106 SENSE OF JUSTICE. [PART I. 



brought back. A woman in Mata-mata, in the 

 valley of the Thames, had left her husband, and 

 lived with another very influential man in a pa near 

 the Waipa. In this pa there were two parties : one 

 wished to allow the woman to remain, and were 

 willing to defend her ; but the other, by far the 

 more numerous, were for giving her up to the hus- 

 band, and thus avoid a war, which would certainly 

 have ensued. This was done : the woman was brought 

 back, and her husband shot her ! 



Those natives who have adopted the Christian 

 laws adhere most strictly to them, as they do also in 

 the case of our civil laws, which are indeed based 

 upon the former. There is a high natural sense of 

 justice amongst them ; and it is from us that they 

 have learnt that many forbidden things can be done 

 with impunity, if they can only be kept secret. 

 With the art of keeping a secret, however, the New 

 Zealander is little acquainted, although he possesses 

 in many other respects great self-control ; the secret 

 must come out, even if his death should be the im- 

 consequence. 



