Nov. 5th, Sunday. Heavy showers, thermometer 64°. The natives having discovered the place in or near which a soldier's musket had fallen out of a boat, on the sixth of the preceding month, many, both of George's and Teperree's tribe, assembled at different times to dive for it, with the intention, as they said, of giving it to the white man, and obtaining the reward that had been offered for its

recovery.

It was generally thought that none of the parties had been successful; but George, who never let an opportunity pass of vilifying his rival, déclared that Teperree had fished up the musket during the night with a net; that he had it in his possession, and did not intend to return it.

The musket lay so near the ship that it was almost impossible for any attempt to be made to recover it, even during the night, without attracting the attention of the people on watch; but George asserted the fact so positively that it was thought right to acquaint

Teperree with the accusation made against him, and to impress upon him the necessity, if he really had the musket, of giving it up.

The individual who undertook this mission called at Teperree's pah, but found it almost deserted; and, being told that the chief had retired with his tribe some distance into the interior, the officer took a native boy to guide him to the place. After a walk of about three miles over the hills, to the north-eastward of the harbour, he descended into a beautiful valley, watered by a small river, where there were a few houses and many fires.

To the New Zealanders, whose organs of sight and hearing are so singularly acute, the approach of a stranger is early known; but, in this instance, they were so busy planting potatoes and burning the heath, previous to the ground being cultivated, that the officer was not perceived until he stood in Teperree's presence. The chief was seated on the ground before a large fire, surrounded by his wives and other members of his family, and

eating his dinner which consisted of dried fish and pounded fern root.

The appearance of the stranger seemed to be far from welcome; and his explanation of the cause of his visit, and his assurance that in the event of its being proved that Teperree had the musket, and that he de-. clined returning it, unpleasant steps would be taken for its recovery, evidently excited much alarm in the whole circle. The tribe soon gathered round their chief, who, after having told them what the officer had said, ordered all the muskets belonging to his people to be collected; and, when they were laid before him, he separately pointed out from whom and where each of them had been obtained; declaring "that George had told an untruth, and that he was a bad man." Teperree's manner was so candid that it was impossible not to agree with him in what he said of George he was at once assured that no further suspicion could be attached to him. This little incident will probably show how

much the natives stood in awe of the numerical strength of the Dromedary, when an individual, alone, unarmed, and removed from the possibility of obtaining assistance, could, in the midst of a savage tribe, deliver to its chief so disagreeable a message without meeting with the slightest personal disrespect. When the officer was taking his leave, Teperree remarked, that he had heard the Dromedary was soon going to King George's country (England), and asked when she would return. Upon being told in twelve moons (their way of calculating time), he immediately said, "Then I shall never see you again, for I shall die before that time." The officer having remarked that he saw no reason for such an apprehension, all the members of the chief's family, and particularly the women, cried out "Yes, yes! before twelve moons Teperree will die." Teperree, who was a young man and in perfect health, not only heard the prediction of his premature fate

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with perfect composure, but repeated his conviction of its certainty.

With Teperree's explanation it was presumed the business had ended; but George, whose policy was to keep him from the ship, maliciously spread a report, "that his denial of having found the musket had gained no credit with the white men, and that it was their intention to hang him the first time he came on board.”

Teperree, whose fears magnified this threat even to the probability of being attacked by the Europeans in his pah, continued to reside in the interior with his family and many of his tribe; and though on a subsequent occasion an officer went out to see him, and to declare that there was no intention of injuring him, he could not be prevailed upon to come near the Dromedary.

The misunderstanding was attended with some inconvenience; all the supplies of fish and vegetables that had hitherto been ob tained, came from Teperree's people; but