432 NEW ZEALAND. 



Bay, each employing from twenty to thirty hands, chiefly New 

 Zealanders. The kind of whale taken here is principally the right 

 whale, and the quantity of oil collected the previous year was four 

 thousand five hundred barrels, which was sold on the spot to Sydney 

 dealers, at forty pounds the ton. In addition to this quantity, five 

 thousand five hundred barrels were taken in the bay, by whale-ships, 

 principally Americans, from which some idea of its value to our 

 countrymen may be formed. The establishments on shore have 

 connected with them stores for supplying ships, where articles may 

 be had at one hundred per cent, advance on the Sydney prices; 

 potatoes are sold at thirty dollars the ton, and pork at twelve and a 

 half cents per pound ; boards and plank may also be obtained at fifty 

 dollars per thousand ; wood and water are purchased of the natives 

 for muskets, powder and ball, blankets, pipes, and tobacco. It is also 

 customary to make a present of two muskets, or an equivalent, to 

 Robolua, the chief, for harbour dues. A Mr. Williams, who was one 

 of the establishment, furnished the above information. 



Two American whalers were found here. A number of chiefs 

 came off to the vessel, in the course of the day : they were fierce- 

 looking savages, with coarse matted hair, tattooed visages, and bodies 

 besmeared with red earth and oil ; some of them were clad in coarse 

 mats, others in blankets, and all exceedingly filthy; most of them 

 had the heitiki ornament about their necks, and some in their 

 ears, which were also decorated with red and white feathers, and the 

 holes pierced in them were also made the receptacle of their pipes ; 

 others had necklaces of human bones, polished, — trophies of the 

 enemies they had slain. 



Their manners were uncouth, exhibiting none of that amenity so 

 remarkable in the natives of the other Polynesian groups ; yet there 

 was a rude dignity about them, that evinced a consciousness of their 

 rank and consequence. Three or four women came on board, but 

 not one of them could be called good-looking, and they appeared to 

 care less about their appearance than the men. 



The noted Robolua made his appearance at the breakfast-table, 

 unannounced and uninvited ; he most unceremoniously took his seat 

 next the captain, remarking, "Me, Robolua!" In person, he is 

 above the middle stature, powerfully built, and rather ill-featured. 

 The usual expression of his countenance is not bad, but when 

 enraged, it is truly fiendish, and his small deep-sunk eyes, which 

 betoken cunning, gleam with the ferocity of a tiger. His head is of 



