, to laugh over the eating of his father.'

Sir George's pledge for peace was the opening up of the country by means
of roads, and he drove these hither and thither. The power of resistance
which the Maoris manifested in warfare, kept anxiety simmering at Downing
Street. 'In that connection,' Sir George said, 'Earl Grey, as Colonial
Secretary, consulted the Duke of Wellington on the best policy for
securing the durable settlement of the Maoris. The Duke, I learned from
Earl Grey himself, advised the making of roads which would knit New
Zealand, and employ the natives. Just after Earl Grey had seen the Duke,
he had despatches from me, in which I outlined, in almost as many words,
what I had been doing.'

The coincidence struck Sir George, and it gratified him to have the Duke
in agreement. He was supported by another eminent soldier, when, at a
London dinner party, being asked to give his opinion of the conduct of
the Crimean War, he answered, 'I should have attacked upon the St.
Petersburg side, where you could really get at Russia, instead of on the
Crimean side, with its strong forts, its distance from the centre of the
empire, and a food supply confined to that carried by the ships.'

In New Zealand he had no difficulty in getting Maori labour, since it was
fairly paid, and excellent trunk roads were the result. Rauparaha took
the innovation with a seeming unconcern, meant to hide an adverse
feeling, which Rangihaeta, however, frankly expressed. He could look back
upon his years, old Rauparaha, and mark in them enough stir and fight to
satisfy a score of warriors. Age had crawled on to his shoulders, causing
his furtive eyes to rest on the ground. But he was still himself, as Sir
George Grey realised, on receiving certain information. It indicated that
Rauparaha was in a league of mischief, that he had quietly given a
signal, and that large bodies of natives were drawing down the coast to
his aid. Farther, it was put to Sir George that an attack on Wellington
was the evident object. This would be calamity, for the forces available
as a defence, at short notice, were small. Now for the Governor's action,
which some criticised as high-handed.

'At first,' he related the exploit, 'I was doubtful whether I could
fairly attribute the scheme to Rauparaha. However, I satisfied myself
that the information which had reached me was well-founded. It had been
brought by a man who was in touch with the Maoris creeping down the