Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1823-12-11

stand OF arms among the thudoi'a"'s
of this bay; and, as the natives OF
the river were unprovided with SINH
lar weapons, they made little opposi-
ton to their more powerful INVADERS
who, in the present instance, told US
they had killed 900, while they re-
turned with the loss of only four men.
Before we met the canoes we had
pretty well learned the result OF the
expedition from Tool, who, notwi.h-
standing his long residence in Eng
land, and having returned to New
Zealand under the immediate charge
of one of the missionaries, still scru-
pulously adhered to the barbarous
prejudices of his country, and gave a
striking proof Of the difficulty OF G.
radicating the habits of savage lille III
person of mature age.
sHis conversation during break
fast was a continued boast of the a.
trocities he had committed during an
excursion which he q Krokro had
made, two months before. to the RI
yer Thames and he dwelt, with
marked pleasure, upon an instance
of his generalship, when, having
forced a small party of his enemies
into a narrow place, whence there
was no egress. he was enabled sue
cessi,ely to shoot two and twenty OF
them, without their having the pow
er Of making the slightest resistance.
To qualify this story, he remark
cd, that though all the dead bodies
we're desoured by his tribe, neither
he nor his brother ate human flesh,
nor did they fight on Sundays
When asked why he did not try to
turn the minds of his people to agrl-
culture. he said it was impossible !;
'that if you told New Zealander to
work, he fell asleep; but if you
spoke of fighting, he opened his eyes
as wide as a tea cup; that the whole
bent of his mind was war. and that
he looked upon fighting as fun
The beach was covered with ma
tives, waiting the return of the ex-
petition aud, as the canoes ap.
preached, they waded out to meet
them, and assisted in hauling them
on shore. and in landing the prison.
ers and the baggage.
The warriors were in their full
dress, their hair tied mp in a bunch
on their heads, and ornamented with
white feathers, and their faces and
bodies besmeared with oil and red o.
chre. They recounted to the groups
that surrounded them the different G.
vents of their excursion, with much
gesture and energy; while the cap
tives sat patiently upon the beach, a.
waiting the lot which was to consiga
them to their respective masters
They consisted of men, women, and
children some Of the latter not two
years old; and, forlorn as their ST.
tuation was, they seemed to have paid
as much attention to the ornamcnting
of their persons as those who were
placed in more fortunate circumstan-
Ces.
sAmong the women there was one
who excited particular interest: she
was young and handsome; and, tho
he other prisoners occasionally talk
ID among themselves, she sat silent
and alone, and appeared lost in af-
fiction. We learned that her father,
who had been a chief of some Conse.
auence at the river Thames, was
Killed by the man whose prisoner she
now was; and we observed him sitting
at no great distance from her during
the greater part of the day. He was
the brother Of Tool, the principal
person at Rangehoo, and was sim
gular fine looking youth. The extra.
ordinary scenes that we witnessed de.
tanned US in the neighbOrhood of Tip.
poona until evening; and as VIC were
preparing to return to the ship, We
were drawn to that part of the beach
where the prisoners were, by the
most Joleful cries and lamentations.
Here was the Interesting young slave
in situation that ought to have sof-
tened the heart Of the most unfeeIing.
The man who had slain her father.
having cut off his head, and preserv-
ed it by process peculiar to these
took it out of a basket
where it had hitherto been concealed,
and threw it into the lap of the un-
happy daughter. AT once she seized
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