the fishery, leading to the Māori (if they were aware) placing a rāhui or temporary prohibition on fishing in the area. The Māori may have been concerned about the amount of food that the French were taking and, in consequence, trading for fish and celery soon ceased. This led to a deterioration of relations between the French and Māori. Surville, having initially taken care to be as congenial as possible towards the Māori, was becoming increasingly frustrated. On 27 December, a storm stranded a party of men on shore at Whatuwhiwhi, where they were treated hospitably by the Māori. In the same storm, the ship dragged her anchors, which had to be cut on Surville's orders. He and part of the crew spent several hours trying to bring the Saint Jean-Baptiste to a more sheltered anchorage. The ship's yawl, which was in tow, struck rocks and had to be cut free. After the storm passed, the stranded party returned to the ship, which had suffered a broken tiller. Surville, distressed by the loss of the anchors and the yawl, which jeopardised plans for further exploration of the area, went ashore with a party of two officers and some sailors to fish on 30 December. The party was invited to a village by a local chief and shared a meal before returning to the ship. The following day, 31 December, an officer spotted the yawl ashore on Tokerau Beach surrounded by Māori, and an armed party set off from Saint Jean-Baptiste to retrieve it. Surville considered the yawl to have been stolen; by tradition, any flotsam washed ashore belonged to the chief of the area. Reaching the beach, the French party found a group of Māori carrying spears, but there was no sign of the yawl. Their chief, Ranginui, approached Surville carrying a twig of green leaves, a sign of peace in Māori culture. His patience exhausted, Surville arrested Ranginui for the theft of his yawl. His party burned about 30 huts, destroyed a canoe filled with nets, and confiscated another canoe. They brought Ranginui back to their ship, where the crew members who had been stranded during the storm identified him as the chief who had been hospitable to them. Surville was determined to keep his captive, and Saint Jean-Baptiste departed eastwards that day with Ranginui on board. Voyage to South America Surville, after having consulted with his officers and