Mercury Island, 7 May 1840

Nga Wahi

7 May 1840Sheet 7 — The Herald (Bunbury) Sheet

Anchored off the Mercury Islands, HMS Herald was boarded by two chiefs who signed the Herald sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi. Many other chiefs were inland attending to business. The officials were fortunate to receive the signatures of Te Pūnahi and Ngātaiāepa. The officials and witnesses present were Joseph Nias, Thomas Bunbury, Edward Williams (once again acting as an interpreter) and William Stewart.

The Herald anchored off the Mercury Islands to pick up pilot William Stewart. The officials all stayed on board during their travels.

On 11 May 1840 they arrived at Tauranga, where most chiefs had already signed Brown’s copy. The following day a meeting was held with Tūpaea and several other Ōtūmoetai chiefs at Te Papa, the Church Missionary Society station. Bunbury ‘became impatient at the “dilatory habits” of Maori and left Williams at Otumoetai, to hurry on to the other Tauranga pa at Maungatapu’, where all those present had already signed. [1]

Bunbury returned to the Herald to begin the journey to the South Island.


[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, pp. 74–5

 


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