CHAP. VIII.] TARANAKI. 171 



ing grounded on the bar at the entrance to that 

 harbour. This news relieved us from the anxiety 

 which we had felt as to the possibility of securing 

 the Taranaki district for the New Zealand Com- 

 pany ; as since my arrival churchmen and laymen 

 had vied with each other to obtain possession of 

 that district. On the arrival of the Guide a 

 liberal price was given to the natives for their land, 

 and the good will of the Waikato purchased by pre- 

 sents. Thus the New Zealand Company became 

 proprietors of the finest district in New Zealand, 

 which offers to the colonist, besides its natural 

 resources, the advantage of there being no natives 

 on the land, with the exception of the small rem- 

 nant of the Nga-te-awa tribe at Nga-Motu. 



Since the above was written the settlement of 

 New Plymouth has been established at Nga-Motu, 

 or Sugarloaf Point, which must be prosperous even 

 without a harbour, which is wanting there, as it 

 possesses cultivable land, extensive facilities of land 

 communication both with Cook's Straits and along 

 the coast to Mokau and Kawia, and, as I can state 

 from my own experience, a very delightful climate. 



On the 16th of February we left the roadstead of 

 Taranaki, and arrived again in Port Nicholson on 

 the 21st. 



