Chap. IX. DEED SIGNED— DISTRIBUTION OF PAYMENT. 287 
" good !" It was then agreed that the chiefs should 
come on board the schooner and sign the deed, and 
that several large canoes should be brought alongside 
under the direction of E Kiiru, to receive the goods, 
and land them at the spot where this concluding con- 
ference had taken place. It was also agreed that this 
chief should distribute the goods, as I hoped, from his 
great influence and connexion with all the different 
branches of the JVanganui tribes then assembled, that 
he might accomplish this in peace. The general as- 
sent to this arrangement seemed to confirm my view. 
Twenty-seven head chiefs signed the deed on the 
deck of the schooner, after it had been read and inter- 
preted, with full explanations, to them, and to a large 
audience which surrounded us, either floating about in 
numerous canoes or clustered on the bank at Purua. 
The goods were then handed into the canoes by men 
appointed by E Kuru. No attempt at pilfering took 
place ; and all the things were carried in order and 
quiet to the shore. The spectators proceeded gradually 
to the scene of distribution ; and when I landed, some 
time after the last canoe had gone away, with all the 
White men except one to keep the vessel, the distribution 
was going on. 
On an extensive level at the back of the little village, 
a piece of land a hundred yards long and twenty broad 
had been cleared of the fern. About twenty-four 
heaps of goods were ranged along this space ; and E 
Kuru, with his elder brother, a chief of no great note, 
were adding gradually to each heap, and explaining 
their proceedings in a loud voice. We took our seats 
on the roof of a hut, from whence we could survey the 
whole proceeding. The different tribes were gathered 
in groups at short distances from the row of heaps, 
each under their respective leaders ; and watched the 
