It was in May 1867 that the last of the military settlers were disbanded and handed over their land-scrip, but most of them, not wishing to be murdered, and possessing a far greater knowledge of the true state of affairs in the district than the Government, sold their rights for what they would fetch, and either left the country or went to the gold-diggings, which were now booming, as the great Coromandel and Thames gold rushes were in full swing. The volunteers had also completed their period of service and, owing to the crazy manner in which the Government, mad for retrenchment, acted, no others were enlisted, so the district was almost without defenders. Now there was some excuse for the members of Parliament representing the South Island, who knew nothing about the circumstances of the case nor the customs of the Maoris, but there was no excuse for anyone on the ground, much less for the damned commissioner, who not only wilfully misled the Government but did everything in his power to thwart and hamper McDonnell. It may have been true that the Maoris wanted peace for a time, or rather a truce, as we had so rattled them, destroying their crops, villages, stores of food, etc., that they must either gain time to recuperate or give in, and they completely hoodwinked the Government. For even Titokowaru with some of his men visited Waihi early in June 1867 and announced that this was the year of the lamb, meaning that it was to be a year of peace, but he said nothing about what animal was to represent the coming year. Again, shortly after this visit, another hostile of importance, Whare Matangi, chief of the Paka Kohi tribe, visited Patea, he also declaring this was to be the year of the lamb, but likewise refraining from mentioning what the following year was to be; and the astute natives so utterly blinded the Government, who, longing for peace themselves, persuaded themselves they had obtained it, that they refrained from grasping the opportunities pointed out by McDonnell; and the festive Hau Hau planted and garnered his crops in security, laid in provisions and ammunition for future use, rebuilt his pahs, furbished up his firelock and sharpened his tomahawk, for are not these the pursuits meet to follow during the piping times of peace? This relaxation of hostilities also gave time to Titokowaru to consolidate his party of irreconcilables, and he was joined by very many hotheads of other tribes, which soon gave him greater standing in the country. Anyhow, it was not long before the natives showed their real inclinations, as the very same Paka Kohi tribe which the commissioner had declared to be so desirous for peace forcibly stopped the survey of the Whenua Kura block and although they did not murder the survey party, still they drove them off the land.