page 175

VII In The Bay Of Islands^†

We could make out four canoes lying on the beach by a little cove to the south of Motou-Doua; people got into two of them, pushed out to sea and were obviously coming towards us. Then after a few minutes, for some reason that we could not discover, they turned back towards the island and the men who manned them went ashore again.

Shongui's tribe, who had sworn long ago to destroy the people of Paroa, had taken advantage of Touai's death last year to carry out their designs. Following this chief, there had been no one able to maintain the dignity of the warriors of Kahou-Wera, and the men of Kidi-Kidi came bearing arms and ordered them to leave their pa. They submitted to this cruel injunction; no one was killed, but the place was pillaged and the members of this unhappy tribe are now scattered among those of their neighbours who consented to take them in.—Further, Shongui was not dead, as the people of Moudi-Wanoua had told me, but was at Wangaroa suffering from his wounds.—The Wangaroa tribe had been absolutely exterminated after a very obstinate resistance.—The fleet, that we had seen near Wangari, belonged in fact to King Jorrie of Korora-Reka who was setting out to make war on Kai-Waka and Rangui on the shores of Shouraki. One savage added that the Wangaroa missionaries had left their establishment, as had those at Kidi-Kidi, and that all the Europeans, about forty in all, were now together in Pahia. Such news made it clear that there had been great disturbances page 177in the land, which made me realize that I must be more cautious than ever in any dealings with the islanders.

Wetoi, Pomare's nephew, was a handsome youth, between twenty and twenty-five years of age, obviously of a friendly disposition and a gentle, kindly temperament. The slight tattooing that marked his features showed that so far he had not taken much part in warfare. I felt sad to think that military honour, all-powerful in the minds of these poor savages, would destroy these pleasing qualities in the young man, or, if he preserved them, would condemn him to suffer the contempt of his fellow-countrymen and later on to renounce his birthright.

At nightfall our guests parted from us and only left on board a child between ten and twelve years old who asked to remain.

13th March—Throughout the morning we had very bad weather. Heavy rain was accompanied by strong squalls from the N.W., and everything seemed to point to a violent storm. Nevertheless the longboat made two trips to the fresh water supply situated at the head of the bay. I myself, about midday, seeing the wind calmer and turning to the south, decided to pay a visit to the Pahia missionaries, to obtain without delay information that was necessary to our safety regarding the attitude of the natives towards Europeans.

At about one o'clock in the afternoon, I boarded the whaleboat with M. Gressien. We went ahead without much difficulty till we reached Cape Tapeka; but as we rounded this headland, a very strong, very rough sea combined with contrary wind caused us the greatest difficulty. Without the tide, which was in our favour, we should never have got through the three miles which we had to make to reach Pahia. There we were courteously received by the missionaries, whose settlement seemed to me much improved since the visit I had paid there four years ago. In particular, they had made a number of gardens which were well tended; several of our European products were grown in them with good results; for example, vegetables, fruit trees, and various cereals.

Yet Mr. Williams (Henry) was the only one to possess a little house built in European style; his brother and their colleague, Mr. Davis, who had settled more recently on these remote shores, had nothing to live in but little huts of the native type, made of simple lattice covered with Typha [bulrush] leaves, which in New Zealand take the place of the leaves of sugar page 178canes so widely used by islanders in the tropics. The missionaries confirmed the truth of the story told me by King Harey about the inhabitants of Kahou-Wera. They had lost their chief Touai, whom I knew very well, more than two years ago; his cousin Touao, who had succeeded him, had neither his ability nor the prestige necessary to make his people respected. Further, of the family of Koro-Koro, there remained only two brothers and a son, all of them unfit on account of age or infirmity to lead the tribe in war. The tribes of Kidi-Kidi had always been jealous because the Paroa tribes had become so influential under the wise leadership of Koro-Koro and they had often considered the possibility of defeating them. After the death of Touai, seeing that there was no chief capable of maintaining the prestige of their rivals, they took care not to let slip such a good opportunity for completing their destruction. The napouis, the richest and most influential chiefs of Kidi-Kidi, asked Shongui for permission to carry out the project and it was accorded them. They marched on Kahou-Wera with the warriors from Wai-Mate and resistance was neither long nor obstinate. Not more than two or three individuals were slain and, yielding to the law of might, the rest of the inhabitants of Paroa were dispersed among the neighbouring tribes. Thus this pa, which had flourished under the laws of Koro-Koro and whose position seemed impregnable, suddenly became a desert, leaving in the place it once occupied nothing but a confused heap of half-ruined huts. Shongui was very seriously wounded in the chest, throat and arm, from being shot several times while fighting against the natives of Wangaroa. He absolutely exterminated that tribe; the territory it occupied has become his by conquest and there he lies today waiting for his wounds to heal. Even should he survive, which is extremely doubtful, it does not appear likely that he will ever again be able to go into battle.

The natives of Wangaroa were well known for their fierce turbulent character and they had always shown great hostility to Europeans. They were the people who in 1809 murdered the entire crew of the Boyd. Less than two years ago they seized a little schooner (the Mercury) but the sailors escaped in an open boat to the Bay of Islands. Lastly, if one is to believe the tradition now accepted in the country itself, they were the sole authors of the ghastly catastrophe which brought to pass the horrible death of Marion and his companions in 1772.

The Wangaroa missionaries, abandoning their settlement, had returned to page 179Port Jackson. Those at Kidi-Kidi and Pahia had also sent their most precious possessions to this port and lived in daily expectation of being forced to leave their homes and seek safety in flight. In fact, the savages had made up their minds to rob them of all their property, if by chance Shongui died from his wounds; but in such an event, the very lives of these Europeans might be in serious danger. They now trust solely to the little schooner that they have built and fitted out in the Bay of Islands, and which, in case of sudden danger, would immediately afford them safe refuge.

Tekoke, the supreme chief of Pahia and the father of Rangui-Touke, whom I had seen at Wangari, had just set off with all his men to join his son. Nearly all the warriors of the Bay of Islands, to the number of about two thousand, had left for the same destination. Everything pointed to a bloody campaign bringing destruction to the unfortunate people of Shouraki Bay.

Tai-Wanga, one of the natives whom we had brought back on the Coquille from Port Jackson to New Zealand,^† was living with the Pahia missionaries. On his tattooed face and in all his gestures, I could see an expression of the pride and satisfaction he felt on seeing that I remembered him and said a few kind words to him.

I learnt that my friend Mr. Cunningham had left for Port Jackson two months ago. He had been in New Zealand at the season when plants are in bloom, which would take place in October, November, and December, but he had complained of finding little variety in the different species; a fact which has also struck me in my numerous excursions. This naturalist had gone south as far as the volcanic island Pouhia-I-Wakadi (Cook's White Island), and had visited a little bay called Tauranga, situated directly to the south of Mayor Island, the shores of which are inhabited and well cultivated. Nowadays the inhabitants of the Bay of Islands, travelling in their canoes, sometimes carry their invasions into these distant regions.

With the help of Tai-Wanga, who was familiar with all these beaches from his military expeditions, Mr. Williams confirmed the accuracy of several native place-names that I had already assigned. He also gave me a great many others that till then I had not been able to procure. In spite of all my inquiries, I could not obtain any general inclusive name for the territory surrounding the Bay of Islands. It is probable that none exists, page 180each tribe only recognizing its own particular name; and one must be content, so far as the bay is concerned, with the name conferred on it by the immortal Cook.

The establishment that the Agricultural Society^† had tried to set up on the banks of the Shouki-Anga river did not develop; it was abandoned after an expenditure of more than twenty thousand pounds on preliminary work.

The missionaries assured me that we had nothing to fear from the natives, who have an extraordinary horror of cannon. Nevertheless, I shall take care to see that there is as little intercourse as possible between them and our sailors on land; for that is the inevitable source of the disputes and various misfortunes that navigators who have visited these tribes have had to face. Although it is almost impossible to determine how the first offence has arisen, there is reason to believe that the Europeans have not always been above reproach or at any rate that their conduct has not always been sufficiently circumspect. I wandered about for some time in the settlement and the missionaries showed me everything: what they were growing, what they had built, and especially their workshops on a little ridge by the sea shore. In this connection, they told me that during a furious northerly storm, which had taken place not very long before this, a gigantic tide rip had rushed into the bay and, rising to a height hitherto unknown, had submerged a part of these workshops and finally, to the amazement of the natives, had reached the doors of the houses. As together we tried to trace the date of this phenomenon, we realized that it coincided exactly with the day of the memorable storm, which, a month before in the Bay of Plenty, had brought us within a few inches of destruction. It was clear then that this squall was something quite unusual, even for these regions where storms are normally so furious. This observation will give some idea of what it was to any readers who have frequented the coasts of New Zealand.

14th March—The missionaries promised to take charge of my letters to Europe and to send them on by a whaling vessel that they expected within two months and that would be going straight to England. After thanking them, I left them at about six o'clock in the evening and this time, with the wind, the tide, and a lovely sea in our favour, we were soon carried back to our corvette. Pomare's heir slept on board, as did several of his slaves' wives, who traded their charms with the gallant Frenchmen of the Astrolabe. page 181As we had already noticed on the Coquille, these poor creatures nearly always handed over to their master the gains made from their favours, and only kept for themselves the biscuit or food that they managed to procure as an extra. This intercourse went on throughout the time we were at Paroa. In spite of the complications and the disgust which in certain respects accompany it, I did not think it my duty to forbid it openly, partly to give our sailors a moment in which to forget their past troubles and their long privations, and partly to keep in my power a powerful guarantee against any plots on the part of the natives.

I had always wanted to secure one of those famous heads (moko-mokai), treated by methods peculiar to the tribes of these regions, with the intention of presenting it to Caen Museum, already rich in several respects, thanks to the enlightened good taste and friendly rivalry of my honoured compatriots. The opportunity had only occurred once and it has been seen how M. Bertrand then forestalled me. However, I never dared to open the question with the chiefs I met, lest greed might make them ruthlessly sacrifice one of their slaves in order to treat his head forthwith and bring it to me; for this has happened more than once. Wetoi came on the quiet to show me one of these heads, which from its elaborate tattooing I concluded had belonged to someone of importance. Except for a bad tear on the left cheek, caused by a wound, it was at that time in good condition and I made it clear to Wetoi that I desired to become its owner. For a long time he demanded in exchange a musket that I could not part with. At last, the sight of a richly trimmed dress, which his wife, who was present at our bargaining was desperately anxious to possess, and the sincere affection which Wetoi apparently felt for her, decided him; and the head in question came into my possession.

When I expressed a wish to know the history of this head, Wetoi told me that it had belonged to a powerful rangatira of the banks of the Wai-Tamata, called Hou, whom he himself had killed a month before. This Hou was the father of the noble, famous warrior Inaki, in praise of whom several Englishmen had spoken to me and who had perished so unfortunately a few years earlier under the blows of the savage Shongui. Into the eye sockets, instead of the gum which the natives used formerly, they had poured sealing wax, which they had procured from Europeans, and which they prize, not only because it is easy to liquefy, but also because of its polish, its rich page 182colour, and its odour. I brought this head to France and according to my intention I presented it to the Caen Museum, where it is today; but the humidity to which it was often exposed on board damaged it a good deal. So in its present condition it can only serve as a poor example of the astonishing results achieved by New Zealanders in the preparations they use to preserve the last remains of their chiefs.

A moment later, Wetoi introduced Pako's brother to me, a good-looking young man, then on a visit to Korora-Reka; he was delighted to hear that his brother had come on board, and particularly that I had liked him. Another acquaintance that I felt more honoured to make was that of Moudi-Panga's son, who was introduced to me by Wetoi. Moudi-Panga was that wise warrior chief of Kai-Para, whom Mr. Marsden depicted in such an interesting way in his stories and who had been able to hold out so long and so honourably against the murderous weapons of Shongui and his companions. It was the story of this famous but unhappy chief that had given me the original idea of a little imaginative work on New Zealanders and I had used a few of his characteristics as the basis of my hero's character. In fighting that had taken place three years earlier, he had died under the blows of Tepouna, the chief of Rangui-Hou. When I expressed to Wetoi my astonishment at seeing the son of Moudi-Panga in the midst of the people of the Bay of Islands, and, as it were, at the mercy of his most deadly foes, I asked him if he was there as a slave. He fiercely rejected such an idea, as insulting to his reputation, retorted that the young rangatira lived with him at Mata Ouwi as both a relative and a friend. In accordance with the laws of war, his father had met his death at the hands of Tepouna, but his son's life and liberty were none the less safe from any attack in the Bay of Islands. However that may be, this young chief, who gave the impression of being about thirty years old, had a most attractive appearance and a face that was gentle, serious, and intelligent. In so far as it is possible to judge moral by physical qualities and particularly by a man's manner, it is very probable that with care and education this young man could have developed into a fine personality, for everything seemed to promise that he would respond to training and that he had exceptional ability. In his father's name I gave him several gifts which he received with every sign of lively gratitude.

Wetoi parted from me early with all his warriors, informing me that he page 183was leaving the next day for Shouraki Bay, where he was called by the laws of honour and his duties as a chief. He left all his female slaves on board, being careful to commend them to my goodwill and to that of my officers.

Soon afterwards I received a visit from Mr. Williams and Mr. Davis to whom I showed the course we had held along the coast. They seemed very surprised by it, as well as by the details I gave them of our intercourse with the natives. In speaking of the trees that I had noted in Tasman Bay and at the head of Shouraki Bay, the conversation turned on woods in this part of the world that were suitable for shipbuilding. The missionaries assured me that the best was koudi [kauri] wood. From the description that I gave them, they thought that the one I spoke of was the Kai-katea [Kahikatea, white pine] found in swampy places; this is a very tall tree, very straight and imposing, but its wood is much too light and brittle to be used with success in building or for masts. These gentlemen added that both kinds grew in abundance in the forests of Kawa-Kawa and very kindly offered to take me there should I wish to examine them myself. In spite of all the cares that pressed on me, this offer seemed to be so attractive that I accepted it eagerly; I promised to meet them at sunrise the next day. They assured me that they did not know of any map of New Zealand since Cook's; the haphazard discoveries made by a few ships had not been published, and the surgeon Fairfold was the only man who had taken steps to make a rough sketch of of the Bay of Islands; this is the one they use today.

The longboat has made two more journeys to get water and the men have begun to cut wood. This work has been helped by a calm sea and fairly fine weather.

15th March—On the stroke of three in the morning, accompanied by Messrs. Lottin, Gaimard, and Lauvergne, I got into the big boat and set sail for Pahia. A pleasant S.E. wind soon drove us near Tapeka; after that, with oars and with the tide in our favour, we easily reached the little island lying before the mouth of the Wai-Tangui. Day was only just breaking and we were astonished to hear a confused murmur of voices that seemed to rise from the bosom of the waters. A moment later we saw a great many canoes, some lying still, others in motion, all along the shores of the island. I heard later that these canoes formed a section of the grand fleet of the Bay of Islands, which had tried to go out the evening before, but had been forced page 184to return by a contrary wind. Like the Greeks in Aulis, these islanders waited for more propitious winds, and it may be that the only thing these heroes lacked in order to resemble perfectly the victors of Troy, was a Homer. At least it is certain that it would have troubled them very little to sacrifice a maiden in order to gain the favour of the gods.

At the same moment, we saw through the mist, as if it were a light shadow, a schooner tacking in the roads to gain our anchorage. The boat was the Herald, that the missionaries had built at Pahia and which was now on her way back from Port Jackson, where it had been on a voyage. The contrast was moving; here was this little ship, a scrap of European civilization, manned by a few peace-loving Englishmen, serving none but pious and philanthropic aims; whereas these long canoes, the highest achievement of savage industry, loaded with bloodthirsty warriors, were going to carry fire and sword to the neighbouring beaches.

It was a quarter past five when we reached Pahia. Mr. H. Williams told us that his wife's indisposition would prevent him from coming with us; he gave us his brother Mr. W. Williams as a guide, who was extremely kind to us. But having his company could not give us the same advantages; for as he had settled more recently in these parts, he was still far from having acquired the same facility in the language or the same local knowledge as his brother.

We set sail towards the mouth of the Wai-Kawa. For about three or four miles this river forms a magnificent basin more than a mile wide; on its banks are to be seen from time to time attractive sites and pretty valleys which would appear suitable for cultivation. Mr. Williams pointed out the village of Shiomi, the place of residence of Tai-Tapou, who has succeeded in adding to his title of rangatira (chief) the authority of the most renowned and respected tohunga (priest) of all the regions round about.

The bed of the river turns sharply to the left, and the steep banks that rise here force the water into a deep narrow channel. It soon spreads out again forming a second basin; here one arm of the river flows in from the S.E. while the other flows from the S.W. Only the latter keeps the name Kawa-Kawa, and five or six miles from Pahia, it simply has the appearance of a fine peaceful river from one hundred and eighty to two hundred and forty feet wide. As we went along we met a great many flocks of ducks, page 185already so well aware of the effect of firearms, that it was impossible to shoot a single one of them. From time to time canoes floated at some distance from the boat; but in these parts the islanders, too, are so accustomed to visits from Europeans, that our appearance scarcely attracted their attention; as a rule they passed the boat without deviating from their course. Their war plans absorbed all their thoughts and Mr. Williams informed me that most of these canoes were used to carry supplies for the warriors about to leave.

Finally the river becomes a stream of no great depth; its water often clogged by tree trunks, canoes that have sunk to the bottom and river plants. We stopped a little way from the first houses of the village and set foot on shore. A few natives came to meet us on the river bank and seemed pleased to see us in the company of their missionary. He told me that we were on a piece of land bought in the name of the society and that Mr. Davis was to settle there with his family. Mr. Davis was a skilled farmer and he hoped by his example to inspire the natives with some desire for agricultural work.

As soon as we had had a hasty snack, I asked Mr. Williams to take me to the forests where I could see the trees that I wanted to study. We crossed the village of Kawa-Kawa, which seemed to me to contain about one hundred well-built huts; they stand in a lovely rich valley watered by two rivers, and carefully planted with kumaras, potatoes, maize, melons, and pumpkins. I was shown the houses and fields, the wives and children of Te Koke, the chief of the tribe and of Rangui-Touke his son.

The unbreakable taboo which applied to the fields of kumaras (sweet potatoes) till a certain stage in their growth, forced us to make long troublesome detours before we reached the woods in question. In vain had Mr. Williams flattered himself that his influence could free us from this absurd hindrance; in vain he used all his logical arguments with the natives to prove to them that as foreigners and white men we could not reasonably be made subject to these rules. They were deaf to all his arguments and made answer all the time that the kumaras were tapou-tapou, that the atoua [spirit] would be angry and would slay them if they allowed anyone to go near, and that, in any case, Te Koke and Rangui would kill them on their return. We were forced to yield to such powerful arguments and every time a field of kumaras appeared on our route, we had to make a long detour so page 186that it should not be defiled by any contact with us, or even, I believe, a look from us.

This example of the profound superstition of the New Zealanders further reminded me how far from correct Cook and even the scholars who accompanied him were, when they stated that these people appeared to be very little under the influence of priests or religion. At the same time, it explains what could have been the source of several of the disasters experienced by Europeans on these shores, disasters that were attributed solely to the ferocious character of the islanders, whereas they may have been due to religious prejudices that are no less deeply rooted in their hearts because they appear crude and incomprehensible to a stranger. If, in the days of Cook or Marion, the idea had come to a sailor to go near a field of kumaras or any other sacred ground, the islander would not have failed to drive him back. The white man, thinking himself insulted for no reason, could have replied by taking the law into his own hands; and thence would spring quarrels with those dangerous consequences that can easily be guessed.^†

For our part, knowing the opinions of our hosts, we respected them although we cursed them; we made all the détours that our guide considered desirable. For this reason we crossed the river several times; at this stage no more than a stream, fordable in many parts. Finally we reached a very damp valley that the river must put completely under water in the rainy season. Nearly everywhere there were enormous Kai-Kateas [white pine] and I saw at once that they must be a species of Podocarpus. It is a very fine tree, whose form and foliage recall the cypress to some extent, but it reaches very much greater dimensions.

From there our guide took us, with more détours, on the way to the Koudi site. From a slight eminence, I spent some time examining some really beautiful huts, built with the greatest care and adorned with curious carvings that showed remarkable skill for these regions. These huts are meant to serve as storehouses for the kumaras of the next harvest and are called doua-kumara. It is only in this kind of building that the New Zealander reveals all the sensitiveness and wealth of his art. Even the houses of the chiefs are in a lower category, no doubt because the first serve the whole community, whereas the others are only objects of private interest. Here perhaps is one page 187of the most irrefutable proofs of the truly democratic spirit of these tribes.

After climbing a hill covered with bushes and tall ferns, we entered the bed of a little stream that ran under the shade of various types of trees of gigantic dimensions. Once again I wondered at the extent to which the vegetation, and especially the ferns, reminded me of tropical forest, particularly in the little island of Ualan although in latitude alone we were one thousand land leagues away.

Four or five natives followed us chattering gaily, and showing by every means in their power their eagerness to please me. I had only to let it be seen that I should like a specimen of any plant or stone or insect, to see them rush off immediately to secure it and bring it to me with a smile. They repeated the name of Marion over and over again, and called me by it, probably imagining that I was a child of his. They told me emphatically that it was in the neighbourhood of these very forests that the ill-fated navigator had sent men to cut the masts that he needed. In any case, there can be no doubt that the people of Kawa-Kawa had had frequent dealings with him and his companions; they seemed to cherish Marion's memory, and they repudiated with horror any suspicion that they might have been involved in his murder.

On one of the slopes of the hill, surrounded by several other species, they showed me the koudi, which, in the opinion of the natives as in that of the missionaries, yields much the best wood in the whole of New Zealand. The missionaries use it for every sort of building, and the others make their finest war canoes of it. It is a splendid tree, pyramidal in form, and reaches a height of one hundred and fifty to one hundred and eighty feet; sometimes its trunk rises to one hundred feet without bearing a single branch. Our European regions cannot supply finer lengths of wood for the masts of our ships. To my great regret, I was unable to ascertain its correct classification, as I had no pieces showing its characteristics; there is every reason to suppose that it must be very similar to the Araucaria.

Mr. Williams afterwards pointed out to me the dimou [rimu], a very fine tree in size, form, and foliage. He told me that it reaches even greater dimensions than the koudi but its wood has the defect of being too heavy, which makes it somewhat unsuitable for naval requirements. Its branches dip towards the earth like those of the larch and the casuarina, while its tiny, setiform, pointed leaves would seem to place it among the page 188conifers. It was a source of never-ending surprise to me that in a season not very far advanced, which corresponds to our early September, already I could not find any flowers or fruit on these trees.

On the other hand, these fine forests, which gave me an accurate idea of the interior of New Zealand, roused my deep admiration. As I had been confined to the seaboard until now, my observations had been more or less limited to the coast. Here with the sea six to eight miles away, I was able, from what I saw, to form a more accurate idea of the interior of this great land. How many times did I long to devote more adequate time to the investigation of a country that seemed to me so deserving of interest from every point of view, and which could not fail to play an important part some day in civilization! But other duties called me and I was forced to tear myself from these parts, after having completed the observations which I had come to make. To get back to our boat we followed a different path from the one we had previously taken, but it was nearly as long, as we still had to respect the sacred plantations. Suddenly my attention was attracted by a few posts stuck into the ground a little to one side of the path, roughly painted with red ochre and surrounded by a little patch of newly-dug earth. My first impulse was to go and see what it was; but I was prevented by the savages, who rushed round in front of me and in the most forceful manner made signs to me to go straight on. I turned to Mr. Williams to ask what these emblems were and why I was not allowed to go near. My friend the missionary exchanged a few words with the natives; but I saw that he was anxious to avoid giving me any explanation, for all he would say in answer to my questions, and then only with a pained and embarrassed air, was that there was something there that I must not see. From the opposition of the natives, the embarrassment of the missionary, and especially from the shape and colour of the posts, I concluded that a human sacrifice had taken place in this spot not long before and that perhaps the pathetic remains of the victim were still to be seen. While persisting in their bloody rites, the New Zealanders, from a natural sense of shame, do not like to let Europeans witness them, for they rightly fear their contempt and their reproaches. From a somewhat similar feeling, although much more honourable, the missionaries do not care to let foreigners, and particularly Frenchmen, get proof from such incidents of the little progress they have made so far in influencing the minds of these barbarous tribes.

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At last we got back to our boat, and lay down on the cool grass to recuperate, as we were tired after the long distance that we had just walked. A great crowd of natives stood all round us and quietly watched us eat our meal. Their longing eyes followed the portions we carried to our mouths and if one of them was lucky enough to receive a piece of bread or meat from any of us, he smacked his lips with joy over such unusual food. I was really sorry that our meagre supplies, which were scarcely enough for ourselves, did not permit us to give happiness to more of them; so I had to be satisfied with offering the remains of the meal to the wife and children of our friend Rangui, a preference that caused some jealousy, but which found its excuse in the rank of the chief who was the indirect recipient of the favour. Afterwards I wanted to make clear to these islanders that if they would bring pigs and potatoes to the ship, they would receive in return whatever they chose. But Mr. Williams explained to me that in Kawa-Kawa they grew hardly anything except sweet potatoes, the harvest of which was still a long way off; and that they even refused to raise pigs, because they feared the ravages of these animals in the kumara fields. For the same reason, they have opposed so far the efforts of the missionaries to introduce cattle on the banks of the Kawa-Kawa. For many long years to come this absurd superstition of the taboo will prevent these people from making any progress in agriculture or in the arts that depend on it.

We embarked at about half past twelve; the tide was at its lowest, and very soon we found the river reduced to a trickle of not more than six to eight inches of water. The boat had to be dragged for nearly two miles. During that time M. Gaimard and I plunged into vast stretches of marshland on the left of the river; although under water at high tide, the ground was at that moment perfectly dry. On this spongy soil, we gathered a kind of ampul-laire [shell], which is very common there, and only saw a few water birds like ducks, sandpipers, etc. Only one kind of tree, growing in clumps of no great height, was to be found on these submerged plains.

After a great deal of trouble, the boat at last reached the spot where, as the bed of the stream was a little deeper, the men were able to use their oars. In spite of the resistance that we felt from the tide which was rushing up in full force, we reached the entrance to Korora-Reka Bay and at half past three we landed Mr. Williams at his home.

Wishing to make full use of what remained of the day, I set off at once page 190for the village of Korora-Reka which I wanted to visit. The sight of a few houses with chimneys, constructed by the hands of sailors and workmen who live in this place, is evidence to the explorer of the first effects of European civilization. While going through this hamlet, one soon noticed that their frequent intercourse with foreigners had already modified the beliefs of the natives; they have become more tolerant, and have even begun to give up some of their superstitious practices.

Almost all the men of the Korora-Reka tribe had gone to the war and several of the houses which are pleasantly situated along the beach were absolutely deserted. I felt that I should like to see the village of Mata-Ouii again, where the dreaded chief Pomare once ruled and where three years earlier I had received hospitality from Mr. Kendall.

As this village is only six hundred to eight hundred yards from Korora-Reka village, we were soon there, and I was struck by the changed appearance that it presented. In 1824 its huts were widely scattered in the traditional way on the slope of a neighbouring hill that runs out to form a promontory in the waters of the bay. Frightened no doubt by the disturbances that had recently broken out all over this part of New Zealand, and wishing to be ready at any moment to defend themselves against surprise attacks, the people of Mata-Ouii had grouped their new huts together at the foot of the hill on the seashore and had surrounded them with high palisades, reinforced at intervals by very strong posts.

An armed band came to meet us at the entrance to the pa and conducted us to the chief's dwelling. Wetoi, clad in his finest garments, received us solemnly, sitting at the door of his hut, with his double-barrelled gun close by. Round him were his wife, Ehana, Pako's brother, Moudi-Panga's son and his chief men. He informed me that the wind had upset his plans and that his departure was postponed till the next day. I enjoyed having a good look at the boy Heikai, Pomare's eldest son, scarcely eighteen years old, to whom nature has given the most interesting face. So far the harmony of his features had not been marred by tattooing. There was nothing in his bearing or his utterances that would seem to indicate the fierce character and bloodthirsty courage by which alone he could hope to win the respect of his compatriots.

My attention was also attracted by his hut and by Wetoi's hut, both adorned with figures carved in wood and with bas reliefs of a very strange page 191conception, showing most curious forms. I got young Lauvergne to draw them in great detail.

I was shown, standing a hundred feet away from the village, the little house of a whaling captain named Brimm, who has married a native woman and apparently developed such a liking for the country, that he has made up his mind to settle there. Enormous piles of koudi wood, stacked round about, had been got together at his expense and he was going to use them to build himself a spacious, convenient house.

Mr. Kendall's little house had been destroyed and the natives had spared nothing but the tiny cemetery founded by the missionary, which was still enclosed, just as it was when I visited him. Their profound respect for mortal remains had secured the privileges of taboo for this plot.

On the way back to the boat through Korora-Reka, I made a bargain with an English carpenter living in the village, and he agreed to deliver three hundred feet of koudi wood planks, for three pounds (about seventy-five francs) or thirty pounds of gunpowder. At that moment I was simply thinking of our needs on board, and I little suspected the use to which these planks were to be put one day.^†

On the way I was shown the house of King George, the chief of Korora-Reka; it was very small and altogether without any sort of ornament. Near it a house was being built for his daughter, in half European style, which will be infinitely more agreeable.

We embarked and by half past seven we were back on board the ship, well content but exhausted after our long excursion.

So long as the missionary remained with us, I questioned him on various subjects and obtained the following information.'

Baron Thierry, who claimed to own all the islands of New Zealand, and who had offered to cede his rights to several European governments, oh more or less strange terms, really had acquired from the savages about fourteen thousand acres of land on the banks of the river Shouki-Anga. The transaction had been carried through with a whaling captain acting as intermediary; Mr. Williams assured me that in this case they had observed the same formalities that had been already used when the missionaries wished to acquire land in the Bay of Islands. In this connection, the narrative that I had already heard from Mr. Marsden's lips was fully confirmed.

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When the purchase was proposed by the Europeans, the native chiefs of the district gathered to discuss in full council whether the request should be granted. The question having been decided in the affirmative, the Europeans handed over the firearms, utensils, and implements stipulated by the terms of the transaction, and took possession of the site in question. While they were drawing up the deed of purchase in writing, the leading chiefs had a special moko [design] tattooed on their faces. Then they added this same moko at the bottom of the deed, as a sort of signature. According to Mr. Marsden, a pact made in this solemn form can never be violated. But Mr. Williams, who is better acquainted with these islanders, thinks that continuous occupation is necessary if the purchasers are not to lose their rights; and that if they were forced to be absent for a long period, they would risk having to pay a second time to recover possession of their lands. However that may be, in the event of a foreign invasion, such rights would be absolutely void in the eyes of the victors, since as a general rule they only look on the missionaries themselves as the first subjects of the chief of the tribe.

For that matter, added Mr. Williams, Baron Thierry (whose schemes did not appeal to stay-at-home French people, little accustomed to cross the ocean) had met with some success in London. The English are of an adventurous nature and fearlessly transport their household goods to the ends of the earth. A number of working-men had enrolled under the banner of Baron Thierry, to set out under his auspices and take possession of New Zealand. But in the end it was recognized that the Baron, the self-styled sovereign of the antipodes, had not the means to fulfil his pledges and the last news received announced that all his schemes had collapsed. It is easy to understand how ridiculous were the claims of a man who posed as the owner of the whole of New Zealand, on the strength of having bought a few acres of land from one of the numerous tribes.

A better-conceived company had been formed with the modest title of "The New Zealand Flax Society" and had tried quite recently to found an establishment in these parts for large-scale cultivation of Phormium tenax [New Zealand flax] and the exploitation of timber for building. The new settlement consisted of seventy people, under the direction of Mr. Shepherd, who by long residence in New Zealand was well fitted for the position. The colonists were landed in Shouraki Bay by Captain Hurd and they first of page 193all chose a site for the settlement which appeared to suit their aims; but hearing very soon afterwards that the natives had made a plot to attack them without any warning and carry off everything they had brought with them, the new settlers fled with all speed. Then they went to the shores of Shouki-Anga where they stayed a few days to investigate the district. Finally, realizing that the alleged advantages, of which so much had been said to them, in no way came up to their expectation, they once more took their way back to New South Wales, without even having landed.

When I afterwards questioned Mr. Williams on the ideas and customs of the natives, he told me that, according to these islanders, the spirit of the dead still lingers for three days after a man's death, hovering over his mortal remains; then they go, by a way shown to them, to Cape Reinga to be hurled into oblivion in the Po-Noui (eternal darkness). One chief of Rangui-Hou, on emerging from a coma which had lasted two days, declared that his soul had already set off for Cape Reinga, when it was stopped by the Waidoua (spirit) of a maiden of his tribe, who had died a short time before. She had declared that he still had twenty-four hours to live with his family and that after that she herself would receive him and lead him into the Po-Noui. In fact, he died two days later. The bodies of the dead are placed in an upright position in wooden cases hermetically sealed, and remain in this condition for the time required to bring about the absolute decomposition of the flesh, then the bones are removed with the prescribed rites and laid to rest in the family tomb.

According to this missionary, in marrying, the man does not need the consent of the woman. The consent of the father or brothers is enough; then the maiden can be carried off by force by her lover. But this is scarcely in accordance with the gallant story that Touai had told me, or with the sincere affection which often exists between husband and wife. During a marriage, as at the time of a death (always according to Mr. Williams), the neighbours rush up to ravage and pillage the lands of the husband or the dead man. No doubt this had happened in many cases, and especially in marriages in which the proprieties appeared to have been violated; but I do not believe it to be the invariable custom.

Although treated quite ruthlessly as a general rule, some women win the deep affection of their husbands and even acquire a strong influence over their minds. Etoudi, for example, Shongui's wife, who died recently, although page 194blind and not at all young, had absolutely gained the confidence of that fierce warrior. She used to go with him to war and take part in the fighting and she often influenced public deliberations. The missionaries all agreed that Etoudi was a woman of outstanding ability and good judgment.

New Zealanders have a sort of baptism, when they give a name to a newborn child and Mr. Williams is inclined to think that they have some idea of circumcision.

This missionary estimates the number of inhabitants of the island Ika-na-Mawi at five hundred thousand; he also estimates that only one-tenth of the soil which covers the area could be ploughed. Although bracken covers most of the heights which are not wooded, nevertheless there are places in the interior where Phormium grows in abundance. These islands do not produce serpents or poisonous insects, nothing but a few fairly large lizards. Nor does one find, he added, either land Crustacea or fresh-water fish, which is difficult to believe when one thinks of the vast lakes at Maupere and Roto-Doua [Omapere and Taupo-Moana]. It is between sixteen and seventeen miles from Kidi-Kidi to Wai-Mata and between sixteen and eighteen miles from Kawa-Kawa to Tae-Ame. This last region is well populated and has good arable land; Temarangai is one of its leading chiefs. Small ships could go a fairly long way up the river Kawa-Kawa. It takes its name from that of a plant, a kind of pepper, which grows in abundance on its banks; but the natives do not know how to extract an intoxicating drink from it, as is done in the islands of the equator. They know, however, how to concoct another drink from the little black berries that grow in clusters on a bush that Forster called Coriaria sarmentosa. White Island (Pouhia-i-Wakadi) is certainly an active volcano, which Mr. Williams visited quite recently with his brother and Mr. Cunningham; they noticed a few trees, but the rest is bare. Moreover, the sulphurous, suffocating fumes which it gave off forced them to re-embark with all speed. M. Quoy was given a few specimens of rocks that came from this volcano. So this, of course, explains the masses of smoke that enveloped the island when we passed it and the numerous pieces of pumice-stone that we saw floating on the waters of the Bay of Plenty.

16th March—This morning all the members of the crew went on shore to wash their clothes in fresh water. I stayed on board all day to finish my letters. In an extremely detailed report, I have given the minister an account of all our operations from our departure from Port Jackson to our arrival page 195in the Bay of Islands. It is no doubt very much to be feared that reports sent to France from a region situated in the antipodes often fail to reach their destination. This is, I confess, a matter of acute anxiety for me; for, in the course of the new dangers that we shall have to face, the certain knowledge that it will be possible for the navy and those interested in the sciences to learn some day how we used our time off the coasts of New Zealand would at least be a great satisfaction to us. When we seemed about to perish on the fearful reefs of the Bay of Plenty, the saddest thought that took shape in my imagination, was that we were all going to disappear without leaving even the slightest trace of our labours.

The longboat went and threw out a seine net on the peninsula where our observation post is and only brought in a meagre supply of small fish. Two canoes came alongside with potatoes and a few vegetables, but the prices asked by these natives are exorbitant. They did not blush to demand a pound of powder for a few onions and other things on the same scale, refusing any other sort of article in exchange.

The tribes of the Bay of Islands are absolutely demoralized by intercourse with the whalers, and I do not know why the missionaries persist in staying there, rather than going to live at other points in the south of Ika-Na-Mawi, where they would have more hope of seeing their efforts crowned with a measure of success.

The men have continued replenishing our water and wood. I sent M. Paris to take my post-bag to the missionaries at Pahia; our draughtsman went with him to make a drawing of their little settlement. About eleven o'clock in the morning a canoe came alongside and I was delighted to see old Jack Rangui, the brother of Koro-Koro and Touai, who had once served as sentry on the Coquille. Now weighed down by infirmity and crushed under a weight of misfortune, the poor islander greeted me with tears in his eyes and seemed very pleased because I remembered him. I talked to him of his time on board with us and I gave him one or two presents. He confirmed the statement that, in fact, it was Shongui's men who had driven the inhabitants of Kahou-Wera from their homes. A short time after Touai's death, his wife Ehidi and his little son had also died. The ariki Touao and his wife still lived and were refugees, as was Rangui himself, in Wai-Tangui, but he complained bitterly of the ungenerous behaviour of the chief and members of the tribe. Te Rangui brought four pigs in his canoe, but as he page 196absolutely insisted on receiving a blanket in exchange, and as nobody could give him one, he had to take them back with him.

At midday I left the corvette, accompanied by Messrs. Quoy, Gaimard, Gressien, and Lesson, to go to see the ruins of the neighbouring pa; so we landed in the cove situated on the far side of the peninsula that enclosed it. A very low beach runs most of the way round this creek. Different heights, that can be seen in the neighbourhood, bear quite clear traces of having been worked by men; and it is most probable that they were once the sites of Zealand strongholds before Kahou-Wera existed, and like it have been abandoned. With these people, abject slaves to taboos, there are a thousand reasons, quite apart from the fortunes of war, for which a tribe might decide to abandon its home; not in New Zealand must one look for sites hallowed by the lives of successive generations.

For a time my attention was drawn to the shore by a few huts in ruins, some fragments of tombs and some fencing lying in the grass. A little way away, in a rather pleasant position shaded by some fine trees, a somewhat rare thing on this part of the coast, one could still see Koro-Koro's country home. It was nicely constucted, forming a square with sides measuring at least ten to twelve feet and I could walk about in it quite easily; which constitutes luxury among these people, whose huts are seldom more than five or six feet high. It is true that having lived in Sydney and even in London, Touai's ideas must have been somewhat enlarged, and his brother's palace may have reflected them.

Afterwards we climbed the hill whose summit was occupied by the ruined pa. The huge trenches which surround it, the covered way and some of the palisades still existed; but the silence of the desert pervaded the scene. Four years earlier, conducted by Touai, I had been received there with honours of war by his cousin, the ariki Touao, who commanded the fort in his absence. Just then, Touao's wife was being tattooed on one of her shoulders, and I had stood beside her for a moment. Then I had been much interested in going about among the huts of the pa, which were arranged in rows rising one above the other on the steep slope of a hill, and housed a large hardworking population. Not a soul remained; six months had sufficed to change into ruins these fragile dwellings constructed simply out of branches, leaves and a few planks; everywhere grass was pushing up into the gaping holes. Before two or three years have passed, travellers will scarcely be able to tell page 197whether man ever dwelt on this hillside; so quickly can all trace be lost of peoples who have remained strangers to the arts of civilization.

I got my secretary to make two or three different sketches of this deserted village; I meditated for some time on its ruins and, bringing my eyes back to the corvette peacefully anchored below me, I recalled the ordeals which she had already had to face. Only a year had passed since we left France, scarcely a third of the time she had to serve. Moreover, the regions that we were now going to pass through were much more dangerous than those we had already crossed, with the exception of New Zealand. There was cause no doubt for solemn thoughts … But I rose quickly, not wishing to indulge in them; I went back to the beach and embarked at the very spot where Touai had shown me his great nets with such pride; they were four or five times the size of our seine net. Now nothing was left but the uprights of the shed in which they were once stored.

I kept poor Rangui to dine with me, an honour that I had not accorded to any of the other chiefs of the Bay of Islands, and I questioned him once again about what he knew from tradition concerning the murder of Marion. Just as his brother Touai had already told me, Rangui maintained that Tekouri, who was responsible for the crime, did not belong to the Bay of Islands, but to Wangaroa, as did his warriors. Toupahia or Malou was the chief of Rawiti where Marion was at anchor and Kotahi was in command of the island of Motou-Doua where the sick had been landed. Kotahi, the grandfather of Koro-Koro, was the first victim of the French. Rangui declares emphatically that it is to Marion that his fellow countrymen owe the pigs, onions, swedes, cabbages, and turnips they possess today. In spite of the unjust claims of the English, the truth of this will appear to be more probable if one will but reflect that Marion spent more than two months at this spot, and that he had a plot cleared for a garden where he planted all sorts of seeds. Cook, on the other hand, who only came here on his first voyage, did not spend more than five or six days here; nor does he say anywhere that he left the natives any of these products, which he would assuredly not have failed to mention, had the opposite been the case. Manawa-Ora is a site situated at the head of Manawa Bay only two miles from the wood where the koudi grows. That is where Mr. Marsden hoped to form a settlement in Koro-Koro's time. Rangui told me that the island of Motou-Doua is the private property of his family and that today the lawful page 198heir to it is Koro-Koro's son Kahou, better known under the name of Williams. He assured me that a great many wild pigs lived on it and invited me to go and kill a few for the crew of the Astrolabe. Rangui and his suite had special permission to spend the night on board, permission accorded them because of their misfortunes and the old bonds of hospitality that we had forged together on the Coquille.

18th March—During the morning only three canoes loaded with flax and potatoes came alongside. At first the men who manned them would not consent to part with these things for anything but guns; only after they were convinced that we were not willing to give them guns, would they accept gunpowder. Our tow was coming to an end, so I bought a good supply of New Zealand flax for the naturalists. The savages in these canoes, most of whom belonged to the Kidi-Kidi tribe, showed the same arrogance, the same fierce attitude and the same duplicity in bargaining that had already struck me when I was here before. I gave orders, therefore, that a careful watch was to be kept on them and at the same time I refused to allow them on board.

I was curious to verify to what extent Rangui's tale of the pigs on Motou-Doua was true, so I set off with M. Dudemaine, the head steward, and the head sails-hand, the two most enthusiastic shots on board, and guided by Rangui's son and a young native called Kokako, I was taken to the island. I looked with great interest at the little valley situated to the south, for this was where Marion had set up his hospital and made his garden. No vestige remains, so far as I could see; but cabbages and swedes grew in abundance and the little plot of ground, very limited in size, appeared to be extremely fertile.

Our men with the guns lost no time in scouring every part of the island to start hunting the pigs. I, on the other hand, walked up quietly to the highest point, only gathering a few plants here and there, for its vegetation is neither varied nor flourishing and consists for the most part of bracken and brushwood, neither of them at all remarkable. From the top I gazed with admiration at the glorious view of the whole bay, with its ramifications and the numerous islands which made Cook give it its name. While reflecting on the advantages that this wonderful haven can offer ships, I could not help thinking of the important part it will play some day, when New South Wales has become a powerful state. After Shouraki Bay and Cook Strait, the page 199Bay of Islands will be one of the places most frequented by ships that will then plough the Pacific in every direction.

Tired of my fruitless search for botanical and entomological specimens, I lay down on the bracken to ponder these matters. After an excursion into the future, seeing in my imagination the scene that time and civilization are preparing for these lands, my thoughts were tired by their long flight and returned to rest on the corvette. I then remembered that I had arranged to leave the next day and I decided to go back to the ship to push on the preparations.

All this time the huntsmen had been tracking down wild pigs; they caught sight of three, but they did not get one of them. To have any success in this type of shooting, it would be necessary to have dogs or to take up positions at daybreak. These animals are very suspicious and extremely agile. I also think that since the expulsion of the inhabitants of Kahou-Wera, the natives of the neighbouring tribes must have indulged in frequent shooting expeditions and so have reduced the number of pigs considerably. Indeed Motou-Doua seems to have become the rallying point for warriors going to Shouraki Bay; their final point of departure.

At about eleven o'clock in the morning, the Englishman who had sold me some wood arrived with it; our master carpenter thought it was excellent quality. For three hundred and sixty feet of koudi this man received thirty-six pounds of powder, which he will resell to the natives at a high price. He placed New Zealand woods in the following order, according to their quality: first, koudi, the best of all in every way, and suitable for making excellent masts; second, tanakea [tanekaha], which has the defect of being heavier, third, totara, which has the opposite defect; fourth, poudi-kovea [pohutukawa], still heavier than tanakea; fifth, lastly, dimou [rimu] which in shape is like the New Zealand larch, and is the heaviest wood in the whole country. He also quoted several other woods whose names I have forgotten. This man had brought me a head tattooed after death, in the hope of selling it to me. But it was so badly preserved that I did not want it and I think a sailor acquired it for a few old garments.

From a note that I had asked Mr. Williams to let me have and that I have just this minute received, it would seem that the method used by the natives to achieve such an astonishing preservation simply consists in exposing these heads to the heat of their earth ovens, after they have removed page 200the brains and replaced them by hot stones. When they have got rid of any sort of gaseous elements, so as not to spoil the flesh, they then expose the heads to the heat of the sun until a state of perfect desiccation is reached. Properly treated, these heads can then be kept for twenty, thirty, or fifty years without deteriorating, care being taken not to expose them to damp. Mr. Williams assures me that no foreign substance is used in this process, which would therefore be of the greatest simplicity.

The twelve to fifteen women, who since our arrival had settled down on board almost without moving, were still there this evening and I foresaw a most difficult moment when we should have to get rid of them the next morning, just as we were getting underway. I thought it would be better to free ourselves of them before that, and I gave orders that they all be told to embark in a big canoe that had remained near the ship. As was to be expected, many tears were shed, for these poor creatures grow really fond of Europeans, in spite of the little time that they can spend with them. At last, at six o'clock in the evening, M. Jacquinot told me that all the natives, men and women, had left the ship and that there was now no one remaining, except one young man who had resisted all attempts to send him back, declaring that he wished to follow us wherever we went. Then the petty officers came forward to tell me that, in fact, from the moment that the corvette had anchored, this young islander had settled on board, working like a real sailor and being quite satisfied to receive any scraps of food left over. Obedient, hardworking, and intelligent, he had announced his determination to remain on the Astrolabe until he was thrown overboard. Already, by his attitude and his happy temperament, he had managed to gain the friendship and interest of all the hands. I sent for him and I saw a thickset little man, alert and quick to understand, who, but for two or three slight traces of tattooing on his lips, might easily have passed for a dark-skinned Provengal or Sicilian. I questioned him in his own language, a mixture of New Zealand and debased English. I learnt that he was not born in the Bay of Islands. He had been a slave of the Korora-Reka tribe from childhood. After seeing his companions offered as sacrifices at the obsequies of the last rangatiras, he was afraid of seeing his turn come and knew that he would be the next. He had already served on two whaling vessels and he did not complain of the work. Every sort of request, all the supplications and promises he could think of, he tried everything to persuade me to take page 201him with me. Touched by his persistence-and moved by the thought of the fate which awaited him, I thought that it would be a humane act to take him with us, as we could always drop him elsewhere, if he wished. As soon as he received permission to stay with us, the poor fellow let himself go in demonstrations of the most exuberant joy; then he pulled himself together, assumed a more confident manner, and announced in a most resolute tone to the natives, who were waiting for him in their canoe, that he was now a Youroupi (European), and consequently very tapou, and that no one had any rights over him except the rangatira rahi of Kaipouke. The others seemed to take very little notice of this declaration; at the moment of taking their final leave of us, only one female slave went up to Kokako, said good-bye to him after the shongui manner, shed a few tears and all was over. I entered him on the ship's books as a domestic servant and saw that a few clothes were given to him, which he wore straightaway as if he had been used to them all his life.

Messrs. Jacquinot and Lottin went once more this morning to take the altitude so as to check the rates of the chronometers, while everything was being prepared for getting underway. At twenty minutes past ten we weighed anchor and set our course to leave the bay; it was then high tide and we found twenty feet of water on the bank which had stopped us when we entered. The wind was blowing N.E.; we had to tack to get out of the bay, and it was not till the third tack that we were able to make the open sea, passing within three cables of the curious rock Wiwia. We again saw very distinctly Cook's reef, to the N.W. of the little island of Okahou, and M. Lottin took some new bearings of it.

At last the Astrolabe is leaving the stormy coasts of New Zealand and will now make her way to the more peaceful regions of the equatorial zone. If we believe the accounts given by most of our predecessors, if we trust to what we ourselves experienced during the peaceful voyage of the Coquille in that zone, where the prevailing winds are usually pleasant breezes from the E. and S.E., we shall at least be able to rest after our long strain. Our minds, welcoming in advance this pleasant vision, strive to forget the terrible ordeals which we have undergone. Three times was the expedition brought to the brink of absolute destruction: at the entrance to the Bay of Currents, in the French Pass, and, worst of all, near the reefs of the Bay of Plenty. On twenty different occasions was the ship assailed by raging winds, and page 202only with the greatest difficulty have we been able to complete the important task that we had undertaken. But we carry with us the conviction that we have set upon the time we spent round the coasts of New Zealand the seal of work well done. An enormous part of these coasts hitherto uncharted has been drawn in the greatest detail and with the most scrupulous accuracy. Henceforth geography will never be able to consider these great southern islands without recalling the labours and discoveries of the Astrolabe. Whatever the perils, whatever the privations, all are forgotten in view of such a result….