Walsh. — The Passing of the Maori. 167 



Redoubts were built and Parihaka was invested. But the ex- 

 pected uprising did not take place. The prophet had neither 

 arms nor ammunition. He was really a " passive resister," and 

 was quite willing, if necessary, to suffer martyrdom. Te Whiti had 

 been educated by a Wesleyan missionary, the Rev. Mr. Riemen- 

 schneider, and had made a deep study of the Bible, which he 

 seemed to know from beginning to end. He saw in his oppressed 

 and downtrodden countrymen a type of the dispersed Israel, 

 and he applied to them the promises of future restoration. 

 In order to promulgate his doctrine he held meetings every 

 month at Parihaka, with a grand festival in the month of March. 

 To these the Maoris flocked from all quarters— at first from the 

 kaingas near at hand, but, as the idea caught on, from settle- 

 ments several days' journey away in the bush country. They 

 came in hundreds and thousands — on horseback, in bullock- 

 drays, and on foot — bringing cartloads of provisions ; and 

 when they returned they would repeat the wonderful message 

 at their homes, and attract fresh visitors to the next meeting. 

 There was to be no weapon lifted against the oppressor. Every- 

 thing would come right by Divine interposition, when all the 

 Maoris that had been slain in the war would come to life again, 

 and the pakeha would retire into the sea and molest them no 

 more. The only thing that could be construed into an overt 

 act of rebellion was a sort of object-lesson intended to bring 

 their grievances under the notice of the Government, when parties 

 of Maoris were sent out to plough up some of the land in Euro- 

 pean occupation. This was taken as a declaration of war, and 

 a great excitement arose among the settlers, when the Govern- 

 ment, by way of bringing matters to a crisis, poured an over- 

 whelming armed force into Parihaka. The Riot Act was read 

 to a peaceable crowd of women and children, wholesale arrests 

 were made, cattle and horses were seized, and houses and crops 

 were destroyed,* while in order to bring the matter within 

 the scope of the law the West Coast Settlements Act was passed, 

 the legislation to have retrospective action. Te Whiti and a 

 number of his followers were sent to prison, but on his return 

 the meetings were held as before. The movement, however, 

 gradually died out, and, although the prophet continues to 

 prophesy, he has long ceased to be an active factor in Maori 

 politics, f 



Though no blood was shed in connection with the Te Whiti 

 movement, it had, nevertheless, a very fatal effect on the Maoris 

 among whom its influence extended. Half their time was spent 



* Cf. " Long White Cloud," by Hon. W. P. Reeves, p. 308. 

 t Te Whiti has died since this paper was written. 



