 He then despatched his Colonial Secretary, Willoughby Shortland, with 30 soldiers and six mounted police on 30 June 1840, to Port Nicholson to tear down the flag.Shortland commanded the residents to withdraw from their "illegal association" and to submit to the representatives of the Crown.Hobson, claiming his hand had been forced by the New Zealand Company's actions, also proclaimed sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand—the North Island by right of cession at Waitangi, and the South and Stewart Islands by right of discovery.