to the lack of dignity compared to the Waitangi event". Unusually, the copy signed was in English. Between 1840 and 1860 the CMS missionaries of the Anglican church assisted Waikato Maori in revolutionizing their economy in the Kihikihi area by the introduction of such crops as peaches, maize and wheat. Missionaries brought in millers and helped Maori establish eight flour mills. These flourished until 1857, as they provided flour for the growing Auckland market in the 1850s and for a brief while were exporting to Australia. There were mills at Aotea, Kaitotehe, Karakariki, Kihikihi, Kirikiriroa, Kohanga, Kopatauaki, Mahoe, Mangaharakeke, Mangapapa, Mangarewarewa, Mangatawhiri, Matamata pā, Maungakawa, Maungatautari, Mohoaonui, Otawhao, Patetere, Rangataiki, Rangiaowhia, Taupō, Te Kopua, Te Rore, Tireke, Tuakau, Waitetuna, Whaingaroa and Whatawhata. The route used to travel to and from Auckland was by dray to the Puniu stream, along the Waipā River to its junction with the Waikato. Near the Waikato Heads travellers entered the small Awaroa River. During summer it was necessary to push or pull the waka through to the Manukau Harbour at Waiuku. By the 1850s a small bullock track had been established to Auckland via the settlements of Mauku, Drury, Papakura and Otahuhu, or waka could take the sea route across the Manukau to Ihumatao (where Auckland International Airport is now). The main tribe to use this route and the main traders were the Maniapoto tribe. They occupied an area of fertile land south of Te Awamutu at Kihikihi and Rangiaowhia. Maniapoto sold wheat, peaches, potatoes and other food to Auckland and bought back shirts, sugar, tobacco and rum. The boom time ended in 1856–1857 with the end of the Australian gold rush, allowing importing of cheaper food, especially flour, from Australia. Even in the boom time of 1854–55, food grown by Waikato Maori, such as Ngati Maniapoto, was taken to the Auckland market in very small amounts compared to food from the Waiheke Island -Thames area. In early 1855 Ngati Maniapoto took only 3 canoes of potatoes to Auckland compared to 279 canoes containing a much wider variety of food from the Thames area. Missionaries had also established schools for Maori. Benjamin and Harriet Ashwell ran a school for 50 Maori girls aged 6–17 at Taupiri in 1853. The girls had been at the school for up to 3 years and could read and write in English and do mental arithmetic. At the time of