"Nor," says he, "did the tears of some of the women who followed us from one of his residences we found at the bottom of the Bay, make me think more favourably of him. After walking about a mile along the beach, and crossing the sandy isthmus we arrived at an estuary, the road leading round it being only passable at low water. After walking and wading another half hour we arrived at the _pa_, but the chief had gone into the country. A native was, however, sent after him. Here we remained some time, but no chief appearing, we prepared to return, and left a note for him explaining the nature of our mission, with a native who was able to read. Before reaching our boat Te Hapuku overtook us, accompanied by a chief from the Bay of Islands district, named Hara. The chief, Te Hapuku, at first refused to sign the treaty, saying that he was nobody, and that he had heard that those who signed it at the Bay of Islands had been made slaves. I therefore requested Mr. Williams to ask the chief Hara, who was one of those who had signed, how he came not to be made a slave and how many slaves he had seen at that place when he left the Bay of Islands with Mr. Williams' father. He endeavoured then to explain his meaning by a sort of diagram on a piece of board, placing the Queen by herself over the chiefs as these were over the tribes. I told him it was literally as he described it, but not for an evil purpose as they supposed, but to enable her to enforce the execution of justice and good government equally amongst her subjects. Her authority having been already proclaimed over New Zealand with the consent of the greatest number of influential chiefs, he would find that the tribes must no longer go to war with each other, but must subject their differences to her arbitration; strangers and foreigners must no longer be plundered and oppressed by natives or chiefs; nor must the natives be injured or insulted by white men. It was not the object of Her Majesty's Government to lower the chiefs in the estimation of the tribes, and that his signature being now attached to the treaty could only tend to increase his consequence by acknowledging his title. He might, therefore, sign or otherwise as he thought best for his own interests and those of his tribe. To give him greater confidence I told him I regretted it was not in my power to show him the ship, as we had not the means of relanding his party. I could give him and his party a seat in our gig, but as they did not appear to have any canoes in this part of the Bay I did not know how they were to get back. He then immediately volunteered to go and take his chance of meeting with some canoes alongside the ship, in which he might return.