272 
NATIVE CHIEFS. 
magistrate, interpreter, and policeman then went together, and 
when they were about a mile from the house of the offender, 
the policeman was sent forward to take him: he returned 
without his prisoner, and the whole party left. A full report 
was then forwarded to head quarters. After several weeks’ 
delay, and much ridicule being made of the affair, a Land 
Commissioner, who had more influence amongst the natives 
than any other Government officer, was sent: he deemed it 
necessary to call in the aid of the head chief of the neigh¬ 
bouring tribe, who, for the stipulated payment of fifty pounds, 
agreed to go and take the culprit, who was accordingly given 
up and lodged in prison, where he still was when I left the 
country. Now, this affair could have only one effect upon the 
native mind—plainly proving our weakness, and making them 
laugh at all our terrible threatenings of vengeance which are 
always so liberally expressed for every little misdemeanour 
they may be guilty of. A one-sided view is too frequently 
taken ; the native is not represented. He is threatened on 
every trifling occasion, without knowing anything of the law, 
and his confidence in our authorities is destroyed. In the 
above instance, power should have been given to the magistrate 
to hold a court on the spot; and I am persuaded that if the 
case had been fairly tried, the native would have given an 
equitable satisfaction, if proved to have been in the wrong. 
The next case was the violation of a settler’s infant daughter, 
aged about six, by a native lad; the same wavering vacillating 
conduct was adopted. The magistrate went to the neigh¬ 
bourhood where it occurred. The culprit, with a number 
of his friends, attended ; there was nearly an equal number of 
the settlers present. The magistrate proposed that he should 
go to the town to be tried: his friends of course refused, 
knowing that there they should be unable to defend him ; and 
thus his visit was worse than useless; and the culprit went 
back with his friends in triumph, without anything being 
done to him. Even without physical force, moral influence, 
properly used, would have prevailed; as it was, he escaped 
altogether. 
These two instances are sufficient to show, that at present 
