Now, therefore, we the chiefs of the Confederation of the United tribes of New Zealand, being assembled in congress at Victoria, in Waitangi, and we the separate and independent chiefs of New Zealand, claiming authority over the tribes and territories which are specified after our respective names, having been made fully to understand the provisions of the foregoing treaty, accept and enter into the same in the full spirit and meaning thereof; in witness of which we have attached our signatures or marks at the places and the dates respectively specified. When he had concluded, he turned to Mr. Henry Williams, and invited him to read to the natives the translation which had been prepared in the Maori language. "In the midst of profound silence," Mr. Williams wrote in subsequent years, "I read the treaty to all assembled. I told all to listen with care; explaining clause by clause to the chiefs, giving them caution not to be in a hurry, but telling them that we, the Missionaries, fully approved of the treaty, that it was an act of love towards them, on the part of the Queen, who desired to secure to them their property, rights, and privileges. That this treaty was a fortress to them against any foreign power which might desire to take possession of their country, as the French had taken possession of Otiaiti." MAORI TRANSLATION OF THE TREATY OF WAITANGI AS PRINTED AT THE PRESS OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY, PAIHIA KO, WIKITORIA, te Kuini o Ingarani i tana mahara atawai ki nga Rangatira me nga Hapu, o Nu Tirani, i tana hiahia hoki kia tohungia ki a ratou o ratou rangatiratanga, me to ratou whenua, a kia mau tonu hoki te Rongo ki a ratou me te ata noho hoki kau wakaaro ia he mea tike kia tukua mai tetahi Rangatira hei kai wakarite ki nga tangata Maori o Nu Tirini. Kia wakaaetia e nga Rangatira Maori te Kawanatanga o te Kuini ki nga wahi katoa o te wenua hei me nga motu. Na te mea hoki he tokomaha ke nga tangata o tona iwi kua noho ki tenei wenua, a e mai nei. Na, ko te Kuini e hiahia ana kia wakaritea te Kawanatanga, kia kaua ai nga kino e puta mai ki te tangata Maori ki te pakeha e noho enoho ture kore ana. Na, kau pai te Kuini kia tukua a hau, a Wiremu Hopihona, he Kapitana i te Roiara Nawi, hei Kawana mo nga wahi katoa o Nu Tirini, e tukua aianei amua atu ki te Kuini e mea atu ana ia ki nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga o nga Hapu o Nu Tirini me era Rangatira atu enei ture ka korerotia nei. _Ko te tuatahi_ Ko nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga, me nga Rangatira katoa hoki, kihai i uru ki taua Wakaminenga, ka tuku rawa atu ki te Kuini o Ingarani ake tonu atu te Kawanatanga katoa o ratou wenua. _Ko te tuarua_