92 NATIVE CHIEFS. [PART I. 



a lively opposition having been offered by a chief, 

 Puakawa (Bitter Sowthistle), who, with simple and 

 solemn eloquence, warned his people of the cupidity 

 of Europeans, pointed to the fate of the Tasmanians 

 and Australians, and pictured a similar fate as await- 

 ing his own people : the Europeans promised brother- 

 hood to them, he said, but they were men who spoke 

 with the lips only (tangata ngutu kau). This chief, 

 however, was outvoted ; partly through the impres- 

 sion which our trade had made on the rest, partly, 

 I believe, by a higher motive, the desire of acquiring 

 civilization, protection, and instruction from a Eu- 

 ropean colony. Poor Puakawa! During my se- 

 cond stay at Port Nicholson his mutilated body was 

 found in a field not far from his own village ; his 

 head had been cut off and his heart taken away. 

 Some of the Nga-te-Kahohunu, mindful of the in- 

 juries they had received, and actuated by feelings of 

 revenge and envy, which had been again called forth 

 by the recent sale of Port Nicholson, had sallied 

 from the hilly forest, and had treacherously killed 

 the chief, who, although at first opposing the settle- 

 ment of the Europeans, had ever afterwards been 

 their sincere friend. About forty men penetrated 

 into the woods to trace the murderers, but they did 

 not succeed in overtaking them, although absent for 

 a fortnight. On their return a great many speeches 

 were made, and it was interesting to see the orators 

 strutting with long strides and lively gesticulations, 

 showing how nature led them to employ all those 



