[Footnote 35: Heke had been for years a Christian, according to the Maori notion of Christianity, which was then, if not now, a mere jumble of superstition and native barbarism. Here Heke says, that because he _prayed_ to the "fellow in heaven"--by which he means that at stated periods he had for some years made use of certain words which were supposed to gain the favour of "the European God"--that in consequence that God should favour him now if he was able. The word _karakia_ which Heke made use of does not mean prayer as we understand that word. _Karakia_ properly signifies a formula of words or _incantation_, which words are supposed to contain a _power_, and to have a positive effect on the spirit to whom they are addressed, totally irrespective of the conduct or actions, good or bad, of the person using them. The fact is that the Maori has, perhaps, the lowest religious character of any human being; his mental formation seems to have the _minimum_ of religious tendency. The idea of a supreme being has never occurred to him, and the word which the missionaries use for God (_Atua_) means indifferently, a dead body, a sickness, a ghost, or a malevolent spirit. Maui, the Atua, who they say fished up the island from the sea, is supposed to have _died_ long ago by some, and all agree that he no longer exists.] All this which I have told took but little time, for in battle when men's eyes shine there is no listlessness. But by this time Heke's men to the right were quite defeated by Walker, and running away; but Walker pursued them, slowly and with caution, for the ground was covered with brushwood, and rocks, and high fern, and the enemy though defeated were still more numerous than we were, and we followed slowly lest we might fall into an ambush.