60
AMERICAN CORVETTE, YORKTOWN.
[Chap. II.
1841
bower to the N.E., and small bower to the S.W., with thirty-six fathoms of cable upon each; Point Omatta flag-staff bearing S. 56º E., Point Gore N. 3º W. We observed the American corvette Yorktown at anchor off Kororarika, when the fog and rain cleared away in the evening; and the next morning I had the pleasure of receiving a visit from her commander, Captain Aulick, when I was sorry to learn from him that, having fulfilled the purposes which brought him here, and finished the refitting of his ship, he intended to sail almost immediately for the Sandwich Islands.
Commander Crozier and I went to pay our respects to Mr. Fitzgerald, the only representative of the civil authority at this place. He had recently arrived from England, having been appointed to a high official situation, but at the request of the Governor was fulfilling the duties of chief magistrate at this place until a favourable opportunity should occur for removing with his wife and family to the new seat of government at Auckland. At this time he was residing in a wooden house that Governor Hobson had brought from England with him, and which had been put up on the lands purchased by him with the intention of establishing at this place the capital of the colony; but, to the great disappointment of the inhabitants of Kororarika, and the settlers in the neighbouring country, he very judiciously removed with all the government officers to a more eligible spot at the Thames, where the