A Ngapuhi raiding party prepares

War speech, painted by Augustus Earle in 1838.

A Ngāpuhi chief stands in a beached canoe addressing a crowd of warriors, most of whom are seated. Two other long canoes are on the beach, one with a sail is in the water, and others are pulled up close to a pā or kāinga in the left background. A dog sniffs the ground in the foreground. Most of the men are armed with guns; one at far right holds a taiaha. A gourd and flax kit are centrally placed amongst one group.

Earle’s text reads: ‘A party of warriors had collected at the Bay of Islands for the purpose of making a hostile visit to a tribe on the banks of the Thames. They were detained by contrary winds; and for several days were constantly engaged in listening to speeches from their chiefs, who addressed them from a canoe hauled on shore … one [canoe], which I measured, was 70 feet long, and carried one hundred fighting men.’