406 NEW ZEALAND. 



here for the purpose of establishing themselves, but the place offered 

 so little inducement that they determined to proceed to Port Levy, a 

 larger harbour to the eastward, where the natives informed them that 

 refreshments could be had in plenty. The next day they anchored in 

 it, and found it somewhat similar to Port Cooper, but more open. In 

 the afternoon a party went on shore, and returned with sixty-four 

 brace of pigeons, and three black parrots. The former were in great 

 abundance and very large, some of them weighing twenty ounces : 

 the colour of their backs was a dull slate, passing into bronze on the 

 neck and wings ; the head was very black, the breast white, deepening 

 into a reddish brown on the belly ; the bill and feet of a bright red. 

 The parrots were quite black, about the size of a crow, and remarkable 

 for two rose-coloured wattles at the lower mandible, like the common 

 fowl. They also killed a species of pica, called cuga by the natives, 

 about the size of a blackbird ; it was of a dull black, with greenish 

 reflections on the back, and on each side of the neck was a single 

 white feather, which curled forward and upward. 



Here they became acquainted with Charley, or Karakiharuru, the 

 chief proprietor of Port Cooper, Port Levy, and Pigeon Bay. Not- 

 withstanding these extensive possessions, neither himself nor his fol- 

 lowers were better clad, housed, or superior in any respect to those 

 already described. As for Charley himself, he appeared in a striped 

 shirt, pea-jacket, and trousers, the cast-off clothing of some sailor. 

 From having made the voyage to Sydney, Charley fancied he had 

 seen the world, and took great pains to show his knowledge and 

 excite the admiration of those about him. The captain of the vessel 

 obtained from him about twenty bushels of potatoes, at the rate of a 

 pound of tobacco for a basket containing about a peck ; he besides 

 offered to sell one-third of his dominions or estate for a new whale- 

 boat. Charley had on the usual heitiki or neck ornament. The only 

 account he could give of the locality of this green stone was, that it 

 was found to the southward, in a large bed between two mountains. 

 Among other things in Charley's possession, was an enormous wax 

 doll, dressed in the height of the Parisian fashion, which had been 

 presented to him by the officers of a French expedition that had 

 touched there, some time previously, — rather a droll occupant of a 

 dirty New Zealand hut. 



About Port Levy the land rises nearly twelve hundred feet high: 

 the soil is every where exceedingly rich, but its value for agricultural 

 purposes is diminished by its steepness ; it would be impracticable to 

 use cattle in ploughing. The land in all parts of the peninsula 

 exhibited the same character : a succession of steep hills, intersected 



