54 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
On the day of the engagement, Captain Bishop, 
with a strong party, occupied the pass on the top 
of One-tree Hill, arrested the progress of the 
victors, and favoured the retreat of the vanquished, 
whose courage appeared to have forsaken them, 
under the conviction that the god Oro, fighting 
with their enemies, rendered them invincible. 
The rebels did not attempt to enter the district, 
but sent a messenger with proposals of alliance, 
offering the English the government of Matavai, 
and the two districts to the southward, which they 
had already ravaged. If this was not agreed to, 
they demanded permission to march through the 
district to attack their enemies beyond Matavai, 
and, in the event of refusal, declared their inten¬ 
tion of forcing a passage with the club and the 
spear. The refugees from the conquered districts 
had already sheltered themselves under the pro¬ 
tection of the Missionaries and their companions, 
and they would have fallen a sacrifice to the 
cruelty of their enemies, had these been allowed 
to pass through the district. The English, there¬ 
fore, acceded to the first proposition. The Ate- 
huruans ratified the treaty, returned to their own 
land, and thus afforded the foreigners at Matavai, 
and those under their protection, a short respite 
from the dread of immediate attack. Had the 
Missionaries been the only Englishmen residing 
on the island at the time, it is most probable the 
victors would not have been checked by them in 
their career of conquest. They would have pro¬ 
secuted their march of destruction; and, as the 
Missionaries remark, they must have retreated, or 
fallen a sacrifice to their fury. 
Flushed with success, and animated with the 
belief that the god fought with them, the rebels, 
