In due course a messenger reached the _pa_ with the intelligence that the Missionaries at Rotorua had received a copy of the treaty, whereupon Te Heuheu set off with five hundred picked men, prepared to resist to the uttermost should an attempt be made to compel his submission to the Queen. On reaching the Papai-o-Uru _pa_ at Ohinemutu, the discussion began, after the ceremonial of welcoming the strangers had been concluded. The copy of the treaty which the Arawas were being invited to sign, had been entrusted to Messrs. Morgan and Chapman, the Church Missionaries, and to them Te Amohau and Te Haupapa addressed themselves on behalf of their tribe: "The Arawa people have nothing to say in regard to your object. The Arawa will await the word of Te Heuheu Tukino, and will abide by what he says to you." Te Heuheu arose with stately grace, and repeated an ancient chant, revered amongst the sacred _karakia_ of the Maori, and known as _Hiremai_. He repeated it to the end, all ears being strained to detect an error, the commitment of which would have boded evil, but he went on faultless to the finish. Leaping to their feet his warriors then indulged in mock passages-at-arms, and when this form of revelry had ended the great chief delivered his judgment upon the treaty: "_Hau wahine e hoki i te hau o Tawhaki_. I will never consent to the _mana_ of a woman resting upon these islands. I myself will be a chief of these isles; therefore, begone! Heed this, O ye Arawa. Here is your line of action, the line for the Arawa canoe. Do not consent, or we will become slaves for this woman, Queen Victoria." Te Pukuatua then rose and gave the final answer for his tribe: "Listen, O Parore, you and your _Pakeha_ companions. The Arawa have nothing to add to the words of Te Heuheu. His words denying the _mana_ of the Queen are also our words. As he is not willing to write his name upon your treaty, neither will the chiefs of the Arawa come forward to sign." Then turning to Te Heuheu he added: "Hear me, O Heu. The Arawas have nothing to say, for you are the person of the Arawa canoe." The blankets given to Iwikau, at Waitangi, were returned to the Missionaries by Te Heuheu, with the remark: "I am not willing that your blankets should be received as payment for my head and these Islands," and with this embargo put upon their operations, the agents of the Lieutenant-Governor were unable to secure a single Arawa signature to the treaty. The fiat of Te Heuheu went even far beyond the steaming waters of Rotorua, for at Tauranga upon the coast there lived Tupaea, a chief of the Ngai-te-Rangi, whom because of his influence the Missionaries were particularly anxious to enlist as a subject of the Queen. He too hung upon the words of Te Heuheu, and when he was approached he made answer thus: "What did Te Heuheu say to you at Rotorua?" The reply was: "Te Heuheu did not consent." "And what of the Arawa chiefs?" asked Tupaea.