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which usually prevails amongst Maories
congregated in numbers, especially when
engaged upon an expedition attended with
danger. Our programme was first to pro-
ceed to the appointed place of meeting with
Pehi and then to take the prisoners. On
passing Tawhitinni, where the chief Te
Raimona was, Hori Kingi, who was sitting
behind me, said, in a low tone of voice,
almost in a whisper "Petatone, my heart is
very dark about my children, especially
about Te Raimona. This is the first time I
have passed this place without calling; the
hearts of all the chiefs and their people are
dark, very sad this morning." Hori Kingi
here paused and sobbed bitterly, and then
continued "So sad are the hearts of all
these prisoners that many of our
people prayed this morning that they might
be excused from joining this expedition.
These prisoners you have said are the
Queen's prisoners and must be surrendered
to the Queen. We come with you to take the
prisoners, and we shall take and surrender
them into your hands. But still our hearts are
sad because of these prisoners. They are
our friends and nearest relatives; but we
shall take and give them up to you" This
is simply a precis of Hori Kingi's appeal.
To understand and appreciate its pathos
every word must have been heard and the
speaker seen. I replied that the Governor
alone had the power to pardon the prisoners;
that my duty was simply to insist upon their
being surrendered to me; that they had been
taken fighting against the Queen, and were
rebels liable to a severe punishment, but
"Hori Kingi, so fully do I recognise the
services you have rendered, and the reason
why all your hearts are dark, that I promise
this-if you and the other chiefs will write
to Governor Grey explaining the services
you have rendered, how in your successful
attempt to protect your Pakeha friends, you
have fought against and killed your relatives
and friends, and how you have further shown
your loyalty by surrendering the prisoners,
and will then ask the Governor to grant a
free pardon to the prisoners, I will as strongly
as I can back your request, and I don't
think Governor Grey will refuse our united
prayer, and until Governor Grey's answer is
received I promise that the prisoners shall
not be removed from Wanganui, and that
the wounded amongst them shall be sent to
the hospital and treated as kindly as the
friendly ones."

The old chief's eyes glistened with delight;
he sprang up and hailed the five canoes in
advance to stop, and then as soon as they
were all close together, he did not repeat
our conversation, but simply gave them in a
few words the slightest possible hint of what
had taken place between us. But this was
quite sufficient; the gloom which had hung
over them instantly disappeared; a cry of
joy burst from the whole of them, and off
they started plying their paddles with ten-

fold vigor, and there was no longer silence,
but the usual cries and songs resounded from
every canoe.

On arriving at Peterihama (Bethlehem)
Hori Kingi came up to me and said "You
must keep in the middle of us." Here we
found Pehi accompanied by no great number
of followers. The chief of the pa (Paroa)
is said to be loyal, and if don't mistake is an
assessor, though his talk did not appear to me
to be very satisfactory. The korero began by
Pehi asking whether we intended to insult
him by not partaking of his hospitality. We
at once relieved his mind by assuring him
that we were quite ready (we saw a bullock
just killed before us) to do justice to any-
thing he might have prepared. In a very
short space of time we partook of a sump-
tuous repast of stewed beef and potatoes.

After a tangi of no long duration had
been performed, Hori Kingi got up and
addressed the meeting. I ought to mention
that he and Pehi never approached within
ten yards of each other. Hori's speech was
simply one of salutation. Pehi replied in a
similar strain but deprecated in the strongest
possible terms the conduct of Matene and
his fanatics, whom he designated as "mad
dogs." After he had sat down, Hori Kingi
said to me. "You must get up and broach
the subject of the prisoners," to whom neither
he nor Pehi had made the slightest allusion,
though they were uppermost in the thoughts
of each. They both knew it was delicate
ground, and most diplomatically avoided
treading upon it I reminded Pehi of the
visit I had paid to him and Hori Patene in
September 1862, at Pipiriki; recalled the
pledges they had then given me that they
would not allow the peace of the Wanganui
river to be disturbed; expressed my regret
that after what Hori Patene had then said to
me that he should have gone to Tataraimaka
and there fallen, for that there was no chief
in whose word and good faith I had ever
reposed more implicit confidence; admitted
that Pehi had so far fulfilled his promise to
me that he had done his utmost to dissuade
Matene and his followers from making their
recent raid, but that I could give him credit
for nothing more; that he had hitherto stood
on "the outside," and had rendered no
active support to the Government; that the
time had now arrived when he must declare
himself; that it was always better in time
of war to have an open enemy than a doubt-
ful friend; that when the house was set on
fire, as the Wanganui river had been by
Matene and his "mad dogs" as he (Pehi)
had called them, the Governor could only
regard those who sat idly by without making
any attempt to extinguish the flames as
something worse than doubtful friends; but
that the Government did fully recognise and
appreciate the conduct of the friendly natives
engaged in the recent conflict, who had at
the sacrifice of their lives endeavored to ex-
tinguish the fire "You Pehi, must declare"