TE RAUPARAHA AND RANG1HAEATA. 
537 
Europeans said it was ; wlio then, answered Rangihaeata, 
could sell my land ? They said it had been sold by other 
natives, he denied having had anything to do with the sale ; 
they replied, it did not signify whether he had or not, the 
land was theirs ; this greatly exasperated the chief, he 
ordered his men to take all the things belonging to the 
surveyors out of the temporary building they had erected, 
and to be careful and leave nothing belonging to them in the 
house, and then set it on fire, the Europeans threatened 
Rangihaeata, and told him he would be hung. 
The Chief afterwards visited one of his cultivations on the 
Wairau, whilst the surveyors returned to Nelson, and made 
the Company's agents acquainted with all that had taken 
place; a warrant was at once issued by the police magis- 
trate for the apprehension of Rangihaeata and Te Rauparaha ; 
the magistrate himself, Captain Wakefield, the Company’s 
agent. Captain England, and several other chief settlers, 
with some constables, about thirty altogether, went to 
execute it ; when they reached the Wairau, they found the 
natives encamped on the opposite side of the river; they 
called for a canoe to cross in, and one was immediately 
furnished them ; on reaching the spot where the natives 
were sitting, the magistrate demanded of the chiefs their 
reason for burning the surveyors' hut ? They replied, they 
had no business on land which did not belong to them, and 
which had not been sold, the magistrate was extremely 
angry, and said, you have done very wrong to burn the 
house ; Rangihaeata replied, there was nothing English in 
it, the toetoe , or flags of which it was built, and the poles 
were all taken from my own land ; there was not a single 
stick of it English, everything belonging to the surveyors 
he had caused to be carefully removed outside the house, 
because he well knew how fond the Europeans were of 
law ; and so truly you have come to try me forjny toetoe, 
if indeed, you had bought the land, that would have been 
quite right, but this is a foolish affair altogether, this 
greatly incensed the magistrate, who told Rangihaeata, the 
.Europeans would soon hang him ; the chiefs did not under- 
