He raised an army of one thousand men, three
hundred of whom had been taught the use of his muskets. The
neighbouring tribes had no guns. He went up the Tamar, and at Totara
slew five hundred men, and baked and ate three hundred of them. On
the Waipa he killed fourteen hundred warriors out of a garrison of
four thousand, and then returned home with crowds of slaves. The
other tribes began to buy guns from the traders as fast as they were
able to pay for them with flax; and in 1827, at Wangaroa, a bullet
went through Hongi's lungs, leaving a hole in his back through which
he used to whistle to entertain his friends; but he died of the wound
fifteen months afterwards.

Other men, both clerical and lay, followed the lead of the Rev. Mr.
Marsden. In 1821 Mr. Fairbairn bought four hundred acres for ten
pounds worth of trade. Baron de Thierry bought forty thousand acres
on the Hokianga River for thirty-six axes. From 1825 to 1829 one
million acres were bought by settlers and merchants. Twenty-five
thousand acres were bought at the Bay of Islands and Hokianga in five
years, seventeen thousand of which belonged to the missionaries. In
1835 the Rev. Henry Williams made a bold offer for the unsold
country. He forwarded a deed of trust to the governor of New South
Wales, requesting that the missionaries should be appointed trustees
for the natives for the remainder of their lands, "to preserve them
from the intrigues of designing men." Before the year 1839, twenty
millions of acres had been purchased by the clergy and laity for a
few guns, axes, and other trifles, and the Maoris were fast wasting
their inheritance. But the titles were often imperfect. When a man
had bought a few hundreds of acres for six axes and a gun, and had
paid the price agreed on to the owner, another owner would come and
claim the land because his grandfather had been killed on it. He sat
down before the settler's house and waited for payment, and whether
he got any or not he came at regular intervals during the rest of his
life and sat down before the door with his spear and mere* by his
side waiting for more purchase money.

[Footnote] *Axe made of greenstone.

Some honest people in England heard of the good things to be had in
New Zealand, formed a company, and landed near the mouth of the
Hokianga River to form a settlement. The natives happened to be at
war, and were performing a war dance. The new company looked on
while the nati