The War Dance.

Owing to the fiasco which occurred at the Devonport Racecourse, in the failure of the public to see the war-dance, Mr. Devore and the members of the Jubilee Committee determined that no stone should be left unturned to have the dance repeated in the Auckland Domain, where the natural amphitheatre surrounding the Cricket Ground would enable 20,000 people to see it performed with ease and comfort. They, accordingly, arranged with the natives to give it immediately after the sports of the day on Saturday. The result was a magnificent success, and the Auckland public have seen the Maori war-dance, as performed by a large body of natives, for, perhaps, the last time they will have the opportunity of witnessing it. At the close of the day's sports the natives, who had been marched up late in the afternoon, and were kept in reserve in the bush near the Government gardens, came up in regular formation, preceded by Mr. Porter and Mr. E. T. Dufaur, and were greeted by the immense assemblage with enthusiastic cheers. The Maoris were all stripped to the waist, and armed with paddles. Two or three of the chiefs had taiahs, or meres, and led the dances, which were given with great vigour and precision. The first dance, the Ngeri was one of the hakas which is performed when a tribe has had a meeting and decided to fight, believing their quarrel to be just. The performance of the dance was greeted with great applause. Then followed the dance when they had conquered the enemy's pa and were victors. This was a haka or dance of delight. The third dance was when the victors went out of the pa and were eating the bodies of their enemies. These dances were given with tremendous energy, and elicited great cheering from the spectators. But the feature of the programme was the Kokiri, or charge, when the Maoris getting into formation, gave a tremenduous war whoop, and brandishing their paddles charged right down on the immense assemblage in front of the grand stand. The effect was electric, hundreds of the spectators believed they were going to burst in on the packed assemblage, like an avalanche, but with great agility and dexterity, the leading files pulled up at the very feet of the spectators, and then charged round the cricket ground, so as to enable the spectators on all sides of the amphitheatre to see the Kokiri, or rush, or Maori charge. This spectacle completed the delight and satisfaction of the spectators, and was an excellent ending to the day's amusement. Lord Carrington directed Mr. Porter to thank the natives for their performance of the dances, with which he had been greatly pleased.

The days of a genuine war dance are past. The Maoris now do not practice it in earnest, and so it tends to degenerate into a somewhat spiritless performance. Those who saw a war dance thirty or forty years ago, when the Maoris meant it, and when perhaps 1000 warriors took part, could not help making comparisons. But what we saw is probably the best we can expect to see in Auckland.

We may quote from Dr. Thomson his description of a war dance as it should be:—"The whole army, after running about 20 yards, arranged itself in lines, five, ten twenty, or even forty deep, and then all squatted down in a sitting posture. Suddenly, at a signal given by the leader, all started to their feet, having weapons in their right hands. With the regularity of a regiment at drill, each man elevated the right leg and right side of the body, then the left leg and left side; and then, like a flash of lightning, jumped two feet from the ground, brandishing and cleaving the air with his weapon, and yelling a loud chorus, which terminated with a long, deep, expressive sigh, and was accompanied with gaping mouths, inflated nostrils, distorted Faces, in which nothing was seen but the dark pupil surrounded with white. Every muscle quivered. Again and again these movements were enacted, and time was marked by striking their thighs with their open left hands so as to produce one sound, and by old naked women daubed over with red ochre acting as fuglers in front of the dancers."

We give four other chants of different kinds:—

No. I.
One voice: My children, here's strength.
Chorus: Ha! ha!
One voice: My children, here's firmness.
Chorus: Ha! ha!
One voice: Behold a proof of unflinching strength,
The head of Te Kawai-ta-taki,
Which I grasp in my hand.
Chorus: Ha! ha!

No. II.
Ah, see ye not there are signs in the heavens?
And know ye not there are thoughts in the heart?
Hew them in pieces! hew them in pieces!
Pounce, pounce upon them,
Pounce upon them now!

No. III.
Son of the potent? Son of the brave!
Mighty in battle on land and the wave.
Great is the soul where true valour reigns,
Noble the blood that swells in your veins;
Crest of the Kawau yield to your foe,
Chiefs of the warriors! ye are laid low.

No. IV.
Kumara, one, two, three;
Kumara, two, three, four;
Now carry out your plan.
Pounce; pounce upon them.
Rehearse your incantations,
So ye may be strengthened in the strife;
Oh, let your plots
Ripen into action.
Say, are we not the descendants
Of Puhikuku and Puhikaka?
Pounce upon them; pounce upon them.
When will your valour begin to rage?
When will your valour be strong?
Ah! when the tide murmurs.
Ah! when the tide roars.
Bid farewell to your children,
For what else can you do?
You see how the brave,
Like the lofty exulting peaks of the mountains,
Are coming on.
They yield! they yield! O fame!