292 
towards the continuing of the Great South Road; and during the 
Taranaki insurrection of 1861 , William Thompson, the leader of 
the Waikato tribes, declared it even to be a case of war, which 
would result in the breaking out of hostilities also along the Wai- 
kato, should the Government advance its troups into the interior 
farther than Mangatawhiri , or continue the construction of the 
road under the protection of armed forces. This circumstance alone 
would suffice to prove the importance of this place , which can only 
be fully appreciated hereafter, when the Waikato river shall have 
been opened to European commerce. 
March 9. — Rose early; the Mangatawhiri creek offered a 
refreshing bath; but as customary among Maoris we had much 
talking before we were ready to decamp. The natives endeavoured, 
to extort from us a few additional gold-pieces, before they showed 
any inclination to convey us further. It was not until 9 o’clock, 
that we commenced to move on. We then proceeded along a small 
current of water wading a considerable distance through mud and 
swamp, until we came at last to the promised canoe. The canoe 
was an entirely new one, wrought from the trunk of a Kahi- 
katea pine ( Podocarpus dacrydioides ) , sixty-one feet long, four 
wide, three deep, and large enough to hold our whole party 
together with the entire bulk of baggage. First it was cleansed; 
then the bottom was covered with fresh ferns, and the baggage 
distributed with all due cautiousness as equally as possible fore and 
aft , to the right and left , for the benefit of securing the necessary 
balance to the rather unstable craft. At last every thing was in 
readiness, and we Pakehas were directed to take our place in 
the middle. But the creek was here still far too narrow and 
too shallow, and the load too heavy, to render the propelling of 
ourWaka, 1 by means of the paddles, possible. We had first to be 
pulled through the mud. The scene was a highly amusing one, 
1 The Maori-name for canoe is waka. Generally those wakas are wrought 
from the much more durable red Totara-wood ( Podocarpus tolara ). Such canoes 
are said to last three generations, while Kalhkatea-canoes last at the most ten years, 
since they are gnawed by bore-worms. 
