1851 - Lucett, E. Rovings in the Pacific, from 1837 to 1849 [New Zealand sections] - CHAPTER V.

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CHAP. V.

DESIROUS of seeing the lauded district of the Thames, I broached the idea to my companion of the East

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Cape excursion; and we again agreed to become travelling companions. We secured a passage in a small coasting schooner, and early one Sunday morning made a start for this highly praised district. The passage was rendered amusing by the eccentricities of our crew and passengers. The captain was a little dare-devil of a Scotchman, who took great delight in exciting the nervous apprehensions of a great lout of a fellow, a countryman of his, who was in constant dread of some accident occurring. "Little Jock," as we used to call the skipper, would sling the deep sea-lead against the side of the vessel near the berth occupied by this man of tremors, and then sing out to clear away the boat, in order to cause his fears to induce him to show his nose upon deck. One of the crew seemed as if he had been raked from a dunghill, for a filthier union of dirt and rags I never saw, and he was honoured with the appellative of the dog's-meat-man; a darkey, made still darker by dirt, was our cook; and two New Zealand boys who spoke broken English, completed the vessel's complement: one of the latter expressed much satisfaction at my companion's conduct, but didn't like me at all, as he said I was too fond of "te kyrak." 1 We sailed past several small islands in the estuary of the Thames, and dropped anchor in Waihao or Coromandel harbour, a small, well-sheltered harbour, formed by an island and the main. I was much struck, on landing, with the appearance of the beach; it was literally one mass of oysters; and the rocks all

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round the island, and the shore on the main opposite, was in like manner swarming with clusters of these bivalve fish, which are well flavoured, and often caused me to spoil my dinner. After a day or two's stay on the island, we agreed with the owner of a small boat for a passage to Wakatinai, on the opposite side of the Frith, a distance of about thirty miles from where we were; intending to cross the country to Waikato river, where a friend of ours had long resided. The shore on either side the Frith rises abrupt, rugged, and broken; we were becalmed when about one-third of the way across, and enjoyed the luxury of passing two nights on the water in an open boat. 'Twas bitter cold, and heavy dews fell during the night. There was a very large kainga at the landing-place, and some of the natives were as big and athletic as any men I have seen. With some difficulty and hard bargaining, we engaged two stout young fellows to carry our traps and serve as guides. The features of the country we traversed were hilly and swampy; in a distance of one or two and twenty miles we crossed not less than forty swamps, varying in breadth from one to five hundred yards, and from ankle to waist deep in the crossing places. On arriving at the Maramarua, a tributary of the Waikato, we found a temporary station and several natives; it was nearly sun-down, and I felt tired and unwell: there were several canoes there, and the chief wanted to treat with us then for renewing our journey in the morning; but finding he wanted to impose upon us, and not being in spirits to "argue the point," I walked into the only shed

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there was, a sort of cook-house, and the only place where there was a fire; and taking out my blankets, rolled myself in them as close to it as possible, and with my carpet-bag for a pillow, turning a deaf ear to all importunities, was soon fast asleep; for the natives, finding we would neither listen nor reply, ceased troubling us, and the sacredness of the chief's person debarred his coming into any place where food was cooked. Nor did I envy him his notions of caste; for, cold and frosty as the air was, he remained crouched in it the whole night; his back merely sheltered by a few rushes from the wind. Before my senses were closed to the world, I called to him, and beckoned him to approach; but he replied, in the figurative language of his country, that the place was too low for him, he could not enter, and one of our boys contrived to make us understand, that if we would speak with the Rangatara we must go to him, as he was too great a chief to rise. Being too unwell to contend about the matter, we left him in the unenvied enjoyment of his unsocial dignity. Next morning I awoke about five o'clock, free from pain, full of spirits, and prepared for debate; the Rangatara or chief, on commencing business, opened his mouth to an unmerciful extent, and, persuaded that he had us in his power, sought by a deal of knavish cunning, to extort most exorbitantly. As neither could talk the language of the other, he wilfully misinterpreted our signs, and insisted upon receiving most exorbitant pay for the hire of a canoe, as he would not understand that the canoe was to be returned by the guides. When at length, after much squabbling,

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we had arranged matters, we told the boys to jump in and lose no more time; but no, the chief had incited them not to stir, unless we first gave them a sovereign each, and, however willing they might have been to accompany us, they dared not act contrary to his injunctions. At this I burst out laughing, and calling to my companion, we jumped into the canoe, determined to find our own way, though neither of us could boast of our skill at handling the paddle; but as we were shoving off, the chief dashed down the bank and seized the paddles, giving us to understand, that though we had bought the canoe we had not paid for them. Incensed and reckless of consequences, I again leapt ashore, and snatched away the payment I had given, and after having exhausted a vocabulary of Maori abuse upon him, which vocabulary had been drawn up as a safeguard for us, that we might not fall into danger by using any of the words therein contained, we commenced fastening our carpet bags and blankets to our shoulders, resolving to return rather than submit to his exactions. The dark savage's eyes glistened, and his mouth worked, and I have often wondered since how he restrained himself; but I was utterly regardless, and defied him. We were turning away when the boys came as intercessors, and, after a sharp and angry controversy, we gave the lads five shillings each, and paid half a pound of tobacco for the two paddles. They invariably insist upon payment down, not reposing much confidence in our good faith.

The Maramarua is the most extraordinarily wriggling river that ever I beheld; it winds about like the

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convolution of a snake, and the greater part of it is so narrow, and the bends so abrupt, that it is impossible to turn a canoe in it. We were compelled to get out at these turnings, and by two dragging at the stem, and two pushing at the stern, would set her going again. Instead of a river it appears more like a passage forced by the natives through an immense flax swamp: It abounds with wild ducks and eels, and at almost every hundred yards you will find an eel-pot fixed. I cannot form any idea of the length of this river in a direct course from our starting place to the Waikato. We commenced our journey at eight o'clock in the morning, stopped an hour on the way, and about four in the afternoon burst suddenly upon the Waikato, and I suppose we proceeded at the rate of four miles an hour. The Waikato presented a fine appearance, compared with the wriggling creek we had just left; but I was much disappointed, for though the sheet of water is of considerable width, it is at the same time shallow, and full of sand spits: there is no timber on its banks, nor did I see any in the immediate neighbourhood. The soil I cannot consider good, it being either of a light spongy nature, composed chiefly of what is called pumice stone, or of a red burnt sandy nature, except where the banks are nearly on a level with the water, and the land consequently always in a state of partial irrigation. It here seems black and good, and the flax plant grows most luxuriantly, attaining the height of fourteen or fifteen feet: in short, the Waikato is considered the flax district of the island, but, taken generally, it presents the same appearance

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as the rest of the country, being broken and uneven, hilly and swampy, and bearing evident marks of its volcanic formation. We reached the kainga where our countryman was residing, at seven o'clock in the evening; the natives crowded to see us, but when we were about to partake of refreshments, they all quitted the house, excepting the head chief, who sat himself down on the opposite side of the room, eyeing with stern curiosity the two strangers. Our friend had hinted the customs of Europeans to eat in privacy, and at a word from their chief they all retired. We found our friend on the point of removing from the native settlement, to a house and store he had built, three miles higher up the river, as, in consequence of his wife not liking the presence of the natives, disturbances would continually ensue, and he found his influence with them gradually becoming less. We arrived opportunely to aid him in the transportation of his goods and chattels. The natives assisted with great alacrity, and my wonder was frequently excited at the ponderous burthens the women carried.

The current of the river is very rapid, which renders it exceedingly fatiguing and tedious to convey goods up it. The practice is to keep as close in to the banks as possible, to avoid the full force of the current; and canoes are by far the preferable mode of conveyance, as the paddles do not require the extensive sweep that oars do, nor does the canoe draw so much water as the boat. Whale boats have been used upon the river, but they do not answer, and they have invariably been obliged to put the

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oars aside, and have recourse to native paddles. It appears that when our friend arrived amongst the natives this last time, they were rejoiced to see him, and forsook their plantations in the season of planting, to aid him in bringing his goods across from Manukao. They were six weeks engaged in doing so, and such was their strict integrity, that our friend did not lose a single article; but the poor fellows, in consequence of having neglected their plantations, were now without potatoes, which form the staple of their diet, and nineteen or twenty canoes of them were going a long way up the river to borrow supplies, or to a potatoe feast as it is colloquially termed; the tribe they intended visiting having been down to them, some time previously, to a dried eel feast. Our friend was also suffering from "short commons," and my chief object being to gain as much insight of the country, and the customs of its people, as I could, we agreed to participate in the feast. Accordingly nineteen canoes, each containing, on an average, fifteen persons, set off one afternoon, and a very animating spectacle it was. The air resounded with their different songs and energetic shouts, the paddles keeping time to the measure; each canoe had a singer; but the one in ours was the most famous on the river: the refrain was joined in by all hands, and then the canoe would seem to be ploughing through the water. As night drew near, we bivouacked on a small islet covered with fern. The moon was shining brilliantly, and the various swarthy groups seated around the different fires, their wild garbs, and dark tattooed features, illuminated

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with the ruddy glare, lent a singularly picturesque effect to the scene, when, oh sorrow! at one o'clock p. m. it came on to rain in a mercilessly pelting style: then was scramble, hurry skurry; some commenced forming temporary shelters by bending the flax leaves, and weaving them into an umbrageous form; others gathered up their traps, ran to their canoes, and commenced pulling down the river again to a deserted settlement six miles off: we followed the latter example, not relishing the prospect of a night's exposure to the pitiless storm. The ready kindness of the natives was manifested on this occasion, for on our arrival we found that those who had preceded us had prepared the best house for our reception, and a good fire to comfort us. As a proof that the chiefs do not preserve their authority over the rest without some personal sacrifice, Taowira, the most influential chief on the river, sat all night in the open air, exposed to a perfect deluge of rain; his person being too sacred to allow of his sleeping in any of the deserted houses. The chief had the orphan daughter of a brother with him, a little child for whom he seemed to entertain great solicitude: the little thing remained carefully nestled beneath his blanket, and in the morning Taowira combed out the entangled masses of her hair: but by this act his hands became tabooed even to himself, so that he could not use them in taking food, nor could he light his own pipe; and it was amusing to see one of his slave women take his pipe, light it, and then transfer it from her mouth to his, Taowira's hands being all this time snug under his blanket. The taboo lasted

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three days, and I happened to be absent when the ceremony of removing it took place. The head, we may remark, is held by the New Zealanders in great veneration; no greater indignity can be offered than by touching their hair or alluding to their head in an offensive way: many serious fracas have taken place between Europeans and them, from a wanton or ignorant violation of this observance.

We were detained by heavy rains two or three days in one spot, and our progress up the river was very slow. The natives do not understand the value of time; so long as they can procure warm clothing and fill their bellies, they care not how they pass their days, nor can they comprehend why an European wishes to hurry on his journey. Vegetables being their chief food, after they have undergone the trouble of preparing the ground for the reception of the seed, they eschew hard labour till the time of gathering the crops. All our persuasions could not induce them to quicken their movements; no, they had plenty of food with them, and they could not see why they should be put to unnecessary exertion. The flax plant and the skins of dogs supply them with materials for clothing, which the women dress and prepare, and, as far as my observation extended, a more than due proportion of labour falls to the lot of the women, as. independent of their domestic duties, they engage in planting and digging, and participate in nearly all the out-door labour of their lords. Since Europeans have introduced luxuries into the land, they find that if they would possess a continuance of them, they must make suitable returns, and consequently many have of late

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been induced to cultivate more land than their own immediate wants require. Tobacco has become an absolute necessary of life with them; and blankets are much coveted, being warmer and more pleasant to the skin than mats; and as other wants are created amongst them by the introduction of European habits, so will they learn more fully to appreciate the value of time. At another halting place, we were detained three days by the continuance of wet weather, and we had the luxury of sleeping in a hut with about forty natives: there we were, jammed together on the ground like pilchards in a barrel, Nga Maori lying at our feet, our heads, and by our sides. Not anticipating that I should be detained out longer than three or four days, I had taken no change of clothing with me; and on one or two occasions of getting wet through, I had no other course but to wrap a blanket round my shoulders a la maori, whilst my other habiliments were drying; and I must disclose the truth, such close bodily contact with our dark-skinned friends did not tend greatly to the comfort of our persons, for we speedily became--tell it not in Gath--covered with vermin. Great was my horror at the discovery, and great was our friend's diversion; for as he was an old resident, they never molested him; and he used to scream with laughter as my companion and myself proceeded every morning to the water, to shake our shirts in the wind, and bury our heads in the stream: not that the loathsome insects infested our heads; they were too lazy to crawl so high. They are monsters in size, and would stick to our linen with their hind legs, whilst they banquetted on our backs. They

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are nick-named "havy dragoons" by the old hands; and fleas they call "light cavalry:" but body vermin, fleas, musquitos, and sand-flies confine their attacks principally to new comers. Our friend who was exposed in every respect as we were, yet remained entirely free from intruders.

There was nothing gratifying, or to call for remark, on either side the river, till we reached the point where it forks into two branches, one called the Horotu, the other the Waipa. The scenery about the Waipa is picturesque, and the soil is good immediately on the banks. About sixty miles beyond the termination of our jaunt, we were informed that the land was level, rich, and exceedingly fertile to a considerable extent; but this I cannot vouch for. The whole of the Waikato district must have been at one time very thickly populated: it abounds with the remains of native fortifications, and the meaning of Waipa is the water of fortified villages. Our patience becoming exhausted by the dilatory movements of our deliberate escort, we resolved on abandoning it, and engaged a small canoe at the kainga we last rested at, and proceeded to finish our journey by our own exertions; but this we were not allowed to do; for we had scarcely pulled six miles, when we were hailed from the banks, and, after a conversation of nearly an hour's length, the party hailing us launched a large canoe, and ten strapping fellows jumped into it, to bear us to the end of our destination. Their leader was a gigantic young fellow between six and seven feet high, finely formed, and rendered notorious and terrible to his foes from the fact of his having been shot through the body

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in a bloody conflict in the river, and afterwards surviving, though carried away as dead; the ball had entered his right side, traversed his chest, and passed out on the left side. He is the hero of many hundreds of songs on account of his gallantry and daring. On one occasion he and three others had gone up the river, beyond the limits of safety, and unexpectedly fell into an ambush; a war canoe with twenty hands in it was lying in wait for him, and when he appeared within range of musket-shot, the whole party, in their impatience, fired a volley and gave chase. Nga Maori are miserable marksmen, and not one of the shot took effect. Seeing the extremity to which they were reduced, the four gave way: dear life was at stake; the current was with them, but it also favoured their enemies: desperation lent them strength; they kept their distance, they even gained a little; but no, the struggle was too unequal, --in vain they used their utmost efforts, gradually their foes encroached upon them: observing this, and that their own strength was failing, the tall young fellow, conscious that his opponents' arms were discharged, rose from his seat, and taking deliberate aim, fired: two fell to rise no more, and a third tumbled off the thwarts into the water; the canoe was stopped to take in the wounded sinking wretch, and then Seven Feet, uttering a shout of derision, applied all his strength to the paddle, and accomplished their escape.

Our canoemen requested payment for their services, which was conceded them; but on our refusing to extend similar payment to a little boy whom they had brought with them, we found ourselves next morning

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left in the lurch. They had taken away the canoe, leaving us without the chance of returning for some time as they imagined; but it so happened that an Englishman, who had been traversing the country collecting pigs, came down the river at this critical moment, and immediately accommodated us with his canoe. We were detained a couple of days by the obstinacy of the natives, who would, yet would not, barter with us; they threatened to starve our friend out, and talked of compelling all Europeans to quit the country. This was only an attempt to extort disproportionate terms; but finding they persisted, we laughed at them, packed up our traps, and proceeded to launch the canoe. This signal of our being in earnest brought them to their senses; fellows came scrambling down the bank in all directions with baskets of potatoes on their backs, and soon we had more than we could convey; but being disgusted with the whole mob we did not wait the arrival of the party who were coming to the feast. Whether selfishness is a natural feature in New Zealand character, or whether it has been taught them by their intercourse with Europeans I know not; but we were greatly annoyed by their attempts at exaction. As we were returning we stopped in the afternoon to kindle a fire on the banks of the Waipa to cook some potatoes, when a party came and demanded payment for our so doing. "Omai ti utu" (give me the payment) was eternally in their mouths. "Yes, I'll give you payment," said the owner of the canoe, who was familiar with the language. "Here, give me some wood" (the natives were dis-

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charging wood at the time from two large canoes). Down he went, and as fast as they handed it out so he received it and placed it on his fire, they imagining he was carrying it to their stack; but when the old woman, the proprietress of the wood, discovered the cheat, a most ludicrous scene took place. She was a hideous-looking creature, naked to the waist, blind with one eye, her face shrivelled and lined with a thousand wrinkles, and her coarse grizzled hair in wild disorder resembling knots of twisted snakes; her sightless ball protruded horribly, whilst the other glistened like a spark of fire. She stretched out her long skinny arms and talon-like fingers, and fairly foamed with fury as she endeavoured to snatch the wood from the fire; but the "white man" seized a red-hot brand, and every time she made the attempt he would thrust it at her, whilst she yelled again at her disappointment. Macbeth's witches were beaten hollow. The natives could not stand it, and exploded with such uproarious laughter, that the demoniacal old hag was fain to turn away and hide herself. I was nearly getting into a scrape here, for on coming down the bank, forgetting the sacred character of their heads, I carelessly leaped over a group of four or five who were seated in my way. They started and gave me a very fiendish sort of scowl, which I returned with a broad grin, and our friend happening to be by, prevented further ill consequences by explaining my ignorance of their customs, at which they evinced a surly sort of satisfaction; but I should not like to have renewed the feat. We were not quite so long in reaching our

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friend's house as we had been in making the journey from it; our canoe was manned by ten stout New Zealanders and four Englishmen; and every time Nga Maori relaxed in their exertions we jeered and set the example of continued paddling, so that with the current and our manful plying we estimated that we accomplished more than one hundred miles in ten hours. One of the lads was a famous singer, and he cheered us with his wild chaunts nearly the whole way, by which means we contrived to maintain admirable stroke; occasionally when he took a breathing spell I would take up the burden, adapting English words to their tune, but we found they all left off pulling to listen, so I was obliged to desist notwithstanding their reiterated cries of "Tena! Tena!" (Go on! Go on!)

Not far from our friend's house, there is a fresh-water lake at the foot of a range of mountains, and through the very centre of it runs a stream of salt water. A large coal district is also close at hand, which accidentally took fire; at the time I write it had continued burning for upwards of two years. This coal might serve for steamers if the river was navigable for any available purpose, but in many places it is so shallow that a whaleboat cannot pass. It is a singular fact that there are no peculiar quadrupeds indigenous to New Zealand, and only one or two varieties of birds. There are no venomous reptiles, and a person may lay himself down to sleep in any part of the country without fear of injury from noxious animals. There are few shrubs, and one or

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two varieties of vegetables only indigenous to the country; but most of the fruits and vegetables have been introduced by Cook and other voyagers.

As the owner of the canoe was bound to Waihao we availed ourselves of his escort. Having plenty of hands to collect fern for our beds, and to procure us firewood and water, and the weather fortunately proving fine, the jaunt was tolerably pleasant, though it took us five days to reach Wakatiwai, as we could not pursue our former track, the canoe we were now in being three times the size of the other. One night we had to sleep on a small dry patch of sand, not above ten feet square, after several abortive attempts to continue our journey. The night was piercingly cold, and the water intensely so, and I could not but admire the indifference with which the lads threw off their blankets to force the canoe along, sometimes plumping up to their necks, and at others being only ankle-deep. They appeared insensible to cold or fatigue, but my blood was chilled by the biting influence of the night atmosphere. At last, it being past midnight and very dark, we agreed to rest till day-dawn on the patch above mentioned. On leaving the Maramarua we arrived at a different landing-place from where we took our departure, and there were evident traces of pigs having recently preceded us, which when our boys observed they commenced beating the bush in all directions. I wondered at the meaning of this manoeuvre, but soon found it was not without an object, for in a little time they returned bringing with them half the carcase of a large hog partially roasted. It appears they

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had discovered signs of one having been killed, and concluding the party could not carry the whole away, they dispersed in search of the "plant," which in case of discovery is fair game amongst them. The natives rarely kill pigs on their own account, excepting on great occasions or feasts, and when they do sit down to a feed of flesh, the sight is any thing but agreeable. They eat most voraciously, and gorge to repletion; each man consuming as much as would satisfy four English ploughmen. Our lads formed no exception to this disgusting rule, and though it was only midday when they had completed their feed, we could not induce them to proceed more than four miles further that day, when we bivouacked for the night. Next morning the natives refused to carry our luggage unless we would agree to give a pound of tobacco to each man of the party. "Very well," said I, "don't, we'll carry it ourselves." At this they all laughed and seemed mightily entertained, and one of them cried out in broken English, "Very goodee, very goodee, te pakiha makee carry." Preparatory to starting, one of the natives, in cutting the rind off a piece of pork to grease his musket, gashed his finger with the knife: he immediately dropped it and called to another of the party, who taking it up, and sticking it into a potato that was boiling over the fire, peeled it with the same knife, and placing it on its point, put it into the mouth of the man who had cut himself. On inquiring the meaning of this ceremony, I was told that in consequence of the knife having drawn the blood of a chief, it became tabooed, and no one could use it till the taboo was removed, which was taken off by this

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operation. I remember on another occasion when these same lads were with us at the Waikato, one of them was playing with the pipe of a slave, who had been lent to our friend by Taowira. "Take care," said Ekao, the slave, "you don't break that pipe." "What if I do?" returned the other. "Why, your mat will hardly be payment for it?" Such an answer would have caused his instant death in former times, and nothing could have saved him; as it was, the young chief seized him by the throat, and one of his companions sprang at him with a knife, and would have passed it through his body had not the wife of our friend who arrived at the moment rushed in between them and prevented it. I heard her shrieks, and ran out. She was abusing them with great vehemence, and keeping them off in fine style. But master Ekao himself was not at all disposed to prove an unresisting martyr; he had freed himself from the grasp of the chief, and now stood stark naked, armed with a billet of wood and snorting at the nostrils like a bull, with his fright and exertion. He was a short thick-necked fellow, and the play of his muscles would have afforded a fine treat to a student of anatomy: however, this was not the time for indulging such speculations--Ekao's life was in danger, and approaching the chief I quietly disarmed him of the knife, at the same time telling him, if he wanted to fight, to go down to the pah and not create brawls in the presence of a white woman. Upon this they again laid hold of poor Ekao and tried to drag him away, but he again shook himself free; and as I would suffer no fighting there, they

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agreed to wait till his pakiha master came home, when they threatened to take vengeance. But by that time their anger had evaporated, the pipe, the cause of the uproar, having been smashed to atoms, as the slave would never have dared smoke it again.

Finding the lads persisted in refusing to carry our luggage without such exorbitant payment, we made bands from the flax plant and strapped it on our shoulders. At first they set up a loud laugh, but when they saw how heedlessly we walked away with our burden, they came running after us, making signs for us to put it down. This was what we expected, and we therefore spurned them from us and continued our course. I overtook one of the lads, who had started the first thing in the morning, sweating under the burden of a large wooden chest and other things. "What!" said he, "poys no goodee? Tam te poys' proory eyes." I am unconscious at what seminary he acquired these elegant expletives, but I think they were the only words meant for English I heard him utter. We had jogged along for about four miles, and had passed through three wide swamps, when we stopped for a breathing spell, as my burden did not weigh less than eighty pounds. Whilst resting, the remainder of the party came up, and one of the lads stole through the fern, and secured my bundle to his back. I was advised not to notice him, as we had still seventeen or eighteen long miles to go, and over no pleasant road, otherwise I had made up my mind to carry it myself, to show we were independent of them when we chose; but as the lad

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voluntarily assumed the load without stipulation for payment, I considered it good policy to let him groan under it. We made another halt on the top of a high hill overlooking the country, and here the natives gave us a specimen of their mode of fighting. They dashed about in a zigzag course from right to left, still advancing, going through the motions of loading and firing, but never staying for an instant longer than to discharge their pieces. I inquired their motive for such tactics, and they answered, because they would not stand as marks for the enemy to fire at. During their manoeuvres they kept up a hideous yelling, and made the ugliest grimaces, a practice which they adopt either to conceal their own fears or to endeavour to frighten others. But all this mock display subsided on the man who was with us turning his back and stooping and calling out to them to fire; they instantly dropped their muskets, and sneaked away, looking as sheepish as possible, and never again attempted to show off before us. The wind was blowing strong from the eastward, and the fire we had kindled to heat some water communicated to the fern on the hill side, which spreading with great rapidity, the whole surface was presently in a state of conflagration, blazing, roaring, and consuming every thing before it. The very soil was burnt and embrowned, and yet a few weeks after the fern was as thick as ever, and not the slightest trace of fire could be distinguished. We regained the settlement at Wakatiwai on a Sunday evening, and nearly all the natives were engaged in church service. Many a curious

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eye was turned towards the strangers as we passed through the Kianga, but no one quitted his devotion to come to us. I arrived first at the settlement, having outstripped my companions by nearly half an hour. Anxious to arrive at my journey's end, somewhat fatigued, and not wishing to be troubled with questions I could not answer, I took no notice of the various parties I met, and it was quite laughable to witness the curious expression of their faces at my dogged nonchalance. I have often reflected since at the cool impudence we English possess, and at the way we treat these poor fellows. Fancy one or two comparative pigmies traversing a country of savages, knowing nothing of the language, entering houses "sans ceremonie," helping themselves to whatever might be in their way, the natives looking on with deferential awe, bullying chiefs upon their own land regardless of consequences -- and yet this I have often done without a thought of my arrogant assumption. In leaving behind you a few trifles, which to the natives are important gifts, you become so sensible of the disparity between them and you that you lose all sense of having intruded. Nevertheless, I almost wonder that the natives submit to it: nothing but an intuitive perception of our intellectual superiority would induce them to do so, as it is well known that they do not lack physical capabilities. There are several hot springs in the vicinity of Wakatiwai of sufficient heat to scald a pig or a fowl; there is also a spring of a similar nature in the neighbourhood of the Waikato river, but I was prevented seeing it.

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A vessel was observed lying at anchor about six miles lower down the estuary than where we rested for that night, and at early dawn my companion and I started ahead to secure, if possible, passages to Waihao. Instead of proceeding along the beach, we made a straight cut of it; passing through several plantations of potatoes, maize, &c., we met several natives, but merely exchanged the usual greeting of "Te na ra ka kui." We reached the beach in time to secure a passage; the master was loosing his topsails when we hailed: we entered into the necessary agreement, and about half an hour after our fellow traveller came up with his mob, hurrying along the beach; and when he came on board, we learnt that he narrowly escaped a serious "fracas," as one particular point of the beach was tabooed, and had it not been for his excellent knowledge of the language, he certainly would have been plundered of every thing he had. It was well for my companion and me, that in our innocence we avoided this danger. The settlements of the natives are numerous in this district, and it appeared, to my judgment, to be the best cultivated and the most picturesque of any I had yet seen in New Zealand.

Whilst waiting at Waihao for an opportunity to get to the Bay of Islands, a Scotch gentleman proposed that we should join him in an excursion up the Thames river. Having nothing better to occupy our time, we agreed to do so; we could not engage natives to row for us, and to obviate this difficulty the projector of the excursion constructed a pair of paddle-wheels to attach to his whale-boat by an iron

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crank fixed to the axles. Having got all things ready, off we started, amidst the cheering of those assembled to witness the first "steamer" set going in New Zealand: two of us sat one on either thwart, facing each other, and worked the crank, whilst the other steered spell and spell; and steaming work we found it: but we contrived to propel her along as fast as four men with oars could have done. Both wind and tide were against us, which rendered it very fatiguing; notwithstanding, we overtook a canoe paddled by fourteen natives. We excited the utmost astonishment all along as we went, the natives crowding down to the beach to gaze at us: nor did we cease in our manful exertions till past midnight, when symptoms of exhaustion began to betray themselves. We had laboured thus hard in the expectation of gaining the residence of a white man, where we hoped to have received good cheer, and to have refreshed ourselves; but the night closed in so dark, we could not distinguish objects. When we imagined we were somewhere near the spot, we shouted, and heard responding cries; but though we continued to hail, they were not repeated, and there being many sunken rocks between us and the shore, with rugged, sharp projections, we thought it more prudent to proceed higher up, where it was free from these ugly customers, and beach it for the night. Accordingly, we did so; and whilst the others were securing the boat and getting out the traps, I went in search of a roosting place, and to collect driftwood for a fire.

The coast, on either side the estuary save here

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and there, as I have before remarked, rises almost precipitously from the water, and to the eye it appears covered with an impenetrable scrub. I selected, for our night's encampment, a sandy spot at the foot of a gorge or chasm of the hills, beneath the wide-spreading branches of a noble tree; a torrent came down this gorge at times, as was evident from the accumulation of lifeless trunks and branches of trees which must have been swept from above -- but now there was only a trickling stream. We soon had a roaring fire under weigh, and when we had taken off our wet clothes and hung them up to dry, wrapped in our blankets, we contrived, by the aid of some tea and cold food we had with us, to pass a very agreeable and profitable hour; and shortly after, the comfortable glow occasioned by satisfied hunger and a cheering fire prepared us for slumber, and we sank back on our beds of leaves, and became lost to all fatigue in a deep sleep. I was roused from this comfortable state of insensibility by an extraordinary jabbering, and on raising myself discovered an old long-bearded Maori, who was talking and gesticulating in a very energetic strain. On finishing his address, of which I did not comprehend one syllable, he retired to the distance of forty paces and sat down. Scarcely awake, unable to fathom the meaning of this mysterious proceeding, and not being willing to disturb my companions, I beckoned the old man to me again; with much hesitation he came, and having enlightened me with a similar display of unintelligible oratory, once more placed the same distance between us. Deeming there must be something more in this than met the

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eye, with considerable reluctance I awoke my companions, and apprised them of what was going on: our Scotch Archimedes, who was best acquainted with the language, hastened to the old fellow for an explanation; but he came back much faster than he went, and urged us to lose no time in getting everything into the boat and launching her, for we had been sleeping on tabooed ground, and run the risk of being robbed, or atoning for our error by cumpulsory payment. In the blissful confidence of my ignorance, I curled my lip in scornful pride, and vowed I would neither submit to robbery, nor yield payment; but still bearing in mind that "discretion is the better part of valour," I did not neglect the advice of preparing for immediate departure. It was only half-flood at the time, and our boat was high and dry; it required the united exertion of our utmost strength to move her, and the old man would not come to our assistance. By slow and painful degrees, moving foot by foot, we had just got her into the water, when down came half a dozen strapping fellows, calling on us to stop and speak with their chief. Conjecturing pretty shrewdly to what the conversation might lead, we politely declined the invitation, and were shoving off, when lo! the chief made his appearance, followed by ten or twelve more ferocious-looking fellows; and all our labour was destroyed in an instant, for in that period of time they darted into the water and hauled us aground. As we showed fight, the chief darted at our commissariat basket, and carried it off: this was affecting us in a vital part. Archimedes was grappling with a fellow who had

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seized his coat; my East Cape companion was defending the boat with a spare oar, and, not to be worse than my word, I sprang at the fellow who had ravished the food: but nothing daunted at seeing me coming, he let go the basket and caught me by the throat. He was of gigantic size, and from his daring had acquired amongst Europeans the nomenclature of "Terror of the Thames." Of course this we did not know at the time, or perhaps it would not have improved my nerves. As it was, I did not feel much alarm at his grip, but only thought of freeing myself from it, and of recovering the basket. I therefore grappled him firmly by the sides, burying my fingers just above his hips, and then with a rush and quick movement of the foot gave him a spin which seemed to astonish him. The tattooed varlet was too heavy to cross-buttock: he stood staggered for a moment as if in amazement how so light a man, in comparison, could play him such a trick; but his confusion did not last: throwing off his mat, he waved his arm over his head, and, with a savage dance and fiendish yell, prepared to come at me again; and at the same time I had the satisfaction of seeing his followers running: to arm themselves with heavy pieces of drift-wood that were lying on the beach. I thought it was all up with me; but determined to die with my face to my foes, I turned my back to the water to avoid being surrounded, and stood in boxing attitude to receive the charge. We had a fowling-piece in the boat, and I shouted for it, intending to exercise the butt end of it on the chief's head; but every one had his own work to contend with. And now, whether

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excited by a generous sort of sympathy at seeing us three so stoutly resist his mob, or from unwillingness to shed blood, or impelled by what other motive, the chief suddenly restrained the attack, and called out for peace; observing that "he was fond of the pakihani (white people), for they were brave men, and he did not want to quarrel with them." He said "we had been doing wrong, he could not make us understand, but he would send for a countryman of ours, who lived not far off, and he would explain;" and he requested to be allowed to stop with us in the boat till our countryman arrived. We could not object to this, and we also allowed a slave to accompany him, who, however, stripped himself, and sat under cover of the chief's mat, to show that no treachery was contemplated; but lest any thing of the kind should be attempted, we pushed off a few yards from the shore, and there rested on our paddles. In a little time we saw the Englishman approaching; the very party whose house we had been attempting to make the evening previous; and we had absolutely slept upon the beach, within a quarter of a mile of his abode. He regretted the predicament into which we had got, but it was out of his power to assist us: we had profaned the taboo of a most sacred spot, and he recommended us to make the best settlement we could now we had got the chief in our power; for which reason he would not ask us to stay breakfast, as the natives would be sure to avail themselves of the opportunity for plundering the boat. I was for pitching the vagabonds overboard, and giving them a swim, but this was not listened to; and the

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chief was rather moderate in his demands, as he only required a dollar to appease the broken sanctity of the taboo. I was opposed, upon principle, to giving them any thing; but Archimedes, who was arguing the point, fumbled in his pocket till he succeeded in catching a stray half-crown, which, when the chief saw, he seized it with the greatest avidity, and jumped overboard, followed by his attendant; but, in making their exit, they contrived, with the adroitness of a London pickpocket, to abstract from the boat a cannister of sporting powder, and all our stock of tobacco. We did not detect our loss at the time. Another chief came running down to extort payment for our infringement of the taboo. We saw a fellow stamping, shaking his fist at us, and distorting his features, the deep furrows of his tattooed face imparting to it an expression of tiger-like ferocity: but we only laughed at him, and continued our work at the crank. We heard that he threatened to pursue us in his war canoes, and vowed to break up our boat and take every thing from us; but his anger was mollified on seeing how cleverly his comrade had rifled us: perhaps, also, the astonishment excited by our steamer operated in our favour, as they spread a report of some white men having visited their place in a boat propelled by two grindstones. It was a fortunate thing for us, perhaps, that the powder was stolen, and not less fortunate that the gun was withheld from me when I shouted for it; as we discovered, on rounding a projecting point, a large pah, with about four hundred natives in i, who all turned out to gaze at our wondrous mode of journeying. There were three large canoes lying on the beach,

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which they could have run into the water in an instant; so that if we had escaped the first party, we should have been nicely seized by the second. There was a sandspit at the foot of the salient bluff, which was covered with myriads of ducks: we paddled quietly till within a short distance of them, and three times I snapped the gun at them; and in searching for the powder to prime the nipple, we first became conscious of our loss. The natives had followed on the cliffs, watching our proceedings, and the fall of one of these ducks was to have been the signal for an attack upon us; as this sandspit, owing to some battle that had been fought there, was venerated more highly than the spot where we had presumed to take our night's repose.

After grinding a few miles, we reached the location of another white man, where we obtained kai-kai-te (breakfast). A few days previous to our visit, a party of natives were sitting round a fire in this neighbourhood, one of the chiefs being seated on a keg of gunpowder; another chief called to a slave to hand him a keg for a seat, which he fetched, and passed to him over the flames; a few grains escaping from the plug-hole, the keg exploded, and communicating, caused the explosion of the other. The slave was blown to atoms, and the two chiefs were burned from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, but neither was killed; and they were picked up by their horror-stricken followers, and carried to the Caranga. It so happened that at this time two English gentlemen were staying i the vicinity, one of whom was a medical man, and often rendered little

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acts of kindness to the natives in the way of his profession; and now a whole body came to him, craving his assistance for their mangled chiefs, promising him great payment if he would but cure them. The doctor went, and though they were fearfully mangled, he did not despair of eventually restoring them. He was unceasing in his attention, and one of the chiefs showed rapid signs of convalescence, when an Atua or spirit chief paid them a visit. These chiefs possess wonderful power over the people, and are held in great awe and reverence by them; they pretend to gifts of vaticination, and their curse has been known to wither the limbs, and affect the lives of their wretched victims. Such is the extraordinary influence acquired by the craft of one savage over the fears of another. I have seen living instances of the effect of these maledictions, and Europeans who have watched the result, without being able to shake the credulity of the ignorant wretches, have assured me that without apparent cause a sound and healthy limb has gradually withered and contracted, until the fountains of its strength have dried up, and it has hung an useless incumbrance to the body: so much for the effects of the imagination -- the power of mind over matter. I wonder if the power exercised by these chiefs is what the learned term mesmerism or animal magnetism. The Atua chief, willing to display his superior knowledge, and to give the lie to the prognostications of the Englishman, addressed the chief, who was going on most favourably, saying "What fools these foreigners are! The medicine man tells you that you are doing well--that you will recover--the

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fool!--the finger of death is already upon you, and when the moon reaches the full to-morrow night, you will be called to leave us." Short as the notice was, and unprepared as the poor fellow was for death, he had such religious faith in the prediction, that when the doctor came to visit him in the morning he was in a high fever; he refused all medicines, and at the appointed time, like a true disciple, he yielded up his spirit and fulfilled the prophecy of his priest. Under other circumstances, the doctor would have been persecuted for having administered medicines to the defunct that did not produce the results contemplated; but he turned the tables upon them, and attributed the chiefs death to his obstinacy in refusing all medicines on the morning of the night when his spirit fled to join his father's in the happy planting grounds. But it was not without reason that the doctor became troubled with doubts and anxieties, for he had just cause to fear that the other chief would slip through his fingers, in which case, instead of receiving payment, in all probability he would have to make it. The doctor having expressed his doubts to us, we proposed accompanying him in his matutinal visit, with the idea of ridiculing the natives out of their superstitious belief. Our entertainer at breakfast could speak the language well, and we all set off in a body to destroy if possible any mischievous impressions that might have been created. As we neared the pah a regular concert of crying and groaning burst upon our ears, and the disheartened doctor gave vent to a groan in sympathy. We hurried as fast as we could to the supposed scene

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of death, and came upon an extraordinary tableau. The friends and followers of the roasted chief had assembled in a body to cry over him before he died; they had formed themselves into two deep semicircles, squatted on the ground in front of the hut where the poor fellow lay, his head resting on the lap of his father, who was mingling his tears with his son's, condoling over his premature fate. The young chief was stretched on some of their softest mats, and a piece of calico spread upon pliant wands was laid over him to prevent anything from touching his body, A more melancholy scene could not be well imagined, as the renewed burst of grief from the old man caused the others to break forth in louder lamentations. It was in itself enough to have killed the young fellow. We immediately commenced pulling the party from their sorrowing positions, making signs of dissatisfaction at their behaviour, and giving them to understand that they ought to laugh rather than cry, and do all they could to cheer the spirits of their wounded chief, instead of endeavouring to depress them; and by dint of laughing and joking we got them to laugh too, even the patient himself "grinned horribly a ghastly smile;" and much to his credit the young Medico shortly after this effected a complete cure.

Having to contend against wind and tide our progress was not very rapid, and at night we had only gained the mouth of the river. Although it was not late we resolved to wait till morning before prosecuting our journey further. We beached our boat opposite a large Kaianga, and some of the natives came to our assistance in securing her, and in conveying our

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things to one of their huts. We purchased some fish from them, and after supping, as the place was cold and cheerless, the hut proving the deserted tenement of some English trader, only partially roofed and the sides nearly demolished, we spread our blankets to the best advantage to keep ourselves warm, and endeavoured to sleep away the time till morning. The moon was in that quarter influencing neap tides, and on awaking we saw that the tide was already ebbing, and unless we immediately got our boat into a narrow channel about fifty paces from where she lay, there would be no chance of our getting off till late in the afternoon, which, as we were short of food, and the natives not too much disposed to be hospitable, was a thing to be avoided if possible. We made many attempts, but it was of no use, we could not move her. We then asked the natives to assist us; but no, the day was Sunday and they would not stir. They pointed to the sky and shook their heads in a very deprecatory manner: all arguments and entreaties were vain, not a foot would they budge to help us; but I could not help noticing one fellow who seemed to pay more than ordinary attention to the boat, and deeming his affectionate regard not without its object, I determined to watch him, and in a little time when he thought he was unobserved, I saw him lean forward, and with the speed of light snatch something from the bottom of the boat and conceal it beneath his blanket; he then stood as cool and unconcerned as possible. At this instant my companions returned with some pieces of wood they had gone to fetch to serve as

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rollers to get the boat off, and walking quickly up to this dexterous gentleman, I gave him a smart rap on the shoulder. "Come, old fellow," said I, "give us a shove." In his surprise he stretched out his arm, and down tumbled a knife, the article he had stolen; he hastily attempted to conceal it with his foot, but I pushed him on one side, and pointing to it asked him what he meant by that? He was utterly confounded, and the expression of his face was such that it quite pained me to look at him. I therefore only shook my head, and let him understand that as the day was not too sacred for him to steal, neither could it be for him to render us assistance, and picking up the knife I desired him to help us. He seemed thankful to escape so easily, but our exertions were of no use, and we were fain to content ourselves in the best way we could till afternoon. The delinquent withdrew himself as speedily as possible, and we saw him no more.

Nga Maori are keenly alive to the degradation of exposure; one of them, on being reproached by his tribe as a thief, took his fowling-piece, went out, fired it into a keg of powder, and blew himself to atoms. At the time I write, this fact is well known to all the European residents at Port Nicholson.

The observance of the Sabbath by the natives generally at this place was very punctilious. It is a privileged day amongst them both for slave and chief, and nothing seems to delight them more than assembling together in large bodies to chant and sing, I have lived to discover that one of the leading principles in a New Zealander's character is, "nothing

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for nothing." They will entertain you with all hospitality when there is a prospect of their receiving any thing in return; they understand well the principle of "venturing a sprat to catch a mackarel," and will overwhelm you with trifles and proffers of service if they see you have plenty of goods with you, and at the time they make you presents, they are scrupulously particular in expressing they don't require payment for them; but should you take them at their word, and omit to make them presents in return, they will not fail to jog your memory, and moreover will not cease to torment you till they obtain three times the value of the property if bartered for in the regular way. This will account for the ready hospitality we received when travelling on the east coast: so long as we had tobacco, we distributed it freely; but when we came to the last halting-place, having no more tobacco to give, the chief accompanied us nine miles to seek payment for the few potatoes we partook of. And now these religious varlets being precluded by the observances of the day from selling food, so neither would they give us any, and we were compelled to undergo a fasting vigil against our will. They knew we intended leaving when the tide served, and as they could not receive payment on a Sunday, they would not risk the chance of a gift. We made some tea, and boiled the remnant of our potatoes, and whilst rioting on this sumptuous fare, the chief and several of his mob paid a visit to us. We handed him a pot of tea, but he declined taking it, and so did several others to whom we offered it; but we could

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observe that it was with reluctance they did so. The place had been tabooed against their taking food in it, and in presence of their chief they did not dare to transgress. On the night previous, when no chief was present, two or three natives who happened to be in the hut whilst were supping did not scruple to despatch our remnants. Probably the secret of this taboo was, that as they would not administer to our wants, a sense of shame prevented their receiving any thing from us, for I never heard of an instance of a taboo proper having been violated. On a signal for prayers, we got rid of our mob, and as we were enjoying our "otium cum dignitate," a messenger from a pah a mile or two higher up, came and made signs for us to accompany him; we could not make out his meaning, but he became so earnest in his gesticulations, that I jumped up and followed his guidance, promising to send word if better fare was to be obtained. The guide led the way along the beach for about half a mile, and as some reddened pieces of wood stuck in the sands indicated the preposterous imposition of the taboo, we had to strike off and make a circuit through a native plantation. A great many huts and potato stores were scattered about the plantation, and at its termination we came to an extensive pah, where I was met by a white man, who had been residing amongst the natives for many years. We learnt subsequently that he was an escaped convict from New South Wales; be that as it may, he behaved to us with gentlemanly feeling, set before us the best his house afforded, and on our leaving loaded us with provisions, and would accept no remu-

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neration. He has enforced some respect from the natives; and I may here mention as illustrative of his character an anecdote related of him. He had travelled to a port occasionally touched at by whalers, with stock of his own rearing, which he bartered for prints and calico. On his return he wished to commence trading with his new property, but the natives would not deal on old terms, and as he had no other way of convincing them of his sincerity, he took the whole of the cloth and set fire to it, for which reason he now goes by the name "Billy Maomo," which being interpreted means "Wasteful Billy."

On stepping into the boat to prosecute our journey, I was seized with a violent sick headache, and became so totally helpless, that my companions had to endure all the fatigue of working at the crank. I was so dreadfully convulsed with pain, that I almost imagined my hour was come; and gratefully relieved were my companions when they assisted me ashore at a sawyer's station on the banks of the river, where we intended passing the night. I had a violent fit of vomiting, which left me without the power to stand, and with scarce the strength to speak: the sawyer and his mate made a bed for me on the floor, and there I lay in the most agonizing pain I ever experienced. Towards morning, a lethargic torpor came over me, and when I recovered from it I was free from pain.

This sawing station was on the skirts of what had once been an extensive and very strongly-fortified, pah, now nearly deserted, and falling to decay in all directions; nor do I wonder at it, as

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the land on either side the river is nearly level with the water, and after heavy rains must be completely swampy. The tide rises nine or ten feet, and when we wanted to start, we found it was low water, and the boat fast on the slimy bank, certainly the most unctuous and adhesive in its nature of any banks I have seen. With much difficulty, we got afloat at half-flood, but had scarcely proceeded 300 yards, when we were aground in the centre of this much misrepresented river. The low, marshy, uninviting aspect of the country on either side; the extent and unwholesome appearance of the unsightly, slate-coloured, fat mud-banks; and the turbid, muddy stream, wriggling its course between them, offered anything but a tempting prospect to the enterprise of the settler. We were detained nearly an hour before we were afloat again, and it required the most watchful navigation to prevent our being continually aground afterwards. This exposed us to the chance of having to paddle a considerable distance against the tide, a benefit of which we were by no means desirous, as it sets with great rapidity, not less I should say than five or six knots, in the strength of the current. We proceeded between thirty and forty miles up the river, the character of the country continuing still the same, low, swampy, and unwholesome, with no appearance of pasture or timber of any size. The vale of level country, or the "Valley of the Thames," according to some, is from twelve to twenty miles in breadth, and extends to 120 in length. The mouth of the frith or estuary is studded with islets, as I noticed at the com-

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mencement of this chapter; and it varies in breadth from fifteen to thirty miles, until, at about thirty miles up, it suddenly contracts; a tongue of land runs out, dividing it into two parts: the northern and most insignificant branch receives the waters of the river Piaka; and the lower, or southern one, those of the boasted river Thames. We regained Waihoa just in time to secure a passage in a vessel bound to the Bay of Islands, whence I shortly after shipped for Sydney, not over delighted with what I had seen of this "Granary of the Southern Hemisphere."