MANIHERA AND KEREOPA. 
365 
and a Minister—should thus he compelled to come without 
exchanging the usual tangi, and receiving the accustomed wel¬ 
come. He said much more, hut not liking on this occasion to 
take notes, when we knew not how we were to be received, the 
rest is forgotten. Tahana arose, and spoke for some time 
very earnestly, telling them that their present work was of a 
new kind—that even their forefathers would have been ashamed 
of it—and, therefore, our visit was in a new way; had we 
not been influenced by a kindly feeling, we should not have 
come at all; that now we could not give them our hands, or 
join in the cry of friendship. One of the opposite party then 
got up, and said, he had heard that we were going to Auck¬ 
land to get Te Werowero to come against them; they were 
all one; they were all one; they were prepared for the 
worst; they were not sorry for the deed, and could not forget 
the death of tlieir friends. Te Huiatahi said, His heart was 
not at all dark for what he had done ; he did not however wish 
to continue the evil, or to carry it further—it was done in 
accordance with their ritenga (custom). William and another 
of my natives also spoke—then I addressed them. I told them 
this was my first sorrowful visit to their place, but still it was 
a visit of love, or I should have stayed at home; we did not, it 
w r as true, tangi (cry) with our eyes, but we did with our hearts : 
we had come, not to avenge, but to avoid further shedding of 
blood; the dead were the servants of God, and died in doing 
their duty: we left vengeance to Him who has said, “ Ven¬ 
geance is mine! I will repay, saith the Lord. ’ "We trusted 
that they would be led to see the enormity of their crime, and 
repent of it: that now the blood of Kereopa and Manihera 
had been shed, they could not be brought again to life on 
earth—they were in the enjoyment of their reward, and it was 
great: but sufficient blood had been shed, and it was not our 
wish that any should avenge their death: they had killed 
them, it is true, in accordance with their ancient customs, 
and we wished their blood to be the price of a permanent 
peace between their tribes, that henceforth love might prevail: 
that if they agreed to my proposal, one of their Chiefs should 
go back with my children and make peace with the Ngatiruanui. 
