APPENDIX. 437 
Tagi. Smith never beat the girl, but she was not come to the years 
of puberty. He gave a long statement of the grievances of the girl, 
not being able to live with Smith from the cause above mentioned. 
Smith departed with three axes and six properties. Next morning 
Palasi went and demanded the articles. 
Tagi, questioned, said: that they were in .anger at his house at the 
loss of a piece of siapo, which belonged to the girl, which was missing ; 
then he took up an axe and went in search of Smith: his wife followed 
him with a child. 
Questioned. When you took. up the axe, did you intend to kill 
him ? 
Ariswere eT dids”? 
When he came along the road he told the woman not to follow him, 
but to go another road; but she persisted to follow him till they met 
Smith: she then turned away. Tagi twice asked Smith for the siapo, 
and Smith twice denied ever having it. He then took hold of Smith’s 
hand, who wrenched it away. He immediately struck him with the 
axe, and killed him. 
Why did you kill him? 
Because I was afraid he would steal all our property. It was my 
determination to kill him outright. The woman fetched Tui and told 
him to follow Tagi, for he intended to kill the white man. He ran, 
and found Tagi attempting to strip the body, in which he assisted. 
They dragged the body to the stump of a cocoa-nut tree, where they 
left it. The woman, in the meanwhile, went to Palasi, and told him 
to follow Tagi. He met Tagi and the boy Tui. Tagi said, I have 
killed the white man. Have you buried the man of God? No. Then 
let us go and bury him. ‘They then went and buried him in the taro 
plantation. 
Palasi, being requested to sit apart from his relatives, who attended 
him while he was examined, stubbornly refused, and consequently the 
examination was put a stop to, as he, being informed by them of all the 
statements made by the confession of his brother, was directly on his 
guard not to implicate any one by his answers. 
From circumstantial evidence, and the result of examination, it 
appears that Palasi, being acknowledged the head of the family, made 
the agreement with the deceased, came and demanded him the morning 
after he (Smith) carried off the property, and demanded his person in 
terms that left no doubt of his intention of doing violence to the person 
of the deceased. At the time, Palasi was attended by his wife and the 
lad Tui; they knew of his threats the same evening. Palasi was at 
hand to assist to bury the body; he chid his brother and the lad Tui 
2M2 
