flying, with songs and shouts, which increased as the kite ascended
higher and higher. A number of the young men exhibited feats of
dancing, which were not, however, especially graceful, nor interesting
to their guests. When the sun set the party returned to the pah. Mr
Marlow, accompanied by Val, went about among the people, addressing them
individually, and affording instruction to those who had expressed an
anxiety about their souls.
Ihaka had provided a new wahre for his visitors, while Waihoura
accommodated Lucy and Miss Osburn in her hut.