and
astonished at the accuracy of their shooting, and had greeted them very
heartily on his return, and invited them to act with his force. They
had, therefore, during the siege taken up their position in some
rifle-pits in the rear of his party, and from here had done great
service to the Ngatiporou by covering them from the enemy's fire, for
the Hau-Haus soon learned that it was almost certain death to stand up
to take a steady aim above the parapet.

After the defeat of the Hau-Haus many of the natives of Poverty Bay who
had joined Te Kooti, and taken a prominent part in the massacres,
deserted him, and calmly returned to the settlement as if nothing had
taken place, and the authorities allowed them to remain unmolested. The
settlers, justly indignant that men who had so lately murdered women and
children should be allowed to come down among them with impunity, formed
themselves into a vigilance committee, and some of them who had lost
relatives in the massacre bound themselves by oath to shoot the next
party of ruffians who made their appearance.

An opportunity soon offered. A native who had assisted in murdering Mr.
Wylie's son came in, and was shot by Mr. Benson. The following morning,
to his astonishment, Benson was warned to attend as juryman at the
inquest of his victim. In vain he assured the native constable that he
was the man who had done the deed, and that he ought not therefore to
sit. The constable refused to entertain the excuse, and so Benson not
only sat on his own trial but gave evidence against himself, and the
jury, among whom was Mr. Atherton, having heard his statement, brought
in the following verdict: "We find that the deceased was shot by some
person unknown, and served him right."

The day after this verdict was returned Mr. Atherton and Wilfrid, who
had been waiting ten days for a coasting craft, sailed for the Mohaka
river, and, landing at Mr. Mitford's, borrowed two horses from him, and
were soon at The Glade.

"I am afraid I am heavy on a horse still, Wilfrid," Mr. Atherton said as
they started, "but this animal may be thankful that I did not ride him
the last time I was here. I calculate I must be at least four stone
lighter than I was."

"You certainly have lost a good deal of flesh, Mr. Atherton. I almost
wonder that you did not continue with our friend Rapata. He declares
that he will follow up Te Kooti till he catches him if it takes him a
couple of years."

"No, no, Wilfrid