16 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. I. 
the base of the hill had been mercilessly cut away, that 
no besiegers might lie in ambush beneath their pro- 
tection. 
Another object of my journey was to establish a 
trading connexion on a more permanent footing with 
the natives of the TVenuakura river. Those who had 
received me so kindly on my former visit, had sent 
messengers to me at Pf^anganui, begging that I would 
send them a resident trading agent, and promising to 
build a house for me. 
Getting away early from the inhospitable village of 
the Ngarauru, I pushed along to the northward. To 
fivoid the tedious sand-hills on the top of the cliff, I 
struck out a path for myself a little further back, and 
passed along fine open pasture-land, watered by nume- 
rous small streams. 
As I had got a mile or two in advance of the pedes- 
trians, and rode fast along the last part of the beach, 
I was not seen by the inhabitants of the pa, until close 
to the river. They then ran down on to the bejich. 
By this time I had plunged into the river, which here 
flows over soft and shifting sands. The horse's body 
was nearly hidden ; and though many of my old friends 
here had recognized me, and shouted " Tiraweke ! — 
" Haeremai /" they evidently thought that a native was 
carrying me on his shoulders. There were now nearly 
a hundred natives collected, many of whom had never 
seen a horse before, crowding over each other to give 
me the first greeting. 
With two or three vigorous plunges the horse sud- 
denly emerged from the water, and bore me into the 
middle of them. Such a complete panic can hardly 
l)e imagined. They fled yelling in all directions with- 
out looking behind them ; and as fast as I galloped 
pjist those who were running across the sandy flat and 
