398 [PART 11. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



Journey to Tauranga. 



AFTER having availed ourselves of the kind hospi- 

 tality of the missionary for several days, we crossed 

 the lake on the morning of the 14th of June, for 

 the purpose of continuing our journey to Tauranga, 

 on the eastern coast. We induced four other na- 

 tives to accompany us, in addition to the three who 

 had come with us. These men engaged to accom- 

 pany us to Auckland. One of them, who had been 

 taken as a slave from Manukao, went with us chiefly 

 for the purpose of applying to the Protector of the 

 Aborigines appointed by Government, to obtain 

 back some of the land which formerly belonged to 

 his relatives. The poor fellow, who was a very well- 

 informed man, and a clever mechanic, afterwards 

 met with a refusal at Auckland. Many similar 

 cases will doubtless be submitted to the consider- 

 ation of the Land Commissioners, and I conceive 

 that they ought to be decided, not according to 

 English laws, but according to the equity of the 

 case. 



On the north-western banks of the lake I ob- 



