h:
For I have slain a man to my wounding,
And a young man to my hurt.
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

In this genesis of verse, Sir George also found the noise of all combat
with skilled weapons. A cry of sorrow and repentance by Lamech, at some
ill-starred act, which filled him with remorse? Surely, rather the
exultant note of a rude spirit, handling mastery anew in the ingenuity of
his son.

There stood Lamech, on the edge of creation, crowing over the cunning
forces Tubal Cain had discovered. 'I have slain a man to my wounding, and
a young man to my hurt!' It was to be a long roll. Sir George would
recite the lines once, twice, yet again, and the thunder tramp of a Maori
impi sang in his ears. 'The story of my going to New Zealand,' he
thought, 'may appear quaint in these days, when the cable anticipates all
pleasant surprises. We had heard at Adelaide, through a coaster arriving
from Sydney and Van Diemen's Land, also from a British man-of-war on the
Australian station, of serious fighting in New Zealand. A friend of my
own was in command of the war-ship in question, which had put into
Adelaide for supplies. I spoke to him of events in New Zealand, the heavy
slaughter of British soldiers, and the evident critical situation. I had
no distinct authority to order his vessel to New Zealand, but I felt it
to be a wise step.

Accordingly, I wrote him a letter saying he ought to proceed to the scene
of trouble, and that I was prepared to assume the responsibility. We got
together what materials of war were available in South Australia, and
what money we could spare from the Treasury of the Colony. So furnished,
he sailed for New Zealand.

'A few days later, I was out riding with my step-brother from England,
who was on a visit to me at Adelaide. We were cantering along a road near
the coast, when a man with a light cart stopped us. An unknown ship had
been sighted before we left Adelaide, and this man came from the quarter
where she had taken up anchor. He stated that it was the "Elphinstone,"
belonging to the East India Company, that despatches had been brought for
me, and that he had them in his cart. He added that the "Elphinstone" had
come to take me away, and that some of the officers would very likely be
landed by the time I got to the place of anchor-age. This was all very
puzzling. I jumped off my horse, sat down beside some trees, opened the
despa