A spark there, had been the going off, by mishap, of a midshipmite's
pistol. The lad was toying with it, amusing himself and a Maori chief.
'Look here, old fellow!' he had exclaimed, and to his own amazement the
pistol went bang, hurting the chief in the face.
Extracting from his Maori mercury, every point of information he could
furnish, Sir George ordained silence upon him, lest uneasiness might be
caused among the people of Auckland. Then, on the plea of making a rapid
tour of the outposts of the Colony, he organised a move on Wanganui. He
went thither by sea, with a contingent of troops and a body-guard of
leading Maori chiefs.
'These,' Sir George smiled, 'had been vowing all sorts of handsome things
to me, and I took them at their word. I said to them that no better
opportunity could arise, enabling them to fulfil their promises. They
would be beside me, ready to send orders to their several tribes, should
the assistance of these be needed. I need hardly add, that nothing
untoward could happen in the localities which the chiefs denoted, while
they were absent with me. Generally, I went about with a group of them in
my train, as I preferred to have the possibilities of trouble with me.
They took kindly to travel, and they always behaved most admirably
towards me.
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