1842 - Wade, William A Journey in the Northern Island of New Zealand - Chapter I: From the Waimate to Mangungu

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A JOURNEY
IN THE
NORTHERN ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND.

CHAPTER I.

From the Waimate to Mangungu, by way of Kaikohe.

Districts in New Zealand frequently take their name from rivers or streams running through them. Te Waimate, commonly called "The Waimate," is the name of a small rivulet running through a delightful and tolerably level district, fifteen or sixteen miles in a south westerly direction from the Bay of Islands. This district was fixed on by the Church Missionary Society for a Mission Station, and first occupied in 1830. It was by dint of sheer persevering labour that the Missionaries, who were to be its first occupants, overcame the difficulties which were thrown in their way at the outset. The attempts of

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START FROM WAIMATE.

the natives to secure a large compensation by refusing timber for building, the constant urging and personal exertion required to keep those in the employment of the Mission at all active and persevering, and the consequent slow progress of the work, did not drive the indefatigable Missionaries from their purpose. They succeeded in building a bridge, in making fifty thousand bricks, in erecting temporary weather-boarded houses, &c. In process of time, other and better houses arose, with large enclosures around them, a large farming concern was established, and a water mill erected for supplying the Mission with flour. Thus the Waimate station became one of the most advanced in civilization; and, before the colonization of the country, might be regarded as the most English-like spot in all New Zealand. We thought it so at the time of our going to reside there, and did not leave the place, three years afterwards, without feelings of regret.

With the intention of reaching Kaikohe, about ten miles from the Waimate, and of making that my starting point for Mangakahia on the following morning, I left home on Monday, the first of January 1838, at five o'clock p. m.; having arranged for visiting several of the more southerly Mission stations, and purposing to collect in my journey miscellaneous information relative to the country and people. Six natives had engaged to accompany me, part of the way, at least, to carry my tent, blankets, provisions, and other requisites; and one of my lads, in addition, was to go the first day's stage and return with the horse. Two of those whom I had hired as com-

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NEW ZEALAND FERNS.

panions, started, for their own convenience, a day or two before, taking with them their back-loads, and were to meet me at Kaikohe.

The road from Waimate to Kaikohe runs by Pukenui, a hill of volcanic origin, in a south-westerly direction, and passes through a wood, at no great distance from Omapere, a lake of quiet waters, about three miles across. On the Waimate side of the wood, the land is for the most part exceedingly rich, the fern in some places being above one's head when on horse-back. This is the common edible fern, which covers a large proportion of the open country of New Zealand.

The fern, (pteris esculenta,) which is found in so great abundance, grows to a height of seven or eight feet in rich ground, but is far more commonly found, not above three or four feet high, and over many large tracts of land its growth is very stunted. In a kindly soil the root acquires that farinaceous quality which renders it desirable and wholesome as an article of food. In times of scarcity the natives always resort to the fern root, which, when dug up, is cut into short pieces, and tied in bundles to be carried home. The pieces of root after being baked in the native under-ground oven, are sometimes simply masticated, the fibre being rejected: but they are usually prepared by beating on a stone with a short wooden club called a paoi. Nearly a hundred distinct species of fern (filices) are known as indigenous in New Zealand. There are three known species of the tree fern; the ponga, (cyathea dealbata,) known by the whiteness of the under part of the fronds; the korau,

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DAVID TAIWANGA.

(cyathea medullaris,) the thick part of the large fronds of which is boiled and eaten as a vegetable; and the weki, more recently noticed by botanists) which differs from the others, not only in its parts of fructification, but in its fronds being deciduous. The average height of fern trees in the New Zealand forests, may be from twelve to fifteen feet, occasionally reaching twenty-five or thirty feet. They appear only to thrive in the cool shade of damp woods, their noble and graceful tops assuming a sickly hue and drooping appearance under the broad light of day.

Passing Pukenui and the wood, the country, further on, wears a barren aspect, especially in the neighbourhood of the hill Putahi. This hill, I had once before ascended, and had an opportunity of noticing the singular cavities in its sides. Down one of these cavities, the mouth of which was thickly overgrown with shrubs, we rolled the largest stones we could find, which, in descending, sounded as if rebounding from one internal projection of the cave to another till lodged in the unknown depths below, Putahi, as well as Pukenui, indicates volcanic origin.

It was after sunset when we reached the Kaikohe district. David came forward to meet and welcome us. He was formerly called Taiwanga, and used to figure among the foremost of the blood-thirsty in their perpetual wars. In one of his fights he slew a chief, whose widow and three young children he seized as his prisoners. Having barbarously killed and eaten the children in the presence of their own mother, he then made her his wife. Now, he was

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CHARACTERISTICS.

tamed; and, for a New Zealander, had made great strides in civilization. In person, he was of middle stature, rather stout, and of by no means forbidding countenance, though marked strongly by the ornamental disfiguration of deeply furrowed bluish-black tattoo-lines on the nose, cheeks, chin, forehead, &c

The native men, in general, more particularly the chiefs, are tall, well made, athletic persons; with various grades of visage, from the flat-nosed, and thick-lipped, to the aquiline-nose and Israelitish cast of feature. The women, with here and there an exception, are far inferior to the men, being generally short and clumsy, with no delicacy of feature, person, or manners; and when you do meet with a softened and interesting expression, playing upon regular and well formed features, it is marred by disgusting filthiness, or, with astonishing rapidity, is exchanged for the unexpressive eye, and bold shrivelled front of seeming age. The children are usually active, forward, merry little things. The embrowned skin of the New Zealander varies in its depth of colour in different individuals, and in different parts of the country; and the constant wearing of clothes, and washing of hands and face, render those who have been brought up among Europeans many shades lighter than their countrymen, who have always exposed themselves to the sun's hottest rays, and whose skins retain the tinge of accumulated dirt.

David, among his countrymen, must now be regarded as holding the rank of a gentleman farmer; though if you went into his house, or looked upon his wife and children, you might see just as much filth, just

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NATIVE FARMING.

as mean apparel, and quite as comfortless an habitation as among the natives of the bush. David himself generally wore European clothing. He was an industrious managing man of business, well knowing how to strike a bargain. Attached to the Missionaries, to whom he felt indebted for the advantages he was now enjoying, he would be civil and attentive to those whom he regarded as his benefactors. On a former journey, when I was passing through his place, he welcomed me with refreshing draughts of milk for myself and lads, and added nearly a pound of butter as a travelling luxury. We knew of no native at that time equally advanced in civilization. He had twenty head of cattle; seven of his cows, were then in milk, and were affording a pretty constant supply of about eight pounds of butter a week for one of the merchants at the Bay of Islands. He shewed me his barn with a good sample of wheat in it, and pointed out the piece of ground which he was clearing and fencing for the succeeding wheat sowing.

Other natives, chiefly through the example and influence of the Missionaries, have also made some advancement in agricultural pursuits. It happened to be just harvest time when we were favoured at the Waimate by a visit from Alexander Busby, Esq., brother of the then British Resident. Mr. Busby went round with me to see the neighbouring villages. At Rangaunu, a pa belonging to the Ngatiwiu tribe, about a mile and a quarter from the Waimate, we saw three separate enclosures, where their wheat had just been gathered in, or was being cut by the

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AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS.

natives, some of whom were busily engaged building a wheat rick. On the way to Mawe, in another direction, we passed through a field of fine wheat ready for the sickle; and at Mawe, near the pa, (or fenced village,) several acres were in part reaped, the natives having all left their work to sell some pigs to a European in the Bay. On our return, it was getting dusk when we reached Toutoka, near Pukenui; there again we found the people actively hastening the housing of their wheat, to get it all in before night. The same year wheat was grown by three distinct parties at Manowenua.

Even before the introduction of wheat, the New Zealanders might be regarded as partly an agricultural people. Throughout the island they have their potato cultivations, and in many parts grow the kumara, or sweet potato, taro, maize, pumpkins, water-melons, and the kind of gourd which forms their calabashes. In their cultivations, as in all hard work, women are principally employed. A piece of ground is cleared from the forest by first setting fire to the underwood, and burning away the leafage and smaller branches of the trees. The trunks are then felled, leaving the stumps in the ground, and in some cases, a fence is constructed out of the fallen stems and branches, not unlike the log fences of Van Diemen's Land. The ground cleared, it is then turned up, and the potatoes or kumaras are carefully deposited in little mounds, and covered in by hand. The kumara, sometimes called the sweet potato, is, with some of the tribes, a great favourite; but never supersedes the use of the potato. Taro, (caladium

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PRACTICE OF PRAYER.

esculentum,) is much esteemed for its nutritious root, and when grown, great care is taken in its cultivation, but as it only increases in size, not multiplying at the root like a potato, it is rarely planted to any extent. Maize, or Indian corn, has been very generally grown, and succeeds well in the climate of the northern part of New Zealand. The water-melon, in warm districts, comes to perfection, and affords delicious refreshment on a summer day's journey; and as to the luxuriant pumpkin, where space of ground is not an object, it is, in some parts, allowed to grow in great profusion.

At David's place I found my tent, which had gone before, ready pitched for me, the interior being well carpetted with clean wheat straw. About a dozen natives assembled for evening prayers, to whom I read a chapter from the New Testament, adding a few words of exhortation, and David engaged in prayer.

It is a very general practice with the natives who make a profession of religion, to meet together in village parties for morning and evening worship. Travelling once in another part of the Island, in a wild country, we passed along a narrow ridge of hill, at the extremity of which we found a low rush building, whence proceeded the sound of singing. After listening for a short time on the outside, the singing ceased, and the voice of a young man was heard in prayer. At a subsequent period you could scarcely go to any place where the Missionaries had been, without finding prayer, either extemporaneous or as a form, adopted as a prevalent custom.

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NATIVE COVETOUSNESS.

As I had determined to pack up and start without breakfast, in order to make a good day to Mangakahia, we were stirring at a quarter before five in the morning; but we found that the two natives who had gone before with their back-loads, and were staying at the pa, were not disposed to join us. At last they condescended to come down and tell us, that not a step would they stir unless, there and then, payment were given. To this they were incited by a native named Coleman. I could not but feel grieved as well as vexed, to find those who were making a profession of religion still full of their native covetousness.

We had not been very long resident in the Island before we discovered that a spirit of covetousness more tried the professed principles of natives connected with the Mission than any other evil to which they were prone. So strongly was this impressed on my mind, that I began to consider whether I might not have imbibed a prejudice arising from local circumstances; and, wishing to elicit truth on all points, I wrote to two established Missionaries, in two different and more southern parts of the Island, telling them my views, and asking for theirs. Both, in reply, expressed themselves as fully agreeing with me; only, that they, having lived longer among the natives, and knowing more of their language and habits than I knew, could dig deeper into the inner recesses of character, and discover still greater abominations. An extract from one of their communications will illustrate this: --

"Your remarks on the character of the New

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INSTANCES OF

Zealanders are correct, with only this exception, that I have never yet been able to discover a really disinterested character among them. I have had them living with me from their childhood up to manhood, fed and clothed them, and nursed them in sickness; but, after all, if they see another native, living with a European, possessing any imaginary advantage, they become dissatisfied, and endeavour to prejudice also the minds of others who are living with you; in which they too often succeed. I have one now living with me, who has often been recovered from the very brink of the grave. He comes from the Bay of Islands. His covetousness is disgusting in the extreme. He has long wanted to return to the Bay in order to traffic with the shipping. His wife is not willing to leave us: not, I imagine, from any strength of attachment, but because she was a slave, and is often ailing, and is no doubt aware that in leaving us she would leave a comfortable home. Both have lived with me for many years. I expect I shall be obliged to make her go with him."

In proportion to the increase of white population, the natives have increased in their exorbitant demands. Not content with fair remuneration for their labour as farm servants, sawyers, &c, nor at all considering the comparative value of one man's work above that of another, they have often forced their employers to the conclusion, that it is not only safer, but more economical, to employ European or American mechanics and labourers even at a high rate of wages. Before we left the Bay of Islands in 1840, a party of natives went over to Kororareka

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COVETOUSNESS.

with a pig for sale. Two sovereigns were immediately offered for the pig, but at once indignantly refused. After patient waiting, the offer increased to three sovereigns; but, no; time was not an object to them; and if waiting and teazing would carry the point, they were determined to have more. At last they actually went off, triumphing with just double the amount of the original offer, doubtless expecting to be received at home with hearty congratulations; but to their no small mortification, on bringing the money to their own party, they received, instead of praise for their cunning, a sharp reprimand for not having patience to wait till they had extorted double again, and made it eight sovereigns. Even with regard to land, the natives of some parts were taking a lesson of their civilized neighbours, some time before the sudden mania for land purchasing which preceded the colonization of the country. Mr. Chapman, of Rotorua, one of the Church Missionaries, had an acre of ground fenced in round his house, which the natives, after demanding a most exorbitant price, at last expressed themselves willing to part with for twelve good blankets; and Mr. Chapman, who was then looking out for a new site for the Mission station, informed me, that to purchase some spots round the lake it would require literally to cover the place with blankets in order to satisfy the numerous claimants.

So often have I been pained by unblushing and undeniable exhibitions of the old innate principle, where we thought there was reason to expect better things, that nothing, in Missionary matters, has gratified me more than an account received since we

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REMARKABLE LIBERALITY.

left New Zealand. It is from one who was not apt to give sanguine or varnished statements of Missionary success, and refers to the period of lady Franklin's visit to the Island. My correspondent says: -- "Who would have imagined two years ago, that a heart so selfish and narrow as that of a New Zealander, could be induced eagerly to come forward with a collection for Missionary purposes? Kaitaia and Waikato heads have been privileged this year to take lead in this work of love; upwards of forty pounds having been collected at the former, and twenty-eight pounds odd at the latter. Mr. A. 1 who had been out on a long visit to Port Nicholson, came just in time to attend our meeting, and when he saw the natives rushing forward in their usual boisterous way, to throw in their shillings and dollars, he could not forbear exclaiming "Well, this surpasses my poor Africans!" You have heard him talk of his Africans, and can judge of the change which has taken place in his estimation of his New Zealanders." Happy would it be for the people if these remarks could be applied generally.

Persuading, disputing, and scolding, detained me at Kaikohe till past seven o'clock, as I knew it to be the worst possible policy to pay a New Zealander beforehand.

Some of the trading settlers have been very unguarded and injudicious in giving the natives large credit. I remember a case, of a chief who owed

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IMPRUDENT TRUST.

spars to a considerable amount, for which he had received current value in trade, and whose creditor was completely kept at bay, being under the necessity every now and then of advancing a little and a little more, in order to keep the fellow at all in mood for work. If the truth could be ascertained, it is more than probable that one-half of the spars have not been delivered to this day. I knew a flax agent connected with an extensive concern, who was bartering chiefly with muskets and powder, and who assured me that the natives were indebted to him to the amount of seven hundred pounds. This is most imprudent. The only safe course to adopt is to see work done before it is paid for, whether in whole or in part; and when this course is firmly adhered to, the natives perfectly understand, and are well satisfied with it. Sometimes they will play the extortioner, and try to carry their point by noisy threats and alarming gestures; but cool, determined indifference to all their noise, will generally subdue them. The worst thing you can do is to appear terrified. It is far better, when they threaten to burn your house over your head, cheerfully to point them to the brand on the fire, and good humouredly or ironically urge them not to delay their kind intentions.

Our wives, at first, used to be terrified at the stormy exhibitions of savage wrath; but even they learned by experience calmly to look on. On one occasion, at the Waimate, a great attempt was made by a petty chief to terrify us into premature payment, but it proved a complete failure. We had agreed with the man to put us up a temporary fence; for which

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ATTEMPT AT EXTORTION.

he was to receive a blanket in payment; a fair compensation according to the usual rate of native labour. Before the work was completed, he came to us with his wife, and demanded payment. The woman seated herself on the ground, and said little, but we well knew her vicious, mischief-making spirit, and that she was the instigator of her husband, who had been previously wrought up to a pitch to act a part for her. He began, "I am going over to Hokianga, give me my payment."--"Finish your work and then you shall have it."--"But I can't stay to finish it, I must go directly."--"When you have finished you shall be paid."--"But I must go."--"Go then."--"What about the payment? Give it to me." --"Finish your work, and you shall have it."--"Then give me some tobacco as well: I must be paid for the use of my axe."--"You shall have what we agreed for."--"And some tobacco besides."--"Not a bit: I will give you what we bargained for, and nothing more." As he had begun rapidly to pace about, and was working himself up into a great rage, the presence and look of his Jezebel adding fuel to the fire, I resolved not to give him a particle of tobacco, although civility might have obtained for him a fig or two. He was now getting outrageous, almost foaming at the mouth, --"I'll burn the fence down."--"Burn it."--My laughing at the thought vexed him exceedingly, and he rejoined "Yes, indeed, I'll break it all up, and burn it;" and suiting action to word, he furiously began to pull down pale after pale, putting them up in heaps ready for burning. We quietly looked on, perfectly satisfied that he

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KAIKOHE.

would soon be tired of his job. And so he was: for his rage and violence soon exhausted him, and he went grumblingly away. In a day or two, he was glad to come back to repair the breach, finish the fence, and receive his blanket.

Following out the same principle with the Kaikohe natives, I determined to make any sacrifice rather than yield to their unreasonable demands; and had just resolved to return home, when a sudden thought occurred, to go by way of Hokianga, where, through the kindness of the Wesleyan Missionaries, 1 might be able to obtain trustworthy help. The thought was immediately put into execution. Two of my party were obliged to continue the original course to their own place, so I lost their services, and, leaving part of my things in David's charge till I could send for them, I proceeded on, with only three of my own domestic natives.

We first passed through the Kaikohe pa, the inhabitants of which had for some time been under the instruction of the Missionaries. They have, since, so far advanced, as to be anxious for the erection of a mill for grinding their wheat, and measures have been taken by the Church Missionaries for procuring stones, &c, to meet their wishes.

A native pa, or enclosed village, is usually surrounded by a high stockade, or irregular wooden fence, the posts of which are often of great height and thickness, and sometimes headed by the frightful carving of au uncouth or indecent image; not for worship, (for the New Zealanders have no idol worship whatever, as far as I could discover,) but to fill their

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DESCRIPTION OF

adversaries with terror. Pas thoroughly defended for times of war have double fences, with a deep fosse, and high embankments; and very elevated ground used formerly to be the favourite site. A short time since, when war was expected among the Ngapuhis, or Bay of Islands' tribes, the people of Mawe, near the Waimate, fortified their pa with a thick wall, built up of loose stones, gathered out of their very stony soil. This stone wall was really a creditable piece of native work, with its bastion-like projections, and its ports for the discharge of musketry: but it was erected chiefly as defensive; for the natives at Mawe had learned to prefer peace to war, and to choose a quiet attendance in their bark-built chapel rather than the old hazards of interminable warfare. A similar rumour of war to that which gave rise to the stone wall at Mawe, raised up also, near the Waimate, another fence of a different fashion, and altogether unlike the ordinary native fences. The head man at Rangaunu had been at Sydney, had mingled, for a while, in civilized life, and evidently, not without improving his opportunity. The wood fence, of large split stuff put up under his direction, with its even cut tops, its ornamented gateposts, and substantial gates, gave to a pa, situated in a pretty spot, on elevated ground, really a half-civilized appearance; and when you glanced the eye over the surrounding cultivations, or entered the neat weather-boarded chapel, or followed the natives into their secluded and truly English burying ground, without the walls, you could almost fancy yourself in another country. Certainly, if all the Ngatiwiu

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NATIVE PAS.

{the Rangaunu tribe,) dressed as well, and behaved with as much civility as William Marshall Hau, their chief, and you were to walk with them among their graves, shut out as those graves are from the usual scenery of the country, the little mounds of death, being neatly enclosed with sawn fences, and shaded by luxuriant mimosas, of the people's own planting, the delusion would be complete--that you were suddenly transported into a better region: but, alas, the sight and smell of a dirty native at every turn, are sure preventives to all such dreaming fancies.

In notes from a journal published in a Madras periodical, which has just come to hand, I find the following description of a pa, by a much esteemed individual, who visited the Island at the commencement of 1835. It will serve as a good general representation. "As all the pas are alike in their general plan, I will describe that of Wakatiwai, which may be considered one of the best in this part of the Island. Wakatiwai consists of a quadrangular enclosure of about four hundred feet along the front, by about two hundred in depth; the fence composed of stakes of all sorts and sizes, varying in height from ten to twenty feet, driven into the ground about a couple of inches apart, and having, at intervals, large posts, of which the upper part is rudely shaped in the semblance of a human figure, in as impressive an attitude of contempt and defiance as New Zealand ingenuity can achieve: usually representing the head thrust forward, with fierce staring eyes, and protruding tongue. Some of these, at a distance, really look like very

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WAKATIWAI PA

valorous fellows standing upon the top of the fence. Outside, in all directions, are large mounds of cockleshells. The entrance is by an opening about two feet from the ground, just wide enough for one person; a block of wood driven into the earth serving as a step. Within the enclosure, without the slightest attention to order or plan of any kind, are scattered, about a hundred rush huts and hovels, some with fenced enclosures and some without; with occasionally a small patch of potato ground. In all the enclosures, and elsewhere about the pa, are store houses, consisting of a platform raised upon stakes ten or fifteen feet high, on which are deposited the potatoes, &c, and here and there are poles on which are hung bundles of dried fish, scattering their fragrance abroad. In all directions the ground is covered with cockle-shells, fragments of potato baskets, and other remains; whilst its surface is everywhere broken into little pits and hillocks, occasioned by the constant formation of ovens for cooking. Pigs are seen wandering about, grubbing up the abandoned ovens, or waiting for their chance at the uncovering of those in present use. Their less industrious masters are squatting in groups, huddled up in their mats and blankets, smoking and chatting; while the women are tending the ovens, and preparing fern root: filth and laziness on all sides. Beyond the enclosure, on the opposite side, is a patch of ground indifferently cultivated with maize and potatoes, barely sufficient for the consumption of the pa. There is abundant space of excellent soil lying waste; but our friends, 'barring fighting,' would rather sit

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WAIANIWANIWA WATERFALL.

still and smoke. Such is a pa, or fortified enclosure. A kainga, is any other place where food is cooked, a single hut, or even a single oven." 2

Proceeding on from Kaikohe, the Hokianga district appears to lie almost due west. The road we took was over barren hills, with woods in the distance. Before ten o'clock a. m., we crossed the Mangatoa river, immediately above a romantic fall of thirty or forty feet.

The broken character of the country, in the northern part of New Zealand, beautifully intersected as the land is by running streams, naturally produces occasional waterfalls. One of these falls on the Kerikeri river is the frequent resort of visitors. The water of the river, in breadth about forty-five feet, falls at once down a perpendicular descent of variously coloured rock to a depth of seventy feet, into a lovely sequestered basin, from which the river flows for a while through a richly wooded ravine, in perfect contrast to the extensive barrenness of the surrounding country. The mist raised by the dashing of the waters, displays in sunshine a partial rainbow: which gives the fall its name of Waianiwaniwa, or, waters of the rainbow. It is worth while, in visiting this fall, to cross the river and clamber among the rocks till you find yourself within a cave, before the extended mouth of which the falling water forms a glittering, transparent, ever-moving curtain. Lower down the same river there is another fall, of about twenty feet, called Warepoke: and at the Mission station, where

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WAITANGI FALL.

the river meets the tide, it has another sudden descent of about six feet. Not far from the same station, but on another stream, there is a fall called Papakauri, of perhaps equal depth with the Waianiwaniwa, but in a spot more wild and secluded, and its column of water diminutive in comparison.

There is another fall near the Bay of Islands, which I visited shortly after our arrival in New Zealand, in company with the individual already alluded to, portions of whose journal have been published in India. He gives an account of our trip to the Waitangi fall: and as it is better given in his language than mine, and contains some interesting particulars relative to the people, it is here subjoined: --

"Went up the Waitangi river this evening to view a waterfall a few miles distant. The banks of the river are formed of gently sloping hills, verdant with fern and low forest trees of varied and vivid tints, with here and there a peculiarly beautiful variety of the laurel. An abrupt turn of the river brings the traveller immediately in front of the fall, and places before his view a strikingly picturesque prospect. The banks here rise into lofty and precipitous cliffs of basaltic formation, the columnar strata being based upon a very curiously formed line of natural solid arches. The fall itself is insignificant. It is of a semicircular form, the curve inwards, with a perpendicular descent of not more than twenty feet, the chord of the arc being about a hundred-and-fifty.

"Perched upon the rocks above, we observed a groupe of savages, whose wild aspect admirably as-

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CANNIBAL ORNAMENT.

sorted with the character of the surrounding scenery. Wishing to view the fall from above, we ascended the cliff by a footpath winding up one extremity of the entrance. On reaching the summit we found ourselves in the presence of a ragged chieftain, and his naked family, in the act of preparing their simple supper of cockles and potatoes. Mr. ------, (a Missionary, who was one of the party,) entered into conversation with the chief, while we took a survey of his humble cot. Observing ------ take up and examine a musket, which was placed against the doorway, the chief informed us that it was one that he had procured from the 'Buffalo,' King's store ship; and then, drawing an old mariner's pouch from the corner, and exhibiting it to our party, pointed out to us that the flap was covered with human skin. On examination we found that it really was the tattooed skin of a man's thigh; and enquiring into its history, learned that it had been flayed from the body of a man of one of the southern tribes, who had killed the chief's father, and had subsequently been killed himself, in an affair with another tribe. His skin, after passing through various hands, had been purchased by the chief's uncle, and presented to him as an utu, or satisfaction, for his father's death. We left Mr. ------ endeavouring to persuade the man to divest the pouch of its barbarous appendage, and to deliver the inhuman trophy into his hands. On our return from the fall we had the satisfaction of finding that Mr. ------ had succeeded in this object. After much persuasion the chief had yielded, and the skin was now in Mr. ------'s possession. On delivering it, the chief

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34 NATIVE SHREWDNESS,

desired to know what would be done with it. 'I shall send it across the sea to my friends, ' replied Mr. ------. 'Then tell your friends,' was the chief's characteristic rejoinder, 'that it will be well that something should be sent me in return. I will not say what: perhaps it may be an iron pot, perhaps a blanket, I do not know; you can advise your friends.'

"On our way back, we noticed on the bank side, the stump of a tree smeared over with red ochre, denoting that the neighbouring water was tapued. Hearing us use the word tapu, as we looked towards it, one of our boatmen quickly repeated that the place was tapued for the tanewa, (a water demon.) 'And I wonder,' was his irreverent addition, 'what this same tanewa may be! An old pot leg, perhaps!' A remark which, a few years since, would very probably have involved the man's tribe in a mortal feud, but which might now be uttered with impunity; an evidence of the change which is happily passing upon the people. The man was not a Christian, nor ever under Christian instruction." 3

A couple of miles beyond the Mangatoa river, I was compelled to take the horse a circuitous route, to head a swamp, which my foot companions could cross without difficulty. This caused at least an hour's delay. The lads were waiting for me by the wayside. On joining them, I said, "You have had a good long rest." My lad, Paukena, (pumpkin,) sharply replied, "A short rest is best, a long one only makes the limbs ache." So thought I, should

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AND MERRIMENT.

the spiritual traveller always say, "A short rest is best." Prone as we are to forget that "this is not our rest," short seasons of ease and quietude are often found to be the most salutary. The lads, who had not of late been much accustomed to travel, were beginning to feel rather tired, and asked me if I would give them some piropiro, certainly, to me, a novel remedy for weariness. Piropiro is a name given by the natives to a mixture of whale oil and turpentine, used as a coarse embrocation in cases of rheumatism. This, rubbed on the limbs when aching with fatigue, is said to have an invigorating effect; but I never tried it. So fond are the natives of this piropiro, that they have been known to feign rheumatism in order to obtain it, anointing their bodies with it, as they are accustomed to do with oil and red ochre; the grease and the odour of the piropiro being both to them alike delightful.

The New Zealanders, when in good humour, are cheerful companions, much like good tempered laughing children. They are fond of gossip, and delight in a joke. I suppose spectacles were a novelty to the youngsters of Otumoetai, when we first settled in the Bay of Plenty: for a merry little urchin slyly rounded two white shells, and making circular holes in them, fastened them admirably on his eyes, and danced with the greatest glee upon the beach before me. Once, when I was going up the Kerikeri river in a Mission boat, pulled by four or five of the natives, it grew quite dark as we entered the narrow and winding part of the river. Not being at that time well acquainted with the turns of the river,

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THE PALM TREE.

which at one place widens out and presents, in the dusk, deceptive openings, I was steering for a point quite away from the actual land; but not a word did the fellows say, nor did they for a moment slacken their oars, till we had got nearly up into a corner, when they all burst out into a hearty laugh.

Continuing our journey, about two in the afternoon we made Oparere, after traversing barren hills, and passing through a long wood. Oparere is a native village, lying in a wairenga, or cleared space, in the middle of the wood. Here we found two or three women, and an aged man. Abundance of maize for the horse, and potatoes for the lads, induced us to stop for dinner.

Our road continued on through the wood in which the Nikau, or New Zealand palm tree, (areca sapida) grows luxuriantly. In its young state, while its trunk is yet only two or three feet high, the elegant plumy crown of the Nikau is as large as when raised, on older trees, to the height of twenty feet. The lads selected some of the young trees, and breaking down the fronds, they peeled off the exterior sheathing of the thickest part, and laid bare a delicately white substance, which they ate with avidity, and called it rito. The palm tree fronds, platted together, are used for roofing; and in bringing up for the night where the Nikau abounds, are easily, and very conveniently, formed into a tolerable substitute for a tent.

One of the greatest comforts of New Zealand travelling is, that whether your course be inland, or along the sea-coast, you are seldom without a ready

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SCARCITY OF WATER.

supply of excellent water. It was marked as a very rare occurrence that, this afternoon, we only fell in with one stream of water in a five hours' journey. On one other occasion only, my journal records, -- "Travelled an unusually long distance to-day without a stream of fresh water;" and never did I so thoroughly enjoy the refreshings of a stream as on that day, nor so well understand, "A dry and thirsty land where no water is."

Five hours' trudging through the wood brought us at length to Mangungu, the principal station of the Wesleyan Missionaries on the Hokianga river, where I was kindly received by Mr. Woon, in the absence of the Rev. N. Turner, the then Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission in New Zealand.