IJJ35-1 EXCURSION TO W AIM ATE. 307 



offered to go ; but his ignorance of the value of money was so complete, 

 that at first he asked how many pounds I would give him, but after- 

 wards was well contented with two dollars. When I showed the chief 

 a very small bundle, which I wanted carried, it became absolutely 

 necessary for him to take a slave. These feelings of pride are 

 beginning to wear away; but formerly a leading man would sooner 

 have died than undergone the indignity of carrying the smallest burden. 

 My companion was a light active man, dressed in a dirty blanket, and 

 with his face completely tattooed. He had formerly been a great 

 warrior. He appeared to be on very cordial terms with Mr. Bushby ; 

 but at various times they had quarrelled violently. Mr. Bushby 

 remarked that a little quiet irony would frequently silence any one of 

 these natives in their most blustering moments. This chief has come 

 and harangued Mr. Bushby in a hectoring manner, saying, " A great 

 chief, a great man, a friend of mine, has come to pay me a visit you 

 must give him something good to eat, some fine presents," etc. Mr. 

 Bushby has allowed him to finish his discourse, and then has quietly 

 replied by some such answer as, " What else shall your slave do for 

 you ? " The man would then instantly, with a very comical expression, 

 cease his braggadocio. 



Some time ago, Mr. Bushby suffered a far more serious attack. A 

 chief and a party of men tried to break into his house in the middle of 

 the night, and not finding this so easy, commenced a brisk firing with 

 their muskets. Mr. Bushby was slightly wounded ; but the party was 

 at length driven away. Shortly afterwards it was discovered who was 

 the aggressor ; and a general meeting of the chiefs was convened to 

 consider the case. It was considered by the New Zealanders as very 

 atrocious, inasmuch as it was a night attack, and that Mrs. Bushby was 

 lying ill in the house ; this latter circumstance, much to their honour, 

 being considered in all cases as a protection. The chiefs agreed to 

 confiscate the land of the aggressor to the King of England. The whole 

 proceeding, however, in thus trying and punishing a chief was entirely 

 without precedent. The aggressor, moreover, lost caste in the 

 estimation of his equals ; and this was considered by the British as of 

 more consequence than the confiscation of his land. 



As the boat was shoving off, a second chief stepped into her, who 

 only wanted the amusement of the passage up and down the creek. I 

 never saw a more horrid and ferocious expression than this man had. 

 It immediately struck me I had somewhere seen his likeness : it will be 

 found in Retzch's outlines to Schiller's ballad of Fridolin, where two 

 men are pushing Robert into the burning iron furnace. It is the man 

 who has his arm on Robert's breast Physiognomy here spoke the 

 truth ; this chief had been a notorious murderer, and was an arrant 

 coward to boot. At the point where the boat landed, Mr. Bushby 

 accompanied me a few hundred yards on the road : I could not help 

 admiring the cool impudence of the hoary old villain, whom we left 

 lying in the boat, when he shouted to Mr. Bushby, " Do not you stay 

 long, I shall be tired of waiting here." 



We now commenced our walk. The road lay along a well-beaten 



