CHAP. VIII.] OF THE COAST. 169 



at one particular level, large boulders of trap-rock 

 protruded out of the wall, the soft mixture in which 

 they had been deposited having been washed away ; 

 in fact, the whole shore had the appearance of hav- 

 ing been artificially cut out. This formation ex- 

 tended as far as Mokau, which place we reached the 

 following day. My arrival was espied from the first 

 pa, which is built on a hill near the outlet of the 

 river. I was welcomed with a salute of musketry, 

 and conducted in the midst of the assembled chiefs, 

 who were dressed in their best attire. The sale of 

 lands, and the colonization of the country by Euro- 

 peans, engrossed their whole attention, and formed 

 the subject of our interview. On the following 

 day we went several miles up the river, and visited 

 some other pas, which were numerously inhabited; 

 we were everywhere received with the most studied 

 attention. Disunion had, however, been spread 

 amongst them by the arrival of some native mission- 

 aries, sent from the Wesleyan establishment at 

 Kawia. The larger and more respectable part of 

 the little community were not well inclined to them, 

 as an idea prevailed that the missionaries sought to 

 convert them only with a view to their own ag- 

 grandizement. 



These natives, which are a subdivision of the tribe 

 of the Waikato, and are called Nga-te-Meniopoto, 

 seem to be in very prosperous circumstances. The 

 river Mokau, which takes its rise in the mountains 

 of Rangitoto, a hilly range running near the western 



