CHAP. VII.] MOUNT EGMONT. 133 



cherish the hope that, by the help of the European 

 colonists, they will one day be able to return and 

 recover their lost territory. Since the removal of 

 the majority, the small remnant of the original na- 

 tives of Taranaki had lived a very agitated life, often 

 harassed by the Waikato, and seeking refuge on one 

 of the rocky Sugarloaf Islands, at times dispersed 

 into the impenetrable forest at the base of Mount 

 Egmont, sometimes making a temporary truce with 

 their oppressors, but always regarded as an enslaved 

 and powerless tribe. They could not, however, be 

 induced to join their relations, and the reader can 

 well imagine with what joy they hailed the arrival 

 of their old friend Barret, and how they cherished 

 the hope of rising from the degradation in which 

 they had lived for so long a time, and again becom- 

 ing an independent tribe. 



We landed to the northward of Paretutu, or 

 Sugarloaf Point, a dome-like cone of trachitic por- 

 phyry, which rises to about 300$feet, and stands 

 quite by itself. We turned our whale-boat over, 

 and made preparations for passing the first night 

 under it. 



As soon as we had landed the Tory weighed her 

 anchors, and, with a favourable breeze, was soon out 

 of sight. 



On the beach, from which large sand-hills here 

 rise, I picked up many specimens of the neat and 

 delicate shells Spirula australis. 



The land near the beach is, in some parts, covered 



