W. T. L. Teavers. — The Life and Times of Te Rauparaha. 47 



order. But unskilfully as they used the musket, and little as it might have 

 been feared by Europeans, such was the dread of its effects amongst the 

 natives, more especially on the part of the tribes which did not possess them, 

 that the strength of a war party was, at that time, not so much calculated by 

 the number of its members, as by the quantity of fire-locks it could bring 

 into action; and when Paora, a northern chief, invaded the district of 

 Whangaroa in 1819, the terrified people described him as having twelve 

 muskets, whilst the name of Te Korokoro, then a great chief at the Bay of 

 Islands, who was known to possess fifty stand of arms, was heard with terror 

 for upwards of 200 miles beyond his own district. 



But the musket was not the only weapon which the natives obtained from 

 the European traders. The bayonet and the tomahawk, the former of which 

 was fixed to a long handle, began to replace in their fights the wooden spear 

 and battle-axe, and naturally added greatly to the ofiensive power of those 

 who possessed them in any numbers. As fast as the Ngapuhi acquired these 

 arms, the}'- made hostile expeditions against the Ngatimaru, and other tribes 

 occupying the Thames, and the shores of the Tamaki and Waitemata, carrying 

 terror and destruction wherever they went. But in proportion as the whale 

 ships and traders from Sydney extended their intercourse with the natives, 

 the Ngatimaru, the Ngatihaua, and the Arawa, gradually acquired similar 

 weapons, and thus fought on terms of greater equality ; and it was also during 

 this period, as mentioned in the last chapter, that Te Waharoa began to 

 mature his designs for the destruction of the first of these tribes. I may 

 here remark, that the trade referred to was almost confined to the Eastern 

 side of the North Island, and that the tribes on the West Coast, at all events 

 below the Manukau, had but little opportunity of obtaining the much coveted 

 weapons. The wars in which Ngatimaru were engaged against Ngapuhi and 

 Ngatihaua, and the want of a sufficient quantity of fire-arms amongst the 

 tribes at Kaipara and Hokianga, coupled with their total absence amongst the 

 other tribes on the West Coast, went far towards preventing Te Bauparaha 

 from carrying out his designs against Waikato, whilst such designs became 

 gradually less feasible, owing to the position of the latter, who, in consequence 

 of the offensive and defensive alliance which they had formed with Te 

 Waharoa, were enabled, without difficulty, to obtain supplies of muskets and 

 ammunition. 



When Te Eauparaha found it impossible to carry out his design, he 

 returned to Kawhia, where, by a succession of victories over Waikato, and 

 by the practice of hospitality, he greatly increased his power and influence 

 with his own tribe, whilst he cultivated the friendship (due partly to good 

 feeling, but largely to fear) of the Ngatiawa, who occupied the country 

 to the southward, stretching from Mokau to Taranaki. He is represented 



