Kooti in the north-eastern part of the island.
Te Kooti himself, after perpetrating several other massacres of
settlers, was a fugitive, hotly hunted by Rapata, who gave him no rest,
surprising him several times, and exterminating the last remnants of
the band who had escaped with him from the Chatham Islands. Te Kooti
himself was now believed to be hiding somewhere in the Waikato country;
but he was no longer dangerous, his schemes had utterly failed, his
pretensions had even in the native eyes been altogether discredited, and
all who had adhered to him had either been killed or punished by the
destruction of their villages and clearings. There was not the slightest
chance that he would ever again trouble the community.

The settlement on the Mohaka river had grown, and in six months after
Wilfrid's return the whole of the land lying between the Allens' farm
and Mr. Mitford's was taken up, and two or three families had settled
beyond Mr. Atherton's holding. At The Glade everything went on
prosperously--the animals multiplied, the crops were excellent, and,
owing to the many settlers arriving and requiring food until they could
raise it for themselves, much better prices were obtained for the
produce, and it was no longer necessary to ship it to Napier or
Wellington.

Although Mr. Atherton had not gone through any such fatigues as those
that he had endured at Poverty Bay, he had continued steadily to
decrease in weight. Feeling himself so much lighter and more active on
the return from the expedition, he had continued to stick to long and
regular exercise, and was out every day, with a native to carry his tin
collecting-boxes, his presses, axe, and trowel, from breakfast-time
until dark. As he steadily refused to take any food with him, and fasted
from breakfast-time till supper, the prolonged exercise in the close
heat of the woods did its work rapidly, and at the end of a year from
the date of his taking up his abode at The Glade he could no longer be
called a stout man, and new-comers looked with admiration at his broad
shoulders and powerful figure.

"When I first came to New Zealand," he said, "I thought it probable that
I should only stay here a few weeks, or at most a few months, and I had
a strong doubt whether it would repay my trouble in coming out here. Now
I am sure that it was the very best step I ever took. I weighed the
other day at Mitford's, and I did not turn eighteen stone, which is
nothing out of