386 TUTIRA 



leather ; the harness of others patched up with rope, with wire, even 

 with the humble necessary flax, but one and all containing landlords 

 male and female, all agog and eager, like John Gilpin, for the treat. It 

 was, in fact, high day and holiday with the owners of Tutira, for there is 

 no event so exhilarating to a Maori as a korero over a piece of land ; 

 amongst the endless good qualities of the race, not the least pleasant is 

 his affection for his patrimony. Firm that day in the mind of each owner 

 was the resolve that it should have its rights. It was incumbent, therefore, 

 that representatives of each "county family" should be in attendance 

 to do honour to their property, to pay it due obeisance, to see that 

 it was fitly honoured in speech and mythical allusion. Long and 

 dignified, therefore, were the orations of the natives, they are excellent 

 speakers, miserable was my counter-contribution to the general sum 

 of speech. I have reason to believe that I appeared to the Commission 

 rather in the light of fool than knave, and that my accumulation of 

 32,000 sheep seemed to their judicial minds rather the result 

 of imbecility than of actual downright wickedness. I placed my 

 affairs unreservedly in their hands, resigning my lease of the western 

 half of Tutira, and asking in return that I should be given a 

 fair deal. 



Pakeha and natives alike, now that it was possible to do so, were 

 eager to come to terms. Sincere were the felicitations that passed 

 that day as to the reasonableness of all of us, I praising myself as 

 a model tenant, the Maoris praising themselves as model landlords, 

 and all uniting in praise of Sir Robert Stout and Mr Ngata. The 

 natives were in high good humour that their land had been honoured 

 by the approach of a Royal Commission, by my request for a fifty 

 years' lease, by the greatly increased rental already fixed by assess- 

 ment. Maoris, like other folk, appreciate the value of pounds, shillings, 

 and pence : I believe, nevertheless, it was the aggregate sum of rental 

 that was more pleasing to them than the calculation of each individual's 

 share. Due respect, too, had been paid to the feelings of the land ; 

 its rights, its susceptibilities, had been fully recognised. To crown 

 all, the Commission had decided with its own Royal eyes to inspect 

 the honoured territory. Its coach and four accordingly was again 

 put in motion, preceded by the station buggy, and followed as before 

 by representative native owners. Tutira was inspected personally, 

 and the Royal Commission, not snatched up to heaven in a chariot 



