NEW ZEALAND. 433 



enormous size, covered with long matted hair, sprinkled with gray ; 

 his eyebrows were long and shaggy ; he had a bad expression of the 

 mouth, resulting from the loss of his teeth, a circumstance of rare 

 occurrence among these natives. He seemed in feeble health, and his 

 figure was slightly bent by age ; he wore a filthy blanket, and over it 

 an old-fashioned plaid cloak, the colours of which, like those of his 

 under garments, were no longer distinguishable. All the chiefs wore 

 their dress so as to cover their left arm, and leave the right bare, 

 which Mr. Williams said was for the purpose of concealing their 

 meara, or stone cleaver, which is constantly suspended to the left 

 wrist, ready, at a moment's warning, for use, and which they take 

 particular care never to expose to view. With Robolua was his 

 principal warrior, Oranga-dieti, a fine specimen of a savage chieftain, 

 about fifty years of age, with a noble though fierce cast of coun- 

 tenance, nearly six and a half feet in height, and as straight as an 

 arrow; his long hair was tied up behind, a la Grecque, the knot 

 being secured by two long black feathers stuck through it ; altogether 

 he had more the appearance of a chief than Robolua ; the latter, from 

 the account Mr. Williams gave of him, owes his ascendency more to 

 his powers of persuasion in council, and his talents for strategy in 

 their system of warfare, than to his warlike achievements ; and he 

 seldom risks his person in battle. The chiefs, in their figurative 

 language, say, "The breath of Robolua can turn them round and 

 round, and his tongue is more powerful than any of their weapons." 

 He was originally a petty rangatira (landholder). Of late years his 

 power had very much declined : five or six years ago he could 

 number more than six thousand warriors, but now he has not over 

 four hundred. His rapid rise is imputed to the introduction of fire- 

 arms, for he was long the only chief who possessed any number of 

 them ; and the decay of his power is attributed to the acquisition of 

 this weapon by others, and the inactivity arising from his advancing 

 age. Several of the natives who were met here could read, and a 

 portion of the Testament was seen in their possession ; two women 

 in particular were desirous of showing their accomplishments, and 

 remarked that the missionary religion was not made for New Zea- 

 landers; it was too good for them. Drunkenness and dishonesty 

 prevail, by their own confession, among the white men, who are at 

 times entirely beyond the control of their masters; they all have native 

 wives, who are taken and discarded at pleasure. 



The whalers stated that the prevailing winds at Cloudy Baj^ in 



vol. 11. 109 



