1852 - Mundy, G. C. Our Antipodes. [Vol. II.] - CHAPTER XIII. [Wanganui and Wellington]

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CHAPTER XIII.

[1848.]

January 15th. WANGANUI. --The afternoon of this day had been fixed for the meeting of the Governor-in-Chief with the leaders of the Taua from the river districts, who had demanded an audience of his Excellency. Mamaku, the friend of Rangihaieta, and the head chief of the rebels, together with the main body of the tribes implicated in the late outbreak, stayed away, --perhaps because they were not permitted to treat with arms in their hands. But about midday a fleet of fine large canoes was seen gliding with prodigious speed down the stream, and was quickly moored under Shakspeare's Cliff. A few of the chiefs then came across, and were admitted to the Governor's presence in a small room of one of the deserted houses, now an officer's quarter. The Christian native, Dawson, who was dressed in European costume, came forward boldly, though his loyalty of late was by no means beyond

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doubt, and spoke up in behalf of his rebel brother Te Pehe, a most ferocious-looking and crapulous savage. This man and Ngopera, another "robustious and periwig-pated fellow," scarcely less unwashed in appearance, were, at first, extremely nervous, striving vainly for many minutes to recover their self-command.

At length, however, each spoke, and, as far as I could gather through the interpreter, spoke to the purpose of the conference, both acknowledging that they had joined in the war party against Wanganui, but averring that Mamaku had originated and was at the head of it. The koriro ended by these dirty notables promising that certain cattle, sheep, &c., the property of settlers, which had been "lifted" during the rebellion, should be restored; and that a murderer who had taken refuge up the river, should be delivered up to British justice if he could be found. The Governor's pardon was guaranteed to them on the performance of their promise.

After inspecting the stockades and admiring the ingenuity, cleanliness and comfort of the reed and rush-built barracks of both officers and men within the palisades, our party dined at the mess, and did not the less enjoy the repast because the mess-room was in a wretched hovel--two or three apartments without reference to angles being knocked into one; the festive board formed of a chain of small tables of various width and altitude --a peculiarity extending also to the surface of the line of benches around it; nor because decanters and candelabras were personated by one and the same class of

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utensil -- the empty black bottle -- that well-known "marine," who, as the late Duke of York neatly observed, "had done his duty, and was ready to do again!"--and who was here performing the double and genial duty of shedding light and liquor.

We found Wanganui beef, pork, poultry, and potatoes excellent. The wines, too, although perhaps not of the first vintage, seemed delicious to a traveller as thirsty as I happened to be, and to one who for so many years of mess life had become constitutionally acclimated to the "good strong military port, and extra heavy dragoon ditto," advertised by a waggish wine merchant, in Dublin, (I believe,) who knew his market, and supplied it accordingly. Nor should I have had a word to say against the blanket and plank that formed my bed for the night, --for it was the best and softest that could be offered me, --but that its lowliness cost me a bite on the face by a venomous spider, called by the natives Katipo, which not only caused me much pain, but very particularly compromised my exterior economy.

Both officers and soldiers appeared satisfied with their wild and far-away quarters. They have "made themselves comfortable"--as the troops during the Peninsular war were often enjoined to do by orders from headquarters, when, after a long day's march in heavy rain, the ground to be occupied by them for the night was marked out in a deep and wet ploughed field! The garrison of Wanganui have shaken down into a perfect state of amity with the natives. Some of the officers

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have made excursions far up the river, and have been received, if not very politely, at least without rudeness, except in one or two cases, by the restless and martial people on its banks. An engineer officer, noted for his enterprise in gaining knowledge of the country round about, and known to the natives by the nickname of "Four-eyes," on account of his spectacles, showed me some beautiful sketches of the vicinity that he had made, in some cases with Maoris of very doubtful reputation and intentions looking in admiration over his shoulder.

I had entertained vague hopes of being able to take a trip up the Wanganui River to its sources in the mountain region of Tongariro, and to visit the famous hot lakes and springs of Taupo and Roturua, by various accounts of which my curiosity had been much excited. Some of these natural baths are quiet and lukewarm, others gently simmering, and a few boiling over furiously. The natives--men, women, and children--sit for hours gossiping in these sulphuric sudatoria; and a military friend, who visited the spot, assured me that a bevy of six or eight couple of young girls, laughing and chatting and splashing together, was rather a pretty sight. The winter huts of the people are built over spots of earth warmed from below. The traveller may pitch his tent in a temperature according to his taste and the season. Eggs and potatoes are boiled, and pigs scalded, without trouble or fuel, in the hotter springs. My time was short, the occasion was, by those who knew best,

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considered an unpropitious one for penetrating the interior, and the idea was abandoned.

After a visit to Putiki pah, and the residence of that zealous minister and missionary, the Rev. Mr. Taylor, whom we found presiding at a numerous family dinner, we took leave of Wanganui; and at four P. M. were once more bounding over the odious sand-bar--(bar, I fear, to the prosperity of the town as a port of issue for the produce of this fine district,)--and, detained among its rollers, it was dark before we reached the Inflexible.

Next morning she anchored off Otaki for the interesting ceremony of releasing to his people the veteran chief Te Rauperaha, after a detention, under surveillance, of eighteen months. His son Tomihona, or Thomson Rauperaha, came off to greet his father, dressed like a clergyman, in black clothes and white cravat, a quiet respectable young man. The leading traits of the three last generations of this young Maori's family are somewhat curious. His grandfather killed and ate men prodigiously, and was himself killed and eaten. His father did kill and eat men. Tomihona is a discreet Christian teacher, and tea-and-toast man.

By jumping ahead not quite two years, I can give my reader an account of the death and burial of my old fellow-passenger Te Rauperaha, as extracted from the "Wellington Spectator:"--

"FUNERAL OF A NEW ZEALAND CHIEF. --On Monday the remains of Te Rauperaha were consigned to their last resting-place. The spot which was selected by Rangihaieta, is within the enclosure surrounding the new church at Otaki, and immediately in front of that building. The coffin was

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made in the usual manner, and covered with black cloth; a brass plate, was affixed to the lid, on which was the following inscription:--'Ko Te Rauperaha i mate i te 27 o Nowema, 1849,'--Te Rauperaha died 27th November, 1849. We understand that Tamahana, his son, has spared no expense in the preparations connected with the occasion, and evinced great anxiety that everything should be in conformity with the customs of the pakeha. There was a great gathering of the tribes, upwards of fifteen hundred persons being present. The procession to the grave extended to a considerable length; the service was read by Mr. Ronaldson, the Missionary-teacher, from Wanganui. After the funeral was over Tamahana entertained his visitors in a very hospitable manner; a bullock had been killed for their use, and abundance of refreshments provided. Two tables, at each of which fifty persons sat down, were prepared for fresh sets of guests four different times. There was very little tangi, which was as far as possible discouraged by the Otaki natives, and the whole proceeding was decorously conducted."--Wellington Spectator, December 8.

When the boats had been lowered and manned ready for the Governor and his suite and the old chief to go ashore, the latter came on the quarter-deck in full uniform, --cocked hat and epaulets; but, on observing that his Excellency and the other gentlemen were in undress coats, his eye flashed and his nostril dilated with anger, and, hurrying away, he exchanged his English dress for a dirty mat and blanket. He had the impudence, moreover, to ask for a salute from the steamer on landing, and was quite sulky when he found that his restoration to liberty was not to be signalized by any honorary demonstration. The other state detenus were not so touchy on the subject of ceremonial, nor did they display any outward tokens of joy at their manumission.

The venerable and loyal chieftains, Te Whero-Whero and Taniwha, accompanied the party ashore, dressed in their best. Thanks to the spider-sting, I felt too feverish

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to leave the ship, but the last I saw of the shore-going party was the poor old Waikato chief getting a tremendous back-fall on the deck by his heels slipping up. The costume he had selected for this state occasion was not a particularly dignified one. It was a new suit of fustian dittos, like that of an English gamekeeper, with a pair of thick laced boots, pulled on for the first time over his naked and, doubtless, astonished feet. No sooner had he made two strides on the polished and heaving quarter-deck, than his boots slipped from under him, and he came down with a bump that--to speak nautically--must have "started his stern-post," if there exists such a feature of human architecture. I was afterwards told that on the boats reaching the shore, the whole of the party proceeded towards the village, which is situated some two miles inland. Te Rauperaha, however, turned from them, and, sitting down on the beach with his face towards the ocean, covered his old grey head with his mat, and remained for hours immovable. Not a soul of his tribe or family came near him. They stood aloof in a crowd at several hundred paces distance; for Maori etiquette forbade that the great chieftain should be approached whilst exhibiting such signs of emotion. It is said that he was well-nigh broken-hearted when he found his grand old heathen pah, which stands close to the sea-shore, utterly deserted and in ruins, while the new Christian settlement is fully peopled, and flourishing like a green bay-tree. To-morrow he will present himself publicly before his people; and, doubt-

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less, some days will be spent in long-winded and pointless speech-making.

Five or six hundred persons poured out of the village to meet his Excellency and his lady. Prayers in the native tongue were read in the open air; a capital breakfast of tea, bread-and-butter, &c. ---clean damask table-cloth and all--was served in a handsome glass-windowed and carpeted warree for the party; and a daughter of the outlawed Rangihaieta did the honours of the repast. She is now the wife or widow of a Mihonari native, named Martin.

Some uneasiness was felt, I believe, regarding the policy of Rauperaha's release at Otaki. His stubbornly rebellious friend, Rangihaieta, was known to be near at hand; and it was not long, indeed, before these two old allies in mischief met. All our late native shipmates were present at the meeting, and, in fact, remained some days with Rangihaieta, who was harbouring at the time a notorious murderer, whom he refused to give up to justice. He had about thirty well-armed and desperate men with him, the residue of his routed army. He kept clear of the English, but was quite fearless and independent, scouting the idea of wearing European clothes, or even a blanket. Some time before, on hearing that Mr. Servantes, with two other officers, were coming to visit him, he sent word he would receive the others, but would shoot Mr. S. for the active part he had taken in the pursuit of him up the Horokiwi.

The Governor, hearing that the friendly chiefs, Te

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Whero, &c, were in company with Rangihaieta, and that the murderer was in his suite, wrote a letter to Rauperaha and the others, desiring that they would testify their disapproval of Rangi's conduct by leaving him in a body, --which this chief, with Te Whero, Taniwha, and the rest instantly did, leaving an un-tasted feast and even their baggage behind them, in their prompt compliance with the orders of Te Kawana. There was a remarkably plausible report in Wellington about this time, that Rangihaieta--in order to prove himself a convert to civilization--had signified his intention to kill and eat the aforesaid murderer, and then "to get into the best society!"

Otaki is the main scene of the missionary efforts of that earnest, accomplished and excellent divine, the Rev. Octavius Hadfield, who is now lying dangerously ill at Wellington, from the effects of his untiring labours in the good cause. His is a gentle ministry, gradually leading to the truth his wild and wavering flock without unnecessarily shocking their prejudices. While pointing to others the rugged ways to godliness, he does not himself "tread the primrose path of dalliance," nor heap up for himself treasure on earth while preaching self-denial to his congregation; but, continually offering for their imitation an example of humility and frugality, he gains golden opinions from all who know him, Europeans and Aborigines.

During the return passage from Wanganui to Wellington, my journal notes a little marine incident of

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extremely picturesque character, although, after all, its details prosaically viewed are ordinary enough. The Racehorse was to sail in company with us, but the wind being dead ahead, the steamer took the sailing-ship in tow, and the two thus proceeded on their course. Some time after dark, (hour uncertain, for I had been dozing in my cabin,) methought I heard a voice say, "Come and see:" rubbing my eyes, I went upon deck, and had to rub them again before I could satisfy myself that there was a fine large vessel, evidently a man of war, careering past us to leeward, crowding all sail, going free, and with every seam of her white canvas visible in the silvery light of the moon against the background of night. The huge paddle-wheels of the Inflexible were plunging into the brine, dashing it into scintillating atoms, and her stout frame was thrilling with the concussion of the engines as she rushed on her way. Yet the Phantom Ship --as she seemed--beautiful in her symmetry, almost awful in her silence, passed rapidly ahead; a black cloud swept across the face of the moon, and she was gone! Some one, I found, had called me to witness this pretty sight, so easily explained. The wind during the night had suddenly shifted to a favourable quarter; the Racehorse had "cast us off;" and, with a stiff breeze but smooth sea, canvas had in this case fairly outstripped steam. If I remember right, however, the triumph of hemp over vapour was of no long duration, for we had again to give the Racehorse a helping hand before we reached Port Nicholson.

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January 24th. -- Wellington. --On this day was held, for the 22d, the anniversary fete of the settlement, I was fortunate in the opportunity of assisting thereat, inasmuch as the assembly, on this occasion, of great numbers of the Aborigines, and their commixture, at least for a time, with the white inhabitants, afforded an instructive view of two races so distinct in character and customs, whom Providence has thrown together under such peculiar circumstances, and who have at this juncture arrived at an epoch in their intercommunion which may probably decide whether the Maori and Anglo-Saxon are henceforth to work together for good, side by side, in a country and a climate as favourable to one as to the other; or, by a second, and, to the natives a surely fatal appeal to arms, break up perhaps for ever the brittle bonds that the spread of a common faith and the ties of worldly interest are but now casting around them.

I think that the majority of opinions expressed in my hearing at this time was in favour of the Maoris again betaking themselves to revolt. Some of the war-prophets unquestionably argued as they wished; for there are not a few whose interests, --at least as much as their inclinations, --bias them towards war, (with all its concomitants of increased naval and military and commissariat expenditure, and ready markets and high prices for stores and produce,)--not to mention the comparative, and, to some persons, not unpleasing relaxation of the laws and of morals that a state of warfare usually brings in its train.

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For myself, I embrace the belief that there will be no more fighting on a large scale in New Zealand. The old pagan chiefs, whose feudal power is gradually falling away from them under the influences of Christianity, civilization, and commerce, are for the most part superannuated and dying off, --giving promotion to a totally different class. There will succeed them young chiefs, wild and unruly perhaps, and prompt to take offence, who will squabble among themselves, and who, looking upon furious excitement as a necessary of life, will, like the "Wi-wis" 1 of Young France, indulge occasionally in what that volatile people style "revolutions intestines!" Others there will be steady and respectable, --perhaps fanatics in their new faith, --who have become, and will remain, attached to the Missionaries: and numbers shrewd, active, and avaricious--willing and able to struggle with the Europeans in the race for gold.

I do not know that the Maori is by nature rapacious; but the "spirit of the till," that so powerfully rules the actions of the greater part of the colonists, --especially the huckstering inhabitants of the townships, --is rapidly infusing itself into the native character and dealings. The Hon. Arthur Petre, who has travelled much in the country, told me that on one occasion, on remonstrating with a Maori who charged him 1l. for ferrying him across a river, the native replied that before the English

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Government came they never asked for payment. Now they only imitated the whites, their superiors, in so doing. "I go to Arekana," said he; "I see blankets and tomahawks in the shops. Do the shopmen give them to me without purchase? I see the dealings of the Pakehas amongst themselves. Are there any gifts? No: all is buying and selling!"

The pastimes of the anniversary were protracted through three whole days, --the last exhibiting those signs of exhausted amusement and draggled indulgence which in England and elsewhere are the invariable symptoms of race, fair, fete champetre, or other public festivity unduly drawn out. The Te Aro race-course, --a grassy flat at the end of the town overlooking the bay, --was the head-quarters of the sports cut out by the stewards for the occasion; but the sea had also her share. There were sailing races by the settlers and whaling folks; rowing races by men-of-war's boats; canoe races by the Maoris; hurdle and flat races by the horses belonging to the officers and to English and native gentry, --the latter "putting up" Maori catch weights to ride, who looked more like jackoes than jockeys in their mode of holding on. There were rustic games of various kinds; booths, and bands of music; war-dances, and dancing of jigs; a good deal of fun, some little fighting, and no end of drinking.

The hurdle race was won by a little old horse without a leg to stand upon, but against whose quarter century of jumping experience there were of course "no takers."

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The screw-propeller who rode him was a tall and strong subaltern, who might have "exchanged duties" with his steed, and carried him round the course with equal speed. Among the riders and perhaps owners of the horses entered for plates or public money, were one or two dry-looking, Tommy-Lye-like fellows, with tight leathers and seats, whose ardent attachment to horseflesh had probably been the original cause of their translation to the Antipodes. To the correct horsemanship of these there was an amusing contrast in the race by horses exclusively the property of Maori gentlemen. In the first heat the black boy riding the leading horse, intoxicated by his almost certain success, pulled off his cap, and waving it round his head cheered himself vehemently as he passed the grand stand; when his perverse steed, bolting straight for his manger and his maize in the town, ran in rear of the winning post, threw his rider, and disappeared; while a heavy galloway, bestridden by a fatter and less excitable jockey, cantered quietly in, and won the stakes, --non sine pulvere, however, for his single girth having given way, he fell off, when the horse stopped, and remained stunned on the ground, with his saddle held tight between his naked bow legs.

The canoe race--the competitors being men of different tribes--was contested with extreme spirit, nay fury! and was indeed one of the most singular and exciting spectacles I ever beheld. Two of the four canoes entered, being but small, had no chance in a sea

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ruffled by a fresh breeze; but those belonging respectively to the veteran chief E Puni, of Pitone pah, and to E Tako, of Te Aro pah, contested the prize in a course of four miles so closely, that, up to the last moment, the issue was doubtful. These chiefs were both acquaintances of mine. I had seen and conversed the day before with the latter chief, a handsome young man with the manners of a gentleman accustomed to good society, and speaking a little English. He had been breathing his crew for the coming race, and certainly had not spared either their wind or their muscles. It consisted of sixteen fine young men, (of whom only two or three were disfigured by tattooing,) all stript to the waist, displaying their sleek blown skins and singularly well-formed busts, as, kneeling in the bottom of their bark, they impelled it with wonderful force through the water, their paddles conforming to the measured cry-- "tena-tena" of their leader, who, standing upright in the centre, gave the time by voice and gesture, cutting the air at every stroke of the paddles with a weapon like a wooden axe tufted with feathers.

In the stern sat a singularly pretty and animated girl, gaily dressed in parti-coloured mats, her hair decked with scarlet flowers and the black and white feathers of the Huia, who steered the vessel with a richly carved paddle, and occasionally added her shrill cheer to that of the chief. The canoe itself was about sixty feet long, scooped out of a single tree. The prow and stern were much raised, and covered with intricate sculp-

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ture, as also with fringes of feathers and of hair that looked very like American scalp-locks. The mazes of the pattern carved on the bow, terminated in a fearful figure-head, more fearful even (which is a good deal to say) than the specimens of dock-yard statuary that in the British navy are received as authentic likenesses of the "Nelsons," "Ajaxes," "Rodneys," "Billy Rough'uns," 2 &c, with sundry heathen heroes and heroines, connected--some of them, Heaven knows how--with naval achievements and architecture.

The nearly uniform figure-head of the New Zealand fleet consists of a huge grinning face elaborately tattooed, with large round eyes of mother of pearl, and a protruding tongue, symbol of insult and defiance. Wishing E Tako success on the morrow, I saw by the flash of the dark eyes of himself and his fair helms-woman, that they doubted it not. Perhaps he was not aware of the odds against him! Too late to see the start, I was, however, eye-witness of the greater part of the race, which was, as I have said, very closely contested. The shores, as well as certain bluffs of land near the beach, were crowded with spectators white and brown, all apparently much interested in this spirited trial of strength and skill; but animation, excitement, frenzy, are words too weak to give an idea of the emotions betrayed by the Maori lookers-on. Men and women roared, yelled, and shrieked at the top of their voices, sprang into the air, their eyes rolling, and mouths foam-

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ing, while individuals of adverse tribes vied with each other in abusive terms and insulting gestures, shaking their fists, grinning, and stamping on the ground.

High above the rest, on a bare hill, stood, or rather raved, a tall, stout, indeed corpulent woman--widow, they told me, of a great chief, and a sorceress. Brandishing in one hand a red flag, and in the other a splendid green-stone Meri, heirloom of her deceased lord, and the skull-cracker no doubt of a hundred foes, her invocations for the success of one party, and her imprecations against the other, rose above the general uproar, awakening the echoes of the surrounding hills. Crowds of pretty young girls, dressed in mats and blankets, calicoes, silks, velvets, rags, and native "buff," manifested, without reserve, and by a thousand extravagant ebullitions, their deep interest in the various tenants of the canoes, laughing, crying, singing, dancing, even rolling on the ground. And, indeed, the crews of these two barks included the creme de la creme of the native manhood of Poniki. But, in my eyes, the most singular and significant feature of this animating scene, showing the gradual adoption of English habits by the present and rising generations of Maoris, --a feature not observable in the north, --was the number of young native exquisites riding about the course and the strand with new English saddles and snaffle bridles, dressed in neat fitting round jackets, and forage caps of blue cloth, with white trowsers, a cheroot stuck jauntily in the corner of the mouth, chatting, laughing, and betting--some,

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I regret to say, drinking with their companions. And these are the lineal successors to the tattooed, mat clad, cannibal old caterans--strenuous opponents of every innovation which, by elevating and enlightening the minds of their subjects and slaves, must overturn their own hereditary influence. Too late and vain their resistance! Progress is amongst them. Yes, it is all over with the "fine old Maori gentleman, all of the olden time I" No more "long-pig" for him! not much more feudal observance. "Young New Zealand" is almost of age, and votes "all that sort of thing" rococo. A well-dressed man no longer, in Maori parlance, signifies a well-cooked one; a writ of habeas corpus is not an invitation to a cannibal dinner! The New Zealander of the day has rubbed intellects with the European, and he finds there is no great difference in their natural abilities. Tommy Rauperaha, and a hundred others, can read, write, and cypher, and what is more, expound the Scriptures. Why should he not go a step further, and "wag his pow in a pu'pit?" and if capable of attaining proficiency in spiritual learning, surely he and they may, with hopes of success, study other learned professions.

In an East Indian Newspaper lying before me, I notice the following Government appointments:--"Mr. J. Macleod, deputy collector, has been transferred from Shahabad to Gya, in exchange with deputy collector Azeem Ooddeen Hossein, of that place;" and "Dr. Soojecomar Chuckerbutty is appointed to the medical

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college, Calcutta." Would not Dr. John Hobbs, or Collector Wiremu Kingi, or Turingi Kuri, 3 Esq., Barrister-at-Law and Member of the Legislative Council, sound as well as those native oriental appellations? But I wander.

The canoes now approached the goal--a spot marked out on the Te Aro beach. Two, as I have mentioned, dropped astern. E Puni and E Tako alone strove for the prize--a purse of thirty guineas. The numerous paddles flashed in the sun; the vessels absolutely flew through the lightly rippled water. The frantic action of the veteran E Puni--as erect amidships he thrashed the air with his staff--suggested the idea of a grey-bearded Jullien in one of his monster-concert paroxysms; --while the younger and more elegant figure of E Tako was not a whit less energetic. They were now within fifty yards of the shore; and, although four miles had been performed at the utmost speed, not a hair's-breadth of advantage could be discerned, except when at each sweep of the paddles each canoe shot alternately a few inches ahead of the other. Ten yards only remained to be accomplished, and the race was still neck and neck. He would have been a bold better who had offered the most trifling odds; --when, suddenly, with a shout that rent the air and drowned the universal clamour, the old chieftain's crew drove, the Pitone galley in advance, and its lofty rostrum ran far up on the beach among the

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crowd, a few short feet ahead of the other. In an instant the victors sprung ashore, and, without even waiting to take breath, commenced a furious war-dance; --while poor E Tako with his men seemed to seek concealment among the assemblage, and soon disappeared from the scene of his defeat. He had no cause for shame, for his opponent's crew numbered at least twenty-four men, while his own complement was but sixteen. Many of E Puni's men were perfect models for statuary, and one or two of them--young fellows of twenty, were extremely fair in complexion. Nearly all had their cheeks rouged with kokowai or red ochre, with a black spot in the centre of the red--giving a singular effect to the expression of the face.

Nearly as naked as unwelcome truth, the persons of some few of the elder paddlers displayed a decorative peculiarity, which the orthodox Maori warrior shares with his canoe--in two words, a carved stern. I was aware that the Moku, or Tattoo, the rigorously fashionable ornament of the native frontispiece, was occasionally extended to the antipodal extremity; and more than once in my travels some brawny individual, stalking past, had permitted, by a peculiar--perhaps intentional --sweep of his toga, a partial exposure of this singular item of Aboriginal dandyism. But on the present occasion I had leisure to examine in detail the tasteful arabesque of the patterns--as well as to admire mentally the extraordinary amount of patience which must have been exerted by both sufferer and practitioner in the

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execution of this cruel corporeal sculpture. An acquaintance of mine, whose journal in this country I have lately perused, mentions that, while travelling in the interior with a party of natives, the act of fording a river divulged to him the fact that the tattoo, applied as a personal endorsement, is not invariably restricted to the rougher sex!

E Puni's canoe was a magnificent specimen--perhaps one of those that, I lately heard, he had prepared to transport himself and tribe to Taranaki, their ancient abiding place whence they were driven many years ago, and which, under the name of New Plymouth, has been added, by purchase, to the Company's territories. Some of the larger war canoes are from eighty to ninety feet in length, six feet wide and five feet deep, with high topsides and deck, -scooped from one kauri tree, capable of containing a hundred men, and propelled by ninety paddlers. But such are rare now. I know not why my sympathies sided with E Tako in the contest, any more than I do why as a boy I was a hot partizan of the Trojans against the Greeks. E Puni, to whom I had been specially presented by the Governor, is a venerable and now placid-looking old man with, a white beard. In his day he had been a terrible warrior, although very small in person. 4 He was one of the two first chiefs to welcome and sell land to Colonel Wakefield, the Company's agent, in 1840; has shown himself a good friend

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to the English generally, and was frequently consulted with advantage by the British Government and military leaders during the continuance of hostilities. He and Tomati Waka saved the lives of many a soldier, whom rasher councils would have sent, post haste, to certain destruction.

I have briefly noticed this veteran in my sketch of the skirmishes in the Hutt Valley. Governor Grey and Colonel Wakefield delighted to honour the old man. He and the Nestor of the North--Tomati--were two of the four esquires of the knight elect at the investiture of his Excellency Sir George Grey with the order of the Bath at Auckland, in 1848; --and in the same year, E Puni attended as a pall-bearer the funeral of his unswerving friend and patron, poor "Wideawake,"--as the Maoris styled the gallant and lamented Colonel Wakefield, who died in the full vigour of life. As for E Tako, I knew nothing of him beyond that he was a gentlemanly savage who affected Anglomania and let out hack-horses. His respected father was an acknowledged Kaitangita or man-eater; and his feasts, like those of the tiger, were accompanied by acts of ferocious cruelty. The present representative of the family has made a great stride towards civilization. Not long ago he desired to bring into the English Courts an action for damages in a case of alleged infidelity on the part of one of his wives; and was astonished to find, that according to English law, polygamy deprived him of all claim to compensation! Not to be disappointed, however, he carried

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it into another court; --for there exists a court of appeal composed of two or more natives--assessors I think they are called--whose business it is to settle disputes between Maori and Maori.

A young English tourist in this country told me that when passing through the district of Taupo--perhaps one of the wildest in the land--he had been present at a native trial for adultery. The elders of the tribe assembled in the open air, and in the grandest of halls of justice, columned and canopied by the primeval forest. The principals in the case were not themselves present. The defendant had concealed himself; but his friend and representative demanded of the plaintiff's friend, "whether it was to be a case of blood or of money;" for his principal was brave and rich, and ready for either alternative! It was decided that payment would suffice. The Greybeards assessed the damages--(two pigs, two paddles, a fig of tobacco, and a kit of potatoes perhaps) --and the affair was satisfactorily adjusted without appeal to the tomahawk.

On the second day of the Wellington races, or rather of the anniversary of the settlement, a grand war-dance containing several hundred performers was performed on the course; but its spirit was effectually damped and the warriors dispersed by a shower of rain--a visitation of the Cloud-compeller by which, in more civilized countries, I have seen a riotous mob as suddenly and certainly more innocuously routed, than by a shower of grape or a charge of cavalry. There was here another

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national spectacle which was new to me--a sort of incantation performed by women alone--the Haka, I think it is called. The actors, in number about sixty, having fallen in four deep and opened out to double distance, exhibited a quarter-distance column of four ranks entire at extended order. Squatting with legs crossed, Turk or tailor-like, they commenced a low chant, which, gradually swelling in volume, increased at length to the utmost extreme of vehemence. The attitude I have mentioned is not, one would suppose, susceptible of much activity, and at first I thought it had been assumed for the purpose of giving free scope to that formidable organ, the tongue, without fatigue to body or limbs. Blind error! for as the performers warmed to their work, member after member was successively enlisted in the cause; and when by a rapid "crescendo" the bravura had reached its acme--heads, eyes, arms, hands, fingers, backs, knees, and legs became involved in one general convulsion, that beggars, and ought perhaps to preclude description. Had the Syrens of old thus sung they would have caught no human fish except those of the grossest tastes! There were ladies of various ages, from sixty to six, engaged in this ceremony; and it was remarkable that even the youngest girls were quite perfect in their lesson; --not a note, a grimace, a contortion, a spasm, out of time or tune--all were complete adepts in human diabolism--children of wrath imbibing with eager zest a taste for the savage traditionary rites of their country. I could not but recal to mind old

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Te Whero's observation at the conclusion of the war-dance at Auckland--"Such things are finished now-- let them be forgotten!" One man only was admitted to assist in the above performance--a short, remarkably athletic and very fair man about thirty--one of E Puni's canoe crew, I think--who sitting in front of the column gave the time--like a fugleman.

In closing my account of the Wellington festivities, I must compliment the Maori race on their general sobriety under great temptation. Many a reeling and reeking wretch among the white civilizers of the savage I saw; and two of them, I grieved to hear, claimed good descent; but I noticed only one native who had fallen a victim to the rum-booths, --and, alack! it was a woman. She was instantly surrounded by a crowd of Aborigines, male and female; her child was taken forcibly from her, a blanket was thrown over her head, and she was hurried from the Race-course.