270 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. 
CHAPTER IX. ^-^^ 
House built by natives — Manuka wood — Stock from Australia-^ 
Horses — Arrival of Captain Hobson at the Bay of Islands — 
Council — Newspaper — Appointments — Harmony interrupted by 
a stranger — The Rev. Henry Williams — Proceedings of the 
Lieutenant-Governor at the Bay of Islands — Mr. Williams sent 
' to extend them to Cook's Strait — Mr. Williams's selfish views — 
Clergymen arrive from England — Settlers in the valley of the 
, Hutt — Cheerful progress — Politics — Contentment — Thorndon — 
Dicky Barrett — New South Wales land-sharks — ^The Surprise 
schooner — Voyage to Wanganui — E KunCs, joy — Arrival — 
The Rev. Messrs. Williams and Hadfield — Cession of sovereignty 
—Delusion — Gathering of tribes — Purchase of Wanganui — 
Conference — Authority of a head chief — Deed signed — Distri- 
bution — Greediness — Scramble — Fears — Anger of E Kuru — 
Homai no homai, or a " gift for a gift " — Freshet — Return to 
Port Nicholson. 
I WAS welcomed by Colonel Wakefield into the house 
which I had seen building for him when I was here 
before. It was very neatly constructed of wooden up- 
rights, ridge-pole, and rafters, all bound together by 
flax-bands, and covered with a thick coating of leaves 
of the nikau (a kind of palm) and tufts of grass. It 
afforded a good shelter from the rain, but allowed the 
wind to circulate with perfect freedom. A planked 
floor and partitions, and English-made doors and win- 
dows, with brick chimneys, gave it a comfortable ap- 
pearance. It had the advantage of being on a dry bed 
of shingle, and was protected from the weather by a 
wooden railing filled in with bunches of the manuka. 
This is a shrub very abundant in some parts. The 
plant resembles the tea-plant in leaves and flower, and 
is often used green by the whalers and traders for the 
