ned, and this gives him the right to be the first to proclaim
peace. His speech is ended and he "falls in." Some three or four others
"follow on the same side." Their speeches are short also, and nearly
verbatim what the first was.

Then who, of all the world, starts forth from "ours," to speak on the
side of "law and order," but my diabolical old acquaintance the
"Relation Eater." I had by this time picked up a little Maori, and
could partly understand his speech. "Welcome! welcome! welcome! Peace
is made! not till now has there been true peace! I have seen you, and
peace is made!" Here he broke out into a song, the chorus of which was
taken up by hundreds of voices, and when it ended he made a sudden and
very expressive gesture of scattering something with his hands, which
was a signal to all present that the ceremonial was at an end for the
time.

Our tribe at once disappeared into the pa, and at the same instant the
strangers broke into a scattered mob, and made for the long shed which
had been prepared for their reception, which was quite large enough,
and the floor covered thickly with clean rushes to sleep on. About
fifty or sixty then started for the border of the forest to bring their
clothes and baggage, which had been left there as incumbrances to the
movements of the performers in the ceremonials I have described. Part,
however, of the "_impedimenta_" had already arrived on the backs of
about thirty boys, women, and old slaves; and I noticed amongst other
things some casks of cartridges, which were, as I thought, rather
ostentatiously exposed to view.

I soon found the reason my friend of saturnine propensities had closed
proceedings so abruptly was, that the tribe had many pressing duties of
hospitality to fulfil, and that the heavy talking was to commence next
day. I noticed also that to this time there had been no meeting of the
chiefs, and, moreover, that the two parties had kept strictly separate:
the nearest they had been to each other was thirty yards when the war
dancing was going on, and they seemed quite glad, when the short
speeches were over, to move off to a greater distance from each other.

Soon after the dispersion of the two parties, a firing of muskets was
heard in and at the rear of the fort, accompanied by the squeaking,
squealing, and dying groans of a whole herd of pigs. Directly
afterwards a mob of fellows were seen staggering under the weight of
the dead pigs, and proceeding to th