1050 AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 



guests arrived in fifty canoes, and the conference was inaugurated by the men of the 

 Ngatihaua tribe, forming four deep, and planting in the centre of a large open space, 

 the chosen Maori emblem of sovereignty a white flag, bordered with red, bearing as 

 device two red crosses, symbolical of Christianity, and also the inscription, " Potatau, 

 King of New Zealand." About two hundred natives were present. The Union Jack 

 was hoisted side by side with the new Hag, and the speakers emphasized the assurance 

 that the movement was in no sense a demonstration of hostility towards the Queen. 

 One chief, Rangiawahia, declared that if aught were done unfriendly to the Queen he 

 would himself hew down the King's flag. After several days' talk the entire party 

 adjourned to Ihumata, a native village on the Manukau, about eight miles from Auckland, 

 where another meeting was held, at which Bishop Selwyn and other clergymen were 

 present. It ended in the acceptance of Potatau as King, and at the end of the year 

 the new potentate, abandoning his settlement of Mangare, just across the Manukau 

 River from Onehunga, went to live in the Waikato, among his most zealous subjects. 

 In July, 1854, Mr. Fenton entered upon his magisterial duties, but the absence of 

 power to enforce his authority, together with the dual, sometimes conflicting, control of 

 native affairs exercised by the Governor through his native office and the Colonial 

 Ministry, defeated his usefulness, and, after making two circuits, he was relieved of his 

 duties. The attempt to govern the Maoris was then relinquished, and the field left clear 

 for the Maori King. It was thought by the Governor that the surest way to discredit 

 the movement would be to treat it with absolute contempt and indifference, but Mr. 

 Fenton's withdrawal from the Waikato disheartened the friendly natives, and threw most 

 of them into the arms of the King. In April, 1858, at Ngaruawahia, the native capital, 

 Te Wherowhero was formally proclaimed King in the presence of about two thousand 

 people, and saluted as Potatau the First. Singularly enough, his pension continued to 

 be paid up till the 3ist of March, 1860, or within a few months of his death, which 

 took place on the 25th of June, 1860. Even then the Government contributed towards his 

 funeral expenses. In May, 1860, a great meeting was held at Ngaruawahia for the 

 complete establishment of the monarchy, a system of native police, and the nucleus of 

 a standing military force were formed, a parliament, or ntnanga, of chiefs was called, 

 village runangas for the administration of justice were instituted, and funds collected for 

 the foundation of a Maori newspaper. After the death of Potatau the First, his son, 

 Matutaera, was proclaimed King by Tamihana, under the title of Potatau the Second. 

 In later times he changed his name to Tawhiao, by which he is now generally known. 

 For the next twenty years the "king movement" was destined to form a leading 

 factor in native affairs. 



THE FIRST TARANAKI WAR. 



While the agitation for Maori self-government engrossed the attention in the central 

 districts of the North Island, serious trouble was brewing on the West Coast. The 

 settlers were annoyed at the steady refusal of the aboriginal owners of the soil to sell 

 any more land, the influence of the Anti-land-selling League, presided over by Wiremu 

 Kingi, being actively exercised to discourage all sales. In 1858, the Taranaki settlers 

 fruitlessly memorialized the General Assembly to set aside the tribal right to land, and 



