“I have said.”
This passage, spoken as Hunia spoke it, was one of noble eloquence and singular rhetoric art. The few first words about Wirému were spoken in a half indifferent way; but there was a long pause before and after the statement that he was dead, and a sinking of the voice when he related how Wirému had died, followed by a burst of sudden fire in the “As he died, we will die—I and all my chiefs.”
After a minute or two, Hunia resumed:
“This is another word.
“We are all of us glad to see you.
“When we wrote to Pétatoné, we asked him that he would bring with him Pakéhas from England and from Australia—Pakéhas from all parts of the Queen‘s broad lands.
“Pakéhas who should return to tell the Queen that the Ngatiapa are her liegemen.
“We are much rejoiced that you are here. May your heart rest here among us; but if you go once more to your English home, tell the people that we are Pétatoné‘s faithful subjects and the Queen‘s.
“I have said.”
After pledging Hunia in a cup of wine, we returned to our temporary home.