"Oh, he cleared out. The kainga became too hot to hold him after the chief's dismissal. He will join some party of outlaws. They will be common enough when real business begins." The chief walked up with Mannering from the kainga, and joined the party at lunch in order to say farewell. Massinger was much impressed with the calm dignity and courteous manner of this antipodean noble. Apparently unconscious of any incongruity between his national surroundings and those of his entertainers, he might have posed as a British kinglet during a truce between the Iceni and the world's masters. "A friend of mine dined with the Reverend Mr. Marsden at Parramatta in 1814," said the host, "where he met Hongi Ika with his nephew Ruatara. That historical personage had recently returned from England, where he had been, if not the guest of a king, favoured with an audience, and in other ways enjoyed social advantages. My friend said none of the swells of the day could have conducted themselves with greater propriety or shown a more impassive manner." "All the time Hongi had blood in his heart. He deceived the good Mikonaree," said the chief. "His thought was to destroy Hinaki and his tribe, the Ngatimaru, as soon as he could buy muskets. Yet he did not take Hinaki by surprise, for he told him to prepare for war, even in Sydney. Then Totara fell, and a thousand Ngatimaru were killed. But the times are changed. The Queen is now our Ariki; for her we will fight, even if the Waikato tribes join Te Rangitake. The Ngapuhi and the Rarawa have taught the Waikato some lessons before. They may do so again." * * * * * With a fair wind, light but sufficient to fill the sails of the _Pippi_, they swept down the river, which, increasing in volume near the heads, showed an estuary more than two miles in width. Not far from where the breakers proclaimed the presence of a bar, and opposite a point of land historically famous for tribal orgies, stood the ancient settlement of Waihononi. A substantial pier, available for reasonably large crafts, also a store and hotel, showed the proverbial enterprise of the roving Englishman. Fronting the beach stood Mr. Waterton's dwelling, a handsome two-storied mansion, surrounded by a garden which, even while passing, Massinger could note was spacious and thronged with the trees of many lands. An orchard on the side nearest the ocean was evidently fruitful, as the vine-trellises and the autumn-tinted leaves of the pears and apples showed. An efficient shelter had thus been provided against the sea-winds and the encroachment of the sand-dunes. These had been planted with binding grasses, including the valuable "marram" exotic, so wonderful a preventative of drift. Ability to protect as well as to form this outpost was not wanting, as evidenced by the presence of half a dozen nine-pounders, which showed their noses through the otherwise pacific-appearing garden palisades.