440 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVI. " 
A short remonstrance to Sir George Gipps was drawn 
up on the subject by Mr. Dudley Sinclair, and signed 
by twenty-five leading settlers of Wellington. At 
the same time, a requisition for a public meeting to 
consider the misconduct of the Lieutenant-Governor 
was published, with the signatures of the most in- 
fluential people of the settlement. I shall transcribe 
it word for word : — " We, the undersigned, land- 
" holders and residents of Port Nicholson, viewing 
" with surprise and disgust the nefarious attempt 
" which is now being made by Captain Hobson to de- 
" prive us of our artificers and labourers, men brought 
'* out at our own expense for the benefit of the settle- 
" ment of Port Nicholson ; and feeling persuaded that 
** her Majesty's Government at home will neither 
" countenance such manifest injustice to ourselves nor 
" sanction conduct so ungentlemanlike on the part of 
" its officials ; and being also fully convinced that any 
" representations from us as a body will receive from 
'• her most gracious Majesty every possible considera- 
" tion ; do hereby call a meeting of our fellow colonists, 
** to be holden at Barrett's hotel, on JNlonday next, 
"the 15th day of February, for the purpose of adopt- 
" ing a petition, praying for the removal of Captain 
" Hobson from the Deputy Government of New Zea- 
" land." 
Curiously enough, at this very time Colonel Wake- 
field received from Sir John Franklin, the Governor of 
Van Diemen's Land, an answer to his complaint 
against the practices of the crimps, which condemned 
these proceedings as most disgraceful, and utterly repu- 
diated them on the part of his Government. This letter 
must have been felt as a stinging reproof by the crimp- 
ing Governor of Auckland. 
On the 8th of February, the Brougham sailed finally 
