400 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XIV. 
We were detained here by a continued series of calms 
and strong north-west gales until the 19th, having 
made several unsuccessful attempts to get to the north- 
ward. The time, however, was not left unemployed 
or spent unpleasantly. Mr. Bidwill was delighted at 
the number of chitons, trochi, and other rare shells 
which he found among the rocks at low-water ; Cap- 
tain Lewis received us hospitably in his house ; and 
the details of the whaling-stations and the acquaint- 
ance of the eccentric characters attached to them were 
new, at least to my companions. 
Two days were spent in a very exciting sport. I 
have before mentioned that a herd of wild cattle, 
sprung from two or three sent here from Sydney some 
years back, inhabited the wooded hills and gullies of 
the island ; and I resolved to shoot one of the herd. 
Having bargained with Rauperaha, who claimed the 
ownership of the herd at the south end, I paid him 
five sovereigns and a half for permission to shoot one ; 
and obtained from him a messenger, charged to in- 
struct his slaves living or cultivating on the island to 
assist our party as guides to their haunts or heath's of 
the wood. 
One high peak, generally capped with clouds in 
stormy weather, rises from near the centre of the 
island, and shoots out numerous woody ridges, like 
claws, towards the outer edge. These ridges vary in 
steepness, and in the extent of the table-land on their 
summits ; and the intervening spaces are either preci- 
pitous gullies or valleys of easier slope, each furnished 
with a rill of pure water. Extensive patches have 
been cleared of wood by the natives at remote periods, 
and the slaves of the Kawia chiefs still work some 
nice spots and reside irregularly in picturesque 
groups of huts among the high grounds. Wher- 
