SW ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. 
true. Several young men soon arrived with their 
arms from Ti^aikanae, and a regular examination of 
the banks of the river and neighbourhood was made. 
The barking and growling of the dogs, the whispering 
and rustling of the prowling sentries among the po- 
tato-plants, and the anxious face of Fuke, lighted up 
by the flickering of the embers, as he frequently came 
in to report that all was well, kept me between waking 
and sleeping till daylight ; when all the fears seemed 
to vanish, and it was soon discovered that the alarm 
had been caused by some kiiki^ or slaves from Pf^ai- 
kanae, stealing in the gardens. 
Old jK Rangi not having arrived from the south, 
I got a canoe manned, and went over to Kapiti. The 
mouth of the ff^aikanae is choked up with sand-banks, 
but at high-water a whale-boat can enter and ascend 
the river about six miles. The hills are about seven 
miles from the beach here ; and the ta tika, or " flat 
" tract," seems to improve as it recedes from the sea. 
Groves of high timber extend outwards about two 
miles from the foot of the hills. 
Kapiti is about four miles from Waikanae. I took 
up my residence on Hiko^ Island, and saw several of 
the chiefs who had been parties to the sale. They 
had all become converts since I was here before, and 
on the 22nd I heard prayers read and a sermon 
preached by a native teacher. Rmiperaha was absent 
at Otaki. The island on which he lives had been 
bought by an American captain named Mayhew, who 
was residing at the Bay of Islands, but had a store 
here for the supply of the whaling-stations, and a 
clerk to manage it. I heard much about the prospects 
of the approaching whaling season. There were to 
be upwards of twenty boats fitted out at the different 
stations at Kapiti this year, though all were now 
