It now behoved Rapata to square the other chiefs, who were as yet ignorant of the execution, so, taking the bull by the horns, he called a meeting of the tribal notabilities, the agenda being, What was to be done with the delinquent? At this meeting Rapata made a most eloquent and diplomatic speech, pointing out how wrong they would be to spare such a man simply because he was a relation of their own. Again, what would the white men say if a man of good blood was allowed to go scathless while men of lower rank were shot by the dozen? In fact he so cornered them that they knew not what to say, until at last old Wikiriwhi, a chief of the greatest rank, who very probably was getting bored and quite possibly wanted his dinner, became so moved as to say: “We leave him to you.” “Then,” rejoined Rapata, “he is a dead man”; and so he was and had been for twenty-four hours. Of course a large number of Hau Haus had escaped with Te Kooti, and many of them, weakening on the job, returned in small batches to their homes, some having the temerity to show themselves in the white settlements, and these the weak-minded Government left unmolested, notwithstanding it was well known they were all more or less implicated in the various massacres. True there was not much evidence against them, as all their victims were dead, but this did not assuage the sorrow of relations nor mitigate their wrath, and on several occasions the white settlers very properly avenged themselves. One case was as follows: A man named Benson, hearing the murderer of one of his relations had returned, bailed him up and shot him dead. On the following day Benson was warned by the town constable to attend as a juryman at the inquest of the defunct. This surprised him and he tried to point out to the representative of the law that for him to do so would be rather out of place as he himself was the shooter; but the sapient official refused to entertain the excuse and threatened him with all sorts of dreadful penalties should he not comply with the order. So Benson sat as juryman on his own trial, gave evidence against himself, and at the end of the inquiry was one of the twelve good men and true who brought in the following verdict:--“Shot by some person unknown, and serve him right.”