408 NEW ZEALAND. 



hundred barrels, which was sold on the spot to Sydney dealers, at 

 forty pounds the tun. 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 w T ere 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 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 



