we arrived at New Zealand; and the decline of the marine barometer announced that another storm must be weathered, before we could reach a place of safety.

The people here seemed to be of industrious habits, of milder manners, and far more under the control of their chiefs, than those at the Bay of Islands. When the Prince Regent schooner, which arrived two days. before the Dromedary, anchored in the river, so many war canoes, filled with men, surrounded her, that the commander, whose crew consisted of nine persons, was not a little alarmed at his unprotected situation; but his apprehensions were soon removed by a chief named Moodooi, who came upon deck and tabbooed the vessel, or made it a crime for any one to ascend the side without permission. The injunction was strictly attended to during her stay in the harbour; while Mowhenna, the chief of the tribe in the immediate neighbourhood of the Heads, daily presented the people with several bas

kets of potatoes, and extended the same liberality to the boats of the Dromedary, when they accidentally went on shore. The day after we arrived, one of the natives whom we had brought round from the Bay of Islands announced his intention of leaving us. This man called himself the priest and the pilot of Shukehanga, and was supposed by his tribe to have power over the winds and the waves; an influence, which, when he was asked to exert during the late gale, he declined, by saying, that "he could not do so in the Dromedary, but that if he were in his own canoe, at his word, the storm would instantly abate."

During his stay in the ship there certainly was nothing of a very sacred character about him; he was by far the wildest of his companions, and, unfortunately, on the morning fixed for his departure, a soldier having missed his jacket, there was so great a suspicion of the pilot's honesty, that the sentinel at the gangway took the liberty of lifting up his mat, as

he prepared to go down the side, and discovered the stolen property under it. The jacket was of course taken from him; and as the only excuse he had to offer for his misconduct was, that he had lost a shirt that had been given to him, and that he considered himself authorised to get remuneration in any way he could, he was dismissed without those presents which were given to the others. We were glad to see that his countrymen seemed to notice his conduct in the strongest terms of disapprobation; and the next day, when they were about to leave us, they seemed so determined to put him to death, that they were requested not to do so, but to consider his having lost his presents, and his being forbidden ever to come near the ship, a sufficient punishment for his offence.

April 3d, Monday. Fine, thermometer 69°, wind E.N.E. and moderate. P.M. at one we saw Cape Maria Van Diemen bearing N.E. N. distant eight leagues. The barometer fell very rapidly in the evening, and dur

ing the night it blew very hard, with constant rain and a heavy sea, and we again parted company with the Prince Regent schooner.

April 4th, Tuesday. Dark hazy weather, wind E. and light, thermometer 78°. The ship rolling very much, and no observation. P.M. heavy rain and blowing weather; at five the wind veered to the S.W. and it cleared up; much rain and lightning during the night. 5th, Wednesday. Cloudy and showery, wind S.W., thermometer 69°. At daylight saw the Cavalles Islands, and at three P.M. we anchored in the Bay of Islands.

In this excursion we had almost as much bad weather as during the whole of the passage from England to New Zealand. The ship was so light, that it was impossible to calculate with any certainty upon her staying; and in the heavy seas we encountered off the North Cape, she laboured so much that a cow and a bullock and two sheep were lost, besides the greater part of our poultry. The Prince Regent schooner

had arrived three hours before us, having suffered much in the late gales. The American ship, General Gates, lay in Tarrea's river on the north-west side of the bay; she was in the sealing trade, and had put in during our absence for refreshments.

We had not been long at anchor, before Krokro came to congratulate us on our return; and he seemed highly pleased at the want of success that attended our excursion. He now, in conjunction with Tooi, made an offer for the first time to muster all his tribe, and cut down and load the ship with any timber that grew in his district; but in proffering this service his only object could be to enhance his welcome, as he was perfectly aware of its impracticability.

April 6th, Thursday. Showery, thermometer 69°. A few canoes came alongside, and sold some fish. The carpenter having pointed out some trees, at no great distance from Mannawarra Bay to Krokro, he undertook to bring them alongside, gathering all his