CHAP. XVII.] E' ONGI. 253 



the pa shivering like leaves in the wind, till Patuone 

 and the others bade them dismiss their fears, for 

 they were groundless. 



" A wish to keep E' Ongi's death private till he 

 was buried, lest a party should come and attack the 

 survivors, induced his children to determine to bury 

 him, or rather to place him on the wahi tapu, or 

 sacred place, the day after his death. This Patuone 

 reproved them for, saying 'I have only just become 

 acquainted with those who wish to bury their father 

 alive ! ' He was not buried, therefore, for some days ; 

 which were spent in paying all the honour which 

 the New Zealanders were capable of to the remains 

 of the once renowned E' Ongi. This time the 

 natives spent in haranguing, crying, cutting them- 

 selves, dancing, and firing muskets." 



There are now no natives whatever living on the 

 Keri-keri ; and it seems, therefore, useless to keep 

 up the station. Most of the land on the banks of 

 the river is the property either of the mission or the 

 missionaries. 



Below the station the basis of the soil is basaltic. 

 It seems as if an immense crust of this rock had 

 been elevated to near the surface. To the north- 

 ward of the Keri-keri, as far as Wangaroa, the land 

 is mostly hilly, covered, as I have already observed, 

 in the middle of the island, with primitive forest. 

 Near the coast almost the whole forest is gone ; 

 herds of cattle and horses feed well upon the young 

 fern and shrubs, although there is no grass-pasturage. 



