Not unless there was a crash, during a moment's want
of vigilance, or by lack of perfectly deft management. The greater empire
making, it is evident, was not to have to write any blue-books. None were
written, for the tension between European and Maori healed in the hands
of the patient doctor. It turned out that a Van Diemen's Land convict was
the villain of that remote New Zealand drama.
Patoune, an influential Maori chief, had been zealous in the unfathoming
of the mystery, and mentioning that, Sir George Grey was led to say,
'Some time before his death Patoune rowed over from Auckland to my island
at Kawau. Seeing the boat coming, I walked down to the shore to meet its
occupant and conduct him indoors, where he had a long conversation. On
leaving he spoke, "Yes, I wanted to be with you once more, before I go
the way of all men. I have had my last fallen-out tooth set in a walking-
stick, which pray accept, a mark of our friendship." As you can suppose,
this affected me deeply. A piece of bone is a kind of Maori talisman, and
Patoune meant his tooth to bring luck to me. He thought my carrying it
about with me, might one day save me from misfortune.'
The incidents of governing are incongruous; they jostle queerly. An
official letter was put into the hands of Sir George Grey, as he stood on
the seashore at Wanganui, watching a skirmish in progress with the
Maoris.
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