Chap. XIII. NEW ZEALAND SLAVES. 388 
the tribe, and are not separated from the society and 
conversation of their masters, except the latter be of 
remarkably tyrannical or avaricious disposition, and 
thus inclined to make them endure his caprice, or work 
hard in order to gain for him large payment. The 
following are a few examples of the latter class of mas- 
ters. Rauperaha wantonly killed one of his slaves who 
brought him tribute at the Mana feast, in 1839, in 
order to serve a dainty dish to his Ngatiraukawa allies. 
Rangihaeata once took a young slave-child by the heels 
and dashed its brains out against a post, in Otak'i pa, 
for breaking his pipe while lighting it. A chief at 
Taupo in the interior threw his slave into one of the 
boiling ponds there for stealing a few potatoes. 
But E Kuru was no less startling an exception on 
the other side ; for while it was common for even kind 
masters to speak depreciatingly of their slaves to a 
White man, he always took ^pains to obtain the same 
kind appreciation and generous familiarity for his slaves 
from the White man as he yielded to them himself, I 
may mention as a proof of this, that it was only after 
some years and much careful observation, that I had 
learned to distinguish the slaves from the free men 
among his retinue. 
After a solid meal, we began to exchange our news. 
E Kuru told me that two White missionaries had ar- 
rived ; one of whom lived in the houses near Putikiwa- 
ranui, while the other inhabited a house at the point 
about 400 yards above this spot. He told me that a 
great many houses had been built by the natives in 
readiness for the White settlers, and that the clearings 
for potato -gardens had been increased and extended, in 
order to insure an ample supply of provisions for them. 
A trading-boat from Port Nicholson, the very one 
built by Joe Robinson, had been brought hither by one 
