A Tribe's Character

Friday, October 11, 1850. (In the seaward Rangitikei district.) … “The Ngati-Apa are a most tricky set, full of jealousy, and cunning inventions. No doubt a tribe obliged to seek shelter from their enemies in time of war and to resort to every invention for their preservation, are more apt to study deceitful practices than open straightforward chiefs and tribes who have never been subdued. The former possesses all the imaginative and strong feelings of the race, sharpened by necessity, till deceit becomes a fixed ingredient of their character.”

(Te Rauparaha and his warriors and allies had conquered Ngati-Apa in war.)