204 NAPIER CHAP. 
combs provided for me. I was afterwards left in un- 
disputed possession of the one small sitting-room, and 
I sat there in my wet clothes until the cold drove me 
to seek solace under the bedclothes. From my window 
I looked right down upon the river, a mad torrent of 
rushing, rising water, and across on the opposite side a 
native village, with wooded cliffs towering high behind 
it It was all very beautiful, notwithstanding the 
elements, which seemed through the night to threaten 
to uproot us altogether. 
Next morning I watched a native paddling a canoe 
up the stream. The sight decided me that it could be 
done, so after breakfast I made arrangements to hire a 
canoe, and three men to paddle me up the river. They 
didn't like going, and were very sulky at starting, and 
if it had not been for the beauty of each fresh bend, 
which became grander the higher we went, I don't 
think I could have had courage enough to brave the 
current, which at times was so strong that it was a hard 
battle to fight against it We kept close to the bank, 
but now and then an eddy, strong from some hidden 
rock, sent the water whirling in such circles that we 
had to dodge out into the middle of the stream. My 
oarsmen could not speak English nor I Maori, so we 
were not a merry party, and might from our looks have 
been officiating at our own funerals. We made a halt 
at some caves three or four miles up, the first with 
masses of ferns hanging from the roof and sides, the 
other very dark, and we had to use candles ; but it was 
so muddy that I did not care to penetrate far into the 
blackness and slime Here the men wanted to turn 
back, and, having made up my mind to go on, I had to 
insist We passed several villages inhabited exclusively 
by natives, and at one larger than the rest we were told 
there was an accommodation house. I landed and 
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