I,.'!' Aii'l^' )nh i i>5 <¦ I feil'li lit';' 'i:'';- V.-!-, ; !< iv -):i%:Jii-^^:--' ' iii i *j' I ! Ill U: 111 .'^' '^^ <).'', ^S. ¦- .Si >!'jvr r.>' ' ^?s mm 4 I It* . ^ ! >, i S IK YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ADYENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND, From 18 3 9 to 18 4 4; WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE BEGINNING OF THE BRITISH COLONIZATION OF THE ISLANDS. EDWARD JERNINGHAM WAKEFIELD, Esq. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1845. London; Printed by WiLt.iAM Clowes and Sovs, Stamlord Street. CONTENTS OF VOL. L CHAPTER I. Early History of New Zealand— Tasman, 1642— Cook, 1769— Church Mission, 1814 — Magistrates appointed — Wesleyan Mission, 1822 — Travellers and their books — Visit of Hongi to England, 1820 — Baron de Thierry — New Zealand Company of 1825 — " Land-sharking" and straggling colonization — Hongi's fire-arms — Bloodshed and depopulation — Captain Stewart and Rauperaha — Letter of Thirteen Chiefs to William IV., 1831 — British Resident — Continuation of wars — Declaration of Inde pendence and Recognition of Flag, 1835 — Absurdities— New Zealand Association of 1837 — Negotiations with Government — Hostility of Mr. Dandeson Coates — Offer by Lord Glenelg of a Charter to the Association — Refused : why — Mr. Baring's Bill, 1838 — New Zealand Land Company of 1839 — Its views — Colonel Wakefield appointed to take charge of Preliminary Expedition — I resolve to accompany him . . . Page 1 CHAPTER II. Departure from Plymouth — Passengers — Voyage — First sight of New Zealand — -Cook's Strait — Queen Charlotte's Sound — Ship Cove — Natives — Village — Wretched houses — Dispute with Natives — Reconciliation — European settlement — Messenger sent — Returns with two Englishmen — Mountains — Forest — Scenery of Queen Charlotte's Sound — Tory Channel — Native Pa, or Fort — H. M.B. Pelorus — Te-awa-iti — Richard Barrett— Tribes of Cook's Strait — Proprietorship of land unsettled — Vague no tions of Natives — Plan of Native Reserves as real payment 19 CHAPTER III. The Whaling-town — Try-works — Joseph Toms — History of Te- awa-iti — Foundation — Hardships — Progress — Wages of whalers — Summer life — Jealousies — Lawlessness — Hospitality — Clean- a 2 r CONTENTS. liness — Native whale-boats — Wretched houses and food — Boat expedition — Tide-rip — Jack Guard — His perilous adventures in 1834— H. M.S. Alligator— Port Gore— Admiralty Bay- Wild cattle— Estuary of the Pelorus — Bivouac — Ducks— Tree- ferns — Teal — Tributary Natives — Pigeons — Precautions — Rapids — Canoe — Horror of brandy — Old Pa — Phormium tenax — Scraping — Guard's Island — A sacred Chief — Gale — Arrival at the ship — Climate — Illness of Natives — Departure for Port Nicholson — Shores of Cook's Strait 44 CHAPTER IV. Entrance of Port Nicholson — Warepori and Epuni — History of the tribe — ^Missionary notions — Talk about land — Tangi, or crying — Nayti — Excursion round harbour — Speeches as to sale of land — Native cookery — Mocking-bird — Discussions — Sham- fighting — The purchase — Opposition — Vague notions of Natives as to ownership of land — No title but occupancy — Distribution of payment — Signature of deed — Nicknames — The Huia — Fish — Native hook — Preparations for rejoicing — Gathering — ^Dress — War-dance — Haka, or recitative — Feast • — Contentment of Natives — Nomenclature— Our satisfaction- — Sanguine prospects — Intentions towards Natives — Hostility of Native missionaries — Reasons ......... 70 CHAPTER V. Port Underwood in Cloudy Bay — Angry Natives — Peace restored — Whaling-stations — Fishing — We sail for Te-awa-iti— Yightms Bay^ — -We cross the strait to Kapiti — Islets near it — Battle of TVaikanae — Funeral feast — Rauperaha — His appearance — His history — Hongi's wars— The Kawia tribe — Te Pehi Kupe — In vasion of Cook's Strait — The contending tribes — Immense slaughter — Allies — Siege and capture of Kapiti — Extermina tion of Aborigines — Visit of Te Pehi to England — His return and death — Rauperaha' & revenge— His White coadjutors — He acquires influence — Opposes the Ngatiawa — His unbounded treachery — His behaviour to White men — Rangihaeata assists him in marauding — Whaling-stations — Waihanae village — Wounded and Ae:aA— Rauperaha on board — Hiko — Negotiations for sale of land — News from Sydney — Quarrel among chiefs — CONTENTS. V Threats — Reconciliation — The deed signed — Rauperaha's ra pacity — Gale of wind — Mana, or Table Island — East Bay in Queen Charlotte's Sound — Funeral of trader at Te-awa-iti — Ne gotiations for land — Another deed — Scramble — Extent of rights now acquired — Return to Kapiti — Land-buyers from Sydney — War-canoes — Warepori and Rauperaha — Wanganui chiefs — A warrior — Rauperaha repudiates his bargain . . .105 CHAPTER VI. Search for Wanganui river — Appearance of country — The chief E Kuru lands — Coast — Tonga Riro and Mount Egmont — Sugar-loaf Islands — Surf — Native greetings — Barrett and Doctor Dieffenbach land — False Hohianga — Hokianga — Signals — Pilot — European Settlements— ^Nature of country — Wesleyan mission — Mr. Bumby, a worthy missionary — Kauri timber — Natives tamed, but not civilized — Lieutenant Macdonnell's establishment — Vineyard — Baron de Thierry — Colonel Wakefield buys title-deeds of Wairau near Cloudy Bay — Our shipwreck outside Kaipara — A cool man-of-war's man — Perils in a boat — Estuary of Kaipara — Bivouac — Mosquitoes — The Navarino — A sailor's hospitality — The Tory is hove down — Colonel Wakefield proceeds to Bay of Islands — Wairoa river — Mr. Symonds — Country about Kaipara —Mr. White, a missionary and " land-shark" — The Guide arrives ¦ — Mr. John Blackett — Dr. Dorset and I embark in the Guide — Dangers — A whaler at sea — Navigation — Sugar-loaf Islands — Mofuroa — Barrett's adventures — Mr. White — His letters — The view from Sugar-loaf Peak — Dangerous situation of the Guide — Our dormitory — Twelve days on a rocky islet — Missionary hostility — Native language as manufactured by the missionaries — Punishment of adultery — Return of the Guide — Two deeds signed — Preparations for a skirmish — Mediation — Barracoota fishing — Arrival at Port Nicholson 144 CHAPTER VII. Shipping and tents in sight— We land — Greetings— Colonel Wake- field's journey — Overland path — Roman Catholic converts— .ffb- rorareha in the Bay of Islands — Hire of the Guide and her crew — Port Hardy — Native raillery— D'Urville's Island— Voyage in whale-boat— Welcome by natives— Arrival of emigrants— Rivals in buying land— Mr. Tod — The Rev. Henry Williams — Richard Davis, the native missionary — Dispute between missions — The vi CONTENTS. massacre ot Puakawa—Smceie regrets— Colonists from Australia —Authority of Native chiefs employed against lawless White men— First squatting— Good class of colonists— The settlement like an extensive pic-nic— Friendliness of the Natives— Their first doubts and fears— How removed— Native-built house, or ware— The tent of an Eastern traveller— The hut of an Austra lian " over-lander "—Cattle from Sydney— Proclamation by the Governor of New South Wales against further land-sharking— Committee of colonists— Why and how formed— Provisional Constitution— Agreement— Flood — The Cuba— Weather— Squa dron arrives — Bank — Salute — Canoe procession — Ratification of Constitution by Native chiefs 184 CHAPTER VIII. An exploring journey — The " boys " pack their loads — Farewell — Porirua — Parramatta — Waikawa — Nayti — Failure of the attempt to civilize him — Potato-grounds — Pukerua — Madman — Kumera, or sweet potato — Melons — Coast — Waihanae — Vil lage of the Wanganui chief — Pukeho shooting — Native houses — Night alarm — Whalers and Natives at Kapiti — Gratitude for books — Shark's tooth — Canoe voyage — Karaka-nxxis- — Coast — Surf — Wangaihu river — Pumice-stone—^ Kuru — Wanganui river^Encampment — Speeches — Putikiwaranui — Head chiefs — Vestiges of Rev. Henry Williams — Fishing fleet — Fishing vil lages — Eagerness to sell land — Native mats — Dishonesty re proved — Land-mark — Cliffy shore — Waitotara — Suspicion — A tutua, ot" plebeian ' ' tribe — Missionary calumnies — Valley- — Fish ing-weir — Lampreys — Tedious travelling — Wenuakura, or " land of plumage " — Hospitality — Crowding — Tihoe pa — Patea — Robbery — Utu, or payment ^ — Threats ^ — ^Restitution — I am obliged to return — Parrots — Open plains — Religious scruples exaggerated — Excursion up the Wanganui — Scenery — Village — Return to Wangaihu — Camp — Fleet of canoes — Rangitikei river — Eels — Native gluttony — Prayers at sea — Festival at Waihanae — Shipping at /fapjii- Whale-boat journey — Mana — Rangi/iaeata—Ca,Tvmg — We go on to Piione . . .216 CHAPTER IX. House built by Natives — Manuka wood — Stock from Australia Horses— Arrival of Captain Hobson at the Bay of Islands CONTENTS. vii Council — Newspaper — Appointments — Harmony interrupted by a stranger — The Rev. Henry Williams — Proceedings of the Lieutenant-Governor at the Bay of Islands — Mr. Williams sent to extend them to Cook's Strait — Mr. Williams's selfish views — Clergymen arrive from England — Settlers in the valley of the Hutt — Cheerful progress — Politics — Contentment — Thorndon — Dicky Barrett — New South Wales land-sharks — The Surprise schooner — Voyage to Wanganui — E Kuru's joy- — Arrival — The Rev. Messrs. Williams and Hadfield — Cession of sovereignty — ^Delusion — Gathering of tribes — Purchase of Wanganui — Conference — Authority of a head chief — Deed signed — Distri bution — Greediness — -Scramble— Fears — Anger of E Kuru — Homai no homai, or a " gift for a gift " — Freshet — Return to Port Nicholson 270 CHAPTER X. Town of "Britannia" — English boy killed by native — Harmony undisturbed — Fire of " Cornish Row " — Earthquake — Notice to inhabitants to drill — Lieutenant Shortland, the Colonial Secre tary, arrives with troops — Burlesque pomposity of a constable — Proclamation of British sovereignty — British loyalty and good feeling — Mounted policemen — Brutality — Laws of a penal colony — Mr. Tod excites Natives against the settlers — They begin to repudiate — Change in feelings of Natives — The chiefs offended by the Government authorities — News from the Bay of Islands — Riot of Natives quelled by military — Survey — I postpone my return to England 294 CHAPTER XL A colonist hires a whaling-station — Porirua — Native custom of plunder — H. M. S. Herald — Kapiti — The whalers — Ingredients of the class — Character — Knowledge — Early history — Savage in tercourse between shipping and Natives — Mr. Marsden brought convicts to New Zealand — Sealers of the south — Foundation of whaling settlements in Cook's Strait — Perils — Increase in strength — Precarious commerce— Social arrangements — Articles — Laws of the Bay — The season — Ranks — Whaling argot, or " slang " — Preparations — The boats — The tackle — Words of viii CONTENTS. command — Works on shore— Officers — Native wives, or wahine —A whale signalled— The chase— ^Stratagems— A new hand— "Making fast "— Running— She "sounds"— The headsman- Killing a whale— The " flurry "—Towing home— Orgies— Hos pitality— A whaler's house— Cleanliness — The " old man " — His boat— Discipline of whalers — Courage — Dispute between whalers and Rauperaha — Improvement among Natives owing to whalers — Bad qualities acquired from the same source — The whalers the first pioneers — Their life in the new settlements- — Sawyers — Traders — "Beach-combers" — List of whaling-stations in 1844 — Statistics — Inexpediency of shore-whaling — The whalers might have become buccaneers — Disorderly whalers — Industrious car penter — Wareho fishing ...... 308 CHAPTER XII. Company's store-ships — Major Bunbury's expedition in H. M. S. Herald — Proclamation of British sovereignty in Stewart's and Middle Islands — Rauperaha and Rangihaeata sign the cession of sovereignty — Cattle at Cloudy Bay — Public meeting — Colonel Wakefield deputed to present address to the Lieutenant-Governor — News from England — Plymouth Company of New Zealand — Sanguine hopes — Purchase of the Chatham Islands — Selection of town-lands — New Zealand Land Bill of New South Wales — In consistencies in government — Mr. Busby — Panic of settlers — A trip to the Manawaiu river — Level country — Ship-building — Morose chief — Ascent of the river by a trader — Its course — Return to Port Nicholson — The Chilian project — Return of Colonel Wakefield with the answer of the Lieutenant-Governor — Deputation to Sir George Gipps — The towns in the North — French expedition — Its object frustrated — Second riot at the Bay of Islands — Disturbance at Port Nicholson— Proclamation of Lieutenant Shortland — His offensive pomposity— His undignified conduct — A bullock-driver — Settlers drowned at Pitone—Af- fectionate Natives — Explormg expedition towards Mount Eg mont .......... 344 CHAPTER XIII. Journey to Otaki — Troublesome natives — Waikawa — Natives de ceive and rob us— Firmness procures restitution — Manawatu CONTENTS. Rangitikei — Scarcity of food — Timid natives — t'ine country — Cold — Fording rivers — Wanganui — Greetings— £ Kuru gives me a house — His chieftain-like treatment of his inferiors — New Zealand slaves— Missionaries— Native feud— Battle of Waitotara —Ship-building — Confirmation of the purchase- — Return to Ka- ^« I 114 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. Previous to 1825 he had lived among his tribe, the Ngatitoa, in the neighbourhood oi Kawia. Hongi* returned from his visit to England in 1820, provided with muskets and devoured with restless ambition. His followers became, by their possession of fire-arms, the most powerful tribe in New Zealand. At their head he ravaged the whole northern end of the North Island. In consequence of these devastating wars the Waikato and Kawia tribes pressed upon each other, and the latter were obliged to give way in the struggle. Rauperaha had already gained a great name by his warlike achievements ; and he was thought worthy of a place second only to the head chief Te Pehi in the guidance of the expelled tribe, which came southward to seize upon a new home. Te Pehi Kupe was the same man who afterwards visited England. He was known in former publications by the name of Tupai Cupa, a corruption of his real title.f He married a wife of rank from the Ngatiawa tribe ; and Rauperaha himself was descended from a Ngatiawa mother. The two tribes were consequently allied to a considerable degree ; and it was not until the Kawia reached the southern boundary of the Ta ranaki district, in which the Ngatiawa dwelt, that their migration was arrested by opposition. Beyond the habitations of the Ngatiawa they met a population composed of various barbarous tribes, for the most part the aboriginal occupants of those regions. The Ngatiruanui and Ngarauru occupied the coast between Cape Egmont and Wanganui. At the latter place there was a mixed population, formed of the original occupants, the Ngatiruaka and Ngatipa, and * Misspelt " Shunghee " in former works. f Volume of the Library of Entertaining Knowledge, on the New Zealanders. London, 1830. Chap. V. iJ^i/PjBi;^^:^— HIS HISTORY. 115 the migrators from a large and powerful tribe who had dwelt on the banks of a lake called Taupo, far in the interior. These immigrants, who consisted of the Nga- titahi and Patutokoto tribes, had first compelled a ces sion of territory from the aborigines, and finally amal gamated with them in a friendly way ; both uniting under the generic name of the Wanganui tribes. The Ngatiapa, Rangitane, and Muopoko occupied the suc ceeding coast as far as Kapiti, and also shared the southern shores of Cook's Strait with the Ngahitau who inhabited Cloudy Bay and Queen Charlotte's Sound. A branch of the numerous Ngatikahuhunu tribes occu pied the neighbourhood oi Wanganui-a-te-ra, or "Large " Bay towards the Sun," as Port Nicholson was called, in contra-distinction to Wanganui (Port Underwood) in Cloudy Bay.* The invading party consisted of the Ngatitoa, Nga- titama, and N gatimutunga tribes, led by their respective head men ; and was directed in chief by Rauperaha and Te Pehi. Rangihaeata, or " Sky jealous of the " Dawn," was another leading chief of the Ngatitoa, and had acquired another name, Mokau, from some exploit or defeat at a river of that name south of Kawia. E Mare was at the head of the Ngatimu- tunga ; and our friend " Dog's-ear" and some others led the Ngatitama. It is related that the invaders possessed but few fire arms ; and the success with which they overcame the re sistance of their opponents, who far exceeded them in number, seems to have been owing rather to their having become well inured to war during their struggles with the Waikato and other northern tribes, and to the consequent elevation among them of a few ex- * Wanga is a "mouth "or "opening;" wmj, " large." Thus many rivers and harbours have this common name. i2 116 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V.- perienced and determined chieftains, than to any vast superiority in weapons of war. Between the rivers Patea and Wenuakura, in a commanding position in the centre of the Ngatiruanui country, seems to have been the spot where the first pause was made by the invaders, as though to take breath. A detached cliff, 200 feet in height, inaccessible on all sides except by a narrow and ascending neck of land, formed a secure position in native warfare, which boasted of no projectile weapons. The old men of the Ngatiruanui, who still inhabit a pa on its summit called Tihoe, describe it as having been tenanted by Rauperaha and his followers for a considerable space of time. The aboriginal tribes seem to have sought shelter in the interior from the invading body, as they and their descendants at this time inhabit the same part of the coast in large numbers. The next conflict took place on the banks of the Wanganui river. Deep and wide, it must have afforded a great aid in obstructing the progress of the con querors. The remains are still in existence, on the south bank of the river near its mouth, of the extensive earthen fortifications erected by the Wanganui tribes, and taken by Rauperaha and Te Pehi ; when they destroyed such numbers of their enemies, that every family there at the present day bears the hope and desire of revenge. The Ngatiapa and Rmgitane, who dwelt in the country watered by the Wangaihu, Turakina, and Rangitiki rivers, were next slaughtered or put to flight ; and the Muopoko were compelled to yield before the victorious party as it swept the country between Manawatu and the island of Kapiti, opposite to which a halt was again called. This island, lying four miles from the shore, and abounding in natural fastnesses, became the strong- Chap. V. SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF KAPITI " 117 hold of the defeated party. The multitudes who had yielded to the first shock began to gather in the rear of the Kawia ; and while they were closed in from re treat by a muster on the Rangitiki, the country to the south was still occupied by the original inhabitants, who prepared to defend their native land. The posi tion of the small but vigorous party became immi nently hazardous. Rauperaha now sought and obtained assistance from the Ngatiraukawa or " Boiling-water" tribes, who at that time inhabited the north-eastern shores of Lake Taupo. About sixty chosen warriors, under a chief named E Ahu Karamui, forced their way through the hardships of the inland path, and the dangers and am bushes of the opposing tribes, and joined him near Kapiti. It was about this time that a jealousy as to fame and influence arose between Te Pehi and Rauperaha. An anecdote was related to me by a near relation of 7 e Pehi, which is a full Ulustration of Rauperaha's treacherous disposition, even towards his allies. It was after the repulse of several united attempts to conquer Kapiti, that one night he left Te Pehi asleep at the common encampment; and, taking with him all but a small party of Pehi's immediate followers and re lations, started for Rangitiki ; intending to obtain the glory of a victory for himself, Avhile he left his rival exposed, with a weak retinue, to any sortie which the refugees on Kapiti might attempt. Pehi, on waking, remarked the diminished numbers of the warriors, and asked why the huts were empty and Rauperaha absent. "He is by this time near Rangitiki," answered one of his followers. " Then I shall be master of Kapiti or " dead," replied Pehi, " by the time he returns." He mustered his men in the canoes, and gallantly effected, 118 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. with the few devoted followers who had refused to desert him, the conquest which had been impossible to the whole body when divided by Rauperaha's envious intrigues. E Ahu Karamu returned to Taupo, and related to the rest of his tribe how fine an opening had been made for them on the sea-coast, dwelling on the advantages to be derived from fishing and trading with the White men. He bore Rauperahds invitation to the other chiefs to lead their men to Cook's Strait, where he would assign them a part of his conquest to enjoy and maintain, while they assisted him in crushing the remains of the insurgents about Rangitiki and Mana watu. The conflicting opinions as to the expediency of this course were peremptorily terminated by E Ahu, who ordered his young men to burn the houses at Taupo ; and the Ngatiraukawa migrated in successive bodies to the coast. Rauperaha then proceeded with their assistance to crush the remains of the aboriginal tribes; and only spared the lives of the few Muopoko now existing in that neighbourhood at the urgent en treaty of Watanui, a great chief of the Ngatiraukawa, to leave them as slaves for him. Manawatu, Ohau, and Otaki, and the shores of the Horowenua and several adjacent lakes, were occupied by these recent allies. In the mean while, Rauperaha had crossed the Strait, and carried destruction among the peaceful inhabitants of the Pelorus and other parts of the opposite coast, as I have previously related. Early in 1826, Te Pehi went on board an English ship which was going through the Strait ; and obtained, by his perseverance and energy, the object which he had most at heart, — namely, a passage to England, in order to bring back, like his old conqueror Hongi, a Chap. V. VISIT OF TE P£^/ TO ENGLAND. 119 stock of fire-arms from that country. He left his son Te Hiko o te rangi, or " the Lightning of Heaven," to take his station among the tribe. The details of Pehis sojourn in England are related at full length in another work.* During Pehis absence Rauperahds influence was greatly increased by his talents for intrigue ; Hiko being but a young man, and of too little experience and authority to lead warriors or to wield the affairs of numerous allied tribes. Pehi returned from England without having ob tained a large present of fire-arms ; but with a strong disposition to adopt civUized customs and to encourage the friendship and society of the White man. Had he lived to this day, he would probably have been a pow erful instrument in the task of improving his numerous followers. Soon after his return he proceeded to Banks's Penin sula in the Middle Island, in order to procure some greenstone or ponamu from the Ngahitau living there, with whom a truce was then existing. He was treacherously attacked, kUled, and eaten, by those among whom he had trusted himself with the most implicit confidence. It was to revenge his death that Rauperaha under took, in 1830, the expedition which has attracted so much attention, because an Englishman lent his aid in all ways to the bloody and revolting scenes by which it was distinguished. Stewart, the captain of the brig Elizabeth, trading ¦ from Sydney to New Zealand, and another White savage who acted as supercargo of the vessel, agreed to take Rauperaha with Hiko and a body of their followers * ' The New Zealanders,' published in the Library of Enter taining Knowledge, 1830 (Account of Tupai Cupa). 120 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. down to the place, and to remain at his disposal until he had accomplished his object, on condition that the brig should be loaded with flax on her return to Kapiti. The White men landed first and enticed the head chief, Te Mairanui, on board the ship where his foes lay concealed. The latter then went ashore, accompanied by the supercargo, and massacred or made captives nearly the whole unsuspecting population, to the- amount of two or three thousand persons. The super cargo boasted, on his return to the ship, of the number whom he had shot with his own gun, as though he had been at a battue of game. Two White adventurers who had been befriended by the chief on shore, came off and cried over their protector. They narrowly escaped death themselves, the captain having advised the natives to get rid of persons who might report the affair at Sydney, and bring down punishment on all concerned. The natives, however, unlike the captain, refused to injure those with whom they had no quarrel ; and the White men were landed when the ship returned to Kapiti. The ship's coppers are related to have pre pared the inhuman feast of the cannibals as well as the food of the other savages ; and the chief, after being exhibited as a captive at Kapiti and Otaki, was killed with the usual tortures, and his body dispersed among the relations of Te Pehi. Mairanui had been kept for four or five weeks on board the ship by Stewart, as a hostage for the pay ment of the flax : but when it was plain that no flax was forthcoming, notwithstanding the promises and excuses of the natives, Stewart gave him up into their hands, and sailed away to Sydney unpaid for his infa mous services. Shameful to relate, although a deputation from the southern tribe, backed by the representations of the Chap. V. RAUPERAHA'^ INFLUENCE AND TREACHERY. 121 Rev. Mr. Ma,rsden, the venerable founder of the Church mission in New Zealand, waited upon the Government of New South Wales, in order to obtain for Captain Stewart the penalty which he deserved, he escaped with impunity. The affair was hushed up ; evidence which might have been obtained was put out of the way, and he was tried and acquitted.* Since Te Pehi's death, Rauperaha had become the sole Ariki or ruler of Cook's Strait ; easily weighing down the balance of Hikos higher descent by his own superior talents of deceit and knowledge of their little world. When the Ngatiawa migrated from Taranaki in about 1834 or 1835, he foresaw a probable obstacle to his authority, and moved every indirect means to arrest their progress and to destroy them as they came. He induced some of his old allies at Taupo to join with the Wanganui tribes in a powerful opposition to their advance ; and when this manoeuvre was defeated by Hiko, who led a large party to the rescue of his mother's relations, Rauperaha hounded the Ngatirau kawa on to their track. Since their successful establishment, he had vainly endeavoured to injure them by treacherous alliance or open enmity, and had acquired among them a reputa tion for duplicity and cruelty almost unexampled in the traditions of even Maori history. Innumerable accounts have been related to me of Rauperaha's unbounded treachery. No sacrifice of honour or feeling seems to have been too great for him, if conducive to his own aggrandizement or se- * See Evidence of the Rev. W. Yate before the House of Com mons' Committee on Aborigines (British Settlements), 1836; and that of J. B. Montefiore before the House of Lords' Committee on New Zealand, 1838. 122 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. curity. He has been known to throw one of his own men overboard in order to lighten his canoe when pursued by the enemy ; and he had slaughtered one of his own slaves at the late feast at Mana, to appear opulent in the eyes of his assembled guests. This was one of the poor, submissive, hard-working tributaries whom we had seen at the Pelorus. In his intercourse with the White whalers and traders and the shipping in the Strait, he had uni versally distinguished himself by the same qualities. By dint of cringing and fawning upon those who showed power and inclination to resist his constant extortions, and the most determined insolence and bullying towards those whom he knew to be at his mercy, he succeeded in obtaining a large revenue from the White population whether transient or per manent, which he invariably applied to the extension of his power among the natives. He was always accompanied in these marauding excursions, which he frequently extended over to Cloudy Bay and Queen Charlotte's Sound, by Rangi haeata, who had become his inseparable companion since his rise in authority. Their respective stations were pithily described by one of the whalers, who told us that " the RobuUer, " as he mispronounced his name, " cast the bullets, and the Rangihaeata shot them." Raupei-aha was the mind and his mate the body on these black-mail-gathering rounds. They had both acquired a violent taste for grog ; and this, with fire arms and powder, were the principal articles de manded. The whaling-station on Evans's Island we found to be more complete, and under more thorough diseiphne and efficient mangement, than those in Port Under wood or at Te-awa-iti. The boats put off after a Chap. V. WHALING-STATIONS— WM/ff^iV^i:. 123 whale just as we arrived, and struck us by their pre cision and good appointment. The head of the party was a determined-looking man of middle age, named Tommy Evans. He was obliging and hospitable in the extreme to us during our stay ; and was reckoned the best master at Kapiti. On one of the other small islands was a station con ducted by an American, who is a renowned enemy of the whale ; and two other stations were situated on the northern part of the great island of Kapiti. All these stations seemed to us to bear a more favourable aspect than those on the other side of the Strait. But little of the same brutal jealousy existed between the different parties, although there was plenty of emula tion. The whalers were much more united among themselves and independent of the natives ; and, although frequent drunkenness and fighting went on ashore, the duty seemed to be done with more alacrity, and the native women appeared to exercise less in fluence in fomenting quarrels between their White companions. There were fewer nondescript traders and idlers here than at the other places ; and the " headsmen" or leaders had less trouble in keeping their parties together and maintaining the strict disci pline necessary to ensure good work. Evans's party had taken 250 tons of oil, and he told us that his own profits alone would amount to 300/. On the 17th I accompanied our three surgeons to Waikanae, to carry succour to the wounded. We also took over E Patu, a young chief of Queen Charlotte's Sound, who had begged a passage from Te-awa-iti, and found that he had lost his uncle in the battle. We landed on the sandy beach, in front of a small vil lage called Te Uruhi, where the tangi was going on over the corpse. Having left him among his mourning 124 ADVENTUEE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. relations, we proceeded to the main pa, at the mouth of the Waikanae river, about a mUe further north. We were loudly greeted, and conducted into a large court of the village, where five hundred men, women, and children were assembled in a row to shake hands with us. This was no small task ; but in order to show them that we approved of their newly-acquired missionary principles, we carefully went through the whole ceremony. This was the largest pa we had yet seen. The outer stockades were at least a mile in circumference ; and the various passages between the different courts and divisions formed a perfect labyrinth. A numerous train of youths guided us to the houses of the wounded men. As we passed, we observed one of the dead chiefs laid out in state in the court before his ware puni. His body was wrapt in his best mats ; and his head, with the hair neatly arranged and copiously ornamented with feathers, reclined against a carved post, which was painted with kokowai, or red ochre. In circles around stood or sat his friends and relations, wailing and lacerating their faces and limbs. Our surgeons were all three hard at work for some hours, extracting bullets, binding up wounds, and setting broken limbs. We found the wounds bound up by the natives generally with the leaf of the flax, and bark splints on the broken limbs. The patients bore pain with the most perfect stoicism. The inhabitants of this vUlage professed to be all Christians, having been converted by native teachers. Accordingly, they buried their fallen enemies on the field of battle ; adhering, however, in some degree to the native superstitions, by burying a stock of tobacco and pipes with each, to console him on his way to the Reinga, or future life according to their belief Chap. V. RAUPERAHA ON BOAED. 125 On our return to the ship we found that Rauperaha had been on board, having been received by Colonel Wakefield with a salute to the New Zealand flag, which he did not at all understand. Indeed, it rather alarmed him, until it was explained that an honour was intended to him and the chiefs who ac companied him. Mr. Wynen had preceded us from Cloudy Bay ; and the chiefs were at first much opposed to selling any land, saying that they had been told the White people would drive them away from their future settlements. They were also exceedingly jealous of our purchase of Port Nicholson. Colonel Wakefield, after much discussion, appeared to convince them of the friendly intentions of the ^'^hite people towards them, and that they would be much benefited by their arrival ; and they finished by saying, " Look at the land ! if it is good, take it ! " Rauperaha staid on board to dinner, with his wife, a tall Meg-Merrilies-like woman, who had a bushy head of hair, frizzled out to the height of six inches all round, and a masculine voice and appetite. She is the daughter of his last wife by a former husband. Rauperaha and several other of the Kawia chiefs drank ardent spirits freely, repudiating the use of water, and refusing with great contempt anything less than a full tumbler. It, did not seem, however, to have the same effect upon them that it would have upon a person unhardened to the use of liquor. Rauperaha sat for his portrait to Mr. Heaphy, and made a noisy demand for a waistcoat in payment as soon as the sitting was over. Indeed, he asked shame lessly for everything which he saw, and he seemed well used to being refused. On the 18th, the chiefs were again on board. 126 ADVENTUEE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. Tungia, who was the father of Tommy Evans's native wife, and nicknamed "the Wild Fellow" by the whalers, was remarkable for his noisy and turbulent manner. All the others, except Hiko and his uncle Rangihiroa, had the same bad qualities which we had observed in the Cloudy Bay natives. They united the uncontrolled ferocity of the savage to the acquired indifference to honour and the degrading vices of the White outcasts among whom they had dwelt. Hiko struck us forcibly by his commanding stature, by his noble intelligent physiognomy, and by his truly chieftain-like demeanour. His descent by both parents pointed him out as a great leader in Cook's Strait, should he inherit his father's great qualities. He was sparing of his words, and mild of speech. He had carefully treasured up his father's instructions, and the relics of his voyage to England. He showed us a volume of the Library of Entertaining Knowledge on the New Zealanders, in which is contained a portrait of Te Pehi, on which he placed great store. He was said to pay his slaves for their work, and to treat them with unusual kindness, and the White men spoke of him as mild and inoffensive in his intercourse with them. Rangihiroa, the younger brother of Pehi, was also a worthy old chieftain. He was free from the vices of the other Kawia chiefs, and was universally well spoken of as kind-hearted to all his fellow-creatures of both races by even the most depraved of the White men. He seemed shy of putting himself forward in the discussion, but approved of the proposed transact tion in a mild and firm speech, made for himself and for his nephew, who had not yet ventured to rely on his eloquence in the conclave of chiefs. A gale from south-east detained the natives on shore Chap. V. fiZffO— NEGOTIATIONS. 127 until the 21st, when they came off, and the proposition was again made to them of purchasing the .whole of their rights and claims of whatever sort to land on both sides of the Strait. They again discussed the matter very fully, and asked to look at the goods. This was complied with ; and though they evidently considered the quantity as far beyond anything they had yet seen or heard of in payment for a thing so great a drug as land, they could not refrain from haggling and bargaining for an addi tion to the heap. Hiko requested more soap, women's clothing, slates, and such useful articles ; while Rau peraha and his party pressed for more fire-arms and powder. This was arranged, after some trouble and disagreement ; and Colonel Wakefield proceeded to explain to them, by means of the interpreter, the whole force of the bargain into which he wished to enter with them. A plan of those parts of the two islands over which their conquests extended was carefully examined by them ; and it was fully explained to them that, after this transaction, they would have no more land, or rights over land of any sort to sell, and that they could not receive any further payment whatever here after for any land if they joined in this agreement. They were also told that a suitable portion for the maintenance of the chiefs, with their famUies and suc cessors, would be made tapu for them for ever ; and that those natives who worked for the White people would be paid by them for their labour. All this was repeated to them over and over again in different forms, till they showed themselves perfectly acquainted with the bargain which they were to accept or refuse. They ended by agreeing fully to every provision ; and Raupe raha dictated to me the native names of all the places on both coasts to which they had any claim, whether 128 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap,V. by conquest or inheritance. This operation took some time, as I made him repeat some of the names several times, in order to write them down clearly, and as he showed me the position of each on the map be fore mentioned. He then joined with the others in consenting to cede the whole of his rights whatsoever to land in those places. They all agreed to come on board to sign the deed, and receive the payment, the next day. Hiko, however, fell ill, and bad weather pre vented the others from leaving the shore. Rauperaha, who is not to be deterred by anything from his own selfish objects, came off through a rough sea, in a sub stantial, strong-buUt, well-manned canoe, and tried to induce Colonel Wakefield to conclude the transaction without Hiko. " He is only a boy," said he, " and has " nothing to do with the land. Give me the goods, " with more powder and arms. Of what use are blan- " kets, soap, tools, and iron pots, when we are going to " war ? What does it matter whether we die cold or " warm, clean or dirty, hungry or full ? Give us two- " barrelled guns, plenty of muskets, lead, powder, car- " tridges, and cartouch-boxes." His proposition was of course quietly refused. A small brig, the Syren, arrived here from Sydney to-day in the thick of the gale from N.W. Having tried to beat up after passing the island, she was baffled by the adverse wind and tide ; and Tommy Evans, who was prevented by their bad management in going about from succeeding in a gallant effort to get on board, had a desperate pull back, which lasted two or three hours, against tide and wind. We went on board her when she anchored, on the gale abating in the evening, and found her in a wretched state, bhe had no binnacle, and only a boat-compass ; no second suit of saUs, a boat Chap. V. QUARREL AMONG CHIEFS. 129 not sea-worthy, a broken windlass, no chronometer, and she was already so short of food that the passen gers were living on the peas out of the grummets used to keep the plates on the table. The captain told us that great excitement had been caused in Sydney by the news of our expedition and its objects ; and that many parties were preparing to come down to this part of New Zealand for the purpose of buying up tracts of land in the neighbourhood of the intended settlements. Even in this ship were numerous deeds sent down to agents here in order to confirm some purchases agreed upon at former times, and for which some small pre payment had been made. 23rd. — The Tory having shifted her berth nearer to the two small islands on which the natives principally reside, the chiefs again came off, Hiko and his uncle in a nice whale-boat belonging to the former. A third korero took place before about twenty White witnesses and a numerous attendance of natives from the shore, so that the deck was quite crowded. All expressed their perfect consent to the sale, and asked for the pay ment to be made. The goods were accordingly got up and placed on deck. Colonel Wakefield had added a bale of clothing, and several other useful articles, at the request of Hiko, who had persuaded the others to cease their clamours for fire-arms. A dozen fowling-pieces, included in the payment, were brought up and placed, ready for distribution, on the companion-hatch. Rauperaha, Tungia, and the other warlike chiefs, rushed at these in the wildest manner, each attempting to seize one ; but they were all immediately removed out of their reach ; and Hiko, who had been trying on one of the coats preparatory to the distribution, no sooner saw the selfishness and ill-faith of his rivals, than he took off the coat, called to Rangihiroa, who had VOL. I. i^ 130 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. remained an unmoved spectator of the whole scene, and steered his boat to the shore in high dudgeon. Colonel Wakefield immediately declared the nego tiation at an end, and ordered the goods below. The turbulent chiefs loudly vented their disappointment at this aspect of the affair, laid the blame on each other and on hhn, and accused him of partiality to Hiko. They asked why he was to be set before the old men, and what he had to do with the land, to be considered for so much ? Some of them even made some of their customary grimaces at Colonel Wakefield, expressive of defiance and contempt ; and Tungia began dancing about and uttering a violent harangue, which seemed to indicate an intention to attack the ship. Some few small articles were pilfered from the heaps in the con fusion, and taken ashore under the mats of slaves who had been set to do this. They threatened, and tried every means to intimidate Colonel Wakefield into proceeding with the affair. They said they would sell the land to the French and Americans, or to the ships from Port Jackson, of which they said plenty would come presently; and, finally, they expressed their determination to go to Port Nicholson and kill all our natives there. Throughout this critical scene Colonel Wakefield displayed the most admirable courage and presence of mind. He laughed at their taunts, and treated their threats with indifference ; and at length told them that they must leave the ship, whether the affair went on or not, if they could not behave more quietly. He refused their repeated proposals to buy their lands, and to leave Hiko to deal for his own ; and managed, by exemplary command of temper and countenance, and by a due mixture of firmness and mildness in his replies, not only to subdue their riotous disposition, but Chap. V. RECONCILIATION— THE DEED SIGNED. 131 to bring them round to as friendly a spirit as they had been in before the disagreement arose. After all had gone ashore but Rauperaha and Tun gia, who remained in hopes of getting the two guns as presents, which they had selected and declared tapu for themselves, we again shifted our berth, in order to take up a more sheltered position. In doing this, we experienced a heavy tide-rip and some severe squalls off the island ; and when, during one of these, the vessel careened over, and the spanker-boom flew in half, Rauperaha was in a most abject state of fear ; asking me whether she would not turn right over, and repeat ing, as he stood trembling with his face to windward, a long, rapid incantation to the spirit of the gale. During one of our tacks, which extended to some distance, we increased his fears by a joking offer to take him to Port Nicholson, that he and Tungia might execute their purpose of kUling Warepori and our natives. On the 24th, Rauperaha and Hiko determined to make up their difference, and, unsolicited by Colonel Wakefield, came on board unattended. They looked for some time over some books of plates in the cabin, talking on different subjects, and then requested that the deed of conveyance might be r6ad to them. This was done, and the whole translated and fully explained to them. The map vvas also again placed before them, and they pointed out the places to which they had a claim, saying, that no one lived on a great part of it, and that this part was of no use to any one, and least of all to them. They then both signed the deed ; Hiko making a cross opposite his name with the pen which I held for him, but Rauperaha making a peculiar mark of his own with the pen in his own hand. They then- left k2 132 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. the ship, each with his two-barrelled gun, and pro mised that the rest of the chiefs should sign the deed on the morrow, when the rest of the goods were to be delivered. On the next day this was done. Rauperaha and Charley signed by proxy for their relations in Cloudy Bay, and old Te Wetu, who was also present, but played only second fiddle among this creme de la crme of New Zealand aristocracy, for his son Mark, who was said to be of great authority in the neighbourhood of D'Urville's Island. It was agreed that a share for Rangihaeata should remain on board, and that his signature should be obtained at Mana, where he then was. He arrived, however, in a canoe, on the 26th ; and after some blus tering and speechifying, he signed the deed, and took his allotted share. Nayti left us here, wishing to go and stop with his relations near Mana till the emigrant ships should arrive. On finding that all our persuasions and en treaties to him to remain with us were unavailing. Colonel Wakefield granted him permission to go; and he got into a canoe full of his friends bound for that place, with all his boxes and goods. Rauperaha, who neglected no opportunity of plun der, had several times tried to profit by Nayti's former statement that they were nearly related. Although this was not the fact, he had on the earliest occasion demanded utu of Colonel Wakefield for having brought his tamaiti, or " child," in the ship ; and on our receiving the account of the capsizing of our cutter one day, Nayti being one of the party on board, he ran to my uncle and claimed his relation's property, before we could possibly know whether any one was drowned or not. On another occasion, he had impu- Chap. V. RAPACITY OF RAUPERAHA. 133 dently seized a gun belonging to Nayti, who was too much ashamed to say " no," but was almost crying with grief; and the robber would have carried it ashore had we not instantly interfered. After the sale, he was constantly coming on board to beg for whatever he saw or desired ; and was once much annoyed by my giving a sword-stick to Hiko, the only one of the assembled chiefs in the cabin who, although admiring, had not asked for the treasure. Rauperaha's attempts to obtain things were incessant and untiring. Threats, prayers, and temptations, (such as offering to prostitute to Colonel Wakefield a young slave-girl from those on his island,) were all tried in succession ; and, although constantly foiled, he seemed never to despair. Colonel Wakefield, having visited Waikanae, was eagerly received by the missionary natives there, who offered to sell their land; but for no consideration except the munitions of war, as they wished to defend themselves against the Ngatiraukawa. E Patu, and some other chiefs deputed from their number, went over with us to Queen Charlotte's Sound ; where we intended to effect a contract with the Nga tiawa residing there, similar to that which we had con cluded with the Kawia at Kapiti. A strong gale of wind off the entrance of the Sound, on the 29th, carried away our foreyard and some of our rigging, and left us in a very dangerous position in the midst of a boiling tide-rip, driving fast on to the Brothers. We escaped, however, by means of the superior sailing qualities of the Tory, and the admi rable management of Captain Chaffers, and ran under the shelter of Mana to repair our damages. We found this island flat on the top, with high cliffs all round, except on the side towards the main, where 134 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. a snug amphitheatre contains the pa in which Rangi haeata and a few followers usually reside, and also the establishment of the White man owning the island. A small flock of sheep and fifty head of cattle, with two draught-horses, are attached to this sort of half-farm, half whaling-station. The ownership was in dispute between the last purchaser of this island and the agent of the last owner, a Sydney merchant, who had neg lected to advise his agent of the sale. The first White owner of this island was a Mr. Bell ; whose White widow, quite mad, lives among the natives, and has acquired all their habits and ways of living. Mana has since passed through the hands of many owners, all dependent on the caprice and humour of Rangihaeata and the other Kawia natives, who have been used to kill the sheep for their fleeces, and to commit other outrages at their will. During the late feast we were told that fifty sheep had been sacrificed. On the 31st, we arrived in East Bay, opposite Ship Cove, followed in by a Bremen whaler who did not know the coast and wanted hands. I accompanied my uncle in a fatiguing walk over the hills to Hokikare. We ascended from Grass Cove, where the boat's crew of Captain Furneaux's ship was massacred and eaten in 1770. We found there two or three whalers' summer residences, and were served with a meal before pro ceeding. At Hokikare we found the natives preparing to embark for Waikanae, in order to take part in any fighting which might succeed the battle. Tipi had collected sixty picked men, with whom he meant to make a raid on Rauperahds island, and seize him, in order to avenge the death of his father in some former snare laid by the old intriguer. We proceeded to Dicky Barrett's at Te-awa-iti; and Chap. V. FUNERAL OF A TRADER. 135 having engaged the natives to postpone their expedition in order to take part in the treaty at East Bay, we re turned to the ship in a boat. During our absence, Jacky Love, the trader whom I mentioned as having obtained the affection of the natives by his kindness and generosity, had died. Two hundred natives fol lowed his body to the grave ; and they subsequently erected a monument over it such as usually graces the tomb of a great chieftain. This was a canoe stuck upright in the ground, some 20 feet high ; painted in fanciful designs with red and black dye, and edged .all round with a fringe of feathers. From the 1st to the 8th of November was spent in negotiating with the natives, who collected to the number of three hundred, and formed encampments on the different islands and beaches near the ship, for a total cession of all their rights and claims. The same full explanations were made that had been used in the two former cases ; and the same care taken that ample deliberation and due calmness should insure the per fect validity and truth of the transaction. Much difficulty occurred, both during these discus sions and at the distribution of the goods, in conse quence of the absence of chieftains of great influence to take the lead in treating and speaking for the others. Innumerable petty disagreements had to be put an end to, and jealousies to be appeased ; and as no one chief possessed sufficient authority to undertake this task, much more trouble and annoyance necessarily devolved upon Colonel Wakefield. His usual patience, deter mination, and good temper did not fail him ; and he fully succeeded in conciliating their universal good will. The result of this equality of authority among so wild a rabble gave rise to a disagreeable scene, during 136 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. the distribution of the goods after the execution of the deed by the numerous chiefs. One of the many smaller tribes composing the Nga tiawa, namely the Puketapu, consisted of particularly quarrelsome and unruly members ; and, after the other tribes had taken their shares ashore, this one found it impossible to arrange the distribution without a taua or "scramble." I was in the 'tween decks when it began ; and, hear ing a loud and continued stamping on the deck, thought the natives were " rushing" or attacking the ship. Under this impression, I sprang aft to obtain a weapon of defence from among those always ready in the cabin. On my way, I met E Witi, one of the chiefs of a tribe which had effected a quiet division ; and he reassured me by telling me that no harm would be done to the White people, and that I had better go up in the rigging and look upon the way in which the natives divided their goods. Following his advice, I clambered up into the long boat between the masts, and was at first bewildered at the sight. About one hundred and fifty natives were piled above the various heaps of goods, writhing, strug gling, stamping, pulling each others' hair and limbs, tear ing blankets, shivering whole cases of pipes and looking- glasses, and withal yelling and screaming in the most deafening manner, Some of the wildest had stripped naked. Disengaging themselves for a moment from the mass, they tightened the thong of their tomahawk- handle round their wrist, and prepared to plunge into the thickest of the mass, where some dearly-prized article was in contention among a heap of furies. Barrett, however, and some other White men well known to the natives, pinioned the arms of two or three of the wildest with their own, and gradually restored Chap. V. A SCRAMBLE. 137 order and peace. The combatants looked exceedingly crestfallen as they gathered up the remains of the broken things ; but took especial pains to tell us that it was no fault of ours, but the porangi or " foolish- " ness" of the Maori. Others, who had assumed a quiet, watchful attitude during the disturbance, smilingly produced from under their mats some chain-hook, sounding-lead, or other handy weapon, with which they had armed themselves in case of the worst. During the negotiations, our old tormentor at Ship Cove, " Dogskin,'' once appeared alongside ; but upon our recognizing him, although his costume was much altered, and pointing him out to the attention of Bar rett and the surrounding natives, he was evidently much ashamed, and went right away. Nor did he ever re turn on board. Ngarewa attended the whole proceed ings, and received his share of the payment. On the 9th, Colonel Wakefield landed and took formal possession in the name of the Company. Wq had now obtained the rights and claims of a large proportion of the owners of land on both sides of Cook's Strait. The Kawia claimants by conquest, and the Ngati awa or actual occupants, had both been satisfactorily dealt with in a general way. It remained to satisfy the tribes resident along the sea-coast of the northern shore, between Waikanae and the Sugar-loaf Islands. Colonel Wakefield left it to future times to deal with the Ngatiawa of Waikanae, many of whose chiefs had been concerned in this last affair, and who had seemed moreover well inclined to join in the trans action on the occasion of Colonel Wakefield's recent visit to them. He also postponed to a less disturbed season the idea of dealing with the Ngatiraukawa. And he resolved next to proceed to Taranaki, in order to satisfy the now scanty occupiers of that extensive and 138 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. fertile region, by the mediation of Barrett and the ambassadors from Port Nicholson. Considering a large district as secured on each side of the Strait, only subject to satisfying the least im portant inhabitants. Colonel Wakefield named the two provinces respectively North and South Durham, in ho nour of the then Governor of the New Zealand Land Company. Having promised a passage across to Waikanae to some of the chiefs, we sailed for Kapiti on the 11th; but a N.W. wind and baffling tide detained us in the Strait until the next morning. At daylight Kapiti lay about five miles to the S.E. of us. A small barque carrying the New Zealand flag passed between us and the island, and then hove to under our lee. We were in great hopes that this might prove our surveying-ves sel, and hove to in order to communicate with her. A whale-boat came on board from the stranger, and soon dispersed our sanguine conjectures. She proved to be an American whaler, which, having been wrecked in the Bay of Islands, had been purchased by some one there, repaired, and fitted out under the New Zealand flag, and sent down here to take up a whaling captain, previous to going on a voyage in the South Seas. Cap tain Lewis, or " Horse" Lewis, as he was more gene rally called, the American of whom I have spoken be fore as heading a station on one of the small islets near Kapiti, was the man of whom they were in search, and the sailing captain came on board of us to ask where Kapiti was. We shewed it to him under his nose, and told him to follow us in to the anchorage ; giv ing him also as pilot an old whaler who accompanied Barrett, named Heberly, but more commonly known as "Worser." We then rounded the north point of Kapiti, and anchored in the outer roadstead off Evans's Island. The whaling . barque was christened Chap. V. WAR CANOES. 139 Tokerau on her adoption of a new flag. This is the native name of the Bay of Islands, and signifies lite rally " the hundred rocks." We found that during our absence a barque had been here from Sydney, with an agent sent to purchase land for Messrs. Cooper and Levi, merchants in that place. The whalers told us that he had purchased Kapiti; which we knew to have been purchased already so many times, that we omitted both that and Mana from the list of places to which we had bought the natives' rights. This agent had also bought a piece of land on the main near Waikanae ; and he had, although informed by every one that the natives had made the whole of their rights over to Colonel Wakefield a few days before, declared that he would buy any land in order to prevent the Tory from ob taining it. He had accordingly promised to give a small schooner for the Ohiere, or Pelorus River. We were detained a week here by a succession of light baffling winds and calms. During this interval, Warepori and several other chiefs from Port Nicholson, who had joined the muster at Waikanae, came across in their war- canoes to see us. On one occasion, three, well manned and armed, bearing together nearly one hundred men, came alongside. They look very pretty when at full speed. The finely-carved head and stern of the canoe are ornamented with feathers of the pigeon and albatross ; and bunches of the latter plumage, or of that of the gannet, are disposed along the batten which covers • the joint of the bottom and top side of the canoe. The men are placed at equal intervals along either side to paddle ; and they keep excellent stroke to the song of two leaders, who stand up and recite alternate short sentences, giving the time with a taiaha or long wooden spear. Two ex- 140 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. V. perienced hands in the stern use larger paddles for steering. The taiaha is rather a long-handled club than a spear. It is generally made of manuka, a very hard, dark, close-grained, and heavy wood. When polished with oil, it becomes nearly black. The taiaha is about six feet long. At one end is carved a representation of a man's head, thrusting out his tongue, which forms a sort of spear-head. His eyes are represented by small pieces of the mother-o'-pearl-like shell, which I have before alluded to as used for their fish-hooks, let into the wood. The tongue and face are all minutely carved so as to represent the tatu. Above the fore head, a part of the stalk of the weapon is covered with the bright-red feathers from under the wing of the kaka or large parrot, to represent the hair ; and an abundant tuft of long, white dog's-hair imitates the feathers or head-dress. The taiaha is held just above the dog's-hair, and flourished in the right hand with the tongue downwards. From this place the stalk gradually expands into a flat, sharp-edged blade, about three inches wide at the end ; and this is the part used to strike in fighting, both hands managing the weapon like a quarter-staff. Warepori could hardly talk about the prospect of the settlers arriving at Port Nicholson. His mind was quite unsettled by the warlike aspect of affairs, and he spoke of the probability of his death in the approaching contest. We ascertained that about 800 fighting-men had mustered at Waikanae, and that there would soon be 600 more of the Ngatiawa tribe from different parts of the Strait. Rauperaha had been for some time at Otaki, as it was supposed inciting the N gatiraukaii-a to renew the attack. Chap. V. WAREPORI Af!IT) RAUPERAHA. 141 One day that Warepori was talking to us on deck, we spied a strong, large canoe stealing along under the land of Kapiti, about a mUe from us, and apparently anxious to escape observation. On applying the spy glasses, we made out the " Old Sarpent," or " Satan," as the whalers call him, crouching down in his canoe, and occasionally casting a timid glance towards the crowd of canoes which surrounded our ship, and urging his men to pull harder. He had just returned from Otaki, and seemed anxious to reach his own island un observed by the Ngatiawa. Warepori, however, who had made him out as soon as any of us, manned his war-canoe and started at racing-pace to cut off" his re treat. Forty paddles against six or seven was no fair match. Rauperaha, after an ineffectual attempt to effect the passage between the innermost islet and Kapiti, and so avoid the rencontre, found his ma noeuvring of no avail, and the two canoes remained motionless at half musket-shot. The particulars of the interview were related to me by some natives on Hiko's island the same evening. Warepori reproached him with his constant in triguing and setting their enemies against the Nga tiawa. He warned him of what might happen to himself should these latter prove victorious. Rauperaha answered in the most submissive man ner, that he had no such designs ; and abjured all fighting, saying that he would yield Kapiti to Ware pori, and retire himself to Wairau, near Cloudy Bay. Having thus appeased his interlocutor's anger, he invited him ashore to a meal ; and apparent friendly relations lasted on the two islets inhabited by Hiko and Rauperaha all the night. The latter did not come on board of us, but returned to Otaki. On the 17th, we had got our anchor up, and sailed a 142 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Cavp. V. little way before a light southerly breeze, which failed, however, when we had got opposite to Waikanae. While we were anchored with a kedge, three chiefs, belonging to the Wanganui tribes, came off from Waikanae to commence negotiations for the sale of their district. They were allied to the Ngatiawa, and had taken great part in the defence of the place on the 16th of last month. They heard all the usual explanations, described the boundaries within which their claims lay, and, after receiving a fowling-piece each in part payment, signed a deed which had been translated to them. Two of them, Te Kiri Karamu and Te Rangi Wakarurua, returned on shore. Kuru Kanga, the son of the latter, and principal chief of Wanganui, remained on board to show us the en trance of the river, and that we might land him to prepare his people for the completion of the purchase on our return. He was an active, intelligent man; and seemed highly anxious to have White men among his people. He was attended by a slave, who acted famously as valet-de-chambre, anticipating the slight est want of his master. This chief had taken a dis tinguished part in the battle of Waikanae. He was universally known as a brave warrior and skilful general ; and I have since been told by Watanui, E Ahu, and other principal chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa, that, had it not been for his determined gallantry and that of his attendants, they should have won the day. On the morning of the 18th, as we lay nearly be calmed off the sandy beach between Waikanae and Otaki, Rauperaha came on board, on his way from the latter place to Kapiti. He seemed iU at ease, although we greeted him kindly notwithstanding our aversion for his character. He asked for some grog, and then took an early opportunity of stating, in the most bare- Chap. V. RAUPERAHA REPUDIATES HIS BARGAIN. 143 faced way, that he should sell some land to the vessel from Port Jackson, as he wanted more guns, and had only sold us Taitapu and Rangitoto ; that is. Blind Bay and D'Urville's Island ! Colonel Wakefield reproached him instantly, and in the strongest terms, with his falsehood and duplicity ; making Brooks, the interpreter, repeat to him several times that he had behaved as a liar and a slave, instead of a great chief. Rauperaha maintained, however, an imperturbable sUence, giving no answer to this severe attack, or to the reproaches which all the cabin-party addressed to him. He demanded and drank another glass of grog, and then got into his canoe, which pulled for Kapiti. We were of course much hurt by this rapid repudia tion of his bargain ; and, though we depended entirely upon the perfect justice and openness of the agreement which we had made with him, before so many wit nesses and in such explicit terms, for our justifica tion before the world, we foresaw some obstacles already arrayed against the peaceful settlement of the Strait during the life of this deceitful old savage. It seemed natural to suppose, however, that, whether obliged to govern and protect ourselves, or acknow ledged and fostered, as we hoped, by the British Government, we should always possess a force able to protect the plantations against any of his evil designs, and to maintain the execution of any just bargain, whether or not he should be inclined to abide by it at a future period. 144 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. CHAPTER VI. Search for Wanganui river — Appearance of country — The chief E Kuru lands — Coast — Tonga Riro and Mount Egmont— Sugar-loaf Islands — Surf — Native greetings — Barrett and Doctor Dieifenbach land — False Hokianga — Hohianga — Signals— Pilot — European Settlements — Nature of country — Wesleyan mission — Mr. Bumby, a worthy missionary — Kauri timber — Natives tamed, but not civilized — Lieutenant Macdonnell's establishment — Vineyard — Baron de Thierry — Colonel Wakefield buys title-deeds of Wairau near Cloudy Bay — Our shipwreck outside Kaipara — A cool man-of-war's man — Perils in a boat — Estuary of Kgipara — Bivouac — Mosquitoes — The Navarino — A sailor's hospitality— The Tory is hove down — Colonel Wakefield proceeds to Bay of Islands — Wairoa river — Mr. Symonds — Country about Kaipara — Mr. White, a missionary and " land-shark" — The Guide arrives ¦ — Mr. John Blackett — Dr. Dorset and I embark in the Guide — Dangers — A whaler at sea — Navigation — Sugar-loaf Islands— Moturoa — Barrett's adventures — Mr. White — His letters — The view from Sugar-loaf Peak — Dangerous situation of the Guide — Our dormitory— Twelve days on a rocky islet — Missionaiy hostility — Native language as manufactured by the missionaries — Punishment of adultery — Return of the Guide — Two deeds signed ' — Preparations for a skirmish' — -Mediation — Barracoota fishing — Arrival at Port Nicholson. In the evening a fine breeze swept us past Otaki; and in the morning we were far north of the Watt- ganui river. E Kuru and his attendant were now fairly puzzled ; they had never seen their country from further out at sea than they go in their canoes ; and as all the land north of Waikanae is level and low for a great distance inland, so as not to bear any distinguishing features from the Strait, they confounded different parts of this monotonous coast. Dicky, however, recognised the land as being be^ tween Patea and Wanganui. We therefore took Chap. VL APPEARANCE OF COUNTRY. 145 advantage of a fine north-east breeze off' the land to run along close to it, towards the place we sought. I remained in the main-top most of the day, gazing with delight on the extensive tract of level plains which stretched back far as the eye could reach from the edge of the cliffs which form the shore. Smokes from two or three bays to the northward appeared to in vite our approach. As we ran along under all sail in the smooth water sheltered by the land, in some places within less than a mile of the shore, we at one place got into shoal water, six and then four fathoms as we neared a stony point. E Kuru warned us to stand off before his caution was confirmed by the lead. The weather was too thick for us to distinguish the mountains, which lie far distant to the east and south east. We stood off for the night under easy sail ; and found ourselves in the morning abreast of the river's mouth, about three miles off. A sandspit on the south side seemed to shut up all but a narrow channel with foaming breakers. We now bade farewell to E Kuru and his attendant, who got into a boat with Barrett. The chief was landed at a pa about two miles up the river ; and Barrett returned after sounding on the bar; just in time, for the wind nad freshened fast from the time he left, and shifted round to west-north-west in a squall, so that we were soon obliged to beat off' the coast under close-reefed topsails in a smart gale. Barrett reported two fathoms as the shoalest water on the bar at half-ebb, and deep water when once inside. He described the natives as much alarmed at our close approach to the coast, dreading some repeti tion of the expedition made by the Alligator in 1834. We gathered from him that the coast is quite low, backed by barren sand hummocks, along the whole distance between Waikanae and Wanganui ; to the JOL. I. L 146 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI, north of which cliffs of moderate height commence, and continue all round, with but few interruptions, to the Sugar-loaf Islands. During the next seven days we were tormented by fresh gales from between west and north during the day, and calm moonlight nights. In our various tacks towards the coast we could frequently distinguish breaks in the cliff, which Barrett recognised as the locations of Te Namu, Waimate, and other spots ren dered famous by the visits of the Alligator, and at which he had reposed during the great migration of the Ngatiawa. We enjoyed magnificent views of Tonga Riro, a high snowy mountain about ninety miles from the coast, in which the Wanganui takes its rise, and also of Mount Egmont or Taranaki, The latter forms a beautiful object from the sea. It rises gra dually and evenly from a circle thirty or forty miles in diameter, one-third of which circle is formed by the sea. With the exception of a small group of low hills near the Sugar-loaf Islands, the land between the sea and the mountain forms an inverted amphitheatre, wooded down to within six or seven miles of the cliffs. The open ground seemed also interspersed with wooded portions. The Ngatiawa natives on board with Bar rett almost cried with joy as they looked once more on what all the natives agree in describing as the garden of the country. We found soundings in all parts of the bay between Kapiti and Cape Egmont. The lead gave thirteen fathoms at three miles' distance from the entrance of Wanganui. We at length anchored to the north of the middle Sugar-loaf Island, on the morning of the 27th, in eight fathoms. A long swell from S.W. made us roll very heavily. Chap. VI. NATIVE GREETINGS. 147 A volcanic peak at Sugar-loaf Point shoots up to the height of 500 feet. Two islands lie at the distances of one and two miles respectively to the westward ; and several islets and extensive reefs are scattered about on the southern side of the point. Barrett went off in a whale-boat, accompanied by E Ware and Tuarau, the two young deputies from Port Nicholson ; but he found the surf too heavy for landing. They succeeded in making themselves known to some natives on the beach, two of whom swam off through the surf, and came on board the Tory. An interesting scene now took place : Maori custom had prevented any communication in the boat ; and even for some time after they had got on board, all four sat weeping on the deck, with their heads buried in their mats. One of the two strangers at length rose, and after the ceremony of rubbing noses had been performed by all, he related in a recitative dirge, beautifully affecting in its tone and expression, the hardships and dangers which had been endured by those on shore since the retreat of the main body of their relations. Their numbers, he said, had been wofully diminished by the predatory incursions of the Waikato war-parties. They had repeatedly been besieged in their strongholds on the peak or the islands ; and, unable to trust themselves so far from places of refuge as to cultivate to any extent, had lived in a great measure on fish and fern-root. "But," he said, "though we muster now no more "than threescore, we have determined to remain on "our dear native land, and to struggle on through " fear and hunger. We are glad to see our brothers " from Port Nicholson, and our old White friend." Tuarau answered them in an encouraging strain ; telling them how he had brought White men to pay l2 148 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. them for their land, and to protect them from their enemies ; and how a like protection had been needed and secured by his fathers in the south. He drew a short sketch of our progress and intentions, and then delivered the advice oi Epuni and Warepori, that they should sell Taranaki to their good pakeha, or White man. The next morning we landed Barrett and his train, including Tuarau. It was declared impossible to col lect the different chiefs connected with the district of Taranaki in less than a week, as some of them resided far off. Colonel Wakefield, therefore, determined to leave Barrett here to prepare the natives for the sale, and to proceed himself at once to Hokianga* and Kai para, two harbours in the north of the island, where he had to discover and take possession of certain. dis tricts which had been acquired by the Company from former purchasers before we left England. Dr. Dieffen bach was also persuaded by my uncle to land here, and seize the opportunity of examining JNIount Egmont and the surrounding country, so highly interesting to the geologist, and of which so little was yet known from authentic sources. The surf was still exceedingly high on the beach ; but the whale-boats landed Dicky and all his goods and chattels, animate and inanimate, by an early hour in the afternoon, and we weighed anchor and stood to the northward, before a fine fresh breeze. E Ware had determined to accompany Colonel Wakefield in his peregrinations ; Jim Crow considered himself now as much attached to the ship as her figure head ; and a native of Rotoma (one of the South Sea Islands), named "Saturday," who had been whaling under Barrett, also made his choice for the Tory. Erroneously spelt Jokeeangar and Shukeeanga on some maps. Chap. VI. HOKIANGA— SlGJ:fALS. 149 On the evening of the first of December, we came in sight of what we supposed to be the heads of Ho kianga. We had on board some printed directions, given us in England, stating that a regular pilot lived d.t the entrance, and that a flag-staff on the south head was used to direct ships, by its signals, over the bar. As we could see no flag-staff, and as the sea appeared to break right across the entrance, we fired several guns, but received no answer. Accordingly, we stood off all night, and in the morning ran down about ten miles to the south, and found the real place. We had been last night off Wangape harbour, a place some times called False Hokianga, on account of its great similarity to this harbour. The thick weather had prevented any observations, and our dead reckoning had Ted us into this error. We passed safely over the bar, directed by the flag-staff, which is very ingeni ously arranged, so as to incline to the right or left as may be required, A vessel entering or going out has to obey its motions by standing in the corresponding direction. We found a quarter-less-four on the shoalest part of the bar, which was not breaking anywhere. The pilot, Mr. Martin, came on board after we had passed all the dangers, and took charge of the ship up the river. Immediately at the entrance were high sand-hills ; but the appearance of the banks improved, being clear and level for some way back as we advanced. About twenty miles up the river the banks had become irre gular and wooded. At a place called the Narrows they approach one another within two ships' lengths, having been as much as a mile or two apart up to that place. Two or three miles above the Narrows, and twenty-six miles from the river's mouth, we anchored 150 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. , Chap. VI. close to two other barques which were loading kauri* timber for New South Wales. On the bank to our left was the house and store of a timber-dealer and general storekeeper. In front was a small flat island, on which were some sawyers' and blacksmiths' work shops. On either side of this island a tributary of the Hokianga flowed into the pool in which we lay. To the right a point of land just hid from us the buildings of the head Wesleyan mission. In ascending the river we had passed Herd's Point. This is a tract of land that was purchased by the agent of the Company of 1825, mentioned in the first chapter, which had become incorporated with the New Zealand Land Company. It is a tongue of land formed by the junc tion of two tributaries, and is quite level and covered with small wood. We heard that the portioir pur chased only comprised about half a square mile, and high hills bound its inner side. We found the whole country about the Hokianga river very irregular ; and though there is a good deal of valuable and available land, it is much dispersed among steep hills, and intersected by innumerable creeks and mangrove-swamps. At low water the banks of the rivers have a most dismal appearance ; these swamps and extensive banks of mud drying out to a considerable distance from the sound bank, and thus making the operation of landing extremely diffi cult and inconvenient. During the next two days we visited different parts of the river. At Mangungu, the Wesleyan Missionary station above mentioned, we met with Mr. Bumby, then Chairman of the mission. We found in this gentleman a truly worthy teacher * Spelt Kowdie in many works. Chap.VL WESLEYAN mission— MR. BUMBY. 151 of the Christian religion. Endowed with considerable talents, which were improved by an excellent educa tion, Mr. Bumby could bring enlarged views to bear on the appointed tasks of himself and his brother mis sionaries. His manners were conciliating, and essen tially those of a gentleman and man of the world ; and he willingly conceded that our efforts and those of the mission might work in perfect harmony. Mr. Bumby had visited Port Nicholson in the schooner which I before mentioned ; and we now felt more than ever convinced that the native teachers left there had been led by jealousy to exceed their duties. He imagined, however, that he had secured the piece of ground at Te Aro, on which the houses and future chapel had been built. Colonel Wakefield told him how the natives had disregarded this verbal agreement unaccompanied by payment ; but assured him that he would be at all times ready, in fulfilment of his instructions from the Company, to reserve a sufficient place in the future town for the location of a chapel and mission-house of each of the two stations. Accompanied by Mr. Hobbs, another missionary, Mr. Bumby had walked along the coast from Kapiti to this place, doing much good on his way. In the course of our frequent visits to the mission, and his to the Tory, we collected a great deal of useful informa tion, and acquired a strong friendship for the excellent Mr. Bumby. When he was afterwards unfortunately drowned by the upsetting of a canoe in the Frith of the Thames while in the pursuit of his praiseworthy labours, by none of his friends was he more sincerely regretted than by those who learned to esteem the virtues of his character at Mangungu. At the mission were some poor farm-buildings ; a press, which was worked by natives under the direction 152 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. of Mr. Woon, the printer ; and a very nice chapel. The buUdings were of kauri timber, which works up very well. The rooms lined with this wood, carefully planed, had the neat appearance of a work-box. In different places along the banks of the river, huge logs of this valuable wood lay ready for sale or embark ation. The few natives about the settlement were extensively employed in lumbering, and made large profits by this work and the sale of the trees. We were much struck, however, by the difference of cha racter as well as physical appearance of the natives here in comparison with those of our friends in Cook's Strait. The latter had appeared far superior in stature and muscular power. There was here, moreover, none of the same eagerness to supply a ship with provisions. In all the harbours of Cook's Strait, we had always been surrounded by canoes, bearing more than sufficient for our consumption. Plere, on the contrary, it was difficult to procure fresh provisions, even by sending to the residence of the chiefs. Entirely borne away by the high profits arising from the great competition be tween White men for the kauri logs, they neglected to cultivate the ground, and disdained going in their canoes to catch any of the fish which abound near the heads. During the whole time that we lay here, we had not a single canoe come alongside for the purpose of barter, and were obliged to procure our fresh provisions at an exorbitant price from a haggling White dealer. The rest of the natives, who are all professed' Christians, were accustomed to collect from different parts of the neighbourhood on the Saturday afternoon, in order to be in readiness for the morrow's services.. They occupied a collection of temporary huts at the foot of the gentle slope on which the chapel and mission are built. I was much struck by their mise- Chap. VI. LIEUTENANT MACDONNELL 153 rable outward appearance. They were wretchedly clothed, covered with dirt, badly supplied with food, generally speaking weak and sickly-looking, and alto gether more abject in their manners and miserable in their condition than the slaves at the Ohiere; who, however poor and degraded, had at least some lightness of heart and physical energy. The missionary natives showed no curiosity as to us, and hardly turned their heads to answer a question ; they seemed to have lost all the Maoris natural vivacity and inquisitiveness, and to be a generation whose feelings and natures weve blunted. In a word, they appeared tamed without being civi lized. Together with the ferocity they had lost the energy of the savage, without acquiring either the activity or the intelligence of a civilized man. They performed, however, their part of the religious ceremonies on Sunday with great order and decorum ; joining universally in the responses and hymns, and listening with marked attention to the sermon which followed. On the Monday they again disappeared ; having excited no feeling in my mind but that of sincere pity for their degraded physical state. About two miles above Mangungu, we found the es tablishment of Lieutenant Macdonnell, who had been some years in this country, and who had sold his claims to certain districts of land here and at Kaipara to the Company. We had left him in England, but had brought with us his deeds for the lands in ques tion, and letters to his agent, Mr. Mariner. A brig was loading kauri spars at the river-side. A nice wooden house, belonging to Lieutenant Macdonnell, stood on a terrace about fifty yards back from the river. Mr. Mariner had a comfortable cottage on the 154 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI, bank below, buried in the midst of flourishing gardens. The fig and prickly pear were growing well in the open air; and a vineyard, with three hundred and fifty vines of different sorts, promised great things. Some cattle belonging to Mr. Macdonnell were running on the tops of the hills, and one of these, which we bought for the ship, was very fair meat. De Thierry's wild scheme of assuming the sove reignty of New Zealand was of course opposed by the natives and White settlers of the Bay of Islands and Hokianga. Mr. Busby printed a circular to the chiefs, inviting them to resist his designs ; and the Church missionaries took active measures for their overthrow. On arriving in New Zealand in 1835, he was much disappointed when he found his visionary scheme quite unlikely to succeed; and he was also foiled in the more legitimate hope of acquiring an indisputable title to a large tract of land, by means of the 700Z. which he had given to Mr. Kendal for that purpose. It appeared that Mr. Kendal had purchased some land for thirty-six axes ; and De Thierry had been involved in constant disputes with the vendors and their sons ever since. On one occasion he sent to Colonel Wakefield for protection against an aggression meditated upon him and his family by a turbulent young chief, in consequence of a dispute about the ownership of some logs of timber. An armed boat from the Tory, sent up to his residence, had the effect of maintaining peace, until a chief named Nene or Thomas Walker, who was much on board our ship, had been persuaded by my uncle to go and pacify the aggressor, his own brother. Colonel Wakefield him self paid the Baron a visit, and described his family as exceedingly interesting and well-bred, but suffering from distress and constant alarm. Chap. VI. PURCHASE OF DEEDS OF WAIRAU. 155 We saw nothing of the Roman Catholic Bishop, Monseigneur Pompalier, who, we were told, had lately bought land for a missionary station on the banks of the river, and made many converts. He had been at tacked by both sects of Protestant missionaries in the most intolerant manner. Colonel Wakefield took formal possession for the Company of Herd's Point, and of a district of land opposite called Motukaraka, bought of Mr. Macdon nell, in the presence of the original vendors. He then sent a messenger over to the Bay of Islands, to procure the attendance of Rewa and some of the other chiefs of the Ngapuhi tribe, who had made a cession of some land on the banks of ^q Kaipara river to Mr. Macdonnell. This gentleman had obtained from the chiefs of the Ngapuhi a promise in writing to sell him a tract of land on the Kaipara, which they had recently con quered, provided he brought a vessel into that river. He had effected this with the Tui, a small schooner built at Hokianga ; and his consequent right of pre emption had been bought by the Company. We met the chiefs assembled at Hauraki, Mr. Mac donnell's station ; and they confirmed the agreement, and- deputed a chief named Taonui to go with us to Kai para and show us the land in question. . Previous to sailing. Colonel Wakefield purchased from a lady, representing herself to be the widow of Captain Blenkinsopp, some deeds professing to be the original conveyances of the plains of Wairau by Rau peraha, Rangihaeata, and others to that gentleman, in consideration of a ship-gun. They were signed with elaborate drawings of the moko or tatu on the chiefs* faces. On the 16th of December, we set sail for Kaipara. On the evening of the 18th, we anchored in ten 156 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. fathoms, on the tail of one of the extensive banks which lie outside the entrance of that harbour to the distance of five or six miles from the land. We caught in two hours enough snapper to last the whole ship's company for many days. 19th. — This morning I was awakened by Dr. Dorset, who told me that we were aground. As I was swing ing in a cot, I could not feel any bumping, and treated his announcement as a joke. On his repeated state ments, however, I put my foot on deck, and soon felt a tremendous bump. I dressed in haste and hurried on deck. We had trusted almost entirely to a chart with which we had been furnished by Lieutenant Macdon nell in England, and which proved totally erroneous, omitting any description of a bank which lay in the midst of the main channel as draw^n by him. As it was quite calm, we had been towing in with three boats ahead on the top of the flood-tide, and no break ers had pointed out the shoal water. One cast of the lead had given twelve fathoms ; and the next, " quarter-less-three" and a heavy bump. A long rolling swell from the westward was increasing in force every minute. The usual measures to get the ship off were taken, but in vain. Captain Chaffers and the well-disci plined crew exerted themselves most creditably. Five of our guns, three or four anchors and cables, a deck- load of spare spars which we had taken in at Hokianga, and several other heavy articles, were thrown over board. Kedges were carried out and hauled upon, but with no effect. Some heavy mill-stones and paving-flags were got up out of the hold and rolled overboard. One of them was carelessly sent through our best whale-boat, which lay at the gangway. ' Chap. VI. A COOL MAN-OF-WAR'S MAN. 157 During half-an-hour the ship continued to bump heavily. An old man-o '-war's man, who had joined us in Plymouth Sound, amused me much by his determined sang froid on this occasion. He happened to have been in the Pique frigate, on the famous voyage which she made across the Atlantic without a rudder after striking on a rock on the coast of Newfoundland. He was now at the helm ; and coolly rolled his quid in his mouth, as he related in a low tone the more appalling dangers of that adventure, or warned me to keep further from the wheel, each time that a bump of the rudder made it spin round like the fly-wheel of a steam-engine. " This " is only soft sand," said he ; "I 've been bumping on " hard rocks for a day and night and no harm done : " shear a little further off the wheel, sir, and mind " your legs with them chains," — then a bump and whir-r-r-r went the wheel — " only soft sand, sir ! " as he rolled his quid over, and again handled the wheel. " All right, sir," to an inquiring glance from the captain as to the feel of the rudder — then another great bump, and warning, and whirling, and rolling of the quid, and then he resumed his yarn as quietly as if nothing were the matter. The tide having ebbed, it became impossible that the vessel should come off until the next flood. Co lonel Wakefield mustered a crew of volunteers from the cabin to pull ashore in the whale-boat which re mained whole, and obtain assistance from the Nava rino, a vessel which we had -been told at Hokianga was loading spars about thirty miles up the river. We thus left the most useful men on board, with the long boat and cutter, the two best boats. E Ware, Sa turday, Mr. Heaphy, Dr. Robinson, Dr. Dorset, and myself were to pull at the oars, thus having one spare 158 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. hand to relieve the tired ; and Colonel Wakefield steered. Just previous to our leaving, the cutter had towed the long-boat, bearing one of the anchors, to some distance from the ship, and dropped the anchor in order to get a heave on it the next tide. The violence of the ebb, which now ran like a sluice past the ship, had prevented them from towing the empty long-boat back ; and they had found it extremely difficult to pull only the cutter back, double-banking the oars. In our haste we had forgotten to notice this circumstance ; and we were no sooner out of the eddy formed by the ship, than we were hurried along seawards, notwith standing all our efforts. The heavy swell had now begun to break on the outer edge of the shoals, and the roar sounded louder and louder in our ears as we drifted nearer to the breakers. The day was cloudless, and the sun, nearly at the zenith, distressingly hot. The chronometers and deeds had been placed in the stern-sheets for safety, but not a drop of water. We worked until we could perspire no longer, and then the toil was ex cessively painful. An ineffectual attempt to anchor in one of the channels had only lost us ground, the line having proved too short ; and we were soon within a quarter of a mile of the outer breakers, which seemed to menace certain destruction. When in the boat, we had been unable to distinguish the deep channel, as it is tortuous, and several smaller channels perplex the observer so near the level of the water, and the tide appeared to set across both channels and banks. The spot where the vessel struck was two or three miles from the sea ; and we were now so far to sea ward of the ship, that we were invisible to those on board. Chap.VL PERILS IN A BOAT. 159 Just as we had given ourselves up for lost, a faint breath of air was felt from seaward ; one of the natives' blankets was extended between two stretchers in the bow ; and this, with the unremitting efforts of the rowers, kept us in about the same position for two or three hours, till the flood-tide made. Even then we were not in perfect safety ; the flood set so strongly to the northward that we became in volved among new breakers. Saturday, however, here took the steer-oar, and steered us with great presence of mind through a threatening line of surf ; when we found ourselves in a smooth channel, gliding towards the harbour at the rate of five knots. Each rested on his oar, and we now paused, to establish a better mast and sail with a blanket stretched on two of them. I shall never forget the pleasure of the first drink of water at the rill on a beach near the North Head. We pulled and sailed about twenty miles up the harbour, which is a great estuary, five or six miles wide, receiving the waters of several rivers ; and had just gained sight of the vessel's masts about ten miles from us, on rounding a point to the north, which opened a view of the Wairoa or " Long-water " river, when the tide turned against us. We were thus obhged to land on the nearest beach, and encamp till the flood. As we had worked hard since the morning, without even breakfasting, this arrangement was agreeable enough to us ; and some tin cans of pre served meat, and our small store of biscuit, were soon finished. Clouds of mosquitoes, however, defeated our attempts to sleep. The smoke of the fire had scarcely any effect on them, and while our eyes were filled with wood-smoke, they were stinging our knees and every other part of our bodies that was unprotected by any thing thicker than duck. Half-burying oneself in the 160 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. sand, smoking, expeditions to distant parts of the shore, or among the fern at the back of the beach, and up the small hills by which it was skirted,— all proved unavailing to get rid of these terrible enemies ; and at the first dawn of day, as soon as the tide had turned, we were glad to leave the inhospitable beach and get into the boat, stiff' and unrefreshed. Even the natives had exclaimed against the numbers and perse verance of the nai-nai, as the mosquitoes are called in Maori. Saturday's stolid unconcerned face was rich to behold, as he sat by the fire stirring them out of each ear with a small twig. A few hours' pull brought us alongside the Nava rino ; where we were most kindly received by Captain Warming, as soon as we had told our doleful tale. He treated us with the most genuine hospitality, and immediately dispatched his mate, with an efficient boat's crew, to the assistance of our shipmates. After some breakfast and a refreshing bath, I slept soundly for some hours ; and, soon after getting up, had the satisfaction of seeing the Tory come full sail round the point near to which we had passed the night. She had forged over the bank into deep water, after being exposed for some hours to heavy seas which broke over her. The mate of the Nava rino had met her coming into the harbour, and piloted her up the next morning to a berth nearly alongside of the Navarino. The vessel was so much injured as to require heav ing down, and thus it became necessary to take out all the cargo and ballast. It was plain that she would not be again fit for service for a month or two ; and the time was fast approaching when Colonel Wake field had engaged to meet the first fleet of emigrant- ships at Port Hardy in Cook's Strait. As we could Chap. VI. WAIROA RIVER. 161 not tell, before leaving England, where the first set tlement would be formed, and as the emigrants were to sail in August, a rendezvous had been appointed at this known good harbour for the 10th of January 1840. Colonel Wakefield therefore determined to proceed overland to the Bay of Islands, in order to charter a small vessel to take him to Port Hardy, and then join us here. Before starting, he held some communication with the natives of this place, a few of whom were en camped abreast of the ship. They had laughed at Taonui and the claim of the Ngapuhi chiefs to tell their land for them. They acknowledged that they had been conquered in former times, but said that they had long returned from their places of refuge, and were not disposed to be conquered again. They firmly refused even to sell the land in question to Colonel Wakefield ; but offered to sell a district on the banks of another river, flowing into the north-eastern end of the estuary. Abandoning the task of examining, and, if of value, buying this tract, to Dr. Dorset, whom he left in charge of affairs for the Company, Colonel Wakefield started in one of our boats up the Wairoa river on the 26th December. He had understood that a day's walk from the head of this river would take him to the Bay of Islands. E Ware and Saturday accompa nied him, to carry his baggage. Messrs. Heaphy, Robinson, and Dorset formed part of the boat's crew, in order to see as much as possible of the river. I was laid up at this time by inflammation from the bites of mosquitoes vvhich I had got in bathing at Hokianga ; and I gladly accepted Captain Warming's kind offer of one of his cabins while the repairs of the Tory should go on. VOL. I. M 162 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. On the 29th, the boat returned, having landed Colonel Wakefield about one hundred miles up the river. The party described the river as navigable for shipping up to that point, and the banks as clothed with the finest kauri timber, from twenty miles above our anchorage. They had passed several sawyers' and lumberers' stations, and also stations of the Wesleyan and Catholic missions. They described the mosquitoes to be in great numbers and extraordinary vigour in every place where they had stopped. All the cargo was now landed and stored under tents ashore. The cabin-party also established an en campment under a cliff nearly abreast of the anchor age. The Tory was hove down on a sand-bank at the first spring-tide, on the 4th of January ; and, after a survey by Captains Chaffers and Warming, the neces sary repairs were proceeded with. During this inter val, the Bee brig from Sydney arrived and proceeded up the river. We also had a visit from Mr. W. C. Symonds, a son of Sir William Symonds, whom I had known in London ; and who had come out as agent for a Scotch company, which had bought land at Manukau, a harbour about thirty miles south of this. Mr. Symonds was only accompanied by one White man ; and described the natives as having been exceedingly dishonest and troublesome in all their transactions with him. He had crossed the isthmus which lies between the innermost part of the harbour of Manukau and the east coast, and had obtained a view of the eastern sea. He had endured considerable hardships and privations ; and returned to his station up the Kaipara river some days after, having provided himself with some necessaries. The latter river flows into the estuary on its south side, taking its source very near the harbour of Manukau. A great inland Chap. VI. NEIGHBOURHOOD OF KAIPARA. 163 water-communication thus exists along the northern part of the North Island, commencing near the isthmus between the two coasts, and ending at the spot up the Wairoa where Colonel Wakefield left the river ; from which short overland paths communicate with the Bay of Islands and Hokianga. The land, however, in the neighbourhood of Kai para harbour and its tributaries is far from promising in appearance. The part near the anchorage is chiefly table-land clear of timber; and the barren clay of which it consists seems to refuse sustenance to any thing but stunted fern. In the valleys cut out of the table-land by sluggish streams there are dull swamps which might furnish more available land when drained. The amateur boat's crew described some of the land higher up the river as of a better character, especially some hundred acres under excellent cultivation at the Wesleyan mission station. Mr. White, the former Chairman of the Wesleyan mission, had chartered the Navarino, and visited her once while she was taking in the splendid spars which were rafted down by natives. This gentleman had been discharged from the ser vice of the mission some few years before, on account of his having engaged very extensively in land-buying and trading of all sorts. He was a great land-owner on the banks of the Hokianga and Kaipara rivers ; and maintained a good deal of the influence which he had acquired as a missionary, by retaining the clerical habit and continuing to pray and preach to the natives, even while bargaining with them in his secular capa city. Mr. White had quarrelled, when in England, with some of the projectors of our scheme there, and had threatened to oppose us by means of his influence M 2 164 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. with the natives. We had, of course, now no dread of his interference, as he was not even known in Cook's Strait, where the more important part of our pur chases and friendly relations with the aborigines were already firmly established. About the middle of January, the Guide brig arrived, bringing letters from Colonel Wakefield to Dr. Dorset and myself Mr. John Blackett, formerly a mate in the navy, who had obtained a passage in the brig from my uncle in order to join the Navarino here on her voyage to England, was the bearer of these. He had been travelling about much in the interior of the island for some months, chiefly in the Waikato and Thames districts. He expressed a strong interest in our proceedings ; and hoped, as Captain Warming had promised to accompany the Tory as far as Port Nicholson when her repairs were completed, to get a glimpse of the first operations of the settlers before he should return to England. Colonel Wakefield informed us, shortly, that he had reached Port Hardy on the 1 1th of January, with out finding any ship from England ; and he instructed Dr. Dorset to put some goods on board the Guide and proceed to Taranaki, in order to complete the pur chase there, and bring Barrett and Dr. Dieffenbach to Port Nicholson. If we reached the latter place before him, we were to get the natives to build plenty of tem porary huts, in readiness for the emigrants. He had chartered the Guide by the month. This brig was an old whaler belonging to Sydney ; originally a Calcutta pilot-brig, teak-built, of about 150 tons burden, and swarming with cockroaches. A crew had been collected by the great personal ex ertions of Colonel Wakefield and Mr. Blackett, at the Bay of Islands, and consisted of the worst class of run- Chap. VI. A DANGEROUS VOYAGE. 165 away sailors, and probably worse regular "beach combers" of Kororareka. The captain was a lazy, mdolent old man, fond of grog, and of sleep, and of a good charter by the month. The mate was the former doctor of the vessel when whaling, perfectly ignorant of navigation and seamanship, and, like the captain, perfectly devoid of influence over the rascally crew. Dr. Dorset, Doddrey the storekeeper, and I, were the only ones who took up our berths on board. The ne cessary quantity of goods being on board, we proceeded down the river ; and, on the morning of the 29th of January, left the Heads with a light south-east breeze and ebb-tide. The captain got up to the mast-head, and a hulking, cowardly, half-bred Dutch sailor placed him self in the chains to sound. The breeze died away as we got to the perilous pass between the "middle patch," on which the Tory had been wrecked, and the south sand-bank. The ebb-tide set us broadside on to the patch, on which there was a heavy break. The coward in the chains began to holloa with fright as soon as the water shoaled to five fathoms ; the skipper scrambled down from his high perch, and looked quite perplexed ; the crew rushed aft, and lowered the boats after the vessel had bumped heavily two or three times, and jumped in without any attention to rules of precedence. In such a hurry was this done, that ten men jumped into one of the boats before the plug-hole was stopped, and only two got into the other, when both pulled away, leaving me and two of the crew in a very dis agreeable situation on board. The brig bumped away at a great rate ; but we three managed to brail up the spanker ; which caused the brig to be head on to the swell instead of side on, and probably saved her. One of the boats was at last persuaded to approach near 166 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. enough to the stern for us to watch an opportunity and drop ourselves in ; and we set off to pull for the shore. The ebb-tide, however, pushed the brig along every time she lifted ; and this movement was aided by the breeze, which again sprang up and filled the square- sails which we had left set; in a few minutes our vessel was going along, clear of the shoal, and all sails drawing. We had a hard task to catch her and save her from sailing on to the north bank ; but at length got her clear of all dangers, and stood out to sea. We found she did not leak much, and trusted that no serious damage had been done. Constant southerly gales detained us at sea for some days. During one of these, I was much surprised at the way adopted by the captain and crew to make all snug without trouble to anybody. One morning, on coming up on deck from the 'tween- decks where I had slung my cot, I found a hard gale blowing and heavy sea running, the brig being hove-to under a close reefed main-top-sail, with the helm lashed a-lee, and no one on deck or in the rigging. I looked into the cabin. The skipper, the medical mate, and Dr. Dorset were all snoring. I went forward and peeped down the scuttle into the forecastle, where the same happy oblivion prevailed. Doddrey was fast asleep in the 'tween-decks ; and I thus found myself the only person awake on board. The old brig, however, was an excellent sea-boat, and rode it out like a tub as she was ; and I did not disturb the sleepers, knowing we had plenty of sea-room. The next time I saw the skip per awake, he told me this was a common practice in whalers ; and said it was quite useless to tire the peo ple by thrashing about in heavy weather. He was very good fun with his rough navigation. He had a rickety Chap. VI. SUGAR-LOAF ISLANDS. 167 parallel ruler, a very doubtful quadrant, and a rusty pair of compasses, by means of which he used to make a determined guess at the position of the ship every day at noon. Having ascertained this to his own satisfaction, he would draw a cross of large size on the map, and de clare that to be our actual position, with much empha sis. He denied the existence of any such thing as variation of the compass ; and retired upon his dignity as commander whenever any approach was made to in quiry as to the data on which he founded his calcula tions. We at length managed to come in sight of the Sugar-loaf Islands on the 1st of February, and anchored to the north of the inner one, Moturoa, or "High " Island," in the afternoon. Barrett came off from the island and piloted her to the anchorage. The Acquilla cutter came in from the southward and anchored about the same time. Mr. White was on board ; and Barrett told us that he had been here once before, since he left Kaipara, trying to buy the Taranaki district, but had been foiled by Dicky's superior influence. Dr. Dorset and I landed on Moturoa, and clambered up the sides of this conical rock to a terrace about 100 feet above the sea, where our friends had taken up their abode. We found ourselves in a niche about twenty yards in circumference, sheltered by an over-arching rock. In one corner was a ware jjuni, occupied by Barrett and his family, and in the middle a ivata, or " storehouse," stuck upon four poles about six feet high, and only approachable by a wooden log with steps cut in it. We were received cordially by E Rangi and the children, Barrett's black cook Lee, Dr. Dieffen bach, "Worser," the whaler whom I before mentioned as having piloted the Tokerau whaler into Kapiti roads, and six or seven natives of both sexes. 168 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. Barrett now related to us all that had occurred since we left him here. In the first place, constant rumours had been brought down the coast of fresh invasions projected from Waikato. In readiness for these, he had removed all his family and goods to the island, and the natives had stored it with firewood and potatoes. Nu merous parties of released slaves had passed along from the northward to their native places further south, spreading all the missionary doctrines ; and never omit ting to preach the uncharitable one of calling all White men rewera, or " devils," who were not missionaries, or to warn the natives against selling their lands to us, who would, they said, drive them away to the moun tains. A variation of this calumny was that we were Pikapo, (the Maori corruption of episcopoi, or Roman Catholics,) and would therefore infallibly cut their throats or drive them away. Some White missionaries, and also some lay ^'^hite traders from Kawia and other places to the north, had on more than one occasion headed these agitating par ties ; and had distinguished themselves by vehement support of these statements and determined attempts to obtain the land for themselves. Mr. White had, on his former visit, asserted his claim to the district ; as founded on his purchase of the rights of a large number of inhabitants of Tara naki, originally made captive by the Waikato tribe, but now freed at Hokianga, Kaipara, and other places since their masters had embraced the Christian religion. The natives residing at Nga Motu, or "the Islands," as the land abreast of them is called, refused to acknow ledge this claim; saying very truly, that they who had never lost caste by servitude, or taken refuge in a dis tant land from the persecutions of their enemies, like Chap. VI. MR. WHITE— HIS LETTERS. 169 the slaves to the north or their relations in Cook's Strait, had the best right to sell the district. They had also declined Mr. White's offers to buy their claims ; stating that they had promised to sell it according to E Tiki or Dicky's ^recommendation, and that they meant to keep their word. In short, Barrett's influence and perseverance had effectually conquered numerous efforts made to outbid us in this purchase. Too great praise could not be given to him for the zeal which he had shown in sup porting our interests, or his disinterestedness in refusing the offers of some of these parties, even though we had much exceeded the time we had named for our return, and-the natives were becoming daily more impatient for the conclusion of the bargain. The next morning a native brought off from the main, where Mr. White had landed, letters to Barrett and to Colonel Wakefield. The latter was opened by Dr. Dorset, as acting agent. They both contained a statement from the worthy ex- missionary, that " he had bought the land bounded " by the Wanganui and Mokau rivers, and a line be- " tween their sources, from the Waikato and Ngatima- " niapoto tribes ; and that if We persisted in buying " this district from the resident natives, those former " conquerors had determined to recommence hos- " tilities, or to claim the protection of the British Go- " vernment in securing their rights." The natives were very angry on hearing the con tents of these letters, and we had some trouble in preventing them from going to break up the boat in which Mr. White had landed. As we landed, he re tired from the beach, where he had been preaching and praying with some of them, to a less conspicuous situation. A PVaikato chief, who had come in the cutter with him, reassured us and the resident natives. 170 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap.VL He said that White had given some tobacco and a few blankets to the Waikato as payment for those whom they lost at Taranaki, which any one buying this land would have to do in accordance with native cus tom. " But," said he, " we have not sold your land ; " more than half the Waikato are missionaries now, " and these will join with you, as brothers, against any " invasion from their heathen countrymen." I ascended Paretutu, or " Obstinate Cliff, " the Sugar-loaf Peak on the main, to-day, accompanied by Dr. Dieffenbach. It is nearly five hundred feet high ; and almost perpendicular on the side next the sea, whose sullen roar against its base sounds diminished to the ear. The two islands, Moturoa, and Motuoma- hanga, or " Isle of Refuge, " appear like rocks to seaward. Inland, a magnificent extent of country meets the eye. For some miles from the coast it seemed clear from wood ; then were extensive park like glades and groves on the edge of the forest, which rolled far eastward in soft undulating lines. Mount Egmont's snowy peak towered out of the clouds at fifteen miles' distance, and Tonga Riro, at least ninety miles distant, appeared more to the north, glistening over the most distant forest ridge. Cape Egmont to the south-west ran down gradually to a point, one gently curved line extending from the sea to the summit of Mount Egmont. To the north a spacious bay extended to near Albatross Head at the entrance of Kawia, dotted in its centre by some re markable white cliffs, called Parenunui, or "Large Cliffs." On the top of Paretutu we observed two or three pits, the remains of places of refuge of the Ngor tiawa from their enemies. This evening a strong north-west gale set in. In this case the anchorage becomes dangerous, and the cutter. Chap.VL THE "GUIDE" IN DANGER. 171 whose captain was warned by Barrett of the approach ing storm, hove up her anchor and walked away to windward in the first of it. Our skipper, who had irresolutely postponed his determination to the last, at length slipped his anchor, and stood under easy sail to the northward. Unable to tack, he came back after wearing, evidently in a worse position than before ; and dusk, accompanied by a whirling tempest of wind, lightning, and rain, hid the brig from our sight. Chnging hard to the rock in one of the crannies on the northern side of Moturoa, we lit a beacon-fire, and made out a light on board which proved her to have anchored again just outside the surf. We crept into the wata, appointed for the sleeping- place of Dr. Dorset, Dr. Dieffenbach, myself, and two natives, with no pleasant anticipations as to the fate of the brig. The gale had come on so suddenly that we had not had time to remove any thing from the brig, and all the Company's deeds were on board in my desk. Doddrey, however, was in charge of it, and "Worser" was fortunately on board with one or two whaling natives. We were rather cramped in our elevated bed-room ; which was so small that the only way of sleeping five in it was to lie across the narrow way, about four feet wide, and double up our legs. The violence of the storm, which beat right into the niche, precluded, however, any idea of sleeping outside ; and we made the best of it. In the morning the brig had disappeared ; much to our contentment, for we had expected to have seen her lying wrecked on the beach. She did not again make the anchorage until the 13th. During this interval we lived in the niche on Motu roa, plentifully fed by the natives. " Black Lee," the 172 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VL cook, had a knack of making excellent dishes of pork, potatoes, pumpkins, leeks, and fish, of which we got plenty. Then Dicky was never at a loss for a yarn, and kept us all in good humour. A clamber to the top of the island two or three times a day to look out for a sail afforded some employment ; as the path was any thing but easy, and the footing on the worn rock rather precarious. About half a dozen huts were perched about on different parts of the rock, and caves were hollowed out wherever the ground had been soft enough, and neat wooden doors placed to shelter the stores in them. We landed twice on the main during these twelve days ; but were glad to return to the island to sleep, the mosquitoes being in myriads on shore. We did not walk far from the landing-place, as the natives had no great store of food on the main, and it was neces sary to embark before the surf should be too heavy for our small canoes. Dr. Dieffenbach related to us his adventures in two attempts, the first of which had been unsuccessful, to reach the summit of Mount Egmont, which he had cal culated to be about 9000 feet above the level of the sea. He had also been along the coast as far as Mokau about halfway to Kawia, where he had been received by the natives with primitive hospitality. He has since given, in a publication of his own,* an interesting journal of these expeditions. Our monotony was somewhat varied, too, by a fire which destroyed one of the huts on the island, and a good deal of native wealth, such as slates, catechisms, and muskets ; by the arrival of two missionary teach ers, liberated slaves, who preached the old story with much vehemence ; and by the execution of native law * Dieffenbach's ' Travels in New Zealand,' London, 1843. Chap. VI. MISSIONARY HOSTILITY. I73 in a case of adultery which had taken place on the main. The conduct of the native teachers caused great in dignation in my mind. I began to believe that this continued opposition to our proceedings really origi nated from the White missionaries ; and being now able to make myself understood pretty well, told the natives my candid opinion of the unchristian tendency of these underhand proceedings. But I took care to tell them that the rangatira, or "chief" missionaries, would come out with the settlers, and behave very differently from those who incited them against us. I also explained to them, that many of these bad missionaries were shoemakers or tailors, who received money from people in England to preach the Gospel to them, but not to make them enemies to White people ; and that the clergymen who were to accom pany the settlers would preach to them and the White people together in one church. It was here, too, that I was first struck with the absurdity of maintaining the native language, and the extent to which this was done by the missionaries. Some of the latter, on their recent visits, had baptized and christened most of the children, and many of the grown people. They gave them English names ; but, instead of spelling these names in English and teaching the natives so to spell, write, and pronounce them, they taught them to pronounce them in Maori in the way nearest approaching to the actual sounds ; and then commemorated this adaptation by a printed card, on which the transmogrified name appeared, with the date of baptism. Thus " Caroline " was printed " Kararaina ;'' "Edward," "Erueraf "Charlotte," " Harata ;" " Judith," " Urihi ;" " Solomon," "Horo- mona ;" " Paul," " Paora." This seemed indeed an advance in order to retrograde : it would surely have 174 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. been preferable to baptize them by native names, if they would not teach them the English language. I also observed this straining of a point in order to preserve the native language in the missionary translations of the Bible. The Maori language is essentially a poor one, and possesses in particular but few words which express abstract ideas. The translators have overcome the difficulty by coining words, written according to the Maori pronunciation which nearest approaches to the word sought to be represented. All proper names, too, are transformed in the native Bible like those given to the natives. It must be remembered that the Maori, as made a written language, is pronounced in the same way as German or Spanish ; that is to say, each vowel has a distinct and unalterable sound. No diphthongs, mute vowels, or sounds ending with a consonant, occur in Maori : many of our sounds, such as f s, v, j, I, g, eh, sh, th, are not in the native language, and offer consider able difficulty to a Maori ; and others which do exist, such as d and h, have been banished by the missionaries, and included under r and p. The Maori for " angry," for instance, is distinctly pronounced " ridi " by most natives : the missionaries, however, disclaim the d, and write it riri. " A hill " is as certainly buke ; the mis sionaries write it puke. With the exception of ng, a nasal sound peculiar to the language, the natives find it difficult to pronounce two consonants without a vowel between them. With these explanations, the following table of manufactured words in the 3Iaori Bibles and Prayer- books may perhaps be understood : — glory kororia victory wikitoria amen amine Chap. VI. MANUFACTURED NATIVE LANGUAGE. 175 apostle apotoro catechism katekihama Jehovah Ihowa Jerusalem Hiruharema Scriptures Karipitura Bible Paipera minister minita Pharisee Parihi devil rewera prophet poropete Judah Hura hallelujah hareruia hymn himene book puka puka king kingi prince pirinihi Simon Peter Haimona Pita bishop pihopa Jesus Christ Ihu Karaiti Hebrew Hiperu Corinthians Koriniti July, and also Jews Hurai he book of St. Matthew alone there are i manufactured words : — angel anahera Judaea Huria magi maki east ita Scribes Karaipi Israel Iharaira gold koura frankincense parakihe myrrh mora Egypt Ihipa 176 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI, time taima repent ripeneta honey honi Sadducee Haruki shoe hu temple temepara devil rewera salt tote bushel puhera constable katipa farthing patene marry marena oath oati throne torona mile maira publican pupirikana measure mehua pearl peara sheep hipi wolf wuruwi grapes karepe tig piki leper repera centurion keneturio soldiers hoia west weta hour haora fox pokiha money moni wine waina silver hiriwa brass parahi governor kawana Beelzebub Perehepura sword hoari Chap. VI. MANUFACTURED NATIVE LANGUAGE. 177 miracles merekera yoke ioka sabbath hapati wheat tviti queen kuini south houta leaven rewena measures of flour mehua paraoa carpenter kamura Tetrarch Titaraki dish rihi table tepera church hahi key ki mill mira talent taranata penny pene eunuch unaka camel kamira needle ngira steward tuari cup kapa ox okiha dinner tina phylacteries pairakere rabbi rapt proselyte poroheraiti , altar ata mint miniti plate pereti ark aka kiss Idhi legion rihena crown karauna vinegar winika VOL. I. N 178 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI lot rota Sabachthani Hapakatanai seal hiri week wiki Nearly a hundred words in that book are repre sented by sounds of which the meaning has to be explained to a native. An equal amount of instruction would teach him no inconsiderable part of the ele ments of the language from which the sounds were borrowed. Thus the comparison of the English and Maori Bibles, in which I passed a great portion of the twelve days spent on Moturoa, induced me to believe it most essential that the natives should be instructed in the English language as speedily as possible. The crime of adultery was most severely punished by Ngamotu, or " the Islands," one of the principal chiefs, on his wife. He stripped her naked, and dragged her along the beach by the hair of the head, beating her violently at intervals. Nor did any one attempt to interfere ; the whole body of natives remaining pas sive spectators of the cruel penalty. The adulterer's house was visited by the assembled relations of the wife and husband, who plundered it of everything they could lay their hands on, while he offered no re sistance, or even remonstrance, according to Maori cus tom. The taua, or " foray," extended to a hut belong ing to him on the island, from which Barrett's attend ants brought mats, flax, and other articles in great glee. We had begun to despair of the reappearance of the brig ; and thought it extremely probable that the disorderly crew had taken possession, and carried her off with her cargo to some other country. Chap. VI. RETURN OF THE " GUIDE." ' -179 On the 10th, a barque stood in to Motuomahanga, the outer island, and lowered a boat. The numerous signals which we made, however, did not attract her notice ; and she stood on to the northward after the boat had returned on board from a short excursion. This proved afterwards to be the Company's surveying- barque Cuba, on her way from Port Nicholson to Kawia. On the 13th, we made out another sail to the west- south-west. Barrett launched his whale-boat, and we boarded the old Guide about six miles off the islands. She had fortunately left a buoy to her first anchor ; and to this we fastened her in the evening. On the night of the storm she had ridden out the fury of the gale until about four o'clock in the morn ing, with her last anchor. At that time the chain parted close to the ground, and she was in imminent danger. The crew, indeed, loudly expressed their in tention of picking out a soft place, and running her stem on to the beach. Fortunately, Doddrey, Worser, and the captain and mate, had prepared themselves for this emergency, and had each undertaken a part of the necessary operations for getting her under way. The captain himself seized the wheel ; the others loosed the sails and paid out the chain; and a favourable shift in the wind allowed them to get an offing. Southerly gales outside had driven them as far north as the latitude of Kaipara, and prevented them from returning before to-day. 14th. — The natives came on board to-day, and after some hesitation on account of a desire for more fire arms, agreed to sign the deed on the morrow. Feb. 15th.— This morning I took the deed, drawn Up like the former ones, ashore. Barrett translated it, and explained its provisions. Forty-seven signatures N 2 180 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI. were then appended to it, including the women and the children, whom the chiefs compelled to come and touch the pen, as they would be the future chiefs. Two or three young men, who had acquired the knowledge of writing, signed their names in full. The others made a cross opposite to their names, as had been done on former occasions. A party of fifty or sixty natives, who had arrived from a settlement further south, now expressed a desire to sell another tract of land adjoining that sold by the Ngamotu chiefs ; and a large number of them signed a second deed after a short negotiation. The goods were then landed in whale-boats through the surf. The Ngamotu natives got quietly through the dis tribution of their share ; but those from the south ward, who were extremely wild and uncouth in their manners and appearance, although professing to be strict mihanere, or " missionaries," could not effect it without a scramble. A small stream divided the two parties. As soon as the southern party began to show a disposition to scramble, one of the chiefs of the Nga motu tribe raised an exciting shout, and cheered his followers on to take advantage of this confusion, ¦ in order to partake of the spoil of their neighbours, after they had stowed their own away. They came rushing on along the hundred yards of beach which separated the two parties, flourishing their arms. The readiness with which the others, close to whom I was sitting on a sand-hill, dropped their own disagreements and threw themselves into a defensive attitude, was well worthy of admiration. Along their own side of the little rill, the most stalwart warriors knelt, protruding forward their sharp wooden spears,, or grasping the tomahawk firmly, ready to spring upon. Chap. VL PREPARATIONS FOR A SKIRMISH. 181 the assailants. Behind these, others loaded the few guns in their possession, and quietly took up a station, while behind them again the women and children handled a weapon as they bent over some heaps of goods. And all this in perfect silence ; the occasional yells of the charging party alone being heard, as they closed rapidly in. I was so taken up with admiration at the classical attitudes of some of the defenders, who all remained still as statues, gazing stedfastly on the advancing enemy, after they had once taken their position, that I had not thought of getting further from the conflict until the moment of meeting seemed close at hand. The assailants were all seeking the weakest point as they approached ; the guns were pointed on both sides ; each muscle of the defenders seemed straining with preparation for the shock ; and I suddenly thought of my own dangerous position, and flung myself flat on the ground, expecting to hear a volley and the whistling of bullets over my head. Barrett, however, had tripped up one of the assail ants and pinioned another at this critical moment ; Worser and the women of his train had also suddenly rushed between the threatening ranks of their rela tions; and after some squabbling and earnest per suasion of the most refractory, peace was re-esta blished. The Ngamotu seemed to treat the affair as a mere joke ; but the others were more than suspicious, and, sullenly packing their goods on the backs ofthe women and slaves, departed homewards at nightfall, without the usual farewell. A strong party of vigilant warriors closed the rear of the caravan as it crossed the sand-hills inland of Paretutu. .'The two purchases extended from a spot half-way between the mouth of the Mokau river and the Sugar- 182 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VI loaf Islands, to a river called Wangatawa, south of Cape Egmont; and inland, to the summit of the mountain, and thence to a spot on the banks of the Wanganui river, high up its course. Had we been provided with a handier vessel and good crew, we should have proceeded to extend the transaction by treaties at Mokau, and at Patea between Cape Eg mont and Wanganui; the chiefs of those places having been prepared for such an arrangement by deputations which had travelled to Ngamotu in order to treat with Barrett during our absence. We were forced, however, by the inferior sailing- qualities and appointments of the Guide, to renounce these expedi tions on a dangerous lee-shore ; and turned her head towards Port Nicholson on the evening of the 16th. The whole menagerie from Moturoa was transferred on board ; three Mokau chiefs accompanied us, in order to urge upon Colonel Wakefield the purchase of their country ; and we bade farewell to our friends at " the Islands," promising that they should soon have pakeha to live amongst them. We met a south-easter at the mouth of the Strait, and were detained by that and a calm until the night of the 19th. During the calm, Worser amused us by an exhibition of his skill in catching manga, or bar racoota. This is a long fish without scales, exceedingly voracious, and generally found in shoals, like the kawai. The presence of either of these fish is easily detected in a calm, when the shoals rush along the surface of the water at intervals, marking it like what sailors call a cat's-paw, or breath of light wind. A school, as Worser styled it, having appeared, he fitted his machinery, and slung himself in the main- chains. At the end of a stick three or four feet long, which he held in his hand, there was fastened, Chap. VL BARRACOOTA FISHING. 18.3 by some three feet of strong line, a piece of red wood four inches long, two broad, and one thick. Through the end of the wood a common nail was driven, and turned back so as to form a rude hook. On the ap proach of the shoal, Worser thrashed the water within his reach with the bit of wood and the end of his rod, whirling it round with great speed. The manga soon leapt out of water, disputing with each other for the wooden bait. Dozens were darting at one time at the hook. When one was hooked, a dexterous heave flung him on the deck with centrifugal force, and the hook again thrashed the water. This way of angling requires much experience and quickness of hand. Worser, who was a renowned fisherman in all ways, caught upwards of a dozen fine fish in the few minutes during which the shoal remained near us. Just as it fell dark on the 20th, we rounded Cape Terawiti, with a freshening breeze from north-west. The skippper got very nervous when the squalls came whistUng off' the high land about Sinclair Head ; and, ignorant of this coast, seemed to dread the long lines of black reefs with which it is fringed. We all, how ever, supported Dicky Barrett in his earnest declara tions that it was necessary to carry on ; and made all sail to windward. A fine moon, peeping every now aad then through the driving scud, lighted us on our Way ; and by daylight on the 21st we were beating up within Port Nicholson, close to Somes's Island. 184 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII, CHAPTER VII. Shipping and tents in sight— We land— Greetings— Colonel Wake field's journey— Overland path — Roman Catholic converts— £b- rwareka in the Bay of Islands — Hire of the Guide and her crew —Port Hardy— Native raillery— D'Urville's Island— Voyage in whale-boat — Welcome by natives— Arrival of emigrants— Rivals in buying land— Mr. Tod— The Rev. Henry Williams— Richard Davis, the native missionary — Dispute between missions — The massacre oi Puakawa — Sincere regrets — Colonists from Australia — Authority of native chiefs employed against lawless White men — First squatting— Good class of colonists — The settlement like an extensive pic-nic — Friendliness of the natives — Their first doubts and fears— How removed— Native-built house, or yjare — The tent of an Eastern traveller — The hut of an Austra lian " over-lander" — Cattle from Sydney — Proclamation by the Governor of New South Wales against further land-sharking — Committee of colonists — Why and how formed — Provisional Constitution — Agreement— Flood — The Cuba — Weather — Squa dron arrives — Bank — Salute^Canoe procession — Ratification of Constitution by Native Chiefs. We soon distinguished with great delight some large vessels at anchor between the island and the main ; and, when nearer, shouted with joy as we made out white tents and new reed-houses along the line of beach at the foot of the Hutt valley. At about 9 A.M. we anchored north of Somes's Island, close to a newly-arrived emigrant ship. Two others, apparently discharged, also lay in the anchorage. Landing op posite Pitone, I was. delighted to meet Colonel Wake field, safe and well. He was accompanied by Captain William Mein Smith of the Royal Artillery, to whom he introduced me as the Surveyor-General of the New Zealand Land Company. We were also greeted by Chap. VII. COLONEL WAKEFIELD'S JOURNEY. 185 several other gentlemen, whose tents or huts were pitched in the neighbourhood. Colonel Wakefield was living in one corner of a large store-house built by Epuni in the pa at Pitone. On my way to this grand residence, I was affectionately greeted by the old chief and his people, who screamed our names, " Tiraweke " and " Takuta " or " Doctor," in most dolorous strains. A perfect tangi or lament ation took place in the pa over E Rangi and the rest of Barrett's train ; and they all expressed their unfeigned delight at our happy meeting, and their satisfaction at the arrival of our friends from Eng land. While Saturday cooked some salt pork and potatoes at the fire in the court-yard, I sat down and listened to a brief account of my uncle's doings since we parted at Kaipara. When he had left our boat, he proceeded in a canoe about twenty miles further, and then struck into a native path, attended by E Ware, Saturday, and a guide. He described the country as barren-looking, and interspersed with large swamps. Wherever the kauri forest had been cut down or burnt, nothing grew but stunted fern. This unpromising appearance is described by many persons as peculiar to land on which the kauri has grown. It is probably a very exhausting crop. The path to the Bay of Islands proved much longer than it had been described to him. He slept two nights in the bush, the second night in heavy rain after a inarch of seventeen hours. He described his fatigue during this journey as excessive. Anxious in mind, lest he should not be able to meet the emigrant ships at the appointed time, and with limbs unaccustomed to severe exercise, he used, he told me, to push on ahead of the natives until quite ex- 186 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Cnip. VII. hausted, and then fall fast asleep across the path, in order that they might wake him when they came up. In this way he proceeded from daylight till dark. On the third day, at noon, he reached a settlement, where he was greeted with the most friendly demon strations. He disappointed the chiefs by not stopping to eat a meal which they had prepared for him, as he had to push on past the first settlement on the Kawor kawa, or "Bitter" river, whose inhabitants, all mis sionaries, were gone on that day (Sunday, 29th December) to the Church mission station at Paihia, or " Good Desire," in the Bay of Islands. At a more distant settlement on another river also flowing into that harbour, however, he found a party of converts to the Roman Catholic religion, starting in a canoe to Bishop Pompalier's chapel. They received him joy fully with songs and salutes of musketry, which they said the Bishop allowed on Sunday. They professed themselves much pleased with the creed which they had adopted ; saying that they got presents for attend ing the chapel, and displaying the crosses and rehcs which were hung in their ears. Arrived at Kororareka, the principal White settle ment. Colonel Wakefield found twenty sail of whalers and other vessels lying in the bay ; among which were many French and Americans, and one Portuguese manned by a British crew. On landing, he found an hotel, at which twenty persons came to dine at the table d'hote. He described the little town as well kept, and surrounded with neat wooden cottages ; a great contrast, as he was assured, to its appearance a year before, when three grog-shops alone stood on this beach, to deter visitors from approaching. After some trouble and negotiation, he managed to charter the Guide, which had just returned from an Chap. VII. HIRE OF THE " GUIDE" AND CREW. 187 unsuccessful whaling voyage, and was lying deserted at Puroa, or " Long Fort " Bay, six miles from Koro rareka. Mr. Blackett had given his assistance in collecting a crew. On publishing at the grog-shops that hands were wanted he received numerous appli- bations ; but as those engaged showed some intention to pocket the advance and then disappear, it was necessary to get them on board to be paid, then hoist up the boats, and set a watch to see that no one swam ashore, till they had left the harbour. It was not tiU the evening of the 3rd of January that this was effected, and even then in great measure by a strictly- enforced prohibition against spirits on board. They encountered a violent tempest off the North Cape, and passed Kaipara on the 7th ; when Mr. Blackett discovered the only compass on board to be defective. This fact, and the skipper's surprising skill in navigation, caused him to make Cape Farewell instead of Cape Stephen ; and then to run down into Blind Bay by mistake. A gale from north-west threatened to drive them on the lee-shore at the head of the gulf; but they at length conquered their diffi culties, and anchored in Port Hardy on the 1 1th. No signs of any emigrant ships were to be seen ; and no answer was returned to a fire lighted by Colonel Wakefield on the top of one of the highest hills whither he had clambered to look out. He dis covered, however, from thence, a small native village on the south-east side of D'Urville's Island, which he determined to visit the next day. In the morning, he and Mr. Blackett walked over the hill, and descended into Oterawa, as the village is called. Here were living the family and followers of Te Wetu, our old visitor at Ship Cove, to the number of about two hundred. Colonel Wakefield had at first 188 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII. expected rather an angry reception, these being the very men who had been refused access to the Tory during our first altercation in Queen Charlotte's Sound. Having all become missionaries since that time, they formed in a ring to exchange the ru, or " shake" pi the hand ; but, as soon as Colonel Wakefield had seated himself, Mark, " the Star's" eldest son, and his wife, both asked him how he expected to be treated after turning them out of his ship ; and said they had been told that he was coming to seize their land and send them to Europe as prisoners. He answered them good-humouredly, that he would pay them for their land if he wanted it and they wished to sell it ; and that he expected some food after his long walk. They immediately complied with this request, apparently ashamed of having till then neglected it ; and were soon very friendly and communicative. Old Te Wetu had become a missionary, and was much weakened by sickness. He was dying of a com plaint of the lungs, which we had remarked as very prevalent and fatal among all the tribes. He was annoyed at the bad opinion formed of Rangitoto, or D'Urville's Island, by my uncle, whom he had pressed to say what he thought of it. The whole island is a mass of very steep hills, gene rally bare. On the eastern side, an extensive tract of table-land is cleared by the natives for potatoes; of which they sell the surplus, together with the nume rous pigs running on the hills. Port Hardy is a very fine harbour of refuge, but is exceedingly deep close to the shore, and rather difficult of egress ; its entrance facing towards the prevailing north-west winds. On the 14th, Colonel Wakefield dispatched the Guide to Kaipara ; and a messenger arrived from Port Chap. VII. FIRST ARRIVAL OF EMIGRANTS. 189 Nicholson, charged with letters from Captain Smith, who was there in the Cuba, anxious to commence the survey of the town. Near Oterawa a whaling heads man named Maclaren lived with his native wife during the summer; and he agreed to look out for the emi grant vessels and pilot them to Port Nicholson. Colonel Wakefield then proceeded in a whale-boat through Queen Charlotte's Sound, arriving at Te-awa-iti at midnight on the 15th. He crossed the Strait in three hours with a fresh breeze, still in the whale-boat, on the 17th ; and was forced by the increasing force of the wind to encamp on a beach near Port Nicholson heads that night. At noon on the 18th, he reahed the Cuba, at our old anchorage north of Somes's Island. He described his first welcome by the natives as most gratifying ; the chiefs insisted on rubbing noses with him, and repeated constantly that all the land was his. On the 20th, a sail was reported outside ; and he boarded the Aurora at the heads. This was the first emigrant ship that arrived. A strong north-west wind obliged her to anchor at the entrance of the harbour until the 22nd, when Colonel Wakefield left a pilot on board and returned to the Cuba. During the next week, the work of disembarking had been going on. A small jetty was run out by the surveying men ; loca tions were allotted near the beach for the pitching of tents and temporary huts, in the erection of which the natives assisted ; and some wooden houses in frame sent out by the Company for the reception of the labouring emigrants, were also set up. At this time a Mr. BuUen, a Wesleyan missionary, visited the place, and performed divine service on board the Aurora on Sunday the 26th. On visiting Thorndon, the level piece of land at the 190 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII. south-west extremity of the harbour, on which he had intended to place the town. Colonel Wakefield was ¦well received by the natives of that part. More than one competitor, however, for land had visited them since our departure, and had attempted to buy patches of land over our heads. One of these was a Mr. Ro bert Tod, who had arrived in a schooner from South Australia, and had immediately looked about for any chance of laying claim to a portion of the land, which he understood from Smith, whom w^e had left here, to be intended for the occupation of a lai-ge English colony. He had been fortunate enough to discover an inferior chief named Moturoa, or " Long Island,'' who had been absent during our purchase in September, and who agreed to sell him three or four acres on the most promising part of the beach, near Pipitea Point and pa at Thorndon. Mr. Tod appeared resolved to maintain this transaction by every possible means ; but Moturoa very soon showed a disposition to assent to the large sale, and receive some utu from Colonel Wakefield for his rights and claims, which Warepori and Epuni both described as very insignificant. A more influential and dangerous rival had also been here, in the person of the Rev. Henry Williams, the chairman of the Church mission in New Zealand, who had arrived in a clipping schooner from the Bay of Islands but a short time after our departure. Under the pretence of securing a piece of land for the native teacher, named Richard Davis, whom I have before mentioned, he had obtained an assignment to himself of 40 acres in the best part of the proposed site. The transaction seemed, however, to have been attended with much secrecy ; and we could not learn what pay ment he had made, or from what chiefs he had ob tained the cession. Smith told us, that on being Chap. VIL DISPUTE BETWEEN MISSIONS. 191 remonstrated with for interfering with land which had been already bought, and had been fixed upon as the site of a town, Mr. Williams had declared that " he " did not care for the Company, which had treated "him with great want of courtesy in not informing "him of their views in this country." The history of his native agent, Richard Davis, or Reihana, had not been one to excite faith in his sin cere adherence to the Christian religion. We collected from Mr. Bumby at Hokianga, as well as from several natives who had visited the north, that Davis had been originally carried as a slave to the Bay of Islands, and while there, had become one of the early converts of the Church mission. He had been emancipated by his master, and eagerly looked for an opportunity of returning among his own tribe, with a wife to whom he had been married according to the forms of our religion, and two or three children. About the time that Messrs. Bumby and Hobbs of the Wesleyan mis sion were preparing for their expedition to Cook's Strait, Davis suddenly became a vehement Wesleyan, and applied to Mr. Bumby for a passage in the schooner to Port Nicholson ; agreeing to exert his influence among his relations there to procure proselytes and a pied-a-terre for the Wesleyan mission. It must be remarked, that just about this time a disagreement had arisen between the two missionary societies as to the limits of their respective labours. An understand ing had been come to in England, that the Church missionaries should extend along the eastern, and the Wesleyans along the western side of the northern island. But the missionaries in New Zealand could not agree as to the point where east ended and west hegan ; and so the Church claimed the right of con- 192 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VH. verting round as far as Cape Egmont ; and the Wes leyans asserted their claim to preach as far as Cape Palliser. Port Nicholson was thus within the dis puted district : and no honour redounded to his em ployers when Richard Davis, immediately after dis embarking from the vessel of the Wesleyan mission, again avowed himself an orthodox member of the Church of England, spread the tracts and the doctrines of the Bay of Islands mission, and set to work to pre pare the resident natives for the purchase by Mr. Wil liams of some of their land, and for the erection of a temporary church. Thus, from the first, two doctrines of religion had been preached to the native inhabitants of Port Nicholson. The natives repeatedly stated that Mr. Williams had, during his visit, told them that the White settlers expected by us would drive them to the hills, and that they ought to have disposed of their land at the price of a pound a foot; advising them to claim money on the return of Colonel Wakefield. Their good faith, however, was as yet unimpaired ; and the firmness with which they had resisted such strong attempts to excite them to suspicion and distrust of us, and to the infraction of their bargain, gave great hopes of the influence which we should be enabled to preserve among them by con tinued kind treatment, and by making^ the Reserves prove how much we had been belied. We afterwards heard that Mr. Williams had pro ceeded in our track about Cook's Strait ; always fore stalled by us a few days in our purchases of the land. At Kapiti he had expressed much disappointment at his inability to catch us. On the 31st of January, the Oriental had arrived at Port Nicholson, bearing some of the leading settlers. Chap. Vn. MASSACHE OF PUAKAWA. 193 as well as an additional number of emigrants. They had selected the banks of the Hutt river, about a mile from the sea, as a temporary location, and set to work on tents and houses. On the 7th of February, a sail being reported outside. Colonel Wakefield had gone out to the Heads in the Cuba, and brought in the Duke of Roxburgh, the third emigrant ship, whose captain had been lost overboard accidentally in a gale of wind off Stephens Island. On the 10th, in the midst of the bustle attendant on the disembarkation from these three vessels, some alarm was produced among the new comers by the report' of a native attack. A smart firing of muskets was heard in the evening on the ridge of hills east of the valley, near the native village at the mouth of the Hutt, occupied by Puakawa and his people. Colonel Wakefield started along the beach for the scene of action. He gave a vivid description of the confusion caused among both natives and White men. Both came running to him, with arms in their hands, seeking from him guidance and assistance, and the women and children screamed in chorus. On arriving at Waiwetu, or "Star-river," as the village is named, after the stream which flows under the eastern hills, he heard that the firing pro ceeded from our own natives, who had been up among the hills in search of Puakawa. This chief had shown himself as eager in his friendship for the White people as he had been violent in his first opposition to the sale, and had gained the respect and esteem of the settlers in the few days during which they had known him. The captain of the Oriental had received him very hospitably on board his ship, and Puakawa had gone out to his gardens that morning in order to dig up a small present of potatoes for his newly-made friend. He had been accompanied only by a woman and a VOL. I. o 194 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII. slave-boy. His protracted absence at night had raised the fears of his sons, who, upon searching for him, had found only a pool of blood. They had returned for the other men of the pa ; and these, firing their muskets at random in their usual way when excited, as they went up the hill, had caused the alarm. Colonel Wakefield returned to the store at Pitone; issued forty stand of arms to the men on the beach ; and appointed a rendezvous in case of need. Late in the evening, armed boats landed from the ships, ready to assist, and anxious to hear the news. At daylight. Colonel Wakefield returned to Waiwetu, with Epuni and Warepori; and a large party of natives started up the hill to renew the search. About a mile from the pa, Puakawds body was found in the potato-ground. His head had been cut off, and his heart taken out. The woman and boy were not to be seen, and were supposed to be captives. They wrapped the mutilated corpse in his red blanket, and bore it, lashed to a tree, in procession to the village ; where the usual tangi took place, after it had been deposited in the wahi tapu, or " sacred ground." Colonel Wakefield tried to con sole the widow and children, and then returned to Pitone with the chiefs. They seemed inclined to believe that the murderers were natives from the neighbourhood of Kapiti, probably of the Ngatirau kawa tribe, set on by White men living there ; and particularly alluded to the Church missionaries said to have recently established themselves there, as likely to be hostile to our plans. Colonel Wakefield of course refused to place any faith in this supposition. It was found out afterwards that the murder had been committed by a foraging party of the Ngatikahuhunu, or original inhabitants. Poor Puakawa ! his death was sincerely regretted Chap. VII. SINCERE REGRETS FOR HIS LOSS. 193 by the young colony. Warm of heart and strong in feelings, he had sturdily resisted all our proposals to buy his land, until he became convinced that the re sult would be for the weal of the Maori ; and he had greatly affected me, I remembered, by his stirring pic ture of the evils which he expected from the introduc tion of White men into his country. Having once, however, made up his mind to receive them, he had thrown aside all suspicion of their motives, and had applied the whole energy of his character to welcome them with kindness and cordiality. The educated settlers spoke with delight of his conduct ; and no one could reproach him with a harsh word or action towards a White man of any class since their arrival. He had entered with vigour into the hardships of the first landing, and had held up for emulation among his own tribe the name unanimously given to him by both races, of " the friend of the White people." Though he was only known to them for a very few days, the grief for his death was as great among them as among the natives ; and his name is to this day one which they recollect with affection and reverence. I had formed such sanguine hopes of the great useful ness of Puakawa in leading his people to appreciate our kind intentions towards them, and such pleasing anticipations of the development of gratitude in so generous a mind, as soon as he should be able to per ceive the benefits accruing to him and his descendants from our arrival, that I felt his death as the fading of a pleasant dream as well as the loss of a valued friend. A few wanderers from South Australia, New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land, had arrived between our departure and my arrival in th§ Guide ; some with Mr. Tod, some in other small schooners and o2 196 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII. cutters. They applied themselves to make the most of the new colony by means of their colonial experience. One, named Coghlan, had established a grog-shop half way along the beach, where a disorderly assemblage of sailors, stray whalers, and other bad characters from the different stations, had become accustomed to assemble, and caused some annoyance to the quiet settlers by their drunkenness and wild orgies. As there was positively no law or authority to prevent this. Colonel Wakefield's warning to Coghlan against a repetition of the disturbance had been treated with some contempt. Upon this he had explained his views to Warepori and Epuni ; andthey, with several other chiefs of authority, had accompanied him, with their arms and mats of state, to the den in question. They then confirmed Colonel Wakefield's statement that he acted by their authority ; and threatened to send Cogh lan on board ship again if he should not, for the future, carry on his business in a more decent manner. This demonstration had had as good an effect as a caution from a bench of Magistrates. In the evening of the day on which we arrived, a fourth ship, the Bengal Merchant, anchored in the harbour. This vessel came from the Clyde, and was laden with Scotch emigrants. These seemed in high spirits ; and, although the weather began to be wet for some time, they only remarked that it was " rather " saft," and worked away at temporary habitations like the rest. During the next few days, I was busy visiting various old friends, who had squatted along the banks of the Hutt. The sand-hummocks at the back of the long beach were dotted over with tents of all shapes and sizes, native-built huts in various stages of con struction, and heaps of goods of various kinds, which Chap. VII. FIRST SQUATTING. 197 lay about anywhere between high-water mark and the houses. Thus ploughs, hundreds of bricks, millstones, tent-poles, saucepans, crockery, iron, pot-hooks, and triangles, casks of all sizes and bales of all sorts, were distributed about the sand-hummocks. The greatest good-humour prevailed among the owners of these multifarious articles ; the very novelty and excitement of their employment appeared to give them high spirits and courage. They pitched their tents and piled up their goods in rude order, while the natives, equally pleased and excited, sung Maori songs to them from the tops of the ware or huts where they sat tying the rafters and thatch together with flaxen bands. As I passed along, I was greeted by many an old acquaint ance among these, who would jump down from his work with a shout of joy, and inquire anxiously whether " Tiraweke" had forgotten him. Then would come a merry congratulation at my having returned safe from tlae pakaru or "broken" ship, and generally, to conclude, a proud sign towards the house erecting for his pakeha, and another cheer as he scrambled up again to his work. Thus I advanced through a run ning fire of kind greetings. At the back of the hut occupied by Coghlan, whither a flag-staff and New Zealand flag invited the sailors, a rough and new- made track struck off to the settlement on the river- bank, across a miry swamp. After about a quarter of a mUe of this, I reached the junction of a small creek with the Hutt; and soon found myself at the beginning of a little village of tents and huts, among the low, scrubby coppice wood which covered this part of the valley. A rough path had been cleared by the survey ing men along the bank ; and on either side of this the colonists had been allowed to squat on allotted portions until the survey of the town should be completed. 198 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII. The expected surveying vessel, the Cuba, had made a very long passage ; and, after touching ineffectually at Kaipara and Port Hardy, had come on to Kapiti, where those on board heard from the whalers that Colonel Wakefield had fixed on Port Nicholson as the site of the first settlement. They had accordingly arrived here on the 4th of January. Captain Smith, the Company's Surveyor-General, had preferred the lower part of the valley of the Hutt to Thorndon and its neighbourhood for the site of the town : as the whole 1100 acres, with sufficient reserves for prome nades and other public purposes, could be laid out on perfectly level ground in the alluvial valley; while the hilly nature of the country at the south-west extremity of the harbour precluded the possibility of placing much more than half the town and reserves on flat ground. He had, accordingly, neglected the instruc tions given by Colonel Wakefield to the man whom we left here, to have the town laid out at Thorndon, and had proceeded with the survey on the banks ofthe Hutt. The dense forest and swampy nature of some of the ground had impeded the rapid progress of the necessary measurements; and these temporary allot ments had therefore been made by Colonel Wakefield on the proposed boulevards and public park of the town, which were intended to include the scrubby and sandy ground near the sea and a broad belt along either bank of the Hutt. Colonel Wakefield's opinion still remained unchanged as to the proper site for the town ; but, imagining from the instructions of the Company to Captain Smith that that gentleman was entitled to carry out his own opi nion in this respect, he had refrained from stopping the surveys already commenced. I found, however, among several of the landholders Ghap. VII. DIFFERENCES AS TO SITE OF TOWN. 199 already on shore a disposition to prefer Colonel Wake field's first choice. ' The site now under survey was found, as new lines were cut through its matted vegetation, to be in many places swampy, and much intersected by sluggish creeks, the land being so level as to want drainage. The dis tance from the sea, too, seemed a great objection ; es pecially as the river was only navigable at high water, and the anchorage was exposed to a strong sea from the heads when the wind was southerly, and the long, shoal beach was in that case lined by an inconvenient surf, which interfered with the dry landing of goods. At Thorndon, on the contrary, the anchorage was landlocked ; and the largest long-boats might run their noses on to a beach on which no surf could ever break, opposite the spot on which the town could be built. Looking forward to future times, it became evident that Lambton Harbour would become the seat of commerce by means of its natural capabilities ; and it was feared that the possessors of the few earliest choices of country sections of 100 acres each might become the sole land-owners of a successful rival to the town, and the town itself sink gradually into disuse. The question, however, was postponed until the whole of the land-owners representing the preliminary settle ment of 1100 sections should have arrived to give their opinion.* • I found the squatters on the Hutt no less busy and Sierry than their fellows on the beach. I met and welcomed two or three old friends whom I had not seen since I left England, and made several new ac quaintances among the young capitalists who were * Excellent maps, from the surveys of Company's officers, of Port Nicholson and of Cook's Strait, are published by Smith and Elder, of Cornhill. 200 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII. working with their retinue of labourers at putting their goods and chattels into some order and security. Three gentlemen, whom I was much pleased to see again in New Zealand, had formed themselves into a commercial firm, and had brought with them, among other things, the complete machinery of a steam-engine of twenty horse power, adapted for sawing or flour mills. These were Mr. Edward Betts Hopper, of Dover, Mr. Henry William Petre, and Mr. Francis Alexander Molesworth. They were as busy as the rest, landing and arranging their goods. At high water, the ships' long-boats and private cargo-boats brought quantities of goods up to the owners' locations; the labourers and masters worked altogether at the casks, and bales, and other heavy things ; the natives lent their willing aid, being very handy in the water, and then returned, either to a job at hut-building, or to hawk about their pigs and potatoes, which they brought in canoes to this quick market. I walked some distance along the surveyor's line, and made the acquaintances of such of the new-comers as I did not already know. Each capitalist appeared to have a following of labourers from his own part of th^ country. Cornish miners and agricultural labourers had pitched their tents near Mr. Molesworth ; Kentish men dwelt near Mr. George Duppa, a little higher up ; and many of the Scotch emigrants were collected near a point between two reaches of the river, where Mr. Dudley Sinclair and Mr. Barton were erecting their dwellings. At the latter place Mr. Sinclair's English cow was browsing on the shrubs of her newly-adopted country. Small patches for gardens were already being cleared in various spots ; ruddy flaxen-haired children were playing about near the doors; and the whole Chap. VII. FRIENDLINESS OF NATIVES. 201 thing made an impression of cheerfulness and content ment. Then the mildness of the climate, the good prepa rations made before leaving England, and the hearty good-feeling existing among the colonists themselves as well as between them and the natives, all tended to give the extensive bivouac the air of a pic-nic on a large scale, rather than a specimen of the first hard ships of a colony. For, although all were often wet in the numerous boat-excursions and fording of streams and creeks, or occasional showers of rain, no one felt any injury to his health ; master and man toiled with equal energy and good-will ; and both enjoyed a good meal, often served up with all the comforts of civilized life. Thus, in a little, cramped, but weather-tight tent, you found a capitalist in shirt-sleeves, taking a hasty meal off preserved meat and good vegetables (the latter grown from the seeds we had left with Smith), and drinking good beer or wine ; and this from excellent glass and crockery, with plate, and clean table-cloths, and cruet- stands, and all the paraphernalia. The labourer ate an equally comfortable dinner from the pot-au-feu, full of ration-meat and potatoes or cabbages, which had been prepared by his wife at the gipsy-fire out side. Each English family had got a native or two par ticularly attached to them. They supplied their guests with potatoes and firewood, and with an occasional pig ; shared in the toils and meals of the family, delighted at the novelty of every article unpacked, and very quick at learning the use of new tools and inventions ; chattered incessantly in Maori and broken English ; devoted themselves, each to his own pakeha, with the greatest good-breeding, patience, and kind attention ; 202 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII. and soon accustomed themselves to observe and imi tate almost every new habit, with a striking desire of emulating the superiority of their White brothers. Even this first step in colonizing their country must, however, have been a startling contradiction to all their previous ideas. Although we had often explained to them that many hundred White men would come and cover the country, their minds had evidently not been of suffi cient capacity to realize the idea of such numbers. The Maori language has no word for a number above mono, a " thousand ;" and even this is generally used indefinitively to describe any large amount. Accordingly, soon after the emigrants from the two first ships had landed to look about them, Warepori came to Colonel Wakefield's hut one morning, and showed him the war-canoes- hauled down to the wa ter's edge ready for launching, in front of Pitone. Upon being asked his meaning, he said he was come to bid farewell. " We are going," said he, " to our " old habitation at Taranaki. I know that we sold " you the land, and that no more White people have " come to take it than you told me. But I thought " you were telling lies, and that you had not so many " followers. I thought you would have nine or ten, " or perhaps as many as there are at Te-awa-iti. I " thought that I could get one placed at each pa, as a " White man to barter with the people and keep us " well supplied with arms and clothing ; and that I " should be able to keep these White men under my " hand and regulate their trade myself But I see " that each ship holds two hundred, and I believe, " now, that you have more coming. They are all " well armed ; and they are strong of heart, for they " have begun to buUd their houses without talking. CtfAP. VII. THEIR FIRST DOUBTS AND PEARS. 203 " They will be too strong for us; my heart is dark. " Remain here with your people ; I will go with mine " to Taranaki." After some ineffectual attempts at dissuading him, Colonel Wakefield thought he had better not interfere any more with this sudden panic ; and told him that if he doubted the power and wish of the White people to make the life of the natives happy, he had better go, although he should much regret the separation. On Warepori's return to the pa, however, he found the council of chiefs, from which he had come with this message, totally dispersed. The emigrants had eagerly urged the natives to assist them in building temporary shelter. Some were gazing with delight on the liberal offers of blankets, guns, and tobacco made by the new-comers for materials and labour; while others had already started oft' to the woods to cut rafters and ridge-poles. Others were assisting to land goods, and could not be persuaded to remain idle enough to talk about going while good pay attended smart work. They unanimously refused to start until they should have reaped the abundant harvest to be ob tained by working for the pakeha ho, or " new White " men;" and when they found that this harvest was con tinual, and that they were not only well paid for their work, but treated with uniform kindness and gratitude for their prompt services ; — when they found, too, that the visitors were not all stalwart, well-armed men, but many of them good-natured women and smiling chil dren, while the very men proved kinder than they had expected ; — the canoes were hauled up, and the whole Taranaki scheme was treated as a vagary of which they were much ashamed. Warepori himself often laughed at this sulky fit with Colonel Wakefield and myself; and had domesticated himself as the par ticular friend of a family on the banks of the Hutt, 204 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII. whom he supplied with food and the labour of his slaves. Old Epuni had attached himself especially to Colo nel Wakefield. The stores had been placed entirely under his care, of which he was not a little proud, He and his people were engaged on a good-sized house near the store-house for my uncle. Another Pitone man had built a house for me ; but as I was not sure of remaining very long, I had declined the honour of a residence of my own. I made the house, Maori re tainer, and all, over to Dr. Dorset, who had taken shelter at first under the roof of an old friend of his, a passenger in the Aurora. A brisk northerly wind and rain continued from the evening of the 23rd to the morning of the 27th ; but the squatting still went on with great vigour. On the 26th, Captain Heale of the Aurora gave a farewell dinner on board to the principal settlers ; and I, among others, accepted his invitation. The bright hopes and good prospects of the young colony formed the subject of several animated speeches, and various sanguine conjectures were hazarded as to the future history of the New Zealand flag. The rain continued, with but few intervals, till the 1st of March, with a heavy south-east gale, which threw a heavy surf on to the beach, and tried the strength of several of the tent-ropes. During this time, I either wandered about among the squatters, or chatted with the natives at Pitone pa. Colonel Wakefield and I lived in a room, partitioned off from the large barn-like store, which faced the south-east, and was anything but warm during the gale, the only window being a piece of canvass, and the door a rickety and badly-fitted one from a ship-cabin. A large dresser along one side of this room, which was about eight feet broad and twenty long, served for Chap. VII. TENT OF AN EASTERN TRAVELLER. 205 table and writing-desk. At the end furthest from the door, a " bunk, " or wooden shelf, supported Colonel Wakefield's bed. Mine was a cot, placed on the top of a pile of musket-cases and soap-boxes against the partition. The floor consisted of the natural grey shingle which formed the beach ; and the roof, which was luckily waterproof, bent and yielded to every puff of wind. The plan of tying everything together with flax, in both the walls and the roof, makes these Maori houses so elastic that no wind can blow them down. The thatched walls are highly airy, and a copious ven tilation circulates through them in every direction. We had, however, plenty of thick blankets, and used to sleep soundly and turn out fresh and hearty at day break. Then a sea-bath was close to the door ; and wonders were done in the cooking way by Saturday, the Rotoma man, who officiated as Jack-of-all-trades until the return of my uncle's servant in the Tory. I used also- to be constantly in and out of the tent of Mr. Henry Moreing, which was close by. This gentle man had formerly travelled in Egypt and India, and his double tent was consequently perfect as to order and comfort. He had also brought the virtue of hospi tality from the East ; and I ate many a dinner in that rude spot, the good points of which might have been envied by a European petit-maitre. Next to his two tents was the camp of a Mr. Craw ford, who had been one of the first overlanders from New South Wales to Adelaide, and who seemed deter mined to "rough it" as roughly as possible. He dwelt in a low hut, into which it was necessary to crawl, in common with some uncouth-looking Austra lian servants, who made one think at once of bush rangers and banditti. Mr. Crawford was, however, a mate in the navy, and of very good family.' About this time he bought, for 1300 guineas, five land-orders 206 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEAI.AND. Chap. VII. from Mr. Dudley Sinclair. These land-orders were each an authority from the Company to their agent to allow the owner to select one town acre and one hundred country acres according to the number which he had obtained in the lottery, explained by me in a former chapter. A brig arrived from Sydney with thirty head of cattle. She was stated to be chartered by a company formed in Sydney with a large capital to buy land and occupy it. The agent on board laid claim to a large tract of land nearly opposite the island of Mana, bought from some former purchaser ; but the opera tions of the agent had been stopped by a proclamation made at Sydney on the 14th of January against any further purchasing of land in New Zealand. A Sydney paper on board contained a copy of this do cument, which was issued by the Governor of New South Wales in order to stop the very extensive land- sharking going on in all parts of the islands lately placed under his government, especially since our doings had acquired publicity. The agent on board asked from 30/. to AQl. per head for his cows, but could find no buyers at that price. On the 2nd of March, the first meeting of the Com mittee or Council of Colonists took place. In order to understand what this means, it is neces sary to glance back at the steps taken by the settlers and their friends in England between the sailing of the Tory and the departure of the first emigrant- ships from Great Britain. The intending colonists, in directing their course to New Zealand, were aware that the natives of that country were represented as independent by the Go vernment which refused to foster them in their ad venture, and by the missionary body which had threatened to " thwart them by every means in its Chap. VII. COMMITTEE OF COLONISTS. 207 " power ;" and they were therefore prepared to accede to this representation, and to place themselves under a government of the native chiefs, which would be as nominal as their independence and their flag. So perfectly fantastic and nugatory had been the recog nition by Great Britain of the independence of New Zea land and its national emblem, that we found the natives in Cook's Strait totally unacquainted with the meaning of a flag, and unable to distinguish the ensign of New Zealand from that of France, England, or America. And notwithstanding the letter of the thirteen chiefs of the Bay of Islands to William IV., on which the declaration of independence was founded, the only sovereign of England known by name to those natives whom we had met was Kingi Hori, or " King George," whose name was remembered because, nearly twenty years before, he had given Hongi the guns by means of which that chief originated the most desolating wars of the country. The colonists were not, therefore, without hope that the British Government would determine to extend its protecting dominion over them, as soon as they should have carried their bold scheme into execution. In the meanwhile, it became absolutely necessary that some provision should be made for the maintenance of law and order among the young community, on their reaching the shores of New Zealand. It was well known that the chiefs, however independent, would be perfectly incapable of constructing such laws as would control and protect a civilized community. It seemed, therefore, advisable to form some plan of regu lation and discipline among themselves, to which the sanction of the independent chiefs should be afterwards invited. A remarkable agreement between all the in tending colonists was. the instrument for this purpose 208 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII. agreed upon after much deliberation. This document is such a curiosity in politics, and so wise in the sim- phcity of its provisions for the circumstances contem plated, that I venture to transcribe it entire at this place. (Agreement.) We, the undersigned, intending to inhabit the New Zealand Land Company's first and principal settlement, with the view to provide for the peace and order thereof, do hereby agree among ourselves, and pledge our honour to submit ourselves to the following provisional Regu lations, and to enforce them on each other ; that is to say,— - 1st. That all the persons, parties to this agreement, shall submit themselves to be mustered and drilled under the direction of persons to be appointed as here inafter mentioned. 2nd. That in case any of the persons, parties to this agreement, shall commit any offence against the law of England, he shall be liable to be punished in the same manner as if the offence had been committed in Eng land. 3rd. That in case any dispute shall arise between any of the persons, parties to this agreement, such disputes shall be decided in the manner hereinafter mentioned. 4th. That a committee shall be formed of the fol lowing persons : — Colonel William Wakefield, the Company's Principal Agent ; George Samuel Evans, Barrister-at-Law ; Hon. W. H. Petre ; Dudley Sinclair, Esq. ; Francis A. Molesworth, Esq. ; Capt. Edward Daniell; Chap. VII. AGREEMENT DRAWN UP BY COLONISTS. 209 Lieut. W. M. Smith, the Company's Surveyor- General ; R. D. Hanson, Esq. ; E. B. Hopper, Esq. ; George Duppa, Esq. ; George Hunter, Esq. ; Henry Moreing, Esq. ; Henry St. Hill, Esq. ; Thomas Partridge, Esq. ; Major D. S. Durie. That Colonel William Wakefield shall be the first President thereof That in all cases the Company's Principal Agent shall be the President. That the Company shall have the power to appoint five addi tional members. That the Committee shall have the power to add five additional members. That the num ber of members shall not exceed twenty-five. That five members shall be a quorum for all purposes. That Samuel Revans, Esq., shall be the first Secretary to the Committee. 5th. That the Committee shall have the power to make rules for their meetings, and to appoint the ne cessary officers ; and that a meeting of the Committee shall take place within three days after five members shall have arrived in the settlement. 6th. That the Committee shall have power to ap point a person who shall be called an Umpire; and that George Samuel Evans, Esq., barrister-at-law, shall be the first Umpire. That the Umpire shall preside in all cri minal proceedings, and, assisted by seven Assessors, shall decide on the guilt or innocence of the party accused. 7th. That if the party be declared guilty, the Um pire shall state the punishment to be inflicted; pro vided that, without the special approval of the Com mittee, no imprisonment to be stated by the Umpire VOL. I. p 210 adventure in new ZEALAND. Chap. VII. shall exceed three months, and no fine to be so stated shall exceed 10/. 8th. That in all civil proceedings, the Umpire shall preside ; that each party may choose an arbitrator, who shall sit with the Umpire, and the award of the ma jority shall bind the parties; and the Umpire shall have all necessary powers of compelling the attendance of witnesses, and the production of books and papers, and of examining the witnesses. 9th. That the Committee shall have power to appoint five of their members, who shall be called a Committee of Appeal ; and to such Committee an appeal may be made in all cases civil and criminal, and the decision of such Committee shall be final. 10th. That the Committee and the Umpire shall be authorized to make such rules and orders for their government in the execution of their duties as they shall think fit. 11th. That the Committee may direct in what man ner the Assessors shall be chosen. 12th. That the Committee shall direct the calling out of the armed inhabitants, and shall make rules and regulations for the government of the same. 13th. That the Company's principal Agent shall have the highest authority in directing the armed inhabi tants when called out ; and that the Committee shall have the power to appoint such other persons as they think fit to assist in such direction. 14th. That the Committee shall have power to make regulations for preserving the peace of the settlement, and shall have power to levy such rates and duties as they shall think necessary to defray all expenses attending the management of the affairs of the colony and the administration of justice. Chap. VIL FLOOD— THE " CUBA." 211 This constitution was taken on board the fleet of emigrant ships, when preparing to sail from the Thames, by some of the directors of the Company ; and the adhesion of the whole colony was obtained to its enforcement. The parcliment original was for warded in one of the ships to Colonel Wakefield, who had been declared the first leader of the Provisional Government. It was in accordance with this agree ment that the first meeting of the Committee took place, in a wooden frame house belonging to Captain Smith, which was then situated in the sand-hum mocks about half a mile east of Pitone, on the 2nd of March 1840. Nothing could, however, be done be yond preparatory measures for obtaining the sanction of the chiefs, many members of the Committee being yet absent. A report was brought, just at dusk on the same day, that the Hutt was overflowing its banks in many places ; and we started in Barrett's boat to ascend the river in order to give assistance. The attempt proved ineffectual, owing to the force of the cur rent swollen by the rains. In the morning. Colonel Wakefield went up the valley, and found that many of the reports had much exaggerated the real state of things. There had been, however, as much as eight inches of water in some of the houses on the river- bank. In the afternoon, the Cuba arrived from Kawia, and anchored in Lambton Harbour, as a strong south east gale was blowing, which made the roadstead at Pitone inconvenient. Mr. Richard Davies Hanson had arrived in the Cuba from England, with the ap pointment of Agent of the New Zealand Land Com pany for the purchase of lands : it being supposed that he might effect a good deal necessarily left undone by p2 212 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. ^ Chap. VII US during the time when Colonel Wakefield should be employed in receiving the emigrants. He had accordingly sailed for Kawia on the 7th of- February, in order to purchase any available land in that neigh bourhood or in that of the Waipa and Waikato rivers. The Cuba passed the Sugar-loaf islands, without dis tinguishing our signals, on the 10th, and reached Kawia on the 12th of February. After the examina tion of an extensive tract of country near that harbour, and while about to negotiate for its acquisition, Mr. Hanson was arrested in his proceedings, by a copy of the same proclamation which I have mentioned as interrupting the movements of the agent of the Poly nesian Company of Sydney. He had, in consequence, left Kawia on the 2Uth of February, and called at Port Hardy to take refuge from bad weather. A pleasing piece of news to us was, that the Cuba had seen the Tory off i^op272 on the 1st instant; so that we might hourly expect to see our old shipmates : we had begun to despair of ever seeing them again, on account of their long delay since we left them at Kaipara. On the 4th, at noon, the gale ceased, the weather cleared up, and the sun shone out bright and warm. There is nothing more cheering than the convalescence of the weather in Cook's Strait after an attack of cold rainy weather from south-east. The atmosphere is rare and clear; everything dries quickly; and the plants seem to grow visibly as the wind shifts gra dually round to a genial breath from north-east. I walked along the banks of the Hutt, to see what damage the flood had done. The people were aU joking about the fright which it had caused them, and still appeared to treat it as a pic-nic casualty. Notwithstanding the long-continued rain and rough weather, no colds or rheumatisms were complained of. Chap. VII. ARRIVAL OF THE SQUADRON. 213 and the work of squatting went on as cheerfully as ever. Some, however, who had learned by the flood in how low a situation their first dwellings had been placed, determined to remove in time. About thirty or forty people, chiefly followers of Mr. Molesworth from Cornwall, erected a long row of reed and flax cottages on an elevated shingly ridge to seaward of the small creek at the south end of the bivouac, and christened it Cornish-row. On the 5th, the boiler of the steam-engine was towed up the river, the different vents having been first plugged, so as to make it float. On the beach a speculator from Sydney attempted to sell some goods by auction in the open air, and collected a goodly throng of gaping emigrants ; but he wanted an ad vance of 50 per cent, on Sydney prices for bad Sydney things, and could find no buyers. On the 6th, the Aurora sailed for Hokianga, to get a cargo of kauri spars. One of the colonists de parted in her with a saw-mill, being led to believe that he should be able to work it there with more advantage than here. Vessels had been seen outside the harbour during the last two days, prevented from reaching the heads by callns and light land breezes. About four in the afternoon of the 7th, Colonel Wakefield and I were sitting outside Mr. Moreing's tent, enjoying a cigar and the genial weather, when we made out three large vessels at once at the entrance of the harbour. I soon recognized the old Tory as one of them. Just as it fell dusk, they brought up a sudden storm of southerly wind, lightning, and rain, which made us retreat under the tent as the squadron emerged from behind Somes's Island under full sail. We had not been very long under shelter, when Dr. Evans, one of the earliest members of the Association 214 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII. of 1837, burst into the tent, soaked through, but ap parently wild with excitement and pleasure at having at length landed on the shores of the country in which he had been so long interested. He told us that the three ships were, the Adelaide, in which his family and those of several other principal colonists were passengers ; the Glenbervie, which bore the manager, clerks, and well-lined safe of a branch of the Union Bank of Australia, both from London ; and the Tory, with which they had kept company from Port Hardy. In the morning, a grand salute was fired by all the ships, which lay at anchor in an extended line between the beach and Somes's Island. The weather was delicious ; and a large concourse of those on shore assembled to gaze on the imposing sight. Six large ships, decked with colours, above which the New Zealand flag floated supreme, were thundering away. The natives shared in the general excitement, and pro posed to take Colonel Wakefield in their canoes round the fleet. No sooner said than done ; and away they started in three large war-canoes, racing under the stern of each ship in succession, while the salute con tinued. In Epuni's canoe, the place of honour near the stern was assigned to Colonel Wakefield; and the two other canoes were commanded by Warepori and Tuarau. They shouted their war-song most vigorously as they passed close to each astonished poop-load of passengers, and completed the circle of the vessels at full speed without a single pause. I was much amused by the grimaces of E Moe, or " Sleep," who plied his paddle at the bow of his brother Epuni's canoe, which got back first to the beach. " Sleep " grinned hideously over each bow al ternately in unison with the wild canoe-song. During the next few days, the passengers of the Chap. VII. CONSTITUTION RATIFIED BY NATIVE CHIEFS. 215 Adelaide made themselves acquainted with the respec tive merits of the two sites for the town, and gave their voices almost unanimously in favour of Thorn don. It was therefore decided to commence the survey of that district. This change of course caused some delay, as the time already spent in cutting lines and laying out the streets in the valley of the Hutt became almost useless. It was doubtless, however, a wise change. The machinery of the provisional government being now complete, the ratification of the chiefs of Port Nicholson was obtained to its Constitution, and the Committee was approved and empowered by them as a " Council." Measures were put in readiness for all sorts of public works ; the appointment of officers, the regulation of finances, and the selection of sites for a powder-magazine, infirmary, and other public institu tions, were considered; and the note of organization and arrangement sounded busily in all quarters. 216 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. CHAPTER VIII. An exploring journey— The "boys" pack their loads— Farewell —PonVMa— Parramatta — PFaJ^awa —Nayti— Failure of the attempt to civilize him— Potato-grounds— PwAerMa— Madman —Kumera, or sweet potato— Melons— Coast— Waikanae— Vi\- lage of the Wanganui chief— Pukeho shooting — Native houses —Night alarm — Whalers and natives at Kapiti— Gratitude for books— Shark's tooth— Canoe voyage— .BTamAa-nuts— Coast- Surf— Wangaihu river — Pumice-stone — E Kuru — Wanganui river- Encampment — Speeches — Putikiwaranui — Head chiefs- Vestiges of Rev. Henry Williams— Fishing fleet— Fishing vil lages—Eagerness to sell land — Native mats — Dishonesty re proved — Land-mark— Cliffy shore — Waitotara —Suspicion— A tutua, or plebeian tribe — Missionary calumnies — Valley — Fish ing-weir — Lampreys — Tedious travelling — Wenuakura, or " land of plumage " — ^Hospitality — Crowding — Tihoe pa — Patea —Robbery — Utu, or payment — Threats — Restitution — I am obliged to return— Parrots — Open plains— Religious scruples exaggerated — Excursion up the Wanganui — Scenery — Village — Return to Wangaihu — Camp — Fleet of c&noes— Rangitikei river — Eels — Native gluttony — Prayers at sea — Festival at Waikanae — Shipping at iTopiii- Whale-boat journey— Jfawa — Rangihaeata — Carving — We go on to Pitone. Things were in this state, when I determined to set off on a journey along the coast towards the Wanganui river.* I had been much confined hitherto by the pretty constant employment of writing, for I had acted as * I owe it to the kindness of Mr. John Arrowsmith, and to the public spirit which he applies to the advancement of geographical knowledge, that I have been enabled to furnish the reader with a map of New Zealand more correct than any that has yet appeared. It embodies the recent French surveys and those of the Company's surveyors in the Middle Island, besides the sketches of travellers m other parts. It is, however, only a map of reference for these volumes ; and therefore contains no names not mentioned in them. I may be allowed to add that the only complete map of New Zea land is that published by Mr. Arrowsmith. Chap. VIII. PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY. 217 secretary to my uncle ; but now that a regular clerk had arrived in one of the ships, I resolved to take an opportunity of seeing for myself some of the natives unvitiated by intercourse with savage White men, and unimproved by missionary labours. I proposed to pro ceed past Mount Egmont as far as Mokau, and then to return, or I'proceed still further, according to cir cumstances. A great advantage was held out to me by the arrival in Port Nicholson, on a visit to some friends, of Te Rangi Wakarurua, or " the Calmed " Sky," one oif the chiefs of Wanganui who had re ceived a gun in part payment for that district on board the Tory at Kapiti, in November, 1839. He pro mised me a body of slafves to carry niy baggage as far as Waikanae ; where "he said he would join me, and make arrangements for passing me on in one of his canoes. I' agreed to this rendezvous ; and the old chief brought me, on the morning of the 13th, eight native lads, who were to carry my baggage. He was living himself at Kaiwarawara, the village of our old friend " Dog's-ear," and had left his canoe at a village between Cape Terawiti and, Mana, called Ohariu, which was principally inhabited by relations of Wanganui people. On the morning of the 14th, my goods were packed up into kawenga, or- " loads," by the slaves. They con sisted of blankets, shirts, tobacco, pipeg, axes, powder and shot, fish-hooks, bea(J^, two' deuDle-barrelled guns besides my own fowling-piece, a little biscuit, log books, and pencils, &c., &c. The '" boys" were ex tremely handy in making up the bundles,, which they strapped on to their backs by belts resembling braces in form, neatly plfiited of flax. Warepori was very jealous of the departure of so many taonga, or " goods," to another tribe ; and urged me eagerly not to go, as I should be sure to be robbed, and perhaps killed, by such wild natives^ as those 218 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII, among whom I was going. I laughed, however, at this caution; thinking very justly that Warepori, however much allied to the Wanganui natives now, still felt a hatred towards the tribe which had so much impeded the migration of the Ngatiawa from Taranaki. The usual farewell was shouted by the assembled Pitone natives ; and I started up a steep footpath beyond the " Throat " stream. The Maori farewell is simple and dignified in its expression. The traveller says to those he leaves, — Enoho! "sit down!" or "remain!" or Enoho ki to koutou kainga ! " stop in your place ; " and the sta tionary party answer, Haere ki ton kainga ! " go to thy " place ! " In this case they shouted " Haere ki Wan- " ganui." We ascended a steep hill, through extensive potato- gardens belonging to Tuarau ; and from thence had a noble view of the harbour and the infant settlement. After a tedious march of two or three hours over very undulating ground on the top of the range, along a track constantly obstructed by webs of the kareau, or supple-jack, we came to the brow of a descent, from which we had a view of a narrow wooded valley, and a peep of the sea in Cook's Strait over a low part of the further hills. On descending the hill, we found our selves in a fine alluvial valley, through which a consi derable stream brawled and cascaded. Noble forest-trees and plenteous underwood intercepted all view of any thing but the beaten track along which we progressed. Just about dusk, we emerged from the forest into a jun gle of flax, shrubs, and long reeds, at the spot where the stream discharges itself into an arm of the sea which forms part of the harbour of Porirua, or " Dark pit." Wooded hillocks of moderate height surrounded this arm, and gave it the appearance of a small inland lake, which trended away to the northward. I was very Chap. VIII. PARRAMATTA. 219 anxious to push on to the spot where " Geordie Bolts" of Te-awa-iti had his whaling-station, as a heavy rain made it desirable to seek some shelter for the night. On advancing about a mile along the flat muddy beach of the harbour, I came to a hut, where three Europeans were gathered round a fire. They told me that it was yet two or three miles to the station, and that the tide was now up to the foot of the wooded hills further along, leaving no dry path. I therefore accepted their offer of a part of their hut. It was a miserably-built affair, and let in plenty of rain ; but ' I covered myself with two or three thick blankets, and they kept me warm, although wet through before morning. The three men were exceedingly rough- looking fel lows ; and were engaged, they told me, to go to Port Nicholson and drive back the cattle belonging to the Polynesian Company, to the land purchased by them at this place. I afterwards heard that I had passed the night with three of the most dangerous characters on the coast, all supposed to be escaped convicts from New South Wales. They were the positive refuse of the whaling-stations. They treated me, however, with kindness and hospitality in their rough way. At daylight a sawyer's boat, attached to the whal ing-station, came into a creek close to the hut ; and I made a bargain with him to convey me to Parramatta, as the whaling-station had been named, after a town in the environs of Sydney in New South Wales. My native attendants had been but scantily supplied with food, and started off along shore to a settlement near the mouth of the harbour where they had some friends. As I proceeded in the boat, I saw them wading along under the branches of the trees, often immersed up to their waists in the high tide. After a pull of about three miles, we arrived at Parramatta. It is situated on a low point of clear 220 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. land, on the north side of a narrow gut by which the waters of Porirua harbour communicate with a deep bay, opening into the sea nearly opposite the island of Mana. The harbour consists of two arms ; along one of which I had come in the boat this morning, while the other, of nearly equal extent, runs in to the north east. The gut which I have mentioned is not more than two hundred yards wide at high water, and both the ebb and the flood run through it with great rapidity. Jim Cootes, one of the three ruffians in whose company I had passed the night, very hospitably took • me to a comfortable hovel near the whaling-station in which he lived ; for neither Toms nor any one whom I knew were at his house at the station, this being out of the busy season. Two or three houses, such as we had seen at Te-awa-iti, and a filthy pigsty like pa, were situated close to the sheers under which the whales are cut up. It appeared that the Polyne sian Company, which I have before mentioned, had bought some land here from some former White pur chaser, and had sent a surveyor to inspect it : but the natives had treated him roughly, and made him put up his theodolite and carry it away to Kapiti. I had not been long at Parramatta, when one of my boys, a free native from Pari-pari, or " Cliff- " cliff," a settlement between this and Kapiti, came over in a canoe to tell me that the slaves refused to go any further. They were anxious to return and finish a house which they had commenced for the White people at Port Nicholson, and fearful lest some other natives, should complete the house and carry off the payment for the whole work. I therefore got into the canoe with him, and proceeded through the gut to a village called Waikawa, or " Bitter Water," close to the southern head of the outer bay of Porirua, where I found them assembled in a house building for a Chap. VIII. NAYTI— HIS HISTORY. 221 Mr. Berners. This was the agent whom we had found engaged in a dispute about Matia when we were there before. It appeared that he had agreed to evacuate the island as soon as this house should be completed for him by his own natives. I was pleasantly surprised to find my old friend Nayti among the crowd, who greeted me on my arrival. It will be remembered that he had left us at Kapiti about four months before, to come to his native village, which is close to this. He was much ashamed of the wretched state in which I found him. He was wrapped in a blanket and mat, and as dirty as any of his fellow-countrymen around. He tried to excuse himself for not wearing English clothes, by stating that he had been too ill ; but a White man at Parramatta had assured me only an hour before that Nayti had given away everything he possessed. This was a sad result of all the pains that had been taken to civilize and educate him. When the Association was first formed, in 1837, my father, hearing that two New Zealanders had arrived in a French whaler at Havre, sent over Captain W. C. Symonds and another friend to fetch them to London. I remember their arrival at the rooms of the Association in the Adelphi. One was Nayti ; the other was named Jackey, and was a native of the country near Otako in the Middle Island. They had both worked as common seamen on board the French whaler, and were delighted at the prospect held out to them of a comfortable shelter. As I took them in a hackney-coach to my father's house in Chelsea, I pointed out the shops, the crowd of passengers, and the public buUdings which we passed. They gazed for some minutes in mute astonishment on the bewil dering sight, and then, by an apparently unanimous impulse, covered their faces with their hands, and 222 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIH. leant back in the coach, as though they could not conceive, and refused to be forced to see, any more of such perplexing things. In this attitude they steadily remained until we arrived at home. Jackey, who shortly afterwards took up his abode in the family of Dr. Evans, died of a consumption, of which he had already acquired the seeds, and was buried in Brompton churchyard. Nayti remained, till our departure in the Tory, an inmate of my father's house, and advanced rapidly in the outward appearance of civilization. He soon made numerous acquaintances, even among the highest class; and acquired a great knowledge of polite manners and a great fondness for London life. During the two years which he spent in London, he was most kindly treated by his Royal Highness the late Duke of Sussex, who frequently invited him to his assem blies. He used to ride in Hyde-Park, skate on the Serpentine, and walk about London to pay visits by himself; was a regular attendant at church, and a great favourite among all his friends. When he left England in the Tory, he was loaded with presents of all kinds ; among others, with a handsome medal bearing the portrait of her Majesty, presented to him by the Duke of Sussex. I have formerly mentioned that the great respect paid in London to his supposed rank of "Chief" or " Prince," had at length induced him to acquiesce in the exaggeration, and that we were only undeceived in this respect on our arrival in New Zealand. His fellow-countrymen of all ranks had so ridiculed this somewhat innocent assumption on his part, that he was too glad to bribe their good-will by means of his valuable property. Indeed, among the natives it is very unusual to refuse a request for the gift of anything ; only such a request is generally pre- Chap. VIII. NAYTI— PUKE TOTARA. 223 vented by a natural modesty among themselves. Nayti's fellow-villagers, however, and the chiefs of the Kawia tribe, were all so much accustomed to brag and bully on board the ships, and anywhere else where they thought such conduct would be of any profit, that they had long lost this dignified habit of shame. Rauperaha and Rangihaeata, and their com panions, had "bounced" him, as the whalers called it, out of the best of his possessions ; and the inferior neighbours had not been slow to follow the example, as soon as the great vultures had been satisfied. He was thus divested of everything he had once owned. I urged him strongly to return to Port Nicholson, where Colonel Wakefield was daily expecting him, in order to install him as interpreter to the Company at a salary of 50/. per annum, and to receive him, moreover, as a welcome guest in his house. I told him that Dr. Evans and many of his other old friends were arrived ; and he at length promised to go.* I paid the Tepudiating boys some pipes and tobacco, and sent them back with many reproaches for breaking their agreement. The free man, however, resolved to go on with me. He was a strong, tall, and good-humoured young man, and seemed to take a fancy to the journey. He was named Puke Totara, or " Totara hill." The tolara is one of the finest trees of the forest ; and is the prin cipal wood used by the natives, whether for canoes, houses, or fencing. Another who stuck to his bargain was the same attentive slave who had accompanied E Kuru Kanga in the Tory from Kapiti to Wa nganui. He was of the Ngatikahuhunu tribe ; but had been taken captive by E Kurds father during some * Nayti paid Colonel Wakefield one or two visits at Wellington, but preferred living at his own village in the native fashion. He died there, of consumption, in 1842. 224 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. of the wars in the interior. His name was Konatu, or " Stand there ! " I procured one or two more boys at Waikawa, and, by increasing the weight of the loads, managed to distribute all my cargo among the diminished number. It was only on the next day, about noon, that the weather would allow us to cross the bay, as a strong southerly gale caused a rippling sea in the entrance, which is nearly a mile wide. About the middle lies a reef of rocks ; and vessels enter between this and the south head, over a bar which bears fifteen feet at high water spring-tides, the fall of tide being from six to seven feet. We now ascended a wooded ridge, through forests of much smaller timber and less impeded by kareau than that between Pitone and Poi-irua. Four or five miles of easy travelling brought us on to an extensive and some what tabular amphitheatre, cleared to the extent of two or three hundred acres for native potato-gardens ; and whence we looked, through the naked trunks of the trees left standing in the clearing, upon the island of Kapiti, and a long reach of the sandy beach and level country opposite. Penetrating through the gar dens to the edge of a steep declivity overlooking the beach of a semicircular bay, we saw, on a spur of the table-land separated by two deep gullies through which streams run to the sea, a native pa or fort. This, my guides told me, was Pukerua, or " Two hills," the usual residence of "the Wild Fellow," whose noisy acquaintance we had made at Kapiti. From the depressed end of this spur the cliffy edge of the am phitheatre rises on either hand to a great height. To the north, especially, the coast for four or five mUes is backed by an almost perpendicular wall 300 feet in height, but completely covered with stunted verdure. In crossing the gully to arrive at the pa, we were Chap. VIII. PLANTATIONS OF SWEET POTATO. 225 met and welcomed by a madman, the first I had seen among the natives. He was fantastically dressed in a mixture of European and native clothing, and jabbered away on all subjects with great speed, to the unbounded amusement of the monkey-like children, who flocked around the pakeha ho, or " new White man." The madman was quite harmless, and led me very politely to the hut assigned for my residence. I found that "the Wild Fellow" was absent at Kapiti; but the few natives in the pa prepared to make me comfortable, and the women soon produced an ample meal of vegetables and birds for myself and my train. The madman, E Witi, fastened himself to one of the posts of the house with an iron hoop, and amused the natives by extravagant orations till a late hour. In the morning, having given some tobacco to the owner of the. hut, and to the women who cooked the food, I proceeded along the foot of the verdaiit wall of which I have spoken. The beach was shingly and studded with rocks. I picked up several pieces of sponge on my way. At one spot we passed through a natural arch in a spur of rock which jutted into the sea. I had to get on to E Puke's shoulders ; and he seized a favourable time to run through the passage, as the surf occasionally rolled breast-high into it. A little further on, some neat plantations of the kumera, or sweet potato, betrayed the neighbourhood of a settle- ment. They extended about thirty yards up the face of the hill, in terraces formed by logs of wood laid hprizontally, and supported by large pegs. The ter races were covered with sand from off the beach, which the natives assured me was the best soil for the growth of the kumera. In storms, these plantations must be covered with salt spray, and swept by the north-west VOL. I. Q 226 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIIL wind ; but on this day a hot sun shone upon the bank, and I was told that such a position was esteemed highly productive. We soon reached Pari pari, E Puke's residence ; and he insisted on ray remaining there till the next morn ing. The village is situated on a terrace of the hill, about fifty feet above the beach, and very neatly built. Below, two or three canoes were hauled up under some karaka trees, which formed a pleasant grove in a sort of recess from the beach. The old men of the pa were sitting beneath their shade, enjoying their pipes. They greeted me very cordially, and held out their hands to be shaken, having lately become miha nere. Puke explained to me that they were all of the Ngatiawa tribe. Arrived at the house assigned for my sleeping-place, one of the numerous children who had eagerly followed me presented me with a water melon, which the heat of the day made me enjoy very much. I gave him a fish-hook in return, which the rest of the audience no sooner saw, than a large pro portion of them started for more melons, and before the evening I was abundantly supplied. The natives were rather annoying by their eagerness in crowding round me, especially when eating a melon, as they would scramble across me for each single seed. I at last declared that I would throw all the seeds away if they did not all sit at a convenient distance ; but that if they did I would take care of the seeds, and return them to the person who had sold me the melons, There were about one hundred natives at this village; men, women, and children : at Pukerua I had only seen about twenty, but some others were said to be absent at Kapiti with their chief. About half-a-mile beyond Pari pari the hills recede from the coast, and the rocky shore is replaced by a Chap. VIII. WAIKANAE. 227 shoal sandy beach backed by sand-hummocks. Along this we travelled the next day about eight miles to Waikanae. The day was again extremely hot, with scarcely a breath of wind stirring ; and I repeatedly stopped to sit down and eat a water-melon. We crossed several small streams, at the mouth of which were for tified villages. These were Wainui, or " large river ;" Wureroa, or " long house ;" and Ware Mauku, or "Mauku's house." At each of these I was pressed by some ofthe inhabitants to "haere kiuta," or "go inland," meaning me to accept of their hospitality ; but I had determined to get to Waikanae, and so refused them all, I learned that all these villages were inhabited h^ Ngatiawa ; except Wainui, which was the residence of Te Hurumutu, or " the Cut-hair," one of the Kaioia chiefs, who had been a party to the sale at Kapiti, and more commonly known there by the name of Tommy. At Waikanae I was recognised by many of my old acquaintances. Some had met me in Queen Char lotte's Sound ; some in Port Nicholson ; and some showed their healed wounds, and reminded me of my visit to them with the surgeons. My name was well known, and shouts of " Tiraweke, Tiraweke ! " passed along the avenues and court-yards. They told me that a White missionary was now living here. I could not well make out his name from their pronunciation, but concluded, from their calling him a relation of Te Wiremu, or Mr. Williams, that that gentleman had left him here when he was following us about Cook's Strait in November. They told me nothing about his character, but complained that they could not get as many books from him as they wished. After a short rest, I proceeded to Ara pawa iti, or " Small canoe- channel," the village of the Wanganui people. Passing through the large village, and crossing a high sand-hill Q 2 228 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII at the back, we came to the banks of the Waikanae river, here narrow and deep. A numerous fleet of canoes of all sizes was moored inside. We followed the stream for 200 yards, and then diverged across some fertile potato-grounds on a sandy flat, in the midst of which an oblong stockade surrounds the dozen houses of which the village is composed. We here found only two or three female slaves, the old chief not being yet arrived with his canoe. I amused myself by pursuing a bird called the pukeko about the neighbouring country. The sand-hills were all covered with cultivation, and these birds creep out of the intervening swamps to feed on the potatoes. The pukeko is of a dark blue colour, and about as large as a pheasant. The legs, the bill, and a horny conti nuation of it over the front of the head, are of a bright crimson colour. Its long legs adapt it for its swampy life ; its flight is slow and heavy, resembling that of a bittern. I succeeded in killing two or three ; and al though my boys told me that it was kai kino, or " bad " food," I found one of them a very good addition to my meal of boiled potatoes. In the course of my rambles I came across two strong-looking nags, Avhich the na tives told me were the missionary's property. In the native villages there are always two kinds of houses. The ivare puni, or " house of rest," I have already described at the village near Ship Cove. I had since seen many much larger and more commo dious than those at that place. They are all, however, built on the same principle, of keeping in the animal heat ; and are therefore most repulsive to a European. Some of them have their front wall removed back three feet from the front of the roof. In this case a nice airy veranda is formed, which makes a very good sleeping-place. The ware umu, or " oven-houses," Chap. VIII. NATIVE HOUSES. 229 have open walls, built of upright sticks at intervals of an inch or two. They have thatched roofs to protect the cooks and the store of firewood, which is gene rally pUed up inside in rainy weather. The open walls let out the smoke and let in the air, and these kitchens are therefore much more adapted than the others for the bedroom of a traveller. At this time, too, the na tives, although most of them professing Christianity, had by no means divested themselves of many of their ancient superstitions ; one of which was a positive in terdiction against the very presence of food or drink in a ware puni. To light a pipe from the fire inside was considered equally sacrilegious. In order to avoid the inconvenience of these restrictions, and yet refrain from offending against any of the customs which I found still revered by my kind hosts, I therefore found it much better to take up my abode in a ware umu or ware kauta, both which names apply to the kitchens. Here I had only to avoid one thing, namely, the hanging food overhead ; for this also is a terror, and if done intentionally, a grievous offence to the Maori anywhere. I had hardly got to sleep, when I was awakened by the dogs barking, and a sudden rushing of garments. Puke came in from the adjoining ware, where the boys and the slave girls had been sleeping, and told me that they had been alarmed by hearing people prowling about in the neighbouring potato-gardens. He whispered that it was probably the Ngatiraukawa come on another midnight attack ; and begged the loan of my guns and ammunition, in order that he and the other boys might reconnoitre. The girls had run off to the main village on the first alarm. I imme diately acceded, for their sakes, although I felt sure that I should not be injured, even if the report were 230 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. true. Several young men soon arrived with their arms from Waikanae, and a regular examination of the banks of the river and neighbourhood was made. The barking and growling of the dogs, the whispering and rustling of the prowling sentries among the po tato-plants, and the anxious face of Puke, lighted up by the flickering of the embers, as he frequently came in to report that all was well, kept me between waking and sleeping till daylight ; when all the fears seemed to vanish, and it was soon discovered that the alarm had been caused by some kuki, or slaves from Wai kanae, stealing in the gardens. Old E Rangi not having arrived from the south, I got a canoe manned, and went over to Kapiti. The mouth of the Waikanae is choked up with sand-banks, but at high-water a whale-boat can enter and ascend the river about six miles. The hills are about seven miles from the beach here ; and the ta tika, or " flat " tract," seems to improve as it recedes from the sea. Groves of high timber extend outwards about two miles from the foot of the hills. Kapiti is about four miles from Waikanae. I took up my residence on Hiko's Island, and saw several of the chiefs who had been parties to the sale. They had all become converts since I was here before, and on the 22nd I heard prayers read and a sermon preached by a native teacher. Rauperaha was absent at Otaki. The island on which he lives had been bought by an American captain named Mayhew, who was residing at the Bay of Islands, but had a store here for the supply of the whaling-stations, and a clerk to manage it. I heard much about the prospects of the approaching whaling season. There were to be upwards of twenty boats fitted out at the different stations at Kapiti this year, though all were now Chap. VIII. GRATITUDE OF NATIVES FOR BOOKS. 231 duU and almost deserted ; some of the people being at Sydney, some at various places about the Strait. I was much struck by the gratitude of some of the young natives here, to whom I gave some Maori hymn and prayer books. They had been complaining that they had to pay pigs or potatoes in order to get any from the White missionary at Waikanae ; and I had fortunately got a few among my baggage, which Mr. Bumby had been kind enough to give me at Ho- Ifianga. Immediately upon their distribution, these youths seized my hand and placed it on their heads. Though I could not precisely understand the meaning of this ceremony, their faces expressed thanks too sin cerely to be mistaken. I could have wished to have been more amply supplied with these publications ; but, unfortunately, the hostility of the Missionary Societies in London had been carried to such an extent as to refuse either sale or gift of a single copy of any of their publications in the Maori language, or Grammars and Vocabularies, to a person sent by the Company to request a supply for our expedition. I rejoiced to think that a printing-press, which had been brought out in the Adelaide by Mr. Samuel Revans, might soon be made a means of gaining the friendship of our book-loving friends. On the 23rd, Konatu and two or three other boys came over in a canoe to tell me that Rangi had arrived. I therefore bade adieu to my friends at Kapiti, and returned to Waikanae. It was too late, however, to proceed to Wanganui ; so I went out shooting again, after paying my respects to Rangi, whose numerous retinue gave the little village a busy appearance. In the morning I gave him a pair of blankets and some other little presents in return for the loan of the 232 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. canoe ; and we poled out of the river, some delay being occasioned by the necessity for steering clear of the numerous sand-banks. While on the beach waiting for the rest of my party, E Witi, one of the prin cipal parties to the sale in East Bay, Queen Charlotte's Sound, addressed me. He reproached me strongly with having bought Taranaki ; which, he said, belonged to him and the other Ngatiawa at this village. I told him that they ought not to have run from it ; and that we had paid the people who had maintained possession through great troubles and danger. He grew gradu ally calm on this subject, and ended by asking me when White people would go to live at Queen Charlotte's Sound, and by entrusting me with a letter directed to Hori Patene, a missionary chief, as he assured me, at Otumatiia, a village on the coast between Wanganui and Taranaki. I had with me several letters from natives at Port Nicholson to their friends at Tara?iaki; among others, one containing a shark's tooth as a present from Tuarau to one of his friends at Ngamotu. These teeth are held in great estimation for ear-orna ments. The root of the tooth is covered with red sealing wax, and a piece of black tape passed through a hole in order to suspend it, so that the pointed end hangs on the cheek. We at length hoisted our sail before a fresh southerly breeze, amidst the discharge of muskets and shouts of haere ! " go ! " about an hour before noon. Our vessel was a strongly-built canoe, with more beam than they generally have, and an extra top-side plank to keep out the sea. E Ao, or " the air," a son of E Rangi, and half-brother of Ku7'u Kanga, was in command of the craft. Besides him, six young men, among whom was Puke, worked their paddles; and Konatu steered with a paddle, whilst another man Chap. VIII. KARAKA-NVTS. 233 yawed the canoe about with a clumsy imitation of the steer-oar used in whale-boats. E Ao's wife and child, with two slave women, and two wretched-looking curs, completed our muster-roll. Cold cooked potatoes and fish were stowed in the bottom of the canoe, with large baskets of the kernel of the karaka berry. The karaka-tree much resembles the laurel in its ^owth and foliage. It bears bright orange-coloured berries about the size and shape of damsons, growing in bunches. The fruit is sickly and dry; but the kernel forms an important article of native food. It is enclosed in a tough stringy husk. The natives gather the berries when ripe ; and after separating the pulp of the fruit from the kernel by steaming them in large umu, or ovens, they collect the kernels in baskets and soak them in a pool, dammed up in a running stream. They are allowed to remain in soak until they ferment, when they are fit for use. As they require no cooking, the natives use them extensively in travelling. A cockle-shell is used to break the husk. Their odour is so offensive that I could never prevail on myself to eat them ; but I have known many En glishmen who had acquired a taste for them, and described them as very good food. In the large canoes, a wattled floor, made of kareau, is raised level with the junction of the body of the canoe and the topsides ; and on this the passengers sit. A square hole amidships is left for the use of the ta, or baling-spoon. This is rather a graceful implement, being often handsomely carved. It somewhat resem bles the small shovel used to take coals out of a scuttle, with the handle turned forward over its upper side. We were provided with a duck sail, which most of the canoes now possessed, the owners having bought them of the whalers in exchange for provisions. The 234 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. former native sail was made of a fine grass, woven into very pretty patterns, with graceful open work in various parts. Our helmsman was so inexpert in managing his steer-oar while running before a freshening breeze, which sent up a short chopping swell as we advanced from under the shelter of Kapiti, that he yawed us about till we shipped a sea, and it was determined to reef the sail. As this happened off Otaki, where their enemies the Ngatiraukawa reside in large numbers, the natives got much confused and alarmed, and cle verly managed to break the lug-yard. It was at length fished, and we proceeded more steadily. The boys pointed out to me the mouth of a river called Ohau, about fifteen miles from Waikanae. As we ran along about two miles from the shore, I saw a remarkable grove of high pine-trees rising from behind the sand-hummocks. This was an hour before sun down ; and they told me that it was near the mouth of a river called the Manawatu, or " Hold-breath," which flows into the sea about twenty-five miles from Ka piti. The hills between this and Otaki turn in to the eastward, so that the country begins to form a plain of great breadth. At sunset the wind died away, and the boys paddled hard to reach another river called Rangitikei ; but we found a heavy surf at its entrance, and although the moon shone bright, and fires were made by the natives on shore, it was reckoned prudent to defer the land ing till daylight. When we had made an offing of about a mile, the crew repeated a short prayer, and then composed themselves to sleep, except those who alternately watched against a change in the weather or the drifting of the canoe towards the shore. When I woke once or twice during the night, the canoe was Chap. VIII. LANDING THROUGH THE SURF. 235 lifting over the long swell, the moon and stars shining bright and clear, and a heavy dew falling on the sleepers coiled in their blankets, and the only sound to disturb the calm of the scene was the distant roar of the surf At the break of day I found the natives engaged in a lively discussion ; unable, from the monotonous appearance of the low sand-hummocks which form the coast, to determine our exact locality. After some vain pulling about, first north, then south, they at length made up their minds that Wanganui lay about twelve miles north of us, and pulled in that direction. A very heavy surf hid the coast from us every now and then ; and when they discovered signs of an im mediate gale from the south-east, my crew held a long consultation. My advice was asked as to whether we should at once land through the surf, or run the chance of being caught by the gale in order to seek smoother water at the entrance of the Wanganui. I left it entirely to them, and they soon afterwards turned the head of the canoe towards the shore. Before entering the surf, they made all preparations for an accident. They shook off their mats and blankets, and made me strip to my shirt and trowsers. The guns and other heavy articles were lashed to the thwarts of the canoe. I was placed in the bow, be tween two strong fellows, who were enjoined to have a particular regard for my safety. All hands now took to the paddles; two at the bow and two at the stern assisting the manager of the steer-oar to keep her square before the sea. A " smooth" or favourable moment was seized, and we dashed along on the top of a foaming roller, with our livehest stroke and a cheering song. Tena! tenal or " hurrah ! hurrah ! " shouted the steersman. Kia 236 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIIL tika ! or " keep her straight ! " yelled the others ; and the roller broke on either side of us, and roared along towards the shore. As the surf extended nearly half-a-mile from the beach, this was repeated several times; and the operation of landing was very well performed, excepting the conflicting advice which was given by all hands at once in the shrillest tones every time a roller passed. The moment we touched the sand, my two supporters lifted me up with a jerk, and pitched me high and dry on to the beach. Before I had time to recover myself, they had all jumped out into the water, and hauled the canoe out of reach of the next wave. We encamped on the barren sand-hills at the back of the beach, and proceeded to dry our clothes, which had all been well drenched. I was sorry to find that one of my only pair of boots had been lost during the landing. Ten minutes after we were in safety, the predictions of the weather-wise among the natives were verified, and a fresh gale came up in a puff from the south. It was accompanied, however, by fine, clear weather; and thus proved rather agreeable than otherwise. One of the lads was at once despatched to JVanga- nui to give news of our arrival, and to bring back E Kuru Kanga to meet me. In the meanwhile I walked along the sand-hills to the south, to a small river called the Tf^angaihu, or , " Nose opening." At its mouth it was not more than twenty yards broad, but seemed deep and rapid : inside, it expanded to the width of a quarter of a mile. I picked up, on its banks, lumps of scoriae and pieces of stone containing petri^ fied shells, of the same kinds, however, as those now existing. Quantities of pumice-stone also spoke of the volcano of Tonga Riro, from which the natives told me that this river, as well as the Wanganui and Chap. VIII. PUMICE-STONE— £ KURU. 237 the Waikato, take their source. All the coasts of Cook's Strait, indeed, are sprinkled with the pumice which constantly floats down the two first of these rivers. in the evening, E Kuru and about a dozen of his attendants arrived, with some slaves bearing potatoes and karaka-nnts for our party. I had been much at tracted by the engaging disposition and manners of this young chief during the few days which he spent on board the Tory ; and was delighted to renew our acquaintance. He also appeared much pleased, and greeted me most cordially. The drift-wood, which abounded on the beach, served to maintain large fires, in the ashes of which the potatoes were roasted ; and it also formed a shelter from the wind, no despicable precaution against the tine sand which otherwise penetrates everything. Two small court-yards were formed by placing logs upright close to each other ; one for our party and one for our visitors. At dusk, prayers were said, all having become mihanere ; and then we lay down in side our fences. The wind died away with the setting sun, and the same clear moon and stars and heavy dew presided over the night. In the morning, the sun rose cheerfully into a sky of pure blue ; and the surf being much abated, the young men launched the canoe and proceeded towards the mouth of the river. I preferred walking with E Kuru along the beach. I was of course bare-footed, all at tempts at finding my unfortunate boot having proved ineffectual. The survivor was borne as a melancholy memento by one of my attendants, who took great pride m explaining its details and the fate of its companion to the wondering strangers. At one or two spots we got a glimpse between the sand-hummocks of the snowy 238 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. summit of Tonga Riro, a broad-topped mountain. Al though at least seventy miles distant, it was perfectly clear and distinct. After walking about eight miles along the beach, we struck off across the hummocks, and two miles more brought us to an elevation whence I discovered the first reach of the Wanganui river. We were close to its south bank, and the entrance appeared about two miles to the westward, leaving but a narrow tongue of sand between this reach and the sea. I at once recog nized the low cliffs of sand on the north head, and per ceived the snowy cone of Mount Egmont over the tapering point of land to the west. A large extent of flat open country stretched away to the north-west on the opposite side of the river, here about half a mile in width. Descending to the beach of the river, we soon reached an encampment at the foot of a high cliff, which formed a bluff point on the south bank. A tent had been made purposely for me of the mast, yard, and sail of a canoe ; and food, cooks, and steaming- ovens met the eye on every side. E Kuru gracefully waved me to the tent, and invited me to rest. He prevented the inquisitive crowd from entering its door, and sat outside himself until I asked him to come in. It was lined with clean mats, so as to form a comfort able covered couch. Several large canoes arrived in the course of the day from the villages higher up ; and there were soon about a hundred persons assembled near the tent. Many of the chiefs made formal speeches, to the effect that I was welcome to the place. They afterwards approached the tent, and E Kuru told me their different names and relationship to himself Immediately on my arrival, he had killed a pig for me ; at that time an invariable custom of native politeness towards a guest. Chap. VIII. WANGANUI RIVER. 2S& During the speeches, he took particular pains to ex plain to me whatever expressions I had not understood, and to impress me with a knowledge of the character and influence of each speaker. His attention, gene raUy, was most pleasing, and perfectly dignified and free from obtrusiveness. The cliff I found was called Wahipuna, or " place of " the spring," from a small rill which gurgled from half-way up its side. As the water of the river is almost always brackish here, this becomes a great place for the encampment of passing visitors. About noon, E Kuru took me in a canoe to the principal village on this part of the river, on the same side as our camp, and about a mile above it. The high land, of which the cliff forms one extremity, recedes from the river near the mouth of a small tributary, and another low range of table-land closes in upon the river about a mile above this. On the river bank, in the midst of the level between the two ridges, the pa named Putikiwaranui was situate. On landing, I found about thirty large canoes ranged along the shore, and 300 or 400 people assembled to receive me. Among these was an uncle of Tuarau, who had taken a principal part in the sale of the Taranaki district, and who was on his way to Waikanae with a numerous following. He greeted me with much pleasure. This was the chief whose nickname of "Wide-awake" had been transferred by the natives to Colonel Wakefield. E Kuru introduced me in due form to the three principal chiefs of the Wanganui tribes. Each of them sat in his own court-yard, sur rounded by his own immediate followers. The first was Turoa, or " High-stand," an old chieftain of the tribes which had migrated hither from Lake Taupo. He was cased in a thick coat of red paint, made of 240 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VHI. ochre and shark's oil, which covered his very hair and clothes. He motioned me to a clean mat spread by his side, and spoke a few words of welcome with much dignity of manner. He said the land was for me ; that his child, E Kuru, had told them all to sell it to " Wide-awake," and that, as I was come, it was there for me. Like speeches were made to me by Rangi Tauwira, or " Sky marked with lightning," a very venerable grey-haired chief, bent nearly double with years, and uncle to E Kuru ; and by Te Ana-ua, or " the Rainy Cave," the head chief of the Ngatiruaka, or aboriginal tribes, whose sister was Turods principal wife. Te Ana-ua handed me a strip of paper from a cloth in which it had been carefully wrapped. On perusing it, I found it to bear the following written statement : " Wanganui, December 17th, 1839. — Tlais is to give " noti,ce, that this part of New Zealand has been pur- " chased of the native chiefs residing here for the " benefit of the Ngatiawa tribes, extending from Ra- " ngitikei to Patea, towards Taranaki, by Henry WU- " liams." I translated this to the large concourse of natives who were assembled on the spot, and asked them if it was true. They assured me most fully and unanimously, that neither had any such agreement been mentioned to them, nor had a single fish-hook or piece of tobacco been paid to any one, except to the boys who carried Mr. Williams's things, or to those natives who became converts to the Christian religion.. I then asked Te Ana-ua whether he had been aware of the contents of the paper. He answered that he had not ; but that he thought it was a certificate of good character and hospitality left with him by the missionary, in order that future travellers might not" hesitate to place themselves under his protection. I Chap. VIII. REV. HENRY WILLIAMS. 241 could scarcely believe for some time that such a decep tion could have been made use of by Mr. Williams, in order to prevent our completion of a bargain which we had commenced at Kapiti a month before his arrival. I could not see a single excuse for the action. It was by no means calculated to give these ignorant na tives a high opinion of the character of the White man for honest and straightforward conduct ; as they were kept uninformed of its motive, either real or apparent. Even the alleged motive would have been an unjust one, the Ngatiawa tribes having no claim whatever to the tract of land in question, and having been but few years before at open war with the actual occupants, during the great migration from Taranaki. I did not hesitate to write on the back of the notice that it was an " arrant falsehood," together with the information which, gathered from the natives on the spot, had led me to form this opinion, f then returned it to Te Ana-ua, convinced that he would hand it to Mr. Wil liams on his next visit. I answered the speeches of the chiefs by telling them that I was not come to buy their land, but to look at the people and the country ; and that they must apply to " Wide-awake" for the completion of the purchase, as I intended to travel about the country for a month or two. I presented each of the three head chiefs with a red blanket, and distributed fish-hooks and tobacco among the inferior crowd. I also bought with some more of the same articles a large store of pawa, or native fish-hooks. I have already described these hooks, which are used for the kawai fishery, and take their name from the haliotm-shell, with pieces of which they are lined. I had a long conversation with Tnroa and some other chiefs after the ceremonial visits were over. This old chief described, in a pithy VOL. I, R 242 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. way, the effect produced on the natives of this place by Mr. WUliams's visit in December. It appeared that, after missing us in Cook's Strait, that gentleman had landed at Waikanae with Mr. Hadfield, the missionary whom I had heard of there, and had travelled on foot nearly as far as Ngamotu at Taranaki, and then returned, leaving his companion at Waikanae. On my asking Turoa what sort of a man Williams was, and how he behaved to the natives, the old man answered, " He is a tangata rin, or ' angry man,' who " shuts his tent-door upon us, and does not sit by our " sides and talk kindly to us, as you do : but he has " the Atua (God) upon his lips, and we are afraid of " his anger." At dusk I returned to Wahi puna, and slept in my tent. At daybreak next morning a whole fleet of canoes went out to sea to fish. Together with Wide-aWake's party, there were at least fifty sail. At the flood, which was in the afternoon, they all entered the river, and pro ceeded to fish for the kawai, large shoals of which had come in with the tide. As this fishery is always con ducted at full speed, the sea-reach, about three miles long, presented a most lively scene. A light breeze fa voured the sailing one way ; so that half of the canoes were under sail, and the others pulling in the opposite direction. They continued thus to alternate for two or three hours, singing as they paddled, and yelling with delight whenever an unusually large fish was hauled in. I passed through the centre of this fishing fleet, on my way to a village on the opposite side, about half a mile above Putikiwaranui. I found here about two hundred men, women, and children. E Kuru told me that they were from the W-^ahi pari, or " Place " of Cliffs," a name given to the Upper part of this river, where it runs between very high steep banks. Cbap. VIII. FISHING FLEET AND VILLAGES. 243 He explained to me, that none of the natives lived per manently near the sea-side ; but that their pas and cultivations were far up the river, among the moun tainous country, which they consider more fertile as well as more secure from hostile attacks. These vil lages near the sea were only used during this season, when the fish abound and the constant fine weather aUows the almost daily exit of the canoes. At the end of the summer they return up the river with large stores of dried fish. I now understood why these vil lages were so poorly built and badly fenced. I had not seen a good house in either of them ; and the fences, instead of being formed of high strong wooden uprights, as I had seen them in other pas, were made of reeds and grass, supported on weak sticks to the height of four feet; evidently calculated for no other purpose than that of breaking the force of the sea- breezes. I now understood that these were mere tem porary villages used for fishing. While I was at this village, talking to several of the chiefs, sunset ap proached. The canoes came dashing in from the fishery, and a sort of harvest-home took place. Each crew joined in a triumphant chorus as they neared the village, and the old women, perched in various atti tudes on the large racks erected for drying the fish, yelled out their discordant welcome, attended with much hideous grimacing. The fishermen jumped out of their canoes, and prepared to attack huge meals which had been cooked in readiness for their arrival ; and the women cleaned and opened the fish, and hung them up on the racks. I again slept in my tent. During the next two days, I was visited formally by the three head chiefs, who brought presents and made speeches to me. Turoa in particular was very vehe ment. He told me that I had no business to go tra- r2 244 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. veiling about to Mokau and other strange places, but that I was bound to return to Port Nicholson and get a vessel and goods from " Wide-awake" and pay for the place. He said I should be plundered by the rude natives to the north ; reproached me with neglecting these, who were resolved to be my friends ; and re minded me that Williams had the intention of return ing soon with a ship to buy the place, and that, perhaps, when the natives saw his goods, they would not be able to resist selling to him instead of to me. Pakoro, a near relation of Turoa, followed in the same strain. The wild energy with which he spoke might easily have been mistaken for anger by an in experienced auditor ; and even I should probably have feared some violent termination to the harangue, had not E Kuru, constantly seated at my elbow to inter pret difficult sentences and assist me in my answers, explained to me that " his mouth was great because "his heart was warm." Pakoro ended by flinging over my shoulders a very handsome kaitaka mat, which he had been wearing while he spoke. While here, I collected a considerable number of mats of all kinds, some of which were given to me by chiefs, and the others sold by inferior natives. The mats are generally of four kinds. The plainest and least valued is the porera. This is plaited very closely with unscraped flax, split into narrow bands, and is used as floor-cloth for a house or a couch. It has a glossy straw-like surface, and is very useful in keeping a bed from the damp ground. I bought some about seven feet square for a few heads of tobacco. '' The next in value is the korowai. It-is woven of muka, or scraped flax, and ornamented with bunches of twisted tags of the same, dyed black. The tags are, however, sometimes left white ; at other times they are Chap, VIII. MATS OF NATIVE MANUFACTURE. 245 formed of strings scraped only at regular intervals, thus leaving the gold-coloured straw on the spaces not scraped. By thus dyeing or not dyeing, scraping or not scraping the tags, or by alternating dyed and scraped, undyed and unscraped tags, on the same mat, a great many varieties of the korowai are made ; but the most general one is that with scraped and dyed tags. These mats, although often worn by men, are more com monly the dress of the women. A third sort of mat is the tiehe, or rough outside covering. Its outside is formed of the refuse from the operation of flax-scraping; but the inner surface is often woven very closely, and of the finest flax. The slaves generally wear very coarse mats of this kind, having no women who are allowed to bestow pains on mat-making for themselves and their relations. The tiehe, like the korowai, varies much in colour and quality. They are all perfectly waterproof, the leaves of the outside thatch overlapping each other like tiles. But the most valued Maori mat is the kaitaka or parawai. This is woven of the very finest, silky, snow- white muka, and is unsullied by any tag or ornament except a border of a foot in width at the bottom, and six inches on the two sides. This border is dyed black, except where sets of parallel zigzag lines, and the lozenge-shaped spaces between them, are left white or stained chesnut-colour with another dye. Lately a very bad taste of introducing coloured worsted, taken from European clothing, has spoiled the chasteness of their execution ; but an old paratoai, with nothing but Maori materials and manufacture, is certainly a very handsome garment, and the border is really classical in design. The two sexes have different ways of wearing the mat or blanket. The man wears it tied on his right 246 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. shoulder like a Roman toga, so as to have his right arm free ; the woman ties it over her breast, and holds the sides together with her hands. In carrying a chUd, the man dresses like a woman, as the child clings round the neck of the person who carries him, and is sustained by the blanket, grasped tight round both their bodies. There were very few blankets among the Wanganui natives. Indeed, they had begged me very naively to see " how many things of the pakeha they had among " them," when I read to them Mr. Williams's manu script ruse. I was much pleased by the conduct of E Kuru on one of these days. A cringing, sneaking Ngatiawa native, who stated himself to be a relation of Ware pori, had brought a porera for sale. Thinking it better than any which I had yet seen, and ignorant as yet of the price-current here, I modestly inquired whether he would take , an axe for it, fully expecting to be indignantly refused. He immediately, however, jumped at the offer ; threw the mat into my tent, and ran away to the village as hard as he could, with the axe under his mat. This had been done in E Kurds absence, and under cover of the tent from the natives sitting in the neighbourhood. On the return of E Kuru about half an hour afterwards, he gave me two or three mats of different kinds which he had collected, and then, seeing the new porera, asked how much to bacco I had paid for it. When I had related the whole transaction to him, he became very angry ; and without more words, took the porera, and started off at a run for the vUlage, more than a mile off. He was back, puffing and blowing, in little more than half an hour, with my axe. " There," said he, " don't buy any " more mats without speaking to me : the man is a "thief; he would be glad to sell his mat for six heads Chap. VIII. DISHONESTY REPROVED. 247 I' of tobacco to any of us, and counted upon my know- " ing nothing of this. I have taken care, however, .'¦ that he should not gain for Wanganui people the " name of robbing you under pretence of a fair hoko " ('bargain')." , On the afternoon of the 29th, I told the assembled chiefs that I could not accede to their request, but should proceed on the next day to the northward. They then determined that E Kuru should accom pany the Ngatiawa fleet to the south, and urge upon Colonel Wakefield the completion of his bargain. He, Turoa, and Wide-awake, took me up to the top of the. cliff, from which a wide view of the country on the west bank was obtained, as well as of the valley in which Putikiwaranui is situated, of two or three miles of the river's course above that spot, and of the distant mountains of Tonga Riro and Taranaki. On the summit a carved and half-burnt post marked the ¦ site of an ancient^a, whence the assembled tribes of this district had formerly resisted the passage of the Ngati awa across the mouth • of the river. The three chiefs begged me to carve the name of my matua, or " parent," as they called Colonel Wakefield, on this post ; in order that his name might keep the land for him, as his child refused to do so. They said they wanted to prove to Mr. Williams, should he return to buy the land, to whom they had really promised it. I did as they re quested me ; and then passed over in a canoe, with all my goods, chattels, and retinue, to the opposite shore, where some of the boys had already pitched the tent. I was a good deal annoyed this night by mosquitoes ; the air being warm and heavy. In the morning I made agreements with a body of carriers, including one or two of those who had ac companied me from Port Nicholson ; and started over 248 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. the sand-hills to the beach about two miles beyond the river's mouth. Ehina, the native who had tried to get too much payment for his mat, applied for an en gagement in my suite; and, although I was warned by the significant looks of E Km-u and E Puke, who still remained with me, not to have anything to do with him, I at length gave way to his earnest entrea ties, and assigned him a load. We walked for about fourteen miles along a hard sandy beach, at the foot of cliffs varying in height from one to two hundred feet, broken in two or three places by the gullies through which streams descend from the table-land on the top. The lowest stratum of these cliffs was generally a blue clay, studded with shells, all of modern sorts. After comparing it with the pieces of stone which I had picked up at Wangaihu, I con cluded that they had been detached from this stratum and hardened by exposure to air or water. Half-way up the cliffs, I frequently observed layers of sound trees of large size lying in a horizontal position, and some times protruding into the air where a land-slip had carried away some of the surrounding soil. Higher still, strata of lignite, which occasionally dipped down below the beach, were also to be distinguished. The natives tried to account for the trees by saying that that had formerly been forest-land, and that the in habitants of bygone days had cleared it for potatoes. They were puzzled, however, to account for the super incumbent hundred feet of soU ; and so, I confess, was I. Coming to a point, where the sea dashed against the cliff, we ascended a beaten path in one of the natural breaks, and got on to the top. Plains of barren sand, only varied by occasional hummocks and stunted shrubs, extended four or five miles into the interior. Groves Chap. VIII. WAITOTARA— INHOSPITABLE. TREATMENT. 249 of trees, however, peered over the glowing horizon, and spoke of fertile land in the interior. Five miles across this desert, by a half-beaten track, brought us to the top of a sand-hill, whence we got a delicious peep into the valley of the Waitotara, or " Totara river." The valley seemed about a mile and a half in width, and the opposite side was clothed with timber. Close to the further bank of the river, which wound through the vale, was a sort of Acropolis, on which stood the vUlage to which we were bound. Except on the very top, the houses were shaded by a luxuriant grove of karaka trees, which encircled the base and feathered up the sides of the fortified hill. The vUlage was called Te Ihupuku, or " the nose of " the belly." Descending the sand-hill, we traversed a fertile but somewhat swampy plain, and crossed the river, which is here about twelve yards wide, and runs between high banks. I was much struck by the want of cordiality shown by the inhabitants. As I ascended the steep hill with ray train, scarcely any greeting was addressed to me, no shouts of haeremai, so universal a welcome to the stranger, were to be heard ; and the few inquisitive natives that ran out to look at the arrival, sat in silence, or slowly retreated to their huts. On reaching the summit, we found two or three natives awaiting us ; and I was about to ask for the chief, when Konatu, whose advice I had always found it prudent to follow, whispered me to sit down in silence like the rest of my train ; and explained that there was no chief of con sequence among this tribe. I had been accompanied by a dozen or more of the attendants of Wide awake, the native chief, as the southerly wind, which delayed the departure of their fleet, had allowed them to give me their escort so far. They, too, seemed 250 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. rather offended at their reception, but sat in silence, with their blankets or mats raised nearly up to their eyes. ' After some little consultation among the inha bitants, whose number continued gradually to increase, and much whispering and mystery, we were shown into a large building used as a chapel by the natives, who had been all converted very recently. A large fire was lighted in the centre of the house, so as to illumine every part of it ; and while we partook of some food which was placed before us, the whole population of the village, amounting to perhaps 100 of all ages and sexes, walked in and took their places. A native teacher performed prayers as soon as our food-baskets were removed ; and then entered upon a long Philip pic against me and mine. I began now to understand the unusual distrust and want of friendliness shown by the inhabitants of this village. The preacher, for he remained in the wooden pulpit from which he had read prayers while delivering his oration, spoke for an hour in the most cruel way of me, of Colonel Wakefield, and of the intentions of the White settlers who had followed us. He insisted upon the old story, so widely spread about to our damage, that we were come to buy all their land and drive them to the mountains ; that we were Pikapo, or Ro man Catholics, and therefore sure to cut their throats. He repeatedly warned them against me in particular, as come to spy the fulness of their land ; and mixed all this up with quotations from the Scriptures, whether apt or not, and digressions to discuss some abstruse point of religious doctrine, so that he might have passed for an inspired priest fulminating the edicts of the Church against some heretic or tempter of the peo ple. The discourse, too, was interlarded with words of mihanere manufacture, such as I have before de- Chap. VIIL MISSIONARY CALUMNIES. 251 scribed, to which his audience seemed to listen with great respect, as though forming part of the new creed ; although I am sure that they could not under stand them, and have great doubts whether even the declaimer was aware of their signification. On inquiring from my attendants who the orator was, they told me he was a returned slave from the Bay of Islands, and had been left as teacher by T'e Wiremu, or Williams. They also told me, that the Ngarauru tribe, who inhabit this valley, were a tutua, or inferior tribe, who had no chiefs ; and that thus Te Aro Aro, or " the Body," as the slave teacher was called, ruled them as he listed. I therefore took no notice of his virulent attack ; but after making friends with some of my neighbours by desultory conversation on other subjects, and by playing with their children, made my bed, and covered myself up as though to sleep. This marked indifference to his eloquence soon stopped Aro Aro ; but some of my companions did not fail to take up the cudgels for me, and there ensued a stormy discussion, by which I was occasionally half waked, to see the figure of my assailant gesticulating from the high pulpit, his malignant features seeming more repulsive in the half-dreaming glances which I thus obtained. In the morning I strolled about the citadel, and gazed with pleasure on the fertile country around. The river meanders through the valley down to its embouchure among the sand-hills on the coast about four miles off. The sides of the valley, approaching steeply to its bank about two mUes above the pa, close it in from the sight in that direction. The valley varies in width from one to three mUes, and extensive table-lands appear to stretch away from the top of the 252 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII green slopes which bound the valley. These slopes are almost all covered with timber ; but the level ground, both above and below, has a truly park-like appearance, being covered with a jungle of fern, grass, reeds, flax, and shrubs, interspersed with groves and fringes of tim ber of various kinds and sizes. About a hundred yards above Te Ihupuku, a strong and well-made fishing-weir stretched across the river, only two or three small passages being left for canoes. This, they told me, was for catching the piarau, a fine sort of lamprey which is taken in abundance in this and the neighbouring rivers during freshets. The weir is called hutu by the natives. They place eel-pots, called hinaki, which are very artistically made, at the lower extremity of funnels formed by series of upright poles driven into the bed of the river, the interstices being filled up with fern. I was much surprised to find, on the very pinnacle of the Acropolis, a quantity of large oyster-shells im bedded in the soil. The natives whom I interrogated persisted that they had been there from time imme morial. After breakfast, for which I took care to pay liberally, I left the inhospitable Christian village, and proceeded along the north bank of the river, through fern and grass, to the sea-side. About a mile from the beach my train stopped to consume the remains of the eatables which had been set before them. They told me that the inhabitants were so repulsive and suspicious in their manners, that they had preferred coining on here in order to satisfy their hunger. This was at a deserted fishing village, as the racks and fish-bones sufficiently described. In the river at this place about a hundred stumps of large totara trees rose vertically above the level of the water, almost impeding the whole naviga- Chap. VIIL TEDIOUS TRAVELLING. 253i tion. I could not learn whether they had been growing there, or had been brought down by freshets. As, however, they were without exception in an upright position, and at about the distance from each other at which trees usually grow, I concluded that the river had at some distant period changed its course, and flowed through a totara grove. I even conjectured that the river might have taken its name from this cir cumstance. The wind having shifted this morning, the greater part of my escort returned from hence to Wanganui, as they expected the canoes to start. I proceeded with Konatu, Puke, Hina, and four other boys, over the sand-hUls on to the beach. About two miles north of the river's mouth we again came to cliffs, and were obliged by the high tide to travel along their summit. This was very tedious work, up and down sand-hum mocks and through heavy hot sand for about ten miles. I was partly consoled, however, by splendid views of Tonga Riro and Mount Egmont, the day being clear and perfectly unclouded. The latter mountain became more and more beautiful as we lessened our distance from it. Descending to the beach as the tide ebbed, we passed along the foot of the cliffs, which diminished in height for about two miles, and then gave way to low sand-hummocks, like those south of Wanganui. Many bustling streams rushed through gullies to the beach. Turning a point in the sandy beach, we discovered a bay bounded on the north by two or three high bluffs, and pro ceeded for about a mile to the mouth of a small river flowing out of its bight. Two villages, built on either side of the river, poured out their inhabitants upon the beach to greet us. One tall fellow lifted me on his shoulders, and carried me across the mouth of the 254 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. stream where it flows over the yielding sand of the beach. I then sat down on a log of drift-wood, to await the arrival of my boys, whom I had left far behind with their heavy burthens. The natives of the place crowded round me, and entreated me to stop there for the night. They " had cooked food for the " White man," they said, " as soon as they saw him " come round the point." When the boys came up, they said they were tired and hungry, and so I agreed to take up my quarters here. A shout of joy followed my decision, and a dozen competitors vied for the task of recrossing the river with me, as I had given a small scrap of tobacco to the one who had first volun teered his services. It was in the pa on the south .side of the river that a house had been prepared for me. This village was called Te-0, and consisted of about a dozen houses. It was situated on a point of land twenty feet above the bank of the river, which flowed round it on three sides. Opposite, on a perpendicular cliff 200 feet high, which hung over the river, was the main pa, called Tihoe. The river was called Wenuakura, or " Land of Plumage." I was shown into a ware umu, which had been care fully carpeted with fresh fern ; my boys deposited their loads inside ; and the gaping crowd gathered round the narrow door. A chief named Ngakumu (who did not appear, however, to possess much influence) kept them from pressing too close, and occasionally reproved them for attempting to crowd in. The Maori expres sion for " Get out ofthe way!" is simply Pori! "it is " dark ! ", thus answering somewhat to the Irishman's ¦" Stand out o' my daylight !" In travelling among strange natives, there is nothing more disagreeable than their habit of crowding round a stranger. In these cases, a good-humoured joke has Chap. VIII. HOSPITALITY— DISAGREEABLE CROWDING. 255 often more effect in repressing the nuisance than pas sionate or testy behaviour. I soon learnt numerous expressions which served to make them ashamed of their pertinacious staring. He pur a ahau? "Am I one- "eyed?" Tokohia nga ngarara ki taku moko? " How "many lizards are there on my face?" were among the most efficacious. If eating, I would ask them if they were looking for my kai, or food ; and the old men would then reprove the crowd, and tell them that they were annoying the guest. The Ngatiruanui, who in habit the coast for many miles north of this place, are, like the Ngarauru at JVaitotara, a tribe without chiefs of consequence, and hence much more difficult to hold intercourse with. After I had finished my meal, I caused a diversion by purchasing various things from them for tobacco and fish-hooks. Porera mats, pawa hooks, baskets, fishing-lines, and carved boxes made their appearance on all hands, and some even brought pigs, dried dog-fish, and baskets of potatoes to barter. The crowding continued after I had done buying ; and I had some difficulty in clearing a space in an open shed for my blankets, and getting the natives out in order to sleep. After all, they had some excuse for their an noying conduct. They were, perhaps, more wild and untaught than the slaves whom we had met at the Pelorus River, and stared with more amazement at all my clothes and equipments. A large audience assem bled to see me wash in the river at daybreak. Roars of laughter and screams of astonishment resounded from every quarter when I proceeded to brush my teeth. Crossing the river in a canoe, I climbed up a steep ascent to the main pa. The cliff is nearly precipitous on all sides, except where a narrow neck joins it with the mainland. This neck, however, slopes upwards to 256 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIIL the pa, and is defended by native fences and trenches of the strongest kind. A double row of stockades is filled in with earth to the height of a man, leaving small holes level with the ground. A trench inside the stockade is dug to the depth of a man's body; and spears and muskets are thrust by the defenders through the small holes. A second bank is raised inside the trench, from behind which a second row could ply their weapons against the stormers of the palisadoes ; and high fighting stages, protected by fences stuffed with turf, also afford commanding stations for de fenders to fire over the outer fence. The entrance, through which only one man can pass at once, is so twisted as to be exposed to the enfilading fire of the whole line of defenders. There were signs, outside the stockade, of two outer rows of defences in former times ; as artificial banks reached from cliff to cliff across the neck. Thus three strong stockades, one commanding the other, must have made this side impregnable to Maori warfare; and an assault, except by stealth, on the other faces, would have been sheer madness. It was here that Rauperaha paused for some months during his inva sion of Cook's Strait. The security of the position had been well appreciated by that clever general. Descending on the other side of the pa, we passed round the foot of one of the bluffs which we had seen the day before, and found ourselves at the mouth of another and larger river, called the Patea, which takes its source in the eastern side of Mount Egmont. About a mile up the south bank, a pa, called Haere hau, or " I go," was perched on a cliff. I was persuaded to go there and stop another night, as the natives wished to show me the same hospitality as those of the neighbouring village. We therefore ascended the cliff, Chap. VIII. ROBBERY BY NATIVES— f/rCA, OR PAYMENT 257 and stored the loads in a house appointed for my re ception. I was amply provided with provisions of all kinds ; and my fish-hooks again procured me plenty of water-melons, which were very agreeable in this warm weather. I was all day talking to a crowd of natives assembled I'ound me, and combating the usual mis sionary calumnies. They told me that Mr. Hadfield had christened this joa "England," and that he had paid a blanket for a piece of land which they showed me on the banks of the river, where he intended to build a chapel. Our conversation turned a good deal upon ships and soldiers. I found the history of the Alliga tor's expedition in 1834 still fresh in their recollections. Waimate, where the soldiers landed, is about thirty mUes further along the coast, and inhabited by the same tribe. They asked eagerly whether such a thing would happen again ; and I of course told them that it would only in case of their bad conduct provoking retribution. _ In the morning, as I was about to start. Puke told me that a man had " gone off to the bush,** or run away, with some of my blankets. I immediately assem bled the inhabitants of the pa, and inquired whether this were the fact. It turned out that Ehina had been suspected of adultery with a wahine tapu, or married / woman, at Te-O last night, and that a man named ,/ Wikura, a relation of her husband, had taken his load i as well as his mat in utu, or payment, of the crime. Ehina, on being called, stood silent in the middle of the court-yard, wrapped in my pea-coat, but neither denied nor confessed the charge. As I had already had reason to doubt his honesty, I did not attempt his defence, but inveighed loudly against the injustice of robbing me for his sins. This was allowed by the audience, but they said the robber was gone, and could not be found. VOL. I, S 258 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIIL I then said that I would wait a day for the restitu tion of my blankets ; but that, if they were not then forthcoming, I should return to Port Nicholson, and certainly get a ship and soldiers to punish them for the theft. I then sat down. Great confusion ensued. Some went whispering about to their neighbours ; the women began to cry ; and my boys looked exceedingly uncomfortable. The owner of the house in which I had slept took all the loads, put them into his ware puni, or sleeping-house, and, shutting the door, sat against it. This, he told me, was to prevent the other natives from plundering any more. In the midst of their indecision, a vessel, which had been observed in the offing trying to beat to the north ward, tacked in-shore, and visibly approached. Two or three men now came close to me, and asked, " what " ship that was, and whether she were going to land " people here ? " My real opinion was, that it might probably be the Tory, as she was to leave for Sydney in a week or two after my departure, and was to land at Ngamotu the Mokau chiefs whom we had brought from thence in the Guide. I told them so at once ; and the de claration produced an instant effect. They all knew the name of the ship, which had spread far and wide since the large land-sales ; and some of them murmured to each other, that this was " Wide-awake's " ship, come to see his child safe round the coast. In ten minutes the blankets, and even Ehina's mat, were laid on a house close by ; and the natives begged me to think that this restitution had been made, not through fear of punishment, but on account of the influence of the commandment, Aua koe e tahae, " Thou shalt not "steal," which they had lately adopted. I did not tell Chap. VIIL PARROTS— TABLE-LANDS. 259 them my candid opinion of their truth as well as their honesty, but quietly prepared to cross the river in a canoe and journey on. All my boys, however, except three, refused to proceed any further ; alleging, as their reason, that the woman's husband lived at Waimate, and that there the people were much wUder, and the affair might end there in murder as well as robbery. I was much annoyed at not being able to prove to them how little I expected such a catastrophe ; but they were obstmate in their fears, and the three who agreed to go on were not sufficient to carry my things ; so I reluc tantly turned back, and slept at Tihoe that night. On the next day I ascended the Wenuakura river about ten miles in a canoe. Flocks of wild ducks afforded good sport, and the river wound between wooded banks of moderate height and occasional low lands brought into neat cultivation. Potatoes, maize, humerus, water-melons, and gourds and pumpkins of various kinds, were in profusion. I slept under a shed, close to the river, in a pretty grove of trees. We had feasted on parrots, tuis, pigeons, and ducks. The kaka, or large russet parrot, is of excellent flavour, and very abundant in many places. The natives catch many of them young, and keep them as mokai, or pets, with a bone ring round their leg, fastened by a string to an elastic stick, on which they soon learn to swing. The numbers of them on the banks of this river have pro hahly originated its name. The other tribes often buy parrots' plumage here, to bind round their taiaha, or long wooden clubs. In the morning we ascended the river-bank on the ^uth side, through a low coppice, and emerged upon a vast table plain. It extends from the edge of the sand hills on the top of the cliff some ten or twelve miles in land, when the land begins to undulate and to be covered s2 260 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIH. with forest. The plain is generally covered with fern, grass, and the tutu shrub. This plant somewhat resembles the elder in the pith of its stem, and bears bunches of small black berries. The seeds of these are poisonous ; but the natives make a sickly beverage by pressing the berries, and carefully straining the juice from the seed. I shall have to recur to this plant in another place with regard to its effect on cattle. The rivers and their tributaries appeared to flow in deep trenches, hollowed out of the table-land, and fringed with wood. The path which we followed led princi pally through fern, sometimes ten or twelve feet high. Where it was only two or three feet high, it was often matted over the path, which is not much used ; so that my legs and feet were well scratched before the even ing. I had tried sandals woven for me by natives of green flax, but found that they hurt my feet, and had thus learned to go along bare-footed. About dusk, we passed through some fertile and pleasant gardens and out-settlements belonging to Waitotara, in which the people were harvesting and gardening ; and soon after descended into the valley of that river, about a mile above the fishing-weir. Not withstanding the pain ensuing to my feet, I had en joyed this walk much better than that along the beach ; as the views across a level and fertile country had afforded much variety and excitement. We found Te Ihupuku nearly deserted ; but forty or fifty people came in from the nearer cultivations to prayers in the evening. I was happy to find that the malignant teacher was away at a distant settlement. The people were, in consequence, much more urbane in their treatment of me. I had some food cooked over night for my boys, who were all mihanere ; but in the morning they refused to travel at all. As I was very Chap. VIIL EXCURSION UP THE WANGANUI. 261 anxious to reach Wanganui in time, if possible, to get a passage with the fleet of canoes, and as the weather, moreover, which had continued fine during the whole of this excursion, became cloudy and threatening, I told them that I knew the way and would proceed alone, and they might follow the next morning. They deter mined, however, to accompany me ; and we pushed along over the sandy desert to the sea-beach. Here we found the tide up to the foot of the cliff, and called a halt. Prayers were read by one of the party ; and I then invited them to make a meal which would last them to Wanganui. One of them replied, after looking at the sun, that it had not yet begun to descend, and that they might not eat till then. I could not believe their Statement, that the White missionaries had impressed this observance upon them, as such an idea seemed tdo absurd. I left them, however, to their own will. When the tide had ebbed sufficiently, we travelled on ; but, owing to a halt which we were obliged to make for a meal in the afternoon, did not arrive at my former encampment on the north bank until an hour after dark. We here found a row of low sheds, built since our departure by some fishing party. On my firing a shot, one of Turods sons came over in a canoe from Wahipuna, with a basket of potatoes, which were soon roasted in the ashes. He related the various news of what had occurred since our departure. Among other things, the great fleet had started, but had been obliged to put into Wangaihu by foul weather. I there fore despatched one of the boys immediately to tell E Kuru to wait for me. In the morning, Turoa came over with his large canoe to carry me over to the pa ; and many other natives also came to greet me. About noon E Kuru arrived ; a hard gale having set in from the west, which 262 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIIL precluded the departure of the fleet. He immediately selected a good-sized house and court-yard for our joint residence. Pigs were killed, and provisions of all kinds collected. The boys feasted largely during the next day ; the gale continuing, with much rain. On the next day, the 8th of April, E Kuru proposed an excursion up the river, as the wind was still un abated. I assented with pleasure. A large convenient canoe was prepared ; the place of honour was spread with mats for the chief and myself, and a strong crew manned the paddles. We proceeded about twenty miles up the river, which continued perfectly navigable for coasting-craft during the whole of that distance; The valley resembled that ofthe Waitotara on a large scale. The slopes up to the table-land were further removed, the groves of trees more extensive and of larger timber, and the river averaged a hundred yards in width. About twelve miles above Putikiwaranui, however, the hills close in and the river winds among scenery as majestic as that of the highlands of the Hudson. In some places, hUls eight hundred or a thousand feet in height, clothed with every variety of forest timber or fern, with beetling crags peeping out in places, slope down to the water's edge. Pic turesque gardens and small settlements were perched on the banks, or half-way up the ascents ; and many canoes, laden with food for the fishermen, glided gracefully down the river. As we met, kind greet ings were addressed to the chief and his White man, and often a basket of cooked birds or other food was handed into the canoe. The weather, too, im proved as we increased our distance from the sea ; and at length no wind could be felt, and the fleecy scud drifting along overhead was the only sign that the gale continued. On arriving at a considerable vUlage Chap. VIII. NOTIONS OF MISSIONARY NATIVES. 263 situate at the foot of a steep conical hill, and em bowered in karaka-trees, we pulled into a small tribu tary ofthe river, which gives its name, Te-kau-ara- pawa, to the pa. On the opposite bank of the creek, most of the inhabitants sat or lay basking in the sun on a raised stage, on which they had spread their mats. Muskets were fired, and loud shouts of welcome re sounded through the crowd. We were handed to the pataka, or stage, and abundance of food was set before us. A large house was prepared for our accommodation for the night, and a chief named E Taua, related to E Kuru, killed the customary pig. An inferior chief named Te Kuiha, or " the old wo- " man," addressed me in the usual strain of mihanere censure ; but I answered him with great emphasis from the stage, and being in a good humour from the serene weather and delighful journey, soon demolished his ab surd arguments, and made friends with the whole au dience. E Kuru sat in silence, enjoying the scene, and now and then .encouraging me by a look, as much as to say " Go along ! that's it ! " or by a word where I got puzzled to express myself Among other absurd charges, the man accused me of not being a Christian because I smoked tobacco, which he maintained to be a creed by itself ! I told him that I considered myself as good a Christian as he, but that still I would invite aU the audience to try my tobacco, and distributed some all round. My opponent coming, after a little hesita tion, for his share also, a general laugh greeted his sudden recantation. During the next day we stopped at this place ; the wind still continuing to drive the white scud, though we enjoyed calm, warm weather below. E Kuru took my gun to shoot pigeons in the woods ; and I climbed to the top of the highest hill in the neighbourhood, but was repaid by no view, the 264 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII, tops of wooded mountains confining the sight in all directions. In dropping down the stream the next day, I sounded as we went, and found at least six feet at law-water up to a slight rapid about half a mUe below Te-kau-ara- pawa. In the evening, we took a hasty meal at Puti- kiwarafiui, and were then taken by Turoa in his canoe to Wahipuna. On the way he repeatedly urged me to come back and pay for " my place," as he called it. The moon lighted us over the sand-hills, and after two hours' sharp walking we arrived at the Wangaihu river. One of the boys carried me across a ford about half a mile above the mouth on his shoulders, with much exertion, from the uncertain nature of the sandy bed. On the opposite side we found temporary fences of driftwood and reeds built round the bivouac of each separate canoe's crew. I was soon asleep in the tent, in a corner of that prepared for E Kuru and myself. The sun had not yet risen when the whole en campment was astir. The canoes crept out of the narrow outlet of the river almost in silence, their crews being but half awake. A perfect calm prevailed, and a light ripple only fell on the beach. We had all got out to sea, when the sun rose over the land into an unclouded sky, and chattering and singing soon began to accompany the lively strokes of the paddle as the natives warmed to their work. The fleet con sisted of thirty-three good-sized canoes, bearing to gether about 300 natives and 200 hogs. I understood that the hogs, as well as some of the canoes, were presents from Wanganui natives to some of the Kapiti chiefs. One fine canoe in particular was being taken to Rangihiroa, Hiko's uncle. The canoes kept pretty close together to-day, as no wind tried their different Chap. VIII. EELS— GLUTTONY OP NEW ZEALANDERS. 265 rates of sailing. Spirited races sometimes took place between two or more canoes for half a mile. We pulled along close to the beach, so as often to hold conversation with some of the party who had preferred walking. On arriving at the mouth of the Rangitikei, we found rather high breakers on the sand-spits, but were directed to a smooth channel by a man on shore, who waved his mat in the direction which we were to take. We stopped at a fishing-village about two miles up the north bank of the river, where the sand-banks on either side were replaced by extensive swamps, bearing a high growth of flax .and reeds. We here found about fifty of the Ngatiapa, or aboriginal tribe, who had provided large stores of food with which to regale our party. Encampments were soon made ashore ; and we were detained for four days by rain and wind, and for two days more by the determination of the natives not to move till all the kai was exhausted. One of our hosts used to bring to my tent every morn ing a dozen of delicious eels, grilled on a cane passed through them lengthways ; and of vegetable food there was profusion. After the fine weather returned, I had repeatedly pressed the chiefs to travel on ; but they had always at their fingers' ends excuses for stopping. At length, on the afternoon of the 17th, all their stories about the land-breeze driving them out to sea, or the sea- breeze forcing them on to the coast inhabited by their enemies, or bad dreams of the old men, or the freshet of the river making the exit dangerous, were fairly exhausted, and, what was more to the purpose, the taka kai, or " spread of food," was also drawing to a close; so the two tribes exchanged complimentary 266 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. speeches, and friendly war-dances, and sham fights, and we started on the 18th at daybreak. At the close of a beautiful day we were off Otaki. A well-manned canoe which had been out fishing went in to the beach at full speed on our approach. Our party seemed quite as much afraid as those in the fugi tive bark, for they begged me to cease firing at some black- fish which were following in our wake, lest the Ngatiraukawa should think the shots meant as de fiance, and come out to fight us. E Kuru had also begged me, at the commencement of the voyage, not to throw potato-peel, fish-bones, or any article of food overboard, as the sea was tapu, or sacred. I could not learn the reason, but it seemed to be only during the period of our passage. At dusk the whole fleet crowded together, the canoes touching each other, in order to say prayers. The 300 voices rising in unison from the undulating raft pro duced a solemn effect. A calm moonlight night succeeded, and the canoes were hauled up on the beach about a mUe north of Waikanae. I got into a canoe with my former conductor, E Ao, and persuaded him to proceed to the vUlage at once, as a very heavy dew was falling. The main body encamped at a distance, in order to make their entry by daylight. It was mid night by the time I was housed. In the morning I went to Arapawa iti, the Wangor nui vUlage, and found the surrounding potato-gardens covered with people, all in their best clothes. The Waikanae natives circulated among the bivouacs of their newly-arrived visitors, many of them dressed ui their European clothes ; and those who had none were dressed in new blankets or mats. Their head-dresses were ornamented with albatross and huia feathers. The hogs were all landed, and fastened with flax ropes Chap. VIIL PREPARATIONS FOR WHALING SEASON. 267 to stakes. Presents and greetings were being inter changed, and the whole place had the appearance of a lively fair. Some of the whalers from Kapiti had come over to try and buy pigs ; and they told me that some boats were going to Port Nicholson soon, with pigs and potatoes for sale to the settlers. I determined to cross over and get a passage in one of them. E Kuru presented me with thirteen pigs, which had formed the cargo of his canoe, and told me that his slaves should proceed with them to Port Nicholson. I left him at Waikanae until the boats should be ready to start, when I promised to send for him ; and, bidding adieu to my principal fellow-travellers, I crossed to Hiko's island.j Here I found that Captain Lewis, the American whaler whom I have formerly mentioned, was absent at Manawatu collecting provisions ; but that he and his brother would proceed with two boat-loads imme diately on his return. I was entertained hospitably in his house during my stay of a week. I constantly saw Hiko and Rangihiroa, and once or twice Rauperaha. They seemed rather jealous of my making friends with the Wanganui natives ; but were, however, very friendly and hospitable. Active preparations were being made for the ap proaching whaling season. Everything, indeed, was ready, and the whales alone were expected. One had been killed on the 19th of this month ; but this was reckoned unusually early ; the season being considered to begin on the 1st of May, from which day the written agreements of the parties commence, and there being rarely whales seen on the north side of the Strait until the middle of that month. While I was here, four vessels arrived at once on one day, and anchored at Long Point at the north end 268 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. of Kapiti. There a projecting tongue of flat land forms an anchorage well sheltered from all winds but south-east. Two stations were established on the beach ; and two of the vessels were schooners from Sydney, with stores, boats, and men for them. A third was the William Wallace, a Sydney whaling, barque; and the fourth, a French barque from Sydney, the Justine of Bordeaux, with a heterogeneous cargo of goods and passengers. Among the latter were — our former companion Mr. Wynen, who had been to New South Wales since I last saw him ; and a Mr. Scott, who told me that he had, in 1831, had a flax- trading station at W^anganui ; and that, at that time, the entrance over the bar was so shallow that even a whale-boat could not get in at low-water. He also said that he had traded at Port Nicholson when the N gatimutunga tribe, who have since removed to the Chatham Islands, were residing there. On the 28th, Captain Lewis having arrived, I sent for E Kuru, and we started in a whale-boat for Port Ni cholson. Lewis's brother accompanied us in another boat. Both boats were deep-laden with potatoes. Our crews consisted chiefly of natives. That night, after visiting Mana, we slept at a settlement on the main land opposite ; where a chief related to the native girl who travelled with Lewis did the honours of his village. On Mana I saw Rangihaeata ; who said that Wa nganui and all that country belonged to him and Rauporaha, and seemed to be very jealous lest the resident natives should get paid for the land there. He had a magnificent ware puni in the pa on Mana. The ridge-pole of the roof was at least twelve feet from the ground, and the front of the veranda was covered with most elaborate carving. On the apex of Chap. VIIL GROTESQUE CARVING— WE REACH PITONE. 269 the conical gable a grotesque wooden figure was perched, profusely ornamented with feathers and a tuft of red horse-hair, with a pipe in his mouth. This, he told me, laughing, was meant to represent " Wide- ?' awake." The next day we reached Pitone beach, having been whisked along from Cape Terawiti by the squalls off the high land. As we entered the heads of the har bour, we saw a barque come out full sail, and stand away to the south-east. This turned out to be the Cuba ; in which Mr. Hanson, on his own suggestion to Colonel Wakefield, had been despatched to acquire land in the Chatham Islands for the New Zealand Land Company. 270 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. CHAPTER IX. House built by natives — Manuka wood — Stock from Australia — Horses — Arrival of Captain Hobson at the Bay of Islands — Council — Newspaper — Appointments— Harmony interrupted by a stranger — The Rev. Henry Williams — Proceedings of the Lieutenant-Governor at the Bay of Islands — ^Mr. "Williams sent to extend them to Cook's Strait — Mr. Williams's seMsh views — Clergymen arrive from England — Settlers in the valley of the Hutt — Cheerful progress — Politics — Contentment — Thorndon — Dicky Barrett — New South Wales land-sharks — The Surprise schooner — Voyage to Wanganui — E Kuru's joy — Arrival — The Rev. Messrs. Williams and Hadfield — Cession of sovereignty —Delusion— Gathering of tribes — Purchase of Wanganui — Conference — Authority of a head chief — Deed signed — Distri bution — Greediness — Scramble — Fears — Anger of E Kuru— Homai no homai, or a " gift for a gift " — Freshet — Return to Port Nicholson. I WAS welcomed by Colonel Wakefield into the house which I had seen building for him when I was here before. It was very neatly constructed of wooden up rights, ridge-pole, and rafters, all bound together by flax-bands, and covered with a thick coating of leaves of the nikau (a kind of palm) and tufts of grass. It afforded a good shelter from the rain, but allowed the wind to circulate with perfect freedom. A planked floor and partitions, and English-made doors and win dows, with brick chimneys, gave it a comfortable ap pearance. It had the advantage of being on a dry bed of shingle, and was protected from the weather by a wooden railing filled in with bunches of the manuka. This is a shrub very abundant in some parts. The plant resembles the tea-plant in leaves and flower, and is often used green by the whalers and traders for the Chap. IX. ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN HOBSON. 271 same purpose. If made strong, however, the beverage has a nauseous bitter taste resembling that of hore- hound. It sometimes grows into large trees, and the timber is then hard and close-grained. It is the most valued for firewood of any of the New Zealand woods; and is used by the natives for clubs and spears, on account of its hard, heavy, and tough qua lities. I was soon informed by Colonel Wakefield of the principal events which had happened during my ab sence. Several vessels had arrived from Sydney, Port Philip, and Hobart Town, with a stock of cattle and sheep for the young colony. A few of the owners of these flocks and herds had determined to take up their abode here, having come with the intention of only seUing and going away. The stock had been placed on the fern-covered land at the south end of the har bour. Among the importers of stock was Mr. James Watt, who had been settled at Bathurst in New South Wales. He brought with him two horses; one of which was a young thorough-bred, which afterwards became the sire of many New Zealand-born steeds. A trading-vessel from the Bay of Islands had brought the news of the arrival of Captain Hobson there, and a copy of his proclamation assuming the office of Lieutenant-Governor, under the Governor of New South Wales, " in and over any territory which " was or might be acquired in sovereignty by her Ma- "jesty, her heirs, or successors, in New Zealand." The reports as to his further or proposed proceedings were so vague and contradictory that they are not worth recording. The Council, authorized by the chiefs of the district, had met weekly ; and had proceeded to take measures for the administration of the provisional government. 272 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. After appointing officers, including a magistrate and constables, they had prepared an address to the colo nists, which was printed in the first number of a news paper on the 18th of April, together with the ratifi cation of their arrangements by the chiefs. The address of the Council simply explained its duties and its ear liest acts. The apparatus of the newspaper had been obtained by subscription among the principal colonists, and the management of it undertaken by Mr. Samuel Revans, who arrived in the Adelaide. The first number had been published in London, in September 1839, under the title of the ' New Zealand Gazette.' Various appointments under the Company had also been made. Captain Chaffers was harbour-master; " Worser," pilot, living near the heads with a whale- boat and crew ; Doddrey, superintendent of works ; and Barrett, agent for natives and interpreter : and store keepers, a physician and surgeon to the infirmary, and an emigration agent, had also been named. The infant government had worked smoothly enough. A few lawless wanderers from other parts and still fewer quarrelsome emigrants had been checked in their disorderly outbreaks by the police. The utmost cor diality between the natives and the Whites had con tinued to exist, almost without a blemish : for our docile hosts, if offended or outraged by one of the rude outcasts from society against whom the police enact ments were most especially directed, had learned to appreciate the distinction existing between them and the respectable portion of the community. They re^ garded with admiration the peacefulness established by our habits of law and order, and displayed an al most unhoped-for degree of good temper in yielding their assent to the new order of things, which forbade Chap.. IX. HARMONY INTERRUPTED BY A STRANGER. 273 the infliction of summary punishment as vengeance by the offended party, according to their former customs. The first serious interruption to the working ofthe young institution had been caused by a stranger. A dispute had arisen between Captain Pearson, the master of the barque Integrity, and Mr. Wade, who had char tered her from Hobart Town. The charterer had applied for the interference of the authorities, and the captain had been arrested, on the 14th, by warrant and brought before the Police Magistrate. He had refused to re cognize the court, and had accordingly been committed. He escaped, however, on board his ship, and defied our puny constabulary force, which had as yet enforced the law rather by the unanimous support of the body of colonists than by its physical or numerical strength. When I arrived, he was still on board his ship, and negotiations were pending as to the manner in which the affair might be arranged. On the 19th, the Reverend Henry Williams had ar rived from the Bay of Islands, in the Ariel schooner. The objects of his mission had not been made publicly known ; but they transpired in the course of his com munications with Colonel Wakefield and some of the other colonists. The Council had truly observed in their address, that the recent proclamations of the Governor of New South Wales and of the Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand had formally disclaimed the existence of any right of sovereignty over New Zealand in the English Crown ; and as Mr. Busby, the late British Resident in this country, had often been likened to a man-of- war without guns, so the next anomaly in politics pre sented to the inhabitants of the Bay of Islands had been a Lieutenant-Governor over nothing. It appeared that one of the first measures of Captain VOL. I. T 274 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. Hobson, after his arrival in January, had been to ac» quire some territory over which he might extend his dominion. He had accordingly assembled some two hundred natives living at or near the^Bay, and about one hundred Europeans, including missionaries and officers of his suite ; and had proceeded to ask the chiefs, through Mr. Williams as interpreter, to give the Queen the power to protect and restrain them. And a document had been read and interpreted to them ; which, after a good deal of hesitation and opposition, thirty or forty chiefs had signed on the next day. We understood that by this document the chiefs had ceded their sovereignty to the Queen of England ; but we remained in ignorance of any of its other provisions. Now it just oozed out, that Mr. Williams was charged to procure the assent of the chiefs in Cook's Strait to a similar cession of their sovereignty, in order to make the document a secure foundation on which to build the assumption of the sovereignty by the English Crown. Although Mr. Williams's negoti ations with the chiefs of Port Nicholson for this pur pose were conducted with great privacy and mystery, of course they had constantly reported the proceedings to Colonel Wakefield ; who had yet been, for a long time, unable to discover what they were required to sign. Another negotiation, however, had employed a con siderable part of the Reverend Mr. Williams's time. He had communicated to Colonel Wakefield his claim, in the name of Richard Davis, the native teacher, to about sixty acres of land in the best part of Thorndon, where the town was about to be built. On investiga tion and inquiry. Colonel Wakefield found this claim to be totally without foundation. Subsequently, in the Chap. IX. SELFISH VIEWS OF MR. WILLIAMS. 275 course of a long and full conversation, Mr. Williams had very candidly explained himself. He had told Colonel Wakefield that he had a large family, and was naturally desirous of providing for them. He very plainly intimated that he wished to have some share in the profits likely to accrue from the growth of the infant colony, and so completely confessed his selfish views, that Colonel Wakefield, anxious to secure the friendship, or at any rate to ward off the enmity of so influential a person, at once offered to reserve for him two acres having frontage on the beach of the harbour, one in his own name, and one in that of Davis, on condition of his abandoning his original claim. The proposition had been at once acceded to. Mr. Williams had been so earnestly engaged in the prosecution of this more personally advantageous ob ject, that the natives had shrewdly perceived that some dispute was going on as to land between him and Colonel Wakefield, and were reluctant, while it ap peared to last, to listen to any of the Government envoy's proposals. But, as soon as they saw the afiair had been amicably arranged, they went on board in a body, got a blanket each, and signed the paper presented to them. Mr. WUliams, having thus accomplished both his objects, proceeded to visit the other chiefs of Cook's Strait. He saUed the same day that I arrived from Kapiti. On the 21st, another ship, the Bolton, had arrived from England ; bearing, among other passengers, the Reverend J. F. Churton, who had been appointed chaplain by a Church Society in connexion with the settlement, and the Reverend J. G. Butler, also a clergyman of the Established Church.^ The arrival of these two gentlemen with their families had been haUed with much pleasure by the members of the T 2 276 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. Church of England. Previous to this time, the reli gious duties had been performed by the Reverend John Macfarlane, a minister of the Kirk of Scotland, who had accompanied the colonists from the Clyde in the Bengal Merchant. And although all classes of Pro testants had united to perform Divine worship under his guidance, and had expressed their gratitude for his unwearied exertions in executing the various duties required of him, the arrival of Messrs. Churton and Butler was a great comfort to all parties. Mr. Chur ton had established himself at Thorndon, where the passengers of the Adelaide and Bolton, and several of those persons who had originally dwelt at Pitone or on the banks of the Hutt, served to form a numerous congregation on the site of the future town, Mr. Butler had come to reside at Pitone, close to Colonel Wakefield's house. This gentleman had been a mem ber of the Church mission in the Bay of Islands in former years; and thus held a commission of the peace from a former Governor of New South Wales. The Company, thinking that this might prove of use in the enforcement of our young laws, had been eager to secure his services. Although his piece of parch ment from an ex-Governor had been of no great weight, Mr. Butler's accession to our society soon be came a very valuable acquisition, not only on account of the ministerial functions which he exercised at Pi tone, but on account of his knowledge of the customs and language of the natives, and his praiseworthy will ingness to employ it so as to win. their best affections. The Butler family became quite revered by the Pitone natives. , On visiting my friends up the Hutt, I found the same cheerfulness, activity, and sanguine hope of suc cess prevaUing. Nice gardens were well cleared, neatly Chap. IX. CHEERFUL PROGRESS OF FIRST SETTLEMENT. 277 fenced and cultivated, and fresh with young vegetables and plants ; every one was loud in praise of the fertile soil. Boats and barges were being built; and the little children were learning to paddle a light canoe in the river. Sawyers were located among the abundant timber ; the sounds of the axe and saw as they cut the noble pine-trees into useful proportions, and of the hammer nailing some useful building, rang through the air ; and a general appearance of progress and satis faction pervaded the place. The colonists had but few ideas about their political state. Many of them were so busy about the various detaUs and arrangements of their locations, as to be positively ignorant of what had gone on upon the beach for some days, and would ask the gossip from a loung ing idler like myself while they proceeded merrily with their work. Then they would enlist my labour for a time, if useful ; and thus I often found myself engaged in many a little task of which I had never before known the necessity. They were all delighted to hear that we were likely soon to have the protection of our own British Government ; and spoke with eagerness of the speedy arrival of Governor Hobson among them. In the meanwhile, however desirous of being once more under the flag of Great Britain, they felt con tented with the creditable way in which the experi ment of a provisional government had been supported by the excellent deportment of the great body of peo ple, and were justly proud of being able to resign a peaceful and orderly community into the guardianship of those laws which, under so slight a restraint, they had never ceased to respect and obey. The continu ance of an agreeable intercourse with the natives, wl^ose general amiability and capacity for great things was acknowledged by all, had contributed in no small 278 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. degree to the universal contentment. And the genial climate and almost incredible fertUity of the virgin soU left no doubt in their minds as to the eligibility of the country in which they were so happily circum stanced. E Kuru, who accompanied me on these excursions, could not refrain from expressing his unfeigned plea sure at the sight, and would tell me, with tears starting from his eyes, that he hoped the same would soon be at Wanganui. At Thorndon, the bustle of settlement was also apparent. Numerous houses had been buUt by the natives, and occupied by some of the colonists. Some few wooden houses brought from England were also in process of erection. Dicky Barrett had returned from Queen Charlotte's Sound in the Cuba, with his whole establishment and property, and had instaUed himself in a clay-walled house at Thorndon, in exactly the same manner as at Te-awa-iti. The house was always half full of hungry natives, and idle White men who had wandered from the whaling-stations, and the large iron pots and spacious table constantly extended his too undistinguishing hospitality to all ap plicants. He was quite proud of the change which he had aided to produce in the appearance of the place and the prospects of his friends the natives, and used to spend his time in watching the proceedings of the new comers ; sometimes mystifying a whole audience of gaping immigrants by a high-flown relation of a whaling adventure, or of some part of his Maori campaigns. Kind-hearted to a fault, always good-humoured and sanguine, and scrupulously honest in all his trans actions, Richard Barrett was eagerly sought as an acquaintance by all who were capable of esteeming his sterling worth. Chap. IX. THE SURPRISE SCHOONER. 27!> It was about this time that we heard, by the arrival of some vessel from Sydney, of the agitation produced among the people in that place who had bought land in this country, with respect to the likelihood of their claims being allowed. A land commission, to in quire into all such claims, was talked of by the Go vernor of New South Wales, and the fears of the Australian land-sharks had been excited by the rumour. Mr. Wentworth, who was said to claim very large tracts in the Middle Island, had taken a leading part in an association formed for the purpose of watch ing over their interests. On the 6th of May, Captain Pearson left the har bour with his ship. All attempts to procure an amicable arrangement of the dispute had failed ; and he had gone away vowing vengeance on the " deino- "crats," as he called us, for attempting to preserve justice and order. A proposition made to enforce the autho rity of the Police Magistrate, by bringing Pearson out of his ship, had been finally abandoned; it being thought better to let the affair drop quietly than to bring more irritation and annoyance upon the settle ment by maintaining a principle against a man who seemed determined to irritate and annoy the community on account of the very arrangements which it had made to insure public tranquillity. On the 14th, I started in a schooner of thirty tons for Wanganui. She belonged to a man named Mac gregor, who had been living by sealing and other pursuits for some years in the neighbourhood of Foveaux's Straits. With the assistance of some other men, he had buUt this boat ; and, having got on board some natives connected with Wanganui, he had come up in search of that place in order to land them and obtain payment for their passage in pigs and potatoes. 280 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. which he meant to sell to the whaling-ships on the coast to the southward. To escape some rough weather, he had run in here one night, seeing an ap pearance of shelter, and had been highly astonished in the morning to find himself in the midst of an active European settlement of more than a thousand persons, where he had thought to find an uninhabited country, or at any rate only natives. He had consequently named his vessel the Surprise. Colonel Wakefield chartered the craft by the month, and caused to be put on board a large quantity of goods, approved by E Kuru, and considered by him sufficient for the purchase of the TV^anganui district. He then requested me to proceed to Wanganui in the vessel, and act as agent for the Company in procuring the confirmation of the resident chiefs to the deed executed by E Kui-u, his father, and another chief, at Kapiti, in November 1839. I readily acceded, feeling much pleasure in being able to assist in such a pro ceeding, as the first step towards the accomphshment of my friend E Kurds dearest hope. The third chief, Te Kiri Karamu, was also at Port Nicholson, and had already entered into some negotiations with Mac gregor ; and I soon found that some jealousy existed as to which chief should have the honour of taking the first vessel into the Wanganui river. These scruples were easily adjusted, as I said both should go, and I would claim the envied distinction. Several other natives of Il-^anganui were allowed a passage on board, and Captain Chaffers was instructed to accom pany me in order to make a survey of the entrance and bar of the river. Our craft was no crack sailer, but she was safely and strongly built, round as a Dutch dogger, under- rigged, and as comfortable below as could be expected Qhap. IX. VOYAGE TO WANGANUI. 281 for her size. After weathering Cape Terawiti, we were detained between Mana and Kapiti for some days by foul winds ; and again, after anchoring under Rauperahds island, in a strong south-east gale and pitch-dark night, when I alarmed the master by in sisting on piloting him in to the anchorage, instead of heaving-to till daylight. Captain Chaffers had been seized with illness, and Avas obliged to keep his cabin, or I should not have presumed to set myself up as pUot for any place known to him. I sent a boat on shore at Waikanae to try and get Rangi Wa karurua to accompany us ; but he at length told us from the beach, close to which we were under sail, that he should not go, but his son would represent him. , On the 19th, we at length entered the river, passing through heavy breakers on the bar caused by two , days' continued westerly gale. The soundings on the bar were twelve feet at nearly high-water. Whilst in the most dangerous part of the entrance, E Kuru, who was perched on the top of the foremast to pilot us in, could not restrain his exultation at bringing a vessel into his river. He let go his hold, balanced himself on the cross-trees on his feet only while the vessel lifted and drove on the high rollers, and shouted out an impromptu song in celebration of the event, flourishing his hands and arms with the usual quiver ing motion. When he had brought his " lo triumphe" to the concluding yell, we were sailing up the river in smooth water. We saw but few natives at the villages near the sea ; and E Kuru started oft' up the river in order to gather them to the sale, telling me that he should be several days away. We had anchored about a mile above Putikiwaranui, opposite the mouth of a creek 282 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. called Purua, where Turoa had lately built a few huts and established himself The river was very deep here, our anchor being down in seven fathoms not twenty yards from the shore. While I was waiting for the return of E Kuru and the gathering of the clans, Messrs. Williams and Had field arrived by land. They held no communication with me ; but I heard from the natives, and also from Macgregor, the skipper, who called upon them in their tent, what had been their proceedings. Turoa and Te Ana-ua, with several other of the chiefs who had held communication with them, told ine that Mr. Williams had asked them to sign a paper, and pro mised them a present of a blanket from the Queen. They had answered at first by requesting him to show the paper to the other White people then on the spot, in order that the transaction should be a public one ; which he had refused to do. He then asked them who the White people in the ship were ; and upon their informing him, he had urged them not to sell their land, saying that " all the goods in the vessel " were light, and might be lifted with the hand, but " that the one-one, or ' land,' could not." They took care to assure me, however, that this hangareka or "joke" of Williams, as they termed it, had not shaken their resolution of abiding by their bargain. In the evening ofthe day after Mr. WUliams's arrival, they came on board, and told me that Turoa and Te Ana-ua had received a blanket each on signing, and that Williams had departed to the southward. I could not ascertain whether any other chiefs had signed or not. I gathered from Macgregor that the paper was one ceding the sovereignty to the Queen, similar to that to which the adhesion of the Port Nicholson chiefs had been obtained ; and was rather surprised that Mr. Chap. IX. CESSION OF SOVEREIGNTY. 283 WUliams had not taken pains to acquire the assent of more of the chiefs, or of any of those towards Patea and the country to the north. On inquiring of Turoa whether he understood what he had signed, he repeated to me, that my Queen had sent him a blanket, and that he had been told to make a mark in order to show that he had got it. When I explained to him that my Queen had become his also, and that she and her Governor were now chiefs over him as well as over me, he became very agitated, and repeatedly spoke of following Williams in order to return the blanket and upbraid him for the deception. He finally determined, however, that he must have got to Wangaihu by that time, and that he could not catch him. " But," said he, " a blanket is no payment for " my name. I am stUl a chief." Macgregor, who had taken a great fancy to Wan ganui, and was pressed by the natives to build a house there and trade with them, told me that he had stated his intention to do so to Mr. Williams ; asking him whether, supposing his claim to turn out the best, he would not eject him from his location. Mr. Williams had answered, that there could be no objection to his settling, and that he would answer for his not being harshly treated by him when he should take posses sion of his claim. Macgregor then asked me ; and I gave him the same assurance on the part of the Com pany. About a week after E Kurd's departure, large bodies of natives began to arrive in canoes down the river. As they rounded the low point above and came in sight of the ship, they would often fire guns, which were returned from Purua. On the ninth day, some men m a canoe in advance told me of the near approach of E Kuru with his nuinga, or " host," from the Wahi- 284 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. pari, or " Place of Cliffs." Soon after this announce ment, twenty or thirty crowded canoes, closely touching each other, glided in silence round the point ; and as they came full in sight, discharged their fire-arms in a grand volley, which was answered from the schooner and the shore. They continued to advance in this formal manner until near the vessel, when E Kurds canoe came alongside, and the others pulled to the north bank, where they soon formed a temporary encamp ment on the fern-covered level. There were now about seven hundred natives assembled in the immediate neighbourhood ; and E Kwru told me that all were here who could possibly be collected, and that we might proceed to business. After several discussions at the different villages and on board the schooner, at which I explained, through the interpreter, the whole force and meaning of the transaction which was about to be made, I in vited E Kuru to assemble them all at one place. This was done at the fishing-village at which I had for merly seen the people from Wahipari. On a bright sunny day, I landed there from the schooner, and found a truly imposing audience assembled. In a small court-yard of the village all the superior chiefs, to the number of 20 or 30, were sitting on the ground dressed in their best mats and feathers, with all their green-stone clubs and taiaha shown off to the best ad vantage. The roofs of the adjoining huts, the fences, the fish-racks, were bending under the weight of crowds of inferior natives, who sought for a peep at the conference. The rest of the assembled hundreds were contented to sit or stand so as to hear the ex pected speeches. Among the assembly were some of the wildest natives I had yet seen. Most of them were stout and muscular, more than half of them nearly Chap. IX. PURCHASE OF WANGANUI 285 naked, and plentifully bedaubed with red paint and charcoal ; all constantly carried some weapon, as though by instinct and the habit of danger. Captain Chaffers, John Brooks the interpreter, Macgregor, and some of his crew, accompanied me to 9^ porera which had been spread in a place kept clear for me. Perfect silence reigned throughout the multitude whUe speeches were made; and every word must have been heard by every member of the assembly. I began by asking the chiefs if they had finally made up their minds to complete the sale. Five or six of them immediately answered, that they had had many moons (months) to do that in, and that all that they wanted was for me to bring the paper that they might sign, and the goods that they might carry them away. Several chiefs then rose in succession, and fully de scribed the country sold, tracing all the rivers up to Tonga Riro, and saying tou kainga! "thy place," after the name of each. Rangi Tauwira, the old chief nearly bent double with age, arrogated, without exciting a murmur of dissent, the right to be called the take or " root" of the tribes. " I am so old," said he, "that you can all " remember from tradition better than I can tell you, " whether this is not true. This is my White man ; — " the land is for him !" E Kuru still remained by me, explaining the full meaning of the expressions used. He did not speak in public ; indeed, this seemed reserved entirely for the kau matua, or "elders "of the tribes. For when, in answer to my request that any native objecting to the sale would now speak, an inferior and middle-aged chief named Maketu rose to do so, a curious scene took place, which illustrated in a forcible manner the au- 286 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. thority of the high chiefs over the lower ones as to land as well as everything else. Maketu, who was in the inner court-yard, shortly explained, that he should keep his land for another White man, whose acquaintance he had made in Port Nicholson when he went there with the fleet, and who had promised to marry his daughter and trade with him. He did not rise to say this, but spoke from a reclining posture, and in a conversational tone, as though " unaccustomed to public speaking." T'^«^•oa leaped in a moment from his seat, and, shaking his mats back so as to free his right hand, in which the meri ponamu gleamed, ran furiously up and down while he insisted on a retractation of this refusal. " E Maki," said he, " the land is yours ; but I am " your ariki (or superior chief)," and he leaped into the air at the end of his run. " There is my White " man ; for him is all the land — you must sell yours " too to him." And he lay down again, and wrapped his mats round his chin. I told Maketu, through the interpreter, that I did not wish to buy his land against his will, but that we would have that which belonged to him marked out, that he might sell it to others. I was asking whether any more wished to do the same, and explaining that they must not touch any of the payment, when Maketu interrupted Brooks by saying, still sitting, " It is enough ; the old man has beaten my head with his meri, and I am ashamed ; my land is for his White man." Though I had not shown the natives the goods in tended as payment, I had repeatedly read to them the list ; and on this occasion the head chiefs shortly an swered to my inquiries whether they were satisfied with the quantity,—" E Kuru has seen them,— it is Chap. IX. DEED SIGNED— DISTRIBUTION OP PAYMENT. 287 " good !" It was then agreed that the chiefs should come on board the schooner and sign the deed, and that several large canoes should be brought alongside under the direction of E Kuru, to receive the goods, and land them at the spot where this concluding con ference had taken place. It was also agreed that this chief should distribute the goods, as I hoped, from his great influence and connexion with all the different branches of the Wanganui tribes then assembled, that he might accomplish this in peace. The general as sent to this arrangement seemed to confirm my view. Twenty-seven head chiefs signed the deed on the deck of the schooner, after it had been read and inter preted, with full explanations, to them, and to a large audience which surrounded us, either floating about in numerous canoes or clustered on the bank at Purua. The goods were then handed into the canoes by men appointed by E Kuru. No attempt at pilfering took place ; and all the things were carried in order and quiet to the shore. The spectators proceeded gradually to the scene of distribution ; and when I landed, some time after the last canoe had gone away, with all the White men except one to keep the vessel, the distribution was going on. On an extensive level at the back of the little village, a piece of land a hundred yards long and twenty broad had been cleared of the fern. About twenty-four heaps of goods were ranged along this space ; and E Kuru, with his elder brother, a chief of no great note, were adding gradually to each heap, and explaining their proceedings in a loud voice. We took our seats on the roof of a hut, from whence we could survey the whole proceeding. The different tribes were gathered in groups at short distances from the row of heaps, each under their respective leaders ; and watched the 2§8 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. process with the most eager anxiety. Now and then a little knot might be seen encroaching on the space, and creeping, without rising, nearer to some tempting heap. Then a chief of another tribe would rise, and, although scarcely able to restrain his own followers or perhaps himself from imitating their example, would rebuke them for their dishonest intentions. Then E Kuru would flourish his bright tomahawk high in the air, and fly along each side of the line of goods, anger and menace in every gesture, and determination in his features ; and the boldest retired to their former stations. But while he was busy unpacking a bale, or making his calculations as to the fairest way of sharing out the contents, the almost invisible encroachments and the loud rebukes became more frequent and daring, the offenders became less willing to hear reason, and the others more prone to share in the offence. At length neither E Kurds eloquent appeals to the dig nity of the chiefs, nor his terrific threats against the multitude, could produce their intended effect: little children were first sent to pilfer a pipe or a looking- glass, and though they were seen no one vvould touch them ; then the parents, watching, rebuking, envying, and seeking to overreach each other, were closing in on all sides. A crisis was evidently at hand. E Kuru threw down what he had in his hand, and walked slowly and moodily to a seat by my side. This seemed to create a pause for a few minutes, as though the covetous crowds were uncertain of his intentions. " Go on board ship," said he to me, " with all your " White men. I cannot get them to do it quietly, " and we shall come to a fight. You might get hurt " if you remained ; and, moreover, I am ashamed that " you should see us fight madly for these things when " I have engaged to do my best to count them out Chap. IX. A SCRAMBLE. .^gg " quietly. But such is their custom, and they will " have a scramble. Go !" I immediately acceded to his request. We had hardly got on board ship before we saw and heard a truly wild scene. We were about a quarter of a mile from the spot, and on the opposite side of the river. Seven hundred naked savages were twisted and entangled in one mass, like a swarm of bees, over the line of goods ; and their cries of encouragement, anger, disappointment, vengeance, pain, or triumph, were blended in one ferocious growl. With a telescope could be distinguished brandished weapons, clenched fists, torn blankets, uplifted boxes, and occasionally a man's body as he leaped or was borne against his will over the heads of the throng ; and the faint breath of the sea-breeze, as it died away with the setting sun, brought an occasional shrill yell or the scream of a woman in louder tones than the general buzz. I much feared that some loss of life would ensue. Two or three canoes now put off from the shore; and the owners, who had succeeded in securing a share of the goods, increased our fears by their contradictory rumours as they paddled hastily up the river. Some said that Te Ana-ua had been the first to cry Uuki na ! or " Rush now ! " and that E Kuru had brained him on the spot. Shortly after, Turoa and Te Ana- ua came alongside in two canoes, tolerably laden with spoil, and exclaimed against the smallness of their share, saying that E Kuru had got all for himself and his people. They wanted to return the goods to me ; but I steadily refused, and told them that the bargain was concluded, and they must now arrange the division m their own way. They then went to their settle ments with the goods. 7'e Ana-ua appeared to have been wounded, having a bandage round his head. VOL. I. u 290 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND.' Chap. IX. After the riot had subsided, E Kuru himself came on board. He was very excited and angry, but made great efforts to conceal the fact. He said that the natives were many of them maddened by the struggle, though no lives had been lost ; and that, until they should calm down, we might be in some danger. He therefore advised me to move the ship down opposite to the Wahipari village, where a large body of his own men were collected to guard a quantity of the goods which he had made tapu, and secured in his house from the general plunder. He said it was true that he had saved the principal things of value, but that he should divide them fairly the next day. Te Ana-ua had been the first to cheer them on to the scramble, but E Kuru had not touched him, though he got a slight accidental scratch in the mUee. I shifted the schooner's anchorage, and E Kuru remained on board all night to protect us from the chance of any assault. He said that when their blood was up, he could not answer for what they might do. Several other natives described to me his good generalship in directing the seizure of most of the goods by means of the great numerical strength of his retainers. In the morning, things were much more quiet- Many of the wildest natives had departed with what they had been able to secure ; and E Kuru distributed some of the other things. Last of all, he opened the only case containing fire-arms. The avidity of the sur rounding chiefs could no longer be restrained ; and m the course of a scramble which ensued among the aris tocracy, he had been thrown down and hurt a good deal against the nails of the case, and his European clothes, which he constantly delighted to wear, were nearly torn off his back. He came on board in high dudgeon; and at first threatened to leave his people and his place. Chap. IX. A PRESENT FROM THE NATIVES. 291 imd return with me to Port Nicholson. I talked with him mildly, and at some length ; and he ended by con fessing that a wiser course would be for him to remain and prepare them gradually by his example as well as precept for more gentle conduct when the White men should arrive. He cried as he told me that he was ashamed to think how much worse I must consider his people than the other Maori whom I had seen ; and urged me to bring, with the White people, plenty of constables and soldiers to induce respect and tran- quUlity. Rangi Tauwira very pithily expressed his wishes in this respect by a simple illustration. " These " are pakeha," said he, as he lifted a handful of sand. " Do this to Wanganui ! " and he scattered the sand over the deck near him. I was now taken ashore to see a present, or homai no homai, literally a " gift for a gift," which had been prepared for me. It consisted of thirty pigs and about ten tons of potatoes, ranged in a row along the line which had been occupied two days before by the goods. Having counted them and got them on board, I gave E Kuru a blanket each for the pigs, and a pipe or a head of tobacco for every two baskets of potatoes. The baskets being small, this was reckoned a very liberal rate of payment. The chief divided it at once among the owners of the provisions, who were almost entirely his own people. I accepted and paid for this gift as a private specu lation on my part. On the occasion of E Kurds former present to me of his canoe-load, I had given him, in Port Nicholson, a blanket for each pig, and sold them to the settlers up the Hutt very readily. Both he and I had been so satisfied with our respective profits in the transaction, that I had at once accepted his offer to load the schooner on the same terms, and u2 292 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. had provided myself with a private stock of goods for the purpose, and repaid to Colonel Wakefield a pro portion of the charter-money equal to my proportion of the use of the vessel. I have been thus particular in detailing this private pig-dealing adventure, because I was long afterwards accused by some " repudiating " natives and some of their White protectors of having received the cargo of provisions as payment for the goods belonging to the Company (worth about 700/.) which I had paid for the land. We were detained a day or two by strong westerly winds, which made the bar too dangerous to attempt going out ; and the violence of the breakers was in creased by a very rapid freshet which set out of the river, and made even our berth inside far from agree able, by reason of the numerous large trees which drifted down. One night a tree some fifty feet in length took us athwart hawse, and bent our stem nearly gunwale under by its weight, until the crew, assisted by some natives sleeping on board, managed to pole it off to one side. Having bidden farewell to E Kuru and the other natives, after promising to return soon and trade with them, and begging them to build houses about this part of the river, for which the White people would be glad to pay them, I weighed anchor and got safe out. On the 2nd of June we got back to Port Ni cholson. In beating up to Pitone, we fell in with a whale-boat, which used to ply daily with passengers between Thorndon and Pitone, at the fare of half-a- crown. It was started by a man named Wright, who had been one of Barrett's companions in the Tara naki wars, and a whaling headsman at Te-awa-iti. I got into the boat, as the wind was falling light, and immediately got an offer for my cargo from one of the Chap. IX. RETURN TO PORT NICHOLSON. 293 passengers, a late Major in the British Auxiliary Legion of Spain, who had taken to deal in anything that was profitable. As, however, I had partners in my ven ture, I was obliged to decline the honour of selling the Major a bargain until I had consulted them. I must now again look back to the leading events which had occurred since my departure. 294. ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. X. CHAPTER X. Town of " Britannia" — English boy killed by native — Harmony undisturbed — Fire of " Cornish Row " — Earthquake — Notice to inhabitants to drill — Lieutenant Shortland, the Colonial Secre tary, arrives with troops — Burlesque pomposity of a constable — Proclamation of British sovereignty — British loyalty and good feeling — Mounted policemen — Brutality — Laws of a penal colony — Mr. Tod excites natives against the settlers — They begin to re pudiate — Change in feelings of natives — The chiefs offended by the Government authorities — News from the Bay of Islands — Riot of natives quelled by military — Survey — I postpone my return to England. The name of " Britannia " had been determined on for the town. Many people had moved over to Thorn don, where it was to be founded, and a brisk traffic was carried on between the two places. Merchants and retail dealers were beginning to show a little order in their arrangements ; and two or three rough attempts at shops were to be seen up the Hutt, at Pitone, and at Thorndon. The newspaper was pub lished regularly once a-week, proposals had been made for the establishment of a local bank, two or three taverns of respectable appearance were organized, and a schoolmaster was busy showing his testimonials and craving support. A schooner of sixty tons, built at Tahiti, had come from the Bay of Islands, and brought a cargo of pigs which she picked up on the east coast. The Jewess, as she was named, had been bought by two or three mercantile colonists, and was the first decked vessel belonging to Port Nicholson. She had arrived on the 17th, bringing news of the recovery of Governor Hobson's health from a severe at- Chap. X. ENGLISH BOY KILLED BY NATIVE. 295 tack of paralysis, and of the arrival of 150 soldiers at the Bay of Islands. His Excellency was still there, and still undetermined as to the site of his future capital. The Port Nicholson people had, therefore, great hopes that he might arrive here within a short time, at least to judge of the fitness of this place. Brick-making had been commenced by two enter prising colonists, one of whom was Mr. Dudley Sin clair. The bricks brought out from England were so dear that there seemed every chance of success for these beginners. Firewood was abundant and close to the kiln, which was on the beach, under a cliff said to consist of excellent clay for the purpose. An English boy had^ died a few days after I left, of a wound given him with a spear a month before by a native. Some people reported that the boy and his brother had been stealing potatoes from the natives' gardens, and that the wound had been given in conse quence by a native belonging to the place. On an inquest, however, which was held before the Police Magistrate, Major Baker, and a respectable jury, no evidence was brought forward to support this view ; and it seemed more probable that the outrage had been committed by some out-lying scout of a foraging party of the Ngatikahuhunu, similar to that which had killed Puakawa. So excellent was, at this time, the good feeling existing between the two races, that the death of the lad, although involved in mystery, had not caused the slightest mistrust of the natives. I found them as comfortably domesticated as before in all the White peoples' houses, and as well con tented with the brotherly treatment which they expe rienced as on the former occasion. On the night of the 25th of May, the line of cot- 296 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. X. tages which I have formerly described as " Cornish- " row" had been burnt down ; the inflammable nature of the roofs and walls having overcome all the efforts of the settlers of all classes, who had hurried from their beds to the scene on the first alarm. No lives, how ever, were lost. The houseless families were received, some by their neighbours, some in the Company's emigrants' houses ; and a ready subscription had re placed the burnt clothes and other things belonging to some of the labourers, who, being poor, could UI afford even so small a loss. The blaze had hardly subsided, when the sleepers were again aroused by the shock of an earthquake. This had been but slight, and had done no damage. I was much amused by the description of the alarm pro duced upon some settlers, who ran out in very light clothing and fired their muskets and pistols, under the idea that a troop of natives were trying to pull the hut down. The natives, especially, related with great glee the want of presence of mind displayed by some of the more timid "Whites. It was now remembered that Captain Cook had mentioned his feeling the slight shock of an earthquake in Ship Cove seventy years before, and that a shake had been felt at Te-awa-iti whilst we were up the Pelorus river with Jacky Guard. The effect seemed to have been only partial, for no one at W^anganui had experienced the slightest vibration. On the 30th of May, Colonel Wakefield, as Presi dent of the Council, and with their consent, had issued a notice to the inhabitants between the ages of eigh teen and sixty, requiring them to form themselves into a militia under his direction. The last paragraph of the notice thus explained the motives of this measure. Chap. X. DRILLING OP COLONISTS. 297 and was a good sample of the integrity of feeling upon which the colonists depended for a sound maintenance of the infant Constitution : — " As it is intended to occupy no more than one hour " in each week in this muster of the armed inhabitants, " the object of which is to assure the minds of all " persons of the existence of an adequate force for the " preservation of order, it is believed that all who feel " interested in the protection of life and property, as " well as in upholding the power and authority of the " British race, will make it a point of honour to attend " and answer to their names, when called upon the " muster-roll, with such arms as they may be in the " possession of : and it is expected that the employers " will make no deduction from the wages of those " employed by them, for the small portion of time that " may be taken from the day's labour for the discharge " of an important public duty." The natives had been apprised of this contemplated arrangement, and had expressed unfeigned satisfaction. It was proposed that they also should be gradually induced to train, and the chiefs so instructed in the duties of officers, that the two races might eventually mingle in the ranks of the militia, as well as in our other social institutions. They did not fail to appre ciate the security from the attacks of the Ngatikahu hunu or other hostile tribes which we should all acquire. On the afternoon, however, of the day on which I had arrived at Pitone, an agent of the British Govern ment arrived in the harbour ; and these merely provi sional measures were of course at an end. A boat from Thorndon brought the news to Pitone at night, that the Integrity had returned, bearing Lieutenant Shortland the Colonial Secretary, a detachment of 298 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap.X thirty soldiers, and some supernumeraries, consisting of " mounted police " without their horses, constables, &c. It was rumoured that Captain Pearson and some of his passengers had reported us at the Bay of Islands as " a turbulent set of rebels, who were establishing a " republic at Port Nicholson," and that the thirty soldiers had been sent to quell the rebellion ! It was added, that the invading force had held no communi cation with the shore, the prudent Colonial Secretary having probably deemed it advisable to reconnoitre before landing on the insurgent shore. Merry and loud were the jokes that rang through the tents up the Hutt, whither I carried the news. Bombastes Furioso, Tom Thumb, and Jack the Giant- killer, were quoted and parodied, and some hours' amusement was derived from this ludicrous mistake of the Government as to our hostility, and the over whelming force which they had sent to exterminate us. All, however, were delighted to know that we were at length recognized and claimed by our natural protectors ; and the relief from all possible insecurity which seemed to be assured by the event, helped not a little to maintain the cheerful good-humour which laughed at the " questionable shape " in which the event came. The first measure of the Royalist forces was to send a man on shore the next morning to pull down all the New Zealand flags which he might find hoisted. This was probably an experimental measure only ; as a single constable performed the task very early, almost before anybody was up. The man who performed this bold deed at Pitone assumed, while he did it, the most ridiculous appearance of authority. He had been one of our early immigrants, brought out, I think, in the Aurora. He was usually styled " Captain" Cole, and Chap. X. PROCLAMATION OF BRITISH SOVEREIGNTY. 299 had, I am inclined to believe, once been something in an East Indiaman. On hearing of the arrival of Cap tain Hobson as Lieutenant-Governor, he had managed to get a passage in some craft to the Bay of Islands. He had succeeded in getting appointed Chief Constable for Port Nicholson, and had accompanied Lieutenant Shortland, not a little elated with his official dignity. Although I have often since observed the remarkable pomposity which a Government official of every class assumes in a colony, I never saw a more complete in stance than Constable Cole. As he strode up to the flag-staff near Colonel Wakefield's house, on which a rather ragged New Zea land flag was hung, he threw disdainful and yet cau tious glances around him. When he saw that there were only two or three people in their night-caps peep ing from their doors and windows to know who had been boating so early on such a cold morning, he plucked up spirits, and seemed to reflect that he had to represent the dignity of the British Crown. His funny little head arranged itself quite straight in a most appropriate military stock ; his ungainly figure and gait became almost martial ; he frowned sternly, as though to awe the rebels ; and advanced straight upon the flag- staff with as much resolution as though he had been taking Ciudad Rodrigo by storm. He had some little trouble in undoing the string, and it would not run very freely through the hole at the top of the staff; but at length he accomplished his gallant undertaking, and proceeded with a flourish to extend the sovereignty of England over the flags which adorned the snoring grog-shops along the beach. It was not till the 4th that Lieutenant Shortland dis embarked at Thorndon, to hoist the Union jack and read the proclamations of the sovereignty of the Queen of Eng- 300 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. X. land over New Zealand. A large assemblage of the colonists, including Colonel Wakefield and most of the members of the much-dreaded Council, joined in the proceedings in the most loyal manner, and expressed to Lieutenant Shortland their pleasure at the event. The soldiers landed, and encamped in tents at one end of Thorndon ; and Lieutenant Shortland, with his suite, ensconced themselves in some half-finished houses at that place. The other Government officers were. Lieutenant Smart of the 28th regiment, who was in command of the three or four policemen above-men tioned ; Lieutenant A. D. Best, commanding the thirty men of the 80th ; and a Clerk of the Bench, who also assumed the duty of Post-master. The most ready submission was evinced to the legal authorities, and things had been so well organized by our temporary arrangements, that no great change seemed to take place. The days of the Council were only remembered as a time of happy freedom from lawlessness, and it was perhaps thought a fortunate occurrence that no very rude blow had ever been aimed to disturb the economy of the perilous experiment. It was a proud boast, however, for this community, that nearly 1500 English people and 400 untutored savages had lived for five months without any serious breach, that could be traced to one of them, of the laws to which they were bound by nothing more than a voluntary agree- ~ ment, and which could summon no physical force to their assistance. And this, too, in the midst of the troubles and anxieties of their landing and settling on a wild shore, far from home and any of the associations which might have led them to cherish their ancient customs ; where valuable property was constantly left unwatched, and even uncovered, as a temptation to crime ; where flight seemed easy, and a defiance of all Chap. X. LOYALTY AND GOOD FEELING OF COLONISTS. 301 law no great effort. The very worst examples, and oc casionally great provocation from lawless outcasts of the most depraved habits, had not served to corrupt the community which restrained their excesses ; and even the defiance of these voluntary laws by a man of some station who had been no party to the agreement had failed to impair the strength or unity of the com pact. And then, to crown all, the worth and good faith of this most prudent agreement was made clearly apparent, by the willingness, nay, the eagerness with which the authority was resigned into the hands of those who called this orderly conduct sedition and re bellion. They, forsooth, although supported only by a physical force totally inadequate to compel submis sion if resistance had been intended, assumed a dictato rial tone, well calculated to irritate rioters or rebels, and to render them more obstinate. Much of this admirable result was no doubt owing to the British origin of the colonists, which had im planted in them a respect for law proportionate to their love of liberty ; and some portion of it to the very complete state in which the young society had arrived, with leiaders whom many of the inferiors had been used to respect, with clergymen, and with many of the arrangements which promote social order and comfort in the most highly civilized countries. Thus, the " democrats " at Port Nicholson heartily assented to the proclamation of the Queen's authority, while they could not withhold their good-humoured laughter at the burlesque arrogance with which it was accom panied. One feature, however, of the new authority was pe culiarly repulsive to the English colonists. This was the presence of the " mounted police" on foot whom 302 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. X. I have before mentioned. This force consists of picked men from the regiments quartered in New South Wales, who are mounted and armed to make war upon the reckless " bush-rangers," as the escaped convicts are termed in New South Wales. Admirably adapted for this purpose from their courage and experience, they formed, doubtless, a very good precaution against the runaways who abounded in New Zealand; but they were hardly fitted to be brought into immediate contact with a population like the great body of our immigrants, who were totally unused to the rigours of a penal colony. The few prisoners who had been com mitted for trial by Major Baker were handed over to the lawful authorities. They had been confined in one of the Company's wooden houses at Pitone, which was appropriated as a lock-up, and a boatful of " mounted police" came over to convey them to a thatched house at Thorndon which had been selected for a jail. Joe Robinson, the Englishman whom we had found at Waiwetu pa, had been engaged a few days before in a drunken merry-making over a wed ding, where some fights had occurred; and he had been committed on the charge of assaulting another man who lay badly wounded in the adjoining wooden house which was the Company's infirmary. Robinson himself had been a good deal hurt, and moved down to the boat with some difficulty. I remember sharing with some of the simple labourers who looked on a feeling of indignation at the brutal way in which one of the policemen repelled a friend of the prisoner's who offered him his assistance to walk to the boat. An idea of the chain-gangs of New South Wales, guarded by military, was called up bythe displaying and jingling of handcuffs, carbines, and sabres, which accompanied Chap. X. LAWS' OP A PENAL COLONY. 303 the whole proceeding, A spontaneous murmur of dis approbation arose from the little crowd as the armed police jumped into their boat and shoved off. My own first acquaintance with the new authorities strongly reminded me that we were now under the laws of New South Wales. I had stored the potatoes I brought from Wanganui underground in the court yard of my uncle's house, which was surrounded by a strong fence. Several vagrant pigs, however, had found means to break the fence, and get at the tempting cave. After ineffectual attempts to stop this waste by filling up the gaps and pelting the pigs with stones, I deter mined to give them a salutary lesson in the shape of small shot from a gun. The natives had willingly agreed to this plan, which is quite according to their customs, even if you kill the thieving pig, provided always that you leave the carcase on the spot tUl the owner fetches it away. I had been told, too, by several of the settlers, that, according to English law, I should only render myself liable to a civil action for the value of the pig, which might be met by another for the value of the potatoes, should the owner of the thief prove litigious. I was rather startled, however, to receive a summons by the hands of the all-important Constable Cole, to answer a charge before the Magistrates at Thorndon of shooting a pig. I appeared at the appointed time, and was somewhat alarmed when told by Lieutenant Shortland that I had rendered myself liable to seven years' transportation, according to New South Wales law; by turning over a young pig who had caused much devastation in my potato-cave a few days before ! He advised me to compromise the affair ; which I im mediately did by giving the owner a pound, and telling him that I should willingly have paid him for his pig 304 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. X. had he applied to me in the first instance. He was a man from Sydney who kept a tavern at Pitone, and who had thus early displayed his acquaintance with the penal laws, without giving me the least notice. A brig from Sydney about this time brought news that a subscription for our relief was being collected at that place, the most false reports having been circulated there that we were destitute and starving, and half- drowned by floods ! A speculator had hurried down with a cargo of flour, thinking to sell it at a high price ; but he could not sell a bag, and was quite surprised to find that we had plenty to eat. Not long before the arrival ofthe Colonial Secretary, Mr. Tod had carried his opposition to the settlers to so dangerous an extent as to call forth the severe anim adversion of the Council, and the' public exposure of his intrigues in the ' Gazette.' He had engaged a large body of natives to build him a house upon the land to which he had laid claim, and encouraged them by continued presents of food and clothes, and pro mises of still larger ones when the house should be completed, to become personally interested in the support of his pretensions. He was warned that, if he did not desist, the authorities would remove his house ; and had so repeated this warning to the na tives, that they expressed their intention of resisting such an exercise of authority by force if necessary, and were very nearly brought into actual collision with some of the settlers, who vented their indignation alike upon the corrupting White man and the faith less natives. A judicious spirit of forbearance among the leaders of the White people had prevented any breach of the peace, but the seeds of a mutual distrust between the two parties had naturally been sown. The natives had become divided into two parties, for Chap. X. CHIEFS AND GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES. 305 and against the honourable fulfilment of their bargain ; and they had also become aware that unity did not pi-evail among the White people. About this time, the natives at Te Aro pa, where the Wesleyan native teachers resided, and at Pipitea, where Richard Davis and Robert Tod lived, showed a decided inclination to repudiate the sale. It was observed that these natives particularly attached themselves to the Go vernment officers, whom they had soon discovered to be in some degree opposed to our feelings and proceedings. They became more distant in their intercourse with us, and apparently very wary in their conversation. Ware pori, Epuni, and the other head chiefs, ridiculed these pretensions on the part of a few inferior chiefs and slave tribes, and told us not to regard them as of importance. They seemed, nevertheless, rather hurt at the greater distinction shown by " the men of the Queen," as they called the officials, to the lesser and uninfluential people of Pipitea and the other settlements near Thorndon. On returning to Pitone from Thorndon one day, I found Warepori in exceeding bad humour, haranguing a mixed audience of Whites and natives. He attacked me on my arrival, reproaching me and Wide-awake with the fact that he was not treated with the consideration due to his rank and name. He drew two diagrams with charcoal on a billet of fire wood, and said, " Look ! it ought to be, Warepori, " the Queen, the Governor ; but it is the Queen, the "Governor, Warepori. This is bad." I explained to him that this was no fault of his old friends ; and that he had assented to this arrangement when he signed the paper and got a blanket from Williams. He answered with much violence, that he had not been made to know of any such thing when he signed it, — and then went sullenly into his hut. VOL. I. X 306 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. X. Epuni, who was always distinguished by his even temper, and by his mild, affable manner, showed no such violent anger ; but he was greatly hurt, and said that the new White people did not seem to know the chiefs from the slaves. " However," continued he, " I do not know that this Governor can do me much " good, and I shall hold tight to my first White man " Wide-awake." Our news at about this period from the Bay of Islands was, that the Governor was but slowly recover ing from his attack of paralysis ; that he was about to buy a piece of land at that place of a trader named Clendon on Government account, and at some immense price ; and that the military had been caUed into use on the 20th of April in awing some riotous natives at the Bay of Islands. It appeared that the natives had refused to allow a Maori witness to attend a trial for murder ; and that they had demanded the cession of the accused, also a native, into their hands, that they might judge and punish him according to their customs. They had at length consented to accompany the witness, a woman, to the church at Kororareka, where the examination of the prisoner was being carried on ; but there they had got so warm upon the refusal of their repeated request for his delivery to them, that it was thought necessary to send for the troops. Great credit was said to be due to the Police Magistrate on the occasion ; for though no shots were fired and no blood shed, the natives had appeared to be convinced of the folly of resisting the law. A little dissatisfaction was now to be found among some of the settlers at Port Nicholson, owing to the delay which had appeared to exist in the survey. These early grumblers, however, had hardly made al- Chap. X. RIOTS OF NATIVES AT THE BAY OF ISLANDS. 307 lowances for the obstacles presented by the hilly and densely wooded country in which part of the town had to be laid out, or for the time occupied by the first mistake of surveying a site in the valley of the Hutt. The survey was now progressing fast; and Captain Smith confidently promised that the map of the town should be ready for inspection about the middle of July. I had now become so interested in the progress of the colony, — especially since the establishment of British government, — that instead of seeking for a passage towards home by one of the emigrant ships going to India or China for a cargo, I postponed my re turn to England indefinitely. I determined to see a little of the first formation of a town and of the first agricultural operations. As the town-sections were not to be chosen for a month at least, I set off to spend this interval at Kapiti, having conceived a great desire to observe the proceedings of the whalers, then in full work. x2 308 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. CHAPTER XL A colonist hires a whaling-station— PoriVwa — Native custom of plunder— H. M. S. Herald — Kapiti — The whalers— Ingredients of the class — Character — Knowledge — Early history — Savage in tercourse between shipping and natives — Mr. Marsden brought convicts to New Zealand — Sealers of the South — Foundation of whaling settlements in Cook's Strait — Perils — Increase in strength — Precarious commerce — Social arrangements — Articles ¦ — Laws of the Bay — The season — Ranks— Whaling argot, or " slang " — Preparations — The boats — The tackle — Words of command — -Works on shore — Officers —Native wives, or wahine — A whale signalled — The chase — Stratagems — A new hand — " Making fast " — Running— She " sounds " — The headsman- Killing a whale — The " flurry " — Towing home— Orgies— Hos pitality — A whaler's house — Cleanliness — The " old man " — His boat — Discipline of whalers — Courage — Dispute between whalers and .Kaw^eraAa— Improvement among natives owing to whalers — Bad qualities acquired from the same source — The whalers the first pioneers — Their life in the new settlements — Sawyers — Traders — "Beach-combers" — List of whaling-stations in 1844—^ Statistics — Inexpediency of shore-whaling — The whalers might have become buccaneers — Disorderly whalers — Industrious car penter — Wareho fishing. Macgregor was just about to return to Wanganui, having turned the dollars which he received for his charter into goods fit for bartering with the natives. I took a passage in the Surprise to Kapiti, and we sailed on the 17th of June. Having to deliver some casks at Porirua, where two of our colonists had hired Tom's fishery at Parramatta for the season, we entered that harbour, and anchored close to the sheers in twelve fathoms. A whale was being cut-in under them, and we took swarms of fish, which had been attracted by the carcass. Lieutenant Joseph Thomas, one of the lessees of the fishery, received me very hos- Chap. XL NATIVE CUSTOM OF PLUNDER. 309 pitably in his hut, and described himself as highly amused in his new pursuit. He was an old traveller, and had seen many countries and people ; but he was most pleased with the eccentricities of the " whaling " mob" which he had to rule, and which he ruled very well. He got on very well with the natives too, hav ing been recommended to the especial protection of Rangihaeata by his landlord Toms. The chief did protect the station from any other annoyance than his own ; only exacting a kind of black-maU in return on his frequent trips from Mana. I went one day with the Captain, as the whalers never failed to call him, to Koroiwa, a small settle ment on the main opposite Mana. The leader of a whaling -station established at this place had been lately drowned in attempting to land through a heavy surf on the neighbouring coast. The natives had as sembled from Mana and other places near to scramble for the property of the defunct, according to a very common native custom, and Rangihaeata had, as usual, come in for the lion's share. Some of the whalers intended to apply for the interference of the authorities in Port Nicholson. From the heights above the beach I witnessed a spirited chase after a whale, which extended far to seaward of the island. On another occasion I accompanied my host in an amphibious excursion round the north-east arm of the harbour. We had a canoe with us, but waded over some of the numerous creeks when walking along parts of the beach. The country is exceedingly pretty, and the hUls moderate in height and steepness. Many small valleys, through which streams flow into the bay, afford very desirable spots for settlements. But few little nooks were at this time appropriated to native cultivations. 310 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. In two or three days, the Surprise having completed her discharging, we sailed for Kapiti with a light north-east breeze. Soon after crossing the bar and standing to seaward on the starboard tack, we saw a large ship bearing down from Kapiti under a press of sail, with studding-sails alow and aloft. I at once decided that she was a man-of-war ; but the skipper said that it might be an emigrant ship, or even a whaler, as these had plenty of hands to reduce saU. We stood across her bows about two miles from her, and watched her to the southward. She ' appeared to heave-to or anchor for some time at Mana, and then stood on, between that island and the main, towards Cape Terawiti. When we arrived at Kapiti my con jecture was confirmed. It was the; Herald frigate, which had picked up Rauperaha in his canoe and sailed on, after holding but little communication with the whalers. While I remained at Kapiti, 1 was most kindly and hospitably treated by all the whalers, as well as the natives. I soon became as it were free of the place, and could reckon on being a welcome guest in any house. I was much interested in observing the life of these rough men, and in finding that many generous and noble qualities redeemed their general inclination to vice and lawlessness. This is a class of men peculiar to the South Seas, and deserving of especial notice by those who take inter est in looking back to the first introduction of civilized habits among the aboriginal inhabitants of Polynesia. They are peculiar in a curious contradiction of cha racter ; and deserving of especial notice as having been the real pioneers of civilization. And their history is the more worthy of being recorded now, inasmuch as they have only existed in their purity while they were Chap. XI. WHALERS— THEIR CHARACTER. 311 paving the way for more improved vehicles of civiliza tion, and have naturally yielded with more ease than the natives to amalgamation with the race from which they sprang. The class still exists, and the chief occupation of its members tends to maintain some of their peculiar qualities ; but I am induced to dwell on what I know of their lives, habits, and character, from having had the opportunity of observing them whilst they were unimpaired in originality, and the sole di rectors of change, whether for better or worse, among the natives. The class, as a whole, may be called " the whalers ;" though I have observed some varieties of the genus, which have also their own nomenclature. The whalers who established themselves on the coasts of New Zealand were composed of sailors, who had committed no crime, but were tempted, by the facility of living in comfort on shore there, to leave their ships ; and of runaway convicts from the neigh bouring penal settlements in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. Some few, born in those colonies, were probably descended from members of one or the other of these two classes. These " currency lads," as they are called, are distinguished for great physical strength and beauty ; and have probably been indebted to their early acquaintance with the hardy life of a stock- keeper or shepherd, and their consequent experience of the intercourse between the White man and the savage, for that moral ascendancy which they generally acquire over their classmates in New Zealand. From the varied nature of these ingredients arises the contradiction of character for which the whalers are so remarkable. The frankness and manly courage of the saUor mingle with the cunning and reckless daring of the convict, or " lag," in no common manner. 312 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XL Though prone to drunkenness and its attendant evils, the whaler is hospitable in the extreme, and his rough- built house is a model of cleanliness and order. His unbounded generosity would soon have encouraged the covetousness of the natives to grasping and bullying, had he not gained universal respect among them for undoubted courage, and openly expressed his hatred and contempt for such as distinguished themselves by those bad qualities. His want of book-learning is coun teracted by a considerable knowledge of the world ; the consequence of which is a remarkable power of dis crimination between quackery and real ability, between hypocrisy and sincerity, in those with whom he meets. Thus, since the first days of regular colonization, no man better than a whaler can distinguish between a charlatan doctor, or a low-minded, hypocritical mis sionary, and a doctor who knows his business, or a wor thy minister of the Gospel. He is the first to expose and ridicule the faults of one class, while he yields a willing respect to the virtues and knowledge of the other. I of course speak of the general character of this class of men ; to which there are some terrible excep tions. It is, however, highly to the credit of the whalers generally, that a man of notoriously bad character, whether a fellow-countryman or a native, meets with the contempt which he deserves. It is difficult to learn how soon this rough class of pioneers first established themselves in New Zealand. As early as 1793, the whaling-ships of different na tions began to touch on the coast. Their intercourse with the natives was marked by great cruelty and in justice on one part, great treachery and dishonesty on the other, and revolting blood-thirstiness and a strong spirit of revenge on both sides. The lives of many Chap. XL BARBAROUS MUTUAL INTERCOURSE. 313 innocent persons, both native and European, were sacri ficed to the feelings excited by former oppression and murders. It was during some part of the period be tween this date and 1807, that George Bruce, an Eng lish saUor, accompanied a chief named Te Pehi ashore, in the north of the islands, married his daughter, and became, under the chief's protection, a tatiteA. chief tain himself. It appears that this was the earliest time at which a European ever resided in New Zealand. Bruce exercised a very beneficial influence over his con nexions, improving the nature of the intercourse, which continued unabated between the shipping and the na tives. But he was at last treated as a native by some unprincipled skipper, who decoyed him and his wife on board ship, landed him at Malacca, and sold her to an other captain at Penang. Between that period and 1814, we can hear of no European having lived on shore. The scenes of bar barism continued to be acted between the savages of both races. They had reached such a pitch in that year, the " massacre of the Boyd" and other similar scenes having attracted general attention, that the Governor of New South Wales issued a proclamation which denounced them as notorious on the occasion of the benevolent expedition headed by Mr. Marsden to found the missionary establishment at the Bay of Islands. From the language of this paper, it seems probable that some few sailors or runaway convicts had even ventured to reside among the natives ; and this view is confirmed by the fact, that two runaway convicts, de spised and half-starved by the natives, because idle and arrogant, gave themselves up to Mr. Marsden, in order to return to the penal colony.* * ' Narrative of a Voyage to New Zealand performed in the years 1814 and 1815, in company with the Rev. Samuel Marsden, 314 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. From the foundation of this establishment may be dated the spread of loose characters over the northern part of New Zealand. Two convicts who concealed themselves on board the missionary brig escaped into the country ; and, strange though it may appear, part of the retinue of the first missionaries also consisted of three convicts, for whose return to New South Wales within three years Messrs. Marsden and Kendal gave security.* I am unable to ascertain whether or not the security was forfeited. It is more difficult to ascertain the date at which sealers began to establish themselves on the southern coasts. Even in the end of the last century, certainly, parties were left with provisions and ammunition to collect seal-skins for colonial vessels on those coasts. There being but few natives in that part, it was pro bably some time before the two races came into col lision ; but I have met in New Zealand a person who is now attached as interpreter to the local Government, and who had about that period led the hazardous life of a sealer in the south. He related to me many hair breadth escapes, and numerous instances in which the physical superiority and union of the Europeans had been required to maintain their position and defend themselves from the unprovoked aggressions of their treacherous neighbours. But the foundation of the whaling settlements on shore seems to have been laid about 1827, when the same men who had for years previously pursued the arduous life of a sealer along the coasts of the JMiddle Island and Foveaux's Strait were encouraged to en gage in the pursuit of the whale, and to form esta- Principal Chaplain of New South Wales,' by John Liddiard Nicholas, Esq., in 2 vols., London, 1817, vol. i. p. 215. * Ibid. vol. i. p. 37 ; vol. ii. p. 206. Chap. XI. WHALERS— NATIVE WARS. 315 bUshments for that purpose in the neighbourhood of Queen Charlotte's Sound, Kapiti, and Cloudy Bay. The two latter places were for many years great rendezvous for whaling-ships, and some of their crews also formed stations on the land. At this period the native wars were raging in all their fury. Rauperaha had not yet succeeded in totally expel ling " Bloody Jack " and the Ngahitautrihe from their original dwelling-place, and the European proteges, for they were at first no more, had to share in the hardships and losses ofthe invading tribe with whom they had fra ternized. More than once their dwellings were burnt and their little all plundered, in a successful foray of the expelled inhabitants. I have already spoken of Fighting Bay, where a naval engagement took place between the canoes of the hostile tribes, from which Rauperaha barely escaped with his life. The White men, however, increased in number, while they rebuilt their establishments, and by com munication with Sydney acquired property, by which they became the protectors of the natives. The Ngatiawa tribes, too, in their migration from Ta ranaki, when expelled by the Waikato, had formed populous settlements in the immediate neighbour hood. The Ngahitau no longer dared come from the south when their invaders were well supplied with fire-arms and ammunition, and reinforced by the whalers' good boats, well manned and equipped, and additional native allies. The sharp lances and har poons could serve as arms in case of necessity, and the light whale-boat was a formidable opponent to the unwieldy canoe. During the early times, too, of these establishments, their communication with Sydney had been very pre carious, and they were for a long while unprovided 316 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XL even with the means of pursuing their trade in the most profitable manner. The carcass of the whale had often to be abandoned for want of casks in which to stow the oil, and the whalebone was the only re ward which they earned by their courage and skill. In 1839, when we arrived in Cook's Strait, their relations with Sydney were upon a more regular foot ing, and they had been for several years uninterrupted by hostile inroads from pursuing their occupation. The whaling- town of "Tarwhite" I have already partly described, as well as the numerous stations at Kapiti and Cloudy Bay. In the first beginning, these men associated together in small parties, and agreed upon one more skilful than the rest to direct the boat and take the principal part in killing the whale ; but his authority probably extended no further. As these establishments became more nu merous, and were regularly fitted out and maintained by merchants in Sydney, not only were the members of a " party" enrolled under articles to serve for the season, but the head man of each obtained a species of despotic authority, maintained both on shore and in the boats by the exertion of a strong will. The result was a discipline almost as good as that of a man-of- war, which could not fail to excite admiration. It is very remarkable that there exists among the whalers a certain code of laws, handed down by tradi tion, and almost universally adhered to, relating to adverse claims to a whale. Each whaling-bay has its own law or custom ; but they are generaUy very similar. It is recognized, for instance, that he who has once made fast has a right to the whale, even should he be obliged to cut his line, so long as his harpoon remains in her ; and each harpooner knows his own weapon by some private mark. The boat Chap. XI. WHALERS— SOCIAL ARRANGEMENTS. 317 making fast to the calf has a right to the cow, because she will never desert her young. A boat demanding assistance from the boat of a rival party shares equally with its assistant on receiving the required help. These and many other regulations are never written down, but are so well-known that a dispute rarely arises, and if so, is settled according to precedent by the oldest " headsmen." The only instance I ever knew of going to law on the subject occurred in 1843, when a boat had seized a whale that drifted from her anchorage, and returned the harpoon remaining in her to its owner. The whale was nearly ten miles from the place where she was killed ; but universal indigna tion was expressed against the man who insisted on appealing to a court of justice against the " laws of the The season for which the men engage themselves begins with the month of May, and lasts till the be ginning of October, thus extending over five months which include the winter. It is during this season that the female or cow whales resort to the coasts of New Zealand with their young calves ; and this in such numbers during some years, that whaling ships were accustomed to anchor at Kapiti, Port Underwood, and the ports in Banks's Peninsula, and thus to carry on a fishery subject to less hardship than in the open seas. The men are enrolled under three denominations : — headsman, boat-steerer, and common man. The heads- nian is, as his name implies, the commander of a boat ; and his place is at the helm except during the moment of killing the whale, which task falls to his lot. The ioat-steerer pulls the oar nearest the bow of the boat, fastens to the whale with the harpoon, and takes his name from having to steer the boat under the heads- 318 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. man's directions, while the latter kills the whale. The common men have nothing to do but to ply their oars according to orders ; except one, called the tub oarsman, who sits next to the tub containing the whale- line, and has to see that no entanglement takes place. The wages are shares of the profits of the fishery, ap portioned to the men according to their rank ; — the headsman getting more shares than the boat-steerer, and the boat-steerer than the common man. The leader of the " party" commands one of the boats, is called the " chief headsman," and is said to " head" the party, as each headsman is said to " head" his own boat. The boat-steerer or harpooner is likewise said to " steer" the boat to which he belongs, or, more frequently, its headsman. Thus, on meeting two whalers, and asking them what is their situation, one might answer, "I " heads the Kangaroo," while the other would say. " and I steers Big George." Their whole language in fact is an argot, or slang, almost unintelligible to a stranger. All their principal characters enjoy distinctive appellations, like the heroes of the Iliad. Thus I know one of the chief headsmen who'' was never called anything but " the old man." Another was called "Long Bob;" a third "Butcher " Nott;" and a fourth, an American, "Horse Lewis," to distinguish him from his two brothers of the same name. I have already said that Joseph Toms, of Te- awa-iti and Porirua, never went by any other name than " Geordie Bolts." Another was only known as " BUI " the Steward." " Flash BUI," " Gipsey Smith," and " Fat Jackson," « French Jim," " Bill the Cooper," and " Black Peter," may be allowed to conclude our selection from the titles of the whaling peerage. Then every article of trade with the natives has its slang term, — in order that they may converse with each Chap. XI. WHALING ARGOT, OR SLANG. 319 other respecting a purchase without initiating the native into their calculations. Thus pigs and pota toes were respectively represented by " grunters " and " sfuds; " guns, powder, blankets, pipes, and tobacco, by "shooting-sticks, dust, spreaders, steamers," Midi" weed;" A chief was called a "nob;" a slave, a "doctor;" a woman, a "heifer ;' a girl, a "titter;" and a child, a " squeaker." Then for the different native chiefs they had also private names, — such as " Satan," " the Old "Sarpent," "the Bully," "the Badger," "the Sneak," " the Greybeard," " the Murderer," " the Wild Fel- "low," and " the Long un." The parties enrolled in Sydney received an advance and spent it there ; a brig or schooner then carried the whole " mob," as the party was sometimes called, to their station in New Zealand, with new boats, tackle, provisions, spirits, goods with which to barter for fire wood and fresh food from the natives, clothing, tobacco, and various other necessaries, which were placed under the care of the chief headsman, and charged to him at an immense profit by the owner of the party in Sydney, as an advance on the produce of the season. Arrived in New Zealand, the party was joined by such members as had considered it convenient or agreeable to spend their summer there, and soon stood on a complete footing. The boats, which are now painted and fitted up, deserve a particular description. The whale- boat is a long clinker-built boat, sharp at both ends, and higher out of water at the head and stern than amidships, about twenty to thirty feet long, and varying in breadth according to the make. At the stern, a planking even with the gunwales reaches five or six feet forward, and is perforated perpendicularly by the loggerhead, a cylindrical piece of wood about six inches in diameter, which is used for checking the 320 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. whale-line by taking a turn or two round it. On this, too, it is customary to cut a notch for every whale killed by the boat. The old-fashioned boats were ge nerally made to pull five oars, the rowers of which were called respectively, beginning from the bow, the boat-steerer, bow-oarsman, midship-oarsman, tub-oars man, and after-oarsman. Boats are now built, how ever, for the shore-parties, to pull six, seven, and even eight oars. I believe an uneven number is the best, as in that case there remains an equal force on each side of the boat when the boat-steerer, who is also harpooner, stands up to do his work. The boat is steered by means of a long and ponderous oar, called the steer-oar, which leans on a piece of wood fixed to the stern-post, and is confined to its place by a strap reaching from the top of the stern-post to the end of the support. The oar, however, moves freely in this loop, and is generally covered with leather for eighteen inches of its length to protect it from wear and tear. Close to the handle is a transverse iron peg, which is held with the right hand, and serves to turn the oar. The headsman stands up to steer in the stern-sheets, and exhibits great skill in the management of the steer-oar, which is twenty-seven feet long in large boats. In a rough sea, an inexperienced person would not fail to be thrown overboard by it, but a whaler manages it with great ease and grace. The oars pull between thole pins, which always have a small thole-mat and spare pin attached, and are also protected by leather. On the opposite side of the boat to the tholes, below the level of the thwarts, a piece of wood with a small niche is strongly fixed to the side of the boat. This is for " peaking the oars," or placing the handles into, with out taking the oar out of the thole, so that the blade of the oar remains out of reach of the water, whether Chap. XL WHALING BOATS AND TACKLE. 321 saihng or running when fast to a whale. A boat in the act of peaking her oars to stop, is said to " heave " up." The mast and large lug-sail are stowed, while rowing, under the after-thwart with the other end pro jecting on the starboard hand of the helmsman, who can thus stow or unstow it himself. A whiff, or lio-ht flag-staff with fancy colours attached, is stowed with the mast and sail. The mast is shipped in the bow or second thwart, and the halyards are made fast to the midship-thwart. These boats are very fast under sail, and will bear a great press of canvas. In the bow of the boat a planking, similar to that in the stern, reaches some three or four feet aft, and has at its after end a notch large enough to admit a man's leg. This is to steady the harpooner while striking the whale. One of the forward thole-pins is called the crutch, from having branches on it which support the harpoons ready for use. The harpoon is an iron weapon, shaped like the top of a fleur-de-lis, and barbed so as not to draw out. It is placed on an ashen handle, five feet long^ and its point is covered by a small wooden case. The line is already fast to them, and communicates with two tubs in the middle of the boat, in which two hun dred fathoms of whale-line are neatly coiled. Spare harpoons, and lances with oval steel-pointed heads, all covered at the points, are ranged under the thwarts ; a light kedge is in the head-sheets, a water-keg and a bottle of grog are placed in the stern-sheets, with the pea-coats of the crew, and a box of biscuit if they ex pect to remain out late. Sometimes a " spade " is added to the armoury of the boat ; this is a sharp iron weapon, like a small baker's shovel, on a long handle. It is used by some of the boldest whalers to cut about the whales tail and render her less dangerous after she has been struck. VOL. I. Y 322 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. The boats are fancifully painted by their headsmen with mouldings of different colours, and a '¦ nose " dif ferent from the body. In the nose is generally painted some fanciful design, as a star, a crescent, a ball, or an eye. The name, too, frequently figures along the out side of the stern-sheets. The words of command are, as they need be, short and clear : one side is called the two-side, where the two oars are in the five-oared boat, and the other the three-side ; but in giving directions, the headsman only says, " pull two, back three," or vice versa. The other terms of head all, starn all, peak, heave up, &c., require no explanation. These boats are remarkably lively in a sea-way, will run very long before a gale of wind with safety, and will land safely through a very high surf They often run on when they are obliged to reef the sail by fastening the weather yard-arm to the gunwale ; and are believed capable of standing any weather, if hove-to with the steer-oar peaked, under the lee of a raft formed of the oars, mast, and sail. Some years ago, two whale-boats reached Guam in safety from Drummond's reef near the Equator, where their vessel had been wrecked. During heavy weather, they had frequent recourse to this plan, in the course of their perilous voyage of two thousand miles. The try-works, or large iron vats for boiling out the oil, are also cleaned, repaired, or renewed as circum stances may require ; the ways for launching the boats are strengthened and repaired ; the sheers and scaf folding with their tackle, the windlass, and planked way, used for cutting the blubber off the whale, are looked to, and made fit for use ; the boat-sheds, dwell ing-houses, cook-house, and cooperage are made wea ther-tight against the winter; and the provisions and other " property " are stowed away. The proper Chap. XI. WHALERS-NATIVE WIVES. 323 officers have been selected — such as cooper, carpenter, steward, cooks, painter, and "tonguer." The last- mentioned dignitary takes his name from having an exclusive right to the oil obtained from the tongue and other interior parts of the whale, in payment of his duty of " cutting-in," or dissecting, the whale. To a large party there was generally attached a clerk, who kept the accounts of each man at the store ; that is to say, that the men were all allowed to run into debt at the beginning of the season, receiving clothing, to bacco, and spirits at most exorbitant prices, so that the balance, if any, to be paid them in money at the end of the season might be as small as possible. Then the station was provisioned with potatoes and firewood bought from the natives ; pigs bought, killed, and salted down, and every preparation made. A very important one was the providing the whole party with native wives for the season. Those men who had remained during the summer were generally provided with a permanent companion, among whose relations they had been living, either in perfect idle ness, or employed in cultivating a small patch of land, or in buying pork and potatoes from the natives and selling them again for goods to the ships which touched on the coast. But the men who returned regularly with the oil to Sydney, or were then enter ing on their first season, went with such of their comrades as were well known by the natives to the. different villages in the neighbourhood, for the purposii of procuring a helpmate during the season. Regular bargains were struck between the experienced headsman or boat-steerer and the relations of the girls selected and in most cases the bargains were punctually ad hered to. In cases where the wife was negligent or slow to learn her duties of cooking, clothes-mending, y2 324 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XL and washing, the uncle or father would often take away the delinquent and bring another more fitted to perform his part of the bargain. The whaler's part consisted in a payment made on the completion of the bargain, and in a certain degree of indulgence to the begging visits of his new relations during the season. This provision appears to be looked upon as a necessary one by the headsmen ; and doubtless contributes much to the cleanliness, steadiness, and good order ol the men. The duty of the wahine is to get up an hour before daybreak ; cook the breakfast and arrange what her lord means to take in the boat, which ought to start before the day ; wash and mend his clothes ; keep the house in order ; and prepare his supper for his return. Then upon her reposes the task of grant ing hospitality to the traveller while the master of the house is away. And to these she often adds the vo luntary one of exposing herself to the brutality of the latter and his companions, excited by her attempts to dissuade him from the drunken orgies and wild scenes of combat which frequently succeed the return from the chase. These whalers' wives are generally distin guished by a strong affection for their companion ; are very quick in acquiring habits of order and cleanli ness ; facilitate the intercourse between the whalers and their oM^n countrymen ; and often manage to ob tain a strong influence over the wild passions of the former. Wives in everything but the ceremony, many of them become so formally on the arrival of an English clergyman in the neighbourhood. They form a very pleasing part of the picture, assisting in the civilization of their own countrymen by showing their esteem for the estimable qualities of the half- civilized man, while they partly succeed in softening and destroying those blameable features in his rough Chap. XL WHALE SIGNALLED— THE CHASE. 325 character which nature teaches them to pity rather than to despise. The preliminary orgies are nearly over ; the clerk stops the advances until something has been earned ; the headsmen administer a severe personal castigation to some few notorious characters who grumble at this curtailment of their ease; the boats are prac tised every day in pulling and sailing ; when at length, one morning early in May, a whale is signalled from a hill near the bay, where a look-out is constantly kept. Three or four boats are quickly launched, and leave the ways at a racing-pace ; the boats of the rival sta tions are seen gathering towards the same point ; and the occasional spout of the whale, looking like a small column of smoke on the horizon, indicates the direc tion to be taken. A great deal of stratagem and ge neralship is now shown by the different headsmen in their manoeuvres to be first " alongside." The whale may probably go for two or three miles in one direc tion, and then, after the various speed of the boats has placed them in a long file, tailing one after the other, suddenly reverse the position by appearing close to the last boat. The six and seven oared boats have greatly the advantage while the chase continues in a straight line ; but the short, old-fashioned five has the best of it if the fish makes many turns and doubles. It is Very common for some of the boats to dog the motions of that of a rival party commanded by a headsman of known experience ; and thus two boats may some times be seen starting suddenly in a direction to- taUy opposed to that taken by the others, and a race shortly begins between these two, the rest having no chance. The " old file " in one of these two has guessed from some circumstance in the tide, wind, or weather, or from some symptom noticed in the last 326 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. spout, that the fish would alter its course a point or two; and another headsman, who has been atten tively watching his movements, at last declares that " George is off," and, with a fresh word of encourage ment to his crew, follows swiftly in his wake. The chase now becomes animating : this last ]ma- noeuvre has cut off a considerable angle described by the whale ; her course and that of the boats almost cross each other ; and the crisis seems approaching. The headsman urges his rowers to exertion by en couraging descriptions of the animal's appearance. " There she breaches ! " * shouts he ; " and there goes " the calf ! " " Give way, my lads ; sharp and strong 's " the word ! — there she spouts again ! — give way iu " the lull ! — make her spin through it ! George a'n't " two boats' lengths a-head of us. Hurrah ! Now " she feels it, — pull while the squall lasts! Pull! — " go along, my boys !" All this time he is helping the after-oarsman by propelling his oar with the left hand while he steers with the right. This is technically called " backing-up." Each oar bends in a curve ; the foam flies from her bows as a tide-ripple is passed ; and both boats gain perceptibly on the whale. " And " there goes flukes ! " continues the headsman, as the huge animal makes a bound half out of water, and shows its broad tail as it plunges again head-first into the sea. " Send us alongside, my lads —now give " way ! — hurrah, my bonnies — hearty and strong ! — " hurrah ! I '11 wager a pint (there goes the calf " "gain !)— I '11 wager she tries out eight tun if she "makes a gallon— hurrah ! hurrah! hurrah then!-— " three or four strokes more and she '11 come up under "our nose. Stand up. Bill !" The boat-steerer peaks bis oar, places one leg in the round notch in the front * She leaps out of the water. CflAP. XL A NEW HAND—" MAKING FAST." 327 of the boat, and poises the harpoon, with line attached, over his head. A new hand, pulling one of the oars, begins to look frightened, and flags at his work, looking occasionally 9ver his shoulder ; a volley of oaths from the headsman accompanies a threat to " break every bone in his skin " if he funics now ;" and, beginning to fear the man more than the fish, he hardens his heart and pulls steadily on. A momentary pause is occasioned by the disappear ance of the whale, which at last rises close to the rival boat. Thair boat-steerer, a young hand lately pro moted, misses the whale with his harpoon, and is instantly knocked down by a water-keg flung full in his fiice by his enraged headsman, who spares no " bad " French" in explaining his motives. Our original friend then manoeuvres his boat steadily to the place where the whale will probably appear next. " Pull " two, back three !" shouts he, following a sudden turn in the whale's wake ; and, as she rises a few yards in front of the boat, he cries in rapid succession, " Look " out ! — all clear ? — give it her ! " and the harpoon flies true and straight into the black mass. This is called " making fast." " Peak your oars," says the headsman ; the line whistles over the bow ; a turn is taken round the loggerhead to check the rapidity with which the line runs out, and the boat flies positively ihrmgh the water, forming ridges of foam high above her sides. The men sit still with folded arms by their peaked oars, the boat-steerer with a small hatchet in his hand to cut the line should any entanglement occur ; and the after-oarsman occasionally pours water on the loggerhead, which smokes furiously. Now is shown the skUl of the headsman in steering the boat at this tremendous speed, and in watching every mo- 328 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. tion of the frightened whale. Now he gives directions to " haul in," when the line slackens ; now says " veer away again," as the fish takes a new start ; and ever and anon terrifies the new hand, who can't tell what's going to happen, into a sort of resignation. The others seem to think the "running" rather a relief from work than anything else ; they positively look as if they would smoke their pipes, were it not against all rule. The whale rapidly takes the line, — and the 200 fathoms in the boat are nearly exhausted by its sudden determination to try the depth of water, technically called " sounding ;" — but another boat of the same party, which had " hove up," or peaked her oars, when the chase was resigned to the two, comes up in answer to a whiff hoisted by our boat, and fixes a new harpoon in the whale as she rises to take breath. She soon becomes exhausted with her efforts, runs less rapidly, and rises more frequently to the surface ; and the heads man at last foresees the lucky moment. " Come aft ! " he cries ; and he and the boat-steerer change jUaces. The boat ceases her progress as the whale stops to rest. "Down oars, — give way!" are the orders given in sharp, clear tones ; and the crew, at least the old hands, know that he is nerved for his work by the decision apparent in his voice, and the way in which he balances the sharp, bright, oval- pointed lance. The whale seems to sleep on the surface ; but she is slowly preparing for a move as the boat comes up. He follows her every movement. " A steady pull ! " Row dry, boys !— lay on ! Pull two, back three !— " lay on ! head of all ! lay me alongside !" and, as the whale slowly rolls one fin out of water, the lance flies a good foot into the spot below where the " life" is Chap. XL KILLING A WHALE-THE " FLURRY." 329 said to be. The quick obedience to his instant order of " starn all — lay off !" saves the boat from annihila tion, as the whale swings round its huge tail out of -water, and brings it down with a tremendous report. She then " breaches," or leaps, and plunges in every direction ; the headsman continues to direct his crew and boat-steerer, while he poises a new lance, and keeps just out of the vortex formed by her evolutions ; the assistant boat and a third one have come up, and, being all of one party, watch outside the splashing for the best chance. One goes in, and having fixed a lance, receives a blow which smashes the boat and tv\o men's legs ; the third boat picks up the men ; our first man at last gets steered into the vortex, gives a well -aimed lance in the life, and retreats from the foam, which receives a roseate hue. The monster leaps out of the sea, flourishing her tail and fins, and strikes the water with a noise as loud as cannon. She wrig gles, and plunges, and twists, more furiously than ever, and splashes blood over the boat's crew, who still restrain their excitement and remain collected in all that they do. She is now in her " flurry ;" — she is said to " spout thick blood ;" and is a sure prize. The boat, by great good management, escapes all accident ; and the headsman chuckles as he cuts a notch on the loggerhead, and gives the crew a " tot " all round," promising the novice that he will have to treat the party to a gallon to-night, in order to pay his footing on killing his first fish. If the tide is favourable, all the boats of the party assemble, and tow the whale home ; if unfavourable, she is anchored for the night ; and the boats reach the ways at dusk. A drunken rejoicing lasts till the middle ofthe night ; the headsmen meet in the principal ware at supper, and spin long yarns about their old whaling 330 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. fe:its, the speed of their new boats, the strength of their crews, and the likelihood of a good season ; the doctor, generally the runaway surgeon of a whaling- ship, who gets fed and clothed by all the neighbouring stations, attends to the broken limbs ; and the little town gra dually subsides into silence, now and then interrupted by the barking of a bull-dog from one of the huts, or the jibbering of a night-bird (called the titi porangi) as it flies across the bay. So passes the season ; except that whUe a whale is trying out, the operation goes on night and day; alternate gangs, still commanded by their headsmen, being " on watch " at the try-works. This has been already described at Te-aiva-iti. Should a stranger visit the settlement on his travels, he is met by a hearty welcome. The best of eating and drinking is placed before him ; the steward and the women are ordered to attend to him while the boats are away ; and the best bunk is prepared for him at night. For the information of those who do not know what a bunk is, I must explain that it is a bed- place built against the wall of a house or ship. They are commonly ranged in double tier, like those in the saloon of a Channel steamer. A whaler's house is generally built by the natives. It is either entirely composed of reeds and rushes woven over a wooden frame, — or else the walls consist of a wattled hurdle made of supple-jack (kareau) covered inside and out with clay, and the roof is thatched. A huge chimney nearly fills one end of the house ; — and generally swarms with natives, iron pots and kettles, favourite dogs, and joints of the whale's backbone, which serve as stools. A view of some fine hams, bacon, and fish, repays the exertion of peering through the wood-smoke up the chimney. Bunks with neat curtains line the greater part of the sides of the house. Chap. XL A WHALER'S HOUSE— CLEANLINESS. 331 A large deal table and two long benches stand in the middle of the hard earthen floor. The rafters support spare coils of rope, oars, masts and sails, lances, spades and harpoons, and a tin oil-lamp carefully burnished. Two square holes in the wall serve as windows, with wooden shutters for the night. The harness-cask (for salt meat), flour-keg, and water-butt, stand on one side, and a neat dresser, shining with bright tin dishes and a few glasses and articles of crockery, on the other side of the door. On the threshold an old mongrel pig-dog, scarred all over the head and neck by repeated battles, lies repelling the advances of a tame sow, and those of some begging natives, who have an equal desire to be allowed the opportunity of picking up any thing which may have been left about inside. Two or three of the Maori are asleep, rolled in their blankets against the sunny wall; and a few half-caste children are playing with the goats or hallooing at the fowls and pigeons on the oily beach before the house. The great cleanliness and neatness which prevail in the house, and in the dress of the native women and their children, reminds one of a Dutch coaster ; this is evidently a point on which the whaler is ex ceedingly particular. Should a vessel heave in sight, boats will pull out a long distance to meet her, and pilot her in. This arises partly from a wish to hear news, and partly from the proverbial readiness of the sailor to assist his fellow. When the Tory was lying at Kapiti in Oc tober 1839, a brig was seen to the southward, making vain attempts to reach the anchorage against a strong north-west gale. Ignorant of the locality, and weak- handed, the captain was exposing himself to the un favourable tide, and losing ground. Tommy Evans, the "old man" Avho headed the principal station. 332 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. started in the worst of the gale to get on board. The vessel was badly managed, and, by wearing instead of tacking, missed the boat, which was thus left about three miles from the station, in the midst of a heavy tide-rip, to struggle back against a spring-tide and gale of wind. For two hours the boat remained pulling in the same spot, unable to advance. At length the tide slackened, and we saw the tired crew haul up the boat on the ways. The brig was by this time ten miles off, and the gale more violent than ever. One of the men muttered as he walked to his house that " he had not signed to pull after Sydney " brigs." The "old man" turned round and said with a string of oaths, " You grumble, do you ? I shall pull "out to her again. — Launch my boat!" and it was with great difficulty that he was dissuaded from the en terprise, which would probably have been his last. This man's station on Tokomupuna, or Evans's Island, was always a model of discipline. His boat might have been taken for a fancy gig from a man-of-war or yacht. She was painted flesh-colour, with a red nose bearing the Prince of Wales's feather ; and her name, the " Saucy Jack," was painted near the stern. The crew were generally in a sort of uniform ; — red or blue worsted shirts, with white binding on the seams, — white trowsers, and sou'-westers. A mat was in the stern sheets ; the tholes were carefully covered with matting ; the harpoons, lances, mast and sail, and the very whiff, were protected by covers of canvass painted green. When she dashed alongside a vessel at anchor, the oars were shipped, and the steer-oar was drawn in and received by the after-oarsman as the headsman left the boat. She was then shoved off, with a line from her bow thwart to the vessel, each man remain ing at his place, in regular man-o'-war style. The Chap. XL WHALERS— THEIR DARING COURAGE. 333 same order and discipline is preserved at the different look-outs where the men land, while waiting till whales appear. If there is deep water, the boat is moored off the beach, with a shore-line ; if it is on a shallow coast, as between Waikanae Point and Otaki, the boat is hauled up out of the tide and supported by chocks, and a boat-keeper constantly attends to her. Two fires are lighted for each crew ; at one are the headsman and boat-steerer, the rest of the men at the other. They have sometimes very hard work : in seasons when the whales are scarce, I have seen boats from Kapiti at Horowenua, a distance of fifteen miles to windward, half an hour after daylight. And the whole distance is rowed without a rest ; it is not until arrived on the ground selected for the day that the headsman aUows them to peak their oars and light a pipe. They seem to dare the elements on almost all occa sions. I have seen a whale-boat leave Wellington for Kaikora, to the south of Cape Campbell, in a gale of wind which kept many small coasters in, only because Black Murray, the chief headsman, thought his men had enjoyed drinking enough on their advances, and because he thought it easier to get them away to the station while they were intoxicated. He got safe across, having performed, by means of his own skill and pre sence of mind, a task most difl&cult and dangerous even to a sober boat's crew. During the season of 1843, a whale pursued by seve ral rival boats fled into the surf which breaks a quarter of a mile from the shore off Otaki in or after heavy weather. Most of the boats " hove-up " outside the surf ; and I believe none of the headsmen would have engaged even to land that day without capsizing. But " BUI the "Steward," who was luckily heading a short, handy 334 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. boat, went boldly in after the fish, fastened, ran, and killed her, all in the surf This remarkable decision and courage has also dis tinguished them in their disagreements with the na tives. Early in 1843, Rauperaha and Rangihaeata, intent upon plunder, picked a quarrel with a man named "Long George" who headed a small two-boat station on the main island of Kapiti. They surprised him one morning, attended by their retinue, and took away everything that he had, including his boats, to Rauperahds island. He managed to communicate with the two large whaling-stations. The head of that on Evans's Island refused to interfere, dreading the inter vention of the Magistrates at W^ellington. The heads men of that at Te Kau o ie rangi seem to have known how groundless such fears were, and settled the affair with promptitude and effect. They filled two or three boats with men armed with lances, harpoons, spades, or old rusty muskets, and pulled straight down to Rau perahds island. He came out on the beach as they approached, and began " bouncing," as it is called, and asking their in tentions. " We '11 show you when we 're ashore ! " ansAvered they ; and jumping out of their boats, they surrounded him and Rangihaeata with their dangerous weapons, and demanded instant restitution of everything that had been taken. The request was immediately granted, as well as the additionally submissive terms of making the natives themselves launch the boats and put the other goods into them. They then left the humbled ruffians, with a promise to drive them right away from Kapiti if they committed another like offence. In some of the stations, the common men are all Chap. XL IMPROVEMENT AMONG NATIVES. 335 native lads ; — and those who have employed them speak well of the experiment. It may be supposed that, in consequence of this custom, and that of having native wives, the whalers had effected a considerable change among the natives before the arrival of the Tory. We found many who dressed constantly in European clothes, and spoke a good deal of English ; — some few had acquired a considerable knowledge of carpentering; the canoes were most of them sailed with duck sails instead of flax ones, and steered with a steer-oar, in imitation of the boats. Two boats were fitted out from the native village of Wekanui, close to Te-awa-iti, entirely by natives ; who, though they never succeeded in kiUing a whale, often made fast, and received 20/. for each one from the boat which profited by their ex ertions. Hiko always travels in a whale-boat, and has been known to fasten on a whale. The natives to the south are said to be stUl more forward in their imi tation of the industry and skill of the whalers and sealers. The Ngahitau tribe are reported to own thirty large sealing-boats. Some of these I have seen at Kapiti, during a visit made by some chiefs of that tribe to Rauperaha. They are exceedingly fine sea- boats, managed with a steer-oar, round at both ends, and rigged with two lug-sails. " Bloody Jack," their principal chief, is said to manage his boat with the courage and skill of an Englishman, and to keep out at sea in harder weather than any of his countrymen during their expeditions along the coast to collect whalebone. But the bad points of the whaler's character have also passed, with the very worst effect, into the dispo sition of some of the natives. They have acquired, in some few cases, the habits of drinking ; in many, boastful and insolent behaviour, and callousness to 336 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. feeling. The old chiefs have become accustomed to be bribed and flattered into good-humour in the early days when the whalers were not numerous enough to defend themselves, and also in the summer when they are dispersed about. In consequence, these chiefs have acquired an overbearing, grasping, and bullying demean our ; which, though laughed at by the whalers when assembled, falls with redoubled force on new-comers unused to deal with them, or on scattered settlers. They never fail to try it on every European with whom they meet. In some revolting instances, (but these, I wUl say, are exceptions,) the natives have been incited and assisted in hostility towards the colonists by some of the whalers. I believe that the whalers, as a class, would be the first to brand such wretches with infamy, if fully convicted of the crime. The whalers had thus, before our arrival, braved the first dangers of the intercourse between the savage and the civilized man ; — they had explored the coast and seaboard country, and had introduced new wants as well as new vices, and a considerable degree of respect for the physical qualities of the pakeka among the abo riginal population. With the exception of the expedi tion made by Marsden in 1814. I believe that in every instance these rough pioneers had smoothed the way for a more valuable civilization ; and that the missionaries, or the settlers, followed on their traces. I mention this with no wish to detract from the credit due to that system which first proposed to seek the benefit of the natives alone, and to obtain a deserved moral influence over them ; but I state as a curious fact, that, whether as whalers and sealers in the south, or sawyers and flax or provision traders in the north, the first rough and unconscious pioneers of civilization were those who experienced the greatest hardships ; and that they Chap. XL WHALERS— SAWYERS— TRADERS. 337 preserved their station amoiig the natives by the display of their physical force. In his dealings with the European settlements, the whaler very much resembles a saUor off a cruise. After the men have been paid the balance due to them at the end of the season, they go to Wellington or Nelson to spend it. The trade of supplying them and buying their oU has naturally fallen out of the hands of the Sydney merchants, into those of persons at Wellington, who pay them better, and send the oil direct to Eng land. During six weeks or two months, Wellington becomes a Portsmouth in miniature. Every public- house has its fiddle and hornpipe going ; a little theatre fills once a-week ; and the weak constabulary force of Wellington suffers from various practical jokes. Boat-races, on which heavy bets sometimes depend, come off, and an occasional fight, arising from the pro found contempt which the whaler expresses for the "lubber of a. jimmy- grant," as he calls the emigrant, completes the programme of the amusements during the period. Should the whaling-trade increase and prosper, the quiet people wUl soon be forced to reside m villas out of town, and resign Wellington to its busi ness as a sea-port. When the money is spent, most of the men seek for employment in the settlements. Some join with the sawyers, a class of men who are composed of nearly the same materials, and whose cha racter is somewhat congenial to that of the whaler, as they live a wUd life in the forest on the outskirts of the settlements, love drink, and have known many of the same places and people. The sawyer's habits, however, do uot encourage the same hardy daring, or an equal degree of order and cleanliness. The sawyer proper is decidedly an inferior grade of the whaler. Others trade with the natives for pigs and potatoes, VOL. I. z 338 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. which they bring to market in the settlements. The mere trader, also, is naturally a degree below the whaler. In order to make a profit, he must take pains to fawn and flatter the natives, without making any unnecessary presents ; a task very difficult, and debasing in its moral effects. The best man is the one who retires, after his " spree," to the village where the tribe of his native woman reside, and spends the summer in cultivating a bit of land given to him by the natives. Some few of these are in constant doubt between the quiet pleasures of agriculture and a domestic life, and the wild excitement of the whale-chase. I have heard more than one declare, as he showed me his neat patch of wheat, or promising fruit-trees, that " he had had " enough of whaling," he should " let those fag that " would next year ;" but the 1st of May saw him again at his steer-oar, eagerly backing up, and shouting, " There she spouts !" The lumberers and sawyers of the kauri districts, the pork and flax traders who catered for the Sydney coasters for many years in the Northern Island, at Kawia, Taranake, the Bay of Plenty, and Poverty Bay, and Rotorua and the other neighbouring inland districts, were all of the same class, and have often dis played the same reckless courage while taking a part in the native wars. The sealers of the south were as nearly as possible the same men, and were distinguished for the same qualities. The refuse of these different classes is to be met with in all parts of the islands. Idle, drunken, vagabond, and vicious in his habits, he would become the bush ranger of New Zealand were there temptation enough for such a class. As it is, he wanders about without any fixed object, cannot get employed by the whaler or any one else, as it is out of his power to do a day's Chap. XL " BEACH-COMBERS "—WHALING-STATIONS. ,339 work ; and he is universally known as the " beach comber." He often visits the apologies for jails which are suffered to exist in the new settlements ; but only remains in them as long as it suits his convenience to be fed at the public expense. One of them, an Irish man well known in Cook's Strait as " Larry," after escaping from the hut called a prison, which then sheltered the bad characters at Wellington, declared his intention of "walking to Sydney by land this " sason ! " The whaling stations dependent on Wellington in the season 1844 were as follows : — On the North Island there were — 2 boats at Mana ; 7 „ Kapiti ; 1 1 „ Hawke's Bay ; 3 „ Palliser Bay ; 2 „ Taranaki ; and on the Middle Island there were — 2 boats at Te-awa-iti ; 7 „ Port Underwood ; 8 „ Kaikora, south of Cape Campbell ; 4 boats near Port Cooper ; 9 „ on the south side of Banks's Peninsula ; 2 „ Waikawaiki, between that and Otako ; and 11 „ stations further south. Many of the thirty-two stations to which these boats belong have removed from Cook's Strait to places fur ther south which have been thought more avaUable. These sixty-eight boats employed in their own manage ment and that of the small craft attending on them about 650 men. In the last season they procured 1215 tuns of oU, z2 340 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XL and 49 tons of whalebone ; worth altogether about 50,000/. in the London market. The success of the fishery varies, of course, every season ; but there is every reason to think that it is on the decline. The whales are, doubtless, unnecessarily thinned by the practice of killing the cows, and even the young calves, who do not survive the practice of making fast to them in order to catch their mother. The shoals seem to set in from the southward late in April or in the beginning of May, and are seen first in Cook's Strait, at Palliser Bay and Port Un derwood. They then proceed up the Strait, preferring the north shore, which is generally shoal, and thus passing close to Mana and Kapiti. They fill the shoal " Motherly" bay extending along nearly 150 miles of coast, between Kapiti and Cape Egmont, and are also seen for some distance north of the Sugar- loaf Islands. In the " Motherly" bay, as it is called, because they resort to it for calving, they have never yet been disturbed ; and I have seen them in great num bers, basking outside the surf, from the coast between Manawatu and Patea. I cordially join with those who consider that all shore-whaling should be forbidden, as I am convinced that a much greater advantage would result to those who profit by the trade, were ships fitted out from our Australasian colonies, and the fish allowed to visit, unmolested, the calving-bays to which they resort during the period of gestation. A considerable waste of time and expense would be obviated, were the whalers fitted out from the ports of Australia and New Zealand which are close to the whaling- grounds, and other ships employed to bring the pro duce home. A whaler sails from England, and returns, perhaps full, after three years. She has only Chap. XL WHALERS— MIGHT HAVE BECOME BUCCANEERS. 341 spent, however, two years at the most on the whaling- grounds ; while the colonial whalers would be con stantly in employment, except -while discharging and refitting at a spot within a week's sail of their work. It is frightful to calculate what might have been the consequences had these rough colonizers been allowed to go many years more unheeded. That the natives would have been speedily exterminated is hardly to be doubted — whether by vice and disease, or by actual collision with these growing commu nities. Their bad effect might even have been felt by all the maritime world. In a country so adapted for the building and outfitting of ships, and where living was so easy and comfortable, the tortuous bays of the Pelorus and Queen Charlotte's Sound might have swarmed with a powerful nation of buccaneers, pos sessing every requisite fer the spoliation of our com merce with Australia and the South Sea Islands. On one occasion, when some rumour of a war between the United States and Great Britain had reached New Zealand, I knew of extensive designs among the whalers for seizing as prizes, with their boats alone, every American whaler or other ship that might approach the Strait. Having thus dwelt rather harshly on what the whalers might have become, I am bound to say that I owe them personally many obligations. Although they have a dark side to their character, they claim gratitude for their frankness and hospitality, and admiration for their extraordinary intrepidity, their unbounded resolution, their great power of enduring hardships, and their perseverance in overcoming prac tical difficulties. 342 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XL Captain Lewis had been disappointed of the neces sary supplies for whaling, which had been promised him by Mayhew, who kept the store on Rauperahds island. He had in consequence gone to Manawatu, and joined two or three other men in building a small schooner. He still, however, kept a house on Hikds isknd, and was often there. A small party of very disorderly whalers had established themselves with the natives on the other end, and were positively despised by the men of the other stations, because they were often so drunk, or ill from continued drinking and debauchery, as to miss many chances of whales. An industrious Scotch carpenter, who had left a whaling-ship some years before, afforded a striking contrast to their disgusting behaviour. His name was William Couper, and I had known him when I was here before in the Tory. He kept steadily sober and industrious, and was said to have accumulated a good little capital, what with mending the whale-boats and ships, and trading with the natives, who, under the influence of Hiko, had befriended and patronized him. He had patched up two old boats, and was about to take them for sale to Port Nicholson, where he thought of setting up in some line, should the place appear " likely." I spent much of the time in fishing for wareho. This fish, which much resembles the kawai in form, differs in its superiority of flavour, and also in being found only at this season of the year. The inner side of Kapiti, and the small bay near Cape Terawiti, in which the village of Ohariu is situate, seem to be its favourite grounds. The natives are very fond of this fish, and take large quantities, which they dry in their usual way in the sun. When put into a salting-tub Chap. XL WAREHO FISHING. 343 for about twenty-four hours, and then up the chimney of a wood fire for a week, the wareho becomes quite an epicure's breakfast. When I was tired of catching these fish and seeing others catch whales, I got a cast over to Waikanae in one of the boats, and walked to Pitone, resting one night at Captain Thomas's hospitable ware. I reached Port Nicholson about the 14th of July. 344 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. CHAPTER XII. Company's store-ships — Major Bunbury's expedition in H. M. S. Herald — Proclamation of British sovereignty in Stewart's and Middle Islands — Rauperaha and Rangihaeata sign the cession of sovereignty — Cattle at Cloudy Bay — Public meeting — Colonel Wakefield deputed to present address to the Lieutenant-Governor — News from England — Plymouth Company of New Zealand- Sanguine hopes— Purchase of the Chatham Islands — Selection of town-lands — New Zealand Land Bill of New South Wales — In consistencies in government — Mr. Busby — Panic of settlers — A trip to the Manawatu river — Level country — Ship-building — Morose chief — Ascent of the river by a trader — Its course — Return to Port Nicholson — The Chilian project — Return of Colonel Wakefield with the answer of the Lieutenant-Governor — Deputation to Sir George Gipps — The towns in the North — French expedition — Its object frustrated — Second riot at the Bay of Islands — Disturbance at Port Nicholson — Proclamation of Lieutenant Shortland — His offensive pomposity — His undignified conduct — A bullock -driver — Settlers drowned at Pitone — Affec tionate natives — Exploring expedition towards Mount Egmont. The barque Brougham had arrived from England with a plentiful store of flour and other provisions ; the Company having thus taken all necessary precau tions against the possibility of that starvation from which the Sydney people had so kindly volunteered to save us. She was lying opposite my uncle's house, having landed her cargo at the Pitone stores. A second store-ship was daily expected, which was to bring out a wooden house for the Governor, as well as more provisions. On the 20th, her Majesty's ship Herald had visited Port Nicholson, just after I fell in with her in the Strait. Major Bunbury had been instructed to pro- Chap. XII. EXPEDITION OF MAJOR BUNBURY. 345 ceed in that frigate to extend the sovereignty of the Queen of England over the Middle and Stewart's Islands. He had visited various ports in both those places, and obtained the signatures of Tuawaike or "Bloody Jack," of a brother of the same Mairanui who was taken and kUled.by Rauperaha in the Eliza beth trip, and of several other chiefs, to a copy of the agreement signed at the Bay of Islands. He had declared the sovereignty of her Majesty by formal proclamation, and taken possession of both islands ; at Southern Port, in Stewart's Island, on the 5th of June ; and at Port Underwood, in Cloudy Bay, on the 17th of the same month. In the latter case alone the proclamation based the assumption of sovereignty on its cession by the native chiefs. He had then visited Kapiti, and meeting Rauperaha in his canoe, had taken that chief down to Mana, in order to obtain the signatur.es of Rangihaeata and Hiko. The latter was absent on the mainland ; but Rangihaeata and Rauperaha had both signed on board the Herald on the 19th of .lune. Rauperaha thus signed twice, for his signature had been previously obtained by the Rev. Henry Williams. On the 20th, the Herald had anchored in the entrance of Port Nicholson, and Major Bunbury had communicated with the Colonial Secretary. On the 21st, the frigate sailed all about the harbour, and Major Bunbury had landed and been introduced to some of the settlers at Captain Smith's house. It had at first been reported that the Herald was to take the soldiers round to Mana, in order to settle the dispute over the whaler's property which I have mentioned. It subsequently appeared that Major Bunbury had treated this affair as of little importance, although the whalers had represented to him that Rangihaeata and 346 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. other chiefs had got possession of a considerable part of the property. The frigate sailed away on her return to the Bay of Islands the same evening, beating out in the dark against a fresh south-east breeze, with her boats holding lights on the extremities of the reefs. News had been heard of the arrival of a ship-load of cattle in Cloudy Bay, with the agent of a Sydney firm, who claimed the Wairau plains near that place. They had written to Colonel Wakefield, informing him that they held the original of the deed by which Rauperaha, Rangihaeata, and other chiefs, had made that district over to Captain Blenkinsopp many years before. So that it appeared that the deed sold to Colonel Wake field at Hokianga by his widow was possibly only a copy. The agent, Mr. Wilton, had, however, been prevented from driving his cattle on to the plains by our old friends the Cloudy Bay natives, who denied the sale altogether ; and the cattle were running, by suf ferance, on the hills close to Port Underwood. A public meeting of the colonists had been held on the 1st of July, for the purpose of voting an address to Lieutenant-Governor Hobson. Colonel Wakefield had presided at this meeting, and had been unanimously caUed upon to proceed to the Bay of Islands for the purpose of presenting the address to his Excellency. The utmost loyalty and good feeling had reigned over the assembly, whose sentiments cordially chimed in with those of the Directors of the Company. The Di rectors, without assuming any power of controlling the settlers, had conveyed to them, by means of the dis patches brought in the Brougham, an earnest hope that they would render every assistance and co-operation in contributing to the success of Captain Hobson's mis sion. The address, which was unanimously adopted, was couched in the most loyal terms. While it ap- Chap. XII. PLYMOUTH NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. 347 pealed with surprise against the imputation upon their aUegiance displayed by Lieutenant Shortland's pro ceedings, it humbly expressed the hope of the settlers that his Excellency would decide upon fixing the seat of government at a spot so admirably adapted for it as Port Nicholson, and among the great body of the respectable colonists from England. The Brougham was preparing to convey Colonel Wakefield on this mission when I arrived, and he sailed on the 19th of July. The Platina, which had brought Governor Hobson's wooden house, and some more provisions and stores for the Company, had arrived on the 6th. Colonel Wake field had therefore to obtain the instructions of the Lieutenant-Governor as to the destination of his resi dence. It was sanguinely hoped that, in answer to the concluding paragraph of the address, his Excel lency would send back word to have it erected here, in readiness for his arrival amongst us. The Platina brought news of the assemblage of some thousands of emigrants in England, in readiness to embark as soon as they should hear the first ac counts of the arrival and proceedings of the Tory ; of the change of the name of the Company, now styled the New Zealand Company ; of the formation of another company at Plymouth,* who were to be in connexion with the main Company, but to have a town and district for their colonists distinct from that * Among the Directors of this Company, which afterwards merged into the London Company, and became its WeSt of Eng land Branch, were — Lord Devon (Governor) ; Sir Anthony Bul- ler ; the Mayor of Plymouth ; Lord Eliot (now Lord St. Ger mains); Sir Charles Lemon; Sir William Molesworth; Mr. E. W. W. Pendarves; Mr. Edward St. Aubyn; and Sir Hussey Vivian. 348 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. of the first settlers ; and of the publication of a news paper in England especially devoted to news relating to this colony, and called the ' New Zealand Journal.' This appearance of vigorous efforts at home in sup port of the progress of the new community, combined with the knowledge that they had overcome aU the difficulties which had at first arisen from an apparent belief of the local authorities in their disaffection, pro duced among the settlers the brightest hopes and most lively spirits. It was looked upon as almost certain that Captain Hobson would be too glad to respond to their loyal invitation ; and that a vigorous and happy colony, fostered and cherished by his countenance and authority, and supported by such strong sympathy at home, would soon achieve no despicable reputation for itself as well as for him. On the 1 3th, the Cuba returned from the Chatham Islands. Mr. Hanson, the Company's agent, had suc ceeded in purchasing the whole of the group. These islands have been so fully described by Messrs. Dief fenbach and Heaphy,* who formed part ofthe expedi tion, that I refrain from following in their track by repeating what I collected from them. Colonel Wakefield, having appointed Mr. Hanson as acting Agent of the Company during his absence, sailed in the Brougham for the Bay of Islands on the 19th. On the 28th, the selection of the town-lands commenced, after a little delay arising from protests and objections by some of the numerous choosers. * ' Narrative of a Residence in various Parts of New Zealand,' by Charles Heaphy, Draftsman to the New Zealand Company. Smith, Elder, & Co., 1842. ' Travels in New Zealand,' by Ernest Dieffenbach, M.D., late naturalist to the New Zealand Company. In 2 vols. John Murray, 1843. Chap. XII. SELECTION OF TOWN-LANDS. 349 Many of the original buyers in London had confided the task of selecting for them to agents among the colonists. The meeting for this purpose took place in a large unfinished wooden building, which Dr. Evans had brought out with him, and which Dicky Barrett had bought and erected on the beach for an hotel. A table was placed on that part of the ground- floor which was floored, to support the map of the town and the books of the principal selectors. The most interested or most querulous settlers were ga thered round Mr. Hanson, Captain Smith and his assistants ; asking questions, raising difficulties or meeting them, and keeping an eye to some desired sec tion ; whUe those who had but late choices, or others who were mere spectators, stood talking in the win dows of the long room, or explored the skeleton upper story of the embryo hotel. On the 3 1st, some mistake was discovered in the plan ; and the further selection was consequently postponed to the 10th of August, and was not completed until the 14th. Ample reserves for public purposes appeared on the plan ; one acre was reserved for the Company, as a site for the immigration buildings, and the Native Reserves, consisting of one hundred sections of one acre each, were judiciously selected by Captain Smith. Among others, the section on which the hotel was building, which is of as great value as any in the town, fell to the lot of the natives. Two acres adjoining each other, and possessed of some of the best water-frontage, were also excluded from the general choice, in accordance with the arrangement made between the Rev. Henry Williams and Colonel Wakefield. This rather startling excep tion was passed over, however, in silence by even the 350 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. most captious of the protesters. They seemed to ap preciate its useful object. On the 4th of August, intelligence was received from Sydney, which produced great agitation among the settlers at Port Nicholson. The views of Sir George Gipps, the Governor of New South Wales, with re gard to claims to land in this country, had been em bodied in a measure called the New Zealand Land Bill, and this, we heard, had passed the Legislative Council. The Bill commenced by declaring that the abori ginal inhabitants of New Zealand had no right to confer any permanent interest in their lands on any individual not a member of their tribes, because they could only be considered to hold these lands in trust for their future descendants. It therefore declared any title to lands in New Zealand not derived from the Crown null and void. All claims to such lands were to be addressed within six months to the Co lonial Secretary of New South Wales, in order that he might refer them to a Board of Commissioners ; for whose appointment, operations, and remuneration, the Bill also provided. It was especially enacted that the Commissioners should be guided in their inquiries " by the real justice and good conscience of the case, "without regard to legal forms and solemnities." But the most remarkable feature of the new law was a most stringent provision, which forbade the Commissioners from recommending favourably to the Governor any grant of land " exceeding in extent 2560 " acres, or comprehending any headland, promontory, " bay, or island that might hereafter be required for " the purposes of defence or for the site of any town, " nor any land situate on the sea-shore within a certain Chap. XII. NEW ZEALAND LAND BILL— PANIC. 351 "number of yards of high-water mark, or any other " land situate within so many miles of the mouth of " any river navigable for vessels of more than fifty tons " burthen, nor of any land which, in point of situation " or otherwise, would have been in New South Wales " not open to the selection of settlers under the Go- " vernment Regulations which were in force on the " 1st of July 1840." And it was especially provided that the Governor might use his discretion in grant ing or not any claim, even if recommended by the Commission. The panic which seized the great body of colonists on the receipt of this intelligence is hardly to be con ceived. The measure promised to deprive them of the very site of a town under their feet, which was at that moment being distributed to them for occupation and improvement. Moreover, it seemed uncertain whether any country lands at all would be shared among them ; as the Company, like any other claimant, might be re stricted to the maximum allowance of four square mUes of land : for the Bill, expressly disallowing the consideration of any payment made for land, except to the aboriginal inhabitants, overthrew the claims of the settlers at Port Nicholson to the land for which they had paid at the rate of a pound per acre to the Com pany ; who, in their turn, employed three-fourths of this payment in carrying labourers to the colony. The inhabitants of New South Wales who owned land in New Zealand had petitioned and spoken before the Legislative Council against the Bill. Generally, they objected to the principles on which it was founded, as totally at variance with those of the proclamations and proceedings of Lieutenant-Governor Hobson. He had assumed the sovereignty of the Queen over 352 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. New Zealand on the ground that it had been ceded by chiefs whom he recognized as having been an in dependent power before he obtained that cession. The Land Bill, on the contrary, asserted the right of the Crown to define and restrict the privileges exercised by these chiefs during a long period of their independence previous to the cession ; to decide whether they had possessed during that independence the right of granting away their lands ; and to enforce the nullity of all titles so granted. In short, the question at stake between the opponents or friends of the mea sure was, whether any legislation of the present British Government could affect what the native chiefs had done before they ceded their independence. If so, it was argued, the whole process of cession became a mere vain form, as the British Government might now invalidate their former independence with as much right as their former unfettered possession of their lands, and right to do as they liked with their own. Then individual opponents had put forward the great injustice which they should endure, in the case of the enforcement of the measure. Among the fore most and most earnest of these was Mr. Busby, the late British Resident, or " man-of-war without guns,'' at the Bay of Islands. Mr. Busby, whether accredited to the missionaries, or to the thirteen chiefs to whose letter his appoint ment was the answer, had not failed to consider the thirteen chiefs or some of their relations as fully jus tified in selling to him a large tract of land, as they had to his coadjutors the missionaries ; and he had laid out a township, which he called " Victoria " on a part of it which was likely to increase rapidly in value. Chap. XII. MR. BUSBY. 353 as it formed a portion of the coast of a very frequented part of the Bay of Islands, and lay at the mouth of one of the rivers which flow into that harbour. Thus, Mr. Busby complained, that he was not only ousted from his place by the Lieutenant-Governor over nothing, but was deprived of a property which he had long previously acquired by the free consent of the court whose independence had been recognized at the same time as his own official existence. For, al though virtually accredited to the Church missionaries, he had been nominally accredited to the New Zealand nation, represented by the thirteen chiefs of the Bay of Islands. On the appointment of Mr. Busby, and the subsequent selection of a flag by some of the thir teen chiefs or their relations out of a dozen offered for their choice by the captain of some man-of-war which once anchored in the Bay of Islands, had been founded the theory that Great Britain had recognized the New Zealanders as an independent nation: and, although neither Busby nor the flag had ever been heard of by any natives residing beyond the extreme North end of the North Island, the negotiations between the British Government and the New Zealand Association, and the proceedings of Lieutenant-Governor Hobson, had recognized this somewhat fanciful theory. It was in a tent erected on the land which Mr. Busby had acquired from the chiefs while independent, that Lieutenant- Governor Hobson, by obtaining a cession of their sove reignty, had first acquired the dominion as well as the name of a Governor. And six months after this very cession, Mr. Busby saw himself deprived, by Lieute nant-Governor Hobson's commanding officer, of his valuable acquisition, on the ground that those very chiefs had at no time, even before Captain Cook's visits to New Zealandybeen independent to such a degree as VOL. I. 2 A 354 ADVENTUEE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. to give them an unrestricted right to dispose of their lands to any but their own people. The Port Nicholson settlers had the same reason to cry out against the injustice of this sweeping measure ; and they moreover felt that they had deserved some better reward for the courage with which they had ex tended British occupation over this part of the islands, and the loyalty with which they had hailed and assisted the establishment of British allegiance. Various were the projects suggested by the panic- struck adventurers, each according to his disposition. Some few hoped that Captain Hobson would become unshackled Governor of New Zealand as a separate colony, and trusted that he would follow a course con sistent with the ceremonies by which he had been in augurated. Another class, perplexed by so sudden and extensive an obstacle, and deprived of the en couragement which Colonel Wakefield's presence had afforded to their early efforts, invented wild schemes of re-emigration to another country and more considerate laws. But another very brave, prudent, and infiuential class, determined to stand manfully before these first serious difficulties. They appeased the fears and ridi culed the flighty projects of the weak-minded, while at the same time they nerved themselves for the new delay and troubles suspended over their hfeads by the Government of New South Wales. This agitation was at its height when, early in Au gust, I proceeded to explore the lower part of the Manawatu river. I had joined with a merchant of Port Nicholson in supplying Captain Lewis of Kajnti with some of the goods necessary for buUding his schooner, and he was to pay for them either in pigs and potatoes or in a share of the vessel ; so that I went to see what facilities the river might afford for trading. Chap. XII. A TmP TO THE MANAWATU mVER. 355 I proceeded by land to Waikanae, crossed in a canoe to Kapiti, and there engaged a half-decked boat of three tons for the trip. The owner of the boat, Geordie Young, was a partner in the management of one of the whaling stations. This station was situated in a nook among the precipitous sides of Kapiti, near the Long Point. It took its name from a stream, Te kaho 0 te rangi, or " the mantle of the sky," which formed a narrow gully, in which the houses were perched. I was detained here two days by stormy weather from the south-east, during which nothing except the whale-boats could venture out. The rough hospitality of the whalers, however, made me as com fortable as possible ; and I watched two or three ex citing chases from the look-out hill which overhung the principal ware. Starting with the end of the breeze, we soon reached the mouth of the Manawatu river ; and landed through the surf on the beach to the north, the bar looking dangerous. Three young natives, travelling to the northward, bivouacked on the sand-hills with us until dark. At midnight, the tide being more favourable, we threw out our ballast, and poled our boat, through the inner rollers on the north sand-spit, into the river. About a mile along the north bank, we found a small deserted pa, where we put up for the night. At daylight, we proceeded about fifteen miles up the river, to the spot where the vessel was building. The river was deep but narrow, and the land on both sides level, and apparently very fertile ; but the waters of extensive swamps drained sluggishly over the low banks in many places. Until near Captain Lewis's huts, the country was nearly clear of timber ; and we enjoyed an uninterrupted view of the north-western face of the Tararua range over the high flax and reeds 2 A 2 350 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. on the south bank. To the north the horizon seemed unbounded. Near the small dock-yard, forests of large timber began to line the banks ; and in one of the finest groves we perceived the skeleton of a small ves sel on the stocks, two reed-huts, a pig-sty, and a saw- pit. Captain Lewis and his brother, now looking more like Yankee backwoodsmen than whalers, a sawyer, a carpenter, and their native wives and relations, greeted our arrival. After inspecting the little clipper, which was about thirty tons burthen, we sat down to the usual meal of pork and potatoes, and spun yarns till bed-time. The night was warm and calm, and I spread my blankets outside the huts, as our party was rather numerous. The next dav. I returned to the »a at the mouth of the river, accompanied by young Lewis, who was to fetch some pigs from Rangitikei ; on one side of which river the Ngatiraukawa had settlements, while the other was inhabited by the JSfgatiapa, who received me with the Wanganui fleet in April. We passed two or three native gardens on our way to the mouth, and at one spot landed to see a chief of some consequence, named Tai Kapurua, or " Full tide." He was very rough and repulsive in his manners ; although grey hair and a long white beard combined with his large stature to give him a dignified appearance, as he sat among his wives and relations near the bank. He evidently took me for one of the traders from Kapiti, who often came to buy provisions here, and said, im mediately that I landed, " Go on to the sea ; I have " no pigs." I explained to him, however, that I came to make his acquaintance, and not to deal with him ; but I could not prevail upon him to relax in his manner, even by a present of a small piece of tobacco, which he received as though merely his due ; so I shouted the Chap. XIL THE UANAWATU-3ACK. BVFF. 357 customary " Remain in thy place ! " and jumped into the boat. The Haere ki tai ! " Go to the tide ! " re turned the civility. While Lewis went, with his native wife and two lads as attendants, to fetch the pigs, Geordie Young and I borrowed the whale-boat of an English trader, who ar rived from an expedition up the river soon after us, and proceeded to sound the entrance. A very smooth day favoured our attempt. A long sand-spit stretches to north-west, about a mile from the south point of the mouth. A shorter bank on the north side leaves a nar row passage between the two, and at the extreme end of this we found six feet at low-water. The soundings then deepened, inwards, to two and a half fathoms be tween the two dry points. The day being fine, the cone of Mount Egmont appeared exactly between the two spits. Over the level tract of country nearly due north appeared Tonga Riro ; and the top of a range of dis tant mountains tipped with snow, called Rua Hine by the natives, bounded the horizon between that and the east. In that direction a gorge exists, between the southern end of the Rua Hine and the low north-east ern extremity ofthe Tararua range, which I imagined to communicate with the country towards Hawke's Bay. This conjecture was confirmed by the narrative which Jack Duff, the trader, gave us of his journey. He had ascended the river as far as a whale-boat could go (about fifty miles, according to his calculation, from the mouth), through country of the same level and fer tile character, and abounding with the finest timber. Having obtained a canoe and native guides, he pro ceeded two or three days' journey higher up, over nu merous rapids, and shallows, and through a gorge where the river formed a cataract between the cliffy extremities of the two mountain ranges. He described 358 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. the country as again opening out beyond this gorge, and related that the natives of the furthest settlement to which he attained spoke a somewhat different dialect from the Ngatiraukawa, and called it only two days' walk to the " East Cape." As I had found this name applied by the Cook's Strait natives to the eastern coast generally, I concluded that his informants proba bly referred to some part of Hawke's Bay. He de scribed a numerous population as dwelling below the gorge, and complained much of their rude and savage , manners. He even attributed his safety from plunder or outrage to the company of his native woman, who was related in some distant way to the tribe. The next morning, Lewis having returned with a dozen fine hogs for me, we left the river, Duff showing us a tolerable boat-passage through the breakers about the middle of the south spit. We stopped a night at Kapiti, where I picked up two sawyers who begged for a passage ; and a few hours at Mana, which I found in possession of an agent of the last White purchaser. Rangihaeata was also there, and, hearing that I had been looking at Manawatu, took occasion to tell me that it belonged to him and Rauperaha. We then sailed with a squally breeze from north-west round Cape Te rawiti, beat into the harbour during the night, and landed at daybreak on Pitone beach. I found that the choice of the town sections had been concluded on the 1 4th, to the ultimate satisfaction of all the squabbling agents and proprietors. The panic caused by Sir George Gipps's Bill had in creased to a very high pitch ; and I heard that a set of the colonists had seriously proposed a general re-migra tion to Chile. It was suggested that the vessels in harbour should be chartered, and that a preliminary expedition should start at once to make terms with the Chap. XII. THE CHILIAN PROJECT . 35g ChUian republic. This scheme, however, was discou raged and ridiculed by the steadier settlers; and it failed for want of a leader in whom the confidence of any large number could be reposed. Dicky Barrett, with his usual rough wit, had helped to throw cold water upon the wild speculaton. An old, high- sterned, wall-sided cutter of 50 tons, built many years before in Queen Charlottes Sound by Jacky Love, had been lying opposite Barrett's door since his final removal from Te-awa-iti, with a broom at her mast- bead, and the constant subject of mirth and derision. Dicky got some bills printed, advertising her for Val paraiso, with " a high poop and experienced surgeon ;" and I beheve that this squib contributed in no small degree to remind the people how ridiculous was the idea of another migration. On the 16th of August, the return of the Brougham with Colonel Wakefield from the Bay of Islands restored general confidence. It was soon rumoured abroad that the news from head-quarters was good ; and the Chilians now seemed quite ashamed of their fears and their vain attempts to change the opinion of the community. On the 19th, a public meeting was held in the unfinished hotel, to receive the answer of Captain Hobson to the address of the colonists. Colonel Wakefield stated the results of his mission : — that he had been received by the Lieutenant-Governor in the most courteous manner ; and that he was assured that the feelings of Captain Hobson to the settlers at Port Nicholson under the auspices of the Company were of the most friendly nature. Colonel Wakefield stated that his Excellency had condescended to admit him to his acquaintance, and had thus enabled him to form a high opinion of his kindness of heart and nature, his 360 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XH love of justice, and his high-minded and straight forward conduct. He therefore felt convinced of Captain Hobson's sympathy for the community in Port Nicholson. He then read the answers to the address and to the offers of support from the Company and the settlers. The first letter graciously acknowledged and gave the inhabitants of the district of Port Nicholson, credit for their expressions of loyalty and attachment to the Crown and Constitution, and for the cordial support which, as he learnt through the reports of the Colonial Secretary and Magistrates, had been rendered by all classes to the Government authorities. It con cluded with thanks to Colonel Wakefield for the flat tering manner in which he had presented the address, and with the hope that, under the blessing of Divine Providence, the resources of these^ valuable and import ant islands might be speedily developed. The second letter quietly declined the invitation to his Excellency to reside in this part of the country. He acknowledged that this was at the sacrifice of his own ease ; but he said that a sense of public duty in duced him to select "a more centrical position, and " one more adapted for internal communication." These letters were dated in July. On the 25th of May the Lieutenant-Governor had written, in his dispa,tches to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that " the proceedings of the Association at Port " Nicholson amounted, in bis opinion, to high. " treason ;" that " taxes had been levied, and mostun- " just as well as illegal exercise of magisterial autho- " rity had been practised ;" and that " it struck him as, " a ma,tter of congratulation that he did not, go there,. " as he hijid intended, early in March ;" as "he should " have made his appearajice amongst these dema^ Chap. XIL DEPUTATION TO SIR GEORGE GIPPS. 36 1 " gogues without even the power to appoint a Magis- " trate, and should have only displayed his inability to " perform the most ordinary duty of a Governor." The meeting passed a resolution expressive of great pleasure at the reply of the Lieutenant-Governor. They then thanked Colonel Wakefield for his energetic and able advocacy of their interests. The same meeting proceeded to consider the position which the settlers occupied, and the measures to be adopted in consequence. A series of resolutions was passed, stating their whole case and grievances ; and it was agreed that a memorial embodying these reso lutions should be prepared, and presented to the Governor of New South Wales by a deputation, to consist of Dr. Evans, Mr. Hanson, and Mr. Moreing. The meeting also recommended the appointment of Mr. E. G. Wakefield as agent in England for the body of colonists, and that a requisition to that effect should be prepared and signed by the colonists. Colonel Wakefield told me that he had experienced a very violent gale of wind off the East Cape in pro ceeding from hence, during which the Brougham was hove-to for three days, and her boats washed away. He had found Captain Hobson residing in a wooden house built by Mr. Clendon on the piece of land vvhich he had agreed to sell to the Government for 13„000/. He described this tract of land as simUar in size and appearance to Somes's Island, inconvenient of approach,. and of very precipitous character. The Lieutenant- Governor's cow had fallen down one of the steep places near the house, and broken her neck. His Excellency, however, nothing daunted, had determined to found a town, to be called Russell, on this site. But it was supposed that the Capital and seat of Government was to be founded at some new place in the Frith of the 362 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII, Thames. There were thus three towns at the Bay of Islands alone. First, the Government town in em bryo, Russell, which as yet contained only the Govern ment house and the barracks, which had been built as stores by Mr. Clendon before the arrival of his Excel lency to give him his lucky bargain ; secondly, the late Resident's town, Victoria, in the lots of which a good deal of speculation had already taken place ; and thirdly, Kororareka, or the actual town, where the" whole \^'hite population except the missionaries had long taken advantage of the superior situation and capa bilities for communication with the best ship-anchorage. His Excellency had also proclaimed another town, to be founded at Hokianga, and called " Churchill ;" but this was never heard of any more. Some persons expressed astonishment at the number of towns about to be founded in proportion to the inhabitants of the country. Colonel Wakefield described his reception by Captain Hobson to have been most kind and cour teous ; and constantly expressed a high opinion of his private virtues. During his stay at the Bay of Islands, he had resided at the Government house at Russell. A French frigate and whaler had arrived at the Bay of Islands during this period, on their way to Banks's Peninsula, where it was proposed to land some French emigrants who were on board. This expedi tion had been expected for some time, reports having been rife that France intended to claim possession of at least the Middle Island. Even before the proclama tion of British sovereignty in Port Nicholson, we had often debated among ourselves as to the necessary steps for preventing the extension of French dominion over us, and the ratification by the chiefs of our infant Chap. XII. RIOTS OP NATIVES AT THE BAY OP ISLANDS. 363 Constitution had been hailed in great measure as a safeguard against such an event. The negotiations which took place at the Bay of Islands between the cap tain ofthe French frigate and the Lieutenant-Governor had ended in the dispatching of her Majesty's brig Bri- tomart, then lying in the Bay of Islands, to the harbour oiAkaroa in Banks's Peninsula, with two Magistrates, who were to establish British authority and be in readiness to warn the French settlers on their arrival that they would land on British territory. The brig was then to come on to Port Nicholson, one of the Magistrates having been appointed Police Magistrate for this place. On the 3rd of June it had been necessary to make a second display of the military at the Bay of Islands, in order to quiet some menacing natives. The quarrel had arisen in some dispute about a boat between the natives of the pa at Kororareka and the crew of an American ship, and some serious attack on the M^hite settlement was at one time apprehended. The mere appearance of the military had restored order ; and the Governor had subsequently received the thanks of both natives and \^''hite people for their prompt inter ference. An account of this affair was contained in an early number of a newspaper, printed at the Bay of Islands, and principally supported by the insertion of the Go vernment notices, which were made official in that paper. The first copies I saw were on very bad paper, printed in almost illegible print with the worst de scription of type. I have already observed that, since the efforts of Mr. Tod, and the arrival of the Government authorities, the natives of the Te Aro and Pipitea pas had become more and more suspicious and distant towards the colonists. 364 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. It was on the 26th of August that this feeling first produced any outbreak. Captain Edward Daniell, who had lived, up to the time of the selection, with his wife and family in a ragged hut on the beach at Thorndon, had begun to erect a wooden house on one of the town acres which he had chosen. As this hap pened to be on a deserted garden of the Te Aro people, they had obstructed his proceedings in some way, and a quarrel had ensued. A report got about that Cap tain Daniell had been struck down by a blow from a tomahawk ; and all who heard the report rushed to the spot with their arms, in readiness for any emer gency. The difference, however, was by no means so serious as had been represented; and was amicably settled soon after the muster of the settlers. Their readiness to support a member of the community, who was known as well for his kindness of heart as for his courage, in his supposed danger, appeared to alarm the Colonial Secretary much more than the increasing dis position of the natives to interfere with the peaceable occupation by the settlers of the land which they had sold. The next morning a printed notice or procla mation was circulated about the settlement. It was couched in these terms : — " Whereas certain persons residing at Port Nichol- " son. New Zealand, part of the dominions of her "Majesty Queen Victoria, did, on the evening of yes- " terday, assemble with arms at a native pah, named " Tarinaki ; Now, therefore, I, Willoughby Shortland, a Ma- " gistrate and Colonial Secretary of New Zealand, do " caution all persons from assembling under arms on " any pretence whatever, without being duly author- " ized so to do, upon the allegiance they owe to her " Majesty Queen Victoria. Chap. XII. PROCLAMATION OP LIEUT. SHORTLAND. 365 " Given under my hands, at Port Nicholson, this «27th day of August, 1840. " Willoughby Shortland, " Colonial Secretary and Chief Magistrate." There were some curious stories abroad as to the composition of this proclamation, and the numerous revisions of it before it was published. The Colonial Secretary had been distinguished, during the three months which he had now spent here, by a very large share of the same pomposity and burlesque hauteur which had so amused the spectators of Constable Cole's chivalrous expedition against the flags. This assump tion of dignity was the more offensive to the educated part of the settlers, inasmuch as the dignitary was not troubled with too great a share of literary acquire ments. Some people had, indeed, asserted that he could not write his own name ; but I believe the mis take arose from his having designated himself in some correspondence as Colonial Secetary. His general bearing, however, towards the colonists of all classes, had frequently obtained for him the title of Sancho Panza ; and he had been heard to say, on some occa sion when the question of a separate Government for these settlements was mooted, that he should not mind being the Lieutenant-Governor over this part. The following extract from a letter written to Eng land, by one of the leading men in Port Nicholson, shows that Lieutenant Shortland had not spared the attempt to injure the settlement more seriously : — " Mr. Shortland, during the short time he has been " here, has made himself universally disliked, by a sort " of quarter-deck assumption of authority, which, as you "may imagine, does not go down with the class of " people residing here ; but he is still more disliked on " account of many covert attempts to entice away the 366 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. " labourers from this place. Thanks to our exertions " and those of the Colonel, he has been almost entirely " unsuccessful, except in one solitary instance, and " that was a Cornish man who came out in the Rox- " burgh. The man was employed by me at the time, " and had been so ever since he had been here, and was " very well satisfied, so that I felt I had a just cause to " feel aggrieved. I therefore went and told Shortland " my opinion of his conduct before the whole assem- " blage of his officials. From the manner in which he " received my remarks, I presume he felt their truth." The Bench of Magistrates had been particularly remarkable for their summary infliction of large fines in almost every case brought before them. Five or ten pounds were very often required in cases of com mon assault, and from three to five pounds for drunk enness and breach of the peace. It appeared a very convenient way of recruiting the public revenue ; and as none of the settlers knew anything of New South Wales law, or to what court they could appeal against the decisions, a very plentiful harvest was reaped. Complaints of the arbitrary nature of the proceedings were often made ; but then, no one knew how to get them investigated, and as money was plentiful in those early days, the affair was soon forgotten. Sam Phelps, a drunken, foul-mouthed bullock-driver from one of the neighbouring colonies, was a frequent contributor to the public revenue. He was an excellent hand at his profession, which is a very flourishing one in all new settlements, and his pockets were always well lined with money. If he made it like a good bullock-driver, however, it was his pride that he spent it in the same way, in drinking large doses of ardent spirits. The Magistrates and constables of course interfered with this predilection. Sam appeared Chap. XII. A BULLOCK-DRIVER. 367 not to care so much for the fine — he had got used to that, and paid it with great regularity, — but the manner of inflicting it seemed to offend him, and he took his own means of revenging himself. His team of bullocks were soon christened " Short- " land," " Smart," " Best," and " Cole ;" and he used to apply the coarsest epithets to them as he flogged them along. One day the Colonial Secretary, stately and pompous as usual, happened to pass the dray which they were dragging over the beach. Brutal threats to " cut Shortland's tail off if he didn't move on ;" to " break his heart," to " cut his liver in two," or to " whip his skin off," startled him in his promenade ; and on turning suddenly round he beheld old Sam " whacking" his team. To the surprise of the spectators, the Chief magis trate asked the bullock-driver whether " he applied " those expressions to him ? " Sam answered, with an innocent grin, " I wasn't a " speakin' to you ; I 'm a driving my bullocks ; that 's " my business ;" and the Colonial Secretary retreated from the scene, amidst a loud repetition of the most frightful imprecations, threats, and mockery of the bullocks by the bullock-driver, who triumphed over his superior. A crowd of the lower classes roared with laughter during the whole scene. Sam Phelps was quite a character, only to be seen in new colonies. He had been exercising his trade in the recent settlements in Australia, where he had no doubt witnessed and appreciated on many occasions the pride of tyro Government officers. After this scene, he com pletely gained his point in holding up the early Magis tracy to ridicule ; and a crowd of idlers would always collect at the door of each public-house to see Sam pass, and hear him address his titled team. As long 368 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. as he remained in this settlement, his habits were pre cisely the same, and he only changed the names of his bullocks according to those of the magistrates who fined him. " Colonel," " Murphy," " Halswell," &c., were subsequently substituted for the first offenders, as fresh Magistrates sat on the bench. But he Was naturally attracted to new settlements, where money was plenty, and good labour, like his, scarce ; and he successively visited the later settlements of New Ply mouth and Nelson in their first days. I think I have heard that he at length died of drink in the latter place. As I before said, it was currently reported that the proclamation was the result of much consultation. The finale seemed to have been exceedingly perplexing, and it was said that the one actually produced had been selected out of many proposed, such as " given " under my hands and seals," " given under my seals,'* " given under my hand and seals," and " given under " my hands and seal." An event had occurred at Pitone a few days before which serves to show how affectionately the natives of that village still regarded us. A boat from ThorndoU/ overladen with passengers, and steered by an inex perienced hand, had been suddenly capsized in the surf which was rolling on to the beach before a strong southerly gale, and the whole crew and passengers were immersed in the breakers. The I'itone natives, men and women, headed by Epuni and his wife, dashed into the surf, and used their utmost efforts to rescue the drowning men. They succeeded in saving two or three, but nine men were brought dead upon the beach. The scene was most impressive. Natives and colonists of every class were employed in bearing the bodies under shelter, and using the means at hand Chap. XII. AFFECTION OF NATIVES. 369 for attempting to revive them. The relations of those who were expected from Thorndon that night were rushing wildly from group to group, the venerable clergyman entreating them to hope and resignation, and comforting the distressed women in the midst of the howling storm ; while the natives, wet and shiver ing from their generous exertions, wailed in their customary way on the outskirts of the crowd. Eevery now and then one of them would rush to me, and asking whether " Wide-awake " was in the boat, plunge again into the rollers, and dive in different directions till he was tired. I had been very anxious about my uncle, as he had been over at Thorndon, watching the progress of the settlers there, and it was reported that he had been one of the party. Under this impression, the natives never ceased their laborious search until I ascertained from the master of the boat, who was one of those fortunately saved, that Colonel Wakefield had not been one of his passengers. But I was gratified to observe that the sorrow of the natives was no less deep and sincere for those colonists of more humble class who had suffered than it might have been for him whom they stUl considered the " Chief of the " pakeha." The tangi, which lasted in the pa during the greater part of the night, appeared as heartfelt as any of those among themselves, and they seemed to be weeping for dear brothers of their own tribe. An opinion seemed to be prevalent at this time that the whole country was as mountainous as the district in the immediate neighbourhood of Port Nicholson. Colonel Wakefield therefore determined to despatch a party of surveyors by land to Taranaki, in order that their official report of the quantity and quality of land observed by them between the two places might dissi pate this unfounded conjecture. The party was to VOL. I. 2 B 370 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XII. consist of Mr. Robert Park and Mr. Robert Stokes, two of the Company's Assistant Surveyors ; and Mr. Charles Heaphy, the draughtsman. Mr. Deans, an enterprising young Scotch settler, who had already been employed in superintending a party of labourers while cutting surveyor's lines through the valley of the Hutt, volunteered to accompany the expedition; and I also offered my services as far as W^anganui, whither I was desirous of returning. Six labourers were selected from the surveying-staff' to carry the requisite supply of instruments, blankets, and pro visions; and I engaged a native lad to carry my kawenga, or load, as far as TVaikanae. Chap. XIII. JOURNEY TO OTAKI 37 1 CHAPTER XIII. Journey to Otaki — Troublesome natives — Waikawa — Natives de ceive and rob us — Firmness procures restitution — Manawatu— Rangitikei — Scarcity of food — Timid natives — Fine country Cold — Fording rivers — Wanganui — Greetings — E Kuru gives me a house— His chieftain-like treatmeat of his inferiors— New Zealand slaves — Missionaries — Native feud— Battle of Waitotara — Ship-building — Confirmation of the purchase— Return to Ka piti — Walk to Pitone — Harmlessness of night-air. We started from Pitone amid the affectionate farewells of Epuni and his followers, on the morning of the 27th ; and slept that night at Parramatta whaling- station, in Lieut. Thomas's new house, the floor of which was well strewed with clean fern. The second night we reached Pari-pari, and early the next after noon we arrived at Waikanae, well drenched by a heavy shower of rain. We were most hospitably received by old Rangi Wakarurua at the W^anganui vUlage. Mr. Stokes called on the Rev. Mr. Hadfield, who resided in the midst of the principal pa, and was received very kindly by him. He insisted on our making use of a new house built for him at Otaki, and gave Mr. Stokes a letter to one of his native teachers, who had charge ofthe key. Mr. Hadfield had not yet suc ceeded in effecting a complete reconciliation between the two tribes, and I could not at first engage any native to carry my burden through the hostile country. Old ^ngi, however, ordered a lad of thirteen, who was a slave to his son, E Kuru, to proceed as my servant, and 2b 2 372 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIII. we started along the unknown coast the next morning. About nine mUes from Waikanae, we came upon the remains of a fortification of some extent, five or six acres being surrounded by a mound and trench, and a few carved posts still remaining in the ground at one end. On the south bank of the Otaki river, about a mile further on, were still more recent remains of a large pa. My slave informed us that these had been the respect ive residences of the two tribes on the first arrival of the Ngatiaioa from Taranaki five years before, but that con stant feuds and skirmishes had taught them to recede from each other, and leave the country between the two rivers as a neutral ground. We forded the Otaki river about a quarter of a mile above its mouth, and passed through two stockaded villages on the north bank. In one of these a White man, a retired whaler, had a house ; and after a short chat with him we pushed on to Mr. Hadfield's new ware, which was situated about half a mile further north, among the sand-hills between the beach and the principal pa of Otaki. Having found the native teacher, we were admitted into the house, which was a neatly-built and substantial erection, entirely the work of the natives, but fitted by a White carpenter with doors, windows, and a chimney-piece. We prepared to cook our evening meal, and to spread our blankets on the floor ; but the news of our arrival had spread to the village, and we were soon inundated with visitors. At least fifty natives of all ranks, ages, and sexes, crowded the doors and windows, and, unmindful of all persuasion or menace, filled the whole room. One very arrogant young chief, whose name we did not learn, evidently held the highest authority, but would not exert it in our favour. He, and like him all his followers, laughed at our entreaties Chap. XIII. TROUBLESOME NATIVES. 373 for room and air, menaced in turn when we spoke roughly, and examined all our clothes and accoutre ments to their hearts' content ; gave directions about the cooking, the lights, the arrangement of the beds, and every other detail ; and literally imposed upon us their noisy, chattering, hot, and not too odorous com pany for some hours. The native teacher was only a slave, and had not the slightest influence over them, nor did he attempt to interfere ; so we bore the in fliction with patience, if not with good-humour, until they gradually decamped to their own abodes. In the morning, we visited the large joa. It is situ ated on two sand-hills, and protected to the east by a narrow deep tributary of the Otaki, called Manga- pmri, or " Dark branch." The position is strong with a view to native warfare ; and the village seems calcu lated to hold some hundred people. Very few, how ever, were now in the village. The house of fp^atanui, the head chief, was pointed out to us, and also his wata, or store-house, elaborately carved and ornamented, in the same division of the pa. I'he chief, we were told, was absent at another settlement near Manawatu. A White trader, whom I had met before at Kapiti, was now residing in this village ; and we bought a small pig from him, and hired a native to drive it, as we understood that we should meet with no more inhabited settlements between this and Wanganui. From the summit of the pa, the view extended over a fertile tract of park-like and partially wooded country as far as the foot of the Tarai-ua range, here about seven miles from the coast. Six miles along the sandy beach brought us to the Ohau river, which is joined by the Waikawa, or " bitter water," about a mile from the sea. A little above the fork we crossed in a canoe to a pa on the 374 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIII. opposite bank, inhabited by a branch of the Ngatirau kawa tribe. We were welcomed to a house which was assigned to our party, and invited to remain till the next morning. The threatening appearance of the weather, which promised rain and a gale from north west, and the wish to give the whole party a good rest before proceeding along the tract of deserted coast, in duced us to acquiesce in this arrangement. Abundance of food was placed before us ; ample firewood was fur nished for our fire ; and the few natives were very courteous and obliging in their behaviour. They sang some of their native songs ; listened with attention to ours; and Maori traditions and lessons in the language were exchanged for such information, regard ing ourselves, as we found amusing to them, till a late hour. Heavy rain detained us here the whole of the next day ; and our friendly relations with our hospi table hosts continued. In the morning, when we had finished our daylight meal, we prepared to start ; but an unexpected occur rence again delayed us. On packing up our bundles, we found that numerous goods were missing. Several pounds of tobacco, two or three shirts, soap, fish-hooks, handkerchiefs, pannikins, and many other things, were nowhere to be found ; and three shot-belts, which we had hung up on the door-post just before breakfast, had also disappeared. In the meanwhile, the congre gation of natives had very much diminished. It soon became plain that they had taken advantage of our con fidence in their friendliness to plunder the baggage. After mustering the men and their packs outside the house, I told those of our party who had guns to load them with ball and be on their guard ; and then addressed a middle-aged man, who had evidently the greatest authority among the tribe, and who had Chap. XIII. ROBBERY BY NATIVES. 376 watched in silence our search for the missing articles, of which I wrote an accurate list. He sat unmoved on a canoe, with his face half-wrapped in his blanket, whUe I spoke. I read to him the list of what we had lost, and told him that I was sure we had been robbed here. I dwelt on the deceitful way in which he and his people had plundered their guests while they cajoled them by friendly behaviour; and told him that the name of thieves would from henceforth remain theirs among the White people. I then stated firmly, that I would wait one day for restoration of the stolen things ; but that, if they were not brought back by the next morning, I should send the rest of the party on their route, and return to Port Nicholson for a large party of soldiers or of my friends. " I shall have to go barefooted and alone," said I (for one of my boots was among the plunder), "but I will return with a war-party to destroy this " village and your canoes, and take payment from your " cultivations for what you have stolen." The audience seemed aghast at this announcement ; the women wailed and waved their arms about as though at an ordinary tangi ; and the chief stammered out various excuses, — that " strangers had taken the " things," and that " they were gone to the bush ; he " could not find them." I had the packs placed carefully inside the house, and then repeated my terms. Warning every one to be on the look-out and ready with his arms, I then lit my pipe, and sat down in front of the chief He was at last convinced that I had stated my real intentions, and ascended a high fighting-stage at one corner of the pa, whence he shouted towards the hills an earnest address to the thieves to bring back what 376 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap; XIII. they had stolen. The rest of the audience dispersed, and ran to another village close by. The old man continued all day and a great part of the night on his rostrum, shouting at intervals towards the other village, while we kept constant watch, ad mitting no natives into the house, and refusing their food. My little slave was trembling with fright, but told me that I had spoken well to them, and that the things would come back. In fact, they were all brought in, except some trifling articles, before our breakfast in the morning. At intervals, a native would come stealthily into the village, saying that he had found this or that on the path or in a potato-garden. The: chief collected them in a heap as they were brought to him, and handed them over to me in the morning; claiming, however, utu or payment for his exertions in the matter. This I steadily refused ; and we moved on to the house of an intelligent young native about a mile in the interior. He pressed us eagerly to partake of his hospitality, as the weather was again wet, and he wished to prove to us that all the natives of this place were not thieves. He produced a certificate from the clerk of Evans's whaling-station at Kapiti, and told us that he had built the house for him. He and his family entertained us very kindly and hospitably, and then carried us on their shoulders across the Ohau in the morning. A tedious walk of fifteen miles along the beach, re lieved by no view but that of the sand-hummocks looming in successive long points as we advanced, brought us to the mouth of the Manawatu. For tunately, a body of natives were inhabiting the small village in which I had slept during my excursion with Geordie Young, and they succeeded in getting us across in three trips of a small rickety canoe, notwith- Chap. XIII. MANAWATU.— RANGITIKEI. 377 standing the rip caused by a fresh sea-breeze against the strong ebb. They could, however, supply us with no provisions, as they were only visitors like ourselves, fi-om a settlement near the gorge of the Manawatu ; and were themselves living on the flesh of a stranded whale, which had induced them to come down to the sea. They had collected the whalebone for barter with Europeans, and were trying out a small stock of oU for their home consumption in two or three iron pots. On a stage in the pa were several baskets of potatoes ; and I proposed to take one, leaving some to bacco in its place according to native custom ; but the whalers discouraged this proposal, saying that they knew the owner had reserved them for seed, and would be angry at their being taken, even if amply paid for. So we were obliged to be satisfied with some of our biscuit and salt meat. The next day we reached Rangitikei, about thirteen miles further along the same desolate-looking coast. The small stockaded pa on the south bank was quite deserted, and the very houses which had formerly sheltered my large party on the opposite side seemed to have been removed. We fired two or three shots, hoping to attract some natives, as our stock of pro visions was running low, and there were no pota toes on any of the stages ; but we received no answer. Little Heuheu, my slave, now suggested that we should sound for a potato-pit ; and the ramrods were accordingly stuck into the earth in every probable nook of the joo. The lad at last pounced upon an abundant store, and we filled two large baskets with the potatoes, which were remarkable for their size and quality. Just before dusk, I observed the bushy heads of two natives stealing a look at our proceedings from behind a low fern-covered ridge on the opposite bank. 378 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIII. They disappeared immediately on my shouting to them ; but when I had called out that it was " Ti- " raweke and his White people very hungry and tired," a small canoe glided out of the rushes a little higher up, and they were soon sitting by our fire smoking a welcome pipe. They were of the Ngatiapa tribe, and had seen me on my former visit here. Our guns had attracted their notice ; but they had feared to cross over, thinking that we were a party of the Ngatirau kawa, to whom this pa belonged, and some of whom they described to be little scrupulous in plundering or tyrannizing over the remnants of the aboriginal tribe, under very slight pretexts. I told them of the potatoes which I had taken, and left in their charge some to bacco for the owner. They told me that the potatoes had been collected for Captain Lewis by some of his natives, and that they would give them the utu. The level country is of great extent hereabouts ; the Tara rua and Rua Hine ranges lie far distant to the east and south-east, and Tonga Riro, due north by compass and about seventy miles off, towers over the plain, which rises gradually into a table-land and broken ridges near his base. This view was majestic at sun rise ; the excessive clearness of the atmosphere allow ing us to see dark places clear of snow on the sides of the mountain. Mount Egmont, too, was visible fur ther to the north-west. This district appeared from the pa clear of timber, and well adapted for pasturage for a considerable distance inland. After recompensing the natives for ferrying us over the river, we proceeded along the coast, still sandy and desolate. We passed two or three trickling streams, and two dead whales stripped of their whalebone by natives ; and encamped among the sand-hills, after about fifteen miles' march, near one of the small rills. Chap. XIII. FORDING RIVERS. 379 The drift-wood, which abounds along the whole of this coast, served to maintain a large fire ; and after our meal we spread our blankets within its genial warmth, under the lee of a sand-hUl, which protected us from the sea-breeze. But the wind shifted about the middle of the night, and blew fresh from the east off the snow-capped ranges. The cold was the most bitter I had yet experienced ; and we found it impossible to sleep, although muffled up in woollen shirts and pea- coats, and rolled all together under the thickness of three blankets, close by the fire. I alone got a doze towards daylight, by deserting the common couch, and cofling myself on the very edge of the fire, among the smoke and showers of sparks on its lee side. We were early on foot, and soon warm with walk ing. About four miles further on, we came to a river caUed the Turakina, which we forded without difficulty at a- spot indicated by the native lad, about half a mile from the sea ; the water being up to our waists, and very cold. After another mile of sand-hills, we reached the banks of the Wangaihu, and saw the remains of the encampment occupied by my party in April. The fording of this river was more difficult, the current be ing extremely rapid, and the bed of the stream a shift ing quicksand which seemed to move along with the water, and varied in consistency, so that at one step your ankles were hardly immersed and at the next you sank up to your arm-pits. The river is here about two hundred yards in breadth, and the water was pain fully cold. After warming our limbs and drying our clothes at a large fire, we pushed along the beach, passed the remains of my first bivouac, and at length reached the hill near Wahipuna, overlooking the valley of the Wanganui. A glowing sunset warmed the features of this lovely scene, and we sat for some 380 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIII. time enjoying the view. The Surprise schooner was lying at Puma ; we could distinguish numerous large houses on either bank of the river, especially two or three apparently inhabited near the large pa ; and we could see the hospitable smoke, and hear the hum of people from the native villages. After our long dreary journey, and breaking suddenly from barren sand-hills upon this pleasant scene, we all felt lively and good- humoured ; and, after firing our guns as a signal, raced and skipped and shouted like children down the sand- hUl to the river's beach, notwithstanding our sore feet and hunger. On reaching Putikiwaranui, I was loudly greeted by many of my old friends, and E Kuru soon dashed on to the beach in a boat manned by natives, and gave me his usual dignified but most hearty welcome. We got into the boat, and landed at the spot where the scramble for the goods had taken place. E Kuru signed to me to follow him, and led the way to a very large tvare, about twenty yards from the bank. " This house is " yours," said he ; "tell your White men to go in." On entering, I found it indeed a noble present. The house was fifty feet long and twenty-eight feet broad. Slabs of totara wood, two feet broad, neatly smoothed with the adze, and placed at regular intervals of five feet, formed the frame-work of the walls ; and these, nine feet high and six inches thick, were composed of neatly packed bundles of raupo or bulrushes, lined in side with the glazed reeds of the tohe tohe, and outside with the wiwi, or fine grass. The reeds are as thick as a finger, of a golden yellow colour, and stand hori zontally between the slabs, bound in their place by flaxen ties, which are noosed round each separate reed, and cross horizontally from slab to slab at distances of a foot. The roof, also six inches thick, was composed Chap. XIII. E KURU— THEATME^T OF HIS SLAVES. 381 of four layers : the innermost, tohe tohe reeds, like .the walls ; the second, bark of the totara ; the third, raupo ; and the outside one, tufts of fine grass, put on like shingles, with the roots downwards. The roof was supported by one post in the centre of the house, a foot in diameter, which upheld a huge slab as a ridge-pole ; and four large corner rafters, and several smaller ones, all neatly adzed out of solid trees, sloped down to the four walls. Two tie-beams, six inches each in diameter, supported the inward pressure of the waUs, directly under each end of the ridge-pole, to which they were attached by perpendiculars. A splendid hog was brought alive as the customary present ; and one of the surveying-men, a butcher by trade, proceeded to show his science. A store of potatoes, pumpkins, kumeras, and shallots, was piled up in one corner of the house, and a fire was lit near the middle, on the hard earthen floor ; and a numerous troop of E Kuru's followers and relations busied them- . selves in helping the butcher and the cook, fetching water, peeling potatoes, or strewing one end of the house with clean fern for our sleeping-place. Little Heuheu was as busy as the rest, and chat tered a lively description of all our proceedings. I remember being struck by the kind greeting which E Kuru gave him, almost as though he had been his own son. He kindly dwelt on his courage in coining, and his endurance in carrying my heavy load, and evi dently felt sincere pleasure when I loudly praised the boy's services. By this sort of treatment, E Kuru had secured the perfect devotion of his slaves. Except in cases of misconduct, I never heard him use a threat or a harsh word towards them. They were treated exactly as members of the family, and allowed to take part in the amusements as well as the labour of the tribe. 382 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIII. They were always as well clothed and fed and supplied with tobacco as himself.^ By his own example, and by frequently holding them up to the emulation or ridicule of the rest, according to their merits, he had succeeded in raising them to great perfection in all the parts of a native's education, and to a very complete discipline : they were confessedly the best paddlers and polers and pig-hunters, the most expert house-builders and woods men on the river ; and under so good and noble a master they gloried in the title of slave. I have frequently been told by some among them that they would far rather remain his slaves than return freed to their own tribe and country. I have somewhat anticipated my impressions on this subject, which were of course not fully acquired until I had seen much more of E Kuru and his people ; but I should find it difficult to describe, as gradually as it was urged on my mind by a himdred scattered and trifling circumstances, this trait of my friend ; and I feel sure that the reader wUl pardon an anachronism which serves to record this striking cha racteristic of a savage, whose high name rested no less on his generous qualities than on his noble pedigree. The condition of a New Zealand slave is indeed rarely very painful or oppressed. Mokai, the word for " slave " most used in the native language, is the same which they apply to favourite birds, dogs, or pigs, and is fairly represented by the English word " pet." * To be sure, they hold their life at the mercy of their lord, and obey his orders under penalty of death ; but they rarely do harder work than the other members of * The more offensive and insulting term, tau reka reka, is less frequently used, and is applied rather to captives newly taken in war, and while the passions of the masters are hot. A third word, pononga, answers rather to our " servant ;" and the fourth, kuki, is probably only a corruption from the " cook " on board ships, Chap. XIII. NEW ZEALAND SLAVES. 383 the tribe, and are not separated from the society and conversation of their masters, except the latter be of remarkably tyrannical or avaricious disposition, and thus inclined to make them endure his caprice, or work hard in order to gain for him large payment. The following are a few examples of the latter class of mas ters. Rauperaha wantonly killed one of his slaves who brought him tribute at the Mana feast, in 1839, in order to serve a dainty dish to his Ngatiraukawa allies. Rangihaeata once took a young slave-child by the heels and dashed its brains out against a post, in Otaki pa, for breaking his pipe while lighting it. A chief at Taupo in the interior threw his slave into one of the boiling ponds there for stealing a few potatoes. But E Kuru was no less startling an exception on the other side ; for while it was common for even kind masters to speak depreciatingly of their slaves to a White man, he always took ,pains to obtain the same kind appreciation and generous familiarity for his slaves from the White man as he yielded to them himself. I may mention as a proof of this, that it was only after some years and much careful observation, that I had learned to distinguish the slaves from the free men among his retinue. After a solid meal, we began to exchange our news. E Kuru told me that two White missionaries had ar rived ; one of whom lived in the houses near Putikiwa ranui, while the other inhabited a house at the point about 400 yards above this spot. He told me that a great many houses had been built by the natives in readiness for the White settlers, and that the clearings for potato -gardens had been increased and extended, in order to insure an ample supply of provisions for them. A trading-boat from Port Nicholson, the very one built by Joe Robinson, had been brought hither by one 384 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIII. of the settlers from England. He had ascended the river seventy miles in a canoe, reaching a large and populous pa called Pukehika ; and had gone away again with his boat well loaded. Mr. Matthews, the missionary whom E Kuru had described as living on this side of the river, was very kind in his offers of hospitality to our party, and sent us sugar, wine, and several other acceptable supplies. He also gave us an interesting account of a battle which had taken place between two tribes of the natives, at Waitotara, very lately. From his information, com bined with that furnished by E Kuru and other natives, I gathered the following particulars of the affair. It appears that a feud had existed for many years be tween the Ngarauru and Ngatiruanui tribes inhabit ing the country between Waitotara and Waimate, and the Ngatipehi who dwell on the shores of Lake Taupo in the interior of the island. Each of these parties had friends and allies among the different divisions of the Wanganui tribes. The Ngatiruaka, or aboriginal in habitants, headed by Te Ana-ma, were friendly to the coast natives, who resembled them both in the antiquity of their dwelling near the sea, and in the eagerness with which they had adopted the doctrines of the na tive teachers who preceded the White missionaries.* Turoa, on the other hand, and the Patutokoto tribes under hiin,were open allies of the Taupo tribes ; from among whom they had originally migrated to the banks of this river, and whose adherence to their ancient form, or rather want of religion, they still in great * The Ngarauru at Waitotara were now especially under the superintendence of Mr. Matthews in his office of catechist ; and he used frequently to ride there on one of three horses, bred at the Bay of Islands, which he and his superior, Mr. Mason, had brought to Wanganui with them. CflAP. XIII. NATIVE FEUD. 385 measure imitated. E Kuru had a more difficult same to play. Of his four wives now living, one was of the highest Ngatipehi blood, while another was the daugh ter of a chief of as great influence as any among the democratic Ngarauru. It appears that the old grievances had been again raked up, principally by the inhospitable reception given at Taupo to two native teachers, who had been deputed from Waitotara to convert their former enemies, as weU as to secure a lasting peace. Heuheu, the despotic chief of the Ngatipehi, was violently opposed to the introduction of the new creed, because it avowedly leveUed the distinction between chief and slave, and raised up as leaders of the community those who, like the two emissaries in question, had lost caste by the long captivity which had been the means of their acquir ing Christian knowledge in the normal schools of the North. The teachers had been very roughly handled; and Heuheu had threatened that, if they returned on the same errand, he would " eat their heads, and make " cartridge-paper of their hymn-books ! " This treat ment had led to recriminations and insulting messages between the Waitotara natives and Turoa, who warmly espoused the cause of his angry relation. The eager pupUs of the repulsed teachers at length forgot all their new lessons of Christian meekness, assumed a high tone, and said that " Turods head was potatoes for "their ovens." So outrageous an insult was not to be tamely borne by a chief whose head was tapu, or sacred even against the touch. The very deepest affront had been openly sent as a message to him. He immediately communicated with his warlike allies ; and the conse quence had been the arrival of a taua tapu, or " sacred " war-party," in the territory of the offending tribe. This expedition had been composed of 140 picked men, VOL. I. 2 c 386 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIH. singled out by the tohunga, or sages, from the whole tribe. They were headed by Tauteka, a chief of almost equal importance to Heuheu himself, and most of the other great names of the tribe. The number was made up of tried and experienced warriors, and victory was promised to them by the soothsayers, who confined their number to that above mentioned. At the beginning of the campaign, they had carried all before them. The inhabitants fled almost without a blow towards Patea, and abandoned Te Ihupuku and another strong pa to the conquerors. These, who had chosen the harvest-season for their arrival, lived for some time on the fat of the land, slaughter ing pigs, and gathering in the kumeras, Indian corn, potatoes, and other abundant crops of the fertile valley. The rightful reapers, however, returned suddenly, reinforced by allies from the Ngatiruanui and Taranaki villages to the number of 600, and blockaded the in vading army in E Toka, or " the Rock," a pa almost impregnable by mere assault. It was about this time that Mr. Matthews arrived among them and attempted to mediate between the two parties. But little blood had been actually shed ; the besieged had exhausted their food and their ammunition ; and a parley was soon agreed to. The besiegers were to be allowed to enter the fort in order to be reconciled with their foes, and shake hands with them according to the new cus tom ; which, strangely enough, the Christian natives seemed to consider as a sign of the faith and as a reli gious ceremony, rather than as a civilized improvement on the process of nose-rubbing. In return, the Taupo party were to be allowed to depart for Wanganui with all the honours of war ; and peace was to be between the tribes. I have often listened to the animated de- Chap. XIII. TREACHERY OF CHRISTIAN NATIVES. 387 scription of the scene which ensued given me by some of the Ngatipehi. Mr. Matthews was with the besieged when they admitted their new allies. These walked quietly up the hill, and marshalled themselves in considerable numbers inside the fort. They then advanced towards the others, who were sitting to receive ui a dignified way the expected greeting. But, holding out the left hand, each Christian native now seized a heathen by the right wrist instead of the hand, and assaulted him with his tomahawk, tUl then concealed beneath the mat. A frightful scene of carnage ensued. Those that escaped the first onslaught fled down the hill, amidst the musketry of the party in the fort, and were received by fresh parties placed in ambush among the fern in the low grounds. Mr. Matthews generously ran with them, hoping by this means to prevent the murderous fire ; but he was obliged by its continuance to take shelter and leave them to their fate. Out of 140 men, only forty reached Wanganui ; and many of these were lying, severely wounded, in the vUlage of Turoa, who had managed to escape unhurt. Tauteka and several other leading chiefs were among the slain. E Kuru told me that, before the slaughter, he had decided upon considering the Taupo people as the first aggressors, and that he had consequently sent the Ngarauru a supply of arms and ammunition, although he had taken no actual part on either side : but the treachery of the so-called Christians, and the sight of his wounded relations, together with the memory of the dead, had evidently produced a change in his mind ; and though he still appeared publicly as a strict neutral, his feelings were now strongly enlisted in favour of the vanquished party. It was said that Heuheu would not fail to take up the cause in earnest, 2 c2 388 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIII. and that he might be expected, as soon as the summer season should again furnish provisions in the culti vated grounds, to revenge the defeat of Tauteka with a strong muster of allies from Waikato and Rotorua. Macgregor, the owner of the Surprise, had made a trip to his old abode in the South of the islands since I last saw him. He had brought back with him several of his fellow-settlers ; and these had been located by E Kuru about five miles up the river, near a grove of pine-trees, from which they were cutting the timber for a small vessel. E Kuiti apologized for having thus far disposed of any of the territory which he had sold to me ; but asked and received my sanction to their squatting, for this purpose, until the settlers should require the land. The ship-builders themselves went through the same form. Macgregor had, in acccordance with his intentions formerly agreed to by me, established a trading station at Turods vUlage of Purua. The boat in which E Kuru had ferried us over on our arrival was placed at his disposal by the shipwrights, to whom it belonged; and we ascended the river in it to within a few miles of Te Kau Arapawa, accompanied by E Kuru. A mile beyond the new dock-yard, we reached a settlement where Rangi Tauwira was dwelling with his people. He had already paid me a visit of cere mony, bringing the accustomed offering of a fine pig ; and his example had been followed by Te Ana-ua, Turoa, and some other chiefs of consequence. On this occasion, the venerable old man, although bent double with age, insisted on joinmg the party, with his favourite son, a merry, frank-hearted lad of ten or twelve. He coiled himself up in the bow of the boat, gave us the names of every settlement and tri butary stream along the banks, and seemed to consider Chap. XIII'. HARMLESSNESS OF NIGHT-AIR. 389 his presence, whenever Mr. Park landed to complete a sketch of the river, as a thorough confirmation of the bargain, in which he had taken so earnest a part. He eagerly rejoiced in thinking that the use of the compass tod pocket-sextant were measures indicative of the early arrival of the settlers, and frequently repeated his former metaphor of covering the land with White people as he did with a handful of sand. On our return to my house, I accompanied the rest of the party as far as the north head of the river, and wished them a prosperous voyage to Taranaki. Having engaged a passage in the Surprise, which was well laden with live hogs, I bade farewell to E Kuru ; promising to return soon in order to establish a trading station, and to hasten the arrival of surveyors and settlers to inhabit the numerous houses which had been built for them. I landed at Kapiti, and in a day or two after crossed over to the main, and walked to Port Nicholson. In the course of this walk I was benighted on the hills between Porirua and Pitone, having mistaken the time of the rising of the moon. As it was too dark to pro ceed along the tortuous path beneath the thick foliage, I lay down to sleep for a few hours among the moss and forest-fern beside the path. It is worthy of remark, that although everything was so damp that I could not light a fire, and I had no blanket or any other clothes but those in which I walked, to shield me from the wet, I suffered no inconvenience from cold, and rose fresh and vigorous at the first dawn of day. A bull- dog, presented to me by a whaler at Kapiti, kept watch on the path while I slept, and scoured the bushes all round whenever an owl or other night-bird disturbed the sylvan silence. Cn reaching the hill above Pitone, just as the sun rose over the eastern 390 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIII. range, I felt as if returning home, and gazed with pleasure on the majestic harbour and sleeping settle ment. The day was calm, and the sky unclouded.* * I must refer the reader to a series of lithographic plates from sketches by the draughtsman and surveyors of the New Zealand Company and other persons, which are published by Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co., of Cornhill. I have selected them from the portfolios of the Company, kindly placed at my disposal for this purpose, as very correct Illustrations of many of the scenes described in this book. The view of the harbour from the hills above Pitone is one of them. Chap. XIV. ARRIVAL OF SHIPPING FROM SYDNEY. 391 CHAPTER XIV. Ships arrive from Sydney^ — Arrival of Mr. Murphy as Police Ma gistrate — Departure of the Colonial Secretary — Straggling news from the North — Death of Mr. Bumby — Progress of Britannia — , Club — Country lands — Mr. Bidwill — " Captain " Williams — Hire of a schooner — Cloudy Bay — Suspicious death of Mr. Wilton ' — Queen Charlotte's Sound — WUd cattle hunting on Kapiti — Expedition of the Brougham with Mr. Murphy and the soldiers — Want of a Coroner and Jury' — Licences — Discontent of whalers —Advantages of barter with good natives at Wanganui. This was the 27th of September ; and I must now retrace the events which had occurred at Port Nichol son during my absence. The Pitone natives, headed by Epuni and Ware pori, had armed and proceeded towards Wairarapa shortly after my departure, doubtful of the intentions of a party of the Ngatikahuhunu tribe, who had lately assembled there. The expedition had, however, ended in a reconciliation between these ancient enemies ; and Te Hapuku, the head chief of Hauriri in Hawke's Bay, soon after visited his new friends in a trading schooner. The Coromandel had arrived from London, via Syd ney, with a heterogeneous cargo of passengers, and a large stock of ^heep, horses, and cattle. Among the passengers were the conductors of a mercantile firm, established here by a Liverpool house, and also Mr. Petre and Major Baker, who had been visiting Sydney. Major Baker had been obliged to go there in conse quence of an action brought against him successfully by Captain Pearson of the Integrity, for his imprison ment of him while Police Magistrate under the pro visional Government. 392 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIV. Several ships from Sydney had also arrived durmg this period, laden with stock and other articles suited to the new market. This intercourse, once established, remained upon a permanent and vigorous footing ever since. Among the arrivals in the port had been her Majesty's brig Britomart, which had conveyed a Magistrate to Akaroa, in anticipation of the arrival of the French co lony. Mr. Michael Murphy, formerly Clerk of the Bench at Parramatta in New South Wales, had ar rived in this vessel to take his place as Police Magis trate for the District of Port Nicholson on the 3rd ; and Mr. Shortland had returned to the court at Russell in the brig on the 16th, to the no small relief of the community. The Platina had saUed on the 2nd for the same destination, with the Governor's official residence on board. On the 4th, the Cuba had conveyed the Port Nichol son deputation to Sydney. Dr. Evans was accom panied by his wife, and left his house and goods in charge of a native chief of Pipitea, who had become attached to the family. A few numbers of the Bay of Islands Gazette had found their way hither, through Sydney ; and from these were gathered our only news of what had been going on to the north. Allotments of land in the Governor's town of Rus sell had been officially announced for sale. The Col lector of Customs, however, appeared to be residing in Mr. Busby's town of Victoria ; and the Kororareka people had christened the city of Russell " Hobson's " Folly." It appeared, too, that some land had been ac quired for the Crown, by purchase from natives, at Manganui, a place some distance to the North of the Bay of Islands. Chap. XIV. STRAGGLING NEWS FROM THE NORTH. 393 New Zealand had been included in the Bishopric of Australia, for spiritual purposes. Those of us who had known the Rev. Mr. Bumby were sincerely grieved to hear of his death by drowning, in the Frith of the Thames. WhUe engaged in the prosecution of his missionary labours, he had been upset in a native canoe, and shared the fate of several of the crew. We had been led by our short but inti mate acquaintance with this gentleman to form a high opinion of his beiievolent and extended views as to the welfare of the native population, and to indulge in the hope that he would have been enabled, by his station at the head of the Wesleyan mission, to carry out the really statesman-like process of their gradual and agree able amalgamation with the settlers, in the means to which he had so cordially agreed with Colonel Wake field. Moreover, the manners of an educated gentle man and the qualities of a true Christian had endeared him to us as a private friend. Dr. Dieffenbach had returned from a trip to explore the valley of the Hutt, which produced no great result. He had traced it nearly to its source, and ascended to a spot on the Tararua range, from which he obtained a View of Kapiti and the adjacent part of the Strait. It was proved, however, beyond a doubt, that no ex tension of this valley led to the plains North of the range ; and also, that the valley contained a consider able quantity of very rich alluvial land and luxuriant timber. The colonists had been busUy engaged in removing- to Thorndon and the flat near Te Aro pa, where sub stantial wooden buildings were fast assuming the ap pearance of a town. General consent had established its future name as "Britannia;" and the newspaper, which had stopped its weekly issue once in order to 394 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIV. effect a removal, now sprang from a neat wooden print ing office under the additional title of the " Britannia " Spectator." The Company's barque Brougham had been employed in transporting the more bulky articles across the har bour. Among these was the iron safe of the bank, which had arrived in the Glenbervie, containing the specie and notes which were to form the currency of the settlement . Mr. John Smith, the manager, showed great anxiety during the transit of the safe, and having been observed by the natives sitting upon its summit as it lay on the deck, acquired from them the title of "Jacky Box," by which he was ever afterwards known among all shades of colonists. Colonel Wakefield was busy, like the rest, getting up a town residence. A swampy clay mound of some six acres in extent had been reserved for public purposes near Barrett's hotel ; and on a spot near the summit of this some labourers were busy digging the holes for the foundation-piles. He had bought a house brought from England in frame from a colonist who hesitated about setting it up for himself ; and proposed, by the addition of a veranda and kitchen, to make it a tolera bly comfortable dwelling. The holes filled with water as fast as they were dug ; and I remember ridiculing the idea of the location ever becoming tenable. Epuni, too, who had once tried a crop of potatoes on the very spot, declared that it was good for nothing. A person who should now walk up the hard drive, and inspect the lawn of rye-grass and clover, or the fertile garden near the house, with its geraniums grown into hedges, could form no idea of what the place was before it was drained by careful cultivation. The state of the community was at this time exceed ingly cheerful. All the labour of the settlement was Chap. XIV. SELECTION OP COUNTRY LANDS. 395 absorbed at high wages in the work of building, gar dening, and fencing ; and everybody was well and pleasantly employed either in working or superintend ing his workmen. It was at this time that a club was formed, called the Wakefield Club in honour of Colonel Wakefield. The original members were about twenty ; and a small house was bought from a settler who had squatted in a nook among the hUls overlooking the town soon after erecting it on his town section close to the water's edge. Visitors and travellers were allowed to become hono rary members for three months ; — and at a house- dinner held every Saturday a stranger was sure of meeting some of the principal colonists ; for the sub scription and entrance-money had been purposely fixed at a high sum. A remarkable esprit de corps prevailed in this little select society ever since, and Saturday soon became for most of the members a tapu day, on which no invitation was accepted. On the 5th of October, a selection took place of such of the country lands as were already surveyed. These included thirty sections, of 100 acres each, in the lower part of the Hutt valley, twenty-five of which were chosen ; and ten between the town and the sea-coast to the south, of which four were chosen. Three sec- tionists availed themselves of the privilege of fixing on any spot along the shores of the harbour, the bounda ries to be marked out hereafter; and chose, respectively, the valley of the Kai Wara Wara, where " Dog's- " ear's" village stood ; — Nga hauranga, where Ware pori resided; — and a block of rough, barren-looking hUls partially clear of timber, and adjoining the northern edge of the broad Belt reserved for public purposes all round the town. The 7th, 15th, 20th, 22nd, and 28th choices, being Native Reserves, were 396 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIV. chosen by the Surveyor-General nearly in a block in the immediate neighbourhood of Pitone; — the 500 acres including the pa itself, the valley of the Korokoro or " Throat" stream, a frontage of three-quarters of a mile on the beach of the harbour, and some of the most valuable land between the western hills and the Hutt river. Mr. Molesworth, who had long had an eye to a beautiful tract of land about two miles up the east bank of the river, secured two sections with some early choices ; and proceeded immediately to clear a few acres for cultivation. Several other persons followed his example ; and the sound of the axe rang merrily through the lower part of the valley. Mr. John Carne Bidwill, a gentleman engaged in mercantile pursuits in New South Wales, but who added a great knowledge of natural history and shrewd powers of observation to that enterprising spirit and love of adventure which combine to make a good colo* nist, was at this time visiting our settlements, and I was fortunate enough to be introduced to his acquaint ance. Mr. Bidwill had on a former occasion visited the Bay of Islands, the Frith and valley of the Thames, and the districts of Taupo and Waikato. During that journey, he had ascended the volcano of Tonga Riro, and his narratives of this and other adventures were most interesting. As they have since been published under his own name, I will only refer my reader to the work as one which will well repay the trouble of perusal.* When we heard that the Governor had the intention of founding a new city, to be the metropolis of the country, somewhere in the Gulf of Haurake or Frith of the Thames, Mr. Bidwill strongly expressed * ' Rambles in New Zealand,' by J. C. Bidwill, Esq. London : Orr and Co., 1841. Chap. XIV. " CAPTAIN " WILLIAMS. 397 his opinion of the superiority of Port Nicholson and the surrounding district in most of the necessary quali fications over the proposed site ; and proved that he was in earnest by buying at a high price some of the early choices. I was just now about to proceed to Wanga^iui by sea, having chartered a decked schooner of twelve tons burthen for the purpose of keeping my engagement with E Kuru. The owner of the vessel was our old friend Wil liams, the carpenter of Te-awa-iti, who had suddenly sprung into great opulence and fame. He had been to Sydney and persuaded a merchant there to fit him out as the head of a whaling-station in Port Under wood. Soon after his return he bought this craft of the man who had built her in Cloudy Bay, for 300/.; and married one of the female immigrants from England, with a very noisy wedding-feast at Pitone. He used now to speculate largely in all sorts of small trade, talk still more largely on all subjects, and astonish the quiet folks of Port Nicholson by his dress and swagger. He wore a cap ornamented with gold lace, a new suit of glossy black, and a gold watch and chain, the glitter of which might be distinguished from one end of the beach to the other. " Cloudy " Bay Williams," however, as he was called, was very good-humoured and harmless, and bore the name of being no less open-handed towards his whaling asso ciates than in his poorer days ; so that he was by no means disliked, even by those who laughed at the as sumption of grand airs and the title of " Captain" by the ci-devant carpenter. Some idea may be formed of the demand which was now existing for small craft to manage the coast-trade and supply the settlement with pigs and potatoes, from 398 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIV. the fact that I agreed to pay 100/. for three months' use of this little boat, the owner paying the wages of the skipper only ; and these'wages were 61. per month, besides food and grog. The two other men's wages were 4/. per month each. Mr. Bidwill and Mr. Dudley Sinclair, wishing to see something of the other parts of Cook's Strait, accompanied me in the trip ; and on the morning of the 7th, having embarked the requisite goods for barter, and provisions for the voyage, we sailed for Cloudy Bay, where I had agreed to land WiUiams. With a fresh north-west breeze, we buffeted through a rough tide-rip off Sinclair Head, and anchored at night in the cove above Jacky Guard's, where Williams had established himself The next day I visited my old acquaintances. Guard had got a new house, which he had built as a grog-shop, to accommodate the increas ing whaling traffic of the Bay. The season having just closed, the place was exceedingly quiet. Most of the whalers had gone to spend the balance of their earnings in Port Nicholson, or were employed by the settlers there, as sawyers, carpenters, boatmen, or otherwise. A startling piece of news was conveyed to us while here. Mr. Wilton, the agent of a Sydney house, whom I have already described as prevented by the natives from entering the Wairau plain with his cattle, had lost his life at the mouth of that river, together with the rest of a boat's crew. Whether this had happeiied by the upsetting of the boat or in another way, no one of the party remained alive to say ; but blood-stained ¦clothes, and some of the articles which had been in the boat, found dry on the beach, led the White people to opine that there had been some foul play ; and that the fragments of the boat, also found upon the beach, were Chap. XIV. SUSPICIOUS DEATH OP MR. WILTON. 399 only a device to support the story of their being acci dentally drowned. After beating about for two days between the mouth of Port Underwood and the Te-awa-iti entrance of Queen Charlotte's Sound, baffled by the violent squalls which a north-west gale sent whirling over the rugged- looking mountains of this coast, we at length anchored in Jackson's Bay. A vessel from Sydney, which had been loading oil from the station, was also lying here. This was the same vessel which had been sent from Sydney to Kapiti on a vain attempt to rival us in buying land; and Captain Rhodes, who now com manded her, was the same agent who had been in trusted with the duty. But he had long abandoned his enmity to the Company and their settlers, and was now engaged in establishing a mercantile house on the shores of Lambton Harbour. As he was going to visit Port Nicholson immediately, I despatched by him an account of the suspicious occurrences at Wairau to Colonel Wakefield and to Mr. Murphy. The north-west gale still continuing unabated, I took advantage ofthe sheltered water to stretch as far to wind ward as Ship Cove, through Queen Charlotte's Sound. This, by beating to windward during the flood and an choring during the ebb-tide, may be effected during the most stormy weather by even a sluggish vessel. And then, watching a day when the gale was steady and well to the westward of north, I fetched the north end oi Kapiti with a flood-tide, and ran down the landward side of the island to the inner anchorage among the islets at its south end. During the weather that had prevailed, no saUing-vessel could have reached this point by keeping the open Straits, as a short, angry, toppling sea runs there during stormy weather, and the tide ebbs to the south two hours longer than it flows to the north. 400 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIV. We were detained here by a continued series of calms and strong north-west gales until the 19th, having made several unsuccessful attempts to get to the north ward. The time, however, was not left unemployed or spent unpleasantly. Mr. BidwilT was delighted at the number of chitons, trochi, and other rare shells which he found among the rocks at low-water ; Cap tain Lewis received us hospitably in his house ; and the details of the whaling-stations and the acquaint ance of the eccentric characters attached to them were new, at least to my companions. Two days were spent in a very exciting sport. I have before mentioned that a herd of wild cattle, sprung from two or three sent here from Sydney some years back, inhabited the wooded hills and gullies of the island ; and I resolved to shoot one of the herd. Having bargained with Rauperaha, who claimed the ownership of the herd at the south end, I paid him five sovereigns and a half for permission to shoot one ; and obtained from him a messenger, charged to in struct his slaves living or cultivating on the island to assist our party as guides to their haunts or beaters of the wood. One high peak, generally capped with clouds in stormy weather, rises from near the centre of the island, and shoots out numerous woody ridges, like claws, towards the outer edge. These ridges vary in steepness, and in the extent of the table-land on their summits ; and the intervening spaces are either preci pitous gullies or valleys of easier slope, each furnished with a rill of pure water. Extensive patches have been cleared of wood by the natives at remote periods, and the slaves of the Kawia chiefs still work some nice spots and reside irregularly in picturesque groups of huts among the high grounds. Wher- Chap. XIV. WILD CATTLE HUNTING. 401 ever the land has been cleared, a very rich natural pasturage has sprung up among the bleached trunks of the dead trees, chiefly consisting of a grass resembling our " timothy," and of yellow trefoil ; and the presence of the cattle seems to have improved its growth and luxuriance. The first day was employed in finding the recent tracks of the herd, and making ourselves acquainted with their favourite haunts and the formation of the country. We only got one peep at them, and then became sufficiently aware of their timid and sagacious nature, and of the great caution which we must ob serve in order to get within shot. We had beaten and explored every corner south of the Peak to no purpose, except a single small gully at the south-west corner. This gully, filled with tall shrubs rather than trees, was only separated from the sea by a narrow ridge of rocky ground, clear of timber, and just broad enough, between the wood and the perpen dicular cliff, to allow the passage of a single man or beast, except where a terrace, about thirty yards in cir cumference, projected over the surf, which whispered hoarsely four hundred feet below. Having walked up the narrow ridge an hour before and round the head of the gully, after beating some valleys higher up and foUowing some fresh tracks towards the Peak, we con cluded that the herd had crossed the high dividing ridge to the north end of the island, and were on our way back to the boat, looking upon it as impossible that they could be hidden close in this small gully. We were thus advancing towards it from a large clearing on its inner or land side, in order to descend along the edge of the wood which obstructed our view of the " breakneck " path," as we christened it. In order to form a more accurate idea of the size and shape of this gully, Mr. VOL. I. 2d 402 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIV Bidwill and I climbed two small trees on its edge, and raised our heads only above the level of the wood. Three hundred yards from us, on the little terrace which I have before mentioned, we saw about thirty head of cattle. Some were lying down, others stand ing up ; and all apparently enjoying the warmth of the setting sun. We instantly popped down our heads, and told what we had seen to the rest of the party. Entering the gully at different points, we crossed it as quickly as we could without noise, and met on the clear ridge. But the herd was gone, and no one had seen a sign of a single head. They pro bably smelt us, as we were to windward of them ; although we had hoped that the flickering puffs and intervening pauses into which the breeze had died away as the sun sank, would not have served to carry any sign so far. The next day we made a more successful attempt. A brother of Captain Lewis got the first shot, at a young cow which ran past him at the distance of a hundred yards ; but the ball only grazed her between the horns, and she was soon out of shot. Our pack of natives, of whom we had engaged a much larger num ber to-day, were now for some time at fault. We had assembled very near the spot from which we saw the herd on the preceding evening, to eat a mid-day meal, when a native crept cautiously out of the gully, and signed to us to follow him in silence. He then guided us to within fifty yards of three head of cattle, which were quietly chewing the cud near the rill in the bottom of the gully. Lewis, Mr. Bidwill, and I then aimed at one each, and fired together. Mine, severely wounded in the flank, took up the gully, and the other two in the contrary direction. By retracing my steps to the clearing above, I now commanded the Chap. XIV. WILD CATTLE HUNTING. 403 exit from the lower end of the wood, where a favourite track crossed a tributary valley, which had been once cleared- One of the two kine that bolted that way had gone up the opposite hill before I got out of the wood ; but the second, a fine two-year-old heifer, stood for a moment so that I could aim at her neck between the dividing branches of a large tree. The ball passed nearly through her neck, sticking just inside the skin on the other side, and she staggered and fell, bellow- uig, on her knees. Lewis, who had followed in her track, now came up with her, and advanced with a Bowie knife to give her the deathblow ; but she mustered strength for a last effort, rose, and rushed furiously upon him. Having only slugs in his gun, he reserved the charge till she was quite close, and then fired full in her forehead. He was just in time, for she fell dead with her nose upon his feet. The natives who had followed the third returned in about an hour, having tracked it by the drops of blood as far as the dividing ridge, and then given up the chase. We now skinned and quartered our game, and carried it in triumph to the boat. The meat was excellent, and lasted us for a long while. Every one was surprised to find this wUd beef so tender, so fat, and so delicate in flavour. On the 19th, having made another attempt to pro ceed to the northward, we were again baffled by a calm ; and drifted back with the ebb to our anchorage. The Company's barque Brougham had anchored in the afternoon, and we went on board to hear the news. Mr. Murphy was on board, attended by Lieutenant Best and the soldiers ; Colonel Wakefield having at once placed the ship at his disposal for an expedition about the Straits. Crossing over to Port Underwood, he had first made 2 D 2 404 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIV. some investigation of the occurrence at TT^airau. But it appeared that, however suspicious were the circum stances vvhich I have mentioned above, no very clear evidence could be found of violence having been com mitted. The Cloudy Bay natives stated their opinion that Mr. Wilton and his party had been murdered by the aboriginal natives, whom they described to be still existing as fugitives there as well as at the Pelorus river. Some more searching investigation should have taken place at the time ; for the treating of such an event almost as though of no consequence was calculated to be of very bad effect on the natives, whether guilty or not. Nothing more, however, was ever said officially about the affair. The Police Ma gistrate was, perhaps, hardly to blame ; for, while the Governor was playing at town-making to the North, we were still left destitute of any of those autho rities, such as a Coroner and his Jury, under whose notice such an affair must have been brought publicly forward, had we enjoyed the protection of laws re sembling those to which we had been used in Eng land. Mr. Murphy had afterwards visited the whaling- sta tions in Queen Charlotte's Sound, and then come over to Kapiti, in order to compel the heads of stations and others selling spirits to take out licences, just like the tavern-keepers in Port Nicholson. This measure ex cited a considerable degree of ill-feeling among the whalers, who thought it very oppressive and unjust ; as the amount of the required licence, 30/. annually, would take away seriously from their profits. And they added, with great truth, that they derived no protection or advantage from the Government which thus proposed to draw a revenue from them. They had still to protect themselves against the frequent in- Chap. XIV. EXPEDITION OF THE " BROUGHAM." 405 solence and rapacity of Rauperaha, Rangihaeata, Tu ngia, and the other bullies among the Kawia chiefs ; and the nonchalant hushing-up of the Wilton affair was well calculated to make them, as well as the na tives, consider the legal authority in the islands to be powerless and inefficient. A runaway convict, who was suspected of having stolen from a French whaler a whale-boat which he had been heading this season, was made prisoner on board the Brougham. Although she came to anchor with a Government pendant at the mast-head, he had recklessly gone on board to offer his services as pilot, or learn the news from Cloudy Bay ; but had been immediately recognized and placed in irons by Mr. Murphy, on not being able to produce his ticket of leave. " Gipsey Smith," however, as he was called, did not long suffer confinement ; for he quietly stepped through the thatched wall of the apology for a jail at Britannia, a few days after he had been placed in it, and walked very deliberately back to Kapiti, and thence to some safer place of refuge. Rauperaha was much alarmed at the visit of the soldiers; and inquired with great anxiety, on what errand they had come. The next morning, a fresh southerly breeze suc ceeded the calm ; and we sailed towards Wanganui, while the Brougham beat down to Mana, favoured by an ebb-tide. On my arrival at TVanganui, I presented some goods to E Kuru, to be distributed among the builders of my house ; landed a large stock of goods for barter ; and embarked a cargo of pigs which had been collected in readiness for my arrival. I never made a bargain with E Kuru during my transactions with him, which lasted for two or three 406 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIV. years from this date. He used to bring me a cargo for the vessel as a homai no homai, or " gift for gift ;" and I used on some future occasion to present him with a bale of blankets or a quantity of other goods, equiva lent to the market value of the cargo. In this barter of mutual confidence, I was sometimes his debtor for a month or two, to the amount of ten or twelve tons of potatoes and forty or fifty hogs ; and at other times he would be a month or two in my debt to a like amount. But we never had a single disagreement about the accounts ; and the numerous followers and relations who invariably confided their ventures to the care of this chief, were always satisfied with their speculation. I had thus soon established, through the authority and with the co-operation of their own head chief, an amicable intercourse with a large num ber of natives. They were dependent on me to a cer tain degree for the supplies of European articles which they required, and I on them for a cargo. And this commerce being carried on entirely by myself and the upright chief in mutual presents, a friendship more lasting than that of mere customers was soon engen dered. The natives at Turods village and at Putikiwa ranui were by no means to be traded with on the same terms. They had already acquired in great measure the cunning habits of low traders from Macgregor and his crew ; who, although constantly trying to over reach the natives, profited no more than if they had treated them with constant openness and generosity. We here met several natives from Taupo who re membered Mr. Bidwill's ascent of Tonga Riro ; and he was soon known among them by no other name than that of the mountain. The weather during our stay was very wet, and the Chap XIV. ADVANTAGES OP BARTER WITH NATIVES. 407 river much swollen by floods. I returned by way of Kapiti, and arrived in Port Nicholson on the 19th of November ; having left a person in charge of my house, who was commissioned to carry on the trade and get a cargo ready by my return. 408 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. CHAPTER XV. News from the North — Selection of Capital — H. M. S. Favourite — Secret calumnies against Port Nicholson — Abstraction of labour ers by Government — The burlesque foundation of Auckland — Mr. Felton Mathew's epaulettes — Sawyers' activity — Absence of Police Magistrate — News from England — New Zealand Church Society— Wool— The name of the town changed to " Welling- " ton" — Return ofthe deputation from Sydney — Concessions made by Sir George Gipps — Ill-humour of Captain Hobson — The Rev. Mr. Churton — Flour-ships from Valparaiso- — Health oflScer appointed — Harbour-master paid by the Company— Preliminary expedition ofthe Plymouth Company — Lord Eliot advocates the cause of New Zealand in the House of Commons — Grief for the death of Lord Durham — Statesmen and colonists— Abstraction of labour for neighbouring colonies —Plain of the Wairarapa — Arrival of a Wesleyan missionary^ — Christmas at Kapiti — Plunder of a wreck near Wanganui — A scent of the Wanganui — Rapids — Canoe-song — E Kuru and his guests — Open house at Wan ganui — A feudal retinue — Gale of wind — Drift out to sea — Roman Catholic Bishop— A " happy new year" — Hopes and fears — Merry disputes between higher and lower classes — Anniversary fete — Injudicious missionary injunctions. A SCHOONER had arrived, soon after we left Port Nichol son in the .lane, from Launceston, the Bay of Islands, and the Thames. The report was, that the Lieutenant- Governor intended shortly to visit the future site of his Capital, an uninhabited place called Waitemata in the Frith of the Thames, in her Majesty's ship Favourite, then lying at the Bay ; and that he would afterwards come on from "Auckland," as he had christened it, to us. But on the 5th of November, the Favourite ar rived in the harbour, having been eleven days from Auck land, without his Excellency, who had remained there with his suite and hangers-on, who now swelled the total Chap. XV. UNFAIR ABSTRACTION OF LABOURERS. 409 population of his metropolis to the number of 150. It was added that Captain Hobson expressed no intention of coining hither for the present. An official notice appeared, moreover, in the Gazette, signed by the Police Magistrate, offering high wages, and temporary rent- free allotments of land for residence, as an inducement to twenty-one mechanics to proceed to Auckland in the employ of Government. This advertisement ex cited much unpleasant feeling in the minds of the co lonists. They remembered that these labourers had been brought to Port Nicholson by means of the high price which they had paid in England for their land ; they knew that all the labour in the settlement was at this time employed, at good wages ; and they justly grudged their abduction by these higher inducements, to be employed on Government works which, at that enormous distance, could confer no possible benefit on the settlement to which the labourers in all fairness belonged. And his Excellency was by many accused of wishing to inflict a grievous injury on the settlers in Cook's Strait, in addition to his long and inexplica ble neglect. It was not known that his Excellency was at this time writing dispatches to the Colonial Minister in England disparaging the capabilities of Port Nicholson, and asserting the refusal of the natives to part with the land near it. The letters of Lieutenant Shortland, on which he founded these accounts, were dated at Russell in October and November; that is, after he had got back from Port Nicholson. I must add, that the extraordinary misrepresentations contained in them, as to the position and capacity of the harbour and the nature of the surrounding country, were fully contradicted by the best authorities after the letters had reached England. The Governor's liberal invitation was, however, some- 410 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. what counteracted by a letter received by a carpenter named Cockburn from a brother chip, who, being of the wandering class, had proceeded to the Thames some time before : it spoke in the most discouraging terms of the prospect for labourers at a place where there was no other employer than the Government. The Reverend Mr. Churton, who had for some time shown a strong disinclination to fulfil his engagement with the colonists by remaining with them, and an irre sistible craving for a situation graced by the pre sence of a Governor, Colonial Secretary, and other people with fine titles, took up the cudgels for the infant metropolis, and expressed vehement doubts as to the authenticity of the letter. Unfortunately for his theory, Cockburn brought the letter to the Gazette Office, where he left it for inspection, after begging attention to the post-mark. We were not surprised at a rumour that Mr. Churton had been appointed by the Bishop of Australia to the Bay of Islands, and that he would soon leave us. An American brig, which had called at the Bay of Islands, on her way hither with a cargo of " notions " from Rhode Island, had brought a file of newspapers from the Bay. These contained the reports of meet ings of land-owners at the Bay of Islands, in the frith of the Thames, and at Manganui, north of the Bay, the parties to which had voted memorials to the Queen and Parliament for the separation of New Zealand from New South Wales, and had joined the Sydney Asso ciation in opposing Sir George Gipps's Land BUI. A colonel and a captain had been appointed Commis sioners according to that measure, and had arrived from Sydney at the Bay. There was also a ridiculous account of the taking formal possession and foundation of Auckland by the Chap. XV. BURLESQUE FOUNDATION OF AUCKLAND. 411 Government Surveyor-General, Mr. Felton Mathew on the 18th of September. Formal possession was taken in the name of the Queen, and her health was drunk at the foot of a flag-staff. Salutes were fired from the two vessels which had brought the party there three days before, the boats ran races, and a lunch on board ship was honoured, we were told, by the presence of the following Government officers : — " the Police Magistrate, the Colonial Surgeon, the " Harbourmaster, the Superintendent of works, the " Sub-Protector of Aborigines, the Surveyor-General " and his lady ! " This brilliant staff assembled on the uninhabited shores of a harbour in which their own two vessels lay, contrasted singularly with that provided for the large and stirring population of Bri tannia, to wit, a Police Magistrate and an Assistant Postmaster. The grand show thus made at Auck land before nobody by Mr. Felton Mathew and his brother officials, without even waiting for the arrival of the founder, was strikingly characteristic of the man and the class. Mr. Mathew had been promoted to the situation of Surveyor-General of New Zealand from that of Town-Surveyor of Sydney. While holding that office, by which it seems he was entitled to wear an epaulette, he had made a very serious application to the Governor for permission to wear two. " You may " have three, if you like," answered Sir George Gipps, " but I couldn't think of allowing you to wear two." On the 12th of October, Mr. Murphy had issued a prohibition against the cutting of wood by sawyers without the permission of the owner of the land. This partial recognition of the title of the settlers, so neces sary to prevent the great devastation which was now progressing in all the timbered lands within a few mUes from the town, had been steadily refused during 412 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. the reign of the Colonial Secretary ; who used to tell the applicants " that they were all squatters, that they " had no more right to the timber than the sawyers, " until the Crown had granted a title to the land, " and that he expected shortly to receive orders to " eject them from the Crown lands." During the building of the town, so great had been the demand for sawn timber, and so high the price paid in consequence, that the sawyers, paying nothing for their logs, used to earn enough in two days to remain idle and drunk the other five. Reckless in their de struction of the forest, they cut down only the best trees, and often left a log untouched after it was felled, in order to take some other which would fall in a more convenient position. They lived a wild life on the outskirts of the settlement, and their forest huts afforded shelter to the sailors who deserted their ships, and to many worse characters. The activity of all classes at this time was truly cheerful to behold. Carpenters, land-agents, mer chants, shopkeepers, and hotel-keepers advertised in the paper and got their premises into order ; the de mand for labour exceeded the supply; the numerous fleet of coasters and the neighbouring natives combined to keep food at a reasonable rate, by pouring into the market large quantities of pigs and potatoes ; and the constant employment of every one, so satisfactory because productive of progress and improvement, con tinued to keep the great majority of people gay and contented. During the Police Magistrate's trip of eleven days in the Strait, the absence of this solitary authority was very severely felt. Constant rows, unheeded or unrepressed by the feeble and now headless police, occurred on the beach, especially among the seafaring Chap. XV. NEW ZEALAND CHURCH SOCIETY. 413 class ; and much inconvenience resulted to the indus trious settlers. Among the principal disturbers of the peace was the captain of a Hobart Town whaler lying in the port after a successful voyage, who used to land his men at Barrett's hotel, which had been formally opened on the 22nd by a public dinner, and treat them to champagne. The surveying expedition had returned from Tara naki ; and the report of Mr. Stokes to the Chief Sur veyor had satisfied every one that a very large and availaj)le district of land must finally become depend ent upon Port Nicholson for the outlet of its produce. On the 14th of November an emigrant vessel had arrived from England with the smallpox on board. A quarantine-tent was erected on the east side of Lambton Harbour, the necessary precautions were taken, and the sick cured by the Company's surgeon ; and the disease spread no further. The most important news from the mother-country was the formation of a Church Society there, which undertook to negotiate for the appointment of a sepa rate Bishop for the colony, and the endowment of Churches and clergymen. The New Zealand Company had engaged to present the Society with 2000 acres of land for these purposes. The following noblemen and gentlemen formed the General Committee of this Society : — The Earl of Devon ; The Lord Ashley, M.P. ; The Lord Courtenay ; The Viscount Sandon, M.P.; The Hon. F. Baring, M.P. : J. J. Briscoe, Esq., M.P. ; W. E. Gladstone, Esq., M.P.; J. R. GowEN, Esq. ; Sir Stephen Glynne, Bart., M.P. ; Edmund Halswell,Esq.; 414 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. William Hutt, Esq., M.P.; Sir G. Sinclair, Bart., M.P. ; John Abel Smith, Esq., MP. Alderman Thompson, M.P.; The Archdeacon op London ; The Archdeacon op St. Albans ; The Dean op Chiches ter ; Rev. G. H. Bowers ; Rev. G. Brett ; Rev. a. M. Campbell; Rev. G. Hamilton ; Rev. S. Hawtrey ; Rev. W. Harness ; Rev. Samuel Hinds, D.D.; Rev. W. Selwyn ; Rev. J. G. Ward. We also heard that a small lot of wool from this country, but whether from Mana or the missionary farms in the north was not ascertained, had been greatly approved of, and bought at an unusually high price. The Directors of the Company signified to their principal agent their earnest wish that the town founded on the shores of Lambton Harbour might be named after the Duke of Wellington, in order to com memorate the important support which his Grace had lent to the cause of colonization in general, and more particularly to those principles of colonization by which these settlements were guided, by his strenuous and successful defence against its enemies of the mea sure for colonizing South Australia. The settlers took up the view of the Directors with great cordiality, and the new name was at once adopted. The newspaper now took the final title of the ' New Zealand Gazette ' and Wellington Spectator.' On the 27th of November I made another trip to TT'^angainii in the schooner, and returned on the 14th of December. Chap. XV. RETURN OF DEPUTATION. 415 The main feature in the affairs of Port Nicholson during this interval had been the return of the deputa tion from Sydney, at the very time that one hundred more country sections were about to be offered for selection. After some discussion and consultation, this had been postponed until the deputies should have rendered an account of their proceedings to a public meeting. The deputies had laid the whole case of the settlers, distinctly from that of the Company, before Sir George Gipps, and had claimed his consideration and indulgence as due to the community from their numbers and importance, and from the great value which their presence had added to the whole district, and especially to the Reserves made for the natives. After some explanatory correspondence and nume rous interviews, they had succeeded in obtaining from Sir George Gipps the following ultimatum, subject, of course, to the approval of the home authorities. The local Government engaged not to disturb the settlers at Port Nicholson, but to endeavour to procure for them a confirmation of their titles to 110,000 acres of land, and to their town, on certain conditions, which may be thus briefly summed up : — That the 1 10,000 acres should be taken in one con tinuous block. That the Reserve of one-tenth for the natives should be made as before, according to the order of choice which had fallen to them by lot. That certain Reserves should be made for public purposes, of specified character and extent. That the Government, not receiving any benefit from the sale of lands in the township, did not feel it incumbent upon it to erect any public works or build ings, except such as might be necessary for the admi nistration of justice and the collection of the revenue ; 416 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. but that it would endeavour to procure for the inha bitants a Charter of Incorporation for Municipal pur poses, so as to enable them to raise the necessary funds and support the necessary local institutions from their own resources. The rights of the natives, and those of purchasers from them, as against the Company, were reserved for the consideration of the Commissioners under the Land Claims Bill ; but it was clearly provided that bond fide private claimants were to be compensated by the Company or the body of the settlers, in the same way as though the Government had founded a town on the spot, by an award of money, or of land in another situation, according to certain proportions. , In order to prevent the abuse of this guarantee, the selection of the Native Reserves, both past and future, and that of the Reserves for public purposes, were declared subject to the approval of the Lieutenant- Governor, if not made by officers appointed by him for that purpose. The Cuba had put in at the Bay of Islands, in order that Captain Hobson might be informed of the result of the deputation. His Excellency had appeared to be disappointed at the important concession made in favour of the Port Nicholson settlers by Sir George Gipps, and had remarked ill-humouredly, in the pre sence of the deputies, when they presented him with his superior's dispatch informing him of the arrange ment, " V.^'hat does Sir George Gipps mean by this 1 " He might as well have given up the government of " New Zealand to the Company ! " A similar feeling of regret had of course been manifested among the subordinate officials. The main concessions made by Sir George Gipps in this arrangement were, the treating with persons not Chap. XV. CONCESSIONS BY SIR GEORGE GIPPS. .317 direct purchasers from the natives, and the giving them a town, harbour, and headlands, notwithstanding the special reserve of such sites made by the Land Claims Bill. Sir George had also promised to recom mend a great boon to the community in their Mu nicipal Incorporation for local purposes. The only unfavourable condition was that of taking the land in a block ; which would probably carry out Sir George Gipps's avowed intention of considering the lottery held for order of selection as one in which there should be blanks as well as prizes : for much of the land within a compact block of 110,000 acres round Port Nicholson, and which would fall to the lot of the later orders of choice, was looked upon at that time as inaccessible and comparatively worthless ; and the sec- tionists had understood when they bought, that only available land would be offered for selection. The only objection to the acceptance of this com promise was that the case of the Company might be weakened by it ; but, considering that the deputies had treated with Sir George Gipps on the part of the settlers exclusively, this objection became of little im portance. On the other hand, the recommendation of the able Governor of New South Wales was looked upon as an undoubted guarantee of a good title, and as securing permanence and stability to the future opera tions of the settlement. Such were the sentiments finally expressed at the pub lic meeting which, on the 15th of December, " grate fully and loyally " accepted the offer of Sir George ; and while the remarkable neglect of our interests ma nifested by Lieutenant-Governor Hobson was severely animadverted upon in the course of the discussions, the resolutions passed expressed the " unanimous and cor- "dial thanks of the meeting to his Excellency Sir VOL. I. 2 E 418 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. " George Gipps, Governor of New South Wales, for " the spirit of justice and hberality he has displayed "towards the community of Port Nicholson." An address was prepared embodying these sentiments. The Rev. Mr. Churton had been remarkable during these discussions for his querulous and discontented spirit. As he was one of a second series of sectionists, for whom a district was proposed to be surveyed at TVanganui, he certainly had some reason for alarm lest the Company should be prevented from exercising or granting rights of ownership over any land outside the block sufficient only for the preliminary settlement granted by Sir George Gipps ; but the time and manner in which he made these complaints were remarked by many people as especially disagreeable. Mr. Davy, a candidate for orders, was appointed by the Bishop of Australia to act as clergyman at Port Nicholson, and arrived to replace Mr. Churton. The approaching de parture of the latter for the seat of government was not viewed with great regret by the community, who had been rather alienated from their pastor by his un bending stiffness and morose manner, and by his general want of the colonizing spirit, which should have taught him to bear with some few unavoidable diffi culties, and to animate and console those of his flock who wanted patience and resignation under difficulties, rather than to encourage them by his constant example to discontent. The news from the North brought by the Cuba, and by a trading schooner which arrived from Sydney and the Bay of Islands on the 18th, were, that a fire had burnt down a great part of the palace sent on from Wellington and erected at the Thames, besides the whole of the Lieutenant-Governor's furniture ; that his Excellency had bought a brig of 200 tons for the ser- Chap. XV. PLOUR-SHIPS FROM VALPARAISO. 419 vice of the Government ; and that a sale by auction of allotments of land in the town of Auckland had been advertised for March next. Two vessels had arrived at Wellington from Val paraiso, loaded with flour ; and the price of this article of food was reduced to 20^ per ton from the high price which it had hitherto maintained. One of these vessels, a Chilian brig, had called at the Bay of Islands ; and Dr. Fitzgerald returned in her with the appointment of Colonial Surgeon and Health Officer for this settlement. This was the first case of one of the original colonists from England being thought worthy of a Government office. It has been related that the Company's surgeon had to perform its duties in a recent case of the most vital importance. The duties of Harbour-master, by no means a sinecure, had also been performed by Captain Chaffers, with a salary of 300/. per annum from the Company; but this appointment was not recognized by the Lieutenant- Governor. On the 12th of December, the ship London had arrived from England with 250 emigrants and passen gers. Among the latter was Mr. Frederick Alonzo Carrington, who held the appointment of Chief Sur veyor to the Plymouth Company before mentioned. This body had bargained to receive from the parent society a district of 50,000 acres, including a site for a town to be called " New Plymouth," and to be distri buted in the same way as the preliminary settlement at Port Nicholson. Mr- Carrington was deputed to confer with Colonel Wakefield on the subject of select ing the next most eligible site within the territory claimed by the Company on either side of Cook's Strait. We heard with pleasure by this opportunity that 2 E 2 420 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV the cause of colonization had enlisted a powerful advo cate among its parliamentary supporters in the person of Lord Eliot (now Earl of St. Germains). A nume rously signed petition from the merchants, ship-owners, and bankers of the city of London, had been the ground on which his Lordship had founded a motion for in quiry into the proceedings of the Colonial Office, the Local Government, and the Company, as regards New Zealand. Lord Eliot, and Mr. Vernon Smith in op posing his motion, clearly exposed the blunders, whe ther accidental or intentional, committed by the Colo nial Office as to the sovereignty of New Zealand ; their recent disclaimer of which had encouraged the French to entertain the hope of anticipating us in ob taining it from the so-called independent chiefs, through cession frora them. The Colonial Office appeared to be less acquainted than other persons with the features of the case, and the matter ended in Lord Eliot's motion being agreed to, notwithstanding the opposition of Lord John Russell and his subordinate. The grievous news of the death of the Earl of Dur ham was received at the same time. That distinguished nobleman, the first Governor of the New Zealand Company, had merited the sincere esteem of the Cook's Strait colonists, not only by his strenuous and disin terested advocacy of their particular interests, but also by his thorough support of the principles of coloniza tion on which the Company's settlements were based, and by the kindly interest which he was known to take in all questions affecting the Colonial empire of Great Bri tain. It is pleasing to know that the sorrow for Lord Durham's death was deep, heartfelt, and universal at Wellington. A respectful address of condolence was immediately prepared and signed, for presentation to the widowed Countess. Chap. XV. STATESMEN AND COLONISTS. 421 Little do the majority of distinguished British statesmen know or appreciate the earnest gratitude which can be produced in the hearts of the men who found colonies by some degree of legislative kindness or care for their unprotected state. Those are men of generous minds and strong feelings, who carry with them their families, and risk their all, spread ing their country's name in the remotest parts of the globe, even though uncertain of adequate protec tion because not fostered or even recognized by the parent Government ; who trust to their own resources, and confide in each other's good faith and conduct ; who become quickly inured to hardships ; who are rendered provident and energetic by difficulties ; who spring more hopeful and determined from under each successive disappointment ; and who steadily persevere, heedless of obstacles and derision, as the undaunted pioneers of civilization and religion. Alas ! with few honourable exceptions, men of great name and reputa tion, ministers, statesmen, and legislators of rank and influence, seek a more substantial reward than gratitude for their exertions, or a more known field than strug gling colonies for their ambition. Immersed in the politics of the world, they are ignorant or careless of the warm thanks which these young and vigorous communities readily offer to their few benefactors : — and the brave planters of a new colony are thus gra dually neglected, left without the protection of laws or government, placed at the mercy of a few placemen who do not know their wants, and tormented by the irresponsible caprice of a bureaucracy, which rules them from a distance with indifference approaching to con tempt, tUl at length their noble energy is crushed, or their loyal forbearance is exhausted, and they become ruined men or rebels at heart. 422 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. Various associations were in course of formation at this time, for purposes calculated to advance the pros perity of the settlement ; — such as the importation of cattle on a large scale from the neighbouring colonies ; the encouragement of inventions for the preparation of the phormium tenax or indigenous flax-plant ; and the establishment of an Exchange and Public Library. The making of bricks was now first successfully carried on; and a large kiln was in active operation at Kai TJ^ara TVara, a mile from the town. Attention had for some time been drawn to the in creasing attempts made by parties from the neighbour ing colonies to abstract labour from us. No means seemed to be considered too dishonourable for the accomplishment of this purpose. The grossest calum nies were circulated in the public prints of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, against our soil, cli mate, and state of society ; and the crimps who char tered vessels and visited our harbour drew the most highly-coloured picture of the advantages to be derived by labourers from a removal to their country. These foul doings excited the greatest indignation among the main body of settlers ; and it was clear that there existed no surer way of provoking their hatred than one which so militated against their vital interests. The plain of the Tf^airarapa had been recently visited by a traveller from this place. Like Lieutenant Best, and others who had seen parts of this district, he spoke most highly of its capabilities in all respects except the possession of a harbour. These opinions were important, as proving that, on the east as well as the west, a large extent of country was dependent on the harbour and town of Wellington as a commercial outlet. On the 23rd of December a barque arrived from Chap. XV. CHRISTMAS AT KAPITI 423 Kawia, bearing Mr. John Aldred as Wesleyan mis sionary for this place. He fixed his abode near Te Aro pa, on the spot which the late Mr. Bumby had imagined himself to have secured for the mission, and which had been laid out as a Public Market-place in the plan of the town of Wellington. The next day I again sailed for TT^anganui, taking with me Mr. W. Carrington, one of the assistant- surveyors, and five or six of the Company's labourers, with their goods and chattels. Colonel Wakefield had decided upon having a district surveyed at that place, for , distribution among the sectionists of the second series. About noon on Christmas-day, we reached Kapiti. Having to touch there, I ran close alongside Evans's Island, hardly stemming the ebb with a light southerly air, which had died away as the sun rose. Twenty or thirty whalers, who had chosen to remain till the next season, and were holding high holiday on the island, ran out and launched a boat to tow me to the anchor age. They insisted on our partaking of their Christ mas feast, and we landed amidst a salute of musketry and of some small cannon on the flag-staff mound. No one, except two or three of the headsmen, was sober, and I was glad to get into the chief headsman's house out of the way of the reckless firing. My crew and the surveying-men were made welcome under a spaci ous awning of boat-saUs. We were feasted on roast sucking-pig, ducks, and plum-pudding, and re-embarked at night, the breeze having freshened up. The men were got off as soon as they were fit to be bundled like dead sheep into the hold, and we sailed away. Two of the saUors, including the skipper, were fortunately steady hands, and had returned early on board sober ; and the little craft did not require a large crew to sail her. 4^ ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. Calm weather and light winds kept us two days more between Kapiti and TT^anganui, only fifty-seven miles. Mr. Carrington established himself in a house near the^a at Putikiwaranui, and commenced the survey on both sides of the river by cutting the necessary lines through the high fern along the banks. A boat from Wellington on its way to this place having been wrecked, near the mouth of the Turakina river, a week or two before my arrival, I proceeded thither along the beach, accompanied by the Reverend Mr. Mason and E Kuru. The few natives who lived on the banks of that river had plundered the wreck, and there was some suspicion that foul play had been prac tised on the unfortunate crew, consisting of four per sons. Three bodies had been found near the plundered boat by tM'o White men who walked to Wellington shortly after the event, one of them with the head separated from the trunk ; and they had buried the bodies and carried the news to Wellington. We pro ceeded to a settlement about a mile inland, where we found some natives cutting the sails and ropes into shapes suitable for their own canoes. They also pro duced some chests, containing clothes, books, and letters, which led me to identify the passengers in the boat ; but refused to give anything up without ample pay ment. They told us that the more valuable portion of the cargo had been carried far up the river or to Ran gitikei by another set of natives; and declared that the bodies had been washed on shore dead, and that the absent natives had mutilated one of the corpses as described. These natives professed to be mihanere, or converted Christians ; but Mr. Mason could not per suade them to give up their plunder. E Kuru was very indignant at their conduct, and regretted that they Chap. XV. PLUNDER OF A WRECK BY NATIVES. 425 were not under his authority. At Wangaihu we met with Pukeroa, the old magician of Guard's island at the mouth of the Pelorus, who was on his way to Waikato by way of the Wanganui river. He had also secured a large portion of the spoil ; but ridiculed the idea of restoring it to the friends of the deceased, as quite contrary to all Maori custom. He loudly asserted, that when a boat, canoe, or ship was wrecked, all look ers-on were entitled to whatever they could pick up. He was much delighted at having found a case of bottled gin. On my return to TVanganui, I forwarded a list of the things which I had seen, and a statement of what I had heard, to the Magistrate at Port Nichol son ; but no further notice was ever taken of the affair. Soon after this, the Jewess schooner of sixty tons, a vessel owned in Port Nicholson, entered the river, and anchored at Purua. There were several passengers on board, who had come to inspect the proposed district. As I intended to travel up the river to E Kuru, who had gone to collect pigs at the inland settlements, I offered places in my canoe to three or four of them ; and we thus formed a merry party. The canoe vvas roomy and safe, fitted with a mast and sail, and manned by four or five strong rowers, selected from the train always attendant upon Ware Wikitoria, or " Victoria house," as jB Kwrw had chris tened my establishment. The kareau platform was covered with clean native mats, and abundance of food and bottled beer was stowed away in the bottom of the canoe. The weather was uniform, sunny, and exhUarating because not oppres sively hot; and thus we were rather on a party of pleasure than an exploring expedition. We slept the first night at a village opposite Te 426 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. Kau arapawa, that place being deserted by the inhabit ants, who were busy gathering their crops ; and pushed on the next day. We found the scenery improving in magnificence as we proceeded. Occasionally we passed picturesque little settlements hung midway down the partly cleared acclivities, or laid out on small flats bounded by the mountains and a bend of the river. Long reaches walled in by steeps that were mantled with noble forest or high fern, and dotted here and there with stern crags, stretched between the bends ; and at each bend the river generally foamed over a rapid of greater or less ascent. After passing several of these by poling, and ascending the current about ten miles from our sleeping-place, we gave the natives a rest at mid-day on a shingly beach at the foot of a rapid which shot down with more than usual force. The river above it turned sharp to the right, and facing us was a steep wall of verdure rising to the height of some hundred feet. My boys had told me that E Kuru was entertain ing a large party of visitors from Waikato, and that we might expect to meet him before we reached his settlement. We had not long disembarked before the regular song of the war-canoe rang from the woods opposite ; and, as we rose to look about us, a large fleet came round the point and shot the rapid at full speed. E Kuru was in one of the last canoes, and beckoned those who had passed to turn in to our encampment. Here the whole party rested for an hour. The chief introduced me to the principal men among his visitors, who already knew me by name as " the White man who had paid for TVanganui ;" and he reminded me of several old acquaintances among his relations, who were also in the train. He then invited me to travel in his canoe, where the stern- Chap. XV. OPEN HOUSE KEPT AT WANGANUI 427 sheets were covered with fine mats ; and we returned towards the sea, reaching my house about mid night. Several persons travelled by land from Wellington at this time to make themselves acquainted with the Wanganui country ; among others, the wife of the cooper of a ship in Port Nicholson, who had deserted and engaged in the service of a person intending to settle here, whom he accompanied. The natives were much struck with the courage and perseverance of this woman, who had been the first of her sex to perform this journey of UO miles on foot, crossing the rivers and undergoing the other hardships of the route. I found most of the travellers very foot-sore and half- starved at Mr. Carrington's house' one afternoon, hav ing crossed the river on hearing the news of their arrival. I now made my house a caravanserai for all travellers, inviting them to accept of its shelter until they had agreed for the purchase of some of those built by the natives. I had divided the great barn into three parts with rude reed partitions : one for the sleeping-room, where people might spread their blankets on the floor ; one for goods and provisions ; and the large space in the middle as a sort of public hall, where natives, sawyers, travellers of the lower class, my crew, or any one else, might sit round the fire and partake of whatever kai, or food, was going on. I continued this system as long as I kept the house ; and even after the two wings were furnished with wooden floors, walls, and ceilings, and civilized doors and windows, the centre remained an open hall where all but known bad cha racters of either race might assemble and be welcome round the ample chimney-corner. But the separated rooms were kept strictly tapu, and not even the chief 428 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. himself ever ventured into them without my permis sion. In the absence of established laws and usages, I found this sort of feudal system very effectual. I had always a crowd of attendants ready to perforin any task ; the natives who partook of the shelter and hos pitality of the house would have felt ashamed if they had not kept it constantly well supplied with food ; and it soon became a word of reproach among the natives to any man, that he had been refused permis sion to enter the outer door. Having loaded a cargo of potatoes in bulk, I started for Port Nicholson towards the end of January, with several passengers who were returning, and who spread their blankets on the top of the potatoes, ^^'^e made a prosperous run to Kapiti ; and, after remaining there one day, and taking two natives as passengers, started early in the morning with a freshening breeze from north-west. When we rounded Cape Teraiviti an hour before dark, the breeze had increased into a gale ; and we flew along before the squalls which dashed down the gullies of the high land, and raised the spray in whirling columns high over our little masts. Hugging the shore in order to avoid being . driven to sea, we rounded Sinclair Head in safety ; but the night came on pitchy dark, and the gale increased in fury, so that we could not see our way to an anchorage in which I had before taken refuge under the eastern head ; and I was obliged to heave-to and drift till the morning, after passing within half the craft's length of one of the reefs. The gale was so violent that the sea was white with foam and almost smooth, for some miles from the shore ; but when we were well out, and ex posed to the steady blow through the Strait, a heavy and dangerous sea knocked us about like a nut-shell. Chap. XV. A GALE— WE DRIFT OUT TO SEA. 429 The only sail we could carry was a balance-reefed mizen, about the size of a large pocket handkerchief; but under this the boat rode it out gallantly, and caught the seas on her well-rounded bow. I slept soundly during the heaviest part of the gale ; but the skipper told me when I looked up, that during two hours he had never expected to see daylight again. At break of day we found ourselves in the latitude, but well to the eastward, of Cape Campbell, the wind being less strong, but a heavy sea running. My passengers had been much frightened and inconvenienced by the water, which leaked in at the topsides and reached up to them in the rolls of the boat. About eight o'clock we were able to make a little sail, hoping to fetch under the lee of Cape Palliser, and to find a tem porary anchorage there. In the evening we had reached within a few miles of it, but the baffling willies of wind off the land and the set of the tide round the Cape prevented us from nearing the shore. In the morning it had fallen calm, but we had drifted ten or twelve miles to the north, along the eastern coast. The wind had been gradually drawing round to the south-west, and the clouds were gathering over the high peaks of the Middle Island. By night it was blowing as hard as ever from that quarter, and the sea, sweeping uninterrupted from the south, was as high as at the Cape of Good Hope. We were again under our pocket handkerchief, standing off and on near the coast, for two days and two nights. I had hoped to find some bay or cove large enough to afford us shelter ; but when we examined the coast, we could see nothing but terrific surf, tumbling upon sandy beaches or flying in jets of spray from the faces of high cliffs. When the weather moderated, we were off Cape Turnagain ; and we did not reach Port 430 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. Nicholson untU the 30th of January, very nearly out of water, firewood, and provisions. Monseigneur Pompalier, the Roman Catholic Bishop of New Zealand, had visited Wellington during my absence, on his return from the French settlement at Akaroa to his head-quarters at the Bay of Islands. The gentlemen of the Club, and others who had en joyed his acquaintance, spoke highly of his urbane manners and his philanthropic views with regard to the welfare of the natives. " A merry Christmas and a happy New Year " had been celebrated in old English style. Fat bullocks had been slaughtered and dressed with evergreens, and the New Year saluted with ringing of bells, firing of cannon, and hoisting of flags. Two days afterwards, a vessel had arrived from Greenock with 200 emigrants ; and these I found located in some houses which had been built on speculation by old " Dog's-ear " and his tribe at Kai Wara Wara. He told me, in his usual comical way, that he thought " Wide-awake " had slighted him by sending such poor people to his settlement ; for he could not understand the bare feet of the Scotch lassies. Mr. Churton had gone, with his family and chattels, to the Bay of Islands. It was determined towards the end of the year, to celebrate the first arrival of the settlers, on the 22nd of January, by an Anniversary fete. So favourable was the state of things in the settle ment, and so bright were the prospects for the future, that everybody joined heartily in this idea. The harvest was in progress in the valley of the Hutt. Consisting chiefly of potatoes, as a good clean ing crop for the newly-cleared land, it had surpassed the most sanguine expectations. It had also been Chap. XV. HOPES AND FEARS. 431 proved beyond a doubt, that the high estimates made by some persons of the expense of clearing heavily- timbered land in New Zealand was far beyond the actual cost. Some of these theorists had placed their estimate as high as 40/. per acre, and had assigned this calculation as a reason for their own unwillingness to " face the bush." Mr. Molesworth, however, had by a year's experience proved the cost of clearing, and the return from the first season's crop. Although he had at first, from inexperience, paid at a rather higher rate, he now cleared his land by contract at the rate of 12/. per acre. This I take from his own care ful estimates. The samples of wheat and bar ley produced in some small patches promised an equally good return under a grain-crop. The rapid improvement of the condition of sheep and cattle, on the natural pasturage of the hills south and south east of the town, was no less remarkable. Visitors from New South Wales, with all their prejudice against a young rival colony, did not hesitate to ac knowledge that the cattle showed better, that the cows gave more and richer milk, and that the meat was more delicate in flavour than in that country. The limited pasturage, instead of being consumed by the cattle, had advanced in quality and quantity. The fern, through which we used to ride up to the knees of the horses, had been trodden down in many places, and grasses had sprung up in its room. Greater confidence was also felt as to the quantity of avaUable land easily accessible in all directions from the site of tlie town. The first explorers in all direc tions had been followed by many others, and every one encouraged his neighbours by the accounts which he brought home. Port Nicholson was no longer looked 432 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. upon as hemmed in by mountainous country and pos sessed of no rural district but the Hutt, but as the door of a large, fertile, and very available district, both east and west, and as the central harbour of a coast- line reaching from the East Cape to Kawia. It began to be felt, in fact, that in spite of difficulties and obstacles, the colony had fairly " taken root," and only wanted being left without interference to prosper by means of its own natural capabilities. During the year, 119 vessels had entered, and 112 vessels had left the port. The White population al ready amounted to 2500 men, women, and children ; and there were nearly 200 houses erected in a town of which the inhabitants had been in possession but four months, and during two months out of that time doubts of a secure title had prevented many from erecting 'a permanent or substantial dwelling upon the land : 18,000 acres of rural land had been se lected by the end of the year, and held out a large field for enterprise in the coming season. Out of the whole community, only twenty-five men were on the Company's hands, pursuant to their engagement to employ labouring emigrants until they found service ; and these were receiving twenty shillings a-week, be sides their rations which might fairly be counted as seven shillings more. But few causes of sorrow had to be weighed against these facts. A crimping-vessel from Launceston had, to be sure, induced fourteen labourers to leave the place ; but among these there was only one whose departure was regretted. The event had served to remind all of the last act of the Lieutenant-Govern or and his total neglect of Cook's Strait and its inhabitants ; but people were getting tired of this sub- Chap. XV. ANNIVERSARY PETE. 4,S3 ject, and began to believe that, if only neglected. Cook's Strait could almost do without him. The prosperous state of the working-classes did not faU to show itself by their very obstinate, but inoffen sive, determination to have a share in the arrangement ofthe forthcoming festival. The democracy and aris tocracy of the place could not manage to agree about the persons to be appointed as a Committee of Manage ment. A man or a measure proposed by one of the employing class was sneered at or joked down by the carpenters and tailors ; a proposition from a mechanic or labourer was objected to or cavilled at by a ranga tira; and no union could be formed. In vain middle men tried to reconcile the merry disputants ; in vain the leaders of the two jesting parties yielded here or condescended there; no lasting peace could be con cluded : and after many days' good-humoured dispute, it was determined to satisfy all parties by holding two festivals on different days, to be called the " Popular" and the " Select" fete. The "Select" people gave a subscription ball at Barrett's hotel on the night of the 22nd ; the stormy weather having prevented any out-door amusements. On Saturday the 23rd, a rowing-match took place in the harbour under their auspices : but a proposed sail ing-match was put off, in consequence of an accident having happened to one of the boats. On Monday, the " Populars" presented a much more extensive bill of fare. The weather having declared fine by ten o'clock, flags waved over many of the houses and the masts of the shipping, and a spirited race between four whale-boats round the vessels at anchor started the proceedings. Then came a hurdle-race by four horses; over some VOL. I. 2 ^ 434 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XV. level ground at the back of Te Aro pa, for a purse of fifteen guineas : and the name of " Calmuck " Tartar," ridden by Mr. Henry Petre, deserves to be recorded as the winner of the first race in New Zea land. A saUing-match followed; ten riflemen next con tended for a prize of five pounds and entrances ; and the minor sports of jumping in sacks, climbing a greasy pole, and wheeling barrows blindfolded, finished the fun of the day in a right merry manner. A " Popular" ball, joined by most of the male aris tocrats, was given in the evening at one of the large wooden stores erecting on Te Aro beach. The natives had not been forgotten. An ample feast of rice and sugar, vvhich is a dainty dish with them, had been provided ; and a prize in money was held out as an inducement to a canoe-race. I was very sorry to hear that the newly-arrived Wesleyan mis sionary forbade the attendance of those over whom he exercised influence, and that this part of the festivity was thus crushed in the bud. I need hardly comment on the painful feelings excited in the minds of the re flecting settlers, and indeed of all classes, by this inju dicious attempt on the part of their religious pastor to denounce the partaking by our simple friends of an an nual rejoicing over our arrival among them. He first taught them to look upon our gifts with suspicion, and upon our invitation to them to be joyful with us as forbidden and of no good. On the 24th, Mr. F. A. Carrington, who had been despatched by Colonel Wakefield in the Brougham to seek a site for the New Plymouth colony, returned, after a partial examination of Blind Bay and a visit to the Sugar-loaf Islands. He had decided on choosing Chap. XV. FRESH ARRIVALS PROM ENGLAND. 435 the latter and the neighbouring country for his ope rations. Another shipful of immigrants and passengers from England had arrived in the midst of the fete. Many of these were owners of land in the second series, anxious to be located at once with their famUies. 2 F 2 436 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVI. CHAPTER XVI. Official crimping of labourers — Withdrawal of the troops from Wellington — Once employed— Surprise of colonists — Anger — Notice against occupation of lands — Sir John Franklin reproves crimping — The New Plymouth pioneers — Public meeting — Peti tion for the recall of Captain Hobson — Why sent home informally — Mr. Petre — Mr. Sinclair — Increasing trade with the natives — Working Men's Land Association — Lady Franklin. The day after I arrived, four vessels entered the har bour together. Among them was the Columbine, a missionary schooner; and the Chelydra, a large barque from the Thames, chartered by Government to remove our army of thirty soldiers to the metropolis. But it was soon found that this vessel had come on another and more noxious errand. Instructions had come by her to carry out the crimping measure already officially announced ; and the instructions were obeyed in the most disagreeable manner. The Police Magis trate, warned by the warm notice which had been taken of the advertisement authenticated by his signa ture, appeared ashamed or afraid to do the dirty work himself; so the constables were deputed to go about among the newly-arrived emigrants, and try every means of persuading them to engage. The soldiers acted as though they had been in the plot ; and as sisted in harassing and frightening the new-comers, who had hardly had time to look about them. The withdrawal of the soldiers, in itself, inflicted no great injury on the settlement ; as they were always causing disturbance by their drunken quarrels at every Chap. XVI. CRIMPING OF LABOURERS. 437 public-house along the beach : but it served to give the fresh immigrants an idea of their unprotected state, and of the indifference with which they were treated by the Lieutenant-Governor ; and thus confirmed the false reports and comparisons between the two places made by the constables. It also corroborated the growing belief among the natives, that the Kawana, or " Governor," did not care for the White people here, and that an armed force would never be allowed to afford them protection. Only once had the soldiers been called upon to act, and then the result must have emboldened the natives to think but little of their efficiency. A native belonging to a settlement near Mana had pil fered from a shop while on a trading visit, and he and his friends laughed at the constables when they came to take him up. The officer and two or three soldiers had been sent to assist the civil power ; but the thief disarmed Lieutenant Best and threw him down, so that a bullet shot through the leg of one of his assist ants by one of the soldiers probably saved his officer's life, the " mob" of natives having rushed in upon their fallen foe. The thief, however, escaped. The colonists were thunderstruck at this open manifestation of hostility on the part of Captain Hob^ son. You could meet no one, of any class, who had not the subject on his lips and anger in every feature. As I have said before, this was the most tender point on which to attack a community whose very principles were that they could secure an efficient supply of labour by paying a high price for their land. The colony stood on the maintenance of a just proportion of land, labour, and capital. The founder of a distant settlement, who was attempting to establish his state with only one of these elements, was destroying our 438 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVI. balance by taking away the labour which he required; thus not only proving the fallacy of his rival experi ment, but unjustly seeking to uphold it by the abstrac tion of a necessary prop from one which, long before established, had every prospect of success. It was only a month since a private individual from Van Diemen's Land, who had dared to support his unprincipled conduct by a published justification of his crimping proceedings, had been scouted by the whole community, and held at a distance by its re spectable members. How then could the same people bear with a similar conduct on the part of the highest authority over them, as his first act, after awaking from negligence which resembled a total ignorance of their being ? With praiseworthy forbearance and patience beyond belief they had borne the long neglect, still hoping for the time when they might convince their Governor, by an affectionate and loyal reception, that he ought to act as their ruler and father. But he could now no longer plead that he wished no harm, if he did no good, to this plantation ; he had first de clared open war, and the sturdy colonists repeated the cry, and nerved themselves for the struggle. From this moment the Governor commonly went by the name of " Captain Crimp ;" and the propriety of peti tioning her Majesty for his removal from office was at once agitated. At the same time, an official notice appeared warn ing persons not to settle or occupy the lands of Ta ranaki or Wanganui under land-orders from the New Zealand Company, as such had not been conveyed bythe Crown. As it was confidently believed, however, that the next arrival would bring the news of a satisfactory arrangement in England of the Company's claims to those districts, no great attention was paid to this pro^ Chap. XVI. OFFICIAL LAND-JOBBING. 489 hibition, issued by the New South Wales Government on the suggestion of Captain Hobson. The news brought from the Northern Districts did not say much for the inducement held out to labourers to go thither from this settlement. The Bay of Islands Gazette had ceased to appear, having been threatened with punishment by legal proceedings in consequence of its free remarks upon the doings of Government; and the official Gazette Extraordinary now issued from the Church Mission press at Paihia. The state of the Bay of Islands generally was de scribed as very wretched, and the Lieutenant-Governor was blamed for having in great measure caused it by the establishment and then capricious abandonment of Russell. The whaling-ships, which had formed the •principal support of that settlement, were driven away by the prospect of port-dues, and duties on their oil, tobacco, and spirits, as well as the augmented price of potatoes and pigs. An impudent piece of official land-jobbing in the allotments of the town of Auckland had been discovered and exposed. Instead of the whole of the land ready for sale at that place being put up on fair and equal terms to all bidders, Lieutenant Shortland and other Government officials had been allowed, ex officio, prior and exclu sive selections. Of course, they had picked out some of the most valuable lots. But this was only the least part of the injustice. Instead of the price to be paid by the officials being determined by that given for other land of the same or nearly equal value, these fortunate gentlemen were to be allowed to purchase their lots at .the average price of one-half of the town, good, bad, and indifferent ; and, until the half should be sold and the average ascertained, they were to pay nothing. 440 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVI. A short remonstrance to Sir George Gipps was drawn up on the subject by Mr. Dudley Sinclair, and signed by twenty-five leading settlers of Wellington. At the same time, a requisition for a public meeting to consider the misconduct of the Lieutenant-Governor was published, with the signatures of the most in fluential people of the settlement. I shall transcribe it word for word : — " We, the undersigned, land- " holders and residents of Port Nicholson, viewing "with surprise and disgust the nefarious attempt " which is now being made by Captain Hobson to de- " prive us of our artificers and labourers, men brought " out at our own expense for the benefit of the settle- " ment of Port Nicholson ; and feeling persuaded that " her Majesty's Government at home will neither " countenance such manifest injustice to ourselves nor " sanction conduct so ungentlemanlike on the part of " its officials ; and being also fully convinced that any " representations from us as a body will receive from " her most gracious Majesty every possible considera- " tion ; do hereby call a meeting of our fellow colonists, " to be holden at Barrett's hotel, on Monday next, "the 15th day of February, for the purpose of adopt- " ing a petition, praying for the removal of Captain " Hobson from the Deputy Government of New Zea- " land." Curiously enough, at this very time Colonel Wake field received from Sir John Franklin, the Governor of Van Diemen's Land, an answer to his complaint against the practices of the crimps, which condemned these proceedings as most disgraceful, and utterly repu diated them on the part of his Government. This letter must have been felt as a stinging reproof by the crimp ing Governor of Auckland. On the 8th of February, the Brougham sailed finally Chap. XVL PUBLIC MEETING— PETITION. 441 for Taranaki, with sixty persons for the new settle ment, including Dicky Barrett and all his train. He had long pined for his ancient residence in that part of the country ; and was delighted to carry thither with him, as a boon to his native friends, the avant- garde of a large European population and market for their produce. The vessel was a perfect Noah's ark, bearing the germ of a colony; her decks were completely heaped up with furniture, animals, plants, and children. On the 1 5th of February, an important meeting took place, pursuant to the requisition which I have transcribed above, at Barrett's hotel. Mr. George Butler Earp was voted into the chair. After his address, explanatory of the objects of the meeting. Captain Edward Daniell proposed three resolutions, as follows : — "That Lieutenant-Governor Hobson has systemati- " cally neglected his duty to her Majesty's subjects " settled at Port Nicholson. "That his Excellency's recent attempt to deprive " this settlement of its skilled labour, by inducing me- " chanics and artificers to leave it and enter into the " employment of Government at Auckland, is calcu- " lated to inflict serious injury upon the settlement. "That the annexed petition to the Queen be for- " warded to England, and presented to her Majesty, " stating the above-mentioned grievances, and praying " her Majesty for protection, and the recall of the Lieu- " tenant-Governor." The petition alluded to briefly and plainly set forth the grievances of the petitioners, and concluded with a prayer for the removal of Lieutenant-Governor Hobson, and such other relief as to her Majesty might seem fit. 442 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap, XVL This motion was seconded by Mr. James Coutts Craw ford. Mr. Hanson appeared at the head of a more mode rate party, who doubted the expediency of demanding the recall of Captain Hobson. They considered this to be a very likely means of exciting the hostility of the Colonial Office. He read an address, in the form of a petition to both Houses of Parliament, which exposed the grievances at greater length, and prayed, indefi nitely, for redress. He then moved for the adoption of this address as an amendment to the motion for the original petition. Some discussion ensued. The prin cipal question at issue between the two parties was that of being guided by expediency and caution, or by an unflinching and open-mouthed denouncing of the enemy. Among such an assemblage, there could be but little doubt of the result, and the original motion was finally carried amidst acclamation. The meeting, concluded by carrying motions for the forwarding of the petition through Valparaiso to Eng land, and for sending copies to Sir George Gipps and Lieutenant-Governor Hobson. Thus the supporters of the measure fell, through ignorance, into the error of neglecting a very stringent rule of the Colonial Office, which requires all complaints against a Governor to be forwarded through him, in order that they may be accompanied by his defence. There was some reason, in this case, for a deviation from the rule, as such a course seemed likely to involve a dangerous delay to the petition, both by the length of the voyage hence to Auckland, and by the absence of any means of conveyance homewards from that place. Moreover, the people of Wellington had, virtually, no Governor through whom to transmit their statements, but only a distant enemy to complain against. And, as there Chap. XVI. INCREASING TRADE WITH THE NATIVES. 443 was no commercial intercourse between Wellington and Auckland, it would have been necessary to charter a vessel on purpose to communicate with the Govern ment. This, indeed, has been repeatedly the case in later times, when such communication has seemed so desirable to the Cook's Strait settlers or to the Company's Agent as to overcome the objection to such an enormous rate of postage. The petition, numerously signed, was forwarded to Valparaiso by the Cuba, on the 2nd of March. Mr. Henry Petre was a passenger in this vessel, on his way to England-; whence he proposed returning finally to the country which he had adopted, for he had perfectly satisfied himself as to its natural capabilities and its future prospects. In the end of February, the Chelydra had sailed for Auckland, with the troops, and the crimped mechanics, who were allowed a free passage among other induce ments. Mr. Dudley Sinclair, attracted by the prospect of speculation in town-lots at the proposed capital, left Wellington in this ship. He had parted with all his land and other property, and totally separated himself from the colonists, among whom he had come as a leading man. He openly avowed that he was only a land-jobber, and not a colonist. A schooner, and the old cutter which had been lying so long idle off Barrett's house, had sailed for Wan ganui, with some of the second-series sectionists and their goods. The increasing trade which the natives maintained in the town began to draw attention. Mr. Lyon, one of the earliest Scotch colonists, kept a shop which was their favourite resort ; and he had in his ledger up wards of sixty names of native customers, to whom he was not afraid to give credit to a certain extent. They 444 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVI. now began to understand the use of money. Bringing their produce into town from all the neighbouring set tlements, and even occasionally from a great distance, they would only take money in exchange ; though they commonly spent it during the same day, at some of the shops along the beach. "The workmen now founded a very useful association among themselves. Looking to the increasing value of land, both in the town and the neighbouring country districts, they wisely formed a kind of savings bank, which applied the surplus of their high wages to the purchase of desirable lots. By this combination of their funds they secured the advantage of entering the land-market with a considerable capital, and the land acquired was afterwards distributed in lots propor tionate to the amount of the subscription. As a means of attaching the working population to the locality by making them all owners of the soil, the " Working " Men's Land Association " received the cordial sup port and approval of the employing class. On the 3rd of March, her Majesty's ship Favourite again entered the harbour, having Lady Franklin, the wife of the Governor of Van Diemen's Land, and her suite, as passengers. This lady had recently visited South Australia, Port Philip, and Sydney, and was now completing her tour of the Australasian colonies by a visit to the different settlements in New Zealand. Lady Franklin resided, during her short stay here, in the house of Colonel Wakefield, which was by this time fitted up with some degree of comfort. She also made a trip to see the farms on the Hutt. Before her departure, a congratulatory address was presented to her ladyship by a deputation from the settlers, which alluded to the friendly feeling displayed towards them by Sir John, and to her own literary and scientific Chap. XVI. VISIT OF LADY FRANKLIN. 445 acquirements. On the 9th, the Favourite carried this welcome visitor to Akaroa, whence she was to proceed to the Thames and the Bay of Islands. The sloop had made the passage from Hobart Town to this port in ten days. 446 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII. CHAPTER XVIL The Sandfly — Joseph Toms — Tory Channel — We meet the Broug ham — Foundation of New Plymouth — Calm night — Wanganui bar — Curious effects of mist — Native news — Progress of the European settlement— Lawless vagabonds' — Fears of a war-party, or taMa^Determination to reconnoitre — Pleasant journey with a fleet of canoes — Gaiety of the natives — Exaggerated gravity of a missionary — Rapids — E Kuru's political dilemma — Fortified vil lages — Spies — Doubts — Encampment — First view of the war- party — Their camp — Speeches — The patriarch Heuheu — Inter view with him — Pukihika pa— The war-party at the settlement — Good faith — Native guards. On the evening of the 5th I sailed again for TVan ganui, in the Sandfly, a schooner of ten tons which had been built on the banks of the Hutt, and which I had chartered for three months for the Wanganui trade. I was accompanied by Mr. John Tylston Wicksteed, a gentleman who had lately arrived in the London, and who, as land-agent for the Church So ciety of which I have before spoken, wished to examine the district of Wanganui, the Company having granted that society a land-order in the second series entitling them to 4000 acres of land. I beat out against a fresh southerly breeze, which fell calm when we had reached Sinclair Head. In the morning we were half-way across the Strait, and a light air was blowing from the north-west. On arriving off the entrance of the Tory Channel, I found the tide had begun to ebb, and so anchored in deep water under the lee of the south head. " Geordie " Bolts," or Joseph Toms, of Te-awa-iti, who was on Chap. XVIL FOUNDATION OP NEW PLYMOUTH. 447 his way to his station at Porirua, was forced by the same circumstance to anchor alongside. We ex changed news and civilities. I gave him the last Wellington newspaper and some baker's bread; he handed me some fine vegetables out of his garden. He had a nice place at Te-awor-iti, much improved since our first arrival. The seeds out of the Tory. which we gave him had served to furnish a very pro ductive garden : he had a flock of forty or fifty goats, and as many geese. Besides his two whaling-stations at Porirua and Te-awa-iti, he had another in Port Underwood, and had taken out licences for public- houses at all three. That at Porirua, especially, pro mised, to yield him profit, as the amount of travelling by land was rapidly increasing on the north side of the Strait since the foundation of the settlements at Wanganui and Taranaki. At one o'clock the flood. made, and we sailed on our respective destinations. As we beat into the channel, and passed Te-awa-iti at a rapid rate, we took a baked leg of mutton and the fresh vegetables out of our stove, and enjoyed the scenery while we ate our dinner on deck. About half way along the channel we met the Brougham, striving to beat up to Te-awa-iti, where shehad to take in oil and bone for London. I went on board and told the captain that the flood-tide had made, and he therefore anchored in one of the bays till the next ebb. I then gathered from him the particulars of the location of the New Plymouth settlers. Mr. Carrington had at first fixed upon the banks of the river TVaitera as. the site of the new town. The embouchure of this river is about twelve miles north of the Sugar-loaf Islands, and has a bar nearly dry at low-water, with a rise of twelve feet in the spring-tides. They had found, however, that a bad surf ran there at times 448 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVIL when it was comparatively smooth at Ngamotu ; and after capsizing one or two boats at the entrance, the site had been removed to the coast close to the islands. The captain described the settlers as all well, and busied in preparations of all kinds. Proceeding up the Sound, we found ourselves be calmed a few miles before reaching Ship Cove, near the entrance of West Bay. Although the bowsprit nearly touched the branches of the trees which over hung the water, we could find no bottom with seven teen fathoms of line ; so we lay till morning, lifting on the long swell which rolled in from the north. It was one of those bright clear moonlight nights so highly to be enjoyed in New Zealand ; and I sat till a late hour on the deck, listening to the shrill twittering of the night-birds as they flew across from hill to hill, or the gentle washing of the sea on the beaches and rocks, which gleamed in the moonlight, or lay hidden beneath the tufted foliage. When I rose in the morn ing, we had got a fair wind, and were about half-way between Cape Koumaru and Point Jackson. I here calculated our course for Wanganui, and steered straight for the mouth of the river. Mr. Wicksteed much enjoyed the comprehensive view afforded of the noble scenery of Cook's Strait. The next morning at break of day, we were off the river's mouth ; from which a cloud of mist was drifting out before the cold morning land-breeze. The sea was quite smooth; so I beat up into the fog till the water shoaled, and then anchored in nine feet until I could make out the passage over the bar. The peaks of Tonga Riro, glowing with sunshine, towered over the top of the mist as we advanced, and Mount Egmont's snowy cap peeped out of the clouds to the westward as the sun spread his light that way. I had merci- Chap. XVIL CURIOUS EPPECTS OF MIST. 449 lessly pulled Mr. Wicksteed and another passenger out of their warm beds to admire the strange effect. They had hardly got on deck when we became shrouded in the mist ; and a scene ensued which must have combined with the fog, as it drove past us, and retained the shadow of our rigging in gigantic propor tions when an occasional gleam of the rising sun penetrated it, to make them think some magic was used in this handiwork of nature. We first heard voices in the fog, which I soon recognised to be those of the natives coming out to fish. Not so my compa nions ; nor was their wonder appeased when the canoes hove in sight. Their hulls and sails were magnified by the fog into huge unwieldy ships, as they rose and fell on the long ground-swell ; and their crews appeared uncouth giants. I had engaged in a long hallooing conversation with them even before they ap peared ; and five or six canoes were soon lashed to our taffrail, while thirty or forty chattering fellows sprang on deck to shake hands and exchange news. They told me that two boats, engaged in a rival trad ing expedition to Patea from this place, had both been wrecked at the mouth of that river ; that the two ves sels had arrived safely from Wellington, and had landed their passengers and goods ; and that the expected war- party from Taupo had arrived on the banks of the river, headed as had been foretold by old Heuheu him self After asking me the news from Poneke, as they abbreviated Port Nicholson, and inquiring, as usual, what goods I had brought for trade, they proceeded to the fishing-grounds, about two or three miles out to sea. Twenty-five or thirty canoes, bound on this errand, passed us or called as they went. The fog now cleared off, and displayed the pretty country about Wanganui, smiling under a warm and cloudless sky. VOL. I. ^ <^ 450 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Cmap. XVII. When the tide flowed, I beat across the bar, and up to my house, about four miles from the mouth. We passed the Elizabeth, a schooner of 70 tons, aground on a mud-flat opposite TVahipuna ; and the old cutter at anchor a little higher up. Of course the White population of the place was much increased since my last visit ; they now mustered fifty or sixty. Nearly all the houses built by the natives had been bought or bargained for by the new comers ; and a large number of Maori found ample and well-paid employment in erecting fences, assisting to land goods, and other initiatory measures of the set tlers. Two or three gentlemen with their families were among the number ; and I was delighted to see this settlement, which I almost considered identified with myself and E Kuru, in such active progress. Seve ral people had travelled hither by land,' in readiness for the first selection of lands advertised by the Surveyor- General, on the 18th of March. But the Assistant- Surveyor was not yet ready for such a proceeding, and several walked back as they had come. Others, liking the place, and finding living very cheap from the abundant supply of food by the natives, determined to remain here until the land should be distributed. Some engaged in the trade with the natives ; others wasted their money and their time at two grog-shops esta blished by Macgregor and another person on either side of the river. The Government had not scrupled to grant two publicans' licences for this small popula tion, as it brought sixty pounds per annum into their treasury ; but they had provided no police, not even a constable, for the maintenance of law and order. Among other bad characters who had found their way to this refuge for the lawless, were two prisoners escaped from the jail at the Bay of Islands. They had Chap. XVIL MICKEY KNIGHT. 451 committed the most daring robberies both there and in the Frith of the Thames, and then travelled by the lakes of Rotorua and Taupo, and this river, to the settlement. I did not of course learn this part of their history until long afterwards. One of them, an American named M'Leod, had assumed the name of Mickey Knight, and got engaged by my agent as car penter to the establishment. He was a first-rate workman, and had excited general praise by the execu tion of some tables and benches for the house, and a set of gates for the fence of the yard. He spoke the native language very well, had with him a native wife from the Thames, and had been tatued from the knees to the hips at the Navigator Islands. Having an easy address and off-hand manner, he had intro duced himself to the acquaintance of Mr. Carrington, the Assistant-Surveyor, and of a gentleman lately arrived from England who was living in his house. They soon began to tell every one that Mickey had received an education far above his station, and pos sessed an inexhaustible fund of information which merited for him the treatment of a companion. When he had effectually worked himself into their confidence and familiarity, he took advantage of their absence from home and a dark night, to break into a writing- desk which contained nearly fifty pounds in gold. One of the surveying-men, however, who was asleep in the next room, heard the noise, and saw him de camp with the desk under his arm ; and Mr. Niblett, the owner of the money, attended by a large number of natives from the pa, where he had been talking with them, gave chase. The culprit was captured,' after his arm had been broken by a blow with a paddle from his pursuer, and half the money was found on his track. He was a prisoner in my house when I 2 G 2 452 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII landed. I immediately offered to put him in irons, and send him in the schooner to Port Nicholson ; but Mr. Niblett said he had got half the money back and broken the thief's arm, so he did not think it worth while to have the trouble of going to Wellington to prosecute, especially as a conviction must be quite un certain under the very undefined jurisdiction and au thority of the Police Magistrate there. So I told them to give the honest carpenter his bundle of clothes, and bowed him out of the house. He left that night, and I never heard of him again ; but his compa nion pretended to know very little of him, and remained as carpenter to one of the grog-shops, where he had managed to inspire confidence or to meet with kindred spirits. The reports respecting the war-party, which were brought down daily by canoes laden with produce for the new market, constantly varied in character. The White missionaries, and the Ngatiruaka tribe who were their more especial adherents, had alarmed the newly arrived immigrants by a description of the fero city and recklessness of the tribes composing the taua, or " army." Mr. Matthews, especially, denounced them several times in my hearing, as treacherous, dishonest, and bloodthirsty ; and predicted the worst consequences from their arrival in the vicinity of so much plunder. My immediate attendants, most of them still rewera, or " devils " (as the missionaries had long taught the natives to call all White men not of their own cloth and all Maori not converted), told a very different tale ; and Turoa and other non-converted natives con firmed my belief that the Tuupo tribes were ruled by powerful and generous chiefs, able and willing to set an example to their followers of friendliness to wards the White man. Chap. XVIL EXPECTATIONS OF A FORAY 453 The Ngatiruaka natives, invited to a general con ference between the invading party and the inhabitants of TVanganui, were preparing to ascend the river in large numbers ; and Messrs. Mason and Matthews de termined to accompany them, in hopes of being able to prevent the further advance of the war-party, and to persuade them to return peacefully to their homes. On a former visit, I had seen the arrival at Turods village of a deputation from Taupo, announcing the preparations for the expedition. Mr. Matthews had taken me over to hear their speeches, and had begged me to join with him in recommending the old chief to dissuade his allies from their warlike purpose, and in assuring him that the Governor would certainly inter fere to prevent a war, even among themselves, and that if this was done perhaps bloodshed would ensue be tween the races. Thinking that this was really the intention of the Government, I had seconded Mr. Matthews's views to the best of my power ; and had, after warning Turoa of my intention, informed Mr. Murphy of the approaching events when I returned to Wellington ; and advised him, when he asked my opinion, to send the detachment of soldiers up to Wanganui, if he really thought it his duty to stop the strife. Lieutenant Best, however, had for various reasons refused to be detached by the Police Magistrate without the authority of his commanding officer at Auckland ; and there the affair rested. Turoa now taunted me very much with my former statement ; and told me he heard that the Governor would not even leave the troops at Poneke. I took the best course, and acknowledged to him that I had mistaken the intentions of the authorities. He also, and all his train, prepared to join the conference. I determined to attend it too, and to be guided very much 454 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVIL in the affair by the counsel of E Kuru, who was at his own settlement a hundred miles up the river. So I started the Sandfly off to Port Nicholson, and rigged a new canoe for my trip. She was a very graceful, light-looking vessel, without topsides, but with tapering head and stern well peaked up at either end ; about thirty feet long, broad in the beam, quick and handy to paddle, and adapted for six people. She was painted a bright red with kokowai, or baked ochre, and from a long staff on the stern I hung an English red ensign. I gave a passage to a trader named Yankee Smith, who was bound to Pukihika with a boxful of goods, and four of my " boys" completed the muster-roll. Recommending the settlers not to be alarmed till I should return with a report of what was to be ex pected, I started a day after the missionaries and the body of natives, who were sure from their numbers to travel slowly. The first night we encamped close to Te Kau arapawa, after some trouble in finding a house free from fleas. In villages which have been the longest deserted, these annoying insects always abound most; and the only way to prove the houses is to make one of the native boys put his leg inside the door. In many cases he draws it back perfectly covered. Another canoe, bound to the puni, or camp, of the taua joined us here. A small drizzling rain prevented us from starting till about ten o'clock the next morning ; but it partook of the character of the fog at the bar some days before, for the rest of the day was calm, warm, and cloudless. I shall not attempt to dilate upon the scenery, which was of the same lovely kind as that which I have de scribed during a former excursion here. The whole way up, it was the same. The river winds, or glides. Chap. XVIL A CANOE JOURNEY. 455 or rushes through a mountainous but fertile country, of which the luxuriant monotony is relieved by cun ningly-placed native fortifications, or isolated huts among rich gardens. Canoes, laden with the various kinds of native produce for the sea, met us occasionally on our way ; the occupants generally allowing their bark to drift listlessly with the current, except where a rapid required skilful pilotage. They basked idly in the sun, or ate, or smoked, or played with the pet parrots which are generally perched on a pliant stick overhanging the water, swinging themselves up and down, flapping their wings, and screaming in shrill discord. The kind greeting was never omitted ; I was now generally known among all the denizens of the river ; and the naumai, " come hither," or tena koitou, " hail to ye all! " was often accompanied by the present of a cooked pigeon or parrot, or a basket of kumera, or a melon. About noon we overtook the fleet of the mihanere na tives, lying at the foot of a moss-covered cliff, which was crowned with the stockades of a moderate-sized pa. On the top of a wooded mountain about a mile inland of this, another stockade surrounded the last refuge of the inhabitants in case of assault. I ascended to the vil lage, where a large assemblage were busily engaged in douig justice to a feast prepared for them. Te Ana-ua (otherwise called E Tu), Mawai, and several other chiefs of Putikiwaranui, were among the throng. A basket of foodwas placed before me on my arrival ; and I ate some, and took the rest into the canoe with me, according to etiquette. We now proceeded in company, and the scene became most enlivening. There were about twenty canoes, varying in size from the stately war-canoe in gala dress of clean feathers and oiled carving with its crew of forty warriors, to the low shell 456 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII. in which five little naked urchins pushed along, scream ing and yelling with delight whenever the pakeha ad mired their efforts, and laughing at the upsets which attended them at nearly every rapid. Good-humour prevailed among the throng ; merry jokes and jeers passed from canoe to canoe ; and the thoughts of all seemed to be brightened by the delicious weather, which continued sunny and fine, without any great heat. Nothing more pleasant than such a journey. Re clining on a platform covered with soft mats just for ward of my steersman, under the shade of a broad- brimmed Panama hat, now smoking, now sketching, now noting some name, or legend, or genealogy of a tribe as related by Konatu, who always held the steering-paddle ; now handing my pipe to be filled by one of the other boys, and then seizing a paddle or a pole and raising a canoe-song to encourage my crew, as some old acquaintance came up alongside and chal lenged me for a race, I entered heartily into the spirit of our expedition. The Maori himself is all excitement when in action, and enjoys nothing better than to see a • pakeha in the same high spirits as himself On such occasions, the loudest laugh, the sharpest repartee, the wildest cheer, the most skilful use of the paddle, may be said to win their hearts ; and accordingly, whenever my canoe got puzzled by a severe rapid, a dozen of those who had passed it would leave theirs above, and jump screaming into the water to lend a hand. The old chiefs even, however calm and dignified at a korero, or discussion, make it a point to relax during a journey. The only chill cast on the innocent gaiety of the throng was the cold and untimely gravity of Mr. Ma son, the head missionary, whose large canoe kept up with the rest. I was surprised to see him maintain a face of which not a feature moved, a posture in which Chap. XVII. ABSURD GRAVITY OF A MISSIONARY. 457 not a muscle changed, for miles and miles together. And his dress and attitude made me feel quite uncom fortable, from my certainty that it was all forced and annoying to himself. The black tail-coat, trousers strapped down, waistcoat and stiff cravat, black beaver hat and rusty kid gloves, could not possibly be agreeable in this weather ; for I vvas quite warm enough in my shirt-sleeves, white duck trousers, and open collar. Then he sat on one of the thwarts of the canoe, not above three inches in breadth, perfectly upright, looking straight ahead, with his two hands leaning on a cane well before him. He seemed to keep his crew at a dis tance. No one sat or stood within a yard of him, and he hardly ever spoke. A bare " good morning" was the only answer to my greeting the first time we passed ; and during the whole of this, to me, highly exciting journey, neither jokes, laughter, nor songs, neither the scenery nor the weather, not even the nervous passage of some of the dangerous rapids, which made me look about for a place to swim to in case of upsetting, had the least effect upon Mr. Mason's automaton stillness. I could not help thinking how much more permanent an effect might attend the teaching of a man of educa tion and discernment, who would have joined to a cer tain degree, on such an occasion, in the playful humour of these grown-up children. The passage up the rapids, some of them having a faU of six feet in a short space, excited my admiration as soon as I had got over the nervousness. It was a good instance of the excellent time which the natives keep in their songs and dances, although perfectly ignorant of and unable to appreciate music. On reaching the foot of a rapid, the crew abandon the paddles, stand up in the canoe, and handle long poles made of manuka, toa toa, or other hard wood, 458 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII. and charred at the lower end. They now push against the bed of the river in perfect unison, the poles plung ing and lifting, while the canoe foams ahead, as though by clock-work. The helmsman also steers with a pole, balancing himself in the high peaked stern, and guiding the canoe by poling under or away from it. The silence is only interrupted by the grating of the poles against the sides of the canoe and the foaming of the water, or by an occasional brief word of direction from the man in the bow, — ki uta ! " towards shore ! " or ki waho ! " outwards ! " The canoes follow each other in single file, with scarcely two feet between the stern of one and the bow of the next ; and though a collision would in most cases render the capsizing of both inevitable, such is the skill of the natives, that an accident rarely occurs in going up the rapids. The natives of TVanganui have a known reputation for this peculiar exercise ; and men of other tribes poling on this river are much laughed at for their awkwardness and the numerous duckings they get in consequence. A crew of experienced TVanganui natives poling up a strong rapid is a very pretty sight. As it is hard work, they generally strip, leaving only a shirt or mat round the waist, and the exercise throws them into the most graceful attitudes and develops their mus cular energy. A byword, much used all over the islands, alludes to the known practice in poling, while it mimics the uncouth dialect of this tribe. After I became as it were identified with them, it was often shouted after me by the Kapiti or Ngatiawa natives, — Ira ! ira ! e weke, e toko kituhua ! " Hallo ! hallo ! " old man, pole away inland !" We stopped for the night at a settlement called Oawitu ; where we overtook many of Turods followers, who own extensive cultivations hereabouts. Towards Chap. XVIL E KURU'S POLITIC Ah mhEMMA. 459 dark the weather got cloudy and threatening, and I was busy making a tent on the bank of two blankets, when a small canoe came dashing down the river ; and I soon recognised E Kurds manly voice in the loud chorus which accompanied the sharp stroke of the paddles. He had come to meet me, in order to ' kawe or " escort" me to the conference. One of his brothers and half a dozen of his young men accom panied him. I found that he still kept a strict neutrality. He told me that he should take no part in the conference, but would recommend me to the friendship of his hungawai, or "relations by marriage," among the Ngatipehi. He assured me that Heuheu was a very noble-minded chieftain, and advised me to ask him frankly about his intentions to the White people, as he was known for a strict adherence to his word. Fortunately, the night proved fine ; and the next morning we started at peep of day. About twelve miles brought us to a pa called Operiki, consisting of two fortified villages, one on each bank of the gully, from which a stream falls about thirty feet into the river. The land on either side of the gully runs level, at an elevation of sixty or seventy feet above the river, for a considerable distance in all direc tions, and the level is covered with luxuriant crops. On a shingly beach opposite the pa we all stopped to breakfast, and two messengers from the Taupo party came down to meet us. They said little about the intentions of their comrades, but seemed to look about them well, and form a good estimate of our numbers and arms, while manifesting great indifference to the peaceful exhortations of the missionaries. Both White and Brown began now to fear that our journey would end in a rupture of some sort ; for E Kuru sent a 460 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII. canoe back to my house, and asked me to send a note for all my guns, flints, bullet-moulds, lead, and powder. A canoe containing one or two White traders joined us here from the settlement. We now proceeded to Ikurangi, apa about six miles further on, where it seemed resolved that we should all wait until more news were heard from the puni or resting-place of the Ngatipehi. Accordingly, all the canoes were hauled up, and tents built, on an island facing the pa. The Patutokoto people, whom we had passed at their- resting-places last night, also arrived and took up their quarters on the island. It was alto gether an animated scene. In the midst of lofty moun tains, whose sides are diversified by wood, plantations, tracts of fern land, and cliffs peeping out here and there, on a level point which slopes gradually down to a sudden bend in the river, is situated the pa with its double fence and fighting-stages towards the river, and a perpendicular descent towards that reach of it in which the island lies, formed by a rapid foaming on each side. Between the island and the pa, all the canoes were either hauled up or moored to poles. A fishing-weir is built in the midst of this rapid, and the little chUdren were swimming and splashing in the most dangerous part of it. The natives belonging to the pa were sitting outside their fence on the top of the cliff, watching the people on the island, which was quite gay with the little flags and banners of different colours that most of the canoes had hoisted in imi tation of mine. Two canoes went up to the taua, and returned again this afternoon. E Kuru, who went in one of them, told me he had not landed, being afraid that the Ngatipehi might owe him a grudge for as sisting their enemies on the former occasion. Two or three of the Ngatipehi people came down in one of Chap. XVIL ENCAMPMENT— THE WAR-PARTY. 461 the canoes to see their friends among the Patutokoto ; and a tangi, or crying-match, and speeches from both parties, lasted till I was asleep. Starting again at break of day, we ascended about six miles, when a cry was raised to keep the canoes close together ; and in this order, with perhaps fifty ¦ canoes and three hundred people of all ages and both sexes, we doubled a point, and came in full view of the Ngatipehi encampment. From the edge of a bank, rising very steep for forty feet from the eastern shore, the ground was cleared of wood, and rose gradually in the form of an amphitheatre, backed by a forest. Five hundred warriors were disposed in rows about this clear space, according to their tribes and families, each with his musket or two-barrelled fowling-piece. After a few shots had been fired from our flotilla, by way of greeting, I saw a chief running up and down harangu ing the others ; and immediately they answered by a regular discharge of musketry, backwards and for wards, along each row, which lasted for nearly five minutes. I was much surprised to find them so well armed ; each man had a musket, and some two, and slaves to carry them. Our party all encamped exactly opposite to them, and some time passed in silence. Some of the Ngatiruaka canoes pushed on to Puki hika, which is but a few miles further up. In the course of an hour, during which I was much amused by the perseverance of a Taupo dog, who earned pre sents of tobacco for his master by swimming across the river and back, the chiefs of the Patutokoto tribes, attended by all their people, pushed across to see their relations. They had dressed themselves out in what they considered " full fig." Many of the men were dressed a 1' Europeenne, with the exception of shoes and stockings ; several of the women wore caps or bon- 462 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII. nets, adorned with gaudy ribbons and albatross fea thers ; and those that had neither gown nor other Eu ropean luxury to show, of which there were but few, donned their cleanest blankets or mats. The mission aries and I also went over. A tangi by all hands lasted nearly an hour, during which I walked about the encampment, and could not help admiring the well-formed limbs and clean skins of these natives, compared to most of those whom I had before seen. Quite free from the cutaneous disease which prevaUs to so great an extent among the inhabitants of Cook's Strait, they were moreover the strongest and best- built natives that I had yet met with. I was told that this was owing to their constant bathing in the puhia, or " hot springs," near their settlements ; from which they have earned the sobriquet of the TVai- korapupu, or " boiling water " tribes. To the tangi succeeded speeches, many of them ener getic and well- worded, by both parties, in purport as follows. An orator spoke from either party a.lternately, and every speech began with nearly these words — " Come " hither, come hither, my relations ; come hither, my " fathers, my brothers, my sisters, and my children ; wel- " come!" The speakers on the Taupo side seemed to wish to sound the feeling of the others towards them ; and urged their friends to send them canoes to descend the river, and also to join them in obtaining a revenge which both must desire over their mutual enemies at TVaitotara. The answers ofthe Patutokoto were to urge them to return quietly, for various reasons : some said that they had no canoes to spare ; that the Ngatipehi had lost all their young men, and that old men and women and children would be all slaughtered at Wai totara ; others, again, said that they had turned miha- Chap. XVII. THE PATRIARCH HEUHEU. 463 nere, and could not join them, and urged the anger of Ihu Karaite as a reason why they should give up the idea of fighting, and that the White mihanere said the puka puka or book, would be strong against the heathen. But the tone of irony in which some of these reasons were stated, particularly by Turoa, who had never ceased to be a warm and zealous ally of the Ngatipehi, was highly amusing, and showed plainly that none of the Patutokoto had any idea of stating their real feelings in open assembly. Old Turoa, who alone of all his tribe appeared in a ragged mat, which, together with every part of his body, was well encrusted with kokowai, or red ochre, and a night-cap which partook of the same rusty hue, began with the usual plaintive greeting, com prehending, however, his grandchildren also in the list. " You ask for canoes," said he ; " how can I " give them to you ? You see I have but one, full of " women, and boys, and children. How can you think " that I have come to join you ? Besides," he added, look ing with a most comic grin at Messrs. Mason and Mat thews, " I am just becoming a missionary ; I have the " book in one hand, and a cap on my head, which I " never wore before ; and the anger of Ihu Karaite " will come upon me if I go to fight." He ended by urging them to return in peace. Some of the Taupo chiefs expressed their determination to go on, whether assisted or not ; and after a TVanganui man had asked them to go across the country, in order to spare the TT''anganui plantations, old Heuheu concluded the conference. Above six feet in stature, but so Herculean in limb as to disguise his height, he rose proudly from a spot of elevated ground where he had been sitting among a knot of his wives and children, shook his mats from his right arm, and began his speech with slow and 464 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII. distinct articulation. The most perfect silence pre vailed among the hundreds assembled. Children who had been playing on the edge of the crowd ; young men and women who had been renewing old acquaint ances and exchanging the latest gossip ; warriors who had been examining each other's arms en connoisseur while the great number of chiefs spoke ; all were now hushed and still. Stragglers might be seen pressing close to the scene of conference ; whispers might be heard that " the kau matua, or ' patriarch,' " was going to speak ;" and then the whole audience held its breath. This was evidently the great speech, ¦ — the lion of the day. Like the others, he began by hailing his relations ; and then proceeded with an oration full of majesty, terseness, and emphasis. His words must have been heard across the river by the men of Putikiwaranui, E Kuru, and others who had not crossed over. "You " have all been speaking crooked," said he, " and " hiding your words in lies. Listen to me ! I am " going to speak straight. I go to Waitotara, to " avenge the death of my people, and to bring their " bones home. I have not come to beg canoes, or " food, or assistance. If you lend me no canoes, I " can walk along the banks with my children ; and " we will cross at a ford when a cliff is in our path : " we shall find our way to the sea. I can help myself " to food ; my children see the plantations, and they " gather with a gun in one hand and a basket hi the " other. I want no help but that of my own meri " ponamu, which my arm knows how to shake." And he lifted it high over his head and brandished it haughtily l^efore them. " As to the missionary words," he continued, " who " cares for them ? What is the anger of Ihu Karaite Chap. XVII. HEUHEU— ELIS HARANGUE. 465 " to US ? Were they missionaries who shook hands " and gave the hongi (salute) to my people, and then " put them to death ? Why, I am a missionary at " that rate ; but my creed is my meri. Will that not " be stronger than your puka puka tapu ?" He then blamed the missionaries and all White people for being the cause of much disagreement among the Maori, and severely censured those chiefs who had signed away their power to King George. " You are all slaves " now," he said, " and your dignity and power is gone. " But mine is not : — just as there is one man in Eu- " rope. King George, so do I stand alone in New " Zealand, the chief over all others, the only free one " left — look at me, for I do not hide while I say so ; " I am the Heuheu, and rule over you all, just as my " ancestor Tonga Riro, the mountain of snow, stands " above all this land ! " He wound up by a spirited address to the Patutokoto, which brought tears to many an eye ; and I could see the young warriors clutching their weapons tightly while every muscle quivered with excitement, when he shouted, in the wild yell to which he had gradually increased the tone of his voice, " Where is Tauteka ? " where are all your parents and brothers ? their " bones are at Waitotara. Will you not join us in " gaining possession of the bones of our ancestors ? " Will you not release your sisters from being slaves ? " A fight for your fathers' bones ! Be brave ! be " brave ! be brave ! There has been enough of talk." And he sat down, while the assembly dispersed. In the course of the afternoon I brought some to bacco over as a present to the old chief, and gave him some more to distribute among his people, who had scarcely any. I then asked him whether he intended any harm to the pakeha ; promising their friendship VOL. I. 2 H 466 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII. should he behave well, but assuring him that we were fully prepared and determined to resist any attack on our houses and goods on the sea-side. He answered, that he had seen White people in his part of the country too ; and that he knew what great advantages he should lose by quarrelling with them : for instance, he said, he should not get tobacco, as he had just now, blankets, or powder, or any of those things which the Maori got by letting the White man live quietly among them. He assured me that no harm was in tended to the White man, and that all his party were bound on no other purpose than revenge for their tupapaku, or " dead :" and I told him that I thought he was quite right ; for he forced me to acknowledge that the White people of my country would do the same, should the TViwi, or French, kill any of our chiefs. I felt now convinced that there was nothing to fear ; although the missionaries persisted ki assur ing me that there was no trusting these natives, and that they knew no such feeling as gratitude, and had the worst reputation of any natives in the islands. We remained two or three days in our encampment opposite to theirs, frequent visits being paid on both sides. During this time the old chief showed the most violent feeling of enmity towards the doctrine of the missionaries. Whenever he heard their followers sing one of their discordant hymns on our side, he would come out of his hut and muster one or two hundred to drown the sound by a native song. When they visited his camp, he pursued the same plan to drown their exhortations, though he treated them in other respects with dignified politeness. I visited the pa at Pukihika, about six miles above the encampment. A young slave, Mr. JMatthews's head teacher, poled me up in a light canoe. He was Chap. XVII. PUKIHIKA. 467 very ciautious of talking politics on the road ; but I could not discover whether this arose from his con sciousness of the little weight which attached to his opinion as a slave, or whether he thought that I was one of the enemy. He was a willing lad, and used to work hard enough in digging Mr. Matthews's gar den, cleaning his shoes and knives, and grooming his horse, for the sake of his own station at the head of the native class. Pukihika is a very extensive pa, or rather a col lection of seven or eight detached ones, on a hill at ji bend of the river to the westward. It is about seventy miles from the sea, and Avell chosen as a mustering- place for the Wanganui tribes living within that dis tance from the coast, in case of attack from Waikato, Taupo, or the Strait. I found nearly all the mis sionary population gathered here, apparently to con sult over Heuheu's avowed determination. Messrs. Mason and Matthews had pitched their tent in the middle of the court-yard in the principal village. I returned to my encampment after a short look round. Here I found that the war-party had been supplied by their relations with an ample fleet of canoes, and that they would proceed the next day, by easy stages, to wards the settlement. E Kuru and I preceded them in my canoe. On arriving at the settlement, I reported my opinion that no danger was to be feared, and advised the colonists to receive the travellers kindly and hospitably. One or two were nevertheless persuaded by the mis sionaries when they came, to carry their valuable goods over to the pa at Putikiwaranui, and leave them in charge of the chiefs ; the pa having been newly for tified for fear of an assault. The taua, to the number of five hundred, arrived 2h 2 468 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVII. some days afterwards, and built their huts close to the houses of the settlers. But during the period of their stay, not a single instance occurred, to our knowledge, of misconduct on their part. On the contrary, their presence had the effect of overawing many troublesome fellows among the missionary natives. The most per fect discipline reigned in the camp, and the chief evi dently prided himself on the strict fulfilment of his promise. One night, when he felt suspicious of a small body of Rotorua allies in his train, who were really of doubtful reputation, and who were said to have plotted a night-attack on our houses, he placed guards of his own followers at every house along the beach. On that night, twelve stout warriors lay round the fire in the midst of my house, with their arms in their hands, ready for any emergency. We were also on the alert ; and I had arranged signals by bells and gongs so that we could all assemble at short notice in one spot. These precautions doubtless awed the conspirators, and no alarm was given. After remaining among us four days, during which they made themselves very useful in assisting the settlers for small payment, they had a grand war-dance and some more speeches, and then started off along the beach, joined by many TVan ganui natives, and among others by E Kuru, who had ended by deciding finally for his Taupo allies. During their stay, I always had an ample quantity of rice, flour, sugar, and other food ready for visitors, and a seat at my table for the chiefs. I afterwards found that hospitality shown to a war-party on its path is the very strongest claim to the affection of the natives among themselves. Before the arrival of the taua, a good deal of an noyance had already arisen to the surveyors from na- Chap. XVII. THE WAR-PARTY AT THE SETTLEMENT. 469 tives who tried to obstruct their proceedings. These were generally persons of no authority as chiefs, and often of no fixed residence. When traced they always turned out to be missionary natives. During the stay of the war-party this annoyance was never met with. A few days after the departure of Heuheu, I went on board the Sandfly, which had made a trip in my absence, and arrived at Wellington on the 19th of April. 470 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVIII. CHAPTER XVIII. New Zealand is made a separate colony— The New Zealand Com pany is Chartered — Reconciled with the Government— Lord John Russell's agreement of 1840— A Bishop of New Zealand is ap pointed — Magistrates are appointed — Abuse of authority by the Police— Address of the Magistrates to the Governor— West of England colonists— Mr. Halswell— Company's roads— Wreck- Plunder by natives — Party of volunteers — Stagnation in the Government settlements—" Hobson's coming ! " — The Harbour master is discharged — Wish for a Municipal Corporation — Pro gress of Wellington — Cattle-driving — Mr. Bell, the Scotch farmer — He drives the first herd to Wanganui — Sale of town- allotments at Auckland. Great and good was the news which had arrived from England while I was away. The Bailey, a fast- sailing schooner, had been sent by the Company with the announcement of the favourable aspect which things had taken at home. New Zealand had been proclaimed as an independent colony, and Captain Hobson as Governor. But the inquiry so ably set on foot and directed by Lord Eliot had furnished a complete exposition of the absurdities which had marked the first era of the colony as one of rivalry between the Colonial Office and the Company at home, and between the local Government and the Company's settlers here. The consequence had been, a complete reconciliation between the discordant parties in England ; for which great credit was given to Lord John Russell, the then Colonial Minister. The famous " Agreement " between the Government and the Com pany guaranteed to the latter a grant of an acre of land for every five shillings which they had expended upon Chap. XVIII. NEW ZEALAND COMPANY CHARTERED. 471 the colonization of the country ; and the Company yielded to the Government all its claims in right of purchases from the natives. I shall not inflict upon the reader the minor provisions of this document, as none of them qualified these main conditions in any important particular. The Company were incorporated by Royal Charter, required by the Government to double their capital, and recognized as a valuable in strument for the colonization of the country. Another very satisfactory piece of news was the cer tainty that a Bishop of New Zealand would soon be appointed. Private letters described that the influence of the powerful body of men composing the New Zea land Church Society had overruled the scarcely con cealed opposition to this measure of Mr. Dandeson Coates, the lay Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, and of Mr. Stephen, one of the permanent Under-Secretaries of the Colonial Office. It was very naturally concluded that, even if our Governor should persist in fixing his desert capital at a distance from the centre of population and of the islands, the future Bishop at least could not fail to recognize Wellington as the place most fit for his location, both by the num ber and by the character of its inhabitants. The birth of the Princess Royal, now also made known in this country, afforded an opportunity of ad dressing her Majesty. A meeting was therefore held, and a loyal address adopted, which did not fail to thank her Majesty for the recent act of justice done to the colony by the advice of her Ministers, or to pray that the representative of the Queen might be in structed to take up his abode among a community which had such claims to his care and attention. WhUe public dinners and rejoicings marked the wel come with which the separation of the colony from 472 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVIIL New South Wales was received, all parties felt deeply grateful to Sir George Gipps for the act of speedy and statesmanlike justice which had induced him to con sider favourably the peculiar claims of the settlement ; and it was especially in parting from his rule, that we called to mind how he at least had treated us with a fostering hand. A few days before the arrival of all this intelligence, a trading schooner from Kawia and the Thames had brought the news that four gentlemen of Wellington were appointed Magistrates of the territory. These were. Colonel Wakefield, Mr. George Hunter, Mr. Henry St. Hill, and Captain Edward Daniell. The three gentlemen who composed the deputation to Sir George Gipps had been placed in the commission of the peace some time before ; but, ignorant of the New South Wales law, and not having been regularly sworn in, they had refrained from acting as Magistrates until a very recent period. A public meeting, however, had been thought neces sary to consider " the steps necessary to protect the " public from the outrages of the Police establish ment." Complaints had been made of the use of pis tols and handcuffs, and ruffianly dragging to the lock up, on unfounded charges, by the Police constables. If the conduct of the inferiors was thought irritating to the highest degree, the administration of the penal code of New South Wales by the Police Magistrate had also been complained of, and some of his decisions were severely remarked upon as Ulegal and unconstitu tional. With no appeal from this irresponsible and undefined authority, which dispensed in capricious quan tities a law unintelligible to free Englishmen, the aggrieved parties had determined on requesting Dr. Evans and Mr. Hanson (Mr. Moreing being absent Chap. XVIIL ADDRESS OP MAGISTRATES. 47a from the settlement) to take their place on the Bench of Magistrates. Dr. Evans had acceded to the request, notwithstanding the petulant display of temper made by Mr. Murphy on the occasion of his first acting upon this resolution. The hitherto unrestrained poten tate declared, in the Police Court, that he would not sit on the Bench whUe Dr. Evans did, except in cases which, by law, required the presence of two Magis trates. The first act of the newly-created Justices was to address a very able paper to Captain Hobson, congra tulating him on his new and independent position. They seized the opportunity to urge upon him a ces sation of the lamentable hostilities which had already existed between the great mass of the subjects and the Government of the colony, and to impress him with the importance of considering the changed aspect of affairs, in such a manner as to fix the authority of his presence in the nucleus of the only systematic scheme for peopling the islands. They dwelt at some length on the results of the exploring expeditions which had proved Port Nicholson to he essentially a central posi tion for the whole islands to be so peopled, although they acknowledged that Auckland might perhaps have been chosen advantageously for a capital had no British settlement previously existed, and had it fallen to the province of the Governor to choose a centre from which colonization should diverge. But they pointed out to him, that the Agreement seemed to recognize the Company as the colonizing instrument of New Zealaand, and to leave the Governor to the dis charge of the higher functions of government. And they argued, that for the sake of the native as well as the White population, he would best do this by direct ing in person that portion of the European colony 474 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVIII. which far exceeded in numbers, means, and vigour, all the rest put together. If Captain Hobson had pos sessed the slightest wish to repair his insults to the community of Port Nicholson, he would have jumped at such an excellent opportunity of reconciliation, and of ruling Cook's Strait with pleasure and honour, instead of leaving it to be neglected by a Police Magis trate. This very statesmanlike document was signed by Colonel Wakefield, Mr. Hanson, Mr. George Hun ter, Mr. Henry St. Hill, Captain Daniell, and Dr. Evans. Two other ships had arrived from England just be fore the schooner. One, bearing the Agent of the Plymouth Company and the first batch of settlers for New Plymouth, had anchored in Cloudy Bay. The Agent, Mr. Cutfield, had crossed to Wellington in a small craft, in order to learn from Colonel Wakefield whither he was to pro ceed, and had returned to take the ship to her destina tion. This body of West of England settlers had started under the auspices of a very distinguished festi val at Plymouth, at which the first announcement had been made of the happy termination of the negotiations with the Government. Bearers of good news, they had met bright hopes on their arrival ; for each new account from the surveying-party and travellers spoke more highly of the great capabilities of the Taranaki district, and confirmed the reputation which had long earned for it among the natives the title of the " Garden of the Land." Another vessel had brought nearly two hundred and fifty more immigrants and passengers to Welling ton. Among the passengers was Mr. Edmund Storr Halswell, who had been appointed by the Company Commissioner for the management of the Native Re- Chap. XVIII. FORMATION OP ROADS. 475 serves. It was understood that this gentleman bore letters from the Colonial Minister to Governor Hob son, recommending his confirmation in the above office. The New Zealand Company had always wished that some impartial party should be intrusted with the management of the Native Reserves for the benefit of the aboriginal population. They had taken no steps to apply those already selected to any purpose, because they were liable to be accused of interested conduct. It was now hoped that the Governor would enable Mr. Halswell to derive from the native estate the great advantages which it Avas capable of confer ring on those for whom the Company had reserved it. I must add, that in the six weeks during which I had been absent, a road long in progress round the west side of the harbour had been completed by the Company's labourers ; and Sam Phelps had been the first to drive his bullock-dray over it to Pitone. A bridle-road from Kai Wara TT-^ara to Porirua was also in progress, as well as one from the town into an elevated valley of some extent, called Karori, situated a rnile to the south-west. A wooden building of some pretensions in point of architecture had been erected as a Public Exchange at Te Aro, anii a wharf had been run out into the harbour near the same spot by Captain Rhodes. New stores, houses, and fences, had sprung up in every direction ; and the clinking of the hammer and sudden apparition of new habitations still went on, day after day, with unceasing activity. The day after I arrived, another vessel, which had saUed at the same time as the Bailey, arrived in the harbour. Besides duplicates of despatches, it brought upwards of a hundred more colonists of various classes for Wellington. 476 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVIII. Official despatches from Government to Captain Hobson, announcing to him the arrangement with the Company, and requesting him to treat the settlers in Cook's Strait "with kindness and consideration," had been sent in the Bailey, and were forwarded in a brig to Auckland. On the 21st, a very severe gale from the north-west was experienced. No damage occurred to the vessels in our excellent harbour ; but we were sorry to hear that the Jewess schooner, on her way to Wanganui, full of settlers and goods, had been driven away from her anchorage at Kapiti, and totally wrecked on the beach near Paripari, after being cast on her beam- ends in the attempt to make an offing. A Brazilian whaler, also driven from the anchorage, had managed to get clear out to sea. Two lives had been unfortunately lost in this wreck. George Wade, one of two brothers who had been among the earliest to bring cattle and horses from Hobart Town, and whose energy and perseverance had contributed not a little to the active progress of the settlement in its younger days, was one of those lost. The other was the native chief Wide-awake, whom I have already mentioned more than once. The Waikanae natives, we heard, who were re lated to him, had made his death an excuse for plun dering the wreck. Although all professing to be mihanere, or Christians, they had not scrupled to allege the old native custom as their apology, and claimed whatever they could collect or take as utu for the death of their chief On the receipt of this disastrous intelligence, forty young settlers armed and started for the spot, taking it for granted that the Police Magistrate would, as usual, be unable or unwilling to interfere. IMr. John Wade joined the Chap. XVIII. STAGNATION IN GOVERNMENT SETTLEMENTS. 477 party, hoping to find at least the remains of his bro ther. I furnished him with letters in Maori to Hiko and other chiefs of that part of the coast, begging them to assist him in this object, and also in that of preventing the disgraceful plunder and the bloodshed which might ensue. An anonymous writer in the Wellington newspaper complained of the social state of TVanganui, and com mented on the " debauchery of the settlers." I pub lished a letter attributing this vice, and, moreover, the frequent robberies and outrages committed by the runaway convicts and other ruffians who had congre gated there, to the improper conduct of the Govern ment in licensing two grog-shops, without providing any officer for the maintenance of law or order of any sort. An answer was received from Sir George Gipps to the remonstrance against the official jobbing in allot ments at Auckland. His Excellency had signalized the end of his rule over New Zealand by disap proving, in the strongest terms, of the whole pro ceeding. Some chance arrivals from Auckland and the Bay of Islands about this time furnished a doleful account of the stagnation and despondency produced there by the various experiments in founding and governing cities. The people of Auckland, consisting of a few mere land-sharks or hangers-on, attracted from Sydney and the Bay of Islands by the expenditure of the Go vernor and his suite, and the approaching land-sale, vented their Ul-temper at the disappointment of their hopes, by the expression of undisguised hostUity and vulgar jealousy towards the thriving settlers of Wel lington. The news concluded, as usual, with a report that Captain Hobson was about to visit us. 478 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVIII. This last piece of intelligence, however, was already becoming too worn-out to attract much attention. It was a byword and a joke at all the hotels, at the Club, the Exchange, and other places of assemblage where the gossip of the day Avas discussed. To the question, " what news from the north ? " the inva riable answer was "Hobson's coining!" and it be came the custom to say of a waiter, a ship, or anything else proverbially dilatory, but which was " coining," instead of "so's Christmas," "so's Hobson!" This was in fact a better figure of speech, for Captain Hobson, unlike Christmas, had been " coming" for more than a year. On the 5th of May, the Brougham sailed for London with a full cargo of oil and whalebone and several passengers. Among these was Captain Chaffers. He had been independent enough to sign the petition for Captain Hobson's recall. His services as Harbour master had then been declined by the Government, while they refused even to authorise his acting in the pay of the Company, and neglected to appoint an officer in his stead. He carried with him, however, a highly creditable testimonial of his great ability and of the services which he had rendered to the colony, signed by seventy of the most respectable of the settlers, who moreover presented him with a sum of money which they had subscribed and begged him to apply to the purchase of a piece of plate in England, commemorative of this opinion. The other passengers were persons who, like Mr. Petre, went with the in tention of returning to take up their final abode in the colony. The inhabitants of Wellington, anxious to secure the advantages of a Municipal Corporation, as proposed to be granted them by Sir George Gipps, determined to meet Chap. XVIII. PROGRESS OF WELLINGTON. 479 and consult upon the course to be pursued, and upon the details of a measure, such as they could approve, which they might after mature deliberation submit to Governor Hobson as the basis of such an arrangement. The working-men again resolutely claimed, and perse vered till they obtained, their share in the deliberations. The discussions between the two parties, and the for mation of Committees from among their united ranks, occupied a considerable space of time. But, notwith standing the little differences as to the share which either class was to be allowed in the preparations, an observer could not fail to be struck by the fixed deter mination of the colonists of all ranks to obtain the power of managing their own local affairs. The utter neglect and indifference which the distant authority had manifested towards these matters thus became an evil not unmingled with good, since it had brought forcibly home to the mind of each individual the ur gency of the local institutions being entrusted to the direction of those persons who were sure to be most interested in their wholesome state. I spent a month at Wellington very pleasantly; Horses were now plentiful, and the new roads af forded delicious rides ; a curious contrast being pre sented by the neat macadamized causeway, and the groups of workmen and wheelbarrows, among the pri maeval forest and wild scenery which they penetrated. At the Hutt, the cultivations and clearings looked cheerful and promising. From sixty to a hundred families were now permanently settled in that district ; neat cottages and luxuriant gardens appeared along the banks ; the rich crop had induced many a doubting settler to clear some land this year ; and the axe-men had begun to be a large and important class. Groups of smiling children bobbed and pulled their fore-locks 480 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVIII. to " gentlemen from town " as they rode up the river- bank ; and new fields were to be noticed at every suc cessive visit. Cattle-driving, too, on the pasture hills, afforded ex ercise and excitement. Following the system pursued in New South Wales, owners of cattle brand their herd and let them run loose over the hills, and then drive them at a gallop into the stock-yard when they are wanted. The cattle get exceedingly wild and fast ; so that it requires bold and hard riding in some in stances to head them. The gentlemen and the stock- keepers who had come from that country soon taught us the manner of proceeding; and idlers were often enlisted as volunteers when a grand muster was to be effected, or some particularly wild heifer to be found and driven in. The stock-whip, a very necessary in strument for this work, requires some description for English readers. A stout wooden handle a foot in length is attached to a heavy thong of plaited hide, about fifteen feet long from the handle to the end of the lash. This whip is whirled two or three times round the head, and cracked with a report as loud as that of a pistol in the face of a stubborn animal. The wildest cattle when charging you will turn from it, if it be used with skill ; but an inexperienced hand is very apt to slice his own face or injure his horse severely, without at all alarming the cattle. About the middle of May, Mr. WiUiam Gordon Bell, a stout Scotch farmer, showed a noble example of enterprise by driving the first herd of cattle to TVan ganui. Mr. Bell had enjoyed farming experience in several parts of the world. While connected with an estate in the West Indies, he had married a woman of colour, by whom he had a fine hardy family of two sons and two daughters. After residing some time in Chap. XVIII. CATTLE-DRIVING— MR. BELL. 481 various parts of the Australian colonies, he had crossed over to this country, with Mr. James Watt, who had been the first to attempt agriculture at Port Nicholson. Long before the town was distributed, Mr. Bell had begun to farm a piece of land between the harbour and the sea for Mr. Watt ; and had been the first to use the plough in Cook's Strait. The land in question was of a poor clayey nature, and in a spot swept by both the prevailing winds ; so that the crop of wheat, though good in quality, was scanty. The industry of Bell and his family, while working for an employer, had been most remarkable. He owned two or three sections in the second series, including the seventh choice ; and having completed his engagement with Mr. Watt, he determined to start for TVanganui with his family, a cow, and six fine oxen which he had bought. The bridle-road to Porirua was only partly finished ; and the crossing of the various rivers seemed to offer some difficulty ; but the old man had walked over the whole route to satisfy himself, and on his re turn declared his determination to get the cattle there. His departure was a fine sight. The cow and the six bullocks yoked in a team, with packs on their backs, were attended by old Bell and his two sons. He was known by every one to possess an unlimited stock of perseverance, firmness, and energy. In coming from Watt's farm to the beginning of the Porirua road, he had to pass through the whole town ; and all the spectators flocked to shake his iron fist, and wish him every success. He answered in broad Scotch dialect, that " they should go — he would take care to succeed." And many an eye watched them file up the steep path from Kai Wara Wara, and disappear among the woods on the top. I had furnished him with letters to various chiefs along the road with whom I was VOL. I. 2 I 482 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVIII. acquainted, requiring their help at the rivers and their friendly assistance along the road. His ploughs, drays, bags of seed, and other implements and articles of bulk, were put on board the Sandfly and another schooner, in which the women of his family also pro ceeded. On the 15th of May, an American trading-ship came in from Auckland. The long expected sale of the first town-lands had taken place, and twenty- six acres had realised the enormous sum of 21,000/. Considering the very small and purely land-jobbing population of the place, and the reasonable doubts as to whether a bona fide colonization of the neigh bouring country would for many years give a real town value to these lots, the land-jobbers had started at a very high figure. The only other intelligence was that the Governor had begun his independent reign by gazetting Lieutenant Shortland as Colonial Secretary, and fixing his salary at 600/. per annum. END OF VOL. I. London ¦ Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street. i ^^ .*> i 'i^$ All, t ^ 4?