Mr. Busby having delivered his protest against what he considered to be the unwarranted aspersions of the white settler, whose name does not appear to have been recorded, Tamati Pukututu, a chief of the Te Uri-o-te-hawato tribe broke in upon the monotony of the opposition with a speech in favour of the treaty.
"This is mine to thee, O Governor! Sit, Governor, sit, a Governor for us—for me, for all, that our lands may remain with us; that these 'piritoka' and 'piriawaawa,' these homeless wanderers who sneak about, sticking to rocks, and to the side of the brooks and gullies may not have it all. Sit, Governor, sit for me, for us. Remain here a father for us. These chiefs say, 'Don't sit,' because they have sold all their possessions and they are filled with foreign property, and they have also no more to sell. But I say, what of that? Sit, Governor, sit. You two stay here, you and Busby—you two, and they also, the Missionaries."
In his advocacy of the Governor's cause Tamati was seconded by Matiu, a chief of the Uri-o-ngongo tribe. "O Governor! sit, stay, remain, you as one with the Missionaries, a Governor for us. Do not go back, but sit here, a Governor, a father for us, that good may increase, may become large to us. This is my word to thee. Do thou sit here, a father for us."
"No, no, go back, go back," cried Kawiti, a turbulent Ngatihine. "What dost thou want here? We native men do not wish thee to stay. We do not want to be tied up and trodden down. We are free. Let the Missionaries remain, but as for thee, return to thine own country. I will not say 'Yes' to thy sitting here. What! to be fired at in our boats and canoes by night! What! to be fired at when quickly paddling our canoes by night! I, even I, Kawiti, must not paddle this way nor paddle that way because the Governor said 'No,' because of the Governor, his soldiers, and his guns. No, no, no, go back, go back, there is no place here for a Governor."
A chief of the Ngatiamake tribe named Wai, now rose and addressed some pertinent enquiries to His Excellency.
"To thee, O Governor! this. Will you remedy the selling, the exchanging, the cheating, the lying, the stealing of the whites? O Governor! yesterday I was cursed by a white man. Is that straight? The white man gives us natives a pound for a pig, but he gives a Pakeha four pounds for such a pig. Is that straight? The white man gives us a shilling for a basket of potatoes, but to a Pakeha he gives four shillings for a basket like that one of ours. Is that straight? No, no, they will not listen to thee, so go back, go back. If they would listen and obey, ah yes, good that, but have they ever listened to Busby? And will they listen to thee, a stranger, a man of yesterday? Sit indeed! what for? Wilt thou make dealing straight?"
At this point there was again some general dissatisfaction amongst the Europeans who apparently were only able to hear imperfectly. A hawker, a pedlar named Jones, from Kororareka, called out to His Excellency that the whites could not follow the interpreter. A young man on the opposite side of the tent confirmed his complaint, and the European who had previously objected to Mr. Williams's methods once more became prominent in support of his confrères. These dissatisfied individuals maintained a running comment across the tent for some moments, which resulted in the Governor again requisitioning the services of Mr. Johnson, who came forward and interpreted the speech of Wai, but not to the complete satisfaction of that dusky orator, who described the Johnsonian effort as "great lies."
This resulted in the restoration of Mr. Williams, whose next subject was Pumuka, a man of influence in the Roroa tribe who was favourable to the treaty: "Stay, remain, Governor; remain for me" was his message. "Hear all of you. I will have this man a foster-father for me. Stay, sit, Governor. Listen to my words, O Governor! Do not go away; remain. Sit, Governor, sit. I wish to have two fathers—thou and Busby and the Missionaries."
"Yes, what else? Stay, sit if not what? Sit, if not how?" were the opening queries of Warerahi, a chief of Ngaitawake, who was popularly known as George King. "Is it not good to be at peace?" he asked. "We will have this man as our Governor. What! turn him away! Say to this man of the Queen, 'Go back?' No, no."[72]
The next speaker was to be Hakiro, who wanted room to deliver himself as became a great chief, and whilst the reclining natives were being moved back to make a clear space in which he could run from one end of the platform to the other a chief from the Waikare, whose name has not been recorded, rose and complained of the unjust dealings of the white people, who had no sense of justice. For a very little thing—a shilling—they wanted a pig as big as himself. What he wanted to know was could the Governor make the Pakeha give a payment as large as the article he bought, but the speech was little noticed in the hustle caused by the clearing of a passage for Hakiro.