Chap. VIII. WANGANUI RIVER. 239 
During the speeches, he took particular pains to ex- 
plain to me whatever expressions I had not understood, 
and to impress me with a knowledge of the character 
and influence of each speaker. His attention, gene- 
rally, was most pleasing, and perfectly dignified and 
free from obtrusiveness. 
The cliff I found was called W^ahtpuna, or " place of 
" the spring," from a small rill which gurgled from 
half-way up its side. As the water of the river is 
almost always brackish here, this becomes a great place 
for the encampment of passing visitors. 
About noon, E Kuru took me in a canoe to the 
principal village on this part of the river, on the same 
side as our camp, and about a mile above it. The 
high land, of which the cliff forms one extremity, 
recedes from the river near the mouth of a small 
tributary, and another low range of table-land closes 
in upon the river about a mile above this. On the 
river bank, in the midst of the level between the two 
ridges, the pa named Putikiwaranui was situate. On 
landing, I found about thirty large canoes ranged along 
the shore, and 300 or 400 people assembled to receive 
me. Among these was an uncle of Tuarau, who had 
taken a principal part in the sale of the Taranaki 
district, and who was on his way to TVaikanae with 
a numerous following. He greeted me with much 
pleasure. This was the chief whose nickname of 
" Wide-awake" had been transferred by the natives to 
Colonel Wakefield. E Kuru introduced me in due 
form to the three principal chiefs of the JVanganui 
tribes. Each of them sat in his own court-yard, sur- 
rounded by his own immediate followers. The first 
was Turoa, or " High-stand," an old chieftain of the 
tribes which had migrated hither from Lake Taupo. 
He was cased in a thick coat of red paint, made of 
