CHAP. III.] NATIVE CHIEFS. 93 



modes of eloquence which with us are only attained 

 by study. One tribe at Port Nicholson had refused 

 to accompany the excursion ; and on the return of the 

 party I had an opportunity of observing the exercise 

 of that feeble authority which, amongst barbarous 

 nations, is possessed by one tribe over another. 

 Those who had marched to revenge the death of 

 the chief went to the village of the opposite party, 

 many of whom had become Christians, took away 

 their pigs and provisions, and feasted upon the pro- 

 duce of their land. Being in the minority, they 

 could offer no resistance. 



The most influential and active chiefs in Port 

 Nicholson were E Puni, a man of a very mild and 

 graceful disposition, and Ware Pouri, his nephew, 

 who was of a noisy and boisterous character. These 

 two conducted the sale of the territory for the rest ; 

 but they had to consult the wishes of a very aged 

 man, Matangi, who, with white hair and beard, but 

 with a frame still erect and powerful, formed a link 

 between the warriors and cannibals of former times 

 and the present generation, who, emerging from 

 barbarism, were beginning to turn their minds to 

 peaceful pursuits, and to embrace the tenets of Chris- 

 tianity. Matangi had been left heir to Port Nichol- 

 son by two tribes, also belonging to the Nga-te-awa 

 nation, who had been the most powerful, after the 

 land had been wrested from the Nga-te-Kahohunu, 

 but had emigrated to the Chatham Islands. Some 

 few individuals of these tribes who are called the 



