Chap. XV. RAUPERAHA'S POWERFUL ELOQUENCE. 379 
" name. Go to Maunga Tautari !" Then suddenly 
changing his strain, he looked on the assemblage of 
chiefs, bending down towards them with a paternal 
smile, and softening his voice to kindness and emotion. 
" But what do I say ?" said he ; " what is my talk 
" about? You are children ! It is not for you to talk. 
" You talk of going here, and doing this and doing 
" that. Can one of you talk when I am here ? No \ 
" I shall rise and speak for you all, and you shall sit 
" dumb ; for you are all my children, and Rauperaha 
" is your head chief and your patriarch." He com- 
pletely won his point by this fearless rejection of their 
assistance, ending in an arrogant assumption of abso- 
lute authority over their movements. One of the 
highest chiefs said to me, " It is true, Tiraweke ! he is 
" our father and ovit Ariki " (superior chief.) "Raupe- 
*' raha is the king of the Maori, like your Queen 
" over the White people ;" and the others bowed a 
silent assent, and each seemed to swell with conscious 
dignity as the follower of such a leader. The cattle 
were not allowed to pass ; but Rauperaha agreed 
quietly to the request of the chiefs in the course of the 
day, that the White people already established here 
should not be sent away. 
Notwithstanding the doubts as to whether there 
would be any fighting, E Ahu anxiously begged that 
his son might still accompany me ; fully trusting that 
I would send him back in the case of war. 
We arrived at Wellington on the evening of the 
23rd of July. 
I now had an opportunity of perusing the deposi- 
tions taken, and of learning from Colonel Wakefield 
the particulars of what had been done since. 
Rauperaha and Rangihaeata had crossed the Strait 
to Nelson about two months before on a begging ex- 
pedition. They received presents and kind treatment 
