handkerchief both blinded and choked me. The room was small, and I knew it so well I could put my hand on anything in it blindfold. I at once went to the iron box, unlocked it, took out the Treaty of Waitangi, and the seal of the colony, and ran out again directly. I suppose from the time I entered the building until I left it was not more than a minute, but it seemed an hour. I carried the seal and the treaty to the house of Mr. Felton Mathew (Surveyor-General), which was close by, and gave them into his charge. When I got outside the burning offices several persons had come up, amongst them some seamen from a French man-o'-war, then in harbour. They had a portable fire-engine, but it was useless, for there was no water. Of course the building and its contents were all destroyed, amongst them the iron box from which I had taken the seal and the treaty. The box was made of common sheet iron. "I subsequently fastened the different sheets of the treaty together and deposited it in the Colonial Secretary's office, where I presume it has been ever since." To commemorate the signing of the treaty, Mrs. Busby planted the Pohutukawa tree still growing in front of the old Residency (see illustration). The Maoris have also erected a monument on the opposite side of the river, beside what is known as the Treaty House, where they at one time hoped to establish a Parliament of their own. The monument was unveiled by the Hon. William Rolleston, Native Minister, on March 23, 1881. The original documents comprising the Treaty of Waitangi are now in charge of the Department of Internal Affairs. CHAPTER V IN SEARCH OF SIGNATURES