48S ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XVni. 
SO ended the expedition of the North Star to recover 
a boat. 
Mr. Clarke junior gave, of course, the same account 
as Sir Everard Home. In answer to a request for his 
opinion from Major Richmond, he says : — 
" I have the honour to inform you, that I did not 
** observe an unusually large assemblage of natives at 
'* any of the above-mentioned places (Porirua, ff^ai- 
" kanae, and Otaki), nor have I the slightest suspicion 
" of their meeting with hostile intentions. On the con- 
" trary, Te Rauperaha and the principal chiefs re- 
" peatedly and pointedly assured me that no effort 
" should be wanting on their part to preserve peace, 
" and prevent the occurrence of anything that might 
** lead to a collision between the two races. 
" Under these circumstances, I cannot perceive that 
*' there is any necessity for the further detention of 
" Her Majesty's ship North Star in Port Nicholson, 
*' as far as the aborigines are concerned." 
A short time afterwards, a vessel from Hobart Town, 
with 100 soldiers, called at Nelson; but the command- 
ing officer refused to land them, having been forbidden 
to do so unless in case of being actually required to 
defend the lives and properties of the settlers. The 
detachment was on its way to Sydney ; but Sir Eardley 
Wilmot, the new Governor of Van Diemen's Land, to 
whom an application had been sent direct for assist- 
ance, instructed the officer to diverge so far out of his 
way. The vessel stopped two days at anchor in the 
out^r roads, and then proceeded to her destination. 
Thus the whole Tf^airau affair was disposed of, for 
the present ; not as though a successful resistance had 
been made to the execution of the Queen's warrant, 
followed by the cruel murder of her Magistrates and 
their assistants, and the plunder and insult of their 
