152 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



arrival of sealers and whalers from Sydney in the early thirties, 

 when they landed in some places and dwelt ashore among the 

 Morioris, but bringing the usual concomitants in the shape of 

 diseases. Some of these whalers, coming from New Zealand in 

 the first instance, shipped Maoris as hands, among whom, with 

 others, there happened to be one Pakiwhara, a Ngatitama, and 

 Ropata Tama-i-hengia, a well-known chief of the Ngatitoa Tribe. 

 The latter dwelt with the Morioris at Wharekauri, the name of a 

 small kainga on the north coast. Not understanding their lan- 

 guage sufficiently, on his return to Wellington he failed to give 

 the proper name of the island Rekohu, but spoke of it as 

 ' Wharekauri," the name it has been called by the Maoris ever 

 since. 



Pakiwhara, however, was the first to convey the intelligence 

 of the Chatham Islands to the Ngatitama and Ngatimutunga 

 dwelling in Wellington. As far as is known, he did not leave his 

 vessel and dwell ashore, but evidently he saw a good deal of 

 them. On arriving at Wellington, as told by one of the old men 

 describing his adventures, he said, " To the eastward from this 

 there lies a land — it is a whenua hai (land of food), with lots of 

 sea- and shell-fish of many kinds, and multitudes of eels ; also it 

 is a land of huahua — describing the way the sea-birds at that 

 time burrowed all over the high land and peaty points of the 

 island — " also that the toroas (albatros) built on the outlying 

 islands in great numbers." This excited them very much, for 

 huahua of all kinds was a much-prized delicacy with the Maoris. 

 Moreover, he added — of which they took special note — " They are 

 an inoffensive race, and do not fight, or understand the use of 

 weapons." One thing, however, which he apparently tailed to 

 inform his friends of was the limited extent of the islands. How- 

 ever that might be, the story told so excited them that both 

 NTgatimutunga and Ngatitama held meetings to devise means to 

 i this desirable land of which they had heard — the former at 

 Kumutoto (Lambton Quay) and Te Aro, and the latter at Rau- 

 rimu (Thorndon) — and each made their plans to seize and appro- 

 priate the islands. This they did by seizing the brig " Rodney," 

 having first induced the captain to cross to Somes Island, where 

 they intimated to him, without using any personal violence. 

 that lie was their prisoner, and must take them to the Chat hams, 

 and that they would pay him well in muka (scraped flax) and 

 pigs, with some muskets thrown in. Meanwhile another party 

 captured the vessel, but roughly treated the mate Ferguson 

 (well known afterwards in Wellington), injuring his thigh by 

 throwing him on the deck. Finding himself helpless the cap- 

 tain reluctantly consented, and took them in two batches to the 



Chathams. 



