Williams. — On Cook's Visit to Poverty Bay. 391 



they recovered they went back, dragging after them the dead 

 body, which, however, they soon left, that it might not en- 

 cumber their flight. At the report of the first musket we drew 

 together, having straggled to a little distance from each other, 

 and made the best of our way back to the boat ; and, crossing 

 the river, we soon saw the native lying dead upon the ground. 

 Upon examining the body we found that he had been shot 

 through the heart. . . . We returned immediately to the 

 ship, where we could hear the people on shore talking with 

 great earnestness, and in a very loud tone — probably about 

 what had happened, and what should be done." 



The place of landing was evidently what is now commonly 

 called the boat-harbour, immediately on the south-east side of 

 the mouth of the river, and separated from it by a narrow reef 

 of rocks. From this place Cook and his companions walked 

 about two hundred yards to a sandy point clear of the shelv- 

 ing rocks, as the most convenient place from which to cross 

 over to the point formed by the junction of the Waikanae 

 Creek with the river, where the natives w^ere first seen, who 

 ran away as the strangers approached them. The huts for 

 which they were making when the attack was made upon the 

 boat were probably not far from the north bank of the Wai- 

 kanae, a short distance above the present signal-station. The 

 four men wiio attacked the boat are said to have rushed out of 

 the woods on the east side of the river. There are no woods 

 in the neighbourhood now, nor have there been any during the 

 last fifty years; but woods are said by the natives to have 

 existed formerly on the hill-side, within a short distance of 

 high-water mark, which would form a convenient hiding-place 

 for the natives, whence they might observe the movements 

 of the strangers without being seen themselves. The four 

 men belonged to the Ngationeone hapu of the tribe called 

 Teitanga-a-Hauiti, and the name of the one who was shot was 

 Te Maro. 



On Monday morning, the 9th October, a party of natives 

 was observed at the spot at which they had been seen the pre- 

 vious evening, and Cook determined at once to try to open up 

 friendly intercourse with them. Three boats were ordered, 

 manned wdth seamen and marines, and with these he proceeded 

 towards the shore. Cook, with three others, landed first from 

 the small boat ; but they had not advanced far towards the 

 natives when the latter all started up and showed themselves 

 to be well armed with spears and meres, manifesting at the 

 same time unmistakable signs of hostility. Cook therefore 

 determined to return at once to the boats, and to get the 

 marines landed. This was soon done, and they marched, with 

 a jack carried before them, to a little bank about fifty yards 

 from the water-side. Here they were drawn up, and Cook 



