It was drawn up and
attested with every precision, and I got it all right, nor could I help
laughing at the idea.
'But Tawhiao's anxiety that I should be assured of his good faith, even
in so trifling a matter, struck me as a pleasing item of character. I
took a fancy to him after we became personally acquainted, and he was one
of the last persons I saw, when I finally left New Zealand for England.
Years before, I had bidden him another good-bye, he being then the one
who was setting out on a visit to England.'
Estimated by his name, Tawhiao was a 'scorner of the sun,' but unhappily
not of spirits. They were apt, in the days when his kingship had grown an
empty name, to make him quite unkingly. He naturally called upon Sir
George Grey, for years out of official life, to learn about England.
'Will you answer me a question?' Sir George broached him, adding: 'There
need be no false modesty between friends.' Tawhiao waited sedately for
the question, which was: 'What would you think of a man who, by some
wrong means, had brought about the death of a fellow-being?'
'Why, he would be a very bad man; a man deserving of most severe
punishment.'
'If a man brought about the death of several other men, what would you
say?'
'Who could be so cruel? It is not possible that anybody could be so
wicked.
Pages:
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195