While travelling through Queen Charlotte Sound at the top of the South Island, missionary Henry Williams gained 14 signatures for the Cook Strait (Henry Williams) copy of the Treaty of Waitangi on 4 May 1840, and 13 more next day. George Thomas Clayton, the captain of the Ariel – the schooner on which Williams was travelling – also witnessed these signatures.
According to Williams, the treaty was explained before being signed and there were no objections. Tribes which had migrated to the South Island only recently found the protection of rights against other claimants offered by the treaty appealing.
Each signatory made a unique mark next to his name.