Chap. VII. CAPTAIN ARTHUR WAKEFIELD. 187 
persuading men to adopt a certain line of conduct, as 
though of their own unaided conviction, and by the 
softest strings of human nature, he added the great 
share of prudence, energy, and coolness in emergency, 
which was necessary to choose the line to be adopted ; 
and when I say, that in the most harassing circum- 
stances his calm and commanding voice was never 
known to use an oath or a harsh word, I am sure that 
every oflBicer who has known him during his thirty 
years of active service in the Navy of his country will 
answer, that he could do no otherwise. 
The few natives who visited Nelson at intervals were 
enthusiastic in their praise of his engaging manner and 
kindly disposition. At TF'aikanae, along the Taranaki 
country, and even far up in the interior, I have often 
fallen in with a travelling Maori, who has been describ- 
ing to a large audience " the soft tongue and great 
" heart of ' Wide-awake ' across the sea." 
Dr. Imlay had to take some of his cattle on to Wel- 
lington, and I accepted his kind offer of a passage in 
the Brilliant. This gentleman and his two brothers 
are probably the largest cattle and sheep-holders in 
New South Wales. Their establishment is at Two- 
fold Bay, but they have stations extending a consider- 
able distance into the interior. I acquired from Dr. 
Imlay many interesting descriptions of the pastoral and 
semi-Tartar life of the Australian cattle-holder. He 
had two aboriginal natives on board, wearing the dress 
of Europeans, and remarkably expert as shepherds and 
in the management of cattle ; and he told me that his 
whaling-station at Twofold Bay was manned almost 
entirely, and carried on with great success, by labourers 
selected from their fellow-countrymen. But he added 
some exciting details of the savage and merciless pre- 
datory warfare which is constantly going on between 
