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He was the only man that showed the white feather; but the week the Maoris stopped was a time of anxiety, and the greatest possible caution was exercised, for all feared that the least relaxation of watchfulness would be the signal for an attack. One night Mr. Green fired a shot, and produced quite a panic, every one fancying the struggle had come at last. However, after a week’s peaceful sojourn at Onuku, Wainui, and Tikao Bay, the strange Natives went away, most of them going back viâ Little River.

There was one pleasant custom observed during these early days, which was, that every family gave a feast to the rest of the colonists annually. These meetings were pleasant ones indeed; whilst the older colonists related their experiences to each other, the younger danced and made love in just the same manner as they do now-a-days. At the end of the five years the colonists all got their five acres. Many of them had never fulfilled the conditions laid down by the French Association, but that was not allowed to stand in the way, and an English Crown grant was promised and given to all who applied.

There were sometimes disputes between the French officers, and one of these culminated in a duel, which was fought in the present Lavaud street, Akaroa, in the end of 1845 or beginning of 1846. The combatants were the Commissioner and Dr. Renaut, the doctor-in-chief of the French man-of-war Le Rhin, which Commodore Berard commanded. The people on shore were of opinion that something most extra-ordinary must be going on, for the combatants, accompanied by their friends, went round the place early on the morning of the duel, discharging every little liability due to the townspeople. The duel was fought on the sandy beach opposite where Mrs. Scott’s shop at present stands. The distance (25 paces) was carefully and solemnly measured by the