244 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. VIII. 
veiling about to Mokau and other strange places, but 
that I was bound to return to Port Nicholson and get 
a vessel and goods from " Wide-awake" and pay for 
the place. He said I should be plundered by the rude 
natives to the north ; reproached me with neglecting 
these, who were resolved to be my friends ; and re- 
minded me that Williams had the intention of return- 
ing soon with a ship to buy the place, and that, 
perhaps, when the natives saw his goods, they would 
not be able to resist selling to him instead of to me. 
Pakoro, a near relation of Turoa, followed in the 
same strain. The wild energy with which he spoke 
might easily have been mistaken for anger by an in- 
experienced auditor ; and even I should probably have 
feared some violent termination to the harangue, had 
not E Kuru, constantly seated at my elbow to inter- 
pret difficult sentences and assist me in my answers, 
explained to me that " his mouth was great because 
"his heart was Avarm" Pakoro ended by flinging 
over my shoulders a very handsome kaitaka mat, which 
he had been wearing while he spoke. 
While here, I collected a considerable number of 
mats of all kinds, some of which were given to me by 
chiefs, and the others sold by inferior natives. The 
mats are generally of four kinds. The plainest and 
least valued is the porera. This is plaited very closely 
with unscraped flax, split into narrow bands, and is 
used as floor-cloth for a house or a couch. It has a 
glossy straw- like surface, and is very useful in keeping 
a bed from the damp ground. I bought some about 
seven feet square for a few heads of tobacco. 
The next in value is the korowai. It is woven of 
muka, or scrai)ed flax, and ornamented with bunches 
of twisted tags of the same, dyed black. The tags are, 
however, sometimes left white ; at other times they are 
