230 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IX. 
about three days afterwards the house was levelled to 
the ground by my gang of boys. 
The Putikiwaranui natives had sent a letter in the 
middle of May to Mr. Spain, stating that the north 
side of the river had been purchased, but their side 
had not, and begging him to come and see them and 
hear what they had to say. He had answered, that 
after he had done investigating the sale at Port 
Nicholson he would come and hear the rights of their 
sale; and concluded by begging them to live peace- 
ably with the Europeans until he should come. 
On my applying to them again to allow the settlers 
to locate quietly pending the arrival of the Commis- 
sioner, they had shown me this letter, and refused to 
allow anything of the sort. They had now changed 
their tone, and again said that they would not sell the 
land at all. Mr. Mason had been heard by the set- 
tlers to say, that he thought the natives required a 
large tract of land, as it was expedient they should 
learn" to cultivate wheat. He had also said, on more 
than one occasion, that he could get on much better 
with the natives if there were no White people here 
at all. And he acknowledged that he had never 
attempted to explain to the natives the value of the 
Reserves made for them. I should think, from the sus- 
picion with which they always treated my words when- 
ever I broached this subject to them myself, that they 
had rather been forewarned against this provision as 
a mere ruse to deceive them. 
A circumstance which occurred while I was here, 
showed plainly the manner in which Mr. Dawson, the 
ofl&cer of all work, persisted in supporting Mr. IMason's 
views. 
A sectionist, invited by Rangi Tauwira to occupy a 
section near his settlement, had authorized Yankee 
