After proclaiming sovereignty over the South Island, Major Bunbury sailed to Kāpiti on HMS Herald, arriving on 19 June 1840. When Bunbury and Te Rauparaha, the paramount chief of Ngāti Toa, crossed paths off Mana Island, Bunbury asked Te Rauparaha to sign the Herald treaty copy. When Te Rauparaha said he had signed Henry Williams’ copy, Bunbury insisted that he also sign his copy. [1]
Accompanied by Te Rauparaha and Williams, Bunbury went to Mana Island. Here they found Te Rangihaeata, who was assisted aboard the Herald and signed the Herald sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi. Te Hiko was unable to sign as he was on the mainland at the time. [2]
[1] Claudia Orange, The Treaty of Waitangi, Allen & Unwin, Port Nicholson Press with assistance from the Historical Publications Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, 1987, p. 81
[2] T. Lindsay Buick, The Treaty of Waitangi: or, how New Zealand became a British colony, Mackay, Wellington, 1914, p. 190
