CHAr. V. ANGER OF THE NATIVES — GUESTS. 131 
of the affair, E Kuru, with anger and anxiety in every 
feature, had come to learn what was going on, as I had 
translated the summons to him at his request. I had 
seen, too, through the open window of the shed in 
which the court was held, several canoes come across 
the river en grande tenue, crowded with natives. I was, 
however, somewhat astonished to find in the great hall 
of the ware, on my return from the Police Court, about 
100 men, including Turoa and all the high chiefs of 
the Patutokoto, as well as E ICurus train. They 
were dressed out as for a state occasion, with feathers, 
and red ochre, and arms in their hands. When I asked 
them what this was all about, they invited me to sit 
down in the circle formed by the grave elders, and asked 
what had l^een the result of the " Governor's" riri, or 
" anger," at my saluting their son ? I told them that 
I had had to pay 17*. as utu for the offence. E Kuru 
then said, " Oh, that does not matter ; you can afford 
" that. But we thought they were going to make a 
" tie* you. In that case, we had assembled in order to 
" pull down the jail, and fix the Governor and his 
" constable on the top of your flag-staff till sun-down." 
I immediately thanked them for their kind intentions 
and their sympathy ; but told them I should have been 
very angry at any such Lynch law. And I gave them a 
feast, and sent them back to their homes, begging them 
to think no more of the affair. 
Soon after this, my house again filled with guests. 
Messrs. White and Blackett arrived from Taupo ; and 
a day afterwards, Mr. JMolesworth and Mr. Watt, toge- 
ther with Mr. John George Cooke, a New Plymouth 
settler, arrived from Wellington on horseback. Colonel 
Wakefield had performed the ride back to that place, 
* This is the jargon of broken English which the natives have 
learnt from traders : make a tie means " imprison." 
k2 
