212 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VII 
US during the time when Colonel Wakeiield should 
be employed in receiving the emigrants. He had 
accordingly sailed for Kawia on the 7th of February, 
in order to purchase any available land in that neigh- 
bourhood or in that of the fVaipa and TVaikato rivers. 
The Cuba passed the Sugar-loaf islands, without dis- 
tinguishing our signals, on the 10th, and reached 
Kawia on the 12th of February. After the examina- 
tion of an extensive tract of country near that harbour, 
and while about to negotiate for its acquisition, Mr. 
Hanson was arrested in his proceedings, by a copy of 
the same proclamation which I have mentioned as 
interrupting the movements of the agent of the Poly- 
nesian Company of Sydney. He had, in consequence, 
left Kawia on the 2Uth of February, and called at 
Port Hardy to take refuge from bad weather. A 
pleasing piece of news to us was, that the Cuba had 
seen the Tory off Kapifion the 1st instant; so that we 
might hourly expect to see our old shipmates : we had 
begun to despair of ever seeing them again, on account 
of their long delay since we left them at Kaipara. 
On the 4th, at noon, the gale ceased, the weather 
cleared up, and the sun shone out bright and warm. 
There is nothing more cheering than the convalescence 
of the weather in Cook's Strait after an attack of cold 
rainy weather from south-east. The atmosphere is 
rare and clear ; everything dries quickly ; and the 
plants seem to grow visibly as the wind shifts gra- 
dually round to a genial breath Irom north-east. I 
walked along the banks of the Hutt, to see what 
damage the flood had done. The people were all 
joking about the fright which it had caused them, 
and still appeared to treat it as a pic-nic casualty. 
Notwithstanding the long-continued rain and rough 
weather, no colds or rheumatisms were complained of. 
