Chap. XVII. E KURU'S POLITICAL DILEMMA. 459 
dark the weather got cloudy and threatening, and I 
was busy making a tent on the bank of two blankets, 
when a small canoe came dashing down the river ; 
and I soon recognised E Kurus manly voice in the 
loud chorus which accompanied the sharp stroke of 
the paddles. He had come to meet me, in order to 
kawe or " escort" me to the conference. One of his 
brothers and half a dozen of his young men accom- 
panied him. 
I found that he still kept a strict neutrality. He 
told me that he should take no part in the conference, 
but would recommend me to the friendship of his 
hungawai, or "relations by marriage," among the 
Ngatipehi. He assured me that Heuheu was a very 
noble-minded chieftain, and advised me to ask him 
frankly about his intentions to the White people, as 
he was known for a strict adherence to his word. 
Fortunately, the night proved fine ; and the next 
morning we started at peep of day. About twelve 
miles brought us to a pa called Oper'iki, consisting of 
two fortified villages, one on each bank of the gully, 
from which a stream falls about thirty feet into the 
river. The land on either side of the gully runs 
level, at an elevation of sixty or seventy feet above 
the river, for a considerable distance in all direc- 
tions, and the level is covered with luxuriant crops. 
On a shingly beach opposite the pa we all stopped to 
breakfast, and two messengers from the Taupo party 
came down to meet us. They said little about the 
intentions of their comrades, but seemed to look about 
them well, and form a good estimate of our numbers 
and arms, while manifesting great indifference to the 
peaceful exhortations of the missionaries. Both White 
and Brown began now to fear that our journey would 
end in a rupture of some sort ; for E Kuru sent a 
