Kingi  stopped  the  surveyors  with  an  armed  force.  He
was  opposed  by  British  soldiers.  Pahs  were  erected
by  the  Maories  and  fired  upon  by  the  troops.  Kingi
got  reinforcements  from  the  Waikato  tribe.  The
Governor  sent  to  Australia  for  more  troops  ;  the  war
had  become  a  national  affair,  openly  supported  by
nearly  every  tribe  in  the  Island,  and  secretly  sym-
pathised with  by  the  remainder.
A  dissolution  of  the  General  Assembly  enabled
Weld,  on  his  return  to  New  Zealand  (May  1860),
to  offer  his  services  once  more  to  the  electors  of
Wairau.  In  his  address  he  alludes  in  the  following
terms  to  the  two  questions  which  at  that  time  were
agitating  all  minds  in  the  colony  :

"  The  present  difficulty  at  Taranaki  is  not  a  question
in  any  way  of  ownership  or  title  to  land.  It  is  this  :
Can  a  chief  who  assumes  tribal  authority  forbid  the
exercise  of  rights  of  ownership  by  a  native  owner  of
land?  I  hold  that  quasi-sovereign  authority,  as  claimed
by  W.  Kingi  in  his  forcible  attempt  to  prevent  the  sale
of  land  which  did  not  belong  to  him,  to  be  incom-
patible with  the  authority  of  the  Crown.  Whilst  I
deeply  regret  the  necessity  of  an  appeal  to  arms,  and
foresee  the  losses,  bloodshed,  expense  and  other
sacrifices  which  it  may  entail  on  the  colony,  I  yet
doubt  not  but  that  the  most  humane  as  well  as  the
wisest  course  is  now,  once  and  for  ever,  firmly  to
uphold  and  establish  the  supremacy  of  the  Crown.
