142 Transactions. 



Marion. With difficulty Crozet restrained his men from firing 

 into the crowd, promising them vengeance when safety was 

 insured. A thousand men had crowded on them by the time the 

 boats were reached, and these were launched with the greatest 

 difficulty. With a wild yell the savages then rushed forward to 

 the attack, but a well-directed volley, followed by another and 

 another, struck them with panic, and averted otherwise certain 

 massacre. The remainder of their stay in New Zealand, whilst 

 collecting material for the further voyage, was one of incessant 

 watch, harass, and skirmish, and concluded with that general 

 reprisal which all craved for — villages and canoes were burnt, 

 and as many Natives were shot as failed to keep out of harm's 

 way. Abundant evidence was discovered as to the sad fate of 

 their lost comrades. Articles of clothing were found or seen on 

 the persons of the Natives ; Tacouri, who kept well out of reach, 

 was wearing Marion's scarlet and blue mantle. The most 

 sickening proofs of cannibalism abounded. Gladly at length 

 the voyagers pursued their homeward voyage, conferring on the 

 scene of their terrible disaster the name of Port de la Trahison — 

 Bay of Treachery — Bay of Islands, as it had been named by 

 Captain Cook two years before. The North Island was taken 

 possession of by Marion in the name of the King, and by him 

 named France Australe, but it is needless to add that Cook had 

 in this matter anticipated him. What was the cause of this 

 savage outbreak, which, on the face of it, appears an instance 

 of the blackest treachery ? Crozet says, " They treated us with 

 every show of affection for thirty-three days, with the intention 

 of eating us on the thirty-fourth." The Abbe Rochon — a friend 

 of Marion's, and the editor of his voyage— considered it an ex- 

 ample of the savages' lex talionis — revenge taken for injuries 

 done by De Surville, and referred to above. Captain Dillon, the 

 discoverer of the fate of La Perouse, was told by the Natives 

 in 1827 that a quarrel arose with the seamen about a fishing- 

 seine. Dr. Thomson, in his " Story of New Zealand," con- 

 cludes that it was due to some violation of tapu ; and the Rev. 

 Samuel Marsden, as the result of his inquiries, resorts to the 

 same conclusion. I am, however, inclined to consider that, 

 in the present instance at least, no other explanation is required 

 beyond that of the perfidy and rapacity which are such eminently 

 marked traits of savage character. Long afterwards the sicken- 

 ing circumstances of the event found a place in New Zealand 

 song and story, and whenever Frenchmen visited these shores 

 they were known as of the " bloody tribe of Marion " — an un- 

 deserved appellation. They were also called the ' Wiwis," 

 doubtless from the frequent use of their affirmative, oui. The 

 work in which this eventful expedition is preserved was pub- 



