Fison to Frazer 28/4/05

Transcription - Page 3

3)
it my duty to withstand his
attempt to take from the Mission
a valuable piece of land. For
my own part, I never owned a foot of
land in the Group. In pursuit
of my inquiries into native customs,
I wanted to get the great chief
Thakombau to adopt me into
his clan. He willingly consented,
but informed that in order
to my admission, I must be a
taukei = landowner, + he offered
me as a gift a piece of land, then
of little value, but which afterwards
became worth many thousand pounds.
We were standing on the sea beach
at the time, + when he had made
his offer, I drew with the point of
my umbrella two lines in the Sand,
about seven feet apart. Then I
said "Sir, if I die in your land,