Page:Tales-of-Banks-Peninsula Jacobson 2ed 1893 cropped.pdf/281

in his arms, and the carpenter and two runaways were sitting at a table inside the house. The mate ordered the carpenter aboard, but, instead of obeying, he shot him through the heart with a pistol that was in his possession. Word was sent to Wellington, but the ship was away before any steps were taken, and so nothing was done. Had the doctor of the ship remained behind, no doubt the man would have been hung.

The natives used to travel over the hills easily in those days of no roads. White has known a party to take two tons of dog fish to Little River, the Maoris there bringing in exchange two tons of eels. An old Maori bearing the pleasant name of Rakika-kinoki was specially celebrated for the way in which he travelled the hills. White was at Port Levy when the Flemings came out, in 1855, but a few years later went to Pigeon Bay The Bay was full of sawyers at that time, and a man named Billy Webb, who kept a shanty at a place called the Pillar, on the road between Pigeon Bay and Holmes’ Bay, had sometimes as many as forty boarders. One of these boarders fell over on the rocks and smashed his head, and the question of foul play was raised, but it is probable it was a pure accident.

Several vessels were built at Port Levy and Pigeon Bay. White himself assisted in building one 18-ton craft, and Damon built several. A vessel was built for the natives at Nelson, and on her arrival Damon offered them twelve cows for her, and cows were cows in those days, but they would not sell. The Maoris grew many vegetables, and kept many pigs at that time, and as a whole dealt fairly with the whites. There was a big plantation of kumeras near where Mr. Menzies’ house now stands, and it appears to be the only place where these roots have ever been successfully grown on the Peninsula. Mr White’s life has been uneventful in Pigeon Bay. He has