"What a glorious view!" exclaimed he, as, side by side, they looked on the wide expanse of land and sea which lay beneath and around them—the broad estuary, the broken and fantastic outlines of the mountain range beyond the river-bank.
The surf was breaking on the bar between the heads of the Hokianga, while southward lay the valley, studded with the whares of the kainga and the garden-like plots of the kumera fields. Almost unchanged was the scene since the rude warrior, standing on stages behind these palisades, launched his spear at the foe, or, wounded in the assault, looked his last upon mountain and valley, sea and shore, but died shouting defiance.
"What a strange thing is this life of ours!" said Massinger, musingly. "It is less than a year since I was living contentedly in an English county, on an estate which my forefathers had held for centuries. I had then no more idea of quitting England than I have of setting out for the planet Mars."
"And do you not regret the leaving such a paradise as England is said to be, when one is born to wealth and honour?"
"I cannot say that I do. So far from it, that I consider I have made a distinct advance in knowledge and development. My life then was narrow and monotonous, leading to nothing save contentment with a round of provincial duties."
"But travel, high companionship, ambition, the Parliament of England,—noble-sounding words! What boundless fields of enjoyment and exertion! Were not these enough to fill your heart?"
"Possibly. But all suddenly my life lost its savour; hope died, ambition vanished; existence revealed itself merely as a pilgrimage through a desert waste, haunted by lost illusions, and strewed with withered garlands. For a while I thought to end it, but a convalescent stage succeeded. I arranged my affairs and sold my place, resolved to seek a cure for my soul's unrest beyond the narrow bounds of Britain."
"Sold your ancestral home! How could you do such a thing? And what possible reason could you have had for such a mad step, as I have no doubt your friends called it?"
"That was the exact word they used. But I had made my choice. All things habitual and familiar had become distasteful—finally insupportable. I chose this colony as the most distant and interesting of England's possessions; and here I am, an exile and a wanderer in a new world, but"—turning to Erena—"honoured with the friendship of the best of guides and most charming of comrades."
She heard almost as one not hearing; then, suddenly fixing her eyes, bright with sudden fire, upon his countenance, said—