Now this was all tommy-rot, and I marvelled at a smart soldier listening to such twaddle. In the first place a Maori does not build a hut to burn it down. Again, we had heard from Rapata that the position of Ngatapa was one of extraordinary strength. Te Kooti had expended an immense amount of labour in fortifying it. He had successfully defended it against the first attack. Why, therefore, should he desert it? No, it seemed to me that it would be far more probable that the dense smoke the tenderfoot scouts had seen was caused by the Hau Haus clearing ground in front of their works so as to destroy cover, especially as dry fern and raupo, commonly used by the natives for thatch, burns with but little vapour, while undergrowth and timber, full of sap, burns with a great deal, and was therefore far more likely to be the fuel causing the great clouds of smoke reported by the scouts. Now I happened to be present at the time the scouts reported to the Colonel, and, when they had finished their yarn, ventured to state my opinions, at the same time offering to take Pierre and George, scout up to the place, and verify my theories. It would have been better for me had I held my tongue, for I received in reply a most stinging rebuke, which was both unjust and unmerited. It is true a colonel may not be desirous of receiving advice or suggestions from a subaltern, still I had been employed on many important occasions and had earned a reputation as a scout, and, as he well knew, had put in three years’ hard bush training, so even if it were presumption on my part to make a suggestion, still that suggestion was worth while taking into consideration, if not acting upon, especially as I offered to run the risk, which was by no means a small one. Anyhow, the Colonel chose to give me a most unmerciful slating for what he was pleased to term my impertinence, and also added some most caustic remarks on my general utility, and these in such a sarcastic and bitter tone that it was only my strict sense of discipline that prevented me using the whip I carried in my hand over his hide, and I was greatly delighted when I met him years afterwards, when we were both civilians, to be able to give him my plain and unvarnished opinion of his conduct both as an officer and a gentleman. However, to return to our mutton; orders were immediately given for our return to Tauranga, which were promptly carried out, and Colonel Whitmore made arrangements to re-embark us forthwith to Wanganui; in fact No. 6 Division of the Armed Constabulary was already shipped on board the _Sturt_ for the west coast, but by the merciful dispensation of Providence the skipper was absent, and the old tub, objecting to the officer temporarily in charge, sat down on a rock, which, knocking a hole in her bottom, necessitated the relanding of the men.