Chap. IV. AN ARTIST IN TATXT. '^ V ; ; |§9 
or axe rather tlian bear the disgrace of refusing to 
make amends for their kinsman's misdeeds. Pakau 
carried back to TVanganui three muskets, fifteen axes 
and tomahawks, three cartridge-boxes, two kegs of 
powder, and a mat, as damages. He started before 
me, with the great body of my train, and a drove of 
pigs which had been presented to me. 
After I had been at the lake about a fortnight, a 
chief and his train arrived from a place called Te 
TVaiti, in the district of Huriwera, near the East Cape, 
with pigs and mats. The report that there were 
plenty of double-barrelled guns to be got at TVanganui 
had induced him to start with his stock and goods on 
a journey of nearly 300 miles, in order to procure what 
he could not get from the traders on the east coast. 
He had previously despatched a messenger to me, beg- 
ging me to bring some tupara, or " two-barrel," for 
him if I came to Taupo ; and we accordingly met by 
a sort of appointment. A very famous artist in latu 
came with the party, and was kept in constant and pro- 
fitable employment. Everybody, from the renowned 
warrior to the girl of twelve years old, crowded to be 
ornamented by the skilful chisel; and shirts, mats, 
axes, and other articles accumulated in the carver's 
kits. He was a superior man in many respects. He 
used to beat everybody at draughts, and had a store of 
old legends to amuse his audience. I saw Iwikau, or 
" Skeleton," the head fighting chief of the tribe under 
Heuheu, being chipped on the cheek-bone. The in- 
struments used were not of bone, as they used formerly 
to be ; but a graduated set of iron tools, fitted with 
handles like adzes, supplied their place. The man 
spoke to me with perfect nonchalance for a quarter of 
an hour, although the operator continued to strike the 
little adzes into his flesh with a light wooden hammer 
