War to the Knife or Tangata Maori

s secluded world to its occupations. Early as was the hour, Mannering was already dressed, and strolling through the garden with his matutinal pipe. The kainga was alive and

the day-god's summons, as a warmer glow suffused the sky and tipped the crown of the frowning dark-hued pah with gold. Massinger betook himself to the jetty at the foot of the garden, a

the hall, looking as fresh as the morn, which she not inappropriately typified. "You did not disturb me, for I sl

bed at all if he had not suggested it," said

one who knows about books and the world, that he cannot find it in his heart to le

: 'If I go to bed late, I always get up early.' There will be plenty of time to sleep when there is nothing better to do; that is, if Te Rangitake and his Waikato friends

well. The knowledge may come in useful by-and-by.

as younger then, and had the honour of being one of t

firearms

g

ssing-Phormium tenax being the purchase-money for muskets-that many died of the unhealthy conditions, marshy levels, and crowded whares in which they lived.

case of lif

own country. With characteristic Maori reticence, he kept his own counsel when staying with the worthy pioneer missionary, Marsden, at his house in Parramatta, where Admiral King often met him, and was much struck with his dignified and aristocratic carriage. By the way, it was th

d they n

e chiefs, and as such in

efly on an alluvial flat, through which a creek ran its winding course. It had been swollen by recent rains, so, encountering a small party of women and children carrying baskets, Erena inquired in the vernacular as to the best place to cross. A pleasant-looking woman asked, apparently, who the pakeha was, and after receiving Erena's reply, in which Massinger detected the word "rangatira," laug

asked, as they went on their

arkled with merrim

e; he looks like one.' They are keen observers, you see, and very conservative. It would astonish y

craze for equality

g

At the same time, he must keep up to a certain standard in war or peace,

ave?" inq

r none at all. So also the common people of the tribe must obey the chiefs, more particularly i

men?" queri

work hard, and are not so much considered as they might be. They do most of the cultivation, mat-making, co

ows that human nature is much the same everywhere, and that all societ

ted the powers of less practised pedestrians, they stood upon the wind-swept summit, artificially levelled, and [Pg 218] through the heavy sliding gates entered the ancient fortress. Before doing so they had to cross trenches, to scale embankments, and had time to note the various strategic preparatio

e expanse of land and sea which lay beneath and around them-the broad estuary,

the garden-like plots of the kumera fields. Almost unchanged was the scene since the rude warrior, standing on stages behind these palisades,

e I was living contentedly in an English county, on an estate which my forefathers had held for cen

h a paradise as England is said to be,

distinct advance in knowledge and development. My life then was narrow and mon

England,-noble-sounding words! What boundless fields of enjoy

gh a desert waste, haunted by lost illusions, and strewed with withered garlands. For a while I thought to end it, but a convalescent sta

g? And what possible reason could you have had for such

nsupportable. I chose this colony as the most distant and interesting of England's possessions; and here I am, an exile and a w

n, suddenly fixing her eyes, bright with

all you held dear? You said I was a comrade, [Pg 220]

blessed or cursed except by a woman? When is he hindered, injur

eautiful, clev

h her equal. She was an acknowledged qu

girl, hastily, while her tones vi

king, respect-words by which women disguise indifference; but she believed that she had a mission in life, a call from

d so she would not be happy because she desired to teach

d her own life, and r

not get what they want, or find that it is not what they hoped for. Yet I suppose some people are

ion. A child stood at her knee, while she was busied about her simple task of needlework. The midday sun had warmed, not oppressed, the atmosphere, and there was an air of sensuous, natural

Where is Henare? Yo

cheerfully, "but he always comes home at nig

ou have!-weather-board

and put it up. He likes living here better than in the ka

ciently educated to be happy and contented," said Erena. "He is a steady, hard-working fellow, and,

ife, it is-it must be-an advantage; but if, through anything in their condition, it produc

g

e said with a sigh. "I seem to have all manner of tas

to them, joyous with the magic tones of youthful love and hope. It furn

f her complaint. "You were never born for such a life. Nature has gifted you with the qualities which women have longed for in al

r, she was not proof against this confident prediction. Her youth's hey-day a

ing waves, all speak of happiness? And yet, and yet--But here comes your schooner, r

is last interview with this fascinating creature, so subtly compounded of the classic beauti

can never be mad enough to defy the power of England. I must make a Christmas visit to Hokianga, if indeed we do not meet in Auckland before the spring

other articles. But we must not deceive ourselves. Months, even years, may not see the end of th

oyage would be resumed. No time was lost, therefore, after lunch in sending their luggage on board, strictly limited as it had been to the requirements of the march. Warwick, who as paymaster had been giving gratuities to the nati

g

r volunteers such as you and I may be, and native allies often give warning when white ones would

hat became of

after the chief's dismissal. He will join some party of out

with the calm dignity and courteous manner of this antipodean noble. Apparently unconscious of any incongruity between his national surro

rical personage had recently returned from England, where he had been, if not the guest of a king, favoured with an audience, and in other ways enjoyed

uy muskets. Yet he did not take Hinaki by surprise, for he told him to prepare for war, even in Sydney. Then Totara fell, and a thousand Ngatimaru were killed. But the times are changed. T

and hotel, showed the proverbial enterprise of the roving Englishman. Fronting the beach stood Mr. Waterton's dwelling, a handsome two-storied mansion, surrounded by a garden which, even while passing, Massinger could note was spacious and thronged with the trees of many lands. An orchard on the side nearest the ocean was evidently fruitful, as the vine-trellises and the autumn-tinted leaves of the pears and apples showed. An efficie

es Maritimes, the detention was frankly allowed. Time was not of such extreme value on the Hokianga as in some trading ports. Mr. Waterton expressed himself charmed with the opportunity thus afforded of entertaining any friend of Mannering's. Massinger was equally gratified with the happy acciden

rbour bar, and the aroused ocean billows, "if I had lost this opportunity. The delay in land-travelling might have been serious, but, as the Maoris are not yet a sea-power, a day's passage more or less c

g

ardly regarded him as an intruder; the well-appointed and compendious library in which to range at will; the walks; the rides through forest and vale; the fishing expeditions, in one of which Massinger, proud in the triumph of having hooked a thirty-pound schnapper, discerned the snout of a dog-fish uprising from the wa

tructed, illuminated, as he told himself, by this sojourn in woodlands wild. Face to face with Nature, untrammelled by art, he had seen her children in peace, in love and friendship. He was now

g

n England. His shooting, too, was exceptional, and a brilliant career was predicted for him with the North Herefordshire hounds. A few epistles came from club friends and relatives. They were of the sort written more or less as a duty to the expatriated Briton, but which rarely survive the second year. The writers seemed much in doubt as to his locale, and uncertain whether New Zealand was one of the South Sea Islands or part of Australia. They all wished him good luck, and foretold future prosperity as a farmer, which was the o

took up a letter in a hardly feminine hand, which he had placed somewhat apart, as a bonne bouche for the latter end of the collection. This turned out to be from his candid and

tion, and observing with satisfaction a coupl

dear Sir

great-aunt, who evidently thought that any girl with a decent amount of go in her, who did not habitually confine herself to phrases out of Mrs. Hannah More's works and read the Young Lady's Compan

h scarlet fever. I made her come and stay with me after she was convalescent, and oh, how deadly white and weak she was!-she that was such a tennis crack, and could walk like a gamekeeper. I tried with delicacy and tact (for which, you know, I was always famous!) to draw her about your chances-say in five years or so. But she would not rise. Said, 'people were not sent into the world to enjoy themselves selfishly,' or some such bosh; that she had her appointed work, and as long as God gave her strength she would expend what poor gifts He had endowed her with, or die at her post; that in contrast with the benefits to thousands of our suffering fellow-creatures which one earnest worker might produce, how small and mean seemed the conventional marriage, with its margin narrowed to

spondent. I am afraid there is no opening for a young woman in that line yet-a young woman who isn't clever enough to be a governess, loathes nursing, would assassinate her employer if she was a lady help, but who can walk, ride, drive, play

of the century as regards young women. I remember being troubled with it mys

ake you laugh. He advises you, in the elegant language of the day, to 'keep up your pecker,'

cere friend,

beth Meriv

g

a comparative cure, when his tastes had been satisfied and his curiosity aroused by the incessant marvels of a fantastic region, he had been recalled to the old land, resonant with the past anguish. The inhabitants of this enchanted isle, with their mingled pride and generosity, chivalrous courage and ferocious cruelty, had aroused his sympathies. There, be

ache stricken down in the pride of her mental and bodily vigour, laid low in the conflict in which she had so rashly, so wastefully, risked her magnificent endowments. Had he been in the neighbourhood of Massinger, to cheer, to comf

town. Here he was confronted with the world's news, and details of this, the latest of Britain's little wars, in particular. First of all he betook

ny of the indispensable necessaries of a man of fashion, and apparently a man of war, as could be adjusted to an unusual limitation of space. A rifle stood in the corner of the apartment; a

present-don't carry well. Suppose you've taken to a pipe, too, since you've begun your Maori career? Got

ndium of his life and

" he said; "but I wonder that people concern them

g

elligence since the war. Tired of that, naturally.

nce, which I shall learn by degrees. But what am

ato said to be joining. Taranaki settlers afraid of sack and pillage. Troops and men-of-war sent for. In the mean time, the de

fixedly for a moment, until he saw a smile gradually m

rs! Splendid fellow, Von-Paladin of the Middle Ages. Seen service, too. Son of a Prussian general, I believe. Commission in 3rd Fusiliers in '44. Cut that, and travelled through Central America. Commanded irregular Indian regiment. Piloted officer

g

se to serve under. Where ca

or the front, day after tomorrow.

Lochiel, where he expected to receive fuller information as to the state of the country, and the pr

e knew that you must pass through Maori country, and in the present disturbed state of the island there was no

. Mannering at Hokianga, with

. He is judge and law-giver among the Ngapuhi, and a war chief besides. A truly r

he can consent to lead a life so lonely, so removed fro

ely attached to her father, and nothing would induce her to leave him. Have

g

t the militia and volunteers are called out; also the Forest Rangers, in which band

to fight when he's put to it. He knows the country well, too. There is no doubt in my

u think the war wil

if the neighbouring tribes join Te Rangitake. Richmond is of the same opinion. Three Europeans have been shot on the Omata block. It was to av

y further de

kato. They say that three thousand Maoris were present, who were all on

s the outcom

was proved to whom the land really belonged. The killing of men at the Omata block na

f Te Rangitake

anaki land commissioner, whom the Maoris blamed for the Waitara affair. Te Rangitake's people wanted to kill him at once, but Epiha dr

me, but to God. I shall meet you as an enemy in the daylight. No

iscipline his men were in to withstand the other fellows, and save th

to them, which is more than our people always do. But I hear that the Governor is going to stop the

the settlers a

olonel Gold has destroyed the mills, crops, and houses of the natives on the Tataraimaka block. So the war m